5 Great iPad Apps
During last week’s iPad 2 event, Steve Jobs mentioned that there are 60,000 apps that are optimized for use on Apple’s tablet. That can be a lot to browse through, especially for the many new customers that will probably rush out to buy the iPad 2 when it goes on sale. Here are five great apps that deserve a place on any iPad.
While the improved hardware of the iPad 2 will make it a more of a content creation device, it still reigns supreme as a media consumption device. One of the best apps for viewing information Flipboard. The Flipboard iPad app provides nine sections that you can use to pull content like RSS feeds, Facebook status updates from your friends, and your Twitter stream. These sections are presented in a magazine style format, and, if a video link is embedded, plays the video from within Flipboard. This is a great app for receiving information in a well designed and graphically rich format. Flipboard is free.
The iPad 2 lets you do a number of computing tasks, but there are times when you may need something from your laptop or desktop. Instead of putting down your iPad 2, you can use the Splashtop app to remotely access another computer. You’ll get a view of the remote desktop and can use the Splashtop interface to manipulate the computer just as if you were sitting right in front of it. Furthermore, Splashtop brings any audio from the remote computer to your iPad so you can watch movies or listen to music. The Splashtop app is also a nice way to get around the inability of the iPad 2 to play flash assuming that the remote computer has the Flash player installed. The app costs $4.99.
While Splashtop gives you full access to another computer, there are times when you just simply need to quickly access to a few specific files. The Dropbox iPad app makes it easy to synchronize several folders between your computer and your iPad. Media files like movies, music, and pictures can be streamed through Dropbox, and basic editing can be done to documents assuming that you’ve installed the appropriate editor on your iPad. The Dropbox iPad app is free.
The iPad makes a great accessory for the kitchen, and the Epicurious iPad app makes it easy to find recipes for your latest culinary creations. Recipes are organized in a clean and well done interface which displays ingredients, instructions, pictures, and user reviews. The app will even generate a shopping list for you to take with you to the grocery store. The Epicurious iPad app is free.
While Angry Birds HD has the exact same mechanics as the iPhone version, the game benefits from the larger screen. The graphics, while still retaining their simple style, look better, and it’s easier to zoom out to survey your target and plan your avian assault. The larger screen also makes aiming easier to do since your fingers don’t get in the way of pulling the birds back and angling the trajectory of your aerial attack. Angry Birds HD costs $4.99.
Category: Apps | Tags: angry birds hd, apps, dropbox, epicurious, Flipboard, iPad, ipad 2, splashtop
About the Author Anjuan Simmons is an emerging technology consultant and freelance technology consultant currently working as a Director at Adverlyze, an online marketing strategy company. Anjuan has previously worked for Accenture and Deloitte. He has an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from Texas A&M University. He can be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/anjuan and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/anjuan.
See all posts by anjuan.
