Khan Academy : Free Global Classroom on your iPad

Home schooling just got a whole lot easier with the comprehensive - and free - Khan Academy app for the iPad. Khan Academy fancies itself as a non-profit "global classroom", with over 3000 educational videos for students of all ages. You can learn about topics as diverse as Romanticism in France (art history), binomial distribution (statistics} and deflationary spiral (macroeconomics), and each video can be streamed to your iPad or downloaded for off-line viewing. You also get the option of downloading all of the videos for a particular topic.

The maths, science and economics sections are by far the most comprehensive, and adults wanting to brush up on their high school maths in particular will find most of the major topics covered. The humanities section only covers o handful of topics in history. American civics and art history, while the test prep section is heavily skewed towards US exams. Calling them "videos" is also o bit of a stretch - most of them are really more like audio podcasts with a picture slideshow. although o few of them do make use of diagrams drawn in real-time to illustrate particular concepts.

The app saves the position of each video you watch so you can come bock to them later, and there ore subtitles below the videos so you can jump to different parts of the lecture quickly. You get the option of creating your own profile, and this logs the videos that you've completed and any 'achievements' that you've unlocked. You con also post about videos you've watched on Facebook and Twitter, but that's about the limit of the interactivity that's available. Sadly, there's no option to comment on videos or ask questions, and there are no follow up exercises you can complete to test your learning.

                                     [ Khan Academy for iPad on the iTunes App Store ]

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Top 5 New Essential Applications of iPad

In the below post, we will be discussing about some of most interesting iPad applications which were released recently or have seen a major upgrade recently.

iA Writer

A word processor that's been pared right down, iA Writer isn't the app you'll be bashing out the company report with. There's no formatting control at all. Instead, iA Writer forces you to concentrate on the writing, with Focus Mode even limiting the view to the current sentence. A host of clever keyboard shortcuts makes it ideal for writing considered pieces of text.

Omnifocus for iPad

OmniFocus won't be for everyone: it's an app for people with complex workloads, for whom a simple to-do list just isn't enough. You may also need to start thinking the way OmniFocus thinks. For example, it uses the term "contexts'* to describe different scenarios such as being in the office, at home, or being with your boss. Tasks are assigned to that context, and you can then see what needs to be done next when you're in that situation. There are many more strings to its bow: the forecast feature, showing what you need to do today, this week and in the future, is just one. If its structured way of working suits you, you'll find OmniFocus well worth the high price.

iANNOTATE PDF

This fabulously powerful app allows you to highlight, mark up, comment and scribble all over PDFs. saving the need to print out and scribble down notes in pen. It's particularly suited for working on the train or in the back of a car, with bumps no longer threatening to ruin a document with shakily inked annotations, especially when used with a decent stylus. The developers are constantly adding features, and the most recent upgrade has simplified the toolbars and made performance even smoother. Options to seamlessly synchronize documents with Dropbox, or email annotated files to colleagues, add the final touches to a splendid app.

AirDisplay

A simple app that provides a very impressive bit of functionality -AirDisplay turns your iPad into a second monitor for your Mac or PC. You'll need to install a small piece of software on your desktop or laptop {the app itself directs you on where to go to do this) after which you'll be able to pair the two over Wi-Fi. You can rotate the iPad from portrait to landscape as you choose. All in all, a great way to incorporate a tablet into your working life.

Bento

Bento comes from FileMaker - people who know quite a bit about databases, as we're sure you'll agree. Bento provides a simple way of organizing personal or work related data into a personalized database using a number of templates* Contacts, projects, events plans - it doesn't matter what you're organizing, Bento makes it easy to keep and track a detailed database.

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iPhoto for iOS

With photo-editing apps among the most popular categories in the App Store, it's no surprise to see Apple stake its claim with an iOS version of iPhoto. Available both for iPhones and iPad 2 upwards, iPhoto is competitively priced - but how does it compare to rival apps?

iPhoto brings a few clever innovations to tablet-based editing. You can, for example, tilt the tablet to straighten a photo, and simply brush over areas with your finger to apply effects such as desaturation, darkening or sharpening -offering finer control than Snapseed's selective adjustments.

