The iPod music app on the iPad is an odd crossbreed of Apple's iTunes interface and the playback capabilities of the iPhone and iPod Touch. In some ways, it excels beyond either interface, delivering a lightening-fast version of iTunes or a more jukebox-like version of the iPod experience.

But when Apple spliced the DNA of iTunes and the iPod to create the iPad's music player, it buried one of the most useful features of both products: shuffle.

It seems a little odd that Apple would turn its back on a playback feature so popular--the company named a product after it, after all. Check out any iPod Nano or Classic, and you'll find the shuffle option right on the main menu. On the iPad, it's literally hidden.

To give Apple some credit, I don't think it's any accident that shuffle has been put on the back burner. Ever since Apple unveiled its proprietary Genius Playlist feature in 2008, and the Genius Mixes feature of 2009, they've been steering customers toward these alternatives to random shuffle (which are arguably better). To this end, Apple does include a prominent Genius playlist button on the iPad's music interface.

Genius options are nice, but if you like keeping things dumb and random, I've put together this tutorial video on how to shuffle music on the iPad.

Originally posted at iPad Atlas

The latest release from Opera Software is admittedly a mobile browser-related app that few smartphone owners will ever touch, let alone know of its existence. It's a new tool that developers of Opera Mobile widgets, however, will want to get their code-tinkering paws on.

The Opera Mobile 10 desktop emulator will let widget-creators visually mark the progress of their tiny addendum apps from the convenience of the Windows, Mac, or Linux (direct download) screen.

Emulators aren't new to the mobile development biz any more than tools for software authoring are new to Opera, whose Dragonfly debugging tool has long held court. What is new is the capability to test, test, and test some more before taking the finished product to a Symbian or Windows phone (the two platforms that run Opera Mobile).

As with Opera Mobile 10 for the desktop, the emulator--which comes with the Opera Mobile Widgets Emulator bundled within--runs on the Opera Presto engine that powers Opera Mobile and is compatible with Opera Dragonfly when both are used on the same computer or computing network.

It's clear to us that Opera's emulator isn't intended to help out only existing widget developers in the Opera community, but also to attract Web developers who are new to the mobile space or to Opera.

Firefox Mobile, though still in its crib-bound infancy as a mobile browser, is the most potentially explosive threat to Opera's mobile-browser domination. If Firefox handles its mobile browser development well going forward, it's easy to see the rampant popularity that is Firefox extensions on the desktop spill over to Firefox on the mobile phone. If mobile Firefox extensions are the question, Opera's continued effort to engage widget developers is a sure sign that the browser-maker is preparing its answer.

What are the must-have apps for a new iPad owner?

You see, it finally happened: I'm the proud owner of Apple's much-ballyhooed tablet. No, I didn't win a contest or rip one out of some poor guy's hand. I actually plunked down some cold, hard cash.

As readers of my Cheapskate blog know, that's something I'm loathe to do. But for me it was a legitimate business expense, and dang if my curiosity didn't get the better of me. Would the iPad live up to the hype? Would I find new and unexpected uses for it?

I'm about a week away from finding out. My local Apple Store was out of stock, so I had to order it online.

When it finally arrives, I'll no doubt go spelunking in iTunes for interesting apps. And needless to say, there are several I'm already keen to check out. The new Marvel Comics app, for example, is a favorite on my iPhone, and I imagine it must be ever more spectacular on the iPad's spacious screen.

But, let's face it, I'm an iPad newbie. I have no idea which apps will rock my world, make me the envy of the neighbors, and convince the missus I was right to buy now instead of waiting for the inevitable price drop. (Mark my words: Apple will cut iPad prices before 2010 is out.)

So it's over to you, faithful readers. You already have weeks' worth of screen testing under your belts, so you tell me (and other folks late to the iPad party): what are the must-have apps for a new iPad owner? Hit the comments and list your picks. (While I'm waiting, I'll sift through CNET's recent roundup of the 20 best free iPad apps.)

Oh, and if you have any case recommendations, I'd love to hear those, too.

Originally posted at iPad Atlas

Windows 7 PCs with multitouch screens now have a new series of apps focused on play.

Microsoft released on Wednesday its Windows 7 Touch Pack as a free download for any Windows 7 user with a multitouch-capable monitor

The Touch Pack offers three games and three Microsoft Surface apps, all designed to show off the experience of moving, pinching, and twirling your fingers on a touch screen.

