If you need something more powerful than iCal, but don’t need Snow Leopard Server with CalDav, then BusyCal from BusyMac Software is the group calendaring tool for you.

Welcome to the second installment of Small Biz Corner. This month, we’re going to talk about an alternate calendar application for you to use in your SoHo (small office/home office) or Small Business (1-10 users) environment.

What makes BusyCal great is that it’s the iCal that Apple failed to make. You get so many more features that BusyMac’s label of “iCal Pro” makes sense.

Here is a list of some of those features (not included with iCal):

• You can sync with Google Calendar for online access to your calendar from any computer, anywhere.
• Your calendars can be password protected as read-write or read-only, and encrypted with SSL.
• You can create repeating todos that display in the calendar view and carry-forward until completed.
• The customizable list view lets you filter and sort events by date, event type, calendar, and more.
• You can view live weather forecasts, sunrise/sunset times, and moon phases right in your calendar.
• You can add virtual sticky notes to your calendar, and share/sync them with others in your network.

Show Me the Goods

Let’s take a look at what BusyCal displays for its Calendar, as there are multiple ways to view your information:

BusyCal Day View

BusyCal Week View with Banners and Sticky Notes

BusyCal Month View (sorry for the blurring, didn't want to bore you with my meetings)

BusyCal List View (more blurring)

Configuring BusyCal

Other than a drag-and-drop from the disk image to your applications folder, you’re pretty much up and running with only a little bit of configuration for sharing calendars among your peers.

By default, your calendar is automatically shared via Bonjour. Thus, everyone in the office is automatically sharing their calendar. The only work you need to do is to subscribe to another shared (Remote BusyCal) calendar to view their schedule.

This is a pretty simple exercise, as you click the gear icon in the lower left corner of the BusyCal window:

Subscribing to shared Calendars

Please note, I am explicitly not going into the other basic create appointments, tasks, etc. as they are very close to how iCal works. If you have any familiarity with iCal, you will pick-up BusyCal in about five minutes.

What else do I need to know?

The real value to BusyCal is its price. For $40, with a 20 percent discount for purchasing more than one copy, you have a real steal for setting up group calendaring within your business. Macworld gave BusyCal a 2009 Eddy Award and I am not surprised given the rich functionality combined with the simplicity that it provides.

Other items worth mentioning:

• If you are running Snow Leopard, BusyCal is natively a 64-bit application. You gain the added speed and memory enhancements with this application.
• BusyCal takes full advantage of MobileMe and Sync Services, so all of your calendar and task items are synced to both Apple Mail and iCal (in case you decide to stop using BusyCal).
• The app isn’t flawless. Yes, I am not a big fan of the reminder window. iCal’s user interface is much prettier here and it looks like the BusyMac team just didn’t spend the effort to polish that dialog box.

A year ago, I wrote about different choices for syncing to Google Calendar. In that comparison review, I recommended BusySync (also from the folks at BusyMac) due to its simplicity and low overhead for getting the job done. If you are a registered user of BusySync, you can upgrade to BusyCal for $20 — an incredible bargain.

It’s clear that the developers at BusyMac understand how to build great software for a reasonable price. Finally, if you do run into any issues with BusyCal, there is excellent documentation and support available on the BusyMac website.

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Well, I am sold. There is now a real reason to buy the iPad. As if all of the other functions weren’t enough (e-reader, iPod, photo viewer, browser, and more), I can now work on documents with complete ease.

The iPad appears to be a real productivity tool with the launch of iWork for the iPad. This is a completely new version of iWork according to Phil Schiller, designed specifically for the iPad. Each application has a gorgeous user interface designed to make it easy to either create slides, documents or spreadsheets. Further, each App also integrates the Media inspector for easy access to your photos and music.

Keynote

From what we could see during Apple’s presentation, you can rearrange slides by pressing on each and then move them accordingly. In addition, there is a unique slide management feature in that you can tap multiple slides, and with a gesture, it moves the slides into a bundle. This should definitely be a timesaver for many folks. Lastly, we learned that the iPad also has an optional cable for connecting with a projector, making it easy to use the device as your primary presentation tool.

Pages

Like its desktop counterpart, you can create publications with standard text and images. However, you can also use gestures (pinch for example) to move images around the publications and more. What’s interesting about this feature  is that it could make placement possibly easier than using a mouse with the desktop version, as long as the proximity “drop” is accurate.

