April 5, 2011
OPEN Forum Message
Affordably Build Your Brand
FedEx Global Brand Management Director Monica Skipper shares a cost-effective way to build a bigger brand for your small business.
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Robert Waters
Thinking of buying everyone in your office an iPad 2? Not a bad idea. With its impressive features and endless supply of cool apps, the iPad is great for business. Here are some of the ways it’ll make life better.
1. Better meetings and presentations. Between video conferencing, meeting-related apps and an HDTV adapter, the new iPad makes it a whole lot easier to share information. Too busy to travel? Hold a virtual meeting with a remote client using Skype. Giving a presentation? Spice it up with Keynote and show it on the big screen. Apps like Meeting Mngr Pro allow presenters to instantly share extra materials with everyone in the room. Then, participants can use the app to ask questions and give feedback without interrupting the speaker.
2. More business-friendly apps. The iPad 2 has hundreds of impressive apps to help businesses stay organized. Bento helps you manage projects, organize contacts and plan events from one simple database. E*TRADE has a great app that lets you keep track of stocks, with real-time quotes and commentary. And you can create all kinds of charts with OmniGraffle.
3. Working on the go is even easier. Part of the reason tablets are so great is that you can take them anywhere. The iPad 2, faster and lighter than the original version, easily trumps the competition. At one-third the width of the first iPad, it’s the thinnest tablet available.With a duel-core processor, it operates faster, has a large memory and crisp graphics. Best of all, despite its size, you can still use it all day without running out of battery.
Want to read more about mobile technology? Check these out:
4. Small business support. The Apple Store recently launched Joint Venture, a program to help smaller companies use the iPad 2 (and other Apple products). The program helps you set up your devices, train you to use them and provide a ton of support if you ever run into trouble.
5. Instant access to a ton of information. Want to read the news? Most of your favorite sources have apps on the iPad 2. Want to read a book? The iBookstore holds over 200,000 books and counting. It’s even powerful enough to handle large documents. And if you’re looking over an important file, you can’t miss GoodReader. The app lets you add notes, drawings and arrows to all the major types of docs.
6. It’s also a cash register. If your business deals with credit card transactions, Square is an essential app to have. Twitter founder Jack Dorsey developed this app, which lets you swipe credit cards and sign for purchases. It even generates digital receipts. Plus, it’s cheaper than most of the custom point-of-sale systems you see in stores today.
7. It won’t break your bank. Not only is the iPad 2 better than other tablets, but it’s also cheaper. At $499, it beats the Samsung Galaxy ($599), the Motorola Xoom ($799) and the HP Slate ($799).
Check your balance, review recent transactions and pay your bill on the go.
Robert Waters 10 months ago
nice ad for apple.... I just got a 10 inch android tablet for $200 with no cell phone contract. This allowed me to use Square as well as have access to ebooks and websites including ones with flash. I have 32Gigs of technical manuals on it as well and GPS mapping for driving to clients.