DrawRace 2 HD · Chillingo Ltd · iPad · £1.99/$2.99

Simple games are perfect for iOS devices. Angry Birds, Cut the Rope and Infinity Blade all works thanks to a simple swipe system that makes them simple for anyone to play, but incredibly addictive thanks to their clever level design. Well, another of these games has recently been released by Chillingo, and it’s absolutely brilliant.

DrawRace 2 is (as you may have guessed) the sequel to DrawRace 1, but the difference between the two games is absolutely huge. While the first game was a relatively simple, 2D top down racer, the sequel has been fleshed out into a much more rounded product. Now in full 3D, races take place on incredible landscapes of dust, ice and tarmac. The graphics are fantastic too – sure, they’re not as stunning as Dead Space HD in full flow, but the animations are smooth and fast, and the tracks and their surrounds really feel alive with flowing rivers and rubber skid-marks staying on the tracks as you race.

Draw the lines on-screen with your finger to set your car’s path

The controls are just like other successful iOS games – easy to learn, difficult to master. The principle is simple: you draw a line on the race track with your finger and your car will follow it. Draw fast and the car will accelerate, draw slow and it will brake. Skidding slows you down, so keeping in control of your speed is vital to success.You also get a boost that builds up while you’re braking, and using this at the right time can be the difference between success and failure.

Timing your Boost is vital, and cutting corners will cause things like cones to scatter across the track.

There are three main game modes: a Single-player Career Mode, a World League mode that allows you to race against others online, and a mulit-player mode that gives four players the chance to race on the same screen. The Career Mode will keep you occupied for some time, with five classes each containing twelve races . Each race will start with one opponent who you must beat over two laps. You then race the track again with two opponents, then three. You will win a medal for each, and unlock the next class when you’ve won a certain number of medals.

As you power through Career Mode you’ll unlock new cars and tracks

The game is monstrously addictive, and you can’t help diving back in after you’ve been pipped to the post for the eighth time. You curse if you draw a corner just a tiny bit wrong, or when you boost in the wrong place, but because you know it was your own fault you try again to correct your mistake. There is never a feeling that the computer-controlled racers are unbeatable, and it’s this that constantly draws (hur hur) you back in. In fact, we’re issuing you with a warning now: you will not be able to put this game down. And we absolutely love it.

Pros:

+ Fantastically simple controls
+ Beautiful tracks
+ Will last you a long time
+ Single-iPad and online Multiplayer modes

Cons:

- Will suck away your life
- A ‘Single Race’ mode would have been great.

Verdict:

First things first: the iPad and iPad 2 batteries are pretty damn good, and I absolutely am not complaining about how long they last. However, right now we’re right in the middle of Festival Season, which for many means sitting in a tent with no changes of clothes, no sensible food, and no power. In these situations your ten-hour iPad battery will last a fair bit of time, but at some point over your musical weekend your tablet will run dry.

That’s where this little beauty comes in; the Spark Case is a bag/charging combo that harnesses the power of the sun to boost your iPad’s dwindling power. If you’re in Glastonbury this will obviously be no help, as the area seems doomed to sogginess every year, but at the hundreds of thousands of other concerts worldwide this will give a welcome power surge to your dying machine.

What’s even better is that this case is pretty darn rugged – Voltaic’s website actually uses the words ‘built to withstand abuse’ – and the casing is strong and padded, as well as UV resistant, protecting your iPad from most knocks and bumps. The solar panels provide 8 watts of power, meaning if you use the case to charge for an hour, you will get one hour of video playback in return. There is a small, rechargeable battery pack included in the bag, so if you want to use your iPad you can keep charging while you do so, and this includes several adapters, meaning you can charge more than just a tablet if you wish.

If might not be the most attractive case we’ve ever seen, but when you get this much functionality it’s easy to see why the demand for this product has caused orders to be delayed as Voltaic rush to create more stock. We’ll admit, at $299 (around £190) it’s certainly on the wrong side of ‘pricey’, but if you’re out in the great outdoors a lot and need regular top-ups of power, there are few better alternatives.

