Fast Technology

As part of the launch of its next-generation iPad, Apple updated iMovie and GarageBand and released iPhoto for the iPad and iPhone.

iPhoto is a perfect fit for mobile devices, taking advantage of the touch screen to make sorting, editing and sharing photos intuitive and easy.

There has been no shortage of photo apps for Apple devices but the release of the iPhoto app means that Apple’s entire collection of iLife apps is now available for Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS.

The newly announced iPad has a five-megapixel iSight camera, so you can use iMovie to create your own HD videos from shooting to editing — all in the one device — although shooting video on an iPad is admittedly more cumbersome than using an iPhone or one of the many pocket video cameras available.

If you have Apple TV, the little set-top box that also got an update with Apple’s latest announcement, you can use AirPlay to show off your iPhoto creations on your HD TV.

And Apple’s online storage system iCloud lets you store your work online, sharing between devices and with friends and family.

Although iPhoto and iMovie are available only for iPad 2 and later, if you have a first-generation iPad (the one without a camera) developers have figured out a workaround to get the apps onto your device. Google news results for iPhone, iPad and you’ll come with up suggestions on how to do that.

Adobe Photoshop Touch, iPhone and iPad 2 or later, Android, $9.99

Adobe recently released its Photoshop Touch app for the iPad, delivering features that you may already be using with Adobe’s Photoshop Express app, along with some new ones for the touch screen tablet. You can layer images from several different photos, add effects and touch up photos. The app’s Scribble selection tool lets you get rid of part of an image easily by, as the name suggests, scribbling on what you want to keep and what’s to be removed.

Remote control app, iPhone, free for the lite version for iPhone and iPad, $19.99 for iPhone pro version, iPad pro version, $49.99

Vancouver photographer John Biehler introduced me to this app from onOne software and it comes in both lite and pro versions.

It works with Canon and Nikon digital single-lens-reflex cameras (check online at onone.com to see if your camera is among those supported) letting you remotely control both video and still frame shooting on your camera.

You connect your camera via USB or Wi-Fi to a computer that’s running onOne’s DSLR remote server application. You get that software from onOne’s download site.

From there, control your camera using the app on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. With the pro versions you can monitor and stop video recording.

Camera+, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, 99 cents

Camera+, which has sold more than seven million copies, was co-created by University of Victoria grad Lisa Bettany, who is on an around-the-world trip cataloguing her travels on her iPhone with Camera+ and collecting material for a book on iPhone photography.

They say St Finn Barr's Primary School at Invermay was broken into sometime between Saturday and Monday.

Detective constable Jason Bolton says the thieves took laptops.

"If any members of the public saw people acting suspiciously near the primary school between the 10th and the 12th of March could they please contact CrimeStoppers or Launceston CIB," he said.

The school's principal Anthony Healy says it will cost $30,000 to replace the computers.

"Its disappointing and very disruptive for the children in particular, the two classes that were using those computers means that the work that was on their computers is now gone so that means they have to either catch up or that work is not available for them to complete or to be assessed against," he said.

In Apple’s first major product announcement in the post-Steve Jobs era, the company on Wednesday introduced the latest version of its best-selling iPad tablet, which sports a higher-resolution display, better cameras and faster wireless connectivity.

The product, dubbed simply "the new iPad," will go on sale March 16 at the same $499 to $699 prices as earlier versions. Pre-orders began Wednesday through Apple’s website.

In a media presentation in San Francisco, Chief of Marketing Phil Schiller announced that the new iPad will have an updated LCD display that is four times the resolution of the iPad 2. Called "a retina display" for its density of pixels, its dots on the screen will not be distinguishable by a user viewing from distance of 15 inches.

The new device also will be compatible with faster 4G wireless cellular networks offered by AT&T and Verizon. With the new networks, users will be able to stream video or download apps at much faster speeds than with the older, slower 3G networks. Verizon’s 4G network has been deployed and turned on in Utah, while AT&T’s has not.

The iPad will also be equipped with a new 5-megapixel back camera similar to the one used in the latest iPhone 4S. The earlier iPad 2 was widely criticized for its weaker set of back- and front-facing cameras.

The new iPad will be powered with a faster A5X quad-core graphics processor in order to meet the demands of the higher-resolution screen. Schiller said the device will have the same 10-hour battery life as the older iPad versions.

In order to take advantage of the tablet’s new 2048-by-1536-pixel screen, developers will have to program their apps to run in the new native resolution, though Schiller said older apps will be scaled up and should look better.

Reaction to the announcement was mixed.