WordPress App Update 3.0

If you enjoy blogging and use WordPress you should try the iPad app. The latest update has added some new features.

Push notifications are now available. You can opt in to receive push notifications of new comments to your site.

To moderate the posts, you can use the swipe to moderate toolbar.

If you want to pull up site statistics, the app allows for that as well.

The performance is improved as well for the iPad version.

Free App of the Week

Apple has started offering a free app of the week. The first app offered is a game, Cut the Rope: Experiments HD.

It will be interesting to see if Apple continues this promotion or if it is a one time event.

WikiView – Wikipedia Reader Free for Limited Time

WikiView is a Wikipedia reader for the iPad. The app allows offline caching (stored on the device even offline until you delete them), quick scroll for fast scrolling, read later queue to identify articles to read later, personalization (font size, type, etc.), look up words by tapping, search, and more. You can read more about the app here.

Judicial Sites Become iPad Friendly

More and more business websites have made themselves appear and respond better for the iPad. Now, not only do businesses recognize the need for a better browsing experience, but courts do as well.

Recently, the South Carolina Supreme Court web page became iPad friendly. The news was touted on its page.

“the South Carolina Judicial Department launched a new webserver.  This move allowed SCJD to implement a new touch menu that works well on the iPad.  The website is now set up to display a “touch” menu for visitors who are using an iPad and a “click” menu for those using a computer.  Deb Rosengrant, Web Developer, researched the options for going iPad friendly and implemented the necessary changes across the site. Tina Newhouse, Server Administrator, was responsible for setting up and configuring the development and production servers.  In addition, our site now has its own Apple Touch Icon which is displayed on the iPad for any visitor who adds a link to www.sccourts.org on their home screen.”

Using the  ->  icon found in the browser, you can add the South Carolina Supreme Court home page to your webpage as a shortcut icon on your iPad.  Here’s how.

First, in your browser, tap on the arrow. Then, tap on Add to Home Screen.

Next, edit the name of the icon that will appear on your desktop.

Move the icon to where you want it to be.

The website is now a short tap away.  This will work with other sites as well.

Pages – How to Create Folders to Organize Documents

Do you have a bunch of Pages documents and don’t like to scroll forever to find them? What if you could create a folder to organize the documents? Using this tip, you can sort and store Pages documents into folders.

First, get to the Documents screen. If you are editing a document in Pages, tap the Documents button on the top left to take you to a screen similar to the one seen below.

To create a folder, much like creating a folder for apps, tap and hold on a document.

The various documents will then begin jiggling like what happens when you tap and hold an app to rearrange the apps on the screen.

You will then be able to tap and drag a document onto another document and create and name a folder.

Tap on the x and rename the folder. Tap done and voila, a folder has been created.

You can then tap and hold folders to drag them into an order  you like.

 

SketchBook Pro Update

SketchBook Pro for the iPad is an app for the artist in you and it has been updated to version 2.5.

The app is described as follows:

Autodesk SketchBook® Pro for iPad is a professional-grade paint and drawing application. Using the same paint engine as its desktop counterpart, SketchBook Pro delivers a complete set of sketching & painting tools through a streamlined and intuitive user interface designed exclusively for the iPad experience.

Whether you are an occasional doodler or a professional illustrator, SketchBook Pro transforms your iPad into the ultimate digital SketchBook.

The update includes:

✓Randomize Color for each stroke
∙ Independently control Hue, Saturation and Brightness
✓ Improved Color Palette
∙ Quicker Access to Color Editor & Color Picker
✓ Palm Rest
✓ All brush sets now loaded by default
✓ Bug Fixes

If your finger has been itching to doodle or paint, try this app.

Adobe Creative Cloud, Proto and Collage Released

Adobe has announced a new service and a couple of new iOS apps.

A paid service, Adobe® Creative Cloud™, provides tools and services. This subscription-based offering, is a hub for making, sharing and delivering creative work and it is centered around Adobe Creative Suite® 6 software.

In addition, two new iOS Apps – Adobe Proto and Adobe Collage – are now available for iOS devices, as are new features and additional language support in both Photoshop Touch and Adobe Ideas.

Proto lets you create wireframes of websites and apps on your iPad.

Collage lets you assemble your “creative moodboards” combining images, drawings, video and text.

A beta program related to Adobe Muse also became available today to Creative Cloud members and individual subscribers. Muse is a new tool that enables designers to create HTML5-based websites without writing code.

MindNode Update

Today, MindNode was updated to version 2.1. This app is a mind mapping and organizational tool. It is easy to use. If you have MindNode Pro for the Mac, you can easily sync your mind maps between your iPad and Mac.

The iPad version allows you to take your mind maps on the go. With the pro version, you can sync  them with your Mac for further tweaking.

The developer states the following about the update:

MindNode 2.1 is a major update that brings a new visual design, the ability to send documents to other apps, full retina support for the new iPad and four new localizations.

NEW FEATURES
• Send your documents directly to any other app installed on your device.
• New visual style.
• Retina screen support on the new iPad.
• New localizations for French, Spanish, Italian and Chinese.
• 200% zoom level.
• Improvements to selection in document picker on iPhone.
• Display strike-through text.
• New setting to toggle screen mirroring.

BUG FIXES
• Fixes searching of nodes in outline view.
• Fixes a crash related to sharing documents.
• Correctly resize text field during text input.
• Image attachments added on the Mac are drawn in retina resolution.
• Improved retina screen support in document picker on iPhone.
• Fixes a bug related to text export.
• Inherit font styles and fill colors when creating a new node.
• Correctly restore Emoji characters when opening a new document.

If you are looking for a mind mapping tool, this app is intuitive and easy to use.

MS SkyDrive takes on iCloud

Microsoft is taking on iCloud and other cloud services. It offers a comparison between itself and other services.

The slogan sync, share, work together seems to suggest you can do what Dropbox does and more, including accessing files from your PC.

Download the SkyDrive Preview for Mac app. You may be able to get 25 GB for free if you already have a live account and sign up for SkyDrive.

Westlaw Next Update

Westlaw’s iPad app WestlawNext has been updated. The app allows access to West’s legal database and now works better with the Retina display on the new iPad.

There have been further bug fixes and visual optimizations.

If you have a WestlawNext account, this app makes accessing the legal database on the go easy. Also, you can highlight cases, share information and save details for client matters.