iphone | Schulz Consulting

Business Card Reader for iPhone is A Must Have – $5.99

November 1, 2009 by Wayne Schulz

If you’re like most people you have top desk drawer chock full of business cards that you’ve collected at conferences and other business meetings.

Of course you’ve collected them with the best intentions of manually entering them one-after-another into your computer – but somehow they sit unentered in that top drawer. Someday when you have extra time you’ll sit down and enter them all into your computer.

At last there’s a cheap and easy solution to automatically enter the information on most business cards to your computer.

If you have an iPhone 3GS there’s a new inexpensive software application called Business Card Reader from Shape Services that you should try.

For only $5.99 you can download it to your iPhone 3GS (other versions are supported but because the 3GS has a higher resolution auto-focus camera this is the preferred model).

Use the application to take a picture of a business card.

Here’s a really lousy sample of a business card from a prospective client that I collected about a year ago. I took this picture with my iPhone 3GS in the dim light of my kitchen.

And unbelievably this $5.99 program transcribed the business card perfectly.

In this instance the contact phone, address and email were all exactly as they should have been – despite having been capture off a dimly lit photograph of a business card. Total time from image to transcription? About a minute.

Certainly in many instances you might have to tweak the final address if the program doesn’t read the information perfectly.

Total time from taking the image to having a new contact in my iPhone? About a minute.

Because I use Google Apps for my email and contact management I am also able to use the free iPhone GoogleSync program to automatically synchronize contacts off the iPhone directly to my Google Apps account.

The end result is a business card accurately scanned from any iPhone 3GS into your iPhone contact database. If you are synchronizing that data to Google Apps then the contact information will also synchronize in real time.

Recommended.
[Business Card Reader] (iTunes link)

New iPhone pre-announced by Walt Mossberg

June 4, 2009 by Wayne Schulz

So far as I’m aware there has not been any official announcement of a next generation iPhone from Apple. And, don’t panic, I know the graphic in the image above is of the new Palm Pre – and not an iPhone. The graphic is part of Walt Mossberg’s just released Palm Pre review.

Sure, there’s tons of speculation. And there’s a new rumor that seems to pop up each week (see this graphic for a nice compilation of rumors).

But until now there wasn’t anything “super authoritative” to indicate that a new iPhone “for sure” would be announced by Apple on Monday at their WWDC event.

That is until Walt Mossberg of the WSJ published his Palm Pre review. In the review he clearly states (twice) that a “new iPhone to be unveiled next week”. He does not make any indication when the new iPhone might ship.

Interesting to note that he didn’t say “iphone – S” (plural) as some have speculated.

WSJ

CPA Exam Review Software for iPhone now available

May 6, 2009 by Wayne Schulz

Are you a CPA candidate looking for a portable study solution for the CPA Exam? CPAMasterMobile Business 2009 is now available for $1.99 in the iTunes App Store. This application focusses on the business section of the CPA exam in what the developer say’s is a user friendly format that presents exam questions in multiple choice format that tracks your scores and progress.

If you’ve got an iPhone or iPod Touch then look no further than the iTunes App Store. Appearing now are two applications – CPA Regulation and CPA Business. Both feature practice exams that can be taken again and again. As someone who passed the CPA exam largely as a result of repeatedly taking practice exams I can vouch for the effectiveness of this method.

While drilling on old exams won’t teach you new topics, it is an invaluable way to build confidence and measure your readiness for the test. At only $1.99 I’d head to the App Store now and download one or both of these.

CPA Regulation (iTunes)
CPA Business (iTunes)

MAS 90 for iPhone type solution announced by third party developer Blytheco and bMobile

May 1, 2009 by Wayne Schulz

Using a Providex-based technology (PVXPlus) Sage Business Partner and Developer Blytheco is announcing a new mobile solution which appears to render standard Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 screens to html for easy display on remote devices such as the iPhone as well as desktops.

This type of technology isn’t completely new. Sage Business Partner and long time developer Hightower Associates use PVXPlus technology to render their Timekeeper software remotely over a web browser as well.

At least a portion of the appeal of bMobile from Blytheco appears to be the elimination of the need to use Citrix or Terminal Services. While this is a good thing for smaller clients, most larger corporations already have some remote solutions in place and may already be using them with Sage MAS 90 or 200.

No word on whether the iPhone specific version of this solution will be available in the App Store (we think it will) or whether it will require a special type of iPhone referred to as jailbroken and meaning that the iPhone can accept applications from outside the official Apple iPhone App Store.

It’s also too early to tell what the implications will be for end user MAS 90 and MAS 200 license requirements and whether a full license for MAS 90 or MAS 200 will be required for all who are remotely connecting to the system via bMobile (we think it likely that licenses will be required).

The most unique announced feature appears to be the self-service portal capabilities. Many times companies want to allow vendors or employees into the system to do very limited data entry. Until now most were creating remote access desktops in Citrix or Terminal Server which can create security concerns.

There’s no word on availability though we expect to hear further information at the upcoming Sage Insights conference May 11 to 14 in Nashville.

From the Blytheco site, here is some more information about bMobile:

Access your MAS 90 or MAS 200 system when and how you need it.

BlythecoDev’s bMobile solution offers four deployment options:

Web browser-based MAS 90 or MAS 200 eliminates the need for expensive remote access tools (like Terminal Services or Citrix), and provides full system screens and capabilities for remote or traveling users. Run your system on a Mac or a Linux system, or on an alternative browser like Safari. Deploy one user or an entire remote office.

MAS 90 or MAS 200 on your smart phone. Access key system components easily and quickly using your iPhone, Blackberry, or other ‘smart phone.’ Customize your mobile screen using the standard Custom Office module.

Self-service browser-based portal for your customers, vendors, and employees. A streamlined MAS 90 interface combined with the power of your system gives them the ability to review their accounts, update contact information, place orders, and more.

Web- Based MAS 90 & CRM Integration
Your integrated front- to back-office system on the web. Proven Dynalink technology for SalesLogix Today enables users to have a complete view of all customer interactions on a web browser, increasing efficiencies and improving customer service.

Link: bMobile – Blytheco

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Speed up Gmail on iPhone – [how to]

April 6, 2009 by Wayne Schulz

Ever since purchasing my first generation iPhone I’ve had a problem with the speed at which it retrieved Gmail. Sporadically (actually most of the time) my Gmail retrieval would hang for long periods of time – or not retrieve at all.

I tried emptying my inbox. Sometimes that worked. More often than not it did not.

Just today I stumbled across the solution that significantly sped up my iPhone 3G’s Gmail retrieval times. I believe this will also work on the first generation iPhone as well as iPod Touch models.

The trick is to turn on the Google Labs advanced iMap support.

Once you’ve enabled the option in Google Gmail Labs, you then can turn off the synchronization of folders via iMap. This seems to significantly speed the retrieval of email. My iPhone went from lengthy two or three minute retrieval lags to virtually no lag at all!

My iPhone has never been faster and the annoying lags are completely gone!

Access your MAS 90 or MAS 200 system when and how you need it.

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