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Monday, September 16, 2013

Top 5 Business Mobile Apps for iPhone/iPad and Other iOS Mobile Device Users


Well, it took a long time in coming but I guess, the delay has not been bad – after all I get to talk about some new, awesome business apps from the iOS App Store…so here I go (as promised) – following are the Top 5 iOS Business Apps for this year so far…

 Microsoft Office 365 – Your Office in Your Pocket!



Microsoft made big news when it launched Microsoft Office 365 for the iOS platform, thereby lending enhanced capability to the iPhone users. The version of the app available for the iOS device users is similar to the one which has been available to the Windows device users and now to the android phone/tablet users. Now, even iPhone users can easily read, edit & create documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) without worrying about doc formats!
(A note: the android version of the app has just been launched!)






Evernote – Note-Making Made Easy


For me, Evernote makes the grade as one of the top iOS apps as well. Like I mentioned in my post on top Android apps, Evernote is immensely popular not only as a business app but also as a consumer app because of its simple note-making capabilities. This note-making mobile app has also managed to keep up with changing times with timely updates (so far), ensuring that new features are added as needed. The latest, updated version (version 5.0) came up with plenty of new features. Some of the prominent features in the updated Evernote iPhone mobile app are:

Multi-shot camera mode – it allows users to shoot multiple images with their phone camera and then save all of them to a single note.

Sync support – it allows users to use the same Evernote account across different device/platforms.

Page Camera function – a special feature that lets you use your SmartPhone like a scanner.

Here’s where to click if you want this cool app: https://itunes.apple.com/in/app/evernote/id281796108?mt=8


Genius Scan – The Trusted Document Scanner


It is amazing to see a phone develop exceptional capabilities when we spruce it up with power-packed mobile application. Genius Scan is one such iOS based mobile application that will turn your iPhone into a PDF Document scanner!

The way it functions is pretty simple – you don’t have to do more than use the app, Genius Scan; it does the rest. Genius Scan features a highly advanced scanner technology that allows it to easily scan documents via smart page detection, to do perspective corrections, to do image post processing and you can also create PDF documents with multiple scans! This iOS-based app for iPhones & iPads lets you easily scan documents and mail them through your phone itself. You can send the scanned documents across either as a JPEG image or a PDF document.

Wanna download the app or simply want to know more? Here is the link: https://itunes.apple.com/in/app/genius-scan-pdf-scanner/id377672876?mt=8


Dragon Dictation – You Say It, Your Phone Will Type It!


Taking mobility to the next level, Dragon Dictation mobile application turns every word that you speak into text, which means now no more actually typing messages or writing emails on your phone, you just have to say it and the phone will do the rest!

Well, voice recognition applications aren’t really new to us but this cool app has simply taken it to the next level; like I said before. Created by Nuance Communications, this amazing app is a dedicated iOS mobile app and turns your iPhone, iPad, and other iOS powered mobile devices into a handsfree typing machine. Adding more power, this app can type 5x times faster than your keyboard. Plus, it features support for many languages from around the world. It works not only for your messages or emails but also for your blog posts and posts to social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc.



Trip It – An Amazing Trip Planner!


Another amazing mobile app that makes the cut on both – Android & iOS; Trip It is deservingly the favorite travel related app for seasoned business users, new entrepreneurs & top executives.  
Simple, easy-to-use interface and the capability to sync all your travel details make this mobile app extremely useful for people who travel frequently for work. Trip It mobile app comes equipped with various features that lets it plan your business travel schedule with precision. This iOS mobile application supports more than a thousand booking sites and provides a one-stop solution for scheduling and managing travel. You can access maps, reservations, flight details and more. It can sync your calendar with your travel entries and allows you to share your trip plans with office, family and friends.



So that’s for the top 5 business apps of 2013 (until this time) on iOS platform!