Numbers

From what was demonstrated at the Apple Event, the iPad version of Numbers automatically displays fields and sums (which then infers what the output will be). Otherwise, this version seems relatively comparable to its desktop partner.

What is the bottom line (price and more)?

Interestingly enough, Apple is pricing the Apps individually at $9.99, instead of in a bundle like the desktop suite. This might change by launch time, although it’s a pretty reasonable price for each app, given the richness in functionality. Further, each app shares the desktop file format, so you can be sure not to lose any fidelity in your documents. And you can import Microsoft Office documents too. Lastly, these versions will allow you to email them in iWork ’09 and PDF formats.

As a sidebar, this is an interesting tactic for Apple given that on the iPhone, they’ve ceded document creation/editing to both Documents2Go and QuickOffice (which both only support Microsoft Office file formats). This is a bold step for them to broaden the availability of the iWork suite at such a reasonable price. I wonder if Microsoft is taking notice, and more importantly, I wonder if we’ll see versions for the iPhone too…

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Welcome to a new monthly series from

As a small business owner/sole proprietor, connecting with customers is hard. There are all sorts of communication tools available, with social media being the most prevalent today. However, as old-school as it might seem, email is still the killer-app for the web. And, given that, you must have a strategy to connect with your customers via email. Thankfully, there are many tools on the Mac available to help you do just that.

What type of email campaigns might you use? Some examples might include:

• Marketing Slicks
• Press Releases
• Newsletters
• Advertisements
• And more

For the purpose of this article, let’s look at both Pro editions of Direct Mail from e3 Software and MaxBulk Mailer from MaxProg. Both applications are relatively easy to use, although I found Direct Mail to be a little easier to work with overall. Each version has more features than their basic counterparts. To see a comparison list between the standard and pro features, please read here (Direct Mail) and here (MaxBulk).

Direct Mail Pro 2.2.3

When you first launch Direct Mail Pro, you receive a warning about sending SPAM. This is noteworthy, because of the two apps, only Direct Mail Pro mentions this as a potential issue.

SPAM nanny screen from Direct Mail

Upon agreement, you are presented with the main application and can see the options available. Direct Mail Pro automatically detects and uses any email accounts already present on your computer. To get started, I created a sample email (I copied the HTML from another email) and then added Mail Merge tags for the date and first name (there are tags available):

Direct Mail Initial Window with an example Email - credit comes from U2.com

Direct Mail Pro integrates with the Address Book, Microsoft Entourage and Daylite (as well as others) so that you can easily add users or groups. Once the users are added, click Send Message…

Direct Mail Pro includes (for a significant upgrade fee of $60) an email delivery service if you would rather not use your own email account.

Send Message Dialog Box

After you click Send, you’ll receive another SPAM warning. In some ways, this is irritating, although I can understand the precaution from the developer. Frankly, there should be an option to not see this dialog box.

SPAM nanny dialog box, round II

With the included e3 Delivery Service in Direct Mail Pro, you can track emails and view reports that include the email message, statistics, any hyperlinks, if the email was received by its audience as well as any potential bounced emails:

Direct Mail Pro History Tab with Reports/Results

MaxBulk Mailer Pro 7.1

When compared to Direct Mail Pro, MaxBulk Mailer Pro is a similar, yet different animal. MaxBulk takes a more hands-on approach to solving the email campaign problem. There is much more configuration involved than Direct Mail Pro, and with that configuration comes a little more flexibility.

There are no SPAM warnings when you first run MaxBulk Mailer Pro. The application window is very similar to Direct Mail Pro in that you have main some main tabs and simple toolbar for managing your email creation. In the example below, I have created a plain text email and provided some initial tags and specified formatting.

MaxBulk Mailer Pro Message Window with Tags

Unlike Direct Mail Pro, you do have to configure your email settings in the Settings tab. This is more cumbersome and can take some trial and error to ensure you have the right configuration prior to sending your message. Further, there is a preview tab that displays what the final message will look like and allows you to render your message in a browser.

Once your message has been sent, you receive a confirmation email with the relevant statistics:

MaxBulk Mailer Pro Delivery Report

A unique feature to MaxBulk Mailer Pro is that you can configure your own server to process the results of any email campaigns you send (this takes a little more configuration and advanced knowledge of database and FTP setup). Compared to Direct Mail Pro which includes its e3 Delivery service (and for a $60 premium), this is a nice feature.

