Four Efficient iPhone Apps for The Employer

It is truly a golden era for employers who have made use of business apps on the mobile to increase work efficiency, enhance productivity and useful time management tools. Whether the office is based locally or outsourced, business apps have contributed to improving communication between the employer and employee mainly because they clearly spell out expectations without the need for direct and often awkward confrontations. To prove the point, four examples that are beneficial for the employer are:
1. To control employees’ time
TimeClock ST by ScavaTec LLC is certainly not thrilling news for the employees who have a tendency to arrive late to work. The app records an employee’s arrival and exit time at work, and also allots time for specific assignments in the ‘job category’ feature. There is an option for employees to leave a ‘note’ as well. The app also records and calculates the amount of work time through its ‘daily totals’ record feature. Its USD 8.99 cost is considered inexpensive compared to other costly time keeping devices.
The app can function alongside the desktop platform as well.
2. To control employer’s time
The Harvest Time & Expense Tracker app by Harvest is a perfect combination for employees, especially entrepreneurs and those working on a project basis and most of all, for outsourced offices. The app not only maintains record of work time, but also calculates its cost. The record can be accessed, started and stopped by the user at any time. A significant feature of this app is its ability to maintain a record of expenses incurred during the work period, and receipts can be photographed and maintained automatically within the app.
3. For Human Resource efficiency
The Proactive Employer App by Qbiki Networks performs the role of a consultant in the matters of ‘EEO compliance, HR and employment best practices, self-auditing and employment litigation risk management.’ The app is an instant solution provider and time saver for employees. It does not replace legal counseling, but certainly assists employers gain knowledge in order to deal with a pressing issue via social networking and blogging.
4. To recruit quality employees
Unlike outsourced offices, Work Around Me by five81 pvt. Ltd is designed for employers who wish to hire local employees located within the office vicinity. The free and real time mobile app functions as an employee search and filters by location. It is recommended for the smaller businesses that can choose to place their advertisement for the ‘casual’ worker looking for work nearby. The employer and employee can communicate via the app. The reviews have been highly favorable toward this app which has a ‘clean interface’ and ease of navigation.

This post originally appeared on Socialjitney.

Daily iPhone App: MyTunes Pro makes your music sound better

MyTunes has been on the App Store for a little while. It's developed by SRS that uses that company's patented sound enhancement algorithms to make music sound "better." It's not completely clear what the algorithm does (as SRS wants to keep it secret), but basically, the tech boosts and lowers certain qualities in audio to make it clearer and more listenable.
MyTunes Pro is the new version of MyTunes. I saw it in action at CES earlier this year, and it's now available for the iPhone and the iPad (here's the HD version). The biggest update is that you can use AirPlay directly with the app. This lets you push your iTunes library through MyTunes Pro's enhancer, and then kick it out to an AirPlay system.
You'll also find new controls for a system called "TruSpeed," which will speed up or slow down your audio without changing the pitch (so you can listen to more podcasts in less time). A new "workout mode" lets you gather songs by tempo (BPS). The interface of the app has been updated as well. Unfortunately, it's still pretty laggy (and doesn't really feel like a native interface), but it is a little easier to navigate and use than earlier versions.
MyTunes Pro is free to try, so if you just want to hear what it does to your music, you can download it and give it a try (you get 10 minutes a day, unless you pay an in-app purchase of US$6.99).
It's an app that's of somewhat limited use, because you can only listen to music in your iTunes library. iOS doesn't let audio from services like Pandora or Slacker get processed. Still, if you listen to music coming off of your iOS device all day, and would like it to sound even better (or just want to have a really capable EQ to use on it), MyTunes Pro should do exactly that.

This post originally appeared on TUAW.

Google Play—is it the ‘Everything Everywhere’ Software?

The concerns follow the recent announcement of renaming Android Market as Google Play.

Google should also be working on enhancing their overall software capabilities. While the Android Apps have managed to succeed in popularity ratings, to get ahead, Google has to provide beyond its present state of services. Time is crucial and they should now double their efforts on improving their current services.
While Google is proudly marketing the platform for their web-based syncing and large storage capacity, the availability of all its services is limited to only few countries besides the US. Google is working on resolving this with regard to licensing agreements with different countries. That is not a problem for the applications. Although Android apps should work in exactly the same way as before, should there be compatibility issues, the solution suggested by the Android community (android community.com) is for users to get in touch with developers directly within the region.
Features, Apps and Games
The service range is wide, with quick and easy access of the platform services. It includes books, movies, music, games and over 45,000 apps that were previously available in the Android Market. The services can be exchanged from the Web to the mobile device.
Files can be accessed from and transferred to any device that allows Google sign in. ‘My Apps’ is a new feature that displays on the UI, which enhances user experience. Swiping on the handset will reveal ‘all’ and ‘up to date’ tabs that are far more convenient than scrolling down.
A combination of free apps combined with purchasing the premium version seems to have worked for competing platforms, referred to as Freemium, and Android is using a similar strategy to promote Google Play.
For the user as well as App Developers, there has been no significant change in way apps are created. It just means improving on present versions. There’s a lot to look forward to as well, such as Zynga’s ‘Scramble with Friends’ that has just been introduced free to use on Google Play.  The long awaited and much delayed popular game, ‘Temple Run’ is expected to be released by this month’s end. The timing for this free launch seems incidental, as users will get a chance to experience access through Google Play. Users are probably hoping at this point that ‘Mass Effect 3’ will also convert from live wallpaper to the real thing.
As if all this is not enough, reviews have criticized the software capabilities and one has expressed a need for a ‘Google TV. ’ Looking at how technological development is progressing, one just needs to spell it out and the next thing you know, it’s quickly made available!
This post originally appeared on Socialjitney.