Database Info

Anyone know of some good diary software?

I hate to sound like a 13 year old girl, but I want to start writing a diary. Here are some features I am looking for in diary software:
Access from both PC and PPC
Text entry and voice recording
Data saved on the memory card
It would be nice if it integrated with Outlook Calendar
Any of you power-users out there know of any software that can be used to accomplished this? I have tried TodayNotez and though it seems to have what I need, it is slow and buggy.

Good Mobile Diary??
larsuck said:
I hate to sound like a 13 year old girl, but I want to start writing a diary. Here are some features I am looking for in diary software:
Access from both PC and PPC
Text entry and voice recording
Data saved on the memory card
It would be nice if it integrated with Outlook Calendar
Any of you power-users out there know of any software that can be used to accomplished this? I have tried TodayNotez and though it seems to have what I need, it is slow and buggy.
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Man, I have been looking for this same thing, haven't found anything I like - same experience with TodayNotez.
On my PC I use iDailyDiary Professional (there is a free basic version) which is awesome. AFAIK they don't have a Windows Mobile version.
For voice notes on my Tilt, I use Vito AudioNotes - like it a lot. Basically now I use it to make notes to myself, then play them back while I'm at my PC and put personal thoughts into iDailyDiary.
Noticed your signature line "Is it just me, or do we all spend so much time flashing and tweaking the perfect phone that, once we finish, we have no one left willing to call us." - yeah, seems like many of us spend a lot of time tweaking and flashing - would like to see more interest and attention devoted to actually using the phone - good basic useful apps - how to use them to their max potential, ways to use the pocket pc to improve our daily lives, etc.

Check this
http://www.pocketkai.net/asp/
Multimedia Tagebuch
The only thing is I don´t know if it will support english. I am german and it does everything you´ve been looking for.

Good Mobile Diary??
mannheimguitar said:
http://www.pocketkai.net/asp/
Multimedia Tagebuch
The only thing is I don´t know if it will support english. I am german and it does everything you´ve been looking for.
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Lot of cool stuff at that site. I don't see any program that is actually a diary, however. Maybe I overlooked it. Seems like a very friendly site - takes requests/suggestions so I put one in.

Did you consdier maybe some sort of Online Program like Twitter?

What about Microsoft Onenote. PC and PPC side, have a button in Outlook on pc and also on IE, can take recordings, pictures, etc...

Thanks for the great suggestions everybody! But keep 'em coming'!
BTW, that Kai fellow really makes a lot of software, doesn't he? He must have a hundred programs for sale on that site of his. His diary software looks good, but it doesn't seem to be able to record directly from the program itself. A picky thing I know.
Twitter and blogs of all sorts are unfortunately blocked by my school's proxy.
One Note sounds promising, but US$99 is a bit more than I was willing to part with. Perhaps my school has a copy somewhere...
Has anyone out there tried Alpha Journal and Alpha Pocket Journal? Seems a bit old, but sometimes that isn't such a bad thing.

Confidential Notes and Private Notes
I just found 2 programs, Confidential Notes and Private Notes, here
They both have password protection, and both allow combo notes with audio and pictures. Haven't purchased either yet; trial available for Confidential Notes but not for Private Notes.
Found these by searching for "password protected notes for windows mobile" which took me to this review of Confidential Notes at clintonfitch.com. Following that I found that the developer says it has been discontinued, but as you can see above, it is still for sale at PocketGear.
I think it might work well as kind of a free-form diary. I can insert time and date with Resco keyboard for any new entry.

Check out evernote. They have a tech preview of the winmobile version that just rocks!
I use my sd card in my pda and then use the same database from my pda for my desktop installer version. It is by far the best journaling program I have ever found.
www.evernote.com

