SugarSync 3.0 iOS App Arrives

SugarSync announced an update to the company’s iPad app, jumping up to SugarSync 3.0 and bringing a collection of new features to justify the big bump.

Of course the new SugarSync app (iTunes) is optimized for the iPad display, thanks to an all out to re-write of the new app from scratch with features that take advantage of the large iPad display. The new SugarSync iPad app has a very nice looking interface that now relies on gestures like drag, swipe and more to make it easier to manage files stored in the cloud service.

Another cool new feature is the ability to see the contents of multiple folders at once. As you can see in the screenshot below, this allows you to see which folders you are browsing in, much like the accordion view on OS X’s finder. You’ll also find easier access to backup options that allow you to backup photos or videos to any folder on your computer. Sure, you have iCloud and PhotoStream, but it’s nice to have this extra ability to backup specific media files to your computer.

SugarSync is a free cloud storage service with 5GB of free storage for every user who signs up. The service offers more control about what syncs to each of your devices than Dropbox, which makes the larger storage plans attractive. SugarSync also allows you to share large files easily, and it doesn’t count the files you share against your co-worker or friend’s storage like many competitors do.

What is SugarSync?:

How To Bypass iOS 5.1 Restriction When Installing iMovie v1.3 on iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch Running iOS 5.0.1

The Apple media event last week caused quite a stir and Apple announced the release of a brand new iPad and Apple TV. Both of these new products are going to be released to the public on the 16th of March at 8am. The pre-order section of the Apple website was inundated with pre-orders and this caused a number of server and store down issues. Apple also took the opportunity to announce some of their apps at the media event that have been updated so that they are now compatible with the new iPad Retina display and these include the iWork Suite, GarageBand and iMovie.

For those of you that can’t live without your jailbreak the update of iMovie is going to be tough. This new app benefits from a great deal more functionality and an improved user interface but it also comes with a requirement that iOS 5.1 be installed. This means that jailbroken users who wish to keep their untethered jailbreak on iOS 5.0.1 won’t be able to download it. That’s what most people thought anyway.

It seems that the App Store makes a quick reference check against a .plist entry saved in the CoreServices directory of the device to determine what version of iOS is installed. If the check returns a value less than the minimum version required, an alert is displayed advising that it requires a specific iOS version.

If you have a jailbroken device it is simply a matter of using a program such as iFile or SSHing into the device and changing the version string in the SystemVersion.plist, which will fool the OS into believing that iOS 5.1 is installed and this will allow you to download iMovie. This means that jailbroken devices can benefit from the great new features and additions to the newly updated iMovie App. All you have to do now is head over to the App Store, download the iMovie app and enjoy all the cinematic goodness that awaits.

InstaGamer iOS App Makes A Game From Instagram

InstaGamer is a curious little app — half game, half companion app, it's basically Concentration with a little twist: you discover new Instagram images while you play. Before starting, you define a search term, featured feed, or photos from your own or friends' albums, and they're then placed face-down and the game begins. You can "like" photos and follow users from inside the game as long as you're already signed up for Instagram (although you can still play without being a member). It's a pretty simple concept, but certainly good fun and a nice way to discover new content. The app is available now as a free download from the App Store.

A new iOS application has been created called InstaGamer which is a small Instagram companion application, that provides you with a game to discover new content on Instagram. InstaGamer has both a single and double player mode. To start game simply select a search term featured feed, or photos from either your or your friends Instagram photo album. Then to start playing simply place the images face down and your are away. With access to 400+ million photos from over 15 million users, you are sure not to get bored with all the new photos available.

The new InstaGamer application has just been made available to download from the Apple iTunes App store for free. So if you enjoy Instagram don’t delay jump over to iTunes now and start playing.

Instagram iOS app hits 27 million users, tests Android version:

Sparrow Mail App Lands On The iPhone And iPad

One of the best third party email apps on the Mac is called Sparrow, we heard recently it was headed to the iPhone, and Sparrow is now available from today on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Sparrow is a third party email application that comes with a range of features, and it offers iMAP support, with Gmail, Apple’s iCloud, Mobile Me as well as custom iMAP accounts.

