As previously mentioned, I just received a Motorola Xoom. I am going to say something probably controversial, but I think that an Android tablet is much better than an iPad. Specifically, my Xoom is much better than my first gen iPad. I won’t get into all the specs here, but it rocks. Now I do not have an iPad 2, nor have I played much with one. I know that there are many improvements over the iPad first gen, but in terms of function and available software, the apps available for Android tablets are quickly catching up and in some cases, passing up the iPad apps. Of course my favorite thing about Android over iOS is the awesome Google integration. Yes, the iPhone does this as well to a certain extent, but not as well as Android. Which is of course expected since it is Google’s own OS.
- Evernote: I have written about Evernote before on Mom Blog Magazine. It is my favorite tool for organizing notes, thoughts, blog post ideas, and more. I have it on ALL of my devices and computers. You can access Evernote on the web at Evernote.com. Or, you can download the iPhone app, iPad app, Android 2.x app, or Honeycomb App for your Android tablet. It is awesome, and a must have in my opinion. All notes, etc. that you input stay synced to all devices.
- Skitch for Evernote: This one is a plus for Android users. There does not seem to be an iOS version. Skitch allows you to write on the screen with your finger, draw sketches, or draw on photos or other attachments and save them right in Evernote.
- MX Video Player: This is a must if you like to watch movies. Who has time to convert endless movie files? MX Video Player can play almost every movie file including .3gp .avi .divx .f4v .flv .mkv .mp4 .mpeg .mov .vob .wmv .webm .xvid and many more. I used it on my trip and it was flawless!
- Opera Mobile: This browser is awesome. The default browser is not terrible, but Opera is much faster and has all the features of a desktop browser.
- SugarSync: I describe Sugarsync as Dropbox on steroids. If you are like me and use a lot of computers, you NEED Sugarsync. I am working on a detailed write-up for SugarSync because ti is so awesome! But in short you can sync several computers to your account, then access it all from anywhere! It works on iOS and Android devices as well as some others.
- FriendCaster for Facebook: I have no idea why this is still an issue, but there is no native FB app for tablets. This is true for iPads and Android tablets. There are a few decent apps out there, but after trying a couple, I have found that this one works best on my Xoom. It is still not perfect, but it gets the job done.
- Plume: I have not found a Twitter app for Honeycomb that lives up to my expectations just yet. But, Plume is close. I am hoping that Hootsuite and/or Tweetdeck make a compatible version soon. Or, that Plume add more features liking swiping to switch columns.
- CamScanner: This is brilliant!!! Have you ever wanted to scan something while mobile but you did not have a scanner? CamScanner uses the camera to take a photo of the documents or pic, then straighten it up and save it as an image or document. I tried it on a few things and it worked great.
- Photoshop Express: This is a must for editing photos that you might take or download on your tablet. It is not full-on Photoshop, but it has some very nice features.
- Astro File Manager: This app is must for accessing files that you download from the web or email. It allows you to browse your tablet like a computer.
- (BONUS) Advanced Task Killer: Still one major drawback to smartphones and tablets is that now that there is multitasking (a plus), there is no “Exit” button in the app like on a computer. Advanced Task Killer lets you see all of the things that you have open and easily close them.
Awesome list – some I knew, some are new. By the way I use TweetDeck on my Xoom and I like it – it just takes a bit more to figure out the controls, but once you do it is a great tool. I use TweetDeck on my iPhone and PCs as well.