“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
— Ferris Bueller
I was channeling my inner Ferris during a recent trip through Denver International. It was early as in even earlier than Toddler App wakes up. To put the earliness of the morning in some perspective, Toddler App wakes the roosters up. Maybe all of the people I observed were on East Coast time. I just wasn’t interested in anything except getting to the gate on time and drinking my Dunkin Donuts coffee. For once, I was looking around rather than staring at my phone. Have you tried this? Did you know there are other people in the same vicinity as you? I counted 15 people that walked by without picking their heads up. Do they have sonar? How are they all not crashing into each other?
My favorite moment was the grandmother giving an Academy Award performance of voice to text. Beep Beep. A pause as she reads the text. Then, beep beep, followed by yelling the text into the phone. Beep Beep. Another pause. More yelling. This continued for five minutes or at least long enough for the first group to board the plane. I openly laughed while watching and sipping some caffeine. Of course, the Frontier flight proceeded to run into an owl on an aborted take-off and a return trip to the gate. Once at the gate, everyone took out their phones. From the back of the plane, beep beep, the same woman yelling “We’re delayed. Send.” Serenity now! Be cognizant of your surroundings for the love of others!
iOS8 — The Ocho is a disappointment. Maybe I was expecting the interface to change like previous upgrades. It feels like the same software as iOS7. Maybe I just haven’t played around with it enough. Maybe I’m getting cranky as I approach 40. Not sure what it is, but the best feature with the new software is that my battery doesn’t drain. Do you have a favorite iOS8 or iPhone6 feature?
More apps were built around the Notification Center with iOS8. What is the Notification Center? From the locked screen, drag the dash straight down to open “today’s” notes and reminders, and notifications. The dash is replaced with the current time when the phone is unlocked. Drag straight down from the time to open the Notification Center. This area has the ability to display active information from your apps. Interested in trying some apps? Try App in the Air, which lists flight info. Vidgets, displays the battery meter and available storage. The battery meter may be redundant, however the storage is helpful. Waiting for the storage availability to load through the settings takes a few minutes. And we can’t possibility wait a few minutes for anything now-a-days, right? For the sports junkie, use this area for ESPN SportsCenter, which shows sports scores and a button to listen to live ESPN radio. Quick-Tap allows shortcuts for activities, such as Text Wife, Call Mom, and Directions to Home. Think of Quick-Tap as the iPhone’s version of adding an icon to your desktop on your PC.
Cool Apps
BlackFriday… It’s that time of year again. This is still the app leader for the best deals. Can you believe stores are open at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving? Is it really necessary to stand in line to grab a $100 flat screen or duke it out over a Teddy Ruxpin? | Trello… it’s a whiteboard. Wait. It’s a to-do list. Wait. It’s both!| MailDeck… an email app that merges multiple accounts in one, which is handy. It allows for sorting by sender, which is better than the Apple version. Better yet? It’s a Denver-based startup. | Litely… Edit your photos to look professional | Fleksy… customize your iPhone keyboard. | For the person two cubes down from my cube, Post-it Plus. Take a picture of your Post-it note and the app turns the written note into an interactive board allowing you to move the notes around and brainstorm. Free up that poor monitor that has 34 post-it notes taped along the screen edges. | Swype… swipe your finger across the keyboard to type rather than pressing the keys. Now iPhone users can be like Samsung users. | PopKey… send a GIF (picture) with your text.
Beep Beep. Happy Turkey Day. Send.
How are you, and or your business using mobile technology? Are you using this technology to entice new hires to join your company? Are you eliminating hardware and going cloud? Has it allowed you to hire employees from outside your area? I’d like to hear your story for a future column.
Do you have a favorite app you’d like to share? Contact Brian at brian@brianzabro ski.com, on Twitter @BrianZab or LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/brianzab.
Brian, a Corporate Account Executive with NetSuite, has spent nearly twenty years in the telecommunications and software industry. Businesses use NetSuite software to run and manage all of their business applications. It’s web-based, so businesses can access their information from anywhere; It’s flexible, which allows the software to be customized for their business; and, it is built on a single platform, which businesses appreciate since they can often eliminate multiple software solutions. Trending companies, such as Box, GoPro, FitBit and Dropbox use this software to run their business. Reach out to Brian to learn how your business can benefit with this software.