Apple iPad Apps

iGrill Wins 6th Annual Bluetooth SIG Best of CES 2011 Awards – Best New Product

I know most of you are stuck inside looking out at the snow.  If you like to BBQ, your pit is probably frozen in a drift of snow right now.  One thing great about living in Texas is the fact that I can BBQ almost anytime of the year.  In fact, last night I grilled steaks and Brats.  Maybe that is why Texas has the best BBQ!  As a dedicated griller, the idea of joining two of my favorite hobbies, the barbecue pit and my IOS devices sounds like an amazing idea.  The iGrill does just that, allowing all of…


New Mobile App Transforms Guitar Players into a Rock Prodigy

I cannot describe how exciting it is to see the advancements for guitar players on IOS devices.  Changes are coming so fast, they are difficult to keep up with.  My good friend Travis has recently picked up the guitar and I am assisting in his learning.  His iPhone is playing a vital role in his guitar education.  Rock Prodigy is one of the newest methods of honing your skills.  Using your actual guitar, the app will even score your playing making each song better knowing what mistakes were made.  I hope to take a good look at the app very…


CES 2011: Sonos Wants to Give You Access to All the World’s Music

You make high-end, expensive audio components for household use and the world falls apart financially–what do you do? If you are a company like Sonos the answer is clear–you stay true to your mission and continue to make the best possible devices for in home music streaming. Clearly this approach worked. In the last year the company’s business doubled. Yes, the world is still in financial turmoil the company with relatively high-priced audio components was able to double their business. Clearly people like what they’re offering. I have long been an admirer of Sonos audio components. The high-end audio company…


iPad App Review: Korg iMS-20

I recently reviewed Korg DS-10 Plus, the analog synthesizer for the Nintendo DS that emulated a Korg MS-10 analog synthesizer. Now Korg is back – this time with the iMS-20, a full translation of the classic Korg MS-20 for the iPad. The Hype: KORG iMS-20: Transform your iPad into a complete analog synth studio! Product Highlights: – A complete recreation of the legendary Korg MS-20 analog synth – Built-in 16-step analog sequencer to control the sound – Music production studio with the MS-20 mono synth, a six-part drum machine, and a mixer – Kaoss Pad function allows intuitive performance and…


iPad App Review: SPQR

Way back in high school I took four years of Latin. I know, I know – the common wisdom now is ‘why learn a dead language’ unless you are going into medicine? Yet Latin taught me more than a single language – it is the basis of many of the modern languages, and has helped me learn other languages more quickly through the years. So when I saw a full-featured Latin app, I simply HAD to check it out! The Hype: SPQR is the ultimate app for Latin lovers, Latin teachers and Latin students who want to immerse themselves in…


Astraware and Digital Eel launch Weird Worlds: Return To Infinite Space on the iPad

Along with all of the gadgets at CES, some new games are also being released this week.  Astraware has just released a new iPad game, Weird Worlds:  Return To Infinite Space.  This is the iPad take on the Mac/PC game of the same name.  The iPad seems like a great platform to engage in space combat.  Here is the complete release from Astraware.  Watch soon for a full review. Astraware and Digital Eel launch Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space on the iPad Staffordshire, UK – January 5th 2011 – Astraware® is excited to announce it’s going to be a…


Solar System for iPad Review

A few months ago, I was lucky enough to get a review copy of the iPhone 4 version of The Elements, a book/media/textbook/app that describes and demonstrates the Periodic Table of the Elements (with pictures of examples that could be manipulated). I loved it. In fact, I ended up absorbed in it so much that it put me behind on other reviews, because I had to tell you all about it. Now the same development company, TouchPress (Get it? It’s on iOS, so you can “touch” and “press” the app, but it’s also a publishing company, so “press” has a…


New iPad??? Read This!!!

The iPad-train just keeps on rolling. There’s no question it was the “hot gift” this season and as more and more people get their hands on the “wonder tablet” and discover all it can do the momentum will just continue to build. My own circle has seen numerous iPads make their appearance in recent weeks. My niece and nephew got one from their grandmother. (My nephew emailed this morning “Uncle Dan, we’re at the airport and I’m emailing you from my iPad using Dragon Dictation!!!” Love that!) Their grandmother (my mom) just asked me to pick one up for her….


Remember: Starting Tomorrow, No iTunes App Store Additions or Updates for a Week

I have mentioned that the flurry of activity this past week on the iTunes is related to the ‘freeze’ that will be in place from the 23rd through the 28th. Well, iTunes Connect sent out a reminder message, so I figured I’d do the same! Basically it comes down to this: the state of the App Store today will remain identical until the 29th, when whatever new additions or price changes or updates have been pending will go into effect. One interesting side-effect is that if a publisher mistakenly scheduled a price change for during this time, it will make…


iOS App Deal Alert- All Appigo iPhone and iPad Apps Just $.99

Appigo makes some of the best iPhone and iPad apps out there. Todo and Todo for iPad are fantastic apps for managing your tasks, Corkulous is an interesting, and useful iPad “corkboard app” that is super for brainstorming and collecting bits of information and Notebook is a great notes app that works well with todo and syncs with Toodledo. Appigo was one of the first to release a task app for the iPhone and they have been regularly updating all their apps since then. The result is a collection of apps that are useful, refined, look good AND are a…