MaxBulk Mailer Pro MLM Installation Dialog Box

Conclusion

Are you a do-it-yourselfer or do you like tools that do the work for you? If you’re the former, then I recommend MaxBulk Mailer. If you’re the latter, then I recommend Direct Mail Pro. Of course, there are other factors you need to consider, including:

Pricing

• MaxBulk Mailer Pro is $59.90, which includes the ability to track email messages that you set up on your own server.
• Direct Mail Pro is $119, but it includes the ability to track email messages, handle bounced emails and more without any extra work on your end.

Application Integration

• Native: Apple Address Book, Microsoft Entourage, Apple Mail, CSV files and more.
• Via a separate plugin, you can import contacts from Marketcircle’s Daylite as well.

As for me, I chose Direct Mail Pro. I find the product is more polished and it makes email creation and management easier. In the end, I don’t think you will fail to accomplish your customer communication goal with either program.

FTC Disclaimer: Not-for-resale copies were provided for this review.

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Carrying physical scripture with you can be challenging, especially when you consider the sheer physical space a Bible or many Bibles require. Thankfully, there are options now available for portable scripture. And, one of the most recent newcomers for the iPhone is Logos Bible Software.

Logos is considered one of the premier Bible study software companies, especially if you own a PC. Its desktop Macintosh offering is still in alpha, however its iPhone App is really something you should consider.

Why? The biggest benefit is that the app is free and that it has a plethora of features that make it really shine.

How it Works

Based upon the type of account you have with Logos, you get the following content with the iPhone App:

• No account (free): One sample book (30 Bible texts)
• Registered account (free): 31 sample books (the 30 Bibles + 31 additional books)
• Registered account (free) + paid product (whichever package you own*): All of your books

* Some books that you might have for your desktop software are not available on the iPhone due to licensing. Logos Bible Software is working to improve this over time. I personally ran into this issue with the Jewish Publication Society Tanakh, as it is not available yet for mobile distribution.

The Application

The Home Page displays any recent news from Logos as well as any custom reading plans you have defined.

Logos Home Screen

Logos Library Screen

Search is also wonderful with Logos as you can:

• Find relevant verses within the current text, across all bibles, or your entire library (and it is fast)
• Go directly to a book/chap/verse (very handy).

Logos Search Screen

The reader is very beautiful. Here are some of the things you can do within the reader:

• If you tap-and-hold on a Bible word, you can see the linked cross references, which allows you to click footnotes and reveal the reference text.
• Again, if you tap-and-hold on a word, the Reader will display the underlying Hebrew or Greek (if available).

Logos Reader with selected word highlighted

If you have multiple books (sources), you can tap to switch to different verses (via the slider) or via the book list:

Logos Reader + Tap to Change Source

What’s nice is that when you are in the reader, you have multiple options:

• If you swipe up, you can use the Text Comparison to quickly see a verse in multiple versions, with differences highlighted.
• One of the new features in v1.1 is that you can now share your thoughts with others via Facebook or Twitter by swiping up in the Reader and then pressing the Share button.

Logos Sharing

Conclusion

I spent the better part of the past few weeks using the app and I admit that I am very impressed with it. I used it during both of my Temple visits and found the app to be responsive, even over 3G (and without performing the caching trick below).

Positives

• It is a free App, and with a free registered account, you have 31 books available to study/search/share.
• It has excellent overall usability for reading and searching.
• The content you own with your Logos account/destkop application is shared with the iPhone app (with some caveats).

Negatives

• Requires a live connection for true usability.
• Requires an account to access additional free content (this is moot if you have an account and want to view your own books).
• Not all of the content you’ve paid for is available due to licensing/distribution constraints.
• No offline mode — you must be connected to browse the content. (There is a workaround: get the content while online and then it is locally cached).

Until now, BibleReader 4 from OliveTree was my preferred mobile application. However, with so much more flexibility in the application, I can honestly say that I prefer Logos. I do hope that Logos can provide an offline story that is more useful, although if you do have a 3G or Wi-Fi connection (especially Wi-Fi), the app is still very usable.

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If you have need to visually demonstrate your product, and you have the resources, then it just makes sense to produce a screencast. With the release of ScreenFlow 2.0, I thought it’d be useful to perform a real-world comparison review of the screencast heavyweight champ versus the relative newcomer (at least to the Mac), Camtasia.

Getting Started

I started this comparison by creating the same video in both Camtasia and ScreenFlow. Both applications are very straightforward to setup and get going in creating the screencast. Camtasia gets a little bit of an edge for configuration because, unlike ScreenFlow, you do not have to install a separate audio driver.

