Note Taking Apps for your iPhone

Evernote for iPhone

Evernote is the one of the best apps for taking notes on the iPhone. It automatically uploads all of your notes to its web server. Because these same notes are accessible from any computer, tablet or smartphone, you’ll never have to e-mail your notes to your self again. Evernote also works the other way around: You are able to take notes on your computer and then promptly set them up on your iPhone screen. Sharing your notes from Evernote is straightforward: if you have an agenda and want to share that information with others, you may do so with just a few clicks.

It is great for meeting notes, noting down books and music to check out, shopping lists and many more uses that you’ll find for it throughout your busy day. Evernote is free, though there is a $5/month option that allows for better PDF searching and also hides the small advertisement that comes with the free version. http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/evernote/id281796108

ReQall App for iPhone

ReQall is an iPhone to-do list app which has a few quite useful features. You are able to share all of your to-do lists with other people who also ReQall. This can be a wonderful way to help keep all the group members in your company stay on the same page. It’s also a great way for families to keep on top of their to-dos. If you manage a company with outsourced workers, for instance, you can all share to-do lists. This way everyone is on the same page no matter how far away they are. http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/reqall/id284930649

Recorder Pro App for iPhone

If you record interviews or want to take down audio notes to yourself, this app is a must have. This app will especially be useful to people who are always forgetting things. Using the Apple built-in microphone, Recorder Pro (http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/recorder-pro/id290854227)allows you to name files, pause, re-record, sort your audio files and more.

This is a great way to make use of the iPhones onboard microphone. Use it to record audio for your online business meetings or little reminders when you can’t stop to jot things down. You can also record reminders on the run for yourself as well. It is a hands-free way to make notes to yourself so you never forget a thing.

Permalink: https://digital-cave.blogspot.com/2012/08/note-taking-apps-for-your-iphone.html

Personal Finance Apps for the iPhone - Mint + Expense Tracker

Mint iPhone App for Personal Finance

For those used to the great personal finance features on the Mint website, they can now find them on the Mint app (http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/mint.com-personal-finance/id300238550) . This is a great application for helping people manage their personal and business finances. Mint allows anyone to track all their accounts on a single dashboard screen on your iPhone. It doesn’t matter if you have one, two or three bank accounts, or if you need to track PayPal accounts along with multiple credit card accounts. Mint is great to get a simple overview of all your account balances: instead of logging into separate websites, all your accounts are integrated into Mint. This makes checking financial details much detail easier. If you’re ever late on payments or need a way to keep tabs on your bank balance, this app can help keep all your financial data right at your fingertips for easy observation.

Spending Expense Tracker App

Tracking your expenses is just a vital part of any online business. Many people think that it's enough to keep credit card statements as evidence of expenses, but these are actually not enough for IRS purposes. Having an iPhone app that enables you to track your expenses can make expense-tracking a great deal easier. The Spending Expense Tracker App is a convenient tool that will help you keep track of your everyday expenses. This is especially important for business travelers, since it’s easy to forget getting a receipt when you are travelling.

As opposed to being forced to start QuickBooks and have it running while you are operating your business, you can just quickly enter your bills into an app, and the habit of doing this after each purchase will give you a reminder to ask for a physical receipt for tax purposes, instead of just relying on your credit card bills. You can use Spending Expense Tracker for both individual and business expenditures and to help keep an eye on where your money is going, and stay within your budget. This app can assist you to curb any poor spending habits through tracking your spending, and perhaps even save your self more money and spend more wisely as a result.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/easy-spending-expense-tracker/id437238261

Permalink: https://digital-cave.blogspot.com/2012/08/personal-finance-apps-for-iphone-mint.html

Productivity Apps for the iPhone - Pomodoro + iDoneThis

The Pomodoro Productivity App for the iPhone

The Pomodoro App (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pomodoro-time-management/id323222604 ) is based on a productivity system popular with people who are short on time. The system has become popular with students and corporate executives as well as anyone who regularly is trying to squeeze in as much as they can during a productive day. Pomodoro, the Italian word for tomato, looks like an ordinary kitchen timer:

A pomodoro is a unit of time and works like this: for 25 minutes, you work without any interruptions. If you get interrupted by a phone calls, email, or Facebook status update, then you have to restart. After 25 minutes, you take an obligatory 5 minute break, and then do another 25 minutes. The Pomodoro app helps you keep track of time while staying on task to help you get more done with fewer distractions.

