ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER IPAD APP

Peter Grad at petergrad@gmailcom
The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
03-18-2011
ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER IPAD APP
Byline: Peter Grad at petergrad@gmailcom
Section: BUSINESS
Type: News

It's funny how many people express an interest in the iPad, but quietly ask: "What exactly can you do with it?"

The answer: A heck of a lot. Here is just a taste of what you can do with a few of the more than 65,000 programs available for the iPad.
* Search for a home

Zillow (free) displays maps and estimated prices of homes for sale in your current location or by ZIP code. Displays satellite map images and photos of all homes. Complete Rentals does the same for rental properties.

* Take notes

SoundNote and AudioNote ($4.99 each) both record audio and let you type or handwrite notes, then you can tap any word to hear what was being said at that moment. Notability (99 cents) allows for advanced organization of notes and includes image attachments. Evernote (free) accepts type, writing, images and audio attachments, and provides for effortless cloud sharing for storage and retrieval of notes from any computer.

* Get organized

The iPad comes preloaded with several outstanding basic organizational tools including Calendar for scheduling and alerts; Contacts, a simple but effective address book, including a spot for pictures for all people; and Notes, on which you easily jot notes on limitless yellow, ruled, legal-sized note "paper."

* Post reminders

All Stuck Up (99 cents) creates stickies-type notes on a bulletin board.

* Pay bills

PageOnce (free) makes all of your bank, credit card, loan and investment data available at the tap of the screen. It'll notify you when bills are due, interest is charged or unusual activity occurs. (Ad-free version is $12.99)

* Design documents

Pages ($9.99) is a sensational document/layout creation program by Apple on which you can write reports and design pamphlets; it's a word processor and also a basic image editor with which you can size and place images with simple finger swipes.

* See the world

iSpy (99 cents) provides a glimpse of the world via thousands of webcams posted in cities, countryside, campuses, beaches, zoos and assorted notable locations; some cameras allow you to control them by changing the view or zooming in.

* Dictate

Dragon Dictation (free) is a remarkably accurate recorder that converts your speech to text.

* Read a book

Nook (free) software gives you a natural reading experience; turn pages from downloaded books with a gentle flick, highlight phrases, add your own footnotes, tap a word to look it up in a dictionary, Google or Wikipedia. Choose from eight fonts and five text sizes; also adjust brightness for day/night reading. Kindle and iBook, both free, offer similar functionality.

* Listen to music

TuneIn Radio (99 cents) plays hundreds of FM and AM stations; search for artists or songs that are playing now or choose by genre. It records songs, too. Pandora (free) lets you create your own radio station by typing the name of a group or song you like; it will then begin playing songs in that genre.

* Create artwork

Wasabi Paint ($2.99) "Liquid" paint generates a 3-D impasto look as you brush with your fingers; blend colors naturally, use multiple brush styles. Inspire Pro ($7.99) is similar, adding greater control over brush styles and paint textures. SpinArt Studio ($2.99) lets you create stunning images by "pouring" or "spraying" paint on a spinning canvas, just like in summer camp. And bring the sculptor in you out with Pottery HD ($4.99) that lets you create and shape your own urns, just like Demi and Patrick did in "Ghost" -- but without the physical muss and fuss.

* Edit photos

PhotoGene ($1.99) Powerful photo editing -- crop, rotate, adjust image characteristics such as exposure, saturation, contrast, color temperature and other advanced color and tonal manipulations. Also has a spot heal/clone tool, and fixes red eye. Even generates image reflections and a variety of attractive picture frames.

* Track traffic

Inrix Traffic ($9.99 annually) displays real-time traffic flow, gives incredibly accurate time estimates to any destination, based on current conditions and other factors such as time of day, local events affecting traffic, holiday schedules, etc.

You can also browse the Web, play games, make Internet phone calls, send e-mail, read a newspaper and play a variety of realistic sounding instruments.

2011