Windows Phone Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

Have you used either of these? I started a couple of months ago and now next to an Internet browser, they are my most used apps. For those who haven't used Evernote, it's a note taking app that's available for a large variety of systems. There's a version for Windows, Windows Mobile, Mac, Iphone, Blackberry, and a web based version. If you get creative, you can even run Evernote on Ubuntu. Each of these versions stay synced all the time so you have your notes wherever you go. It supports web clipping, voice notes, photos, and all your notes are stored in self created notebooks. See a recipe you want on the web? Clip it and store it in an Evernote notebook.

I've been using Evernote for online receipts, projects, lesson planning, web clippings of future purchases, and other various articles. I also use it as a place to store scanned images. I use the mobile version and the camera on my mobile device to take pictures of notes, copies of rebates, whiteboards, store products, and anything else I may want a photo reminder of. After each sync, your notes are on all your devices. You also get your own Evernote email address.

This is where Dial2Do comes in. Any email you send to your Evernote email address becomes a note. Dial2Do allows you to send voice email messages that end up as text messages in your recipient's email inbox. You can have up to 100 contacts in Dial2Do and Evernote can be one of them. So I dial up Dial2Do and leave a voice message that ends up as a text note in my Evernote account. Very cool. Both services are free though Evernote also provides a premium account which is the one I have. Click on either logo to go to their site.

Let us know if you use these services and how you like them. While your at it, what are some apps that you use that the rest of us might be interested in?

Over three and a half years ago, I first posted about the Evernote program, excited about the prospect of having a rich note taking application on the device. I've been involved in various betas and some false starts over the years, and have been consistently running and enjoying the desktop client. The mobile client still isn't where it needs to be in my opinion, but what they currently have in place is usable in many circumstances.

"The new Evernote closed beta is about two months old and we've just passed an important milestone: our first one million notes! During this time, we've made lots of improvements to the service and we'll be announcing a few more big things in the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned."

They are also opening up the registration for the beta today between the hours of 6am to 9pm Pacific Time, so as of this posting, you have almost 12 hours to sign up. I love what the folks at Evernote have done with the desktop client and have seen what they are capable of in some of the betas, even though they felt they were rough enough around the edges to hold off on releasing as final builds, so almost 4 years later, I am still excited about the product and looking forward to the coming months as they finalize the current beta and get it out the door. If you want to participate, head over to their site and join the beta, or just sign up and get your place in line to get an account if you aren't up to the task of doing a beta with them.