One of the neat things about the iPad is the ability to take a picture of your screen. There are several reasons why you would want to take a screenshot. You can take a screenshot of a webpage, of an app, of your home screen or anything else that is currently on your screen.

First let’s go through the process of how you can take a screen shot of your screen on the iPad. When you have what you want to take a picture of ready on your screen, hit the Home button and the Power button simultaneously. When you do that your screen will flash bright white and you will hear the sound of a picture being taken. The new image you have created will now be in your pictures app.

But perhaps the best way to use the screenshot feature of the iPad is to take a screenshot of one of your pictures. Let’s say you have a good picture you took with your iPhone, but you want to zoom in a bit because your subject is off center. With iOS5 you can crop the image. But when you do that you no longer have the original image, just the cropped version. By zooming in to a picture and taking a screenshot of it instead, you will be creating a new cropped picture while keeping the original.

Another reason to take a screenshot of a picture is to create a lower resolution image of the original. The camera on the iPad 2 and iPad 3 are so good that they create a very large image. Sometimes you don’t want to send someone that detailed of a picture so they can see even the pores on your face. By taking a screenshot of your original picture you will be creating a smaller resolution image that is ideal for sharing.

When I first got my iPad a couple of years ago I wanted a to-do list app. What I was looking for was a simple and straightforward way to add a list of items and check them off as I completed them. It would be even nicer if I could get a reminder too. So I downloaded a few free and paid apps but none were really to my liking.

Then there was the big iOS 5 update and Apple decided to include a native reminders app. This new Reminders app leaves all the other task management type apps in the dust. The beauty of this app is that you can use it as a to-do list where you can quickly add items to a list which you can later check off one by one as you complete. But you can also use it to remind you of things you need to do. It can remind you hours from now, weeks from now or months from now. It can even remind you when you get near a place via its location based alerts. Let me go over the main features of the Reminders app in iOS 5.

Using The To-Do-List

Open the Reminders app on your iPad and hit the [ + ] button to begin adding your first reminder. Type a descriptive task and hit “Done”. That’s it. You have just added an item on your to-do list.

Editing A Reminder

If you want to be reminded about it, click on your task to further edit this item. The app can remind you to complete the task in one of two ways: on a certain date or by a location. If you opt to be reminded by a date, you can choose the date you want and the time you want to be reminded

Location Based Alerts

One of the beauties of the Reminders app is the ability to be alerted of a reminder when you enter on a location. I can’t tell you how useful this feature can be. This location-based trigger can be activated either when you leave or arrive your current location or the location of one of your contacts (if you have their address saved).

One of the neat things about a tablet device like the iPad is the ability to interact with media like never before. The app I’ll be discussing today is Skitch for the iPad, an app created by the folks from Evernote, that allows you to annotate your images with ease.

There are multiple reasons why you would want to draw on your pictures. If you’re just being goofy you can add a mustache to someone or scribble someone out of a picture. You can also start with a blank canvas and draw to your hearts content. If this sounds like a silly app, think again. There are professional reasons why you would want to sketch on a picture too.

Pictures speak a thousand words as they say and sometimes it can be difficult to explain what your vision is without drawing a rough sketch of the design. Using a blank canvas and the available tools (pencil, arrows, text or shapes) you can create your concept and share it with others.

Skitch is neat because you can collaborate with others on your projects. Just save your design and email it to a colleague. They can then further edit your image and send it back to you with their suggestions.

You can also use Skitch for iPad to help others. You can select the Maps option and draw right on the map in order to send someone precise directions. You can also create a step by step tutorial by annotating a series of pictures with arrows and descriptions.

The large screen of the iPad makes it possible for professionals to use this absolutely free app for their projects. Skitch is ideal for designers. Graphic designers can take a screenshot of a webpage and sketch out a site redesign. Landscapers can take a picture of your yard and draw their ideas for a new look.

Here is how I’ve personally used Skitch recently. Using the Google Earth app on the iPhone, I zoomed in over the top of my house and took a screenshot. I then opened this image in Skitch and drew up a concept of a backyard design. I used a blue oval to draw the pool, green rectangles to draw the grass and the gray pen to fill in the cement areas. Within minutes I had a concept I can easily show to others.

Here’s a link to the Skitch app on iTunes.

Click to enlarge.

