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- Taposé – Brings the Microsoft Courier to iPad
- Miner Speed – iPad Game Review
- Photosmith – iPad App Review
| Taposé – Brings the Microsoft Courier to iPad Posted: 30 Apr 2011 10:12 AM PDT
In 2009, details started emerging about Microsoft’s rumored tablet project, which received the codename Microsoft Courier. Around that time everyone was touting Apple’s rumored tablet as solely an entertainment device, while the Courier was being presented as an interactive tablet with dual-touchscreens that folded like a booklet. As soon as Apple unveiled the iPad, all Courier plans ended. On April 29, 2010, Microsoft confirmed the Courier project would no longer be supported, and the rest is history. However, a Kickstarter Project has taken the concept of the Courier and plans to bring it back via an iPad app called Taposé. Taposé has been designed by two clever Boeing engineers, Benjamin Monnig and Ricky Drake. Both developers have set out to bring back the Courier concept into the iPad. Although Taposé has not been released yet onto the App Store, the Kickstarter project has been quite successful thus far. The two developers have been able to raise $13,238, which has surpassed the original $10,000 goal. The two engineers are ready to start the final development before Taposé becomes a final product. The application features a split interface design that will allow iPad users to interact with multiple apps simultaneously, accompanied by what the developers call Taposé collections. The application is being designed to let you multitask and move between apps across two screens.
The following are some of the features as described by the developers: Split Interface Design
Middle Separation Bar
Taposé has some great potential. We hope Benjamin and Ricky are quite successful in this new endeavor. After all, Taposé can evolve into a very handy productivity application for the iPad. If you want to support this project, check out the Kickstarter project page and become a backer. By simply pledging $10, you will get a download code for Taposé, once it becomes an approved application on the App Store. » Related posts:
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| Miner Speed – iPad Game Review Posted: 30 Apr 2011 08:01 AM PDT
Always addictive,the game itself is not unlike several others in this category. The premise is simple: a grid of jewels is displayed and you must swap adjoining jewels to line up 3 or more of the same color and style. Once you do, they disappear and the grid redraws. The more matches you make, the more points you get.
There are bonuses based on your performance, including the ability to purchase (using in-game currency) items such as live hints or extra time. A nice feature is the ability to play against other Game Center players but also your Facebook friends. I always find it a great motivator to try to beat my mother at any game she plays and this is no exception! From within Facebook there are three leaderboards, competing against fellow friends, countrymen and global players.
What I liked: The interface is very responsive and not at all glitchy like some I’ve seen. When you are playing against the clock to make as many matches as possible as quickly as you can, you don’t want to get hung up on screen redraws. What I didn't like: There are a lot of entries into this category of game, I would have liked to see more originality to make it stand out. To buy or not to buy: If you enjoy fast placed, easy to play (with few rules) style games, you will enjoy Miner Speed. Because it is free, I recommend giving it a try!
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| Posted: 30 Apr 2011 06:00 AM PDT
Leave that laptop behind and do all your photo organization work right on your iPad, as soon as you snap your photos while everything is still fresh in your mind. With Photosmith, there's no need to lug around a heavy computer, you can travel light with just your iPad and your camera. With Apple's Camera Connection Kit, or a similar card reader that is compatible with the iPad, you can import photos from most cameras and DSLRs directly onto your iPad. When your photos are uploaded, you can create collections and keywords, set titles, captions, and write descriptions, add star ratings, color labels, filter, and organize photos (with drag and drop), and even view EXIF data – ISO, shutter speed, f/stop, flash data, plus more. There's support for RAW and JPEG images, which is a great feature that most photo apps don't have. You can also view your photos at full resolution (even huge RAW files), which is helpful for checking focus.
Once you've sorted and organized your photos, it's easy to import them right into Lightroom. There's a plug-in provided on the Photosmith website and I had no problems installing it and syncing my photos wirelessly from my iPad to my computer. All of the changes I made on my iPad ported into Lightroom with zero problems, and vice versa. There is an option of uploading via USB if wireless is too slow, or if you're transferring a lot of photos. You can also email photos or upload them to Facebook, Flickr, and Dropbox. I uploaded a few to Flickr with no issues. Currently, Photosmith is light on features. It doesn't do the photo editing that I can do in Lightroom (resizing, white balance, tone, treatments, etc.), but the developers are committed to continually improving this app and many more features will be available in the future. In its current incarnation, Photosmith is not a photo editing app for your average point and shoot camera user. It requires quite a bit of equipment to get it up and running – a compatible camera, the Camera Connection Kit from Apple (or similar card reader), and Adobe's Lightroom. You could possibly use it without Lightroom, but you would be missing out on a lot of functionality and you would be unable to transfer your photos from your iPad. Hopefully functionality with other photo platforms, such as Aperture, might be available sometime later. On the support page, it was mentioned that they may consider it once they’ve implemented the features they want the Lightroom version to have.
I'm not a regular Lightroom user – instead, I use Aperture to manage my photos. However, after using Photosmith and Lightroom together, I'm jealous of those lucky Lightroom users who are able to use this system. What I liked: I was impressed with how well Photosmith interacted with Lightroom, and it was great to be able to import RAW photos into the app. Squared Enterprises has a feedback page where you can submit ideas and vote on new features that you would like to see. I voted for Aperture support. What I didn't like: There's not a ton of things to do with this app, but the developers are very up front about that. They list exactly what Photosmith can and can't do on the app page in iTunes. Adding metadata to groups of pictures was not available, and it took a long time to add information one picture at a time. I found it frustrating not to be able to delete photos from inside the app, and hopefully that will be remedied at some point in the future. This would be a very powerful tool that would be useful to a wider range of people if it included actual editing tools. Again, I'm hopeful that this will be added later. To buy or not to buy: I would recommend this setup, if you have all of the equipment necessary to make it work, or if you’re willing to invest in it. It's a great system for photographers that is unlike anything else in the App Store.
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The next entry in the jewel-switching game market is Miner Speed, brought to us by Midasplayer.com Limited.
If you're a photographer that uses Adobe's Lightroom, then 
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