Apple Iwork ’05

The iPad is fundamentally an iPhone ‘on steroids’. Weighing in at 1.5lb (0.68kg) it has a 9.7″ multi-touch screen, speaker, microphone, compass, accelerometer, (so it knows if it’s being tilted and rotates the screen accordingly), Wi-Fi (the more quickly 802.11n standard) and Bluetooth. It comes with three storage capacities built in – 16GB, 32GB and 64GB, and is likewise available with 3G, permitting for internet access when outside of a Wi-Fi environment. It’s powered by Apple’s own A4 processor which has been specifically designed for the iPad/iPhone operating system and offers 10 hours of runtime and a month standby. Most importantly, it’s downwardly compatible with closely all of the iPhone’s 140,000+ apps, which means that if you already have an iPhone, as soon as you buy an iPad and plug it in all of those apps will be available on there as well. Although it has an on-screen keyboard that may not appeal to many, it’s not far got rid of in size to a laptop keyboard, and there is an external keyboard accessory for use when desk-based.

Let’s get started by covering what the iPad can’t do. It’s not a PC or a Mac and doesn’t run Windows or Mac OS, or offer multi-tasking (although the rumour mill proposes that the latter may be addressed in future updates). On the iPhone the OS is locked down to the point that each third party application may only store info in their own ‘sealed’ area, different from a PC where ‘My Documents’ may comprise each file type and be accessed by all applications. It’s likely that the iPad will proceed this tradition, with Apple already confirming that it will rely on iTunes for syncing with a PC. Also, due to a long running spat amid Apple and Adobe, the iPhone/iPad does not support Flash, which rules out access to any web sites that rely on it. Apple has been criticised and applauded in equivalent measure for ring-fencing access to their hardware and software. While it substantially restricts third party development flexibility, it does provide an exceedingly stable user experience which, different from a Windows machine, does not degrade over time as more software is installed.

During Apple’s launch it was clear that Apple’s own 1GHz silicon was delivering rather a punch. Applications launched instantaneously and graphically intensive tasks ran smoothly. Couple a fast processor with a huge rotatable touch screen and you have a product that lowers the technical cognition usage barrier and may provide an intuitive user interface which 75m iPhone users already recognise how to use. For example, not long back I reverted back to my former smartphone – using the menu system was like wading through treacle and it was missing galore of the further and added apps that I’d come to rely on. The greatest divergence was speed of selective information retrieval. For often performed tasks such as retrieving a contact, checking email or a quick web search there is no comparison. Tasks that I achieve with the iPhone within 15-20 seconds I would not have seen change out of a minute, if not more on the other phone, and this is likely to improve on the iPad.

What tasks could the iPad perform?

The key here is to distinguish what it does as well, or without doubt better than existent technologies. In their launch event Apple demonstrated iPad versions of iWork, their office suite (covering word processing, spreadsheets and presentations), with each application being available for just timid of ten dollars. While you probably won’t get all of the extra templates, clipart and further and added bloat that comes with traditionalisti Office suites you could argue that most people don’t use a good deal of more features than font sizing or basic formulae. The iPad ships with the same basic PIM apps as the iPhone e.g. Calendar, Contacts, Email (including MS Exchange support) and Notes, all of which will sync with a PC or Mac through iTunes. The iPhone configuration utility allows enterprise deployment, supplying easy configuration for person business settings such as email and VPN access. So for the majority of users it will tick the basic office requirements.

As a activity of formally presenting something tool the iPad excels. It may be connected to an external display, but would evenly be suitable for one-to-one presentations, idealisti for sales staff or board meetings. Data retrieval is also a strong suit; it provides quick access to document, image, audio or video libraries, doing away with the need for storing big amounts of paper. Expect to see estate agents with iPads underneath their arms from April onwards! It would be evenly at home in a developing design office, supplying a quick method of looking at product images or technical information.

The iPad supports the popular ePub electronic document format. Publishers will quickly move books, magazines and newsprints over to the format, so humans will soon become accustomed to reading on the device as opposed to traditionalisti paper-based media. This will provide companies with an easy way of creating huge catalogues in a format that users may digest in a established manner. Companies that fabricate catalogues (such as electronic constituents or formulating consumables) will no doubt warm to this as printed versions are very costly to produce, and altho they will already have full e-commerce on their websites, there is a reason why they still develop printed version – a great deal of people still prefer to view info in a book-style format. This would likewise lend itself well to stock control, supplying stores staff with a simple checklist interface when performing stock checks.

All versions of the iPad have the accelerometer and compass facilities, and the 3G version opens up further possibilities, as it includes assisted GPS. Many of us already take the likes of Google maps on our mobiles for granted, but when GPS is embedded into a device imposed at enterprise level this stretchings the boundaries further. Imagine an application that provides applicable data to a user when they arrive at a specific location; perhaps a salesman visiting a prospect/customer, or branch selective information when HQ staff visit. Devices that ‘know where they are’ could also be used to direct the user to items of interest/relevance around them, though the sensitivity is not good sufficient for this to locate items on a shelf, for example, and GPS does not always work inside buildings.

Integrating the iPad to habit requirements

If you walk through the stages of production within a devising organisation and analyse the role of software at any given part, most of these relate to the supply of information; either to or from the user. Whether it be in the store room, by a machine tool, booking goods out or back in from subcontractors, despatch and through to accounts. This selective information will either be fed into an enterprise system (MRP, ERP) or to a more localised scheme (stock control database, machine tool control software, order management etc), and this is where the work needs to be done if the iPad is to be of any real use. Many software companies are using Apple’s software development kit (SDK) to develop apps to interface with their products. Although these apps are often lightweight versions of their PC cousins and optimised for the iPhone it is likely that these will be reworked to take vantage of the iPad’s display. We may suppose apps covering all mainstream software applications, notwithstanding more niche merchandise are improbable to have iPhone/iPad sibling products, as the take up rate would not warrant the development costs.

