Video Star is an iPhone and iPad app that lets you record music videos to your favorite songs features – you! You can mix layouts, colors, action, and frames easily and even pause recording to make scene changes a breeze. Once your masterpiece is created, it can be shared on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.

Check out the video made with Video Star below!

Record an awesome music video, anytime, anywhere. Lip sync … dance cover … capture your friends in action. Now you are the Video Star!

Video Star comes with tons of built-in video effects and you can make your own. Mix amazing layouts, cool colors, awesome action, and fantastic frames. A video effects playground!

• dozens of video effects, thousands of combinations!
• instant upload to YouTube
• share published videos to Facebook, Twitter, and email
• full iPhone 4, iPod Touch Gen 4, and iPad 2 front & back camera support

Giveaway

The good folks at Frontier Design Group have given us 5 promo codes to give away to our awesome readers! For a chance to win, just leave a comment below letting us know which song you’ll make a music video to.

Video Star is available on the iPhone and iPad for $0.99.

[App Store link]

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

Ahh yes, Black Friday. The day where everyone flocks to the malls to hopefully get their hands on some great deals. Were you among them? If so, hop on into the TiPb forums and let us know what deals you scored. If you’re looking to offload some old gear, make sure you check out the Marketplace Forum. Selling off some of your old gear is a great way to offset the cost of the new.  So, head on over and register now!

• iPhone 4S Forum: What do you think would make the iPhone 4S the perfect smartphone?
• Apple TV Forum: Can’t airplay iTunes Movies from iPad to Apple TV 2
• iCloud Forum: Sync Outlook 2010 to iPhone 4S from rookie with new phone
• Marketplace Forum Get rid of your old goods in here!

If you’re not already a member of the TiPb Forums, register now!

• Perfect365: Are you curious to see what you'd look like with different styles? Always think that you can look better in photos? Make a change! Create new looks with Perfect365 that provides the ability of touching up and making up. [$1.99 for iPhone - App Store link]

• Christmas Wishes: Send Christmas wishes to your friends and family. [Free for iPhone - App Store link]

• Triple Entendre: If you’ve ever played an online riddle like notpr0n or qwizzle, you’ll love this game. Triple Entendre is a riddle, a puzzle, a quiz, and a trivia game all rolled into one. Each level includes a combination of clues and photos where you need to figure out not just what the answer is… but what the question is. [$0.99 for iPhone - App Store link]

• The Birth of Jesus Christ in Pictures: Fascinating 3D scenes, amazing light effects, crystal-clear pictures, interactive features and quotes from the Bible will guide you through two thousand years of history. [$4.99 for iPad - App Store link]

• Whatto: Have you ever felt lost and confused in a new city, not knowing Whatto do? Wondering where is "THE" place to be right now? Then think no more: Whatto is the right app to help you and just simply at the palm of your hands! [Free for iPhone - App Store link]

Any other big app or game releases or updates today?

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

If you took advantage of the big moderate sales on Apple iOS devices today to score yourself a brand new iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, or Apple TV, you might have opened the box, powered up… and then wondered what the heck to do next? No problem! TiPb’s got you covered!

And if you already know what you’re doing, just save this link to send to family and friends so you can get off the tech support hook and get on with having fun. We’ll do the heavy lifting for you!

• iPhone and iPod touch new users guide
• Top 10 apps for new iPhone and iPod touch users
• iPad new users guide
• Top 10 apps for new iPad users
• Apple TV coverage

Also, don’t forget to jump into the TiPb Forums for expert help and the best conversation on the ‘net! And when you’re done, leave me a comment and let me know how you’re enjoying your new device!

Pad & Quill, purveyors of exquisitely hand-crafted cases for iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Air are having a Black Friday sale for their Octavo for iPad today, and a Cyber Monday sale for their Contega on Monday. If you haven’t read our review yet, the short version is that when the latest in Apple aluminum and glass meets the best in old world Baltic birch and Italian leather, well… pure hipster heaven ensues.

Hurry over to padandquill.com to get the sale price while it lasts. Seriously, don’t wait on this one. And if you want a chance to win an Octavo and Contega of your very own, Pad & Quill will be giving each away to a lucky Twitter and Facebook follower today and Monday. All you have to do to enter is:

1. Follow @padandquill and @TiPb on Twitter
2. Friend Pad & Quill and TiPb on Facebook

We’ll notify the winners via Twitter DM and Facebook message, so make sure you’re following!

Now hurry up an enter!

