Author: BrothaTech

Add some Tech to your Pitch with Portfolio for iPad

by BrothaTech

Now you can use the iPad to help you with “the perfect pitch” with the Portfolio app for iPad. Fully brand-able, Portfolio for iPad can be tweaked to fit your business model, so your presentations will look all the more professional.

With a special key, you can lockdown the app and hand your iPad over to your potential clients/customers so they can flip through your work while your explain your services without the worry of exposing the management interface underneath or accidentally peeking into other areas of your device.

AND *drumroll* Portfolio is Dropbox accessible! Your images can be saved/stored in your Dropbox account so you are not constantly downloading presentation images to your iPad to load into Portfolio – They can stay safe in the “cloud”. Here are a list of additional key features:

– Multiple galleries and the ability to hide unneeded galleries.

– Slideshows with configuration options for slide duration and soundtrack.

– Ratings and notes editable per image.

– Full screen viewing and browsing or partial screen with a thumbnail strip.

– Zoom in on details in imported photos.

– Comparison mode to bring up two photos at a time.

– Keyword tagging and the ability to filter by keywords and ratings.

– External display support through via additional VGA adapter.

Whether you’re a photographer showing photos and videos to a bride-to-be, a wedding venue displaying various table setups, a florist giving the choices of different arrangements, a landscaper showing different layouts, or a web designer describing past designs, Portfolio will give that extra bit of polish and professionalism to your presentation.

Portfolio is on the high-end of app prices at $14.99. So I would only suggest Portfolio for iPad to designers, illustrators, artists, and other professionals looking to add that extra [tech] touch to their presentations.

Get it Booked – The First Time with Tungle.me Scheduling

by BrothaTech

Trying to schedule meetings with partners & team members, clients, and other groups can be a task. Everybody seems to be using different calendar formats/platforms on different devices in different timezones. Funny name aside, Tungle.me looks to bridge the gap to make scheduling easier for everybody involved.

It doesn’t matter if you are using Outlook, Yahoo, Google, iPhone, BlackBerry, etc. As long as your calendar is electronic, Tungle will allow you and your contacts see your available/busy times, propose multiple meeting times, and create group scheduling pages to make booking time consistent for all of your scheduling needs. Without having to sign up, visitors can propose multiple meeting times to ensure the best match to your schedule. Tungle time even takes care of the replies, timezones, and confirmations so you’re not switching back and forth between Tungle and your email client.

If you’re a mobile champ, Tungle.me is available for iPhone and BlackBerry so you can take your schedule with you. Meetings booked through Tungle, regardless of what device you use, will automagically be synchronized with your calendars at work, at home, or on the go.

Whether you use your calendar in an enterprise or education environment to meet/collaborate with fellow employees or partners, or as an entreprenuer looking to schedule time with clients and/or customers, Tungle.me can take the hassle out of booking time to meet. Tungle.me is free to sign up and free to use.

Track Trip Mileage with Trip Cubby

by BrothaTech

As a business owner, tracking mileage can be one of those tasks that pays you back if you do it right; but, finding a good way to do it right is the hardest part. I have heard (and done) some of the weird ways to track mileage – spreadsheets, Google maps printouts, voice memos, you name it. With the Trip Cubby iPhone app, creating a mileage log is as easy entering a start and end point, Trip Cubby does the rest.

With predictive input, auto-entry, auto-calculation, and quick access to frequent trips, Trip Cubby does the hard work for you. A few quick taps will create useful data ready to search, sort, and generate email reports. Other features include:

– IRS compliance
– Multiple drives and vehicles
– Customizable reimbursement rates
– Excel-compatible email reports
– Online sync/backup
– Stored data retrieved on next launch if interrupted by phone call

Simply put, Trip Cubby gives you the ability to use your iPhone for tracking trip mileage. There is an app for everything, and since a great deal of us use our smartphones in many areas of our businesses, why not use it to help manage your mileage? Trip Cubby is $4.99 in the iTunes App Store (OS. 2.0 and up).

Honeywell Total Connect Automation App for Android

by BrothaTech

Honeywell is well known for its building management products. With Automation becoming more and more feasible by the average consumer who doesn’t own a 100,000 sq. ft. facility, companies are adapting their products so that the not-so-huge business owner can take advantage of the same features and benefits that major companies enjoy when using their products.

That could be some of the motivation behind Honeywell releasing a new Android app for its popular Total Connect services that gives the user the ability to arm and disarm their systems, receive e-mail alerts when an alarm trips, and access video from inside and around the premises. As a busy business owner who travels a great deal (meetings, conferences, etc), but needs to keep an eye on their home base, Total Connect customers can now use their Android smartphone to keep track of what’s going on when they are on the go. Check out Honeywell’s Total Connect site for details about the system and products.

