TECHNO

Exhibitions Made Easy (Well, Easier)

One of the most powerful tools for getting the most out of the Harrogate show may be already in your possession - your smartphone. Chris Partridge tells all

Making notes is easy using a smartphone, either by typing or dictation. The camera can take high quality photos and can scan the QR codes to download exhibitors’ online materials.

And high quality video for your social media streams can be made on your smartphone with ease.

Luckily for smartphone users, the two best note-taking apps come free: Google Keep is available on Android and on iOS; and Apple Notes which, as is Apple’s way, is iOS-only. Another option for Samsung users is Samsung Notes, but this lacks a few features that makes the app a bit frustrating to use.

It is the flexibility to create notes quickly with text, voice or photos that makes Google Keep and Apple Notes such a boon for exhibitions.

Press on the app’s logo and a blank note will appear, with a keyboard. You can either type the text or click on the microphone logo to dictate. As you speak, the text appears on the screen as if by magic. When you finish, Google Keep also stores the voice file so you can check any weird-looking transcriptions later.

Look in the app’s menu for buttons to take photos, which are automatically added to the note. You can also scan captions and have the text automatically transcribed into the note - brilliant for recording long captions that you don’t have time to read properly.

Note apps also allow you to make sketches on the screen (look for the paintbrush icon). The sketches can even be made to look professional by straightening lines and making circles perfectly circular.

When you are done, simply press the ‘back’ button to save the note. If you are connected to the internet, it will also be saved in the cloud and will appear on all your other devices that have the app installed, so when you get back to your room you will be able to use your notes on your laptop to create proper reports immediately.

Though all smartphones are powerful note takers, the king is the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. Not only does it have a huge screen and a brilliant camera, it also has the Samsung S-pen held neatly within the

Battery Bank

Having the phone in use all day will kill the battery early, so extra power is a must. Belkin’s new Boost Charge battery pack is roughly the same size as your phone and stores 20,000mAH of power delivered at a rate of 15W. It has a USB-C port and two USB-A ports so three devices can be charged at the same time.

Stylus

Writing on the screen is made easier with a stylus, and one of the best is the Elzo, a slim metal dart with a tip made of nanofibres to replicate the feel of a pen. Two pens come in the pack, with four replacement tips - outstanding value.

£6 at amazon.co.uk

housing, ready for action.

The S-pen enables you to write notes on the screen that are transcribed on the fl, which feels much more natural than tapping on the titchy keyboard. It works really well as long as you don’t scribble, and the transcription gets better and better the more you write.

The S-pen also has a button that can be used as a remote shutter control for the camera, which is handy if you want to take pictures of yourself on a stand.

A few hints to make note-taking on your phone a better experience.

Practice in advance. Both Google Keep and Apple Notes are simple to use, but if you haven’t used them before a few hours practice will avoid much aggravation on the

exhibition floor.

Add shortcuts to your home screen. In Google Keep, if you press and hold the icon you will raise a list of the types of note you can make. You can add any of these icons to your home screen, or add a widget with buttons for every type of note. Set reminders. In the top right hand corner of a Google Keep note is a bell icon. Press on it and you can set a a reminder

Though all smartphones are to go off at any time you powerful note takers, the king is choose, and the reminder will appear in Google Calendar the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. and on your phone. Add labels. Again in Keep, you can label all your exhibition notes to easily keep them together. Pin important notes. Notes containing info you need all the time can be pinned to the top of the list by selecting the pin icon at the top of the note.

Tablet

A tablet gives you extra screen area for comfortable reading and easy photo editing, but carrying a monster device round all day is exhausting. The new Nokia T10 tablet has a convenient 8in screen but weighs just 375g. A memory card slot supports up to 512GB which should be more than enough, though the WiFi will enable you to upload stuff to the cloud as necessary. The T10 also has a ‘second screen’ feature allowing it to be attached to your Windows laptop via a USB-C cable and used to provide extra workspace. £130

Keyboard

I’m a minimalist when it comes to working on the move and I like to take just my phone - but a Bluetooth keyboard makes entering text so much easier and adds little to the weight of your suitcase. The Logitech 480 Bluetooth keyboard has a slot in the top to hold your phone or tablet at the right angle, and can be paired with up to three devices. £55

ALLUREBRIDALS.COM ALLUREBRIDALS.COM