We are seeing a stream of apps listed on the App Store currently and what i observed is that there are alot of notepad or note taking apps coming in. The latest is this CourseNotes i talked about yesterday.
It is likely that the competition for iPad will be intense for note taking application like how it was for to do list on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Why is this the case?
For one thing, the iPhone and iPod don’t provide a form factor for note taking as although the iPhone have a smashing virtual keyboard, you would note expect to do heavy typing on it. There is no graffiti style of fast note taking as well.
The iPhone and iPod is such a conducive device to bring your to do list around [review of todo here >>] so that you can always have access to your task list and to collect tasks without ever forgetting them.
The bigger virtual keyboard and screen allows professionals to take notes much more comfortably then the iPhone. the iPhone almost takes notes well enough. Apps made to take notes are very responsive because of Apple’s great optimize platform. Having a larger screen enables students to review their notes much easier and professionals to take minutes and review minutes much easier.
If there is one thing that i release finally from the Evernote for Android release, it is that the Android UI really pales in comparison to that of the iphone and Windows Mobile.
Now i Do understand that for the sake of your eyes, the font size cannot be made too small. The folks at Evernote are great at UI design, judging by their great desktop client and they have produce an iPhone client that is a dream to use as it will auto sync to the online acct but lets you create notes on the iphone and edit existing notes. I don’t have a problem with iPhone’s version since i can compile blog posts in it.
But take a look at the input box for the Android version:
The font isn’t exactly large but there is alot of real estate space wasted for the Android platform and that is why i really adore the iPhone’s TextArea as Apple is innovative to make that area frameless. saves so much space.
iPhone's text area at work
I really hope Android improves in this area. Can’t really stand poor UI sometimes.
But on the whole its great to hear Evernote for Android is out. It might need a few iterations to be smashing, just like the iPhone one but the main thing is that if it can sync notes automatically online if there is a connection, and allows you to review notes offline as well, then that is good enough for me!
In the world of mobile computing you would have come across many apps that allow you to keep your Ideas organize.
The most common on the market is free and it’s called Evernote. Evernote let’s u compose notes and tags it and this Is where u can collect your ideas and store it in the cloud.
But not everyone uses that and if you prefer something simple and meets this needs then Idea Organizer is just for you.
General view
The general setup for Idea Organizer is simple and clear cut. It tells you what you can do for this app and how you can carry them out.
Idea organizer enables u to collect your thoughts using 3 means. Text, voice and pictures.
Entry by text
Entry by pic
One of the aspect I like about mobile computing Is platform like iPhone and android allows the user to capture notes, ideas and tasks wherever they are.
Consolidated view of ideas
This app is really very presentable and straight forward and does what you are looking for well. Do not expect any bells and whistle like that of cloud syncing in this app. Ideal for people who are more particular eith their thoughts and ideas.
It will be a good platform for the developer to incorporate more ideas into future versions. Thumbs up.
Their Version 2.2 is currently in the approval stage and what i like about them is that they don’t rest on their laurels but are coming up with more and more ways to make this mind mapping software as functional as the desktop applications.
Here is a video showing how you can map relationships between related nodes.
What i really hope to is that they can come up with Tagging and Tag filtering of nodes. That will be awesome
Are you looking for a software that enables you to access Microsoft OneNote on your iPhone? If you are then, MobileNoter is probably what you are looking for.
I think alot of folks out there really like to use Microsoft OneNote for note taking. For folks that want to keep research materials, or information pertaining to a project or a business object that they are working on, OneNote is the closes software you get to a real note book.
I personally think its one of the best products release by Microsoft and it should be bought as a stand alone application.
Best thing next to a physical note book
If you currently already have much information stored in OneNote and would like to access them from your iPhone or iPod Touch, MobileNoter can do the job.
Pricing
This is a subscription based service. The desktop and iphone application is FREE. But monthly subscription comes up to USD 1.25 per month.
iPhone Version reviewed
1.0
What does it do
MobileNoter is bascially a service that, for a small fee per month, allows you to sync selected notes to MobileNoter Server and enables 2 way sync with your iPhone Mobile Noter Software.
How to setup and how MobileNoter looks like after the break
Its not often i reviewed Blackberry application but Screaming Toaster seem to have come up with a good application with DulyNoted Pro.
The mind map here explains everything about DulyNoted Pro. Bascially, if you are looking for a solution to capture your thoughts or notes anywhere and you so happen to have your blackberry with you all the time (which most of you are!) this would be a good solution for you.
Your notes will be sync with the cloud server so that you can have access to your notes from any browser.
Been a fan of Evernote and certainly hope this solution at $10 per year leaves up to it. Do give it a try and tell me what you think.
