PadGadget |  |
- HBO Go App Now Available for iPad and iPhone
- Rule the Sky – iPad Game Review
- AVPlayerHD – A Powerful Video Player for the iPad
- TouchyBooks & UNICEF Join Forces to Help Japanese Relief Effort
- Nozbe – Now With Dropbox – iPad App Review
- DODOcase Introduces BOOKback for iPad 2
- The Three Pandas Animated Storybook – iPad App Review
- Gameloft Releases ‘Fast Five the Movie: Official Game’ for iPad
- The iPad – A 16 Year-Old Concept?
- REALTOR.com Real Estate Search – iPad App Review
| HBO Go App Now Available for iPad and iPhone Posted: 29 Apr 2011 05:27 PM PDT
If you happen to be an HBO subscriber, you will now have access to all original HBO content plus movies on demand. Sadly, if you’re not a subscriber to cable and the additional HBO channels, you won’t be able to use this app. As of now, HBO does not offer an à la carte option like Netflix. HBO’s content is unmatched, with shows such as True Blood, Entourage, Boardwalk Empire, The Wire, Six Feet Under, and the Sopranos. Plus HBO is always introducing the next great show – have you checked out their latest offering, Game of Thrones, yet? If you don’t subscribe, you may be interested now that you get so much more with your subscription fees. Did I mention that you’re not limited to current shows? That’s right, you can check out back episodes from shows that are no longer being produced. In addition to shows and movies, HBO Go subscribers can access bonus features and behind the scene extras. The app also offers a customizable Watchlist that allows you to queue up shows you want to watch, and a Series Pass will automatically add shows that you want to follow in to your Watchlist.
The mobile HBO GO app is free to download, but it won’t work without an HBO subscription plan though a cable company. And beware, it doesn’t work with all providers yet, but supported providers include AT&T, Charter, Cox, DirecTV, Dish, Suddenlink, Verizon, and Xfinity. If you’re not a subscriber but want to take a look anyway, you can still download the app and check out the Preview to get an idea of what’s available. If you do have an HBO subscription and an iPhone or iPad, what are you waiting for? Check it out. » Related posts:
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| Rule the Sky – iPad Game Review Posted: 29 Apr 2011 02:36 PM PDT
Your job is to take care of Flotia, your own personal floating island. There are crops to plant, trees to grow, and businesses to create, all to maintain the village on your island. Crops are typical, you buy a "farm," choose your crop, and wait for it to grow. It takes a few minutes to several hours, depending on what crop you choose. Of course, you reap a much greater reward with the more time consuming crops. To fertilize the crops, there's a little cloud that can be dragged over each farm. If you tap and hold, it will rain, watering the plants. Buildings are similar – choose one from the menu, pick a place to set it down, and wait for it to become profitable.
There is an extensive tutorial system that takes you through all of the various aspects of the game, from planting and building to visiting your friends. However, about ten minutes in to the game, I was forced to wait for a half an hour while the occupants of my house completed housework before I could advance with the quest line, but that's not unusual for this type of game. Shortly afterwards, I was completing the tasks associated with helping friends and ran in to a bug – I could not care for crops, no matter how many times I fruitlessly tapped on the farms of the people I was visiting. I got stuck there and was unable to do any further quests, but my island still functions fine and I am able to continue with growing crops and building shops. The game was not clear on what I was doing wrong, and there is no help option available for more information. I also had a bug where my connection was lost multiple times. The interface is clean and easy to use, with the home button to the left where you can do things like add friends, your friends list in the middle, and the game controls on the right. The game controls allow you to purchase things for your island, move them around, check your game ranking, collect a daily bonus, and view your quest log.
