Review |  iPhone Apps | July 2009 | MMcKenney

The iPhone…..I am guessing that you have probably heard of this ground-breaking, do-it-all, phone/iPod/everything else.  Back in April I posted an article called ‘Check Out These iPhone Web Apps‘.  Here we are a few months later and I have found some incredible apps.  Some of them cost money (up to a whopping $2.99!) and others are completely free.  Here are my most used iPhone apps.

The iPhone apps below are listed by order of use/coolness (as in the most used/cool app is number one):

Pano

Pano

Panoramic photographs on the iPhone? why the hell not? Pano is so slick that I wrote this blog article a while back.  The last time I checked Pano cost a mere $2.99!  This is certainlly one that is not going to break the bank!  This app is simple to use (I mean ridiculously simple to use!) and creates amazing panoramic photographs.  Check out a few of my panoramic photos in my panoramic photograph gallery (keep in mind that some of the older images were NOT created with Pano). More info on Pano for iPhone here. Cost: $2.99

TweetDeck

TweetDeck

The popular desktop Twitter application on the iPhone? Uh-huh!  This app is both functional and cool!  It has a multi-column layout (friends updates/mentions/direct message) and allows a user to keep up to date on all their social media followers.  Now you too can answer the question ‘What are you doing?’ right from your phone.  The one thing the iPhone app is lacking is the ability to update both Facebook and Twitter in one post (the desktop app has this functionality).  Check out TweetDeck for iPhone here. Cost: free

Facebook

Facebook

Yes, now all of you Facebook/social media addicts can tell all of your friends what you had for dinner right from your phone!  See what your friends are up to, upload pictures, check your Inbox, chat with friends, view your profile, update your status, etc… all from the palm of your hand!  Just do us all a favor and don’t update your status while you are driving! More on the Facebook app here. Cost: free

Google

Google Mobile App For iPhone

Google is there anything you don’t/can’t do?  If you are like me you are probably logged into some Google app every waking moment of your life (ok, that might be a slight exaggeration)!  Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Google Talk, Tasks, Reader, GOOG-411, News, Book Reader, Notebook, Photos, orkut, Translate, Maps, YouTube, and finally Google Earth all right under this tiny blue icon on your iphone!  Whew!  That’s a whole lot of Google!  Which reminds me, how did I function in life before Google came along? For this link for more about Google Mobile App for your iPhone. Cost: free

Compass Go

Compass Go

Maybe I don’t use this one daily but it’s still a great app!  Do you find yourself getting lost often? Maybe you stroll aimlessly into the forest on a regular basis? Maybe you visit unfamiliar cities often? Do you have and iPhone and a spare $1.99?  Compass Go allows you to set a starting point (but don’t forget to set it) and then find your way back to that point (assuming that your iPhone gets reception the entire time – if you are in the deep woods surrounded by mountains this could be an issue).  This app is easy to use and works accurately when there is reception.  Learn more about Compass Go here. Cost: $1.99

Lose It!

Lose It!

I don’t usually go on diets, or try to concern myself with the foods I consume but I do have this odd habit of tracking things.  I generally try to eat a healty diet but when I found Lose It! I began looking at food in a whole new light – numbers!  Who knew that counting calories could be so informative? (Obviously not me)  Lose It!  allows you to set a weight loss goal and to then keep a daily log of all the calories you consume and burn off.  It has a searchable database (by brand as well as food names) of foods and exercises.  If you are looking for an app that can help you count calories this one works great and the cost to you? absolutely free!  What could it hurt, go check it out at www.loseit.com.  Cost: free

What iPhone apps do you use daily?  Add your comments below.

Article | Nov 2008 | M.McKennedy

Calendar, spreadsheets, documents, maps, video, photographs, chat, video chat, themes, labels, oh and don’t forget email!  All of this from one email application?  From one FREE email application?  Yes!  Thank you Google!

Gmail (click image for larger view)

I assume you use email.  You are alive, you have a computer, therefore you must use email!  There are different classifications of email users, which could be another article in itself, but Gmail offers enough forms of customization to attract all types of email users – from the ‘poweruser’ to ‘emoticon abuser’ – Gmail is a breath of fresh air in the world of email!

Before Gmail came along (for me a few years ago) I dabbled in YahooMail and Hotmail for free email and Thunderbird and Outlook/Outlook Express for desktop apps.  Hotmail is a load of crap!  I will just leave it at that.  Yahoo lost me about eight years ago.  I don’t really recall what caused me to stop using YahooMail but I did.

Just last week I was at a co-worker’s desk and she had Gmail open and I noticed some text at the top of her Gmail account, it looked different from what I was looking at on my own Gmail account.  I didn’t want to stare so I made a mental note to find out what Google was telling her (and not me) and went back to my desk.  Within a few minutes I was submerged in work and forgot to check my own Gmail account.  About an hour later while talking with another co-worker I was asked, “hey, have you seen themes for gmail yet?”  It clicked, the notification in Gmail was alerting the user that something new had been added (which seems to happen quite a bit)!  I changed tab focus over to my open Gmail window, hit the refresh button but did not see any notification.  I clicked ‘settings’, and didn’t find any mention of themes!  So I did what any modern person would do when they have a question – Google it!  I typed in Gmail themes and within seconds found out that Gmail had rolled out themes and that if I didn’t have the option yet that I could expect to see it within a short period of time.  When I got home I logged into Gmail and there it was…a notification telling me out themes for Gmail!  I browsed the many variations and ended up with a theme called ‘Shiny’.  I must tell you though, I am not one to typically sit around and play with the look of the applications I use.  I am not into have one hundred ‘skins’ for my media player but here was Gmail telling me that they were giving me a gift and it wasn’t even my birthday so why was I so excited?

Themes are just a small part of the Gmail world.  Google Docs offers online spreadsheets and document storage/collaboration for free.  Google Chat incorporates chat right into the email application and now offers video chat (which by the way works quite well) and the ability to chat voicemail messages to a mobile phone and it works with AOL chat.  (I never did use AOL for much of anything but chat.)  Then there is Google Calendar which has become my one source to store all of my appointments.  My wife and I share a calendar so we can get synchronize and I have at least 2 other calendars I use for work.  I schedule meetings through Google Calendar and if I have to travel I am looking up my route on Google Maps!  That’s a whole lot of Google!

The world of email has been turned on it’s head with Gmail.   I work in the technology industry and everyone, and I mean everyone has a Gmail account! Messages are treated like conversations (unless you have used Gmail you probably don’t know what I am talking about), calendar access, Google Docs, maps, photo/video storage and chat right in one convenient place (the pre-stages of ‘cloud computing?’)!  These are just a few of the features (there are many, many more!) that Google has decided to give us, and to that I say….Google…is there anything you can’t do?