Apple Inc. (AAPL) released a fifth beta of iOS 6.1 over the weekend, followed by the public release on Monday. However, before the final release could even be posted, reports began to suggest that code inside of the beta pointed to signs that AAPL may be looking to release an iOS device with up to 128GB of storage.
The day following the rumors, Apple officially confirmed the availability of a 128GB iPad, which will go on sale on February 5th. Until Tuesday, all of Apple’s iOS devices went up to a capacity of 64GB, including the iPhone 5 which would mean that the storage capacity would double on the iPad.
With more than 120 million iPads sold, it’s clear that customers around the world love their iPads, and everyday they are finding more great reasons to work, learn and play on their iPads rather than their old PCs,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “With twice the storage capacity and an unparalleled selection of over 300,000 native iPad apps, enterprises, educators and artists have even more reasons to use iPad for all their business and personal needs.
As expected, the price for the 128GB iPad will cost more, with a extra $100 on top of current the top-end configuration, meaning that the Wi-Fi models will come in at $799 and the Wi-Fi + Cellular models will be up to $929 dollars. This price is very high for the avaerage consumer, but the 128GB iPad is targeted for users who use a lot of storage for photos, videos, and large apps such as photography applications.
Rumors that Apple was looking to release a 128GB iOS device spread quickly, after the code in an iOS 6.1 beta pointed to such a release. Soon after, the device began showing up in retail databases and is now confirmed by Apple. With every passing year, the cost of flash storage becomes cheaper so 128GB would even be possible on the iPhone in the next few years, if not sooner.
{Via MacRumors}
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Early last week, following the announcement of the new iPad mini, Apple began airing the first television ad for the 7.9 inch device. Apple’s SVP of Industrial Design, Jony Ive mentioned that the company focused on creating the iPad mini from the ground up rather than shrinking down the full sized iPad.
He also mentioned that Apple’s reason for doing this was because if the iPad mini was a shrunken down version, users would only be aware of the limitations of the device, as opposed to embracing the device as an entirely new product. The ad, called “Piano” focuses on exactly that, showing the full sized iPad next to the iPad mini playing the popular song “Heart and Soul”, which suggests that the iPad mini is capable of doing everything the full sized iPad does and runs full sized iPad apps.
The ad begins with the full sized iPad playing the song, and the iPad mini chiming in with the tune. The ad then ends with the Apple logo, followed simply by “iPad mini”.
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The London 2012 Olympics are under one week away now and if you’re not able to take the time off of work and sit down to watch 1,000’s of hours worth of sport spread over the two weeks then you may want to look into some of the iPhone and iPad offerings that are available to you to consume the games while you are out and about.
First up is the official results app which is a free app for both the iPhone and iPad which will enable you to keep track all the events as they happen.
The schedule page promises to keep you up to date with what’s happening and when including what’s coming up next. If you have a specific sport that you want to follow you can to and even set yourself reminders to be alerted before they start.
Full medal stats will be available here too and you can view the overall count, individuals and by specific sports. Also included is an extensive athlete database where you can view your favorite athletes, although if you are a fan of some of the smaller countries their teams are not currently updated, hopefully this will get updated. [App Store]
If you are more interested in competing, virtually, in some of the games yourself then the Official Mobile game may be for you. There are two versions of the the game a free version that allows you to progress using in-app purchase of a paid version where stars and stamina are pre-included, although you may still need to purchase more.
9 events are covered and as with many games of this type a combination of repeated tapping and timing is required to succeed in all of the events. You build up your athletes stats across 6 different categories and these in turn help improve your athletes results.
The game is fun and has its own built social aspect so that you can compare your best results with your friends, however it doesn’t use GameCenter so you’ll have to find and add your friends again.
The London 2012 Offical Mobile Game can be a little sluggish at times and the use of stamina will prevent you from playing the game as much as you would like, unless you are willing to purchase more via in-app purchase. [App Store]
If you are one of the lucky ones that will be attending the London 2012 games then the London 2012: Official Join In App for the Olympics and Paralympic Games app for the iPhone and iPad is a companion app for you.
This app will show you what is going on and where and not only includes the sports but also other events that are taking place in each area for when you aren’t watching the sports.
There is a lot of information in this app including information of travelling, safety, tickets and much more. If you’re going to be in and around London for the 2012 Olympics then this is a must have app. [App Store]
For our readers that want to follow Team USA you have an app just for you. 2012 Team USA Road to the London Olympics for the iPhone and iPad is the one stop shop for everything you need to know about your athletes.
With a frequently updated news stream you’ll always be up to date with what’s going on in all the sports that Team USA are taking part in helping you to keep you patriotic fever at a maximum level at all times.
The app is a little sluggish due to the frequent refreshing of data but the benefit of that is that it’s always up to date. You have access to the Team USA shop and in-depth biographies of all the athletes. [App Store]
Talking of the USA, if you are in the USA then NBC and their family of TV stations will be televising the London 2012 Olympics and they have a couple of apps for you to consume their coverage.
NBC Olympics is a app for everything about the olympics and including news, videos, photos, athletes and sports with a USA focus. There’s no live coverage in this app though, for live coverage you need to use the separate NBC Olympics Live Extra app.
The NBC Olympics Live Extra app allows you to watch the the events as they happen providing that you have cable or satellite at your home which includes the NBC family of channels.
Only time will tell how well the the app works when the live events start but one of the great looking features is the ability to set reminders to the live events so that you won’t miss out on them wherever you are especially as the video will stream over the cellular network but will obviously use a lot of data! [App Store]
For those of you in the UK you can download the BBC app which will include up to 24 live video streams of all the events as well as news, live text updates and details on all the sports.
The app is beautifully presented but at this moment is only available for the iPhone and not the iPad which considering that it includes live video streams is a little disappointing.
No separate TV subscription is required for this app but you will need to be based in the UK to watch the live streaming. [App Store]
If you want to enjoy the London 2012 Olympics along with the sports stars themselves then SportsStars is the app for you as it contains all of the social savvy athletes who are active of Facebook or Twitter.
As well as direct links to their social pages you can also view current news on each specific athlete and view the timetables for their events so that you know when to tune in to watch them. However, with around only 40 of the athletes being included in the app there’s no guarantee that your favorite athlete is going to be included. [App Store]
There are many iconic moments that happen in global events and the full impact of these moments can’t always be fully appreciated in video. However, photojournalists continue capture beautiful moments which can speak a 1000 words.
The Reuters Olympics London 2012 app collates these pictures into a single application for the iPad which groups these photographs by day and event and is visually stunning.
The pictures also have additional information alongside them and can also be shared via your social networks. [App Store]
It’s no surprise that there are multiple ways to get involved with the London 2012 Olympics and with this handful of iPhone and iPad apps you are never going to be too far away from the action.
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As another holiday is here, this time in the form of Easter, many of the major App Store developers are slashing prices on their apps for both the iPhone and the iPad.