Rule the Sky did not ask for my email address, which is unusual. I was pleased not to have to enter any personally identifiable information at all for the game to work. There is an option to connect Rule the Sky to Facebook, but I chose not to do that. If you're like me, you may not know anyone who plays Rule the Sky, which is a definite downfall when a large part of the gameplay includes visiting your friends farms to do favors and help them with their crops. Luckily, it is simple to add people to your friends list even if they aren't technically your friends. You don't need an email address or a confirmation, once you enter someone's user name (from the Leaderboards), they're your friend and you can visit their Flotia. I'm honestly not sure if the ability to add total strangers is a good thing or a bad thing. It makes the game more playable, and people don't seem to be able to contact you in any way if safety is a concern. You can receive push notifications to let you know when your crops are ready to harvest and when you can collect money from your houses and buildings. That way, you're always at the top of your game and your crops never rot. There is no obligation to opt in to the push notifications, and if you decide you don't want them later, you can always turn them off in the iPad settings. Of course, as with all of these free social networking games, there's an option to buy "stars," which speed along the growing time of crops and the building time of businesses and houses. However, with Rule the Sky, it doesn't appear that you need the stars to advance. Time and coins earned in game will accomplish the same goals. This game isn't revolutionary, but it is a solid entry into the social networking genre. The graphics are the most remarkable thing about Rule the Sky. Everything is bright, colorful, and fun to look at. You may have to wait around for your crops to grow and for your businesses to become lucrative, but at least you can gaze at your pretty little island while the clock ticks on. What I liked: I wasn't forced to give an email address or connect a Facebook account. I was able to just dive right in to playing, which was nice. What I didn’t like: The tutorial quest system doesn't give enough information, and there's no help available. Trying to accomplish tasks, like caring for a neighbor's crops, can be very frustrating when you don't quite know what to do. Also, there are some issues with lost connections that will hopefully be fixed in a future update. To buy or not to buy: It’s free, so it’s definitely worth taking a look!
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| AVPlayerHD – A Powerful Video Player for the iPad Posted: 29 Apr 2011 02:36 PM PDT
For the others, AVPlayerHD will allow you to play non-native video formats, such as DivX and Xvid, without having to deal with the painful – and slow – process of re-encoding your content library to an iPad-friendly format. Just like the now defunct VLC for iPad player, AVPlayerHD will play files encoded in most formats, including XVID/DivX (with support of AC3 audio decoding in case your files only come with a Dolby Digital sound track), AVI, Windows Media Video (WMV), RealMedia Variable Bitrate (RMVB), ASF, MPEG4/H264, and Matroska (MKV). Simply upload your movies to the app via iTunes, or upload them via your browser, and you’re set.
While the app is compatible with both first generation iPad and the iPad 2, the app really shines when coupled with the Apple A5 processor, especially if you plan to play CPU-intensive files such as 720p HD MKV movies. AVPlayerHD also offers nice perks, such as the ability to skip forward or backward via multi-touch gestures, the support for subtitles, and some post-processing options. The app will output its content on a TV if you happen to have an AV output cable, or you can also use AirPlay to push the contents on your iPad’s screen to a second generation Apple TV. AVPlayerHD will set you back $2.99, a small price to pay if re-encoding all your content seems like a daunting task. » Related posts:
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| TouchyBooks & UNICEF Join Forces to Help Japanese Relief Effort Posted: 29 Apr 2011 02:24 PM PDT
Momotaro is the story of a young Japanese boy found floating down a river inside a giant peach. An elderly couple raise Momotaro and he eventually becomes the strongest and bravest boy in Japan. One day an evil demon arrives at the village, destroying and stealing everything in sight. Momotaro sets off on a journey to find the demon’s island and reclaim the villagers’ belongings. Along the way, he makes friends and learns the importance of courage and working together. This interactive book app was created to teach children the importance of helping those in need and also raise money and awareness for UNICEF’s work in Japan. ”We are incredibly happy to be able to present with UNICEF such a historic and beautifully designed story for the Japan relief. This project has been lots of fun and having the opportunity to help the children of Japan means a lot to us,” says Jose Miguel Lopez Catalan, CEO of TouchyBooks. Colorful artwork, interactive features and authentic Japanese music were combined to both entertain and teach kids. ”Stories have been used since the beginning of time to help children understand the world around them. “Momotaro” is a great story for parents whose child has seen or heard information about the tragedy in Japan, but might be too small to comprehend the enormity of disasters or their role,” said Raul Soriano, author of Momotaro. You can download the Momotaro app from the App Store now for $1.99, with $1.21 of the proceeds from the sale of each app going to help fund UNICEF’s disaster relief efforts for children in Japan.
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| Nozbe – Now With Dropbox – iPad App Review Posted: 29 Apr 2011 09:46 AM PDT
There is a whole world of Getting Things Done (GTD) programs out there. Busy people on the go with a need for organization take their task management very seriously. Nozbe is a serious app for those serious GTD-ers.
