Article by Newsletter Editorial Board
Posted March 20, 2014Thanks to lawyer Joseph Hada and Technolawyer, here, among other things, are some available presentation tools and pointers.
While PowerPoint used to be de rigueur, there are now many more options.
For example, Prezi is a free web-based presentation tool. Usable on the iPad and other tablets, Prezi has a Google Earth-type zoom feature, which means you aren’t limited just to slides.
Timeline 3D is what it says it is. Enter events, add media, and you have a three-dimensional timeline for presentations. Track the timeline and pull windows as needed for events.
Keynote is more PowerPoint-like. In fact, you can even import PowerPoint presentations. It works on the principles of slides, but they can be previewed before display, You can also jump to other slides without leaving presentation mode.
During trial and hearings, open presentation tools are now available and offer as much or more flexibility than PC-based options.
Trial Director is a free iPad app (there is a full PC version, but it’s $695.00). You can move call-outs to the side and individually close them. Trial Director also has assisted drawing for circles, boxes, and straight lines to frame text or images, with color options.
TrialPad is a a bit pricey for an app at $89.99 has more features than Trial Director. You can rotate pages, redact in black or white, store in color or icon-coded folders, and add or edit custom exhibit stickers.
Presentation hardware is more mobile than ever. While Apple has complicated life with the Lightning connections for the new iPads, you can get such adapters as Lightning/30-pin to HDMI, Lightning/30-pin to VGA, and HDMI to VGA.
Probably the best way to present from an iPad is Apple TV, a four inch square box that lets you mirror your screen on a television or projector screen using a wireless network. It has its own special place in the Apple Web Store, so doubtless new features will be coming along.
A few other miscellaneous apps are also helpful.
Goodreader is a $4.99 app for document management and offline access. You can also display and annotate documents.
Whiteboard apps are free. They can be better than standard poster boards when used with mirroring. Baiboard HD lets you add to the whiteboard, draw or annotate it, and flip between pages.
VLC is a free video player which integrates with Google Drive and Dropbox, as well as supporting Dropbox streaming. It plays video in any format, not just Apple.
Questions or comments? Drop me an email: jwh3@mindspring.com