LG Electronics has released a very sleek netbook with a Gorilla glass screen. Right now you might be wondering what on earth is a Gorilla screen? The Gorilla glass is a nearly invincible glass that is scratch proof and virtually unbreakable. While the Gorilla glass has been used in mobile phones to protect the LCD screen, it looks like LG is the first company to build a Netbook with a protective Gorilla glass screen.

The X300 is actually a fully fledged laptop that is much thinner than the MacBook Air! The X300 is only 17.5 mm thick compared to the MacBook Air which is 19.3 mm thick. The X300 has a 2.0 GHz Intel Atom processor, 2GB of memory and a 128GB Solid State Drive(SSD). The LG X300 comes with Windows 7 Home Premium and a spare 2-cell battery to provide up to seven hours of use. The X300 does not use a motorized fan and it is whisper quiet.

LG X300 Netbook Photos:

Photo Credit: LG Electronics

Apple’s iPad is probably the first tablet device that is going to be used by the masses. The tablet concept has been around for a long time but no product has made its mark on the market. While iPad is aimed at the consumer market there are many potential business uses for this device. In this post I look at how businesses and professional services can make use of the iPad.

Presentation

iPad is a great device to do personal presentations without causing much distraction. For example, a wedding planner, who meets her client at their homes or at a coffee shop, can use the iPad to show banquet halls, table arrangements, wedding dresses etc. She can then use a spreadsheet to estimate the cost of the wedding by customizing the wedding package based on the clients needs and budget. She can easily pull the location of a banquet hall and give her clients the driving directions. The wedding planner is able to do all these activities without a laptop. As a transferable display the iPad makes the whole presentation much easier. The iPad allows the wedding planner to conduct her presentation in a less intrusive manner.

Working Light

Apple claims the iPad is a product that sits in between your smart phone and your laptop. But, for those business people who use their laptop only for communication, the iPad can replace their laptop when they are out of the office. The highly portable nature of the iPad will make it attractive to the mobile worker who is always on the go. You can take the iPad to places when a laptop may not be appropriate. Lets say that you are waiting to meet a client at a restaurant, until your client turns up you can do some quick work on your iPad. Setting up a laptop in such environment may not be appropriate. The iPad is great for places where you do not have much space to work on, for example, in an air plane. The iPad can be also be very useful in note taking. Whenever an idea comes to your mind, your can quickly sketch it or write a few words about it in your iPad.

Training

One area where the iPad can make a huge impact is in corporate training. The iPad can eliminate the need for manuals and work books. Unlike boring instruction manuals, the iPad can provide a more interactive platform for learning. Companies can save money on printing manuals and books. Training manuals and workbooks can be edited very easily eliminating the need for reprints. Companies can adopt a model where the employees can borrow the iPad throughout the training period. Once the training is over, you can use the iPad to capture trainee feedback in the form of a survey. The iPad can be also used for testing purposes, for example, a MCQ test that covers the whole course material.

Field Work

The highly portable nature of the iPad will make it a perfect device for field work in some industries. While the lack of a stylus (pen) limits the use of iPad in certain work environments where heavy data entry is required (example Health Care) the iPad might find its spot in some niche markets. For example, the fitness industry. A personal trainer can keep track of a client’s progress on his iPad tracking information such as lap times, body weight etc.

Conclusion

As you have seen in the above points, the iPad is well suited for business use. Having said that one obstacle that makes the iPad less impressive for business use is its inability to multitask. This could  pose a problem for power users who may want to run more than one application at a time.

The business potential of the iPad will not be only determined by the features of the device. Future applications that are going to be built for the iPad will play a vital role in deciding how businesses will embrace it.

What do you think? If you are given an iPad how would you use it in your business?

Please feel free to share your opinion. Thank you!

Apple’s launch of the iPad tablet did not impress many of those who have been eagerly waiting for this device. This device, now dubbed the “Giant iPhone” did not bring the same level of excitement that iPhone brought when it was launched a couple of years ago. The iPad lacks a number of features making the device look very ordinary. Apple had an opportunity make this device extraordinary, but they missed that chance.

Here are the 8 most important features missing in the iPad:

1. No SD Card Reader!
2. No USB Slot!
3. No Multitasking - iPad does not allow multiple apps to be executed at the same time (a $250 net book computer can multitask with ease).
4. No HDMI Port - You cannot directly connect the iPad to your big screen TV to watch movies.
5. The iPad does not support true HD. The aspect ratio of the display is 4:3 instead of the newer 16:9 ratio.
6. No GPS - The iPad does not have a stand alone GPS system. It only has 3G assisted GPS.
7. No Built In Camera – A video camera would have made the iPad an ideal device for video chats.
8. No Cellular Voice - The top-end iPad with built-in 3G will only support data, there is no support for cellular voice.

I am not suggesting that that Apple should have incorporated all of the above features. But, adding a few of them could have definitely made the iPad more attractive and exciting.