In one of my previous post, i did a brief overview on Mindjet, a mind mapping software that is available for your ipod touch or iphone. Mindjet is also the company that brought you mind manager, a state of the art mind mapping software that is pretty expensive for most of us.
Digital vs Analog Mind Mapping
I used Mind Manager before and really its a great software to mind map on your laptop or desktop. But my good friend Melvin made a comment, that if he were to mind map, he would rather use a piece of paper.
I find that digital mind mapping have advantages, particularly, you can:
re-arrange the nodes so that you can structure your thoughts
you can easily archive and reference them next time for notes
you can translate them into project plans or tasks list
you can link them to your word,excel and web documents
Perhaps the problem with a desktop or laptop is that for Kinetic people they need to scribble down things instead of clicking and typing and looking at a screen.
For me though, I find it difficult to collect my thoughts or do planning facing a digital mind map. I am a kinetic person, which means i remember things better if i scribble it down. But really, the problem for me is that i tend to misplaced by maps all over the place. So i like something digital, but also enables me to mind map wherever i can, not bounded to any desktop or laptop. The best option is that if i were to be able to find something good on the Apple iPhone app store it will be good!
Requirements of my mind mapping software
In my exploration of apps on the Apple iPhone App Store, i found a few softwares that does mind mapping. Some of them are great like Mind Meister, which touts that their app for the iphone can sync real time with their online maps.However, as part of my needs to keep notes offline and away from the web, i need better solution. Specifically:
Maps must be sophisticated compare to desktop mind mapping tool
Maps must be able to view both on iPhone and desktop
Maps must be portable
Pricing must be affordable
So i stumble upon Mindjet and iThoughts.
iThoughts Overview
iThoughts was released first before Mindjet. And the similarities between the 2 applications are very very similar. I got a feeling the folks at Mindjet copied what the folks at iThoughts did to come up with theirs (don’t sue me! everyone will think the same way after looking at the comparison here!)
The problem of them being so similar is that for the same price which one should i go for?In the end i took my plunge with iThoughts instead of MindJet and i have not regretted since.
Pricing
Both iThoughts and Mindjet cost USD6.99. Its not cheap, but its not that expensive compare to GTD apps that i bought such as Appigo ToDo. The cost is nothing if it brings improve productivity to my life. Hey, some of my dinner cost like USD15, so i believe i am not paying an expensive price for an independent application.
Version
Version reviewing is version 2.1.
Why is it good?
Basically, most of the basic things you are able to do on your desktop mind map software such as Nova Mind and Mind Manager you can do it here
Able to handle large maps
iThoughts uses a canvas to paint the topics and they tout that you can go greater than 1000x the screen area which is more than enough for me.
You can zoom in zoom out of maps to get a better vantage view after you have rearrange or finish composing
Zoom Out
Zoom In view
Very good performance
What i really like about this application is that not only does it have a lot of good functionality, those that i expect to be in it, but on the iPod Touch 2G it does it with a very good performance.
Double tapping immediately brings out the Topic input screen
Not much lag on scrolling around canvas to review Map
Organization of the above map neatly is fast
Very friendly Topic input mechanism
Topic Input
Entering a new topic or nodes is a breeze! All you need to do is touch on a parent topic once to select that topic. You can enter a new topic by touching the top buttons to either enter a child or sibling topic.
Additionally, the fast way is to double tap an area to insert a child topic.
(More screenshots and functionality explanation after the break)
I was quite surprised to see this post really. The reason being that it comes from a guy whose blog is about digital gadgets and he is telling us that his main form of note taking and brainstorming tool is the paper notepad.
I love Tablet PCs. They’re a lot of fun to use and play around with, but they are largely impractical for most folks. Most people do not want to lug around a full-fledged computer to keep notes for work or class. Programs like Microsoft’s OneNote are extremely functional but also over complicated for the average worker. The inkpad would require no prior knowledge to operate other than that required to use a paper tablet and ink pen.
Well, fair enough. I do get where he is going with this. I do agree that if you want something for note taking, you can cut out the crap like mp3, movies. you dun really need very good graphics processing capabilities on such devices. Here is his design concept of this inkpad:
The primary method of input would be a stylus and the main function would be recording notes. It would resemble a traditional notepad in size and design. It would differ from the rumored Apple Tablet and Crunchpad as those devices focus on media and entertainment. The inkpad would focus on productivity, handwriting, and drawings; there would be no need for 3D rendering capabilities, extreme gaming, or HD video viewing. The name of the game would be note taking and the focus of this device would be as a tool rather than an instrument of pleasure.
