The 2010 Fall semester is going to be huge if you’re a college or university student. Whether it’s for distribution in classrooms and dorms, research, e-reading, or as a collaboration tool, the iPad is going to be an interesting experiment among participating schools as they determine whether or not the iPad can be appropriately used for academic use.
Duke University, Other Colleges & Universities to Deploy iPad for Education
Twelvesouth Launches Compass Mobile Stand for iPad
The Twelvesouth guys are well-known for making awesome Apple-dedicated accessories.We reviewed the Bookarc for iPad months ago, and it’s still one of the best products available. A few days ago they launched a new stand for iPad, called “Compass Mobile Stand.” You can find all the details here.
“Compass is a stylish compact folding stand that lets you use your iPad in two different modes. First, as an easel, Compass displays iPad in both portrait and landscape modes. Second, flip open the secondary leg and Compass now holds your iPad at the perfect angle to let your fingers fly across iPad’s onscreen keyboard.
Forged from heavy gauge steel, this slim, travel friendly stand lets you enjoy both hands-free and hands-on use of your iPad anywhere your iPad goes. iPhoto slideshows to Keynote presentations, Compass lets you see and do more with iPad. Compass folds up to the size of candy bar, requiring very little space in your backpack, computer bag or purse. Store it in it soft travel sleeve, which matches the Apple iPad case, and you’re ready to go.”
In my opinion, it’s great, and looks very useful. Check out the images below.
The Welikesmall iPod Touch Wall [Video]
We often come across cool implementations of Apple’s technology, great looking hacks and awesome mods - this one is no exception. A wall made of 20 iPod Touches running a custom app based on the GameKit framework, all hooked up to a Django / Python web app server.
“Our current iPhone Application allows for 4 different modes, a screen saver mode, a full image split mode (the controlling iPod looks for an image and then the server executes a script to split that image among all 20 iPods), a single image grid mode (the controlling iPod tells the server to give a random image to each iPhone), and a hybrid mode which displays all three. In addition, the server is always checking to ensure that each iPod is synched.”
[via FunkySpaceMonkey]
Impact of Apple’s iPad Graphed
The iPad has had a significant impact on Apple’s product matrix, and we have a fancy chart to prove it.
AirSketch Showcases Wireless Doodles. Review and Giveaway!
So you’re giving a presentation on stage. iPad in hand, you swipe through your presentation images, conveying different ideas. At the end, a quick Q&A question presents you with a scenario you couldn’t predict. “How would your website do this?” Quickly, you bring up AirSketch, and in front of an audience of dozens, begin sketching your plans. But whether it’s for presentations or fun, AirSketch is a seriously cool sketchpad for the iPad that allows you to wirelessly share your masterpieces via your local network.
Camera+ 1.2 Available: Brings Touch Exposure, “Drag to Focus” and Flashlight
When we say “one hell of an update”, this is what we mean: we reviewed Camera+ for iPhone a few days ago, and now it feels like a brand new app. The new 1.2 update, which has just been released in the App Store, brings support for touch exposure, touch focus and Photo Flashlight.
It’s available here.
Digits Calculator for iPad: Beautiful, Powerful, Simple
The iPad lacks a built-in calculator but there’s no shortage of 3rd party ones in the App Store. I’ve already reviewed Calcbot for iPhone and iPad and I’m loving it, but this one’s good, too.
Digits Calculator by Shift looks like a simple calculator app for iPad, with very large numbers and a surprising attention to typographic details. There’s a tape on the left side to retrieve all your past calculations, numbers and some buttons are at the center of the screen. Don’t be fooled by the looks of it: Digits Calculator is powerful. It’s a scientific calculator, with a wide array of options to customize the way it works for you located in the settings.
You can change the colors of the app, enable the currency and scientific formats, show labels and color total values. The app rearranges items on screen with a nice animation when you change orientation.
I’m no math expert, but I can spot a good calculator when I see one. If you already own Calcbot, you may want to give this a try anyway, especially considering that it’s just $0.99 in the App Store and will be available soon as Universal for free to previous customers.
Go download it.
Skype for iPhone Now with Multitasking Support
Finally! The official Skype client for iPhone has just been updated to include support for iOS 4 multitasking. You can now receive Skype calls and IM in the background while running other apps, and even when you’re in the lockscreen.
Of course, you’re also able to continue your calls after switching to another application, say to check for an email you’ve got while talking.
The app is available for free here.
N.O.V.A. Updated with Gyroscopic Controls, Retina Display and iOS 4 Support
N.O.V.A. is a first-person shooter for iPhone developed by Gameloft, available both for iPhone and iPad, which has become quite popular over the year in the App Store.
Unlike many other popular games though, this one has just been update to include support for iOS 4 and the iPhone 4. First, you can now control your character using brand new gyroscopic controls, which will make the game feel more natural and intuitive. Then, there are Retina Display-ready high resolution graphics and support for iOS multitasking.
The app is available here at $4.99. Check out a video of the new version after the break.