The eKEY Basic iPhone app from Supra was approved yesterday and is available for free in the iTunes app store.  The iPhone app does not allow users to open real estate keyboxes but does have a demo mode so users can view all of the functionality of the application without having to sign up for the eKEY service.

eKEY Basic provides the following features:
- Wireless Updates and Alerts
- Obtain Listing Keys
- Keep track of all your key boxes right from your phone!
- Manage and Program your keyboxes
- Easily place and remove keyboxes from listings using your phone. You can also change your own shackle codes.

To open keyboxes, users will need a Supra eKEY iPhone adapter.  The adapter is a small device that plugs into the bottom of the iPhone and allows the iPhone to communicate with the keybox with a low powered infrared light.  The adapter does not need batteries.

According to the iPhone app, the adapters will begin shipping the third week in August.

You can not activate the eKEY app until the adapters are available but can enter the demo mode to view how the app will work.

The app will allow users to open keyboxes, open the keybox shackle, and view inventory.

The demo mode does send sample notifications of showings so you can get a good idea of how the apps functions.

The iPhone app looks good.  It will be interesting to see how well the app works once the adapters start to ship.

The app already has several 5 star reviews in iTunes including this one that made me laugh:

It looks really slick!

by SL Xpress

According to the demo, you can even give feedback directly after the showing. I’m so excited about this, I may pee.

How much does the Supra iPhone Adapter cost?
The iPhone adapter costs a one time fee of $55.  There will be a monthly fee to use the eKEY software and this fee varies by each Board or MLS.

You can download the iPhone right now for free in the iTunes app store.  The eKEY for iPhone requires iPhone OS 3.1.3 or above and will work with all of the iPhone models, 2G, 3G, 3GS, and 4.

To learn more about the Supra eKEY adapter, visit Supra.com.

Will you order the eKEY adapter for the iPhone?

Remember the last time you called a real estate company and were greeted with an automated attendant and given the option to dial by name to find the  agent you were looking for?  Not only is this extremely easy to set up, it is fairly inexpensive to do. (image by Library of Virginia)

What is a Virtual PBX?

A PBX is a Private Branch Exchange that allows you to manage your phone number(s) and / or extensions and because it’s virtual, there is no hardware to install.  A PBX allows your calls to be answered with a custom greeting, callers can access a company directory, calls can be automatically routed, and it can and take voicemail and receive faxes.

A virtual PBX is a fairly inexpensive solution if you have numerous employees that each need their own extension.  As real estate offices become more mobile, a virtual PBX is a great way to manage your voicemails and faxes (if you still receive faxes).

Key features of a Virtual PBX:

1. Customize Greeting.  You can set up a custom greeting letting callers know who they called and what extensions they can dial.
2. Multiple extensions.  Each employee can have their own extension and voicemail.
3. Customize Hours.  Route callers depending on what time it is or forwards callers to specific phone lines during certain hours.
4. Find me Follow me.  Ring multiple phones at once so you never miss a call.
5. Voicemail to email.  Have your voicemails emailed to you so you can listen to them at any time.
6. Have faxes sent to your email as PDF files.

Today there are numerous options for a virtual PBX.  Here are just a few:

1) RingCentral

RingCentral’s Plus plan offers 1,000 shared minutes and unlimited extensions for $24.99 / month.  They charge $0.044 per additional minute.  Their iPhone app is free.

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2) Grasshopper

Grasshopper’s Ramp plan offers 500 minutes and unlimited extensions for $24.00 / month.  They charge $0.06 per additional minute.  No iPhone app.

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3) eVoice

eVoice offers 1,000 minutes and 5 extensions for $29.95 / month.  They charge $0.039 per additional minute.  Their iPhone app is free.

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4) OneBox

OneBox offers 2,000 minutes and 4 extensions for $49.95 / month.  They charge $0.049 per additional minute.  Their iPhone app is free.

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5) VirtualPBX

VirtualPBX offers 1,000 minutes and unlimited extensions for $44.99 / month.  They charge $0.047 per additional minute.  They do not have an iPhone app.

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6) Phone.com

Phone.com offers 1,000 minutes and unlimited extensions for $39.88 / month.  They charge $0.049 per additional minute.  They have an iPhone and Android app.

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Questions to ask before signing up for a virtual PBX:

• How many minutes will I need?
• How many employees do I have and how many extensions will I need?
• Can I port my local number if I want to?
• Can I get a 1-800 Number and / or a vanity phone number?
• How much do they charge per minute if I go over my minutes?
• Is there a setup or cancellation fee?

