Flush out your business plan ideas with Elevatr

By Lory Gil on Jun 18, 2013

Everyone has big ideas for starting their own business or inventing some new product. But, not many people follow through with their ideas. Maybe they forgot what they were talking about after six shots of whiskey. Maybe they already moved on to a new business idea.

Elevatr is a productivity app that lets you write down your business plan in a simple, but useful way. Now, when you say you’re going to open your own barbeque-French cuisine fusion restaurant, you might actually turn that idea into a reality… Read More

 

Catch Notes makes it easy to capture and collaborate on ideas

By Lory Gil on Jun 17, 2013

If you are the kind of person who is always jotting down ideas on napkins, sending random text messages to friends about cool concepts, or leaving notes to yourself on sticky pads, you need something to help organize your thoughts.

Catch Notes is a productivity app that makes it easy to capture your ideas and share them with others without any fuss or muss. Just open the app, type in or record your idea and add your contacts for true collaboration…  Read More

 

Microsoft releases Office 365 for iPhone

By Christian Zibreg on Jun 14, 2013

After months of speculation and years of waiting, Windows maker Microsoft has finally relented and released the official Office suite on iOS. But don’t get your hopes up too high, it isn’t what you’ve been looking for.

As the lengthy name suggests, ‘Office Mobile for Office 365 subscribers’ (seriously, Microsoft?) requires an Office 365 subscription, is iPhone-only and is more of an Office companion than a full-blown productivity application.

You can edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents on the go, though we’re talking limited editing capability here. Go past the fold for the full info… Read More

 

Smart Merge review: how to easily find and merge duplicate contacts

By Lory Gil on May 11, 2013

When you sync your desktop contacts with your iOS contacts and then throw your Facebook contacts into the mix, you will inevitably end up with duplicates. Just like a physical address book, every time one of your friends gets a new email address or phone number, you end up with multiples from the same person.

Smart Merge helps you clear out duplicate contacts by fishing out email addresses, phone numbers, and names that are the same. It also comes with a backup feature so you can store a Dav-Card file in your email account, just in case something happens in the future… Read More

 

Bill Gates: you’re frustrated because your iPad lacks real keyboard and real Office

By Christian Zibreg on May 6, 2013

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates thinks Apple’s iPad is “frustrating” to use because it lacks a physical keyboard and doesn’t run Office. The Surface, he says, brings the “portability of the tablet but the richness of the PC” to mobile productivity.

Being a Google Apps fan, I’m obviously biased and not exactly the right guy to comment on the Office part of Bill’s comment.

Now, I’m underestimating the real world outside the Apple bubble and obviously there are heavy Office users out there who agree with Gates on Office for iPad. Regardless, you’d think Microsoft’s co-founder should know that any Bluetooth keyboard works with iPads.

On top of that, a bunch of iPad cases incorporate physical keys like NIBIQÜ’s and Logitech’s Surface-like iPad cases, the latter featuring physical keys seamlessly fused into its interior fabric. Go past the fold for the full quote and video evidence… Read More

 

CloudOn for iOS review: use Microsoft Office on your iPhone and iPad

By Lory Gil on May 1, 2013

Microsoft has been hinting at the possibility of bringing its suite of productivity applications to iOS for a long time now. We’ve heard that Microsoft may bring Office to the iPad next fall. We’ve heard that the software giant is holding out until Apple agrees to take a smaller cut of the profits. What we haven’t heard is that Microsoft is officially bringing Office to iOS in its full capacity.

Most of us have figured out workarounds that make it possible to access Word, Excel or PowerPoint documents on our iPad or iPhone. But nothing will beat the original. If it ever happens.

