If you’re after some truly stunning and unique images to use as iPad wallpapers, then you’re going to want to take a look at Trey Ratcliff’s Wallpaper Menagerie.

Ratclif is a world-renowned travel photographer. He runs the immensely popular travel photography blog, stuckinicustoms.com, and one of his photos is the first ever HDR photo to hang in the Smithstonian. He’s famous not just for his incredible photography but also for his tutorials and knowledge sharing.

And his Wallpaper Menagerie app is full of amazing photos for use as iPad wallpapers. This is definitely an iPad wallpapers app that is all about quality not quantity. You get 17 images free with the app, 10 of them in the Starter Pack and 7 more in a pack called Beautiful Landscapes. The starter pack is included in the app and the Beautiful Landscapes pack can be downloaded for free within the app.

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Read the rest of Trey Ratcliff’s Wallpaper Menagerie App – Awesome Photos for iPad Wallpapers (288 words)

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Post tags: iPad Apps, iPad wallpaper apps, iPad wallpapers, Trey Ratcliff's Wallpaper Menagerie

Etsy.com is described as ‘the world’s most vibrant handmade marketplace’ – and Etsy for iPad is a relatively new, unofficial app that offers to let you discover the wonderful world of handmade and vintage products from Etsy.com.

I’ve often spotted fun and unique stuff for iOS devices on Etsy, and I know there’s a ton of items for iPad 2 on there, so I thought I’d give this new app a look as a potentially slicker way to browse for cool Etsy items right on the iPad.

Sadly, the app really doesn’t have much to offer, or to recommend it over just visiting Etsy in the Safari browser.

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Read the rest of Quick Look: Etsy for iPad (216 words)

© patrickj for iPad Insight, 2011. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Etsy for iPad, iPad Apps

Technode is a new magazine title that came to the iPad (and iPhone) a few weeks ago. Here’s a slice of its App Store intro:

Technode is an ace new quarterly technology magazine from the team behind ShinyShiny.tv and TechDigest.tv

In issue 1 we pick the summer’s 20 top gadgets, look at how 4G Mobile will change, look at the impact of coding on digital art and discover why Facebook has turned us all into liars.

I’m a fan of tech magazines and, of course, a big fan of iPad editions – so I was keen to give this title a look. Sadly, it was only worth a very brief look and I never really delved into it, as it just isn’t a real iPad edition. Here’s why:

– The app works in portrait mode only. For me, this is a very poor starting point for most iPad apps, but even more so for a magazine title. With any reading app, whether it’s an eBook, newspaper, or magazine I want to be able to read it in whatever mode I’m most comfortable in, and switch between modes as I shift where I’m reading, and so on. Being stuck in portrait mode makes for a lousy reading experience right off the bat.

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Read the rest of Quick Look: Technode Magazine on the iPad (200 words)

© patrickj for iPad Insight, 2011. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: iPad Apps, iPad magazines, Technode Magazine iPad edition

WikiNodes is a new iPad app that offers a lively new approach to working with Wikipedia. As the name might suggest, it uses nodes to represent articles and to show how articles and subjects are related.

I’ve tried a handful of Wikipedia apps for iOS and would not generally be enthusiastic about looking at another one; but this app’s distinctly different interface interested me enough to give it a go.

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Read the rest of WikiNodes for iPad – Making Wikipedia Fun to Explore (398 words)

© patrickj for iPad Insight, 2011. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: iPad Apps, iPad Wikipedia apps, WikiNodes, WikiNodes for iPad

3D Wallpaper Pro is a brand new app for the iPad featuring a collection of  stunning 3D images for use as iPad wallpapers. 

I’m always on the lookout for great iPad wallpapers, so of course this app caught my eye when it was released earlier this week. I made a not of it when I got an email about it from its developer and got a chance to install it today. Hit the jump for quite a few screencaps from the app and my quick review of it …

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Read the rest of Quick Look: 3D Wallpaper Pro for iPad (379 words)

© patrickj for iPad Insight, 2011. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 3D Wallpaper Pro, iPad Apps, iPad wallpaper apps

Pimp Your Screen is an iPad (and iOS devices) wallpapers app. There are a number of these around, some of them quite good – but this is far and away the best I’ve seen yet.

