OnLive Desktop Plus

OnLive Desktop Plus

So I broke down and decided to pay the $ 4.99 per month for OnLive Desktop Plus just to get full flash support for some CPA technology sites.  The one I wanted to run the most was www.xcmsolutions.com workflow which is an excellent workflow solution for CPA firms and can fit certain industries.  I know they are working on an iPad app but I want to be able to run the whole workflow tool.

Done and it works great.  If you need to have full flash support on a website and run stuff you never dreamed you could run on an iPad such as Office 2010 (no kidding) this is the product for you.  Remember to get the full flash support you must sign up for the Plus version the free version will not let you open browse to any site.

OnLive Desktop

http://desktop.onlive.com/

Two Strong MS Office App Options

Two Strong Office Apps 

Need to open a Microsoft Office document on an iPad? Well, the world of iPad and Office just got better with two very strong apps.  Each one has features that shine and the good news is the basic version of either is free.  Every accountants favorite four letter word, FREE.

CloudOn (free)

CloudOn supports Dropbox, Box, Google Drive and reads directly to and from these sites.  You will need decent Internet access to make CloudOn work correctly.  With no access you have no use so you will want to improve your Internet access options.  CloudOn supports Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and PDF documents.

According to their website (www.cloudon.com) here is the official description….

CloudOn brings Microsoft Office to your tablet. All of it. Of course you can format text, change fonts and catch that typo, but imagine being able to track changes while editing Word documents, use pivot tables and insert formulas in Excel and present your PowerPoint slides complete with transitions.

 Another nifty little feature is the ability to view PDFs (including 3d PDFs) and fill out PDF forms on your workspace! You also have a universal viewer that lets you view virtually any file – from raw Photoshop images to everyday image files like PNG, JPEG and GIF.

OnLive Desktop (basic version free and premium account $4.99 per month)

OnLive Desktop requires that you sign up for the account via an Internet browser before the iPad app will work.  Also, files need to be uploaded to their site with a web browser.  They start you at 2GB free.  I found this one to have the best Microsoft Office interface. to date.  By the way, where is the world is Microsoft? 

This one is so close it looks exactly like Windows 7 and Office 2010.  If you ever need to load an Excel file and convert (Save As) to a PDF this is the tool for you.  While it does not support your cloud data sites until you upgrade to the monthly subscription it still is very impressive.

According to their website (desktop.online.live) here is the official description….

Access a Powerful PC from Anywhere!

•PC Microsoft® Office with 2GB cloud storage FREE*

•Full-featured document viewing and editing

•Instant-action, media-rich Windows® cloud desktop

•Lightning-fast Web browsing with Adobe® Flash®

•For iPad and Android™ tablets. Coming soon to PC, Mac®, TVs

Verizon Jetpack 4620L MIFI 4G/LTE

Verizon Jetpack 4620L MIFI (9275)

For two years I have been packing a Sprint 3G MIFI around with me.  Sometimes it worked great.  Most of the time it was useless or very slow.  This lead me to drop the Spring account and then just use my iPhone as a hotspot.  The Verizon Jetpack will support up to ten devices at 4G or LTE speeds.  The initial cost was around $60 (Internet special) with a monthly cost of around $50 for 5GB.

My service for my iPhone is AT&T.  While AT&T cellular data service is improving data services is spotty like the Spring MIFI but not quite as bad.  My iPhone 4S sports 4G or so they claim.  While it shows 4G it often cannot even get data service at all.  All carriers when they are overwhelmed will prioritize voice over data and either throttle back your data or cut the data feed altogether.   Don’t believe me?  Go to any large gathering of people like a concert or sporting event and try to use data services.

Using my iPhone 4S as a hotspot is fine where I have great service and I don’t connect more than one device to the iPhone.  Two devices will bring it to it’s knees even with great service.   So, when I read about the Verizon Jetpack MIFI which is capable of not only 4G but LTE I was very interested. 

Many folks like me have been confused about 4G and LTE.  I actually thought that LTE was a watered down version of 4G.  Not true.  Let’s just say that LTE is what you want to see on your device not 4G.  In comparing speeds in the real world on my devices 4G will run from 5Mbps to 7Mbps up and down at it’s best on a good day. 

LTE, on the other hand, will peg the needle on any of your speed test tools with my tool topping out this week in Boston at around 55Mbps up and 60Mbps down.  No kidding.  I have now tested LTE in Salt Lake City, Dallas, Jackson MS, Portland OR, and Boston.  In all cases the 4G was good but LTE was great where it worked.  Not all cities had LTE yet.  I am sure that they are all moving to LTE quickly.

I learned about LTE by activating LTE on my new iPad which supports 4G/LTE.  When 4G shows it will get 5/6 Mbps.  When LTE shows it will peg the speed tests anywhere from 38Mbps to 60Mbps.  From trying to read various standards on LTE it appears that the standard will support up to 73Mbps.  This is enough to run a small business.

Even when the service falls back to 4G it still appears to be stronger than AT&T’s 4G.  The device is smaller than the new Spring 4G device and comes with a wall adapter.  I have also found I can power the device from any USB port.  Note, you will not charge from a USB only run the device which is just fine.  Battery run time with average use appears to be around 5 hours.

So, bottom line.  Is the Verizon Jetpack 4620L MIFI worth the money?  Absolutely the best Internet connection device I have ever owned.  

