I am always looking for tools and technology that can help make me faster, save time, and improve my productivity and as a busy professional those are critical. My iPhone is a great tool (and one of my favorite purchases) and there are so many productivity applications available for it that there is almost no possible way that I can’t be more productive.

I want to highlight my one, two punch mobile apps strategy that keeps me on my feet, keeps me connected, and allows me to keep pace with the industry bobbing and weaving (the conversation). Also, how the combination of the two helps me stay productive while traveling. Seesmic & Evernote – these are my jab and cross for Social Media effectiveness.  Both of these apps are amazing on their own, but when combined together, they are a knock out!

Continue Reading “My Mobile Apps Strategy to Help Me Stay Productive: Evernote & Seesmic”

It has been – and will always be about – shopping.  And while shopping may be the preferred religion of many women, who has time to run around town searching for the perfect garment? Let alone spend hours trying on different styles and sizes.  But thanks to a series of new fashion-based “social shopping” apps and services, it’s becoming easier to make better – and more thoughtful – purchasing decisions.

Let’s take a look at a few:

Pose is a free iPhone app that urges users to strut their stuff by posting geo-tagged photos of their favorite fashion finds on Facebook, Twitter, and within Pose itself.  Users can then solicit style feedback from a panel of fashion-savvy experts, ranging from celebrated bloggers to other active members of the Pose community. Brands themselves can also leverage the app for promotions and in-store deals.  This is a great way for traditional brick-and-mortar retailers to reignite the thrill that was once associated with in-store shopping.

VIZL is a new real-time app that enables retailers, stylists and shoppers to save time and money: two of the most precious – and coveted – things in our lives! Not only do brands provide abundant catalogs of their newest items, but stylists can snag photos of the must-have goods and get quick e-approval from their clients. And shoppers can upload whole wardrobes to the app for later use, e.g., when searching for matching pieces in stores. Outfits can then be shared on Facebook – for even more approval.

Ever wonder where you can snag that must-have accessory or item? You search everywhere and come up empty-handed? Well, Where To Get It solves that problem for you.  The program employs crowd-sourcing to help site members determine the source of garments and accessories. Users take a picture of their object of desire—e.g., on the street, in a magazine, or in the closet of a stingy friend—then can post it to a community of knowledgeable shoppers who are able to identify both the brand and store.

WHAT WILL THIS MEAN?

• More companies will operate in two realms – the traditional brick-and-mortar and the virtual. Effectively marrying the two in increasingly innovative and expansive ways will be critical.
• The creation of a more holistic consumer retailing and brand experience  will prove revolutionary to existing and new businesses in the future.

• Not only are traditional marketing messages being moved to alternative media, but new technologies and sales channels are spurring wholly new businesses.

Streaming music service Spotify launched in United States. The award-winning digital music service gives you on-demand access to over 15 million tracks – on your computer, your cell phone, and other devices.

If you want an account, you either need an invite or have to start paying for the service (see Account Options below to see what you get in each plan).

There is a lot of buzz about this service and if you are one of those people who has to try it now, you can get a free account right now with this pretty simple loophole.

Account Options:

• Free users can sign up to access Spotify’s library, but streaming will be time-limited and ad-supported.
• Unlimited Streaming ($4.99/month) – gives you unlimited listening with no time limits, ad-free streaming, and the ability to share songs and playlists with friends.
• Premium ($9.99/month) – adds to the unlimited streaming features with mobile apps and offline listening, and the best sound quality the service has to offer.

When thinking about the latest gadgets, you consider, among other things, whether the cool features are worth the price, right? But some of those features make it so convenient to keep spending money that it drives the price up beyond what you might have considered.

We’re not really gadget heads in my house. Usually not worth the money to have the latest thing, we figure. Still, my husband recently acquired an iPad, and I was an early Kindle adopter back in 2008.

Admittedly, I bought my kindle out of wrath one day, when my 45-minute train commute was delayed by over two hours. I was grumpy, hungry, and so not in the mood for whatever tech-heavy computer science book I had brought with me. During the drawn-out conclusion of a long, cranky day, I wanted to read about shopaholics or vampires or something. So when I (eventually) got home that night, I ponied up the $400, figuring it was worth it in my—and, frankly, my husband’s—sanity.

Both the kindle and iPad in our house have found sneaky ways to get our money, though. They make it so easy! On the kindle, you search the bookstore just as you do on Amazon. Find a book you like? Click “purchase” and it appears. Oh, but there’s a bestseller you’ve been wanting to read. And one that’s relevant to you work, so, really, you need that one. Before you know it, that’s $30 down the drain.

Likewise, the iPad, even though it has many free apps, enables you to spend money without blinking an eye. My husband is addicted to a game called Duel: Blade & Magic, which was free. But he can upgrade his armor or buy a pet for a buck, and it’s all hooked up to his iTunes account. Easy.

In time, I’m quite sure, we will arrive at a day when you can simply think about a book or a game and, boom, its digital self is in your hot little hands. I might be doomed.

Are you a gadget head? Have you encountered these easy-spending conveniences? How have you handled them?

In Washington, the anti-piracy Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act probably seemed like a great idea: tough on crime, shut down Internet pirates, protect copyrights, that kind of thing. A few weeks ago, the Senate tried to fast-track the bill, with sponsor Patric Leahy (D-Vt.) apparently thinking it could sail through before the November elections.

But Silicon Valley had other ideas, and the bill was shelved last week after 96 Internet giants jumped in with a letter of protest. No matter how tough on crime the Senate wants to appear, when phrases like “fragmenting the Internet’s global domain name system” are being thrown around, they stop and pay attention.

The bill would create a whole new way to go after Internet pirates. The Justice Department would have the authority to designate some copyright-infringement sites (movie downloading sites, mostly) as “dedicated to infringing activities” and shut down their domain names.

They want to shut down domain names! Cracking down on illegal downloading is one thing, but shutting down domain names is pretty extreme. The Internet Engineers’ letter is all about censorship and destabilizing the global DNS, but it’s also worthy of note that the bill recommends punishments far out of proportion to the crime. In the physical world, after all, the FBI confiscates your bootleg DVD and leaves the rest of your stuff alone. Why the double standard?

I’m glad the letter from our 96 rock stars had such an impact. The bill isn’t dead, and will likely be taken up again when the Senate reconvenes in the new year, but the Senators are listening to both sides now.

What do you think of the anti-piracy bill?