Even with a perfectly fine piece of software for reading Final Draft scripts on the iPad already available in the form of FDX Reader, some users were still waiting for an “official” solution from Final Draft themselves. Well, they need wait no longer — or at least won’t have to after February 16.

That’s right, the company is releasing its “official” app to read scripts written in Final Draft on your iPad. For some of you, this won’t seem like a big deal. For those of us who use Final Draft daily for work and have alwyas wanted a way to read scripts on our iPads with the same fonts, page numbering and formatting as on our computers, this is a great development.

Some of the apps features will include:

• Works with Final Draft version 8 FDX files – the Hollywood industry standard script file format
• Imports scripts using email, iTunes File Sharing, or Dropbox
• Perfectly paginates to US Letter and standard European (A4) page sizes
• Precisely displays production scripts, including colored production pages, locked pages, scene numbering, and more!
• Scripts accurately scale to actual draft size

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One of the biggest game releases this year is the upcoming Mass Effect 3, the sequel to the mega hit franchise that blends Sci-Fi action and RPG immersion. The game is already being penciled in for game of the century and fans are at a fever pitch in anticipation, so bringing the game to iOS devices seems a smart way to capitalize.

The just announced Mass Effect Datapad is still clouded in some mystery, but we do know it will be an iPad exclusive. Best estimation is that the app will work as sort of a strategy guide, or some sort of informational support for your missions.

Also, EA has announced Mass Effect Infiltrator for all iOS devices, a third person shooter that is meant to feed into the main game’s Galaxy At War system. The mobile game is set around freeing prisoners and gaining evidence against Cerberus, both of which will have a direct impact on your single player experience.

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Back in the early days of non-linear video editing Avid was the king. Their software was used in pretty much every situation and they dominated the post-production landscape for film and TV.

Then, Apple came out with Final Cut Pro and things changed. Plus, Avid ended up having some issues of its own which hindered it further.

Now, with Apple having issues with Final Cut Pro X, Avid has released its first application to compete with Apple’s iMovie mobile. The app is called Avid Studio for the iPad and is currently available in the App Store for an introductory price of $4.99. After 30 days it will increase to $8.

With this app just being released, its too early to tell if it will knock Apple’s iMovie off its perch as the iOS editing app du jour. However, it does have some nice features and a few iMovie doesn’t have, so chances are people will at least give it a chance — especially at that low price point.

It’s only the first real work day back from the New Year’s holiday (aka January 3rd) and already speculation about Apple and its upcoming products is well underway. This time around that speculation is directed at a media event insider sources are saying will take place in New York at the end of this month.

According to AllThingsD, the event won’t be centered around an iPad 3 announcement or have anything to do with a the television Apple is supposedly developing. In fact, as the event will reportedly be hosted by Apple’s Senior VP of Internet Software Eddy Cue, it’s much more likely it will concern publishing or advertising.

That’s probably a pretty good bet considering New York is still regarded as the advertising and publishing capital of these United States. Let’s assume, based on this info, the event will center on publishing and advertising.

That means we might expect an announcement about new magazines joining Apple’s Newsstand initiative or maybe we can look forward to an updated app that combines iBooks and Newsstand into one, much like Amazon does with its Kindle app for iOS. That would be nice.

Whatever ends up being announced, you can be sure some people will be happy and others will lament that the event wasn’t all about a brand new iPad 3. Rest assured people, Apple will release an iPad 3. It’s just a matter of time.

Until then, try to enjoy your iPad 2 and remember there are people much less fortunate than you are out there. I’m talking about, of couse, those people still using the original iPad.

Poor bastards.

It’s a funny thing the video game business (and most technology businesses for that matter). When a game first comes out it’s often the cutting edge of gaming design and graphics and, if popular, almost impossible to find. And then time passes and a new game rises to take its place with the old one left in a pile, all but forgotten.

That’s not the case these days, however, at least with some games. Some games, if they’re popular enough, go on to be ported to the iPad, iPhone and Android-powered devices. That’s exactly what happened with the PS2 hit game Grand Theft Auto 3, which is now available for Android and iOS devices.

Just like in the version we all new and loved ten years ago, in the game you take it to the streets of Liberty City to complete a variety of missions with a large cast of seedy characters. Rockstar Games says players can count on hours of gameplay, updated graphics, HD quality and gameplay that has been optimized for touchscreen devices.

We’ll be the judge of that. Right now. Grand Theft Auto 3 is available in the Android Market and in the iTunes App Store now for $4.99.

Let’s face it, there’s a lot of apps out there for the iPad and iPhone. Many of them are even useful and, on occasion, fun to use. You can add Flipboard to that list.

In case you haven’t tried it yet, Flipboard is a very popular magazine-style news application which, up until today, was available only for the iPad. Now, those of you who want the same experience on your iPhone or, for some reason, don’t have an iPad yet, can now enjoy Flipboard on your iPhone because it’s now available.

The app allows users to flip through a single feed of articles and photos that have been shared across various social networks. It can also display stories from a variety of news categories including technology, design, “Flipboard picks,” photography, business, sports, style, travel, food and more.

It’s a great app that really helps you digest a lot of information quickly and easily and does it inside a very user-friendly interface. It’s definitely worth checking out.

Flipboard for iPhone is free and available in the App Store now.

