The Difference
If you do not have Acrobat installed on your iPad, but have opened a PDF document before, chances are you were using iBooks.  iBooks is a very well made and perfectly fine app to use for such a purpose, in fact Acrobat would be the alternative since iBooks is the Native Apple documents app.  However there are a couple of things Acrobat can do that iBooks cannot.

First, Acrobat can request a digital signature by using Adobe EchoSign.  In order to use this functionality, you must first upload the document to Adobe.  The app will notify you that you will be taken to a website – where you can enter the From: and To: recipient(s) for the email.  This is great for long distance contractual signing such as leases or other agreements.

The second difference is the speed at which documents open on the iPad.  iBooks can usually take a few minutes to do this same task, but Acrobat offers a speedy alternative.  The third difference is the ability to add virtual sticky notes to the PDF document.  This comes in handy for editing or simply bookmarking a piece of a document.  The note will be tagged with your name which you enter the first time you add a sticky note.  Each note will also have the date the comment was added.  This makes for great time based collaboration.  Highlighting is also available in Adobe Acrobat and works by simply tapping the highlight symbol at the top of the page and dragging over a set of text.  Drag again to unhighlight.  Text can also be highlighted or stricken out.   Even better – there is an option to freehand draw over the document.  This can come in handy for circling sections to be remembered or simply an easier method to underline or cross out text. Finally, adding a signature directly on a document is a breeze.

This can be done to bypass the EchoSign functionality and get something signed fast and easy.  All of these editing capabilities are not present in iBooks, and therefore a great case can be made to download and install Adobe Acrobat.

Overview
With all of the capability of iBooks as far as PDFs go, and an added suite of editing and signing tools, there is no reason I can think of as to why one would not want to have this app looming in the background of your iPad’s app pile.  I enjoy adding signatures and other edits to PDFs knowing I will be able to go back and access them on demand.  For these reasons, Adobe Acrobat gets a 10/10.  Go get it!

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Review of Adobe Reader for iPad is an article from everythingiCafe.

We love keeping an eye on what Apple purchases, as it can give us hints as to what the company is working on internally. The newest acquisition is the Italian music editing startup Redmatica. As first spotted by an Italian site and reported by TechCrunch, Apple has apparently purchased the company, which specializes in music editing apps — like Keymap Pro,  AutoSampler, and ProManager.

This acquisition could quite easily fit into Apple’s current editing technology: GarageBand and Logic Pro. Alternatively, picking up an entire company of audio engineers could mean an awful lot towards getting Siri better at recognizing sounds than she is right now.

Apple Purchases Italian Music Editor Redmatica is an article from everythingiCafe.

Now, sure, you could play the RTS for free from your browser using the Flash version, but that’s not much fun while you’re bored an on a subway, is it?

The iOS version is scheduled to launch this summer, and will be part of the social network Mobage.

Here’s the full press release:

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Mobile social games leader ngmoco, LLC, a DeNA Co., Ltd. (TSE:2432) company, and KIXEYE, the leader in competitive online combat strategy games, today announced details of their partnership to bring Backyard Monsters, the most popular real-time strategy (RTS) game on Facebook, to mobile devices worldwide via the Mobage™ social gaming platform. Backyard Monsters will be the first mobile offering in the KIXEYE catalog of high-quality games, and is scheduled to launch this summer for all iOS and select Android^TM devices.

“We’re committed to building the best portfolio of games for our social entertainment network, Mobage”

“We’re committed to building the best portfolio of games for our social entertainment network, Mobage,” said Neil Young, CEO, ngmoco and director, DeNA. ”KIXEYE games are top notch, and we are enthusiastic about our partnership to bring Backyard Monsters to mobile audiences worldwide.”

“Our focus is developing super high quality games for the browser, but this is an opportunity for us to experiment on the mobile platform and broaden the reach of one of our most successful games,” said Brandon Barber, SVP of Marketing at KIXEYE. “We’re confident mobile users will enjoy spilling blood in Backyard Monsters just as much as they do on Facebook.”

In Backyard Monsters – which has racked up 175M+ hours played, and 20M+ game installs worldwide — players are tasked to build and manage the ultimate empire, harvest valuable resources, strategically place Defensive Towers to keep Wild Monster attacks at bay, as well as explore and conquer unlimited Outposts on the World Map. Players will also have the opportunity to grow and unleash over 15 varieties of vicious monsters to raid other neighboring bases, along with the ability to find and invite friends to battle through Facebook Connect.

