Google Earth is a great way to see what your iPad is capable of. Pick a destination on the globe and you can then view it in 3D. It doesn’t matter if your desired location is your childhood home or the Pyramids of Egypt, virtually the entire earth is available. The resolution is great. If you can imagine having the ability to fly, you get an idea of the viewing perspective available with Google Earth. Most popular destinations and cities are available to view in 3D. You can zoom in or out on your desired location and hover above it from any altitude. A fun and interesting way to kill a few hours. Google Earth is free.

When I was looking for an office productivity suite I first checked out the Apple products, Keynote, Pages and Numbers, however I wanted better Microsoft Office compatibility and settled on Quick Office Pro HD. It allows for basic formatting of Word, Powerpoint and Excel documents and overall works pretty well. It is clearly not a replacement for MS Office, but it takes care of most of your needs when advanced formatting is not required. What I do like best about it is that it integrates well with numerous cloud storage providers such as Google Drive, SugarSync, DropBox, and Evernote. Quick Office Pro HD is $14.99.

LastPass is a password management tool and consequently a very important app for me. I use it multiple times a day and can not recommend it highly enough. When you set up your account, LastPass encrypts your passwords on your PC, and uploads the encrypted passwords to their servers, giving you an encrypted offsite back up of this critical information. You can then opt to only store encrypted passwords on your PC, further enhancing your passwords security. I usually use the desktop version which smoothly incorporates password management into your internet browser. The LastPass iPad app gives you access to all of your passwords via its own internet browser. LastPass uses its own browser since iPad’s Safari browser does not allow plugins or app integration. LastPass works very well and provides a safe, secure way to store  passwords and other confidential information. LastPass offers free and paid options.

Onlive Desktop gives you a virtual Microsoft Desktop. This is great when you need to make a 100% Microsoft compatible document. The only drawback is that it requires an internet connection. When you log in it looks like you just logged into a windows PC. You can share your OnLive files with your desktop PC or Mac by logging into files.onlive.com. I can’t believe this service is free.

Do you want to learn about a particular subject? iTunes U has hundreds, possibly thousands, of free courses available on nearly every topic you could want. There are college level courses offered by major universities in addition to K-12 classes. There is also a section where private or non-profit organizations offer courses. The courses are very well done with class notes, audio and video material. iTunes U is an incredible resources. You can download the complete courses to your iPad for later use or pull them off the internet as needed. The iTunes U app and access to the library of classes is free.

Who doesn’t love Skype? Do you remember seeing the Jetson’s as a kid? I remember seeing Jane Jetson talk on the video phone, and if she wasn’t “presentable” she would cover her face with a mask of herself while she talked. I thought how cool would it be to be able to see the person you are talking with on the phone, just like on the Jetsons. Skype now gives us that ability. The free version allows you to video-teleconference with one other person. If you want to make calls to ordinary telephones or video-teleconference with more than one person there is a modest monthly charge. Skype is a must have, making it easy to stay in touch with family members that are far away.

The Eye Doc Blog is powered by WordPress I often use this app to manage comments, check statistics, and read other blogs. If you do any blogging this is a great app. The WordPress app lets you manage your blogs, and functions as a good blog reader. This app is free.

If you have a Gmail account then this app is a must have. I use it daily. It allows me to do everything on the app that I can do when I log into my Gmail account via the web.  This app is a freebie.

Have you ever been at home and wished you could log into your office computer? LogMeIn let’s you do just that. Most often, you will navigate to the Logmein (Log Me In) website and gain remote access to your registered PCs. The iPad app is very well done and easy to use. It’s a handy app when there is something you must do or have access to on a remote PC. I do miss the lack of a mouse while using the app; however the advantage of using the app versus logging into Logmein via Safari is they have incorporated various finger gestures into the app to simulate mouse functionality. While not quite as efficient as using a mouse it will allow you to do what you need to do and beats having to drive to the office to get that must have file. Logmein is free for basic access to 6 PCs, a subscription service is available for more advanced options.

That will do it for now. Nine more iPad apps I have found helpful. I’m sure you have some winners as well. I would love to hear your recommendations on iPad Apps that you have found helpful. You can read part one of the iPad App series here.

