Mini-Review: Microsoft OneNote Mobile

A software package that has received a lot of praise in the PC world is Microsoft’s OneNote. Touted as a great place to keep everything organized in a single application, the part of this software that has received little publicity is the Mobile application accompanying OneNote. That’s right—Microsoft includes OneNote Mobile within the application.

OneNote Mobile resides on Windows Mobile handhelds and provides two-way synchronization of text, photos, and audio recordings between my Treo and my laptop/tablet PC. When OneNote Mobile is installed on the Treo, the ActiveSync software recognizes the application and creates the conduit for data flow between your two devices.

Within OneNote Mobile, you can format your text with boldface, italic, underline or strikethrough functions. You can also create bulleted lists and numbered lists. From within the handheld program you can take a picture with the built-in camera or insert a picture already on your handheld or storage card. You can also create an audio recording from within the application. Any and all of this information is transferred to the desktop/laptop during the Active Sync process. All handheld files for OneNote Mobile are kept in a separate tab called OneNote Mobile and a section called Notes from <the name you have given your handheld in the setup process.

The only place that OneNote Mobile is lacking is in the area of digital ink. There is no provision for drawing on the handheld application nor can it display the digital ink from the desktop/laptop. When ink from the full application is synced to the handheld, icons are displayed as placeholders. On the handheld, you are then able to add text, photos or any other information within the capabilities of OneNote Mobile. The digital ink remains intact with the additional information added to it when synced back to the full desktop application.

How do I use OneNote Mobile? I am constantly moving between meetings in my role as a Superintendent of Schools. OneNote Mobile allows me to quickly integrate information and keep it in a single location. The desktop application has tremendous capabilities and much of those are replicated in the handheld version. The tight integration of OneNote with other applications plus the ease in which a photo or audio recording can be added creates a tremendous way to capture and compile information quickly and easily. I regularly drop Word files into OneNote on my desktop to carry an agenda into a meeting. If I have a graphic or PDF file that I will need for reference, I simply drop it into OneNote on my tablet PC and it is synced and available on my Treo 700wx. While in a meeting I can add text comments to the information and that is carried back to the fully application upon connecting through ActiveSync.

The combination of Microsoft’s OneNote and OneNote Mobile creates a powerful tool for increased productivity and flexibility in keeping the information I need close at hand at all times.