iMovie Goes Universal, Gets Updated for iPad 2

At its iPad 2 press event on Wednesday, Apple announced that it is releasing a universal version of its current iMovie app. Currently, the app only runs on iPhone and iPod Touch, but the renamed iMovie for iOS will run on the iPad as well.

In his introduction of the app, Apple's Steve Jobs said, "[the app] is not a toy; you can really edit a movie on this thing." Randy Ubilios, Apple's chief artichect for video applications, then went on to present iMovie for iOS.

The application functions more like a fully-loaded video editing program than it does a lightweight app. iMovie for iOS will offer many of the advanced features found in the Mac version of iMovie. Just some of its features include a precision editor, multitrack audio recording, waveform audio editing, full high-definition video support, AirPlay support, multitouch gestures, iPad microphone support and direct video import via your device. The app will even be able to publish directly to social networks, such as YouTube, FaceBook, Vimeo, CNN iReport and iTunes, giving users plenty of options for distributing their content.

There are also other little extras in the universl version to boot, such as three new themes, three background audio tracks and fifty sound effects.

From the looks of it, you will in fact be able to actually edit a full-length film on the iPad 2 using the software. What's more, the ease-of-use a touchscreen brings to the film-editing process is exciting for anyone who's dabbled in any film-editing software before. Oh – and imagine hooking your iPad 2 up to your HDTV via HDMI. I can't help but be excited about the idea of using the iPad to edit video.

iMovie for iOS will be available March 11 for $4.99 and will be supported by iPhone 4, the 4th-gen iPod Touch and iPad 2.