With Barcelona behind us most of the players have tipped their hand for what 2012 looks like. We know that Nokia is making a Hail Mary pass with Windows phone. There is no Plan B. Samsung and the others have laid out their strategies for the year. If there is to be a summer CES Chicago, it is never a place for announcements or mind share.

That leaves Apple, which in recent years has decided to go it alone with its own standalone press conferences. And we are mere hours away from one of those hallowed events. As sure as the sun rises on March 7. Every technology reporter on the planet will be listening for the great outcome.

The rumor mill of what Apple will announce surely must be proud of the fact that it is hardly killing trees, merely disturbing countless electrons. No, we do not have an inside track as to what Apple’s going to say. It could be a new iPhone. It may be a new iPad. It will probably have a pixel display density that hereto for will be unheard of.

And there are couple things we can be pretty confident it will not be. Number one being: shipping immediately or soon thereafter. This is clear because even if Apple can keep everybody shut up, under pain of death or worse, there is something it cannot hide.

The inability of a component manufacturer to take an order. Apples products do not materialize out of thin air, nor are they beamed in after being manufactured in another galaxy. They have to buy components from real earthbound manufacturers and assemble them in China.

While a component manufacturer could honor any agreement of silence under pain of death or loss of future Apple orders, physics does not allow them to produce a given widget at a rate exceeding maximum factory capacity.

In the past, one could deduce to some degree, what Apple is up to. Not many years ago, they tied up so many factories that produce flash RAM, it caused a spike in the spot market. Thailand is back on its manufacturing feet after the flooding impacted everything from hard drive heads to printheads.

Not one word is being said of long lead times for any components in the supply chain.

There is another critical point to Apple’s announcement. It is the first major PR release since the passing of Steve Jobs, handing the baton and crown to Tim Cook. To say the world’s eyes will be on the March 7 announcement would be an understatement. It is completely irrelevant that Mr. Cook has been the CEO of Apple Corporation for less than six months.

Wall Street’s tolerates only enough uncertainty to speculate on profit. The richest company on the planet has no choice but to put out an eye-popping release. Otherwise confidence in the new CEO would go right down the tubes. These two facts are certain and not based on speculation.

Now here is a wild speculation. What if the CEO of HP, Meg Whitman wanted to show Wall Street the worst days HP has seen in the past years are behind it with her at the helm. The electronics firm is seeing demand for its printer division slipping. The Thailand flooding impacted their profitability in the server division due to a lack of hard drive heads. And about 18 months ago, HP announced it has solved in a practical way, the fourth and final possible electronic circuit known as the memristor.

HP has already joined forces with Hyinx to manufacture the ‘memory resistor’.

A new Apple product with the retina display combined with memristor technology would cement Tim Cook as a viable successor to Steve Jobs and be a great shot in the arm to Meg Whitman and HP. The new product would not have to be available until Christmas 2012.

And it would be the shot heard around the world in and outside of electronics industry.

Apple is approaching another milestone. Soon Apple users will have downloaded a total of 25 billion apps. The App store debuted in July of 2008 and has seen exponential growth ever since.

To celebrate the occasion Apple will be awarding lucky number 25,000,000,000 a $10,000 App Store gift card. There was some initial confusion as to whether the gift card would be for the Apple store or the App store, but I can confirm it is just for the app store. The prize essentially awards the winner unlimited app downloads for life. If you were to buy one $0.99 app every single day it would take you nearly 28 years to use up your gift card.

Here’s a quick rundown of some previous app milestones:

• July 2008: 0 downloads
• April 2009: 1,000,000,000 downloads
• June 2010: 5,000,000,000 downloads
• January 2011: 10,000,000,000 downloads
• July 2011: 15,000,000,000 downloads
• February 2012: 25,000,000,000 downloads

The last time Apple had a giveaway was when Apple reached 1 billion app downloads. That time, the lucky winner was a 13 year old who received a boat load of prizes. First, he was awarded a $10,000 iTunes gift card, then he got an iPod Toucoh, a MacBook Pro and one of Apple’s Time Capsule devices. This time around, the prize is nowhere as good but I sure wouldn’t complain if I won.

If you’re feeling lucky, head over to Apple’s countdown page to see where the tally is at currently. Then, download an app as it approaches the 25 billion mark and you may be the next lucky winner.