It’s great to see that iOS owners get to save money multiple times each year and not just during the traditional sales time of Black Friday and after Christmas. Now is a great time to fire up the App Store on either your computer or mobile device and grab yourself some of the games that you’ve always felt were just a little too expenses.
Many, if not all, of EA’s games have seen price reductions for both the iPhone, and the iPad some of the all time classics such as Flight Control and Real Racing 2, so if you are one of the small percentage of iPhone or iPad users that haven’t brought either of them yet what are you waiting for.
Other titles that can be snapped up for a bargain include Smash Cops, NFL Flick Quaterback, Lost Winds, Where’s My Water, Lego Harry Potter and just in time for the start of the baseball season 9 Innings: Pro Baseball.
If you looking for some bargains and ways to pass the time if you’re one of the lucky ones with a long weekend then head on over to the App Store and let us know in the comments below what you picked up.
]]> https://touchreviews.net/iphone-ipad-apps-games-easter-sale/feed/ 2“Now is the time for us to make this bold commitment. In the coming year, there will clearly be many more consumers using tablets, accelerating demand for content and driving advertiser interest. We are putting ourselves in a great position to take advantage of these opportunities,” said Maurice Edelson, EVP and a member of Time Inc.’s interim management committee. “Having our entire portfolio available on tablets will create a significant new digital reach for our advertisers.”
With the introduction of Apple’s Newsstand feature in iOS 5, this can possibly make the iPad one of the best devices to read magazines and consume media. This transition from paper to digital will also benefit Time Inc. as they will now be able to embed videos and HTML5 animations within the magazine, similar to the Wired Magazine application in the [App Store].
Magazine publishers usually let print subscriber use the iPad application for free and introduce tiered prices for Print-only, iPad only, or iPad and Print. It is unclear how Time Inc. plans to structure this but ti will likely resemble other magazines in Apple’s Newsstand.
Some magazines planned for release later this year include InStyle, Real Simple, and Entertainment weekly and will join popular titles such as Time, Sports Illustrated, and Fortune.
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A new report published earlier today by MacStories revealed that the App Store has unofficially hit over 100,000 iPad compatible apps. This large number of apps comes less than 2 years after the release of the hugely popular tablet computer. Apple has experienced high sales figures for the iPad since it’s release in April 2010 and now it has hit another landmark of over 100,000 apps, specifically for the iPad’s 9.7 inch touchscreen.
Apple and third-party developers have set a new record: in 453 days since the original iPad came out on April 3, 2010, the App Store has more than 100,000 iPad-exclusive apps available. Either specifically targeting the tablet, or released as universal updates to existing iPhone apps, at the moment of writing this there are 100,161 iPad apps in the Store. How do I know? The App Store app itself on my iPad shows that.
According to AppShopper the App Store now has over 106,000 apps, using Apple’s API for tracking the number of apps available. Apple has yet to acknowledge the new record and may do so during the release of Max OS X Lion or perhaps the annual iPod refresh in September.
Apple has been leading the tablet market with the iPad since it’s introduction and has faced possible “competitors” over the last year and a half.
With an increasing number of applications and widespread adoption of the iPad in business and military, Apple may just continue to lead the game.
]]> https://touchreviews.net/apple-app-store-unofficially-hits-100000-ipad-apps/feed/ 1There is some speculation that this tweet is proof that Microsoft is working on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad competitor. And the iPad “Group” is to make strategies for that product, based on iPad analysis. This is quite possible but, the only whiff of that was the ill fated Courier Tablet that was canned by Microsoft some time ago. All their other tablet efforts have simply been in the form of providing modified Windows OSs, with a touch layer, to other manufacturers.
So it’s hard to see what immediate tablet plans Microsoft might have. Although eventually we are sure they’ll try and co-opt one or other manufacturer to make a Windows Tablet, much the way they have “created” the Windows Phone 7 ecosystem by partnering their new mobile OS with hardware manufacturers.
What is far more likely is that Microsoft is planning to produce iPad apps, much like their Mac division produces Microsoft Office for the Macintosh. And much like they have already produced iOS apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
It seems fairly obvious to us that Microsoft is planning to produce some kind of companion app for Microsoft office for the iPad, and quite possibly the emerging Android tablet ecosystem.
When, or if we’ll see these apps is anybodies guess though.
Do you think Microsoft Office for the iPad is on the way? Have your say in the comments…
[via Electronista] ]]> https://touchreviews.net/microsoft-office-ipad/feed/ 5TORONTO, ON — October 27, 2010 — Kobo, a global eReading service, today announced that a selection of the most popular newspapers and magazines are now available for download with a two -week FREE trial from the Kobo store. Effective immediately, dozens of top U.S. and Canadian publications have been added to Kobo, which currently boasts over 2.2 million eBooks including the hottest new releases, New York Times bestsellers, timeless literary masterpieces and thousands of free titles.
The Kobo Store now offers the following digital publications across select Kobo devices and Apps: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Scientist, The Seattle Times, Wilson Quarterly, Foreign Affairs, American Scholar, China International Business, Columbus Dispatch , Guideposts, Harvard Business Review, National Review, New York Observer, PC Magazine, Publishers Weekly, Reason, The Christian Science Monitor Daily Briefing, The Nation, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, National Post, Ottawa Citizen, Regina Leader-Post, Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, Vancouver Province, Vancouver Sun, Victoria Times-Colonist, and The Globe & Mail. Kobo will be continuing to expand its newspaper and magazine offering to ensure that we have all the publications that people want to read worldwide.
Delivering on the Kobo promise of providing consumers with a best-in-class eReading experience, Kobo’s newspapers and magazines are formatted to bring publications’ same unique qualities to the digital format. Readers can customize their content by selecting from several text sizes – enabling an optimal and comfortable reading experience. Readers can also now organize select newspapers and magazines, along with their eBooks, on the Kobo Wireless eReader, the iPhone and on the iPad. Reading books and select newspapers and magazines is seamless across devices, as users can pick up where they last left off with Kobo Sync.
“Kobo continues to build on our commitment of making sure that consumers have the best reading experience on any device with the largest selection of content worldwide, ” said Michael Serbinis, CEO of Kobo. “We’ve had tremendous success with eBooks and we’re very excited to expand the Kobo offering to include newspapers and magazines with a two-week free trial, allowing consumers to try first without any obligation. We continue to bring on top publishers to ensure that Kobo’s newspaper and magazine offering meets our customers’ highest expectations.”
The addition of newspapers and magazines allows Kobo customers to purchase their favorite publications through a monthly subscription. Following a two-week free trial – monthly subscriptions start as low as: $13.99 for newspapers and $2.99 for magazines. The current edition of a newspaper or magazine can be immediately added to a customer’s library, and with the subscription, customers will receive wireless delivery directly to their Kobo iPad or iPhone App or their Kobo Wireless eReader. It is so convenient – readers can now get their morning paper delivered right to their Kobo Wireless eReader just in time to enjoy with their morning coffee. The new Kobo iPhone and iPad apps are available for download today from the iTunes App Store. Subscriptions and 2 week free trials can be accessed directly from the iPad, iPhone, and the Kobo Wireless eReader’s onboard store, or from the Kobo Newsstand at www.kobobooks.com.