As the OP, I felt a responsibility to follow up with my thoughts about all the different great suggestions everyone made.
TodayNotez: As mentioned before, this has everything I was looking for, but was sloooow to open even when the database was in the main memory. I have a feeling .NET is to blame here, and if the makers could program this in another language to improve speed then they would have a real winner on their hands.
Kai's multimedia diary: Interesting software. Instead of allowing one to take pictures or record memos as part of a diary, this software allows pre-recorded media to be attached to diary entries.
Online programs like Twitter (or any blog/social software): Would work great if my situation allowed access to social websites. Also, for the most part these sites require a active connection to the internet to add and edit posts, which could get expensive if using a mobile data connection.
OneNote: This would probably work great if I could get my hands on a copy of the PC software for a reasonable price. Ahem.
Confiential Notes and Private Notes (et.al.): These kinds of software were good for what they were, but their strengths were in encryption and password protection. Confidential Notes didn't even have an option to turn off password protection. It had two settings: Secure and Paranoid. Neither of these had desktop sync as far as I could tell.
What I finally settled on was a Outlook Journal editing/syncronizing software called Retroactive. It is a little slow, is kind of touchy, isn't free, but has a lot going for it. If you are familiary with the Journal aspect of Outlook then you know that it is like the blank sheet of paper in a DayPlanner. You can write about how the events of that day went.
Journal entries created in Outlook or Retroactive can be linked to other Outlook items such as appointments, tasks, contacts or notes. Also, it is possible to record and add voice notes and pictures directly from the app. Lastly, the best part is the sync capabilities. Everything is synced with the PCs version of Outlook, including linked Outlook items, voice memos and pictures. Attached files that exceed a user-defined size can be automatically removed from the PPC after syncronization to keep memory space free. Lastly, there is an option to have all content uploaded to your Blogger account using your PC's internet connection. This is what I settled on.
I hope this thread helps someone else out someday.

Thanks for good info. but i need help
larsuck said:
As the OP, I felt a responsibility to follow up with my thoughts about all the different great suggestions everyone made.
TodayNotez: As mentioned before, this has everything I was looking for, but was sloooow to open even when the database was in the main memory. I have a feeling .NET is to blame here, and if the makers could program this in another language to improve speed then they would have a real winner on their hands.
Kai's multimedia diary: Interesting software. Instead of allowing one to take pictures or record memos as part of a diary, this software allows pre-recorded media to be attached to diary entries.
Online programs like Twitter (or any blog/social software): Would work great if my situation allowed access to social websites. Also, for the most part these sites require a active connection to the internet to add and edit posts, which could get expensive if using a mobile data connection.
OneNote: This would probably work great if I could get my hands on a copy of the PC software for a reasonable price. Ahem.
Confiential Notes and Private Notes (et.al.): These kinds of software were good for what they were, but their strengths were in encryption and password protection. Confidential Notes didn't even have an option to turn off password protection. It had two settings: Secure and Paranoid. Neither of these had desktop sync as far as I could tell.
What I finally settled on was a Outlook Journal editing/syncronizing software called Retroactive. It is a little slow, is kind of touchy, isn't free, but has a lot going for it. If you are familiary with the Journal aspect of Outlook then you know that it is like the blank sheet of paper in a DayPlanner. You can write about how the events of that day went.
Journal entries created in Outlook or Retroactive can be linked to other Outlook items such as appointments, tasks, contacts or notes. Also, it is possible to record and add voice notes and pictures directly from the app. Lastly, the best part is the sync capabilities. Everything is synced with the PCs version of Outlook, including linked Outlook items, voice memos and pictures. Attached files that exceed a user-defined size can be automatically removed from the PPC after syncronization to keep memory space free. Lastly, there is an option to have all content uploaded to your Blogger account using your PC's internet connection. This is what I settled on.
I hope this thread helps someone else out someday.
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Why is not retroactive free?

HOEROFOREVERINTHESUN said:
Why is not retroactive free?
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Probably because that software is the only one that can do what it does. It is good software, and probably wasn't too easy to make.

Thanks Kururu that was a great find, I've been looking for a decent journal software program, I just needed something that could take entries and sort them properly by date without having a ton of text files lying around my docs folder. I.e. -- something like Outlook's journal function.
I tried everything and screwed up a lot but Retroactive fit the bill almost perfectly. The only drawback is it takes forever to loadup.

Guys, guys... Unless you want to be seen as a 12 year old girl, it's a memoire, not a diary.

(REQUEST)Two different app ideas: Skydrive sync Single Messenger

I have two ideas I would like to put out there for the awesome developers here at XDA. I have searched for these and have not really seen either.
Skydrive Sync/File Explorer
We have MS MyPhone, which has a measly 200mb of storage, but MS gives you 25gb with your Hotmail account with the skydrive. I have searched and the best thing I have found is the Live Mesh, which is only in Beta and doesn't have devices yet. It would be sweet if someone could create a sync/file explorer program with skydrive so that you could access any information from the skydrive and even better would be auto sync. Kind of creating a RAID setup with the phone and a folder on the skydrive
Single Messenger
I think HTC did a good job integrating social networks into the contacts, but it would be nice to have a tab in Manila or under the contact that would list all contact from one person on one page with an icon to indicate what communication it is. I.E. get emails/sms/aim/gtalk/ircq/facebook/twitter/myspace/etc all in one screen from that one person.
Perhaps I am asking too much, but I figure I throw it out there in hopes someone creates it. Either way, thanks to everyone here for your answers and creations!

