Apple releases iAd Gallery app for iPhone

If you were hoping Apple’s next iPhone and iPod touch app would be an iAd Gallery — as opposed to say iWork for iPhone! — you’re in for a treat because that’s exactly what they released today!

The iAd Gallery is a celebration of advertising, featuring iAd campaigns from some of the world’s best brands and their advertising agencies. The iAd Gallery gives you easy access to a selection of the fun and informative ads that have run in some of your favorite apps. Use the Browse feature to discover ads you haven’t seen, or to find those you want to see again. Even lets you tag your favorites to a Loved section that’s all your own.

US only. Anyone super excited about this app?

[Free - iTunes link]

Apple releases iAd Gallery app for iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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iWork vs Documents to Go — Which one should you use?

When it comes to document editing and creation on the iPad, two solutions really stand out: Apple’s iWork Suite (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote) and DataViz’s Documents to Go app. Which is better? Well, I wish the decision was that easy.

Both apps (or set of apps in iWork’s case — you can buy each separately) allow you to edit and create documents, spreadsheets and presentations. iWork also has the advantage of using Apple’s iWork format and Office format as well and is beautifully designed. Documents to Go does a stellar job of rendering and editing Microsoft’s Office format. Let’s begin by looking at each app a little more in-depth. I will focus primarily on the differences of how each application handles their word processing since this is the number one reason people would use these apps and, you probably don’t want a mini-novel to read. There is an incredible amount to discuss with both iWork and Documents to Go, I cannot conceivably cover it all here. My goal is to give you a detailed enough overview to help you decided which app will work best for you. 

iWork

Apple sells the iWork Suite of applications for $9.99 each. The individual apps are Pages (word processor), Numbers (spreadsheet) and Keynote (presentations). Pages looks amazing. Just the aesthetic alone let’s you know this isn’t “baby software”, but the real deal. When you start off by creating a new document, you are presented with several beautiful templates to get you started. For our purposes, we will look at a standard blank document. You have a standard document toolbar at the top of the screen. The Body button gives you a good set of default styles. To the right you have the traditional Bold, Italics and Underline buttons. Finally you have a tab-like icon that gives you the ability to enter a tab, line break, column or page break. Wow, that is some serious stuff there.

On the top of the screen you have an “i” button. This allows you to define a style, lists and indents, text alignment and line spacing. To the right is the picture icon that inserts pictures, tables, charts and shapes. Finally you have the wrench icon that essentially has your settings for Pages; Find, margins, watermarks and more can be found here.

Once you begin typing, you have a very familiar experience, it’s just like a desktop whether you have been using a Mac or a PC. Use the tab button to quickly indent. Use the ruler to adjust alignments or place tab stops. Regardless, the interface is simple yet powerful. Do you have a multiple page document? A new innovative feature uses the ability to tap and hold in the right margin. This will bring up a magnifying glass that shows you a thumbnail preview of your page. Drag your finger down and it will preview the other pages in your document. Release on the desired page and Pages will instantly open the previewed page for you; no clumsy flicking or endless scrolling needed.

When your document is done, you can email it, share via iWork.com, send it to iTunes, copy it to iDisk or copy it to WebDav. The most popular method is to email. It is important to note that Pages creates your document in the .pages format which is not compatible with any other word processing application other than iWork for Mac. So, when you email your document, you are given three choices: send it as a Pages, PDF or .Doc format. The .doc option is compatible with PCs and PDF is comparable with just about any computer platform, but is not natively editable. If you send in Pages and PDF formats you will be quite pleased with the results. If you create a complex document with graphics, columns, , etc. and send via .doc format, your results may differ. I typically only create boring APA (American Psychological Association) formatted documents, and when sent via .doc format, they render beautifully. The same goes with importing a document, from say, from email. Though Pages does a really good job of opening and editing .doc documents, it is not flawless and some formatting loss can happen. Apple has improved this process with each update, but it is still not perfect. However, this is one of Pages strong points, it actually supports more than one format. You can also easily upload and download documents from the “cloud” via the iDisk and WebDav options.

At the end of the day, iWork gives you a beautiful robust set of tools for not only word processing but for spreadsheet calculations and creating presentations as well. Many of the same features carry over such as sending in Microsoft-friendly formats and access your files from the cloud. Though these apps are not perfect, they offer advanced features, many of which have only been available on desktop applications, until now.

[Pages - $9.99 - iTunes link]

[Numbers - $9.99 - iTunes link]

[Keynote - $9.99 - iTunes link]

Documents to Go

I have used Documents to Go (Docs to Go) for years, ever since the Palm V days of old. These guys have been at it for a while and I was expecting big things from them on the iPad and for the most part, Docs to Go doesn’t disappoint. Docs to Go is a single app that supports a wide array of files for viewing and Office files for editing and sells for $16.99 or $9.99 in the App Store. The launch screen is divided into several sections; Local files, Desktop files, Online files, Recents, Search and Settings. Yes, Docs to Go has a very robust means to access your files and search them.

Once you open a file in the Word app, one feature I noticed immediately that I really liked is the ability to pinch and zoom the text to the appropritea size. The text wraps around in real-time which is cool. After deciding on the fone size you like, It’s off to write your text. You have the typical fanfare as iWork does with text formats, colors, paragraph alingments, etc. Docs to Go does not support more advanced features in it’s word processing app like real-time image arrangement as iWork does, but it gets the besics done well and cleanly. Two quibbles that I have is that Docs to Go was not developed with the iPad in mind, it is basically a big iPhone app, which is such a shame. Menus are designed for the iPhone, not the iPad. What do I mean? A good example is the placement of the formating buttons; they are along the bottom of the app. At first that may not sound like a bad idea, however, when you are typing, the keyboard appears and hides the buttons so you can’t format while you time. Is it a deal breaker? No, but annoying none-the-less.

For me, where Docs to Go really shines over the competition is its “Intact” technology. At work, I use Microsoft Word to create my documents. Admittedly, I sometimes use fancy formats, tables, images, etc. As I mentioned earlier, these may not render very well in Pages. With Docs to Go however, if the app doesn’t know what the object is on the document, it doesn’t even try to render it, instead it gives you a “?” placeholder that tells you “if you delete me, you will loose this feature when you sync back your document”. What a life saver! You can edit a document and not have to worry about loosing formating any more.

Other benefits of Docs to Go include the fact that it is a universal binary, so buy it once and you can use on the iPhone and iPad, not a bad deal at al. You can also sync via iTunes Sharing and Docs to Go’s own Wi-Fi sharing app for PC and Mac.

