According to Nielsen, the number of Apps on an average smartphone has increased 28% over the past year from 32 to 41.  Smartphone owners in the US have grown from 38 million in 2011 to 84 million in 2012 – a 121% increase in 1 year! Every month The Launch Pad researches what mobile apps would help you run your business more effectively from your smartphone. This month we are going to be covering: Lookout, Evernote and Dropbox

You may also be interested in reading the reviews of some of the other apps we have already covered: Salesforce, Lyris HG Mobile, LinkedIn, Encamp, Google Analytics, GoToMeeting, RDP Lite, Mighty Meeting, Intuit GoPayment, Springpad, Scan2PDF and Documents to Go.

Lookout
If you are like many of us, you consider your phone to be essentially your lifeline. We rely on our phone for personal and work emails, documents, photos, videos, social networking, banking, travel information and the list goes on! But, many of us are not protecting all of those precious assets as much as we should be…or at all! Lookout provides a bunch of tools to help you manage all of your information and make sure your phone is protected. The app will verify that you are visiting secure sites and even provide seamless backup of all your data so if your phone is lost, stolen or destroyed your data will still be safe! One of the best features of the app is the ability to locate your lost phone. Replacing the phone can be expensive but the data you keep on your phone is irreplaceable. Once installed and set up you can login from any computer and see where you phone is. You can even activate an alarm (even if the phone is on silent) to go off so you can find it easier. With the paid version you can also wipe clean your contacts, texts, contact list, photos, emails, social profiles and browser history with the push of a button if you believe your phone is gone for good.

Evernote
Never forget a thing again! Evernote makes it easy to remember everything from your big presentation to your grocery listl. This app can (and should) be installed on your computer and mobile device in order to utilize all of the functions it offers. Evernote will allow you to manage your notes from anywhere and add new notes while you are on the go. Everything is stored in the cloud which allows you to access information from anywhere and on many devices. You can store images, text, email and even audio recordings that are labeled with tags so you can easily find them later. Also, when you sign up you are given an email address that allows you to email items and have them automatically deposited into your database. Evernote does offer a paid version if you require a lot of space ($5/mth or $45/year) but for most users the free version will allow you enough space to store business card information, meeting notes, customer reminders, travel information and even some personal items.

Dropbox
Do you email yourself files or carry around a USB drive all the time? With the Dropbox app you will no longer have to do that! Dropbox is generally used to sync files between computers and backup files. But, the app allows you to access those files from anywhere and also upload the latest photos or documents that you want to ensure stay safe. Dropbox allows you to access your files but only in a read-only mode so you will not be able to edit them from your mobile device (you can use Documents to Go for that). The app easily allows you to email files directly from your phone with a link to the file so you don’t have to wait for the file to download before you send it. One other major thing to note, the Dropbox website does allow you to look through different revisions of documents but the app will not allow for that. Dropbox does offer 2GB of free storage and then there are monthly/yearly fees for more storage (Dropbox Pricing).

*Many people believe Dropbox and Evernote are the same service but they were made for very different reasons and should be used as such. Dropbox should be used more as a storage backup application that does allow you to access your important files from anywhere if need be. On the other hand, Evernote should be used more like a digital notebook where you have the ability to create and access quick text and image files.

Is there an app you would like for us to review? If so, let us know! If you are interested in learning how mobile technology can help your business contact us for a FREE technology assessment.