The iPad from Apple – which sold 1 million devices in the first month of its US launch – has finally gone on sale here in the UK and as always, people queued through the night to be amongst the first to get their hands on one.

Culturally iconic, technologically average

The question I’m asking is why?

Having had the opportunity to mess around with one a couple of weeks ago, I can safely say that my initial view that it was a slightly improved and much bigger iPod Touch proved to be true…almost.

Let’s deal with its plus points first.

The screen resolution and performance is amazing. It’s truly wonderful. Never before has any app looked so crisp or any video NOT from a DVD looked so sharp.

The improved size makes using the keyboard a joy, especially if you prefer a touch screen to actual keys as I do.

It is brilliantly future proof too – but that is also one of its downfalls. The iPad IS just a big iPod Touch…for now. At least it is unless you’re prepared to spend the time getting to know it. And I would be if it wasn’t for its other major problem, but I’ll get to that in a little while.

There are some good uses for the iPad in all fairness. As a travel companion I can’t think of a better option now. Ignore the relative difficulty of getting things on and off the iPad (no DVD drive etc) and with a little preparation and the help of iTunes and you have a superb little music and film player that is the ideal size for travel.

It won’t quite replace the laptop for really practical uses just yet, but there’s no reason you can’t manage a database or do a bit of office work on it. Apple provide the software to do so. The laptop remains King for now though because of its sheer versatility, something the iPad cannot be accused of being.

There are two downsides that I can see and both of them or either of them stop me from investing. Firstly, there is that issue with Apple’s tight control over what you can and can’t have on the iPad. No USB port, no way of doing anything except through your Mac and iTunes. Limiting for those of us without a Mac at best.

The second downside is the big one for me. Given its current limitations the price of the iPad is ridiculous. The cheapest version on offer is £429. That has a pitiful 16Gb memory and is WiFi only, no 3G. Want the top of the range iPad? That’s a cool £699 for 64Gb and the 3G.

Want to add a dock, keyboard, case, camera connection kit? Another £110 or thereabouts

I’m sorry but the price does not justify the product, it really doesn’t. The iPad is a piece of cultural and cosmetic genius but it is not a step forward in technology or even, really, the use of it.

What the iPad will do is open the market for everyone else – and with competition comes development, progression, innovation and competitiveness. Just as the iPod kickstarted the boom in MP3s and the iPhone spawned Android, the iPad will create new interest in the ‘tablet’ and will be the catalyst, I think, for ever more useful and user friendly versions.

For that reason alone I welcome it. I just won’t own it.

As is traditional at this time of year, Apple held a media event to launch…

No…not The Beatles finally available on iTunes. Instead it was…

…the return of Steve Jobs on stage. Very nice to see and despite looking very gaunt after his recent medical troubles it should bring confidence that he is back at the helm and guiding the direction of the company. A pity then, that much of what he had to say and introduce was underwhelming. Here’s the highlights.

• NEW iTunes 9
• NEW iPod Nano with video camera
• NEW iPod Touch and Shuffle range (with lower prices)

I’m interested in this…

iTunes 9

The features introduced in the latest version of iTunes are not min-blowing, but some deserve a mention. Take, for example, iTunes LP.

This allows you, with certain albums, to enjoy an interactive world of lyrics, photos, video and other “bonus materials” within iTunes while you listen to said album. If you’re interested in that sort of thing then you’re going to enjoy this. It’s one of Apple’s ‘nice touches’ and not a ground breaking development as far as this music listener is concerned.

Similarly, the iTunes store has been redesigned. Aesthetically more pleasing though it is, I’m not yet ‘feeling’ the improvement. I’m sure over time and with more experience I will find new features that do make life easier, but right now it’s just prettier.

Home Sharing, however, is an improvement. Allowing you to share everything purchased through iTunes with up to five computers on the same network, importing from them and automatically updating new purchases bought on any of them, Home Sharing could make family (or, let’s face it, work life) a lot fairer – and cheaper? More on this if and when I ever get to play with it.

Meanwhile, downloading movies through iTunes has now become even more like buying the DVD. The introduction of the unimaginatively named ‘Special Features’ means you get interviews, trailers and photos related to your chosen movie. Nice. But not stunning.