Geeks are really difficult to buy for. They know everything. They have everything. Every iPhone case, every iPad stand, one of each color for every model ever released. So unlike our other 2011 holiday gift guides that focus on awesome gifts to make your iPhone or iPad better, this one is branching out — this one covers everything not iPhone or iPad! (Well, not everything, but a lot of really cool, really awesome stuff we think your geeks will really love!)

UPDATE: Some of this stuff is currently on Black Friday sale! If you’ve been thinking about getting a great gift for your geek, check them out today and you’ll likely save a few bucks!

Boon Glo Nightlight with Portable Balls

For the little geeks who never want you to turn out the lights when they go to bed, now they can take the lights with them to bed. For parents, the lights will fade slowly over a 30 min. period, letting your little ones drift off to sleep. For kids — listen carefully — monsters are deathly afraid of glowing orb lights!

• Get Boon Glo Nightlight with Portable Balls on Amazon.com

The 24-105mm Travel Coffee Mug

They love photography. They love coffee. What’s not to love about a hot beverage holder that looks just like a lens? And if this size doesn’t suit you, there are a bunch of other sizes, up to full thermoses. Just remember — drink them, don’t shoot with them!

• Get 24-105mm Travel Coffee Mug on Amazon.com

Air Swimmers Remote Controlled Flying Shark

It’s a balloon, it’s a shark, it’s remote controlled. What could be cooler than that? Just imagine it moving slowly, soundlessly down the hallway, around the corner. Cue the Jaws theme. Coming up from behind the sofa… Eyes black as coal.

Yeah, I think you’re going to need a bigger living room!

• Get Air Swimmers Remote Controlled Flying Shark at Amazon.com

Star Wars R2-D2 Trashcan

“Ooteenee!” Apparently that’s Jawa for “hey, flip the lid on that astromech so I can toss out this Bantha poodoo!” But honestly, what’s cuter than your very own R2-D2 trashcan? Not even a C3-PO coat rack to equal this for sheer geek chic, especially the mini desktop version. If you want it, though, I’d suggest getting it soon… before Jabba the Lucas dubs a dumb voice on to him. “Noooooooo!”

• Get Star Wars R2-D2 Trashcan at ThinkGeek.com

Electronic Firefly in a Jar

No, it’s not a real insect, and no, it’s not Captain Malcolm Reynolds and crew all vacuum sealed for your viewing pleasure in a Candor bottle, but it is faux geek goram glorious none-the-less. I got one of these for an office warming present and everyone asks about it. One of the best gifts in the ‘verse.

• get Electronic Firefly in a Jar at ThinkGeek.com

Stylin Online t-shirts

These are shirts that even Sheldon would love. From comic books to movies and TV shows, there are more fabulous t-shirts here than you could shake a bazinga at!

• Get t-shirts at Styling Online

Gift Certificates

If your special geek truly has everything, there’s still the one thing they can always use more off — MONEY! But since money isn’t that festive, you can “wrap it up” in a handy gift card for their favorite retailer and let them choose their own perfect geek-gift!

• Get iTunes gift certificates
• Get Amazon gift certificates

Your picks?

Remember, you're part of Team TiPb too, so if you've already picked the perfect gift for your iPhone or iPad geek, or have the perfect idea for one, let us know in comments!

Siri can now control third party apps and even open cars thanks to clever developers and the SiriProxy. In case you missed it earlier in the week, a developer created a SiriProxy to control a thermostat and then made the code available for others to use. The SiriProxy stands in between your iPhone 4S and Apple’s servers. It then intercepts Siri voice commands. This proxy enables additional commands to be added to Siri’s repitoire.

Other developers have now started using the SiriProxy to do other weird and wonderful things and we now have example videos of two. The first video below shows a developer using the SiriProxy to work alongside his car Viper system.

The "Siri Proxy" plugin I wrote handles interaction with a php script that runs on my web server. The php script, which I developed months ago for personal use, allows me to send commands to my car which has a Viper SmartStart module installed. Current commands accepted are: "Vehicle Arm", "Vehicle Disarm", "Vehicle Start", "Vehicle Stop", "Vehicle Pop Trunk", and "Vehicle Panic".

The second video shows how Siri can be used with third party apps. Using Siri the developer is able to control a PDF application in the same way.

FastPdfKit Reader is manipulated by various commands with SiriProxy acting in the middle. A plugin is used to add new commands to the ones recognized by Siri, and finally, the proxy then sends the final commands to the app

Looking at these examples, Apple has a huge area of expansion for Siri to head into; if they wish to use it this way. In the mean time, if SiriProxy becomes more mainstream, who knows where this could lead!

Source: Mobfam via Engadget, 9to5Mac

It’s Black Friday and there may be one little store you forgot to include in your shopping plans – the App Store! A plethora of apps are having huge sales this weekend, and we have gathered a few of our favorites that you do not want to miss.

