While I love social media, I’m the first to admit I am not an “app” person. LinkedIn has a new app you will want to check out!
I spend a lot of time on my laptop, so when I am out and about, I only rely on a few apps to get me through the day. One of those apps happens to be the LinkedIn app for mobile, which I love because it makes it easy for me to accept invitations while I am waiting in line at the grocery store or the bank!
Some mobile stats may interest you, per LinkedIn:
o  22% of LinkedIn traffic is coming for mobile devices in Q1 2012 (was 15% in Q4 2011 and 8% Q1 2011)
o  Mobile platform remains the fastest growing consumer service at LinkedIn
o  19 people searches are done every second from mobile device — (are they looking for you?)
o  41 LinkedIn profiles are viewed every second from mobile devices
o  iPad is the fasted growing device on LinkedIn (250% year-over -ear, 2011 to 2012)
Yesterday, Joff Redfern, Head of Mobile Products at LinkedIn briefed me on their brand new application for tablets (it launched this morning at 12 ET) — “LinkedIn for iPad.” Honestly, I think it might be a reason to keep my languishing iPad charged and ready to use!
Why this application now? Joff explained, that the tools is intended to be a way for professionals to learn “10 years of background about someone in 10 seconds.” In the live demo on the yet released product yesterday, Joff showcased how it’s possible to connect your mobile calendar with LinkedIn’s technology. Calling the result a “personal assistant” to help simplify your day, he showed how LinkedIn for iPad automatically pulls LinkedIn profiles of people named on your calendar. Presto — one less thing to do on your way to a meeting — the LinkedIn application hands over key information without you even asking!
The LinkedIn blog expands on the new calendar tool (screen shot below):
“With the LinkedIn iPad app you are one tap away from learning about things you have in common with thepeople you are about to meet, like common connections, work experiences, and schools; probably helps to know what they look like as well. Now you’ll have something more important to talk about than the weather (of course, if you need a weather update, we’ve included that in the app as well). We like our calendar feature so much we decided to also include it with our LinkedIn iPhone (iOS 5+ required) and Android apps. It’s there now, so check it out.”
Joff noted in our conversation that his team hopes users will start and end their days with this app. For example, if you want to tap into LinkedIn Today, LinkedIn’s tool to keep you up-to-date about the news you care about, it’s easy to review or preview the news important to your industry on the new application. Additionally, keep up with what people are posting via updates to learn what’s new since last you checked. Want to see who’s commented or “liked” your update? It’s easy to do via the new mobile tool.
Joff detailed the new app as ” your professional dashboard” for the day. It includes easy access to updates, news, groups, who’s viewed your profile, your LinkedIn profile, search, Inbox and more.
The LinkedIn blog breaks it down like this, which is how the app is designed and shows up on your screen:
1) All Updates: Get a snapshot of your professional updates, news, and information all in one place.
2) You: Access your profile, connections and activity dashboard with a quick swipe
3) Inbox: Send and receive your LinkedIn invitations and messages in one place
I will be planning to use the new application (my iPad is charging as we speak), and I definitely recommend you check it out! Let me know what you think…Do you believe this app can be your “personal assistant?” Please leave your feedback in the comments.