Some of my favorite apps were recommendations from friends or articles I’ve read.  This article is the first of a series of three articles where I will review my favorite, most used iPad Apps.

The first app I installed was Evernote which is essentially a digital filing system. Evernote is a must have. It works across all platforms, allowing you to save something on your desktop PC and have it automatically sync with all of your other devices.

It is excellent service and obviously not just for iPad users. When I was doing research for my book An Eye Doctor Answers: Explanations To Hundreds Of The Most Common Questions Patients Wish They Had Asked all of my data was saved to Evernote, thus no trees were harmed in the making of this book. Evernote has a free starter program and if you need more storage or expanded options there is a paid program.

SugarSync is another must have which syncs your saved data among all of your devices. SugarSync will automatically back up anything you designate and then allow it to be accessed by all of your devices. SugarSync has many other nice features, too many to list here; however, one of the features I particularly like is that it  automatically backs up the photos on your phone and makes them accessible to all of your devices. SugarSync  has a free 5 GB introductory account with paid accounts starting at $5 per month.

Many people. myself included, like to work with music in the background. Numerous apps do this. I like Pandora. It lets you enter a song or an artist and builds a play list with similar songs. When a song you like is played Pandora will then let you buy it within the app. Pandor has both free and paid options.

There are many apps that let you organize your Todo list. I like Remember The Milk. I use it frequently every day. It is free for use on your PC, however if you want to share your Todo list across mobile devices, such as an iPad, Kindle or your cell phone it’s $24 per year.

So far we’ve covered productivity apps. The iPad is a great device for entertainment though. If you hit writer’s block or need to blow off some steam, logging a little bit of air time flying a paper airplane or a foam biplane might loosen things up. Air Wings lets you sit in a five different airplanes or a quadracopter and dogfight with your friends or people all over the world. Games are quick, lasting only a couple of minutes. A word of caution though, it can be addictive. Air Wings is free. Upgrades are available for different airplanes and new maps.

Gmail has rapidly become one of the most popular cloud-based email providers. Gmail’s iPad app gives an excellent user experience and gives you fool access to your email, just like using the browser interface.  Given that email has become such an integral part of our work and personal life I this is easily one of my top 5 most used apps. The Gmail service, as well as the Gmail app are free. This app is easily a must have for all Gmail users.

Flipboard board is beautiful on the iPad. During set up you tell it what feeds you want it to include, such as Twitter, Facebook, or numerous other social media services. You can also include online news services such as CNN and FoxNews. Also available, is the option to include your interests or hobbies and it will go out and find relevant content. Flipboard then formats the data into your very own personalized news magazine. Flipboard is free.

Alarm CLock HD is just what it says, however it will wake you up in the morning by reading the news, your tweets or Facebook  or even wake you to music. It also has a flashlight mode should you need some light in the middle of the night. In addition to giving you the time, Alarm Clock HD also has the current temperature and weather for the day. Alarm Clock HD has a free ad-supported version or for $.99 you can go advertising free.

There you have it, in no particular order, nine of the apps on my iPad . I’ll post part two of this series very soon. Like I said, some of the best app recommendations I’ve received have been from people like you so I’d love to hear your thoughts. Let me know what iPad apps you can’t do without.

I dont’ really see the Kindle Fire as an iPad2 competitor. This model is really more of a Barnes and Noble Nook killer. The Fire will allow users to access basically everything Amazon has to offer in their store plus Android Apps, streaming music and movies, email and the Web. I do see Amazon coming out with a version that will directly compete with Apple’s iPad, possibly by Christmas 2012. In order to compete with the iPad, Amazon will have to add a few more capabilities such as 3G connectivity, front and rear facing cameras, more internal storage and a microphone. Some people don’t like the size of the iPad and adding those capabilities in both the 7″ and 10″ inch screen sizes will be a great combination.

Not everyone wants an iPad to read books on, frankly I find the iPad much to heavy and large to easily read a book. It would be nice however to be able  to read magazines in color and to easily visit a link in a blog or PDF, the Amazon Fire will allow us to do this very well.

So as soon as I get my hands on an Amazon Fire in November I’ll give a more complete review along with how it may or may not help patients with low vision. The Amazon Fire and the other new Kindle’s will ship on November 15. You can pre-order yours here.