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3 iPad Guitar Amp Apps iPad for Those About to Rock
It wasn’t consciously a New Year’s resolution, but shortly after Christmas after years of tripping over my guitar cases, I decided it was time to get back in the game. While I have three guitars I love, my amp gear was either anemic or overpowered. I have a small practice amp I’ve never been happy with, and my stage rig. The cats don’t really seem to care for the loud amps.

So, after watching Apple’s “iPad is Electric” commercial I decided to take a look at amp apps for the iPad. Three in particular caught my eye: Amplitube, PocketAmp, and iShred.

Hooking Up

First you need a way to hook your guitar into your iOS device. You can either make a cable yourself, get one from Griffin, or use the iRig. I chose the iRig and it’s a fairly simple adapter. You have a female guitar cable input on one end, a male headphone jack that plugs into your iOS device, and a female headphone connector for connecting headphones or a set of speakers. It may not suit the needs of perfectionists, but for the general user, it fits the bill.

The Apps

Amplitube (Free/$19.99): While the $20 price tag is a big turn off, I found the free version to be perfectly fine for the average practicing musician: the paid version gives you more presets and the ability play songs from your iTunes library. The free and paid versions both have in-app purchases for more pedals. Amplitube does have a lot of in-app purchases, even if you purchase the paid version, which may seem greedy. To me, it seems more like an effort to offer very specific levels of customizability. One of the things I liked most about this app was that for relatively little money, I could tailor my playing experience the way I wanted it.

There’s in-app recording (single track is free, multi-track is an additional $15), but I’m just as happy pumping the feed into Garageband. That’s because the sounds I got from this app were fantastic. I could get a nice warm clean tone and also a heavy metal scream. You get three pedals (delay, noise gate, and distortion) with the free app. Those combined with the ability to save presets let me build a nice library of sounds. Additional pedals are $2.99.

PocketAmp (Free/$4.99). This is the perfect app if you just want to jam with a minimum of fuss.The free version comes with two presets (Clean and Rock) and both sound decent. You also have a few sliders to customize the sound. For $4.99 the paid version is almost a no-brainer. You get more presets (Clean, Blues, Rock, Metal) and a handful of effects (Chorus, Flanger, Rotary, Tremolo). Both versions lets you play along to your iTunes library on your iOS device. The app lacks the customization you’ll find in Amplitube, but you get more than your five bucks worth of sound. PocketAmp is also a univeral app, so it works on both iPhone/iPod touch and iPad. The one big problem I have is likely to be minor for most: PocketAmp is portrait-only on the iPad, and I prefer a landscape orientation.

iShred (Free/in-app purchases): While it got decent reviews, I had a hard time getting good sound out of this app. Even with the in-app purchase of the “Screamer” distortion pedal, the sound came off as weak. It gets points for being both a Universal app and having free iTunes play-along, but loses just as many for having a weak overall tone. That said, if you’ve got physical effects pedals you love the sound of, and just want a free amp app to practice over songs, this might be a good choice. I was much happier with even the free PocketAmp app.

Final Thoughts

If you want fully-customizable sound, and don’t mind paying a little extra for in-app purchases, my favorite of the bunch is Amplitube, even using just the free version. I probably spent about $8 on a few extra effects and amps and really love the sounds I got from it. For the more budget-conscious that have a higher need for iTunes playback than I did, PocketAmp is a great value; even the stock presets sound great.