iDoneThis App for iPhone

One of the best ways to motivate yourself is to regularly be presented with your achievements to keep you motivated. It lets you continually see how much you have accomplished, which is exactly what iDoneThis allows you to do.
Here’s how it works: at the end of the day, iDoneThis will send you a push notification asking you what you did for the day. Fill it out, push send and IDoneThis will add it to your calendar. This allows you to easily look back and see all that you have accomplished. If you manage a team, you can also create group projects. This allows you to see exactly what your team members have finished as well.

https://idonethis.com/

Permalink: https://digital-cave.blogspot.com/2012/08/productivity-apps-for-iphone-pomodoro.html

Ahead of Release Date, iPhone 5 Particulars Coming into Focus

There appears to be some more changes in store for the iPhone 5.  Digitimes has information from "upstream panel suppliers" stating that the display on the iPhone will have a design to make the screen look larger.  This is an important consideration since their information source suggests that the screen will remain roughly the same size, between 3.5 and 3.7 inches.

A rendering of the iPhone 5, from MacRumors.

New Camera
Details came out earlier about the iPhone 5's new camera (http://digital-cave.blogspot.com/2011/08/iphone-5-likely-getting-new-camera.html), which will switch from Omnivision as a supplier to Sony. The move will increase the cameras megapixel count from 5 to 8.

New Antenna
The new iPhone 4S will have different antennas so that it would be be compatible with both CDMA and GSM networks.   For more on this update, see http://digital-cave.blogspot.com/2011/08/next-gen-iphone-5-to-be-dual-mode-cdma.html.

New iPhone 4S - Bottom Part

Permalink: https://digital-cave.blogspot.com/2011/08/ahead-of-release-date-iphone-5.html

Next-Gen iPhone 5 to be Dual-Mode CDMA & GSM

The dual antennas in the upcoming iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S allow it to function on all the major carriers.  Here's a list of the major cellular companies and their network types:

CDMA Networks

• Sprint
• Verizon

GSM Networks

• T-Mobile
• AT&T

With included antennas for both GSM and CDMA networks, the new iPhone will be much more flexible.  Dual-mode is especially important for people who travel, doubly so since the SIM card will be accessible.

Qualcomm's MDM6600 wireless chip with "world-mode" (From current iPhone 4 model).

Sprint is Getting the iPhone


The big news recently was that Sprint was getting the iPhone.  Skeptics cited that the Sprint move by Apple was a  measure to wring as much money as they could out of the iPhone.  Certainly, people who really wanted the iPhone would have switched to AT&T already, but Sprint stalwarts will finally be rewarded.  The problem with Sprint has always been its coverage.  Sprint customer service is top-notch (by most studies, but I'm also a Sprint customer and they have always treated me well).   Sprint is cheaper than most carriers because their network is nothing to brag about (though T-mobile's is even worse).

Anroid is gaining in popularity versus the iOS.  Because of Android's gains, many believe Apple is letting Sprint have the iPhone because of its eroding market share.  Even so, Apple's iPhone is still on top of the pack:

http://digital-cave.blogspot.com/2011/08/iphone-4-already-best-selling.html

Either way, people at the sprint users forum are obviously happy about getting the new iPhone

Permalink: https://digital-cave.blogspot.com/2011/08/next-gen-iphone-5-to-be-dual-mode-cdma.html

iPhone 5 Likely Getting a New Camera

Bye Bye Omnivision - Hello Sony?

In what may be the strongest evidence for a new camera on the iPhone 5 yet,  it now appears imminent that Apple will drop Omnivision as a camera supplier and instead opt for Sony to provide the camera on the new iPhone 5.  Forbes cited a stock analyst who, trying to explain Omnivision's lower stock price, made the suggestion that OmniVision “may have missed Apple’s commercial production deadline,” thus losing its lead supplier status for the iPhone 5 camera's image sensor to Sony.  The analyst still expects the new iPhone to have an 8 MP camera, an improvement of the 5 MP camera of the iPhone 4.

But besides missing a production deadline, there might be other reasons for Apple to change the iPhone's camera supplier even though the 5 MP camera on the iPhone 4 hasn't had any problems yet.


Just focusing on the sensor in the iPhone 4, there are noticeable deficiencies:

1. There is a noticeable green-halo effect when taking pictures under fluorescent or halogen light.
2. The megapixel count is still fairly low in comparison to other cameras.
3. The thickness of the sensor could be made thinner. (a thinner sensor = a thinner iPhone).