When you first open the app, you are offered a tutorial, but many Nozbe users have already been using the service for years as a web app, so they have the benefit of knowing all of the bells and whistles that come with it. For the rest of us, this tutorial is simple to understand and helps get you started with your new to do lists. The first thing you want to do is start a project list. You name your project, say "Clean House." Once you have your project, you can add actions, like vacuum or clean bathroom. Each action gives you the option of adding a comment like, "clean out medicine cabinet first." You can also add contexts for the action, like errand or home. If you have to get things done within a scheduled period of time, you can set your action's due date and list the approximate length of time it will take to complete the task. You can highlight the star next to an action to let you know what should be done next. My favorite part is that you can check off the task when you have completed it. It stays on the list, but dims out. It is so satisfying to see a mostly-completed list of things to do.
The ability to access files from Evernote has been in place for a while already, but with the new update you can use Dropbox as well. However, I was unable to utilize this feature. I signed into my Dropbox account through the app, but it read, "No files matched in your Dropbox." I even added a file to my Dropbox called Yard Work and a document inside that file called Yard Work, but the app never accessed the file. I'm assuming there is more to learn in a tutorial that I just haven't had time to get to yet. I added it to my to-do list. Nozbe already has its own cloud service for a subscription fee that you can learn about at their website, nozbe.com. Many users already have accounts with Nozbe, but new downloaders may feel more comfortable with the free cloud-based services instead. The app is also available for $4.99 for the iPhone, but it looks much better on the iPad. What I liked: While the app has a lot of features, you can use it as a simple to do list very easily. Adding a project or action to the list is as easy as touch and write. Once I figure out how to access Dropbox, I'm sure it will be a benefit. What I didn't like: I personally do not like my task management programs to be complicated and this app seems to require expert GTD-ers to utilize at all of its features. At $14.99 I feel like I am paying too much for the easy-to-use part of it, while having to spend a lot of extra time in order to get the full effect of the app. To buy or not to buy: Serious users of the Getting Things Done community will love this app. For the already-existing Nozbe client, this is a must-have iPad app. For the rest of us, the price may not be worth the effort.
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| DODOcase Introduces BOOKback for iPad 2 Posted: 29 Apr 2011 08:31 AM PDT
DODOcase cleverly taglines themselves as providing products that protect from extinction, and this is no exception. This case transforms your iPad 2 into a very personal and comfortable device that you can safely carry around anywhere.
A common complaint about iPads, especially when using them as e-readers is that they don’t have a comfortable feel in your hand. The metal cases are slippery and lack a certain grip that makes them easier to use for long periods of time. This is exactly the problem that the BOOKback solves. Using the same Moroccan fabric found on other DODOcases, the BOOKback sticks to your iPad 2 with a re-usable peel-and-stick adhesive similar to a second skin and promises to deliver a more comfortable and familiar tactile feel to your device. This case is compatible with the Apple Smart Cover, extending the usefulness but not forcing you to give it up. If you want an inexpensive cover for the back of your iPad 2, improving the tactile feel of the device, the BOOKback seems to be a great option. If you are looking for protection or more full coverage, it may not be what you are looking for. A very simple accessory, and a bargain at $19.95. » Related posts:
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| The Three Pandas Animated Storybook – iPad App Review Posted: 29 Apr 2011 08:00 AM PDT
The app gives you the option of having the book read to you or reading it yourself. You can also choose whether to auto-play, which reads the book to you without any interaction required on your part. If you choose to read it yourself, you can even record your voice doing so.
The book itself is animated using a variety of illustrations, photo collages, motion graphics and pixellation (which uses live actors) and includes a number of interactive features that the author dubs as ‘tickles’. This allows the reader to rub the pandas, stir the porridge and such throughout the story. These are rounded out by a lovely full orchestral score and playful sound effects that I am certain children will enjoy. Also included with the app is information about pandas themselves, including fun facts and links to outside panda learning resources. It should also be noted that this app is viewable in both English and Chinese. What I liked: Aside from being a sweet take on an old story, a portion (10%) of the app proceeds are being donated to Pandas International, helping the species to survive. What I didn't like: At $3.99, the price is a little steep. The animated portions of the book are well done, but the interaction and diversity of the app is quite limited. To buy or not to buy: If you or your child are interested in pandas, this app is most certainly for you.
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| Gameloft Releases ‘Fast Five the Movie: Official Game’ for iPad Posted: 29 Apr 2011 07:19 AM PDT
You will play as Brian O’Conner on the wrong side of the law and assemble an elite team of top racers to battle opponents in this high adrenaline racing game that follows the movie storyline. Be ready for an action-packed adventure in this high-stakes racing game. The new game is called Fast Five the Movie: Official Game HD. You will get access to various cars that appear in the film, including the 2011 Dodge Challenger and Dodge Charger. Get ready to race through the streets of Rio de Janeiro, Dominican Republic, Hong Kong and more. You’ll be forced to avoid explosions and structural collapses that will make your ride quite challenging.
