This Week’s Must-Have iOS Apps: Comic Life, Notificant, Planetary & More!

At the top of this week’s list of must-have iOS apps is the awesome comic creation tool that previously came bundled with Intel Macs. Comic Life from plasq allows you to use the photos in your iPad’s camera roll to create your own comic masterpieces.

Notificant is a brilliant new productivity app that makes is fast and simple to create reminders for the things you’d usually forget. Choose to have notifications alert you on your iPhone, as well as any of your other iOS or Mac devices.

Exploring your music collection has never been as stunning as it is with Planetary – a free iPad app that has climbed rapidly to the top of the free app charts. Fly through a 3D universe dynamically created by information about the recording artists you love.

Find out more about the applications above and check out the rest of this week’s must-haves – including Cadence.fm and 4oD Catch Up – after the break!

Comic Life – ($7.99) iPad – Lifestyle

Comic Life once came free with new Intel Macs, and is a great piece of software for creating your own comic books. The iPad app takes the latest functionality from the desktop application and wraps it up into an easy to use touch interface. Create comics out of the photos in your device’s photo library, then add balloons, captions, lettering and templates to tell your story; while the smart text layout and image filtering functions ensure your projects always look fantastic. Use the integrated e-reader to view your creations in fullscreen, and when they’re ready for the big time, share them with your friends via Facebook and email. You can also print your comics via AirPrint and share them between other iPads with the intuitive ‘drag & drop’ feature.

Notificant – ($2.99) iPhone – Productivity

Notificant claims to be the “simplest, fastest and most elegant way to send reminders to yourself on the iPhone, Mac, and email inbox,” and we quite agree. The incredibly simple UI makes it easy to create notifications within seconds which help you remember the things you’d normally forget. Notifications can be sent to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, as well as to your Macs or to an email inbox. You can sync with the Notificant web app to ensure you have access to your notifications all the time, and use it to remotely create new notifications to send to your other devices. There are 9 alert sounds to choose from, and a companion Mac application available in the Mac App Store. Notificant makes it virtually impossible for you to forget.

Planetary – (Free) iPad – Entertainment

Planetary has rocketed up the App Store’s free chart since its release thanks to the stunning and unique way in which it presents your music collection. As you fly through a 3D universe, you can visit planets that represent your favorite albums and control the playback of your music on the iPad by browsing and selecting astronomical objects. Hook it up to your HDTV using the iPad’s AV adapter and experience Planetary’s beauty on the big screen. This is a new type of “visual discovery” app from Bloom Studio and we highly recommend you try it out!

Cadence.fm – ($1.99) iPhone – Health & Fitness

Cadence.fm is a clever fitness application for your iPhone that provides you with a music engine and ensures you have a consistent beat that matches the pace of your workout. It’s designed to enable you to perform exercises – such as jogging, running, cycling or dancing – while listening to a steady stream of songs that match the tempo of your movements. The app provides an on-demand personal DJ and you don’t need to provide your own music – the tunes are all streamed from the SoundCloud music community from a collection of popular trance, house, and club remixes. Choose a channel and select the BPM and matching music will be streamed straight to your device. Cadence.fm supports Apple’s headphone controls so there’s no need to get your device out to control the application during your workout.

4oD Catch Up – (Free) iPad – Entertainment

Unfortunately this one’s just for the U.K. bunch – Channel 4 now has their own catch up service for the iPad. Much like BBC’s iPlayer, 4oD Catch Up provides free and unlimited access to a wide selection of programmes from Channel 4, E4, and More4 for up to 30 days after transmission.

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This Week’s Must-Have iOS Apps: Comic Life, Notificant, Planetary & More!

Choosing a Good Stylus for your iPad

If you are looking to buy a stylus for your iPad, this detailed video comparison from Macworld should help you decide which one would be perfect for your needs. A stylus that is good for handwriting on an iPad may not be that great a choice for sketching or for navigating around the iPad screen.

Macworld reviewed 12 styluses for the iPad but the ones that impressed them the most include the Pogo Sketch, AluPen, Kuel H10 and the recently launched Bamboo Stylus.

I found the Wacom Bamboo Stylus to be my favorite writing/drawing hybrid, while for all-around usage (writing, drawing, and navigation), the Kuel H10 excels. The AluPen was my favorite for focused sketching, while the Virtuoso Touch Stylus & Pen was the best touchscreen-writing tool.

iPad styluses aren’t very expensive but you can make one on your own using an ordinary pen.

iPad 2 gets a magnetic cherry cover to top off its delicious hardware cake (video)

Killing time until the iPad 2 finally becomes available across Europe later today? Well, now you can stoke the flames of anticipation by taking a gander at this here wood cover made specifically for the magnet-infused new Appletablet. It comes from a single piece of cherry wood and rolls up into a stand, providing a pair of landscape positions and a sturdy base for keeping the slate vertical should you wish to gaze upon it in portrait mode. Frankly, Apple should’ve been the one to come up with this refinement on its Smart Covers, though at least a small company like Miniot spares us the overblown rhetoric about life-changing gear purchases. Price isn’t too bad, either, with orders starting at €50 later on today.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in

Continue reading iPad 2 gets a magnetic cherry cover to top off its delicious hardware cake (video)

iPad 2 gets a magnetic cherry cover to top off its delicious hardware cake (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Mar 2011 06:11:00 EDT.

iPad 2 shipping in two to three weeks

If you’ve been dying to get your hands on an iPad 2, but didn’t have the forethought or wherewithal to stand in line for one, then get ready to wait, because Apple’s online store is showing delays of up two to three weeks for the slate. You can go ahead and order one now, but there’s a chance you won’t get your hands on the slab until April — unless, of course, one of these guys is waiting in line to buy you a gift.

iPad 2 shipping in two to three weeks originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:45:00 EDT.