Many Virtual PBX providers offer free trails.  I would suggest signing up for a free trial to test out a service before committing to it.

A really nice feature of some Virtual PBX providers is the option for unlimited extensions.  If your real estate office has unlimited extensions you could give every one of your listings its own extension.  Publish the phone number and extension on the for sale sign so home buyers can call to get more information about the house.

Depending on how many employees you have a virtual PBX might be overkill. Smaller real estate and appraisal companies might be able to use a less expensive VOIP service such as Vonage.

My real estate appraisal company uses Google Voice to handle all of its business calls.  Google Voice has almost replaced my need for a Virtual PBX, not to mention it is much cheaper (free).  Google voice is open to everyone, no invitation required.

What do you use for your business calls, a landline, VOIP, or your cell phone?

Most real estate appraisers probably carry a flashlight with them.  You might need a flashlight when doing a head and shoulders inspection of an attic or crawl space and definitely need a flashlight when appraising a bank owned property that does not have the power turned on.

You might not need your flashlight anymore if you have an iPhone 4.  The iPhone 4 has a LED flash on the back of the phone and there are several free iPhone apps that turn the iPhone’s LED flash on and keep it on so you can use it as a flashlight.

Click HERE if you can not see the embedded video above.

There are several free iPhone apps that turn the iPhone’s LED flash into a flashlight

1) LED Light for iPhone 4 Free

This app enables you to use the iPhone 4’s LED flash as a flashlight and strobe light.

2) LED-Flashlight

LED FlashLight for the iPhone 4 is the ultimate free flashlight for your iPhone 4. Forget digging for your keys with those dull screen lights!
Features:
- Instant-on flashlight on startup
- Simple one-button on/off flashlight
- Auto-Off while switching to other apps
- White-background for additional light

3) Free LED Light

The first Flashlight-App that uses the iPhone4 LED-Flash!

4) FlashLight4G

FlashLight4G is a very simple flashlight application,but very useful!
Flash LED for iPhone4 can be turned ON/OFF quickly.
Features:
・Blinking mode equipped
・Simple on/off button
・You can light while hearing the tune of iPod on the back ground.
・Cool real flashlight picture

5) CameraLight – See in the dark

NOW FREE! – because like 500 other people made this app!
CameraLight turns your new iPhone 4 into the brightest flashlight yet using the new LED flash!
Simply open the app, and the LED turns on.
You can switch it on or off, or even take low light pictures with the camera.

6) Flashlight 4: LED Light for iPhone 4

The absolute fastest, simplest LED flashlight app for iPhone 4.
It does one thing, and does it ridiculously well.
It quickly and easily turns on the LED flash next to the rear camera, and keeps it continuously lit.

7) LED Flashlight HD

– INSTANT ON -
Our flashlight is one of the FASTEST starting flashlights on the market. Don’t sit around waiting for your light in the dark.
- BRIGHTEST LIGHT -
The iPhone 4’s LED light on the back is incredibly BRIGHT. In a completely dark room you can see clear to the other side.

8) LED Flashlight – Brightest Flashlight for iPhone 4

Ever wanted to use your iPhone 4’s camera flash as a flashlight? Well, now you can with our LED Flashlight app!
This is the brightest iPhone flashlight you’ve ever seen!
You can even play music while the light is on. (Some others don’t do this.)

A LED Flashlight app for the iPhone 4 is a must have iPhone app for real estate appraisers.  The LED on the back of the iPhone 4 is very bright and is a great backup for your flashlight.

Do you carry a flashlight with you during real estate appraisal?

Real estate appraisers commonly walk long distances, whether it is appraising a large tract of land or measuring a big house.  Have you ever wondered how many calories you burned during a real estate appraisal?  You can easily find out by using the free iPhone app by Jillian Michaels.

Click HERE if you can not see the embedded video above.

The Jillian Michaels Fitness Motivation is a free iPhone app.

You’ve seen Jillian Michaels help people shed hundreds of pounds on NBC’s The Biggest Loser and Losing It with Jillian. Now you can get that same hard-driving encouragement for your own workouts – when you download the only fitness app from America’s toughest trainer – FREE!

