It’s summer time, so time to slow down a little on the work, and have some fun. So this post will share some of the great useful  (new to me!) apps I’ve come across, or have been shared with me. I use an iphone5, but most are also available on the Android platform as well.

Genius Scan

I don’t know about your office, but in mine, we have a novel use for the smartphone’s camera … capturing meeting notes from the whiteboard!

The first time I saw this being done … I was struck … why didn’t I think of this?  What a great extended use of technology!

While inventive and useful, sending around a jpg left something to be desired.  So when I ran across this app, it immediately became one of my favorites.

Genius Scan uses your phone’s camera to capture the image, but then it goes one step further by turning those documents into PDFs!  Additionally you have the option to email the pdf  (or the jpg if desired) directly from the app.

Genius Scan also does smart page detection, perspective correction, image post-processing and allows you to build PDF documents with multiple scans. Very cool!

• Genius Scan web site (also has a link to the Apple store to download the app).

Around Me

The driving need for this app? … taking my daughter to college (bear with me, you’ll understand in a moment).

As my wife and daughter were unpacking there came to be a list of items still needed (how could there be ANYTHING missing, except the kitchen sink, I wondered). Well Dad (i.e. me) was sent off to ‘hunt and gather’.  And I had no clue about stores in the area.  Thus the usefulness of Around Me.  This app uses your phone’s GPS location abilities to show you on a map all of the stores and the like in your vicinity … very cool!  And useful for a Dad, lost in the big city. For example AroundMe quickly identified the nearest Bank, Bar, Gas Station, Hospital, Hotel, Movie Theater, Restaurant, Supermarket near my position.

In addition, you can search for particular items in your vicinity.  Luckily there was a Target and Staples near by … making for one very thankful Dad!

• Around Me web site  (also has a link to the Apple store to download the app)

SnapChat

I have to give a ‘shout out’ to my daughter for this one. It’s a fun little app that uses pictures to send short messages instead of TXT.

It can take stills as well as short videos. Captures can be shared with one or many (friends must have SnapChat accounts). The inventive part of the app (or quirky depending on your point of view) is that you set the time the person can view the send (up to 10 seconds).  Then the capture disappears (on purpose,  yes, on purpose).  It’s supposed to remind us of the  brevity of the moment, or as they put it … “share a moment, and enjoy the lightness of being!”.

It’s a funny little app, nothing serious and my family has enjoyed using it.

• SnapChat web site (also has a link to the Apple store to download the app)

What cool, useful apps have you come across lately?