However, once you get started recording, both applications provide you with a simple countdown prior to recording. As a primer, try to write your script prior to recording. This way, you will have a consistent experience for your customer once you complete production.

Please note, I did not try to record a screencast across multiple displays or using an external microphone. I used what most of us have — a MacBook (or a desktop) and the built-in microphone.

Basic Editing

After I recorded the basic screencast, I was presented with the Editor window within each program:

Screenflow Main Window

Camtasia Main Window

Both programs have very similar editing experiences using a timeline. ScreenFlow has the added advantage of separating out the audio from the video portions of the recording. This is a great experience, because you can also add another voiceover quite easily. In contrast, Camtasia merges the audio and video. It wasn’t easily discoverable how to add or change the existing audio recording. With my limited skills, being able to re-record the audio as a separate track was very handy.

Enhancing Your Screencast Recording

Each has a plethora of features to modify your recording.

• Cropping: Remove extra portions of the video that you don’t need.
• Trimming: Remove any extra (or bad) audio/video from the timeline.
• Playback tools: Play, reverse, fast-forward.
• Import Media: Additional audio, video or images.
• And a whole lot more…

What’s nice is that as you begin to explore more in ScreenFlow and Camtasia, they both provide simple video tutorials to show you how to use the features. For someone new to creating screencasts, this is very helpful.

Here are a few glimpses of the app once I inserted some text, graphics and transitions.

ScreenFlow: with additional text box and transitions

Camtasia: with additional graphics, text and transitions

I did perform a little trimming (Camtasia calls this Delete or Ripple Delete) at the end of each video so that you can’t see me click/end the recordings (there is no way to avoid this, although it would be nice if both tools had this as an option). Both tools make this really easy to do.

Both applications have advanced audio capabilities. ScreenFlow has true audio ducking, or the ability to decrease the volume of one recording while another audio volume is increased. Camtasia offers audio transition effects, which offers some flexibility, but not anywhere near as rich as ScreenFlow.

Unfortunately, neither application has great iLife integration, so I can’t directly insert audio clips from GarageBand. I think this is a missed opportunity for both Camtasia and ScreenFlow.

The Victor

This is a tough call. However, I give the slight edge to ScreenFlow because of its ability to edit audio separately as well as its UI for editing different properties of a recording. I happen to prefer the overall Camtasia UI over ScreenFlow’s as it seems more like iMovie ’09 to me.

Ultimately, you have to decide which items are more important to you:

• Features/Functionality
• User Experience
• Price

ScreenFlow 2.0 is priced at $99 (or $29 for an upgrade). Similarly, Camtasia 1.0.1 is currently priced at $99 (this is a promotional price, the web site shows the full retail for $149).

If you have limited funds, there is the screen recording capability in QuickTime X, a component of Snow Leopard. If you’ve already upgraded to Snow Leopard, then you have this option available. Otherwise, the Snow Leopard upgrade is $29. Please note that QuickTime X is nowhere in the same league as ScreenFlow or Camtasia. However, if you have a new Mac that includes Snow Leopard and iLife ’09 (which includes iMovie ’09), you can make some very simple Screencasts, excluding the fancier features available from either ScreenFlow or Camtasia.

The Videos

Don’t laugh, they’re horrible.

Camtasia

ScreenFlow

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There are even more support articles around the web, although I think you get the picture. Let’s be clear, syncing any type of data is not trivial. Syncing multiple forms of data (contacts, calendar, bookmarks, etc.) is even less so.

If you use Sync Services and you don’t have issues, count yourself amongst one of the lucky few. If you use Sync Services and you have problems, then read on…

To cure your Sync Services woes, The folks at Spanning Sync recently released a great set of three applications called Spanning Tools. Here is what the package includes:

• Calendar Cleaner: resolves calender conflicts, duplicates, etc.
• Contacts Cleaner: resolves duplicate contacts, bad data with contacts and more.
• Sync Tune-Up: the big-kahuna tool. This one enables you to completely remove any bad Sync Services data and then start syncing with fresh (clean) data.

Where Sync Services gets crazy is when you begin using additional applications that leverage the functionality. Some of these applications include: MobileMe (AB, iCal, Safari, etc.), Microsoft Entourage, Daylite, Missing Sync, Google Contact Sync (from Address Book), Spanning Sync, BusySync, iSync phones and many, many more

What I like about this software suite is that it is focused. You have a specific toolset to resolve some potentially big data synchronization issues. What’s also great is that this suite of tools is very inexpensive – $20. Thus, for a nice crisp Mr. Jackson, you can own a complete toolset to ensure that your Sync Services data is kept clean, fresh, and consistent.