Sparrow features a unified inbox, faces which adds your friends photos to their emails, and much more. We have only had a brief chance to test out Sparrow on the iPhone, but from what I have seen so far it looks like it may be almost as good as the Mac version.

Sparrow for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch is available for $2.99 from iTunes, and it will support iOS devices running iOS 5.0 and above.

For more information:
http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/sparrow-mail-app-lands-on-the-iphone-and-ipad-15-03-2012/

Sparrow for iPhone: A Brief Review/Overview:

How to: Get Sparrow v1.5 for Free(Mac):

Invoxia AudiOffice Speaker Dock Unveiled

The Invoxia AudiOffice speaker dock has been created to transform your iOS device into a fully functional communications station, for the use with applications such as Skype, FaceTime, Bria, Google talk or Viber. Watch the video after the jump to see the Invoxia AudiOffice speaker dock in action. The Invoxia AudiOffice speaker dock is equipped with 4 wide-bandwidth speakers as well as 2 digital microphones and the design of the speaker dock has been constructed to replicate bass sounds similar to in the real world.

Invoxia has also been busy developing sophisticated algorithms to allow the speaker dock to benefit fully from the In Vivo Acoustic technology. Using and integral system that has been created to eliminate echoes and background noises whilst being used in conference call mode. Invoxia AudiOffice supports Apple’s iPod touch (3rd & 4th generation), iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 2 and iPad, and is now available to purchase for $300 directly from the Invoxia website.

invoxia AudiOffice new dock:

Futulele Transforms Your iPad And iPhone Into A Digital Ukulele

We have featured a number of different devices here on Geeky Gadgets that use Apple devices to create guitars and instruments. But an innovative instrument called the Futulele, now use both an iPad and iPhone to create a digital version of the classic Ukulele. The Futulele has been designed as an iPad application which can be used on its own with on just one iPad. But a case is also available which then combines both iOS devices together. Watch the video after the jump to see the Futulele is action.

Once combined into the Futulele case the iPad tablet is used to strum while the iPhone is used to select the chords required. The Futulele has been created by Amidio and is at the moment just a prototype concept.

The Futulele can be used to create up to 12 chords for each song and enables you to change chord sets on the fly if required. Amidio is now looking for assistance from a manufacturer to help the Futulele make the jump from concept to production. To tell the truth, the device composition looks so obvious that we’re wondering why no-one has thought of this before, but still – this is a completely new way of producing music with iOS devices.

Introducing Futulele, the Ukulele app for the iPad and the iPhone:

Vimeo 2.0 iOS App Update Brings iPad Support, FS Playback, Editing And More

Vimeo has rolled out a new update to its iOS application this week taking it to Vimeo 2.0. The update comes just under a year since the launch of the original iOS application, and brings with it a number of great new features for iOS owners.

The new Vimeo 2.0 brings with it support of Apple’s iPad with a specially tailor made iPad user interface, and is compatible with iOS devices running iOS 4.3 and above. As well as supporting the iPad the new updated application also now enables you to edit, manage, upload and watch your videos right on your iOS device. Allowing you to watch one while you browse for another. Joseph Schmitt, lead mobile developer at Vimeo explains in and interview with the Venture Beat website.

Vimeo Official iTunes App for iPad / iPad 2 / iPhone / iPod Touch HD:

SmugMug Launches Camera Awesome iOS App

The popular photo sharing website SmugMug has released a new iPhone app called Camera Awesome. It is getting some glowing reviews ever since it hit the iTunes App Store. The app offers 297 presents, filters, textures, and frames, along with many other interesting features like burst modes and image stabilization. Instagram is one of the most used camera app on iPhone, but it lacks many thinks that Camera Awesome offers. App’s user is quite slick, and competes well with apps like Camera+ and Instagram. It offers an exciting way of using the presets, filters, textures, and frames. You just need to swipe rather than tapping on each of them like other apps.

The Camera Awesome app is available for free in the App Store. You don’t a SmugMug account to activate it. However, SmugMug members have an option to automatically upload photos taken using the iPhone app to SmugMug servers at full resolution. It also allows them to automatically share a photo o Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and YouTube. You can use this direct App Store link to download Camera Awesome app. Do let us know that you think of this new iPhone app.

