Evernote and HTC 7 Mozart
This fall, HTC introduced the first smartphone running the Windows Phone 7.5 Mango operating system in Russia. For us, this is a particularly important point, because the Evernote application for Windows Phone is the youngest in the family of clients of the service for different platforms and, perhaps, one of the most interesting and unusual. In addition, most recently, it finally received the Russian interface .
We are grateful to HTC for providing the HTC 7 Mozart smartphone, on which we tested the work of the new version of Evernote.
We will not dwell on the characteristics of the device, we can find out all the parameters of the phone on the HTC website. We note only the basic specifications. This is a monoblock in an aluminum case with plastic inserts, which received a 3.7-inch SLCD touch screen with a resolution of 800x480 pixels and a processor with a clock frequency of 1 GHz.
The phone received an 8-megapixel camera with a xenon flash and autofocus. Thus, while HTC Mozart can be called one of the most advanced models in terms of photo capabilities running Windows Phone 7. And this is important, because the lion’s share of Evernote notes created on the phone are images of pointers, documents, labels and other objects containing text . Therefore, the ability of the camera to focus quickly and close to the subject is a critical advantage.
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You can install Evernote from the Marketplace app store. The icon for accessing it is located on the desktop of the device. To access the store (and indeed to fully work with Windows Phone) you need to create a Windows Live ID account, which can be done on the website or directly from the phone. However, if you use the Live Messenger instant messaging service or other Microsoft Live services, then you already have an account.
In the Marketplace, click on the magnifying glass icon, enter “Evernote” in the search box, click on the “Search” button, and then select the familiar icon with an elephant in the list of results and click “Install”. You will be asked to allow the program access to the location - it is worth it so that in the future you can always easily find on the map notes taken near the current location.
After the client is installed on the smartphone, you can immediately take out Evernote in the form of a tile on the main screen. To do this, in the menu of all applications, press and hold the application icon. In the list that appears, select "On the desktop." To raise the Evernote tile on the desktop itself above the first screen, hold it with your finger, drag the icon to the desired location.
When you first start, you will traditionally be asked to enter a username and password for your Evernote account (or create one). Then the application synchronizes all your notes. Depending on their quantity, this may take some time. We recommend doing this procedure in the presence of Wi-Fi connection.
Some might think the Metro interface is unusual in Windows Phone 7, but we really liked the screen flick approach. The functionality of Evernote fits into it particularly well. After the end of synchronization, a home screen with all notes appears before the user. For each note, it shows the title and creation time, a few lines of text, and if there is an image or voice recording in it, the corresponding thumbnail or speaker icon.
With a flick of your finger, you can quickly navigate to notebook screens, tags, and recently opened notes. The latter should seem especially convenient for those who regularly return to the same records, for example, on the current project at work.
The process of turning the screens goes quite smoothly and naturally without any slow downs. The same applies to loading new notes while flipping the list down. The author of our application for Windows Phone has already told in the technoblog (we posted the translation here ), how long he had been trying to avoid the slightest roughness when scrolling so that the smoothness of the interface would not be smeared.
If you open a specific note, then at the bottom you will see a panel with a list of possible actions, where, in addition to editing and sending by e-mail, there is a button for a pin. If you click on it, the note will be placed as a separate tile on the main screen of Windows Phone. This is very useful when you constantly refer to the same notes, for example, referring to the list of purchases or documents collected. The element will be added to the end of the desktop, but you already know how to raise it higher.
Create a new note is very simple. On all screens in the lower part there is a panel with three buttons so that you can quickly create a new note, take a photo or go to search.
The new note creation screen is conveniently divided into three fields - the title, the notepad / tags selection panel and the main text area.
You can add multiple photos and voice recordings to the note (provided that the maximum size of the note is not exceeded, which is 25 MB for free users and 50 MB for paid users). Such attachments are made simply through the same bottom panel, which on the screen for creating a note contains icons for saving, photo and voice recorder. Attachments can be placed in existing notes. To do this, simply click on the note in the list, after opening it, click on the edit button, and then everything is the same as creating a new note.
