The 50 Best Apps For Getting Business Done (Part 1)
Top Notch Mobile Apps
Whether it's a smartphone phone or a tablet, the bread and butter of any mobile device are its apps. The CRN Test Center has assembled 50 of the year's leading smartphone apps in the areas of administration, communication and collaboration, contact management, navigation, productivity and security. These apps represent a cross section of powerful tools to keep workers productive, secure, informed, in control and in touch.
For more reviews of mobile apps running on the Google Android OS, Apple iOS, Windows Phone OS and BlackBerry OS platforms, check out the CRN Daily App blog.
Android Boost
Developer: NQ Mobile
Category: Administration
Platform: Android
Cost: Free
NQ Mobile's Android Boost reports on running apps and memory usage in realtime, scans for malware, displays resource and battery usage and can kill tasks or apps with a single tap.
Find My iPhone
Developer: Apple
Category: Administration
Platform: iOS
Cost: Free
Find My iPhone from Apple instantly locates any iCloud-enabled iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch or Mac from another like-configured device, and can take steps to help you find or disable it or to erase its data.
Glympse
Developer: Share your where
Category: Administration
Platforms: Android, BlackBerry, iOS, Windows
Cost:
Glympse from Share your where is a free and easy-to-use app and service for tracking field workers using smartphones or social networks.
Green Qube
Developer: Green Qube
Category: Administration
Platform: iOS
Cost: $40/month
Built on Citrix Receiver, Green Qube provides iPad clients remote access to Windows desktops, virtualized and stored on Green Qube's cloud service, including a user-configurable, soft keyboard and Windows Start menu modified for touch.
Msecure Password Manager
Developer: mSeven Software
Category: Administration
Platforms: Android, iOS, Windows Phone 7
Cost: $9.95 to - $19.95
mSeven Software's mSecure Password Manager for Android, iOS, Mac OS X and Windows securely stores and manages website logins, passwords, bank and credit card account numbers and can generate new passwords with automatic backup.
NCP Secure Client
Developer: NCP Engineering
Category: Administration
Platform: Android
Cost: $9.90 - $29.90
NCP Engineering this year launched NCP Secure Client, a first of-its kind IPsec VPN client for Android 4.0 (only). It supports multiple protocols and split or full tunneling.
Net Scan
Developer: Nick Circelli
Category: Administration
Platform: Android
Cost: Free
Net Scan by Nick Circelli discovers network device names, IP and MAC addresses, open ports and other network vulnerabilities and can drill into and even log onto some devices.
PocketCloud
Developer: Wyse
Category: Administration
Platforms: Android, iOS
Cost: Free
View files, launch apps and access any resource on systems running Linux, Mac OS X (10.6) and Windows (7, XP, Vista) from an Android or iOS device with PocketCloud from Wyse. Works over Wi-Fi and 3G/4G.
SystemPanel
Developer: NextApp
Category: Administration
Platform: Android
Cost: Free - $2.99
SystemPanel from NextApp shows processor and memory utilization, running tasks and detailed information about Android devices. The full version adds an app manager for installing, uninstalling and updating apps, and a long-term performance monitor.
VMware View
Developer: VMware
Category: Administration
Platforms: Android, iOS, Linux
Cost: Free
VMware View is a PCoIP-protocol VDI client for VMware View Server 4.6 or 5.0. It works over Wi-Fi or 3G, occupies about 6 MB of device space and supports native gestures. VMware View clients exist for all major platforms.
Where's My Droid
Developer: Alienman Technologies
Category: Administration
Platform: Android
Cost: Free - $3.99
Where's My Droid by Alienman Technologies can ring, vibrate, sound an alarm, display a message, lock app changes, wipe phone or SD card data, and display status or GPS location on Android devices through a browser.
Agora Briefcase
Developer: Mighty Mack
Category: Communication/Collaboration
Platforms: Android, iOS
Cost: Free up to 100 MB
Agora Briefcase by Mighty Mack combines an Android and iOS app with a cloud-based service that allows companies to push files out to devices or to share file content without risk to the original documents.