Camera to PDF

I just tried a few apps today to convert a picture to a PDF. Most of the time we don't need this as we use Concur.com for our expense reporting and that feature is built into the mobile apps so I didn't have a real favorite. I tried two of them. JotNot Pro and Scan To PDF. Both seemed to work well but the JotNot Pro seemed to work better with the camera and also had some interesting effects you can apply to photos as well as converting them to PDF. My report on the Verizon 4G/LTE hotspot will come next week after I get to test it in one more city. Regards.

The New iPad Review

The New iPad – An Executive Review

Yes, I own a “The New iPad”.  You already know by now that Apple in one of it’s stupid moments decided that the latest iPad would not be the iPad 3 but officially “The New iPad”.   Sometimes they really don’t understand the business world.  iPad 3 would have worked much better.  Oh well.  Now that we have The New iPad what is different?

A5X Chip

Dual core processing with quad core graphics.  Much faster but not really worth selling your iPad 2 to get this new processor.  Most of the increased horsepower is used up by the new display.  If you are still on a original iPad then, yes, upgrade.

Retina Display

3.1 million pixels. (2048 x 1536)

This is a higher screen definition than any HD TV you own.  It is the most complex display ever built for any device, mobile or desktop.  It is brilliant and clear.  Whether you need this display or not is up to you and I will just say that you need to compare this new display sitting right next to your iPad or iPad 2.  Do I think this is the big reason to upgrade?  Maybe.

iSight 5MP, five lens, f/2.4, rear facing camera capable of capturing video at 1080p 

While this is an improved camera and very clear it is actually not as robust as the 8MP camera on the iPhone 4S with all the other same specs.  Upgrade for this feature?  No, your current camera is adequate unless you work for National Geographic taking photos or video.

Dictation

Yes, you can go download the free Dragon Dictation and be very close to this feature but now it is built into every aspect of the device and it works great.  From what I understand Apple licensed the basis for this dictation from Dragon and improved how it integrates with the iPad.   Upgrade for this feature?  No, go download Dragon Dictation from the app store and wait your turn with the next iPad.

Bigger battery with longer battery life

Well, they needed this bigger battery to power the super HD display and new processor but along the way they also ended up with longer battery life.  Well, that is unless you are playing games that are using a lot of video resolution then it will drop quickly and also tend to heat up a bit.  Heat issues?  Not for the real world only for gamers and even then the difference is minimal and was used as a tempest in a teapot by Apple distractors.  The new iPad is a bit heavier and can be a bit warmer but I would not use the term hot.

4G/LTE

O.K.  This is the biggie.  I must confess that I have been recommending that folks just buy an iPad with 802.11 and forget the extra data plans then use their iPhone as a hotspot.  Well, the iPhone as a hotspot is fine for one device, two if you have excellent cellular data support, but that is about all.  Also, I must admit I had never really seen 4G/LTE work.  Now I have.  Where supported I have been getting speeds as high as 38-47 Mbs both up and down.  NO KIDDING.  This is for real folks.  If you need to have better bandwidth this is the way to go.  I have been completely taken by this new technology.  Even it cities where I only get the 4G and no LTE the speeds are still 4-5 Mbs down and 1-2 Mbs up.   I have become so enamored by this technology that I have also purchased a new Verizon hotspot device that I am testing this week that will support up to 10 devices via 4G/LTE.  I will write on this more when I have more real world results but for now let me say it is already very promising.  Another nod to Verizon is that you can turn your “New iPad” into a hotspot using your 4G/LTE account and that there is GSM support in the Verizon iPad now catching up with AT&T.  AT&T will not allow their version of the iPad to be used as a hotspot, yet.    Not smart on their part as the data plans are not unlimited.   Is this worth the upgrade?  Yes, if you are a heavy data user.  No, if you just check email and are a light data user.

Hope this helps.  Happy iPadding to all!

Dropbox

One of the best ways to move files to and from an iPad is Dropbox.  I have been using Dropbox free account now for over nine months and it has been great.  Last fall my HP laptop died when the power on button snapped off in my hand while traveling back from a speaking engagement in NC.  I am so grateful that my partner, Tommy Stephens, had recommended Dropbox to me a few months earlier.  As soon as I was able to get a new laptop I was able to quickly restore all my critical teaching data and some very important personal files.  No, I don't put anything up in Dropbox that contains sensitive personal information but i probably could as Dropbox is both encrypted in transit and encrypted at rest.  If you decide to use Dropbox for sensitive data be sure to evaluate the security policies before you put up sensitive data.

Right now I had Dropbox on two Windows-based PCs, one Macbook Air, an iPhone, iPad, and iPod.  All my data flows accross these devices seemlessly.  I haven't been this excited about a sync tool since Windows 95's Briefcase.

Here is a referral link for Dropbox:  http://db.tt/Cl16SlXj

Next week I will write about SugarSync.

Regards.

Back In The Saddle Again

Sorry for the lapse of time.  It has been a very busy spring but good right?  How about that new iPad.  You know, the one that should be called the iPad 3 but is officially called "The New iPad".  Great update on the screen but the killer feature is LTE.  I will write more on LTE soon but for now let me say that if you are buying a new iPad do not buy anything except the The New iPad with 4G/LTE.  No question, hands down, the best Internet access to date with speeds up to 72Mbs.  

I am also testing a new Verizon hotspot which I will write about very soon.  Hint, it has already blown away anything I have ever owned in hotspot devices. 

Welcome back, tell your friends I will be updating this much more often than ever before.