Top 5 iPad Apps for Business Users

GoodReader is the best PDF reader for the iPhone, and the iPad version is even better than the iPhone version. What makes GoodReader special is that it can not only view local files (and you can transfer files to it from iTunes), including PDF, Word, Excel, PNG, TXT, JPEG and more, but you can download files from a URL or connect to a web server.

It handles really large files extremely well (it can even unzip files) and it connects to Google Docs, so you can download your Google Docs files for offline reading or to open in another application for easy editing. At only $0.99, GoodReader is very useful app forBusiness Users.

Cultured Code's Things is easily one of the top task managers for Mac OS X. The iPad version is much more similar to its desktop counterpart than it is to the iPhone version (hence the larger price), but for small business users who are already part of the Things ecosystem, it's a delight to use.

Creating to-dos and managing tasks and projects is easy and intuitive and you can sync wirelessly with Things for Mac.

3. Bento ($4.99)

FileMaker's Bento is a database app for business users who want to have a powerful database system, but don't want to have to deal with the complex database syntax. For Mac users, Bento integrates so well with iLife and iWork it might as well be called iData.

The iPad version can be used stand alone or with Bento the Mac version and the iPhone version. Like Things, it is much more similar to the Mac version than the iPhone version. You can use the built-in templates or create your own and do things like manage expenses, address books, projects and more.

Apple really took its time in developing the iWork apps for iPad, making sure that the productivity system would be easy and intuitive. You can create new documents or open up existing document types (if they aren't native iWork files you will have to convert them – this can take a few moments depending on file size).

Pages is the word processing app and when paired with a bluetooth keyboard or the Keyboard Dock, it's a real joy to use. Numbers won't do everything you can do with Excel, but it's a great starting point for viewing charts, graphs and spreadsheets. Keynote brings the best presentation tool to the iPad, you can create and edit slides and use it to show presentations. It's great.

Box.net has updated from its iPhone version to the iPad version and it becomes a iPad app for bussion user. You can view all of your files, view activities, leave comments and more. In the future the ability to open files with other programs and integrate with other services will be added. Box.net isn't at full speed yet, but it's a great start.

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