It is worth recalling that Evernote allows you to add notes to your account by sending them in the form of letters to the user's personal incoming email address. For example, by sending an important letter, you can put the address in a hidden copy or forward the received correspondence to it. In addition, many people still have the habit of sending letters with notes that they want to remember to themselves. You can, without changing their habits, send them by mail straight to Evernote, after which they will stay with you forever and will be available everywhere.
Directly from our application, you can add your Evernote email address to your phone contacts. To do this, on one of the main screens, click on the ellipsis in the action bar and select Settings , and then click on the Add to contacts button under the address. You will be prompted to assign an address to an existing contact or create a new one. For the second option, click on the “+” button in the action bar, then “Save”, and then name the new contact (for example, “My Evernote”).
Photographs are a very important part of working with Evernote mobile clients, which not only stores captured images, provides access to them from any device, but also recognizes the text shown on them, including handwritten text. You can search by text as easily as typed from the keyboard. An indispensable thing for business cards, discount cards, labels, pointers, receipts and much more.
By clicking on the camera icon, you will switch to the standard shooting mode. Almost the entire screen takes the view from the camera, and at the bottom there is a small button for setting and zooming in / out. Another button - for shooting video - in Evernote is inactive, because the resulting videos are too large to be inserted into a note, but it is worth mentioning that HTC Mozart shoots a good video format 1280x720.
But back to the shooting process. The phone has an interesting two-step release button located on the bottom of the right side of the device. With a light touch, the focus is fixed, and with further pressure a picture is taken. However, if you are afraid of knocking down a picture, tugging at the case, then you can simply press with your finger anywhere in the screen. After shooting, the application shows the result, which you can accept or try to retake.
Before shooting, you can delve into the settings, where in addition to the flash mode (forced, automatic or disabled) you can choose the size of the future frame (up to 3264x2448 pixels - while the photo is about 2-3 megabytes), the metering mode (central, integral or spot) , the flicker frequency of the light source (50 or 60 Hz). You can also change the shooting mode under the current conditions with a predetermined set of parameters. To do this, go to the settings section "Scenes". Among the options available are sports, beach, lights, candlelight and macro. Also in the camera application provides a selection of standard effects: shades of gray, negative, sepia and tanning beds. You can return from the settings to shooting by pressing the “Back” button on the device.
Even with poor lighting and without a flash (sometimes it can light up an area with text, which would prevent subsequent recognition), the photos are quite clear, and Evernote servers easily index the text displayed on them.
By the way, it is worth recalling such an opportunity in our application, as the rotation of pictures. When you create or edit a note with photo attachments in Evernote for Windows Phone, simply click on the desired snapshot. The edit screen will open, where you can rotate the image clockwise or counterclockwise or remove it from the note. So if you suddenly removed the business card "upside down", you can fix it without any problems. From the same mode, you can save the photo to the Windows Phone image by clicking on the ellipsis in the action bar and selecting the corresponding item.
After photographing, you will return to the note creation screen, where you can save the note, as well as add or add something else to it.
After synchronization (it is done automatically, but you can start it manually by clicking on the ellipsis in the action bar of one of the main screens, and then selecting Sync), the note will be available on all your Evernote devices, and the images in it will be sent to the text recognition server . After the recognition is complete (for premium users this happens in seconds, and the owners of free accounts may have to wait a bit) images with text will be available for search by Evernote account.
The next popular feature of Evernote mobile apps is, of course, the voice recorder. When you press the record button, the corresponding screen opens, showing the volume of the recorded sound, the timer and the stop button.
Upon completion, you return to the note screen, where the added entry is represented as a speaker icon and note size beside it. By clicking on it, you can immediately listen to the file and delete it, if necessary. The size shown is useful for controlling the volume of a note. If you are connected via GPRS / 3G, the transfer of data with notes containing large sound files can take a long time and result in unexpected expenses.
After dictation, you can continue editing, save the note or add another audio file.
- In general, if you are in the process of choosing a phone and are looking at Windows Phone, then HTC Mozart seems to us a worthy choice among smartphones of the average price category. At least, with Evernote memorizing all the things you want to save for the future, he copes very successfully, having everything necessary for that.
