note-taking.net

Here is the latest ranking of the top 20 Android Notes apps. These include text notes, voice notes, tasks and todo lists. If the app can be used for a quick memo or note-to-self, and it is in the productivity category of the Android Market, we included it in our survey.

It is amazing to see the stability in the market. Other than the rise of 3banana Notes and the decline of Evernote, there has been very little change in the Android notepad category of the Android Market.

We kept track of the rankings of Android Note-Taking Apps over the past two months, and it is interesting to see how little changes. With the exception of the rise of 3banana and the fall of Evernote, very little has changed. Note that the graph shows the ranking within the Productivity category of the Android Market. Ranking does not correspond with actual number of users, because the higher ranked apps tend to have many more users than the lesser ranked apps, and the relationship is not linear. AK Notepad remains the top ranked notes app on Android and one of the highest ranked Android apps overall.

Samsung has announced a new line of e-readers with the ability to write directly on the screens. Will a built-in note-taking tool bring e-readers to the the next level or productivity?

Also coming is a new line of e-readers, in both a 6-inch and 10-inch model. The company’s E6 and E101 readers are also designed to be used for note taking as well, with the ability to write directly on the screen.

via Ultra-slim TV, new e-reader (with note-taking tools) from Samsung

Here is the latest ranking of the top iPhone Notes applications together with their standing within the Productivity Category in the iTunes App Store, as of January 19, 2010.

There has been quite a bit of turnover since our last iPhone productivity ranking in early December 2009.

Top Paid iPhone Apps in the Notes & Tasks Category

Top Free iPhone Apps in the Notes & Tasks Category

Note that we are only looking for apps listed among the top 100 in the the Productivity section. We looked at both the top Free and top Paid apps.

This is just about the most complete list of note-taking apps, primarily online notepads and list managers, and a few desktop clients. Did we miss something? Know for sure one of these sites is out of business? Please leave a comment.

Compete.com rankings are for the month of December 2009.

Here are the top 30 Android note-taking apps as of January 18, 2010. We included notepads, lists and task managers, as well as voice recorders. The rank is with respect to all apps in the productivity category of the Android App Market.

Here are the top 20 Android note-taking apps as of January 3, 2010.

Evernote slips while competition for note-taking productivity apps continues to heat up. Here are the top 20 note takers as of December 24, 2009.

The competition in the Productivity section of the Android Market is really heating up with the debut of Evernote’s Android App. Here are the top 20 note takers as of December 17, 2009.

Evernote is the new entrant since the last ranking, but AK Notepad has maintained its position as the top Android note taking application on the Market.

3banana Notes makes it easy to store your notes in a cloud and access them anywhere. Any information you throw into 3banana will sync to a free web account at Snaptic.com. You can also create notes on the web and see them appear on your phone which provides a seamless connection between your notes and devices. There are also a lot of options to share your notes so if someone missed a class and wants to borrow your notes, put ‘em in 3banana.

via 10 Android Apps For The Tech-Savvy Student | Gadget Lab | Wired.com.

After a few months of beta releases, the all-inclusive note-taking service Evernote has launched a release version of its app for Android phones, making it very easy to snap pictures, jot notes or record audio notes for yourself.

The app’s smoothed out its kinks, bugs and looks over multiple beta releases, and does a fairly good job of integrating your Evernote account with your phone’s functions.

via Evernote Makes Its Official Debut In The Android Market | Lifehacker Australia.

Google’s mobile app store, the Android Market, has doubled in size in the last five months, and now hosts more than 20,000 applications, according to unofficial numbers from specialist portal AndroLib.

While 20,000 apps is an impressive number, the Android Market runs a distant second place to Apple’s App Store, which has more than 100,000 applications available for the iPhone and iPod touch. Google is narrowing the gap, though, according to AndroLib’s numbers (Google doesn’t disclose Android Market figures); the selection is up from a reported 12,000 titles earlier this year to 20,000 in December. Google’s Android Market is a few months younger than Apple’s App store, but both stores are just over one year old.

via Android Market Hits 20,000 Apps Milestone – PC World.

Google is providing developers with a dashboard that is aimed at helping them decide which versions of the software to support and that shows the fragmentation of the Android platform.