For more information, or to order the Spark case, check out the Voltaic website

From the early days of Mac OS 9 to the present Snow Leopard, Preview has evolved. In fact, with the advent of portable devices, such as smart phones, digital cameras and tablets, Preview is doing more than just keeping up with these modern tools; it allows you to simplify and improve their use.
Indeed, Preview now offers the unique ability to retrieve photos and pictures from iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch and, through a set of smart features, ensures that your time spent downloading photos from your portable device is not wasted. The extended information – displayed for each of the documents – and handy editing tools allow Preview to go further than just matching your adoption of new technology with a few appropriate functionalities. Since some of the more relevant features of Mac OS X’s built-in photo download utilities have been integrated to Preview, there are now new ways to retrieve and edit the pictures coming from your iPhone/iPad.

1: Get set
Ensure the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch is plugged in correctly and turned on. Launch Preview from your Applications folder. In the File menu, select ‘Import from’ and the name of your portable device.

2: View your pictures
A window showing you a list of all the pictures on your iPhone/iPad will open. Information, such as thumbnail view, name, size, creation date and extensive photographic parameters, will be displayed in the main area.

3: Get organised
Below the picture list, a set of buttons allows you to toggle between list and icon view; rotate and delete pictures; change the location to which the documents are to be imported; and change the thumbnail size.

4: Import
To the right-hand side of the toolbar, the Import and Import All buttons enable you to choose a single retrieval or a complete download of all the photos available. Click the relevant button to start the Import.

Imagine Publishing has launched a digital edition of the hugely successful iPad for Beginners book. Now available on Amazon’s Kindle Store, the iPad for Beginners ebook is packed with informative features and step-by-step tutorials, showing first-time users how to get the most from their iPad, from setting up and syncing to printing and transferring files.

Editor In Chief Aaron Asadi said “This a really cool product, and not just because of how well it takes advantage of the new medium. We’re so excited to have created something that new iPad users are going to find a great companion with hundreds of essential tips made brilliantly accessible. With iPad for Beginners, we think we’ve really set a benchmark for ebook guides.”

The latest in the acclaimed For Beginners series, the iPad for Beginners ebook will help give readers the confidence to learn everything they need to know in a clear, easy-to-understand fashion.

The iPad for Beginners ebook is available from online retailer Amazon, priced at just £5.81.

For more in the series, as well as other great books, visit www.imaginebookshop.co.uk.

Blogging is fast becoming the prevailing way to communicate with friends and complete strangers, and there are many services available to get you started. WordPress is one of the most popular options and is free whether you set up a blog on wordpress.com or host it on your own server. Whether you want to set up a family blog or something that you want the whole world to see, your words can be published in a matter of minutes, but the key to success is keeping the content updated frequently and that is not always practical.
You need not worry, though, because the WordPress iPad app is the perfect companion for your new blog and makes editing and creating new posts child’s play when on the move. It doesn’t include all of the desktop features, but is more than powerful enough to create and edit posts and images when you do not have access to your desktop computer. Here we will show you how to set up a new blog and how to create your content on the iPad in a matter of minutes.

1: Create your blog
Go to www.wordpress.com and click the ‘Sign up now’ button. You will now be taken to a page where you have to input some information such as username and email address. Once you click Submit, you then need to confirm your email address and you are ready to go.

2: Make the blog mobile
Once you have set up your design etc, it is now time to set it up on your iPad. Install the free WordPress app, available from the App Store, and launch it. Press the ‘+’ sign and enter your URL, username and password. You should now be all set to start blogging from your iPad.

3: Write your first post
At the bottom you will see a ‘Posts’ icon. Click it and then click the ‘create’ icon top-right. At this point you need to insert a title, tags, categories and the main text for the entry. You can save the post as a local draft if you need to finish it later.

4: Add some style
Included is the ability to insert photos or links to other sites, but the default text formatting is plain. You can use basic HTML to add bold and italics, so do some experimenting to see which works best for you. No matter what method you use, the whole process is simple and effective.

As I’m sure you’re extremely aware, there are a seemingly endless number of accessories for the iPad, from beautiful cases to fridge magnets, and it’s often hard to choose which is best. Well, that’s where we step in, giving you the low-down on some of the best products that you can buy, making sure you have all the best kit for your Apple products. And we’ve got a top-notch one for your today.

