iPad Users Can Now Display PowerPoint Presentations

Brainshark, a company that creates software for online and mobile video presentations, has created a great new app for iPad users. The app, SlideShark, gives iPad users the ability to professionally display PowerPoint presentations from their tablets, and the best part is that it is free!

There have been some issues associated with users importing and viewing PowerPoint presentations on their iPads. Mostly, there have been problems keeping the original formatting of the presentation. Well, with SlideShark, all of those issues are eliminated.

Users are now able to upload their PowerPoint presentations to their online accounts on SlideShark’s website. There the presentation is converted to an iPad viewing format, and then, using the SlideShark app, users are able to download and view the file on their iPad.

"The iPad is supporting business mobility like never before," said Brainshark CEO Joe Gustafson. "At the same time, and as the mobile workforce continues to grow, the need to present PowerPoints on the iPad is becoming more critical. We're pleased to offer the SlideShark app to resolve this issue—allowing mobile sales, marketing and training professionals to present their business content both reliably and effectively, and helping companies maximize productivity."

The best thing about SlideShark is that it preserves all of the original fonts, graphics, colors and formats of the PowerPoint presentation. Users with an iPad 2 are then able to connect their tablets to a TV or VGA projector in order to project the presentation. SlideShark also has the ability to support gesture. This means that users are able to swipe or tap the screen of their iPad to control the presentation being projected.

"As more and more companies make tablet investments, it's important they do so strategically—with a game plan for how they'll use the devices," said Scott Nelson, managing vice president, Gartner Research. "It often comes as an unpleasant surprise—particularly for salespeople and others in the field—that there's not a simple way to convert some collateral material that they rely on. Addressing this market need will help companies maximize their technology investments and enable business professionals to be even more agile and effective when presenting on-the-go."

Source: PCMag - Slideshark Brings PowerPoint to iPad

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iPad Sales Slipping

Surprisingly and certainly unexpectedly, Apple’s iPad sales are slipping. They’re slipping enough that iSuppli has gone ahead and readjusted the predicted numbers of iPads that it believed Apple would sell in 2011. That’s a pretty quick decision. Is it really that bad?

At an earnings call on Wednesday, April 20 Apple reported that it had sold 4.69 million iPads in the first quarter. That seems like a ton, doesn’t it? Well, in the fourth quarter of 2010, Apple sold more than 7.33 million iPads, although you have to consider that this number includes the holiday sales.

Originally, iSuppli was predicting that Apple would sell 43.7 million iPad units in 2011, but due to the decline, AppleInsider is saying that they have dropped that forecast to 39.7 million. Before the earnings call, there were a variety of different iPad sale predictions ranging from 45 to 60 million, but I think that those numbers will be dropping very soon.

So why is it that the sales aren't meeting the expectations? One of the biggest issues seems to be that Apple simply cannot keep up with the incredible demand for the device. Tim Cook, Apple’s chief operating officer, said that Apple is dealing with “the mother of all backlogs.”

"I wish that we could have made a lot more iPad 2s because there were a lot of people waiting for them," Cook added.

The new and improved version of the device was released on March 11 in the United States, and it has been incredibly popular. It was reported that Apple sold almost a half a million iPad 2s during the first week that it was in stores, although there was a five week wait period for the device. Reports also stated that they sold out overseas just as quickly.

iSuppli said that some of the slowdown surrounding the iPad 2 was due to the quality of the touch screen LCD panels and the production shortages of the advanced speakers that went into the device. It simply was more difficult to crank out these higher quality parts. There are also rumors that Apple ran into a few manufacturing glitches that slowed down the process as well.

“When we looked at the manufacturing numbers, they must have run into some manufacturing issues, some quality issues in terms of turning those products around, because we didn't see the volume manufactured that we expected to see in the first quarter," said Rhoda Alexander, the director of monitor research at iSuppli.

Some might question whether or not the 8.9-magnitude earthquake that devastated Japan could have caused some production delays as well, but Apple claims that this had no effect on the manufacturing of the device. It was rumored that Apple was being forced to pay extra to ensure smooth shipping of the iPad 2 parts that they received from their Japanese suppliers, but Cook claimed that the disastrous event did not have any kind of impact on supply or cost for Apple.