If you’re looking for a something sync-oriented to add to your utilities arsenal, then definitely head on over to the Spanning Tools site – you won’t regret it.

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For the past few months, I’ve been in the process of moving from one side of the country to the other. Now that my family and I are settling into our new location, I thought I would share some stories of small business owner encounters I’ve had during my travels. From the end of April to the middle of July, I crossed the country twice by car, and three times flying. Each time, I was reminded of why a Mac is a great small business machine.

iPhones Everywhere, Not a Mac in Sight

During my travels, I met people from all over. Being a tech guy, I would immediately ask questions about what they did for a living, what types of tools they used, the problems their business faced, etc. Of course, for me, the most fascinating part was the software and hardware they used.

Generally, I would hear that they used Microsoft Outlook to manage their email and contacts, Microsoft Word or Publisher to manage their documents, and Microsoft Excel for spreadsheets. Basically, the standard issue PC purchase and Microsoft tools. Some were a little more advanced and used QuickBooks Pro or Adobe graphics tools.

The funny thing is that of the half-dozen or so folks I met, all of them (and yes, I mean all of them) had an iPhone to manage their information on-the-go. They would explain how they loved the user experience, the apps available (not to manage their business, just fun apps) and the cool factor.

Elevator Pitch

Of course, I would then ask why they didn’t use a Mac instead of their current PC. Most of the replies blamed a lack of initiative, the cost of switching, or a fear of change. The cost issue tended to be the less significant of the three. The biggest was the fear of change. Would their documents work? Would they have to change how they completed their daily tasks? What would they do without Outlook (other than have hours of their lives back instead of waiting for that molasses app to run)?

Generally, I would explain the standard Apple business proposition to them: premier/high quality hardware and software, simplicity and fun factor. I would then explain how their documents would migrate with minimal fidelity loss (not every file converts perfectly). I would then begin to sell them on how their data would be better managed.

I really enjoyed showing these business owners how powerful the iPhone can really be when you use it for business. I would demonstrate MobileMe sync and how changes made to their contacts/calendar on the iPhone would be waiting for them when they got home (this usually drew gigantic smiles).

Next, I would open the App Store and show them different Office Apps (QuickOffice and/or DocsToGo), CRM Apps (Daylite, Salesforce, Highrise) and more. I would also show how they can manage tasks with a variety of tools, too.

Support is Key

Before trying to really pitch the Mac, I would spend time understanding their workflow. It’s pretty amazing that regardless of how computer literate people claim to be, they’re often missing huge chunks of know-how. Literacy comes at many levels. So does hardware/software support. That’s why I really believe small business owners need a Mac more than a PC.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, small business owners are inherently busy. Because of their limited resources, they don’t have the money to afford onsite IT support. Hiring a consultant to come fix their software problems is expensive, and the service isn’t always consistent.

Once the discussion began centering on support, it was easy to pitch the Apple Store experience (Genius Bar, One to One, etc.). I mentioned how they could call an 800 number and get support from a technician here in the U.S., and how they also have potential access to a local user group for additional help. You could see them coming around. Everyone has heard the horrible PC software support stories. The prospect of something better never fails to impress.

If you’re a small business owner, I highly recommend looking at the Mac. It isn’t just about avoiding viruses and spyware. It isn’t about being the cool kid on the block with the new shiny device. It’s about having a solid, well-supported product so that you can conduct business without wasting your precious time on IT issues.

Please note, I am neither an Apple employee nor affiliated with Apple in any way. I just like seeing people successful in what they do, and to my mind, a Mac helps make that happen.

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The included Camera App on the iPhone is pretty much featureless: Take a picture and you’re done. You must use the Photos app if you want to view or share (via MobileMe) your photos. What if you need more?

If you’re a fan of LittleSnapper, which we have reviewed before, then the folks at Realmac Software have a pleasant surprise for you. Coming very soon to the App Store, LittleSnapper for the iPhone will tantalize you with it’s rich feature set and high utility.

Realmac Software was kind enough to give us an exclusive preview of LittleSnapper for the iPhone. You won’t find this anywhere else, so please enjoy.

What Does it Do?

