Free Technology Zone

Evernote, Best note taking app

I’ve use a lot of note taking tools in my life, including the tried and true notepad and pen.  Nothing have come close to the perfection of Evernote.  Why do I say this?  Well, read on and find out.

What’s wrong with traditional note taking apps and tools?  The very biggest problem with them is that they cause your data to be in one physical location, vulnerable to being lost.  The other problem is that sometimes, you never really have access to that same tool; then, your notes become fragmented and out-of-order.  The next thing is that trying to find an old note can be a big challenge.  Lastly, you are limited to what you can write or type.

Evernote comes close to perfection when it comes to solving your note taking challenge.  Why?  Because it addresses each and everyone of those problems.  And guess what?  It’s free!!!

I’m not going to cover every little thing about Evernote here, but I will highlight its key features:

• Your notes go to the “cloud”; now it doesn’t matter what happens to your electronic device; it breaks, just get another one and you still have your notes.  If you lose your electronic device, it doesn’t matter, you still have your notes; thus you can never lose your notes (unless Evernote disappears from the face of the earth; which is not very likely considering the success they are having )
• With Evernote, you can take notes with your desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone, and through simple texting means.  Most of the time, you’ll have your phone, and as such, you can still take notes.
• The search function within Evernote is great.  You can search using key words, or through tags; nothing can be easier.
• With Evernote, you aren’t limited to taking notes by typing; you can add other forms of information like:  audio, videos, images, and photos.  You can’t beat that!
• Last but not least, it is FREE!

Drop Box is a cloud resource that you can access from any of your electronic devices, like your laptop, tablet, smart phone, and desktop computer.  This cloud resource provides 2GB of free storage.

Now, 2GB doesn’t seem much, but it is sufficient enough to hold various documents, photos, images, or short videos.  If you need more space, you can subscribe for more disk space.  For most general applications, 2GB should suffice.

For example, as an online writer, I put various pictures or images on my drop box space.  I also store my short writing thoughts on drop box.  So no matter where I am, and regardless of which computing platform I’m carrying, I can access the files from my drop box.

Here’s a quick video on the beauty of using drop box.

source: petersaints at youtube.com

Apple has been known to push the envelope on innovation.  Their releases of personal computers long ago (back in the 1980s) with the Apple II/IIe and especially the Macintosh were innovative for their time.  However, because they only ran on a particular platform controlled by Apple, the IBMPC compatible with Microsoft Windows operating system quickly took over.

By the 1990s, the only people that used apples were the education sectors, those with special multimedia application requirements, and the die-hard Apple fans.  Most users went on the PC/Microsoft Windows bandwagon.  Almost every electronic store you go to you will see various PC brands like Dell, HP, Compaq, Acer, ASUS, eMachine, Toshiba, and IBM.

I see the same pattern with Apple again.  This time it is with the iPhone; and this time the battle is against Google’s Android operating system which is run by many smart phone platforms.  The race is starting to heat up with the recent release and highly marketed DROID phone from Verizon.  Most recently, there has been very strong buzz around Google’s Nexus One. 

From what I can see, features and capabilities that the iPhone have the Android phones also have.  Right now Apple touts over 100,00 apps for the iphone, while the Android has tens of throusands; but because of its open architecture, I foresee Android applications quickly surpassing the iPhone in application count.  And from the standpoint of availability, the Android operating system is more available from more phone service providers than the iPhone, which is limited only to AT&T. 

I predict that within three years, the Android-based cell phones will completely dominate the smart phone market.  The iPhone will continue to thrive, but only for those die-hard Apple fans.  Check back in 2013!

From the factory, the Droid comes with the following built-in core applications:

• Alarm Clock
• Amazon MP3
• Browser
• Calculator
• Calendar
• Camera
• Car Home
• Contacts
• Corporate Calendar
• Email
• Facebook
• Gallery
• Gmail
• Maps
• Market
• Messaging
• Music
• Phone
• Settings
• Talk
• Visual VM
• Voice Search
• YouTube

The unit has 3 desktops you can fill with shortcuts to the above applications and other applications you may install at some point in the future.