Just for fun I used Jillian Michael’s iPhone app while measuring a house for a real estate appraisal.  It took me about 25 minutes to measure the house, workshop, sunroom, and porches, and patios.  I burned a total of 35 calories in 25 minutes.  It is important to note that measuring a house for a real estate appraisal is not an intense workout, but it was fun to use the app and I would recommend using it during a real workout.

The iPhone app has several great features:

The app has motion tracking to calculate your workout’s intensity and then tells you how many calories you burned.

GPS feature that tracks the distance you ran.

The app tracks your goals and progress.

The app also gives tips to maximize your workouts and videos of Jillian demonstrating some of her exercises.

You can follow Jillian Michaels on Twitter and Facebook.

Do you ever feel like you have had a good workout after measuring a large house for a real estate appraisals?  Do you use any iPhone apps to track your workouts?

Google Docs now converts the text in scanned documents to Google Docs.  This is a great feature, especially if you are a paperless office.  For example, you can upload an appraisal file that is in PDF format and not only store it in Google Docs, but search the text within the PDF file.

Upload your scanned images (JPEG, GIF, PNG) or PDFs, and Google Docs will extract text and formatting from the scans for you to edit away.

OCR works best with high-resolution images, and not all formatting may be preserved. The original images will be included in the new document to make it easier for you to correct mistakes.

How does it work?

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) lets you extract text from images using automated computer algorithms. Images can be processed individually (.jpg, .png, and .gif files) or in multi-page PDF documents (.pdf). For more information on OCR, check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_character_recognition

How do you upload a document?

Step 1:

Go to docs.google.com and log in.

Step 2:

Click the “Upload” button in the top left corner of the screen.

Step 3:

Select the file you want to upload.

Step 4:

Select to “Convert text from PDF or image files to Google Docs documents”.

Step 5:

You can select a folder to upload to, determine file permissions, and then start the upload.

That is it.  You can now view and edit your document.

To test the service, I creating a PDF file from an appraisal report and uploaded it to Google Docs.  You can see from the image below, Google easily extracted all of the text from the PDF but none of the formatting was preserved.

The OCR feature might be more and more convenient to real estate appraisers.  Appraisal orders and real estate contracts are commonly emailed as PDF documents.  If you use GMail as your email client, you can open the PDF in Google Docs and search for text within the document.

Click “view” to open an email attachment in Google Docs.

The document will be opened in Google Docs.

Now you can search for text within the document.   For example, you could search for the FHA case number in an appraisal order.  This might save you time by not having to read through the entire document to find the FHA case number.

Google Docs currently gives you 1 Gig of free storage.

You can buy an additional 20 GB of storage for $5.00 / year.

Do you use Google Docs to view your appraisal or real estate files?

With the release of iOS 4, AT&T finally allows internet tethering on the iPhone.  This lets you share your iPhone’s internet connection so you can surf the web wherever you have a cell phone signal.  This will definitely be useful for any mobile real estate professionals that need internet access but are not close to a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Click HERE if you can not see the embedded video above.

How To Tether Your iPhone With Your Laptop in 5 Easy Steps

Step 1:

Upgrade your data plan with AT&T to allow tethering.  You can change your plan on their website or with the AT&T iPhone app.

You should know that if you change your plan from the unlimited data plan you will not be able to change back to the unlimited data plan.

Step 2:

Download the latest version of iTunes onto the laptop you want to tether.

Step 3:

Enable tethering on your iPhone.

Go to Settings > General > Network > Internet tethering.

You can tether your iPhone via a USB cable or a bluetooth connection.

Step 4: Plug your iPhone in your computer.  You might need to select “iPhone’ from the list of available networks on your computer.

You know you are sharing your iPhone’s internet connection because there will be a blue bar across the top of you iPhone that says, “Internet Tethering”.

Step 5: That is it!  Enjoy the internet wherever you have a cell phone signal!

You can view the new pricing plans for the iPhone that includes the ability to tether at ATT.com

You will have to monitor your data usage if you change from the unlimited plan.  AT&T will help you by sending you text message and email alerts. You will get an alert after you reach 65%, 90%, and 100% of the threshold.  You can also check your data usage by using their free iPhone app.

If you are curious about how much internet surfing you can do with the new data plan, check out our previous post,

AT&T Gives The iPhone Some Love With Tethering, that shows you how you can track how much bandwidth you use on your computer.

Will you be tethering your iPhone to your laptop now that AT&T allows it?

