Review

Check out this collection of impressive unretouched photographs provided by Apple taken with the iPhone 4S 8 megapixel camera. These images prove once again that it's not about the megapixels, it's all about the optics. Click images to see them in full size.

The Apple smart cover is a great design, but it's not the only option iPad owners have, there are many other covers people can choose from. Some provide protection, others give a unique look and a few provide new functionality too. Check out this collection of different iPad covers. Click the images to visit the seller's page if interested to buy.

The iPad and other tablets opened the opportunity for publishers to create brand new book reading experiences. A handful of them took advantage of what the touch interface, gyroscope, GPS, internet connectivity and other technologies offer. Stories can now be told in a more engaging and original way on the iPad.

Microsoft introduced their Windows 8 tablet OS which shows great promise. The GUI itself looks very much like Windows Phone 7, but it has certain new functions and a desktop like app that reminds me of the desktop Windows. The multitasking abilities are really spectacular, much nicer than what we currently have on the iPad, although it's not a killer feature just yet. This new OS from Microsoft is not going to be available to buy for at least a year and the device they demoed isn't the actual hardware it will be running on. So there are a lot of questions, but it's great to see that the tablet revolution that Apple started continues and other companies are able to innovate in this field as well.

Watch the video below and read what the LA Times and John Gruber has to say about it.

After the 3D cinemas and lately 3D tv's it was inevitable that 3D technology will arrive to the small screen.

Two new phones the LG Optimus and HTC Evo can already be preordered in 3D versions. They feature two cameras next to each other on the back, so they can capture 3D videos and pictures, which can later be viewed in 3D on the phone. This technology allows you to capture important moments of your life with even more reality than ever before.

If you've ever signed up for a loyalty card, given in to your kid's plea for a brand, or used Foursquare or Facebook…you've been "brandwashed."

In a shocking insider-account called BRANDWASHED: Tricks Companies Use to Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade Us to Buy (September 20, Crown Business), Martin Lindstrom, the New York Times bestselling author of Buyology, exposes the very latest and most sophisticated techniques that even the most trusted companies are using to learn everything about you-and get you to buy.

When you talk about search on the Internet, you're probably talking about Google. Sure, Bing is slowly creeping-in to the discussion, but it's an outsider at best. The problem with searching on Google is relevant results. You don't always get them.

Google is pretty good at bringing you accurate search results, but those results are often times tainted by the fact that people who create web pages have gotten much better about their SEO efforts over the years, thus littering the search results with historical clutter. If you're searching for pages on a particularly recent subject matter that happens to have a long history on the web, you're likely to be presented with results that can be years old mixed-in with the pages that were just created yesterday.

Enter NowRelevant.com - where no matter what you search for, only the last two weeks worth of pages are shown in the results. If you're searching for historical data, this probably won't interest you. But if you're looking for current information and trending topics, NowRelevant offers a mighty attractive alternative to Google and Bing.

I've played around with NowRelevant for a week or two and found it to be quite useful. The results are accurate, timely and presented in an uncluttered manner.

Google's Advanced Search allows you to limit the number of results by date as well, but to give you an idea of the difference between the two, you need only search for a popular topic. For my testing purposes, I did a search for "iTunes." I chose iTunes because I knew how popular it was and that there would likely be tons of results.

Google turned up over 75 MILLION results in the last 24-hours. NowRelevant turns up 784,808 results. While even that sounds crazy for only a 24-hour period, Google's 75 million is clearly out of whack.

NowRelevant certainly poses no threat to Google or even Bing. But if you're looking for more recent search results, give NowRelevant a try.

I tested the Wacom Bamboo, Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad as primary input devices with my Mac over several weeks. I wanted to find out which one is the most effective for everyday use. My usage was not limited to graphic design applications, but lot of web browsing and doing various other work, like working on spreadsheets or navigating developer apps.

Wacom Bamboo Tablet

The Wacom Bamboo tablet is the most natural input device if you are comfortable with a pen or a pencil which is true for most people. It allows you to put the cursor instantly to the area of your interest. You don't need to drag the cursor over the screen to get from the menu to the trash bin.

On the downside the cursor is not absolutely stable like you are used to it with a mouse. Because your hand is not still all the small movements are picked up and your cursor will move about just a little. This is a problem if you want to point to one specific pixel, for example when making a precise selection. You have to concentrate to make it happen. Lack of steadiness is also a problem when double clicking, your double click may register as a click and drag, which is very annoying.

The new Magic Trackpad is the first Multi-Touch trackpad designed to work with your Mac desktop computer. It uses the same Multi-Touch technology you love on the MacBook Pro. And it supports a full set of gestures, giving you a whole new way to control and interact with what’s on your screen.

The iPad is a great tool for both jotting down ideas quickly and working out concepts in detail. Here are three free apps that I recommend for slightly different sketching uses.

Adobe Ideas

Adobe Ideas is a good multi-purpose app to sketch things out. If you only want to use one app for both diagrams and designs use this.