PennyGrab Auction Site

OK. So this is not an iPad app. But it is a really cool site that I just found. PennyGrab is a “daily deals” and auction hybrid. It is kind of like the offspring of eBay and Groupon…sort of.

Basically, you sign up for a free account. And then you buy credits and use those credits to purchase items. They have a ton of great electronics and Apple iTunes gift cards and and Amazon gift cards and things like that….which is why I thought it was relevant here.

I know I saw an iPad 3 on there that went for $30.

Unlike eBay, however, you are not buying from different sellers. Instead, you are buying directly from PennyGrab.

I just found it and thought it was a cool site. So I thought I’d pass it along.

Unlimited TV Shows On Your iPad

TV on you iPad. Get better. Do you like watching TV? Sure you do. So do I. Do you like having access to your favorite TV shows whenever you want? Of course you do. So do I. I like taking them on vacation. I like taking them with me when I travel. I like sticking them in front of the kids when we’re in the car. Wherever you take your iPad, you can take your favorite TV shows.

I know you are wondering how you can do that. There is a simple solution that costs less than your average month of cable service. Much less. That’s right. You can download, forever, your favorite TV shows directly onto your iPad and have them forever. Or you can put them on your computer and then on your iPad. Either way, you can download and take em to go.

What is the service? The service is TVFreeload. And this is killer. TVFreeload will transform your iPad into a powerful entertainment system capable of accessing and downloading a wide range of crystal clear TV Shows. Download and view as many TV shows as you like with no limitations whatsoever.

No computer experience is needed to watch TV Shows from our website, simply register, login, and start downloading the titles you like. No bandwidth or time limits are ever imposed – you control what and when you want to watch 24/7!

With 1000+ TV Shows and Anime Shows to download plus tons of other shows and episodes, you won’t be disappointed! TVFreeload is now the fastest growing TV shows download site. They have a vast selection of downloadable TV episodes, all at your fingertips! No per-download costs and absolutely no catch! Get all your popular shows from around the world, updated instantly and available 24/7

“TV Freeload is without a doubt the best place for downloads. Not only does it have all the recent release of TV, but it also has an extensive back catalog. On top of that the main body of the community is incredibly helpful and always active. It’s an awesome site and is very much recommended.”

- Peter C.

Check out TV Freeload to watch TV shows on your iPad

All that is left to do is download and enjoy!

1. Bejeweled HD - PopCap

   Experience the world's #1 puzzle game on your iPad in HD! The all-new Bejeweled® HD for iPad rises to new levels with crisp, beautiful colors in four breathtaking game modes. Ease into Classic for cascades of fun, save Butterflies from a hungry spider, dig into Diamond Mine for a gem-blasting challenge, or slip into Zen for a revolutionary new w...

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2. Angry Birds Space HD - Rovio Mobile Ltd.

   #1 in 116 countries! Big thanks to all our fans! “Intergalactic phenomenon worth every penny” – AppCraver “Takes the fundamental physics-based flinging of the original and turns it on its head... It's satisfying, yet completely familiar, and is heaps of pig-smashing fun.” – Gamespot “Anyone burnt out on vanilla bird flinging will ...

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3. Potty Time with Elmo - Sesame Street

   *** For a limited time only, get “Potty Time with Elmo” for just $0.99! *** When it’s time to potty train your little one, Elmo leads the way! The Potty Time with Elmo app is a fun way to ease the transition from diapers to big-kid underpants. Developed for children ready to potty train, this charming app features everyone’s favorite furry...

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4. Fruit Ninja HD - Halfbrick Studios

   The worldwide smash hit iPhone game Fruit Ninja has now arrived for the iPad, featuring glorious HD graphics and incredible unique content not to be found on any other platform! ******* "On the iPad’s big screen, this game will give you more of a jolt than Angry Birds." -- NY Times "The game supports slashing with up to eight fi...

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5. Notability - Take Notes & Annotate PDFs with Dropbox Sync - Ginger Labs

   *** ON SALE - 80% OFF *** Notability is optimized for the new iPad! It powerfully integrates handwriting, PDF annotation, typing, recording, and organizing so you can take notes your way! Discover the freedom to capture ideas, share insights, and present information in one perfect place on iPad. Notability encourages productivity to be beautiful. ...

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6. Where's My Water? - Disney

   WHERE'S MY WATER IS THE HIT DISNEY APP EVERYONE IS PLAYING! NOW WITH OVER 200 LEVELS! “Game of the Year” — POCKET GAMER “Game of the Year” — PHONEARENA.COM “Game of the Year” — APPLE 'N APPS “92 Metascore” — METACRITIC.COM “Editor’s Choice Award” — IGN “Game of the Month” — SLIDE TO PLAY “One of those r...