So what does this fantastic app do? First and foremost, it easily supplants the supplied iPhone camera app by providing a pretty broad set of features. Let’s iterate through the list:

1. A fantastic interface with a very simple mechanism to scroll through LittleSnapper’s feature areas.
2. Take photos with the ability to name, rate, tag and share the photo via the QuickSnapper service. You can optionally store the photos locally within the Photos app too.
3. Share photos via your iPhone Twitter client, including support for Tweetie, Twitterific and TwitterFon.
4. Like the desktop version of LittleSnapper, you can also capture an entire web-page for future editing.

Show Me the Money

What does it look like? Let’s take a look.

LittleSnapper Home

The five main options here are:

• Photo Albums – Takes you to the iPhone Photos App. What is unique is that once you select a Photo, you then return to LittleSnapper where you can add Photo details (see below).
• Snap Webpage – Opens a built-in browser to capture a web page. Currently, due to WebKit limitations, only the screen is captured, as opposed to the full web page.
• Take A Photo – Self explanatory.
• Accounts – Where you can add/edit your QuickSnapper account(s).
• QuickSnapper – Closes the LittleSnapper App and opens Safari, taking you to the QuickSnapper home page.

Options Aplenty

Once you select the Take A Photo option, and after you have taken the photo, the following screen displays:

LittleSnapper Photo Details

From this screen, you can do the following:

• Give the photo a title
• Rate the photo – up to five stars
• Provide a description
• Tag the photo
• Specify the type of Photo – iPhone, Screenshot, Websnap and more

Tag It Baby!

For tagging photos, the UI is quite attractive. Let’s take a look at what you can do.

LittleSnapper Tag Details

If you already have tags from your QuickSnapper account, then they are displayed above the image and you can just press the tag to add it. Otherwise, type a new tag for this particular photo.

The Real Deal: Snapping Web Pages

Probably the key feature of the app, you can capture web pages with just a simple press of the screen. These pages are saved as screenshots for later editing.

LittleSnapper Web Page Capture

Ok I’m Sold, What’s the Damage?

When LittleSnapper arrives in the App Store (hopefully in the next week), it will come at a modest price of $2.99. For the rich functionality that you receive, this is quite a bargain. Although there are other photo-capturing apps within the App Store, for shear value, this is the app to get.

I Want More

For an initial offering, LittleSnapper for the iPhone is very impressive. However, I would love to see the ability to sync my captured images over Wi-Fi to the desktop version of LittleSnapper. Currently, I have to share the image to my QuickSnapper account, download the image to my desktop and then add it to my LittleSnapper library.

Maybe I missed this, but on the desktop version of LittleSnapper, you can share images to QuickSnapper, Flickr and an FTP site. With the version for the iPhone, you can only share images to your QuickSnapper account.

Still, these two nits are feature requests and I am sure the folks at Realmac Software are already hard at work on them (and other delightful features) for the next release. Until then, I’ll be pleasantly using LittleSnapper for my photo-taking needs…

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Email + Calendar

Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync

Although this doesn’t fall into the standard “app” category, having this collaboration toolset is fundamental to most users within medium to large enterprises. In the iPhone 2.0 release, Apple added Exchange ActiveSync support, giving every user access to both their corporate email and calendar.

Unfortunately, a limitation of this support is that you can only accept meeting invitations; you cannot send them. Compared to the native Exchange support on Windows Mobile, BlackBerry Enterprise Server or Motorola’s Good Mobile Messaging, this is an oversight on Apple’s part.

For users in environments without Microsoft Exchange, other third-party Mac software vendors have stepped in to provide alternate ways to support ActiveSync. These include Communigate, Notify Technology and Google.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Having your customer data with you when you’re away from the office is pretty important. Thankfully, the major vendors in the CRM space have provided apps to connect to your corporate data.

Salesforce Mobile (free, but requires a Salesforce license)

Salesforce.com recently released the 3.0.1 version of their Salesforce Mobile application. If you have a Mobile User License, you can view/edit all of your Salesforce.com data.

Oracle CRM On-Demand (free, but requires an Oracle license)

The team at Oracle released five applications for connecting with their on-demand CRM product.

• Business Approvals for Managers
• Business Approvals for Sales Managers
• Business Indicators
• Mobile Sales Assistant
• Mobile Sales Forecast

Daylite Touch ($49.99/year per user)

The team at Marketcircle released this app last week. For more information about Daylite Touch, please read my First Look article.

