Showing posts with label ipad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ipad. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Ripping DVDs to MP4 Files for your iPad

This little article is for those like me, who have an abundance of DVDs and would like to get them in a digital format to enjoy on your various tablets, mobile phones and etc. The title of the article indicates it's only for iPad, but in truth this stuff is pretty universal, and the file you get can be used on a variety of devices, that being said, here's what you're going to need.

DVDShrink - an oldie, but a goodie. Used to rip the contents of the DVD. A quick google search should turn up what you need, I'd recommend sticking with the second or third result, and not the dvdshrink.org site, as it seems to be mostly Spam now.

Handbrake- from http://handbrake.fr/ This is what we will use to turn the multiple files we get from the DVD rip, into one nice and neat .Mp4 video file.

First we start with DVDShrink:


Open disc, let it anylze, then click Re-Author, and on the right side of the program under the DVD Browser tab, you will see basically a list of all the video content of the disc, look for the one that says Main Movie.














Drag it over to the left side. Then click on the Backup button. Create a target folder to dump the files into, and then wait 10-20 minutes depending on the speed of your computer, and then you're done.









When it’s all finished simply click ok to close the program, now unto Handbrake!

Handbrake: 

Start by selecting the type of device you want the movie file to play on, HB does a great job of auto selecting the correct resolutions and whatnot. Then select the source folder, which will be the output folder we chose in Dvdshrink.

Next select the destination folder, and give the output file a name, then click ok, simply click Start and you’re good to go. (another 10-20 minute wait)

The resulting mp4 file can then be copied to your tablet or phone via windows explorer, or imported into iTunes and synced to your IOS device, and enjoy!

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Must have iPad Apps for the new owner

Just got yourself a new iPad? Have a gander at my selection of apps to get you started in the fun.

Flipboard - Makes your twitter feed, facebook and tons of other social media look like a magazine format, really really cool. (free)

GoodReader - .Pdf viewer/editor, great for work documents. ($5)

FlickStacker - If you are into Flickr at all, gives you better photo browsing. (free)

Dropbox - ONLY real quick way to share files between the pad and PC. (free)

Evernote - Again work related, but once you have the client on your pc, it makes sharing of emails, and documents really nice.

Credit card/banking apps - Any of your major credit cards have apps to check your balances, do transfers, and payments really easy.

Also the Numbers, Pages, and Keynote apps are kinda mandatory if you want to create Word and Excel type joints.

HBO Go, Showtime Anytime (if you subscribe to those) Full access to EVERY single episode of everyshow they ever had.

Lastly - Dolphin HD web browser, which has a nice incognito, no cookies or history option, for teh *ahems*

Games

Words with friends HD, and Scramble with friends are fast and fun to play.

MadPad HD - is a fun app where you record several video clips of sounds or whatever, and then you basically have like a drum machine to make beats with. ($3)

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

New iPad

So Apple finally unveils the next iteration of the tablet that changed the world; the new iPad, simply named as such. Many of the expected upgrades held true, while some didn't. Lets quickly run through the new features
  • 'Retina' Display, means they've upped the resolution to 2048x1536 from 1024x768. What this means in reality, is that the detail of your pictures and movies will really show. 
  • 5MP 'iSight' camera, will now shoot HD movies, and as expected look much better. Why they didn't just up it to the 8MP of the iPhone 4S, who knows?
  • Voice dictation, nothing quite spectacular, but handy addition.
  • Dual-core CPU, for the inevitable speed increase
  • 4G LTE support
  • Same 10 hour battery life (very impressive)
Main thing 'missing' would be Siri, but I expect Apple needs to set their exceedingly similar devices apart, to keep interest high, by segregating the feature sets. Either way, its not a big sticking point. So there it is, the main compelling point for those of us that just got the iPad 2 would be the new high res display. I personally use mine a lot of the time to show my photos, and with this upgrade, it would only look so much better.

Who's got their pre-orders in?

iPad 3/HD Announcement expected today

Big news for those antsey Apple-ites out there, you know who you are. Today around midday (EST), at Apple's event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the bloggersphere will explode as is normally the case with a new Apple product announcement.

What we think we know:

  • Higher resolution display 2048-x1536 pixels (with the infernal 'Retina' display monniker)
  • Slightly thicker build, we'll be losing some of the thinness of the iPad 2
  • Probably 1GB of Ram
  • Better Camera (iPhone 4s quality)
  • LTE support
  • Siri along for the ride
  • Faster processor (the inevitable incremental upgrade)
All this, and probable release date of a week or two after announcement. Will I be right? Come back later an I'll have the full rundown for you guys!


Thursday, February 23, 2012

My top 10 Apps


Part of the fun of owning an iPad or iPhone or even an Anroid phone or tablet aside from having some cool looking technology in your hands is discovering a new App. In that spirit; I want to share with you all, what the 10 apps that I use most often, or a just plain fun. Some of these I'm sure you will all recognize, but maybe there's one or two that are new to you.



Skype - The free video phone app, has been around for many years, and is well known enough that you can install it on your grandparents new laptop and they can probably use it. Free
Dropbox - Free service that make sharing files between computers, tablets and smartphones an easy experience. I'd mark this down as a must have App. Free



Goodreader - The best PDF reader available for your iPad. Gives you the ablity to annotate PDFs and save your markups. Also it's text searching is without a doubt invaluable. $4.99



Netflix - Need I say more? Netflix on your portable device, view all their streaming content quick and easliy. Free




Dolphin HD - Until recently this was the only way you could get the tabbed browsing on              your iPad. Still it's a pretty quick webrowser that also has gesture functionality. Free



Flipboard - Fantastic free App that takes webpages, twitter feeds, Facebook pages, and more, and presents it in a magazine like fashion, complete with pictures. It can take a boring looking tweets and make you look at them in a whole new fashion.


HBO Go - If you are an HBO subscriber, this app is a must have. Every single HBO series, every single episode. Free




Scramble with Friends - The newest in the 'with Friends' series, is a fun timed finding words game, where you go round by round against a friend, scrambling to find the most words in 2 minutes. Try it once, you'll be hooked. Free version is Ad Supported.


Words with Friends HD - The iPad version of the Alec Baldwin favorite. Makes use of the iPad's bigger screen space, and looks much better. $2.99 or Free version Ad Supported

Voxer - Walkie Talkie App that allows you to send instant messages, text, photo, or voice to one or a group of friends. Free