Here is a list of features that would make the inkpad useful in our daily lives:
Sunlight readable, non-color LCD
7-10 inch capacitive touchscreen with stylus as primary method of input
As thin as an iPhone or popular ebook readers
Built in SD card reader to quickly transfer notes and automatically back up your work
802.11 b/g Wi-Fi to share notes wirelessly
Ability to check IMAP, POP & Exchange email accounts and send ink notes via email
Internal processor built for the task, not a cookie cutter Intel Atom processor
Success of this device would require a low cost. Pricing would be similar to cell phones/ebook readers.
All day battery life with at least 24 hr. standby. The device would automatically go to sleep after inactivity.
The inkpad does not need full web access because it would be supplemented with widget-style applications which provide news feeds and social streams.
The inkpad could make our daily routines better by having the ability to easily share and back up important notes while reducing our dependence on paper products. This device could be a success in business, education, and our personal lives. Why isn’t this already on the market? For $150 bucks and never having to buy another paper tablet or agenda/planner, who wouldn’t pick up one of these?
Some good thoughts on the comments section:
The device should have sync to cloud functionality so that all your notes could be accessed across platforms. Perhaps the notetaking apps could seamlessly integrate with Evernote. In fact, why couldn’t Evernote market this device with their brand?
t does remind me of my Palm TX with DayNotez from Natara. It was always ready in my pocket, Then I read wonderful reviews of the HTC Advantage and I bought a 7510 and sold the TX. The HTC is not in my pocket. Once it was in my outside coat pocket, I was seated, and it fell 16 inches to the concrete floor, face down. HTC replaced the screen for $448 and it never went into my pocket again; where is my Advantage? Anybody want to sell me a TX?
For just notes, it should be smaller than 10″ IMHO
-size of an iPod touch
-active digitizer (touch is too imprecise for my taste, even with a pen)
-battery that lasts 24 hours (8 hours w/wireless on)
-$300
I could see a market for something like this in 3×5 and 5×8 inches…especially in education (a less expensive LS800 would’ve been very cool)
Any bigger and you may as well get a full sized slate and an extra battery.
Of course, once you get the foot in the door with something like
Mind Mapping Zealots on Windows platform have been using the freeware java program FreeMind for some time. This is probably a good note taking alternative for that. But i think the value is in the Pro Version which offers advance features like To Do lists.
Do give it a try and tell me what you think of it.
One of XMind’s biggest assets is its ease of use. When you first open the program, you’re greeted by a clean interface that conforms to most of the popular norms of mind mapping software today: a horizontal toolbar above the workspace and tabbed dialog boxes to the right of it where you can handle many common tasks, such as changing topic shapes and colors, adjusting topic text font, style and color, changing the map’s structure. The program is designed with extensive support for right-click commands, which I really like, because you can accomplish common tasks within the map workspace, eliminating the need to make trips to the program’s main toolbar and the tabbed sidebar (please click on the image above to view a larger version of a typical map produced using XMind 2008).
XMind supports a variety of fishbone, radial mind map, organizational chart, tree and logic chart formats. The fishbone diagram format makes XMind especially unique; to be best of my knowledge, it’s the only mind mapping program that’s capable of producing this type of diagram, which is used for cause and effect analysis. It can be used to depict a series of activities in a time sequence, and how the whole project is impacted by different milestones on the schedule.
XMind’s dialog boxes are context sensitive; if you select a topic, tabs that are appropriate to tweaking the appearance of topics are displayed. If you click on a blank area of the workspace, then XMind displays commands for changing the map’s background, map legend and other making other map-level adjustments.
Creating a map in XMind
Creating and manipulating map topics in XMind is very straightforward: You can add topics using a toolbar command, the program’s drop-down “insert” menu or using the insert key – the de facto standard for many mind mapping programs. The program supports other keyboard shortcuts for quickly adding topics to your maps. If you press the Enter key twice after typing in topic text, the program will save your topic and open another one at the same level of your mind map. This makes it easy and convenient to add a large number of topics to your map very quickly. Clicking the Tab plus the Insert key creates a subtopic of the current topic. Shift + Enter creates a topic on the same level, but before current topic. And Ctrl + Enter creates a parent topic of the current topic. These commands make XMind ideal for recording ideas in a group brainstorming session.
XMind automatically positions topics. If you want to override that, the program gives you several options. If you hold down the ALT key while dragging a topic (in Windows), that topic will remain where you drop it. If you hold down the CTRL key while dragging a topic, XMind will create a duplicate topic at the same level of your map as the source topic. Finally, if you hold down the Shift key while dragging a topic, it will be moved to its new position as a floating topic. I really like this simple and flexible approach; I found it to be very intuitive.