The Windows 7 Touch Pack isn't new. It was first announced almost a year ago, but it was previously available only to computers makers that opted to install it on new Windows 7 computers, such as Sony's Vaio L or Hewlett-Packard's TouchSmart 600 all-in-ones.

But now anyone with a multi-touch monitor who upgraded to Windows 7 can play with the pack.

What's in the Touch Pack? On the game side, Blackboard challenges you to solve a puzzle by creating your own unique machine on a blackboard. Garden Pond is a peaceful game that asks you to move an origami shape around a pond by touching the screen to create tiny ripples. And Rebound prompts you to use your fingertips to move Tesla balls (which respond to touch with an electrical light show) and try to catapult a game ball into your opponent's goal.

On the Surface side, Surface Globe lets your explore the geography of Earth in 2D or 3D using your fingers. Surface Collage helps arrange a gallery of photos with your fingertips. You can save them as a collage or display them on your Windows desktop. And Surface Lagoon asks you to move your fingers around the water to see how fish react.

Microsoft has been touting multitouch as one of the cool benefits of Windows 7. So far, however, there have been few killer apps that take advantage of multitouch screens. To read more or download Windows 7 Touch Pack, click here.

Originally posted at News - Microsoft

There are matches made in heaven, and on the other side of the spectrum, there is David Wang's accomplishment: booting Google's Android operating system on Apple's iPhone

Wang, the "planetbeing" member of the a group called the iPhone Dev Team devoted to hacking iPhones, on Wednesday posted a video demonstrating Android on an iPhone.

The demo shows the boot process--complete with the Tux Linux mascot--and Wang using Android for browsing, receiving a text message, answering a phone call, and playing music. The phone is set up with a dual-boot configuration and indeed the video begins with the device running iPhone OS.

"It's not really production-quality yet," Wang said on the video. "I'd say it's alpha quality. But pretty much everything works."

The Android-on-iPhone hack is a notable technical accomplishment, but it's not likely to transform the industry or alter what mainstream users do. It does indicate, though, that the hacking ethos is alive and well despite Apple's attempts to keep its mobile phone locked down.

Wang has been working since at least 2008 to boot Linux on the iPhone, according to his blog. The demonstration uses a first-generation iPhone, but newer models should be supported at some point.

"It should be pretty simple to port forward to the iPhone 3G. The 3GS will take more work," Wang said on the blog. "Hopefully with all this groundwork laid out, we can make Android a real alternative or supplement for iPhone users. Maybe we can finally get Flash. ;)"

As you might expect, there are problems with Android on the iPhone. "It's slightly buggy because I didn't bother to implement all the Android-specific driver extensions," he said in the video demonstration. And it's slow, since Wang using a debug version of Android.

He can type using a virtual keyboard, but the iPhone's one-button interface doesn't mesh well with Android, which runs on phones typically with five or more buttons.

"There's a little bit of a button shortage on the iPhone," Wang said.

Originally posted at Deep Tech

Six months after announcing it would employ the open-source software Drupal to manage and publish its content, the White House Web site has contributed some custom code to the project.

Dave Cole, a senior adviser to the CIO of the Executive Office of the President and the person responsible for managing WhiteHouse.gov, said Wednesday that the administration is contributing four modules it created for the president's revamped Web site.

"This code is available for anyone to review, use, or modify," Cole wrote in a blog announcing the contribution. "We're excited to see how developers across the world put our work to good use in their own applications."

The four new modules focus on improving scalability, communication, and accessibility, Cole wrote.

A module designed to improve scalability is called "Context HTTP Headers" and allows Web site builders to add new metadata to their content and gives instructions to servers on how to manage specific pages, such as cache scheduling. Another module focused on scalability called "Akamai" allows WhiteHouse.gov to integrate with content delivery network Akamai.

A communication module called "GovDelivery Integration" allows for more dynamic ways to tailor e-mails to users' preferences.

An accessibility module called "Node Embed"--designed to make it easier to manage rich photographs and video content--aims to help the site be in compliance with Section 508, the government's accessibility standard.

The White House's announcement in October that it was transitioning to Drupal was a high-profile endorsement for the open-source software, which allows anyone to see, modify, and redistribute the source code underlying the software that's actually installed on a computer.

Originally posted at News - Digital Media