All told, 2014 turned out to be a pretty good year for the gadget-packing lawyer. Microsoft Corp.’s Office suite finally made the transition to iOS. The company’s Surface Pro 3 showed that a tablet could cover a lot of laptop turf, although perhaps not perfectly. Apple Inc.’s latest iOS implemented a ton of productivity-enhancing features, like interactive notifications. And Google Inc.’s Android operating system not only held its own against the i-Universe, with increasing penetration (including within law firms), but gave us “Lollipop,” the biggest update to the platform in years. Still, often it’s the smaller products—the ones that don’t get the buzz—that really can make a difference in how technology gets used and leveraged. Here are some of our picks for handy if unheralded gear.
Amazon Fire HD 6 Tablet ($99)
Finding an Android-based tablet for less than $100 isn’t terribly difficult these days. Finding one with halfway decent performance, on the other hand, is like locating Amelia Earhart. Or at least it was before Amazon.com Inc. released its Fire HD 6. This tablet would be a small victory simply by not being awful, but in fact, it is a surprisingly capable device—good enough that it’s a perfect purchase for anyone looking for a small, light-use tablet to take (and inadvertently leave) anywhere.
