Rather skeptical at first, I followed a link displayed in
my LinkedIn connection's updates to find out about a
new mobile app from Microsoft. This time, it's an app for a competitor's platform and it works like a charm on any iPhone device. Free installation of
Micorosft OneNote is quick and creates a familiar looking icon on your screen that speaks "if you and/or your organization find MS Office indispensable, I've got just the right piece of functionality you were missing all along, that will allow you to extend your productivity to your iPhone." It is a rather lengthy speech that the icon has for an iPhone user, but with the use of that app, saving that note (or others) for later use, organizing, sharing, editing, tagging and adding things to your to-do list becomes a flick of your finger.
4 new ways Microsoft OneOne mobile app can increase your productivity starts in the palm of your hand.
1. Quick access to writing and/or retrieving organized information
Do you ever catch yourself listening to a webinar where the host or quest speakers ask that you keep your questions until the end of an hour long session? During that time you find a way to check-out speaker's twitter feeds and google some background info, but by the time the end of the webinar comes, your question is gone. Perhaps you can no longer recollect it, or it blended with the info you just heard or read while multitasking. Using OneNote mobile app, you can tap the Quick Note button, type your thought and that's it. While your mind is relaxing or getting ready to absorb another piece of info, OneNote is synchronizing your creativity or brainstorming
to the cloud . Lost Internet connectivity? OneNote will sync your stuff as soon as you come back online.
2. Ease of usage
After you launch, the following is available to you within one or two taps:
- Writing a lightening-quick note
- Get out your inner paparazzi by annotating the picture you just took
- Pulling up the most recent note
3. Availability from various locations and platforms
Results of your impromptu creativity or organized note taking is immediately available in your Windows Live space. There, regardless whether you use Internet Explorer or not, Microsoft Office Web Apps allow you to further enhance, share and organize your content. Among countless options, you can mark things as ideas, books to read, questions or items to discuss with you manager, etc. Whatever you or other contributors save in your note, OneNote on your Apple smartphone will know about immediately.
4. Integration for tools and logins that you already use
If you are one of the early adopters of Microsoft's .NET framework, you may recollect the .NET Passport concept, one one point embraced by
http://www.expedia.com/ as s secure login option. Years later, that same login will get you access to free Office Web Apps and allow you to edit and manage your content in the could. But the world of OneNote does not end in introductory version of a note taking iPhone app and a hosted solution for extended functionality. For hardcore users of MS Office and addicts of web integration, with one click from the list of your documents in your
SkyDrive, you can launch the OneNote program to further enhance your work and save it directly back to your
Windows Live space.
Benefits don't end at those 4, and will not end any time soon. Even though, the benefits can be considered significant, the first release of OneNote mobile app appears to be only a quick intro to what's really coming. While Windows 7 still grows in popularity and number of supporters, Windows 8 is already said to exceed some of the end users' expectations by have built-in Windows Live Mesh and SkyDrive Wave integration. Whether you're online. offline or on your phone, Microsoft tends to provide a more interconnected, more interrelated, more streamlined and more intuitive platform for any of its customers.