App Review: iMovie for iOS

March 29, 2011 by

Along with its iPad 2 launch, Apple also released a new version of iMovie for iOS. iMovie is $4.99 from the App Store, or a free update if you already own the iPhone version that debuted alongside iPhone 4 last summer.

As for iMovie, I think I’ve used just about every version of iMovie from iMovie 3 on a 2002 iMac to the latest iMovie ‘11 as well as the iPhone version, so I was eager to get my hands on the new iPad version. However, Apple states you must have an iPad 2 to run iMovie. iMovie for the iPad is not available for the original iPad, but I have read several reports of people successfully installing and using iMovie on an original iPad. Nonetheless, I have an iPad 2. If you’re thinking you’d like to use the iPad version of iMovie, but don’t want to shell out the dough for a new iPad, you can go here for instructions to install iMovie on your original iPad, but please note the cautions regarding the installation of additional apps. Also keep in mind, my experience with iMovie (as you’ll read below) says it is a very resource intensive app (obviously, right) and I wouldn’t make any guarantees. It started to get bogged down during heavy editing sessions with the iPad 2’s dual core A5, faster graphics chip and supposed 512 MB of RAM. So consider yourself warned.

Since the announcement of the first iPad — iPhone really — I have been waiting to see what touchscreen computing would do for the non-linear editor (NLE). The gestures of swiping and pinching with your fingers to manipulate footage seemed to me to be a perfect fit for an NLE. Final Cut Pro is Apple’s professional NLE, whereas iMovie is for the consumer. As if to put an exclamation point on this, Apple rebuilt iMovie from the ground up in 2008 taking what was a capable consumer level NLE and stripping it down into something much simpler. The past few releases and updates has seen iMovie get back much of it’s original functionality. The latest version is really quite good and can take on some fairly serious editing tasks, but make no mistake with iMovie, Apple’s goal is to make editing movies fun. Final Cut Pro is an incredible editor, but to use it for “fun” and to edit my home movies with it isn’t what I think of when I think “Final Cut”.

iMovie for the iPad is no different in this regard. iMovie for the iPad is a stripped down version of it’s older bother on the Mac although it’s far more capable than its iPhone counterpart.
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iPad 2: Early Impressions

March 17, 2011 by

Mixing up titles right away: The Good, The Bad, The Bold and The Beautiful

But it’s not so simple.

If you followed my article about “The Wait and The Line,” you know I proceeded to a restaurant right away to start using, testing and playing with the iPad 2.

Connect to iTunes image

Connect to iTunes

My wife and I went upstairs and sat down at a nice large table. We quickly pulled out our iPads and turned them on. First issue: upon start up, the iPad asks to be connected to iTunes. Rats! I forgot about this requirement, which is one reason that saying that the iPad is “Post PC” is not entirely true. You have to have a PC to activate the device. Yes, I could have had it set up at the store, but that’s not the point. This ‘requirement’ at some point needs to be removed. I suspect it’s in Apple’s long-range roadmap where everything is somehow synchronized with MobileMe, therefore not requiring a hard cable to a Mac or Windows computer.

What to do? Fortunately I had my MacBook Air with me from my travels. I went to the car to retrieve it, headed back to the restaurant, and connected. Voilà! Activated and ready to use. [Read more…]

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iPad 2: The Wait and The Line

March 15, 2011 by

The Wait

When Steve Jobs announced iPad 2, I was immediately caught up in the reality distortion field: lighter! thinner! faster!

But what really got me was that the new device would be available a mere two weeks after the announcement. I was fully prepared to wait until mid-April before the device became available. Now, it was to be released on 11 March in the States. And I did not want to wait a day beyond the 11th.

OK, no problem. As I am currently working in New York during the week and flying back home to Chicago on Fridays, I figured I would pre-order and have it arrive on Friday. That’s how some people ordered the iPhone 4. However, Apple decided to change the rules a bit: no pre-orders UNTIL the 11th and in-store pick up starting at 5:00 pm local time. Uh, oh: I am on a plane at that point!

What to do, what to do? First, I asked my wife if she’d be willing to stand in line. After all, she’d benefit too: she’d get an iPad 2. She immediately agreed. She asked what time should she get there? I suggested sometime after 2:00 pm. She offered to head to the mall right after lunch! Wow, this reality distortion field is stronger than I realized. Second, I would try to fly standby and get home earlier and meet her in line. [Read more…]

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Checking in from the iPad 2 line

March 11, 2011 by

Barry at the Northbrook Apple Store waiting to get his mitts on the new thinner, lighter, faster iPad 2…

Review soon Barry?

 

UPDATE 3/11: And the store is open…


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