Office Software

Adobe Reader now available for iOS

Need to read PDFs on the go? Adobe announced the availability today of Adobe Reader for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

Adobe says that the app works just like the desktop version, letting you read and interact with the widest variety of PDF files on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

You'll be able to open PDF files from the mail app, the Web, and any app that supports the "Open In..." option. You'll be able to access ePortfolio (PDF Portfolios), PDF Packages, annotations, and drawing markups. You'll also be able to open and view … Read more

Microsoft releases updates for Office 2011 and 2008 for OS X

Microsoft has released updates for Office 2011 and Office 2008, both of which are the only Office suites that will run in OS X Lion since they contain code for Intel chips. The update addresses critical security flaws in the program that could allow an attacker to execute malicious code on a system, and also provides a number of fixes and improvements to the programs, including the following:

Office 2011:

Office documents not opening in some Web browsers PowerPoint crashing unexpectedly when using Command-Tab Excel crashing when switching workbooks or when saving files Dutch citations not appearing properly in Word … Read more

Reviewed: Office 365

Office 365, announced today, gives professionals and small businesses a subscription service that lets them work from anywhere using familiar-feeling Web-enabled applications. Combined with hosted versions of Exchange, SharePoint, and Lync, Office 365 is designed to enable users to share, collaborate, and communicate in the cloud. In our testing during the beta, we found that the tools worked well across the board (with some hiccups), and expect that many people who use Office on desktop Macs and PCs will appreciate the familiar look and feel, which should help them get up and running quickly.

Obviously, Office 365 is going to … Read more

Offline Google Docs starts playing peek-a-boo

One of the big criticisms of Google's Chromebooks is that they're significantly less useful when you don't have an Internet connection or are paying by the megabyte for a wireless data plan. That drawback is particularly glaring when it comes to Google Docs.

And unfortunately for Google, the company missed the Chrome OS launch window with one important upgrade coming to Google Docs, the ability to use the word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation software while not connected to the Net.

Offline Google Docs was slated to arrive early this year, but Google pushed it back. In May, … Read more

Top note-taking apps for iOS

Aside from games, some of the most popular categories of iOS apps in the iTunes App Store are note-taking apps. Whether you're a student taking notes for class or your workday requires that you take notes in meetings, a handy app that makes it easy to jot things down and organize them can be incredibly useful.

Apple's Pages ($9.99) is probably the most obvious choice here, having been around since the first iPad was launched (now a universal app for iPhone and iPod Touch as well), but there are several third-party apps that offer different features that might be more in tune with your style of note-taking.

This week's iOS apps are all about taking notes. The first is all about taking notes that autosync across all your devices; the second offers a sleek-looking interface with several themes to categorize your notes; and the last is an iPad-only app offering an elegant system for keeping your class and meeting notes organized.… Read more

Google Docs offline: Coming this summer

SAN FRANCISCO--Somewhat later than had been planned last year, Google is addressing a significant weaknesses of Google Docs and Google Apps: the inability to use the services while not connected to the Net.

"We will make them [Google Docs offline apps] available this summer," said Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Chrome, in an interview here last week at at the Google I/O conference. "We've all been using it internally. It's imminent. We want to make sure they're good."

It's not clear just how high the demand for the feature is. … Read more

Office² HD 4.0 adds PowerPoint support, mostly

Office², the app that lets you view and edit Microsoft Office Documents, has just today announced support for PowerPoint Presentations with version 4.0, making it a good way to take your Microsoft work with you on your iPad, but it has one major limitation.

It's no secret that when Apple's first iPad hit stores, working people wondered if they could get rid of their laptops and use the touch screen for business and productivity purposes. Apple offered up solid, but abbreviated versions of their own iWork suite (with some Microsoft compatibility), but many users' companies relied … Read more

JotNot for iPhone takes on mobile scanning

We first learned about the free JotNot Scanner for iPhone (and the 99-cent JotNot Scanner Pro) from a lawyer who uses the app daily to scan and send documents to colleagues. We immediately saw the app's potential for also sending along easy-to-read receipts, photos of whiteboards, and scans of other documents--whether for work or for daily life. Since the JotNot family of apps strips away photographic artifacts like shadows and other noise, it tends to focus on the text for clear comprehension. Other tools help keep scans looking straight and clean.

Chocolate bathroom? Translation tools for travel

We had only been in Buenos Aires for a few hours last month when my wife and I realized that our Spanish-English dictionary and Latin America phrasebook were still sitting on a bookshelf back at home. "Not cool," my wife said simply.

So I made a trip to El Ateneo, one of the biggest and certainly most beautiful bookstores south of the Panama Canal and picked up the only paperback dictionary in the house--a thick, clunky volume with a neon orange cover meant for speakers of Mexican Spanish, which is quite different from the Argentine dialect.

After a few times stopping in the middle of a crowd to pull out the big, glowing book, I became worried that I might inadvertently start directing traffic; I quickly retired the dead-tree translation method and started looking for a less conspicuous, digital solution. I found three top contenders, each with their own pros and cons. Here's the rundown. … Read more