There's an App for That

The iPhone is unique for many things. A glass screen, for example, with its facial-grease collection technology. (Never before have I realized how truly disgusting human skin is, which makes the iPhone both a biology class and a Wes Craven film.) Its reliance on AT&T, and their advanced call-dropping feature, which makes every conversation a race to the final "goodbyes." Its compass application (available only in the new iPhone 3GS), which is useful for... something, I think.

But there is one place where Apple took the ball and ran with it, a place where not only did they revolutionize the mobile phone, but change the fundamental nature of software distribution: the App Store. To use an Army expression, the App Store is a "force multiplier." It took the existing iPhone platform, already a powerful, portable personal computer in its own right, and increased its utility exponentially. Yes, third-party software was available for smart phones and PDAs of yore. Palm Computing was rife with expansions. But never before has software browsing, purchasing, and installation been so easy, so effortless, so tempting. And at prices generally as low as 99-cents, a lot of basement millionaires have been made, and a lot of people have been helped on the go.

Evernote ranks as one of the most useful apps on the market. Part notepad, part voice memo recorder, part document storage service, Evernote allows users to organize and manage ideas and information. Browsing a website and want to save a bit of text or a photo? (Or the entire site?) Paste it into Evernote. Have PDFs or Microsoft Office documents that you need to access from anywhere? Upload it to the Evernote servers. See something at the store that you want to remember to purchase later, or research online? Take an Evernote snapshot.

Evernote is designed to read and search though this mountain of data. There are Windows, Mac, and web clients available, in addition to the iPhone app, and Blackberry and Palm versions. The app price: free. The online component is also free for the first 40 megabytes per month (which amounts to 20,000 notes or 400 pictures). Expansion, in the unlikely event that the quota is reached, runs $45 a year.

Facebook, the social networking site once confined to college campuses and now reaching into nursing homes and daycares alike has a top-notch app available. It fully supports the service, to include mail, chat, and the newsfeed. It allows for friend and request management, and enables photos and video taken on the iPhone to be uploaded directly to the user's profile. The price: free.

mSecure is a password management app that stores user logins and passwords behind 256-bit encryption. (Using brute force methods, it would take a hacker upward of two hundred years to crack the program.) It also conveniently stores and sorts credit card, banking information, flight numbers and even clothing sizes. The app runs $2.99, and includes a free backup utility that saves your data to a thumb drive in the event of a catastrophic data loss, like, say, you drop your iPhone in the toilet on the same day you spill a cup of coffee on your computer. (Trust me, it happens.)

iFitness is a personal fitness app that allows users not only to build and manage workout schedules, but also keep a running log of progress. Featured in the app is a full database of exercise demonstrations (with photographs of each workout position) to maximize routines and enhance performance. Like health club memberships, this is an app I bought, but generally just gaze longingly at while eating doughnuts and watching television. iFitness costs $1.99.

There are now 75,000 programs in the App Store. I've listed a few that I use daily, but whether your needs are travel, games, or money management, the software is there, and you are only a few swipes away from turning your iPhone into a workhorse computer.

Evernote: http://www.evernote.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com
mSecure: http://www.msevensoftware.com/msecure.html
iFitness: http://medicalprod.com/ifitness.html

Review of the New Apple iPhone 3GS

By D.B. Grady



When Apple unveiled the original iPhone in 2007, I was one of the thousands standing in line, eager to be among its first adopters. This type of thinking is why so much of my lunch money was stolen in grade school. In 2008, when Apple released its successor device, I was in a different line, at the hospital, selling plasma. The original iPhone cost $599 dollars, and I was still paying it off.

But with my blood replenished and my contract up for renewal, I decided to take the plunge and upgrade to the new iPhone 3GS. Wooed by the promise of unbridled digital horsepower and a video camera, I fished out my credit card and did my part to stimulate the economy.

The iPhone 3GS improves upon the first and second-generation models in a few key areas. The most obvious is speed. It's a snappy device, capable of rendering even the most graphically intensive and overly designed website in seconds. Applications load much faster, and grind through data with greater efficiency.

The camera resolution has been bumped to 3 megapixels, and sports an innovative touchscreen auto-focus. More impressive is the video recording feature. Users can record high quality video, edit it, and upload it directly to YouTube, no computer required.

This was the feature that brought me over. Sadly, like every father who eagerly shelled out for a camcorder in the late 80s, I quickly discovered that I do nothing worth video recording. If ever I spot a UFO or Bigfoot, though, I've got just the phone for the job. Or tornadoes—this is my chance to make the evening news. And with the iPhone's bundled weather application, I'll know exactly when to expect flying cows and houses.

There is also an integrated compass, enabling developers like Tom Tom and Garmin to write iPhone-specific GPS car navigation systems. Until such software is released, though, the compass makes it a lot easier to shoot an azimuth and earn that Boy Scout merit badge. Just for the record, my house faces south. I didn't know that before I got this phone. Can one really put a price on such useful information?

Gamers especially will be pleased with the iPhone 3GS. With its faster CPU, boosted memory and 3D graphics accelerator chip, mobile gaming has a new contender. John Carmack, renowned programmer and founder of Id Software (makers of the Doom and Quake series) calls the iPhone more powerful than "a Nintendo DS and PSP combined."

If there is fault with AT&T's new flagship phone, it's AT&T. The iPhone 3GS supports the blisteringly fast 7.2 megabit-per-second HSPDA network. That's the network AT&T has yet to roll out. The iPhone 3GS offers MMS picture messaging. AT&T does not. The iPhone 3GS offers out-of-the-box computer tethering, enabling laptops to be online, everywhere, all the time.

Guess which telecom giant doesn't support this feature? (Hint: it starts with an A and ends with two Ts.) I do not claim to be a business expert, but if I ran a telephone empire, and my most valued and sought-after product offered a slew of new and exciting features, I might consider investing a few dollars to actually support those features.

AT&T is essentially selling a Ferrari, wheels not included. (Though the company promises these features will come in due course.) Still, with the exclusivity deal between Apple and AT&T rumored to end next year, users might soon be asked to choose between the two companies. Considering Apple's notoriously loyal fan base, and AT&T's general and unrelenting villainy, the executives at Verizon must already be pricing new yachts and Gulfstream jets.

If your phone contract is up and you're looking to buy, you will not be disappointed with the iPhone 3GS. The staggering list of features, the elegant design, and its battery's heroic lifespan make it worth the upgrade. And at $199 (with a 2-year contract), it is cost-competitive.

But what about next year, when another iPhone is released? This year we got a compass and a camcorder. Next year I fully expect a retractable chainsaw and electric toothbrush. I'm not worried about the price. I'm out of plasma, but I've got two kidneys. For Apple's latest toy, I'm sure I could get along fine with just one.
Apple iPhone 3GS (http://apple.com/iphone)