Sliders to control saturation, sky tone and greens to the photo as a whole are neatly implemented. Unusually, Apple has felt the need to include help tooltips to explain features and icons - anathema to its normal "it just works" attitude.

This first version of iPhoto is far from flawless, however. Performance - especially when using high-resolution JPEGs or the repair brush - is surprisingly sluggish, even with the new iPad's quad-core GPU. Edits can be lost without warning if you don't follow Apple's prescribed workflow. And the selection of artistic filters is not a patch on the creative filters within Snapseed, which can odd real impact to photos snapped on listless smartphone and tablet cameras.

Comparisons with Photoshop Touch are a little unfair: iPhoto is primarily a tool for touching up photos, while Photoshop adds enthusiast-grade features such os adjustment layers, marquee/lasso selections and curve controls. Yet, rarely does Adobe's more sophisticated palette of tools stutter in the same way as iPhoto's, suggesting Apple's developers have more work to do on multicore.

In short, for performing basic photo edits and creative effects we still prefer Snapseed, while iPhoto doesn't come close to the sophistication of Photoshop Touch for those who prefer fine control over their edits.

This app is designed for both iPhone and iPad $4.99

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Transferring your iPhone or iPad to a new Mac

Most modern peripherals work fine with a Mac - all main printer brands have up-to-date Mac drivers, for example. But when you add a Mac to a home network, you may find that syncing an existing iPhone or iPad to it without wiping everything is difficult. But there is a way.

Step 1 : 

 
First, plug the iOS device into the PC you normally sync with, Load up iTunes, wait for it to be recognized in the bar on the left of the window, right-click and select Backup. Make sure you also Transfer Purchases to keep any apps or media you've bought directly on the device itself When you're happy it's backed up. disconnect the device.

Step 2 : 

 
Your backup now needs to be moved to the Mac. along with your music. Using a local network or external hard disk, copy everything in your iTunes folder to your Mac. For apps and other settings, locate your backup and copy the whole folder across. The precise source and destination folder paths are above.

Step 3 :
 

Without connecting your device to the destination Mac must yet, lire up (Tunes on it, go to Edit | Preferences I Devices and tick the box to Prevent iPods. iPhones and iPads from syncing automatically. Only then should you plug in the device, and authorize it when iTunes makes that request.

Step 4 :
 

Right-click on your device in the left menu and select Transfer Purchases. Then finally right-click and select 'Restore from Backup", Prowled you put all your files in the right place earlier, the sync should run and your files should remain intact.

If there are any problems, you still have the backup on your old computer.

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Learn to Draw with an iPad

No matter what level you're at we've all hit a point where creativity turns into brush-snapping frustration

No matter what level of artistic ability you have, we've all hit a point where creativity turns into brush-snapping frustration, which is why art tuition plays a huge role in our development. If a younger member of your household is showing an interest in art. we recommend Let's Learn How To Draw! to help nurture their talent and imagination. They can choose from three modules - Dogs, Trains and Monsters - each of which has five lessons that vary in difficulty. We say difficulty, but with the addition of a super Assist Mode they're always guaranteed a minor masterpiece. The app looks great, the characters are extremely cute, and the interface design - with its torn, stained paper and realistic-looking watercolor pan - makes us wish for our own adult version.  

For the more advanced artists, How To Draw! is a series of YouTube videos featuring an illustrator called Kenny O_h who worked on the SpongeBob video game franchise - so it focuses on creating characters and environments from the SpongeBob universe. Although Kenny keeps reminding us that all these techniques are relevant no matter what you're drawing, the fact remains that we're merely watching him draw, with no level of interactive learning.

Learn To Draw Digital Sketchbook, on the other hand, is a great series. It's free to install and comes with four sample lessons (further downloaded sessions cost £4.99). It's both a tuition aid and drawing app combined, with a small selection of editable art tools on offer With each session, you draw over a blue lined under-sketch. But it's not just an exercise in tracing. The audio commentary explains what you're learning and offers tips applicable to both digital and traditional drawing, making for a rewarding learning experience.

Key Apps :

Lets Learn How to Draw :  £1.49

Simple and fun to use, this kid-friendly app displays lovely attention to to details.