CloudOn is a universal app that brings Microsoft Office to your iPhone or iPad. CloudOn lets you manage your cloud-based files, plus edit, create, and present Microsoft Office documents.  That’s right. You can now use Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on iOS… Read More

 

Keep track of multiple packages with Delivery Status touch

By Lory Gil on May 1, 2013

I run a small independent record label. I visit my local U.S. Postal Service just about every other day. I also order a lot of things online. Last Christmas, I only went outside to do my shopping twice. Everything else was purchased through Amazon. I sell items on eBay and have various promotional items delivered to me for product reviews. I am on a first-name basis with my postman.

Needless to say, I keep track of a lot of packages. Whether I’m sending or receiving, in any given month, I’ve got a list of items that I am tracking to someone’s front door.

Delivery Status touch is the perfect app for people like me, people who track multiple packages most of the time. Using your order number or tracking number, you can follow the path that your package is taking until it reaches its final destination… Read More

 

The best note-taking apps for iPad

By Lory Gil on Apr 23, 2013

The iPad can be a workhorse for your productivity needs if you know how to use it. Whether you are building a business network, making your way through college, or just trying to run a brick-and-mortar record shop, the iPad can be one of your greatest allies.

The iPad is the perfect sized tablet for taking notes. If you are in a meeting, listening to a lecture, or coming up with ideas for your next masterpiece, you can find an app that will accommodate your needs. We’ve got a list of the best note-taking apps that we think rise to the top. Feel free to add your own favorites in the comments section… Read More

 

Status Board for iPad review

By Lory Gil on Apr 20, 2013

The recent launch of Status Board created quite a stir in the tech world. This iPad display has turned heads all around the Internet. It is not just because the app looks good, which it does. It is also because the app is fully customizable and allows for user data input of any kind that can even be shared with others.

Status Board is a data display that allows users to see various panels of information, all on one screen. You can see tweets, calendar events, news feeds, email, and much more. You can customize graphs and tables and even make your own panel using HTML. Once you’ve created your board, you can display it on your big-screen TV using Apple TV AirPlay Mirroring or with an HDMI cable and iPad adapter. Status Board is the ultimate data collection display panel… Read More

 

Documents by Readdle goes universal, now available on iPhone

By Christian Zibreg on Apr 11, 2013

The App Store carries some handy programs for folks who need to edit Microsoft Office documents on their iPhone and iPad. If Google’s acquisition of the popular app Quickoffice came as a shock and you were looking to jump ship, Readdle has you covered with today’s update to their free Documents software. The application, which is now universal, has at last been updated with support for the iPhone and iPod touch.

Although Documents won’t let you edit Microsoft Office documents, you can now view Word, Excel and PowerPoint files on any iOS device you happen to own.

Plus, Documents comes with lots more features to help you manage a bunch of file types, it syncs with popular cloud storage services, comes with a beautiful media player and lets you even annotate PDFs… Read More

 

The fantastic Fantastical update hits the iPhone, we go hands-on

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 7, 2013

I’m a long time fan of Fantastical, a tremendously useful and well-designed calendar and to-do software for the Mac from Flexibits.

Therefore, it goes without saying that I was tingling with expectation after the team had teased an iPhone experience in early-November 2012.

And now, less than three months since its iPhone debut, developers Thursday pushed the first major update. It’s a must-have as it addresses a few omissions while expanding on core functionality with some nice enhancements that will admittedly boost your productivity.

These include time zone support, multiple event alerts, even faster natural language parsing, handy user interface tweaks and of course “staggering number of other improvements, parser enhancements, and bug fixes.” If you’re a fan of the app, we’ve got you covered with detailed observations of what’s new and how the changes affect your daily workflow… Read More

 

Microsoft doesn’t want to take billions from Office for iPad?

By Ed Sutherland on Feb 15, 2013

Picture Microsoft in one of those V8 commercials, where the actor whacks himself in the head after he could be drinking a healthy vegetable drink rather than a can of diet cola.

Now, replace the veggie juice with an iPad and you might have a scenario playing out in the executive suite of Microsoft today.

Why? The software giant refuses to sell a version of its Office suite for the iPad, a mistake possibly costing $2.5 billion. One analyst believes the company is leaving $2.5 billion on the table by insisting to offer the popular software bundle to Microsoft’s tiny tablet market, as well as the declining number of PCs.