1) LoopNet Launches New Property Database

LoopNet has recently launched a property database comprising 5 million commercial properties across all major property types including retail, office, industrial and multifamily. The database allows investors to search property records in detail.

The LoopNet Property database is available at no extra cost to LoopNet Premium members and all new LoopNet Premium members that enroll during the database’s beta launch period.

Be sure and check out REbliss’s review of the LoopNet iPhone app.

2) Google Voice Free For Everyone in the US

As of 06/22/2010 Google Voice opens to the public, no invitation required.  Google Voice is a fantastic service and REbliss thinks it could be every independent contractor’s BFF.

3) Print from Anywhere: Pogoplug Gets Cloud Printing Feature

The service, which will be free of charge, will support all HP and Epson printers released since 2005. Pogoplug owners will receive a software update later this summer and compatible printers will work without the need for additional drivers. The Pogoplug, which currently retails for $129, features four USB ports.

If you are unsure what Pogoplug is, read how the Pogoplug allows you to create your own cloud storage.

4) Is Geofencing the Next Evolution for Location Apps?

Location Labs, providers of location services for mobile developers, announced earlier this week the release of its library that will allow iPhone developers to build geofencing apps thanks in no small part to new features included in the new iOS 4.0.

Two days before this article was published, REbliss published an article about what the iPhone’s new operating system will mean to the real estate industry.  The first thing mentioned was multitasking and geofencing.  Geofencing could bring exciting new things to the real estate industry.

5) Bird’s Eye View with Google Maps

Today, we’re excited to announce the release of 45° imagery for of select cities in the U.S. and worldwide to all users of Google Maps. As you may have guessed from the name, 45° imagery is imagery depicting a location from a 45° angle rather than from the top. This type of imagery allows you to explore the sides of buildings and other locations — you can even rotate around a particular point of interest using the compass ring to view it from four different perspectives. To see the new imagery, simply zoom into an area while in Satellite mode.

The 45° imagery is only available in select cities but could be very useful to anyone in the real estate industry.

Magellan has launched the ToughCase, a rugged protective iPhone case that is shockproof and waterproof.

Enjoy your iPhone or iPod touch on all your outdoor adventures without worrying about damage from environmental elements. Keep your device safe while hiking, camping, sailing, cycling or working outdoors. ToughCase is waterproof to IPX-7 standards allowing your device to be submersed in water (up to one meter for thirty minutes) and shock resistant.

While the ToughCase is geared towards outdoorsmen, it would be a great iPhone case for real estate agents, appraisers, and home inspectors.

The ToughCase has has built-in GPS that enhances the accuracy of location-based and GPS apps on the iPhone and iPod Touch.  REbliss has written about the use of GPS and Google Maps to help you find your property lines.  While this technology is in its infancy, a stronger GPS signal would mean your location would be more accurate on the map, thus giving you a better indication of where the property line is.

a la mode, inc has a iPhone app that allows real estate appraisers to sketch a house on their iPhone.  In theory this sounds great but what about when it is raining or snowing?  The TouchCase would let appraisers use their iPhone to sketch a house no matter what the weather conditions are.

The ToughCase gives you total control of your device even though it covers the screen.  You can even place calls when your device is under water, not that I can image any real estate professional needing to do this!

The case offers great protection for your iPhone but comes with a hefty price tag of $199.99.  The TouchCase is compatible with the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and 2nd and 3rd generation iPod Touch.  You can get all of the details at magellangps.com

If you don’t need to all of the features of the ToughCase, OtterBox has a less expensive solution to ruggedize your iPhone.

OtterBox makes ruggedized cases for iPhones, Android phones, Blacberry smartphones, and numerous others.

Words like rugged and extreme came to mind when we designed the 2600 Series PDA case. Water-resistant and airtight, this uniquely patented case will fit 99% of all PDA units on the market, including the Apple® iPhone®. If hardcore PDA protection is what you desire, your search is over.

NOTE: This case is NOT submergible and requires a Bluetooth® headset when using the phone features of the iPhone.

While this case is not water proof, it is water resistant and crushproof.  The case fits 99% of all PDA units on the market including the iPhone 3G and 3GS and retails for $65.75.  You can get more information at OtterBox.

You can make your iPhone virtually indestructible but still can’t ruggedize your iPad.  You can, however, protect your iPad from the occasional drop.  OtterBox is releasing two cases for the Apple iPad: iPad Defender Series Case priced at $89.95 and iPad Commuter Series Case priced at$64.95.