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7. Pages - Apple

   Pages is the most beautiful word processor you’ve ever seen on a mobile device. This powerful app has been exclusively designed for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. Create, edit, and view documents wherever you are. Pages works with iCloud, so your documents stay up to date on all your iOS devices — automatically. And the Retina display on th...

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8. Sonic The Hedgehog 4™ Episode II - SEGA

   The Sonic 4 Saga continues in Episode II with the return of a beloved side kick and fan-favorite villains! Following the events of Episode I, Metal Sonic has returned to form a formidable alliance with Dr. Eggman! To face this new evil, Sonic will have to call upon an old friend to help him save the day! Now joined by Tails, race across four brand...

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9. Extinction Squad - [adult swim]

   "If you need a new time waster, this is a definite keeper." -AppSpy "Probably one of the funniest games I have played on an iPhone." -The Smartphone App Review "This iOS game focuses on the preservation of endangered animals in the most ludicrous and ineffective way possible." -Game Informer Join daredevil scientist C...

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10. Draw Something by OMGPOP - OMGPOP

    Play the AD-FREE version of Draw Something, the most popular social drawing and guessing game in the App Store! Experience for yourself the laugh-out-loud game your friends are raving about! Plus unlock these exclusive bonuses: - 2000 More Words! - 200 FREE Coins! - 5 FREE Hints! ____________________________________ Not ready to buy? Download th...

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One of the first things users will notice about the new iPad’s upgraded operating system is the improved camera app. Newly redesigned, the app is sure to allow consumers to make the best of the impressive 5 megapixel camera and the vastly improved retina display that the new iPad offers.
Along the same lines, iOS 5.1 has also changed the way face detection works when you take pictures using the iPad. Whereas before the camera app was only able to highlight one face per picture, the new OS allows for the possibility of detecing all faces in the photo. These developments aim to allow new iPad users to use the device much more efficiently as a camera, and thus distinguish it from other tablets on the market.

Improved Photo Stream

Another significant improvement with iOS 5.1 that users of the new iPad will notice is the capacity to delete single photos from Photo Stream. Users were previously unable to eliminate just one individual photo from the service, which meant that in order to take advantage of the greatly anticipated Photo Stream, users had to accept the fact that mixed in with their great photos would also be the blurry pictures, the unusable ones or simply the images that you just didn’t want to share with the world; users were stuck with the previous 1,000 images they had snapped regardless of their quality.
With the new iPad’s updated operating system, however, Apple users can now select which photos they want to us with Photo Stream and then discard the others, instead of having to reset and delete the entire stream each time.
Improved User Experience

There are a host of other updates that are included with the new iPad’s iOS 5.1 which are aimed at improving the overall experience for its users. When watching shows and movies on the new iPad for example, you will notice that the sound has been optimized to be louder and cleaner.
You can now control payback speed and perform a 30 second rewind on the iPad, and a few tweaks have been made to the way bookmarks open automatically in Safari. Finally, iPad users who have a non-Wi Fi device will now be able to download up to 50 megabytes when they are connected to 3G, instead of the previous limit of 20 megabytes.

The two most impressive aspects of the Retina display are the resolution and the pixel density. At a resolution of 2048×1536, the latest iPad has a resolution twice as high as its predecessor. The latest edition of the Asus Transformer, one of the iPad’s main competitors, is just 1920×1200. This resolution is more than enough to accommodate high-definition movies and the most detailed pictures, making sure that you don’t miss a detail.

Still, a crystal-clear resolution is only part of the equation. The sheer number of pixels included in the display is what makes it worthy of Apple’s “Retina” labeling. 3.1 million pixels have been included in the iPad. This means that, at a reasonable distance, the human eye can’t distinguish individual pixels in the new iPad’s display. The 3.1 million pixels in the display is over a million more than most current HDTV models, and it’s four times as many pixels as found in the iPad 2′s display.

Color saturation is another aspect of the Retina display that Apple is touting heavily. The iPad’s Retina display has 44% better color saturation than the iPad 2. Images won’t just display on the iPad with unprecedented clarity. They’ll display with a rich palette of colors that’s virtually unmatched.

If you’re wondering how the Retina display will handle apps that weren’t built for its massive resolution, don’t worry. Apple has adjusted the native iOS apps to take full advantage of the increased screen real estate. You’ll be able to get more done with the stock iOS apps, and third-party apps will automatically be adjusted so that they look stunning on the Retina display. Text on the new iPad will be universally adjusted to the appropriate size so that it is both legible and clear.

