iPad input apps…

For most of us who are amongst the early adopters of tablet computing, the iPad quickly became seen as merely a content consumption device. And to be honest, it is a great device for consuming almost any form of media content, whether it is books to read, videos or movies to watch, photos to look at, magazines, emails, or webpages to scan, or even to play some games.

Since this first generation of iPad usage, content creating apps have been slowly percolating in the background. There are some reasonable note-taking apps out there (to the degree that the iPad is nearly a valid note-taking platform for college students!). Of more interest to me, is the fact that there are some apps coming out which allow for such obscurities as:

Viewing, editing, and even writing music scores
Writing using markdown language (a close relative to HTML) which allows one to start to get into coding form the iPad.
To actually write code on the iPad (with appropriate syntax!)

Wacom Launches Bamboo Paper, Promotes iPad Note-Taking With a Stylus
http://www.macstories.net/news/wacom-launches-bamboo-paper-promotes-ipad-note-taking-with-a-stylus

Wacom may have been fairly well known for its stylus based displays that many digital artists used, but in recent years it has started to shift its focus towards the consumer market with its Bamboo range of products. A few months ago it launched the Bamboo Stylus, a high-end stylus designed for the iPad and just a few days ago it released Bamboo Paper – an app for the iPad designed for note-taking with the Bamboo Stylus.

Whilst it isn’t the most fully featured note taking app, it offers a strong set of features and although Wacom recommends their stylus when using the app, it still works with just a finger. Your notebook can have an unlimited number of pages and there is also the option to add ruled lines or a graphing grid to the pages. Where the app falls a little short compared to some other similar apps is that it only offers 3 options for the brush thickness and 6 brush colors.

Some of the other features of Bamboo Paper include the ability to bookmark pages, mirror the display to a TV or projector, as well as print, email, or save note pages or even entire notebooks. Whilst the app works well with just a finger, the Wacom video demonstrating Bamboo Paper with a Bamboo Stylus does look really interesting – jump the break to view it.

Bamboo Paper for the iPad is available in the App Store for free until July, at which point it will cost $1.99.

Bamboo Paper | iPad application by Wacom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5-mUD889YQ&feature=player_embedded

Nix your Naughty Notebook Habit with Ghostwriter Notes
http://www.theiphoneappreview.com/2011/06/ghostwriter-notes-ipad-app-review

Features:

I am taking the paperless plunge for my iPad app review of Ghostwriter Notes. It only took me a few minutes to start enjoying my decision. Instead of carting a big ole notebook around, having to hunt for a pen in my gargantuan handbag then scribbling frantically to make sure I don’t forget what I wanted to write down, I just push a button and am instantly transported to note taking heaven with Ghostwriter Notes.

Creating a new virtual note pad is easy. You can name it anything you would like, and customize the look (more about that after the cut). Ghostwriter Notes allows you to take notes using your finger on an ultra-responsive digital page, by using the iPad’s keyboard or by using an iPad approved stylus. Add unlimited pages and notebooks to your Ghostwriter Notes shelf. Import and export documents to edit. You can even send Ghostwriter Notes documents to a wireless printer.

In other words, Ghostwriter Notes iPad app is a full service note taking machine and eco-healthy to boot. Anything I want to do on a regular notebook, I can do here.

Value:

Ghostwriter Notes is a stable, well organized, highly customizable app that brings the best features of iPad notebook apps together. Whether you plan on sketching, jotting, doodling or annotating on your iPad, this note taker is your best bet. The price sites at a very comfortable $1.99, thus overall value ranks at five out of five stars.

Writing Kit for the iPad
http://www.screencastsonline.com/tutorials_files/SCO0302-writingkit.php

I’ve been looking for the perfect writing app for the iPad for ages, and must have tried everyone on the market. There always seemed to be just one or two features missing. I’d settled on the strategy of using plain text files, formatted using the Markdown language as the perfect solution for portability. Files created on the iPad could be whisked across to my Mac without any worries of cross application incompatibility.

My search seems to have come to an end with Writing Kit for the iPad.

Writing Kit has full support for DropBox allowing you to seamlessly transfer your file to your Mac. A dedicated keyboard takes away the hassle of trying to remember Markdown commands or fighting with the standard keyboard to access symbols and other characters.

A good selection of fonts, resizable with a pinch or the fingers as well as a unique way of moving your cursor, character by character, or word by word with just a few taps.

Working on a long document? Writing Kit also allows you to view an outline of your document and jump to any heading quickly and easily.

Want to create blog posts with images from your camera roll? Writing Kit has integration with CloudApp, allowing you to select an image, upload to the cloud, and insert an image link in a single process.

If you’re using Writing Kit to create a document requiring research on the net, it’s built in research tools and browser means you can do everything within the application – no need to keep switching back and forth with Safari. Once you have your quote, link or image from the web, Writing Kit allows you to paste them into your document with just a few taps, all correctly formatted and annotated.

There’s also integration with services like InstaPaper, Evernote, Delicious, Pinboard…. too many to mention.

Writing Kit
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/writing-kit/id426208994?mt=8

$4.99

Not Quite Sibelius for iPad, but Avid Scorch Could Become an iTunes of Notation
http://createdigitalmusic.com/2011/06/not-quite-sibelius-for-ipad-but-avid-scorch-could-become-an-itunes-of-notation

Let’s get this out of the way first: if you’re looking for a tool for composing and editing scores on your iPad, Avid Scorch isn’t it — not yet, at least. But as a score reader, Scorch could be a glimpse of a future in which tablets create a new marketplace and exchange for notated music.

Scorch is, first and foremost, a score reader. It shares the mature notational display engine of Sibelius, and makes use of Sibelius’ (and now Pro Tools ’) scores. That includes Sibelius’ broad library of musical symbols, guitar tab features, and handwritten fonts, among other features. (It even includes the somewhat silly, but potentially-comforting, textures that have long been a feature of the desktop product.)

The role of tablets in digital music is still evolving. But it’s not hard to make a case for the form factor here: unlike a MacBook Pro or a PC tower, you can put a tablet on a music stand. As such, a tiny device can have dynamic access to a near-limitless collection of music. We’ve already seen impressive takes on the classic jazz fake book on the iPad, and they handily beat the older form when it comes to weight or bulk.

Koder for iPad now available
http://www.tipb.com/2011/06/20/koder-ipad-availalble

Koder is a code editor for the iPad. It has many features including syntax highlighting, snippet manager, tabbed editing, find and replace code, editor theme, remote, and local files connection.

Syntax Highlighting

Project Based

Built In Snippet Manager

Tabbed editing

Find and replace code

Previewer Browser with View Source function

Editor theme

Extra Key / Additional Keys on Virtual Keyboard with open+close brackets keys

FTP Connection, Dropbox, iDisk, local iPad file storage

Sophisticated File Browser

Expandable editing space

Bluetooth Keyboard Support