iPad Live, the live recording of the best damn iPad podcast on the planet hits the ‘net again tonight.

Time: 9pm ET, 6pm PT, 2am BST.

Place: http://www.tipb.com/live

If you have any questions or topics you’d like us to discuss, just leave them in the comments then come be part of the show!

(And yes, you can watch from iPhone via Ustream Viewer app (here’s how) and iPad (we recommend Duet Browser.)

Chat with you soon!

Missed a compelling piece of iPad news, a great review, or a killer how-to? We’re not collecting absolutely everything in iPad here — you can hit up TiPb.com/iPad for that! — but we’re carefully picking what we think is the best of the last 7 days and presenting it here for your review.

And hey! — these double as show notes for our iPad Live! podcast tonight at 9pm Eastern. So join us and follow along!

Meta

• Superfunctional 6: Neck pain
• Iterate 4: SourceBits

iPad 3

• New iPhone on October 7, no new iPad until spring 2012

Patent

• Regarding patents
• Google asks for re-examination of 2 Lodsys patents
• Apple granted preliminary injunction, Samsung barred from selling Galaxy Tab 10.1 in most of European Union
• Apple sues Motorola over XOOM Android tablet design in Europe

News

• Apple number one portable maker… if you count iPad
• Non-iPad tablet sales put into perspective
• Apple Store opens in BlackBerry hometown of Waterloo
• Apple closed as the most valuable company in the world

Apps

• Amazon announces Kindle Cloud Reader web app for iPad, Mac, Windows
• Investors want Nintendo to put Super Mario on iPhone, iPad
• Twitterrific for iPhone and iPad now syncs across devices
• New Boxee app streams, stores, AirPlays social and computer content to iPad

Tips

• Daily Tip: How to remove your non-Facebook using friends' contact information from Facebook
• Daily Tip: How to jailbreak iOS 5 beta 5 via RedSn0w 0.9.8b5

One of the most heart warming reactions to the ultra high tech aluminum, stainless steel, and glass aesthetic of Apple’s devices is the opposing trend in the case industry of traditional materials, forms, and binding techniques. Swathing something so precisely machined as an iPhone, iPad, and MacBook in something so handcrafted as a Pad&Quill Little Black Book, Contega, or Cartella just feels so right, so human.

When the best of old world craft meets the greatest in modern tech, however, how practical are the results? Follow on after the break to find out!

[Pad&Quill Little Black Book, Pad&Quill Contega, Pad&Quill Cartella]

Pad&Quill Little Black Book for iPhone 4

If you’re an iPhone owner tired of iPad users getting all the moleskin hipster fun, you’re in luck. Pad&Quill have brought both to iPhone with the Little Black Book. From the beautiful binding to the snap of the elastic close to the smell and texture of the materials, it’s just perfectly realized.

You’ve got the high quality bookbinding cloth inside and Italian bonded leather outside, framed by durable Baltic Birch. There are some modern concessions — the ports are all cut out for easy access, as is the camera so you don’t have to extricate your iPhone to snap a picture. You can flip it around and set it up in a tiny, typing position, or crack it open slightly to sit it up portrait style. Both features work better for iPad than iPhone, but it’s nice to have them none the less.

One thing that’s important to remember, however, is that the Little Black Book is made in the moleskin model, not the wallet model. There’s no place for ID or credit cards.

If you’re not into the hipster look, however, these types of cases add a lot bulk and the Little Black Book is no exception. While proportionately the iPad version feels less voluminous, the Little Black Books adds sufficient size that it’s impossible to notice. You have to want a case like this.

If old fashioned style is more important that the extra substance — the Little Black Book is gorgeous.

Pad&Quill Contega for iPad 2

Contega is Pad&Quill’s second bite at the moleskin-style iPad case apple and it’s an improvement in every way. You’ve got the same great materials — lacquered Baltic Birch, finely bonded Italian leather, and high quality book binding holding it all together.

It’s got an extra hinge that allows it to be set up at two different angles so you can get just the perfect movie watching experience, and the speaker cutout is caved to send the sound right where it needs to be.

Again, all the right cutouts for controls and for the camera are in place. There’s even a hidden pocket for any must-have-handy documents you want to keep with you. And to top it all off — it’s got magnets just like Apple’s SmartCover so your iPad turns on when you open it and off when you close it.

Nice.

Pad&Quill Cartella for MacBook Air

If the 11-inch MacBook Air is the “iPad Pro” then Pad&Quill’s Cartella is the pro-level case. Yes, you needn’t feel jealous of all those magnificently mole-skinned iPads you see on the streets and in the coffee shops. You can dress up your MacBook Air every bit as much.

Because a MacBook Air is fundamentally different from iPhone and iPad — it’s intermediated by a keyboard and trackpad, the Cartella didn’t seem as usable as the Little Black Book or Contega, but it felt every bit as carry-able.