Dropbox Out of Beta… Adds Key Features

This year saw a number of key changes with regard to how I work on a computer and accomplish the many tasks that face me each day. Of course the iPad was central to the changes in my work style since, most days, I carry it instead of a laptop but I don’t think I would call the iPad “My Most Significant Change in 2010. No, I suspect that that title would go to… Dropbox. Thomas turned me on to Dropbox toward the beginning of the year and I have grown increasingly reliant upon it. At first I used their…


Flipboard Update Makes Reading RSS Feeds on Your iPad Downright Civilized…

When Flipboard first came out for the iPad I was impressed by the user interface and thought I would use it a great deal. I didn’t. Before long I was back using Reeder to check my RSS feeds and using specific news apps to read my news. Well an update to the Flipboard app may just change that. Among the features you will find in the new version is… Google Reader integration. That’s right, you can now add a section that delivers your Google Reader account items AND lets you share interesting items with others. The app makes your Google…


GV Connect + Talkatone = iPad Phone

When the iPad was first released there were many who commented that one of the device’s shortcomings, among many, was that it could not be used as a phone. That wasn’t quite accurate. Sure the iPad isn’t a device you would want to hold up to your ear but with apps like Skype or Ooma’s iOS app the iPad makes for an excellent speakerphone. In fact, I use it on a regular basis in this way. Now, however, thanks to a new app and an update to an “old friend” the iPad can truly function as a phone. The first…


WordStorm for iPhone/Touch/iPad Review

The other night, my wife said she needed a new game to play on her iPhone.  Being the Blue Plate Special guy, I started spouting off a list of free or cheap games we already owned.  Of course, she said thanks and walked off to find her own application.  I finally noticed that she had been silent for a long while and was affixed on her phone.  She explained that she found a new game that was addicting and challenging and that I could use it in my Blue Plate thingy.  I am a sucker for puzzle style games, especially…


Prepping for iOS 4.2 Means… IPad App Updates Galore

A major update to iOS always means new goodies at the core of the iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. It also means lots and lots and lots of app updates. Sure, sometimes the updates just make the app optimized to take advantage of the new OS’s functionality but for many it is also seen as an opportunity for developers to bump up features. Here are just a few of the many that showed up on our iPads. First up is BlogPress. A recent update to version 2.0 made this universal app (it works great on all three iOS devices) a…


Guitar World Lick of the Day for iPhone/Touch/iPad Review

  Recently, I have reviewed many apps for guitarists.  From tuners, chord libraries, effects, to tableture.  IOS devices have proven to be an exciting platform for musicians.  Virtually any guitar related activity has been available on my devices except a way to improve my playing.  How about I use my iPad and or iPhone to tune up, find my chords, plug in my guitar to get the right sound and then receive lessons?!?!  Agile Partners, developers of several of my favorite musician apps, has just released Lick Of The Day in partnership with Guitar World Magazine.  Through in app purchases,…


Hulu Plus Launches… Open to All With Subscriptions Costing Just $7.99 a Month

I’ve been subscribing to Hulu Plus during its closed preview period for the last few months. I first received an invitation and signed up only to let the subscription expire a few weeks later. I re-upped shortly there-after because I really loved the way the service let me access many of my favorite shows on the iPad. At the time the service ran $9.99 per month. It seemed reasonable for the amount of content I was getting although I did dislike having to watch commercials AND pay for the subscription. Well Hulu Plus has just opened its gates to anyone who wants…


Halloween Chats Get Spookier with a Surprise IM+ Theme

Starting on October 30, you can enjoy a spooky pumpkin theme behind all of your IM+ Lite or IM+ Pro chats. Beyond the cute new wallpaper, IM+ is a solid instant messaging client which not only handles your MSN, GTalk, Yahoo, AIM, Jabber and ICQ chats, it also takes care of Twitter, Facebook Chat and MySpace. You’re push-notified anytime someone tries to contact you, and getting set up couldn’t be more simple. It’s so funny, because up until just a year or two ago, I thought of SMS as something you did on your phone only, while instant messaging was…


New In The iTunes App Store- DEVONthink To Go- Take All Your Documents With You!

The iPad took yet another step forward as an amazing productivity device this evening when DEVONthink To Go finally made its appearance in the App Store. DEVONthink is a Mac OS X database program that makes collecting, organizing and manipulating all sorts of files easy. As Devontechnologies explains- Meet DEVONthink — designed to manage and keep in order all those disparate pieces of information so important to your work or studies. As you become more experienced with DEVONthink and its easy, intuitive interface you will quickly find more exciting ways of using your data. DEVONthink stores your documents, scanned papers, email…


Mickey’s Spooky Night Review: Arrives Just in Time for Halloween

Just in time for the upcoming Halloween holiday the folks at Disney Publishing have released their newest read-along story for the iPad.  Mickey’s Spooky Night features a Halloween themed story along with interactive jigsaw puzzles and games too.  The plot of the story surrounds Mickey and his friends as they all get together for a Halloween party, but Mickey and the gang aren’t the only guests at this party — some ghosts have decided they want to join the fun, too. As the story gets read along, you and your child are also tasked with finding the hidden ghosts as…


App Update Alert: TabToolkit For iPhone/Touch/iPad

One of my favorite and most used guitar apps is TabToolkit from Agile Partners.  I love the ability to search, download and read guitar tabs on my iPhone and iPad.  The application actually knows when a tab is available on the page and will download and store it with a simple tap.  As great as this app is, a huge update just went live in the app store.  This is a considerable update to an already amazing app.  Click here to read a full review of TabToolkit. Some of the new features: Guitar Pro 6 file format:  Many TabToolkit customers…