Gameloft has implemented a multiplayer mode that lets you share the action with your friends or go online in races for up to 10 players. You can also customize your vehicle with tuning packs and fire up its performance, and take advantage of the “Rewind Time” feature, which allows you to quickly replay after a crash. If you like racing games, this game features great graphics and for sure will get your heart pumping. Fast Five the Movie: Official Game HD is available now for $4.99. » Related posts:
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| The iPad – A 16 Year-Old Concept? Posted: 29 Apr 2011 06:22 AM PDT
In 1994, Knight-Ridder ran a news piece about a prototype of a tablet very similar to the iPad, from looks, to features. While the video fails to predict the advent of apps, it hits the nail on the head when it comes to publications, and the way users were expected to have access to information. Interestingly, the video also predicts services like YouTube, with the ability to embed videos directly within digital newspapers and web content (around 6:06 on the video). It took Apple 16 years to actually turn the concept into a product, with a device eerily close to what Knight-Ridder described in its video back in the nineties. [via The Inquisitr] » Related posts:
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| REALTOR.com Real Estate Search – iPad App Review Posted: 29 Apr 2011 05:30 AM PDT
The recently released version of this app boasts a number of new features, including a newly redesigned home screen allowing for at-a-glance reviews of your recent searches, nearby homes for sale, open houses, homes for rent and value added features like an area scouter allowing you to view the average price and square footage for homes in the area. Searching for a property is very simple and can be done in a variety of ways, whether you prefer to draw a location on a map, browse cities or using your current GPS position. When using nearby areas you also have the ability to broaden your radius, giving you nearly endless possibilities for choosing a home in your desired neighborhood. Once you choose a location, it is quite simple to customize your search by the price, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, home size, lot size, even the age of the home. Viewing a listing is quite comprehensive. Not only do you get the basic details such as location, price and square footage, you can also view photos, give it your own personal rating (and make notes), send it by email, share on Twitter or Facebook and review all of the interior and exterior features. Finally, you are able to use this view to contact the agent selling the home if you would like to arrange to view the property.     What I liked: The variety of search options available make this a very powerful app. My favorite feature is when creating your search you can preview the search result count so you know whether to continue adding criteria to limit the number of results (or remove criteria if very few results would be returned). I loved that it could use my GPS location to customize my search by location because I don’t know how many times I’ve been driving through a neighborhood and thought it looked like a lovely place to live –but not had any idea what it was called or where the boundaries might be. What I didn't like: It was difficult to find things about this app I wasn’t fond of. There is support for finding rental homes in addition to those available for purchase and the database of available properties does seem to be somewhat limited –but that is not the direct fault of the app as it can only pull data for what has been added. It may also be nice to have a tutorial added, because the number of features available are hard to take advantage of because you don’t know they exist. To buy or not to buy: It is difficult to go wrong when the price of admission is free, but even at a small price this app would be recommended because of how handy it is.
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HBO has now joined the ranks of media companies offering streaming content direct to the iPad. Today, the new HBO Go app was released, which will allow HBO subscribers to watch their favorite shows and movies wherever they happen to be. It’s a free service provided to HBO subscribers, and will work on WiFi or 3G connections.
Rule the Sky for iPad is yet another social networking Farmville type game. If you just can't get enough of planting and harvesting crops, then check out this game. It might be the same thing you've seen before, but not with these super cute and cheerful graphics.
By default, the iPad is only able to play QuickTime compatible video formats, which is great if all your content comes exclusively from iTunes, or if you have already converted all your movies to the H.264 format.
Japan’s devastating natural disaster has impacted thousands of people and in situations such as these, the hardest hit are often times the children. If you want to do your part to help, join TouchyBooks and UNICEF by purchasing 
Macroscope recently announced an update to it's to do management app, Nozbe, that will allow users to integrate with Dropbox, receive push notifications and auto-sync their list. Now, no matter where you're at or what you need to get done, Nozbe is there for you.
A new product from DODOcase, 
Brought to us by See Here Studios and author/illustrator/composer Valerie Mih, The Three Pandas Animated Storybook brings the three bears story to you with a twist — with pandas! The traditional story of the three little bears is mirrored with a bamboo forest, bamboo porridge and a ‘Goldilocks’ named Mei Mei.
Following Universal Pictures’ latest action-thriller, Fast Five, Gameloft has released a new racing game onto the App Store, which recreates the high-speed action from the movie.
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