We’ve reviewed Proporta’s cases (and other equipment) for the iPhone before, but they now have a new range for the iPad. They’ve sent me a couple of cases, and the first one I’m looking at is their Recycled Leather case.

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This app has been generating quite a bit of interest over the past few days. Why? This isn’t the first app to play movies not supported by Apple – if you’ve jailbroken your iPad, you already have access to VLC4iphone, openstreamer and YXflash.

But now Apple has allowed an app onto the App Store that can play DivX and Xvid. No jailbreak required.

This is an interesting development, no doubt, but how does the app work in reality? Does it play files well, and does it suck battery?

Read on for my experiences with this app so far, plus (in a first for me), a video walkthrough!

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I’ve had my iPad since June 16th. I was in Boston; I had to rush over to the Apple Store on Boylston Street half an hour before they shut at 10pm, because they wouldn’t hold it for me any longer. And then I went and got drunk watching the Celtics at a sports bar, and almost lost my expensive new purchase, but that’s not important right now.

What’s important to me is that, in under a couple of months, I’ve come to use my iPad for more and more tasks. Is it a big iPod touch?. Sort of . Is it a limited device? Yes. But it doesn’t feel limiting, it feels liberating.

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I recently looked at the cheapest options for mobile data for your iPad 3G.

But if you’re thinking of buying an iPad, you may not want to splash out the extra £100 for a 3G model instead of a Wifi-only model. However, what if you do need mobile broadband? Maybe that £100 is worth it?

So here’s a comparison between the prices of the different iPad models, with their differing mobile broadband options.

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Last updated: May 26th, 2010

The iPad’s official UK release date has been delayed, but that gives you a little extra time to weigh up the options regarding mobile data.

If you’re planning on getting an iPad 3G, then the networks have already revealed their pricing options on Apple’s UK website. I’ve collated these with all the options and notes and added Three’s MiFi mobile broadband into the mix. I’ve also worked out the Total Costs of Ownership for all that tasty mobile data, which I’ve put into one searchable, sortable table.

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In “Welcome to fragmentation-land Apple“, Ben Smith of The Really Mobile Project has commented on a consequence of the iPhone OS 4.0 announcement. Ben points out that your favourite fruit-logo’d mobile maker will not be providing the oldest iPods and iPhones with the latest operating system. So for the first time we’ll have some iPhones running 3.x firmware, and some running the 4.x release. Oh, and don’t forget iPads will be thrown into the mix.

I want to have a look at this in more detail, and see what it means for both developers and users. Is fragmentation of the iPhone platform all that bad?

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Painting apps are fast becoming one of the most popular genres on the iPhone judging by the number and quality of new additions. Having reviewed many of the best of this type, I’m always interested to see how developers of new apps go about the task of delivering something bigger and better. On the one hand they can build on the best elements of their successors but it must also be increasingly difficult to offer something new and improved with which to make their mark.

Developer, Sylwester Los of Lucky Clan, says of his new painting app ArtStudio, that “My goal was to create the best (quality, performance, options-wise) drawing/painting app for the iPhone.” That’s quite an ambition and I was keen to find out if he’d succeeded.
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It’s iPad launch week. Excited yet? Well, whether you’re of the mind that Apple is about to change computing forever, or just sell an oversized iPod touch, it’s certainly going to be an interesting ride. iPhone apps are going to morph into desktop-style apps, and some desktop apps are going to attempt to re-imagine themselves as iPad apps. Yet as excited as I am, the amount of iPad coverage on All About iPhone is going to depend on whether I end up buying one!

But there are plenty of websites out there to satiate your iPad curiosity. And if you’ve enjoyed James Burland’s articles on this website, then I’m sure you’d like to read his new website dedicated to the Apple tablet, iPad Creative.

It’s in pre-launch beta at the moment, but he already has quite a few articles posted, including a great one exploring which graphics processor the iPad is running, and the impact that is likely to have on its gaming capabilities.

iPad Creative is currently running a series over the next few days entitled, “5 Apps We Cannot Wait To See On The iPad”. If really you can’t wait at all, then you should also check out these 60 leaked screenshots of iPad apps over at Boy Genius Report.

Good luck with the new site James!

The tech furore has subsided, and we’re left with Apple’s tablet – the iPad. Whether you’re of the opinion that it’s just an oversized iPod touch or something more, it has certainly had a massive impact.

All About iPhone contributor Andy Cook has already given his opinion.

I also asked Steve Litchfield if he was considering getting an iPad. His response:

The iPad itself is not for me, I type in too much text! But I can see it being perfect for other family members, each of whom the has “the full Internet” (minus Flash, of course!) in a single A4 device that doesn’t have trailing wires or get hot or need a pointing device. So yes, put me down for a place in the queue, shortly before the drive to my parents house to get it “installed”.

So it’s not for Steve. But he, like me, can see the appeal for those who want a rich Internet and media experience, without having to worry about all those viruses, software updates, and general management overhead that’s associated with a computer.

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Before the announcement, my mental picture of what Apple’s iPad would be was a big iPod Touch. This did make me wonder why the iPad would be preferable to my Touch. Sure, the bigger screen would be better for viewing videos and playing games but does that alone justify a new product? That said, I assumed Apple would be doing more to the iPad than simply super-sizing an iPod Touch and I looked forward to being surprised.

So, come 6pm (UK time) on the 27th January, I was to be found hunched over my laptop, tea in hand and phone off the hook waiting for the gadget sites to reveal the news live, one line at a time. Never has it been such agony waiting for web pages to auto refresh. The day after, the first thing I did was to watch the video of the whole event which, it has to be said, gave me a rather different impression of the audiences reaction to the one I had from reading the live blogs.

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