Tag Archives: iPad 2

I posted a week ago about being interested in Gelaskins as a minimalist option to use with my iPad 2 and the iPad 2 Smart Cover. A few days ago I received my first Gelaskin and applied just the back cover piece of it to my iPad 2.

Over recent weeks I’ve tried a few back cover cases that are compatible with, and designed specifically for use with, the iPad smart cover. A couple of them are very nice cases, but all of them have ended up making the iPad 2 feel quite a bit heavier to me. It’s been a bit of a shocking revelation for me, as they all look quite slim, don’t visually add much bulk at all to the iPad 2, and the number for their actual weight seem quite tiny. Nevertheless, the iPad 2’s wonderful lightness is just not there anymore when using the first few back cover cases I’ve tried.

So Gelaskins started to look like they might be an ideal solution for getting a little bit of protection for the back cover of my iPad 2 while not sacrificing any of its great light feel. They are described as ‘super-thin’ and are less than 1mm thick.

I chose two Gelakins to try out with the iPad 2 – the first one I have applied is the one shown above and in a photo of mine after the break. It’s ‘Vintage Dr. Gonzo’ by Ralph Steadman – who illustrated ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ and other works by Hunter S. Thompson. The second one is a rendering of Van Gogh’s Starry Night.

Continue reading →

iPad App Reviews, Photography

Quick review: Instamap for iPad

June 8, 2011 AliciaB 1 Comment

The one thing all 3rd party Instagram viewing and browsing apps for iPad and iPhone have in common is they all tap into the secret of the success of the photo snapping and sharing community. What’s this secret? The images themselves. The panoply of multi-coloured images arranged attractively in grids that can be pleasurably browsed through and shared at whim.

And so, given such a visually unique point of departure, a lot of developers are riding the Instagram wave, hoping to drive the myriads of IG addicts to their platform. I’ve been looking at another offering that recently made its debut on the app store – Instamap for iPad. How does this new app measure up against others like Instagallery and Flipboard that I previously reviewed? Continue reading →

iPad Accessory Reviews

Review: SwitchEasy CoverBuddy Smart Cover Companion Case for iPad 2

May 19, 2011 Patrick Jordan

The SwitchEasy CoverBuddy for iPad 2 is intended to act as a perfect companion for the Apple Smart Cover for the iPad 2. It’s a back cover case that allows a space on the left hand side to let the smart cover do its thing – and comes in a small range of colors that complement the smart cover colors.

This is a solid and very durable back cover that is protected thusly, depending on which model you order:

… with highly durable color matched rubber coating (color version), or scratch-resistant UV coating (clear version) so your purchase will last longer.

I bought a black model that doesn’t quite match my navy blue smart cover, but is close enough for me to be content with it – though ideally at some point it would be good to see the range of colors extended to match those of the iPad 2 smart covers.

Continue reading →

iPad 2

iPad 2 Jailbreak Still Under Development

May 8, 2011 Patrick Jordan 3 Comments

If you’re waiting on a jailbreak for the iPad 2, you may like to know that there is one that’s still under development, and that talk about it is minimal because a recent exploit for it was patched by Apple before it could even be used.

The Dev Team shared this information in their recent blog post on the latest release of the Redsn0w and Pwnage Tool jailbreaks for all other iOS devices that support iOS 4.3.3.

There were no details offered on when and iPad 2 jailbreak release is expected, and given the hush-hush approach it’s not likely we’ll hear much until a release is ready to go.

I’m still fond of jailbreaking my iPhone, but honestly don’t feel tempted much at all to jailbreak the iPad 2. The only reason I can think of that attracts me a bit is that there is an jailbreak app that can do wireless mirroring of the iPad. That’s an awesome capability and one that I wish Apple give us an app for, or allow a 3rd party to offer one in the App Store.

How about you guys / gals? Are you keen to jailbreak your iPad 2?

Cool Things, iPad 2

With the new iPad 2 ad Apple’s just getting started

May 4, 2011 AliciaB

No doubt a lot of you out there are too young to remember the excitement us Apple watchers felt in the early days when a new iPod commercial came out. There were gasps of “cool!” all over the proto-twitterverse/blogosphere in reaction to the new Indie song that had been chosen to herald the iPod in all its silhouetted glory. Songs like Walkie Talkie Man, Are you gonna be my girl? or Jerk it out enjoyed a nice chart run on Apple’s coattails. Good times. Continue reading →

iPad 2

The More iPad 2 Cases I Use, the More I Love the Smart Cover

May 2, 2011 Patrick Jordan 21 Comments

When I first started using Apple’s smart cover for the iPad 2, I wasn’t too fond of it. As I used it a bit more I found that I had very mixed feelings about it – there were things I loved about it (like the automatic sleep/wake feature), and some things that really bugged me about it as well (like its lack of full protection).