Camera Awesome for iPhone - App of the Week:

iPhone's Stock Weather, Compass, Calculator, Clock, Stocks And Voice Memo Apps To iPad

If you are a new owner of an iPad 2 then you have probably been shocked to find that some of the key stock applications are not there when you turn it on. These are all natively installed on the iPhone and the iPod Touch. You may have spent some time searching for these items on your new iPad but Apple has decided that it is not necessary to have the likes of Weather, Calculator, Voice Memo, Compass and clock on the iPad.

If you want these apps then all is not lost and the jailbreak community is here to the rescue. Ryan Petrich who is an iOS developer has produced his latest iPad enhancement which brings these native applications to the iPad's springboard. This tweak is called Belfry and it has been released into the BigBoss repository free of charge. It is available to download for all jailbroken iPads. Installing this tweak will add six additional icons to the SpringBoard and you can launch them as normal apps just the same as the iPhone.

This is something that has been talked about for quite some time with the jailbreak community and if you intend to download Belfry make sure you read the information in Cydia first. Belfry is only available for iPads runnign iOS 5 or higher and users will definitely experience some visual anomalies after the iPad has rebooted. There may be some graphical errors when running these apps and this is due to the way the iPad handles the running of native iPhone applications. This can be partially rectified by installing a tweak called RetinaPad along with Belfry which will render the applications in full screen mode in the best possible way for the iPad. In order to use Belfry you will need to jailbreak your iPad and you can jailbreak iOS 5.0.1 using Absinthe.

Get Stock iPhone Apps on iPad (Stocks, Weather, Calculator, Clock, Voice Memos, and Compass):

Apple readying a 7-inch iPad?

Apple is once again said to be getting a 7-inch version of its iPad ready for release, despite Steve Jobs early comments about the impractical form factor. This time the source of the rumor is Technology Business Research analyst Ezra Gottheli saying Cupertino is preparing to tablets for launch soon.

Now, we’d definitely take this with a grain of salt - it’d actually go against Apple’s own principles, and we find it hard to believe that Apple will suddenly change its opinion about smaller tablets, but it’s nonetheless possible.

Now, Gottheli specifies that the 7-inch tablet won’t arrive at the same event as the third-generation 9.7-inch iPad, and that it’s also likely to come with a tailor-made keyboard case as an accessory.

iPad Mini Rumours and Features : 2012:

Rumor alert: iPad 3 may be announced in February, to ship in March

Here is a spicy rumor to start your day with: the Apple iPad 3 is expected to be announced in February, according to Japanese blog Macotakara. Supposedly, Apple has an event scheduled for early next month, at which both the next-gen iPad and iOS 5.1 will be showed off. How do they know? Well, the folks at the aforementioned blog claim that sources in both Asia and the U.S. have told them exactly that. They also state that the iPad 3, and its name is just a guess at this time, will be available for purchase in early March.

Now, this isn't the first time when Macotakara treats us to an Apple-related rumor. In fact, just days ago, they suggested that the first iPad 3 batches will be ready for shipping in early March. However, their previous predictions have been quite inaccurate, although they managed to nail a number of iPhone 4S specs back in May. Nevertheless, as the case is with all rumors, it would be wise to take this one with a dose of disbelief for now.

What is rumored about the next iPad iteration is that the device will come with a display of resolution higher than that of its predecessor. Seeing a quad-core A6 processor ticking under its hood is not out of the question either. Of course, whether any of these improvements will be in tow or not will become apparent once the iPad 3 gets officially announced.

iPad free falls from space, survives to tell the story

If you’re a case maker for iPads, you really have to make something unique to stand out in the market. G-Form, makers of the Extreme cases for iPads, have just taken unique to the next level by launching the iPad in space. Or at least if we take a very vague definition of space - a distance over 100,000 feet above our planet. The official definition is more than three times that but let’s not be formalists here.

An iPad clad only in a G-Form Extreme Edge case was elevated to that height and then it was left to free fall back to Earth. The outcome? Yep, it survived and worked as if nothing happened.

G-Form with their Extreme case have a track record of dropping, throwing and driving over iPads, and the tablet has survived in all of the circumstances. Would that be enough to protect it from a kid, though? Our bet is yes, but you let us know how it fares if you own one.