When you add a note to a topic in XMind, the notes window appears as a pop-up – a much more efficient use of screen real estate than most programs, which open a window pane that extends along the entire bottom of the workspace or to the right of it. When you’re done typing your note, simply click in another area of the workspace, and the note closes automatically. Easy and simple! If you’re working with longer blocks of text, you can click an “edit in notes view” command that closes the pop-up and re-opens the notes in a pane below the workspace. XMind’s note functionality includes text formatting, text alignment, indenting, color and note background color – just the essentials.
You can also add relationship lines and boundaries to topics in XMind 2008. I had a little bit of a problem getting a relationship line to not overlap another map topic; the program allows you to drag a handle to adjust its shape, but only up to a point. Also, when I tried to surround two contiguous topics with a boundary, it overlapped the map’s central topic. I couldn’t figure out any way to prevent that from happening, until I added more first level topics to the map, and the overlap resolved itself.
“Spreadsheet topics” open up new possibilities
One capability that makes XMind somewhat unique – especially at its “free” price point – is the ability to create map topics that are spreadsheets. This dramatically expands the type of information that an XMind map can contain. To create one, you simply right click on the topic and select the structure/spreadsheet option. A small colored bar chart appears next to the topic name, with a plus sign that indicates you can click on it to expand the spreadsheet view. The program initially creates a 2 column by 2 row spreadsheet, but you can add columns and rows as needed. The procedure to do this was a little hard to understand at first, but once I got the hang of it, I was fine. I was able to rearrange columns by dragging and dropping them – nice!
What’s really remarkable about spreadsheet cells is that they can contain complex structures – such as a topic plus several connected sub-topics (see the map image above for an example of this). When I was playing around with XMind 2008, I was able to create a spreadsheet that analyzed the performance of 3 imaginary salespeople. I created columns for sales and margin, plus a third column that contained mini-maps with my conclusions about each person. This ought to open up a whole range of new possibilities for business mapping.
I’d recommend several improvements, however: first, the process of adding new rows and columns needs to be made easier; a right click command, perhaps? Also, it would be nice if you could perform simple math functions on cells – creating a total of the values contained within a column, for example. Otherwise, this part of XMind 2008’s functionality was quite impressive.
Flexible handing of attachments
You can attach a file to an XMind topic in two ways: The first, the more conventional approach, is to right click on the topic and select the “insert attachment” command. An icon appears next to the topic to show that it contains an attachment – much the same way as almost every mind mapping program handles this functionality. Here’s where it gets good: Attachments can also be dragged and dropped onto an XMind map. If you drag them to a topic, they become a subtopic of the topic you selected. They, in turn, can also have subtopics, which enables you to create some surprisingly complex map structures.
Files that are dragged and dropped into an empty part of the map workspace become floating topics. In both cases, they behave just like ordinary topics: you can edit the document name displayed in the map, change its color and style, and so on. Very cool! All attachments travel with XMind files during distribution and sharing, so that anyone you share your maps with will be able to view their attached file assets.
When you are sharing your maps with others, they can select the attachment topic, right click to open the context menu, and then select “open attachment” or “save attachment as” commands, depending upon what they want to do with it.
Drill down
Some mind mapping programs enable you to “focus in” on a topic – so that only it and its sub-topics are displayed. This can be especially useful if you have ADD tendencies (which I do), which can cause you to be easily distracted. This functionality enables you to temporarily eliminate the rest of your map from view, so you can focus upon fully developing that part of your map. When you’re done, you can return to the full map view. I was pleased to learn that XMind supports this functionality, which it calls “drill down” and “drill up.”
One thing that makes XMind’s implementation unique is that when you are drill down into one section of your map, you can create floating topics that are only visible in that view. In other words, when you return to the full map view, those floating topics no longer appear. The developers of XMind say this technique can help you to reduce the overall complexity of your overall mind map, while displaying a lot more detail at its lower levels.
I tried this, and it worked really well. I drilled down to a first level topic, created two floating topics and then drilled back up to the full map view. When you’re in drill down mode, your central topic displays an upward pointing arrow next to the topic text, which you can click upon to take you back to the full map view – very convenient. After I returned to the full map view, the topic I had been working with displayed a green downward pointing arrow, which indicates that more content is nested within it. Once again, you can click on the arrow to access the drill down view of that topic.
The productive organizer is one who is in control of himself as well as his surroundings.He studies how others define their system and works to improve on it and in turn, educate others how to change their lives.
Here, we hope to bring you the necessary widgets to effectively organize how you work or play. Whether you are at work, on the move, or at home, we will find the right solution for you to get things done.
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Its not often i reviewed Blackberry application but Screaming Toaster seem to have come up with a good application with DulyNoted Pro.
