The Free Droid Apps have me Hooked December 10, 2009
Posted by carolhagen in communication, Construction Industry - Software, Document Imaging.Tags: apps, construction, Droid, iPhone, Smartphone
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Ok, I had told everyone that I was waiting to buy it, but like a kid waiting for Christmas, my techie side got the best of me. In an earlier post I noted app faves for Blackberry and iPhone. Now I have to give you my Droid list.
Google Navigator with Voice Search – for Hands free navigation (Garmin-like GPS with voice recognition) – Found my way to appointments in Tucson with no glitches the day after I purchased. Since it’s Google its updates are simple and the app is Free on the Droid.
Voice Recorder – up to 2 hours of record time, when you’re driving and have something you need to remember or you have a complex meeting discussion for reference, record it then drop it into your Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system.
Pixelpipe Lite – for sharing stuff, and sending it to EverNote or an ECM system.
Swift – for those that need to Twitter, it’s better than TwitDroid unless you want geo locations annotation. There’s an app called Google Maps for Twitdroid for that.
Bizkit – for tracking expenses on the road, meetings, events and finding my nearest contacts.
BabelDroid – to translate from English to Spanish, German, Italian or French using voice recognition – will eventually offer call an interpreter. It works well for phrases and comes in handy here in Arizona with construction personnel in the field.
Congress – to find your legislator based upon your current location, by state, or zip. Being able to email or call them immediately is handy.
Google Goggles – it’s easy and fun to aim your camera and know what you are looking at. Great for landmarks, artwork, etc.
Google OCR – good for printed text that you need to edit.
Google Sky Maps – for you wanna be astronomers.
National Anthem – for when someone wants to have it played and there are no musicians or singers volunteering.
Trapster – for reminding you of where all those photo radar cameras are on the highways and intersections (they are everywhere in Tempe, I-10, SR 51, etc in Arizona).
I realize that like the iPhone, the Droid will create a few hurdles for the IT department (that I hope to address in an upcoming blog post) since they have Blackberry Enterprise Server already deployed and now the owner wants the latest toy (again). Let me know if I should add any other apps to my “free” list. I will be trying out the paid stuff over the holidays and focus on construction and business related apps in a future post.
IPhone Contender for Verizon Customers October 19, 2009
Posted by carolhagen in Construction Industry - Software, iPhone.Tags: iPhone, Smartphone, Verizon
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Verizon Wireless just started an advertising campaign with the new Droid phone. I was convinced I was switching to AT&T until this announcement and their slick sales pitch that aims squarely at the iPhone.
The Droid is based upon the Android 2.0 operating system and is a Motorola and Google collaborative effort. It’s not the first Android based smartphone so you can read about the players in the space from PCWorld . As Techcrunch so eloquently put it “Verizon Droid is the Real Deal,” so I am now waiting to decide until after the release date of October 30th for a new smartphone purchase. With features like 5.o megapixel photos, a Qwerty keyboard, the ability to run simultaneous Apps, widgets and open development this could be the answer for the iPhone or not. With 10,000 apps touted, I’ll let you know.