You may have heard of a little game called Call of Duty: Black Ops. In fact, before the more recent Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, it was the best selling first person shooter game of all time on the XBox 360, PS3 and PC.

But what if you didn’t have and XBox or were on the road and wanted to play it on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch? Well, up until today you were out of luck. Fortunately, your luck is changing . . . for the better.

That’s right kids today Activision has released Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Here’s all the scoop from the official press release:

Adapted from Treyarch’s best-selling console hit, Call of Duty: Black Ops, and built specifically for Apple mobile devices, Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies delivers a Zombies experience never before seen on mobile along with 50 levels of cult-favorite Dead-Ops Arcade, providing the ultimate undead challenge for fans of Call of Duty’s signature Zombies mode. Featuring Voice Chat for a true Call of Duty style multiplayer experience, the title allows gamers to play solo or join a team of up to four to take down hordes of zombies.

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Reading comics digitally on a tablet is the future. The size of tablets, and their vibrant images, make it an almost perfect reading experience. Well, Marvel Comics has an app for that and it has just received a new face-lift!

Marvel Comics app 3.0 is available now and it offers a ton of upgrades, making the the digital comics reading experience all the better:

Apple on Thursday (or today if you’re reading this, well, on Thursday) released iOS 5.0.1 for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. This update reportedly fixes a number of issues with the operating system.

According to Apple, the update fixes bugs affecting battery life, adds Multitasking Gestures for the original iPad, resolves bugs with Documents in the Cloud and improves voice recognition for Australian users using dictation. Actually, I’m pretty happy about that last one as the Australian Siri really had a hard time understanding me.

iOS 5.0.1 is compatible with iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 2, iPad, iPod touch (4th generation) and iPod touch (3rd generation). To install the update, launch the Settings app on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, tap General, and then open Software Update.

You can also update the old fashioned way by syncing your device with iTunes. Let us know how it goes if you do update.

Once the dominant player in the mobile and web content delivery space, Adobe’s Flash has seen quite a backlash against it in recent years. In truth, tt was always kind of a pain, at least for me, made websites look pretty ugly and often hogged system resources on my Macs to the point of crashing the entire system.

But the beginning of the end was probably Apple and then CEO Steve Jobs’ staunch refusal to include Flash on any of its iOS devices, including the iPhone and iPad. At the time some commented that Apple was making a big mistake in not including Flash on its devices. Now it looks like those people may have to reconsider their opinions.

According to reports, Adobe says it will “no longer adapt” the once-dominant program for handling multimedia and animation on computers and mobile devices. In an email to developers Adobe added that it will “continue to support the current Android and PlayBook configurations with critical bug fixes and security updates.”

Previously, former Apple CEO Steve Jobs led the opposition to the program, which he said in 2010 was “unreliable, vulnerable to hacking, a battery hog, and gave Adobe too much power over the services that could be offered on mobile devices.” Besides, power over mobile devices was his job, not Adobe’s. I kid, I kid. Much love to Steve.

At the time, Apple, Google, and Microsoft said they preferred an open system: the pretty cool and easy to use HTML5. However, in spite of this, Flash survived and was incorporated on Google Android and BlackBerry smartphones — until now. Although, having used a few Android phones with Flash enabled, it was still pretty much a POS.

However, now it looks like even Adobe has seen the proverbial writing on the wall and has decided to end mobile Flash and concentrate on HTML 5. Smart move. A bit late, but smart nonetheless. Now let’s hope they end up killing Flash altogether and we never, ever have to see it again.

I don’t know about you but it seemed like I used to have several Barnes & Noble stores in my neighborhood and now I need to drive quite far to find one. Not that that really means anything. Amazon doesn’t have any stores at all and they’re doing pretty well.

The above only goes to illustrate that you don’t necessarily need a solid business model to launch a tablet these days. Heck, look at Motorola and RIM, they did it. So, if follows that Barnes & Noble, a company that already has eReaders and such like Amazon does, would try their hand at a full tablet as well.

In fact, they just announced one today. And, judging from the specs and the early word on the street, they seem to have done a pretty good job. The company took the wraps off of said Nook Tablet during a press event in New York City this morning. Here’s the major specs:

• Screen: 1024 x 600 “laminated, no-air” 7-inch IPS LCD
• Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Processor: 1GHz dual-core TI Omap 4
• Platform: Customized version of Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
• Internal memory: 16GB
• microSD card expansion slot: up to 32GB cards
• Integrated microphone
• Battery life: 11 hours reading, 8-9 hours video (with wireless off)
• Price: $249
• Availability: Pre-order now, ships November 17

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Ok music creation fans who don’t have iPads, your time has come. That’s right, Apple has today official dropped the Garage Band app for iPhone and iPod Touch.

As you probably know, prior to today, it was only available for OS X-running Macs and on the iPad. But no more. Now you can compose the next great song while sitting in the waiting room of your doctor’s office or on the toilet. Just be sure to use headphones . . and wash your hands.

“GarageBand on iPad has been a big hit and we think customers will love using it on their iPhone or iPod touch,” Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing Philip Schiller said. “The innovative Multi-Touch interface combined with Smart Instruments makes it easy to create great sounding music, even if you’ve never studied music or played an instrument before.”

GarageBand is available in iTunes for $4.99 to new users or for free to those who already own the app on an iPad. It is supported by the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and the third and fourth-generation iPod touch. Click through for the full press release from Apple.

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