The Mini

Well, just because I have to teach about the Mini I bought one.  Well, that isn't actually true.  I have been really looking forward to comparing the Mini to what I have seen in the Kindle and Kindle Fire.  Let's just say I am very pleased and believe the Mini can stand up to any of these products and then some.  The display is not Retina but it is still crystal clear.  I am actually a fan of the new Lightning connector (I have just as many old 30 accessories as you) but I love the positive click and universal plug (either side up).  Improved wireless is good but not the killer feature.  I think the shape, size, feel, speed, and apps make this the winner.  I am biased I know but this is a great product any way you want to argue this one.  I do see the Mini cutting into some iPad sales but a lot more into Kindle sales.

Here is a video of a Tech Update presentation I did for the Pennsylvania Society of CPAs a few weeks back that has a lot of iPad and Mac stuff live in the presentation.  http://www.picpa.org/Content/45585.aspx 

Slide Shark

In a presentation today I forgot to add one item to a slide.  Slide Shark is another good tool to use for showing PPT files on an iPad.  You must upload the file to Slide Shark's site but it runs great.  Completely PowerPoint compatible as far as I can determine.

CloudOn vs. Onlive Desktop

Just an additional note about both CloudOn and Onlive Desktop.   CloudOn will support your Dropbox account and your changes are automatically saved back to Dropbox.  Hence, don't be changing files unless you want the changes to stick.  Onlive Desktop will not work with your cellular account, no, not even the Pro edition so you will need another Wi-Fi network to get Onlive Desktop to work well.

Xero Accounting - Xero Touch App

Folks, Xero Accounting (www.xero.com) is a very well done SaaS accounting product that works great on the iPad with any browser.  Think very solid software like QuickBooks only running via any browser on any device.  Today, I was shown their iPad/iPhone app (not new but new to me) that will integrate to your Xero SaaS accounting and provide you with quick access to many key items.  I think the most helpful is the instant dashboard view but CPAs in public practice may love the ability to check on clients by backing up one level to the My Xero screen and choosing a different client data set.  Easy, peasy.  The Dashboard shows bank balances, invoices, expenses and you can easily add an expense and take a picture of the receipt with you camera then upload.  Viola, you toss the receipt.  My compliments to Xero Accounting for this nice add to their well designed SaaS accounting.

LifeProof iPhone Case

The LifeProof iPhone case really works to protect an iPhone.  I know this is not an iPad tool but it is worth mentioning that it does hold up under some pretty severe conditions.  I just completed a 17 mile hike down Zion National Park Narrows.  Most of the time we were wading in waist to knee deep water but on occasion you do trip on slippery boulders.  My pack went into the water five times and my phone is fine.  I, on the other hand, am very sore.  Good product but expensive $80.

The Narrows
http://www.nps.gov/zion/planyourvisit/thenarrows.htm

LifeProof
http://www.lifeproof.com

iPad PDF Readers

iPad PDF Tools

·         iBooks is a native iPad app and can open PDF files and read them but you cannot annotate PDF files with iBooks.  Also note that if you open a PDF file with iBooks it will appear in your bookshelf in a separate PDF section.  You may or may not like this.

·         GoodReader  $5.99.  The reason many of us are willing to pay $5.99 for GoodReader is that GoodReader was the first very popular PDF reading tool on the iPad, it is cheap, and it still works very well even with large documents.  For the money, GoodReader it is an excellent tool to have handy in case some other PDF reader tool does not work right.

·         GoodNotes $3.99.  I actually own this one as well as GoodReader and I love the way it allows me to takes notes in meetings.  I don’t use it to mark up PDFs much but the ability to magnify the note taking area for general notes makes this a very good tool as well.

·         Adobe Reader (free and the current version will also allow you to sign a PDF document)

·         Evernote (free and premium edition)

·         PDF Pen $14.99

·         iAnnotate PDF $9.99.

·         Quickoffice Pro HD $19.99

·         CloudOn (free used mainly to open Microsoft Office documents not just PDF)

·         Dropbox (or your data sync tool of choice)