DropBox
Developer: DropBox
Category: Communication/Collaboration
Platforms: Android, BlackBerry, iOS
Cost: Free
The Dropbox mobile app allows direct file transfers from Android, BlackBerry and iOS smartphones and tablets to an existing Dropbox account. No more need to forward emails to yourself or tether the device.
Google Drive
Developer: Google
Category: Communication/Collaboration
Platforms: Android, iOS
Cost: Free - $2.49/month
Store, share and collaborate on files of any size easily and safely in the cloud with Google Drive. First 5 GB is free; $2.49 per month after that. The iOS version offers read-only.
Groove IP
Developer: snrb Labs
Category: Communication/Collaboration
Platform: Android
Cost: Free - $4.99
Why pay for minutes when there's Wi-Fi? For $4.99, GrooVe IP by snrb Labs gives Android unlimited voice calling in the U.S. and Canada by piggy-backing onto a free Google Voice account.
Kies
Developer: Samsung
Category: Communication/Collaboration
Platform: Android
Cost: Free
Similar to Apple's iTunes, Samsung's Kies syncs media between Mac and Windows machines and Android devices using a simple two-pane interface. It also syncs email, contacts, calendar events, memos and more.
Developer: LinkedIn
Category: Communication/Collaboration
Platforms: Android, iOS
Cost: Free
LinkedIn's mobile editions divide site data by updates and incoming news, inbox messages, people and your profile, offering an intuitive way to focus the time spent using the app.
LogMeIn
Developer: LogMeIn
Category: Communication/Collaboration
Platforms: Android, iOS
Cost: Free - $26.99
LogMeIn allows Android or iOS smartphones and tablets with Wi-Fi or 3G to remotely control any net-connected computer running Mac OS X or Windows and launch programs, and access files and any host resource.
Maildroid
Developer: Flipdog Solutions
Category: Communication/Collaboration
Platform: Android
Cost: Free
Quick search is the mainstay of Maildroid from Flipdog Solutions. It's easy to set up and supports IMAP Idle, POP and WebDAV protocols, can handle multiple email accounts simultaneously, and is not based on the Android mail client.
ooVoo Video Call
Developer: ooVoo
Category: Communication/Collaboration
Platforms: Android, iOS
Cost: Free - $2.99/mo.
If one-to-one video calling doesn't cut it, ooVoo lets as many as 12 Android, iOS, Mac OS X and Windows users see and hear each other, exchange text messages and files, share their desktops and even record the festivities.
SignNow
Developer: SignNow
Category: Communication/Collaboration
Platforms: Android, iOS
Cost: Free
No time to print, sign and fax back an important document? No problem. Just open the document from your iPhone’s email, launch SignNow, sign the document with your index finger, save and send. Simple.
SpringCM Mobile
Developer: SpringCM
Category: Communication/Collaboration
Platforms: Android, iOS
Cost: Free
SpringCM Mobile for iPhone, iPad and Android extends the file sharing and collaboration tool to smartphones and tablets. It supports Word, Excel and other native file types, as well as links and PDFs.
SugarSync
Developer: SugarSync
Category: Communication/Collaboration
Platforms: Android, BlackBerry, iOS, Windows Phone 7, Other
Cost: Free - $24.99
Access all your data from any device anywhere with SugarSync, a fee-based, secure cloud service for sharing files and folders with any Internet-connected machine, and for keeping any number of devices in sync.
Web Recorder
Developer: 1257
Category: Communication/Collaboration
Platform: iOS
Cost: $0.99
Web Recorder by developer Hus Zhuang is a simple way to capture Web browsing and activities in video format for sharing. Using its built-in browser, Web Recorder begins saving activities with a single tap.
Wi-Fi Finder
Developer: JiWire
Category: Communication/Collaboration
Platforms: Android, iOS
Cost: Free
Wi-Fi Finder from JiWire plots Wi-Fi hotspots over a map of the surrounding area with colored arrows that indicate which ones are free. Drill in for address, phone number, signal strength, SSID and free coffee (where available).