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Adobe VideoBite, a bite-sized video editor for iPhone, now allows titles, photos & music

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videobite

Adobe VideoBite, an iOS app designed to make video editing as quick and easy as possible, has been updated to allow titles, photos and music to be added, turning it into a fully-fledged editor while retaining its simple user-interface.

Heartwarming Apple ads aside, I’ve always been rather skeptical of the real-world practicality of video editing on a phone, but I have to confess that VideoBite does make it a very slick process. Trimming clips, for example, involves nothing more than pressing a heart icon at the beginning and end of the bit you want to keep. Adding transitions and music is just as easy, and your finished masterpiece is saved to your camera roll, with exports to Facebook, YouTube and email also supported … 
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Apple touts iPad’s abilities in new poetry-themed ad, ‘What will your verse be?’ website

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiyIcz7wUH0]
Apple certainly isn’t shying away from using the iPad as a camera anymore.

Airing today is a brand-new TV advertisement touting the abilities of the iPad. The ad is in a serious tone and is voiced over by a quote from the film Dead Poet’s Society. Re/Code has the text from the advertisement:

We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering — these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love — these are what we stay alive for.

To quote from Whitman,

“O me, O life of the questions of these recurring.
Of the endless trains of the faithless. Of cities filled with the foolish. What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer: that you are here. That life exists and identity. That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.”

“That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.”

What will your verse be?

To go along with the TV ad, Apple has also posted a new webpage with the ad’s theme. This new page shares stories of the iPad being used in film-making, sports, and education. Original from movie below:


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Pandora Radio 5.1 turns stations into alarms on iPhone

Proving it can stay competitive with iTunes Radio, the streaming music service that debuted with iOS 7, Pandora Radio is busy at work bringing new features to its own customizable streaming music service.

The company released a feature update today to its iOS app bringing with it the ability to set song or artist stations as alarm clocks.

While the native Clock app in iOS can awake you to a specific song, Pandora’s station alarm clock is a nice addition to iOS and a compelling reason to use Pandora Radio even if you’re an iTunes Radio evangelist.

Pandora Radio 5.1 also brings full iOS 7 compatibility as it was previously designed for the iOS 7 but built for iOS 6,

Check out the full release notes below and download the latest version from the App Store.


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Mini review: Elgato Thunderbolt Drive+ (512GB external SSD)

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeVJLM8fmrI

I should say at the outset that this is not cheap. Very not cheap. What you’re looking at is $890’s worth of external drive in the 512GB version I have here, or $500 for the 256GB model.

This is not a drive aimed at a consumer wanting a bit of external storage for their movies, but rather a high-performance drive aimed at audiovisual professionals who need an external drive that delivers the kind of speeds in a mobile environment that they are used to from their office setup … 
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Plants vs. Zombies 2 hits US App Store

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJX8dWX4ym4]

As we noted last month when it launched in Australia/New Zealand, the popular Plants vs. Zombies 2 launched today.  [Free iTunes]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbcBYs0ljI0#at=14]

Unlike the original title, which is currently available for 99 cents on the App Store, PopCap is making the new game entirely free to play with some in-app purchases available, but not necessary to enjoy the full game:

Free to download, Plants vs. Zombies 2 will expand and extend the classic gameplay of the original and provide players with dozens of all-new levels, plants and zombies across multiple worlds at no cost. While the vast majority of the game will be entirely free to play (players can face every zombie and access every level in every world at no cost), Plants vs. Zombies 2 players will also be able to purchase upgrades and other in-game items.

PopCap adds that “New worlds with new levels, plants, zombies and new ways to play will be released on an ongoing basis.”

Designed from the ground up as a live service, the ever-expanding universe of Plants vs. Zombies 2continues the epic struggle of plants defending your brainz against zombies from your backyard through the vast reaches of time, both past and future. New worlds with new levels, plants, zombies and new ways to play will be released on an ongoing basis. Leveraging the touch interface of Apple’s popular mobile devices, Plants vs. Zombies 2 includes all-new touch-screen power-ups that enable players to “break the fourth wall” and interact with zombies directly, as well as via plant defenses.

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NYC Apple Stores will host free events for Tribeca Film Festival

Apple just announced that its retail stores at West 14th Street and SoHo in Manhattan are participating in the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival by showcasing Hollywood’s top artists as guest speakers.

“To celebrate the spirit of independent filmmaking, we’re hosting free events and workshops from April 20 through April 28. And everyone’s invited to attend,” explained Apple on its website and in a circular email.

There is an official “Tribeca Film Festival” app for free at the App Store that details all the workshops taking place.


