WATBlog.com : 10 Essential Apps For iPad

Now that you have bought your dream gadget, the iPad, you must be busy getting used to it. But have you found out the right apps that would make your iPad experience more fruitful?

If not, here is a compendium of ten of the popular iPad apps for your use:

• Early Edition: This app allows you to organize all your news/RSS feeds in a newspaper style, thereby giving you a wonderful news reading experience.

• Netflix: This is a boon for you if you do not have a Netflix account. It allows you to select and watch a movie (in HD quality) in a fraction of seconds. No doubt, it is assumed here that you have a 3G or Wi-fi connection already.

• Flickpad: This photo app allows you to stream the photos that your friends have uploaded on Facebook. Supposed to have gained Flickr’s support, it gives you the liberty to flick through your photos.

• Phototransfer: If you have your iPad and your computer hooked on a same Wi-Fi network, you can easily transfer your photos from the former to the latter, without having to use iTunes or iPhoto.

• Twitterlator: This Twitter app for your iPad gives you a smoother experience, like TweetDeck, while you tweet out to the world.

• Penultimate: This is the ultimate app to help you capture your hand written notes. You can now flaunt your handwriting on your iPad too.

• Things: This Mac only to-do- list creating app has now come for your iPad. You can plan your day judiciously.

• Instapaper: This bookmarking app helps you bookmark a webpage or an article on to the Instapaper’s database ,thereby allowing you to retrieve them as and when you want to read them.

• iBooks: This is Apple’s bookstore, as already seen on the release day, for buying and downloading ebooks of your choice.

• iWork: An office suit for your iPad that will include word processor, spreadsheets etc.

If you have more apps in your knowledge, you can add them up hereunder. Wish you have a wonderful time with your iPad, loaded with one or all of these apps.
WATBlog.com - Web, Advertising and Technology Blog in India

Profectio: National Film Board of Canada Launches iPad App, Instant Access To Over 1,000 Documentaries

The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) launched its own iPad app last week that gives Apple iPad owners access to over 1,000 NFB documentaries, animated shorts and trailers, streamed over Wi-Fi and 3G wireless networks. It includes a selection of films in 3-D and stunning high definition. Users will also be able to download and store a film for up to 48 hours, for off-line viewing.
The app has the same features as the NFB’s iPhone app but has been optimized to take advantage of the inherent qualities of the iPad.

Features:

* Watch over 1,000 free movies
* Access a kids’ channel with fun and educational content for children
* Store films for up to 48 hours for off-line viewing
* Browse films by channel/category
* Search for films by title
* Bookmark your favourite films
* Browse related content while viewing a film thanks to split-screen technology

Profectio

brandflakesforbreakfast: storytelling reinvented

Touching Stories is a film that was produced entirely for the iPad. They've built user interaction into the production, so that the viewer can actually impact scenes in the film by touching, shaking and using the iPad for everything it was meant to do.

Welcome to the first wave of genius productions that will change the way we consume media. Expect even more brilliance over the next months, as developers really get a handle and fully realize what's possible with this magical device. Thanks, Pete! brandflakesforbreakfast

Business Insider: 10 Things You Need To Know This Morning

Good morning! A LOT of news:

* Zynga raised a gigantic $147 million round from Softbank Capital to fund an Asian expansion.

* Twitter rolled out its "Places" feature allowing people to tweet their exact locations. Twitter integrated Foursquare and Gowalla check-ins with the feature.

* RIM is working on another touch screen smartphone and a tablet. These new units are expected before year end.
* iPhone 4 pre-orders start today. The store is down for now, so you can read our guide to buying an iPhone in the interim.

* Apple released an updated Mac mini model this morning also. It starts at $699 and sports an HDMI port.

* The hackers that exposed the AT&T iPad flaw, are now saying there's a big hole in the Safari mobile browser.

* Tesla updated its IPO. peHUB says it hoping for a $1.46 billion valuation.

* Margit Wennmachers, the founder of OutCast communications, is joining venture capital group Andreessen Horowitz as a partner. She'll help with marketing portfolio companies.

* Google's music store could be launching by fall.

* When Meg Whitman was CEO of eBay she shoved an employee named Young Mi Kim. Kim threatened to sue, but eBay paid a $200,000 settlement to Kim.

