Developer Loren Brichter, best known for developing Tweetie as Atebits and now the official Twitter clients for iPhone, iPad, and Mac decided to spend an evening doing what News Corp didn’t previous to launch — fix The Daily’s horribly implemented Carrousel UI.

Evening project – The Daily, less slow: http://t.co/DVmLKHO 60 fps, full AA, physically correct reflections, (different stacking style).

Hopefully he shares his techniques with The Daily’s development team but it just goes to once again show what a difference a great iOS developer can make, even against a huge (old) media empire.

Are you still using The Daily? Video after the break!

[@lorenb via Daring Fireball]

Twitter for iPad dev fixes The Daily’s UI in 2 hours is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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The iPad can do many things. One of the things I am most excited about it acting as an electronic comic book reader. Marvel, DC, and many other publishers currently have their own comic book apps out there (of course, they still charge cover price AND charge cover price for back issues, despite the fact that production costs are decreased…but that's a diatribe for another day), and many of those apps have some nice features. But I am talking about apps that let you read your OWN comic book collection (I don't want to have to buy comics again from a company when I have an original).

Now, to get your own collection into electronic format, you need a scanner, and store the comics as a specified format. CBZ and CBR are most common, but some readers also accept ZIP, RAR, PDF, and other file types. I am lucky in that I have some comics that were given to me in CBZ and CBR format, so I am using those for these evaluations. There are also many places to download comics in the appropriate format. I also have the X-Men archives in PDF format, so if the reader supports those I will utilize that as well. There are also various websites that may have files available for download (especially out of print, public domain comics).

For this comparison, I will be looking at ease of use, appearance, features and settings, and overall "experience". To load comics, you can do it through the iTunes file sharing, but a few also allow for online access and downloads. Some of them even allow you to load comics on DropBox (or something similar) and access them that way. To the best of my knowledge, there are no apps that allow for streaming comics (which would be nice for people with HUGE collections!) – you still need to manually download the comics if they are online.

I have reviewed three apps on the iPad Apps Forum: Comic Zeal, ComicGlass, and Comic Book Reader. If you have one you want me to take a look at, please post on that thread.

To see how each fared, and to find out which one is my favorite, click on through to the iPad Apps Forum Comic Book Reader Smackdown!

iPad comic book reader smackdown! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

iPad Live hits the air tonight with Georgia, Chad and Rene and you know you won’t want to miss it!

• 9pm ET, 6pm PT, 2am GMT

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!

Chat with you soon!

iPad Live podcast tonight 9pm ET! Come chat! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

With Apple set to launch the new Wi-Fi personal hotspot feature on iOS 4.2.6 for the Verizon iPhone — and soon to follow with iOS 4.3 for AT&T and other GSM iPhones — do you think you’ll still need 3G on your iPad?

Right now Apple offers both Wi-Fi only iPads and also iPads with Wi-Fi + 3G for over $100 more. The iPad 3G require separate data plans that can cost as little as $15 for 250MB/month to $30 for 2GB to 5GB/month depending what country you’re in. There’s typically no contract involved so you only need to pay for 3G when you want to use it.

Up until now the existing iPhone USB and Bluetooth tethering system hasn’t worked with iPad either — Apple simply didn’t build it in. That means unless you had an Android or Palm phone with mobile hotspot, paying for iPad 3G was your only option.

Come next week on Verizon and a few weeks on AT&T and other GSM carriers, Wi-Fi personal hotspot will work with iPad (and up to 5 devices total). In the US you’ll still have to pay $20 for tethering (though AT&T will give an extra 2GB of data for it now) but in other countries tethering is (and presumably personal hotspot will be) free. Either way, however, you’ll be dependent on the iPhone for connectivity and you’ll be putting an extra drain on your iPhone’s battery.

That makes it an interesting choice, doesn’t it?

What do you think, will the Verizon/iOS 4.3 personal hotspot for iPhone make you less likely to keep paying for 3G on your iPad? Will it make you less likely to get an iPad 2 with 3G?

With Verizon/iOS 4.3 personal hotspot do you still need 3G on iPad? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

On the same day Apple and News Corp debuted The Daily, Google held their own event to once again show off Android 3.0 Honeycomb, a tablet-centric version of their mobile OS that Motorola, HTC, Samsung and others will use to compete with iPad 2.