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Brian Lehrer Show discusses the contacts uploading controversy

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[vodpod id=Video.16105462&w=425&h=350&fv=file%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.wnyc.org%2Faudio%2Fxspf%2F187667%2F%26amp%3Brepeat%3Dlist%26amp%3Bautostart%3Dfalse%26amp%3Bpopurl%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.wnyc.org%2Faudio%2Fxspf%2F187667%2F%253Fdownload%253Dhttp%253A%2F%2Fwww.podtrac.com%2Fpts%2Fredirect.mp3%2Faudio.wnyc.org%2Fbl%2Fbl021712bpod.mp3]

We have talked about the more technical aspects of contact uploading, but NPR gave a more mainstream interpretation.
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Rockmate puts the whole music studio on one iPad screen, SHREDDER Synth for Guitar pros debuts

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUa4IAQetTk]

Here’s a fun iPad game for the whole (Partridge) family.

Rockmate turns your iPad into a complete music studio easy and super fun to use. You can compose, record and play songs with up to 4 Rock players on one single iPad. Rockmate is easy to play with smart chords progressions, sounds great with separated guitar effects and in-house produced audio samples and is also fully customizable with multiple drums and keyboard styles.

Rockmate is ready to rock ! Your guitars are always well tuned, no need to carry your drum kit or to patch your keyboard. A smart metronome and a real-time looper will assist you in composing and recording your songs. That you can share by email or in your iTunes sharing folder.

We want as many people as possible to experience Rockmate. So we have decided to make Rockmate available for one week (From 14 to 21 december 2011) at the introductory price of $0.99. Regular price $3.99.

(iTunes $.99)

For those who are after something in the professional realm, a new App called Shredder was released today…
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iPad replaces another part of Hollywood: Take One – Movie Clapperboard review

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The iPad application Take One – Movie Clapper is a great solution for anyone into film or making movies that wants a cheap and simple way to keep track takes, which assists in keeping filmed video and audio in synchronization. The major difference between Take One and its competitors is price and ease of use. Take One costs $2.99, compared to its $9.99 and $24.99 competitors – but offers an easy-to-use solution and all the necessary features one would expect from a Movie Clapper.


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3TB Western Digital Elements USB Hard Drive (Factory Refurb): $100

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From 9to5toys.com:

MacMall via eBay Daily Deal offers the factory-refurbished Western Digital Elements 3TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive, model no. WDBAAU0030HBK-NESN, for $99.99 with free shipping. That’s $0.03/GB, $20 below our mention of a new unit from three days ago, and the lowest total price we’ve seen for this drive. (It’s $18 below the current price low for a new unit.) This drive uses GreenPower technology to reduce power consumption by up to 30%.

A Western Digital warranty applies; however, MacMall does not mention the length of this warranty on the product page.

DC Comics to release on iPad simultaneously with traditional releases

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAYLSfeE0wI]

SupermanofSteel reports that as part of their new refresh of their lineups called “52”, DC will do “Day and Date digital” which means the same day that comics are available in the store, they will be on the iPad.  Double good news for digital comics fans.
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Import of previous Final Cut Pro XML coming soon to Final Cut Pro X

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There has been a big stink (several actually) about Final Cut Pro X’s lack of ‘Pro’ features.  One such glaring omission has been the lack of Final Cut Pro 7 XML imports.  MacMagazine.br did some digging and found that the code for doing Final Cut Pro 7 imports is actually inside Final Cut Pro X and for some reason hadn’t been enabled for shipping.

 

As per usual, Apple will likely enable that functionality (and many others that are missing) in updates to Final Cut Pro X.  If you are daring, MacMagazine offers a workaround that might be able to import now (they haven’t yet tested).


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Skype for iPad with video calling promotional video (update: it’s legit)

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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5G_CkPfDOU]

We’re not exactly sure what’s going on here, but Skype apparently posted a promotional video for an official iPad application this morning. The video has been deleted (if it ever existed) but it looks like the real thing, based on a purported  re-upload by RazorianFly. If legit, Skype for iPad looks amazing, has video calling, 3G and WiFi support, and an easy to navigate interface with animations and clean graphics. Real or fake?

Update: A Skype executive confirmed it’s legit to TUAW.

Try your luck below…


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Review: Seagate GoFlex Slim (as an iPhone 4) 320 GB Portable Hard Drive

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We’ve spent the past few weeks using the Seagate GoFlex Slim 320GB portable hard drive and have come away with some mixed feelings on the drive.  On one hand, it is obviously the thinnest external hard drive in the market and it is plenty fast with its internal 7200 RPM internal drive.  In fact, it is about the same depth as an iPhone 4.

On the other hand…
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