Journalist & TMO Contributor Charlotte Henry (#2) - TMO Background Mode Interview

· · Background Mode Podcast

Charlotte Henry on Background Mode

Charlotte is a London-based technical journalist. A self described media junkie, she writes about Apple—and now for the Mac Observer as well. She has also written for City A.M. (London’s daily business tabloid,) Computer Business Review, and the Independent on Sunday. Her new book is: Not Buying It.

In this special edition of BGM, Charlotte chats about her reactions to Apple’s September 10 iPhone event. She noted how Apple is in a new balancing act, promoting hardware to sell services—and vice versa. Charlotte told me about how pleased she is with the new iPad and plans to buy one. Then we took a closer look at the value proposition comparing the iPhone Xr to the iPhone 11. Charlotte also filled us in on her experience watching the event in the Apple London flagship store.

Boomerang Email Client is Now Available for iPad

· · Cool Stuff Found

Boomerang, an email extension for Gmail and Outlook that enables its more than 50 million users to email more effectively, announced the launch of its iPad app. Generally regarded as the best tablet for business use, the Boomerang App for iPad provides users with all the features they’ve come to love from Boomerang, but optimized for the iPad’s screen sizes, meaning users can benefit from split pane view and multitasking abilities like Split View and Slide Over. Other features include Inbox Pause, Read Receipts, Block Tracking Pixels, Take Action from Email Notifications, Brief Me, AI Voice Assistant, Remind Me, Follow Up, Send Later, and more. App Store: Boomerang – Free

Play the Original Diablo in a Web Browser on Your iPad

· · Link

The developers at Rivsoft made it possible to play the original Diablo game using a web browser. Someone on Reddit also got it working on their iPad.

Like the newer Diablo games, the original is an isometric top-down dungeon crawler with multiple character classes, tons of loot, and hoards demons to fight. The version of Diablo on Rivsoft’s site is the Shareware build — in modern times, we’d call this a demo. You can play the first two dungeons of the game with one of the game’s three character classes.

For the past several weeks I’ve been playing Diable III on my Nintendo Switch. I should give the original a play, too.

Slope Universal Tablet Stand Holds Any Size iPad: $29.99

· · TMO Deals

We have a deal on the Slope universal tablet stand. This device was designed to look good with Apple devices, and it will support any size iPad, including the large iPad Pro, as well as iPhones and other smartphones. It does so using pads comprised of a special type of nano-foam with thousands of microscopic air pockets across its surface that act like tiny suction cups. Those pads hold the stand to the surface it’s resting on and they hold your device. The unboxing video below shows Slope in action.

iMazing 2 Universal License for Mac and Windows: $19.99

· · TMO Deals

iMazing 2 on iMac

We have a deal on iMazing 2, the Mac and Windows app that lets you manage your iPhone and iPad data and files. You can browse and manage your backups, extract and print your text messages, drag and drop songs to your iPhone—all without jailbreaking your device. We love iMazing at TMO, and I am pleased to be able to offer this deal. You can get your iMazing 2 universal license for Mac and Windows for $19.99 through our deal.

SCOUT Wireless 5,000mAh Portable Charger: $34 with Coupon Code

· · TMO Deals

We have a deal on the SCOUT Wireless 5,000mAh Portable Charger, a Qi charger that also has three different built-in charging cables, all in a compact form factor. Those cables include USB-C, USB-A (regular USB), and a Lightning cable. That means you can use it on your new iPad Pro and your iPhone X/S/R/Max, too. It’s $39.99 through our deal, but coupon code WEEKEND15 brings it down to $34 at checkout. Here’s a promo video with a closer look:

Federico Viticci’s iPad Manifesto Covering Seven Years

· · Link

I’m a big fan of MacStories and today Federico released what he calls an iPad manifesto. He writes about his experience using the iPad as his main computing device over seven years.

Seven years after I started (slowly) replacing my MacBook Air with an iPad, my life is different, but one principle still holds true: I never want to find myself forced to work on a computer that’s only effective at home, that can’t be held in my hands, or that can’t be customized for different setups. For this reason, the iPad Pro is the best computer for the kind of lifestyle I want.

Photoshop for iPad Opens for Beta Signups

· · Link

Adobe is officially inviting users to sign up for Photoshop for iPad as beta testers, via an email sent to Creative Cloud users.

Real Photoshop is coming to the iPad so you can create something unreal. All your familiar desktop tools and workflows are at your fingertips, from retouching and compositing to spot healing and blend modes. Layers? They’re all here. Resolution? No difference. Your PSDs are exactly the same, whether you’re working on your desktop or a mountain top.

Adobe has been emailing Creative Cloud customers, but you can join the beta program by filling this form.