iPad

From the latest news to the most comprehensive tutorials, learn how to get the most out of your iPad with our step-by-step guides and expert tips.

Stephen Hawking’s Snapshots of the Universe released for iPad

Ebook and mobile app publisher Random House Digital has released an interesting iPad education app in the App Store. Stephen Hawking’s Snapshots of the Universe, suitable for children aged 9+, uses the work and writings of Stephen Hawking, the famous English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author and Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge, to teach students the basic theories of the movement of the stars and planets.

The astrophysicist apparently had a say in the app's design as he envisioned an app that would help explain the fundamentals of space to both adults and children through fun mini-games. The interactive experience is optimized for iOS 7 with clean and streamlined graphic elements.

Available sections cover the basics of our solar system and let you spin planets in orbit, drop objects with Galileo to learn about gravity, search for black holes in the constellation of Leo, discover Einstein’s warped worldview and G-force in outer space and lots more...

Instapaper goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Apple has named the popular read-it-later app Instapaper its App of the Week for this week. This means that through next Thursday, you'll be able to pick up the application for both your iPhone and iPad, for free—a savings of $4.

For those unfamiliar with the app, Instapaper bills itself as the simplest way to save and store articles for reading. You can save content on virtually any device, like a bookmark, and return to it later for reading at your convenience...

Dropbox app updated with support for viewing PDF annotations

Good news for Dropbox users this afternoon. The cloud storage company has posted an update for its iOS client, bringing the app to version 3.0.2. The update includes a number of bug fixes, as well as the ability to view PDF annotations.

For those unfamiliar with the term, PDF annotations are things like notes, highlights and other edits made to a PDF document. And until now, users were not able to see these edits in Dropbox without using a 3rd party app or workaround...

Sega releases remastered Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for iOS

This has been a big week for iOS games. Following the release of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Sega's anticipated, remastered Sonic the Hedgehog 2 update has landed in the App Store.

First announced in October, the free update sees the game rebuilt by Christian Whitehead and Simon Thomley— the same guys who did the first Sonic the Hedgehog iOS game remaster—with better graphics, FPS and much more...

Seoul court rules that iPhone 4s and iPad 2 don’t infringe on Samsung’s patents

Back in 2011, the legal spat between Apple and its frenemy and key supplier Samsung started to really escalate as the parties began filing a bunch of lawsuits around the world against each other. The Galaxy maker was hoping to gain the upper hand by filing a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple in its home turf over claimed short message display methods and messaging grouping features.

However, a Korean judge has now tossed Samsung's claim out of the window, with the Seoul Central District Court ruling that Apple's iPhone 4s and iPad 2 do not infringe on Samsung Electronics’ commercial patents...

LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga hits the App Store

Warner Bros.' LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga is now available in the App Store. The game is based on the Star Wars-themed toy line by the Lego Group, and was first released on consoles back on November 6, 2007.

For those who haven't played the title, it's a mashup of Lego Star Wars: The Video Game and its sequel Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, and it includes content, characters and storylines from all 6 Star Wars films...

Southwest Airlines now offering in-flight iMessage access for $2 per day

Good news for folks planning to do some holiday traveling later this month. Southwest Airlines is celebrating its move to offer gate-to-gate Wi-Fi service with a new in-flight iMessaging plan.

Starting today, Southwest will let any user that has iOS 5 or later running on their device to use iMessage for just $2, thus allowing them to stay connected to friends and family while in the air...

Facebook app gets auto-play feature for News Feed videos, and there’s not much you can do about it

Facebook updated its iOS client this afternoon, bringing the app to version 6.8. The update is a small one, but it does include one significant—and likely controversial—change: video clips will now play automatically in your News Feed.

Now, Facebook has been testing this feature since September, and I've had it for a while. And although the videos aren't extremely annoying, I was hoping they'd make one change before the public launch: give us a way to turn them off...

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas now available in the App Store

Rockstar's wildly popular Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is now available in the App Store. The game, which first launched on the PlayStation 2 all the way back in 2004, is now available on both the iPhone and iPad.

Rockstar says that this is their biggest mobile port ever. The game features over 70-hours of gameplay, enhanced visuals, and—for the first time ever—support for Apple's new Made-for-iOS controller technology in iOS 7...

T-Mobile brings back $0 down deal for select iPhone models

Good news for folks looking to grab an iPhone on the cheap before Christmas. T-Mobile is reviving its Black Friday special for a limited time, taking away the down payments for select iPhone models making them completely free up front.

The promotion starts December 11—that's today—and includes 16GB models of the iPhone 5s and 5c, along with other devices. This means that, if you qualify, you wouldn't have to pay for either phone until you got your first monthly bill...

Twitter 6.0 is out with new design, DM photo-sharing and more

Twitter has updated its official iOS client today, bringing the app to version 6.0. The update is a fairly significant one, bringing about a new look and feel for the app, as well as photo-sharing for direct messages, improved search and more.

The new look pushes the UI of the Twitter app further into iOS 7 territory. There's more white spacing—the menu bar at the bottom is now all white— and texts and graphics seem flatter. And Twitter has added various other enhancements...

Apple updates ’12 Days of Gifts’ app for 2013 holiday season, opens it to US users

You know it's getting close to Christmas time when outlets start publishing gift guides, and Apple updates its '12 Days of Gifts' application. The 2013 version of Apple's free-download-a-day app went live this evening, ahead of its December 26 kickoff.

Folks in European countries have become accustom to this yearly ritual, but it's never been available to those of us here in the US. I'm happy to announce, though, that this year, Apple has finally opened up the program to iOS users in the United States...