Brace yourself for more madness at Apple stores. The next generation iPad is on its way. The internets is abuzz with rumors of when the iPad 3 will be released and what changes have been made to the product. Here are some things to note about Apple’s latest tablet release.

iPad 3 Rumors

All we know is that the next iPad is coming soon. But just what’s in it is still a mystery. While no rumor is certain, you can count on the next generation iPad having the following: upgraded screen resolution, faster processor, improved camera, longer battery life and the digital assistant Siri.

The New iPad 2S

There may not be an iPad 3 release after all. Remember when we were all expecting the iPhone 5? It turned out to be the iPhone 4S. Don’t be surprised if the same thing happens with the iPad. After all, if you’re just making the product faster and introducing Siri, that doesn’t quite deserve a change in the number.

Skip This Update

Unless you’re an Apple fanatic, there’s no need to buy every iteration of the iPad. While it’s unclear what the updated iPad will have, it is most likely not going to be a drastic change from the iPad 2. There was a big change from the original iPad and the iPad 2 though. There were front and rear cameras added, it was thinner and lighter, it featured a higher resolution screen and it was noticeably faster. That was enough for many to upgrade.

But the iPad 3 rumors swirling around don’t point to drastic changes, but rather just improvements such as a better camera, longer battery life, faster processor, etc. Perhaps it may be best to wait until 2013 or 2014 for the iPad 4 if you want a major product upgrade.

Sell Your iPad 2 Now

If you are planning on buying an iPad 3 you’re probably going to want to sell your iPad or iPad 2. The time to sell it is now. Don’t wait until the new one comes out because you will get paid less for it.

It’s all about supply and demand. Let’s say that right now there are 400 iPad 2′s for sale on eBay with 500 interested buyers. The low supply and high demand keeps the prices high. When the iPad 3 is released the number of used iPad 2′s will surely balloon to 800 or so. But there are the still only 500 buyers. Since there is more supply than demand, the sellers will need to lower their prices if they want their iPads sold.

So sync your iPad on your computer, reset your iPad 2 and sell it. Suffer for a few weeks without it, then buy the iPad 3 and sync your apps and pictures back in it then. This move might save you about 50 bucks in your resale value.

When Apple released a major update to their mobile operating system, iOS 5, they made various bug fixes and major upgrades. The upgrades everyone was talking about was iMessage and iCloud. But Apple also made it easier for iPad users to type with a software upgrade for the keyboard.

iPads are more than just for playing games. Many users spend lots of time typing on their iPad’s. Some spend their time replying to emails, taking notes in class, and yet others like me type up their blog posts on an iPad.

Before the iOS 5 upgrade, typing on an iPad involved touching the keys on the on-screen keyboard with the index finger one by one. Typing was easiest done as the iPad was on a stand on a desk. The difficulty arose when users were holding the iPad with both hands. Now imagine trying to type? You would have to let go of the iPad with one hand and use your other hand to touch the keys with your index finger, one letter at a time. As you do this, your other hand is probably getting tired of holding up your iPad.

With iOS 5, Apple addressed that pesky issue by introducing a split keyboard mode for the iPad. Now, typing could be done with the thumbs of each hand. This makes it far easier to type while holding the iPad with both hands.

How To Split Your Keyboard

Here is how to enable the split-keyboard feature: When the keyboard is visible, tap and hold the “shuffle slider” button which is located on the bottom right hand corner of the onscreen keyboard. To activate the split keyboard, slide your finger up to the “Split” option and select it.

Another much quicker way of splitting your keyboard is to “pinch to zoom in” on your keyboard to split it and “pinch to zoom out” to re-join the keyboard.

Phantom Keys

An interesting “secret” of the split keyboard is the so-called “phantom” keys on the split keyboard. You can type Y, H, and B with your left thumb by reaching across the empty space next to T, G and V. The same is correct for the other side. You can type the T, G and V keys with your right thumb by reaching across the empty space next to Y, H and B.

Long-time smartphone users may be used to “sneaking” your thumb across to type a key that the other thumb should handle. This phantom key feature lets them hit the correct key regardless of what thumb they use.

Simon writes for Best Mobile Contracts – a UK mobile phone comparison website where you can find the best deals for a new Android or iPhone phone contract.

This iPad wallpaper has a star fish in the sand by the shore.

This docking station for the iPad has it all. It’s got built in stereo speakers and works as a stand and a charging device too. The rotating housing allows you to position your iPad at the right angle and orientation. This item works great for watching movies and listening through the docking station speakers, which are better than the ones built into the iPad.