Well, our application for Windows Phone, we believe one of the best Evernote solutions for mobile platforms. If you are already the owner of this smartphone and have not yet installed Evernote, we hope that our review has convinced you that this omission should be urgently corrected.
We are grateful to HTC for providing the HTC 7 Mozart smartphone, on which we tested the work of the new version of Evernote.
We will not dwell on the characteristics of the device, we can find out all the parameters of the phone on the HTC website. We note only the basic specifications. This is a monoblock in an aluminum case with plastic inserts, which received a 3.7-inch SLCD touch screen with a resolution of 800x480 pixels and a processor with a clock frequency of 1 GHz.
The phone received an 8-megapixel camera with a xenon flash and autofocus. Thus, while HTC Mozart can be called one of the most advanced models in terms of photo capabilities running Windows Phone 7. And this is important, because the lion’s share of Evernote notes created on the phone are images of pointers, documents, labels and other objects containing text . Therefore, the ability of the camera to focus quickly and close to the subject is a critical advantage.
')
Preparatory work
You can install Evernote from the Marketplace app store. The icon for accessing it is located on the desktop of the device. To access the store (and indeed to fully work with Windows Phone) you need to create a Windows Live ID account, which can be done on the website or directly from the phone. However, if you use the Live Messenger instant messaging service or other Microsoft Live services, then you already have an account.
In the Marketplace, click on the magnifying glass icon, enter “Evernote” in the search box, click on the “Search” button, and then select the familiar icon with an elephant in the list of results and click “Install”. You will be asked to allow the program access to the location - it is worth it so that in the future you can always easily find on the map notes taken near the current location.
After the client is installed on the smartphone, you can immediately take out Evernote in the form of a tile on the main screen. To do this, in the menu of all applications, press and hold the application icon. In the list that appears, select "On the desktop." To raise the Evernote tile on the desktop itself above the first screen, hold it with your finger, drag the icon to the desired location.
When you first start, you will traditionally be asked to enter a username and password for your Evernote account (or create one). Then the application synchronizes all your notes. Depending on their quantity, this may take some time. We recommend doing this procedure in the presence of Wi-Fi connection.
Interface
Some might think the Metro interface is unusual in Windows Phone 7, but we really liked the screen flick approach. The functionality of Evernote fits into it particularly well. After the end of synchronization, a home screen with all notes appears before the user. For each note, it shows the title and creation time, a few lines of text, and if there is an image or voice recording in it, the corresponding thumbnail or speaker icon.
With a flick of your finger, you can quickly navigate to notebook screens, tags, and recently opened notes. The latter should seem especially convenient for those who regularly return to the same records, for example, on the current project at work.
The process of turning the screens goes quite smoothly and naturally without any slow downs. The same applies to loading new notes while flipping the list down. The author of our application for Windows Phone has already told in the technoblog (we posted the translation here ), how long he had been trying to avoid the slightest roughness when scrolling so that the smoothness of the interface would not be smeared.
If you open a specific note, then at the bottom you will see a panel with a list of possible actions, where, in addition to editing and sending by e-mail, there is a button for a pin. If you click on it, the note will be placed as a separate tile on the main screen of Windows Phone. This is very useful when you constantly refer to the same notes, for example, referring to the list of purchases or documents collected. The element will be added to the end of the desktop, but you already know how to raise it higher.
Creating and editing
Create a new note is very simple. On all screens in the lower part there is a panel with three buttons so that you can quickly create a new note, take a photo or go to search.
The new note creation screen is conveniently divided into three fields - the title, the notepad / tags selection panel and the main text area.
You can add multiple photos and voice recordings to the note (provided that the maximum size of the note is not exceeded, which is 25 MB for free users and 50 MB for paid users). Such attachments are made simply through the same bottom panel, which on the screen for creating a note contains icons for saving, photo and voice recorder. Attachments can be placed in existing notes. To do this, simply click on the note in the list, after opening it, click on the edit button, and then everything is the same as creating a new note.
It is worth recalling that Evernote allows you to add notes to your account by sending them in the form of letters to the user's personal incoming email address. For example, by sending an important letter, you can put the address in a hidden copy or forward the received correspondence to it. In addition, many people still have the habit of sending letters with notes that they want to remember to themselves. You can, without changing their habits, send them by mail straight to Evernote, after which they will stay with you forever and will be available everywhere.
