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Posts Tagged ‘networking on the go’

Review: Flipboard

Thursday, January 10th, 2013

As you know, I read a lot of blogs. And I’ve added Tumblr to my list of social media platforms to follow (for entirely personal reasons). I recently switched my iPad case, and I found I wanted to do more on my iPad than the computer, so I went in search of a good Google Reader app. I can access it through the browser, but I don’t really like it.

I’d also been reading subscribing to a New York Times Kindle blog, and a fortuitous series of events added a new app to my iPad home screen.

I’d heard of Flipboard, but I’d never tried it, and it was the highest rated RSS reader I could find in the App Store. The reviews made it sound like it would integrate well with Google Reader, so I downloaded it.

I was adding feeds, and I noticed Tumblr. Cool! The Tumblr iPad app is good, but if I could reduce the number of apps I checked each day, I was okay with that.

Then I noticed that the New York Times digital subscription was available through Flipboard, and I went looking. I liked it on my Kindle, but you know me. Always ready to try something new. I did a bit of hunting and discovered that the Times’ “Top News” was available free through Flipboard. I created an account and logged in through Flipboard. What did I see? Exactly the same articles I’d been reading on my Kindle, only with pictures. I was sold.

Other than lots of feeds, what is good about the app? It’s gorgeous, in either landscape or portrait mode. You turn pages with a swipe, and the page turn animation is a nice “flip.” It’s an awful lot like turning newspaper pages. It’s a simple animation, but it’s intensely satisfying.

I can get Google Reader, Google+, Tumblr, the New York Times and some generic news feeds. I can also login to Twitter and Facebook if I wanted to, but I haven’t added them. Each feed opens into a magazine-like page with images and an excerpt of the article. Usually, there’s 2-4 excerpts per page. Tap the one you want to read, and you open the full article.

Yes, there are ads. But they are full-page magazine-style ads that are easy to flip past. They are attractive and don’t detract from reading any more than ads in a magazine, either print or digital. They could change them up a bit. I usually see the same three or four ads each day, but mostly I just flip past and keep on reading.

You can share articles on Twitter, Facebook, via email and probably other ways I haven’t explored yet. My favorite “share” feature is “Read Later.” You can set up either Pocket or Instapaper as your default “Read Later” service, and Flipboard will send the article to either service. I would prefer if you could set up both and select when you send an article, but I have it set to Pocket, and that works well enough. The New York Times updates their feed several times a day, so I use the send to Pocket feature to save an article for reading later. Then I don’t have to worry if the Times rotates it out.

It’s a great app, and I highly recommend it. It works on the iPhone also, but the full screen of the iPad is where it really shines.

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Tags: iPad, networking on the go, review
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Coffee House Tech Trends (Updated)

Monday, April 30th, 2012

In December of 2009, I did a post on tech trends I’d noticed in coffee houses. Of course, that was prior to the launch of the iPad, so it’s not surprising things have changed a bit. Let’s look at what.

Obviously, the biggest change is the iPad. I see them all the time. I don’t think I can go into a Panera today and not see one. Often users have them hooked up to keyboards, and at a quick glance, you think it’s a netbook. Then you look again and realize it’s not.

The demise of the netbook is the other big change. In 2009, I saw them all the time. In fact, I bought one around that time. Unfortunately, they aren’t worth it. I’ve almost completely abandoned mine because it’s so slow. Most of the time, I take my Nook Color instead.

Speaking of Nooks, I do see lots of e-readers, mostly Kindles. They seem to be a very popular companion to a coffee and a bagel. Kindle readers tend to hang around for a while too. Many stay an hour or longer, reading and sipping.

What about cell phones? At the end of ’09, I said I saw fewer Blackberry’s than a year earlier. That’s still true, and then some. I see a few more iPhones than Android phones, but they are running pretty close together. One noteworthy gentleman had an Android phone, and iPhone and an iPad! Talk about lots of technology on one person.

I see very few Android tablets, which supports the stats I’ve seen elsewhere. I do see the occasional Kindle Fire, but not nearly as often as iPads.

So that’s what I’m seeing in the DC area. What about you? Similar trends?

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Tablet For Working On the Go: Update

Monday, March 12th, 2012

Long time readers of this blog know that I sometimes talk about mobile technology, generally in relation to social media, time management or networking on the go.

I do practice what I write about, and I wanted to write about how I am using my tablet more and my beloved iPhone less.

