iPad

The never-ending quest for killer effects pedals is an expensive and time-consuming passion that most electric guitar players will have to endure for much of their playing careers (unless you're lucky enough to hit on the perfect setup early on, of course). Effects veteran DigiTech has developed a stompbox that could well put that quest to bed. The iStomp effects pedal effectively starts life as a blank canvas onto which the user paints a wall of sound in the shape of a downloadable effect. Just like any other stompbox, the new pedal allows for fine adjustment of tone with parameter knobs, but if you fancy a brand new flavor of distortion or a completely different reverb to the one which is resident on the pedal, you can just buy the effect from DigiTech's online store and download it onto the iStomp via your iOS device. Read More

While the promised paperless office has yet to eventuate, scanners are still a standard piece of equipment in most workplaces – even if that workplace happens to be the road. With many a road warrior these days packing an iPad in their arsenal, it’s not surprising to see the release of the iConvert Scanner for iPad from Brookstone. After slotting an iPad (1 or 2) into the dock on the top of the device and starting the iConvert app, documents fed into the front feeder slot can be scanned and appear instantly on the iPad’s display to be saved as JPEGs in the device’s photo library. Read More

Be it on increasingly powerful dedicated camcorders or via a smartphone, capturing hours (and hours and hours …) of video has never been easier or cheaper. That’s both a blessing and a curse, as even though you’re more likely to capture something worthwhile at some point, at the editing stage you’ll also have to wade through more crap to get to the good stuff. This can be time consuming to say the least and many just don’t bother, preferring to upload the whole kit and caboodle to their video-sharing site of choice. Now there’s an iPhone app called Magisto that is designed to take care of the editing for you and increase the chances of someone actually sitting through the video of Aunt Maude’s birthday dinner. Read More

Ion Audio is to add a new handheld controller for iPhone and iPod Touch to its iCade mini arcade line, along with two scaled-down versions of its original controller cabinet for the iPad, which started life as an April Fool prank. Currently on show at the company's booth at CES 2012, the iCade Mobile, iCade Core and iCade Jr. offer mobile gamers the chance to play it old school using physical buttons and a four-way controller or joystick instead of the touchscreen. Read More

While driving from Quebec to the United States, a Canadian citizen named Martin Reisch suddenly realized the fear of every world traveler: he'd completely forgotten his passport at home. Going back for it would've meant several hours extra driving time, so using a little quick thinking and a huge amount of luck he pulled up to the U.S. border holding an iPad showing a full-sized image of his passport that he had taken five years previous and had saved to a Dropbox folder. After what must have been a nerve-racking five minutes while border officials looked over the document, Reisch was amazingly allowed through into Vermont, even receiving a "Happy Holidays" from the border officer for the trouble. Read More

An iPhone app and a camera take flight in the new remote control helicopters from Swann. Three models include i-Fly Micro Lightning, Sky Eye and Black Swan. The i-Fly Micro Lightning lets you control the helicopter via an app for the iPhone, iPod or iPad. The Sky Eye and Black Swann models house a camera capable of taking still and video images. Read More

Turns out we aren't that different from other apes after all. Our primate cousins at a handful of zoos love to use iPads to combat boredom just as much as humans. Zookeepers say that the device is perfect for orangutans, and many have been taking part in guided touchscreen interactions with all sorts of apps, including music, games, movies, cartoons, art, painting, drawing, photos and videos. The orangutans have been playing with the iPads for the past several months, and now a U.S. charity is hoping to round up more of the tablets so the apes can Skype with orangutans at other zoos. Read More

There's no shortage of iPad stands on the market, but those looking for something a little bit more flexible and robust might be interested in the solid aluminum Mantis Stand from U.K.-based flatscreen arms. Like a praying mantis, the Mantis Stand clasps its prey (well, your iPad) in a vise-like grasp. Rather less like a praying mantis, the stand's x-shaped head swivels and tilts for portrait or landscape viewing from almost any angle. But the similarities and non-similarities to the praying mantis do not end there. Read More

Last Friday, a German court found Apple in violation of a Motorola Mobility patent, ruling that Apple’s iPhone and 3G model iPads infringe on cellular communications patents owned by Motorola Mobility that relate to General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) data packet transfer technology. Although the court in Manheim, Germany granted Motorola’s requests for damages and an injunction banning the importation of iPhones and 3G iPads into Germany, because the ruling relates to the importation of new device shipments, Apple has said it already has sufficient existing inventory to ensure German shoppers will be able to purchase said devices in the all-important lead up to Christmas. Read More