An application from the US, called Evernote, claims to use unique recognition software to help you index and search items associated with key words. Nothing much unusual about that, you say? How about software that not only recognises text in images, but will also make a pretty good fist of reading handwritten notes?

It's rare to see a web-based service that's so far ahead of the game, but for cost and functionality Evernote ticks the boxes. Want to remember that nice wine you're drinking at a restaurant? Use your mobile phone to snap the label and add it to your account. Scan a receipt or business card, add web page clips (Firefox has a brilliant extension), drag and drop content (Mac and Windows), record audio - the possibilities go on and on.

A free version of Evernote will be quite enough for most people. But if you do want a paid ("Premium") account, which gives you 500MB per month upload allowance instead of 40MB, SSL security (vital for business users, really) and improved image recognition, it's $US45 a year. The current desktop Windows install is a 50.9MB download. You can use also the web-based service or Windows Mobile devices.