For more information, visit www.kobobooks.com.
*Pricing and delivery method varies based on the publication.
About Kobo, Inc.
Kobo is a global eReading service backed by majority shareholder Indigo Books & Music, Borders Group, REDgroup Retail, and Cheung Kong Holdings. Kobo believes consumers should be able to read any book on any device. With a catalog of over two million eBooks, and an open platform, Kobo enables retailers, device manufacturers and mobile operators to bring the joy of eReading to customers everywhere. For more information, visit www.kobobooks.com.
]]> https://touchreviews.net/kobo-introduces-newspapers-magazines-iphone-ipad-kobo-reading-apps/feed/ 0Just under two-thirds of the total apps in iTunes are paid apps. Games still come a close second to Books as the most downloaded media both having a smidgen under 17% each of overall downloads.
One thing worth considering is that this figure is not necessarily showing us the whole picture. Although it is probably a good estimate, there are a lot of apps which have been in the App Store, but have been taken off sale. However, as a counterpoint to that, this most recent survey data, collated by Mobclix, does not take into account many apps sold outside the US.
The Android Marketplace is fast on the heels of the App Store, now reported as having over 100,000 apps.
Both marketplaces are set to grow further as we get closer to the end of the year but the Android Marketplace is expected to do so more, as a shower of new Android tablet devices hit highstreet shelves.
Will Android Apps overtake those of iOS in 2011? When will the App Store hit 1 Million apps? 2011 or 2012? Have your say in the comments.
[via VentureBeat] ]]> https://touchreviews.net/apple-app-store-300000-apps-milestone/feed/ 1
As I write this review there at just 69 shopping days left until Christmas, by the time you are reading this there are probably even less! That thought sent shivers down my spine.
Coming from a large family with siblings that are all married and with their own children the gift buying process can be both tricky and frustrating. I’ve tried notebooks, spreadsheets and todo lists and while they all had something to offer they were all lacking in key functionality too.
This year however I have a new tool to track and manage my Christmas shopping and that is Gifts HD for the iPad, a gift tracking app that allows you to list, budget and track all your gifts in an easy to use iPad application.
Running the application for the first time requires you to set up a local user account with a name and password, this allows multiple users to use the application on a single iPad without divulging their present giving plans to other people.
Once this initial step is completed there are three tasks to be completed.
Adding these items is all done from the same screen making it a very simple process. You can either click on the add button to add the specific item or tap on the note in question to open it up in a larger area.
Depending on your process you may be in a position to add all this information at the beginning of the process or as you go, both work and you can also delete any of the items with a simple swipe of the item.
Once you start shopping you can combine the people and gifts and their current status of purchased, wrapped and even mailed. You can even add descriptions and where appropriate, tracking numbers.
Gifts HD developed by Jason Jardim is a slick to do list made specifically for the purchase of tracking Christmas gifts and it makes it very simple.
There are a few missing items that don’t really stop the app from doing what it’s supposed to do, but would take it to another level. It would be great to be able to import lists from other sources such as your contacts or other files. Also being able to edit multiple contacts or gifts at the same time would be a nice addition.
For those of you who like to be organized Gifts HD would be your perfect companion this festive season.
Pros
Cons
Reviewed on an Apple iPad
$4.99 (View in iTunes)
Category: Productivity
Released:Oct 07, 2010
Version:1.0
1.0
10.6 MB
Language:English
Seller:Jason Jardim
© www.MacSpots.com
Rated 4+
Requirements:Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later
Life Tracker HD is a beautiful application for you to track the milestones in your life and your future goals. Included in this is the ability to predict your life expectancy which while nice for me, apparently I have another 40+ years to live, I’m not sure how an octogenarian would feel if they were to try the app!
After a short overview of the application you get to enter your name and then you date of birth and nationality that is used to predict your life expectancy. Once you’ve added those few pieces of information you are launched into the main part of the app.
The main page of the app displays a large clock face but instead of hours and minutes it displays years and months, from the year you were born to your predicted death!
Adding milestones and or goals is as simple as dragging a pin onto the relevant year on the clock face. From there a new page opens up and you can pin point the date down to the specific day and month.
Also on this page you can add as much detail about the milestone as you like, from a simple headline to an essay, the choice is up to you.
This is all very simple to do, however the simplicity comes at a price. There’s no ability to add tags to group your milestones, no ability to add pictures or any other attachments and no way to format the text you are entering either which some what limits the options and the subsequent results.
Once you’ve added some milestones and goals, the difference between them simply being whether they happens in the past or will be happening in the future, they will all show up as dots on the dial. This is nice to look at but while you would think tapping on them would take you to the detail it doesn’t.
To view the entries you’ve already entered you have to scroll down to the milestone page which will display all your entries in chronological order for you to scroll through and re-read.
It would be nice if there were different options to view your milestones and even export them but sadly at present this is not the case.
You can set up multiple profiles so that multiple users can enter their life stories but is no substitute for the previously mentioned missing pieces.
The app looks absolutely beautiful and has great potential but until additional functionality is offered all the hard work of entering your data leaves it as nothing more than a great looking diary.
$3.99 (View in iTunes)
Category: Productivity
Released:Sep 30, 2010
Version:1
1 (iOS 4.0 Tested)
4.2 MB
Language:English
Seller:Oliver Rozynski
© 2010 Oliver Rozynski
Rated 4+
Requirements:Compatible with iPad. Requires iPhone OS 3.2 or later
AppleInsider report that it has exceeded sales of the iPhone and even the original DVD player. Of course the global market is much bigger now than it was then but, this does tend to put a new perspective on just how successful the iPad has been for Apple.
Taking that into account, consider that the launch of the DVD player in 1997 had sales of just 350,000. The iPhone, some years later, took 74 days to sell its first million units. The iPad, even with constrained supplies, managed to sell its first million in just 28 days.
Colin McGranahan, retail analyst with Bernstein Research, is the source for these figures and he concludes that the iPad is the fastest selling non-phone electronic product ever.
Colin goes on to predict iPad sales worth more than $9 Billion in 2011, which makes Apple’s newest product only fourth in line in market size to that of the TV market, smart-phones and notebook computers which is quite incredible.
The iPad is expected to have sold 4.5 million more units in the financial quarter that Apple will report on this Monday, the 18th of October, at 2pm Pacific time.
Will the iPad be slowed down by the new tablets that Apple’s rivals are launching in the coming months? Or not? You can check out my opinion on that here. Then have your say in the comments…
]]> https://touchreviews.net/apple-ipad-fastest-adopted-device/feed/ 3The revelation came as Cameron explained how he manages his iTunes music. Understandably those in charge of IT at Number 10 Downing Street aren’t too keen on him putting his iTunes library on mission critical machines. The fix is an iMac, which the PM bought for his wife Samantha. No details were given on the specs, but I’ll be very disappointed if it isn’t the 27inch model!
