Choosing a wireless smart phone is no simple task. Iphone? Droid? Windows? Blackberry???? What’s a small business owner to do?
Thankfully, the November WBOC meeting hosted experts Amy Wyant of Tech Geekery, and Mark Peters, of Premier Technologies, who shared their knowledge and experience in looking at the two most popular phones on the market today: iPhone by Apple and the Android, an operating system developed by Google that runs on many brands of phones.
The first thing to understand is that today’s cell phones are really just a mini-computer. Hence, the term ‘smart’ phone.
“Most smart phones are under-utilized today,” said Peters who has been providing wireless services to upstate clients since 1992. As a fan of the Droid and its millions of personal and business applications, Peters pointed to the open source environment favored by Google as his primary motivation for using Droid over iPhone. “Running a business from any location never been easier,” said Peters.
Wyant, a self-profess
ed Apple geek, joined the iPhone revolution early, purchasing hers when they were first introduced in late 2007. Amy is a proponent of the simplicity and easy inter-connectivity of the entire Apple product line, but particularly loves her iPhone. She pointed out that Apple is more concerned with how users interact with the product than just the technology behind it. That appeals to her, and obviously millions of other iPhone users, which is in the hundreds of millions world wide.
Secondary to the topic of which phone to choose is favorite apps, or mobile applications, which help a smart phone owner to be more productive, stay in touch on the go, and just about anything you want or need to do in a normal work day. Wyant and Peters shared their lists of favorite apps, in addition to offering training services via their respective companies. Wyant recommends Finding New Apps for Business to learn more about iPhone apps. Premier Technologies, an AT&T affiliate, offers customized training for groups and individuals.
Here is a partial list of business app picks for the iPhone and Droid operation systems.
Iphone:
- Touch CMA and Trulia for Real Estate agents
- Insurance Journal News and Kelly Blue Book for Insurance agents
- Base CRM and Sales Tracking for contact management and sales tracking
- Office Time for expense tracking
- CNN Money for mobile access to stocks and funds
- Shop Keep for point of sale (subscription required)
Droid:
- Expensify for tracking expenses, mileage, receipts and reporting.
- Evernote for note taking and storing PDF files that can be easily searched on your phone.
- Real Estate Agent ON GO for real estate agents to manage clients, property records. Etc.
- Google Maps for navigation and trip planning. Interior functions available for malls and airports.
- Plume – a Twitter client for Android systems making Twitter easy to access and interact with on the go.
Join us at the next WBOC meeting, the Annual WBOC Holiday Party and Auction, Wednesday December 4, 4:30 PM – 8:00 PM at the Greenwood Winery in E. Syracuse. Register Here
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