38 Tech Tools From the Gadget Addicts

Being constantly connected, I spend my time in front of a browser most of the day. My favorite extension for Chrome is LastPass. LastPass is one of the more popular password storage apps, but I get added functionality by plugging it into Chrome. Working with multiple clients allows me to save profiles for these clients so I can quickly and securely fill any form on the web that I frequent.

When I am not on my laptop I am on my GS4 (which I love). This is my favorite gadget right now and the functionality of the Android platform is endless. My favorite app for workplace efficiency is Mobile Day. MobileDay has enabled One-Touch into any conference call on any conference provider. Working with clients around the globe we have seen a variety of conference providers and Mobile Day simplifies the process. The app syncs with your phone’s calendar and auto-detects the conference call details within your meeting invites.

Joe Recomendes – Chief Operating Officer – @JRecomendes

I’ve been off-and-on with cable for the last few years, and in my downtime, I’ve built a self-sufficient home theater media center.

HTPC: I use an old Acer Revo for the main piece of hardware, paired with a Netgear ReadyNAS Duo with 4TB of space to store my media collection. The HTPC runs XBMC, which is an open source media player and manager that has been used to build the framework for more popular solutions like Plex and Boxee.

Computer: I’ve also become an Apple convert for my devices (laptop, tablet, and phone) since 2007, and I take great care in maintaining a workspace filled with hardware that’s conducive to productivity. Aside from the Magic Mouse, I own no Apple peripherals – I think they’re overpriced and underperforming. I have a 25” Acer monitor and a Das Keyboard Model S Professional where most people have a cinema display and Apple’s squishy bluetooth keyboard.

Apps: App-wise, I use the same suite that most tech enthusiasts use – DropBox for cloud storage, Evernote for filing, Wunderlist for task management. Nothing too special.

Samantha Colletta – Client Success Manager – @hullosam

WIth the plethora of apps out on the market nowadays, deciding on a few key ones can be daunting. Here are a couple of my favorites I use regularly.

Timbre: If you’re a music lover like myself, then you definitely want to know when your favorite band is going to be in your city. Timbre offers just that, and more, with its efficient and simple search tool. You input the city or town, and it searches all shows within the search radius selected, as well as gives you venue info, link to purchase tickets, and even has the bands iTune samplers playing in the background.

Wunderlist: Check-listers! This especially is for you. Type, or speak your task and Wunderlist will add it to your personal categorized list; you can then check it off when completed. A cool feature is the subtask option; for example, if you’re reading a book, you can add each chapter as a subtask and check them off as you finish them.

Vincent Ammirato – Senior Digital Strategist – @vincentammirato

I am a proud cord cutter who has lived 15 years without a telephone line or cable television. That being said, we don’t suffer from a lack of entertainment options thanks to our home setup.

Roku Player: We felt like internet pioneers when we bought the first Roku player and used it to stream content to our TV. Four years later, that same player is still used to watch Netflix and Hulu.

Mohu Leaf: This is the best TV antenna we have used in terms of size and signal quality. It is literally the size of a sheet of paper and we pick up tv signals from stations in Greensboro….in high definition.

Watch ESPN App: I’m a sports junky so there is no way I could live without cable TV if I didn’t have this App. Watch ESPN gives you all the channels including live events.

Belkin Netcam: Not as polished as the Dropcam but not as expensive and doesn’t require a monthly subscription to use all the features. We currently use it as a baby cam and it’s nice to be able to check in on the little one even when I am not home. Plus, when the kiddos get old enough to try and sneak out, I’ve got a motion sensing camera that will automatically text or email photos of their attempts.

Jessica Chesney – Digital Marketing Coordinator – @jessJANEica

I’m more of an app junkie than gadget collector, so I’d like to share a couple of my favorite apps that either help increase productivity or are just plain cool.

IFTTT App: Standing for “IF This, Then That,” IFTTT is a free iPhone app service that automatically takes certain actions once another action has taken place on your phone. For example, “if” I add a new contact to my contacts, “then” backup my contacts to a Google Spreadsheet. There are tons of channels that it works with including Buffer, Evernote, Google Drive, Date & Time, Email, Calendar, Photos, Weather, SMS text, most of the top social networks and many more. PC Mag put out a post with 101 best IFTTT recipes and they’re definitely worth checking out here. My favorite recipe – If I take a new photo, back it up to a Dropbox folder. If you’re like me and tend to, eh em, “misplace” your phone, you’ll never lose your pictures from that day/night along with it!

Apple’s Magic Mouse + Magic Prefs App: Their names absolutely describe them; magic. Magic Mouse clicks, pinches, swipes, scrolls – you name it. And, paired with the Magic Prefs app, is a match made in heaven that allows you to completely customize your mouse’s configuration settings. Using a combination of finger clicks, taps, swipes, pinches and more, users can control a number of functions like Right Click, Zoom, Lock Session, Application Windows, Desktop, Spotlight and more.

join.me: This free (basic version) service is great for screensharing wherever you may be in the world. At Enventys Partners, we use join.me internally for different learning opportunities and we also use the service with our clients for tutorials or to keep login information, including passwords, confidential. The great thing about join.me is that it allows users to remotely control another computer with their mouse or keyboard.