Although iSuppli has decreased its prediction of sales in 2011, the 2012 predictions have gone up. Previously, it was forecasting that 61.6 million units would be sold in 2012, but they have now increased that number to 62.6 million.

It’s interesting that although there has been a decline in iPad sales, Apple is reporting record earnings. They recently reported profits of $5.99 billion, which is a 95 percent increase over the same time period last year.

It doesn't matter if iPad sales do continue to slip; I think that it is safe to say that Apple will somehow make it through.

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Is the iPad a Necessary Business Tool?

What do you think? Is the iPad a bad business tool? According to Dell and HP, it is. This week, both of these technology giants criticized Apple’s enterprise strategy. "Apple is great if you've got a lot of money and live on an island. It's not so great if you have to exist in a diverse, open, connected enterprise; simple things become quite complex," said Dell’s global marketing chief Andy Lark. In an interview with CRN Stephen DeWitt, senior vice president of HP Americas Solution Partners Organization, said "Apple's relationship with partners is transactional, completely. Apple doesn't have an inclusive philosophy of partner capabilities, and that's just absurd."

On Thursday, March 31 there was a sort of rebuttal against these criticisms when SmithBucklin, a global company that deals with managing anything from the basic logistics to event promotion of trade shows, took on the role as the first company to place an entire order for iPad 2s. So, why did SmithBucklin choose the iPad 2?

They say that one of the main reasons for choosing the iPad 2 over a tablet like the Samsung Galaxy Tab, Motorola Xoom, etc. was because they wanted to boost the use of social media among their employees. "We wanted to make sure our employees were actually walking the walk and not just talking the talk," Mike Nikolich, SmithBucklin's chief marketing officer, said. "We advise our clients all the time on managing blogs, commenting, updating Facebook pages, etc.” "Ultimately we see the iPad 2 as a productivity tool. It's a lot easier to bring the tablet on the train or out of town for work, and lots of people here already use them during meetings."

Nikolich went on to say that most of the 600 employees at SmithBucklin will receive an iPad 2. He also said that almost half of the office already owns an original iPad, but when given the opportunity to have the new iPad 2, 95 percent of the employees chose the upgraded tablet. "It's so new, there's still the 'wow' factor," he said. He also said that his company’s interaction with Apple was minimal because there was very little integration work needed. "Honestly, direct contact with Apple did not have an impact in our decision."

So again I pose the question…what do you think? Do you feel that the iPad 2 is a useful business tool? It’s a very expensive tool. I know that for sure. I think that it can definitely be useful tool, but there are many other things that can do the same job. Yes, it’s convenient access to social media outlets, but can’t laptops and computers and even smartphones do the same thing? If your business has plenty of money to spend on things like iPads, then by all means, go for it, but I don’t think that the average corporation is going to be sending Apple orders for iPads for all of their employees. Maybe someday in the future, when iPads are cheaper, this could be a possibility, but for now, I think most companies will be waiting.

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Most business class projectors will do a good job displaying your PowerPoint presentation. If you have a small presentation group, a 2000 lumen LCD projector will be able to produce a nice and clear picture. For larger audiences you should consider a 5000 lumen LCD projector.

The Original iPad Just Got Cheaper

If you haven’t purchased a tablet yet but are really looking into getting one, you may have a very hard decision ahead of you if you’re looking into an iPad. You have been faced with the decision of buying the less expensive original iPad or splurging and going for the slightly more expensive iPad 2.

As if that decision wasn’t hard enough, Apple made it even harder for you to decide when it discounted the original iPad models by $100 after the announcement of the iPad 2. This provided even more incentive to just go ahead and buy Apple’s incredibly popular original iPad because it just seemed like such a great deal.

Well, guess what? The deal just got even harder to resist. AT&T has decided to not be outshined by Apple’s discounts on the original iPad. The company has recently announced that customers who are looking to purchase the first generation iPad from AT&T will now enjoy an extra $100 off their purchase, on top of the $100 that Apple has already knocked off.

The final price of the original iPad has now been reduced by $200 at AT&T stores. The 16GB and 32GB versions will now be available for $429 and $529 respectively. In addition to these savings, AT&T has also slashed the price of the 64GB iPad to $529, a $300 savings. This incredible savings can be found at AT&T’s website.

