The killer business app combo

Who said tablets were not tools for productivity? LAURENCE SEBERINI suggests a powerful combination of document apps that take tablets a step beyond ordinary computers.

Imagine the following scenario. You receive an email with a document. It could be an offer, an NDA, or any document that needs your signature. You need to edit it slightly. You then print it. Sign it. Scan it in. And then e-mail it out.

It is now all possible with a combination of readily available apps and a tablet computer like an iPad or an Android tablet (see www.tabletworld.co.za for low-cost options).

Here is how:

– receiving an e-mail is easy.

– open the attached file in a document reading and editing app like QuickOffice or DocumentsToGo

– edit the document

– open the document in a signing application such as SignMyPad or EasySign: you literally use your finger on the touch screen of the tablet to sign the document and it places this signature digitally onto the document. You can add a signature, text, initials and a date!

– E-mail the document from the signing application

– Finally, upload the signed document to Dropbox for cloud storage. So, when you leave the coffee shop, and should your tablet be stolen, you will still have the signed document on DropBox!

With the combination of a document editor app, a signing app and Dropbox, you will effectively be able to manage aspects of your business that were simply not possible 18 months ago. And that is thanks to tablets and apps!

A review of the apps:

Here is a summary of the various document editing apps and signing apps on the various app markets today:

App

Price

Platform

Link

DocumentsToGo

$9.99 – $16.99

Apple

http://itunes.apple.com/za/app/documents-to-go-office-suite/id317117961?mt=8

DocumentsToGo

Free- R107.00

Android

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.dataviz.docstogo&hl=en

QuickOffice

$19.99

Apple

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/quickoffice-pro-hd/id376212724?mt=8

QuickOffice

R 107.00

Android

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.qo.android.am3&hl=en

SignMyPad

$3.99

Apple

http://itunes.apple.com/za/app/signmypad/id380299554?mt=8

SignMyPad

R 28.70

Android

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.metapdf.signmypad

EasySign

Apple

http://itunes.apple.com/za/app/easysign-sign-fill-documents./id381786507?mt=8

EasySign

R 35.00

Android ‚ coming soon

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.glykka.easysign

email this to a friend tt tt printer friendly version

You mentioned PC signing apps: do you have some links?

Tablets are strictly VIEWING devices and will never fully replace a PC.

And another thing – say you email that doc using Hotmail or Gmail, there would be no need for Dropbox as you would already have a copy “in the cloud”” should your device get stolen…

What you gotta say about that? Make sense? Good.

Whilst I agree that tablets are better suited to viewing and not creating content, the scenario depcited in the article requires minimal editing, or in most cases none (when asked to sign a doc). Tablets are much more convenient to carry around, start up and sign using a touch screen and your finger.””,””body-href””:””””}]”