Apple the smartest company at Davos

This year, it is iPad. It is everywhere, from conference centre to networking dinners to press conferences to shuttle vans, with everyone from executives to journalists tapping away with one or two fingers.

The iPad has not yet banished the ubiquitous BlackBerry. But it received an ostentatious Davos product placement (unpaid, one would assume) on Wednesday when Russian President Dmitri A Medvedev whipped one out during the question-and-answer session that followed his keynote address.

While the forum has official iPad and iPhone apps, there are also plenty of unofficial applications for the device. One of the most useful is “social shield” app. With an iPad perched at just the right angle on one’s knees, one can use it to disguise furtive glances at the name badges of passers-by while sipping coffee in the conference center. Should anyone of use happen past, one can quickly switch from furrowed brow to “great to see you again” smile.