Search2GO for Salesforce CRM ($9.99)

The Search2GO app enables Salesforce.com users to search for leads, contacts, accounts and so-called “opportunities” within their account. The cool feature of Search2G0 is that users can access their Salesforce.com data without the additional Salesforce.com mobile license. There’s also a Lite (free) version that provides read-only searching.

Expense Management

Another important tool for business travel is being able to maintain your expenses. Here are some great choices.

Expense2Go for Salesforce (free)

Expense2GO lets folks manage their business expenses and synchronize the data with the online expense management application in Salesforce.

XpensTracker (7.99)

In terms of popularity, Silverware Software’s XpenseTracker is at the top of the iTunes Business Apps list for expense management. It’s rich feature set, combined with its pleasant UI, provides a complete solution for the corporate traveler.

Others in the category: iXpenseIt ($4.99) and iXpenseIt Lite (free).

File Management & Manipulation

As a corporate user, having your files with you is critical. Plus, being able to have PDFs of your boarding passes and itineraries is just plain helpful when you don’t always have access to a printer.

MobileFiles Pro ($9.99)

The folks at QuickOffice built MobileFiles Pro for the true mobile professional. This application makes it very easy to add your files to the iPhone via a simple web browser interface. You can read many different file types (Microsoft Office, iWork 08, PDF) as well as create/edit Microsoft Excel 2003 files (.xls) right within the application. Further, if you use MobileMe, you can access your iDisk files as well.

Documents-To-Go (price unknown)

Dataviz is the file management king of the SmartPhone world. They are currently at work on their version for the iPhone. Dataviz expects their iPhone version to ship sometime in the second quarter of 2009.

Others in the category: ReaddleDocs, Air Sharing and DataCase.

Task Management

For corporate users, having your tasks with you on the road and being able to update/sync with them back at the office is crucial to “Getting Things Done.”

One item of note: If you use Microsoft Entourage, you’ll have to wait for the new update that supports Exchange Web Services to have Notes and Tasks synchronization capabilities.

iMExchange ($7.99)

iMExchange enables you to sync your Outlook Notes, Tasks and Categories to your iPhone. It works with both Exchange Server 2003 (SP1) and 2007.

Others in the category: Keynotes and Key Tasks

Itinerary Management

If you’re on the road, the best way to keep track of the flight and travel information on your iPhone is by using one of the following apps.

FlightTrack Pro ($9.99)

Using this app, as long as you have a TripIt account, you can synchronize your flight itinerary. FlightTrack Pro lets you see where planes are in-flight (only if you’re tracking other flights, as you can’t check your own flight status in-flight), and it has a fantastic UI.

TravelTracker ($9.99)

TravelTracker uses more of the TripIt API to sync not just your flight information, but your notes and itineraries, including hotel and car reservations. Although this is more expensive, it’s also a more comprehensive application.

Others in the category: FlightTrack and Flight Status

Virtual Meetings

Cisco WebEx Meeting Center (free)

Using the WebEx Meeting Center App, you can easily join an online/virtual meeting. The app sizes the information appropriately for the iPhone screen so you can view the meeting data accurately. The bonus to this application is that it’s free to join meetings. If you want to schedule meetings, you will need an iPhone-enabled WebEx account.

Conclusion

I’m sure that I haven’t included every potential corporate application available in the App Store. However, the purpose of this article is to expose you to which apps will best help you as a corporate user of the iPhone. Please comment below and provide additional suggestions/recommendations of apps you think are best for use within the Enterprise.

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If you’re into serious business productivity, then the folks at Marketcircle will become your new best friends. As of this week, there is a new version of Daylite that will enable even higher productivity. We’ve written about Daylite before, so this article will discuss what is new, not a complete re-hash of the application.

With version 3.9 of Daylite, small businesses users will have collaboration tools comparative to Microsoft Exchange: multi-user access to calendars, contacts, and tasks. In addition, they will also have multi-user access to opportunities (sales and more) as well as projects. In environments of 50 or less people, setting up Exchange or a comparable enterprise-class solution is cost prohibitive.

What’s New

With Daylite version 3.9, Marketcircle provides a product that simplifies the deployment and management of this business productivity and collaboration suite. Let’s review what is new:

• Daylite Touch
• Daylite Server
• Daylite 3.9
• Billings 3.0.4

Daylite Touch

I’ve written about Daylite Touch before — back in January. The big news is that Daylite Touch is now available in the Apple App Store.

