Preview: the iPad 2 ‘Camera’ Apps

Scheduled to ship March 11, this Friday, iPad 2 comes pre-loaded with a special version of iOS 4.3 which packs three applications that take advantage of the built-in cameras.

With every new iPhone generation, the iOS Camera application has been updated and enhanced to reflect the capabilities of newer hardware. It is now present on the iPad 2, which sports not one, but two cameras.

The Camera app does the simple but useful tasks of shooting video and pictures, which users can later edit in Apple’s 5 dollar iMovie app. Best of all, movies are shot in HD, “so whatever you shoot is a mini-masterpiece,” according to Apple.

By now, the FaceTime app should be a familiar ‘face’ to iOS customers. Introduced last year alongside the iPhone 4, FaceTime is Apple’s video-chatting standard for iOS and Mac OS X.

As long as the users on any end have an Apple ID and a WiFi connection, they’re good to chat using the built-in front- and back facing cameras.

Users can see each other and talk in real time, and there’s an option to switch the recipient’s view to the back-facing camera, so they can see where you’re hanging out, and with whom.

Photo Booth, however, is the tool Apple says we’re going to have the most fun with. It comes from Mac OS X, meaning every Mac user on the planet will be instantly familiar with it.

With a single tap on its icon, the app fires up and immediately shows a live preview of you (or whoever is sitting in front of the iPad 2), instantly applying nine special effects which you can play with.

Of course, no serious user will give the app more than two or three tries, but Apple says it will keep youngsters peeled to the tablet’s screen.

Parents have two options here: either buy them their own, or use the iOS parental controls to restrict access to the app.