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| 5 iPad apps identified for review |
I'd like to use this post to highlight five iPad apps that have captured my attention. Though one might be categorized as an "educational" app, all five are compelling because they work well and I find them useful.
The first is an app called Living Earth. There's nothing especially fancy about what it does. It's essentially a clock with a timer and a graphic of an earth spinning in space. But you can speed up and slow down the earth, get a satellite view of clouds and weather and set the globe to your current location. The graphics are excellent. It can serve as an alarm clock, and can wake you to your music library. It cost me $1.00.
Another app that I like is HBO GO.
In order to use this app, you'll need a television subscription to HBO. With your HBO subscription, HBO GO allows you to stream HBO content - movies, television shows, specials, documentaries - directly to your iPad. It's searchable, so if I'm looking to see that documentary about MacDonald's getting sued over a cup of coffee that was too hot, I can search it and watch it directly on my iPad.
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| It's a bit hard to see, but under the H category, the last listing is Hot Coffee, the target of the search. |
Remote is an app I use daily, and it continues to amaze me a bit. The app is a utility, working with another system to make it work better. In my house, I have an iTunes library of music that I can wirelessly stream to sets of stereo speakers in my living room and kitchen. With the Remote app, I can control iTunes settings, such as music selection and volume, from my iPad. this means that I can start to play music from iTunes on my computer, but then I can have the iPad in any room and change music selections and settings. It's a remote control for my stereo system. It works perfectly. The same app can be put on an iPhone or an Android phone.
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| Here's my iTunes library as seen on the Remote app |
Art Authority is an art museum app. I first got this app when I was reading a book that made frequent reference to works of art. Rather than ignoring my ignorance or constantly getting up to find information about an art piece, I downloaded this app and had an instant reference source available. Since then, I've used this app to learn more about art and artists from different eras and from varying locales. The graphics are very good, and the information finds the preferred middle ground between "too superficial" and TMI. Current price: $5.00.
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| The romanticism section includes these "galleries:" American, German, English and French and an Overview section. |
Zite is one of my favorite apps, at least for now. It's a fully customizable magazine in which you select topics of interest to you. For any topic - some of mine are Architecture, Music News and Commentary, Arts & Culture, Technology, College Basketball - Zite culls print and online sources for articles of interest. From years back, you might remember Utne Reader. It's similar in its eclecticism and general quality of selected articles. I always find something of interest in reviewing Zite's daily updates.
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| Zite allows you to choose your magazine's sections from a menu, or add your own sections. |
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| The home page of my Arts and Culture section. Each article headline is a link to the full article. Each section will contain about 20 articles culled from a variety of sources. |
Every iPad user could create a list of favorite apps. And lists will change over time as needs change and new apps are developed. But for right now, the apps above have captured my attention.
PS: Five more iPad apps for the Honorable Mention list: Gameface, Scrabble, Wired Magazine, NY Times, Stack the States.
PS: Five more iPad apps for the Honorable Mention list: Gameface, Scrabble, Wired Magazine, NY Times, Stack the States.
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