5 good productivity applications for the iPad 2

When I bring a new tablet home the first thing I do is look for good apps to help me do my work. I tend to use tablets heavily and that means using them for all aspects of my innovation coverage. My needs encompass online technology, following news of the day, and writing articles during out and about. These five apps are already making my job easier to do.

3. Pocket Informant HD. Keeping on top of my day is an important part of my tech coverage work, and Pocket Informant is wonderful for this. It makes it a breeze to handle my complex Toodledo task list and my multiple Google Calendars. The Today view pulls everything at the same time in one screen that outlines the current day’s work. I run Pocket Informant on all mobile devices I use, including the iPhone 4S. $14.99.

5. Dragon Dictation. I am a firm believer in using voice dictation for serious text entry whenever possible, and was not happy when Apple decided to make Siri exclusive to the iPhone 4S. The dictation in Siri works as a matter of fact well, and I miss it already on the iPad. Fortunately, Dragon Dictation from the folks at Nuance steps in to fill the void left by that omission, and it works very so then. I dictate into Dragon when the conditions allow, and its accuracy is nearly uncanny. When finished dictating I copy the text into Evernote such as if I had typed it there. Free.

Honorable mention. It is necessary to use a desktop browser to work with the ZDNet publishing system, and LogMeIn Ignition allows me to do that on the iPad 2. LMI for the iPad 2 is the best implementation I have tried, and makes working remotely on my office system easy as can be.

James Kendrick has been using mobile devices since they weighed 30 pounds, and has been sharing his insights on mobile innovation for nearly that long.

James Kendrick has been using mobile devices since they weighed 30 pounds, and has been sharing his insights on mobile research for nearly that long. Prior to joining ZDNet, James was the Founding Editor of jkOnTheRun, a CNET Top 100 Tech Blog that was acquired by GigaOM in 2008 and is now part of that prestigious tech network. James' writing has appeared in many print publications: Smartphone and Pocket PC Magazine, Information Week and Laptop Magazine to name a few. James' coverage of the mobile innovation sector has regularly appeared in the New York Times, Salon.com and CNN/ Fortune online. Not just a writer, James has filmed numerous video reviews and how-tos that have garnered so then over a million viewers. He has appeared on local news segments and been interviewed by the Associated Press on mobile innovation topics. Additionally, James has been podcasting about mobile technology for years.