What if you can not construct or obtain an app to connect to an existent software system? There is a third option; we have already ascertained that the iPad is a capable web client (if Flash isn’t required). Invariably the scheme you want to connect to will have a database, which in turn will have ways of getting selective information in and out (generally using mutual connectors such as ODBC), so a comparatively simple solution would be to build an intranet that communicates with the application. Windows Server comes with IIS (Internet Information Services), and any of the web centric languages (PHP, Cold Fusion,.NET/ASP etc) will be capable to connect to a database easily. The iPad (or any other device) could then interact with the software using a web browser. Although this still requires a substantial level of technical skill, it’s likely to be a far posing no difficulty and more cost-effective skill set to source than constructing an iPad-specific app and will result in a more flexible solution that other gimmicks may take vantage of. It would also be more comfortable to manage from a security aspect, as the network administrators take care of user access control to any given info resource on the local network.

If Apple is severe with regards to the business angle of the iPad they will need to provide companies with more data on controlling user access, tracking usage and locking down features on it (which, to be reasonable they have done with the iPhone), other than as supposed or expected no doubt the wide range of available games will find their way onto it and eat into productivity. Another major concern is that they will be a target for theft. It’s likely that you will be capable to password protect it and, as with the MobileMe service on the iPhone, locate it if stolen (3G only) or remotely wipe it, but that’s little consolation.

In recent years Apple merchandise have become über chic and this is something numerous businesses will want to harness. It’s more likely that iPads will find homes in the boardroom than on the shop floor, due to environmental constituents alone, but for facilities that already keep their production areas spotless this could be seen as the device that makes them look just that little bit more cutting edge than their competitors.

Summary

The debate is raging fiercely in the blogosphere as to whether the iPad is a ‘game changer’ or not, but in my opinion it is. Apple said that they would not release anything equivalent to a tablet or a netbook until they could deliver something that did everything well. Given what is already known regarding the iPhone and what we presently know regarding the iPad, reasonable assumptions may be made with regards to the iPad’s suitability for a given task. There will be of course a great deal of tasks that will always be quicker or without doubt only possible on a desktop/laptop than the iPad, but as a high speed, highly portable (and highly desirable) ‘media consumption device’ the Apple iPad will set the benchmark by which all others will be measured.

Apple Iwork 05

iWork ’05 is the perfective associate to iLife. It comprises of two applications: Pages, a word-processing application, and Keynote 2, a major upgrade to the Keynote activity of formally presenting something application. By combining the graphics power of Mac OS X with the rich media integration of iLife, Apple is building the successor to AppleWorks with iWork. Pages is a streamlined, yet powerful word processing application that makes it easy for anybody to construct outstanding looking documents, from a simple letter or invitation to a per month newsletter or three-panel brochure. Pages includes necessary word processing features, including easy-to-use text styles. Pages makes it easy to commune with style. Keynote 2 makes it easy to invent compelling demonstrations and interactional slideshows. Customers may heighten their demonstrations with animated text, new themes, and modern build animations. Keynote likewise allows presenters to view upcoming slides, stay on track with a timer, and even modify the flow of a activity of formally presenting something on the fly. Presentations may include photos, movies, or music from an iLife library, live Web content, or even links and automatic timing for an interactional slideshow mode.

Got ideas? iWork ’05 brings them to life with Keynote 2–offering cinema-quality demonstrations for everyone–and Pages–a word processor with an unbelievable sense of style.

Pages, a streamlined yet powerful word processor, lets you create everything from letters to newssheets to brochures. Keynote set the usual for stunning presentations. Now Keynote 2 lets you build gorgeous photography portfolios, animated storyboards and self-running, interactional slideshows. With it is built-in iLife Media Browser, iWork is the perfective supplement to iLife.

Introducing Pages. A word processor with unbelievable style.

Found the item you’d like to add? Just drag it from the browser and drop it on your slide. Keynote provides a finish arsenal of positioning tools to help you precisely place any object. Tools include horizontal and vertical rulers, alignment guides and a Metrics Inspector Window you may use to modify the size, position (to the pixel) or angle of objects you place on a slide. Talk in regards to control.

Mask Your Photos Without Leaving Keynote
Have a great photograph that you want your audience to see only a percentage of? Mask it using the tools Keynote provides. Completely non-destructive, these virtual frames help you focus attention on that element in the photo that best illustrates the point of your slide.

Present with Confidence
Would you like to present your slideshow with total confidence? Got you covered. Keynote lets you effortlessly configure two discerned displays. The one your audience sees. And the one you see on your laptop. Purely for your own use, your screen may be set up to fit your needs. Display the current and next slide, slide notes, a clock and a timer. Or any combination. Keynote gives you all of the selective information you need to stay on track and on time. You have your talking points at hand. You know what’s coming next. You’re in control and exude confidence, an attitude your audience can’t miss.

Present Even When You’re Not There
Keynote 2 now lets you give rise to self-running, interactional slideshows. Assign links to any graphic that will take an individual another slide, to a web page or even to another Keynote file. Set document-level traits like ‘auto play on open’ or even assign an audio track to the whole show directly from your iTunes library.