Evernote
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2010) |
| File:Evernote.png | |
| Stable release | 4.0.2.3162
/ November 24, 2010 |
|---|---|
| Preview release | None
/ None |
| Operating system | Android, BlackBerry OS, iOS (Apple), Mac OS X, WebOS, Microsoft Windows, Windows Mobile |
| License | Proprietary, paid web service |
| Website | www.evernote.com |
Evernote is a suite of software and services designed for notetaking and archiving available in a paid version or a more restricted, advertising-supported, "free" version. A "note" can be a piece of formattable text, a full webpage or webpage excerpt, a photograph, a voice memo, or a handwritten "ink" note. Notes can also have file attachments. Notes can then be sorted into folders, tagged, annotated, edited, given comments, and searched.
In October 2010, the company received $20 million USD in funding from Sequoia Capital.[1]
Evernote supports a number of operating system platforms (including Android, Mac OS X, iOS, Windows and WebOS), and also offers online synchronization and backup services. Use of the online server is free up to a certain monthly usage limit, with additional monthly use reserved for paying subscribers.
The Evernote web service launched into open beta on June 24, 2008[2] and has reached 6 million users.[3]
Data storage and access
On supported operating systems, Evernote stores and edits the user's notes on their local machine.
Users with internet access and an Evernote account can also have their notes automatically synchronised with a master copy held on the Evernote server. This approach lets a user access and edit their data across multiple machines and operating system platforms, but still view, input and edit data when an internet connection is not available.
Where Evernote client software is not available, online account-holders can access their note archive via a web interface, with more limited functionality.
The Evernote software can be downloaded and used as "stand-alone" software without using the online portion of your Evernote account (online registration is required for initial setup, however), but will not be able to upload files to the Evernote server, or use the server to synchronise or share files between different Evernote installations. Also, no image or Image-PDF (Premium only) recognition and indexing will take place if you use the software entirely offline.
Data entry
As well as the keyboard entry of typed notes, Evernote supports image capture from cameras on supported devices, and the recording of voice notes. In some situations, text that appears in captured images can be recognised using OCR and annotated. Evernote also supports touch and tablet screens with handwriting recognition. Evernote web clipping plugins are available for the most popular internet browsers that allow marked sections of webpages to be captured and clipped to Evernote. If no section of a webpage has been highlighted, Evernote can clip the full page. Evernote also supports the ability to e-mail notes to the service, allowing for automated note entry via e-mail rules or filters.[4]
Where suitable hardware is available, Evernote can automatically add geolocation tags to notes.
The online service also allows selected files to be shared for viewing and editing by other users, and allows integration with Twitter for storing or forwarding "tweets". Users can also use the Twitter system to add notes to Evernote remotely, by sending tweets from any Twitter-capable device.
"Free" and "Premium" accounts
The free online service has monthly usage limitations (currently 60 MB/month), and displays a "usage" meter. A premium service is also available that currently costs $5 per month or $45 per year, and currently offers 1,000 MB/month usage.
As well as the larger per-month upload limit, the premium service features faster word recognition in images, greater security and text searching within PDF files, and removes restrictions on the range of file formats (e.g. textfiles) that can be synchronised.
The free service is supported by advertising, on both the web interface and in the application. The premium service allows the user to turn off this advertising.
Supported platforms
Evernote clients are available for Windows and Mac OS X, and for the Windows Mobile, WebOS, Maemo, Android, BlackBerry, iOS (Apple), Google Wave,[5] Palm Pre/Palm Pixi[6] and iPad mobile platforms as well as a beta for Symbian S60 5th Edition. There are portable versions of Evernote available for flash drives and U3 drives.
There is substantial variation in supported features on different platforms: for example it is possible to edit rich text and sketches on Windows; on Mac it is possible to edit rich text, but only view sketches; and on the iPad only plain text can be edited.
There is currently no native application support for Linux or BSD.
Webclipping support is installed by default on the Internet Explorer and Safari browsers when the Evernote software is installed under Windows or Mac OS X. Evernote web-clipping plugins are also available for the Firefox and Google Chrome browsers, but need to be downloaded and installed separately. Evernote email-clipper is automatically installed in Microsoft Office Outlook if the desktop version is installed on the same computer. There is a Thunderbird email plugin, but it too must be installed separately.
There are some third-party clients for Evernote:
- NeverNote. "This is an open source clone of Evernote designed to run on Linux"[7]
- People's Note. People's Note is a polished Windows Mobile note taking application with full-featured Evernote integration.[8] Supports offline notes storage.
- Ploze. Ploze lets you read, search and create Notes on your Windows Mobile phone whether or not you are connected to the internet.[9]
Similar products and services
Evernote's competitors include Simplenote; Microsoft OneNote on Windows; Barebones Software's Yojimbo; Journler; Circus Ponies NoteBook on Macintosh; Lognoter PIM version on Windows, Macintosh and Linux; Zotero for Firefox; gnote for GNOME and Linux; BasKet Note Pads for KDE/Linux (or any system KDE runs on); and Nevernote,[10] an open source clone of Evernote designed to run on Linux.
See also
References
- ^ Reisinger, Don (October 19, 2010). Evernote secures $20 million in investment round. CNET News. Retrieved on October 22, 2010.
- ^ "Evernote Public Launch!"
- ^ Evernote 2010: A Year In Stats
- ^ http://jonwestfall.com/2010/09/scan-directly-from-your-office-to-evernote/
- ^ http://www.wextensions.com/2010/04/29/gadget-79-evernote/
- ^ http://www.evernote.com/about/download/palm.php
- ^ http://nevernote.sourceforge.net/
- ^ http://peoplesnote.org/
- ^ http://ploze.com/about
- ^ Nevernote Nevernote on Sourceforge