Don’t get me wrong, it’s an amazing device and I really, really want to love it. It’s sleek and beautiful and I’d wrap one up in my arms in mere seconds if given the chance. But I’m just not convinced that I NEED the iPad. If I already have a laptop and an iPhone, is there really a need for me to have one? Here’s the quick list of the features that have me drooling, but somehow still hesitant to whip out my credit card and order one:

1. 9.7-inch LCD touch-screen display – No more squinting to read emails and look at websites! My eyes will thank you, Apple!

2. iPhone apps run on it – Meaning I don’t have to start all over with another system. I’d be lying if I don’t admit that I’m curious to hear how the fart app would play on the iPad. Playing that app in staff meetings may eventually get me fired, but it’s well worth it!

3. Larger keyboard – I don’t have to feel like an awkward giant anymore!

4. iWork – These apps are selling for only $10 each and include: Keynote, Numbers and Pages. I’m thinking these have great potential for client meetings.

5. Gaming – Hey, we all need breaks, right? I say Bring on the Need for Speed – anything to get me pumped up for my daily commute home!

Even after that list of drool-worthy features, I’m still finding it hard to go gaga over the iPad. And I’m truly sad about that! Apple, please prove me wrong!

What are your thoughts on the new iPad? I wanna hear the good and the bad on this one!

LinkedIn

1. Integration with Microsoft Outlook

With the release of Microsoft Office 2010 Outlook will have LinkedIn integrated into it. Users will be able to keep up with their Connections’ Network Updates, email their Connections, and manage their inbox all from within Microsoft Outlook. Users will also be given a quick link to add or invite people to their LinkedIn network. This way, when your new prospect emails you, you can quickly add them to your LinkedIn account with a simple click. I know not everyone will use LinkedIn in Outlook, but it will certainly bring in a lot of new users who just don’t remember to visit the website or never got the hang of it. Now that it’s integrated into something we all do, it’ll be easier for it to become a habit for a lot of us.

2. Follow In Groups

If you’re like me you want to keep your Connections as sincere as possible and only add those people who you actually know or have worked with. But sometimes you find some great thinker or similar spirits in some of the groups you participate in. While it wouldn’t really make sense to invite them into your network you still want to be able to follow them easily. Enter the Follow In Group feature that allows you to follow the activities of other users within the groups you both belong to. Sounds like a perfect compromise.

3. Faceted Search

LinkedIn greatly updated their search feature by adding 8 facets to each search you perform. Now your results can be narrowed down by Current Company, Past Company, Location, Relationship, Industry, School, Groups and Profile Language. If something still can’t be found with all of that, then it’s probably not there anyway.

4. New Navigation System

This one was sorely needed. The team at LinkedIn move most of the navigation to a horizontal, drop down menu across the top. While drop down menus aren’t always the best solution, this one is very reliable and nicely organized. The best part is that freed up a lot of real estate lower on the page which then allowed the important information on the page to move up as well and make it easier to find. Great solution.

5. Syncing with Twitter

Everyone who’s anyone started syncing with Twitter last year and LinkedIn was no different. However, they orchestrated the syncing in a pretty smart way. I don’t know about you but I don’t feel confident that 100% of my tweets belong on a forum as professional as the profile of my business identity, but a lot of them are. To solve this, they created a super simple way to filter what’s posted from Twitter and what’s not. Once you’ve got the account connected you can chose to turn on a filter that only posts from Twitter to LinkedIn if the tweet contains “#in”. Easy to remember and effective.

6. Developer Network

Now this is very similar to Facebook opening up it’s platform for developers, but I still think it’s a great think for LinkedIn and anyone who uses it. We saw how quickly we started seeing nearly all website allowing users to connect to their site through Facebook and reporting back their activity. Hopefully something similar will be done with LinkedIn as well as some surprising, new ways of using it, too. This one is still pretty new so it’s something to watch in the future.

7. The New iPhone App

The biggest news from LinkedIn for me was the complete redesign of their iPhone app. Their previous one was fine but there wasn’t much to it and not much you could do. In the new one you can search, mark profiles as favorites, change your Network Update and view others’, send and receive messages. You’ve also got a fully functional address book and allows you to transfer contact information between two people when they bump their phones. Pretty sweet. Download it for your phone here.

These gifts are a copywriter’s/marketing professional’s/blogger’s/geeky girl’s dream … so what are you waiting for? Click the link and find out what I want for Christmas.

1. A Nexus One. The rumors that Google has been developing a phone have been circulating for years, but it’s finally been confirmed and the phone is expected to be on sale in January 2010.
2. This ‘Fail Whale’ necklace. The ‘Fail Whale’ is genius, although I’d much rather see him glittering around my neck than on my screen when I’m trying to tweet.
3. A MacBook Pro. With Final Cut Express and Aperture installed, please and thank you.
4. A Canon Rebel. All the cool bloggers have one.
5. These cool holiday backgrounds for my desktop. (Ha! These are free, and Chantelle designed them. Be sure to download one to get into the holiday spirit!)

I’d also settle for Facebook to care about my security, for AT&T letting my iPhone using friends actually use their iPhones, and for Twitter to actually work for longer than 48 consecutive hours.

You can mail any of the above to 1000 Parkwood Circle, Ste. 360, Atlanta, GA 30339. Please mail to the attention of Carly Sharec so that there is no confusion.

Everyone have a great (and safe) holiday season!

Tell me, what do you want this year?

However, as more phone manufacturers begin to perk up and encroach on what was Blackberry’s domain, executives at Apple quickly began to realize that in today’s world, consumers are demanding higher quality products for less. This led to yesterday’s announcement of the next generation of iPhones, as well as the news that the previous generation’s prices would be slashed to $99. (The new phones will be sold from $199 to $299.)