Mel

123D Sculpt

Traditional sculpting is a difficult and messy business, but 123D Sculpt by Autodesk simplifies things a lot. Designed specifically for the iPad, it comes with a tutorial that will get you up to speed. You can create human heads, dinosaurs, birds and other complex shapes. There are tools for smoothening, pulling and pushing a model. Use your fingers to twist, pinch or swipe. These sculpting tools can be selected directly. You can sculpt the mesh or the model. Some creases appear on the reverse side. However, this really isn’t a problem because there is a symmetry mode.

Nitronic Rush

Nitronic Rush sets a new standard when it comes to survival car racing games. In the game, your vehicle is configured as an anti-virus program. You race through nine stunning tracks, cleaning up unstable Nitronic City. This means you have to drive through obstacles, jumping side boots, do barrel rolls and other maneuvers. On certain occasions your car gets wings to fly around. The graphics are inspired by the 1082 movie Tron, but the developers have added their own touch. In terms of quality, the graphics are comparable to other pricey racing games. Players can upload “Ghosts” and compare time and scores against each other. The techno soundtrack blends in perfectly with the frenetic pace.

Granimator

Granimator is a wallpaper creator with a twist. It makes great use of the iPad’s screen size to display stunning, unique images. You don’t need to be an expert to create high quality wallpaper; you just tap the screen and images will appear. This app from ustwo has cool music playing in the background as you draw.

Speed Dreams

Speed Dreams is the former Torcs-NG, but with a host of improvements. There are lots of cars, better graphics and realistic physics engines. It’s a racer all right, but precision driving will be necessary. It is cross-platform and you can play it in Windows, Linux and Haiku. There’s a lot of everything here. Racing modes include Career, the Championship, single events, endurance, quick race and practice. Dozens of cars are available and grouped into the following categories: World Rally Series, Monoposto 5, Long Day Series GT1 and 2, Supercars (sports cars), TORCS Racing Board 1 and 1936 Grand Prix. TORCS Racing Board 1 cars are redesigned models from the original TORCS. The 1936 Grand Prix are pre-World War II racing cars.

123D Make

So you just made a cool 3D model, but wouldn’t it be great if you could turn that into a real object you can hold? Well, 123D Make by Autodesk allows exactly that. How does it do that? It turns a 3D object into cardboard templates. After printing these templates, you can use these to cut cardboards or foams. Glue them together, paint and your virtual 3D object is literally in your hands. The program is a bit different from other 3D graphics software, but it will only take a while to get used to the interface.

Home Design Story

Home Design Story is a simulation game where you design, build and decorate your dream house. This iPhone/iPad game gives you a great deal of control over the design and construction of a house. The brightly colored graphics and smooth flow help make this gem from TeamLava very enjoyable, all while bringing out your creativity. The key in these simulation games is the depth, and Home Design Story doesn’t disappoint. A wide array of styles is available ranging from modern to classic to deco. You can add furniture, wallpaper and flooring. You can also create beautiful gardens and patios.

Skyscanner

Skyscanner is an app that lets you search flights from around the world. When you use the app, you’ll be able to locate the most affordable dates and flights around. After downloading and setting up the program, it will ask for your present location so it can locate the nearest flight. You can choose OK or “don’t allow”. Choose OK when you are ready to use the app. If you tap OK, you’ll be given information about the nearest airport. Skyscanner will also tell you where the flights in your area are located. The screen will also have information on what days a flight is returning or departing, where airports fly to and the closest airport. You can modify the search options to show only direct flights.

Bean

Bean for Mac is a word processor that can handle basic writing tasks and a bit more. It doesn’t have as many features as full office suites. But it doesn’t take as much space either. Bean combines a beautiful interface with several helpful editing tools. Even better, it is very quick and doesn’t have the intricacies that come with office suite based word processors. The product has some limitations; it cannot display style sheets or footnotes; compatibility with Word is partial. However, it has plenty to offer. There is a grammar / spell checker, dictionary, change format font style, color, size and a live word count. The font manager makes it simple to organize and add favorites.