[Documents to Go Premium - $16.99 - iTunes link]

[Documents to Go - $9.99 - iTunes link

Conclusion

So what is the take away from all of this? Well, it's that no office app on iOS does it all well. iWork behaves and has advanced features of a desktop application, but Docs to Go allows for flawless syncing of Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. For me, I use both as they offer different ways to plug holes in my workflow. For example, when I am writing a school paper, I write it exclusively in iWork then save it has a .doc file and send it off for grading. When I am dealing with editing a Word file from work, I have to use Docs to Go so I don't loose any precious formatting. Could I get by with one and not the other? Probably, but that is the beauty of the iOS ecosystem, there's an App for that (and it's probably under $9.99 too).

You can also find previous reviews of these apps, Here for Pages and Here for Docs to Go.

iWork vs Documents to Go — Which one should you use? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Notability for iPad – app review

With Notability for iPad, Ginger Labs has a great app for note taking, especially if you are a student. Inevitably you will need to take notes on your iPad at some point, right? With so many other note taking apps out there, Notability also has some unique features that make them stand out from the rest. First, the basics.

Notability is setup by subject. You can create multiple subjects and put multiple notes in each subject. Sounds simple enough. However where Notability shines is the power of their notes. At first you will notice the standard fanfare that you come to expect from a note taking app. Folders (aka subjects), search, edit, email the note etc. However Notability can also sync to iTunes, Dropbox and print your notes.

The note taking experience is rather pleasant. Tap the compose button located on in the top right corner to begin. From here you can rename the default note name (Note 1 by default) to whatever you like. Tap return and you’re in business to complete your note. But what is this? Besides just typing text you can change the font, color, emphasis and size? You can insert not only images from the Photo app, but you can also insert a figure and web clip.

The figure option allows you to draw your own figure and insert it into your note. You can draw free hand, change the line thickness, draw squares, circles and more. Once embedded in the note you can easily edit the note, resize and reposition it. If you want to embed a webpage, you can do that too. Navigate to the webpage you want from within Notability and presto, it’s embedded too, just like the figure.

Beyond these cool features, there are subtle things as well such as the ability to tab/indent without having to do it manually and add numbered or lettered bullet points. You can even add an audio note (and geek out and change the frequency if you want!).

As awesome as these features are, they come at a small price. The performance of Notability is slow. Even opening a note with one word in it can take a few seconds. I know this may not seem like a lot, but if you are trying to quickly view multiple notes quickly, Notability has some challenges with this.

Overall, I like Notability and it’s cool features that make it stand out. The web clipping feature was particularly helpful. If you are a student, this is definitely worth a try if you haven’t found the must have note app for your workflow.

[$4.99- iTunes Link]

Pros

• Great value with awesome features
• Insert pictures, drawings and web clippings in your note
• Format your notes with rich text
• Export to different formats including email and Dropbox backup sync
• Developer is always adding new features

Cons

• Slow opening notes
• Some items are not clearly delineated such as rename note and body of note

Notability for iPad – app review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Infinity Blade for iOS- app review

Everyone has been eagerly awaiting Infinity Blade’s introduction to the App Store, and with it, a promised new era of iOS gaming. Listening to the hype around this game, one would think you would stop playing other games altogether. Does Infinity Blade live up to the hype? Let’s take a look at this game a little more in-depth to find out.

Infinity Blade is the first game for iOS that used the Unreal Engine 3 to bring to life the story of a lonesome hero bent on destroying the God King (for reason’s unknown other than, presumably, the God King is a bad dude); alas, your story begins.

You start off the game as our hero and his approach to the castle where the God King resides. To reach the God King, you will need to destroy many of his minions. They range in shape and size. After you defeat several minions, you reach the God King. If you defeat him, you have won. If you fail, you die and the journey or “bloodline” begins again with your son, avenging your death.

The time of this game is set in a castle with magic and knight folklore which will appeal to many people. The story for this game is not very deep, but with this game it is all about the gameplay and overall mechanics that make the title shine. Before you enter a battle you have an opportunity to scope the environment. This is a good thing as often you will find health, chests (they may contain an item) and bags of money. You can also see the properties of an enemy before you face them. This is useful because some enemies, especially once you get further in the game, are immune to certain attacks. So, prior to battle you can adjust your armor and weapons to the maximum benefit.

Once the battle begins, you have essentially three things you can do: block an attack, dodge an enemy attack by tapping the left or right corners of the screen or you can parry an attack by swiping in the same direction on screen as an incoming attack with your preferred weapon (sword, mace, axe, etc.) You can also use a special skill such as magic to perform a special attack. That’s it folks (well, occasionally you get an opening where you can stab your enemy).

So, though this may not seem incredibly deep on the surface, the controls are very satisfying; it is not simple to just arbitrarily parry and block, there is some skill and technique involved. If you block attacks, your shield becomes weaker and will eventually break, adding even more challenge since you can’t just block every incoming attack. There is a fair amount of variety in enemies too. They attack from different angles and are not standardized. Using magic strategically helps as well (heal your self, add additional hits to your shield, use an elemental attack against a weaker enemy) adding even more depth to the game. Some items even have magical endowments, a fire branded sword or a shield immune to ice attacks.

Overall, I enjoyed this game. Is it the most amazing game ever? Of course not, but it does offer a fun diversion and foretells the possibilities of gaming on iOS. There is currently enough content to keep you coming back for more. Dozens of weapons, helmets, shields, armor,etc. all have different attributes and is worth your time to master them. The most recent update added a max level for the player, a new enemy and additional items to buy and collect. Future updates will unlock even more of the castle, new monsters, multiplayer and more. If you have not downloaded this game yet, go do it now.

[$5.99- iTunes Link]

Pros

• Beautiful graphics
• Challenging gameplay with each new bloodline
• Game Center support
• Plenty of planned updates for the future (including Multiplayer)
• Universal App

Cons

• Framerate can be a little jerky- even on iPhone 4 and iPad
• Battles can get repetitive after a while (parry, parry, block, dodge, repeat)

Infinity Blade for iOS- app review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Peak Meetings HD for iPad – app review

This week I took at look at Peak Meetings HD for iPad and so far, I like what I see. I mean, meetings, meetings, meetings. There has to be a good way to capture meeting information on iPad, right? Sure you can just type your notes out, but wouldn’t be great if you could use templates for your meetings? How about have them in an organized format? Read on to find out!

