Collaborative Multimedia Note-Taking Service Moxtra Comes To Android
Earlier this year, an ambitious group of former employees from WebEx – an on-demand collaboration, online meeting, video and web conferencing company by Cisco – launched their Evernote-esque project by the name of Moxtra. It is basically a cloud-based virtual binder for sharing and collaborating on all sorts of content. It allows groups to collect and collaboratively work on videos, pictures, documents, notes etc. – something that a lot of services have already been offering for a while now. Back in January (the time when Moxtra was initially launched), it was only rolled out as iPad and web apps but after almost six months since it inception, the service has finally expanded to other platforms as well, including desktop and Android. Akin to its iPad counterpart, Moxtra for Android not just works great, but also looks fairly elegant and intuitive.
Moxtra lets you create custom workspaces called binders that allow you to add different types of content such as voiceovers, annotations, notes, videos and so on. Binders can also be shared among your friends and coworkers through email or Facebook, letting them participate in working on them with you. Different administration roles can be assigned among group members such as Editor or Viewer in order to make sure only the right people can make any modifications to them.
Coming to the Android app, upon kicking it off for the first time, you’re presented with the login screen from where you can easily sign up for a new Moxtra account either via email or Facebook profile. The landing screen presents you with a collection of sample binders, including a quick start guide to get you acquainted with Moxtra’s different features and functionality. At the bottom, you will find buttons for Home, Updates (feeds containing new binders), Add, as well as Moxtra Meet and Moxtra Notes, with the last two basically being similar to add-ons for the service. You can swipe up and down to reveal additional binders, and an Add New Binder button at the bottom lets you create new ones.
Binders can be given custom names in order to better reflect the content stored in them without the need to open them. Once a binder is created , you’re ready to add almost anything to it that you want. Simply tap the plus button and make a choice among Desktop, Camera, Pictures, Video and Blank page. You can capture and record video and audio on the fly without leaving the app. The desktop feature of Moxtra lets users connect to Mac OS X and Windows apps of the service for remote access.
Moxtra gives its users a lot of flexibility over the content type. You are allowed to add a multitude of things in your activity stream. For instance, you can add a picture and then record a voiceover to explain it to your collaborators, or to simply add a voice note for let’s say, what it remind you of. Similarly, you can also add annotations and notes using the integrated editor that lets you input text, shapes, or freehand drawings. The activity stream of the binder displays thumbnails of any media that has been added.
Overall, it’s a really nice app that comes with a lot of features and a decent UI. Moxtra is available at Google Play Store for free.
