iPad Atlas

If you ever sat in third grade math class imagining that the doodles covering your spiral-bound notebook could come to life, InkVaders HD for iPad is for you.

Simplicity is the name of the game in this side-scrolling, alien-blasting, shooter from Chillingo. The unique artistic style of InkVaders HD takes advantage of iPad's amazing screen, combining retro-inspired "doodle chic" animation and live-action hand interactions.

You'll get to use three weapon styles--futuristic energy guns, everyday physical attacks, and the always exciting grenade launchers--to guide Generic Marine (or "G" to his friends) in his quest to … Read more

Have you heard the news? A recent court ruling says it's not illegal to rip your own DVDs, as long as you're not violating copyright law (i.e. sharing or selling the DRM-freed content).

So let the ripping begin! All you need is the right software. From now until Aug. 9, you can get iSkysoft DVD to iPhone Converter for free. Available for both Windows and Mac, it's regularly $29.

Don't let the name fool you: although the utility includes presets for all iPhone models (from the original on up to the iPhone 4), it also … Read more

With the undeniable popularity and success of the iPhone 4 (despite the antenna debacle), iPad, and ever-increasing Mac sales, Apple is gaining customers faster than ever. If you're thinking about making the switch, this could be your perfect setup.

Component one: iPhone 4 Now in its fourth iteration, Apple's iPhone has forever changed the mobile phone landscape by thrusting touch-screen technology to the tips of every tech geek's tongue and every consumer's wish list. Despite its early and somewhat overblown issues, iPhone 4 has had record-setting sales. With the exception of the complaints from a vocal minority regarding its antenna, … Read more

Most gadget owners know that leaving any piece of electronic equipment in the direct sunlight isn't a great idea. Now an iPad owner, who claims their touch-screen tablet overheats and turns off when left in the sunlight, is suing Apple.

Bloomberg reported Tuesday that the complaint was filed Friday in federal court in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The suit is seeking class-action status and asks for unspecified damages because the device "overheats so quickly under common weather conditions." The suit says Apple's iPad "does not live up to the … Read more

When I see an app like TheScore for iPad, it forces me to think in big-picture terms, as in: this is how sports news was meant to be consumed. Not in some day-old newspaper or tiny iPhone app, but on a big, beautiful screen jam-packed with scores, standings, videos, and blogs.

In other words, I'm really digging TheScore--and I'm not even that into sports. (It says clearly on my Tech Nerds of America membership card that sports are permissible only as a "passing interest" or for "social interaction research.")

Actually, I do consume a … Read more

Whether you consider the Apple iPad to be a milestone of magical technology, or just an over-hyped iPod, there's one thing we can all agree on: the damn thing doesn't include headphones.

Maybe we're spoiled, but we've come to expect Apple to bundle its ubiquitous white earbuds with all its mobile products. Then again, for all the complaints we've made about the sound quality of those cursed 'buds, perhaps Apple is doing us all a favor by forcing us to invest in a proper pair.

Now, you can use any of our top-rated headphones to … Read more

The first thing that should come to mind when you think of Cooliris is photos. The company is well known for its imaging products, which include a very snazzy cross-platform browser add-on, an iPhone app, and embedded Web site and mobile phone technology. All of these are able to turn a collection of photos into an interactive, 3D wall, be it in on your browser, Web site, or cell phone.

But with its latest creation for Apple's iPad, called Discover, Cooliris is moving beyond the presentation and organization of photos and into something a little more pedestrian: text.

Discover, which was submitted to Apple on Tuesday, takes content from Wikipedia--both text and still images (but mostly just text), and splits it up into sections. These can be flipped through with your finger, instead of scrolling down a large page in Safari. The app also keeps track of where you've been so you can retrace your reading path if you've gone several pages deep.

"When the iPad came out, we took an idea we had, and said 'this is probably a perfect platform to try it on,'" Cooliris' executive VP of products Michele Turner told CNET. "This new application takes structured data--in this case Wikipedia, as the starting point. We've then created a templatized starting page and structured data from Wikipedia to let users navigate the depths of Wikipedia in a beautiful and efficient way."

The end result is a Wikipedia with larger text that can be read like an e-book, and photos that can be thumbed through and scaled up to the iPad's full resolution. The app also takes advantage of orientation to reposition, or expand or consolidate the data it's showing. Along the way, Cooliris serves up advertisements, which is where it can make some of its money given the app's free price tag.

But why Wikipedia, and not a larger chunk of the Internet, as something like the recently popular Flipboard has done with RSS feeds? The short answer is that it's not there yet, but it will be soon. Turner and company do, in fact, envision Discover as a platform for various data feeds from around the Web. "We have over 100 content partners in the mainstream Cooliris product," Turner said. "The longer term opportunity is to work with the content partners to flow into this application, but that's kind of down the line."

Eventually the company plans to bring it to other platforms, including Android tablets. In making the iPad iteration of Discover, the company even built one for the iPhone, though Turner says it didn't feel quite right given the smaller form factor.

More pics of Discover can be seen after the break.… Read more

When I think of Risk, the board game, I think of sitting around a table with a bunch of buddies, arguing loudly, cursing dice-rolls, and just generally being aggravated for several hours.

Risk: The Official Game for iPhone, iPod, and iPad offers a wholly different experience--and that's not at all a bad thing.

For one thing, it gives you the opportunity to play solo, something you can't do with the board game. You can declare war on two-five AI opponents and choose between three difficulty levels.

On the multiplayer side, Risk lets you "pass and play" … Read more

Apple isn't the only one caught off guard by the demand for its iPad. The company that makes the displays for the touch-screen tablet is too.

On Thursday, LG's CEO Kwon Young-Soo said his company is having trouble filling orders for iPad displays, even though his factories are running at "full capacity."

"Demand (from Apple) keeps growing and we can't meet it all," Kwon said, during a call to report the company's quarterly earnings.

LG last year secured a $500 million contract to supply Apple's LCD displays.

Apple has sold almost … Read more