The release of the iPad 2 on Friday had people lining up around Apple Retailers, salivating over the thought of getting their hands on the latest in tablet technologies. While the device itself is certainly a lot to get excited about (see my earlier post: Good Things Come in Two’s), there are two more reasons to grab ahold of it: GarageBand and iMovie. Priced at $4.99 a pop, these two apps were made specially for the release of the iPad 2 and enable you to do everything you could do with their computer counterparts. Side note: GarageBand existed for the first-generation iPad, but experts agree that it is a completely different beast on the iPad 2. Now that the iPad 2 has the enhanced graphics, gyroscope, powered-up processor, and oh, not to mention, dual-facing cameras, you can take your movie and music-making inclinations to the next level and on-the-go. With these apps on the iPad 2, touch functions and universal applicability make it so that you can literally mold your creations and carry them with you, and on whatever device you choose. Read the rest of this entry »

Do you love to indulge yourself with random pieces of knowledge and impress others with your arsenal of facts and figures? Would you like to contribute your thoughts and opinions, and see how they stack against those of others? If you answered yes to any of these questions, Show of Hands is the perfect app for you. It anonymously polls people on an assortment of topics, adding two to three new questions daily. Once you answer a question, you can see the current results and post your vote along with the national pie chart and any optional comments to Facebook. Furthermore, you can browse results from current and past polls and sort responses by gender, political party, age, and income range so that you can compare and contrast the opinions of different groups. Show of Hands even links you to politicians, providing contact information so that you can get in touch with them about any pressing issues. Finally, the app enables you to suggest questions, so that you can get answers to the questions that have plagued you. Whether you’re satisfying your curiosity, making your idea known, or discovering topics for scintillating dinner conversation, Show of Hands gets two thumbs up.

The biggest event in entertainment is finally here; this Sunday marks the 83rd annual Academy Awards. If you are all about The Oscars, then there is an app that can increase your excitement even more, conveniently called The Oscars. The app enables you to make predictions and compete with friends while staying up-to-date on all the latest tidbits from the Academy. You can access complete nominee lists, gain insider information on the latest, greatest, award-contending films, watch movie trailers from Best Picture nominees, and share, compare, and discuss award picks with friends via Facebook, Twitter, text, and e-mail. As the award show airs in real time, you will get live updates on how your picks scored against your friends and other The Oscars users. The Oscars is the official app of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, so you can expect nothing less than an award-worthy performance as you gear up for all the glitz, glamor, and golden statues.

The weekend is finally here, so why not ring it in with some sick beats? With DJ World Studio, you bring the party to your iPad, as it provides all the tools you need mix and mash like a pro. DJ World Studio boasts being the first iPad DJ app to combine vinyl and CD control styles, and also provides 30 tracks to get you started, as well as the ability to import tunes from any source, including your iTunes library. The multi-touch mixing features and twin turntables enable you to take full advantage of your digitized DJ experience, so that you can record mixes for later live re-mixing without delay, utilize side-by-side dual audio waveform display for easier cue and mix, take advantage of the five sound FX, create loops, use switch buttons for instant cross-fades, enable precise manual positioning within a track, and tap manually to measure BPM. DJ World Studio also includes an array of elements that help you create the most out of the music, like automatic tempo detection and beat matching, vinyl style scratching, cross fader, many options for sorting tracks, dual high and low frequency controls, album cover display, spectrum analyzer, one touch recording for replay or export via iTunes file sharing, and much, much more. If this seems a little inundating, or you haven’t yet tapped your inner mix-master, the app also comes with a free tutorial to launch and inspire your creative endeavors. So, no DJ this Friday night? No problem — with DJ World Studio, the party follows you.

Augmented reality apps have taken many forms, enabling users to alter the way they experience and live in their surroundings. Virtual Tags is one such app that is brand new to the App Store, and literally lets you supplement your surroundings with thoughts, feelings, reactions, and ideas. You can add notes and tags to everything you see around you, which other Virtual Tags users can than access using the app. You can literally see whose footsteps you’ve followed and what comments others have had in the spaces and places you visit, and you can make your voice heard long after you’ve left. Not only is this a cool way to leave your mark and document your experiences in new and old places, but it has practical uses as well. For example, if you leave or lose something in a place, then you can help others help you by leaving a note detailing what it is and how to return it to you. Furthermore, the best part about Virtual Tags, is even if you do not have internet connection in your location, you can still leave a tag — once WiFi is re-engaged, the tag will be posted to the place you intended it. From parks to landmarks, there are no limits to Virtual Tags!