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Author Archive for Rachel

Rachel is a writer living in Northern California. She spends way too much time online; follow her at @writegrrrl

Lost Penguin — iPad App Review

By | May 3, 2012 | No comment yet
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When I first downloaded this app, I was pretty sure it was just going to be another simple kid’s game.

Wow, was I ever wrong. What I got instead was a daunting brain teaser that challenged, among other things, my reasoning skills.

Lost Penguin’s story goes something like this: Wally the walrus has stolen all the fish you and your son Billy have stored up for the winter. Little Billy goes off trying to retrieve the stolen food and gets lost—far far from his native Antarctica.

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Comfe Hands Help Ipad Users Get a Grip – Ipad Gear Review

By | April 27, 2012 | No comment yet
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The idea behind Comfe Design’s new Comfe Hands is so simple it’s almost genius. It’s not that there haven’t been similar products designed to help people who find it uncomfortable to hold the iPad for long periods of time, it’s just that there hasn’t been one that’s so simple.

Comfe Hands consist of two separate pieces of curved, molded plastic –both outfitted with deep grooves into which you can slide the corners of any iPad 2 or new iPad. It can be used in portrait or landscape mode and you can also just use one at a time depending on your preference. The philosophy, according to the company’s web site, is that “organic shapes are easier to grasp because the human hand fits a rounded surface.”

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Organize Your Notes with Remarks from Readdle – iPad Review

By | April 17, 2012 | No comment yet
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As the certified Queen of the Post-Its, my life seems to be overrun by tiny, sticky notes written to remind about a seemingly endless series of tasks, projects and errands. These notes cover my desk, my calendar, my checkbook, my fridge–heck, sometimes they even cover my iPhone and iPad.

Now, with this updated version of the Remarks app, perhaps I can at least clear a few of those notes off my iPad screen–if not from my desk, calendar and fridge, too.

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Word-2-Text – iPad App Review

By | April 11, 2012 | No comment yet
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As useful and fun as the iPad can be, one of the enduring challenges sometimes is getting it to place nice with others. Opening Microsoft Word documents for example–the standard word processing program for many people — can be a real pain.

The new Word-2-Text app aims to make that process a little bit easier. Word-2-Text is a robust document converter that allows you to download Microsoft Word documents (including DOCX files) and convert them into plain text. The process is pretty simple–you can import files from your Dropbox account, iCloud or via iTunes file sharing. Or, use the app to open files received elsewhere–i.e., through your e-mail program. Once the file is opened, you can then export it to another program such as Evernote or Pages. You can also e-mail the text (either within-in the e-mail or as an attachment), copy it to your clipboard, send it to a text editor or save it.

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History Calendar – iPad App Review

By | April 6, 2012 | No comment yet
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Amateur or budding history buffs will probably get a kick out of History Calendar, a new history app for the iPad that puts the 411 on important events at your fingertips.

Designed to look like a stylish encyclopedia-stocked bookshelf, this app serves up tidbits of historical information on everything from wars and natural disasters to politicians and significantly important births and deaths.

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Google Tablet Launch Delayed as Company Works to Reduce Tablet’s Cost

By | April 6, 2012 | No comment yet
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Would-be tablet users waiting for Google’s debut in the market will have to wait a few months longer, according to reports from The Verge, an online tech magazine.

According to sources close to the project, the search engine behemoth has delayed the release of its Android-powered device until at least July in an effort to release a product that can better compete with Apple’s successful iPad tablet and Amazon’s budget-friendly Kindle Fire.

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88% of Tablet Owners Use their Device While Watching TV

By | April 5, 2012 | No comment yet
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The scenario is likely familiar to many: Shopping for new shoes, texting with your BFF and flipping through that DVR-ed episode of The Voice–all at the same time. As such, the news shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who owns such a gadget but a new study shows that 88 percent percent of smartphone and tablet users watch TV while also using their handheld digital device.

Call it multi-tasking or, perhaps, multi-playing. According to a Q4 2011 Nielsen survey of connected device owners in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy, most users juggle numerous activities–checking e-mail, watching TV, texting, shopping–at the same time.

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The Fourth Dimension – iPad App Review

By | April 2, 2012 | No comment yet
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Whether you’re the sort of brainiac who easily gets the concept behind the fourth dimension or, perhaps, are still trying to wrap your head around the abstract mathematical concept, this new app is a great way to spend more time on the subject.

The fourth dimension is a concept that applies the rules of vectors and coordinate geometry to a space comprising, obviously,  four dimensions. It’s a heady idea–one you might not fully understand even after spending considerable time with this app–but you’ll likely have fun trying.

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My Kid’s Health – iPad app review

By | March 30, 2012 | No comment yet
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Keeping up with the ins-and-outs of your kids’ lives can be an exhausting–not to mention tedious–enterprise. Luckily there’s an app that will help you stay on track, at least when it comes to those all-important health  issues.

My Kid’s Health is a comprehensive app that helps parents and caretakers schedule and document the results of vaccinations and doctors appointments (including dentist and eye appointments).  The vaccination schedules in particular are helpful because the app allows you to customize your country of residence which, in turn, keeps you updated on required shots using your child’s birth date and information provided by the World Health Organization.

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Comedy Central’s ‘Election Companion’ App Brings Humor to Election Coverage

By | March 29, 2012 | No comment yet
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This week, with the current presidential race gaining speed, the Comedy Central cable network launched a new election news and political humor app.

Comedy Central’s Indecision Election Companion is a free app for the iPad and iPhone that complements the cable comedy network’s programming with interactive options, photo galleries, video clips and other app-only content.

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