Put all of this together, and the new iPad’s Retina display is the most amazing part of a device that has no shortage of incredible features. Once you’ve seen the display on the latest iPad for yourself, you’ll understand what’s so special about it. It puts to shame every mobile display that’s on the market now. Just like the introduction of the iPhone 4′s Retina display raised the standard for smartphones, the new iPad’s Retina display has set the standard for tablets.

Improved Battery and Cosmetic Changes
While the battery life is about the same amongst the two models, the iPad 3 has a much better battery. The battery in the iPad 2 was about 6,930mAh, but the iPad 3’s battery generates more than 30 percent more power with 10,000mAh. Because the battery produces more energy, it is also larger.

This facilitated the need for some very slight cosmetic changes to the iPad. The iPad 2 was about 8.8mm thick, and the iPad 3 is 9.4mm thick. However, this change will probably go unnoticed by most iPad users, so it isn’t something to gripe about.

Average Battery Life
According to official tests, the iPad 3 lasts about 10 hours. If you are using 4G connectivity, then the average battery life goes down to about 8 or 9 hours. This is the average for most iPad units, but it is also a very good benchmark. The 10-hour life allows you to go through a full workday without having to recharge, which is very useful.

Battery Drain
Despite the battery being bigger, the iPad 3 lasts as long as the iPad 2. This is because there are some new features that really drain the battery. The iPad 3’s screen has double the number of pixels that the iPad 2 featured, which requires a lot of power. The new camera can also drain the battery, along with a list of power-hungry apps.

Tips to Improve Battery Life
There are a few things you can do to improve the iPad 3’s battery life. By turning off the notifications and location services for all or most apps you keep the iPad from having to use extra battery power to use these features.

If you turn the screen brightness down to 50 or 70 percent you will decrease the amount of power needed to make the screen work. You can also set the auto-lock to quickly lock the iPad if you do not use it for about a minute or less.

So is it Worth it?
The iPad 3 may have the same battery life as the iPad 2, but it has a much stronger battery installed. This allows you to use the host of new hardware features, and it makes the iPad 3 quite the little powerhouse.

By combining new hardware technology with enhancements deep in iOS, the new iPad’s back camera feels like a real step forward and redefines people expectations for what a tablet should be capable of. With the introduction of a 5-MP censor and HD 1080P definition video recording, users will find themselves pulling out their iPads to capture moments that were once reserved for point-and-shoot camera and camera-phones.
Apple also uses the new iSight camera for teleconferencing and FaceTime. This is the same camera found in the front of Macbook Pros and iMacs, for example.

The new iPad’s back camera packs in more megapixels with a 5-MP CMOS sensor. Of course without the right lighting, megapixels don’t mean much and will actually end up producing more “noise” in images taken in low-lighting conditions.

This is where the new sensor’s backside illumination capability really becomes useful. The bigger sensor allows for a much greater amount of photon information to successfully pass through the lens system and be captured, reducing the amount of work it has to do. The backside illumination technology keeps wires and other elements out of the light path using a manufacturing process that reverses many aspects of a traditional digital camera sensor.

Apple has also upgraded the lens system to a faster f/2.4 aperture and included a fifth lens with enables greater clarity and sharpness in pictures. This enhancement also helps in low-light situations by enabling the camera to take in a wider range of light and to “smooth out” what are called point light sources.

The new iPad is able to effectively take advantage of this new camera hardware due to Apple’s continued development of their in-house processors. At the core of this latest iPad is Apple’s new A5X chip that has a built in image-signal processor as well as more memory.

The greater processing power now makes it possible for users to record in HD 1080p definition as well as edit the video on the fly. This on-chip image-processing capability enables the iPad to combine video image stabilization, IR filtration, and face detection technologies.

The image-stablization feature helps users reduce shakiness when recording video, especially during panning shots. Another great aspect is the new IR filter that helps to correct chromatic and color anomalies from infrared that light that CMOS sensors are vulnerable to.

The face detection feature can spot the difference between portrait and group shots and optimize, on the fly, the balance and exposure of what it detects. This allows for the detection and processing of up to 10 faces, allowing users to focus more on linking up the that great group photo without having to play with the settings to make sure it turns out great.

Apple’s pricing on its touchscreen devices has remained extremely predictable over the past several years. With each new generation of iPad, the new releases assume the pricing of the previous generation’s comparable models. The basic iPad is priced at $499 for a 16 GB storage device that operates strictly on a wi-fi connection to. At the greatest storage level, 64 GB, the iPad retails as high as $829 for a model with cellular connectivity. There are occasional discounts, but these are strictly controlled and very limited in amount.