When making a meeting, you can choose what type of meeting its going to be. Informational? Update? Problem Solving? What Peak Meetings attempts to do is to help you organize, prioritize and most of all, streamline your meeting notes. Peak Meetings does this by giving you some key sections that are customizable that vary based on the type of meeting you have. Let’s look at a basic meeting:

• Title
• Goals
• Agenda
• Notes
• Location
• Attendees
• Project

The Title sections allows you to simply enter the title of your meeting. You can make this as fancy or as simple as you need. The next section, Goals, I often find missing from most of the meetings I go to…. Agenda allows you to add bullet point items, just like you might list in a Keynote or PowerPoint presentation. Almost all sections in Peak Meetings are divided into smaller groups should you want to take advantage of it. For example…

With Agenda type of meeting, these bullet points are divided even further into four sub-topics:

Topic- the title of what is to be discussed

Timing- how long this topic should last

Responsible- who is presenting this (gets populated from the Attendees section; more on that later)

Details- specifics for this topic to be discussed

Problems- why/what and ideal outcome

Options- pros and cons list

Solutions- needed and hurdles

Actions- responsible person, due date, details

After you have cataloged all of the above information, you can then write even more details in the notes section. Think if it as a way to summarize your meeting at a high level; the details are accounted for above.

Next you can enter in location information such as 4th floor, meeting room B. There is even a specific area to enter the access code for a conference call. To top it off, you can enter attendees for the meeting. Attendees are pulled in from your contacts or can be entered from scratch. Finally, all of this information is great but unless you can tie to a project, it is ultimately not worth it. So, you can add multiple projects as needed to your meeting.

Once you gave taken all of your meeting notes you can easily email them. This, my friends is where it all starts to come together. Remember when you added “attended” contacts to your meeting? Well, now when you email it, your attendees emails show in the compose email window! Very nice.

The next thing that you might be thinking is, “Gee Chad, I have weekly meetings where the agenda, etc. is always the same”. No worries my friends, you can easily select a meeting and duplicate it.

That sums up Peak Meetings HD for iPad. This app fits nicely in my workflow. For example, as many of you know, I love Evernote. Well, I also send a copy of the meeting via email to Evernote when I am done with the meeting. Now I have a consistent, nicely formatted meeting notes instantly searchable.

[$9.99 - iTunes Link]

Pros

• Great way to streamline you meetings!
• Customizable with types of meetings
• Universal app- bonus!
• Email your meetings from the Attendee list
• Duplicate common meetings

Cons

• Can’t create your own sections, but is very flexible to suite most needs
• No built-in backup or sync tool

Peak Meetings HD for iPad – app review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Gowalla Version 3 now available for iPhone!

Gowalla version 3 in now available in the App Store. This is the most significant update Gowalla has released for iPhone. So what are some of the new features?

For starters there is a completely new interface. At fist, I found it a little confusing, but I can navigate OK now. Beyond the interface overhaul, the most exciting new feature has to be notes. You can leave notes for your friends at a location. So, the next time they check in at your favorite restaurant, they will be notified that a note was left for them.

The notes feature is cool, but I would have liked to have seen it taken a step further and have public notes. As it is, you can add a Highlight, one of Gowalla’s newer features that was previously available on the Web.

Another new feature is the ability to link to FourSquare and Facebook for cross-posting. You can even see these checkins in the Gowalla app; sort of like a hub for location based checkins.

As many of you know, I am fan of Gowalla. I reviewed Gowalla for iPhone back in May, and I like what they have done in the new update, but there are a couple of things they have removed that leaves me scratching my head with wonder…

• Removal of your item collection- you can add to it, but cannot view it any more… very strange
• When you rotate Gowalla on iPhone, you no longer get the vicinity map

One final note, if you are using a jailbroken device with Winterboard, it won’t work However, Gowalla says they are working on a fix, so stay tuned!

[Free- iTunes Link]

Gowalla Version 3 now available for iPhone! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Griffin Elan Passport for iPad – accessory review

This week I got to try out the Griffin Elan Passport Case for iPad and I really like it! The Elan Passport is a leather flip case with a soft microsuede interior. When closed, the Elan Portfolio resembles a book. When you open it you have immediate access to the touchscreen on the right and the left has four slots for credit cards, business cards, etc. or other similarly shaped items and a sleeve to tuck additional paper into such as receipts and more.

The four slots on the left of the case easily accommodate a drivers license, credit card, Starbucks card, business cards or any other type of “card” you might want to place there. When a card is placed in the case sleeve, the card will stop with just enough room for you to remove it with your fingers. I always felt these items were very secure, and they would not easily fall out. The sleeve lies underneath the slots. It is roughly 4 inches deep and can accommodate some miscellaneous papers, but nothing the size of an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper unless it’s folded.

The iPad is protected on all sides as the device easily rests about a .25″ from each corner. The microsuede is a nice touch and breathes a quality finish. The iPad is held in place by four corner straps. On the right, the straps are sewn into the case. The two on the left are elastic and allows for easy placement and removal of the iPad. When the Elan Passport is closed, it is secured by a tab closure across the top. It does not lock, but it is securely held in place and is there to simply keep the cover from accidentally flipping open.

Overall I really like the Griffin Elan Passport Case for iPad. It’s light, looks good, low profile and does a good job of protecting iPad; a very professional case. It’s available now from the TiPb iPad Accessory Store.

Pros

• Compact
• Leather and microsuede
• A couple of pockets to stash receipts, etc.
• Good job protecting the deivce for accidental bumps

Cons

• Though secure, if dropped, the iPad could fly out and damage is possible
• Additional Card slots would nice, four is a bit limiting

Griffin Elan Passport for iPad – accessory review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Rage HD for iPad- app review

YouTube Link

When I saw John Carmack show off Rage on the iPhone a few months back, I was rather excited. The promise of real console-like graphics were in our grasp. Then, the game finally came out and I was initially blown away, but then…

Rage HD on iPad is set in a post-apocalyptic future. Typical of these types of games where you play a contestant out to earn money by defeating mutants. The game is set in a first-person shooter (FPS) perspective, but it is on rails. This means the game “moves” for you and you are only allowed to maneuver the cursor on screen at any given time. This is okay, as the games visuals are amazing and this style of game worked really well for Doom Resurrection on iPhone.

The screen is comprised of only a few buttons. The left side is meant solely to move the cursor, target enemies, etc. The right side has the action button (to shoot and pick up items like health, ammo, etc), dodge button (the enemy throws bricks at you), reload weapon and select weapon. If the touch screen modality does not work for you, there is a tilt option as well as lefty mode and other configurable choices such as inverted axis and more.

As you start a level, you immediately notice there are several bulls-eyes scattered among the levels. By shooting them, you increase your score. As enemy mutants appear, you target and shoot them. You can often get a one-shot fill if you time your shots appropriately; you get a special reticule when you in the correct area to pull it off.