Android Central has literally a ton of coverage up and from the looks of it Google is trying to be a little more desktop about the tablet than Apple has thus far. We’ll see Android 3.0 Honeycomb on the Motorola Xoom and no doubt a plethora of other tablets this year. We’ll see iPad 2 this spring and just as certainly an iOS 5 event soon as well.

Check out the Honeycomb event video after the break and let us know what you think. Anything Apple needs to pay particular attention to come iPad 2?

[Android Central Android 3.0 Honeycomb event recap]

Google Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets to take on iPad 2 is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

The Verizon iPhone is almost upon us and it looks like many of you are making the big switch! Whether you’re leaving the AT&T iPhone or moving from BlackBerry or Droid, you’ll have to move your data over and maybe look for ways to keep some of the functionality you’re used to. That’s the topic for this episode of TiPb TV!

Sure the iPhone is popular and famous for being easy to use but It can be stressful to leave a network or device you’re used to and comfortable with and pick up something new. The good news is if you’re going from the AT&T iPhone to the Verizon iPhone you’re just an iTunes backup and restore away from the simplest switch imaginable. If you’re going from BlackBerry or Droid, however, the differences will be more pronounced.

Rene and I go over how cloud services like Gmail can help you get your contacts over (and provide push email, contacts, and calendars!) and App Store apps like Kik Free – (iTunes link], Waze [Free - iTunes link] and others can help replace things like BBM and Google Navigation.

If you’re used to rooting on Android or themes on BlackBerry we’ll also introduce you to Jailbreak and the new ThemeIt store for iPhone. And if you need any extra help we have Verizon iPhone Forums just waiting for you as well as our TiPb Guides and TiPb Tips and How-to sections with tons more info.

So are you ready to make the switch? Watch the video above and let us know how it’s going for you in the comments!

TiPb TV 16: Switching to the Verizon iPhone? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Every week a few of us from team TiPb will bring you our current favorite, most fun and useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they're iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch related, they're fair game.

To see what we picked, and to tell us your pick, follow on after the break!

Alli’s pick: GreenPois0n (Jailbreak)

We have been waiting for this for quite some time, but it finally hit Thursday evening – too late for some of us to try right away, but in time to install for the weekend.

This latest jailbreak tool easily jailbreaks your iPhone/iPad/AppleTV running the latest official os. While I’ve heard stories of it not installing Cydia for some, it loaded Cydia right up for me.

If you haven’t installed it already, hit the other Ally’s article on installing and get your jailbreak on! #TeamJailbreak!

Ally’s pick: Due

Last week we gave away a few codes. I also had never heard of Due or tried it out. I’ve found it extremely convenient for little reminders. I use Appigo ToDo for projects and tasks. I use Evernote for free form note taking and lists. Neither of them provide a great quick reminder system.

For this, Due is great. If I just need to remember to call a client, send an email, pick something up, or any other random little thing – I’ve started using Due. It takes all of 10 seconds to add a reminder and you’re done. Simple, quick, and easy! Check it out!

[$2.99 - iTunes Link]

Andrew’s pick: Smartr

Twitter is a very useful service for a number of reasons, but sometimes it can get a little chaotic. Smartr for iPhone analyzes your incoming tweets and strips out all the garbage, only displaying news headlines from the links your friends tweet. The app will even display the first snippet of text from the article below the headline if you want, and does so in a way that makes using Twitter for news a seamless experience. It’s given me a completely different way of consuming the news through Twitter.

When you come across something you find interesting, just tap the tweet and it will take you to the full text article. You have the ability to save interesting articles to services like Instapaper and Read It Later or publish the story to other networks like Tumblr and Posterous. You can even pin articles you want to save for reading later, right from within the app. If you have a lot of friends on Facebook who post interesting links you can also hook right into your Facebook newsfeed as well. So if you’re looking for a clean, simple and streamlined way to view the news on Twitter or Facebook then you’ll definitely want to give Smartr a try!

[Free - iTunes link]

Brian’s pick: NinJump Deluxe

NinJump Deluxe is the newest version to the game NinJump and it is a great upgrade from the original. It has stunning crisp clear graphics and is a blast to sit and play for extended periods. The goal is to ascend the level while avoiding running into objects on the way up the level. You simply tap the screen and the ninja will jump from one side to the other to avoid obstacles. Also you can kill enemies while you jump with your intense ninja powers! The game also incorporates Game Center leader boards so you can see how you stack up compared to your friends. It is definitely a fun and addictive game and even children can have fun playing as well!

