GoGoStand for iPhone 4, Size of a Credit Card till needed

I have covered a few little stands for the iPhone over the years. One that I carry with me a lot is the little Crabble (some folks call it the Bat cause it looks like bat wings) made by Seskimo. The beauty of it is that it lays flat in your wallet till you need it. Sadly, it doesn’t work on the iPhone 4 as it did on the 3/3GS.

Happily, I stumbled on a new stand for the iPhone 4 that folds flat to the size of a Credit Card when not in use. The stand is from GoGoStand and works for all of the iPhones and iPod Touch devices.

The stand comes in a variety of colors: Clear, Dark Blue, Bronze and Purple. I got a variety of colors and must say the colors are hard to tell apart unless in just the right light. Doesn’t really matter though, they work so having my iPhone where I need it is much more important.

Depending on which of the three optional holes you put the tab in is whether the stand works best for Portrait or Landscape view of your iPhone.

Bending up the lower lip to hold the base of the iPhone can be tricky, take your time… bend and crease a bit.

Portrait use of the GoGoStand (great for hands free FaceTime):

Landscape: You can use any of the three options to get the angle that works best in landscape view but only the extreme shown above for portrait works otherwise the iPhone will tip over backwards. I actually use the stand most often in the landscape view and a free clock app running in meetings. If someone had a good auto updating Twitter feed app, I would have that running too.

I will report on wear and tear along the fold lines as I bend to use as a stand then flatten to carry. One would think that plastic will wear through. The GoGoStand is inexpensive enough that even if it wear out after 6 or 8 months, you got your moneys worth.

That said, here is how the one I have been using daily for a week next to a new GoGoStand that has never been bent.

iPhone simple and awesome notes updated

Two very popular notes apps have been updated with features you will enjoy if your using either of them.

Both apps have strengths and unique user interfaces that make them more usable per how you keep your notes.

SimpleNotes is the free universal app that allows you to write notes, organize into folders and sync through the SimpleNotes cloud service. The ‘simple’ user interface makes it fast to use when you need to jot down a thought or track your lists. There are no todo checkboxes or special features inside notes, SimpleNotes specializes in notes that you need to write, organize and wireless sync to access through other devices (desktop, other mobile devices). To offset the no-charge price of the app, there are iAds which can be turned off for a small fee.

The update info from the developer of SimpleNotes:

New in Version 3.0.5

– fixed bug that could cause syncing to stop working
– fixed bug that forced you to sign out under some circumstances
– fixed bug that could cause recently entered text to duplicate
– fixed tag reordering
– fixed an instance where tags could disappear
– fixed searching on iPad (portrait)
– assorted reliability fixes

The second notes app being updated is Awesome Notes. The app isn’t free or universal but it is very extensive. The user interface for your notes and folders are more like the physical world where you have folders overlapping each other with tabs and colors as well your notepads have many different kinds of papers. While SimpleNotes keeps thing on the simple side, Awesome Notes goes the extreme opposite. Notes can contain images, todo items, and checklists – then viewed as lists, on a pegboard or within a calendar.

Sharing your Awesome Notes can be done between iPhones via their Bluetooth solution. Syncing to the cloud is done either through Evernote or Google, both free services.

The Awesome Note and ToDo app update includes:

New in Version 4.7

– New style editor (Inserting words between pictures, editing in full screen mode)
– Add new folder colors
– Add new note backgrounds
– Fixed bugs

LinkedIn on the iPhone goes more social

Most folks when asked about their social network footprint will point to Facebook and Twitter as their friends chit chatting… maybe for the latest news. Then they will say LinkedIn for their job status and online Business contacts. It is more around creating a multi dimensional resume.

When LinkedIn introduced their iPhone app some time back, it appeared that they were pushing more on keeping track of your work contacts than working on your resume. I noticed a jump in posts to LinkedIn’s ‘Status’ area. They are not light talk like on FB and Twitter, much more professional. Yet, still they have been increasing.

With the new version of LinkedIn for the iPhone, you can see that the Social Network wants more posts and your thoughts. They have made it easier to get to and wrapped more functions around that area.

When you first launch the LinkedIn app you have an overview of options.

This is the ‘previous’ version:

Now, the LinkedIn app opening page has fewer options as many have moved to being sub actions within the areas you reach through the start page:

Previously, you would go into ‘All Updates’ to see what was being posted. It was a simple view of posts from the folks you have ‘connected’ with:

Now, the area/icon button is labeled ‘Updates’ since when you go into that area many of the options from the start page have moved to this area. Encouraging users of LinkedIn to use this view more often rather than jumping out to the start page area and back in.

A new direction for the app is the addition of being able to watch Twitter through the iPhone app for mentions of your company and products. As well, passing your social LinkedIn posts out to Twitter.

On a personal note… the thing that drives me crazy is those 26 Invitations number hovering over that button on the Start Page. It actually is OK there, the issue is when you close the app it is over the app and then over the folder (my case, the ‘Social’ folder) on my iPhone launcher. There appears to be no way of getting rid of this number at the Launcher level without accepting or declining the connection requests.

LinkedIn says about this update:

New in Version 3.3

* New Updates experience with rich sharing, liking, and posting to Twitter
* New Buzz feature that lets you stay up-to-date on what people are saying about your company, school, or products on Twitter
* Simplified home screen and navigation
* Additional bug fixes and performance improvements

Eric Clapton, iPhone 4 user… and goes to a F1 race

Imagine how happy I was to see the below picture… I enjoy Eric Clapton’s music (more years than I want to admit, thanks), I am a fan of F1, and of course my phone of choice is the iPhone 4.

Over on Formula1.com is collections of race event photos from Grand Prix races around the world. In the many shots of stars and cars from the Italian event was this one of Eric Clapton tapping on his iPhone 4. I do not have permission to use the photo so this is just a screen shot of the Formula 1 Web site… visit them for the official image. Whether your looking for the iPhone 4 or Eric Clapton.

Paypal for iPhone adds free check deposit

The free app offered by Paypal has been handy for moving money around on the go. It allows for all of the normal Paypal actions of sending and recieving money via email address with the addition of ‘bump to pay’ if your near another iPhone owner you owe some bucks to.

In the latest update, Paypal has added the ability to deposit checks in your account via taking a picture of the check. To get started, go to the ‘tools’ area of the app (accept their agreement), take a picture of the front and back of the check, then enter the amount.

The service “may be handled by a third party bank” can take up to six days to clear the check into your account. You can return to the ‘tools’ area later in the app to see the info regarding the check deposit. I have deposited a check last night and will report if/when the funds show up in my acct.

The Paypal app for depositing checks is not the first to the iPhone with the ability. It is the first to deposit into your Paypal account, but if you have an account at Chase, the QuickDeposit service has been available in the free Chase Mobile app for a while. I don’t have a Chase account so I can go into the particulars of how well it works but a quick search has found many folks enjoying the added capabilities on their iPhone.