As you maneuver your cursor around the screen trying to take out bulls-eyes and mutants, you will notice you can also pick up money, health and ammo bonuses; your cursor turns into a green hand. The ammo comes in particularly handy as I found I ran out of ammo a little too fast. The good news is that you have a pistol with unlimited ammo, but takes forever to reload. However, I have played entire levels with just the pistol with no problem. The additional weapons that you can find ammo for are the shotgun and automatic weapon.

The games graphics are really, really good. I mean, really good. It is a testament to iOS’s capabilities. No slowdown, plenty of particles flying at you and a ton of action. But this is where the problems begin for this game. It’s gorgeous. But that is all it’s got. You only have three levels of play, you fight the same enemies over and over. Rage HD is literally a $2.00 technology demo. It wouldn’t be so bad (since the game is clearly score based) if you had Game Center support to see where you rank on the leaderboards and add some challenges with achievements. Alas, none of these options exist.

I am impressed with id’s effort in this title to bring an amazing console experience to our beloved iOS devices. I am not impressed with the paltry three stages and lack of Game Center support. Should you get this game? It’s hard to tell. It is only $2.00, and will hardly break the bank. You will enjoy it till you beat the three levels and you will be left with the insatiable need for more. I am happy to have played it, but after 30 minutes (that is how long it takes to beat all of the levels) you are left with a very, very, very empty feeling.

[$1.99- iTunes Link]

Pros

• Amazing graphics
• Fun to play
• Varying levels of difficulty
• Different versions of the game for newer/older hardware
• Universal app for iPhone/iPad

Cons

• Only three levels
• Only two types of enemies (really only one type if you want to get picky)
• You are playing for what amounts to a tech demo
• No Game Center support (missing leader boards, achievements, etc)

Rage HD for iPad- app review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Otter Box Commuter Series for iPad- accessory review

The Otter Box Commuter Series for iPad may just be the ultimate in rugged cases. I know, that is a bold statement, but I am really that impressed. What separates this case from the competition is that is clearly engineered by people who like their iPads and want them protected. You get a low-profile case with a lot of extras. Like many iPad cases on the market, the Commuter is a three-layered system…

• Layer 1:  Self-adhering clear protective film (Cleaning cloth and installation card included)
• Layer 2:  Durable silicone mid-layer
• Layer 3:  One piece custom molded polycarbonate shell

Upon removing the case from its packaging, you are presented with a flip-out installation guide that includes your cleaning cloth, screen protector and applicator. After reading the instructions (yes, believe it or not there is a RIGHT way to put this thing on) I was ready to rock and roll. My first attempt failed as the bottom right corner did not properly get placed in the outer shell appropriately. No problem though, on attempt number two, I was successful.

Once you have placed the Commuter case on the iPad, it is very well protected. You have solid polycarbonate protection on the back, top, bottom and sides. There are grooves in the underlying silicone to prevent them from sliding out of place which is nice. In other models of this type, the silicone would sometimes move after putting the case together and would require some adjustment (I did not identify this as a problem till I put on this case).

You have access to all of your openings: Speaker on the bottom, volume rocker, mute switch (previously known as  rotation lock), power button and headphone jack. The headphone jack has additional protection via a silicone plug built into the case. On the bottom of the case there is a hole cut into the back that allows the Apple logo to proudly display.

Now, here is one of the more compelling reasons to get this case. Because of it’s design, it really isn’t meant to come off frequently. That is a bit of a disappointment to someone like me who uses the iPad Dock and the Keyboard Dock. Well, my prayers have been answered and the Commuter has a removable plate in the back that allows access to a dock! It is easily removed and placed back again. As a matter of fact, I am typing this review on my iPad in the Keyboard Dock with the Otter Box Commuter in place!

Overall, the Otter Box Commuter Series for iPad is a perfect on-the-go accessory for everyday handheld technology. It doesn’t get in the way (literally with the dock plate on the back) and you have piece of mind knowing that your iPad is safe and secure. It’s available from the TiPb iPad Accessory Store.

Pros

• Very well protected without compromise to style or bulkiness
• included, quality cleaning cloth and screen protector, plus applicator
• OMG YOU CAN DOCK YOUR IPAD WHILE IN THE CASE!

Cons

• The silicone is a lint-magnet (note attached photos)
• What’s wrong with a little color? Only available in black

Otter Box Commuter Series for iPad- accessory review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Tip: Send your digital booklets to iBooks

Ever wonder how to get your digital booklets into iBooks? All of us probably have some sort of digital booklet we received as part of an album in iTunes, right? To be honest, I never really viewed them because I would typically be on the go when the mood struck, not necessarily sitting on front of a computer.

Well, did you know you can “convert” your digital booklets in iTunes to make them viewable in iBooks? This is so easy, it should be illegal. We’ll show you how after the break!

• First, find the digital booklet in your iTunes library
• Next, right-click to get to the “Get Info” option and click it
• Next, click on the “Options” tab
• Last, change the “Media Kind” to “Book”

In your device menu, go to books and make sure your booklet is check-marked and sync. That’s it! If you want to place the digital booklet back into iTunes, just change the media type back to “Music” from the Books section in iTunes.

That’s it. You’re done! If you have any questions or know any addition cool iBooks tips, leave them in the comments below!

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you’d like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to dailytips@tipb.com. (If it’s especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we’ll even give ya a reward…)

Tip: Send your digital booklets to iBooks is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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TaskPaper for iPad – app review

TaskPaper is a simple paper-like application that allows you to write out tasks in a list, strike them out when done and for good measure add some tags to keep things straight. This type of task management is almost the polar opposite of David Allen’s GTD methodology (see my GTD with Evernote post here).

Hog Bay Software has done a fantastic job of capturing a more simple task management system that is based on Mark Forester’s AutoFocus system. When you launch the app you have a nice “Welcome” document that teaches you the basics of interacting with TaskPaper. You can make notes, tasks and projects. So, I jumped right in and made two projects: AutoFocus Oct 2010 and AutoFocus Nov 2010. My goal being, every month I would create a new list of tasks. This is a great way to keep things in a concise list, other wise your list would grow to crazy proportions.

Next, you start making your tasks. According to AutoFocus, just begin listing everything that comes to mind. I made quite a list at first. With AutoFocus, you simply browse your list do “what feels right”. I know, it might be foreign to some, but as you browse the list, you really do know what needs to get done via your, what I call, internal constraint clock. To complete your task, swipe from left to right on the task and TaskPaper gives you a very satisfying strikethrough that includes an @done tag and date you completed it. As you move though the system you start to amass completed tasks intermixed with active tasks. This can be somewhat annoying if you have a really big list. To accommodate for this, TaskPaper allows you to Archive @done tasks and groups them at the bottom of the page so you can focus on your active tasks.