The chart, displaying the percentages of Android phones using different versions of the software, also offers a peek at how the various Android phones are selling.

via Google Dashboard Shows Android Fragmentation – PC World Business Center.

Palm, which makes smartphones like the Pre and Pixi, said Thursday that its sales declined slightly from the previous quarter, although they were still up sharply from a year ago.

The company trimmed its net loss and said it had shipped a total of 783,000 smartphones to retailers in its fiscal second quarter, which ended Nov. 27. That was up 41 percent compared with the second quarter last year, but down 5 percent compared with the first quarter.

via Palm’s Sales Dip From Previous Quarter – NYTimes.com.

In the beginning, there was Notes, and it was… well, it was pretty awful, actually. No sync, no password protection, and mandatory Marker Felt. But then Apple created the App Store, and it was good. It’s been just over a year since the App Store opened, and plenty of notes apps have appeared, so we thought it was about time to round up some of the top suspects and see which one came out on top.

Before we dive into the assessments, a couple of notes: John Gruber has written a bit on this subject already. We did our best to ignore everything he said and come to our own conclusions, but in the interest of full disclosure, we did read both of those articles.

We excluded Evernote from this roundup for a couple of reasons: it does one too many things for a simple ‘notes’ app, and it doesn’t actually store most of your notes on the iPhone itself—except for manually chosen favorites, they’re all stored online—so if you don’t have internet access, you don’t have your notes. All the apps we included in this roundup keep a copy of your notes on the device itself, whether or not they also include a sync feature.

via Take Note: A roundup of ‘notes’ apps for the iPhone « Smoking Apples.

Next Monday sees the release of the latest mobile phone to run Google’s Android operating system. The Motorola Milestone is a significant launch and is already being touted as an “iPhone killer”, not least because it will be the first handset to run Android 2.0, the very latest version of the software.

Android – the brainchild of search giant Google and a consortium of handset makers and component manufacturers – is finally beginning to realise its huge potential, and so too are consumers.

via The Motorola Milestone: will Google Androids take over in 2010? – Telegraph.

For executives and field personnel alike, there's a lot to like about smartphones: They're always present, they're always on, and increasingly, they're always reliably connected. So if your organization is using smartphones only for e-mail, it's missing a huge opportunity.

via Practical Analysis: Smartphones — Passion To Profit And Productivity — Practical Analysis.

Students of previous generations had to go to great lengths and pay big prices to find the tools and resources they needed during college. Fortunately for today’s undergrad, almost everything we need to know about the world is at our fingertips. Use these links and tips, and your university years are sure to end happily, healthily, and successfully.

via 100 Free Productivity Tools to Get You Through School | Online Universities.

A while back I mentioned a vexing problem I was having with my speedy new HP desktop: Once a week or so, it would slow to a crawl. I spent weeks trying resolve the problem, but nothing worked. Eventually I threw in the towel, at least for a while.

When I revisited the issue a few weeks later, I couldn't remember what troubleshooting steps I'd tried. I was more or less back to square one. Read on for a terrific free service that helped me get organized to track down my problem, plus a Web site that turns PDFs into text, and an online storage service that acts like an extra hard drive on your computer.

via Free Online Productivity Tools From Hassle-Free PC – PC World.

Today the thought of missing out on a hot deal or a pressing business meeting just because you are traveling doesn’t have to be a concern. Staying on top of business while working on the road is easy when you arm yourself with the right productivity tools. The following tools are top picks not only because of their productivity value, but also because each one of them is a web based tool. These tools can be accessed wherever you are: from any laptop, smartphone or computer. They give you instant access to your account and the information whenever and wherever you need it. In today’s world convenience and accessibility rule.

via The Top Mobile Office Tools – Productivity Tools for the Road | Toktumi VoIP News.

We scoured the web to see who was still in the business of offering online note-taking applications, and here is what we came up with.

These are online notebooks for recording your personal notes and/or private web clips. They are listed with monthly unique users as reported by Compete.com:

If we missed anything, please leave a comment!

At long last we have a new ranking of the top iPhone Notes applications together with their overall ranking within the Productivity Category in the iTunes App Store.

