Your Memory Jogger Unveiled

Up until now, a better memory came from sleeping well, exercising body and mind, and for some, taking herbs. Those with admirably strong will power have combatted the inevitable daily forgetting by committing themselves to mnemonics, organize-your-life “diets”, and productivity rituals. If I weren’t so busy, I might have time for one of these.

The new reQall Memory Jogger is for those who forget, but don’t want to work hard to remember. We know from decades of memory research how and why people forget. Armed with this, our journey began by asking two basic questions:

• Why are computers, email, SMS, and phones creating digital chaos in people’s lives?
• How can we apply our expertise in memory and computers to build a mobile memory aid for modern life?

Examples of things I’ve heard:

• I write things down, but I never go back and look at my notes.
• When I get to the grocery store, I want something to tell me the things I need to buy.
• If I have a meeting this afternoon, I’d like something to prepare me ahead of time.
• I forgot to call my sister/mother, can it nudge me without nagging?
• I can’t remember all the things I need to do for my kids activities.
• I’m lost without my secretary/spouse reminding me                                                                             

Today’s mobile computer is the smartphone (iPhone, BlackBerry, etc.) and it doesn’t need to be a potted plant while all this forgetting is going on. It should come alive, notice what is happening, anticipate what you need, and whisper in your ear before you forget. The smartphone should make you smart.

That’s where the Jogger comes in. It works by looking at your situation and figuring out what would be the best Jogs for you at this time, place, situation, or because it thinks you are about to forget. It can use your calendar and it can use your location to pick. The more you tell it and the more it detects, the better it works.

You don’t have to do anything extra. Go about your normal day, from home to work and anywhere else along the way. Add things you want to remember into reQall and when the time is right, the Memory Jogger will remind you. No folders, no files, no sticky notes, no piles.

What auto-focus did to cameras and automatic transmission did to cars is what we feel the Jogger will do to productivity, virtual assistance, and memory aids. It makes it a lot easier for so many more of you to enjoy the empowerment and freedom that comes with a strong memory.

Please try it and tell us what you think. Our work is not done and we’d love to hear what your perfect Memory Jogger would be.

Sunil Vemuri

Chief Product Officer

Comments

[Tom Goldberger]

I love reQall. Can you give some examples of how reQall can be used with a GPS device?

[James Hughes]

This is very cool. Have you looked at possibly integrating with OmniFocus? OmniFocus also has the ability to focus a person on tasks based on projects and location but does not have the voice integration. The combination of the two would be untouchable from both convenience and quality.

[Katherine Murphy]

I LOVE this app. But I have to tell you, I got it for the voice recognition. I HATE typing into my phone, and I SWEAR you have people all over the world who simply wait and transcribe my words into text (the accuracy is amazing).

What I really want reQall to expand into is MORE control over my phone via my voice. I want to send sms messages : "Dave! Get eggs!" - without typing it in. I want to perform a Google Search in Safari WITHOUT TYPING IT IN! That would be amazing.

I appreciate the GTD effort, but there are a lot of apps for that - OmniFocus is pretty massive. The edge you have is NOT TYPING STUFF IN!!

I love reQall and have suggested it to all my iPhone friends - keep it coming! And voice-recognizing!!

[Richard]

Are there any plans to build the ReQall app for the much anticipated released of the Palm Pre in the next few months? I am a Blackberry user who will be switching as soon as the Pre is released, as it combines the best of the iPhone, the Blackberry, and it add new features unavailable on either. I am not a developer but my understanding is they've made building apps comparatively easy for their webOS platform as compared to many of the other smart phone OSs. I love ReQall and would hate to give up the BB ReQall app when I switch to the Pre! Thanks

[kenweston]

...Andriod?

[Deb Miller]

Ken, Android is on the request list and is rising in priority as more and more people are asking for it. However, we've haven't yet decided/scheduled anything.

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[ClubPenguinCheats]

OmniFocus also has the ability to focus a person on tasks based on projects and location but does not have the voice integration.

[Amber Heard]

Up until now, a better memory came from sleeping well, exercising body and mind, and for some, taking herbs. Those with admirably strong will power have combatted the inevitable daily forgetting by committing themselves to mnemonics, organize-your-life “diets”, and productivity rituals. If I weren’t so busy, I might have time for one of these.

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Today’s mobile computer is the smartphone (iPhone, BlackBerry, etc.) and it doesn’t need to be a potted plant while all this forgetting is going on. It should come alive, notice what is happening, anticipate what you need, and whisper in your ear before you forget. The smartphone should make you smart.

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