This was published 12 years ago
Improve snap at a tap with winning iPad app
Art and image enhancement rate high for iUsers.
By Garry Barker
WE ARE constantly charmed, if not enslaved, by the technical innovations and gadgetry in the devices that are now essential elements in our life.
Only my set of Bluetooth speakers and the tiny scanner that automatically sends stuff to my Evernote storage continue to captivate me.
Snapseed.
Yet the real power and attractions of an iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch lie in the myriad apps they employ, immeasurably extending the reach and richness of the aforementioned life.
The world agrees. On Christmas Day, nearly 7 million iOS and Android devices were activated around the world and 242 million apps were downloaded, with 1.2 billion downloaded in Christmas week.
Infinity Blade.
So, which were the biggest sellers? The iPhone app of the year is Instagram (free from iTunes App Store). Part of its charm comes from the range of filters and effects with which photos taken on the device can be enhanced on the spot.
However, the big audience grab (more than 15 million so far) comes from the ease with which pictures can be shared instantly with Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr and so on.
Instagram offers unlimited uploads, works with all iPhones from 3G onwards and on the iPad and iPod Touch.
Still in the images area, but well further up in the quality-art category, is Art Authority ($5.49 from iTunes App Store), named the best iPad reference app for 2011 recently. Again, sharing is the key. Art Authority offers instant sharing via Twitter of any of 55,000 works of art by more than 1000 artists, from the old masters to the modern day. To tweet you need iOS 5 but the app itself works on iOS 3.2 or later. Find a list of artists and their works at http://we-envision.com/Page.asp?NavID=293.
Art Authority
The 2011 iPad app of the year, judged by the iTunes App Store editors, is Snapseed, which, like Instagram on the iPhone/iPod Touch, is a clever photo-enhancement tool. Pictures can be enhanced with a single tap, or worked on using a variety of in-app tools. At $5.49, it is one of the bigger bargains in the App Store.
Snapseed requires iOS 4.2 or later and also works on iPhones back to 3GS and third and fourth-generation iPod Touch devices but truly shines on iPad's bigger screen. A series of demonstration videos is at tinyurl.com/89uo5ko.
Choosing the best game of the year depends upon your taste and intestinal fortitude. Epics such as Infinity Blade II, for all iPhones from 3GS to iPhone 4S, iPod Touch and iPad, did well but the best iPhone game, as chosen by Apple's editors, is Tiny Tower (free), a sort of multistorey Sims. Runners-up included Touchgrind BMX ($4.99), Tiny Wings (99¢) and, for the iPad, our own Melbourne-built Real Racing 2 HD (also 99¢).
Oh yes, and if you wish to go quietly insane while riding the train, try Angry Birds Rio (99¢) or any of the Angry Birds variants now in the App Store, where you will also find mind-easing cheats to help you zap more pigs.
■More from the iPad 3 rumour mill: according to the Taipei-based DigiTimes tech-industry watchdog, we may soon see two models of the iPad 3 and continuation of at least one model of the iPad 2 at a significantly lower price: about $300 for wi-fi-only 16GB models.
The iPad 2 will continue with its current A4 dual-core microprocessor but all models of the iPad 3 will have much more powerful quad-core A6 chips, better displays, improved battery life, better cameras and other significant upgrades. The pundits reckon the competition this year will centre on screen and camera performance as well as price.
Thus, the guessing goes, the iPad 3 selection will start with what would be the mid-range of Apple's complete tablet offering, with entry-level iPad 3 models using the same 1024 x 768 pixels display as the iPad 2 and the same five-megapixel rear-facing camera but having the A6 chip and other innovations.
The high-end iPad 3 range will have Retina display screens, with quadrupled resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels, and rear-facing cameras with Sony-made sensors at eight megapixels and possibly 10mp. Other innovations in the iPad 3 could include LEDs to improve the brightness of the screen and an improved battery, doubling usable life as compared with the iPad 2.
While the iPad easily remains the most-desired tablet on the market, competition from Samsung's Galaxy and particularly Amazon's Kindle Fire is increasingly vigorous. Amazon is pushing Samsung hard in the tablet stakes and also challenging the iPad.
Amazon can discount its Kindles because it has a huge online support system - just as Apple has with the iTunes Store - to provide the profit, much as Gillette discounts its razors and HP, Canon and Epson their printers, making their money from blades and ink.
Price and range are vital aspects of this battle, in which Apple needs to protect its massive market share. Both Samsung and Amazon sell in the $300-plus range but lack the iconic status and features of the iPad and the Apple ecosystem. By offering iPad quality at a reduced price, Apple could attract buyers who might have gone to the opposition.