I especialy liked the Skydrive project idea. I googled and saw that there is even an opensource .net api available at codeplex. So it would not be very difficult to start. I would love to develop this app, but I am too busy with other projects including LateReader.

They are both great ideas; I'd love to see either one get implemented.

SolusCado said:
They are both great ideas; I'd love to see either one get implemented.
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We should be looking into developing these ideas. It would be great to do minor changes to office docos

MarkUp Word doc

Is there a way to mark upi a word document with the spen? I would like to be able to review documents and put editing marks and notes on the page using the spen and then save my notes and email back to the orginiator

inmnbob said:
Is there a way to mark upi a word document with the spen? I would like to be able to review documents and put editing marks and notes on the page using the spen and then save my notes and email back to the orginiator
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I think you should be able to do this with Polaris Office however it does not work very well. There are two other options, either you convert the document into a pdf and use a PDF annotator such as ezpdf or there is a new app called textmaker which allows you to mark up text like MS Word but the app is expensive although there is a free trial availableon their website at the following link:
http://www.softmaker.com/english/ofa_en.htm

inmnbob said:
Is there a way to mark upi a word document with the spen? I would like to be able to review documents and put editing marks and notes on the page using the spen and then save my notes and email back to the orginiator
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My favorite app for Office files is OfficePro6.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...3lzdGVtcy5lZGl0b3Iub2ZmaWNlX3JlZ2lzdGVyZWQiXQ..

inmnbob said:
Is there a way to mark upi a word document with the spen? I would like to be able to review documents and put editing marks and notes on the page using the spen and then save my notes and email back to the orginiator
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Here are some notes I made on using Polaris for ink notations:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1856691
I haven't found another office product that allows ink annotations either. I did install MobileNoter SE HD recently. Its an unofficial OneNote app for Android that has tons more functionality than the official OneNote app, including ink annotations that will be captured and synced back to OneNote on a PC. Here is a link to that, but FYI its $15 (but worth it if you are a heavy OneNoter).
http://www.mobilenoter.com/Home/Features_HD
JC

I think I remember some one mentioning sonnr scribble app. For annotations on office documents.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.soonrscribble

tonyz3 said:
I think I remember some one mentioning sonnr scribble app. For annotations on office documents.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.soonrscribble
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Nice. Thanks.

tonyz3 said:
I think I remember some one mentioning sonnr scribble app. For annotations on office documents.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.soonrscribble
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Thanks for the link. I checked it out. The functionality looks good, but the implementation for me is a deal-breaker. From the description of the app:
" The documents you want to annotate and share are securely stored in your Soonr Personal account in the cloud so you must be connected to the internet to access them."
So you have to store your docs on their cloud server to annotate and access them, and there is no off-line caching of those docs. Sounds like the functionality is just a gimmick to get people using their cloud services.

jchammerpants said:
Thanks for the link. I checked it out. The functionality looks good, but the implementation for me is a deal-breaker. From the description of the app:
" The documents you want to annotate and share are securely stored in your Soonr Personal account in the cloud so you must be connected to the internet to access them."
So you have to store your docs on their cloud server to annotate and access them, and there is no off-line caching of those docs. Sounds like the functionality is just a gimmick to get people using their cloud services.
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Not to be rude like our "VP"........ but you are in correct. You can offline cache either in office formats or the pdf(annotated format)
When you have a doc on your screen you can either back arrow to save it as annotated to the cloud account. or if while it is on the screen you can hit the upper rt corner menu and down load which will cache it. What i have noticed is the down load did not seem to work if you are just in the soonr menu and long press a file to download it that way without it on the screen open. For me it must be open on the screen and DL from upper rt menu to cache.
I DL'd this app this morning to try it so i have not played alot with it but this is what i know so far. Seems pretty good though.

