iPhone | Home Office Warrior

Top iPhone Applications for the Home Office Warrior

Oct 10, 2008

This post is long overdue as I have had my v.1 iPhone now for over a year. Like my other Mac computers, the iPhone has become an essential tool in my business. What has made the iPhone even better was the release the summer of iPhone 2.0 and the App Store. I have way too many applications on my iPhone, but I just can’t help myself.

I have been trying to decide over the last month or so what applications on my iPhone I could not live without and below is what I have come up with. Please add to it in the comments if you have some you feel I missed.

Evernote: This great applications lets you capture any moment or idea as it happens, wherever you are. And it has cloud-based sync so you are always sync’d to your desktop. I use it to take notes, take photos of stuff I want to file away. It also works great for taking a snapshot of a business card and then organize them with Evernote. You can even record a quick voice memo. It has so many uses, and some of them you don’t even know about until you dive in an use it.

Air Sharing: With this handy little app, you can take files with you on your iPhone and access them anywhere. You simply drag-drop files between your iPhone and your computers. And you can view documents in many common formats. What I liked best about this app, it was so easy to set up and then run.

Jott for iPhone: As you have read here before, I love Jott and it is also one of those essential tools. Jott is the ultimate mobile notepad for the iPhone that turns your voice into notes. Capture to-dos as quickly as you can say, “get new whiteboards for office.” Jott transcribes your voice into text and place the resulting notes in your lists.

beejive: This is the instant messaging application I am using on my iPhone. I can stay connected with all the people I IM with. And it works with all my accounts too.

Things: Is my task manager of choice for the iPhone. Things talks about how easy it it to use and they are exactly right. And best of all, it now sync’s with my MacBook so my task are always up-to-date on my iPhone and my computer. It is another one of those must haves in my book.

1Password: 1Password takes care of all your online passwords. And it sync’s with my iPhone so I can use it to autofill al those passwords I may need while using my iPhone to access accounts or websites. It securely stores your information and logs you into websites automatically with a simple tap. I no longer have to remember any passwords, with the exception of the Unlock Code for 1Password.

Instapaper: With this application you can read saved web pages on the go, even offline. I use Instapaper on my MacBook to mark items I want to read later. Just one of the bookmarking tools I use. And I can sync my iPhone to this list of reading so when I am out of the office waiting, I can open up one of items in my list and read it right on my iPhone.

TwitterFon: TwitterFon is a simple, fast twitter client for your iPhone. I have tried many of the apps for twitter on my iPhone and I like this one the best. It gives me what I want in a twitter client for the iPhone. No fancy features or useless functions. I get my friend feeds, replies and direct messages. Each has its own tab.

I could keep going and list even more applications I am using on my iPhone. However the list above are those I would not be without for now. In a future post, I will list some more and if you leave your suggestions in the comments, I will include a “Reader’s List of iPhone Applications” too.

Apple, Best Of, Technology, iPhone Written By Grant Griffiths Comments (8)

Using Evernote in your Home Office

Aug 11, 2008

Evernote is one of those tools I would not be without now that I have used it over the last few weeks. It fits well with a paperless office too. Here is a link to a post on how doctors can use evernote as a professional memory accessible anywhere (part 1 of 2) And if you happen to be lucky enough to have an iPhone, there is an iPhone app for Evernote too.

Paperless Office, iPhone Written By Grant Griffiths Comments (1)

iPhones Becoming More Popular With Businesses

Dec 12, 2007

Two articles were published last week that discuss how the iPhone is gaining marketshare with businesses.’ These articles acknowledge that the iPhone is a viable (some would say superior) option to the Blackberry, Palm, etc., which have been popular for many years.’ If you have not already gotten an iPhone for yourself, you may want to check out these articles:

‘Think Business Doesn’t Care About the iPhone? Think Again.‘ by Seth Weintraub, published at Computerworld
‘Apple iPhone Winning Corporate Fans Despite Flaws‘ by Jim Finkle and Scott Hillis, published at Yahoo!Finance

Source for Post The Mac Lawyer.

iPhone Written By Grant Griffiths Comments (0)

Google gPhone (Not an iPhone killer)

Nov 15, 2007

There has been a lot of talk lately about Google buying Android. There are those who say Want an iPhone? Maybe Not. While others are saying gPhone User Interface - iPhone Killer.

I honestly have to laugh. I have watched the video provided on the first link above. And calling the non-existent gPhone an iPhone killer is, well just plain dumb. All of the wonderful applications they talked about on the “gPhone” I can do on my iPhone. iPhone killer, I don’t think so. iPhone wan-a-be, yes.

So now that Google is wanting to screw around with pagerank, they are wanting to get into the iPhone copying business. Get real Google.

iPhone Written By Grant Griffiths Comments (0)

Cell Phone vs. Landline

Nov 10, 2007

We have been having an interesting conversation on one of the email list I am on. The conversation centers around the use of a cell phone as a main phone in a home office. In my home office, I use a cell phone as my main phone. While I do have a landline, that line is call forwarded to my cell phone 24/7. If I am unavailable, I have my voicemail answer the call. I also return calls with my cell phone. Even though I am available 24/7 by phone, this does not mean I have to answer the call.

But, in my humble opinion, one of the advantages and even disadvantages we have as home office workers is that we are available to our clients/customers almost 24/7. While I don’t think we should be or have to be, it is one advantage we can give are clients. The problem does not lie in the technology. The problem is that due to the technology, clients are expecting their service providers to be available 24/7. We have to educate our clients up front. Inform them just because we utilize todays best technology, cell phones, PDA’s, smart phones, email, laptops and wifi, we may not be available. “Leave a message and I will get back to you as soon as I can.”

I have been considering doing away with my landline completely. I still have some time to decide if this is best. My contract with SBC still has some time on it.

Since I left open the opportunity for “crossfire” in the title to this post. Please post comments as to your position to the 21st century question, cell phone vs. landline.

Technology, VoIP, iPhone Written By Grant Griffiths Comments (6)