So, you may be sitting there saying, that’s great, but what’s the catch? Well, one of the disadvantages is that AT&T does not sell Wi-Fi only devices, so you are stuck purchasing the more expensive 3G versions. Also, if you are looking to take advantage of the online discount, AT&T requires that you subscribe to their DataConnect Personal Data Plan. The cheapest DataConnect plan gives you up to 250MB of data for $14.99 per month.

Right now, AT&T has a promotional deal that allows users to get the first month of their DataConnect plan completely free. If you decide to be crafty and get around the data plan requirements with AT&T, what you could do is sign up for a plan, like the website requires you to do, and then after the first 30 days, simply cancel your plan. This is a practice that has been used by some of AT&T’s smartphone customers. This is a great way to snatch up a super-discounted iPad from AT&T and really not have any strings attached.

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Thinking of Trading in Your Original iPad?

Are you thinking about getting the new iPad 2 and don’t know what to do with your original iPad? Well, now there is an option. Best Buy and Target are both offering an iPad buyback program that allows iPad owners to trade in their original iPads for in-store credit or a check.

Target is only offering an in-store credit for trade-ins. Owners will receive the maximum amount of credit for fully functional iPads that are turned in with their original boxes. You can either go to Target’s Mobile Stand (there are currently 850 in 1,490 Target stores nationwide) or Target’s trade-in e-store if you want to trade in your old iPad.

Target also mentioned that their REDCard 5 percent discount program will apply to the iPad 2.

Listed below are the maximum values that Target is offering as an in-store credit which you can receive when you trade in your old iPad:

iPad WiFi 16GB (original price: $499) – $194
iPad WiFi 32GB ($599) -- $229
iPad WiFi 64GB ($629) -- $257
iPad WiFi + 3G 16GB ($699) -- 229
iPad WiFi + 3G 32GB ($729) -- $264
iPad WiFi + 3G 64GB ($829) -- $303

Best Buy's longstanding trade-in program offers the choice of either an in-store credit or a mailed check. Listed below are the maximum values that Best Buy is offering for your iPad without the box:

iPad WiFi 16GB -- gift card: $230; check: $150
iPad WiFi 32GB -- gift card: $275; check: $179
iPad WiFi 64GB -- gift card: $311; check: $202
iPad WiFi + 3G 16GB -- gift card: $275; check: $179
iPad WiFi + 3G 32GB -- gift card: $320; check:$ 208
iPad WiFi + 3G 64GB -- gift card: $370; check: $240

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Record Sales for Tablets and eReaders in Fourth Quarter 2010

2010 was a big year for technology and. according to the International Data Corporation Worldwide Quarterly Media Tablet and eReader Tracker, it was also a good year for tablets and eReaders. According to the IDC, 10.1 million media tablets were shipped in the fourth quarter of 2010 alone which was more than double the 4.5 million shipped in the third quarter. Apple saw a decrease in shares from 93% to 73% but still remained on top. The Galaxy Tab from Samsung was the main contender against the iPad, beating other players to market and grabbing more than 17% share of the market.

The Tracker also showed that the market for eReaders increased significantly in the fourth quarter. Amazon's Kindle saw strong sales and other contributers, like Pandigital, Barnes & Noble, Hanvon and Sony, contributed to the market growth.

The eReader market more than doubled in volume in the fourth quarter from the third quarter with over 6 million units shipped for the fourth quarter. This brought the total of eReaders shipped for the year to 12.8 million units. eReader shipments also increased over 325% from 2009 when there were only around 3 million units shipped. This type of growth reflects a strong growth of competition in the market and an increasing interest in the category.

According to Loren Loverde, Vice President of Consumer Device Trackers, "Strong holiday sales of media tablets were in line with IDC projections and strong consumer interest in the category while device vendors scrambled to offer products competitive with Apple's iPad and now iPad2. Media Tablets are on pace to reach shipments of roughly 50 million units in 2011."

According to the IDC, the United States, Western Europe and Asia/Pacific (not counting Japan) accounted for 89% of all media tablet shipments in the fourth quarter. Even though the United States was the largest country market, Western Europe and Asia/Pacific increased almost twice as fast from the third quarter to the fourth quarter with Western Europe seeing a slightly larger jump in shipments in the fourth quarter.

Retailers were the highest channel of shipments in the fourth quarter of 2010 followed by direct sales and telco shares. Telco operators, which is a new channel for media tablets, accounted for nearly 14% of all shipments in the 2010 fourth quarter following the only 1% share seen in the third quarter.

