16 iPad Apps That No Mobile Designer Should Be Without

Posted on March 23, 2023 by schatzi

We live in a mobile age, my friends. An age where an office is more of a formality and a storage space than an actual necessity. An age where companies are actually closing their offices down so employees can work out of their homes, their cars, and anywhere else they happen to land. So it should come as no surprise that tools and technologies that are making it easier for those employees to get out of the office are some of the hottest on today’s market.

And, Apple being Apple, I also doubt it’s going to surprise you when I tell you that the iPad apps that are letting designers work from home, from their car, from their coffee shop or their favorite restaurant or pub are the hottest topics of conversation in today’s designer drawing rooms.

So, without further ado, let’s share what they’ve shared and talk about the 16 hottest iPad apps for mobile designers today.

Adobe Ideas: Adobe Ideas acts as a mobile digital sketchbook and, with the awesomeness that Adobe design tools have long been known for, offers up to ten design layers, making it a favorite for iPad design out on the road.

iMockups: iMockups acts as a design board, allowing you to quickly design wireframes and mockups for your website or other project. Also available for iPhone.

SketchyPad: This one, I have to admit, intrigued me when I first saw it laid out. Sketchy Pad does exactly what it says it does-offers you a place to “sketch” your website or app. I’m really at a loss for how to explain it beyond that, but it’s well worth checking out.

AirDisplay: As someone who regularly uses their mobile phone as a minicomputer, this thrilled me. I mean seriously thrilled me. Why? Because with AirDisplay, you can use your iPad as an additional monitor to your other mobile devices. Deceptively pointless, this provides a large scale view of something you’ve spent months trying to squint at. (Also makes a great tool for entertaining the kiddies when you’re out on the road!)

MindNode: This mindmapping/brainstorming tool for your iPad is the perfect place to expand and connect ideas, which is great when you’re having a brainstorming fit mid-marketing campaign!

FTPOnTheGo: You love FTP. I love FTP. So there’s no point in pretending that something that doesn’t make accessing, editing and moving FTP files out on the road without giving yourself a massive migraine isn’t the coolest thing since sliced bread. Seriously.

Freeform: Freeform is a vector drawing tool for the iPad that allows you to create just about anything, then export it in an easy to use JPEG, PNG or PDF format. Nothing fancy, nothing difficult, and it’s compatible for use with most other mobile programs and applications.

iThoughtsHD: Another fun brainstorming tool that’s easy to export, this is fun for designers but brutally necessary for project managers out on the road.

LiveSketch HD: You’d never be caught without a sketchpad. Now you can have the digital form. LiveSketchHD works just like a regular sketchpad, but it’s embedded into your iPad for traveling convenience and protection from prying eyes, little or otherwise!

AutoDesk Sketchbook Mobile: Painting and drawing software for the artistically gifted designer. Now also available for Android, designers who have used AutoDesk (I haven’t personally taken it for a test drive yet) really like its versatility and the way it doesn’t pen them in to any specific type of design media. You’ve got your 3-D and your stick figures all in one!

TypeDrawing: Typography for photos and fun for fonts, typography takes calligraphy to a whole new level for designers. People who have used it are raving over its ease and speed, even for an iPad newbie.

Photopad by Zagg: A high-quality photoediting app for a mobile device, if there’s something you want to do to your photo with a regular photoediting software you can’t do here, I haven’t found it yet. It doesn’t, however, seem to have the capabilities of Photoshop and may prove more helpful to photographers than graphic designers.

Filterstorm: Filterstorm seems to offer more versatility in photo editing for the iPad than Photopad. This is another one I haven’t had the chance to play with yet; however, their product description page claims that they’re a favorite with photojournalists.

Omnigraffle: Charts. Wireframes. Diagrams. Page layouts. Omnigraffle. Check it out.

Moodboard Pro: Moodboard creates mood and inspiration boards for your family. I’m really not sure how to describe it, aside from the finished products are absolutely gorgeous and offer a definite improvement over the same same-old same-old.

Brushes App: Another app takes the artist’s easel out onto the iPad. This offers realistic layering, a number of brush options, and the opportunity to digitally create works that look like they were made on the easel and brought out into the digital world…

…explaining why the iPad really is the latest and greatest for today’s mobile design.

