Technology Recommendations
This week we’re continuing the series on My Favorite Android Apps with Business applications.
Business
- Evernote: I love this application for the ease of use in both capturing everything from pictures to voice, text and audio notes, and retrieving what I may have already captured on my PC. The application synchronizes with its online counterpart and allows me to search for particular text in the body or tags of all of my notes. I only wish I could sort the notes alphabetically. Currently, you can only sort by create or update dates.
- Google Translator: I’ve used Google Translate application online from time to time. It’s often to translate a phrase and add it to an email I’m sending internationally, or to translate an international text found in an email. The service is now available on Android and it’s just as handy. What’s more, I can even translate to and from my mother tongue, Persian! Now that’s impressive.
- NetaShare: I get a lot of my news online. In fact, I don’t listen to the radio or watch TV for any of it. I also follow a lot of blogs, whether technical or otherwise. I shared them with my readers in What Feeds Feed Me. I used to access my Google Reader via the phone browser, but NetaShare makes my life easier. I now read the CACHED feeds directly on the phone with this handy app.
- Package Tracking: If you get or send packages via multiple carriers, this is the tool to use to track them. You just select the carrier, copy and paste the tracking number in the provided text area, and press the [Track Package] button. It would be nice to be able to track by reference as well, such as using your phone number (UPS provides this online).
- Remember The Milk: One of the Android and Google Apps shortcomings is a robust task tracking tool. By robust I mean something where I not only create tasks, but track priorities, progress, set repetition, add notes, and include URLs. Remember The Milk is an online service that provides all of this and more. One pleasant surprise was the addition of location to tasks. If I need to include addresses and due times to my tasks, then by enabling the voice announcement feature of the phone app, I can hear warnings of tasks based on their locations as I drive near them. That’s slick!
- QuickOffice: Microsoft document formats are ubiquitous, requiring an application to view them on our phones. QuickOffice allows you to view documents previously saved on your phone or those that are emailed to you.
- Scan2PDF Mobile: Scan2PDF allows you to capture images of anything via your phone’s camera, convert it to PDF format for storage on your phone or, better yet, emailing it to a colleague or family member. I’d love to see this application incorporated into Google Apps for online storage and sharing.
- Thinking Space: Do you use Mind Mapping to take notes. I do, from time to time. Thinking Space lets you do just that on your phone and upload your Maps online for safe storage.
- VirtualRecorder: I mentioned earlier that I use Evernote for taking voice notes. However, there are times when I’m driving and I want a simple voice recorder to jot down something I just remembered. Aside from the hassle of opening up an app, doing this may be dangerous while driving. Up until recently, I used a traditional voice recorder to reduce the risks of a car collision. However, I finally found an app that has excellent voice recording quality and is easy to use: VirtualRecorder. They will do well by providing a not-as-yet-available Home Widget that requires one click on the icon to start or stop recording a message. That would make the application as safe as can be expected for this medium.
- PdaNet: If you spend a lot of time on the road and need an alternate to a dedicated modem for your notebook computer, use PdaNet to get online using your phone’s data plan. It’s simple and effective, though you may not get the download speeds necessary for large media files. All you need to do is download the app on your phone, download its counterpart for your notebook computer, tether the phone to your notebook via a USB cable, and run the application on both the phone and the computer. Voila! You’re online.
What Do You Think?
Do You have any favorite apps, whether on Android, iPhone, Blackberry or Symbian devices? Why don’t you share them with us below under the Comments section?
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