How much would you pay for a miniature coffee cup with a profile picture of your face on it? What if that mug was made using a 3D printer?

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Now that the Apple iPad 3, or 'new iPad', is out, Computeractive has produced a free app that provides a comprehensive guide to the iPad and its iOS operating system.

Available free of charge from the App Store, iPad owners can download it now to discover the full potential of the tablet, so it's just as useful for owners of the original iPad and iPad 2.

Inside you'll find step-by-step guides written in plain English, with clear screens that demonstrate the features and tools we are talking about.

Computeractive's interactive Jargon Buster is also present, to help you decipher any terms that aren't immediately clear to you.

You'll learn how to share data between iPad and a Windows PC, as well as setting up email, browsing for apps, using dictation software and a full selection of some of the most impressive apps available.

The Computeractive Guide to the iPad is available now, free of charge. 

 

 

While I like the iPad for keeping me entertained on my train journey home with podcasts and games, I've questioned whether I can actually work on it as well as I can with a netbook. And that's not just an excuse to justify buying a new netbook either. I find the onscreen keyboard harder to type at and miss being able to adjust the angle of the screen. Of course using a netbook rather depends on having a seat. I didn't this morning but was able to write about 500 words on the iPad with one hand while standing.

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Just a month short of it's 14th birthday as a printed magazine, Computeractive has launched its dedicated app for the iPad. A number of magazines have beaten us to it, no doubt, but many of them have opted for what we think is a cop out - a replica of the magazine pages that can be 'turned' with a swipe.

There's nothing fundamentally wrong with that approach as a solution to electronic publishing, and indeed Computeractive is available in that format.

But a page turner is not an app. Limiting the iPad version to this simple format would negate the possibilities this revolutionary device can deliver. 

One element that we have incorporated into the app is a smarter way to display our Jargon Buster columns, which can be displayed or concealed with a double-tap of your finger.

That's just one example of how the iPad complements our approach to technology - interactive tools that are clear and simple to use. Unlike the magazine, Computeractive for iPad includes animated step-by-step guides, screencast videos that enable you to watch what we're doing on screen in software tutorials, product reviews that let you see the great (and not so great) features that we base our star ratings on. And we'll be working to constantly develop and improve the app.

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I've never really been at the forefront of PC gaming so I've rarely bought games at their release price. Instead I wait until they're released on budget and I've got a PC capable of playing them. I'm more interested in plot and game play than graphics anyway. You won't laugh any less while playing the No One Lives Forever games because the characters are a little blocky because the writing is so good.

What got me thinking about this was reviewing Snoopy's Fair for the iPad (full review here) and the potential drain on my wallet it could cause.

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We carry around some pretty expensive bits of technology these days and a lot of them can be rather flimsy. While laptops can be delicate, the Apple iPad is even more liable to break, crack or get dented. A new case promises 'extreme' protection, but how well did it cope with a bowling ball being dropped on it?

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