Some ideas are better scribbled down than typed out.

Paper basically turns your iPad into a cocktail napkin for jotting down sketches and ideas. The app is free, though there are a handful of in-app purchases that allow you to expand the tools in your palette, which turns that cocktail napkin into a blank canvas.

Launch Paper and you're presented with a row of Moleskin-like notebooks, bringing to mind Microsoft OneNote's layout. (The team behind Paper previously worked at Microsoft on the ill-fated Courier tablet.) Paper is blissfully devoid of menus, submenus, and other busy blocks of buttons. Three buttons sit below the notebooks: Delete, Share, Add. You can share an entire journal via e-mail (as a PDF) or send it to another app. When you create a new journal, it gets added directly to the right of the one centered on the screen, and you can tap-and-hold to drag a notebook to another spot. Tap the small "i" button in the upper-right corner o... [Read more]

Webcams are useful for chatting with family, colleagues, or even a client. However, if you want a Webcam right now and don't have an extra $40-80 laying around for one, why not use your Android device instead? 

You won't need to worry about having a front-facing camera on your device, since this method will employ the use of the rear camera. Though, if you like, you can use the front camera if the back one isn't functioning properly (or if you enjoy lower-resolution video?).

Note: Using your Android device as a Webcam will do some serious draining of your battery because the screen will remain on the entire time. It's highly recommended that you plug the phone in while using it.

Getting started:

Install a copy of IP Webcam on your Android device. Next, you'll need to install a copy of its software, IP Camera Adapter, on Windows. You will also need to have either Chrome or Firefox on your computer, as this application does not work well with Internet Explorer.

Once both IP Camera applications are installed, follow the steps below:

(Credit: Screenshot by Nicole Cozma/CNET)

Step 1: Open the IP Webcam app on your Android device and make the necessary adjustments for resolution, quality, orientation, ... [Read more]