Can You Take Better Videos With the iPad?

Knowing how to use the iPad well will definitely justify spending cash for iPads. One of the things that you can improve is taking better videos with it. Yes, the iPad’s cameras can actually capture video. This is one of the more overlooked features of the iPad. The iPad camera is basically something people use for FaceTime, the video chatting capability of the tablet PC. Only a few people use the iPad cameras for taking pictures, and much less for taking videos. This is a shame because the iPad cameras have been drastically improved since the days of the first generation iPad. Furthermore, the quality of the videos captured by the iPad is comparable those captured with high definition video paraphernalia. Of course, it is more convenient to take videos with the iPad and edit them later using great video editing apps. There would be no need to transfer video files from one device to another, saving precious time. 

Don’t worry if you are a neophyte in the field of video taking. You can still capture great video using the iPad by taking advantage of the latest version’s HD camera. You won’t be entertaining thoughts of getting cash for iPad after getting wonderful video. Just be mindful of the following things:

· Focusing

Since the iPad’s camera does not have auto-focus, just note that there is a certain point when the images become blurry especially when taking close up shots. As a rule of thumb, keep a distance of at least 35 cm between the camera and the subject. This will let you avoid blurry shots because you are too close to what you are taking a video of.

· Motion distortion

The iPad’s video camera is prone to motion distortion. To avoid this, try to minimize movement during shots. When you have to pan, do it slowly.

· Stability

The iPad’s size gives it an advantage over shooting videos using a camera phone. You can hold it much steadier than a phone, making the video less shaky. To ensure stability, you can prop the iPad up on a surface such as a table or even a book, or you can hold it in front of you with both hands, with your elbows over your abdomen as a sort of tripod.

· Sound quality

Be mindful of where the microphone is placed at all times while shooting a video. There is a tendency for people’s hands to go over and cover the microphone, resulting in poor sound quality.

· Light sources

Always ensure that there is enough ambient lighting to ensure good video quality. If you have to shoot in a low light environment, try to bring in an additional light source. Also, do not move from one lighting situation to another in one motion. Give the iPad time to adjust to another light level which will take a couple of seconds.

Getting the most out of your iPad’s video camera will definitely justify spending so much cash for iPads.

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Better Pictures With Your iPad

No one can fault the designers of the iPad for resting on their laurels. For the past three versions of the iPad, the improvements on the gadget have been constant. It seems Apple has always been trying to outdo itself for the benefit of the customers. With the enhancements made on the latest version, it is not difficult nowadays to convince people to spend their cash for iPad tablets. One of the improvements was its camera, or rather, cameras. From its humble one camera set up in the first version, the iPad 3 now has two improved cameras.

But then, aside from using either of the cameras for FaceTime, not a lot of people know how to really make good use of their cameras, especially for taking pictures. The gadget is a bit too bulky to use as a point and short camera, after all. However, the iPad cameras are quite advanced and it would be a waste not to take full advantage of them. Here are some tips on taking good photos, so that your iPad can be a helpful gadget documenting daily life events.

image credit to engadget.com

Keeping it steady

Since the iPad is a larger device than phones or digital cameras, it is more challenging to keep it steady. To reduce blurry photos, we suggest that you prop it against something such as a table or a book. You can also try to hold it with two hands and have a companion tap on the screen to take the photo.

Light source

One basic photography rule that universally applies to all cameras, including the iPad’s, is to know your source of light. If your photos are too dark, you have to move your subject closer to a light source or use a flash to create light.

Composition

Composition is another of photography’s basics. Everyone, including casual photographers like you have to keep it in mind, especially if you want to get some good photos out of your iPad’s camera. Be aware of the Rule of Thirds when taking photos with your iPad. What is the rule of thirds? Simply put, imagine a picture divided by two horizontal and two vertical lines, creating nine squares. Now, you have to make sure each square can stand alone as a picture. Know when it is best applied and when you can break this rule.

Focusing

One of the things that distinguish a good photo from a bad one is that in the former, the subject of the photograph is in focus. There are way too many pictures where the background is in focus instead of the subject. To focus using the iPad, just tap on where you want the camera to focus.

Special effects

Finally, you can also use special effects to enhance the photos that you have taken. There are a lot of apps that you can buy for this but if you don’t want to spend cash for iPad apps, there are free ones such as Instagram.

Now that you know these tips, you’d be taking great pictures, so there’s really no need to sell your iPad out of sheer frustration.

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5 Best Apps to Watch Video on Your iPad

Before you sell your used iPad, give it the chance to become the ultimate multimedia portal. After all, it cannot be denied that a lot of iPad owners use their device to watch videos. There’s definitely no shame in this, as some of the iPad’s features, especially the screen’s Retina Display, have been enhanced to give you a better video viewing experience. Be proud you are using one of the world’s sharpest devices to watch your favorite movies. Here are a few apps for you to enjoy:

Netflix (Free) 

Where else do we start but with the mother of all movie borrowing sites? The app itself is free to download. With some Android devices, this app is already pre-installed. With this, you can manage your Netflix subscription and manage DVD and streaming queues. This app allows streaming of your favorite television shows, sitcoms and movies right onto your iPad. It’s a great app to watch all the classics you’ve missed or if you just want to follow some tastemaker’s recommendations. Heard of a great Bollywood musical or a European filmfest darling? Chances are, you won’t see that in DVD stores, but Netflix has copies!

YouTube (Free)

This built-in app is still one of the best ways to watch videos on the iPad. How can you go wrong with the world’s most popular video sharing site? You can search from the millions of videos available online. Its interface is very friendly and navigation is easy to understand. The best part is that you do not have to pay anything to watch the videos. You can even bookmark your favorite videos for easy access. You certainly will spend hundreds of hours with this app, so you may have to delay your plans to sell your iPad.

