Mobile Apps to Increase Your Productivity

This interview originally ran in the August 2011 issue of AVN. Click here to see the digital issue. There’s no doubt that the rise of the Smartphone has changed the face of business. Whether you use an iPhone, Android or Blackberry there are a slew of apps to help make corporate life easier and more efficient. Just because you’re out of the office doesn’t mean you’re disconnected from doing business. Stuck in a meeting and need to send an important document ASAP? Working from home but need to access your work PC? Want to check your latest Google Analytics report from the train? The mobile applications below will help you remain productive from almost any corner of the globe. 1PasswordFor iPhone and Android users, this app stores your information for various web accounts and, if you want, will even automatically log you in via its own built-in browser. Not just for username/passwords, 1Password even stores banking and credt card information. Worried that this might be too much confidential data for one app? 1Password uses AES encryption, Auto-Lock, and a “two-layer defense” to keep your information in the right hands, even if your phone isn’t. Blackberry users can use LastPass, a 1Password equivalent. iPhone, AndroidAnalytics This app gives the user mobile access to all Google Analytics data—perfect for savvy webmasters. What keywords were hot this month? What content brought in the most conversions? From there, a list of all the sites you’re monitoring appears. Click any one and view nearly 30 reports, including traffic, visitors, content—even events tracking you’ve set up and your own customized reports. Analytics App’s traffic reports include referring sites, search engines, keywords, AdWords campaigns and more. Set the date range of any report to sort by day, week or month. iPhone Beejive How many times have you been out of the office and wanted to send a few quick IMs to employees or clients who are online instead of sending an email that could be answered hours later? Enter Beejive, which allows the user to connect simultaneously to their MSN, Yahoo!, AIM, Gtalk, MySpace, ICQ and Facebook accounts. It even allows you to stay signed on after you close the app, but watch your battery life. iPhone, Android, Blackberry BoxcarWhile it may be compatible only with the iPhone, Boxcar is an app well worth having. The app enables the user to receive instant push notifications for social networks, email accounts and RSS feeds. No more logging into Twitter to check your mentions, no signing into Facebook to check your friend requests—Boxcar notifies you via text alert and opens up the native application. iPhone Documents To Go Premium This super-handy app allows users to create and edit business documents on their mobile device. This powerful business tool allows users to modify, create or view Microsoft Word docs, Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations, and access PDF, iWork, RTF, Google documents and graphics files. iPhone, Android, Blackberry Dropbox This app is cloud computing come to life. A web-based file storing service, Dropbox allows users to save, access and share files and folders with other users across platforms and devices. Dropbox offers a free account of 2 GB and a paid account of 50 GB. Once Dropbox is installed, any file you save to it will automatically be accessible on any device that has Dropbox—or through the Dropbox website. The mobile version allows users to access files on the go, edit files, upload photos and video, and share with co-workers or friends. iPhone, Android, Blackberry Evernote This notes program more than just syncs your notes across devices; it turns your phone into the ultimate digital archive by collecting snapshots, written notes and voice recording, then makes them all available with a simple search. Character recognition performed by Evernote actually converts the text in photos you shoot—like a concert poster or business card—into searchable text, no typing needed. iPhone, Android, Blackberry LogMeInIt’s happened to everyone. You leave the office only to realize you stored an important document locally that you need access to. Or how about checking the status on a huge file that you have set to download overnight? LogMeIn makes this possible. The app enables anytime, anywhere secure access to files and applications on your PC or Mac. From the convenience of a web browser, work with a remote computer as if you were sitting right in front of it. iPhone, Android, Blackberry Red LaserThis handy barcode and QR code scanner works with iPhone and Android devices. Even though this technology is just catching on, QR code scanner apps allow users to display text, contact information, or open a web page in the phone’s browser. Adult studios are starting to use this new tech in innovative ways. Zero Tolerance is including QR codes on all its new DVDs that allows the scanner to instantly be led to either the movie’s respective trailer or a one-page site allowing a “sneak preview” prior to purchase. The ScanLife app works great for Blackberries. iPhone, Android Skyfire Web BrowserUpset that you can’t view Flash on your iPhone? We’ve all been there, but now there’s a solution in the form of the Skyfire browser. When users click on a page that contains Flash video, Skyfire’s servers download, render and translate the video into HTML5, which is a web standard that iOS devices support. Skyfire then displays a thumbnail that users can click on to stream the video from its servers. Blackberries come equipped with Flash-capable browsers. iPhone, Android Skype With more than 663 million users, Skype has become a necessity for business professionals—especially if you do business in foreign countries. In addition to its instant messaging capabilities, Skype allows free voice and video calls worldwide among its users. Calls outside of the network cost a small fee that’s considerably cheaper than using a traditional landline. Initially working only through a Wi-Fi connection, Skype now works over 3G. iPhone, Android, Blackberry SquareThis app could revolutionize the way business is done at adult conventions. Square accepts credit card payments via iPhone with no contract, monthly fees or merchant account required. Every user receives a free Square credit card reader in the mail, which plugs into the phone’s audio jack. Square is an innovative point of sale solution that replaces the cash register and credit card terminal. Square accepts all major debit and credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. Want to sell more DVDs and T-shirts at shows? Download Square. iPhone TweetdeckTwitter has become an essential social networking service for businesses. From getting instant feedback from customers to advertising specials, this real-time news feed is invaluable. The most full-featured app for iPhone and Android devices, Tweetdeck allows users to update Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Google Buzz accounts from one clean, simple interface. For Blackberry users, download UberTwitter. iPhone, Android