Posted in Advice, tagged apple, Insta-Cover, Instagram, ios, ipad, iphone, retina display, Wallpaper on April 8, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
A tip of the hat to the author of Apartment Therapy for a recent post on a few new apps to help you further customize your favorite iOS device. The mention of Insta-Cover (a means of getting more out of your Instagram account) is particularly intriguing. While I haven’t delved into Instagram I am fascinated by it.
Check out more here
Posted in Advice, tagged Amazon Kindle, apple, E-book, Gutenberg Project, IBook, ipad, iPhone 4, retina display on April 6, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
The iPad has been a great ebook platform from its first generation, and with the addition of its Retina Display the latest generation offers the best experience yet for reading addicts. If you’ve grown to enjoy being able to broaden your horizons via the
iBooks app the only real problem you’re likely to face is how to keep the content coming. While iBooks, Kindle, and other book stores are fantastic resources, those books can get pricey after a while. What’s a bibliophile to do?
OSX Daily offers a perfect solution in a recent article. The story lists several sources for free literature, from the Gutenberg Project to several other lesser known sites. The article goes on to give advice on how best to transfer your literary loot over to your favorite iOS device. Click through for the full article; you’ll be glad you did.
Posted in News, tagged Android, apple, Facebook, ipad, iPhone 4, MacRumors, MacWorld, retina display on April 3, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Courtesy of MacRumors: a poll by ChangeWave Research reveals that the new iPad has earned an impressive 98% (82% completely satisfied, 16% somewhat satisfied) satisfaction rate with users; an increase over the prior iPad 2′s 95% (74%
completely satisfied, 23% somewhat satisfied). The article fleshes out the key points that purchasers like about the new iPad, such as the Retina Display, long battery life, and the option of LTE connectivity. Dislikes focused on cost; both of the iPad and of the data plans offered by cellular companies. The recent media furor over the alleged heat issues weren’t on the minds of those polled, seeming to reinforce the findings of MacWorld that the new iPad’s operating temperature was similar to competing Android tablets and never an issue with testers.
My experience parallels the findings of the poll. While the joy of unboxing a new toy was tempered by the fact that the new iPad is visually indistinguishable from the iPad 2 (although the difference in weight is somewhat noticeable), the Retina Display is a definite wow factor. App updates are coming in flurries as developers scramble to take advantage of the higher resolution (such as the Facebook iPad update released today). In daily use I do notice a slight improvement in performance (GIF images load faster and play smoother, for instance) but it’s not the eye-opening betterment that the new pixel-dense screen provides. Other improvements like the better rear-facing camera are nice, but not central to my daily use. If you’re a new iPad owner how do you feel about Apple’s latest iOS offering? If you’ve held off on upgrading what have your reasons been? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below!
Posted in Advice, tagged apple, ipad, Mac OS X, Photograph, retina display, Safari, Wallpaper, Windows on March 25, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Even when I still ran Windows as my primary desktop OS, I always kept the desktop free of unnecessary icons to take advantage of what I felt was the best digital picture frame you can own- your computer’s monitor. Now that I’m a confirmed Apple afficionado I’ve grown even more fond of having high-quality art and photographs as the desktop background thanks to OSX‘s ability to use an entire folder of pictures, changing at whatever interval you choose.
While the included background image on the new iPad isn’t bad, it’s always nice to personalize your device a bit. Thanks to a recent post on OSX Daily we have access to a nice library of beautiful photographs shot at 2048×2048 resolution. The article credits @RetinaiPadWallsand endorses them as a great source of high resolution images. The images are absolutely stunning and can be set up in just a few taps. If you’re new to the iPad, just touch and hold on an image in Safari you’d like to save, then select “Save Image” from the list that appears when you lift your finger. The image will be saved to your photo library. Open your photo library, select the image you’ve saved, and hit the export icon (the box with an arrow coming out of it). Then choose from the options to set the image as your lock screen or wallpaper screen.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged apple, ipad, itunes, movies, retina display, trailers on March 23, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
MacRumors disclosed today that Apple has updated their Movie Trailers App to take advantage of the new iPad’s Retina Display. The article referenced the trailer to Pixar’s upcoming movie Brave (which has looked stunning in the theater trailers I’ve seen), but doesn’t disclose what resolution the trailers play at.
The article does offer a word of warning; if you’re using an LTE connection keep an eye on your bandwidth allowance. High definition video will eat through your allotment faster than you’d think.
