Review: Vito Audionotes Touch Black

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Never reach for a stylus again.  That seems to be the motto of the iWindows Mobile line of finger friendly software from Vito Technology, and their latest release, AudioNotes seems to be no exception.  Anyone who has tried recording audio, such as interviews or lectures with a Windows Mobile device, probably knows that the native voice recorder is not easy to use or terribly powerful.  What we need is an easy to use, but powerful alternative, which allows us to record, store, search, and retreive our audio recordings.  And maybe even toss in an iPhone or HTC Touch-like finger friendly interface.  Well, this is just what Vito hopes you will find with their relatively new iWindows Mobile AudioNotes (now skinned in HTC Black).

Problems with the Native Application

Traditionally, Windows Mobile has not been viewed as a fantastic way to record voices or lectures.

• It records in a format your PC doesn’t even recognize.
• It uses the ‘memo’ application, which indicates that the purpose of the sound recording in Windows Mobile is just voice recording.

What I want is something much more powerful, which can record in the more universal mp3 format.  This would allow users to easily sync their audio nots to their PC, with no conversion required. I think Audionotes did a great job of “fixing” these problems left in the native application.  Let’s go ahead and take a closer look at what it has to offer.
Recording
How easy is it to use AudioNotes to record?  Just push one button and recording begins.  Push it again and the recording will pause.  That’s all there is to it.  While recording, the application will also provide you with useful information, such as: available record time, audio gain, and the variable size of the mp3 its recording.

Audionotes relies on the the onboard microphone for recording, so the quality of the recordings will necessarily depend on your hardware.  My HTC device, coupled with AudioNotes’ high quality setting gives me a clear, crisp recording.  Additionally, since you can control the audio gain of the microphone from within AudioNotes, you will find a great deal of recording freedom, even when recording from multiple sources.  The use of your device microphone also means that the handsfree function is the only way to record a two way conversation, such as an interview.  [My Today Screen reminds you to follow all local laws and always seek consent before recording any conversations with another individual.]

Once you begin recording, you will notice that the audio files start to build up.  Fortunately, these files are easy to organize, as they are stored date and time of the recording.   Of course, this can easily be changed at any time.  Thanks to the advanced scroll function, its easy to go from one to another. Just make a slide move with your finger in the direction you want to scroll and the file list will fly into action, scrolling faster or slower, depending upon the speed of your slide move. Very nice animation here.  Sometimes, I would just scroll though my file list to enjoy the animation. 
Files and Playback

Sometimes, though, you don’t want to scroll through a large list of recordings, you want to be able to jump right to the one you need.  For this, you will want to use AudioNotes’ advanced search features.  I was a little disappointed to find that the search feature relied upon a T9 keypad, rather than allowing a QWERTY style SIP to be used.  Additionally, for those of you with a built-in hardware keyboard, you will find that has been disabled as well.  Still, I did find the search function worked well and was relatively easy to use.

Once you have found the file you want, just tap it to open and it will automatically begin playing back.

The only thing I did not like here was the appearance of the record button in a long list of items.  If you have a long list, the record button will appear as a semi-transparent layer over the bottom of the screen. This semi-transparent button covered the last two entries on the list, making them difficult to select.

Conclusion
I was exremely impressed with AudioNotes.  It works exactly as advertised, and was simpe to navigate and use.  It has nice graphics and animations which makes it an attractive alternative to the native application, especially when using the new black skin on a device running the HTC black home plugin.  The extra features function well. It keeps tracking all you calls without any intervention from you.

What I Liked

• Looks fanastic.  Love the black skin
• Works perfectly, exactly as advertised
• Simple but effective

What Needs Improvement

• Selecting the last file in the list doesn’t fit in the overall finger touch controls
• Mandatory T9 search interface

Summery information
Name: Audionotes Touch Black
Developer: Vito
Version number: Version 1.02
Platform tested: Windows Mobile 6 Professional (5.2.1620)
Performance: QUALCOMM(R)7200- 400MHz – 128 MB RAM
Other available platforms: Windows Mobile 5
Where to buy: iWindowsmobile
Price: $14.95
Trial version: 14-day trial period with full features.

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