06.29.10
iPad – tips to share.
Earlier I was asked by a friend for some tips as she’d just got herself an iPad. I picked on of these little beauties up when I was over in the US about 4 weeks prior to the UK launch so I’ve had a decent run at the thing so far. After I got the question I was wondering hw to approach the answer.. after all I love the iPad and use it for all sorts of stuff but “tips”?
I figured that the best way to provide any sort of guidance was to run through the apps I’ve added on and what I use them for and if I can provide a little inspiration and/or help to others so be it.
- iBooks – Self explanatory really, but I had to get a US iTunes account initially to download this app. It’s now on the UK store too of course. The latest update (as per iOS 4 release) adds in the features which were ‘missing’ when compared to the Stanza application which it is believed iBooks derives from. These features include the ability to mark text and add notes and create bookmarks for later reference. iBooks also supports PDF as a source document so is great for reference material as well as the ePub books. I use this every single night now as I read before I go to sleep.
- Voice Recorder – As a fan of all things audio I was interested to see what (if anything) could be done on the iPad in terms of capturing audio. With the aid of the Samson Go-Mic and a pair of headphones I’m able to record interviews and other audio for later import and manipulation in Garageband.
- Twitterific – One of a (huge) number of Twitter clients out there. I’m Wi-Fi only but when tweeting from events and conferences it’s just the job!
- TapTap Radiation – A simple rhythm game, I just like the music and graphics.
- Pocket Pond – beyond simple yet very addictive. it’s a pond with fish in it, you can splash the water, release and knock down dragon flies and the fish eat them. It’s free… try it.
- Live Messenger – it’s an iPhone App so either sits in the middle of the screen or is HUGE! But if you need to stay connected, it certainly works for that community.
- Skype – Again an iPhone app, but either using the built in mic and speakers or the mic/headphones combo as above, certainly does the whole Skype thing well enough – NOTE: Only on WiFi not 3G.
- iThoughtsHD – A mind-mapping application. I like this kind of note-taking mechanism as it matches how I think. has proved invaluable and well worth the few pounds it cost.
- FryPaper – I like the way Stephen Fry thinks and writes. A must for Fry fans.
- WoW Armory – another iPhone app but useful for WoW fans. now supports the premium services for remote auction management etc.
I’ve also set up a bunch of links on the iPad spaces for various web-sites which are then simply accessed. The above list doesn’t include the built in stuff like Safari, Email, Video, iPod, contacts etc.. because, wel you simply use them. Safari is great on the iPad expecially.
It is worth putting a note here about Videos. I’ve synced up a few audio albums – those in the “Recently Added” auto playlist in iTunes – but video is something different. I have a reasonable DVD collection (let’s call it a couple of hundred titles) but, unlike audio CDs, there is no easy way to get these into a digital format for use on your portable devices. There are a bunch of rights arguments going on and I’m not going to take any particular stance other than the personal one of “I own it so I’m watching it where I want to”. There are a few applications out there for mac and PC for DVD-to-iPad(/iPod/iPhone/etc) conversion. Some are good, some not so much. In getting my collection into digital form I’ve been through a few and I finally landed (via the well loved HandBrake) at RipIt on the Mac. This makes a copy of the DVD playable contents to your local hard drive and now supports the creation of an .m4v file with the results. This can then simply be dragged into iTunes and bingo, synco-magic. For those with an interest “Why RipIt and not HandBrake?” the answer is ARccOS.
So, @alibobbles, I hope this helps!