In comparison, there are tablets to be found in the $100 to $200 range, Android devices. In the case of the very low priced tablets, there is much less memory than on the most basic iPad. The Coby Kyros, for example, ranges in price from just under $100 to as much as $130. The 4 GB device is able to browse the Web, play Youtube videos, check email, and run apps downloaded to the device. The storage significantly limits the number of apps that can be stored.

In the $200 price range, the Nook Tablet and Kindle Fire are popular tablet alternatives, both having 8 GB of memory. Each device has been developed to particularly integrate with the company’s own content sources. In addition to basic Web uses, these tablets include the ability to stream digital media and integrate with services offered by their respective developers. There is a great deal of value in these tablets due to their lower pricing, but from a storage perspective, there is approximately half the storage of a basic iPad. There are not the communication options that Apple technology includes, like Facetime, and there is no camera incorporated into these devices. While these devices do put tablet technology into the hands of those with limited resources, there is some limitation in terms of function.

There are many tablet computers that are comparable to the iPad in terms of memory and function, while undercutting the pricing in many cases. Samsung’s 16 GB tablet, Galaxy, for example, may range from $300 to $400. Other tablets are priced similarly to comparable iPad models with similar memory.

Much of a consumer’s decision in selecting a tablet hinges on the expected use of the device. For devoted Apple fans, the convenience of maintaining a compatible platform for music, apps, and communications makes the cost of an iPad worthwhile. For those who are devoted to Android apps and media, there is more flexibility in finding a range of prices and devices.

Dimensions

If you hold the iPad properly, with the bottom button pointing towards you, then the iPad 3 is 9.5 inches tall, 7.3 inches wide and 0.37 inches thick. This is nearly identical to the iPad 2, which was only different in thickness. The former model was 0.34 inches thick. While this might cause a slightly snug fit for some iPad cases, most people won’t even notice the difference.

At the same time, going for an iPad 3 specific case will ensure that your iPad is properly fitted, so you don’t have to worry about the case being too tight and hurting your iPad.

Weight

There was also a weight increase in the iPad 3, but much like the thickness, it isn’t much. The iPad 2 was about 1.32 pounds, but the iPad 3 is about 1.43 pounds. This is a very slight increase, and while you are more likely to feel this rather than the thickness, it does not impede on the iPad’s performance.

It is still easily portable, and you can carry it around in a bag or in your hand without feeling much weight.

Reasons for the Increase

There is a reason why both the weight and thickness were increased with the iPad 3. The battery used in this model is both larger and heavier, because it produces more energy. The iPad 3 has larger energy demands than the iPad 2, because of an increase in screen resolution and several other energy-draining features.

However, Apple did a good job with limiting the weight and thickness increase. The battery produces nearly double the amount of energy that the iPad 2’s battery did. That being said, it is impressive that Apple only made some slight design alterations to fit this new hardware.

While some people complain about the new dimensions and weight, most people won’t notice a difference at all. If Apple didn’t use the new battery, then you would be stuck with an iPad that only functions for 5 or 6 hours, and no one wants that. For some minor changes, you get a lot in return.

iOS devices are known for their touchscreen keyboards are that are rather adept at interpreting both the actual entries of users and the intended entries alike. For example, if an iPad user mistakenly enters the wrong word when typing on the device, the iOS may attempt to change the word, guessing as to what the user intended. The keyboard also learns along with the user, meaning words that are frequently used are more apt to be substituted for typos and other words that do not appear in the dictionary.

The newest iPad introduced text dictation, meaning users can now simply read off sentences, instead of taking the time to type them into their device. This is a similar functionality to Siri, the popular assistant introduced with the iPhone 4S. In addition to allowing iPad users to more quickly input words into their devices, voice dictation further removes the need for the keyboard.

Some consumers who use the iPad extensively for word processing and email creation may benefit from an external keyboard. An external keyboard could potentially allow the user to increase overall productivity. Furthermore, users who have an external keyboard may choose to leave their notebooks at home, instead hitting the open road with nothing more than their iPads and keyboards.

It’s important to remember that external keyboards run on battery power, so users frequently using the device will need to purchase new batteries from time to time. The external keyboard connects to the iPad over Bluetooth, which also affects the battery life of the iPad. Both of these factors should be taken into consideration for users pondering whether an external keyboard might be a useful purchase.

Regardless of whether or not an external keyboard ends up being the right decision for you, it’s important to remember that the touchscreen keyboard itself is rather easy to use. In fact, many experienced users find that their overall input on an iPad only slightly differs from their typing speed on traditional keyboards. It may be useful to start using the iPad first and determine if the keyboard is needed down the road.