iPad Apps
October 14th, 2011 at 11:16 AM EST | by inu846W
The long, long, long wait for the Facebook app for iPad is finally over. While there had been speculation for months that the Facebook app was ready to be released back in the spring, insiders were confused why the app was being held back. It appears that a fight between the most popular social networking site and the world’s most popular tablet company had been causing the delay. It also appears as though Facebook has finally backed down. At the heart of the fight was the usual dispute over the ability of Facebook to generate revenue through the iPad app. In the end, as has happened with companies like Barnes and Noble and Amazon, Apple got its way and any in-app purchases must be through the iTunes store, rather than through Facebook directly.
For its part, Facebook gets to come to the device that accounts for 97 percent of tablet Internet traffic. The iPad is so popular when it comes to mobile web browsing, that it is actually beating out the iPhone these days in traffic (48.6 percent to 42.6 percent.) The app itself allows for an very iPad specific interface, including the ability to swipe through photo albums. It also allows for the ability to chat with your friends much like you would on any other device. You can also play a full slate of Facebook games on the iPad and watch high resolution videos without being sent to another party’s website. The app is now available for free in the iTunes store.
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October 4th, 2011 at 10:37 AM EST | by Oliver VanDervoort
While the biggest news coming out of Apple’s announcement today is almost certainly going to be the iPhone 5 or the iPhone 4S there are some other announcements that could make almost as much noise in the long run. The iOS 5 might actually be bigger news when it comes to the number of people it will affect because this particular operating system will affect the iPhone, the iPod Touch and the iPad. There have already been a ton of rumors and substantiated claims when it comes to what will be offered when the newest Apple OS is announced and released and that still won’t be the biggest news coming out of today’s press conference. What could be the real news, the stuff that people will be talking about for months to come, could be what Apple is getting set to do with the iPad.
The iPad has long been able to let you watch television shows by downloading apps like Hulu or the ABC, or TBS and TNT apps. Even Netflix allows you to watch episodes of some of your favorite television shows. Of course, the drawback with all of these apps is that you aren’t going to be able to watch these shows when they are actually airing. If you want to catch a show like “Fringe” on Hulu, you are actually going to have to wait eight days to see it. Netflix adds new programs even slower and most of those shows are going to be a season or two behind broadcast television.
If the rumors are true, Apple is getting set to change all of that, and will be taking on providers like DirecTV and Dish Network in the process. Tech blogger Robert Scoble let a couple of details he’s been hearing about today’s announcement slip. While some have been paying attention to the fact that Steve Jobs may be too sick to attend, others zeroed in on his reports that Apple will be releasing an app that would be able to stream live telelvision in the very near future. Scoble says that really for the first time, Apple will be taking advantage of its “Three Screen” (iPhone, iPad, Television) initiative.
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September 27th, 2011 at 9:25 AM EST | by inu846W
If you thought you were frustrated by how long it was taking to get an official Facebook app to the iPad, then imagine how frustrated the app developers were becoming. Most of those in the iPad sector have been hearing for a while now that the app has basically been ready but for a couple of tweaks. It appears that the Facebook for iPad app lead developer has become so frustrated with the holdup on a release that he has actually quit the project.
Jeff Verkoeyen recently left the development team to take a job with Google and wrote on his personal blog that the iPad app has been “feature ready” since May. He also said that the company (meaning Facebook, not Apple) was frustrating him because not only would they not give him a release date but they wouldn’t tell him why they were holding the app back. Verkoeyen later took down the part where he had blamed Facebook for the hold up, but of course before he could remove the incriminating post people had made screen grabs.
But in an article on Mashable, there’s talk of the Facebook for iPad app being released along side iOS 5 and iPhone 5 at the Apple Media event coming up on October 4th.
Facebook will launch its long-awaited iPad app at Apple’s iPhone 5 launch event on Oct. 4, Mashable has learned. In addition to the iPad app, Facebook is also expected to release a revamped version of its iPhone app and may unveil an HTML5-based mobile app marketplace.
