Microsoft gives OneNote a bird's-eye view
REDMOND, Wash.--When Microsoft showed its Seadragon technology some time ago, it was clear that a bird's-eye view was a neat way to do photos. But Microsoft clearly thinks the "bird's-eye" view of content has applications way beyond photos.
On Friday, Microsoft is releasing a free add-on, dubbed Canvas for OneNote, that takes that same approach to viewing one's notebooks in OneNote.
Because it is an adjunct to OneNote, Canvas requires one really be a heavy user of that program to get the benefit. (It also requires Windows Vista and uses Microsoft's Windows Presentation Foundation graphics technology).
But I wouldn't be surprised to see the bird's-eye metaphor used more and more by Microsoft. Indeed, Microsoft also has a presentation tool, the one Stephen Elop is using in his speech today, that also lets a presenter easily zoom in and out of images as opposed to going from one PowerPoint slide to the next.
Others in the industry have also found that a good view for one type of content can be used broadly. Apple for example, used Cover Flow as a means of flipping through albums in iTunes, but later found uses for it for browsing documents in the Finder and, as of this week, for navigating through Web sites in Safari.
Microsoft also has a similar tool for PowerPoint, known as pptPlex.
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
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- by olegkokorin November 17, 2009 11:23 PM PST
- Yes, there is an app similar to OneNote for iPhone - www.mobileNoter.com
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(4 Comments)Basically, it's an iPhone client for OneNote, even though it can't be officially called so, because it was not developed by Microsoft. Check it out. Thousands of people have already done.