I’m one of the worst ‘task managers’ you’ll ever meet. There are thousands of services out there that would make my life way easier, that I either don’t know about or that are too complex or too simple for my taste and needs.
So when I got pitched by an entrepreneur in between sessions at the recent TechCrunch Disrupt conference about a “new breakthrough cross-platform task management product”, I was skeptical. Five minutes later, I was sold.
Enter Producteev, which is launching said new product – dubbed Producteev Two – today.
Here’s what I love about it: Producteev Two lets users capture tasks, email-based action items or schedule deadlines using whatever communication channel they prefer. The product, which is free for up to 3 individual users, connects to a myriad of popular communication tools, including IM services like Google Talk, AIM, Yahoo! Messenger as well as Twitter and Facebook.
No longer need I feel forced to visit a web application to save and manage tasks, unless I choose to do so. I can simply send a custom message to a dedicated email address, or quickly open a Gtalk IM window inside my Gmail account to create or assign tasks, and get notifications back through the channels of my choosing.
Better yet, a proper Gmail Gadget plugs directly into Producteev Two so I can now quickly check and manage important tasks straight from my Gmail interface, which I tend to have open at all times anyway. There’s also one for iGoogle. Just great.
There’s even some sort of social gaming aspect to the product. One feature, Producteev Academy, enables users to win badges for different activities, such as completing the most tasks. Don’t worry: it can be turned off.
In addition, the company this morning announced the launch of Producteev Two for the iPhone, which is also free. The mobile app works offline, syncs in the background when the user goes back online and supports push notifications. It’s currently being reviewed by Apple’s team of app scrutinizers, but should be available soon (screenshots below).
On Producteev’s roadmap: a desktop client for Mac, which will be available later this month, and an API. Amazing stuff for a company that’s raised less than $1 million in early-stage funding.