Read more: Business Insider

chrisbrogan.com: Can You Work From an iPad?

I’m writing this from a coffeeshop in northern Massachusetts. The nature of my business is such that I can workshift from pretty much anywhere, most of the time, so before we talk about working from an iPad, we have to discount the fact that my job is heavily Internet based. That said, I wanted to explore what it felt like to work from an iPad instead of my laptop.
My Work Processes

Broken down, the things I do in my day look like this:

* Email correspondence.
* Writing (proposals, books, blog posts).
* Speech Prep (Keynote)
* Other Communication (Google Wave, Twitter, LinkedIn).
* Scheduling (Google Calendar)
* Reading/researching (Google Reader, Search).
* Planning (Evernote, Mindnode)
* Media Making (here’s where the iPad falls down).

Broken down to the simple activities, my day looks lame. Luckily, I soothe myself by saying that it’s all in the “brain work.” But try this yourself: write down what exactly you DO in a given day. It looks weird on paper.
How the iPad Executes These Processes

Here’s what I think of how the iPad handles all my efforts:

* Email – the mail app works just fine. I don’t have to integrate mine to Outlook. I’m not sure how that works, but for me, Google boy, things work just great with my iPad. It’s a little slower than browser-based, because I’m adept at the keyboard commands, but I think it’s okay.
* Writing – I’m using Pages (around ten bucks US) and it works well on the iPad. I very much enjoy the feeling of pages on the iPad, especially because I bought the external docking keyboard. I also have the Bluetooth keyboard, but the dock has a piece that stands the iPad up. A big plus with using Pages on the iPad is that I’m forced to single-task. This means that I work much harder and much more focused between breaks to communicate.
* Speech Prep – Don’t get me started. The integration between the Mac app Keynote to the iPad app Keynote is so frustrating. If I use a non-native font, my presentation is ruined. If I don’t have the Internet, I often run into an error message. I have to sync through the iTunes app. Overall, it’s really frustrating to use the iPad for speeches. Creating one? Forget it. It’s teeth-pulling.
* Other Communication – Google Wave is a bit of a wash on iPad for me, so far. I can’t start new Waves, and can’t really interact the way I want. Twitter works okay. I’m using Twitterific instead of the multi-pane apps, mostly because I think the screen real estate isn’t good for them. Even though I’m limited to a single pane with Twitterific, I’m okay with it. LinkedIn works so-so via the website. Not worse. Just very mouse-clicky, so I find myself touching the screen a lot.
* Scheduling – I use Google Calendar for this, and it works just fine on the iPad. I don’t have a lot to say about it. I don’t integrate the native calendar, but that looks nice, too.
* Reading / Researching – On my laptop, I’m a Google Reader kind of guy, so I’m really happy with the NewsRack application for iPad. So far, that’s been reasonably helpful in keeping up to speed. What it doesn’t do easily is emulate my efforts to share content out (or rather, it’s not nearly as easy as using Google Reader directly and hitting Shift S when I find things I like). Researching is mostly browser-based, but I did also get the Wolfram Alpha app, and I find it pretty darned cool for searching.
* Planning – The Evernote application is a godsend. I use it on my phone, my iPad, my laptop – everywhere. I mind map quite a lot. The MindNode app works really well for me. Now, another gripe: if I make a mind map on my laptop and send it over to the iPad, it’s a whole pain in the butt. (Thus, getting me into DropBox, Box.net, AirSharing, and many other tools I didn’t need to know about until the iPad.)
* Media Making – There is none. I can’t upload video. I can evidently podcast, but I haven’t actually tried the app yet. I can’t edit anything. So, for my media making part of the job, I still need a laptop. But then, you might not be in the media business, so it might not matter.

Was it Worth It?

I think the iPad is still very much a technology in search of a problem to solve. People are calling it the ultimate “couchtop.” Did we need that? I don’t know. It reminds me of Star Trek: The Next Generation, where you’d see Picard and Riker noodling over a bit of data before throwing all the rules out the window to go down and try and reason with some new alien bad guys (Kirk would’ve skipped two steps and punched the aliens without using the future iPad or trying to reason with the aliens). But I digress.