The center desktop has the following preset shortcuts:

• Messaging
• Phone
• Contacts
• Browser
• Maps
• Market
• Voice Search

All core applications are quickly explained below.

Alarm Clock

Provides a clock and alarming features which can be set in various ways.  You can add a single alarm, a periodic daily alarm, or an alarm that goes off on certain days of the week.

Amazon MP3

You can browse top music albums or tracks.  You can also browse by genre.  When you find what you like, you can purchase it.

Browser

This is the Internet browser.  The browser is location aware.  Through its GPS function, it knows where it is.

Calculator

Provides basic calculator functionality, including some advanced math functions like sin, cos, tan, ln, log, factorial, pi, exponential, power, and square root.

Calendar

Your Google calendar will show here.

Camera

Provides your basic camera function with still pictures and video capabilities.  The camera can shoot 5 megapixels pictures.

Car Home

The GPS Navigation system.  Has voice command capabilities so that if you wish to go to a particular address, you can say “directions to…”.  Aside from navigation, you can view contacts and the map here.

Contacts

Your contact list resides here.  Any accounts you synchronize with that contains contact information will go here.

Corporate Calendar

If you synch up with MS Exchange, your corporate calendar will show here.

Email

Provides access to e-mail accounts.

Facebook

This is a Facebook application to access your Facebook page on the web.  The interface is pretty straight forward.

Gallery

Provides a means to view pictures and videos in an easy to follow format.

Gmail

Application for Google’s web e-mail–gmail.

Maps

This is just like google maps, but it is location aware.  It will show the Droid’s present location on the map.

Market

This is just like the iPhone’s app store.  The market is where you can get free and paid for applications for the Droid.

Messaging

TEXTing application.

Music

Music playing application.

Phone

By the way, I forgot that the Droid is a phone too.

Settings

This is where most of the Droid customization and settings are done.

Talk

This is an application for Google’s IM called Talk.

Visual VM

Allows user to view voice mail and source of voice mail.  Voice mails can be managed through the application.  This service cost money to use.

Voice Search

Allows user to do searches on anything using voice commands.

YouTube

This is a Droid YouTube application.

Recently I had the opportunity to evaluate a DROID.  Aside from some very useful and impressive core applications, I found these free jewels in DROID’s application market:

1. DropBox – in the cloud storage, 2GB free; can be accessed from any device (tablet, computer, smartphone)
2. EverNote – take notes and save it using any of your electronic devices (computer, tablet, smartphone)
3. Thingking Space – an awesome mind mapping utility
4. 1Cast News – video news which provides highlights of key news events
5. Advanced Task Killer – allows one to manage the multiple tasks that are running on your DROID
6. Android VNC – remote control your PC from your DROID
7. Backgrounds – provides a vast list of desktop backgrounds
8. Barcode Scanner – reads UPC codes
9. Cardio Trainer – tracks your position and time
10. Chess Online Free – good computer opponent
11. Document to go – read-only capability for MS Office documents
12. Robo Defense Free – addicting game
13. Finance – see real-time stock quotes
14. Flexilis Mobile Security – anti-virus for Android
15. Free Dictionary Org – handy dictionary reference
16. FxCamera – create effects on photos
17. Jewels – game
18. PicSay – create balloons and other labels on photos
19. Ultimate Stop watch – analog stop watch
20. USA Today – news
21. WeatherBug – location-based weather information
22. Where – location-based interest finder on google maps
23. Whois – find out info about domains
24. WiFinder – see what WiFi signals are around you
25. WikiMobile – WikiPedia-like access
26. WpTogo – update your WordPress blog through this app
27. YellowBook – yellow pages

Do you know of a free Droid application that isn’t on this list but you think is worth mentioning?  If so, let us know; leave a comment.