tonyz3 said:
...while it is on the screen you can hit the upper rt corner menu and down load which will cache it...
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Many thanks for the further insights. If you do download/cache it, can you open it in the sonnr app without an active internet connection to truly work with it offline? Or is the downloaded version "read only," still requiring an active connection to their cloud to make further annotations on the cloud copy?
I love the idea of the app, except if I have to be tethered to their cloud to use it.
JC

jchammerpants said:
Many thanks for the further insights. If you do download/cache it, can you open it in the sonnr app without an active internet connection to truly work with it offline? Or is the downloaded version "read only," still requiring an active connection to their cloud to make further annotations on the cloud copy?
I love the idea of the app, except if I have to be tethered to their cloud to use it.
JC
Click to expand...
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yes it will work in their app, let you work on it and when you are done place it in a pending upload state until you are back on wifi. than it will update in the cloud. Still trying to work out everything- will take another look at it over the weekend.

[Q] Coming back to Windows

Gentlemen and ladies,
I am coming back to Windows (used to have an Imagio) after being on Android the last two years. So need some personal opinions and advice.
What are the must have apps for thw 8X? I will already be downloading and installing Crackle, tuneIn, Skype, Flixster, iMDB, and Adobe Reader. Anything else?
And along that vein, no way to side load apps?
Also, music. Coming from the Thunderbolt and a 32G card, dropping to 16G (actually, 11?) how does one manage all thier music? I found I have over 16G of music and would like to know best how to manage that.
And syncing to my wifes desktop. Outlook is her life, contacts and calender. i want to be sure that the connection isn't too complicated and that the phone will not change anything, in other words, the phone should only accept all calender and contact data, without modifying or altering anything.
Am excited to use this bad boy, should have it by Friday! Great way to start the new year!
Thanks for all the information everyone!

jerrya said:
Gentlemen and ladies,
I am coming back to Windows (used to have an Imagio) after being on Android the last two years. So need some personal opinions and advice.
What are the must have apps for thw 8X? I will already be downloading and installing Crackle, tuneIn, Skype, Flixster, iMDB, and Adobe Reader. Anything else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Metrotube definitely. The Windows phone web app store also has a list of "essential" apps.
jerrya said:
And along that vein, no way to side load apps?
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Click to collapse
Developer account.
jerrya said:
Also, music. Coming from the Thunderbolt and a 32G card, dropping to 16G (actually, 11?) how does one manage all thier music? I found I have over 16G of music and would like to know best how to manage that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Downgrade the quality, if you are using loseless files. You can try google music also.
jerrya said:
And syncing to my wifes desktop. Outlook is her life, contacts and calender. i want to be sure that the connection isn't too complicated and that the phone will not change anything, in other words, the phone should only accept all calender and contact data, without modifying or altering anything.
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You can't plug in your phone and sync. Online sync only.

matthew5025 said:
Metrotube definitely. The Windows phone web app store also has a list of "essential" apps.
Click to expand...
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Thanks! I will give that a go!
matthew5025 said:
Developer account.
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Whats this? Never heard of it.
matthew5025 said:
Downgrade the quality, if you are using loseless files. You can try google music also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have heard of dbPowerAmp that converts from mp3 to wma, supposed to cut files in half. So will test that on a few songs, I really don't want to loose alot of quality for storage. And since I am going with a 2G plan (already miss my unlimited!), want to really reduce my data usage, so will google music download to my phone, or only play whats on the cloud?
matthew5025 said:
You can't plug in your phone and sync. Online sync only.
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Crazy! I am doing something like that now, except contacts don't sync wirelessly, in fact, they don't wired either! Have to save contact file, then upload to phone, and load into google. Hopefully my Windows phone and Windows Outlook will really enjoy working together!

