Apple iMovie 1.2

iOS App of the Week I’ve been having a lot of fun playing with Apple's new GarageBand app, but it’s the updated iMovie that will really benefit from the new camera and improved graphics power of the iPad 2.

You can still run iMovie 1.2 on an iPhone or iPod Touch and gain minor improvements such as the new project themes and sound effects. It’s also possible – unofficially, though – to install iMovie on the original iPad.

Apple's iMovie: video editing on the iPad

Apple has unsuprisingly tried to prevent this in order to encourage fondleslab fans to upgrade to the iPad 2. The easiest method for getting iMovie 1.2 to run on the 'old' tablet I’ve found is at AppAdvice.

The downside: you can't sync your iPad with iTunes until you ditch iMovie.

iPad 2 owners - when Apple ships the thing over here - will not be so encumbered, though they may not be impressed with the footage taken using the new tablet's weak cameras. Other footage can be imported through iTunes and - potentially - the iPad Camera Connection Kit's USB and SD adaptors. Apple hasn't yet said what addition formats beyond H.264 are supported.

Tap to call up track options

It’s much easier to edit video projects on the iPad than it is on the iPhone simply because you’ve got more room to view and trim clips. However, iMovie on the iPad also sprouts some major new features that aren’t available when the app is running on the smaller screen of the iPhone.