How to Draw! : £1.49

All video tuition no interaction makes Kenny O a dull boy.

Learn to Draw Digital Sketchbook : Free

With extra interactive modules to download this will definitely sharpen your skills.  

 

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Apple iPad 3 : Think twice about getting an iPad 2

Yes, think twice about getting an iPad 2 for this Christmas - the iPad 3 is set to arrive in the first three month of 2012. The incremental nature of the iPad 2's improvements over the original iPad suggest a big leap forward is due from the third generation device. Expect an improved screen, greater performance, further weight reductions and improved pricing.

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10 Typing Tips for iPad Power Users

You don't need to have used an iPad since the First one hit world retail shelves back in June 2010 to impress others with your tablet savvy. Master the skills outlined below, and you'll have everyone convinced that you're an iPad savant, even if you didn't try one until the iPad 2 arrived this spring.

1. Put your iPad's punctuation keys to work

Typing on an iPad isn't always as convenient as using a real keyboard, especially when you want to access frequently used punctuation that isn't even available on the virtual keyboard's main screen. Thankfully, this little-known trick can help.

Quickly swiping upon the comma key will insert an apostrophe; while swiping up on the full stop inserts a quotation mark. That's one quick swipe on the specific punctuation key, and not the more traditional method of a tap on the '.?123' key, followed by a second tap on the specific punctuation mark you're after.

2. Using virtual keys

Other virtual keys have special features, too. Press and hold down a vowel, for example, and a popup window containing accented versions of the selected character will appear. Consonants such as C, Sand N also offer accented alternatives when you tap and hold on their virtual keys. Similarly, holding down punctuation marks can provide extra options. The '-' key offers an em dash and bullet point. The '£' sign also hides symbols for numerous currencies. 

3. Use common shortcuts

When you connect your iPad to a standard keyboard, you can use some of the same shortcuts you've mastered on your Mac.
 

Text-editing key combinations - such as Cmd-C, Cmd-X, and Cmd-V for copy, cut, and paste, respectively - all work, as does selecting text with Cmd-Shift plus the arrow keys.
 

Other key combinations that work include Undo and Redo (Cmd-Z and Shift-Cmd-Z respectively), and cursor shortcuts such as Control-A, Control-E and Control-K.
 

4. Trust auto-correction

If you're slow at typing, then you probably make Frequent use of the backspace key. The easiest way to become a virtual typing pro is to use the iPad's auto-correct ion algorithm. We've trusted the iOS to fix typos in the past, so that when we type 'Dippieedl' the iPad recognizes we're after 'Supposedly'. Fix Fewer typos and your iPad typing speed will improve. 

5. Avoid application exits

We've all been there-you've noticed something you'd like to checkout more closely in an app at the exact moment you press the Home button. Instead of letting the app close, then finding its icon and waiting while it relaunches, you can tell your iPad to abort your now-unwanted Home button press. If you hold down the Home button a Few seconds longer, your iPad will stop closing the current app and carry on as before.

6. Close background apps

Ever since iOS 4 introduced multitasking, some of your apps can run in the background, even after you've closed them. Generally that's Fine; the iPad does a great job of closing apps when it's forced to by memory limits. Some apps. however- particularly ones that use GPS or VoIP - can eat up quite a bit of memory and battery life if they remain open when you no longer need them.

To ensure these apps don't tan your battery, you can Force them to quit. To do this, double-tap the Home button to bring up the multitasking bar, then press and hold on anyone app until all the apps start to jiggle. In the multitasking bar, tap the red circle on each running app you'd like to quit. The selected apps will now close. Freeing up more memory.  

7. Find the iPad's music controls

With the introduction of the multitasking bar. Apple made finding music playback controls a little bit trickier. After you double-tap the Home button, swipe the whole multitasking bar towards the right. Doing so will reveal several useful controls, shown at the top of the page- these are playback buttons (Reverse, Play/Pause, and Skip), along with individual sliders tot brightness and volume.

8. Search smarter

If you don't ever search For content within the iPad's calendar, audiobooks or podcasts. you can remove these from your Spotlight search results. You can also rearrange the orders in which Spotlight presents its search results.