Posted in Apps | Tagged | Comments Off on 16 iPad Apps That No Mobile Designer Should Be Without

HTC 7 Mozart and LG Optimus One P500 Mid Range Smartphone Comparison

Posted on March 22, 2023 by schatzi

Comparing mobile phones handsets before buying can be hard work so, here are two middle of the range Smartphone which are both very popular and recently available to the UK market. Both handsets are by differing manufactures and are both priced competitively, hence being middle range Smartphone’s that are positioned to suit the lower budget. They are both available on attractive contract deals, as well as being available as ‘pay as you go’ handsets as well. So to compare these handsets fairly, let’s review a selection of features to find out what each Smartphone really has to offer to a potential owner.

The overall design, form, shape and appearance of a mobile phone are what first catches the user’s eye and also obviously helps with its usability. The LG Optimus One P500 has a touch screen form casing with an elegant chrome effect edging and comes available in six colour options including black, silver, purple, blue, titan and dark red. It is a compact shaped handset measuring 11.35cm by 5.9cm by 1.33cm and weighs in at 129 grams. In comparison the HTC 7 Mozart is also a touch screen handset which is available in a black coloured brushed aluminium casing with subtle etched swirls on the back of the casing. The 7 Mozart is a little slimmer in size but taller, slightly wider measuring in at 11.9cm by 6.02cm by 1.19cm and weighs a little more than the Optimus One P500 at 130 grams. However overall when it comes to the appearance they are both great looking Smartphone’s, so a decision based on design would have to come down to personal preference.

A phones operating system, built-in technologies, memory and battery time are all important factors to consider when deciding on a new phone. So let’s now compare these features on each handset. The Optimus One P500 is an Android Smartphone whereas the 7 Mozart runs on the Microsoft Windows Phone 7 operating system. Both handsets support 3G technology, Wi-Fi®, Bluetooth®, EDGE, USB connectivity and assisted GPS. However the Optimus One supports Google Maps, whereas the 7 Mozart supports with Bing™ Maps, as you would expect. From a memory perspective, the Optimus One has less internal memory, but supports more external memory via its memory card option, for example the 7 Mozart can only hold up to 8 gigabytes of external memory compared to the Optimus One which provides up to 32 gigabytes in total. The LG Optimus One P500 is expected to provide better battery time, so a slightly deeper casing size may have helped LG cram in a more efficient battery into the phone. 3G talk time for the LG handset is estimated at 7.5 hours and for the HTC handset 5.5 hours from a fully charged battery, so there is quite a difference to consider. However the big decider here will be which operating system does the consumer prefer and how important is the memory capabilities and battery time of the handset.

Now let’s take a look at each phone’s touch screen, media and imaging features. The LG Optimus One P500 has a smaller sized touch screen, smaller megapixel camera and less impressive music and sound features than the HTC 7 Mozart in general. The LG Smartphone has a 3.2 inch touch screen and 3.1 megapixel camera, whereas the HTC has an impressive 3.7 inch sized screen and the offers a massive 8 megapixel lens. From a sound point the Optimus One does have a music player and built-in FM radio, however the 7 Mozart offers the same plus it supports SRS surround sound and a Zune® music hub.

Finally let’s compare what each phone offers for Internet and messaging services. Both of these communication focused Smartphone’s offer Internet access with Wi-Fi®support and they both have HTML browsers ensuring that most websites are accessible. Additional both handsets support a variety of messaging services from SMS to Instant messaging, with built-in social network options, so in relative terms they are pretty much on a par with each other regarding Internet, messaging and communication features, which is good to know.

In summary the LG provides a longer lasting battery time, supports more memory for storage purposes and is a highly popular and competitively price Android Smartphone, compared to the HTC 7 Mozart which is an equally competitively priced Windows 7 Smartphone with a more impressive touch screen and provides higher quality imaging and media features.

So have you decided which one you would prefer? I think I would personally choose the LG as I tend to want more battery time and enjoy the Android operating system, but equally I can see the attraction of the HTC as I do like high quality imaging features on my handset. It’s certainly a tough decision and of course you will have to make up your own mind which handset would best suit your needs, but hopefully this will have helped a little to point you in the right direction.

Posted in Android | Tagged | Comments Off on HTC 7 Mozart and LG Optimus One P500 Mid Range Smartphone Comparison

What Are the Best Ways to Market iPhone Apps?

Posted on February 5, 2023 by schatzi

In today’s tech-savvy and competing business market, this iPhone application development is one of the most lucrative and fruitful businesses. According to a survey made by the Guardian, the number of iOS app developers is almost 4 times than the number of Android app developers. Once you have a great app idea and a proficient development team, your app can really do a remarkable business. However, without proper marketing planning and strategy, even a feature-rich and business-driven application can fail to get the deserved success. Hence, promoting or doing proper marketing of a newly devised application is utterly crucial. Here is a list of things you should do to market your iPhone app.