Not stunning is a common theme as we continue, with Genius Mixes (searches your library and returns songs that go well together, mixing them automtaically to create playlists (or channels as Apple likes to call them)), improved syncing (it is better – but for me, it NEEDED to be) and the late, late introduction of ringtones through the Store proving just as underwhelming – but at least welcome.

One feature I do want to look more closely at, however, is iPhone app management.

You know how moving apps around on your phone is a pain, especially when you have four or more pages of them? How moving one app from page five to page one usually messes up the other pages – even with Apple’s improvement of tha in OS 3.0? Well, now you can organise your apps through iTunes. Check out the screenshot on the right. This, frankly, is brilliant.

iTunes App Management

Drag and drop one or more apps from page to page within iTunes and then ‘Apply’ and your iPhone takes on the set up. You can check and uncheck those you want to include onyour phone too, taking management to a new level. Check…it…out.

…what?

Is it:

• The Beatles on iTunes (Yoko says so…)?
• iPod Touch to get camera / video?
• iTunes 9 (with Facebook and Twitter integration)?
• Next iPhone OS?
• Apple Tablet (this looks really cool…)?

It’s underwhelming is what it is. Nevertheless, I shall report back soon. But basically it’s iTunes 9 with a few nice but unamazing features and iPods with cameras…including the Nano!!

More soon, when I have formulated an opinion.

World of Warcraft Mobile Armory

Blizzard has launched its WoW Armory iPhone app and I have to say…outstanding.

Called the World of Warcraft Mobile Armory, this thing gives you access to the Armory (whether Americas, EU or Oceanic) in full and in six languages.

Log in using your Blizzard account details and you’re good to go. Here are the features you get with this app:

Characters

From this tab you can access your own characters or your bookmarked characters from the Armory. Yes, you can browse the full Armory and bookmark those you find interesting. Maybe they are potential Guild recruits, out-of-Guild PvP partners, whatever you need.

When you click through to a single toon you get the basic Armory detail – name, class, level, server and Guild. In addition you can see the current spec (or specs if the toon has Dual Spec), current Achievement progress, health, mana and stats (all available by a dropdown menu).

What is really clever though, is the gear section. Like the online Armory the currently equipped gear is displayed around the stats. By tapping on an item you can view its stats. Tap the “View Item Details” button and you can view the item in its entirety – including where you can get it. Nice.

And, of course, you can bookmark the character from this page.

Guild

If you’re in a Guild, there is a handy tab immediately on the app’s homepage, titled with your Guild title, which gives immediate access to all the characters in the Guild, ordered by rank. Very useful for Guild Masters and Officers.

Calendar

Now…having direct access to your Guild calender from anywhere at any time is damn useful, don’t you think? Now you’ll never miss a raid, the start of a Holiday or World Event or any other date your Officers or GM wants you to be aware of.

You can also accept and decline invites to raids as well – that is truly innovative and makes you  wonder why…

…you can’t add a new event through the app and have it show up in-game. Would be nice though, eh, Blizzard?

Leaderboards

This is purely for a bit of fun. Based on Achievement points earned, you can see where you rank amongst your Guild and your bookmarked characters, as well as view the achievement points earned by all your characters. Useful? Only if you’re in a  race with a fellow Guild member or player to achieve the most. Fun? For sure!

Browse Items

Brilliant! Like AtlasLoot on your iPhone! Every item in the Armory searchable by type, (ie, weapons, armor etc) and by dungeon and raid, so you can find out who drops what where. All the item stats are included, as well as cost, vendors if appropriate. The best item search I have come across either on or offline.

Talent Calculator

Does what it says on the tin. Just like the online version, you can tweak your talent spec to your heart’s content. Doesn’t quite fit on the screen so a bit of dragging around is required, making it less useful than the online version – but only marginally.

News

I assume this will hold the latest news from wow.com or wow-europe.com at some point. At the moment it holds a welcome message and a full list of Realm firsts – which I like. Now I know who to tap up for that glyph or craftable gear item!

Settings

Sound, vibration and event alert on and offs. The app does seem to ding and vibrate a lot – but I’m damned if I know why. What those alerts are meant to mean is not clear so unless you can work it out, you may be better off setting the sound and vibrate to off. And if you DO find out what they are for – let me know!

Help & Logout

Provides…erm…help…and…erm…a logout.