Vimeo (Free) 

This offers a similar service to YouTube. It now supports HTML 5, which allows it to play videos on the iPad. You can watch movies uploaded to the Vimeo site or the one that you made yourself using the app. The app also lets you manage your favorite videos as well as editing preferences of the videos. Vimeo is reputed to host better videos in HD, so if you’re finicky about video quality, this app is the way to go.

ABC (Free) 

This is arguably the best iPad app among the television networks offering video streaming services. This is the only big network that allows you to watch full episodes right on your iPad. You can expect to see full episodes of your favorite ABC shows anytime and anywhere you are.

AVPlayer HD (Free)

This app was developed by Eplayworks. This player is simple, easy to use and it works. It can play almost all video formats without any hitches. The only setback is that it does not have a web browser or a download option but it works very well for video files.

Think twice before you sell your iPad online as it can be your most trusty tool when looking for the viral video everybody’s talking about, or if you’re just passing the time watching random stuff.

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5 Tips and Tricks for the Nexus 7

You might have thought things over and decided that it is time to sell broken iPad and get the Nexus 7. This 7-inch device is quite nifty and handy. In terms of functions and features, you might think that the small size makes it limited. Think again – there are actually some really cool things you can do with it. Here are some of them:

Face Unlock

For those who have the Samsung Galaxy S3, this is actually a familiar feature. The difference with the Nexus 7 is that it can be configured in such a way that the user only needs to blink his eyes in order to unlock the screen. This is as highly personalized and secure as security features for a tablet OC can go.

Google Voice Search

If you are frustrated that the iPad does not have Siri yert, rejoice, because for the Nexus 7, a similar feature is present. Pretty much similar to Apple’s Siri, all you have to do is to speak and ask a question. The program will process the available data and answer the question by giving out the information needed. 

Easy transfer of music files from iTunes to the Nexus 7

Contrary to what many people say, you can get the music that you have from your iTunes and transfer it to your Nexus 7 tablet PC. The great thing about this is that you do not need any software to accomplish it. All you have to do is to copy the iTunes files to your desktop and make sure that your Nexus 7 is connected to the laptop. It will work similar to an external storage drive and all you have to do is to copy and paste the items you got from iTunes into your Nexus 7. Who says you can’t work an Apple program on a Google device? 

Adding Google Play Widgets

If you want quick and easy access to your most used applications or information just create widgets. Then you won’t have to install an applications folder just to access them. 

 
Getting more space

Unfortunately, the Nexus 7 does not have USB or SD card ports, so you cannot use USB devices or SD cards to expand your storage date. With the limited internal storage offered for the Nexus 7, it is about time that you utilize other cloud-storage options such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Sugar Sync, among others. You can also access direct streaming of music and videos from Google Music and Google Play Store. This will free up your tablet PC for more important files that you need with you all the time. 

They say that the Nexus 7 will make you decide to sell broken iPad right away. For those who want to have a smaller tablet PC but were not that impressed with the offerings from Samsung and Amazon, then the Nexus 7 may actually be the best option in the market right now. So, you might indeed be tempted to sell iPad for the Nexus 7.

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The Kobo Vox: Just Another Glamorized E-Book Reader?

A lot of people are now realizing that it is profitable to sell old iPad because they are still in demand despite new models being introduced. People are willing to spend their extra money just to get their hands on one. But then, these days the iPad is not the only gadget getting a lot of attention. While sales figures still point to the iPad as the best-selling tablet PC, other brands of Android-based tablet PCs have also attempted to grab a piece of the tablet PC pie. If you are looking for a tablet PC to purchase, it is best to read reviews of several options first to see if this is exactly the one that you are looking for. Take advantage of the variety of choices before settling for the one you could possibly sell your iPad for so as not to waste your hard-earned money. 

 
The Kobo Vox is one of those tablet PCs available in the market today. This product is being marketed by a small Canadian firm considered to be one of the underdogs in the industry. Actually, Kobo started off as a manufacturer of e-book readers, where it faced intense competition from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Sony. This tablet PC belongs to the 7-inch category, as it is only 7.5 inches, which is smaller than the Playbook, RIM’s troubled tablet PC, but a little bit bigger than the Amazon Kindle. But the differences in sizes can be negligible as what matters is what is inside the unit as well as the performance when compared to the other tablet PCs of the same size. For some people though, even a quarter of an inch can spell a huge difference in their choice, as they deem the slightly longer or wider one to be heavier. As weird as that may sound, that’s how particular some people are about their tablet PC choices.

Going back to the Kobo Vox, the unit is runs on an 800MHz processor with 512 RAM, which is significantly lower than most tablet PCs that you see nowadays. Thus, you can’t really expect the device to be as fast or responsive as other tablet PCs. But considering the market of the Vox includes individuals who primarily use the e-book functionality of their devices, having a slightly slower tablet OC is not that big of a deal.

It is only available in 8 GB internal storage of which only about 5 GB is usable. Users can expand the Vox’s storage with the microSD card, and you can always add up to a whopping 32 GB of additional storage. Connection is only available via Wi-Fi and battery life lasts only about 5 hours.

With just the basic specs, you can say that this thing is better off indeed to be used as an e-book reader rather than a full-functioning tablet PC. For the $191.00 price tag, you can get yourself a better tablet PC like the Kindle Fire or the Nook. But for most of us, a much better idea is to save up money to exchange the cash for iPad.

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