Never miss a word with livescribe

By Yara Omar, Janus Networks
Whether you are a businessperson, a student or a journalist, livescribe is one of the best ways to digitally take notes. The Pulse Smartpen uses custom paper with many microdots and a camera attached to the pen to capture all pen strokes. The pen then records sound and connects the resulting audio to captured images. You can then tap the pen on any word you wrote and the pen will replay the audio stating from the precise moment that word was written at. This will let you accurately restore the information you heard on a lecture, a business conference or any major event you were taking notes at. The pen comes with various audio-sensitivity options to obtain real high-quality sound.
you can get livescribe for $149 (1GB) or for $199 (2GB) from www.livescribe.com . 1 GB of memory can hold over 100 hours of sound, depending on the quality. Each pen is shipped with a 100-page notebook. You can then buy packs of notebooks, each contains four notebooks and costs $19.95. Each notebook page has printed playback controls which allow you to play any of the recorded sounds. The package also includes an interactive controls sheet containing a calculator, bookmarks, paper replay, volume controls and playback speeds. There is a smart desktop application to let you  move all of your notes and sounds to you desktop or laptop via USB.
You can contact the author at press@janusnetworks.com

Storm – First touch-screen version of Blackberry

By Yara Omar, Janus Networks

This month, RIM and Verizon Wireless announced the launch of the new touch-screen smart phone: Blackberry Storm. A specific release date and pricing were not announced, but Storm is expected to be out by the holiday season with competitive pricing.

Blackberry Storm introduces a touch-screen with a new technology called ClickThrough, which requires physically pushing the screen down. Storm has an accelerometer that detects if it is held horizontally or vertically and rotates the screen and keyboard according to its direction.

The new blackberry offers dual-mode functionality; meaning that it automatically switches between CDMA and GSm offering seamless international roaming.  It also works on Verizon’s EV-DO Rev. A network as well as Europe’s 2100MHz UMTS/HSDPA band. Other wireless options include Bluetooth 2.0 with support for stereo Bluetooth headsets and dial-up networking and GPS but no Wi-Fi.

The smart phone has a full-HTML browser (with no flash) and also supports  Verizon’s V Cast Music and Mobile TV services. It will come preloaded with instant-messaging clients (Yahoo, Windows Live, AOL, and ICQ) and a number of social-networking apps, including Facebook, MySpace, and Flickr.

The media player can handle various music and video formats, including MP3, AAC, WMA, WMV, MPEG4, and H.264. The new Storm has a Media Sync software for synchronizing iTunes files with it. It is also equipped with a 3.2-megapixel camera with video recording, auto focus, and flash. The phone features 1GB of onboard memory storage and a card slot that allows for up to 16GB of additional storage. Storm seems to be an iPhone killer, specially if it comes with competitive pricing as promised. 

You can contact the author at press@janusnetworks.com

Personal finance becomes easier with Mint.com

By Yara Omar, Janus Networks

Mint.com is a free online personal finance service for US citizens. And even though its still in Beta, it has won many online reviews and credits. The service is totally free and secured.

You subscribe to the service by signing up and then adding all of your bank accounts to the system. Mint supports more than 7,000 US financial organizations so you don’t have to worry about anything further. Mint will track all of your transactions, categorize them and display them in a friendly way. The beauty of Mint is that you don’t have to keep updating it; instead, you will get to focus on making smart decisions.

Mint provides easy budgeting; you set goals, and helps you keep track of your spending habits. It also sends you alerts when you’re approaching your limits. The website has a database of more than 1000 offers that will help you save money and pay your debts. Mint.com is gaining more and more support everyday and is really worth a try!

You can contact the author at press@janusnetworks.com

Try online employee scheduling with WhenToWork.com

By Yara Omar, Janus Networks

WhenToWork is an efficient online employee scheduling software. WhenToWork is known by its flexibility, convenience and reporting capabilities. With this program, you can manage schedules for employees that work in multiple locations. You can control what they can view or do while accessing their schedules through the program’s managerial settings.

The program lets you view all the schedules by day, week or month. You can print them, import and export data, manage employees personal information and color code shifts for easier readability. The program includes an advanced notification system that lets you add any number of emails and text message addresses and set when each one is notified. You can know who had seen or confirmed their schedule or who would like to work when filling an open shift. Employees can set up their work time preferences down to 15 minute intervals – which are viewable when manually assigning shifts.

This program has many more features that’s you must explore. It’s suitable for almost all kinds of employers with its ease and flexibility. The service is priced based on the number of employees starting at $15 per month for 1-10 employees reduced to $100 for one year ahead. Go to http://whentowork.com and give it a try.

You can contact the author at press@janusnetworks.com