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September 26th, 2011 at 3:27 PM EST | by Oliver VanDervoort
Streaming live television to portable devices has been the next big thing for quite a while now. In regards to the iPad, there have already been a couple of cable companies who have tried to go with the flow by offering apps that allow cable subscribers to watch their programs on the tablet. Now it appears that Comcast is joining the fray, much in the same way Time Warner has done it according to macrumors.com. Time Warner allows you to watch certain channels on the iPad as long as you are connected to the same WiFi network that is registered to your television provider. Comcast’s new service, being billed as the AnyPlay will do roughly the same thing.
Comcast users will need to have the right kind of cable box in order for this particular app to work correctly. Apparently, as long as you are using the right box and inside the area that your network covers, you will be able to watch the same shows as you do on your television. Comcast will actually use Xfinity TV’s iPad app and will actually be a bit of an upgrade over what that app can do. Before AnyPlay was announced, Xfinity users could only watch programs that were on demand. Of course, Xfinity users could also change their DVR settings from the app and will still be able to. There is no announcement of when this service will actually launch, nor whether there will be any additional cost but AnyPlay is expected by the end of the year at the latest.
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September 15th, 2011 at 8:00 AM EST | by Oliver VanDervoort
As the iPad is now well known among both users and developers alike, we are seeing more apps that take advantage of the full abilities of the tablet. One of these newer apps that give you a combination of entertainment and education is Solar Walk 3D. With this particular app you can navigate around the solar system with just the touch and drag of a finger.
When you open the app, you are immediately blown away as you travel through a sort of star tunnel to arrive hovering just outside a digital display of our entire solar system complete with all the planets as they are lined up, in rotation around the sun. You can touch and drag anywhere you would like to better get a look as to where one planet is to another and how the diagram looks from up top, or below or at any other angle you’d like. Of course this isn’t just a digital diagram. Tapping on the magnifying glass on the bottom left of the screen will bring up a menu that allows you to look at a whole host of different interstellar objects. Planets, stars, places and even satellites are all viewable with just a little scrolling.
Of course once you’ve selected a place or object to take a look at you can press the “I” button and get some very specific information on select places in the solar system. The bottom right of the screen offers another menu and when you click on this you will find a bunch of other features to keep the app refreshing and new. Through this menu you can choose whether to view objects to scale or Orrery (basically meaning you can zoom in or out.) You can also arrange the screen the way you would like and then take a screen capture that can be placed on your Facebook, or Twitter or emailed to whomever you would like.
The Starwalk 3D app also offers several animations that can do anything from showing you just how big or small one planet is to another to how the tides on the earth are affected by the moon and the surrounding planets. All of this is set to a nice relaxing musical accompaniment that can be turned off if you choose to stare in awe in peace and quiet. Of course because this is Starwalk 3D, we’d be remiss if we talked about the app without mentioning the 3D part.
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September 14th, 2011 at 8:25 AM EST | by Oliver VanDervoort
While the iPad is mostly viewed as a mobile device that will let you play all kinds of fun little games, Apple’s tablet is capable of so much more. One app that truly shows what the iPad can do is How to Photograph an Atomic Bomb. The app combines some animation with sparkling black and white and color photos and plenty of back story to really show the user what it was like to be at the birth of the world’s deadliest weapon.
History buffs will love this app because it documents a period and a place that has seemingly been glossed over by other historians. The app isn’t skimpy either. How to Photograph an Atomic Bomb for iPad brings you 136 pages of stunningly clear photos all taken with the best photographic technology of the time. This particular app shows just how photographers back in the 1940’s recorded not only what the bomb going off looked like but – in one stunning representation – how the power of the weapon literally changed the landscape. Going through over 200 photos that are included in the app, you get a real feel for what these people were trying to do and that should be something everyone gets themselves familiar with.
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