Favorite IPhone Applications?

[Scott Shepherd]

I've had my iphone for almost 2 weeks now and I'm not really sure how I ever lived without it. It's got to be one of the coolest things I've ever owned. LOVE how intuitive it is.

So now I'm app's shopping :) Anyone found any really useful, cool applications? Shazam is free and incredible. It will identify any song playing on the radio, giving artist, song, album, links to the song, youtube clips of the band playing the song, etc. Just hold the phone up for 20 seconds or so, and it's done.

TiltMeter Pro is very handy. It turns your phone into a precision level. Very handy :)

Pro Football gives all the stats on NFL games, and even shows live games. Not on video, but shows the field, a ball on the field and commentary, play by play. Shows all the game schedules, records, and stats.

Any apps you iphone users have found that are hidden gems?

[Chris Padilla]

What's an iPhone?

[Dennis Peacock]

I don't have an iPhone but I've looked at a couple some friends have. Totally awesome interface and several applications that just blew my mind.

Some software developer earned his keep on that one.

[Ben Rafael]

There's a free game called "Labyrinth".
Try it, it's nice how it's feels, hard to describe but if you play it you'll see what I mean.

[Scott Shepherd]

What's an iPhone?


It's like a uphone, but it belongs to me, not u :)

Labyrinth is excellent, I already had that one too!

[Ben Rafael]

There's also a game called "Subway". It's kind of a puzzle game.
The lower levels are easy, it gets progressively harder til it is extremely difficult to solve.
There is a free version that is limited, it is good sample to see if you like it.

[Chris Padilla]

It's like a uphone, but it belongs to me, not u :)

Labyrinth is excellent, I already had that one too!

Oh, iSee!! ;)

[Eric DeSilva]

I find PocketGuitar amusing... There's also GoogleEarth for the iphone. Slow, but fun.

[Charles Bishop]

The wife and I just got new phones. I just use one for ....... phone calls.
She wanted an iphone and I think the main reason was to play her game developer son's game called Dizzy Bee. She has been thru all 45 levels with 100% score. Her son is very impressed. The iphone is an incredible device with many useful functions and is easy to use. The ATT sales guy said a lot of older folks are buying them instead of computers because they are so much easier to use.
I don't think I have answered your question other than the unabashed promotion of Dizzy Bee.There is a free version and full game is only$2.99.

Charles

[Robert Parrish]

Are you Smarter Than a Fifth Grader and Google Maps

[Scott Shepherd]

Just to add to how I used it last week-

Had to drive to Florida to pick up materials for rush job- 14 hours each way. Used GPS in car to get there, but got to Tampa area, hit traffic. Opened the maps up on the iphone, clicked on hybrid, then "show traffic", and it showed a satellite image of the road with a red mark on the road a few miles up. Showed it clearing up right after that. Cool, so we only had a little while to go before clearing it, no need to detour.

Got to the area at 8:30 at night, was looking for something to eat. Opened maps, entered "Seafood", 10 placed popped up on the map. Clicked the closest one, it showed the phone number and a their web address. Clicked on that, it opened up their site, looked at their menu, said "No thanks", went back to map, picked another place, looked at the menu, liked it, told to to take us there. It did.

While waiting for dinner to arrive, opened up Hotels.com and found a hotel to stay in for the best rate, closest to where we were picking the material up the next day.

Each time we got gas, we opened up the calculator and figured the mileage out. Also used the weather feature to check ahead while we were driving to and from.

Very very cool and useful stuff and it all worked quite well. It's so nice to be able to open up a website from anywhere (I know a lot of smartphones can do that, so it's not exclusive to the iphone).

Just one little adventure I used it for recently.

[Robert Parrish]

Your right Scott most Smartphones can access the internet but only the Iphone has Mac os x inside. This is just the beginning of what you will see with the Iphone. I was going to write some apps for it but seeing the number of developers I decided there was just too much competition. I see that there is already the first millionaire Iphone developer, the guy that wrote Trism.

[Jim Podsedly]

Here are few of my favorite apps.

cro-mag - a fun racing game
vicinity - tells you what is around you
AroundMe - similar to vicinity
Saywho - a voice activated dialer

Subway lite - puzzle game
Shazam - tells you what is playing on the radio
sportstap - scores to every sport imaginable.

first apple product i have owned and is a keeper!

