2012

Enda McLarnon

Elnig

1/8/2012

How To Get The Most From Your iPad

iPad and the Tablet Growth

Like many iPad users out there I have now got the iPad 2 and I have to say that I am

well impressed with it. It is lightweight, has a great look and feel to it and is by far

the most convenient tablet I have ever used.

The explosion in the number of tablets being sold is breath taking and is set to

continue to grow exponetially. The vast majority of people are using these for

personal use but every single day they are coming more and more into daily business

use.

In 2011 Apple sold just over 15 million iPads according to one of their spokesmen.

That figure is quite breathtaking and it will only increase.

When these are combined with the power of wireless networks and the 3G networks

they will truly allow for their use to to be fully extended. Most people can easily set

these up on their home network or indeed at their office using some type of wireless

router. Public Wi-fi is growing every day and the more that increases then the more

the iPad and other devices like it will be able to be used to their full extent.

iPad and 3G Networks

3G networks in most countries throughout the world are still at quite stage of infancy.

The iPad 2 does allow for a Mobile SIM card to be added making it able to connect to

the Internet via the 3G network. Sadly, then networks are struggling to keep up with

the demand for bandwidth and availability. The only good news is that the price of

these 3G plans are dropping all the time and this will continue to be the case.

My one word of caution here is to be careful if you roam outside your own

country. The cost of roaming data is extremely expensive and you can easily run

up a huge bill.

Please remember this if you are planning a break. My advice is to turn the 3G off and

only allow updates when in free Wi-fi range. Many hotels offer this today so take full

advantage of that. For those of you who need to have the capability of roaming then

you should talk to your mobile service provider and get the best roaming data plan to

suit your own specific needs.

Is the iPad secure?

Recently I read and I have heard many people saying that the iPad is not as secure as

say a laptop or a notebook. Allow me to address this issue right now. Those people

are talking nonesnse. They are most likely picking up on rumours they have heard or

are Apple haters. There is as much rish of being hacked through a PC or a laptop as

there is through an iPad. Like any device that accesses the Internet, security is always

an issue and you should take the necessary security options of a good firewall and

good anti-virus software.

Basic iPad Features Reviewed

Most users will know that the iPad 2 has two cemeras one of which is for High

Definition recording and the other for Facetime. Facetime is a great way to speak with

far off friends and family and I use it a lot as it is a great feature and the complete

death of crap video phones that never really took off.

Apple claim there is a 10 hour battery life but at best I am getting 8 hours though I

would class myself as a heavy user.

For the technophobe there is a Dual-core A5 chip and that simply means the iPad can

do twice the amount of work making having many applications open at the same time

a complete breeze.

It uses the ios operating system and without getting into detail it id the best operating

system for Mobile phones out there in my opinion. Check out the iMessage and

notification center on your iPad and you will see what I mean.

Magnificent 9.7” display which is backlit by LED making for fantastic images and

easy to see graphics.

Everything is transacted by touch and makes opening and switching between

applications a breeze.

You can use it for emails, surfing, gaming, a compass, GPS, etc and you can also get a

variety of covers for it.

Do you really know your iPad?

This is probably the most interesting question for me. I would have classed myself as

an experienced iPad user without quite making the geek category. I can tell you the

single thing that surprised me when I did open up and gently touch my new iPad, and

that was the fact that there were no instructions or books to tell me how to use it.

Granted much of it is self explanatory and getting the iPad up and running is well

explained and easy enough to do. I managed to charge it up, get it connected to my

Wifi at home and in the office and also set up my 3G SIM card without too much

trouble.

Now if you only want to use your iPad as a fancy email checking service then please

read no farther, and the similar would apply if you only want to do a bit of surfing or

check Facebook. I had picked up a few more tips and tricks along the way and even

downloaded many of the great “apps” that exist out there.

I guess for me I just like to know things and get the most use out of something. I

mean why buy a scientific calculator and use it for adding up. I know people who

have bought recordable DVD players and have never recorded anything because it

looks too complicated. I have never been able to understand that.

I know many hundreds of people who have Smart phones and they can make and

receive calls, send texts, check emails and surf the Internet. They do not have a clue

what else their Smart phone can actually do for them and I find that bewildering.

If only they knew that with a little more knowledge they could make their day to day

activities so much easier and also have a lot more fun in the evenings.

Really knowing your iPad

It was only when I met up with a potential business partner who had approached me

to become a supplier that I truly got my eyes open. This chap was a true iPad user

and he did everything including making the iPad talk.

Did you know for example that you can set up an auto-lock and change the

idle time?

Did you know you can quickly and easily set up password protection from

General settings?

Did you know that you can turn on picture frame, set up a self destruct erase

data if someone tries to access your iPad ten times?

Did you know you can enable the cellular SIM card as well?

I called two of my local colleges to see if they had an iPad course so as I could learn

to really get the best use out of it. No they didn’t do them and to tell the truth I wasn’t

surprised. I did find one private tuition course and it was a 13 week course and the

cost was a whopping £900 ($1300)

I had paid £600 ($900) so paying out almost double that was not on the cards. There

is some bits and pieces on Youtube if you can sort them out but is a bit of a hit an

miss to be honest.

I did finally find something online which was a very good course and has worked well

for me.

http://tinyurl.com/ipadtricksandtips

This world is moving quickly

so don’t get left behind and

learn everything there is to

know about your iPad.

You will look intelligent and

people will buy from you just

based on your knowledge.