- An Introduction to OneNote Mobile for iPhone
- A Game-Changing OneNote Client
- A Hopeful Leading Indicator
A Game-Changing OneNote Client
Microsoft previously offered OneNote Mobile clients for two Microsoft mobile platforms, Windows Mobile and Windows Phone 7. The Windows Mobile OneNote Mobile application was first introduced with OneNote 2007, but I frankly suspect it isn't widely used, as it has limited capabilities and a more complicated synchronization model (and because the Windows Mobile platform has been replaced by Windows Phone 7).
OneNote Mobile for Windows Phone is included with the Windows Phone 7 platform, as part of the Office hub; indeed, you can't purchase a Windows Phone device that doesn't include OneNote Mobile. The Windows Phone client is similar to the iPhone client, but it also offers some additional capabilities, such as the ability to access SharePoint-managed OneNote notebooks.
OneNote Mobile for iPhone is a game-changer in that it's the first OneNote native client Microsoft has created for a non-Microsoft operating system platform. Microsoft also offers OneNote Web App, a browser-based OneNote client that can be used in a variety of Web browsers and client platforms, but OneNote Web App doesn't work on the latest iPhone platform, and it's generally not ideal for small-screen devices such as smartphones.
For the immediate future, the biggest impact of the OneNote Mobile for iPhone client is likely to be a shift in the competitive landscape between OneNote and Evernote. OneNote 2010 (and OneNote Web App) users who also use iPhones are now less likely to use Evernote or another iPhone-based, note-taking application. Evernote is still supported on far more client platforms than Microsoft supports with OneNote (see this page for a list of Evernote clients), but the popularity of the iPhone suggests Microsoft will reach a large and receptive customer base with OneNote Mobile for iPhone.