I think the iPad serves me well as a way to focus on writing. I think it’s a great way to “check status” on certain things. It will never replace my laptop at its current configuration. I find myself slowing down when I walk by Apple stores, thinking about the Macbook Air, but that’s adding a 13″ laptop to my 15″ Macbook Pro, and that just doesn’t make sense, either.

But, will these devices be a huge game-changer overall? I say yes. That’s reason enough for me to keep working on my iPad, and noodling with thoughts about the future. I’m already seeing some possible ways this tech would serve consumers better (in store shopping assistant, anyone?) and also business types (especially when we can just Tom-Cruise-Minority-Report drag data from our iPhone onto our iPad and back with a hand gesture).

What’s your take? Did you buy one? Are you using it for work? Are you sitting this one out?...chrisbrogan.com

boardsmag: SPOT: What is iPad?: An ode to the iPad.

Please view here: boardsmag

BBH Labs: Is the iPad the new campfire?

Over the last two weeks I have noticed an interesting phenomenon around people with iPads. Maybe it’s because I haven’t got one yet (I’m trying to refrain until my birthday) so I’m more aware of those who do have them already. Right now I can have more of an outsider’s view on this new device.

That said, it’s become apparent that I’m far from an outsider. Barely an opportunity goes by for someone with an ipad to share something with me. “Check this out”. “Look at this”. “Let me show you something”. Users seem to want to show off new apps, cool new vids (and of course the device itself). I am very often drawn into the experience others are having around the iPad. We literally gather round, pull up chairs.

Unlike a laptop, it’s super easy to ‘turn and share’. Unlike the iPhone, it’s genuinely shareable (the iPhone is unashamedly personal, even private). With the iPad you can gang around at least three, four people to see something together. It all feels very natural.

So I’ve been thinking, is this one of the true revolutions with the iPad? It’s the first truly communal computer. Almost like sharing stories around the campfire.

If that’s the case, how should that impact how we design content and applications for it? BBH Labs

boardsmag: SPOT: 1969 Stream: Gap introduces a shopping experience for Apple's iPad.

See video @ boardsmag

Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim: Apple’s Cracked the App $ Code: Charge Developers for iAds

Apparently Apple just isn’t making enough money off the iPhone. In addition to making at least a little on each unit sold, Apple also gets a cut on the apps and other media sold for the device.

But they want more. The Wall Street Journal reports on a rumor that the new iAd network will come with a hefty price tag—possibly $1M to join the program, and $10M to be among the first. Additionally, Apple’s split of the ad revenue is 40%, and the price tag “comes with initial demands for greater control over advertisers’ marketing campaigns.”

It’s often routine to charge a premium to participate or especially launch a new platform, but even established advertisers are surprised by the price tag. Says the WSJ, “Ad executives say they are used to paying between $100,000 and $200,000 for similar mobile deals.”

But, says the WSJ, the bigger fish are still biting: “Despite the high price, ad executives at agencies from Boston to New York and San Francisco to Los Angeles have crowded into conference rooms in recent weeks to listen to the tech company’s pitch for iAd.”

Another feature that makes the iAd attractive is the format. Advertisers pay a very low CPM, but when consumers click on and interact with the interactive ads, the price for advertisers jumps up:

One example Apple has been showing advertisers is an ad for Nike’s Air Jordan basketball shoe, says Baba Shetty, chief media officer at Boston-based ad agency Hill Holiday, owned by Interpublic Group. When a user is in an application, an animated banner ad appears on the border of the screen, along with an iAd logo. If the user taps on the ad, it expands across the screen, displaying a video, an interactive store locator and exclusive offers at local stores, among other features. . . .

Apple is planning to charge advertisers a penny each time a consumer sees a banner ad, ad executives say. When a user taps on the banner and the ad pops up, Apple will charge $2. Under large ad buys, such as the $1 million package, costs would rack up to reach $1 million with the various views and taps.

With 85M devices and approximately 42.5M hours of screen time for apps a day, it’s little wonder advertisers are interested. But with cheaper alternatives out there, will it be enough to make it worth their while? What do you think? Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim

John Gerzema: Future Of Retail: The Impact Of The iPad: The iPad is still a fairly new invention, but many are already acknow...

PSFK - Future Of Retail: The Impact Of The iPad