Tech Talk: Tools to Help Your Business and Career
Apple has 1 million apps in its store and Google Play boasts 700,000 Android apps. But in between Angry Birds and Instagram, what apps and tools can you use to improve your business and boost your career? Here are our top choices.
Evernote
Evernote is a free app for both mobile devices and desktops that helps you remember everything. Sketch out a prototype on a napkin? Snap a photo with your phone and save it in Evernote. Need to connect your To Do List with your Google Calendar? Cross that off your list. Its cute mascot, an elephant, never lets you forget.
MindNode
As an organizational tool, MindNode helps transform your tasks and projects visually. Currently available for Apple devices, there are various levels of MindNode products, ranging from MindNode Lite to MindNode Pro for large-scale brainstorming and organizing.
Pocket
Pocket (formerly Read It Later) saves articles, videos, blog posts, and other links, putting them in your “pocket” until you have time to check them out later.
CardMunch
Who keeps all those business cards anyway? CardMunch, which was bought by LinkedIn in 2011, allows you to snap a photo of a business card with your iPhone, instantly adding the person’s information to your contacts.
Bloomberg for iPad
Bloomberg for iPad was called the “best casual stock app for the iPad” earlier this year. The app brings Bloomberg’s up-to-date stock information and the latest financial news directly to your iPad.
TweetReach
Ever wonder how far your tweet or hashtag is spreading across the worldwide web? TweetReach offers metrics, statistics, and analysis about how many people saw your tweet, are talking about a certain hashtag or issue, and who is leading the conversation.
Social Mention
Social Mention is a social media search engine, going further than Tweet Reach to track brand mentions and comments on a multitude of social sites, including public-facing Facebook posts, blogs, and YouTube. The site also analyzes sentiment of the posts, keywords, and top users.
Flight+
Do you travel for work? Then you’re going to want to download Flight+, an iOS app for tracking flights. But beyond simple tracking, Flight+ offers real-time information about weather and delays, and provides airport maps, allowing users to map out where they can stop for a cup of coffee in between flights.
LinkedIn Today
In 2011, LinkedIn launched LinkedIn Today, which delivers relevant daily news to users. Content is curated based on users’ industries, connections, experience level, and location, so they see the news and updates that are most relevant to them. Many folks turn to the site every day, including recent Madame Noire interview Brian Shields.
Prezi
Want to go beyond Power Point? Check out Prezi, a cloud-based presentation tool, which launched a new interface this year. The company encourages creativity, constantly updates features, and provides independent Prezi experts who can help newbies learn the ropes. For desktop and iPad, Prezi is also available for businesses, conferences, nonprofits, and education.