presents

Keynote for iPad lets you create presentations using only a touch screen, your content, and a huge number of ways to present your ideas. Like the other iWork for iPad apps, Apple has made it easy to get started using Keynote with a Getting Started presentation that shows you how to use each of the program's features.

The touch screen interface is very intuitive, with slide navigation on the left side of the interface, and close-ups of the slides in your main working area. In the left navigation you can add, delete, duplicate or reorder slides all with a … Read more

Today's Apple event obviously had the new iPad (latest news, screenshots, and specs here) as its main focus, but there were also hints of new software releases optimized for the iPad. We saw the unveiling of iBooks, a book reading software connected to Amazon for book downloading and reading on the nearly 10-inch touch-screen interface. But Apple had another software surprise as well, with downloadable iWork apps made specifically for the iPad interface.

During the presentation, Steve Jobs demonstrated new iWork apps optimized for the iPad's unique interface. All three of the main iWork apps will be available … Read more

LAS VEGAS--On Wednesday, Research In Motion debuted a new accessory called the BlackBerry Presenter that allows you to make PowerPoint presentations right from your smartphone.

Designed for on-the-go professionals, the BlackBerry Presenter is a small (3.4 inches by 2.4 inches by 0.9 inch) hub that provides connections for hooking up your BlackBerry to a projector or monitor via VGA or S-Video (cables not included) port. It also supports 24 animation and 55 transition styles of PowerPoint 2003 and 2007, and you can even set the time between transitions.

The BlackBerry Presenter is not compatible with the BlackBerry … Read more

AuthorPoint Lite converts PowerPoint presentation files to SWF (Flash) files that are then uploaded to AuthorPoint Lite's Web site. Once your presentation is on the Web site, you can link to the provided URL, or you can share it via Twitter and other forms of social media. You can also embed your presentation into a separate Web page.

AuthorPoint Lite is clean and attractively designed. It immediately prompts you to upload a PowerPoint file. The presentation we chose contained many photographs, but AuthorPoint Lite handled it with ease. Once our file was finished, the next step was to upload … Read more

IntroCreator allows people to create multimedia slideshows similar to that of PowerPoint. Although the program is not the most intuitive we've seen, a thorough Help file ensures that users have all the tools they need to create attractive presentations.

The program's interface is clean and well-organized, with thumbnails of each slide arranged in a grid. Large graphical buttons across the top give people access to the program's major features. Double-clicking each slide opens menus that allow users to customize the slide's appearance and content. Users who have never used a similar program before will likely need … Read more

Slideboxx provides a set of tools for making quick and easy searches for PowerPoint slides. With its simple layout and fast results, this is a great program for those who frequently work with slideshows.

While Slideboxx features a professional-looking design, its interface proved less than intuitive to navigate, and we required a visit to the Help file. One other gripe we had with the interface is that it opens within your Internet browser, so you can't use it as a standalone application but must open another program instead. Fortunately, Slideboxx is a breeze to operate. We were able to … Read more

Wolfgang's Vault, which offers high-quality digital recordings of rock concerts, has been trickling out updates since I wrote about its new iPhone app last month. On Tuesday, the site will begin to offer a new optional membership model where $48 a year gets you $50 worth of merchandise, plus discounted downloads and other benefits.

Wolfgang's Vault offers free streams, and downloads that cost up to $12, of professionally recorded concerts, in various formats up to and including lossless FLAC files. The Vault got its start by buying the recorded archives from San Francisco concert promotion company Bill Graham … Read more

Ticket scalping has been a hot topic in the music industry for years, causing a lot of uproar and complaints among music fans.

The sad fact of the matter is that lots of parties in the music industry try to sell secondhand tickets for a markup. Ticketmaster owns a premium resale service called TicketsNow. It also owns a resale exchange, TicketExchange, which lets any individual (including scalpers) buy or sell a ticket. Even artists and managers frequently take their allotments and sell them on broker sites for a markup, as The Wall Street Journal has reported.

Worst of all is … Read more

Presentation Wizard is a versatile program that allows users to create executable multimedia slideshows. Although we like the simplicity of its design, we do wish that the instructions were a little briefer.

The program's interface is uncluttered, with a small handful of buttons and menus. For the most part, the program is intuitive, and it's not hard to get started even without reading the instructions. However, users who don't read the instructions are likely to miss some important features, such as options for customizing backgrounds and other characteristics throughout the slideshow. And that can be a bit … Read more