iPad Applications

AppMATes from Disney. A Mobile Application Toy for the iPad

This video and product has been out for a while, but somehow it slipped under my radar. Probably because I don’t have kids, and partly because I just missed it when the RSS feed came through my reader.

AppMates from Disney is a new line of Disney toys that comes to life when paired with a corresponding iPad application. This allows kids to use the tablet’s screen as a virtual play surface. AppMates is at first being released with toys from Disney•Pixar Cars 2. Each car has a sensor in the base that allows the car to be recognized as unique by the iPad application. There is no need for cables, or a Bluetooth connection. Put the toy on the screen and the interaction begins. All you need to do is download Appmates from the app store, and place the toy on the screen.

What I really like about this is the way Disney has been able to blend both physical and digital products to create a seamless experience. All of which is tied into other Disney product lines which helps to extend brand reach and alternate product sales. This is the kind of product that shows you can blend physical and digital product lines. Disney score points with me is they were able to launch the product line within 90 days of the movie release. Where they lose points is, this product didn’t launch at the same time as the main Cars 2 product offering. None the less great idea and execution from Disney.

Adobe CS5 iPad Apps

Adobe has released three new applications that take advantage of the iPad touch interface, and work with their CS5 desktop applications.

Adobe Nav takes advantage of a network connection between your iPad and your computer. With this application you can customize the Photoshop CS5 toolbar on iPad to easily access the tools you use most. Nav lets you browse, reorder, view, and zoom in on up to 200 open Photoshop documents on iPad. You simply tap a document on iPad to make it the active document in Photoshop CS5.

Adobe Eazel lets you use your iPad to paint directly on the iPad screen using your fingers. When you reach a stopping point you can send your artwork directly to Photoshop CS5 from any location—all you need is a network connection between your iPad and computer.

Adobe Color Lava lets you use your fingers yo mix colors on your iPad like a traditional color pallet. From there you can create custom swatches, and like Eazle send them to Photoshop CS5 via a network connection. In addition you can use the app whenever inspiration strikes, save your pallet, then bring your colors into Photoshop CS5 once you’re connected again.

Ultramods “Underwear Party”, Recorded Entirely on an iPad.

Those crazy pop punk kids known as The Ultramods have gone and done it. They recorded an entire album on the iPad using Garage band and released it today on the iTunes store.

The entire album was recorded using GarageBand for iPad’s eight-track recording studio. All of the instruments used to record the album are the ones that come bundled in GarageBand, according to The Ultramods, and even the vocal tracks were laid down using the iPad’s built-in microphone. The Ultramods manifesto is “fast, cheap, and out-of-control” and you’ve got to love the fact that they did this. Who would have thought a year ago, that someone would take a device that was panned by so many (including myself) at launch and make an entire album on it.

The Ultramods describe the 12 songs on the album as “stripped-down, noisy, guitar-driven, two and three-chord songs that are often times decidedly pervy.”

The album is called “Underwear Party” and is available from the iTunes Store , or you can listen to the album for free on the band’s Web site.

Most of the songs are NSFW so you might want to put on headphones or listen at home.

iPad Magic Mirror. The Possibility of Augmented Reality.

Straight out of the gate for iPad 2 is the new “Magic Mirror” Augmented Reality application that takes advantage of that front facing camera, and uses advanced facial tracking and user recognition features to give you the magic mirror experience.

This demo shows off the totally playful experience of this application, but what is really exciting are the possibilities that this kind of application presents for people promoting products.Think about being able to do things like try on virtual glasses, or clothing using the facial tracking software shown here. Using this kind of technology, the iPad will be able to determine your sex, age, ethnicity, or any number of specifics and then deliver a completely different content experience to you based on that visual data. I saw this and immediately thought about how it could extend and enhance an online shopping experience, or be applied to scientific applications as well.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see this kind of technology showing up rather quickly from an apparel manufacturer, or from an online retail giant like Amazon or Zappos.