It is exciting times for the digital world, especially for handheld devices, which are the focus of all major digital innovations. Applications being the main driving force behind these innovations, we can safely say that our mobile devices; be it a sleek smartphone or a swanky tablet; will be gaining more power, more capabilities in the coming days. And, we will be happier for it! J


Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Social Media Management as a Business Opportunity

Hi Friends,

Social Media Marketing and Management, today, presents a great opportunity for people who are creative, have zeal for selling ideas, products, or anything and an addiction for social media and technology. I am sharing a very simple presentation that I had prepared for my class, explaining social media management as I understand. It would be great if you share your views, or feedback.

Here we go!


Thursday, March 21, 2013

Aesthetic Design in Information Technology & The Online Space


Aesthetics in Design

Aesthetics plays an important role in helping humans decide what is beautiful or appealing and what is not. In its truest sense, aesthetics revolves round the wholeness of a particular thing or a scenario rather than bits and pieces or components. 

Aesthetic Design in IT & Online Space
It is important that we understand that aesthetics and design go hand-in-hand; especially more so for any IT organization that provides technological innovations and services or is in the business of making products for the gadgets of the future. Such an organization needs to make sure that aesthetics is involved in everything that we do. So, whether we are into making websites or software development such as internet-based software applications, mobile applications or complicated database-driven extranet and client-server applications or even providing online marketing solutions; I believe that everything we built or design has to first appeal to our eyes, then our heart and then our mind. This simply means that the end product has to have a pleasing, attractive look and feel along with being functionally perfect. It is just not enough for a technology firm to say that they take extra care where it concerns designs; the truth is – if anybody has to come out on top in today’s competitive world, they need to be seriously crazy about their work and can proudly say that their product/services are refined, elegant and simply awesome in all aspects. (image source: google.com)

Aesthetics and the online world

As more and more businesses are getting online, the competition in the online space to grab eyeballs is as real and harsh as it is between shops in a fiercely competitive marketplace such as a shopping mall or a roadside bazaar. It has become exceptionally challenging for any business firm to differentiate itself or its services and products from that of its competitors. Being just a big brand name will not always help. In the online world, every business has a chance to upstage its competitors. Having an awesome product or offering superior service is not enough to fight off the competition and emerge as a winner. , So, how do we create the differentiator…the difference that will drive potential customers to us? Well, the BIG differentiator is the DELIGHT aspect. And this is where aesthetic design steps in. Ergonomic design that offers both functionality as well as visual appeal in the form of elegant layouts, coupled with exceptional product quality and packaging brings in the much needed element of DELIGHT for the prospective clients/customers. (image source: google.com)

It was superior quality product design married with an aesthetic beauty that has made Apple products one of the most favored and admired product lines in the world today. It is the visually appealing websites that we often remember and like to visit, and most of the apps that we use or love have (not so surprisingly) pleasing look and feel.  Well-spaced & attractive layouts, beautiful icons, simple functionality, easy navigation are some of the features that we all look in the software that we use. So, if you are a business with a brilliant product to sell or exceptional service to offer, or simply someone who loves being in the limelight, it is important that you pay special attention to the schematic beauty of your offering. In fact, ergonomic design that has the right balance of aesthetic beauty and superior functionality provides an extra dash of creativity to any product or solution. It goes a long way in ensuring success in a highly competitive and fast-changing world. (image source: google.com)

Aesthetic Beauty…A Commitment

As already mentioned, I strongly believe that aesthetics and simplicity in design and implementation is important to any information technology (IT) product; whether it is a website, systems applications, networks, ecommerce solutions, or software apps. The best way to go about ensuring aesthetics in IT product designs is implementing a clutter-free, simple and to-the-purpose (effective) functioning methodology in your firm’s operations. This very approach will go a long way in helping create products/services that will delight your clients and help them delight their customers as well. (image source: google.com)

Feedback

I will be the happiest person if you can make the effort to write in your thoughts on the post. Also please feel free to share your views about on aesthetic design and today’s information technology (IT) led world.

Thank You!




