"Well, looks like we found at least ONE customer for Scosche's iKit iPad car mount! In this clip, professional racecar driver (and apparently professional tech geek) Tony Kanaan gives a brief overview of how his team has already incorporated the iPad into their workflow to help streamline the pit stop experience."
Yet another use for the iPad. I expect to see much more of this integration with other fields as time goes on. Wonder if he has to take his racing gloves off when he is using it? Any thoughts as to what other industries will take advantage of the iPad?
"The iPad may be partially or even primarily responsible for the slow demise of netbook sales, according to Morgan Stanley market (via Fortune) analyst Katy Huberty. In a report released Thursday for Morgan Stanley clients, the impact of the iPad is causally linked to the rapid decline of the netbook sales growth curve."
They point to a couple of issues to defend their premise. The first is that graph above, that shows the drop off in sales starting in December of last year and continuing through January when the iPad was introduced. The other is a March survey that said 44% of potential netbook purchasers were instead holding off to buy an iPad. Something is causing the drop off, and these sound logical, what are your thoughts?
"The ClamCase concept is advertised as an "all-in-one keyboard, case and stand for the iPad," but what really matters is that it lets you turn your iPad into a decent-looking pretend laptop."
Defeats the purpose I say, well that is my impression on first glance since this won't be released until the fall and I have no idea on the pricing. Very ingenious though!
"We are glad to announce that our recently released and hugely successful app Solar Walk is now available for iPad. The iPad resolution support comes with a free update and brings you a bigger, more accurate and stunningly beautiful 3D Solar System model which will blow you away!"
Star Walk for the iPhone (affiliate link) is a great app for anyone interested in astronomy, and now they have Solar Walk for the iPad (affiliate link), priced at $4.99 USD.
"If you thought online news would be free forever, perhaps it's time to think again. Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News Corp., announced during that company's third-quarter earnings call that in "three to four weeks" it would be announcing a subscription model for news and other digital content. The impetus? None other than Apple's iPad."
Not sure if this is what they had in mind when it was called a "game changer" but this is what it has led to apparently. The Wall Street Journal isn't the only one with this in mind as the New York Times and USA Today area also stating they will be charging for subscriptions for service on the iPad. I don't mind paying subscriptions on the iPad because of the convenience factor is worth it to me, but I don't want to get raked over the coals by paying the same price as print version. For instance, you can get a combo online/print subscription to the Wall Street Journal for $140.00 USD per year ($11.67 USD per month) so why is the Wall Street Journal punishing you for owning an iPad and charging you roughly $200.00 USD per year ($3.99 USD per week)? The ridiculous pricing extends to some magazines too, such as Time magazine where they charge $4.99 USD for the digital version (the print version sells for $4.95 USD). What are your thoughts?
"Steve Jobs is at it again - emailing Apple customers with answers to their questions. This one was sent to CultofMac.com by reader Paul Greenberg, who asked Jobs about a missing MobileMe feature that's been bugging him for three years: the inability to sync notes via MobileMe."
Ah well, I'm short in my replies on my iPhone too.
"Whats new with version 1.2? iPad support so you can take advantage of all the features offered in Dropbox for iPhone from your iPad and now you can also export documents from your Dropbox into third-party iPad apps."
A welcome update. I did have this on my iPad anyway and suffered using it so I'm glad they have made it iPad compatible.
"Update allows low-bandwidth stream for 3G data connections."
Apparently when trying to use this app (available for free in iTunes) with the 3G version of the iPad, it would not run while connected to the 3G network. ABC Player didn't have a low bandwidth option (Apple requires a low and a high bandwidth stream option) so it was causing fits with the app. The update took care of this, as well as fixing some landscape and orientation lock issues along with parental control issues. So if you have the ABC Player on your 3G iPad, and dumped it, you might want to give it a second chance.
"These grips made from recycled tire rubber in five different designs assure your iPad won't slip."
I'm not so sure about these things. I like the fact that they add some "grip" to the slippery iPad, but I'm undecided on how I feel about the look of it. I suppose if you didn't like them you could remove them easily, or try a different pattern since they offer five of them. Regardless of the design, they cost $15.00 USD.
Compatible with major eBook apps as well as ePub standard;
Magazines in all their full color glory;
Yes you can use it for work, however there are limits;
Nice start to the accessories list.
Cons:
No Flash but that may not be a con later;
Not all sites are optimized for video;
Backlighting may not be optimum for book reading for some;
No print option without third-party solutions.
