Since the release of the first generation iPad, we’ve been playing catch-up with everything tablets can do to make our lives easier. And we’ve come a long way. Here are eight mind-blowing things you can do on a tablet:
Tablets take home healthcare one step further by letting you check your own vitals electronically. Apps like Philips Vital Signs use your tablet’s front-facing camera to judge your heart and breathing rate. It gives you results by detecting color changes in your face and measures your breathing rate by capturing chest movement. Pulse Phone and MOCAheart can also show you your vitals on-the-go.
Because e-signatures use encryption, identity authentication and other security measures, signing contracts on tablets—even those to the tune of millions of dollars—is more secure on a tablet than is the traditional wet ink on paper process. Pro basketball player Deron Williams signed a $98 million contract with the Brooklyn Nets on his iPad while in a hotel room in Las Vegas.
We’re not talking electro-chopsticks. A tablet can instantly become a 16-channel control board, a keyboard that automatically composes your music or a synthesizer. In fact—Iowa musician Dan Tedesco used his iPad to record an entire album.
Forgot an important document on your home computer? As long as your tablet is connected to the Internet, apps like iTeleport and GoToMyPC let you securely connect to your home computer to retrieve the important documents you need.
Check in when you’re out. Tablet and smartphone apps like the ADT Pulse App and Presence let you monitor what’s happening in and around your house when you’re away. Many use motion sensors and will alert you when cameras detect activity.
Many people are more afraid of public speaking than dying. So of course, there’s an app for that, like Prompster Pro. You can add autocues to polish your presentation and then use your tablet as a rolling teleprompter to deliver your message.
Even as a visual medium, tablets make life easier for the blind and visually impaired. They can dictate emails, access audio turn-by-turn walking directions, identify clothing, colors and currency and even read books or menus.
So you have the Big and Little Dipper down—there are scores of other constellations in the night sky. (According to the International Astronomical Union, there are 88 officially recognized ones.) Tablets and apps like GoSkyWatch and Sky Walk help you know exactly what you’re looking at, so you can finally track down that elusive Lynx.