With iPhone or iPad, you can just flip them open like a book and start using the multitouch screen. With MacBook Air you need to put it down and open the machine up, not just the case.

If you want the look, that won’t bother you one bit. Otherwise it’s an extra step and shows the advantage of the multitouch screen post-PC format when it comes to getting your hipster on.

As usual, I tried all three for a week (with the exception of the Cartella — Georgia tried that one since she has the 11-inch MacBook Air). All three, Little Black Book, Contega, and Cartella are wonderfully crafted, fantastically good looking, fabulously old world cases for Apple’s latest, greatest, most modern devices.

They’re a tradeoff — the bulk is enough that you have to want the look to put up with it. But chances are you’ve already made your mind up about that. If you’re all in on the moleskin, definitely give Pad&Quill a look.

Element Case’s claim to fame is solid, screw-bound aluminum bumpers for iPhone in hot hypercar-inspired design. Well, with Ion 4 and Formula 4 for iPhone 4, they’ve switched the metal bumper for high quality plastic cases but kept the Reventon design aesthetic in place. How do their new polymer and polycarbonate cases measure up? We take them for a few laps, after the break!

[Element Case Forumla 4, Element Case Ion 4]

Element Case Ion 4 for iPhone 4

The Ion 4 is a traditional skin case with anything but traditional look and crafting. It’s made from what Element says is an “ultra-high impact resistant TPU polymer” with reinforced corners and an aerospace-grade carbon fiber inlaid back plate. (Which just so happen to match the lines and look of their famed Vapor Case line.)

Durable. Light. Hawt.

You don’t need a screw driver to take this case on or off either; like any soft case you just slip it over and slip it out when and if needed. However, the extra protection does mean it’s a tad bulkier than an ultra-thin silicon skin-type case. In keeping with our car metaphor, this is a Hummer, not a Sidekick. I used it for a week and found it to be really solid, with great grip, and cutouts big enough to fit all my AV and in-car cables.

Sure, an iPhone 4 looks great naked, but glass slips off sofas and glass cracks on tile, so if you want to look good and not have to worry as much about breaks, the Ion 4 literally has you covered.

Element Case Formula 4 for iPhone 4

The Formula 4 is a two-part hard case that once again marries the best of the form factor with the now-classic Element Case flare. Special kudos to Element Case for showing that plastic doesn’t need to feel cheap (take a lesson here, Samsung.) The high-impact polycarbonate used for Formula 4 feels clean, solid, and high quality. Once again, they’ve also got the aerospace carbon fiber on the back, equal parts fun and function, and add a rubbery side panel for extra grip.

Because hard cases aren’t as easy to slim in and out of, Element Case went with a two-part design and it works. You can leave the full case on almost all the time, because the cut outs are generous and work with almost all cables, but if you want to dock you can just pull of the bottom and you’re good.

If you like the Element Case look but don’t want a soft case and need something you can remove faster than a screwed-on bumper, the Formula fits.

It’s hard to beat the pure accessory porn that is the Element Case Vapor. It’s just ridiculously high end. But it’s not realistic to expect everyone to carry a hex key with them for when they need to take it off.

Well now you have alternatives. One piece or two. Soft or hard. Between the two, I prefer the polycarb feel of the Formula, but if Element Case is the way you want to go, you’ll be well served by any of them.

(I tried both for a week each and ended up liking the Formula so much I kept it on for 2 weeks. If there had been a white option, I might have kept it on longer. Of course, I kept the Vapor on for a couple months, so we know where my superficial heart really lies…)

There are hundreds of thousands of iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps for just about everything — so how come the one you need, the one you know just has to be there, is so hard to find? Enter TiPb’s weekly feature where staff and readers alike sort through the App Store and help you find just the right App for That. This week, Jeremy asks:

I have had several cases where it would be extremely helpful to have some kind of note taking application on my iPad that had a focus on an associated picture. For example, I’m looking for an app that will let me take pictures of someone in different poses and have notes on them to show to other people later, write down my thoughts, and then review them all at once later.

Thank you for any help you can provide!

To see what we found for Jeremy, follow along after the break!

Awesome Note HD [$4.99 - App Store link] is the perfect app for Jeremy! In addition to many other cool features, Awesome Note HD allows you to create notes that contain both photos and text. You can also create custom folders for better organization. As a photographer, this is great for Jeremy, because he can have different folders for poses, location scouting, landscapes, etc.

Although Jeremy is specifically asking for an iPad app, Awesome Note is also available on the iPhone [App Store link] and can be synced with the help of Evernote or Google Docs.

The free version of Awesome Note [App Store link] has a limit of 10 notes and does not have syncing ability, but it’s a fantastic way to try out the app.

Anyone else have any App for That suggestions for Jeremy? Let him — and all of us — know in the comments.

Having trouble finding what you need in the app store? Send us an email to news@tipb.com and let us know what you’re looking for, and we’ll do our best to find you just the right App for That!