#1 Social Networking

Social networking sites are becoming very popular platforms to promote varieties of products and services today. You can post about the app launch on the diverse social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc. You can let your family, relatives, friends and associates know about this app launching. Another vital thing is to send this newly built app to different social bookmarking websites.

#2 Submit the App for Reviews

Nowadays, there are plenty of such websites available in the market that are famous for providing honest reviews on newly built apps. It is possible to gain a bit of starting publicity by submitting your application to these websites. More interestingly, if your app is that good and that rich with potential features, these websites would help your app to get the attention in today’s vying app development industry. If your app is a paid one, do not forget to add the redemption code that would allow the bloggers to download it for free and jot down a good and honest review.

#3 Devise Both Paid and Free Versions

For the starters, you can gain a comparatively vast user base if you market the free of cost version of the app initially. You can do it either with the ads or with just a free trial. When the interested users would want full features and more functionalities, they can buy the paid version. In this way, you can make a bit of money through the ads included with the free version. Moreover, when the users would buy your application, you can generate revenue from that as well.

#4 Advertise

Advertising is always a good idea if you want to promote your app successfully in the market, to reach a vast number of people. Even though it would cost a bit of your money but spending on the right segment might return you with greater profit. Explore different websites and try to find something that matches the niche of your devised app; buy some ad space on it. Another important thing to remember is to contact some efficient bloggers, who would promote the newly devised iOS application in the exchange of any type of monetary compensation or otherwise.

Apart from all these above-mentioned points, some other popular, as well as effective marketing ways are providing coupons and giveaways, establishing collaborations with famous business people and influencers.

Posted in Apps | Tagged | Comments Off on What Are the Best Ways to Market iPhone Apps?

Reasons to Stick With Social Media

Posted on January 4, 2023 by schatzi

After all this time, you probably understand why social media is so important. However, if you have any doubt, there are several good reasons to stick with social media for your business. If you don’t, you will regret the outcome.

A possibly lingering doubt

You may be a business person who is totally confident about why you are involved with social media for your business. On the other hand, you may be a business person who is either no longer sure about why you are involved with social media for your business or a person who is not as sure as you once were when it comes to social media involvement for your business. In fact, you may be asking some of these questions:

  • What value are you actually getting from social media?
  • Do you really feel that your social media marketing strategy is working for your business?
  • Do you see the return on investment (ROI) that you expected to see at this point?
  • Can you actually measure your return on investment successfully?
  • How is generating great-quality content actually going to help you to achieve success?
  • Should you handle your social media activities in-house or hire someone outside of your company to handle it?

The truth about social media

Before you decide that you may step away from social media, there are several things that require your close consideration.

  • This is no fly-by-night operation: Social media has been present for a very long time and will continue to have a strong presence in the online business world. It will be an important player in the business world for a very long time. It is absolutely here to stay.
  • Think in terms of forever: There is so much impact that social media can have when it comes to your business. It can bring people together in a profound way that nothing else can match. Over the next several years, massive networks of people will be established and this can have wildly positive implications for your business.

There are several important reasons to stay close to social media:

People need people

There is absolutely no doubt that as a business person, you need other people to help you to succeed. Without other people, you will be in a silo and no one can help you. In fact, the more people you have, the more successful you will be. You want to rise, head and shoulders above the rest. The only way that you will be able to do that is by building strong, enduring relationships that carry you and your business for a very long time.

Evolution

Things are constantly changing. That means that you have to change with the times. Where you are in your business now is not necessarily where you are going to be in a year from now. Your involvement with social media allows you to get your message across quickly and to a large number of people all at once. That means that your ability to sell your products and/or services will be greatly heightened.

The importance of customer service

Customer service is more important than it ever was before. Customers have much higher expectations than they used to have and if customer service doesn’t come through, those customers will turn around and go to someone else in the blink of an eye. Timeliness is critical to your success as well. If customers don’t get a response right away, it may be the kiss of death for your business. The days when people accepted mediocre treatment are definitely over.

Conclusion

Social media is here to stay. It is only becoming stronger and stronger and with each passing day, new and innovative tools are being introduced. It is important to take advantage of all that you can so that you stay ahead of the curve and leave you competition in the dust. Your business, as well as everyone else’s business, is becoming more and more social. Social media can help you to interact very effectively. You will have to spend time and effort and very little money. The effort that you do spend on it will pay off and you will see that it is well worth it in the long run.

We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein.

Posted in Social Media | Tagged | Comments Off on Reasons to Stick With Social Media