• Noteshelf for iPad – $0.99 [App Store link]
• FX Photo Studio for iPhone – $0.99 [App Store link]
• Assassin’s Creed: Altair’s Chronicles
  • iPhone – $0.99 [App Store link]
  • iPad – $0.99 [App Store link]
• Real Racing 2
  • iPhone – $2.99 [App Store link]
  • iPad – $4.99 [App Store link]
• Flight Control HD for iPad – $1.99 [App Store link]
• Mirror’s Edge for iPad – $1.99 [App Store link]
• Garmin N. America – $29.99 [App Store link]
• Infinity Blade – $2.99 [App Store link]
• A Charlie Brown Christmas – $4.99 [App Store link]
• Checkbook HD – $0.99 [App Store link]
• procreate for iPad – $0.99 [App Store link]
• Navigon
  • North America – $39.99 [App Store link]
  • USA – $29.99 [App Store link]
  • Canada – $29.99 [App Store link]
  • US East – $19.99 [App Store link]
  • US Central – $19.99 [App Store link]
  • US West – $19.99 [App Store link]
• IM+ Pro – $4.99 [App Store link]
• Business Card Reader – $2.99 [App Store link]
• RDM+ Remote Desktop for Mac and Windows – $4.99 [App Store link]
• Flickr HD – $0.99 [App Store link]

Additionally, check out touchArcade for a great list of all of Gameloft’s sales. Also, EA [iTunes link] and Disney [iTunes link] have most of their titles on sale.

This is a just small portion of which apps are having Black Friday deals, so if you find any other good ones, please share them in the comments below!

For some, Black Friday has arrived, and for others, it’s only hours away and TGI Black Friday for iPhone is here to add some order to such a chaotic day. This little app breaks down all the big deals by store (including the App Store), categories, and popularity and when you find a deal you plan to take advantage of you can add it to your list.

Black Friday is a dangerous day for me as it is, but with TGI Friday making it so easy to find deals on things I want, it might be best for my husband to just withdrawal all our money from the bank and hide it until the weekend has passed.

• View Black Friday ads for all major retail stores weeks before they are available in your local paper.
• Frequent updates with new leaked ads for your favorite retail stores.
• Push Notifications (The app can alert you when a new ad is posted)
• Downloadable PDF Ad Scans
• Search over 10,000 Black Friday deals across stores and categories.
• Create a personal shopping list to check off items as you purchase them.
• Share Black Friday deals via Facebook or Twitter
• Email your shopping list or individual deals to yourself or others.
• Compare prices for items to confirm you are getting the best deal.
• Shop online for items that may be available before Black Friday.

TGI Black Friday is available on the iPhone for free.

[App Store link]

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

The new iPad app #politics by Mighty Mack will keep you up to speed on the current news in US Politics. It uses a proprietary MarketPulse algorithm to select content of interest. Why dig up all the political news yourself when #politics will do it for you?

Our #POLITICS App is designed for political newshounds and professional pols alike and anyone interested in keeping up with current News and Analysis on U.S. Politics. Our MarketPulse proprietary algorithm scans a custom-created list of news sources, individual news entities, bloggers, and opinion leaders to identify and deliver Articles, Videos and other content in a user-friendly viewing experience.

• BESPOKE SOURCES LISTS – Content articles pulled from individualized customized lists of publications, journalists, institutions and opinion leaders for each subject channel. We continuously monitor and adjust our source lists to include new sources and publications as well as opinion leaders of note.

• PROPRIETARY ALGORITHM – This App uses a proprietary MarketPulse algorithm to review our content source lists selecting interesting articles, videos and audio content and filtering out items considered of low interest. We continuously manage this algorithm and look to improve the performance of this App through routine App updates.

• FRIENDLY USER INTERFACE – The App’s user interface is designed to facilitate the efficient review and reading of the content, providing for easy operation and movement throughout.

• CURRENT CONTENT CURATION – #politics delivers professional-grade Current News and Analysis on U.S. Politics, including views, opinions and articles by leading news outlets, political analysts from the whole spectrum of opinions as well as news and declarations from Republican and Democratic politicians.

• SHARING. You can distribute content you like using a variety of social tools, including Twitter, Facebook and Instapaper for future reference.

#politics is available on the iPad for $0.99.

[App Store link]

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

Marc, Seth, and Rene iterate through Nest and the future of consumer electronic design, photos under glass, Google search as an app, kicking users to the Facebook curb, and interrogate Jessie Dodds of Campaign Monitor. This is Iterate!

