As most of you know, there are several benefits to editing your personal photos in the iPhoto application for iOS and you get just about the same level of functionality as the version developed for the desktop Mac. The most significant advantage would have to be that it is a lot easier and faster to edit the photos on your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad tablet by using your fingertip or a stylus. Despite the fact that learning to edit on a iOS-running device might take a while to get used to, after learning the basics you will then be able to move to more advanced editing like adding a series of special effects.

The iPhoto application developed for devices running on iOS will offer you numerous types of special effects, and adding these is an easy and fun way of enhancing your pictures without having to spend numerous hours at the desk. If you want to start adding these effects you’ll have to open the photograph that you would like to edit and tap on the “Edit” button which is located in the screen’s upper right corner. Now, tap on the “Effects” tool which sits next to “Brushes”. Keep in mind that it looks pretty much like a cluster of stars.

Once you tap on this it is going to bring up a fan of effects strips that are available in several categories. You should know that these effects can do just about anything that you can think of, such as changing the colors & tones of the pictures or you can also add lo-fi filters. In order to select one of the available effects you’ll simply have to tap on the corresponding strip and each of the effects strip boasts a number of thumbnails which is going to provide you with a fast overview of the effects which are available in each of the strips. It is important to note that in some of the strips you will only find one kind of effect, while in others there are numerous effects to choose from. iPhoto for iOS devices has six effect strips and while some of them will change the appearance of the photo in a subtle way, others are going to dramatically modify how your picture looks. Warm & Cool, Duotone, Black & White, along with Aura are the first four types of effects which will give you the possibility to control the color & tone of the pictures in various ways, while the last two types of effects, Vintage and Artistic, will give you the chance to add lo-fi filters as well as other artistic looks.

Perhaps one of the most subtle effects available would have to be the aforementioned Warm & Cool and if you choose this one it is going to provide the photo with warmer or cooler tones. If you drag your finger to the left of the effect strips it is going to give you warmer tones on your photo, while if you drag it to the right you’ll get cooler tones. Join us for the part two of the article where we will discuss about the rest of the effect strips that you will find in the iPhoto application developed for the devices that are running on Apple’s iOS.

Despite the fact that you have the possibility to add a USB port to your tablet with the help of the iPad Camera Connection Kit, it will not work with your USB printer due to the reason that iOS does not know how to communicate with printers through USB. While some printers feature Wi-Fi, for most of the other ones you must have a computer which will serve as a conduit for print jobs. The iPad is going to connect wirelessly to your computer which in turn will link to the printer.

Aside from the hardware, you will also need software that will be able to know how the data has to be sent to the printer in the suitable format. Apple has introduced with iOS 4.2 printing support via a technology called AirPrint but the support is rather limited at the moment as most of the printers come from HP. If you have an iPad and one of those printers you can see it and print it without having to make any configurations. If you do not own such a printer don’t lose hope as you still can use AirPrint for most of printers out there as you will need a software which has to be installed on your Mac.

There are two applications available which you should consider. The first one is called Collobos Software FingerPrint and costs $8, while the other one is Ecamm Network Printopia which is $10. You can install either of these two apps, choose the printer that you would like your iOS device to use and after that you will be able to print to those printers from your tablet. With both applications you can print from the iPad to both local and network printers, plus you can also utilize the Print command for sending docs to Dropbox. We have to note that the aforementioned FingerPrint needs at least OS X 10.6 and it can print directly to iPhoto on Mac. As for Printopia, this needs OS X 10.5 or later and it will work with any printers and it is capable of sending files from the tablet to a PNG or PDF file on a Mac. An alternative to these two applications is AirPrint Activator developed by Netputing which is free but we should warn you that the setup process is quite tedious and you can’t print to a folder on a Mac or print to Dropbox. As far as the printing process is concerned, first you’ll have to find the Print command. The first time when you will use AirPrint you will have to tap on Select Printer and after that tap the name of the printer. After selecting the printer this will become the default one so you won’t have to take this step the next time when you want to print something. For changing the number of copies you’ll have to tap the minus and plus buttons.

If the document that you want to print has more than one page, you have the possibility to choose which pages to print by tapping on the Range button and after that entering the start & end page numbers. After you are done with this, you simply tap on Print and the document will start printing. During the printing process you might want to double tap on Home and after that tap on Print Center to look at the print jobs and manage them.

The only version of the iPod which features a mechanical hard drive is the Classic which has been available for several years and hasn’t received an update for a very long time.

Available only in a 16GB version, the iPod Classic can hold 40,000 4-minute songs so you get about 111 days of nonstop music. It is available in either a black or a white color finish and aside from play music, it can also show images and videos on the 2.5-inch color display.

The device is also capable of holding notes, calendars and contacts. It isn’t a very impressive media player but it offers a great storage capacity and is suitable for those who want to travel with a lot of music alongside. If capacity is not important, this isn’t the iPod to get, while some people will not like the user interface, especially those who are visually impaired. We move on to the best iPod available right now, the fourth-generation Touch which you can consider as an iPhone 4 without the phone department. Other than this, it has just about the same features, such as support for HD video recording, FaceTime, an A4 processor, built-in microphone, Retina display, along with front- and rear-facing cameras. Let’s not forget that the iPod Touch 4G does not have the Siri features and is not able to transfer data over 3G or EDGE. While the iPhone 4S has an 8 mpx camera, the one on the back of the Touch 4G has a much lower resolution 0.7 megapixels. In addition, the aforementioned Retina Display is not as good in terms of off-angles in comparison to the display of the 4S. The fourth generation of the iPod Touch is available in three storage configurations: 8GB ($199), 32GB ($299) and 64GB ($399). Even though the Touch is not able to provide the storage of the Classic, the 64GB iPod Touch is capable of holding 40 two-hour movies which will be more than enough for most people. One of the best features of the iPod Touch 4G is the 3.5-inch touchscreen display which manages to be very bright. You get support for Shake-to-Shuffle, Genius playlists, and it also has a built-in speaker plus it can also handle e-mail, web browsing, YouTube and iCloud synchronization. Let’s not forget that it offers support for iTunes Match so you have the possibility to access your vast music library over a Wi-Fi connection so whenever you want you can redownload purchased apps, music, TV shows as well as the ebooks that you have bought from the online stores.