And no, I’m not using an iPad, though I was briefly tempted by the price drop on the iPad 2.

I’ve had a Nook Color for almost a year now. I originally bought it primarily for ebooks with a minor in learning about Android. When I bought it, there weren’t easy options to use it as a true tablet, and it frustrated me, although I found ways to use it.

More apps have come out for it, and I can almost use it as a tablet running the stock OS, but I found the N2A card last summer. It allows me to run Android Gingerbread off an SD card, which has opened up more apps to me.

My must have apps are:

A decent ebook reader
A decent office suite
A decent Twitter app
Evernote
Dropbox
Netflix
Lose It!
Dolphin Browser
WordPress
Pocket Informant
Thumb Keyboard

I’m happy to report that all of the above, except the last two, are in the Nook app store. Unfortunately, not having those last two is what keeps me coming back to the card.

The Nook keyboard is horrible. No arrow keys and no auto suggest. Both of those are required for any kind of speed or ability to edit. (By the way, I am writing this post in Evernote, using Thumb Keyboard. Why not in WordPress? Because I just like Evernote better.)

I could live without Pocket Informant on my tablet because I do have it on my phone. But I like it better on the tablet screen.

What do I do on my tablet?

Read books
Read blogs
Email
Write blog posts
Check Twitter
Watch video
Take notes in meetings
Keep organized with my calendar and tasks
Read and edit documents
Review PowerPoint presentations
Track my weight

A Nook running Android handles all that very well. My netbook has stayed home for months now, and I doubt I’ll take it out much, if ever. About its only advantage now is a real keyboard, and I could find a case/keyboard combo for the Nook, if I needed one.

Tablets have done a good job replacing computers for work on the go. So what’s my iPhone doing these days? Well, it’s still a phone (obviously), and it has GPS, which my Nook doesn’t. It’s my maps, check-ins, web browsing, email-when-I-don’t-have-Wifi. And it’s a great music player. I still use it a lot, just not as much for reading or productivity work.

Anyone else have a tablet and want to share how you’re using it to be productive on-the-go?

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Working On the Go

Wednesday, November 9th, 2011

Are you a small business owner who moves around a lot? Do you travel between client sites or are frequent meetings in coffee shops part of your day?

If so, you need ways to be productive on the go, and the new trend toward tablets is supporting you. I’ve done several posts on using my Nook Color as a tablet and how it’s made me more productive, but there are several new low-cost tablets coming out before the end of the year, and all of them look like they’ll make you more productive.

I’m not going to get into a feature/benefit comparison, but the three I’m watching are:

The new Nook Tablet
The Kindle Fire
The Kobo Vox

All three are inexpensive and require no data contract. So once you’ve bought one, that’s it. There’s no need for a monthly data contract, which means you’ll need a WiFi hotspot or a portable WiFi device, but it hasn’t been a problem for me to rely on public WiFi.

What can you do with your new tablet?

You can use an app like Office Suite Pro to do your word processing and spreadsheets. I’ve been using it for several weeks now, and it’s the best tablet-based Office suite replacement I’ve found.

You can use Evernote for taking notes. I’ve been planning out a series of webinars in Evernote, and then at home, using my notes to create the Power Point presentation.

You can read books to keep up with new business ideas or to work on improving yourself.

Of course, you can keep up with social media, but I prefer my phone for that, so I can’t comment too much on tablet social media apps.

Does your business show off well in video? Tablets are a great way to show video. The screen size is large enough to view easily and small enough to be portable.

There are plenty of Calendar/To Do apps to keep you organized.

Gmail is fantastic on my tablet. In the evenings, I curl up on the couch to check my email instead of using my netbook. Obviously, WiFi is needed for this one.

The list goes on. I’ve been productive on the Metro, in coffee shops, on my couch, in my car (while parked, of course) and plenty of other places. There’s no excuse now to sit with nothing to do while you wait for someone to arrive for an appointment.

Anyone else want to share their tablet productivity tips?

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Tags: networking on the go, task management, time management
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Networking At the Dog Park

Friday, August 5th, 2011

As some of you may know, I have a new dog. Shameless doggie plug.

Isn’t she cute?

Ahem. Anyway, back to the post at hand. With a new dog, I’m spending a lot of time at the dog park. Who would think it would be a good place to network?

Let me start by reminding you that networking is something that can be done anywhere, at any time. It’s just relationship building, and as long as you honor the occasion, you can do that anywhere.