Given my mixed feelings about the smart cover, and the fact that I loved its automatic sleep/wake functionality with the iPad 2, I thought that the best solution was to look for a full-protection case with support for the smart cover tech.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve used three cases that offer just that (full protection plus smart cover tech support), and they’ve all been pretty impressive and very good cases overall. Despite that, one thought that keeps occurring to me as I use those cases is how much I like the smart cover.

Using these other iPad 2 cases, as capable and attractive as they are, has shown me how much I miss using the smart cover itself and that it is easily my favorite cover for the iPad 2 at home. I find myself consistently coming back to the smart cover after using these other cases.

I’m still glad to have other cases around for the iPad 2, as I don’t fancy using only the smart cover when using it when I’m out and about – and they are more than good enough to use for any purpose, but they just don’t quite offer the level of comfort and ease of use that the smart cover does.

So yeah, as the post title says, the more iPad 2 cases I use, the more my affection for the smart cover is growing. My mixed feelings have become not mixed at all.

How about you? For those who have had the smart cover for a while now, how do you like it now? More than you did at first? Less?

iPad 2

iPad, Smart Cover Automatic Sleep/Wake, and Password Lock

April 27, 2011 Patrick Jordan 6 Comments

Ivan asked a great question in the comments on my recent post with my thoughts about the iPad 2 Smart Cover – here’s that question:

All I want to know is this, with the Smart Cover on, and smart cover support, if I have a password set on my iPad, when one opens the Smart Cover, the iPad will STILL ask for my password, correct?

And the answer is: Yes, that is absolutely correct.

The smart cover’s automatic sleep/wake functionality does not bypass the passcode lock feature for the iPad 2. If you have turned on Passcode Lock in Settings then you will be prompted to enter your password just as always when the smart cover wakes the iPad 2.

iPad News

iPad 2 To Launch in 12 More Countries This Week

April 27, 2011 Patrick Jordan

Apple announced today that the iPad 2 will be going on sale in 12 new countries later this week. The iPad 2 will be released in Japan this Thursday, the 28th of April. On Friday April 29 it will be released in Hong Kong, India, Israel, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey and the UAE.

On May 6, the iPad 2 WiFi models will be released in China.

Hopefully Apple will get production ramped up well enough to cope with both strong demand in existing iPad 2 markets as well as all these new nations it will be launching in.

iPad 2, iPad Accessories

iPad 2 Cases: Support for Smart Cover Tech is Now a Dealbreaker for Me

April 25, 2011 Patrick Jordan 27 Comments

I’ve found recently that waiting for iPad 2 cases is like the old saying about buses – you wait ages for one to come along and then three come at once. For a number of weeks I couldn’t find any cases for the iPad 2 that were ready to ship; they were all available for pre-order with shipping dates some weeks away. The few I found that promised slightly quicker shipping ended up being delayed and not arriving when expected. And then came last week – and I suddenly had five iPad 2 cases arrive within just a couple of days.

A more important discovery that I’ve made is that support for Apple’s smart cover tech in the iPad 2 is a must-have for me for iPad 2 cases. Even though I have mixed feelings overall about the iPad 2 smart cover, I have found that I love the automatic sleep/wake feature.

I love the feature so much that I don’t want a case that forces me to use the Power button. One out of the five cases I got in last week (that I’ll review here soon) doesn’t support the smart cover tech. It’s an otherwise very nice case, smart looking, versatile, and so on – but I quickly realize that it will be a very rarely or never used case, because it lacks the smart cover tech.

It feels a little crazy to me to be so enamored of one feature (of a case / cover!) that it becomes a dealbreaker, but that is where I’m at. From here on I’ll restrict my looking for iPad 2 cases to those that support smart cover tech or the smart cover itself.

How about all of you? Have you used the smart cover with your iPad 2? If so, do you love it / hate it / not feel too fussed about it? What are you looking for in an iPad 2 case?

iPad 2

iPad 2 Camera in Action – Filming the US President

April 24, 2011 Patrick Jordan 2 Comments

Well here’s several things you don’t see every day:

— An iPad 2 camera in use.

— An iPad 2 camera being used to take a video or photo of the President of the United States.

— Oh, and Spike Lee as the iPad 2 videographer / photographer.

Wonder if anyone told him about Camera Boost – works well on Labradors, not sure about presidents.

Via: Gizmodo

iPad News

iPad 2 Shipping Times Quicker Again, Down to 1-2 Weeks

April 20, 2011 Patrick Jordan 1 Comment

More good news today for those of you who are still trying to get an iPad 2: shipping times from Apple for all iPad 2 models are now down to 1-2 weeks.

iPad 2 shipping times have been coming down gradually over recent weeks, as production seems to be catching up with demand. Hopefully they’ll continue in this directions and we’ll see them quoted in days rather than weeks in the not-too-distant future.