Cameron’s favorite part seems to be the ability to control the aforementioned iMac from his iPad presumably using some sort of VNC app. Those hoping the PM is a geek will be slightly disappointed to hear he required help from IT to get it working, however!
The cool thing is that I now control my iMac from the iPad, to play out through the speaker but I have to admit I had a little bit of help from someone in IT on that.
David Cameron isn’t the first politician to embrace Apple’s hardware and particularly the iPad. The Washington Post reported in June how everyone in the West Wing at the time either had, or would be getting, an iPad.
White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel amongst others were reportedly singing the device’s praises, with many actively downloading apps for Apple’s tablet. Favorites included Scrabble, iBooks and the MLB app.
So now we know what they get up to on Air Force One!
]]> https://touchreviews.net/uk-prime-minister-david-cameron-apple-ipad/feed/ 0Math Bingo – Developed by Abcya, Math Bingo is an app with all different sums to solve. It covers addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. There are three different skill modes, easy, medium and hard and you can create your own character from a choice of 8.
The aim of the game is to get a row of five little bugs. To do this you answer a math question at the top of the screen and then find your answer within a table below. When you get a row of five you win.The game is timed so you can see how long it takes you to get your five in a row. You are also scored on the amount you get right and wrong and how quick. The lower the score the better you do.
Your child will also be rewarded for a high score with a Bingo Bug. They can collect these bugs and then interact with them. To do this they just tilt the device or tap them and they produce cute little giggling noises.
The game comes with great sound effects, clear and good sized buttons and numbers. The bugs will be loved by all children and scoring within the game encourages them to play over and over.This is an easy to play game for children, that encourages them to learn. It is lots of fun and it really doesn’t feel like they are learning maths! ($.99, View in iTunes)
Basic Math – Developed by Explorer-Technologies Basic Math is an app designed for children up to the age of 12. It helps them improve on the their math skills.
The app covers Addition, Subtraction, Division and Multiplication. At the start you can set the amount of questions you want to be asked. The default is 10. When you have chosen which type you would like to solve you are ready to start answering the questions.
On the screen is a chalkboard with a sum to solve. Below it are a choice of answers, all you need to do is tap on the answer. If it is correct you get a tick and if not a cross.At the end of the round you receive your results. It will tell you how many you got right and what your percentage is.
You then work your way through each sum type. If you like you can set the timer so you can see how long it takes you and then try to improve your time.The app is very basic in terms of graphics but it is all easy to use for any child and they could access it themselves very easily. There is no sound so no distractions and it is straight to the point and the focus is on answering questions.
The timer and scoring within the app again will encourage your child to retry and improve their score practicing as they go. (Free, View in iTunes)
Doodle Math – Developed by cbh_mobile Doodle Math is another app that is all about solving different sums.
To play the game there is a little monster on the left hand side and he starts walking across to the right. You have to answer the math question before it gets to the other side and then see how many levels you can survive.
I would say that this is not designed for young pre-school children it is more for school age and above as some of the questions are hard and you do have to answer quite quickly. You have three chances before the game is over. When it is over it will show the score and they can also submit their score to facebook if they wish.
This is a great fun game, it is teaching your child to answer math questions and to answer quickly. This is a good idea as I have noticed with my own child that at school they are encouraging them to answer the questions quickly and with out too much thinking about it and using their fingers. This game helps them to improve on this skill.
It is quite a challenge and it will appeal to any child. The graphics are in the doodle pencil style and the little purple monster is too cute to even come across as scary. ($.99, View in iTunes)
Park Math
Developed by Duckduckmoosedesign is aimed at 1- 6 year olds and will help in the learning of many math sums. It covers, counting, addition, greater than/less than, subtraction, sorting in sizes and patterns.
It is brought to you in the theme of a park which is bound to appeal to any young child. You join a little blue bear in the park and play the different activities. Tap on a kite to choose your topic, here are the activities:
1) Slide: Addition – You help duck climb up the slide and count as he goes.
2) Swing:Counting – Count the rabbit as it swings back and forth.
3) Seesaw : Greater than/less than – Balance a seesaw by adding and subtracting mice.
4) Apple Tree : Subtraction – As the apples drop learn how to subtract.
5) Bench : Sorting – Put the dogs in the correct size order. Put the numbers in sequence.
6) Sandbox : Patterns – Complete a pattern with the correct toy.
7) Picnic : Counting – Feed the hippo the correct amount of food items.
There are two skill levels to choose from depending on the child’s age. The app has animated graphics and are very appealing. There is also nursery rhymes playing as they go. It is a great app for young children and will keep them entertained and interested as they learn. ($1.99, View in iTunes)
Math Magic – Developed by Anusen Math Magic is a great math learning app with the chance of earning stickers as you go.
There are different skill levels to choose from depending on what level your child is at. Then you decide what type of math questions you would like to answer ranging from addition, subtraction, division and multiplication then start!
The question is shown on screen and the possible answers are shown below it. If you get the right one you get a tick and great encouraging words are spoken. The same goes if you get it wrong the voice says ‘you can do it’ and encourages you to carry on and try again.
As you go you will be rewarded with stickers for completing a certain amount of answers. This a great math app for a child who needs that extra push to motivate them. It is full of postive words and will make them determined to get the answers correct. ($.99, View in iTunes)
Popmath Basic Math – Developed by PopSoft PopMath is all about teaching children basic math equations. The app covers the four main sums and you can choose which one you want to play.
The game play is very simple. Bubbles are floating around with numbers on. Some of them will show a sum like 3+4 for example and others will just show a numnber like 7. You have to match the sum with the correct answer.
Once you have popped all the bubbles you will see your score and a great motivational message. You can then do that level again or move on to the next one. Each new level increases how many bubbles there are to match.
Every level also as a different background and everytime you pop a bubble it makes a popping noise. If you leave the game you can go back and restart where you left off or start back at the beginning.
This is yet another app that is very easy to use and play. It is one that children of any age can use easily without supervision and one that encourages them to keep trying and see how far they can get. ($.99, View in iTunes)
Is there a Math app you use with your child? Let us know in the comments below.
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Galactica HD is an entertainment application that is described by the developers as an interactive visualizer. The application allows you to control a never ending stream of particles by touching the screen along with a choice of 6 laid back atmospheric tunes which both stimulates and relaxes the senses at the same time.
The application starts in demo mode and with no interaction the screen will begin to flow with a stream of brightly colored particles in a range shapes. Imagine watching a large firework display without the loud noises but instead a soothing backing track.
Of course while you can sit back and relax and just watch the app do it’s thing you can also get interactive and start controlling the imagery on the screen. The first time you play Galactica HD a short tutorial will step you through the options. Being a multi-touch device there are multiple options for you to control the on-screen action.