Summary: With the introduction of the 3G version this last Friday, those that have waited to purchase one may have joined the iPad owners club over the weekend. So in light of that even, and the fact it's been one month since I purchased the Wi-Fi version, I thought it was appropriate to give you a run down of what I think about the iPad. The nuts and bolts, or technical side of the iPad has been covered extensively (if you are interested, click on the link above under "specifications" and you will learn all you need to know about the inner workings of the iPad), so this review is more from a user point of view. Its is about my experiences in using the iPad over the last few weeks and what I think of it. I'm also assuming in this that you are familiar with the intuitive way of the iPhone and how it operates, as the iPad is very similar in function. So, lets get to the iPad! Read more...
"aCleverTwist.com has released a new iPad app, iBrite, that allows users to relive the experience of creating artwork with a Lite-Brite without having to deal with little colored pegs."
The perfect thing for those long trips, which should keep the kids occupied for hours. I suppose it would work to keep your co-pilot awake too. It's available now for $1.99 USD in iTunes. And if you feel like you have what it takes to master iBrite, post your creations on the iBrite Facebook page.
"White & Yellow Pages is a new app available for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. With the simple interface you can access contact information of people and businesses found in the white and yellow pages."
The iPhone/iPod Touch version is available here, and the iPad version is available here, both free. I don't usually use too many of these resource applications, I've found that most of my needs are met using the maps app from Google on the iPhone, at least for businesses. I can see a need for the white pages for people searching.
"Apple has decided to close all of their 220+ retail stores for one hour in advance of the iPad Wi-Fi + 3G launch in the US today."
The closings are between 4pm and 5pm local time, and this is throughout all the Apple retail locations. So at 5pm today you will be able to pick up a 3G version, however if you order online the available date is actually May 7th (although it appears pre-orders are showing up as early as yesterday). Any of you going to be waiting in line to get yours, or did you have it shipped? I'm curious who is getting the 3G version.
"Apple's iPad-ified iWork apps are generally praised for their polish and functionality. But one place these apps, particularly Keynote, can fall short is when opening a document imported from their desktop counterparts. Specifically, importing a Keynote presentation can often strip critical data out of the document."
So that is a definite problem but Apple has some help for you in their support document called "Keynote for iPad: Best Practices." They have a variety of recommendations including slide size, fonts, slide types and image formats that won't get "lost in translation" when importing to iPad.
"Stone Design/Big Stone Phone today is pleased to announce the release of Twittelator for iPad 1.1, an evolution of its award winning Twitter client. Its beautiful user interface allows you to always keep your friends' tweets in view while you explore the rest of what Twitter has to offer."
For today and tomorrow, the program for the iPad is priced at $1.99 USD, which I believe is two or three dollars off the normal price. I haven't decided on a Twitter client for use with my iPad, because I really don't use it for that, but I am curious. What Twitter client do you use on your iPad?
"Sorry, Flash, but it looks like yet another Website is petitioning to join Apple's "iPad Ready" clique. On Tuesday, MacStories discovered that Facebook is converting its newest videos into HTML5 for easy iPad/iPhone viewing."
Well, not so fast. According to this story from TechCrunch, they are converting all new videos to h.264, not because they are supporting HTML5, which is the reason the videos play on the iPhone and iPad. They haven't committed to HTML5 yet, only saying they are "considering the move."
"As you may know, for the past few years we've been publishing a series of books, more or less bi-monthly. The Macworld Superguides are available as downloadable PDFs, on paper, and some of them even appear as iPhone apps."
Eventually Macworld will get these super guides out for the iPad via iBook, but until they do they are offering a free e-book called the "iPad Starter Guide" that you can download and put into iTunes and sync with your iPad.
"Here's the latest soon to be gigantically viral iPad-related video clip - Chinese pianist Lang Lang walked onstage in San Francisc to perform the encore playing Flight Of The Bumblebee on an iPad.See why the iPad is going to be such a big deal yet? It's like we've always said - success depends upon the apps, so get thinking..."
Crazy stuff, not at all what I use my iPad for, but then again I can't play a regular piano either.
"Are you sick and tired of wasting $.99 - $1.99 at a time trying to find the perfect calculator app for your iPad? Hopefully your search can end right here and right now without having to spend another dime. Calc XT, an iPad-optimized calculator and note-taking app, is available for free for the next two days to celebrate its release."
Normally priced at $0.99 USD in the iTunes Store, for today and tomorrow it is being offered free as a promotion on it's release. Full-featured in portrait and landscape modes, and if you do have it in landscape mode, it displays a notepad to the right of the calculator. Notes are taken by dragging your finger across the screen. You can also change the pen color from black to red. The notes you create can be copied or you can send them off via email. Free is a very good price.
