Those who follow my blog know I'm a big of a productivity hound. Well, I want to bring you up to speed on a little secret. It's not so much a secret really but it's really exciting nonetheless. The OmniGroup - a company whose software I cannot live without - is releasing their latest product, OmniFocus, in the next few hours. OmniFocus is professional grade task management software built around the popular book Getting Things Done by David Allen.

Allen's book has done wonders for me personally and professionally, and OmniFocus has complemented the book greatly. I've been using OmniFocus in pre-release form for a little over a week and I'm absolutely hooked! The features it provides are amazing and accessing those features is super simple and quick. That's what you need when you're goal is to get "stuff" out of your head and into a trusted task/project management system. But don't take my word for it. Cruise on over to the OmniFocus Web site or watch a video demo of all the things OmniFocus can do for you. If you give it a try, be sure and drop me a comment letting me know what you think. Now, get back to those tasks!

I'm terribly embarrassed I didn't know this (until yesterday) but you can run blog-specific searches on Google using blogsearch.google.com or selecting the Blog option from the "more" context menu on Google's homepage. Like everything else at Google, Blogsearch is in beta. However, I found it to be really useful when targeting a post I had read several months ago but never bookmarked. Thanks Google.

I'm not sure how long it's been out but I just discovered Google Maps runs on Palm OS based Treo's. The free app is available as a downloadable PRC file or, for convenience you can download and install it straight from your Treo (link below). Google Maps for Treo includes all the popular features of the original Google Maps including Satellite and Map View, business lookup, driving directions, and traffic information. You can use your stylus to navigate maps by dragging across the screen, zooming in and out, and clicking on items of interest like a local pizza joint. Find the business you were looking for? Just click its icon to pull up address and phone number information. With one click of a button Google Maps will connect you to the business. I'm really surprised the mobile app feels just like the non-mobile original. It's just as zippy and just as easy to find what you need.

The downside - if there has to be one - is the amount of data you will consume. In just a few minutes of browsing the Nashville area I had received over a MB of data. This won't be a problem for the professional paying for unlimited data use, but if you're on a limited plan you will want to pay attention to how much data you transfer. Fortunately, Google Maps keeps this information in front of you at all times data is being downloaded.

Google Maps for Treo
http://www.google.com/gmm/treo

Few surprises this week as Apple announces their latest hardware invention, the iPhone at the Macworld 2007 in San Fransico.

The iPhone combines a mobile phone, a widescreen iPod (with touch controls), and an Internet-enabled communications device, in one svelte handheld.

There are thousands of OS X apps out there, some of which you may not know about (for obvious reasons). For Apple's list of "10 OS X apps may not know about but should," check out this link. Of the 10 apps they list, I'm particularly fond of Paparazzi, a nifty screenshot application that can capture an entire scrolling Web page. Power Internet users - those with dozens of Internet accounts - will appreciate the power and convenience of Wallet, a tool that keeps track of all your Web site passwords and personal information in a secure, 448-bit encryption black box.

There are several apps not found on Apple's list that I personally could not live without. For that list, read on.

[More]