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iPad is a great tool for help some key bussines activity. Here is some tools for make iPad as Bussines Center tools.
Record and Transcribe Meetings with the Microcone
Dev-Audio’s Microcone (www.dev-audio.com) is a microphone designed to record group meetings. But it isn’t just a mic: The small, cone-shaped device contains six separate directional microphones. You put the Microcone in the middle of the table and start talking. As each person speaks, the closest mic picks up what he or she is saying. (This is only effective in meetings with six or fewer participants.) The Microcone relays each person’s voice as a separate audio signal to your Mac (via USB).
The Microcone Recorder app then processes and records each of those individual audio streams; they appear as separate tracks in a timeline. That’s when things get interesting. You can isolate what one person said and play it back or save it. You can also tag tracks or segments of the timeline to reference and search later. A Talk Time feature shows how long each person spoke. And you can send tracks to the Nuance Web service for transcription. That last option requires a separate Nuance account, which charges for use (www.nuance.com). The Microcone itself costs $359; the Recorder app is $5.
iPad App Can Showcase (and Sell) Products
Xsilva Systems’ point-of-sale app, LightSpeed for iPad (www.lightspeedretail.com), enables businesses to track inventory, take payments, and perform other retail tasks while in the field. But what might really catch your eye is LightSpeed for iPad’s Show & Tell capability, which allows a retailer to display product images and details splashed across a stylized backdrop. Xsilva says that it’s a great way to show off inventory that’s not close at hand, helping sales reps better connect with customers. It’s also easy to see how a retailer might use the Show & Tell feature to set up a self-service kiosk. LightSpeed for iPad is a free download, but you’ll need to run LightSpeed Server on your Mac with one user license per iPad client. A license starts at $749 for a single user.
Project-Management Software Made Portable
Project managers who struggle to print out large, unwieldy Gantt charts to share at meetings will be glad that The Omni Group has announced an iPad version of its Omni-Plan project-management software, set for release in the first half of 2012. OmniPlan for iPad (www.omnigroup.com) will closely mirror the features of the Mac OS X version, let-ting you tote all project data along with you.
The iPad app will include screen mirroring via the Apple TV so that you can show charts on the conference room TV—no wires required. All changes you make to your project plan on the iPad will sync to the cloud so that you can easily move from one device to another. OmniPlan for iPad will also include change tracking so you know who changed what. The app will support CalDAV, WebDAV, Google, and the OmniSync server.
The iPad app won’t offer printing, nor will it let you import from Microsoft Project, the preeminent software on Windows for project management. To gain those features, you’ll need to have the OS X version of OmniPlan as well. Pricing for the iOS app is not yet set, but The Omni Group said that it will likely be half the desktop software’s price, along the lines of its other current iPad apps. OmniPlan 2.0.3 for the Mac costs $200.
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