The iPad is a fantastic devise but fitting it into the appraiser’s tool belt is difficult until it is ruggedized.  Using a la mode’s appraisal software would be a great solution if the iPad was ruggedized and had a camera.

Hopefully one day soon you will be able to buy a ruggedized iPad and a solar strap to keep it charged.

Would you use an iPhone or iPad out in the field if it were ruggedized?

Mobile real estate professionals are constantly on the road.  Whether on the way to a real estate appraisal, home inspection, or open house it is important to drive safely.  Photo by BryanMcDee.

Here are ten useful smartphone applications to help real estate professionals drive safely, be productive, and save gas:

1) DriveSafe.ly

DriveSafe.ly^™ is a mobile application that reads text (SMS) messages and emails aloud in real time and automatically responds without drivers touching the mobile phone. DriveSafe.ly is the solution to texting while driving.

DriveSafe.ly is available on Blackberry smartphones and Android phones for free.  iPhones and Windows Mobile phones will be supported in the near future.

2) DriveGain

DriveGain is an iPhone application that helps you save fuel while you are driving.

Saving fuel not only saves you money – it reduces the amount of CO2 you emit and allows you to travel further before needing to fill up.

As you drive the application gives you visual and audio feedback on what changes you can make to your driving style to help you save more fuel.

DriveGain is only available for the iPhone and costs $6.99.  However, the company claims that the application will pay for itself in two weeks if used by the average driver.

3) greenMeter

greenMeter is an app for the iPhone and iPod Touch that computes your vehicle’s power and fuel usage characteristics and evaluates your driving to increase efficiency, reduce fuel consumption and cost, and lower your environmental impact. Results are displayed in real time, while driving, to give instantaneous feedback.

The app is available for the iPhone and costs $5.99.  The company claims the software can pay for itself within 1-2 tanks of gas.

4) Jott

With a simple phone call, Jott Assistant lets you use your voice to capture notes & to-dos, set reminders and appointments, send email and text messages, and post to your favorite web services, all on the go. Our voice-to-text service turns your voice notes, messages, and updates into text and sends them where you want.

There is an native app for Blackberry smartphones and iPhones but will work work with all phones and all carriers in the US & Canada.  Jott’s speech to text technology lets you use your voice to send emails and text messages to your contacts or groups.

Jott works with 50 different websites including WordPress, Facebook, Ping.fm, Google Calendar, Remember The Milk, and Twitter.  Jott has several different subscription plans ranging from $3.95 to $12.95 a month.

5) Vlingo

Vlingo delivers a voice interface and technology that allows users to instantly access services and content on their device. These services include the ability send text and email messages, call contacts, search the Web, update your Facebook or Twitter status and much more by just speaking into their phone.

Vlingo has both a free and paid app.  It is is available for BlackBerry smartphones, iPhone, Nokia phones, and some Windows Mobile phones.

6) iWrecked

Vurgood Apps has provided driver’s with an essential tool if ever in the unfortunate position of being in an accident.  It makes that tough event much easier and directs the user to the info they need.

This app takes the user through a list of what to do after a car crash, including taking photos and getting contact information from the other drivers.  It will also locate the nearest police station, taxi, or tow-truck service.

iWrecked is available for free for the iPhone and will be available on Android phones soon.

7) aCar

aCar is a handy tool for your Android supported device to effectively track the maintenance, fuel mileage and expenses of your vehicles.

Whether you want to track the fuel mileage or the expenses of your vehicle, or to simply know if your vehicle operates at its peak, or just want a reminder for maintenance services of your vehicle (be it changing engine oil, air filter, oil filter, or inspection, wheel alignment, etc), aCar is the right tool for you.

aCar is free for Android phones.

8) Fuelly

Fuelly is a site that lets you track, share, and compare your gas mileage. Simply sign up, add a car or motorcycle, and begin tracking your mileage.

Fuelly does not have a native app for smartphones but rather a mobile site so there is nothing to download or install.  Visit http://m.fuelly.com/ from your smartphone and add data right from the gas pump. Fuelly gives you instant feedback about your fuel efficiency.  You can search the site for other drivers with the same make and model as you to see how your fuel efficiency compares.

We reviewed Fuelly several months ago. You can view the video demo HERE.

