It’s no secret that I am a bit nerdy and obsessed with being organized and on top of things. I'm also obsessed with staying up to speed on the latest and greatest technologies. And since my phone is one thing I simply can’t live without, I'm always searching for great apps to make my work and personal life more efficient.

Now I've done the dirty work for you and tried out a bunch of apps to put together a list of the top 12 mobile apps for young professionals. Take a peek below—you’ll wonder how you ever functioned without these lifesavers.



For the Office
30/30: (iOS) When you’re pulled in a 100 different directions at work, it can be hard to focus. 30/30 helps manage your work cycles by setting timers for tasks. When a timer is running, you can focus on getting one task done without distractions.

Doodle: (iOS; Android) When scheduling a meeting with many people from different workplaces, finding a time that works for everyone can be next to impossible. Doodle lets meeting participants submit their daily schedules and then comes up with feasible meeting times for everyone.

Trello: (iOS; Android) This is project management made easy! Trello is great for collaborating with a team—especially when brainstorming ideas, allocating tasks, and monitoring checklists.

LastPass: (iOS; Android) Nothing drives me crazier than having passwords that expire every 60 days (and can't repeat for 5 years). If you're like me then that means you probably also have a million tricky passwords to remember. With LastPass you can store all your passwords in one single and secure place.

For Home
Our Home: (iOS; Android) When everyone in your house has a packed schedule it is hard to get everyone into a room. Our Home is a private social network for families and roommate situations that allows everyone to organize and assign tasks and chores as well as create and share grocery lists. Members of your household can choose which things they want to accomplish and check them off as their completed. No more post-its all over the house saying "more toilet paper" or "the sink is leaking" with Our Home.

Mint: (iOS; Android) This app helps you keep an eye on your hard-earned money. Monitor multiple bank accounts and investments all in one place. You can use it to set spending limits for categories and it will even alert you when you're coming close or you went over. Plus, the app helps you pay bills on time and budget for big expenses.

Venmo: (iOS; Android) A must-have app for instantly sending money to other people. You can use it to pay coworkers for your half of lunch or for quickly pitching in on that group birthday gift for a friend.

Just for Fun
Refinery29 This AM: (iOS) Created by Refiner29, a media company catering to a young female demographic,Refinery29 This AM delivers a round-up of curated news stories to readers, meant to be viewed first thing in the morning. Stories are presented on eight different cards in the app, and focus on topics including world events, celebrity news, politics and fashion.

Daily Burn: (iOS, Android) As much as I love using work and being too busy as an excuse to skip the gym, I know I really need to find more time for exercising. But with Daily Burn I have no excuse! Daily Burn redefines fitness with online workout videos, nutrition and coaching. In addition to the library of workouts and courses, there is a daily class that airs every morning that covers something different every day. All the workout sessions are streaming so you can get them at home and on the go!

theSkimm: This one isn't exactly an app (yet) but it is still worth noting. theSkimm is a daily e-mail newsletter that gives you everything you need to start your day. They know you don't have time to visit multiple publications in search for all the important news so they do the reading for you and break down the latest news and information with fresh editorial content.

Do you have any apps you'd add to this list? Tell me in the comments!

I don't think there is any question that we are at the dawn of smart cars. Soon the frustrations of forgetting where you parked, unknown car troubles, and poor driving habits will be in the past thanks to new advances in automotive technologies--including vehicle locators, fuel efficiency tracking, and mobile car care.

Mobile technology is driving auto innovation, from Android-powered cars to augmented reality.

With most manufacturers making connected cars by 2015, what are drivers looking for in auto tech? They want their vehicle to be an extension of themselves--an extension of their smartphone and all generations and both genders show high potential to purchase connected and app-linking technologies but safety must always come first.

Augmented Reality can now deliver important information to drivers in a way that’s accessible and consumable, but also less intrusive or distracting than previous methods. And the dawn of the “Android Car” might not be as far off as you think – we could be buying cars running entirely on Google’s mighty mobile OS before the end of the decade.

To read about these future of automotive technologies plus cyber attacks on cars, automated driving, and more, check out this trend report by Mutual Mobile you can ready about how car manufactures are using mobile to drive auto advancements and what that means for your future.

This trend report is really a broad overview and crash course into automotive tech. It's pretty simple and not too technical. I highly recommend it for people who just have a general curiosity for technology but don't know much about cars.

Click here to download Mutual Mobile's Automotive Trend Report: Volume 1.

And if you enjoy this report, look out for the follow-up issue coming soon. The future issue will go even deeper, covering advances like how you'll use your smart phone to buy a car, how Mercedes-Benz is using scannables to aid first aid responders, and why Ford is moving away from touchscreens.

This webinar notice showed up in my email today and it sounds interesting so I figured I'd share it with other curious minds...

Top Five Enterprise Mobility Trends for 2013
Date: Thursday, February 14, 2013
Time: 1:00pm

BYOD and HTML5 were two of the top enterprise mobility trends in 2012. With mobile app development spending anticipated to grow by 50% this year, what trends will define enterprise mobility in 2013?

Marc Rosenbaum, Verivio's Director of Product Marketing, will discuss key mobility trends of 2013 including:

• BYOD and consumerization of IT are here to stay – what does that mean for enterprise apps?
• How iPads are reshaping the organization
• How will mobile security requirements evolve as more data moves to the cloud?
• Why multiple apps will be the norm
• Back-end as a Service is everywhere, but what does it really mean for the enterprise?

Have you noticed advertising starting to pop up on your FB mobile app feed?

It was once the only place we were safe from Facebook's never-ceasing attempts to bombard us with advertising but now nowhere is safe!

To be honest, we all new this was coming... Facebook had to do something to make a buck and bring that stock back up!


How do you feel about the new ads littering your mobile feed?

On this episode of Social Media Meltdown we discuss the dangers of mobile media... the literal dangers of using media while being mobile (i.e. while walking, while driving and while going about your daily life). What do you think? Is this all just being blown way out of proportion?


Click here for the show notes and to joint the conversation!

As the long-anticipated announcement for the iPhone 5 on September 12 nears, the rumor mill is working over-time. And although I love hearing about all the thinner screens and missing buttons, I rather see the concepts creative geniuses all over the world are coming up with.

These design concepts are so beautiful and functional, I can't help but hope that one day I might own one.

Spider-Like iPhone

Edge-to-Edge Screen


iPhone Pro


Although these contenders are beautiful, it looks like this one might be the top contender:


What do you think? Which are you looking forward to?