Top Paid iPhone Apps in the Notes & Tasks Category

Top Free iPhone Apps in the Notes & Tasks Category

As in prior rankings, we recognize that there is a convergence of text notes, voice notes, task and to do lists, as well as mind mapping software for capturing your ideas.

What all of these apps have in common is that they are competing for your attention when you want to capture a thought on your iPhone.

Note that we are only looking for apps listed among the top 100 in the the Productivity section. We looked at both the top Free and top Paid apps.

Interesting to see that Wikipedia has a whole section on Notetaking, including a comparison of a number of notetaking software and websites.

Here is what Wikipedia says about Notetaking:

Notetaking is the practice of recording information captured from a transient source, such as an oral discussion at a meeting, or a lecture. Notes of a meeting are usually called minutes. The format of the initial record may often be informal and/or unstructured. One common format for such notes is shorthand, which can allow large amounts of information to be put on paper very quickly. Notes are frequently written in notebooks, though all sorts of paper may sometimes be used: for instance, some people like to usePost-It notes. Notetaking is an important skill for students, especially at the college level. Many different formats are used to structure information and make it easier to find and to understand, later. Computers, particularly tablet PCs and personal digital assistants (PDAs) are beginning to see wide use as notetaking devices. In some contexts, such as college lectures, the main purpose of taking notes may be to implant the material in the mind; the written notes themselves being of secondary importance.

You can find the link to the Wikipedia comparison of notetaking software here:

Comparison of notetaking software – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Sign up for a free account, then punch your credentials into both the Android client and your browser. Bam, note syncing! It’s not a substitute for a full-fledged file syncing service like Dropbox, but 3banana is a drop-dead easy way to keep your notes/images synced between your Android handset and your computer.

via Ten Apps All New Android Users Should Check Out.

AK Notepad – A great little notepad that I frequently use to jot down an address or ideas that I have and don’t want to forget.  It’s not fancy but it works perfectly. You can also send your notes to a friend via email or SMS (see how-to video).

via 5 Great Productivity Apps For Your T-Mobile G1.

Astrid is a solid task manager developed by the Google folks (you know Google always makes good stuff). Tasks are easy to add and easy to check off when you’re done (my least favorite thing is having to “edit” a task to mark it “complete”). You can also add a timer – you know I like timers! – to help you build that sense of urgency. But what people like most about it isn’t the features but the notifications, which offer friendly encouragement to help motivate you to finish up.

via 12 Free Android Apps to Help Get Things Done (Part 1) – Stepcase Lifehack.

Many mobile platforms have some sort of note-taking application in the default app set, but it’s worth shopping around to find something more full-featured if you do a lot of idea capturing on the go. One thing to think about when considering apps is whether or not voice notes are important to your workflow; some apps will include support for both text and voice built-in, or you can consider two separate apps if you prefer to hunt for more specialization.

One of my favorite cross-platform note-taking apps is Evernote, featuring a robust cloud-syncing platform with Mac and Windows desktop apps, web-based access, and mobile clients for iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm Pre, Windows Mobile and the Sony Ericsson X1, with an Android client available in a beta version. Evernote also supports voice memos, along with post by email and even via Twitter options.

Though it’s getting a bit long in the tooth, Microsoft OneNote is still a worthy option for Windows Mobile users and will be getting a refresh in early 2010. Android users might want to check out Notepad, Note Everything, and AK Notepad for text notes, and try using the VoiceText app as an input method for almost any of the other notepad apps to convert voice notes into text transcripts.

via Top Mobile Productivity Tools for the Small Business.

At long last we have a new ranking of the top 40 Android Notes applications together with their overall ranking within the Productivity Category in the Android Market.

As in prior rankings, we recognize that there is a convergence of text notes, voice notes, task and to do lists, as well as mind mapping software for capturing your ideas.

What all of these apps have in common is that they are competing for your attention when you want to capture a thought on your Android phone.

Note that we are only looking for Free Apps in the Productivity section. There are so many free apps to choose from, so why pay? And if it’s not in productivity, it’s not categorized in the section where it belongs.