TaskPaper has two tags by default; @done and @today. The @today tag can help you pick 3 or so tasks that you want to get done today. You can create as many tags as you like, just add “@” and they work anywhere in the task. You can then filter via the @ button on the bottom toolbar. With your @done tasks out of the way, you can rearrange tasks as you see fit by tapping on the task and holding it. Then, simply drag to a new location. If you need to select multiple tasks, hold any button on the toolbar (say, the @ button) and simultaneously tap on the tasks you want to highlight.

You can easily navigate between projects and rename, delete, tag as you see fit. One thing folks might want to know is that if you do have separate real work projects, I recommend making a separate TaskPaper project for each and list out your tasks as needed. I know to many this may sound bizarre, but if you work on projects with a lot of small pieces without a lot of date constraints, the system works pretty well.

I really don’t have much to say as a take-away for TaskPaper. It is simple and does things well. The developer is promising DropBox integration in an upcoming update (similar to their other product PlainText). Occasionally I would tap on a task I did not want and it would disappear or something, but nothing a quick shake of the iPad/iPhone wouldn’t undo.

If you are looking for a simple task management system, look no further than TaskPaper, I really like it a lot and is close to becoming my daily-driver task management solution

[$9.99- iTune Link]

Pros

• Simple interface
• Uses concepts from AutoFocus
• Syncs across multiple devices
• Switching to DropBox in a future update
• Built-in search

Cons

• Interface can be a little “twitchy” when selecting items

TaskPaper for iPad – app review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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iBooks vs Kindle app- Which one should you use?

Ever since the iBooks was announced, this is probably the single biggest issue an avid ebook reader will ultimately have to deal with: Kindle app or iBooks. What should you pick? Well, no one can tell you that for certain, but I hope to give you a little insight that might help you decide.

The fundamental difference between the two is the Kindle app has a very large ebook selection by comparison. 750,000 ebooks on Kindle and 60,000 books at iBooks launch (Apple has not released exact numbers). To me, this is the differentiating factor. Both applications support landscape view with two columns and a built-in dictionary as well as syncing of bookmarks, highlights and notes. Let’s look at some of the differences of each app beyond how many books they have.

(You can get our quick review of the Kindle app here and iBooks app here)

Kindle

The Kindle app is a free universal app so you can run it on any iOS device. You can tap the left or right of the screen to turn pages and tap the top right corner to bookmark a page. You have several levels of font sizes and colors to choose from to help create your reading experience as good as it can be. You can even sync your annotations to other devices that support Kindle, that includes any iOS device, Mac, PC, Android and BlackBerry as well as Amazon’s own Kindle.

There are a couple of innovative features that the Kindle has brought to the ebook table. First the Kindle app displays popular highlights in a book via underlined text while you read. You can easily see what other people have highlighted, quotes or whole passages. Second is data supplied by Shelfari. This content includes summary, character, spoilers and more; not a bad benefit. On the iPad, you can turn on a page turning feature similar to iBooks, but it is not has smooth or pays as much attention to detail as Apple’s iBooks. On iPad, you have to different ways to view your library; big icons that can use pinch to zoom to resize as needed or an alphabetical list. I like both options depending on my mood, but what is lacking is a manual arrange function; You only can sort by Recent, Author or Title.

Since Kindle books are in the cloud, there is no need to sync your book on any desktop. Simple navigate to the archive in Kindle and redownload your book and it will then sync your bookmarks and other annotations.

iBooks

iBooks is a free download from the App Store for iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad. You can immediately tell the difference in aesthetic quality between the two apps. When reading with iBooks, it “feels” like a book. In portrait iBook’s pages look like they are laying on a bound book. When you turn a page, you can see the print on the other side. Also, one of my caveats with the Kindle app is resolved in iBooks; I can manually arrange my books in any order. One of the other benefits of iBooks is the very nice PDF reader that is built it. You can easily search within PDFs and bookmark pages. For later reference, you can even filter to just view pages you have bookmarked. This is a very nice feature to have for free.

These are all very nice touches iBooks. The look, feel and options are fantastic. However, content is king, just like available software for a platform and regretfully, iBooks falls flat on its face. 9 out of 10 books I search for on iBooks comes up empty. This is very disheartening. I remember in the early days of the Kindle, they only had a 100,000 ebooks or so and are now approaching one million. Sadly, iBooks is not even up to 100,00o yet. I have hopes that Apple will forge the relationships needed to foster a growing library.

Alas, at this time, Kindle really is the better choice for content and iBooks is a much better app. In the end, what s more important to you; books you can actually read, or a pretty application?

iBooks vs Kindle app- Which one should you use? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Reckless Racing HD for iPad – app review

If your looking for a fun, simple racer with awesome graphics, then Reckless Racing HD might be for you. Playing this game reminds of RC Pro Am Racing on the original Nintendo, or NES. The premise is simple; beat other racers to win the championship.

The game is played with an overhead isometric view. There are several different control options, but I enjoy the default which is gas and break on the far right and left and right turn arrow on the left, the control is spot on too.

Starting off with the game you get a brief tutorial which also allows you to try out the different controls in real-time. Just tap the one you want to try while playing and you are good to go. Next, you can complete in a championship and more. There are three different classes to choose from; bronze, silver and gold. I personally had no challenge at all on bronze, so I bumped it up right to gold and had a blast. As you race there are obstacles to avoid, but the biggest challenge is just staying on the road! The game has you racing laps on dirt, gravel and paved roads and each feels succinctly different.

There are a few obstacles to watch out for while you race like cans, barrels and boxes. But what is great is that if you are a slick enough driver, you can discover nice shortcuts to help you through the level. The 8 tracks had me wanting a little more levels, though if you place first in the track you unlock the reverse course. I did find the three game modes (race, hot lap and delivery) to be fun as well.

The bonus with this game is with the multiplayer. You get 4 player racing online with Reckless Racing and it adds a whole other level racing with real people. You have leader boards and can save ghosts too. The only real issue I had with the multiplayer aspect is that you don’t know if people are in the middle of a race till you enter their game. If they are racing, you have to wait till the race is over to join. I wish there was a way to see what games were already racing so you could find a game that much easier, or a quick match might work too.

Overall Reckless Racing HD is a blast to play, but is just shy of total greatness due to a few nicks here and there. However, I am sure EA will have new levels and cars with downloadable content soon.

[$4.99- iTunes Link]

Pros

• Fun, fun game
• A variety of levels
• Online multiplayer

Cons

• Additional levels would be nice, the variety is good, but I feel I race the same levels over and over
• A few quirks with multiplayer

Reckless Racing HD for iPad – app review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Otter Box Commuter Series for iPhone 4- accessory review

The Otter Box Commuter Case for iPhone 4 is a well constructed hard-shell case with a silicone layer underneath and screen protector. It provides a no-slip grip while keeping the thin iPhone 4 form factor we love.