Launch the Settings app, tap on General and then on Spotlight Search. Uncheck the categories you  don't want to search, and then tap and drag on the right-aligned handles to adjust the sort order.

9. Fill your dock

Brand new iPads Feature Four apps in the Dock, and because of that, many of us don't think to add any more. The Dock can, however, hold six. To keep your most frequently accessed apps in the Dock, you'll need to move them there.

To do so, simply press and hold to jiggle, and then drag the one you'd like to move right into the Dock, where it will stay.
 

10. Launch apps quickly

If you've got a lot of apps on your iPad - so many that it's hard to distinguish one home screen from another-turn Spotlight in to a virtual app launcher. Tap the Home button to get to your first home screen, and then either tap it again or swipe to reveal Spotlight. Start typing the First few letters of the app's name, and then tap on the appropriate result to launch the app instantly. Spotlight will put your most frequently used apps at the top of its matching results.

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Ultimate Guide to Tablets

They're all the rage and are here to stay, but what exactly are tablet computers, what can they do and which one should you buy? Read our post to find out what all the fuss is about

The basic definition of a tablet PC is a portable computer that uses a touch-sensitive screen, rather than a traditional QWERTY keyboard and mouse, as the primary means by which the user inputs information, browses the internet or controls games, software and other applications on the device.

Indeed, the booming markets for cheap netbooks and smartphones have contributed to the emergence of the new market for affordable tablets. They are in many ways the next stage in the evolution of portable computers, building on the developments made by netbook and mobile phone manufacturers in creating ever more portable processors, flash-based storage, smaller, increasingly powerful batteries and improved wireless and mobile connectivity via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or 3G networks.

Tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab or Apple iPad use the latest versions of the ARM processor, which was previously only used in smartphones. This is now capable of powering a portable computer designed for browsing the internet, viewing photos and video or playing casual games.

While the netbook is sometimes described as little more than a smaller, cheaper and lower-powered version of a conventional laptop, the tablet computer gives increased value beyond promise users enhanced portability (by being far lighter and easier to carry, having jettisoned the keyboard altogether), as well as an entirely new way of interacting with work, web and entertainment apps.

For many computer users, particularly younger children and those who are not able to touch-type, touchscreen control that allows you to input using fingers on a screen, as opposed to controlling a cursor with a mouse or touchpad, is far more intuitive. The obvious educational value of tablet computers, both at home and within the classroom, is certain to drive forward this new technology in the coming years. And for those that do want to type using every finger, each new tablet PC operating system comes with a built-in 'virtual' QWERTY keyboard for knocking out the occasional email, word processor document or instant message to friends and family.

What can a tablet do for you?

A tablet computer is a superb device for those that want a portable machine to surf the web, enjoy music and movies, or just check and update their Facebook profiles. Basically, it's far easier to slouch on the couch with a tablet on your lap than it is to have a netbook or laptop precariously balanced on your knees. But what else can you do with a tablet that you might not want, or be able, to do with a netbook?

The emergence of new operating systems (OS) such as Apple's iOS and Google's latest tablet version of its Android OS (nicknamed Honeycomb) and their accompanying online app stores means there are lucrative new markets opening up for games and application developers to create ever better entertainment, media and productivity software.

Traditional 'old media' content producers, such as magazine and newspaper publishers, have also been quick to get in on the act. You can now get digital subscriptions to tablet-friendly versions of your daily newspaper or favorite magazine, providing you with a new way of keeping abreast of the news. These are all designed to be more appealing and offer more interactivity to the user than accessing a bog-standard website. All of this means that a touchscreen tablet is ideal for consuming information or multimedia content.

Added to this, the shift in the computing industry to what is often referred to as 'cloud computing' - whereby users store their data online instead of on a local hard drive, and access music, movies, TV and other multimedia content by streaming them from the internet- has also been an important reason why tablets are becoming increasingly popular. While the on-board storage of your touchscreen slate tablet might not match your desktop or laptop's capacious hard drive, the fact that you can watch TV shows and movies using services such as the BBC's iPlayer and Channel 4's 40D, or listen to music via music-streaming software such as Spotify, means that you are far less reliant on storing your favourite shows or songs on your own machine. What's more, there are apps for all these brilliant services, so you can use them in a manner that's intuitive, relaxing and comfortable.