Duncan Moffat – Marketing Analyst – @duncanmoffat

The gadget that I have chosen is my cycling computer. I didn’t want to pay the inflated prices for the specialized devices so I have repurposed a Motorola Defy smartphone with various apps installed to act as an alternative. The Defy is attached to the handlebars using an aluminum case and cable ties.

Endomondo Sports Tracker Pro provides the speed and distance measurements. I have paired it with a Bluetooth heart rate monitor, which helps it monitor effort and calculate calories burned. While on the road, I have it set to report live location data so my friends can check on my location. When I get home, Endomondo syncs with myfitnesspal where it adds the workout details to my daily totals.

Google Maps helps me find my way home if I get lost and Whatsapp lets me send pictures and messages. I have a data-monitoring app, which stops any other apps from using data. A prepaid Lyca Mobile SIM card provides the mobile data at a cost of only 6 cents per MB.

Alison Phalen – Content Marketing Specialist – @aliphalen

At Enventys Partners, we have the awesome opportunity to work with a lot of startup projects on Kickstarter. We’ve come across some really cool and interesting products this year, but the one that stands out for me is our former client, myType Keyboard. Unlike other portable bluetooth keyboards, myType folds in half for easy on-the-go use. Despite its compact size, the myType Keyboard keys are the perfect size for typing.

When I first learned about myType, I just thought it was a cool keyboard. Then we went to the Internet Summit Conference and I brought along my myType Keyboard to use with my iPad. My mind was blown. I didn’t have to cart around my heavy computer or bulky bag; all I needed was my iPad, iPad stand, charger and my myType Keyboard and I was good to go. The battery lasted all day, letting me tweet to my heart’s content for both Enventys Partners and my personal account. It truly made live tweeting and taking notes while at the conference easier than ever. I definitely recommend purchasing a myType Keyboard for yourself. It’s definitely worth it!

As for apps I’ve been a big fan of this year, there have been a couple that stand out. First, much obliged to Wunderlist for keeping me on track with all my to-do’s. Second, a lot of my time has been spent on my ESPN apps for Fantasy Football(yay for me being the CP winner of the losers and coming in 5th this year) and keeping up with my Syracuse Orange basketball team. And third, many thanks to Timehop for letting me indulge in nostalgia every morning.

Bayo Fodeke – Lead Developer – @bayofodeke

As lead developer, I usually have my hands in multiple projects at a time.  Keeping all these projects on track require a good set of software tools.  I’ve experimented with a LOT over the years, and these are the tools I’ve settled on:

Sublime Text 2: Easily the best code editor I’ve ever used.  It’s got TONS of features, like the ability to do multiple selections to make multiple changes at once, or the billions large amount of plugins available.

Transmit: The cleanest, quickest, and least buggy file transfer for Mac, hands down. It has to ability to connect to Amazon S3 buckets and best of all, it can mount any of your connections to Finder as disks.

Mamp Pro: It allows for easy installation of a development environment in Mac OS X.  I use it to create local development environment of all projects before pushing to staging servers.  The Pro version lets you create aliases for each of your environments, so instead of http://localhost:8888/some-site, you can have http://some-site.dev. Easy huh?

Tower: It really IS version control made easy.  It’s friendly but powerful user interface takes a lot of the difficulty out of using it.

Angela Kotsokalis – Creative Designer – @akotsdesign

Having a huge passion for design, I by default love to discover apps and gadgets that help keep me inspired, organized, healthy, and productive.

Subtle Patterns: One of my favorite things ever is this Photoshop plugin that is so nifty and just a click away. It is gallery of over 300 awesome patterns that is always in sync to their online database. You just click the pattern thumbnail that interests you and it is automatically applied as a layer style to your current layer. This makes me so happy!

Balsamiq Mockups: This is my go to wireframing tool that is very simple and easy to use. The user friendly interface allows me to bang out any web projects and collaborate with my coworkers and clients.

Alfred: Meet Alfred, OS X’s Spotlight search but on speed. Features include finding apps and files on your Mac, performing quick math problems, and searching the web. Alfred is one of my BFF’s and helps increase my productivity on a daily basis.

Teleport: This app allows you to control several Macs with a single mouse and keyboard. You can also drag and drop files between your Macs.

Evernote Moleskine Smart Notebook: If you are a fan of writing, sketching, drawing and staying organized, the Evernoteapp could be for you along with their specially designed notebook by Moleskine. You can take a photo of any page in yourMoleskine notebook with the Evernote Page Camera and it instantly becomes digital and syncs to your online account.

Fitbit Force: The Force is a sleek smart band that tracks your steps, distance, stairs climbed, calories and sleep data that pushes to the cloud wirelessly. I also love Fitbolt, a google extension that works with the Force. It aims to promote better health choices in your workspace. You receive customized notifications and reminders throughout the workday with tips on health, nutrition, stretches, exercise, and posture.

Relax Melodies: This app does exactly what the name says, you can select sounds and melodies that you like and combine them to create soothing mixes that you desire. You can also have background music playing from your iTunes. A stormy day at the beach is my favorite mix.