9) RepairPal

Our iPhone App allows you to get the same estimates as RepairPal.com from your iPhone. You can also search for a repair shop in your area using the iPhone’s GPS, and you can view ratings and reviews to find the right shop on the go. If you happen to break down, you can search for a tow truck or roadside help in the RepairPal directory, or call your manufacturer’s helpline.

RepairPal’s iPhone app is free and they have a mobile website that can be accessed from any smartphone m.repairpal.com.

10) RSSpeaker

The app that speaks your favorite news and blogs to you. Don’t expect a robotic voice; this app uses the highest quality text-to-speech engine available. Now it’s even easier to stay informed. RSSpeaker™- Listen to the News You Choose.

RSSpeaker™ is perfect while driving or at the beach. Use it when your eyes are busy, but your mind is free. Best of all, you don’t need Internet access to listen to your news. Your subway ride just got more productive.

The app is available for the iPhone for $2.99.  It is available in several different languages and does not require any registration to use.

It is tempting to check email and text messages while driving.  Besides being dangerous some states have passed laws that make texting while driving illegal.  Fortunately, text to speech technology has improved to the point where most automated voices do not sound robotic.

Do you use any text to speech apps on your smartphone?  What are you favorite apps that help you drive safely and be productive while on the road?

Posterous is one the easiest ways to blog.  It is free to use and you don’t even have to sign up to use the service.

Over the past few weeks Posterous has been busy rolling out new features such as comment moderation, pages, and sidebar links.

Along with all of the new features, they have introduced new tools to help bloggers switch from what they call dying platforms.  Posterous has been wooing bloggers from services such as Tumblr and Ning and are now gunning for ActiveRain users.

If you are a real estate professional, you need a blog to demonstrate your expertise about your local market, promote your listings and network with other agents.

According to ActiveRain, the site has 185,560 professionals.

How many of these users will switch to Posterous?  It will be interesting to see if this puts any pressure on ActiveRain.

Here is what is good about ActiveRain:

1) It is a community of Real Estate Professionals, a large communtiy.  When you blog on ActiveRain, your blog is not only read by other real estate professionals, but by those seeking real estate advise. There are great conversations about current real estate issues and trends.

2) You can search ActiveRain for a local real estate professional. Homebuyers and sellers can easily search the site for a real estate professional in their city or county.

3) ActiveRain has numerous tools specifically designed for real estate professionals and consumers like home buying and selling guides, real estate training, networking, and marketing.

Here is what is bad about ActiveRain:

1) While it is free to sign up, you have to pay a membership fee if you want your blog post to be seen by more than just the ActiveRain Members.

2) When you blog on ActiveRain, you blog on ActiveRain.  In other words, you can not take your blog posts from ActiveRain to Wordpress and vise versa.

So which one is the better blogging platform?

For many bloggers, the openness of Posterous makes it a better platform.  Not only is it dead simple to blog on Posterous, you can easily share it with other sites.  Posterous also boasts many features like being able to register your own domain, automatically update Facebook and Twitter, easily post video, it has a bookmarklet for easy posting, and allows you to use Google Analytics to see who is viewing your Posterous site.

While ActiveRain might not be as open or have as many features, it is a large community of real estate professionals and a great place for real estate conversation and advise.

How do you switch from ActiveRain to Posterous?

Moving your ActiveRain blog to Posterous is simple.  Just go toposterous.com/switch/activerain/ and enter in your ActiveRain user name and email address.

We’ll take it from there. You don’t even need to set up an account.  We’ll send you an email when we’re done copying over your blog.  And don’t worry, your ActiveRain blog will still be intact.  Not convinced?   Get the straight scoop atswitchto.posterous.com from real estate professionals like Sandy.

Still not sure what Posterous is?

Posterous is a reverse lifestreaming service.  Lifestreaming services like Friendfeed pull all of your content  from all over the web into one place.  So all of your tweets, YouTube videos, blog posts, etc. will show up as one stream of information.  Posterous on the other hand takes the content you post to their site and posts it to other services like Flickr, Facebook, Wordpress, and many others:

Be sure to check out the FAQ section on the Posterous website to learn more.

Do you blog on ActiveRain?  Would you consider switching to Posterous?

**Updated in response to the comments**

I do have a free ActiveRain account.  As it was mentioned above, for my blog posts on ActiveRain to be public I would have to upgrade to a Rain Maker account:

This upgrade costs $29.00 per month:

There are members of ActiveRain that have a free RainMaker accounts and their posts do get indexed by Google and are visible to the public.  These free accounts unfortunately no longer exist.