Six ways that a tablet can improve your life


GREAT MOVIES & TV
With their portable designs and vibrant screens, tablets are ideal for watching films or TV shows. With most tablets packing a camera, you can also record and edit your own home movies and then connect to your HDTV to share the results with friends and family.

CHAT WITH FRIENDS
If you're looking to stay in touch with friends and family around the world, it might be time to ditch the phone and get a tablet instead. With apps such as Skype and Apple FaceTime, you can make video calls to anywhere in the world, often completely free.

AMAZING APPS
Perhaps the most fun feature of tablets is their ability to be enhanced by high-quality applications - often free. Whether you want your tablet to function as an HDTV, a home recording studio or a games console, you can be sure there will be an app to do it.

PLAY THE LATEST GAMES
Forget the Nintendo 3DS, the biggest name in handheld gaming is the tablet, home to the next generation of hit games. While tablets' low-powered graphics can't beat gaming laptops, their portability and unique interface makes them great gaming systems.

BOOKS & NEWSPAPERS
With their handheld design, gorgeous screens and intuitive interface, tablets are perfect for flicking through books and newspapers. Thanks to packed online bookstores, bestsellers are always close to hand and you can download them wherever you may be.

PHOTOS & MEMORIES
Thanks to their stunning screens, tablets are perfect for viewing your photos. And with most sporting a camera, you can even use them to snap and edit pictures on the go. Using multi-touch gestures, you can zoom in and out and spin pictures around for a better look.

Can a tablet replace a laptop?

If you are looking to replace your netbook or laptop and are considering buying a tablet, then you really need to consider what you are going to use it for. If, for example, you are going to need the machine for work purposes, then a tablet is probably not the right machine for you.

This particularly applies if you are looking for a single machine on which you can easily perform a wide range of work functions, such as writing text-heavy documents or compiling complex spreadsheets, while also using it for your personal entertainment and web use at home and on the move.

With no dedicated physical keyboard, you are likely to find that using a tablet's onscreen keyboard to type up long documents is far too fiddly and not at all conducive to long-term work.

If, however, you are looking for a second portable computer to use alongside your main machine and want to use it mostly to consume information and surf the internet, while listening to music or idly checking out what's popular on YouTube this week, then it's really worth considering investing in a tablet as opposed to a slightly more cumbersome netbook or low-end laptop.

The comfortable touch interface, large screen and easy usability make tablets accessible to the youngest or oldest of users and anyone can enjoy all that the internet has to offer, even if you have little or no experience of using a computer before.

While some users may miss the physicality of hitting keys while typing, many others don't seem to mind the lack of a keyboard. Plus, there are plenty of office-friendly apps being developed for the iPad, Android tablets and all other new slate PCs, which means that they are fine for occasional work use.

Basically, you need to decide which camp you are in before making your final buying decision. Are you going to value the lightness, interactivity and instant-on appeal of something like an Apple iPad or an Android tablet over the familiarity of a laptop's touchpad and keyboard to use your main applications and surf the internet? If so, then a tablet could be the ideal portable computer for you to buy.



Windows 7


Not one to miss out on the emergence of a new category of personal computer, Microsoft is busy developing tablet-friendly versions of its ubiquitous Windows OS. While several tablets are already available that use the existing Windows 7 operating system, there are also rumours that    functionality can feel somewhat Microsoft is readying a tablet version of the forthcoming Windows 8 soon, in an attempt to compete with Apple's iPad and the many Android 3.0 tablets that are arriving on the market this year.

Microsoft Windows is already by far the dominant operating system, found on most of the world's desktop and laptop computers. It is clear that many users will greatly value the familiarity and connectivity of a Windows-based tablet, which will easily synchronise with their main home or office computer. The company is also making fast headway in the smartphone market, with its recently released Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system.

For now, Windows 7 already offers tablet users the option to ditch their mouse and keyboard, with Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise editions all offering touchscreen and multi-touch control support and handwriting recognition.