Reviewing cases can be tough; there are a lot out there. I think it’s fair to say most cases I review are rather good. I haven’t really come across the “perfect” case yet, but I might be close with this one. Why? Well, it’s the perfect compromise between slim and protected and it’s by Otter Box, an industry leader in hardcore protective cases.

What makes this case unique among its competition is that the silicone is very well constructed. The the hard shell outer case and the silicone literally work in concert to protect every aspect of your iPhone 4. The silicone covers everything from the headphone jack port across the top of the device to the 30-pin connector slot on the bottom. Each is protected with a flip-out plug. What is so great is the headphone jack is protected without the sacrifice of blocking the second mic; it’s still uncovered. I am very impressed with Otter Box’s design work.

The hardshell is pretty solid. The only way I could envision it breaking is if it was frozen to -30 degrees then smashed with a hammer. I seriously feel very secure with it.

Here is something else I like about the case; by now you may know how much I like raised edges on cases for the iPhone, as it protects the screen if it is laid on its face. With the Otter Box, I feel I am getting an extra .5 or 1mm additional height and the hardshell meets the height of the silicone on the top, bottom and sides of the device. This means that if placed face first and any weight is placed on the device, it is still not likely to scratch. That is great design work and my kudos to Otter Box.

If you need your iPhone protected, look no further than the The Otter Box Commuter Case for iPhone 4 to have a good looking case while keeping it safe. Available now from the TiPb iPhone 4 Accessory Store.

Pros

• Awesome protection with little sacrifice for thinness
• Throughly protected, yet access to all ports, even the mic!
• Included screen protector
• Durable silicone skin
• Polycarbonate outer shell

Cons

• Though relatively easy to take on and off, not really meant to be removed
• Lint tends to stick to the silicone, but this is an issue with every silicone skin I have come across
• No color selections other than black
• Can’t place in dock with case on

Otter Box Commuter Series for iPhone 4- accessory review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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How to Get Things Done with Evernote for iPhone and iPad

As many of you may know, I am one of the productivity geeks here at TiPb. I am always looking to use tools to help me be more productive and save time. I have used most of the major task management platforms available for iPhone and iPad, but I have secretly longed to do it in Evernote.

There are many ways use GTD and Evernote and a quick Google search will usher many results. However, I have adopted and tweaked Jeff Kirvin’s GTD concept in Evernote. Let me explain how it works. Getting Things Done (GTD) is a methodology for complete task management. Evernote is suited well for this as it has folders, tags and custom searches; this is my setup.

First, I only use one notebook, that’s right, only one. I use the ingenious title of “My Notebook” for its title. From here I start to add tasks, articles, whatever- things I need to get done, into my the folder. From there I have an “All” tags category with literally hundreds of sub tags for just about anything I can think of from “Humor” to “Science Fiction”. Once I place a note in my notebook, I tag it with as many tags as I feel it needs. Next I determine if the note is actionable; if it is, do I need to do anything with it? If the answer is no, I don’t do anything and save the note making it instantly searchable later if I need it. If the answer yes, then I give it a Context. A Context is typically labeled with an “@” (ampersand) and can mean different things, but I equate it to location or state of mind. For example, I use @Home, @Computer to indicate a place to do something. I have contexts like @Internet, @Read and @Evernote that I use to tell me I need to read or write something, but that could really be anywhere. I typically assign the @Evernote or @Read context for schoolwork or articles I send to Evernote that I want to read later or for writing a blog post (like this one).

After I have assigned the context tag, I save the note. If you work on Projects, you can create those too (as a tag) and assign notes as appropriate. However, I use a method similar to Jeff in a sense that I borrow the methodology of the AutoFocus system by Mark Forester and simply pick what I feel is appropriate at the time. If something is date-sensitive, I will add a date to the title so I see the date first, then the action name. Others may add these items to their calendar.

Now at this point you are probably saying to yourself, “That’s great Chad, but how do I find something in this big bucket of notes?” Ah, that is where the power of Evernote comes alive.

You see, the secret with Evernote is the Custom Search. You can enter search criteria and Evernote will return the result. So, let’s go back and look at my action of @Evernote, Blog Post for GTD. When I complete this task, I add a !Complete tag to the note and remove the”@” context. This will allow me to see that is completed while removing the fact it is an action item. In Evernote there is number that appears next to the context. I use this number to determine the volume of actions I have in any given context. So, by removing the context from a completed note, I am able to keep the number limited to only items I need to get done while having the !Compelte tag allows me to track what I have done.

So If I want to create a search from completed tasks, that is east I use: tag:!Completed -tag:@. This will display every note that is done but that does not include a”@” context. If I want to see how many tasks I have compelted in the last week, I can use this: tag:!Completed -tag:@, created:week-1. This works really well. I use different variables of this logic to architect my Evernote custom searches to only display what I need. For example, if I want to find notes that I haven’t tagged (sometimes they slip through!) I created an “!Inbox” search. This criteria is simply -tag:. This tells Evernote to show me everything that doesn’t have a tag. I also use an !Active Tasks search to show me all actionable tasks with an “@” context. This search looks like this: tag:@. Since I don’t really use dates for my tasks, I also need a way to mark a task as something I want to do today. For this, I use !Today tag and create a custom search like this: tag:@* tag:!Today. The other benefit of these searches is that they sync from platform to platform. Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Web, it appears everywhere. Also, you may be wondering why I am placing an exclamation (!) point in front of my custom searches. Evernote sorts searches, tags and folders by name so adding interesting characters such as an @, !, # and . elevate them to the top of the alphabetical list.

So far I am enjoying this system; its seems to working well. Sometimes I feel tempted to go back to using OmniFocus or ToDo, but I am about two weeks in and I have little adjustments here and there for the custom searches trying to really nail what I need for retrieval. One of the other main benefits of using Evernote for GTD is that you can email items directly into Evernote. For example, you have some work emails you need to follow up on or some emails with useful attachments. You can send that email with attachments to Evernote for reference or action (attachments beyond images, audio, ink and PDFs require an Evernote Premium account, but it is totally worth it).

If you are looking to learn more about the system I have described, here is Jeff’ Kirvin’s original post as well as links to David Allen for GTD and Mark Forester for the AutoFocus system.

Evernote for iPhone and iPad is available in the App Store. [iTunes link]

How to Get Things Done with Evernote for iPhone and iPad is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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PlainText for iPad- app review

If you are looking for a simple text editor with a clean, professional interface, PlainText might just be for you. Hog Bay Software has created a quaint little document app that goes out of it’s way to do simple editing. The main benefit this app has over the built-in Notes app is that you can define and create folders; the level of editing is the same.