Swiping a single finger across the screen will emit an explosion, all be it a silent one, of particles across the screen while touching the screen in multiple places will attract all of the on screen particles to your fingers before they escape again as you release your fingers.
The particle colors change periodically which makes the screen fill with a variety of colors although it would be nice to have some control over this and even have the ablility to change the color each time you create a new stream of particles.
There are 6 tracks to play along in the back ground as you play but just like the color of the particle streams you also have no control over which track is playing at any one time. 3 of the tracks are installed by default along with the application and the additional 3 tracks can be downloaded for free once you’ve installed the app.
As you create you visual master pieces you can either take a snapshot of your work of art which will be automatticaly saved to your iPads picture album or you can record a movie which you can playback in the application whenever you want. The application will also output to a projector or an HD-TV with the appropriate cables and this could create a nice entertainment piece and talking point at a party or as back ground entertainment when you have a few friends over.
At $1.99 I think the app is a little over priced even for the iPad. While the app is nice to look at and is entertaining for a while the lack of cuztomization will restrict the long term entertainment value of this app.
Reviewed on an Apple iPad
$1.99 (View in iTunes)
Category: Entertainment
Released:Sep 28, 2010
Reviewed Version:1.0
1.0 (iOS 4.0 Tested)
Size: 18.9 MB
Language:English
Seller:Thumbspark Limited
© 2010 Thumbspark Limited
Requirements:Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later.
The developers of the best document manager app called ReaddleDocs for iPhone and iPad , today announced yet another update for the iPad version.
It is always great to see that the developers are committed to make the app even better by offering free updates for everyone who uses their app.
Some of the cool new features in version 1.6 are:
Readdle sent us a press release with more details:
Today Readdle announces the release of ReaddleDocs for iPad 1.6, a new version of its all-in-one document reader application. ReaddleDocs for iPad 1.6 introduces a brand new PDF reader with smooth horizontal scroll and complete support for highlight and notes annotations; ability to download and upload files from FTP/SFTP servers; VGA adapter output for projecting documents on the external screens.
“ReaddleDocs for iPad 1.6 is the biggest update since the product launch,” says Alex Tyagulsky, Readdle CMO. “It contains everything our users were asking for the last 3 months as well as adds several functions that would be welcomed by many people.”
Based on ReaddleDocs users’ feedbacks, PDF is the most popular document format among iPad owners. New ReaddleDocs’ PDF viewer spotlights fluid horizontal page flipping, opens documents of almost any size, lets users highlight text and make notes annotations. Annotations saved within the document, could be transferred to Apple Preview or Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Already impressive list of ReaddleDocs network connectivity options now extended with FTP/SFTP support. It allows network administrators, developers and other IT people connect to any FTP or SFTP enabled web server, view their files and even edit them remotely. On the other hand, Mac users now can wirelessly browse documents on their computers and read them right from the iPad.
Another highly anticipated addition to ReaddleDocs for iPad 1.6 is VGA adapter output. Now business people and lecturers only need the iPad with ReaddleDocs and a small projector to carry out presentation, meeting or lection. VGA adapter output works with PDF, MS Office and iWork documents.
To learn more about ReaddleDocs for iPad 1.6 visit product page in the iTunes Store: http://itunes.com/app/readdledocsforipad
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Live Notes is a colourful sketch pad, with a refreshing User Interface and a neat twist. Rather like the Live Scribe pen it allows you to take notes and record audio at the same time (There is no relationship between the two companies who make the pen and the app, by the way).
So, how does Live Notes stack up as an iPad productivity tool?
When you first launch Live Notes you are presented with a view similar to that which Pages uses, and giving you access to your documents so that you can administer them by scrolling between them. One of those documents is a kind of tutorial sheet, which is a nice informal introduction to the app.
Icons for drawing, writing, and so forth are unobtrusive and clear. Tool palettes are presented in rather pleasing looking windows which appear to be based on brown notebook back cardboard. The bright tool colors, brown popups and lined white paper all work towards making the app feel quite wholesome. Yeah, I liked that about it!
The ability to have an audio recording made alongside your typing or scribbling has many applications. The first that springs to mind is grabbing sound bytes in a lecture – but you’ll need to be close to the sound source to get a good recording. This is perhaps partly a problem with the iPad – but the app makers could have tried to boost the audio.
Another possibility, other than simply amusing yourself, is entertaining a child with a visual story. What this app does is give your iPad the functionality of a Live Scribe pen. But with the ability to draw shapes and hand-drawn notes, as well as typed text with various fonts, all in lots of bright colors.
Undo is more like working in a print layout program. Rather than undoing, you target sketch elements by holding them for a few seconds to bring up a trash option. This is fine, but it would be nice to have a more traditional linear undo option too.
In a similar fashion to Live Note’s undo, you can also tap parts of the sketch to hear audio from that point during the sketching / note taking process. Which is neat.
You cannot however, export your drawing and audio as one cohesive file. You can replay it on the device with audio and notes synced. But export options are only for PDF with no audio.
Overall though Live Notesli is a neat little app. Looks nice, and works well. If the developers at Humble Gaming Limited augment it by addressing the little niggles I have outlined it will then be a great little app.
Price: $5.99 (App Store)
Category: Productivity
Updated:Aug 19, 2010
Reviewed Version:1.01
Size: 3.1 MB
Language:English
Seller:Humble Gaming Limited
© Humble Gaming Limited
Requirements:Compatible with iPad. Requires iPhone OS 3.2 or later.
When I was just 6 years old computers were only for the select few and certainly weren’t making their way into peoples homes. In fact all we had was a Binatone Video Game system which allowed you to play black and white versions of tennis and squash.
Now though my 6 year old daughter gets to enjoy all of the high tech items that I own and that includes the iPad which she loves. Not only does it contain cool games, music and her cartoons but it’s easy enough for her to switch on and use on her own.
All that being said the App Store is still pretty dominated by more mature games and so it’s always a pleasure when I get my hands on an app that is specifically targeted at her age range. And in ABC Wildlife that’s exactly what we have.
ABC Wildlife is not a game, instead it’s a educational app where over 80 animals are listed alphabetically on a grid with HD images, fascinating fun facts and over 200 videos for your child to work through and engage.
The app is so well put together that my 6 year old daughter was able to easily navigate through the app, scroll through the pictures and play the movies.
There is a great variety of animals too, from Aardvarks and Alligators through Iguana and Impala to Whales and Zebra so what ever animal is your child’s favorite you should find them here. Selecting one of the animals brings up the first of three HD pictures while the animal is announced and spelled out for your child to hear and see.
Along with being able to scroll through the 3 HD pictures which look amazing on the iPad screen each picture also enables you to drill through to a video presented via YouTube. You could obviously access the video’s on You Tube directly but they are integrated so well it’s well worth the $2.99 that the app costs.