The Android mobile OS is making waves in the mobile industry for consumers and businesses alike, and Honeywell including an Android app (in addition to its iPhone app) is more proof of the fact that people are jumping on the Android bandwagon at a rate that businesses large and small can’t ignore. This adds more options for the consumer and expands businesses customer base.

So if you have a business that is currently thinking about creating a mobile app to reach out to that mobile but connected customer base; or you are a small business owner looking for ways to keep the business running while you are running, there is more than one mobile platform out there and the chances that considering all options will do nothing but improve your operations are pretty high.

Lock-Down Your Info with My Eyes Only

by BrothaTech

Good for you if you actually use your device password to lock/access your smartphone. The My Eyes Only (MEO) iPhone password app takes securing your personal and business information a step further with “Government Approved” encrypted information management.

MEO doesn’t just secure your data, it also organizes it in easy-to-manage formats for easy access when you need it. I mean, you take your smartphone everywhere right? Why not use it to access important notes, website passwords, banking/financial and other types of personal data. MEO’s pre-defined screens makes it easy to add and retrieve information the way you see it in real life. MEO’s screens are based upon the actual card images and the important information that is presented on the cards. Based on the type of information you are storing, MEO has a screen that will display it in an easy and customizable screens. Here are the categories with MEO:

– Credit Cards
– Logins, Computer and Web Site
– Financial Accounts
– Identity Cards: Medical, Social Security, Drivers Licenses
– Notes
– Generic “Other” Category

If you’re concerned about security, MEO stores its access password, hint and password recovery and answer in the iPhone OS Key Chain. All that information is encrypted in the Key Chain and can only be accessed by MEO. No other iPhone application can access that information. MEO also encrypts your data via 256 bit AES encryption for the Notes field in Logins, Financial and Other categories and 512 bit AES encryption for small entry fields, like passwords, credit card numbers and Social Security numbers. So if your phone is ever lost or stolen, your information is protected. Backing up your data is as easy as using your WiFi network and Apple’s Bonjour to quickly backup, restore and transfer data to multiple devices.

So if you have all of that information “in your head”, but constantly have to reset your password because you can’t remember, or need one place to organize, manage, and secure, and backup your personal information, check out My Eyes Only iPhone Password Manager. It is attractively priced at $5.99 in the iTunes App Store (iOS 3.0 and up).

Manage your Site with the FTP On The Go App

by BrothaTech

If you use a domain host for your website (or your client’s site), you need a FTP client to access and manage your website’s files. There are tons of FTP clients for desktops/laptops that give you access when you’re sitting at your desk. FTP On The Go is a FTP client that can gives you access no matter where you are, or what device you have handy.

Let’s face it, there is ALWAYS something you can fix, adjust, tweak, fix, or improve on your site. Either that or you have that insistent client who wants something changed yesterday. If you fit either of those descriptions, why wait until you get back to your office to make those quick website changes? With FTP On The Go, you can use your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad to make that change that would otherwise KILL you if you had to wait until you can login from your desktop/laptop.

Once you login using your credentials, you will have the same access via your iOS device that you would if you were sitting behind your desk. You can browse, download files to edit with the built-in text editor, then upload them back to your server, and see the changes in real-time with the built-in browser…all without leaving FTP On The Go. Here is quick list of just some of features:

– Wirelessly share access to the stored files; connect from a computer (or another iPhone) using either just a web browser, or an FTP client.

– With iPhone OS 3 installed, you have the ability to email any saved file.

– View documents and files right within the app. Word/Excel/Powerpoint/Numbers/Pages/PDF documents; log files; image; watch videos; play sounds/music.

– Upload pictures from your photo library, or take a picture with the camera right within FTP On The Go. Images can be resized when you upload too.

– Upload videos filmed with an iPhone 3GS.

If you are worried about security, FTP On The Go automatically uses FTPS for safe logins if supported by the server and a master password can be set to protect your valuable server login information.

Check out the video on how to browse files with FTP On The Go

If your site is broken or, if you’re like me, and see that small detail you absolutely MUST fix, and can’t get to your computer, why not download FTP On The Go ($6.99 for iPhone/iPod Touch, $9.99 for Pro version for iPad) and have access anytime, anywhere!

Google Apps for Total Cloud Business Management

by BrothaTech

Think Google Apps is just free cloud storage for your documents and a free domain email account? Think again. The Google Apps Marketplace has an entire suite of web services, apps, and tools to get your business off of your laptop and into the cloud for greater accessibility, flexibility, and mobility. The icing on the cake is no matter what app/service you choose, all are accessible through your Google Apps domain. So you and/or everyone on your team can access to your tools, no matter where they are.