So obviously I don’t run around the dog park handing out business cards. But I’ve recommended a massage therapist, promoted a buddy’s book and talked about a good guy to buy windows from. And this week, I finally got to talk about myself!

It was a slow day. There were only two of us there with our dogs, and the guy (we’ll call him Bill) asked me what I did. I told him, and we started to talk about social media. He had lots of questions, and I answered them. I recommended he try out Google+ and I offered him one of my invites. I told him about my book, and I think he might buy a copy when it comes out.

Not bad for something I do every day that costs me nothing extra in time or money. He works for a big company. Never know when I might need a connection there, and I’ve got the beginnings of the relationship to make it happen.

So where’s the oddest place you’ve networked?

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Tags: Networking, networking on the go
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Email Is Not An Instant Communication Tool

Friday, November 5th, 2010

I realize that statement is going to come as a surprise to some people, but it’s true. Even in this age of smart phones, don’t assume email will be read and responded to immediately. My rule of thumb is simple.

If I need a response in less than 24 hours, I don’t use email. I pick up the phone and leave a clear, detailed voice mail indicating what I need and by when.

Here are some examples of misuse by email. All of these happened to me.

1. Someone was running late for an event and sent me an email letting me know. The email was sent about an hour before the start time, and she looked very surprised when I said I hadn’t seen it yet. I had been, well, setting up and meeting my guests when she sent it. No harm done, but it was odd.

2. Someone needed information for a meeting the following day. He sent me an email mid-afternoon. Not a big deal, maybe, except I needed to call my bank to get the info. I had been in meetings all afternoon. Guess when I finally saw it? When I got home that evening, after the bank had closed. A phone call would have gotten me on the run, and I could have taken care of it.

And the best one…

3. An email sent at 8:55 canceling a 9:00 meeting. I was already at the meeting place when she sent it. Enough said.

Emergencies happen. Things come up. We understand that. But don’t use email as the method for last minute communication. That’s what phones are for.

Anyone else have a good last-minute email communication story to share?

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Tags: communication, networking on the go
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“I Didn’t Want To Waste My Time”

Friday, September 17th, 2010

I overheard a conversation a couple of days ago that reconfirmed my iPhone decision.

A couple of guys were talking about a networking event.

Guy 1: “Did you go to that event last night?”

Guy 2: “No, the meeting I had beforehand was canceled. I didn’t want to hang around a coffee house and waste an hour and a half, so I went home.”

So sad to miss a networking event because he didn’t have a way to productively spend time. With my iPhone, I could have done any or all of the following in an hour and a half:

1. Checked Twitter and Facebook
2. Written a blog post
3. Edited The Case of the Haunted Vampire
4. Written 500-1000 words in my current story
6. Checked and answered email
7. Caught up on other people’s blog posts
8. Read a book

And failing all that I could have

Played Plants vs. Zombies!

Okay, I wouldn’t really shoot zombies on work time, but you get the idea.

Having productive work with me all the time is part of how I can juggle the many projects I’m working on. If someone’s late for a meeting or cancels last minute, it’s never a problem. With a glass of iced tea and my trusty phone, I can be productive anywhere and anytime. (Um, don’t take that to mean I am encouraging people to cancel last-minute. Wanted to be clear on that.)

How about you? How do you stay productive on the go?

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Review: Nutshell Mail

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010

I’ve gotten backed up on reviews, so this week will be review week. On Monday, I reviewed the iPhone 4 as a mobile networking companion. Today I want to write about Nutshell Mail as a way to keep up with all your social media interactions in one place.

The more social media sites you interact with, the harder it becomes to keep track of all of them. Tools like Hootsute and Tweetdeck are good, and I use them both but what attracted me to Nutshell Mail was the ability to get updates via email.

When you set up an account, you can choose which social media sites to connect to. As you can see, I’m connected to Facebook and Twitter. While I am on LinkedIn, I don’t want status updates from my LinkedIn contacts, and I already get Groups updates via email. No need to duplicate effort.

Once you’ve decided on which accounts you want to monitor through Nutshell Mail, you can customize what you receive. The next two screen shots show some of the options you have.

I particularly like the New Follows, New Quitters and @Mentions. I don’t know another easy way to see who has unfollowed you. And keeping up with new follows and @Mentions throughout the day is very useful. When I’m away from my computer, I don’t always take the time to fire up Twitter for iPhone, but I do check my email throughout the day.