In my opinion the cost of the app is worth it just for the video of the baby aardvark which has been watched again and again in this household.
Each animal also includes 3 fascinating fun facts including such gems as “When threatened, vultures use their reeking, corrosive vomit as a defense projectile”, and “The jaguar has the strongest jaw structure in the cat family”.
ABC Wildlife offers “oooohs”, “aaaahs” and “urrghs” in equal quantity and offers hours of enjoyment to any young child who loves animals and offers the parent the knowledge that their child is being educated at the same time.
Reviewed on an iPad
Price: $2.99 (App Store)
Category: Education
Updated:Aug 26, 2010
Reviewed Version:2.2
Size: 14.4 MB
Language:English
Seller:guillermo krovblit
© Peapod Labs LLC
Requirements:Compatible with iPad. Requires iPhone OS 3.2 or later.
Meanwhile Apple’s own iTunes App Store now boasts close to 250,000 Apps currently in its storefront, and has had some 300,000 different Apps pass through it during its lifetime. The 50,000 differential is for Apps that have either been pulled by their own authors, or removed by Apple.
Is 250,000 Apps and 100 Million users impressive to you? Or is it simply too many apps and too many people? Are you one of the millions that uses Facebook on your iPhone? Let us know your views in the comments…
[9to5Mac] ]]> https://touchreviews.net/app-store-nears-250000-apps-facebook-hits-100-million/feed/ 4
The iPad is an unmitigated success. It has grabbed the hearts of consumers and TV personalities alike. Early in its life the likes of Colbert clutched a pre-production model at the Grammy Awards.
Consumers in the US and 20 other countries, cannot get enough units of the device. And recently I marvelled at the number of Formula 1 racing drivers and media personalities clutching them in the Formula 1 paddock in Turkey.
By the way, if you are into F1 motor racing the F1 Live Timing app is an excellent example of the kind of application that the iPad is perfectly suited to. Anyway, I digress. Amusingly the majority of the iPads at the F1 race in Turkey had apparently been brought back from the US by Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton, and sold at cost plus a “commission” to his fellow drivers! When I had iPads brought to Thailand for friends and colleagues I did it at cost! Silly me! One of the reasons I was so excited about the iPad was that I was looking forward very much to playing some cool new innovative games on it.
But has the iPad really taken off as a gaming device the way we expected it to? Not yet in my opinion. Even though I freely admit that I was one of the ones who saw the iPad reinventing gaming, I have yet to see any evidence of that happening.
We reported that 35% of iPad apps were games back in early April. Since then it has been unclear how that figure has developed. Initially the vast majority of iPad games were simply ports of existing iPhone and iPod Touch titles. Albeit “enhanced” versions with the ubiquitous suffix “HD”. Worryingly, from my own observations, I am not seeing a change in that trend moving forward. More and more ports of iPhone apps are hitting the iTunes store as dedicated iPad apps, or Universal apps for the iPhone, iPod Touch and the iPad. Sure the iPad versions are better, but they are not jumping out of the screen and screaming at me this is what iPad gaming is all about!
There are a huge number of innovative media apps for the iPad. In some of those products online and written content is being re-imagined for Apple’s revolutionary device. Wired’s app for example. This is much as Steve Jobs predicted. Similarly in art apps developers are offering us ways to daub on the screen using our fingers to draw and paint with coloured digital inks and oils.
Music apps are taking advantage of the iPad’s huge touch screen to make more interactive and complex instruments than we’ve seen on the iPhone so far. Some innovative designers have created huge iPad mixing desks, or more ergonomic and innovative keyboards than can be squeezed onto an iPhone or iPod screen. Some other apps are complete re-imaginings of how we might make and enjoy music.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for iPad games, yet.
During WWDC we had Farmville and Guitar Hero as big game announcements, sharing stage time with the iPhone 4 and Steve Jobs. Sorry to be cynical, but that is more of the same type of games we are seeing ported to every gaming platform. If I want to play those games I’ll play them on Facebook or on a PS3 or 360. I can accept those on the iPhone, but I expect more from iPad developers. And I am sure you do too.
So far the list of the top 25 games for the iPad makes somewhat disappointing reading too. Titles can be taken from a range of fairly mundane ports of games like N.O.V.A, Mirrors Edge, or Need For Speed. We then have the inevitable ports of original, and admittedly fun iPhone breakout successes like Harbor Master, Flight Control, and Plants vs. Zombies.
Other developers have taken a stab at recreating board games like Scrabble or Monopoly. But they have produced what are literally recreations of board games on an iPad. I expected far more innovation in that field. Rather than say a complete carbon copy of Chess I expected something more akin to the way Chess was re-imagined in Star Wars, on the Millennium Falcon.
To date most of the games I am seeing on the iPad float somewhere between so-so and cynical attempts to cash in on previous successes.
Admittedly, it is early days yet. But I have to wonder how much effort big publishers are going to put into this platform until they have gauged the success of their ports of existing IP. I also think it is clear that the success of the iPad, and the demographic it is selling to is currently that of people who are more interested in media consumption and media manipulation. So the big game publishers may not get the feedback they are waiting for – unless they innovate, and stimulate customers like me.
One thing is for sure. People should rightly be expecting more out of the games they get on their iPad. They shouldn’t necessarily expect a game like Fallout 3, KillZone 2 or Red Dead Redemption. And sure, people still love Solitaire. I know that very well. My glorious new iPad often has to be prized from my wife’s clutches as she seems to enjoy Solitaire on my $500 Tablet far more than on her laptop or iPhone! But from the people I have spoken to, they do by and large expect something more akin to a full game on the iPad – and are being disappointed. Whereas they will just play noughts and crosses, or other trivial time wasting activities on an iPhone, in idle moments on the train or in a taxi, they actually take time out to use their iPad to do fun and interesting things. iPad games makers should recognise and cater for this.
The potential of the iPad for many activities, including gaming, is not hard to see. Its larger screen, and more flexible touch interface, as well as its surprisingly powerful graphics capability are all obvious facilities for great entertainment software. But therein also perhaps lies the iPad’s problem.
Indie developers are going to have problems producing content on a budget for this device. Art assets need to be of the next level in terms of quality and fidelity. Complex and efficient shaders need to be written for the Graphics Chip, to make the most of the iPad’s GPU’s capabilities with such a large screen to fill with pixels, and keep pretty at the same time.
The gameplay experience on the iPad needs to be a little more than squishing zits, or blowing up stick men over and over again. So not only are iPad apps going to require more resources to develop, they are going to require better design and planning, and more coding and asset production. So more money, more time, and more risk!
Production times are going to be longer. This may also be why we haven’t seen any truly breakout games on the iPad yet. Perhaps they are still in development?
But then again, perhaps they haven’t even been started yet, as Indie Developers hold fire for fear of burning too many resources on a project that may fail in development, or not sell well. Other Indies, more experienced ones with iPhone and iPod Touch games under their belts, have already shipped ports of existing iPhone titles. Likewise, so have the large publishers. Many of the large publishers have more to be ashamed of, as they have had advanced access to hardware for several months – whereas some Indie Developers can’t even buy an iPad in their country yet!