[Chris Padilla]

May I ask what y'all are paying for this iPhone and associated service plan? I'll assume that is a yes so here goes:

What are y'all paying for an iPhone and associated service plan?

:D

[Jim Becker]

chris, the iPhone was $200 and the service is the same as it was prior to iPhone for voice and either $29 or $39 for unlimited data, depending if it is personal or Enterprise.

On the favorite apps question, the Starbucks locator is a staple. I like Google Earth, too. For games, the promo for Bolt is great and I also like Wurdle, as does my younger daughter. Good thing we now have two iPhone's so both kids can play at restaurants... ;)

[Dennis Peacock]

Chris,

I checked into this.

8GB iPhone - $199 with a 2 year contract
16GB iPhone -$299 with a 2 year contract
$39.95 per month for 700 minutes + Nights and Weekends (unlimited)
PLUS a $30 per month Data Plan (required)

At least I "think" that's all there is. :confused:

[Ben Rafael]

Hmmm?
I pay $10 per month for my data plan for the older Iphone.
For the newer Iphone the data plan is $20.
Maybe the prices differ by region?

[Jim Becker]

Ben, the current data plans for the iPhone 3G is $29 for "standard" and $39 for "Enterprise" (prices before any available corporate sponsorship discounts)...the latter has the connection and policy control for corporate email via Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync. My wife's phone is on the former and mine is on the latter. She actually does access her work email directly from the iPhone for convenience, but via IMAP4, rather than ActiveSync.

Do note that the iPhone data plans, while being unlimited for data, do not include text messaging like they often do for other smartphones. If you use SMS a lot, you'll want to consider if you need a text plan. For us, we only use SMS minimally and our monthly cost is generally less than the least expensive text plan.

[Ben Rafael]

Jim,
Maybe the plans are different out in your parts.
On my older iphone I have 200 text messages included. On the iphone 3g text messages are on option.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

I just got an iPhone demo from a co-worker - WAY COOL. as for cost - I need to replace my Treo (old and abused...and did I say old??), and cost-wise the iPhone is not any different than a new Treo or Blackberry (got my wife the Curve - she loves it). and the service plan for my coworker is cheaper than what he had with his old Blackberry.

of course, monthly service plan is one thing......making it easier to buy songs and apps? Priceless!

[Jim Becker]

Jim,
Maybe the plans are different out in your parts.
On my older iphone I have 200 text messages included. On the iphone 3g text messages are on option.

Yes, I was referring to the iPhone 3G which has totally different plans than the first generation iPhone and the SMS is one difference. I don't think that ATT has different rates in different geographies, but could be wrong about that.

[Jim Becker]

of course, monthly service plan is one thing......making it easier to buy songs and apps? Priceless!

Ah, yea...and I was not one to buy music and games prior to my iPhone. I will say, however, that iTunes is very frustrating sometimes. Professor Dr. SWMBO is having a major issue with trying to use audio books from the local library and we both have had issues with "information" disappearing from material we rip from compliations (legal compliations, I might add) so that there is no song, artist or album information sticking with the content. Way too much DRM...(digital rights management)...which interferes with our fare use of material we bought and paid for (or checked out of the library legally) without iPhones.

[Ben Rafael]

Itunes does exactly what you tell it to do, unfortunately it and me seem to be speaking different languages. It is a very frustrating program.

[Craig D Peltier]

Hold em Poker is alot of fun, I think the best one out there.
Cannon Game is fun too, I think you can play it on Discovery channels website as well.
weather bug is a nice feature.
Mobile news.

I also like "around me" , and "now playing" for movies and nearby theaters, times etc..

I recently bought flick fishing for .99 cents, its pretty fun.

[Scott Shepherd]

A couple more I have tried and liked :

Decibel - it turns the phone into a decibel meter. From the reviews, it's been tested for accuracy and people say it's pretty accurate. Nice tool to have when around loud work environments.

Background - free and loads of nice images to use as a background.

Casino - slot machine, video poker, blackjack, scratch off tickets. Pretty good and fun application.