Poll: is your iPad 2 backlight bleeding? (video)

Now that many of you have collected and used your second generation iPad tablets for a few hours, we’re starting to see the inevitable reports of defects. Thus far, two issues have bubbled to the surface. The first issue — yellow spots beneath the LCD glass — is reminiscent of the same fresh-from-the-factory iPhone 4 issue that resolved itself just as soon as the bonding agent used for the LCD glass had time to evaporate. The second issue, which is being conflated with the first, is characterized by light bleeding through from the outer edges of the LCD panel. The bleeding is most noticeable when watching a dark scene in a movie or using an app with a black background as demonstrated in the picture above and video embedded after the break. For those affected, the issue can be minimized or exacerbated by adjusting the brightness in settings. So what say you dear reader, are you also a bleeder?

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Thanks to everyone who sent this in

Continue reading Poll: is your iPad 2 backlight bleeding? (video)

Poll: is your iPad 2 backlight bleeding? (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 12 Mar 2011 08:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple posts iPad 2 guided tour videos

Although the iPad 2 is launching in two days, Apple wants to make sure that you’re filled with knowledge for March 11th. Sure, we showed you pretty much everything you wanted to know about the company’s second slate, but if you want more, they’ve got you covered. You can feast your eyes on demos of Garageband, FaceTime, iMovie, as well as other first party apps for the new iPad — these 14 videos should keep you occupied for a while. If you want to properly prepare yourself for Friday, hit the source link to watch them all.

Apple posts iPad 2 guided tour videos originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Mar 2011 20:40:00 EDT.

iPad 2 review

To say Apple’s iPad 2 is an easy tablet to review is somewhat of an understatement. The device, a follow up to last year’s wildly successful (and currently market-defining) iPad, is nearly identical when it comes to software, and though improved, closely related on the hardware side as well. With a 9.7-inch, 1024 x 768 display, the general size and shape of the device has remained the same, and though inside there’s a new dual core A5 CPU, more memory, and a pair of new cameras, most of the iPad 2′s changes are cosmetic. Still, the previous tablet soared far above most of its competitors when it came to the quality of both the hardware (if not its raw specs) and its software selection — something Apple still stands head and shoulders over its adversaries on. So this new model, a thinner, sleeker, faster variant of the original may not be breaking lots of new ground, but it’s already at the front of the pack. But is the iPad 2 worth an upgrade for those that took the plunge on the first generation? More importantly, does the device have what it takes to bring new owners into the fold? Those questions — and more — are all about to be answered in the full Engadget review, so read on!

Continue reading iPad 2 review

iPad 2 review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Mar 2011 21:01:00 EDT.

iPad 2 goes on sale tomorrow: 5PM local time in stores, 1AM PT online

For those living under a rock or in a place with really terrible connectivity, Apple has just dished out a reminder with the full details of its iPad 2 launch tomorrow. Yes, it’s in stores tomorrow. The second coming of Apple’s tablet will be available to buy from 5PM in your local timezone at Apple Retail Stores, Best Buy, Target, Walmart, AT&T, and Verizon Wireless outlets. Apple’s own store experience comes with the bonus of a free Personal Setup service to get that tablet looking and acting just how you want it. The brick-and-mortar action will be preceded by a 1AM Pacific Time online ordering option, though clearly the fastest way to obtain an iPad 2 of your own will be to get in line and wait it out at your nearest store — we’re hearing some lines have already started forming, people are turning this thing into a sport.

Continue reading iPad 2 goes on sale tomorrow: 5PM local time in stores, 1AM PT online

iPad 2 goes on sale tomorrow: 5PM local time in stores, 1AM PT online originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 08:49:00 EDT.

iPad 2: are you buying one?

iOS 4.3 is getting itself a pretty snazzy launch vehicle in Apple’s brand new iPad 2. The thinner, lighter, faster Apple tablet now comes in a choice of black or white, has cameras on front and back, and we understand its cake-cutting abilities are unrivaled. Now that you’ve had a good few hours to digest the news, consume the subsequent comparisons against the original iPad and the rest of the tech world’s tablet offerings, we want to know what you think. Will the iPad 2 pry open your purse, is the oldie still a goodie, or will you wait for the bigger and better things coming down the road? Answers below, please!

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iPad 2: are you buying one? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Mar 2011 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPad 2 gets a Smart Cover

Continue reading iPad 2 gets a Smart Cover

iPad 2 gets a Smart Cover originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 12:52:00 EDT.