I assume a large portion of the existing iPhone game development community, small and large, are sitting back to see what sort of numbers they sell before embarking on more ambitious, resource and time intensive projects.
The problem with sitting back and seeing, though, is that we end up in a chicken and egg situation. In order for gamers to flock to a platform you have to give them a reason to come. Conversely developers want the gamers to be there so they have a captive audience – and guaranteed sales.
I know as a gamer I am disappointed with what I am seeing on the iPad in the entertainment sector so far. Right now the iPad lacks a killer app in gaming. By that I mean it doesn’t have the XBox’s Halo franchise, or the PS3’s Little Big Planet. It doesn’t even have the Wii’s Zelda. What it does have is a high number of mediocre 5 minute coffee table / dollar app diversions.
To be frank, right now, the iPad’s killer app is iWork and iBooks. After that it is basically Mobile Safari. Not much gaming going on in any of those.
The killer app for iPhone 4 is iMovie, and its ability to to play any existing iPhone game natively. On top of that it is somewhat easier for iPhone developers to justify augmenting and re-releasing the kind of games they have already sold on the iPod Touch and earlier iPhones. It’s a still a phone, after all.
What no-one is doing right now, as far as I can see, is taking a leap of faith and producing something that is so good to play that people want to buy an iPad just to play it. Without that catalyst the iPad as a gaming platform could be still born.
Can you show us any killer games for the iPad? What’s your favourite iPad game? And what would you like to see? Let us know in the comments.
This post is a part of our series of opinion articles, in which we encourage our writers to present their opinion on something they feel strongly about.
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App Layout allows anyone to mock up iPhone or iPad User Interface designs on their iPad. You can then save the design as an image and share it with others. Is this something you might be looking for?
App Layout has hit the iTunes App Store at a price point which certainly makes it worth investigation. Similar packages are currently selling at around $9.99, compared to App Layout’s low $4.99 price point.
Do you get what you pay for? Or is this app a bargain? Let’s find out…
From my perspective as a developer I can see the appeal of having something that allows me to mock up app layouts when on the move. I may well fire up something like App Layout in idle moments when I don’t have a laptop with me that can run Apple’s development tools and I want to work through an idea. That could be an idea either for myself alone, or with a client in his or her office.
I have also dealt with some pretty awful hand drawn App Designs from prospective clients in the past. I am not sure if any app can “cure” people of bad design. But it can certainly give those who simply have problems expressing their ideas a useful framework to work within, and offer them the opportunity to meld their concept onto a mobile screen’s dimensions.
App Layout goes some way towards offering a solution to people in either of the two situations I just outlined. And at $4.99 it might even be worth a purchase if you have absolutely no idea what app design is and simply want to play at it!
But this app is not without its flaws. It is relatively new however, so I will be keeping an eye on updates in the future.
On the one hand having access to the majority of iOS User Interface elements in a mobile app is a great thing. But the ease with which we can put something together using them is what separates a truly great utility from an average one.
App Layout has a fun, informal feel overall. Even down to the hokey home grown music menu so that you can have some tunes playing as you design.
Initially accessing User Interface elements in App Layout is fun. You can swipe thorough a vast array of widgets and buttons, as well as fully blown iPhone or iPad screens. You then tap one to make a copy appear in your app design canvas.
You can then slide any chosen widget into position on a mockup device; iPad or iPhone. It’s at this point that App Layout’s limitations become clear. Selecting the user interface elements to put into your app layout should really be done by dragging them from the widget menu. Not tapping them to make copies appear on the screen in the top left hand corner, which can then be manipulated. It’s a small thing, but counterintuitive, and it makes your workflow more awkward then it needs to be.
Likewise scaling, or rotating elements should be done with multi-touch actions on those elements. Not by tapping buttons on a pop out menu. We are in 2010, and this is an iOS app after all Flicking forwards and backwards across a screen to find controls is not what good app design is about nowadays. People want to use their fingers to move, resize and rotate things on iDevices. So it is somewhat ironic that an “app design app” has these short comings. You can tell that App Layout has been designed primarily in a Simulator, and not on a device because it is mouse-centric, and not multi-touch-centric in many many ways.
When positioning items in your app mockup it would also be nice if there was a snap to grid option. Or if pieces would nudge up to one another when close together. Yes, that kind of option can be irritating. But it can also be a boon, particularly on a touch interface when it comes to positing things accurately, and neatly. It’s also a feature of Apple’s free desktop Interface Builder app, which I use daily, and Photoshop as well as most other design apps on the market. So I miss it terribly when it’s not in other people’s offerings.
It is also not possible to save an active project in App Layout. Something which necessitates you finishing a design and then saving it as an image, all in one session. You then don’t have the option to go back and work on that design again. Or to copy and fork it and try different concepts. More importantly you can’t suspend your work easily with the intention of coming back to it later. This last restriction makes the tedious nature of widget layout more frustrating. And beggars the question: What is the target audience for this app? If it’s for quick layouts then it needs a more intuitive and efficient user interface. If it’s for app designers then it needs options to save, copy and suspend work for later.
In short, App Layout is basically a painting app which uses iOS User Interface Elements as its brushes.
However, at $4.99 you cannot reasonably expect this program to offer all of the features of more pricey offerings, right out of the starting gate. Hopefully the developer is working to address these issues, and they will be forthcoming in a future update. I was just hoping for more – especially in an iPad app. I am certainly willing to take another look then.
It should be remembered that App Layout’s more expensive rivals are not perfect by any means either. And they should perhaps take note of the price point of this app, and worry that the developer might solve the niggles I have with it, and really challenge their pricing and market position.
In summary, at $4.99 App Layout is a cheap alternative to other more expensive app design options. But it is more of a hobbyist’s app than something a professional would use. And its a little too frustrating to offer to my clients to use.
Let’s hope the developer grows the concept.
Price: $4.99 (App Store)
Category: Productivity
Released:Aug 03, 2010
Reviewed Version:1.0
Size: 39.7 MB
Language:English
Seller: Jason Jardim
© www.MacSpots.com
Requirements:Compatible with iPad. Requires iPhone OS 3.2 or later.
“Over the last three years, Readdle has grown strong notwithstanding the many challenges on this emerging platform,” said Igor Zhadanov, Readdle co-founder. “Our success is based on a single platform focus – enabling iPhone owners to be productive and efficient on the go – and a great mutual collaboration between the peers in our team with an individual approach to each user,” he explained. “This serves our company and our customers very well.”
During these years, Readdle has achieved industry recognition as a strong developer of business applications for the iPhone and iPad owners. In celebration of its third anniversary, Readdle is offering a time-limited discount on all Readdle products. Price reductions will take effect for 48 hours since August 1st. Additionally, Readdle is giving away three iPads to its Twitter followers.
