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3 Key Apps to Keep You Organized 0

 

Evernote

Evernote is a free app that is available for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and Blackberry,  as well as on your desktop PC or Mac. It syncs between your devices so whatever you file on your phone will show up on your tablet.

Evernote is all about note taking and filing things away. You can use the phone’s camera to take a picture of a paper receipt and then file that in a “receipt” notebook. If you make an online purchase, you can forward the electronic receipt from your email directly into Evernote and then file accordingly.

omnifocus-logo

Omnifocus

Omnifocus is an app designed for iPhones, iPads and Mac’s. The iPad and iPhone apps are priced heavily at $40 and $20 respectively, but this app is the powerhouse of organization and if you take the time to learn all the ins-and-outs of Omnifocus, it really will become a part of your everyday life and is worth the investment.

Omnifocus helps you organize projects and files, task management, day-to-day reminders, etc. It has great location-based services, so it can send you a notification when you’re passing the grocery store to pick up some dog food. It pulls data from your mobile devices internal calendar and syncs between the iPhone, iPad and Mac desktop apps.

The learning curve is a big one with this app, but once you understand what it can do and how it can keep you organized, you won’t regret the money spent.

1Password

1Password

Does this scenario sound familiar: Your friend is over visiting for the weekend and he or she wants to access your home wifi signal. What’s the password to gain access?  Or how about this: You’re trying to log into an account for some online social network you haven’t accessed in seven months. What’s password for that?

This is where 1Password comes into play. This app is a place for you to store all these passwords, login keys and account numbers in a safe, secure and user friendly place. The app even has its own internal web browser and will automatically populate the login and password fields of the website you’re accessing- a huge time saver.

You can really store any data you want in this application. It’s universal, so it will sync nicely between your devices, plus it’s packed with security features itself to give you some piece of mind.

Splunk Acquires BugSense 0

Check out this cool article about a mobile analytics platform recently acquired, article via TechCrunch:

Splunk has acquired BugSense, a mobile analytics platform used by developers to improve app performance and improve quality. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close during Splunk’s 2014 fiscal third quarter, which ends in October.

BugSense, founded in 2011, provides analytics from machine data it collects to understand how apps are performing on mobile devices, the quality of the apps and for collecting data to do better troubleshooting. It works on Android, iOS and Windows Phone through its software developer kit, giving developers access to data analytics from hundreds of millions of mobile devices that it manages from its scalable cloud platform.

For the full article click here.

Get To Know A New City 0

Explore the city, meet new people, and see things from a different perspective with web-based urban exploration app Derive (free, www.deriveapp.com).  The app offers up simple instructions for pedestrians to really get to know the city around them, but as always, use caution when crossing streets or walking in unfamiliar areas.

10 Most Used Smartphone Apps 0

This chart shows the 10 most used smartphone apps, according to GlobalWebIndex. While there aren’t really any surprises in these top 10, what is interesting is what this says about mobile users.

Obviously, we depend on our smartphones for much more than making calls-we use it to navigate, to connect with friends and to be entertained. But overall, these top 10 apps show that people gravitate towards mobile devices in order to make better sense of the world around them.

Mobile has changed the way we interact and communicate. What’s your mobile lyfestyle? Tell us about your favorite apps and why you like them so much.

Turn Your Phone Into A Metal Detector 1

Apps like Metal Detector (free, iOS & Android) are great at finding ferrous metals such as iron and steel, and they can also be used to locate wall studs for hanging family photos.  Use it in the backyard with kids for a great pirate treasure hunt adventure.

Mobile Car Technology 0

What’s more mobile than a car?

In this video clip from the Today Show, Chris Valasek (Director of Security Intelligence IOActive) and Charlie Miller (computer security researcher with Twitter) hack into a car’s computer system and take control of speedometer and the wheel.

While the hack is a success, they do point out that the hack is very localized-the hacker has to be in the car to take control of the car’s computer. But the point is that as cars become more advanced, they’re more vulnerable to getting hacked. The auto industry is on the verge of being revolutionized by technology as the world becomes more connected by mobile devices. A study by Fujitsu projects that in the future “the car itself will become not merely a device for mobility, but a “mobile device” in the same sense that technology companies understand the term – a platform for innovative, compelling applications that enrich the user’s experience.”

This opens up a lot of opportunity, but also an increased risk that car manufacturers will need to address as technology continues to advance.

Mobile Productivity Apps (iOS) 1

There are many ways that productivity apps can help to make people’s lives easier, such as convenient list making for shopping, paper free calendars, day planning and note taking.

But having such a variety of productivity applications out there to choose from can be a tad overwhelming especially if you’re just looking for a good list-taking app and you find yourself faced with options ranging in price from free to 40 bucks or more. It’s a personal choice as to which app or apps you want to try out, but if you’re just testing the productivity waters, perhaps start out with a free app or two and see how you can incorporate them into your daily routine.

Here’s a list of apps we like, broken down by category:

List making apps

Calendar or day planner apps

Task management apps

Project management apps

Writing apps

All of this in one apps

What are your favorite productivity apps for getting things done and staying organized?

 

Want free data? There’s an app for that 0

If you like the idea of getting free data for your smart phone, or you’re an advertiser and wish your mobile ads were getting more engagement, you may want to check out Boston based startup Aquto.

Kickbit by AqutoAquto has essentially incentivized mobile advertising by partnering with cellular carriers to provide free data in exchange for a certain amount of engagement with a mobile ad.

How it works is that you download Aquto’s app Kickbit and then using the app you can earn data by watching videos, taking surveys, etc. From inside the app, you then have the option to transfer the data you’ve earned to your mobile carrier. You’ll have to check their list to see if your carrier is supported though-not all carriers support this yet.

Did Aquto figure out the best way to monetize mobile ads? Is free data enough of a hook? It might be. The number of smart phone users continues to grow, and so does the amount of data we’re using on our phones. A VentureBeat article on mobile data usage cites new research by Strategy Analytics, which projects that people will use 300% more data by 2017.

Does free data for your smart phone sound like something you would be interested in?