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Since Apple’s announcement in late January, the new iPad has gained a lot of attention in the REALTOR® world as a device which could potentially be used for signings, filling forms, and checking email on the road. This is a device we receive questions on almost daily from REALTORS®. We’ve tested and explored the possibilities of this great, new beautiful hardware and have come up with some conclusions that will help you with your purchasing decisions.

What is the iPad?
But what is the iPad, exactly? According to Apple, the iPad is a “new class of device between a Smartphone and a laptop”. What does this mean, exactly? Well, the iPad runs the same graphical interface as the iPhone, but does not make phone calls. This means applications compatible to the iPhone would be very close to working as well on the iPad. This is a wonderful device for web-browsing, watching movies, showing property photos uploaded with iTunes, reading magazines, and looking at e-books using Apple’s custom software.

Purchase options
One thing to consider is that the iPad will not be your only device. The iPad supplements your other devices and works around your needs. As such, the iPad comes with many purchase options.

The iPad comes in two styles; “Wi-Fi” and “Wi-Fi + 3G”. The difference being with “Wi-Fi” you can access the company’s wireless internet, and with “3G” you can purchase a data plan with AT&T and access the Internet anywhere, making it easy to use “Google Street View” to show the neighborhood of a property. The “Wi-Fi” and “Wi-Fi + 3G” options each come in three packages; 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB. The wonderful part is, being a satellite device, you are asked to sync your iPad with a PC or Mac upon turning it on, allowing you to manage and backup all your information at your convenience.

Functionality
The iPad has many capabilities, but it has some incapabilities we’d like to point out for you. The iPad cannot use Adobe Flash, which is a web technology used to view many integrated technologies on websites. Youtube is supported, but this is because Youtube is not Adobe Flash-based as it was in its infancy. The iPad is also incapable of printing on it’s own. Another very important functionality concern is the iPad’s lack of support for Adobe Reader/Acrobat. How does this affect you? Digital contracts and forms are created for Adobe Reader. Not having the ability to run Adobe Reader on the iPad means you cannot fill out these forms. The iPad also does not have a camera, which means you will have to use iTunes to transfer pictures over by syncing it to a PC or Mac. Some MLS providers have also informed us that the iPad’s functionality does not support their websites. We recommend that you contact your MLS before purchasing the device.

What fits your need?
There are many devices which have a niche. Smartphones are one. With a Smartphone you can ‘Google’ anything, manage a calendar with tasks, send email, and make phone calls. The iPad does all of this except make phone calls. In essence toward this idea, the iPhone is best for these tasks, with the iTouch device at a close second for being the same as the iPhone without the phone capabilities.

The laptop is another niche item. You can create documents, manage office spreadsheets, create forms, and print out documents. Because of this, the iPad fits as an expansion of your work environment. It is, itself, not a laptop, so it is to be treated as a device which you can use to manage your photos, browse websites, or use one of the many “App” applications which can be purchased from Apple’s “App store” web storefront.

Before purchasing an iPad, every REALTOR® needs to realize that he or she must find the need and niche for which device fits within his or her work environment. The device is great for taking notes, surfing the web, viewing videos on Youtube, or showing photographs of properties to potential buyers. The device is a supplement to tools we already have. The consideration is finding how it fits your needs.

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