The main downside to choosing a tablet with Windows 7, however, is that the operating system wasn't designed strictly with tablets in mind. As a result, the touchscreen tacked on and you certainly get the sense that you're using an operating system that was designed to be used with a mouse and keyboard rather than with your hands. This is made even clearer when you compare it with tablets running iOS or Android and feel just how smooth and comfortably tablet-centric they both are in practice.

On the plus side, as Windows is the most used operating system in the world today, you'll find that the vast majority of software and hardware currently on sale is fully designed with Windows-based computers in mind. As such, anyone choosing to purchase a tablet running Windows can buy almost any computer-related product they come across, and be pretty much guaranteed that it will install and run with no problems at all on their tablet.

BlackBerry PlayBook

Designed for those users that want a tablet PC as a work tool as well as a casual entertainment, web-connected slate, Research In Motion (RIM) has released the BlackBerry PlayBook. It features RIM's own OS, honed to allow corporate users to squeeze the most from their tablet.

The BlackBerry PlayBook features a fairly nippy 1GHz dual-core processor, two built-in Full HD video cameras, HDMI output and Wi-Fi, as well as full support for Adobe Flash video and HTML 5. This is certainly one reason why many YouTube and internet video fans might prefer RIM's tablet OS to Apple's Flash-unfriendly iOS.

Whether or not BlackBerry's new 7-inch tablet can persuade consumers to switch may depend on how well the OS appeals to BlackBerry smartphone fans and waverers alike. For the corporate user or web addict, however, the mere fact that the PlayBook supports loads of web platforms and technologies may well be the factor that seals the deal.

HP web OS3.0

Tablets may well currently be dominated by iOS Ik and Android 3.0, but these are certainly not the only ones you can opt for.

Palm, recently bought out by HP, first introduced the webOS software back in January 2009. HP's new tablet version of webOS is set to compete with RIM's BlackBerry OS, more so than Android or Apple iOS, as it will appeal to the business user and those looking for a tablet device that can easily double-up as a work and entertainment machine. Users with Palm smartphones will no doubt be more inclined to invest in HP's TouchPad, as they will already be familiar with using webOS.

HP's new webOS will work seamlessly with a number of cloud-based services and will also sync with printers and other peripherals in your home or office. It's designed to be a workhorse with fast multi-tasking between a selection of productivity apps, as well as providing users with access to entertainment options.

Android 3.0

With a vast number of Android-based tablets unveiled at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, Google's latest version of its mobile OS, (nicknamed Honeycomb) is set to give Apple's iOS a run for its money.

If you are already using a smartphone running Android, then it is likely that you will be keen to invest in an Android tablet, capitalizing on your familiarity with the OS, as well as being able to sync your mobile phone with ease.

Google has put considerable time and resources into ensuring its Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet OS is specifically designed for use on tablets. The new Motorola Xoom tablet is one of the first devices to appear on the market running Android 3.0. One of the main new additions is the arrival of the System Bar which sits at the bottom of the screen and is the user's primary way of navigating around the OS. There is also an application-specific Action Bar which appears at the top of the screen when an app is running.

Google has considerably improved the multi-tasking options available with Android 3.0, with
Honeycomb's Recent Apps feature giving you a list of thumbnails of currently active tasks to switch between easily. The company has also improved the on-screen keyboard, with larger keys and better copy and paste options. In addition to the Motorola Xoom, there will be numerous other Android 3.0 tablets to choose from, with many big name tablet manufacturers all planning to offer their own devices running the Honeycomb operating system as 2011 progresses. 

Apple iOS

iOS was the first fully touch-focused OS to be released when Apple unveiled the original iPhone in 2007. Then with the release of the iPad at the start of last year, Apple not only brought the OS to a tablet, but kick-started the current tablet market in earnest.

The popularity of iOS for most users comes from how easy people find it to use. While Android comes in many flavors, the simple touch-based interface of iOS is almost identical, regardless of whether you use it on an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. Another benefit is Apple's excellent App Store, with thousands of apps all tested to meet Apple's strict quality standards. Even Android's growing Market app store cannot yet match the scope of Apple's offering. So if adding apps is something you're keen to do, then the iPad is arguably the best choice at present.

iOS is not without its flaws though. As with all Apple products, iPad users are tied into Apple's way of doing things and have little freedom to customise their tablet.

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