There are many new entrants since the last ranking, but AK Notepad has maintained its position as the top Android note taking application on the Market.

One of my favorite features of 3Banana is the sharing – it’s great at letting you create and share everything from a single note to your whole notebook. At the bottom of every note, there are links to share it in a huge number of ways – email, Facebook, Twitter, or even just by a link. This makes 3Banana perfect for sharing information with friends, colleagues and anyone else in your life.

One other thing I like is the tagging system. Instead of tagging individual notes by dragging and dropping or manually adding tags, 3Banana uses something like Twitter’s hashtags. At the end of a note, if it’s a task, typing “#task” adds it to that category and makes it searchable under the “tasks” category.

via Sync and Share All Your Online Notes with 3Banana.

If you’re looking for a simple way to take, store, and share notes in the cloud, 3Banana makes organizing your notes easy with notes based on in-text hashtags.

You can sign up for an account at 3Banana or use your existing Google credentials to jump right in and try it out. You can create basic notes simply by typing in the dialogue box, or enhance the note taking process by including HTML tags and images. 3Banana automatically recognizes pasted links and common formatting like phone numbers. You can categorize your notes by using hash tags like #tasks to tag your notes.

via Lifehacker – 3Banana Keep Notes Tidy with Hash Tags – Note Taking.

3Banana Notes Android App takes note taking to the next level by letting you add pictures from your phone camera to the note or Scan the bar code of the subject Shopping items, Websites and more. QR codes popping every where as a replacement for URLs, that’s great foresight from the developers.  3Banana Notes is an awesome Social networking companion. Just make a not,e associate a picture or even better… just scan the QR code and socialize. Added to that snappy bar code scanner, you can share your note to a whole slew of other Social Networking sties or  even make a QR code of the note if needed. Kudos to the developers and designers for their smart wholesome thinking in chiseling this brilliant app. 3banana Notes will also let you sync your notes on your Android phone or mobile device to their online servers. Using your Google ID, users can sign on to 3banana’s website for reviewing your existing notes or add new notes for later syncing to your mobile device.

via 3banana Notes | Android Tapp. Android App Reviews.

After four long months,the Android v1.5 “Cupcake” update has finally been made available to the masses in the UK and USA. As April 29th came to a close, the first reports of update notifications came trickling in, and they’ve continued throughout the morning.

As usual, it’s not hitting every handset at the same time. Don’t panic if you’ve yet to see the prompt – you’ll probably see it within a day or two, tops. This one’s a big one, so look forward to some exploration. You’ll have video recording, stereo bluetooth, onscreen keyboards, live folders, new widgets, a brushed up browser, and a slew of performance upgrades and bug fixes to check out. Be sure to drop a comment and let us know when it hits your handset

via Ding Cupcake is done Android v1.5 now hitting handsets in US and UK .

Will the Palm Pre be the device to challenge not only the coolness, but the functionality and elegance of the iPhone? Some developers respond with a resounding yes.

Ian McFarland, a principal and vice president of technology at Pivotal Labs, which is a consultancy specializing in Web and mobile development, said he first started talking to Palm about the Pre last November, and “we realized it was not just another me-too platform.”

McFarland said he grudgingly waited in line to get a glimpse of the Pre at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, “but I came out really impressed,” he said.

“It has a first-class user experience, and one thing that stood out for us was the ease of development for the platform because it’s based on Web technology—HTML, CSS and JavaScript,” McFarland said of the Pre.

via Why Some Developers Think the Palm Pre Could Upstage the iPhone.

Like it or not, the spiral bound notebook is going the way of the Dodo. Okay, so maybe thats absolutely incorrect and totally sensationalistic, but you catch our drift. If not, take a whiff of what reader Allan is cooking:

“My boss is a prolific note taker, filling many spiral bound notebooks with notes. As I deal with more projects, I find myself moving in the same direction. I would love the ability to search my notes, something not available with dead tree software. Is there a simple relatively cheap device that would allow me to take notes preferably using hand writing, and then search them later? Ideally, Id like something the size of a small internet tablet, but no smaller than an iPod touch. Im looking for something far cheaper than a full-blown tablet PC, by the way.”