Extras

Across the bottom is an always accessible menu list which contains a home button (nicely done with a Hearthstone icon), a search function – this is what will make this app most useful, especially when looking for items and specific characters, a character link just like the one described above and a direct link to your own characters so you can set which one you one to view the rest of the Armory against.

In summary, for the casual or hardcore WoW player, whether you are a GM, Officer, twink or solo player, this app has something for you. Get it. And get it now.

• iTunes Link

50,000+ Apps available!

Apple iPhone 3G

That’s what gets screamed at you when you consider an iPhone or even after you’ve bought one and you are wondering what to do with it. It’s a genuine claim – but how many of them are of any use at all?

Let’s take games out of the equation. If you like games, you can spend your own time digging through them for the ones you like. Instead we’ll focus on the social networking, entertainment and news apps to start with. Which are the good ones, the ones that will actually help you? It can be hard to tell and when you’re asked to spend as much as £5.99 in some cases then you need to know.

I have avoided paying for too many apps just yet, so here’s my top 7 FREE iPhone apps for helping you be more productive and informed.

1) Evernote

This is a brilliant app that keeps you in touch with all the notes you’ll ever make. Install the app on your iPhone and the software on your various laptops and PCs and they stay in sync, permanently. So no matter what you use or where you are, you’re up to date. So what is it really?

Evernote allows you to keep ‘notes’ – whether written in, full web pages, snippets of web pages, PDF files, images..as much as you can think of, you can store them through Evernote. The clever thing is that it is fully searchable. Evernote will search within any file – INCLUDING images.

Give it a try. It’ll really keep you organised on the move.

2) ESPN ScoreCenter

For the sports fans this is an absolute must. ESPN ScoreCenter does what it says on the tin. Gives you sports scores for a wide range of sports. There are many like it, of course, but here’s why I prefer this one over the rest. Firstly, it’s ESPN – you can’t go wrong. Secondly you can save your favourite sports, tournaments and even teams so you never have to look around. And finally, the interface is just beautiful. Nothing wasted, it just works.

I love it.

3) Urbanspoon

There are mixed reviews for this but I don’t know why. The app itself is excellent. It’s content is only as good as its users though – in other words, don’t be lazy, if you know a good restaurant, add it to Urbanspoon!

Yes, it’ll find places to eat based on where you are, providing address, phone number, email, website, map and reviews. What more do you need? You can also use it to find by the type of food you like. Mexican restaurant in Camden? Urbanspoon will tell you where, how much and how to get there – assuming someone has entered it into the database of course…

Ok, it’s not infallible – but it’s the best one I can find and it works all over the world. Best results in the UK and US from what I can work out so far in testing.

4) IM+ Lite

For a free app this is pretty powerful. Combine your MSN/Windows Live, AIM,  MySpaceIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber, Twitter and GoogleTalk accounts into one and take it with you wherever you go. IM+ Lite is immense.

It’s simple to use, you can see who is signed in on what chat client and it even includes smileys. Happy days for chat addicts!

Oh, you can also get the paid for version (£5.99) which also includes Skype and Facebook.

5) Shazam

You’re in a pub or club. A tune comes on and you love it. But the name of it escapes you. None of your mates can think of it either and it’s SO good you want to download it. How? Shazam.

Shazam will listen, search and report back with the song title, artist and iTunes download link. It’s never been wrong in my experience either. Nuff said? I think so.

6) TV Guide

One for the UK based (or those with Sky access) only I’m afraid. TV Guide.co.uk is just that. A super comprehensive TV guide for all UK digital terrestrial, satellite and cable channels. What I like about this one is that it is accurate and in depth.

It is based on a Now & Next interface, but tap a channel and you get the full day, with a brief synopsis of each programme on. You couldn’t ask for more. From BBC One through Sky Sports to The Adult Channel. Get it!

And finally…because you have to have SOME fun (and it’s topical)…

7) Terminator Salvation (Lite)

I love the Terminator franchise and to get to play this for free is just fun. Download it yourself and blast some cyborgs away. It is only the Lite version, yes, but it might give you a taste for the full paid for version – £2.99 at your nearest iTunes Store.

What are your favourite free (or paid for if you like) apps that make your life easier? I’m dying to build up a decent set on my iPhone.