Readdle
Readdle Turns 3
All Readdle Products
Screenshot
Founded in 2007, Readdle provides Apple iPhone and Apple iPod touch users with high quality applications missing in a standard application set. The company flagship products are Scanner Pro, an application which transforms the iPhone into portable scanner, and ReaddleDocs, a revolutionary file manager, document reader and attachment viewer for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Copyright 2007-2010 Readdle. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod, iPad and iTunes are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.
]]> https://touchreviews.net/readdle-turns-3-win-free-ipad/feed/ 0Live Notes (priced at $5.99 USD) is a fully functional powerful tool that promises to enhance the life of anyone that uses it. The Current Version 1.0 has been specifically built for the iPad and is packed with features that are relevant and improve productivity for business professionals, students, academics and the market at large. Some notable features include:
“Live Notes is an essential tool for anyone that takes notes,” said Prakash Bharwani, Director of Communications for Humble Gaming Limited. “It’s a practical application with a UI that is simple and crisp, users will find it as a necessity and will not leave their home without it on their iPad.”
Live Notes offers a depth of functionality and that users will find relevant and resourceful in their daily lives. In fact, Humble Gaming in joint cooperation with the very talented Gustavo Ambrozio, based in Brazil, has carefully balanced the practical needs of end users with a useful easy to use UI with the goal to offer the right balance to a diverse group of users.
“Live Notes was built from the start with the end user in mind. We tried to balance functionality, ease of use and a nice design to make the app not only useful, but a pleasure to use as well” said Gustavo.
In order to provide maximum value to customers Humble Gaming is already preparing version 1.1 with even more features due to be released very soon, and has committed to enhance the application by adding more features and updates on a regular basis.
Device Requirements:
* Compatible with iPad
* Requires iPhone OS 3.2 or later
* 3.1 MB
Pricing and Availability:
Live Notes 1.0 is $5.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Productivity category.
Humble Gaming
Live Notes 1.0
Purchase and Download
Screenshot
App Icon
Press Kit (zip)
Asian based Humble Gaming Limited (HG) offers over a dozen entertaining iPhone and iPod games developed by an international team of experienced game developers. HG has now expanded its library to include Productivity Application(s) as well. The HG team prides itself on its ability to combine original content with popular game playing genres and useful applications, whilst continuing to offer value for money. Whether it’s a line drawing, time management or strategy based games or even a Productivity Application, you are sure to be impressed with the attention to detail and impressive graphics. HG team creates the highest level of graphics possible on handsets, and uses its vast development experience to make useful and fun applications. Copyright (C) 2010 Humble Gaming Limited (HG). All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.
]]> https://touchreviews.net/live-notes-1-0-released-for-ipad-bring-your-notes-to-life/feed/ 0The app store has hundreds of different calculator apps. The specialized calculators such as the graphing calculators, builder’s calculators, and engineering calculators all provide features not found in the native iPhone calculator app. The rest of the apps which seems to be nothing more than different user interfaces for the same basic calculator have always made me question the need for yet another calculator app. Now, the good folks at TapBots who created the amazing ConvertBot conversion app, have released yet another basic calculator application with a couple of features that should have been implemented better to make them useful.
CalcBot, just like all other apps by TapBots feature a stunning user interface. It uses a dark user interface and features the almost neonish blue text that ConvertBot made famous. The buttons are all clearly labeled and are sized appropriately for fast and easy operation. If it was up to the user interface alone, this app would be named the king of all calculators. But looks are not everything.
The tagline used to describe CalcBot is “never lose your place in a calculation again” and the concept is simple. Provide a calculator that mirrors desk tape calculators. As you type, the display shows you a “formula” view of your calculation. Under the current total, the steps of the calculation are shown as a formula. Press the equal button and the calculation is transferred to a virtual tape that you can access by swiping down on the screen. Access more formulas by swiping sideways. Want to recall a previous calculation? Click on it on the tape and it is transferred to the calculator screen where, conceptually, you can edit the formula as needed. While this all sounds great, in practice, it is far from great.
Rather than using a traditional tape where each operation is listed on its own line, the tape is simply a list of the previous calculations shown in a formula view. Long formulas are cut off and do not wrap around to show all the steps. Pressing on the formula, will transfer it to the calculator window. This is where the app missed the concept of an electronic tape calculator. Rather than allowing the user to edit the individual parts of the formula, the user is only able to erase the parts starting at the last part and moving in reverse. This means that if you found a mistake in your calculation in the middle of the formula, you have to erase everything to the right of the mistake, fix the mistake, and then re-enter the rest of the formula. That in itself renders this app useless for what some may need a tape calculator for.
In its current incarnation, I can not recommend CalcBot as a useful tape calculator for users who use calculators extensively. Users looking for a companion app to ConvertBot that uses the same beautiful user interface theme will be happy with this app. Power users will soon be looking for a more robust and useful application.
Price: $1.99 (App Store)
Category: Utilities
Updated:Jul 29, 2010
Reviewed Version:1.1.0
1.1.0 (iOS 4.0 Tested)
Size: 9.9 MB
Languages:English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish
Seller:Tapbots
© 2010 Tapbots LLC
Requirements:Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iPhone OS 3.1 or later.
Thanks to the large screen and intuitive touch based controls the iPad is actively used to read books, magazines and documents in PDF format. Now with ReaddleDocs 1.5 people can interact with the PDF document leaving notes or highlighting important text passages in addition to simple reading.
Annotations made with ReaddleDocs 1.5 are saved within the document in accordance with PDF format specification. Thus ReaddleDocs can edit highlights and text notes created in Apple Preview or Adobe Acrobat Reader and vice versa. At the same time it lets people easily share their annotated files with friends and co-workers.
“PDF annotations were among the most requested features since day one of the iPad,” says Igor Zhadanov, Readdle CEO. “With this new update anyone from student to professional can move from simple reading to thoughtful work with documents.”
Device Requirements:
* Compatible with iPad
* Requires iOS 3.2 or later (iOS 4.0 Tested)
* 6.2 MB
Pricing and Availability:
ReaddleDocs for iPad 1.5.1 is $4.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) to new customers and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Business category. It is a free upgrade for existing ReaddleDocs for iPad users.
Readdle
ReaddleDocs for iPad 1.5.1
Purchase and Download
Screenshot
App Icon
Founded in 2007, Readdle aims to provide iPhone and iPod touch users with high quality applications that are missing in a standard application set. Company flagship offerings are Scanner Pro – application which transforms the iPhone into portable scanner; ReaddleDocs – revolutionary file manager, document reader and attachment viewer for iPhone and iPod touch; Take A Note – a versatile note taking application with direct access to notes from a PC or Mac computer over Wi-Fi. Copyright 2007-2010 Readdle. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod, iPad and iTunes are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.
]]> https://touchreviews.net/readdledocs-for-ipad-updated-with-pdf-annotations/feed/ 0