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The Best Deals in the Mac App Store Right Now
There are some great deals right now in the Mac App Store as developers try to find the right pricing model for the new marketplace. Leading by example, Apple cut the price of one of its own flagship professional applications, Aperture, from $199 to just $79.99. Here are some highlights of others that have followed suit:
- Pixelmator. With a powerful image editor that gives Adobe’s Photoshop Elements a run for its money on the Mac, the Pixelmator team is urging existing customers, as well as any prospective new customers, to pay the limited time price of $29.99 to get the application from the Mac App Store. If you do, you’ll be entitled to a “free” update to the upcoming 2.0 version of the application. They’ve also made it clear that the Mac App Store is the future for Pixelmator, and cite several advantages on their own website. A definite buy at this price any day, app store or not.
- SketchBook Pro. Autodesk is also offering a great deal on the Mac App Store, selling SketchBook Pro for $29.99 instead of $79.99. The app is the Mac desktop equivalent of its iOS counterpart. Since your Mac isn’t a touch device like your iPhone or iPad, you’ll need to look at augmenting your desktop experience with something like Wacom’s Bamboo tablet. Trust me; if you’re interested in creating digital artwork, it’s worth it.
- RapidWeaver. Realmac Software is offering its flagship product for $39.99 on the Mac App Store instead of the usual $79.99. With Apple not paying much attention to iWeb, switching over to a tool like RapidWeaver may be your best option. With over 45 themes included, this web development tool can plug right in to your existing MobileMe account and be everything iWeb isn’t, and more besides.
- Art Text 2. One of my personal favorites from BeLight Software is now priced at just $9.99 in the Mac App Store, a full $30 cheaper than its usual price. The options and degree of control a user has over text and its presentation with this application is astonishing. I use it all the time for almost every sort of communication.
- Apple Remote Desktop (ARD). If you managed a household with more than one Mac, or a business that uses Macs as the standard machine, then Apple’s Remote Desktop software is great. It allows you to provision software, perform regular maintenance, and even troubleshoot and control all the Macs on your local network. The software used to be $299 for a 10-client limit, or $499 for an unlimited license. ARD on the Mac App Store doesn’t seem to have a limit at the present time.
- Aperture. As mentioned above, Apple knocked a full $120 off the price of this advanced image management and editing application. If you like iPhoto, but want more power, Aperture is the way to go.
Each of these applications has a proven track record among users, and it’s amazing to see them available at these prices. The Mac App Store’s sales pace, including one million downloads in the first day, may keep prices down, but that’s not a sure thing. There’s little reason not to act now, unless you think this is just the beginning of a race to the bottom for App Store pricing.

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How To Restore or Update Your Apple TV Software Over USB
The latest Apple TV has a built-in update function that downloads and installs new software, accessible via the device’s Settings menu. But if you’d rather not update over-the-air, you can always do it via USB through iTunes, and restore your device from there, too, if you’re having problems.

Connecting Apple TV to Your Computer
1. First unplug your Apple TV. Unplug both the HDMI capable attaching it to your home theatre setup, and the power cord. If you’re using an optical audio cable to connect to an A/V receiver, disconnect that, too.
2. Now plug your Apple TV into your Mac, using a Micro USB cable. These ship with a lot of accessories with internal batteries these days, but if you don’t have one, you can grab one very cheap at Monoprice.
3. Open iTunes if it isn’t open already. The Apple TV should appear in your source menu.
Now that you’ve got your Apple TV connected to your Mac, there are two options depending on what you’re trying to do.

Update Your Apple TV
1. Get the latest firmware using a direct download link. These are usually pretty easy to find using a Google search. Here’s the link for the latest software (4.2) for Apple TV as of this writing. It should be a “.ipsw” file.
2. Option+Click the “Restore” button on the Apple TV screen in iTunes. A dialog box will open asking you to specify the location of the Apple TV software file you downloaded in Step 1. Once you select the file, click “Choose” to continue.
Restore Your Apple TV
1. Simply click the “Restore” button in iTunes on the Apple TV screen.
2. iTunes will ask you to confirm, so click “Restore and Update” to continue.
I appreciate that Apple wants to keep things as simple as possible, but in some cases I’d rather have options other than just either using the built-in update tool or having to call Apple Support.

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More iOS 4.3 News: "Find My Friends," New Device References
Yesterday, we learned that iOS 4.3 will have new features including more multi-touch gestures, the ability to act as a Wi-Fi hotspot, and third-party support for AirPlay streaming. Today, more features continue to be revealed, and at least one previously removed option has been added back.

With the release of iOS 4.2, orientation locking became software-activated across iOS devices using the multitasking interface. The physical hardware switch on the side became a mute button, same as on the iPhone. Apparently, this resulted in a negative reaction strong enough to elicit a response from Steve Jobs, who said the change was permanent in an e-mail to one customer. Somewhat surprisingly then, under Settings in iOS 4.3 there’s now an option to use the slide switch to either mute sound or lock rotation. It’s nice to see Apple correct a mistake, especially after Steve Jobs declares it a feature.