The first thing you will notice about PlainText is its icon. It is the shape of a formatting mark on a typical word processor. Once you open Plain Text you see a list of documents on the left and the first available document open on the right. To begin typing, tap anywhere in the document to begin. If you want a full screen typing experience, there is a full screen icon in the lower right. Tap to make full screen, tap again to bring back the document list.

There are no formatting options in PlainText… it is just that, plain text. What does separate this app from say, the Notes app on iPad is the ability to add documents to folders. Tap the new folder icon and you can create as many folders as you would like. However, you should be aware that you can’t move a document from to a folder after the document it created; you must create the file in the folder you want. I am sure this will be an enhancement in an upcoming release.

The next question you are asking yourself is how do I get these notes to my iPhone, after all it’s a universal app. The easiest way to use Dropbox. You can set this up directly from Settings in the app and you are ready to rock. However, if you want to use another tool, try PadSync.

Overall I like the simple and great aesthetic nature of the application. There are just a couple of quibbles that are preventing it form stardom. One of the big ones for me is the inability to move files between folders. Perhaps it’s there and I am missing it, but I sure couldn’t find it. Additional features are planned (here is a list from the next beta as of this writing) and it has been submitted to the App Store. I would check the blog regularly for updates and suggestions.

[Free- iTunes Link]

Pros

• Free!
• Create folders
• Universal App

Cons

• Only syncs with DropBox (where is MobileMe?)
• Can use app PadSync http://ecamm.com/mac/padsync/ to get data from Mac to iPad
• Can’t move a document to an existing folder

PlainText for iPad- app review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus for iPhone – app review

Are you ready for the ultimate in iPhone first-person shooter games? If so, then sit back and enjoy Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus. Gameloft has really, really, really shown it is in this to win and take advantage of the hardware on iPhone. This game is gorgeous, especially on the retina display. Ah, but let’s not dwell on the graphics for now, let’s jump into the game itself.

Black Pegasus is a sequel to Modern Combat. This game was good for its day, but Black Pegasus sets a new standard. The game starts off after the old one where you are part of a squad sent to take out the bad guys, protect civilians, etc. There really isn’t anything new there, so let’s talk about what is new. As I mentioned earlier, the graphics are awesome. I don’t mean just because they are retina display graphics, they are awesome because the new character models look very realistic and body movement is very smooth as characters move about the screen. You also have a blinding white screen when you are caught with a flash bang grenade and if you “bust” in a door you have slow motion for a few seconds to take out the bad guys, creating a sense of stunned enemies.

To control the game you have the standard fanfare of d-pad on the left and your attack, grenades, etc on the right. You have the crouch button on the bottom left and the zoom scope on the bottom right. When maneuvering your character it is quite responsive and when you zoom to scope view, the controls turn very sluggish. This is done on purpose, because if not, everyone would spend the whole game in zoom mode! The controls are solid, but still suffer for Gameloft’s persistent issue of keeping on the d-pad on the left as the control point and if your thumb moves off of it, you inadvertently end up controlling your view. Though not a game-stopper, it does happen on occasion- I will be in the middle of combat and all of a sudden be looking up at the sky or down at the ground. If Gameloft would simply change the whole left of the screen for movement, the problem would be solved.

There are lots of single player missions with great difficulty on the hard levels, but where this game really shines is in multiplayer. 10 players online and 4 types of games tend to keep me very busy. You have typical “deathmatch” where everyone is out for each other. Team deathmatch where two sides go after each other. Next is capture the flag where you capture the enemy flag and take it back to your base and last is bomb defuse where you have to protect a bomb from the other guys defusing it.

These multiplayer matches are crazy awesome. Fluid, look beautiful, solid Internet connections, etc., what could make it better? Points. That’s right, there is a ranking system. Every kill, headshot, assist, you name gets points. Typically every level unlocks something from a kill signature (it’s like a taunt) to new weapons or a skill like -20% on gun recoil and more. The only chink in the armor is that the online multiplayer is Wi-Fi only, so no 3G regretfully. Still, I can live with that as the single player missions are still a blast to play.

If you like first-person shooters, this is an absolute no-brainer purchase; it must be bought and it must be bought now. It is without a doubt the BEST game of this type on the App Store and I guarantee you will waste many hours fraggin’ your peeps online. Not sure? Watch my video up top and you will be convinced.

[$6.99- iTunes Link]

Pros

• Amazing graphics
• Great controls
• Very challenging single player campaign on the hard levels
• The absolute best multiplayer FPS experience on the App Store

Cons

• No Game Center support, uses Gameloft Live! )but it works really well!
• No 3G Multiplayer

Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus for iPhone – app review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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iStudiez Pro or iPhone- app review

This week I’m taking a look at iStudiez. A new school year is upon us and as I begin the journey of own Master’s degree I thought taking a look at one of the leading school and course management apps in the App Store was in order.

iStudiez is a very comprehensive course management application for the iPhone. This app literally does it all from cataloging semesters, courses and instructors to tasks and grades. So where do we begin? Let’s break the app down by section. So, first lets take a look at the Today section.

At the bottom of iStudiez you have for icons. The first icon is the Today icon. From here you get a summary of information you need to get done today. You have the option of turning on events from your iOS calendar, or feel free to leave it off. It displays all day events as well as regular times events. Simply tap on the event to get more information.

Next you have the Calendar icon. This is exactly as it sounds, a calendar for your courses and assignments. There is a toggle button up at the top of the screen that switches you from Schedule to viewing just your Assignments. This approach is quite nice as it allows you to see when your assignments are due and compare it with what your doing that day, week, etc to help you manage your time more efficiently. You can also add an assignment from here directly. Tap the plus icon located in the top right corner. Add the course, assignment name and details, due date and priority as well as push notification reminder and any partners you are working with to compete the assignment. Your partner information is pulled directly from your contacts list.

The next icon is your Assignments section. This is the place to view anything about what assignments you have, grades and completed courses. This section is divided into two areas; Current and Completed. Current lists your assignments by either Due Date, Course or Priority. Simply tap the choice you want and iStudiez will display and sort the results of your choosing. The completed section shows your completed course date and and course with your grade for that class.

The last section is the Planner icon. This area allows you to configure your Semesters, Holidays and Instructors. Your semesters can be be given a date range, nothing too exciting there. Next you can add your course and give it a color to help it stand out in the crowd. You can set your class as a regular class, single class or an exam. When you do this you also have the ability to set up that specific class’s schedule. You can pick the days of the week, its repeat schedule, instructor and location. You can enter the name, date and location for your exams as well. You can also enter in all of your instructor data from name, title, phone and email to office hours. You even get a comprehensive list of the classes that professor teaches based on what you have entered in your courses. Yes, tapping the phone number will launch the Phone app and email will compose and email; very convenient!