Note2self - audio recorder that allows you to record a message and then, within the application, email it, or have it automatically emailed. Nice to send messages while on the road to your email for later. I tried some other voice recorder applications that said they emailed, but what they did was upload your message to THEIR server and then send the person a link to the file on their server. Not sure why my message needs to be stored on their server, and not just emailed. That's why I like this application, it just emails the voice file to the person.

Darts - pretty good time killer and it's free.

[John Shuk]

If they had an app that let it work with VZ wireless I'd be all over it.

[Jim Becker]

If they had an app that let it work with VZ wireless I'd be all over it.

Well...it's currently a GSM (global standard) only device, so that pretty much rules it out other than on the Vodafone side in Europe, etc. There has been some talk in the press about a future version that supports the US-only CDMA technology, but right now that's only speculation.

[Michael Weber]

I don't have now nor will likely ever own an iPhone. I was standing in line at Jerry's Home Improvement in Eugene, Oregon last week with a string level in my hand to purchase. A total stranger noticed the string level and insisted I look at the app on his iPhone. It was way cool and he said it cost $1.99. It was a level application and depending on how you held the phone it was a bubble level or a degree indicator (like a Wixley). Not sure who would want to risk using their iPhone for a level but it worked really well. The guy said the software provided a calibration setup so the thing was accurate. It was really amazing to watch. Sorry, don't know the name of the app.

[Jim Becker]

Michael, I didn't look but I think there is more than one "level" type application available out of the 10,000. The same features that power that application are also what makes some of the games and mapping apps really kewel...no buttons or joysticks, etc...just move and tilt the whole unit and it translates that into action/motion/etc.

[Charley Preston]

Can't believe no one has mentioned Pandora so far... If you don't know what it is, google it. Incredible music that you actually want to hear, based off your preferences.

[Jim Becker]

I only heard that Pandora was available for iPhone just this morning, Charley. It is, indeed, a nice service to have available. That said, given that iPhone has a complete iPod inside...there will be some folks that will prefer to stick with their own library.

[Ben Rafael]

I don't have now nor will likely ever own an iPhone. I was standing in line at Jerry's Home Improvement in Eugene, Oregon last week with a string level in my hand to purchase. A total stranger noticed the string level and insisted I look at the app on his iPhone. It was way cool and he said it cost $1.99. It was a level application and depending on how you held the phone it was a bubble level or a degree indicator (like a Wixley). Not sure who would want to risk using their iPhone for a level but it worked really well. The guy said the software provided a calibration setup so the thing was accurate. It was really amazing to watch. Sorry, don't know the name of the app.

He overpaid. There is a free level app available.

[Dave Lehnert]

Boy do I feel out dated. I use a TracPhone @ $100 a year.

[Jim Becker]

Boy do I feel out dated. I use a TracPhone @ $100 a year.

Nothing wrong with that at all, Dave. Everybody's needs are different. I use a smart phone because it's "my office" when I'm traveling. In addition to corporate email, I also run an application that gives me all the same features/functions for telephony, messaging, etc., on the wireless device when I'm away from my desk. I only publish my "office number" and nobody ever sees my wireless number unless I give it to them explicitly for text messaging. It means my business number is bridged (not forwarded...it's a simultaneous ring with coverage to corporate voice mail if I don't answer) to wherever I am in the world. Of course, having the Internet access and other goodies is icing on the cake. When I'm sitting in an airport or customer's lobby or even in a hotel room with no desire (or time) to pull out the notebook, I can do something in addition to reading an excessive number of books...like work or...browsing SMC. :)

Professor Dr. SWMBO also uses a smart phone. (she's on an iPhone now, too). It means she has access to university email, etc., while on the choo-choo when she has to go into town.

If it wasn't for all of that, I could likely be just fine with a basic wireless phone and a little text messaging. I recently bought a "Firefly" phone off EBAY to serve as a phone for either of my daughters in the event "we" need them to have a phone for some reason during some event. There is no keypad. Just a "Dad" and "Mom" button as well as a very limited number of directory/speed dials I set up. No texting. It suite the purpose. If their needs (in their parent's opinion...) become greater, I have a couple of unlocked Motorola phones that can be put in use. I occasionally use one myself when I want a phone in my pocket for emergency or convenience, but don't want or need the smart phone to be along for the ride.

[Tom Grant]

Jim, Which telephony application is that? That sounds like a very slick setup.