From accounting & finance, to document & project management, to backup & archiving services…you name it, the Google Apps Marketplace has a solution. Similar to Apple’s App Store for iOS devices, Google Apps Marketplace has the web app/service for your business. You can search the marketplace by product, or take a look at “Tops”, “Featured” and “Popular and Notable” apps to see what everybody else is adding to their Google Apps domain.

Google does actually develop a large number of the apps available in the marketplace, but also enlists the help of 3rd-Party developers to make the marketplace more robust. Developers pay a $100 one-time fee to list their applications in the market place, and Google takes a 20 percent cut of all applications sold through the store.

Which brings me to costs for customers – A Google Apps basic account is free (provided you already have a www.[insertyourbusinessnamehere].com domain). A premier edition will run your $50 bucks a year that adds a ton of extra features. The rest is picking and choosing what apps/services work best for your business. There are of course some very nice free apps, but if you’re ready to play some serious [cloud-computing] ball, I have seen solid apps in the marketplace for as 20 bucks (one-time fee), and 5 bucks a month for recurring payment plans.

If you and your business is ready to get organized and get “techie” by moving into the cloud, look to a familiar brand in Google to help your business take advantage of a myriad of business tools that can ensure your ability to stay on top of your operations no matter where you are; I suggest you get a Google Apps account and take a look at what your business can do with the apps, services, and tools in the Google Apps Marketplace.

Keep Track of Hours Logged in Projects with ClockIn

by BrothaTech

Instead of “guestimating” time spent on projects for clients to record on invoices, you can manage your time accurately and with less work – the same way you manage your contacts, emails, appointments, and other facets of your business – with your smartphone. ClockIn is a simple and efficient iPhone app that allows you to monitor the time you spend on a project and among multiple clients.

With ClockIn, you can clock in and out of projects the same way you used to “punch the clock” back in the day. Total time on each shift is shown on the main screen and automatically updates live when you clock in or out. You don’t have to leave the app open on your phone to record your time either – ClockIn remembers that you’re punched in even if you close the app to tackle other tasks on your phone. You can also manage multiple clients at one time by saving clients/shifts info (name, website, email, etc.) to quickly refer to them at any time. Export reports in HTML and CSV formats (WiFi only) and email reports directly from ClockIn.

Sure, there are other sophisticated applications that allow you to track time and do all sorts of things, but they can come at a cost and may not be the best way to go if your schedule has you on the road meeting clients, attending conferences, and other business meetings. If you do find the time to work on a client’s project, the ability to whip out your iPhone, open up ClockIn and track your time quickly is worth its $2.99 price tag (OS 3.0 and up).

MeetMe iPhone App Simplifies Finding Meeting Locations

by BrothaTech

Tired of playing phone/email tag with potential clients, customers, colleagues…anybody? With the MeetMe iPhone app, you can select a point A and point B, and it will find and lists possible locations in the middle. You select the best location and MeetMe sends an email with directions to your recipient.

There are many ways to find locations with MeetMe. You can use your current location, an address from your contacts, or enter in a location by address, airport code, city name and more. You can also define the type of place you want to meet and let MeetMe suggest locations. Save your locations as favorites and get more information about the location, reviews and more. If you want to be nice, MeetMe also lets you select locations closer to point A or B…if you REALLY want to close the deal.

Regardless of why you want to meet, the MeetMe iPhone app for $.99 in the iTunes App Store makes it easier to find a great meeting spot that’s fair for all parties involved.

Group Mail HD Simplifies iPad Contact Managing

by BrothaTech

This is one of those apps where you wish Apple would buyout (or blackmail) the app developer and make this app functionality a core feature. Group Mail HD simply gives you greater control over your iPad contacts.

The main portion of this app is the ability to create/edit contact lists (groups), a feature not available in the native iPad contacts app. Additionally, any groups you made if you sync with other mail/contact apps (Microsoft, Exchange, Google, etc.) don’t come over on the iPad. With Group Mail HD, you now have greater contact control on your iPad. Below are the additional contact options available:

– ADD / REMOVE contacts to/from groups and CREATE new contacts.
– SEND EMAILS to groups
– ADD / EDIT / REMOVE emails of contacts very easily and quickly!

Again, you would think functionality like this would be commonplace in the native contacts app. Since it’s not and you do want greater control over your contacts while surfing your iPad, go ahead and download Group Mail HD for $1.99 (iOS 3.2 or later) over on iTunes.