• Our podcast feed
• Download Directly
• Subscribe via iTunes

• Nest
• A brief Rant on the Future of Interactive Design
• "Pictures Under Glass" is Revolutionary, Not Transitional
• Creating the Future
• Google Search app for iPad updated

• What the heck is wrong with Netflix?

• Jesse Dodds of Campaign Monitor

• Photoshop Actions

Hosts

• Marc Edwards (@marcedwards) of Bjango
• Seth Clifford (@sethclifford) of Nickelfish
• Rene Ritchie (@reneritchie) of TiPb.com

Feedback

• Email: podcast@iterate.tv
• Twitter: @iteratetv
• Facebook: Iterate page

If you’re one of the best-of-the-best-of-the-best in mobile design for Android, BlackBerry, iOS, webOS, or Windows Phone, we’d love to get you on the show, or if you’ve found a drop-dead gorgeous app on any platform and really want us to talk about it, contact us and let us know.

Apple’s one day discount event has started going live in Australia and the UK, among other countries. Deals seem to be as expected — slim but fairly widespread — on select iPod touch, iPad, Mac, Accessories, and even iTunes Gift Cards.

Unfortunately, you won’t be getting any deals on the iPhone, iPod classic, iPod shuffle, Apple TV, Mac Pro and the Mac mini. (Sorry!)

Below is a list of prices for Australia, UK, US and Canada.

Australia

• iPad 2 – A$534 (16GB), A$634 (32GB), A$734 (64GB)
• iPad 2 3G – A$684 (16GB), A$784 (32GB), A$884 (64GB)
• iPad 2 Smart Cover – A$34 (Polyurethane), A$ 68 (Leather)
• iPod Touch – A$198 (8GB), A$298 (32GB), A$398 (64GB)
• iPod Nano – A$138 (8GB), A$158 (16GB)
• iTunes Gift Card – A$45 (A$50)

UK

• iPad 2 – £368 (16GB), £438 (32GB), £508 (64GB)
• iPad 2 3G – £468 (16GB), £538 (32GB), £608 (64GB)
• iPad 2 Smart Cover – £24 (Polyurethane), £48 (Leather)
• iPod Touch – £154 (8GB), £224 (32GB), £295 (64GB)
• iPod Nano – £104 (8GB), £118 (16GB)
• iTunes Gift Card – £45 (£50)

US

• iPad 2 – $458 (16GB), $548 (32GB), $638 (64GB)
• iPad 2 3G – $588 (16GB), $678 (32GB), $768 (64GB)
• iPad 2 Smart Cover – $28 (Polyurethane), $58 (Leather)
• iPod Touch – $178 (8GB), $268 (32GB), $358 (64GB)
• iPod Nano – $118 (8GB), $138 (16GB)
• iTunes Gift Card – $45 ($50)

Canada

• iPad 2 – $478 (16GB), $568 (32GB), $658 (64GB)
• iPad 2 3G – $608 (16GB), $698 (32GB), $788 (64GB)
• iPad 2 Smart Cover – $34 (Polyurethane), $68 (Leather)
• iPod Touch – $178 (8GB), $268 (32GB), $358 (64GB)
• iPod Nano – $118 (8GB), $138 (16GB)
• iTunes Gift Card – $45 ($50)

So are these prices enough to get you buying someone an Apple product for the holidays?

Source: Apple Store Australia, UK, US, Canada

Wondering how to quickly and easily add icons to your Home Screen that will take you to frequently used Settings like Brightness, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi? Developer Jeff Broderick has created profiles that do just that!

Follow along to learn how to get them!

1. From your iPhone, visit brdrck.me/settings/
2. Tap the setting you wish you add to your homescreen
3. If there is more than one icon option, tap the one you wish to have. Then tap Install [setting] Shortcut.
4. This will open the Install Profile Page. Tap Install.
5. A popup will appear warning you the the profile is unsigned. If you’re ok with that (we are!), tap Install Now.
6. When the profile is done installing, tap Done.
7. This will bring you back to brdrck’s website.
8. Tap the home button to find the icon on your home page.

Now when you tap on your new icon, you will see a quick flash of brdrck’s website before being taken to that specific setting in the Settings app.

Personally, I only installed the Brightness setting and have that sitting on my first page. I’ve been dying for quick access to my Brightness slider for many years. If you want all of the shortcuts, you may want to add them all to a folder on your first page for quick access.

Bonus Tip: If you desire more than these 11 settings, check out godlaya. The website is mostly in German, but you can install a bundle of 23 settings profiles in English.

Daily Tips range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you'd like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to dailytips@tipb.com.