Most wallpaper apps, and online collections, offer lots of walls in categories like architecture, cityscapes, animals, celebrities, ‘babes’ and similar. Pimp Your Screen has none of these, so depending on your tastes the app may not be for you. What it does have is an excellent and broad selection of abstract walls – featuring some amazing, creative, and fun images. Some of them are too busy for my taste (at least for home screen use) but lots of them are striking, interesting, and good candidates for use on both home and lock screens.

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Read the rest of Pimp Your Screen – Best iPad Wallpapers App I’ve Seen, By Far (469 words)

© patrickj for iPad Insight, 2011. | Permalink | 23 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: iPad Apps, iPad wallpaper apps, iPad wallpapers, Pimp Your Screen

CarZen is a new iPad app (released this week) that helps you research and buy a new car. I’m not currently in the market for a new car, but my wife was recently and the promo email for this app caught my eye and I decided to give it a look.

Here’s a bit of the app’s App Store intro:

CarZen is the most easy-to-use and powerful car search App on the iPad. CarZen is focused on delivering pain-free car research experiences that empowers consumers to make better car-related decisions.
Be prepared before stepping onto the lot with CarZen! See every new car on the market with every color, every option, and every review! It’s like having every auto makers “build your car” in one easy to use application!

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Read the rest of CarZen – Slick New iPad App for Researching & Buying a New Car (409 words)

© patrickj for iPad Insight, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: CarZen for iPad, iPad Apps

I’m a big soccer fan. Or I should say football fan, who only ever grudgingly uses the word soccer. So an iPad app called 100 Best Soccer Goals caught my eye this week and without any real hesitation or thought I installed it. Bad call. A straight red card level of bad call.

This is one of the very worst apps I’ve ever seen make it into the App Store. Read on for the gory details on why this app is so terrible, or just mark it down on your blacklist of apps to avoid if you prefer …

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Read the rest of 100 Best Soccer Goals for iPad – Candidate for Worst App Ever (511 words)

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Post tags: 100 Best Soccer Goals for iPad, iPad Apps, terrible iPad apps

Project is the much-awaited new ‘built for the iPad’ magazine from Richard Branson’s Virgin Publishing. This new iPad and tablet focused title has been much hyped over the last couple of weeks and its publishers are certainly talking the talk in terms of touting it as being a cutting edge publication for the iPad. Here’s a little slice from the press release announcing the launch of the app:

… Proud of what we have achieved and delighted to have played a small part in determining what will become the future of what we as readers expect from the magazines of tomorrow.  Today, PROJECT has set the standard.

Not exactly a bashful intro for this one then. I installed the app late last night and have browsed it and read it just about cover to cover – and of course I have some thoughts on whether Project lives up to its lofty ambitions. Hit the jump for those and lots of screenshots …

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Read the rest of Review: Project, Branson’s ‘Revolutionary’ Magazine for the iPad (1,745 words)

© patrickj for iPad Insight, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Branson's iPad magazine, iPad Apps, iPad magazine editions, Project, Project magazine for iPad

The elevator pitch for the new Amazon Windowshop app for iPad is an impressive one …

The Amazon Windowshop app is a top to bottom rewrite of Amazon.com – designed and built without compromise just for iPad. It is an amazing new way to shop Amazon’s millions of items.

I installed the app soon after it was released last week and have spent a fair bit of time with it since – and I have to say I’m very impressed with it.

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Read the rest of Quick Look – Amazon Windowshop for iPad (635 words)

© patrickj for iPad Insight, 2010. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Amazon Windowshop for iPad, iPad Apps, Windowshop for iPad

You won’t believe me, but I swear that I bought Pulse, an app that displays RSS feeds in a horizontal/vertical graphic navigation, completely by accident.

No, it’s never happened before. I was innocently browsing around the iPad RSS reader apps in the store when, before I knew it, my finger had already clicked and clicked and I saw the familiar “purchasing…” message in iTunes. Hmm. Now that I had it, I might as well check it out. I then proceeded to purchase NewsRack, because of good reviews I’d read about it. Now was my chance to see how which app would feed my feed addiction (get it?) in a better way. The result is quite surprising.(...)
Read the rest of NewsRack vs Pulse News Reader: 2 RSS apps for iPad (275 words)

© AliciaB for iPad Insight, 2010. | Permalink | 16 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: feed, feeds, iPad, newsrack, pulse news reader, reader, rss