Last week I linked to an article in which the author speculated that it might be a while before we see Microsoft Word for the iPad. For an alternative view, Mary Jo Foley — who has lots of inside sources at Microsoft — wrote on ZDNet that she hears rumors that Office for iPad will be out in the first half of 2014. Whenever it does come out, how good will the app be? John Gruber of Daring Fireball says that his sources tell him that the app will be impressive, and the main hold up on the app being released is internal Microsoft politics. But California attorney David Sparks predicts that the app won't be that impressive. And this is why I probably should not talk about rumors at all ... except that I will say that I hope that we see a version of Microsoft Word for the iPad soon, and I hope that it is a full-featured, useful app. And now, the rest of the news of note from the past week:
- Florida attorney Christopher Hopkins provides tips for using an iPad in a deposition.
- South Carolina attorney Ben Stevens reviews Wallax, an app that helps you turn photographs into iPhone wallpaper.
- Stevens also provides tips for keeping your iPad and iPhone clean.
- South Carolina attorney Justin Kahn noted on his iPad Notebook website that the Lexis Advance HD app for the iPad has been updated to version 4.0.
- California attorney David Sparks discusses using templates in the Pages and Numbers apps.
- Tim Baran of Rocket Matter discusses great iPad apps for lawyers, as recommended by Dallas attorney Tom Mighell.
- David Pogue of Yahoo Tech provides tips for avoiding getting hacked, using reverse psychology.
- I gave a presentation on using the iPad to a group of attorneys in New Orleans earlier this week, and afterwards I talked to someone who was looking to get her first iPad, and she couldn't decide whether to get the full-size iPad Air or the iPad mini with Retina screen. My advice for most attorneys is to get the iPad Air. When you are reading documents on an iPad, it is nicer to have a larger screen, and the iPad Air is light enough that you no longer need to use an iPad mini to have an iPad that you can hold without your arm getting tired right away. Charlie Sorrel of Cult of Mac apparently agrees with me, because as he explains in this article, he actually stopped using an iPad mini to switch to an iPad Air.
- When the iPhone first came out, it lacked the ability to select text to copy and paste it. Hard to imagine nowadays. Luke Dormehl of Cult of Mac talked to Bas Ording, one of the guys at Apple who invented the feature on the iPhone, to get some of the back story.
- Lisa Rein of the Washington Post reports that the U.S. Postal Service is planning a Steve Jobs stamp.
- And finally, Jerry Seinfeld appeared on the new Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon this week to do a stand-up comedy routine, and his topics were smartphones and email. Funny stuff from one of the masters of comedy. (Direct link)