Source: Engadget - IDC: 18 million tablets, 12 million e-readers shipped in 2010

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$100 Refund for Recent Purchases of the Original iPad

So you did it. You have had enough of working on the go and lugging your laptop around with you, so you broke down and finally bought an iPad. The bad news? The iPad 2 was literally just released and the original iPad got a pretty price cut. I bet in your mind you are spouting some pretty obscene curse words but alas, I have some very very good news for you. If you recently purchased a first generation iPad, then you may qualify for a $100 refund.

That's right, Apple is offering a $100 refund to customers who purchased the iPad at its former price according to a customer service representative from Apple. The refund, which will be applied directly to your credit card, applies to each and every single version of the first generation iPad.

But like most good news in the world, there is a catch. According to the customer service representative, who recently spoke with CNET, Apple is only offering the $100 refund to anybody who purchased a first generation iPad within 14 days of the March 2nd announcement of the iPad 2. There was no official date given by the customer service representative but if you do your math right, that cut-off date would seemingly be February 16th.

The iPad 2, which comes with some serious updates including two cameras, a dual-core processor and either a black or white finish, is scheduled to hit store shelves on March 11th for a base price of $499. Apple also released a statement yesterday that it has started selling first generation iPad models for $100 less than their previous price tags, which is where the $100 refund comes in.

If you purchased your iPad online, then you need to call Apple customer service to process the refund according to the customer service representative. Customers who purchased iPads from a store must bring their receipt with them to the store they purchased it from in order to receive their refunds.

Source: cnet News - Apple giving $100 refund on recent iPad purchases

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Top iPad 2 Rumors

The rumors about Apple’s iPad 2 have been swirling around everywhere. Everyone seems to have their own speculations about the highly anticipated tablet. Even industry analysts can’t help but make some predictions of their own. Analysts like iSuppli are already predicting that Apple will ship close to 40 billion iPad 2s by next year and will far surpass the estimated 12.9 million original iPads that they shipped in 2010.

So, there are plenty of rumors, but here are the most prevalent rumors currently floating around about the iPad 2.

1. There will be three different versions: Wi-Fi, CDMA, and GSM.

The original iPad comes in two different versions: Wi-Fi only and GSM (3G). Supposedly, upstream component makers told DigiTimes on Wednesday, December 29, that there would be three versions of the iPad 2. They even claimed that Apple will begin shipping these devices out sometime in January which, according to the iPad’s supply-chain schedule, would allow the iPad 2 to hit stores by April 2011.

2. Certain functions will be very much like the iPhone 4.

Various reports, including Reuters, are claiming that the iPad 2 will feature things like two cameras (a front-facing VGA camera and a back-facing 5-megapixel one), a three-axel gyroscope that is useful to gamers, and retina display technology.

3. It will be the very first Apple mobile device with a USB port.

This would be an awesome addition to the iPad 2. Reports have said that this would be an attempt by Apple to bridge the gap between phone and computer. According to Digitimes, the iPad 2 should come complete with two micro USB ports. This would open up so many more connectivity options for iPad users.

4. There will be a smaller version of the iPad 2.

The Japanese blog Kantedian cited an unknown Chinese source when they claimed that they had “found” the specific dimensions of the iPad 2. They said that the iPad 2 would measure in at 9.41 inches by 7.32 inches. This is smaller than the original iPad, which measured in at 9.56 inches by 7.47 inches.

In August an unknown source told Digitimes that the iPad 2’s screen would be 7 inches; however, in October Steve Jobs shot this down when he said, “The 7-inch tablets are tweeners.” What he meant was that a 7-inch tablet was too big to compete with a phone and too small to compete with a 10-inch tablet.

5. Apple has ordered 65 million units.

Digitimes has also been spreading around that Apple was ordering 65 million screens from their Asian suppliers. They said, “"Market players noted that the 65 million unit shipment goal indicates that Apple is very optimistic about the tablet PC market in 2011, and it may also mean that Apple is overbooking panel capacity."

6. The iPad 2 will feature an anti-smudge, anti-reflective screen.

The Kindle is known for its anti-reflective screen and is doing quite well.
DigiTimes claims that Apple is “also working on strengthening the iPad 2's anti-smudge and anti-reflective treatments in order to compete against Kindle and attract more consumers" only makes sense.

