There are four major office suites for the iPad and iPhone that work with Microsoft Office files: Apple’s iWork apps such as Pages, Documents to Go, Quickoffice, and Office2. I reviewed Office2 yesterday so you know the latest on that app. Documents to Go was purchased by RIM (manufacturer of the BlackBerry) in September of 2010. I used to be worried that RIM would cancel Documents to Go in order to help the BlackBerry, but fortunately it doesn’t look like that is happening. Now Evan Rodgers of The Verge reports that Google acquired Quickoffice this week. I think that the goal is to improve Google services like Google Docs. Once again, only time will tell whether this has a negative impact on the app for the iPad and iPhone. All of this uncertainty in the market demonstrates why it is a good idea for Apple to have its own Pages, Numbers and Keynote apps to ensure that there will always be good options for iPhone and iPad users. And now, for the rest of the iPhone and iPad news of note from this week:
- I recently reviewed Paperless, a great ebook by Florida attorney David Sparks. Macworld just posted an excerpt from the book, the great chapter on naming files. Ever since I read this chapter earlier this year, I changed the way that I name all files on my PC and my Mac.
- Karen Sloan of the National Law Journal writes about a seminar at my alma mater, Georgetown University Law Center, devoted to writing law-related iPhone apps. What a great idea!
- Canadian attorney Ted Tjaden provides advice to lawyers who use an iPad in this article at Slaw.ca.
- An Australian attorney sent me a note about this article in the Sydney Morning Herald about an interesting Kickstarter project that aims to create a far more precise stylus for the iPad. I’d love to see how this works.
- Maryland criminal defense attorney John Katz explains why he switched from a BlackBerry to the iPhone.
- Last week I noted that Cricket was the first pre-paid carrier to offer the iPhone. Dan Moren of Macworld reports that Virgin Mobile is now offering the iPhone as well. You have to pay full price for the phone ($649 for the iPhone 4S with 16GB) but then you can pay as little as $35 a month for 300 minutes and 2.5 GB of data. For many people, this will be cheaper than buying a subsidized phone with higher monthly fees from AT&T, Verizon or Sprint.
- Since I started iPhone J.D. in 2008, only once have I devoted an entire post to a product that competes with the iPhone. On June 4, 2009, soon after the Palm Pre was introduced to the world, I called it the first true competitor to the iPhone. The Pre had some neat features, but it was never successful and it is now gone. Chris Ziegler of The Verge wrote a long, amazing and well-researched article on the story of the Palm Pre. If you have any interest in the business side of technology, I strongly recommend that you read this great article.
- In a similar vein, Jessica Vascellaro and Amir Efrati wrote a great article for the Wall Street Journal on the competition between Google and Apple in the mobile map arena.
- If I’m going to mention the Palm Pre, I should also mention that it is the 20 year anniversary of the Newton, the first personal digital assistant sold by Apple. Harry McCracken of Time started using an original Newton again and wrote this article about the experience.
- Alan of Art of the iPhone offers 25 useful iPhone tips. There are some good ones in there.
- Bryan Wolfe of AppAdvice notes that Apple now has a free book on iOS security. It is quite technical; attorneys are not the target audience, but the IT folks at your law firm might find this interesting.
- Glenn Fleishmann of Macworld reviews Dropbox, an essential file-synchronization system used by many attorneys who use an iPhone or iPad.
- If you are looking for a case for your iPad, Georgia of iMore provides a good overview of some of the best options available.
- Adam Dachs of LifeHacker offers a tip for marking all e-mails read on an iPhone.
- And finally, for all of you who are looking for an iPhone case to use when you are talking on your iPhone (?), the All Ears iPhone Case will be available for purchase in just a few short weeks. Available from Perpetual Kid, for $11.99, it comes with all six designs. And yes, there is also a version for men.