Nutshell Mail is particularly valuable to me on the weekend. I admit I’m not as good at checking social media on Saturday and Sunday. Nutshell Mail gives me a quick snapshot of what I think is important, and it reminds me to look at other lists a couple of times on the weekend.

If you spend most of your time at your computer, it might not be for you. If you don’t have a smartphone, it might not be much use to you. But if you are on the go and need to keep up with your social media channels, Nutshell Mail could be for you.

I’ve suggested it to several of my clients, and so far they all love it.

Hey, it’s free. What’s to lose by trying it?

If you give it a spin, let me know what you think and how you’re using it.

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Tags: iPhone, networking on the go, social media
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iPhone 4: Good For Mobile Networking?

Monday, September 13th, 2010

Yes, I gave in and upgraded my iPhone to the new model. I wanted to wait for the white version, but the iOS 4 upgrade was not making my 3G deadly slow and crash frequently. I suspected an OS upgrade was coming to fix it (and it came out last week), but there were enough other reasons to upgrade that I talked myself into it. And talking me into new tech isn’t that hard.

I’ve had it for about three weeks now, and yes, I love it. For me, it’s a big upgrade over the 3G, and it’s a good companion for the mobile networker.

Battery Life

This was the first big “Wow!” for me. I hadn’t realized how much I had stopped doing on my old phone because of the battery life. I could barely go all day on a charge, and if I had an evening event, there was no way I’d make it all day. The iPhone 4 goes all day with no problems. In fact, I’ve been charging it about every other day. I’d stopped checking Twitter and Facebook on the go to save power, and I don’t need to do that anymore.

I haven’t put it through a full grueling day of leaving home before 7:00 AM and getting back after 9:00 PM yet, but from what I’ve seen, it’ll handle that with no problem. I needed a supplemental battery for the 3G, and I don’t think I’ll need one for the 4.

Screen Display

I’m still in awe of the Retina display. I never thought my old phone had a pixelated display, but the difference between the two is huge. A couple of apps haven’t been updated to take advantage of the new display, and I’ve stopped using them because they look so horrible.

Here’s a screen shot of an app that hasn’t been updated. See how blobby the text looks?

Now here’s one from an updated app. The text is so sharp it almost looks like it would cut you.

And honestly, those shots don’t quite do the screen justice. You have to see them on a phone to really see the difference.

Does the better screen really make me more effective as a networker? Probably not, but I spend a lot of time reading e-books, and the new display makes it easier on the eyes.

Camera

The 3G couldn’t take video and didn’t have auto focus. The lack of auto focus meant I couldn’t use one of my new favorite apps: World Card Mobile. I’ll be doing a complete review of this app soon, but right now I’ll just say that I can take a picture of a business card, and the app scans, OCRs and then creates a Contacts entry for me. It’s very accurate. Because I don’t use Outlook, traditional business card scanners are useless to me because I have no way to sync the information to my phone. World Card Mobile costs $5.99, and it’s great. Everyone who sees me use it goes “Cool!”

So, ironically, it’s the camera which has made the biggest productivity difference for me. Entering business cards by hand was time consuming. Now it’s a snap (if you’ll pardon the pun).

I think taking video will end up being helpful. I’ve been wanting to get some video testimonials, and the phone will make getting those easy.

Face Time

I figured someone would ask about it if I didn’t mention it. It was one of the most-touted features of the iPhone 4, and I’ve got to admit I’ve not used it yet. I can see benefit to it, but first I need to find someone to use it with. Any volunteers?

Multitasking

I like it, but it’s not as great as some people think. I do like that e-book apps don’t have to reload a book, which make some of them load faster. And it’s sometimes nice to fast switch between certain apps. So I use it, but I don’t rely on it. I don’t think I use the right apps to take full advantage of it. (In other words, I’m not a big gamer on my iPhone. That’s what my Nintendo DS is for.)

Conclusion

Was it a “Must Have” upgrade? Probably not. But I do love scanning cards, and the display and battery life are incredible. I like not needing to hoard my battery on long days. It’s faster than my old 3G, and it’s definitely more reliable under iOS 4. So, I’m happy I upgraded, but if you’re happy with your 3G or 3GS, it’s hardly an “Upgrade or Die!” situation.

Anyone else want to brag about your iPhone 4?

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Tags: iPhone, networking on the go
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Posts Tagged ‘networking on the go’

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