So, ladder climbers — whats the deal here? What device would you recommend for wowing that suit in the corner office while making your note taking all the more efficient? When youre done answering, shoot us a question of your to ask at engadget dawt com.

via Ask Engadget: Best mobile note-taking device?.

Weve known for some time that China Mobile was planning to launch the KIRFy OPhone from Lenovo. Now, with word on the street that China Unicom has snagged the iPhone in that providers home turf, a report from DigiTimes is suggesting that China Mobile might be trying to undermine the competitions supposed June iPhone launch by dropping the OPhone a month earlier. That sounds sensible enough, but are people there so eager for iPhone theyd jump on the imitation rather than wait another month for the real thing? Well find out soon enough.

via China Mobile planning to subvert Unicoms iPhone launch with the OPhone?.

Although Sony’s televisions and other consumer electronics have long been status symbols, the company has lost much of the e-book heat to the upstart Kindle. When Amazon unveiled the Kindle 2 last month, the event was the publishing industry’s version of a celebrity news conference, with standing room only for hundreds of journalists and heads of publishing houses.

Never mind that Amazon is not exactly chatty about the nuts and bolts of its business — executives have never revealed how many Kindles have been produced or sold — the company’s brilliant marketing stole the show. Except for the download capabilities, however, the Sony and Amazon devices are similar. Both models of the Sony reader, the 550 and the 700, are actually smaller and sleeker than the Kindle 2.

Indeed, the “reading experience” of the Kindle and Reader is nearly identical. Neither device is backlit, and both allow for note-taking, highlighting and the importing of PDF, Word and other files. The machines are also similarly priced.

via Sony expands its book download stockpile – Los Angeles Times.

Take a look at PicoNote. Its available in three forms: a free Windows application, a web-based app, and a mobile-friendly web app http://m.piconote.com. From the moment you sign up, youll enjoy its simplicity – the registration form only asks for a username and password.

Once you’ve created an account, adding notes is easy to do: create, add title and body text, and save your note. If it contains a URL, Piconote will automatically turn it into a clickable link. Private notes are hidden from prying eyes, but you can also create public notes to share with anyone. There are no formatting options, but you shouldnt really expect those from a “pico” application anyway, right?

The desktop application is just as easy to use. Its interface defaults to Polish, so to switch to English just click notatnik -> language. Once youve created a local notepad, Piconote will sync it to your web account and automatically sync it every time you open or close the file.

via Use PicoNote for dead-simple note taking anywhere.

Evernote already has a native iPhone application and promises to release an Android client in the future. I actually contacted Evernote in early February to ask if they planned to develop a native app for Android and was told, “We do not currently have formal plans for an Android application and no definitive date has been set.”

I don’t know what has changed in the past 30 days since receiving that message, but I’m happy to know that an Android app is coming someday. I’ll be happy with an optimized Evernote Mobile for now, which is one of the tools I use on my G1 to increase my personal productivity.

via Evernote optimizes site for Android | Google Android Blog.

Never worry about others stealing your sensitive information anymore!

Private Notes uses your own password to generate the cipher key to dynamically encrypt your notes using the Blowfish algorithm. Furthermore, your password is encrypted with the one-way-only MD5 algorithm and securely stored on your iPhone. This approach is a much better way to protect your data than using a generic and hard-coded key, or store your password and your data unencrypted as in other applications. Our approach prevents hackers from retrieving the password or the key in your device and in turn accessing your private data.

Feature Highlights:

* Safely store your private info such as bank account numbers, ID information, PINs, and more on your iPhone and iPod Touch, for secure access at anytime

* Search keywords and browse your notes through a user-friendly interface

* Import notes from URL coded emails — you can edit your notes on a computer and send it to Private Notes via email

* Categorize your notes

* Export single or multiple notes to Mail for easy archiving

* Choose your favorite fonts and font sizes

To import a note into Private Notes is easy. Use any email client that supports rich formatting or URL editing, e.g., gmail, yahoo, hotmail, mail on mac. Add a URL link in the following format: privatenotes://your note here. Receive your email with Mail.app on your iPhone, and click the link. The note will be imported into Private Notes immediately.

via Private Notes – iPhone App.