All Entries Tagged With: "Evernote"
Evernote pretty excited about the iPad
The good folks at Evernote wish us all a Happy Tablet Day and have pledged to “support the hell” out of the iPad.
Evernote is going to support the Apple iPad. Oh Yeah. We’re gonna support the hell out of it. We’re glad to see that the current Evernote iPhone app will run on the iPad without modification, but we’ll be modifying it anyway to optimize the experience on the larger device. Oh how we’ll be modifying it! Expect rapid improvements to our iPhone app which will benefit all of our iPhone, iPod Touch and, now, iPad users in the near future.
Chalk up another reason why I should get one.
Evernote for Windows is all-new and ready for action
Evernote 3.5 for Windows is out of beta testing and ready for real-world use according to the Evernote Blogcast.
I had jumped on the beta boat early on and was really impressed with the new interface. Ink notes, while still open to improvement and enhancement, are much easier to launch. The thumbnails and side window greatly improve note-viewing. Search is more useful than ever. It also more closely resembles the Mac interface, useful for you dual-platform users. The new and improved feature list is huge.
Unfortunately, I eventually had to drop out of beta testing for various reasons (such as having too many beta products running at the same time), but I am very eager to give the gold version a try. Hopefully the sheer weight of my notes will not crush it this time (may have been a problem for me earlier). Remember, Evernote is a “freemium” product – free for basic functionality, fee for premium features – so it costs nothing to try.
Evernote for iPhone gets major update
Evernote snuck in a major update to their iPhone app just before the holidays, loaded with a bevy of sync, cache and search improvements to make note management that much better.
First, they put the sync and account management features under one tab called “Sync” so you can sync when you want to sync. On top of that, it’s now possible to search and sync at the same time. That’s a tremendous convenience boost.
But since you can’t always rely on sync, they’ve also vastly expanded the local cache capabilities. Notes created on your iPhone or iPod touch are automatically cached locally. Furthermore, Premium users can now cache entire notebooks. This is in addition to using Favorites for storing individual notes. That’s all tied together with the new ability to search local notes. Should be a huge help when you’re without a signal, or if you use an iPod touch and rely entirely on wifi.
There are several other improvements, such as doubling the audio note time, options for editing rich text notes, support for additional languages, and increased speed. Full details from the Evernote Blogcast.
Evernote for Android Released
This is making a lot of Android users happy today. Evernote, the app that wants to be your brain when it comes to remembering things, has been released. You can get it for your Android phone here. I’m currently not an Android user so I can’t check this out, but I know Rob Bushway has been looking forward to this, so maybe he’ll leave a comment as to how well it works. If anyone else running an Android device checks this out, make sure you report in and let us know what you think.
As usual, you’ll be able to create text, picture, or voice notes, and then sync them up to your Evernote cloud. They will then be available on any device should you download the Evernote client for that device, or available on the web service. Of course the reverse is true and you can view Evernote notes captured on other devices on your phone as well.
Changing My Mobile Strategy and a New Computer
Over the weekend I posted that I purchased a new computer and was going to being shifting my mobile strategy. I offered folks a chance to guess what the new computer was, and lo and behold, Rob Bushway, guessed correctly. I picked up a 13 inch MacBook Pro at a good price from Amazon.com. on Black Friday. It arrived yesterday and now the shift in strategy begins.
MobileNoter Releases v 1.0 adds Subscription Model
MobileNoter is one of those iPhone apps that I’ve been following and testing with keen interest. Why? Because it allows me to sync OneNote data to my iPhone. I’m a huge OneNote fan and love that application. I often call it Microsoft’s biggest secret that they want to keep a secret because there is so very little said about it from Redmond. Here’s hoping that changes when the 2010 version is finally released. I’m currently using the OneNote 2010 Technical Preview and love it.
But back to MobileNoter. Version 1.0 promises a host of changes and bug fixes. It also comes with a price tag. While the iPhone app is a free app, in order to take advantage of the syncing functionality (which is the point), you need to subscribe to the service. There is a 7 day trial for those who were in the beta or using this before the 1.0 release. I guess that means if you’re a new user there is no trial. The way MobileNoter works is that OneNote data you want to sync (you get to choose the notebooks you want to sync) goes to the MobileNoter servers in the sky. That data is then synced to the iPhone version. So in essence you’re paying for the cloud storage and bandwidth. It isn’t expensive. At the moment it is priced at $15 a year. A 3 month subscription runs you $5.
100 Things You Can Do With Evernote
I don’t think there’s anything Andrew Maxwell doesn’t use Evernote for. He posted a list of 100 things you could use the service for. I’m a big fan of Evernote and have it installed on every device I own.
I’ve used Evernote for a lot of the things on his list, including keeping track of software serial numbers and keeping track of hardware. The list is long and a lot of tips are based on Andrew’s experiences as a web designer. There are some real gems in the list that don’t have anything to do with tech. a couple of my favorites:
38. Keep a note of the nice things people say about you and who said it, this comes in handy when your feeling depressed.
58. Make note of things that make you relaxed and use them to consistently enjoy your life.
Find Your Car with Augmented Reality App
I’m so-so about augmented reality apps. I’ve tried Layer and it sort of works. Part of my so-so-ness is the rural area I live in that really doesn’t offer much reality to augment. That said, this app, Car Finder, seems like it might be of use if you travel a bit. The name says it all.
Essentially when you leave your car, you mark your location with a GPS fix. Of course that means you need to have a GPS signal for this to do any good. When it is time to return to your car, the camera opens when you launch the app and the app points you to your car, reading out the distance along the way.
I’ve talked about how I use my iPhone to keep up with my car before by snapping a picture and storing it in Evernote, but I’ll have to give this a try before my next series of travels.
