Android Apps for design, business, and productivity

[Mark Miller]

Well Of course you don’t “need” them on site per se, but it’d be easier to study them on the train or subway or over lunch. You could actually have your entire professional library in your pocket.

The books I mentioned would never be made into ebooks unless Wiley did it themselves, in which case they would get just as much of a cut from them as they do from their hardcopies. There is a distinction between an App and an Ebook. An app is a little computer program that runs on a device, and an Ebook is essentially just a book in digital form that would then require an App (like a Kindle App or something similar) to interpret the data in order to display the information on the screen.

[Steve Mercer]

Depends on your point of view I guess.  Personally I find being able to use a mobile version of Excel and Word comes in mighty handy.  Using my WM phone to clock in mobile work crews with GPS location (that integrates into our Accounting system back at the office is pretty handy.  Oh and using my WM phone as a Data collector for my robotic Survey Instrument to do site surveys is VERY useful and Oh we also have an app that allows us to do Mobile Point of Sale (we have a barcode scanner built-into my WM smartphone) (with Credit, Debit, and ebt  processing capablility) -with wireless BlueTooth printing to a portable Receipt printer clipped to your belt is pretty Handy.  Did I metion we have a device that interfaces with the WM phone that measures the Caliper of trees for purposes of taking inventory?  What about the App we use for Log Books for driving commerial trucks?  Or the Line Busting App we use in conjunction with or Garden Center POS system for rapid check out?  Or the Web cam app that we use to view our parking lot (after receiving an SMS text message from our driveway alert system that someone has entered our property?  I guess WM is old and busted huh?  🙂  if you can do a tenth of those on any other platform you are doing well.  It is not just how many people are using a platform that counts it is what they are doing with the platform that really matters!  Yes I use Windows Mobile and Windows Mobile runs my company!

 

s.

[Ryan A. Waggoner]

I love the Google Calendar, as it links straight up to the droid.  Enter a meeting on Google Calendar and it pops right on the phone with updates and alarms.  And Google Voice as you said earlier is great, except I never check my messages anymore cause they text straight to me and send an e-mail with the message.  Whenever I do check my voicemail I always have 50-60 unchecked which is a pain, but well worth it.

I’ve also found a great news app called skygrid.  Download it and enter landscape architecture in the search category, and there are usually two-three articles a day on landscape architecture.  Also the QR Droid app is a pretty cool barcode scanner.  You can select your contact information and it will generate a barcode for all of your contact info that other droids and iphones can scan and it instantly gives them all your contact info, pretty cool.

[Thomas J. Johnson]

All of this technology is going to turn us into morons… Seriously, where is the line between productive and distracted? At what point do you spend more time managing your apps than you do designing? I’m all for technology but we can’t forget that we have brains. I can still calculate square footage and slope more accurately than a phone. Hopefully I can identify most of the plants where I live. I still know how to use a tape measure, pencil, the phone book (google) and a telephone.

I guess all of our brains are different but the main thing I need a smart phone for is remembering things; events, directions, notes… that’s about it. Just keep me on track… Hey, how’s that for an app name “On-Track”! Combine your contacts with event reminders, notes and directions. Done and done… I look forward to receiving my royalty check in the mail.

Holly ADD batman…

[Steve Mercer]

Hi Thomas,

Check out this application,  I don’t think they have a droid app yet but one exists on WM and on a desktop PC it is REALLY COOL!

 

http://www.evernote.com/

 

s.

[Kerri A]

It is on Android:

 

http://www.evernote.com/about/download/android.php

 

 

[John Pacyga]

There is a Droid app for this.

[John Pacyga]

One can view and download Android apps via a new Google website:

http://market.android.com/

[Amy Verel]

Thanks Steve and Kerri – just started messing with it but this might be my favorite app EVER – exactly what I need a smartphone to do too!

[Steve Mercer]

You are most welcome Amy!  🙂 !!!

 

s.

[Ryan A. Waggoner]

just got a new one i thought i’d share as i’m learning to love it, go launcher. minimizes the icons, so you can add more per page, you can adjust app sizes, etc. so far i love it….

[Frank Varro]

Its not that its taken a long time for any company to “certify” the iPhone, its that AT&T had an exclusive contract with apple that only just ran up, and that all companies now know they need a GREAT network to deal with smartphone use.

[Ryan A. Waggoner]

recently heard a rumor that apple is releasing the iphone 5 later this year and the move to verizon was to ensure sales of all backloads of the iphone 4 because it’s not selling at AT&T to add to the motivation…

[Author]

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