7. The back will have wide-range speakers.

Mac Otakara, a blogger for Japan’s May-The-Force-Be-With-You, cited leaked photos from a source in China claiming they showed “a hole in the lower right of the rear panel is neither a USB connector nor a SD card slot. It is a large, wide-ranged speaker unit covered with metal mesh."

8. The new device from Apple will have an SD card.

New York analyst at Rodman and Renshaw Ashok Kumar said, “Apple is on track to refresh the iPad by March and iPhone by late summer. A key component upgrade across these platforms will be a dual-core processor featuring a pair of 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 cores."

Other analysts agree, claiming that the rear slot that was seen on the early iPad 2 cases was made for SD cards. It would be a great addition to the tablet.

9. It will feature a dual-core processor.

As Kumar said, the iPad 2 will feature a dual-core processor. This could definitely satisfy the Apple haters who criticize the iPad and are awaiting the dual-core RIM PlayBook and the Motorola Android tablet.

10. Cases already exist for the iPad 2.

Pictures popped up on the trading site Alibaba showing cases for the iPad 2. Unfortunately, an unnamed company contacted the site and asked them to take down the pictures. John Spelich, a spokesman for Alibaba, said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, “We do not know whether these products are what they say they are, but we have received a legitimate takedown request and are removing the listings.”

Despite this, it definitely looks like there are iPad 2 cases already made and ready for the device.

Now, of course, all of these claims are only rumors, but there are some very interesting claims to consider. No matter what, it looks like the iPad 2 will definitely be leaps and bounds ahead of the original iPad. Hopefully, Apple will soon release some information so we can stop all of the speculations about the fascinating new device.

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iPad 2 Speculations from Digitimes

There have been a ton of rumors swirling around about the possibilities surrounding the iPad 2. Not a lot of details are known about it besides the fact that it will definitely be an upgrade from the original iPad, and it will address some of the issues that the iPad has been criticized for.

According to a report from Digitimes on Tuesday, December 7th, Apple’s manufacturer Foxconn Electronics will begin to ship out the iPad 2 by the end of February 2011. Now that doesn’t mean that Apple will be making the iPad 2 available to the public yet. It only means that the devices are being shipped to Apple to be readied for release.

The Foxconn Electronics plant, located in Shenzen, China, is rumored to initially supply anywhere between 400,000 and 600,000 units over the course of the next 100 days. Digitimes reported that the hardware that will be featured on the device is still being tested. Digitimes also said that eventually Foxconn will supply Apple with their products from a plant located in Chengdu, but as of right now, those devices are still in production.

Recently, an analyst from Gleacher & Company suggested that the iPad 2 should be on sale in the United States by April, but right now Apple hasn’t said anything about a release date. Earlier reports said that Apple would continue with its typical update cycle and offer the newest version of the iPad for the holiday season, but obviously that isn’t happening.

Although everyone is calling the new version of the iPad the iPad 2, that is not its official name. Apple has not publicized the new name yet. As mentioned above, the new version will take care of many of the issues that people had with the original iPad. It will feature a dual-camera setup, support of Facetime video chat, and much more. Some gamers are hoping that the iPad 2 will also feature a gyroscopic setup for motion control. Reports say that the 30-pin dock connector that is found on the original iPad could easily be replaced with a mini-USB port, a Cortex A9 CPU, and additional memory which could make the new iPad much more powerful.

Since the launch of the original iPad in April, the sales of the device have been incredibly strong. In the third quarter alone, Apple sold 4.19 million iPads. The sales for this quarter seem as though they will not be as high as expected. They will most likely come in somewhere around five million.

Digitimes said that Apple should most likely begin clearing out their inventory so they have room for the new version of the iPad. They continued saying that last quarter Foxconn shipped out around six million iPads, which leaves about 1.8 million devices that have not been sold yet. Apple should order around 1.6 to 1.8 million iPads at the beginning of the year, but after that order, they should start reducing the number of iPads that they ship in so that they have room for the iPad 2.

It is really exciting to see possible release dates for the iPad 2. The original iPad is incredible in itself so it will be even more amazing to see a new and improved version of the device. Hopefully, Apple will soon release some official reports about dates, prices, features, etc., but until then, it is all left up to speculation.

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