ReQall and Evernote Tandem Working Well
Task management is something that I struggle with all the time. In fact, I probably spend way too much time looking for good solutions as I do managing tasks. Part of my problem is that while I can sit down in an H-Hour sort of mode and plot out upcoming tasks, I also have moments of inspiration (sometimes they feel like panic) where I’ll come up with a list of things that need to be accomplished. Sometimes this is while I’m at my desk, sometimes it is while driving, sometimes it just happens at the oddest moments.
I’m continually experimenting with different solutions for the various business and personal tasks I have to manage and there are a few prerequisites that make a solution a possibility for me.
First up, since I’m using an iPhone, the solution has to work well there. Next, it needs to easily integrate with my calendars. One solution that seems to be working and also creating another prerequisite for me is the combination of ReQall and Evernote. That prerequisite is being able to add tasks by voice.
Good News for Evernote Tablet PC Fans Who Also Use Macs
Well, it took awhile. Evernote’s recent update for its Mac application finally allows the display of Ink Notes taken on a Tablet PC. This came down last week but in the midst of opening a show I didn’t do the update until today. Curiously, I haven’t seen much ink about this feature either.
Evernote is terrific application for those who are platform agnostic but one of the big drawbacks for Tablet PC fans has been that notes taken in Ink would only be displayed as an icon when Evernote was opened on the Mac platform. You’ve been able to view your Ink notes in the web version and even on the iPhone, but this has been a long time coming for the Mac platform.
In my case, this makes this multi-platform application even more valuable as I can take notes in rehearsal on a Tablet PC and review them back at my desktop when I’m sitting in my office. Thanks, Evernote, and please pardon me when I say, what took you so long?
Evernote 3.5 Beta available for Windows
Click for larger version
A bit of news that caught us off-guard today: a new version of that “memory drawer” Evernote is available for beta testing. Caught us by surprise because news broke via CNET before anyone else posted it, including the Evernote Blogcast. Any other week, a company blog not getting out first word of their product would strike me as odd, but it fits this crazy week perfectly.
Back on topic, the new version offers a ton of new features. The most apparent is the new thumbnail view alongside the full view. I like this a lot. The sheer volume of my notes requires me to use search to find anything, but even in small folders, I find browsing through notes on the old version to be a chore. In just the brief time I’ve tried it, the thumbnail view has been much more enjoyable.
Evernote Seeks International Input
If you can write in French, Italian, German and/or Spanish, Evernote wants you! Well, no, not you in person, but you to help expand the breadth of their handwriting recognition engine to include these languages.
As posted on the Evernote Blog, they need handwriting samples in these languages to get them into their recognition engine. The text of the required samples are in PDF form. They ask that you write these on paper, then scan and send to them. No prizes or anything for helping other than to help Evernote to recognize a language you use. Oh, there is this one thing:
Cool bonus: Helping us means that Evernote should recognize your handwriting particularly well. That could come in handy later.
That’d be plenty incentive for me.
Evernote on the NYT
Via The New York Times
In a look at the profitability of freemium services, The New York Times sat down with Evernote’s chief executive, Phil Libin, to see what makes their business model tick, and in the process, shared an straightforward explanation of what Evernote does.
The company gives away a Web application that saves data you accumulate. You can use it to keep a wide range of information: meeting notes and voice memos, for example, or even photographs of wines consumed or recipes found in magazines. The information is stored on the company’s computers so all the data can be synchronized on every computer the customer uses  and on smartphones as well.
“It is a universal memory drawer,†says Mr. Libin, who has run and sold two other start-ups.
“Universal memory drawer” is probably the most concise yet accurate description I’ve come across for the service. And if you learn anything from this article, it’s that Evernote is definitely a service; the app is just the means to use (and sell) the service. The article closes with a statement from Libin iterating their commitment to remain free. I’ll close this entry by stating, as a newly upgraded user, the premium service is worth the small fee.
How goes my experiments?
I tried out a few new things this month, so now with September looming, it seems like a good time to log in a status report.
Added a Tablet to My Tablet: As I mentioned when I first blogged this, I should have added a Graphire Wireless to my peripheral arsenal a long time ago. It’s been perfect for navigating around Hulu and Netflix while sitting on the couch (with my Tablet PC docked on the desk, as seen here).
I’ve also started using it as a mouse alternative. It lets me use my tablet in laptop mode without relying on “gorilla arm” for pen input. Not quite as easy as using the pen straight on the screen in slate mode, but it’s pretty comfortable. The small size keeps every part of the screen within reach, and my ritePen macros save me from menus. Haven’t started using it at work yet, but that’s still on the agenda.
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Evernote for iPhone adds web clipping
Announced on the Evernote Blogcast, the Evernote iPhone app just got a speed bump and an important new feature: Web Clipping. Much like the Evernote (or OneNote) desktop application, the feature allows you to save web pages to your notes. But in a flip of the usual plug-in system, rather than adding the service to the browser, they built the browser into the app.
Clip web pages
Evernote has a built-in web browser, which allows you to quickly open links found within your notes. Now you can do more than just visit the webpages, you can also clip them into your account. To use this feature, tap the Clip to Evernote option found within the Send To menu in the bottom of the browser screen.
It’s a two-step operation since you need to get the link into Evernote first, but emailing links to Evernote is simple enough, and even simpler now that you can easily add your Evernote email address (to email notes to Evernote) to your contacts. In addition, the update speeds up camera and snapshot note creation, speeds up search, and adds the option to manually sync your notes any time.
Sounds great all around, but for me, the upgrade that really matters is faster search. Since upgrading to Evernote premium and loading my account up with way too much data to sort, I’ve found search to be absolutely invaluable for finding what I need, and I already use email to add more while on-the-go. Got to get better about tagging photos though.