Remember that the camera is a part of the smartphone that is expected to get an upgrade every year.  Another problem is that a camera on a smartphone is likely to have more noise because of its sensor.  A typical way to combat this is to tinker with the camera's sensor, but Apple and other smartphone manufacturers are hampered by existing technology at this point.

1. The higher the pixel count, the more noise the sensor produces in images. 
2. One way to combat noise in pictures is to increase the MP on the sensor as well as increasing its physical size in order to eliminate the heat and noise issues.  
3. But a thick sensor itself would prevent Apple from producing a skinny iPhone.

And while some may scoff at the whole megapixel count issue as a red herring for smartphone manufacturer's to sell their phones, there are legitimate reasons why consumers want more megapixels on their cameras:

Nowadays photos are not only used for prints.  Many people want to view pictures on their computer, ipad, digital picture frame etc. In such cases there are differences in perceived detail especially when you want to zoom in to see certain details of a picture.

However you feel about the MP issue, it's still true that people want to enjoy quality photographs taken on their smart phones.  Nobody with an expensive camera-equipped phone wants to carry around a secondary camera because their phone's camera isn't up to the task.

Copyright 2011 - http://digital-cave.blogspot.com/.

Permalink: https://digital-cave.blogspot.com/2011/08/iphone-5-likely-getting-new-camera.html

iPhone 4 Already the Best Selling Smartphone to Become More Popular at $99 Price Point

Based on July, 2011 data, the iPhone is still the best selling smartphone in all the land.  But with its new $99 price point and news that Sprint will start offering the iPhone on the Sprint network in October of 2011, will the Apple iPhone become even more popular?

The Apple iPhone is still on top. (July, 2011 data from Millennial Media).

Concerning the New $99 iPhone

• This form of iPhone clearance has been going on with Apple since the 3GS. Apple has been cutting the price on the older models as well as lowering the storage amount, usually to 8 GB.
• The 960 x 640 resolution on the 3.7” display looks like it will remain, as no new modifications have been done to cheapen the quality of the screen on the new budget-priced iPhone.
• This marks a huge step for Apple and its iPhone.  With the new $99 price point, the iPhone will no longer be considered such an exclusive item anymore.  Gone is the snob appeal as Apple begins to court "the masses" with its entry level price point, similar to what it has done with its mac mini computer in relation to the rest of its computer lineup.

Will the New $99 iPhone Make a Huge Difference for Sprint?

Verizon didn't get the boost it expected from its adoption of the iPhone.  While Sprint getting the iPhone is a big deal for the company, its basically the last major carrier to get the iPhone and much of its luster has already gone, especially now with its new $99 price point that places it more in line with a mass market commodity.  Sprint does have good unlimited data plans and as long as they don't move to a tiered data pricing structure, that could be a huge selling point for Sprint and its version of the iPhone.

Permalink: https://digital-cave.blogspot.com/2011/08/iphone-4-already-best-selling.html

The Samsung Galaxy Ace - Does This Look Like an iPhone to You?

The Samsung Ace is a nice phone, but did it get some of its design elements from a close competitor?  A Dutch judges seems to think so, and has determined that the sale of Samsung's Galaxy and Ace lineups will be stopped in the EU beginning in October, 2011.  The only news currently is in Dutch for the filing, but that hasn't stopped some US news outlets from picking up the story (of course, it's about Apple and the iPhone.  The original newsource is here, translated from Dutch into English).

It's important to note that Google was not rebuking Samsung directly for "copying" its iPhone or iPad tablet.  It instead relied on a patent infringement to seal the fate of Samsung and its Galaxy lineup.  The judge found that Samsung infringed upon the "swipe" movements which you see people using to navigate on their iPhones and iPads.  Whether or not Apple should have been granted a patent for these gesture movements is arguable in the first place.  What isn't arguable is the likeness of the Samsung Galaxy Ace to the Apple iPhone:

If you didn't see the Samsung logo, you might have thought it was an iPhone.  That's certainly good news for Apple that Samsung is having legal action taken against them, but it remains to be seen if the judge's ruling on its infringement of the photo scrolling patent will be too little to block shipments as Samsung is likely to appeal the decision.

Permalink: https://digital-cave.blogspot.com/2011/08/samsung-galaxy-ace-does-this-look-like.html