NY Times Expanded App Free For Now with Registration
The New York Times is replacing the free Editor’s Choice app with a much expanded version in the NYTimes for iPad app. The new app has over 25 sections of content. Full, free access requires registration and is available for a limited time. Transition to a paid subscription model begins in early 2011.
50 Free iPad Apps
The website Art of the iPhone has a recently updated list of free iPad apps. You may not agree with all the choices, but I found a few to add to my collection.
Free VLC Video Player Arrives in the App Store
Video files come in a variety of formats. VLC is a free, popular desktop application for playing formats that ordinarily wouldn’t play or would require conversion to be compatible (a process known as transcoding). VLC is now available for the iPad. Early reviews are mixed, but VLC is free and worth a try for those video formats you couldn’t play on the iPad before today. Pre-release review at ars technica.
Collect and Share Your Thoughts - Free iBrainstorm Apps
A fellow ADE recommended this app, which is actually two. The iPad app is iBrainstorm and the iPhone/iPod touch app is iBrainstorm Companion. iBrainstorm is a set of collaboration tools for sharing and collecting notes. The iPad serves as a canvas for colored sticky notes and freehand drawings. Up to four handheld iDevices can create and flick notes to the the iPad’s digital, dynamic cork board. Works best on a local Wi-Fi network though Bluetooth is an option. More about these apps here as well as a demo video.
Free e-books from Kaplan in the iBooks Store
Kaplan Publishing is offering nearly 100 free e-books through the iBooks store through August 30. Books are in the categories of College Prep, Graduate Studies, Law, Medicine, Nursing and Education. Most of these free digital editions from Kaplan have moved to the “Top Free Books” list in iBooks on your iPad. I published directions on how to find these ”Top Free Books” back in June in this post. However, the best approach is to access the complete list of free Kaplan titles organized by category at kaplanpublishing.com/itunes.You must go to it from your mobile device, not a desktop or notebook computer.
Using DropBox to Work with Files Offline on your iPad
DropBox is an online storage and file syncing service that offers 2GB of free space for your data. You install client software on your computer and it creates a special folder called (no surprise) DropBox. On the Mac side, this folder shows up in the Finder under Places, making it simple to drag and drop files from your Mac to your DropBox. You can also choose to add a DropBox icon to your menu bar. On a Windows computer, the default location for this folder is inside your My Documents folder.
With the DropBox app for iPad you can easily view nearly any type of file in your online DropBox. You may also open that file in a compatible app on the iPad.
Here’s how to make that file available locally on your iPad. See the star?
Tapping the star while viewing any file marks that file a favorite. Favorites are available offline, so you don’t need a network connection to access them. Unfortunately, changes to the file made while working on the iPad are not reflected in the online DropBox copy. However, changed files can be exported or copied back to your Mac during the next sync, and then returned once again to your online DropBox. Other features of DropBox allow you to quickly upload a photo from your iPad and then email others a public link to the picture. You can also share a link to any file in your online DropBox. DropBox also has a mobile version for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
Apple’s iPad User Guide Available as a Free E-Book
I wrote a post a few weeks back about Apples’s free guide for the iPad in PDF. That same guide is also available as a more convenient, 241 page free e-book through the iBooks store. You can get the download in about a minute using the iBooks app from your iPad. Get Apple’s free iBooks app here if you don’t already have it.
Here’s how to get the free Apple iPad e-book using the iBooks App.
0. Start the iBooks app on your iPad
1. Tap Store
2. Tap the Star for “Top Charts” on the menu at the bottom of the page.
3. Look in the column on the right labeled “Top Free Books” to find the iPad User Guide
4. Tap the “Free” button and then tap “Get Book”
Google Adds iPad Version of Google Earth in Latest Update
Google Earth version 3.0 arrived on Tuesday with native support for the iPad.
Free Text Messaging from iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad
Pinger has dropped the price of the Textfree Unlimited app from $5.99 to free. The catch - you’ll see small ads. Send and receive text messages for free. Reportedly works for major carriers or over wi-fi on the iPod Touch or iPad. http://www.pinger.com