As discussed in my earlier review, the biggest impact of Daylite Touch is the ability to sync the Daylite data to the iPhone and complete so many business critical tasks while mobile, including:

• Group scheduling
• Task Management & Delegation
• Objectives (Opportunity and Project) Management & Delegation
• And much more

Daylite Touch Home Screen

Daylite Server

With the release of Daylite 3.9, Marketcircle has changed the underlying architecture of the application to make it easier to manage. Essentially, they migrated from the OpenBase database system and replaced it with PostgreSQL. Why is that significant? Fundamentally, here are the benefits:

• Enables the ability to create a separate server infrastructure for Daylite Touch.
• Simplifies the management of Daylite software licenses — all licenses are now managed in the server application and not in Daylite itself.
• Re-architecting the offline database functionally for improved robustness and management.

Translation: a more reliable application with a simple management console for a multi-user environment. Bottom line: a huge win for the customer. Let’s take a look at the new Daylite Server Admin application.

Daylite Server Admin

This new application enables users to quickly set up a shared Daylite database for all users of the organization. What is great about this new application is that on the general pane, you get a quick overview of the health of your server, additional information about how many users, the last time you had a backup, and if you are running a Daylite Touch Server.

The following panes let you manage each database, how often you back up, how you share the database across the network, and licensing management.

Daylite Server Admin Tool – General Pane

If you choose to run Daylite Touch, this part of the Daylite Server Admin application lets you view registered iPhones as well as review logs and if necessary, remotely wipe the data from the iPhone.

Daylite Server Admin Tool – Daylite Touch Server Pane

Daylite 3.9
Daylite itself also received some additional features:

• Support for the new database format (PostgreSQL) and server infrastructure.
• Improved support for Apple Sync Services.
• For workgroups, licensing management is available via the Daylite Server Admin application.
• Updated task smart lists (see below) that now reflect an even stronger link to the Getting Things Done method, as well as maintaining cohesion with Daylite Touch.
• A new login with auto-discovery of the database.

New Task Management

Billings 3.0.4

Billings, Marketcircle’s incredibly easy-to-use time management and invoicing application, also received a small version bump with the following enhancements:

• Daylite 3.9 compatibility
• The timer now has a resolution of 1 second (used to be a minimum of 1 minute)
• Ability to edit start and end times for each log entry
• A new report: “Payments received – grouped by client”
• A bulk edit fix so any currency formatted values are applied without tabbing out of the field

Billings 3.0.4 – Payments received – grouped by client Report

Connectors + Daylite Delivery
Each of the following connectors plus Daylite Delivery were all updated to support the new PostgreSQL database infrastructure.

• MYOB AccountEdge
• LightSpeed
• FileMaker
• Moneyworks

So what does this all mean?

For those already using Daylite, this is a major upgrade with a significant amount of new functionality. Most of that functionality (sans Daylite Touch) is not end user-specific. Though this might not be a bad thing, as learning all-new user interfaces for a release does have a training cost. For Administrators of Daylite, this new release is a sheer pleasure, as management has become significantly better.

Here are the details of the 3.9 upgrade:

Pricing

• Daylite 3.9 is a free upgrade for all registered users of 3.x. It includes Daylite Server, Daylite Touch Server and the new Daylite Server Admin application.
• Daylite Touch is a free download from the App Store. It will cost $49.99/year per user. Yes, this is subscription pricing. For clarity, the subscription is not automatically renewed (giving the user choice if they want to continue using Daylite Touch).
• Billings 3.0.4 is a free upgrade for registered users of version 3.x.
• Each connector and Daylite Delivery upgrades are all free.

Marketcircle Support

An item of note is that Marketcircle will stop all support for Daylite versions 3.8 and below effective June 30, 2009. The purpose behind this is to have their customers move to 3.9 so that they can all be on the new PostgreSQL back end.

According to Marketcircle CEO Alykhan Jetha, their highest support costs are with OpenBase. Thus, providing a free upgrade to 3.9 is a good incentive for their users, especially given the long-term benefits of PostgreSQL and the new Daylite Server plus Daylite Touch functionality.

Conclusion

If you are a sole proprietor or a small business (with about 50 users), then Marketcircle’s offering may make you think twice about what solutions you’re using to manage your business productivity.

With this new release, which enables your crucial business information on an iPhone, you ought to consider migrating to the Marketcircle offering. If you already own the product, then upgrade now as the benefits will only improve your business.

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