Wednesday, October 31, 2012

How To Make LinkedIn Work For You


LinkedIn is among the most popular professional social network globally and I am sure you too have your published profile on LinkedIn. Well, in case you don’t have it, this is just the right time to have your LinkedIn profile; more so if you are always keen to connect with more and more people from your field of work. (image source: LinkedIn)

Ok, this is not a step-by-step guide to setting up a LinkedIn profile. This is more about tips and suggestions that will help anybody make the best use of LinkedIn for what it is actually supposed to do – the professional networking and helping you stand out or get positively noticed in your professional world.  

So, here we go:

1.       Have a complete profile.
Well, it’s not really difficult - we just need to follow the instructions and provide the data required for the profile to be complete. Ok, agreed that it can be tiring and boring as well if you have a lot to write about but then, it is Your Profile, so just do it!

2.       Have a professional profile pic.
This simply means that you put up a smart picture of yours preferably taken in your professional setting. You want to catch the eye of people in your profession and for the right reasons. Please remember, LinkedIn is not a dating site, nor a friendship platform!

3.       Ensure that your profile is concise, precise, and attractive to read.
The simple way to create an attractive profile is to keep it simple!
Ø  Use simple language all through your profile
Ø  Give a precise overview of what you do
Ø  Try avoiding giving out each & every detail of your work
       You will come across many a profile where people have almost published a work report that is best suited for appraisal meetings. Personally, I feel it is best to talk just enough to get people interested in my work…..not more.

4.       Have a One-Line resume as the Headline of your Profile.
There can be no better way to attract the right kind of attention and plenty of attention than to have a profile headline that lets people know what you do or what you are.


5.       Put your best foot forward.
A very good thing about LinkedIn is that it allows you to move the different sections of your profile up and down as per your liking. This feature allows you to place/highlight the best portion of your profile in the top section so as to gain maximum visibility.

For example: if you have received awards, organizational/industry-level recognitions, or have been felicitated, you can put them under the ‘Honors and Awards’ section and place the section up ahead. The way to do this is to click ‘edit profile’ at the top and then click and hold on the top bar of the section to move it and release it wherever you want that section to be.

6.       Be an active member of the groups that you join.
Being an active member of the groups help enhance credibility along with establishing your reputation as an expert in your professional field. Answer questions raised in the group forums, put up meaningful questions in forums, participate in polls, and give your comments and advice wherever applicable.

In addition to all these, make sure you keep updating your info, keep connecting with people through various groups….in short, keep networking!

Friday, October 19, 2012

What Content? The Social About Online Content.



With so many changes happening to the way search engines are valuing websites and the power that platforms like Facebook & Twitter lend to people’s conversations, very few things remain the same when it comes to online marketing. 

So, what happens to the old world diktat – ‘content is the king’? Will content cease to be the all-important aspect of online marketing strategy? 

The simple answer to the question is NO. Content will not cease to be less important. In all of the madness of innumerable Google updates, the multitudes of social media platforms and their ever-increasing influence, content still remains as important as ever and will remain so in the future as well. The only thing that has changed is the way content is used. Content is now more interactive, conversational, an exchange of thoughts, ideas & gossip; it is now completely social, it is more REAL!

So, what’s so social about online content?


Ok, let’s think of the internet to be like a big party! So, the interactions on the internet are nothing but discussions that usually happen whenever people meet. If we think this way, we realize that what a person talks about is most important for a conversation to be held. In other words, the content that a person has to talk about, share, to show will decide whether people are listening to him/her.

Popular forms in which people like to savor content these days are videos, pictures, and texts. All these three forms complement each other and work well when used in tandem.


So, if you are a brand that wants to share wonderful content, and information with your consumer and people in general, or whether you are a marketer who is looking to engage people in a more effective way, or you just like to be in the thick of things and wants to be the most popular person amongst friends; make a note to include more pictures and videos in your updates on various social media platforms, emails, or blog posts.

The trick is to not overdo it, but use the proper content mix, and keep it as fresh and original as possible!

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