A lot of talk about the new Evernote beta release made me stop in for a little look-see and product test of this 'new' web productivity tool. Apparently some people forget that Evernote's been around since 2004, when it was simply a PC-based application that could sync notes to your PDA. It's now fully Mac-supported and let's you snap photos directly from your cameraphone/smartphone and sync them right up to your web-based depository of notes.
First impressions? Not horrible. I posted notes and photos to my site from several sources - my iPhone, my digital camera, web clipping, and even direct entry. They are all indexed and I can search them for keywords pulled directly from the notes or images. The text recognition (mock-OCR), that to me is one of the more appealing features, is a bit lacking, even allowing for the low quality of most smartphone cameras. This photo was snapped from my iPhone in low light which is typical for a non-flash cameraphone.
There are a number of good reviews out there with more elaborate test results, including one over at Wired's blog, and a great one on Replacing Business Cards with Evernote by Stowe Boyd.
You guys know I'm a big fan of product demo videos, which have become essential with the constant barrage of new web products coming our way. Evernote's is up to snuff:
Need an Invite?
They are still in a closed beta, but if you want an invite just email me and I'll set you up.
Interesting to note that they've raised $9M of purely Angel money, choosing to avoid the VC route. Could be because PayPal-founder Max Levchin is behind it. So far so good, as traffic seems to be picking up nicely.