Music - For $9.99 a month you can enjoy an Xbox Music Pass, allowing unlimited streaming and downloading of over 30 million songs. It's integrated directly into the Music+Video hub. You can grab whatever you like, it's pretty awesome. And if you like Pandora-like functionality, you can use the Smart DJ feature to create a playlist of music similiar to an artist or song that you like. If you have Windows 8, you can use the Music app on there to add music to your "Cloud Collection." Music in your cloud collection will appear on your phone as if you had synced it there, but will stream when you play it. You can tap+hold to download it to your phone if you like. I will note that the Music app on Windows 8 leaves a lot to be desired. Zune was way more useful and awesome, but Xbox Music will improve over time.
Side-loading - You don't do this on Windows Phone. Apps are approved by Microsoft and installed via the Store only, to ensure quality and safety. This is similiar to Apple, but Microsoft is less restrictive on what they allow (Apple tends to block things they find morally offensive or that encroach on their own products). If you are a registered Windows Phone developer, you can developer-unlock your phone and side-load apps to it, if you have the source-code for said apps. There aren't many available, and this is not the intended purpose of the dev account.
Outlook/Email - Email on WP8 is tied to online accounts (gmail, outlook, yahoo, custom). And since you sign into the phone with a Microsoft account, you already have an account on Outlook.com if you want to use it. You can set it up to check an existing email account with another service provider, or create aliases (other email addresses) that go directly to your Microsoft account email. If you want to connect the Outlook desktop program on your PC to your Outlook.com online email, you can download a program called the Microsoft Office Outlook Hotmail Connector, which does exactly what you are trying to do.
You can sync the phone with your desktop to transfer music, videos, and photos back and forth, in one of three ways: On Windows 8, use the "Windows Phone" app from the integrated Windows Store, or download the Windows Phone desktop sync program, or just drag and drop files using Windows Explorer. When you plug your phone into your PC, you will see it under My Computer. There are folders for Music, Videos, Photos, and Ringtones.
Another awesome thing is the SkyDrive integration. Go to skydrive.com on your PC using your Microsoft account (or jump to it from Outlook.com using the menu at the top left). You can store files there. 7 GB for free. Photos automatically show up in your phone's Photos hub. Documents automatically show up on your phone's Office hub. There is a SkyDrive app in the Windows Phone Store that will let you do even more with your SkyDrive.
Enjoy your phone. It's actually very awesome.

Music - For $9.99 a month you can enjoy an Xbox Music Pass, allowing unlimited streaming and downloading of over 30 million songs.
Yea, I have thought of that, but cant find a reasonable excuse to use it. I may listen to hours of music a day, but I am very specific regarding sound and styles. And I get the latest from my friends and listening to the radio from time to time. If I hear of a band from friends or on the radio, I look for more and see if I like it. If I do, I purchase the albums. Of course, my favorite band is an atuomatic purchase and doesn't count. Since 2010, I have only purchased three albums from bands I have learned about, so 10 bucks a month just isn't justified.
Side-loading - You don't do this on Windows Phone. Apps are approved by Microsoft and installed via the Store only, to ensure quality and safety. This is similiar to Apple, but Microsoft is less restrictive on what they allow (Apple tends to block things they find morally offensive or that encroach on their own products). If you are a registered Windows Phone developer, you can developer-unlock your phone and side-load apps to it, if you have the source-code for said apps. There aren't many available, and this is not the intended purpose of the dev account.
I am looking into trying to write my own apps. I have gotten a ton of information and where to look, so hope to start doing that soon. There is (I think) a simple app that is the only one I really miss, so going to see if I can make it!
Outlook/Email
I got that figured out. My wife loves how I get updates wirelessly, instead of having to sync every weeked.
You can sync the phone with your desktop to transfer music, videos, and photos back and forth.
Did the transfer method. But gonna look into that desktop sync thing, might make music transfers easier.
SkyDrive integration.
That just rocks! Its crazy that I can capture a vid or picture, and the family can watch them from my xbox almost instantly when I am still out in the field! I haven't yet fully utilized it, but getting there! Just need to figure out office and I will be a mobile fool!
Enjoy your phone. It's actually very awesome.
It is really awesome! Even my wife loves it! Maybe I can get her to come back from the dark side of apple! This phone really is above and beyond what I though it would be, The style is great and the OS just rocks! Really impressed with Windows. I think I can call myself a fanboy now!
My name is Jerry, and this is my windows phone!

So Microsoft Office is free now??!!

I was getting ready to sign up for office 365 when I stumbled upon the news that you can use full versions of word, excel, powerpoint etc through One Drive, Google Drive style, and access the files you create across all your devices... I tried it and sure enough it works like a charm, I mostly use word.
So why the hell would I pay for office 365, is there something I'm missing here??

lenglain said:
I was getting ready to sign up for office 365 when I stumbled upon the news that you can use full versions of word, excel, powerpoint etc through One Drive, Google Drive style, and access the files you create across all your devices... I tried it and sure enough it works like a charm, I mostly use word.
So why the hell would I pay for office 365, is there something I'm missing here??
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Ummm offline access ? :victory: