Optimus Prime might not have much use for the iPad, but if you want to get him, the rest of the Transformers, and any other comics published by IDW on your iPad, you'll have to download the IDW app.

Much like the Marvel Comics app, the IDW app itself is free and allows you to download several comics for free. Unlike Marvel, which gave users samples of some of their best-known characters, IDW's list of freebies is far less recognizable. IDW publishes mostly creator-owned comics, but its licensed properties, such as Star Trek, Doctor Who, Angel (from the Buffyverse), G.I. Joe, and Transformers, are its marquee names.

Built on the iVerse app for the iPhone, the same way that the Marvel app is built on the ComiXology app, IDW launches to a store with a slightly different layout. There's a scroll list of available comics on the left, a large image promoting a "featured comic" in the middle of the screen, and the store beneath it. Tap a comic to open a pane with more info about the book, including a five-page preview and pricing, and from there you can tap on the download link to get the comic. Once you start downloading, you can exit the download window to peruse other comics in the store or read ones you've already downloaded. Tapping in the upper corner will open a delete option and a review option, so you can give the comic a star rating on the fly.

The comics reading experience is, again, similar to the Marvel app, but with far fewer bells and whistles. There's no per-panel zoom, and no preview bar. Tapping near the bottom of the screen while reading a comic will open a slider for jumping, but there's no page preview. Some readers may appreciate this, though, since there's a slight potential for story spoilers otherwise. There is a Cover Flow-style view, although it appears in the lower half of the app as opposed to Marvel's upper half. This had the effect of minimizing the covers, though, since the eye naturally tracked to the top of the iPad.

Bigger problems include pages that pixelate when zoomed in on and slightly odd behavior when turning the iPad horizontally. The widescreen mode automatically shows you two pages at once, which is something the Marvel app lacks. However, IDW's double-page spreads don't always move together, and they act more like two pages placed side-by-side with different zooming options rather than a single cohesive image.

IDW's app, which started off as an iPhone app and may account for the pixelation, does allow you to synchronize your comics from your iPhone. When you start the app for the first time, it will ask you if you have an iPhone IDW app to sync with, and it will re-download all your books in a higher resolution. The free books, at least in our tests, either hadn't yet been upgraded to the better resolution or won't be receiving that attention at all. The comics can be exported via the app to other iPhone OS devices.

Comics download speeds seemed comparable between the two apps, which means that it was a bit slow on Wi-Fi. Overall, the Marvel app offered a slightly slicker experience, although readers looking for more than superhero comics will certainly get a wider variety of genres from IDW.

Several comics are for free from IDW, while most of the more than 400 titles available sell for $1.99.

Originally posted at iPad Atlas

BlackBerry-maker RIM's own contribution to the Twitter app party may be arriving unfashionably late, but at least the "official" Twitter client is finally showing up.

On Thursday at 6:00 PM Pacific/9:00 PM Eastern, RIM will release an open beta version of Twitter for BlackBerry. We snagged a preview build back in February that was skimpy compared to fleshed-out third-party Twitter apps like Seesmic and UberTwitter. Whereas those apps integrate more advanced features like Twitter trends and lists, the Twitter for Blackberry preview software we saw could upload photos and support retweets, but stopped short of the other savvy extras.

This new open beta version adds mass to the lean preview we first saw, adding notifications for new tweets and replies to the home screen and Blackberry Message list in addition to pings for direct messages. Creating, viewing, and editing Twitter lists are also now included. So is editing your profile information and mug shot from the app, some minimal visual customization, and some back-end fixes to juice up performance. Twitter trends are still a no-show in this beta version, but by the time the final rolls around, that and other features could also find their way into the finished product.

You'll be able to download RIM's Twitter for BlackBerry from the Test Center in the Blackberry App World app. North American and U.K. users can also give it a go from RIM's BlackBerry Beta Zone.

Microsoft will issue 11 security bulletins in next week's Patch Tuesday to fix 25 vulnerabilities in Windows, Microsoft Office, and Exchange, including two holes for which exploit code is in the wild.

Five of the bulletins address critical vulnerabilities that could allow an attacker to take control of the computer, five are rated important, and one is rated moderate.

With the updates, Microsoft will be closing two outstanding security advisories that have been worrisome because code to exploit the vulnerabilities is available publicly.

One of the advisories is 981169, which involves a vulnerability in VBScript that could allow the remote execution of code and a complete takeover of the system. Disclosed on March 1, it affects older versions of Windows running Internet Explorer.

The other advisory to be closed is 977544, which involves a hole in Server Message Block (SMB) protocol that could allow a denial-of-service attack and that dates back to November.

Software affected by the updates: Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7, Server 2003, Server 2008, Office XP, Office 2003, 2007 Microsoft Office System and Exchange Server 2000, 2003, 2007, and 2010.

Also on Tuesday, Adobe Systems will release its latest security updates for Reader and Acrobat via a new update system. Adobe has quarterly security update releases that coincide with Patch Tuesdays.

Originally posted at InSecurity Complex

Parallels is indeed coming out with a product that uses virtualization to help ease the transition to Windows 7.

The software, the existence of which was first reported by CNET on Wednesday, takes one's files and programs from a Windows XP or Vista PC and packages them up to be used on either a new PC or an existing one upgraded to Windows 7. If the programs are not compatible with Windows 7, Parallels uses its virtualization technology to allow the applications to run in the newer operating system.

Parallels Desktop Upgrade to Windows 7, as the product will be called, will go on sale next month with a suggested price of $49, including a high-speed USB cable, or $39 for a version without the cable.

"Parallels Desktop Upgrade to Windows 7 provides a simple and safe solution for Windows XP and Vista customers who want to successfully move to Windows 7 but may be overwhelmed by the process," Parallels CEO Serguei Beloussov said in a statement. "Whether people are refreshing an existing PC or moving to a new PC, all their programs, files, and user settings are automatically moved."

Parallels plans to announce the product at a Microsoft event in Paris on Thursday.

The product came about as the company was trying to figure out how it might use its technology to help solve the challenges associated with moving to Windows 7, according to Parallels product manager Mary Starman.

"It was really born out of Parallels Desktop for Linux and Windows," Starman said. That product, she said is "really geared toward the geeks, the developers, and the testers," but the company thought there might be a way to use the technology to help everyday users upgrade their machines.

Now, several months later, it is nearly ready with the product.

Parallels' tool could be a boon to Microsoft as it looks to get more of the machines capable of running Windows 7 upgraded to the latest operating system, which went on sale in October.

Although Microsoft has its own tool for moving data and settings during a Windows 7 upgrade, the "Easy Transfer" requires users to re-install all of their applications. On the virtualization front, the company offers a free virtualized "XP Mode" for those using the Professional, Ultimate, or Enterprise editions of Windows 7, while it has a separate set of tools for larger businesses that want to utilize virtualization.

Laplink has a product that can move both applications and data, but Parallels' new software goes a step further by allowing applications that wouldn't normally be compatible run in Windows 7 via virtualization.

Originally posted at Beyond Binary