Directly from our application, you can add your Evernote email address to your phone contacts. To do this, on one of the main screens, click on the ellipsis in the action bar and select Settings , and then click on the Add to contacts button under the address. You will be prompted to assign an address to an existing contact or create a new one. For the second option, click on the “+” button in the action bar, then “Save”, and then name the new contact (for example, “My Evernote”).
A photo
Photographs are a very important part of working with Evernote mobile clients, which not only stores captured images, provides access to them from any device, but also recognizes the text shown on them, including handwritten text. You can search by text as easily as typed from the keyboard. An indispensable thing for business cards, discount cards, labels, pointers, receipts and much more.
By clicking on the camera icon, you will switch to the standard shooting mode. Almost the entire screen takes the view from the camera, and at the bottom there is a small button for setting and zooming in / out. Another button - for shooting video - in Evernote is inactive, because the resulting videos are too large to be inserted into a note, but it is worth mentioning that HTC Mozart shoots a good video format 1280x720.
But back to the shooting process. The phone has an interesting two-step release button located on the bottom of the right side of the device. With a light touch, the focus is fixed, and with further pressure a picture is taken. However, if you are afraid of knocking down a picture, tugging at the case, then you can simply press with your finger anywhere in the screen. After shooting, the application shows the result, which you can accept or try to retake.
Before shooting, you can delve into the settings, where in addition to the flash mode (forced, automatic or disabled) you can choose the size of the future frame (up to 3264x2448 pixels - while the photo is about 2-3 megabytes), the metering mode (central, integral or spot) , the flicker frequency of the light source (50 or 60 Hz). You can also change the shooting mode under the current conditions with a predetermined set of parameters. To do this, go to the settings section "Scenes". Among the options available are sports, beach, lights, candlelight and macro. Also in the camera application provides a selection of standard effects: shades of gray, negative, sepia and tanning beds. You can return from the settings to shooting by pressing the “Back” button on the device.
Even with poor lighting and without a flash (sometimes it can light up an area with text, which would prevent subsequent recognition), the photos are quite clear, and Evernote servers easily index the text displayed on them.
By the way, it is worth recalling such an opportunity in our application, as the rotation of pictures. When you create or edit a note with photo attachments in Evernote for Windows Phone, simply click on the desired snapshot. The edit screen will open, where you can rotate the image clockwise or counterclockwise or remove it from the note. So if you suddenly removed the business card "upside down", you can fix it without any problems. From the same mode, you can save the photo to the Windows Phone image by clicking on the ellipsis in the action bar and selecting the corresponding item.
After photographing, you will return to the note creation screen, where you can save the note, as well as add or add something else to it.
After synchronization (it is done automatically, but you can start it manually by clicking on the ellipsis in the action bar of one of the main screens, and then selecting Sync), the note will be available on all your Evernote devices, and the images in it will be sent to the text recognition server . After the recognition is complete (for premium users this happens in seconds, and the owners of free accounts may have to wait a bit) images with text will be available for search by Evernote account.
Audio
The next popular feature of Evernote mobile apps is, of course, the voice recorder. When you press the record button, the corresponding screen opens, showing the volume of the recorded sound, the timer and the stop button.
Upon completion, you return to the note screen, where the added entry is represented as a speaker icon and note size beside it. By clicking on it, you can immediately listen to the file and delete it, if necessary. The size shown is useful for controlling the volume of a note. If you are connected via GPRS / 3G, the transfer of data with notes containing large sound files can take a long time and result in unexpected expenses.
After dictation, you can continue editing, save the note or add another audio file.
- In general, if you are in the process of choosing a phone and are looking at Windows Phone, then HTC Mozart seems to us a worthy choice among smartphones of the average price category. At least, with Evernote memorizing all the things you want to save for the future, he copes very successfully, having everything necessary for that.
Well, our application for Windows Phone, we believe one of the best Evernote solutions for mobile platforms. If you are already the owner of this smartphone and have not yet installed Evernote, we hope that our review has convinced you that this omission should be urgently corrected.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/134106/
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