OfficeDrop puts its hat in the ring of iPad apps that let you scan documents to the cloud. If you’re not familiar with OfficeDrop, it started out as a way to convert your physical papers into digital copies in the cloud using your current office printer/scanner. Now OfficeDrop lets you scan documents by snapping a picture using your iPad to automatically upload the document to your OfficeDrop online account.
You can create individual PDF documents or snap multiple images and create one PDF that once uploaded are immediately searchable in your account. In other words, multiple physical documents related to one meeting or event can be one PDF in the cloud. Read More
The iPad 2 offers a 3G version that lets you tackle any web/network task without being dependent on an external wireless network or hotspot connection. Anywhere you can receive a 3G signal, your 3G iPad 2 will connect.
So if you’re mulling over which version of the iPad 2 to get: WiFi or WiFi + 3G, while you constantly call your local Apple retailer to check their stock (let me answer that for you…they don’t have any), allow me to give you a tip if you own an iPhone 4 with iOS 4.3 installed – use your iPhone 4 as a wireless hotspot for your iPad 2.
I had the opportunity to visit the special Apple pop-up store that ONLY sold the iPad 2 and accessories down in Austin Texas this past weekend during SXSWi 2011. The line wasn’t bad and there was ample stock, so being the early adopter that I am, I picked up a black 16GB wifi-only iPad 2.
Features-wise, this was a downgrade for me because I currently own (and plan to sell) a 32GB 3G iPad with a data plan. At any time, I could whip out my iPad “Classic” and locate my exact location via the Maps app, and get directions (no voice navigation) to anywhere. Out of the box, my new iPad 2 can’t do this due to the lack of GPS in the wifi-only version that is inherit in the radio of its 3G counterpart.
On the other hand, with the recent release of the Verizon iPhone 4 and the iOS 4.3 upgrade for AT&T version, any user that opts-in for the feature can use their phone as a wifi hotspot for the iPad 2. As a result, it has been discovered by Cult of Mac that if tethered to an iPhone 4 with the hotspot feature, a non-3G iPad 2 can “borrow” the GPS signal from the phone for location information. According to Cult of Mac, it hasn’t been tested on wifi-only iPad Classics, but in theory, it is a possibility.
In the video below is a brief demo of the wifi-only iPad 2 GPS trick in action:
I have been using the hotspot feature for my MacBook Pro, iPad Classic and my iPad 2 and it’s pretty fast. With the added zip of the dual-core A4 processor housed in the iPad 2, my guess is that the wifi-only GPS hotspot trick works pretty well, even if it may not be in real-time.
So if you’re like me and was of the suckers advocates who went out and bought an iPad 2 this past weekend, you will be in for a free GPS treat if you plan to use your iPhone 4 as a hotspot if you didn’t pony up for an 3G iPad 2.
Test it out, come back, and drop a line in the comments section to let us know how the feature works.
