A Charlie Brown Christmas is a new app that turns the beloved animated classic into an interactive storybook for the iPad (and iOS). It was released on the App Store last week, picked as the App Store App of the Week, and looks sure to be a holiday hit.
I installed the app on the day it came out and have been able to spend some time with it, and get to know it along with my 8 year old daughter. The short story is this is a great holiday app, especially for those who are already fans of Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang (and who isn’t really?)
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Jiv3D is one of those rare iPad apps that I love within less than a minute of use – and the feeling persists as I get to know it better.
It’s a unique app that’s a little like a digital photo frame on steroids, or more like on happy pills. A brilliant way to enjoy all the photos you’ve got on your iPad, have them shown off in a funky 3D slideshow, and with a great soundtrack pulled from your own library. Here’s its short but sweet App Store intro:
Jiv3D uses photos from your iPhoto library to display and move to the music in your iTunes music collection or favorite radio streams.
No configuration necessary, Jiv3D will automatically select photos from your iPhoto library and display them in 3D moving with all of the nuances of your iTunes music collection.
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Video Time Machine is my pick for today’s Best iPad App Ever. Hands down. This is one of those very rare apps that grabs you from the first moment that you open it, and just keeps you gripped and fascinated on every visit to it. It’s the equivalent of a great book you can’t put down, you just keep wanting more.
As the app title states, it’s a video time machine, from the guys who created the YouTube Time Machine (YTTM) website. It contains over 10,000 hand-picked videos – from 1860 right up to 2011. So if you want to see a John Kennedy campaign ad from 1960, it’s easy to find. Or you want to watch Michael Jordan drop 63 points on the Celtics in the 1986 NBA Playoffs, oh yeah, that’s just as easy.
I love the backstory for how the website came to be, with a couple of friends out for beer and pizza and a fantastic idea fleshed out on a napkin. Here’s just a piece of the About page for the app on this:
Following many a beer (and PIZZA!) I was regaling him with the tale of my previous night, in which I had been up very late watching Michael Jordan videos from 1996. It made me feel so awesome deep down inside … like it was Sunday afternoon, and I was 14, sipping on a milkshake and watching my fav team play. That Jordan-fest lurched into a 4 am search for Primal Rage videos, and countless other mid-90s stuff.
I realized then, that it wasn’t specifically Jordan or Primal Rage videos I was searching for … it was 1996 … the feeling of being in 1996 … As I was lost, in the mists of time, Del broke me out of my ponderous silence and said ‘DUDE! THAT SHOULD BE A WEBSITE!!’ I said ‘YES!’ he said ‘YES!’ – and then we probably high 5′ed. …
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Wild Earth is a new iPad app that offers up live video from wildlife cameras in several good locations in South Africa. If you like seeing wild animals in natural habitats rather than in typical zoos, or have kids who are fascinated by animals, this app may have some appeal.
I have an 8 year old daughter who is near-obsessed with animals; she can’t read, talk, or learn enough about them. From kittens and puppies to insects, to snakes, to sea creatures, she’s always interested. I’m not far behind her in interest level, so this is another app we took a look at together this week.
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Quick Spoiler Alert: I love the Squrl app for iPad and iOS. It’s the best new (ish) iPad app I’ve seen this year – and easily the best app for using in tandem with AirPlay and Apple TV.
Squrl is all about videos. Discovering good video content from a wide range of all the best sources, organizing it, sharing it, and seeing what others are sharing. Here’s a little more intro type information from its App Store page:
Squrl is a clever way to collect and organize video from many different providers, in one easy to use app.
Ask yourself:
• Have you ever wanted to collect video from many different websites in one place?
• Are you tired of hunting through a half dozen or more iPad apps to view your videos?
You’ll always know where to find your videos, no matter where they are on the web, with Squrl. You can even discover new content through your network of friends!
Access all your favorite videos, movies, and subscriptions to your favorite shows with Squrl. Organizing is simple and you’re alerted when new videos are available to watch.
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