Twelve South have been making Apple accessories for a long time now, and their tag line (“We’re not just Mac friendly – we’re Mac only“) really rings true with us. The latest product that we’ve tried out from them is called the Twelve South Compass, and is an incredibly portable iPad and iPad 2 stand that will fold up small so you can throw it in your bag.

At just 7 inches long, less than an inch wide, and well under half an inch thick, the Compass is certainly the most portable stand we’ve seen, and its steel frame also makes it one of the strongest. The stiff hinge at the top that houses the legs helps add stability, and the rubber-ended feet stop the whole thing sliding around on the surface of your desk.

There is a small foot on the back of the Compass which allows for a comfortable typing angle, and the two stuts that fold out to hold the iPad in place are covered in the same grippy rubber to ensure your device will be safe on the stand. They allow you to stand your iPad in portrait and landscape mode, and the height has just enough to fit your charging cable in when in the former. It also works with most iPad cases still attached, and certainly has no problems with the Smart Cover. The only problem we had while using the Compass was that sometimes the rear foot wouldn’t fully extend, making things a little less steady. Still, this was our own error rather than a fault with the stand, so it’s something we could forgive.

We have to admit, we’re big fans of all Twelve South’s products, and this is no exception. They are one of the few companies who put a huge amount of effort into not only creating a useful and well-designed product, but also make sure it looks great alongside Apple’s own creations. The Compass looks and feels like the high-quality accessory it is, and it’s function is just as excellent. It’s available from here for UK customers (£39.95) and here for US customers ($39.99). If you’ve been looking for a great stand for your iPad or iPad 2, this one comes highly recommended.

Pros:
Compact, sturdy, and beautifully designed,

Cons:
A little expensive, although you do get what you pay for.

So the iPad 2 launched today, at 5pm across the UK. We went down to Solutions Inc, our local Apple Premium Reseller, to see how popular the new device would be… and we were amazed. For the iPad 1 last year there were around 20 people waiting outside the store come launch, but this year it was quite a different story.

(We’d like to say a massive thank you to Solutions Inc, who not only let us take photos and interview people but let us in the store before anyone else to get photos.)

With four hours to go there was already a queue forming

With an hour to go, the queue was considerably larger…

The lucky few at the front of the queue got seats, while the latecomers stood and looked on enviously as the employees prepared the store

With just minutes left the queue had stretched around and back down the high street

Thanks to the lovely people at Solutions Inc we were allowed in to see the untouched iPads while others were stuck outside

The Smart Covers looked great, and proved very popular with the first few customers

This was also a popular choice – the HDMI adapter for the iPad 2

The first customers through the door had been there for hours and were eager to get their hands on the new device

There were a lot of iPad 2s available and the Solutions Inc staff worked hard to get them out quickly

The first customer sadly left like a shot, which meant we didn’t get to photograph him, but the second was a charming young boy and his mother, who danced along to the music playing the shop while they waited.

Sure, Apple have come up with a fantastic product with the iPad and Smart Cover, but when Apple has a good idea it’s pretty normal to expect it to be reused and, in some cases, improved upon by other companies. This certainly isn’t a bad thing, as it encourages these companies to work hard at making great products, and in the end that only benefits the consumers more.

And so we come to the beautiful Miniot Wood Cover for iPad 2. It’s like the Smart Cover, but it looks absolutely incredible. The pictures don’t quite do it justice – watch the video to understand the full majesty of how this works. The case is made from real Cherry wood, and unlike the Smart Cover has no noticeable hinge connecting it to the iPad. Instead it uses magnets built into the case itself to securely attach it to the tablet.

It looks gorgeous, and the folding stand seems to work fantastically from what the video shows. It might be a little bulkier than the Smart Cover, but it really looks like the case Apple should have made. We’ll wait and see whether it can live up to our expectations when it’s released later this month, but at just €50 as a basic price we have to admit it is fantastic value.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Apple’s site has just been updated with the new MacBooks. A replacement to the iSight Camera is included, called FaceTime HD, and Thunderbolt ports are also featured. More to follow.

UPDATE: The new MacBooks maintain the design, weight and dimentions of the previous iteration, but include super-fast Sandy Bridge processors and the much-rumoured Thunderbolt port. We have a couple of these in the office, and all we can say is they are fast. Expect a review in iCreate at some point soon!