[$0.99 - iTunes Link]

Chris O's pick: Bop It

Bop It is a simple game that most people have played before. If you haven't played it, you basically have to follow verbal commands which ask you to push buttons, twist or pull knobs and many other things. I used to have the original version of this game and we all loved playing it in our family. This time it is available for the iPhone and iPod Touch. It sounds the same, but plays slightly differently. It is great fun and puts the iPhones capacitive screen to full use with different gestures for twist it, pull it etc. You can also twist the iPhone or pull it back in your hand for some of the moves.

There are two games available, solo and multiplayer then various different options after that. Since I bought the game I am struggling to put it down. Great fun!

[$2.99 - iTunes Link]

Chris V’s pick: Chopper 2

My pick of the week is Chopper 2. I bought the original Chopper game when it game out, and recently bought the second version as well. It’s a fun game to play – simple controls, straight forward goals, and addicting at the same time. The overall play is the same as the original version, although there are some slight differences in some of the controls. For example, you can not aim your machine gun by tapping different areas on the screen, rather than by simply aiming straight ahead. But the biggest improvement in the game is the graphics. Chopper has very simple, 2D graphics that were almost identical (or at least very similar) to the kind of graphics you might have seen in the game Choplifter (with some slight improvement based on the newer technology). Chopper 2 incorporates 3D textured landscapes, which really adds a lot to the game play. I thoght at first you would have to fly around in 3 dimensions, but the game keeps the same 2D movement graphics. In the past few days that I have been playing Chopper 2, I have found it to be rather addicting. Part pf this is due to the ease of learning and simplicity of game play. The first time I played, I was on my iPhone for about 30 minutes (until I got a low battery warning).

[$0.99 - iTunes link]

Leanna’s pick: Waterlogged

I’ve recently been trying to make a better effort to drink more water, and Waterlogged is helping me in this endeavor. This little app allows me to log all the water I drink and watch a 64oz glass fill up with each entry that I make. After making a small in-app purchase, Waterlogged now sends me reminders to drink water throughout the day. It comes preset with a water bottle and a small 8oz glass to record, but you can also add your own cup and glass sizes (and picture) for frequent entries. If you didn’t finish the full glass, select approximately how much you drank and Waterlogged will do the math and add it to your total water consumption. The visual of watching my glass fill up and frequent reminders does a fantastic job of encouraging me to drink more water.

[Free, with in-app purchases - iTunes link]

Rene’s pick: Beluga Messenger

I hate IM. I hate it so much I really think the initials stand for Interruptive Madness. I’m incredibly easily distracted and nothing stops me working faster than someone ping’ing me on IM to talk about work. That being said, IM does have a time and place and for me that time and place was Vegas during CES. Dieter, Phil, and I set up Beluga and a CES group. Yup, me on my iPhone 4, Dieter on his iPhone 4 and Nexus S, Phil on however many Android phones he brought with (might have been 765?). Some of the writers manning the HQ also jumped on to get stories and send marching orders (looking at AC’s Jerry). Sometimes it was annoying, once and a while comedic, but often it just let us get stuff done, and setting up a group cut out the chit-chat of one-on-one conversations. (No, Kevin and the CB crew didn’t join in — they shook their heads and went back to BBM. Obviously not super-appy enough for their needs!).

So while I hate IM, Beluga pulled through when we needed it to and for that it gets a pick of the week push! If you want quick, clean, albeit proprietary IM for individuals and grounds, check it out.

[Free - iTunes link]

Your pick?

You're part of the team as well, so jump into the comments and let us know your pick of the week!

TiPb Picks of the Week is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Could this be the very first Verizon iPhone to be held by customer hands? YouTube user billa9668 claims to have picked it up today from the UPS center in Evansville Indiana. Is it for real? It’s an iPhone 4 box in a UPS box with what looks like a Verizon pamphlet as wrapping. Beyond that who knows?

Verizon started shipping pre-orders earlier in the week and now so has Apple, with delivery estimates of Monday and Tuesday. We’re still tracking shipments in our Verizon iPhone forum so we’ll see if more arrive. Meanwhile check out the video after the break and tell us — do you believe?

[Thanks nicolelk316 and Kyle Dziekan!]

First Verizon iPhone arrives? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog