My Top 5 iPad Apps of the Week – Week #5

For a good number of months, there have been plenty of really good blog posts shared out there with lots of really helpful insights and entertaining reviews of what the iPad has got to offer, not only from a pro-sumer perspective, but also from a professional one, as a powerful knowledge (Web) worker productivity tool. One of my favourite reviews was that one shared, just recently, by Jason Hiner (TechRepublic Editor in Chief) over at ZDNet under the title “The truth about iPad: It’s only good for two things“. If you haven’t read it just yet, and you are thinking about purchasing an iPad any time soon, I would encourage you all to have a look and read through it. It would be worth while your time AND the investment!

I will tell you though that the title of the blog post may well be a little bit misleading and perhaps half way through a tongue-in-cheek one as well, because, instead of developing further his thoughts on what Jason doesn’t like about the iPad itself, it turns out to be quite the opposite! Quite a nice review of what are the main key strong points of using one extensively. He comes up to conclude that the iPad is only good for two things: #1. Reading & Viewing and #2. Multi-touch Interaction.

Now, I am not going to say much more about it, other than to suggest you head over there and read through it, because his overall experience comes very close to the one I have been experiencing myself with my own iPad from day one and, like him, I doubt I would be giving up on it any time soon! Quite the contrary. Like him, it is slowly, but steadily shifting and changing, dramatically, the way I compute, not only at work (Specially, when I am travelling… No more backaches!!), but also around my own personal life. Go and read it through and you will see what I mean…

Oh, by the way, check out the couple of links he shares as well on his blog post as they are rather insightful and would provide you with plenty more background. But, specially, check out the blog post he put together on the Top 20 iPad Apps that would surely help you improve that overall user experience with some really good suggestions. I am currently going through some of his Top Picks… Once again, I tell you, it will be worth it, if you would want to find over there plenty more golden nuggets to check out and investigate further.

So, after pointing folks to those articles put together by Jason, you may be wondering what I am missing the most out of the iPad’s current user experience at the moment, right? Well, something that, apparently, is coming up pretty soon and which I know is keeping a bunch of us drooling all over the place: multitasking, as announced and mentioned all over the place, coming on the iOS 4.2 upgrade, as Engadget blogged about already not long ago, and which is already in a stable beta, although I decided not to get my hands on it and wait for the GA release. Just a few more weeks, it seems …

Why am I so keen about the multitasking capabilities coming along to the iPad? Well, as most of you folks out there know already, I am not too crazy about multitasking myself in the first place, but I can see how this device could make use of such capabilities to enhance our very own productivity and make us a bit more efficient as we keep interacting with a couple of iPad apps at the same time, so I’m looking forward to see how that would work out eventually. Engadget’s article contains a link to a short video clip you can have a look into to find out why most of us are starting to be even more excited…

And with that excitement, I am now moving along to share with you folks My Top 5 iPad Apps of the Week for Week #5, which, I am sure, is what you have been waiting for since you have started reading this blog post, right? 😀 Not to worry, here we go! Again the same guidelines as before: 4 of my favourite iPad apps and a 5th one, which is the iPad game of the week. Very short descriptions about each and everyone of them with their corresponding links, so you can have a look into each and everyone of them right away, and a single one liner, or two, describing why I think each of those apps is worth it. Thus without much further ado, here we go:

• Simplenote: While I do realise that this iPad app may sound a bit too simplistic it’s actually a rather nice one. A basic, simple interface to a notepad like kind of functionality where you aren’t going to be interrupted by fancy graphics, or complex menu bars, or far too many menu options. Just start a new note and start typing away! Perfect for taking a few notes on the fly! Woohoo! No fuss, no hassle, just touch once and start typing! I have found out though that, perhaps, the best experience for this application comes up if you have got the iPad Keyboard Dock and type through that interface itself. Just the same speeds as from your computer, but using the iPad carrying it out wherever you may be going… Priceless! (Yes, it is free, too!)
• Corkulous: This is one of those really curious and amazingly crafted iPad apps that would basically take you back to your school days with those cork-like bulletin boards we have all gotten so used to where we can put together our sticky notes, pins, etc. etc. Rather inspiring to see how you can get your work and to-dos organised in a very user friendly way: one we have gotten to know for decades!
  
  
• Wikihood Plus for iPad: This is one of those really nice and nifty iPad apps that would be ideal for those road warriors out there whenever they go and visit a new city, or one where they have been already a few times, but who would want to find out plenty more about the places where they are travelling to, what they can do, what kind of interesting sightings they may well have to check out, and whatever other different tips you can think of while you are on the road. Believe me, if you travel a lot, this is one of those essential apps to have. For sure!
  
  
• Fotopedia Heritage: One of the main reasons why I do really like the iPad, from day 1 when I bought it a couple of months ago, was because of its huge potential for helping improve, rather tremendously, already existing and new educational and learning experiences. Fotopedia Heritage is one of them. If you are into photography, as well as this planet Earth we all live in, this is one of those apps you just can’t miss! Hours and hours of really good entertainment are awaiting you. You would get to appreciate the large iPad screen share once you start playing around more with this app. No doubt!

  
  

• Scrabble for iPad: And, finally, the game of the week; one of my all time favourites; one of the first games I played (The good old Scrabble board game, I mean), when I was a youngster after having decided already that one day I would want to become an English teacher. Better practicing ground that what Scrabble can offer you couldn’t find it anywhere else probably. So when I first saw it coming to the iPad I just couldn’t help but going for it! And loving it ever since! Not only because it allows me to keep busy learning new English words day in day out, but also because it is helping me get some “additional” training to polish and improve my skills in order to try to beat all of those good folks who went ahead and decided to play a game or two with yours truly using Words with Friends, one of my all time favourite games as well, as I have mentioned on a previous blog entry! Not such a bad strategy after all, eh? hehe

Well, and that was it for me for this time around, folks! Hope you have enjoyed the various links shared throughout this blog post, as well as those Top 5 Picks on iPad apps I’m totally digging out at the moment. There will be plenty more to come, but that would be the subject for another upcoming article or the next one from this series … Remember, if you would want to get the Daily #iPad App you would just need to syndicate the following Twitter feed: #elsuapps, which is the one I’m currently using. If not, stay tuned for more to come over here!

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