You have awesome control on how all of this data gets displayed in iStudiez. You can customize default phrases on your calendar such as “No classes today” and change that to “It’s a beach day!” for example. You can determine what information your calendar can specifically show. Turn off iOS calendar events if you want. Add a course color to differentiate between classes , assignments in the calendar; you have complete control. For me, a particularly useful option that is off by default is displaying week number.

There is not much else to say other than if you have an iOS device, buy this app immediately. It’s universal you can run it on an iOS device and the price is beyond reasonable at $2.99; the developer could easily charge more than that simply for the value in time savings that this app will give you.

[$2.99- iTunes Link]

Pros

• Robust course management app
• Integrates your iOS calendar with specific iStudiez data
• Universal app, BONUS!!!
• Helpful back-up via email feature
• A Lite version is available to try out

Cons

• Cannot sync data between iPhone/iPad or other iDevices (a sync solution is in the works)

iStudiez Pro or iPhone- app review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

iStudiez Pro or iPhone- app review

This week I’m taking a look at iStudiez. A new school year is upon us and as I begin the journey of own Master’s degree I thought taking a look at one of the leading school and course management apps in the App Store was in order.

iStudiez is a very comprehensive course management application for the iPhone. This app literally does it all from cataloging semesters, courses and instructors to tasks and grades. So where do we begin? Let’s break the app down by section. So, first lets take a look at the Today section.

At the bottom of iStudiez you have for icons. The first icon is the Today icon. From here you get a summary of information you need to get done today. You have the option of turning on events from your iOS calendar, or feel free to leave it off. It displays all day events as well as regular times events. Simply tap on the event to get more information.

Next you have the Calendar icon. This is exactly as it sounds, a calendar for your courses and assignments. There is a toggle button up at the top of the screen that switches you from Schedule to viewing just your Assignments. This approach is quite nice as it allows you to see when your assignments are due and compare it with what your doing that day, week, etc to help you manage your time more efficiently. You can also add an assignment from here directly. Tap the plus icon located in the top right corner. Add the course, assignment name and details, due date and priority as well as push notification reminder and any partners you are working with to compete the assignment. Your partner information is pulled directly from your contacts list.

The next icon is your Assignments section. This is the place to view anything about what assignments you have, grades and completed courses. This section is divided into two areas; Current and Completed. Current lists your assignments by either Due Date, Course or Priority. Simply tap the choice you want and iStudiez will display and sort the results of your choosing. The completed section shows your completed course date and and course with your grade for that class.

The last section is the Planner icon. This area allows you to configure your Semesters, Holidays and Instructors. Your semesters can be be given a date range, nothing too exciting there. Next you can add your course and give it a color to help it stand out in the crowd. You can set your class as a regular class, single class or an exam. When you do this you also have the ability to set up that specific class’s schedule. You can pick the days of the week, its repeat schedule, instructor and location. You can enter the name, date and location for your exams as well. You can also enter in all of your instructor data from name, title, phone and email to office hours. You even get a comprehensive list of the classes that professor teaches based on what you have entered in your courses. Yes, tapping the phone number will launch the Phone app and email will compose and email; very convenient!

You have awesome control on how all of this data gets displayed in iStudiez. You can customize default phrases on your calendar such as “No classes today” and change that to “It’s a beach day!” for example. You can determine what information your calendar can specifically show. Turn off iOS calendar events if you want. Add a course color to differentiate between classes , assignments in the calendar; you have complete control. For me, a particularly useful option that is off by default is displaying week number.

There is not much else to say other than if you have an iOS device, buy this app immediately. It’s universal you can run it on an iOS device and the price is beyond reasonable at $2.99; the developer could easily charge more than that simply for the value in time savings that this app will give you.

[$2.99- iTunes Link]

Pros

• Robust course management app
• Integrates your iOS calendar with specific iStudiez data
• Universal app, BONUS!!!
• Helpful back-up via email feature
• A Lite version is available to try out

Cons

• Cannot sync data between iPhone/iPad or other iDevices (a sync solution is in the works)

iStudiez Pro or iPhone- app review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Seidio Innocase II Surface for iPhone 4- accessory review

This week I am looking at the <a href="http://store.tipb.com/seidio-innocase-ii-surface/4A123A7378.htm?utmsource=tipb&utmmedium=post&utmterm=iphone-4&utmcontent=review”">Seidio Innocase II for iPhone 4. What makes this case great is that it is a two-part case that snaps about two thirds down. You slide the iPhone into the top, then slide the bottom on. The two pieces snap into place to provide a secure casing for iPhone 4.

The inside of the Innocase II is covered with a very soft, velvet like material to ensure that your beloved iPhone 4 receives no scratches when being pulled in and out of the case. Most cases have some sort of lining, but I have not seen too many like this. The lining is not meant for shock absorption, rather it’s purely there for protecting your investment from scratches, thanks Seido.

A couple things I have noticed about the case. The instructions state to “wiggle” the bottom of the case to remove it. However, I was unsuccessful at “wiggling” it (I mean, it is already flush against your iPhone 4 after all..). So, instead I used my inhuman strength to simply pull it off. This works for me, but did provide an initial shock when trying to remove it to dock my iPhone 4. Also, you probably know by now that whether it’s the iPhone or iPad, I like the glass edges protected on iPhone 4. The Innocase II does this no problem but to the extreme. I received a Fruit Ninja invite to place a multiplayer game on Game Center. After I accepted and started to play, I had problems slicing some fruit because I could not get my finger to touch the very edge of the iPhone 4 screen. Is this a deal breaker? Likely not, but something you should know before considering buying this case. Honestly, it probably won’t be an issue for most of our readers.

You can get the Innocase in a plethora of colors in our store; surely one to fit your style. I am sporting the green one and dig it. I feel this case protects well and is secure (it won’t fall off) and looks good with adding minimal thickness to the iPhone 4. You can pick up the <a href="http://store.tipb.com/seidio-innocase-ii-surface/4A123A7378.htm?utmsource=tipb&utmmedium=post&utmterm=iphone-4&utmcontent=review”">Seidio Innocase II for iPhone 4 at the TiPb iPhone 4 Accessory Store.

Pros

• Solid protection for iPhone 4
• Aesthetically pleasing
• Easily removable for docking, etc.
• Multiple colors

Cons

• The ridges next to the screen are a little too high
• Case can be difficult to remove

Seidio Innocase II Surface for iPhone 4- accessory review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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