Sponsor Thanks: Mobile Cloth

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My thanks to Mobile Cloth for being a site sponsor this week. They make the first cleaning cloth for the iPad that ever stood out from the rest to me, and I’ve been using them for years now. They work faster and better than any other cloth I’ve seen.

I’ve always got one handy for use on my iPad, my smartphone, and any touch screen device I happen to be using.

I also love the video above too, done by my good friend and colleague here, Thomas Wong.

Don’t forget about the current special offer for iPad Insight readers:

An Exclusive offer for iPadinsight readers receive a Free nano 5 Pack ($15.99 value) and Free Shipping ($2.99 value)  with the purchase of any 5 or 7 Pack

mobilecloth.com   use promo code: FREE5

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5 Under $5 – iPad Games, March 8

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Hey everyone! I’m getting ready to be on my first SXSW Gaming panel. It’s free and open to the public … so for more information, check out my video this week!

Disclosure: These games were independently observed or purchased by the post’s author. For more information on our site’s review policies, visit the About page.

Games Featured This Week: 

[click to continue reading…]

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iPad App of the Week: Tynker, Teaching Children to Program the Fun Way

by on in Best iPad Apps

Tynker iPad app

Years ago, this phrase was thrown around a lot in tech circles: ‘The applications make the platform’. In the case of the iPad I don’t know that apps entirely ‘make the tablet’ – but great iPad apps are definitely a huge factor in making it such a game-changing device.

Great apps, and unique apps that you just don’t find anywhere else, are one of the hallmark features of the iPad. They have been since Day 1, and scores of great developers and publishers continue to produce apps that are exclusively for the iPad. Our weekly picks for Best iPad App of the Week are published here every Saturday.

This week’s pick is Tynker, an app that delivers on its promise to make learning to program fun for young children. The app has an age rating of 4+ and though I don’t have a 4 year old around to test with I think the fun and charming style of Tyner is good fit for youngsters of that age and above. My soon-to-be 11 year old daughter spent time with me with the app, and she agrees.

[click to continue reading…]

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AABBY FineScanner iPad Review & The great scan off vs Scanner Pro

by on in iPad App Reviews, Productivity

SF2

Back in the good old days of my very early teaching career, I had this wild idea that teachers could digitise text from worksheets and link them to a Word Document via the hyperlink option. Students could click on the links and get their work in electronic format. For my master plan to work I needed something to change our grubby old photocopied thousands of times worksheets from 1982 (you know the ones) into digital, editable text. I found a cool program called AABBY Finereader which did exactly that. Several years later, AABBY and I have reunited, although this time their scanner app FineScanner is getting the once over.

I do love an app which streamlines my life and de-clutters it from the hell which is otherwise known as paper, and my current weapon of choice in this crusade is Scanner Pro by Readdle. I was interested to see how AABBY’s FineScanner would stack up against it, given that AABBY have a long and distinguished history in converting paper to digital. [click to continue reading…]

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TwelveSouth’s SurfacePad for iPad Mini — A Slim Leather Cover With Built-In Stands

by on in iPad Accessories, iPad Cases

SurfacePad for iPad mini

TwelveSouth, makes of premium Apple-only accessories, recently announced their SurfacePad for iPad mini. It’s a svelte Napa leather cover that adds very little to the iPad’s dimensions, while offering scratch protection, the texture of actual leather, and the convenience of a few built-in stands. The magnets hidden in the front of the SurfacePad act just like a Smart Cover for sleep/wake action, and the kickstand and magnets hidden along the rear panel help prop the iPad up in two viewing angles, and one typing angle. I also like how TwelveSouth made the cover rigid, allowing you to fold it behind the iPad and hold it easily. That addresses one of my pet peeves with the Apple Smart Cover: the fact that the three (or four) panel design can often hang limply underneath the iPad during use.

I previously reviewed the SurfacePad for iPhone and was quite pleased with it, so I’m glad that TwelveSouth decided to adapt the idea for the iPad. In fact, I think the overall design is a much better fit for the tablet, as the cover will likely be heavy enough to stay closed at all times (instead of occasionally swinging open, as it did on the iPhone 4S). Having several viewing and typing angles is fairly standard in the iPad accessory field, but what’s impressive about the SurfacePad is that it does all of this while keeping a very low profile.

TwelveSouth released the $70 iPad mini edition first, but I do plan on reviewing the version for the Air when it comes out in a few weeks. In the mean time, do take a look at TwelveSouth’s terribly slick product page.

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Review – Numolition for iPad

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Numolition is a simple but addictive game. There are many levels.  Completing a number of levels will unlock challenges. How to play: When you start the game you are walked through some simple levels.  The idea is to explode groups of matching numbers.  You can explode numbers that are next to each other.  You can [...]

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Clear from Realmac Software is Free Today

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Clear is a task manager centered around dragging and re-arranging your to-do list. There are no due dates, no tags, and no notes section (though I do miss the latter). All you do in Clear is choose a task list, then pull down to create a new task. It’s beautifully simple. If that has piqued [...]

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Why Don’t We Have WhatsApp, Kik, or LINE for iPad?

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With the recent release of Hangouts 2.0 I’ve been thinking about messaging services, and how convenient it is to have conversations syncing seamlessly across platforms. You start chatting on your Mac before you leave work, continue it on your iPhone as you head home, and then idly chat as you browse on your iPad in [...]

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How To: Use Private Browsing on the iPad

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Private browsing is a very useful feature for the Safari browser app on the iPad and iOS. In private browsing mode your browsing history is not recorded. So, for example, if you’re secretly browsing around for a perfect birthday gift for your partner (who shares your iPad) and you don’t want them to see your [...]

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