From MacRumors, a new feature coming in iOS 4.3 is reported to be “Find My Friends.” Named similarly to “Find My iPhone,” “Find My Friends” is strongly reminiscent of a service like Google Latitude. That service shows the location of selected contacts on a map in proximity to the device owner. Unfortunately, “Find My Friends” appears to be linked to MobileMe (which isn’t yet free), which could severely limit its benefit, and that would be a big mistake. Hopefully, like “Find My iPhone,” Apple will ultimately open up this feature to everyone.

Finally, Engadget first reported that within the developer build of iOS 4.3 there are several new device identifiers: iPad2,1; iPad2,2; iPad2,3; iPhone4,1; and iPhone4,2. The first generation iPad is “iPad1,1″ and “iPhone 3,1″ refers to the iPhone 4, so the new numbers indicated next-generation devices. New models of iPads and iPhones are a given this year, and the best guess for these multiple identifiers would be Wi-Fi, GSM and CDMA versions of the same devices.

As interesting as these new features and devices are, the biggest change may not be in iOS 4.3 itself, but in how Apple approaches its mobile OS updates. Since iOS 4.1 we’ve seen major changes and feature additions, including AirPrint, AirPlay and Game Center; hardly what one expects in a point release. It appears Apple is moving away from seminal yearly releases and instead adding major features and improvements regularly. If so, Apple fans have Google to thank for increasing the competitive pressure in the handheld computing market.

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Will iPhone's Personal Hotspot Make the 3G iPad Irrelevant?

Verizon announced the iPhone’s ability to act as a personal hotspot Jan. 11, but yesterday’s release of the iOS 4.3 beta confirmed that the feature will eventually make its way out to all iPhones, minus legacy devices — carriers willing. With the hotspot enabled, you can share your data connection with multiple Wi-Fi devices, including the iPad, something which wasn’t possible through wired USB or Bluetooth tethering.

I realized immediately that not only do I no longer need a MiFi, as Kevin pointed out yesterday, but I no longer even need the 3G in my Wi-Fi + 3G iPad. I use the iPad’s cellular data connection sparingly as it is, and I’ve never run into a situation where I had my iPad but not my iPhone while on a trip or out and about. And not renewing my iPad data contract will save me at least $30 every month with my provider here in Canada.

Canadian providers don’t charge extra for tethering services, unlike in the U.S. But even when you are charged extra to enable personal hotspot features, which is a better proposition? An extra $30 for a shared connection that you can use with any device, including notebook computers or the iPod touch, or roughly the same amount of money for a whole other data plan locked to a single gadget?

AT&T may only be “evaluating” the feature at the moment, but eventually it’ll have to give in, just as it did with tethering, and I’m willing to bet it won’t take the company as long this time around. In fact, once Verizon announces its own pricing scheme for iPhone hotspots, or, failing that, once AT&T begins hemorrhaging customers and freeing up bandwidth on its data network, we’ll see the feature on both carriers.

Once personal hotspot capabilities make it out to all iPhones, the question quickly becomes: Why have a 3G-enabled iPad at all? Buying the Wi-Fi-only model will save you $130, which can be spent on the next model up in terms of storage capacity, while still saving $30.

Apple could still make the 3G iPad desirable to consumers by allowing it to act as a personal hotspot, but the iOS 4.3 beta shows no indication that Apple intends to go back on its current “no tethering policy” for the device. Even if the iPad were to gain hotspot abilities (which it might to keep feature parity with Android tablets), it still wouldn’t hold as much appeal as the iPhone, or any Android device with the same feature, since it’s far less portable and unlikely to be carried by most people during the course of a normal day.

My next iPad will be Wi-Fi only, provided Apple continues to offer a non-3G option in its next generation tablet. As Stacey foresaw more than a year ago, consumers will only need (and likely have budget for) one cellular network-connected device that can share to a variety of Wi-Fi hangers-on, and all indications point to that device being the iPhone for those operating in Apple’s mobile ecosystem, not the iPad.

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