Three Apps for Mobile Professionals

Potential Limitations:

• Some scanners are unable to recognize the barcodes rendered on the smartphone screens.
• Application will not work with programs which utilize technologies other than barcodes (e.g. RFID, magnetic card readers) to store and retrieve identifying information.
• There are some potential privacy concerns associated with a third party having all of your membership numbers.

Operating Systems: iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile
Publisher: Mobestream Media
Publisher’s Website: www.keyringapp.com
Price: Free

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App Profile: Google Docs App for Android

Summary: An interesting tool for web-based collaboration.

Although Google Docs is thought of as a weak replacement for Microsoft Office, there are situations where it can be used much more easily than some of the tools which use native Microsoft Office apps. The collaboration features within Google Docs are much easier to configure than Microsoft alternatives like Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Office365, or Windows Live SkyDrive. Although Google Docs is not appropriate for some information, it is an excellent tool for non-confidential real time collaboration with other users on the go.

Benefits:

• The new Android version of Google Docs includes offline editing, for those rare occasions when your mobile device can’t get online.
• Documents composed or edited on mobile devices can be retrieved and edited from within the Microsoft Office applications for Windows using the Google Cloud Connect add-in.
• Google Docs provides simple sharing of information with other users, and includes advanced features like automatic saving, version control, and tools for organizing your data.

Potential Limitations:

• The Google environment’s security and privacy are a concern to many, as Google will not certify that their environment and complies with regulatory requirements such as HIPAA and Gramm-Leach-Bliley. Google will also not certify that stored data is encrypted at rest. Many employers will not want copies of confidential data stored on Google’s servers, and there is not a simple way to password protect individual files and still retain the ability to edit the documents on a mobile device.
• There are limitations on the size of documents in Google Docs, and many large or complex documents cannot be accessed. Commonly used Microsoft Office features such as Excel PivotTables, automatic tables of contents in Microsoft Word, and connections to external databases (e.g. mail merges) are not supported.
• Formatting is inconsistent, and all large documents tested had significant differences in how the document was rendered in the Windows version of Microsoft Office and Google Docs.

Operating Systems: An App is available for Android devices, but there is also a mobile version of the web application (http://docs.google.com) which can be used on other devices, including BlackBerry, iOS, Linux, and Windows Mobile.
Publisher: Google
Publisher’s Website: www.google.com/mobile/docs/
Price: Free