Can any company be that short-sighted? Wait, that was a rhetorical question… Read More

 

AppCap tweak limits and blocks distracting apps

By Mike Schnier on Feb 13, 2013

I’m not sure how I feel about digital commitment devices. On the one hand, I’d like to believe that if I really didn’t want to open Facebook on my phone during work hours, I just wouldn’t open it. On the other hand, I know from personal experience that it isn’t always this easy.

AppCap is a tweak that allows you to set a limit on your usage on a distracting app, hopefully encouraging you to use it less… Read More

 

Ballmer dashes Office for iPad hopes (for now)

By Christian Zibreg on Jan 30, 2013

Following up on yesterday’s release of cloud-based Office 365 for Macs and Windows PCs, Microsoft’s energetic CEO Steve Ballmer sat down with Ashlee Vance of Bloomberg Businessweek to talk biz, competition and discuss what’s next for the productivity suite. Office 365, basically a subscription-based offering, shouldn’t be confused with the just released Office 2013 suite.

Despite several credible leaks proving that Microsoft is working on Office for iPad, Ballmer isn’t afraid of an Office-less iPad. Little wonder, considering the Windows maker is keeping a tablet version of Office exclusive to Windows 8 tablets as a crucial advantage over other tablets… Read More

 

Fantastical for iPhone is here and it’s a thing of beauty

By Christian Zibreg on Nov 29, 2012

As promised, Flexibits today launched Fantastical for the iPhone. The app makes a leap from the Mac, where it’s been deemed the most popular calendar software for the platform. And one of its trademark features – the natural-language engine which parses entries, allowing one to just type in full sentences to create events – is now available on the iPhone and is just as effective as on the Mac. And for those that don’t like to type, Fantastical also supports dictation so you can speak the details for your event… Read More

 

Microsoft Office hitting iOS in early-2013 with limited editing functionality

By Christian Zibreg on Nov 7, 2012

The Verge in an exclusive report this morning offers a detailed look into Office Mobile, a long-rumored version of Microsoft’s productivity suite, said to hit iOS and Android devices in early 2013, with the iPhone and iPad version hitting the App Store first. The suite, the publication has it, will apparently include free viewer apps that will require a Microsoft account. Limited editing functionality will reportedly be available with an Office 365 subscription. More tidbits right after the break… Read More

 

Microsoft (again) mentions Office for iOS and Android

By Christian Zibreg on Oct 10, 2012

We’ve been receiving vague hints that Microsoft, which is currently busy for the big Windows 8 launch scheduled for October 26, is also working on bringing the Office suite to the iPad. Today, a new report quotes a Microsoft executive as confirming that the software giant is in fact hard at work developing a native Microsoft Office suite for both iOS and Android. The software should hit the two mobile platforms “sometime after March 2013″… Read More

 

Evernote Releases Two New iPhone Apps For Remembering People and Meals

By Oliver Haslam on Dec 7, 2011

It’s been a busy day for the Evernote team with not just one, but two apps being pushed out into Apple’s App Store.

You probably know Evernote as the note-taking and archiving utility that helps to organize our digital lives, but did you also know that it can help you remember the people you meet, as well as the meals you’ve eaten?

Evernote’s two new apps, Evernote Hello and Evernote Food, do just that, and the best part is that they seamlessly sync with your existing Evernote account, meaning all your Hello and Food notes are available anywhere on any internet-enabled device… Read More

 

Stay on Top of Your Own Work Schedule With Phocus [Review and Giveaway] [Winners Announced]

By Alex Heath on Aug 11, 2011

Those of us that like to work at our own pace know how easy to can be to get distracted. There’s been whole conferences and collections of book materials dedicated to helping freelancers and the self-employed stay on track during a work day.

Thanks to an awesome iPhone app, it’s never been easier to get Phocused. Read More