To receive the latest news and updates about Backyard Monsters, LIKE us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BackyardMonsters or follow us on Twitter @BackyardMonster. For more information about KIXEYE, please also visit www.kixeye.com.

ngmoco To Bring Backyard Monsters To iOS is an article from everythingiCafe.

Here’s another leak which seems to confirm the looks of the new iPhone. The image above appears to be a schematic diagram for the new iPhone, and was leaked to CydiaBlog. It shows the rumored four-inch screen, and the front camera moved to near the ear-speaker — in keeping with the leaked shots from yesterday.

I wouldn’t consider this hard proof of the design being final, if I was you. Schematics like this are remarkably more straightforward to fake than actual hardware, and given that most people (myself included) have no real idea how to read one, I don’t know how legit the labeling on it is. Alternatively, it could be real, but from an early prototype. Wait and see.

[via 9to5Mac]

Rumored New iPhone Schematic Shows 4-Inch Screen, Moved Camera is an article from everythingiCafe.

The big sell is that it would allow manufacturers to create hardware that would be controlled by Apple remote:

We’ve heard Apple is actively trying to court manufacturers to use a new “control out” API in order for third-party manufacturers to make accessories that are compatible with the new Apple TV OS and the upcoming “iTV.” It’s said that by using the API, it will be possible to control any connected components all from the Apple remote (and the Apple remote iOS app as well, we’re assuming).

If true, it would mean no more scrabbling between different remotes, as the entire system would be controlled by a single one.

This is still firmly in rumor territory, but keep your ears perked for more information.

Rumor: Apple To Demo New Apple TV OS At WWDC is an article from everythingiCafe.

There should be enough kernels of information therein to keep people guessing for a long while yet.

Tim Cook At The D10 Conference is an article from everythingiCafe.

Like every other child of the 80s, I have inordinately fond memories of the NES, and the rest of the early 8- and 16-bit consoles. Which is why this incredibly cool NES decal for the Apple TV grabbed me so much. Created by Killer Duck decals, it goes for just $10 (+$4 shipping), it’ll give your second or third gen Apple TV some retro flair — assuming you’re capable of attaching the stickers on straight.

The same company also makes decals for your MacBook Keyboard, iPhone, iPad, and iPods. This looks to be their only Apple TV decal, but here’s hoping they make a Sega Genesis one, too.

[via Gizmodo, Technabob]

Check Out This Awesome Apple TV NES Decal is an article from everythingiCafe.

Barely had we pored over this morning’s report of new parts for a new iPhone when some much, much better shots showed up. These again come from 9to5Mac, and are clear, in focus, and look pretty legit. As you can see from the shot above, the rear of the iPhone now sports a two-tone look, of which the center area is apparently metal, and the color just a trim. It’s thought this may be a unibody design in order to make it lighter, smaller, and stronger.

Other than that, you can also make out the smaller dock connection at the base of the phone, redesigned speakers, and the headphone port has been moved southward, too.

The leaked frontplate below seems to suggest a taller screen — but one still with some bezel, and a front camera that sits centered with the ear-speaker.

More Leaked Shots Of Rumored New iPhone is an article from everythingiCafe.

Apple has updated the official page for WWDC 2012, which is running June 10-June 15 — there’s even the new app for attendees. But for those of us who aren’t actively in the development community, and don’t relish the idea of days spent discussing various kits, tokens, and codes, the real payoff is simple. The keynote. This year the keynote will be held on June 11 at 10AM PDT — and is claimed to have both iOS and OS X announcement.

The generally prevailing opinion is that we’ll see an iOS 6 announcement at that particular keynote, but the specifics are all up in the air yet.

So, next question. What do people want to see in iOS 6? What changes would have you jumping up and down in joy?

Apple Posts WWDC Schedule, Keynote For June 11 is an article from everythingiCafe.

We’ve previously heard a rumor that Apple is totally ditching Google Maps for iOS 6, instead creating their own, completely new mapping solution in the updated version of iOS 6 Maps. Now, building on what’s already supposed, BGR has mocked up the image above from new leaked information. They were sent a series of super-blurry shots that give away some of the new features.

It’s said to have a silver navigation bar, as well as a redesigned interface, and a 3D mode:

The iPhone version of Maps has a floating locate me button (it sounds very similar to Android’s Google Maps app) in the bottom left corner. To access 3D mode, which will make use of Apple’s C3 Technologies acquisition, you have to peel back the lower right corner of Maps just like the current version and enable 3D mode. Once enabled, you can switch in and out of 3D mode by tapping a 3D icon in the lower left corner. A photo of this feature can be seen in our gallery.

New iOS 6 Maps App Mocked Up is an article from everythingiCafe.