We would like to recommend the iPod Touch 4G to those that want Wi-Fi access to the Internet, iTunes Stores, iBookstore, FaceTime, still & video camera, but can live without the phone capabilities. You should stick with simpler iPods if you want a music player while exercising since the Touch is quite bulky.

In this article we are going to have a look at the various types of iPods that you can buy, depending on what you need and what these audio players have to offer. The most affordable way to go would be to get the fourth generation of the iPod Shuffle which will set you back as low as $49. It looks just about the same as the 2G version, but with the latest model you have the possibility to navigate the device with the help of the VoiceOver Button or you can press the controller on the Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic which will cost you an additional $29.

After pressing the button, the iPod Shuffle is going to say the name and artist of the song that is currently playing. If you press and hold this button it will list all of the playlists.

Featuring an almost square shape, the iPod Shuffle 4G is available only in a 2GB storage capacity which is able to hold about 500 songs that last 4 minutes encoded as 128 kbps AAC. The Shuffle is available in various colors: green, blue, silver, pink and orange. Just like its predecessors, the fourth generation of the Shuffle features a clip so you can securely attach it to clothing, purse or a backpack. Instead of a display, it has the usual audio controls such as Next/Fast-forward, Volume Up, Volume Down, Play/Pause and Previous/Rewind. We would recommend the iPod Shuffle 4G for kids, athletes and for those of you that would like to play the music and then not think about the device anymore. You can also get it as a spare iPod. The Shuffle is not suitable for those who would prefer to carry a lot of music or for those people that are looking for an easy navigation of the music library. Needless to say, this isn’t the iPod to get if you want to watch videos.

Let’s move on to the iPod Nano which back in 2010 reached its sixth generation that instead of bringing more features, Apple decided to remove some of them. While the 5G model had a Click Wheel, a low-resolution video camera, and was able to play videos, display calendars, notes and contacts, the Nano 6G adopts a smaller screen, doesn’t have a camera and adopts a touch interface. In addition, it dispenses entirely with notes, calendars and contacts. You do get an FM radio which is capable of buffering up to 15 minutes of audio, just like its predecessor, and at the same time it can also display the still images you synchronize to it. You can also use the iPod Nano 6G as a watch as there are many stylish clock faces available. This sixth iteration of the Nano is available in 8GB and 16GB versions, which cost $129 and $149, respectively. You get to choose from one of the following seven colors: red, silver, blue, gray, pink, orange and green. You will play & navigate by using the onscreen touch controls. We would recommend the iPod Nano 6G for those of you who exercise and are familiar with the iPod. You can also get it for an older kid that you know will take care of it. Other suitable scenarios include transportation commuters as well as those who want to carry a decent amount of music wrapped around in a cool and stylish package. Avoid this model if you don’t like touch interfaces or if you want to watch videos.

When it comes down to choose an amplifier for your AirPlay audio system, you have a lot of options to consider. Some of the models that we would like to recommend include the Amphony Model 200 microFidelity Mini Amplifier which will set you back about $69, the Class T amp that offers 10-50 watts of power, along with the $130 Dayton Audio DTA-100a. If you are willing to pay more, have a look at the Audioengine N22 that costs $199 which uses higher-end components and class-A/B amplification.

Moving on to the choice of speakers, you should opt for those bookshelf speakers that come at a reasonable price tag and offer a high sound quality. If your budget is limited, have a look at the Energy CB-5 Bookshelf Speakers that cost less than $100 on Amazon, while more premium speakers are the Dayton Audio BR-1S which are available for $169. For those with more generous pockets we would like to suggest the PSB Alpha B1 ($279) or the Paradigm Atom Monitor ($250).

If you like the idea of putting together your very own system but you do not want to buy separate speakers and amplifier, you should know that there is another, more convenient way. You have the possibility to purchase a set of self-powered speakers like the Audioengine A5 powered speakers that carry a retail price tag of about $349 or $449 for the bamboo version. These speakers not only have a great design but they also sound extremely well. The right-hand speaker sports an AC power outlet located on the back which is ideal for your AirPort Express. All that you have to do is use a small cable between the audio-input jack of the A5 and the AirPort Express. Now, time has come to enable AirPlay so the first thing that you have to do is connect the device to the network and after that you’ll have to enable AirPlay on it. On your second generation Apple TV you must go into the Settings menu and then select AirPlay, making sure that the AirPlay option is set to On. As for the AirPort Express is concerned, you will have to go to Applications > Utility > AirPort Utility and then select AirPort Express. Next, you must choose Manual Setup and then click on the Music icon located in the toolbar. Now, you’ll have to check the box located next to “Enable Air Tunes”.

Regardless if you are using the Apple TV or AirPort Express, you can set a password so that in the future anyone who will want to stream content must be able to provide the password. After you have finished with the setup process, streaming content on your system is quite easy to do. You must open iTunes and then click on the AirPlay button which is located in the lower-right corner of the window. Then you will have to choose Apple TV or AirPort Express as the destination. If you select Multiple Speakers you will be able to send audio to multiple devices that are AirPlay-equipped. Don’t forget that in order to turn on your audio system you’ll have to make sure that it is set to the correct input, in the situation in which it has more than just one input available.