Smart Phones of today

Alright, so perhaps that iPhone 3G?s GPS system leaves a little to be desired for the hardcore automotive crowd, but that doesn?t mean that your brand new purchase can?t prove useful to you for more than its normal mobile phone abilities. Since you?re reading this article here on AutoblogGreen, we are going to go ahead and assume that you are interested in saving gas, either for the planet?s sake or at least for the sake of your wallet. Take a look at this program which was designed to help owners of a brand spankin? new iPhone save a few bucks on gas. From fuel mileage tracking to finding the best gas prices in your area, developers have jumped on the ability to develop new applications for die-hard Apple users like nobody?s business. Best of all?ONE IS FREE !

WHERE & GasBuddy team up to get you the cheapest gas prices from the nearest stations.

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I’ve had the new firmware with the App Store installed since Thursday night so I’ve had ample time to play with it. The App Store vs. Installer.app debate is definitely relevant as they both do things well.

The most shocking thing about having a non-jailbroken iPhone is the battery life. I swear that whatever apps I got off Installer cut it in half with their background processes.

As far as apps go, I must say that the installation process works well but I wish I could queue programs to be installed like in Installer. It is much easier to remove apps now because you just hold the icon until it jiggles and hit the X.

So far the apps I’ve been using the most are AIM and Twitterific. Sadly, neither one holds up to their counterparts on Installer.

Don?t take off your pants yet. Very soon, DevTeam will release a way to Jailbreak your 2.0 iPhone so please wait!

You will be able to have App store AND installer co exist with each other. So you can have the quality of the app store applications and the productive utilities from jailbreak installer!

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I have spent quite a bit of time in Apple?s new App Store the last few days as many others have since Apple reported over 10 million apps were already downloaded.

I have downloaded about 75 apps already and spent a ridiculous amount of time on my new iPhone 3G and my iPod touch. There is still about another 725 available apps to try!

I wanted to share a list of what I liked the best so far.

Here is a list of some of my favorite applications for the iPhone and iPod touch in no particular order. iTunes links below:

AIM, free – IM on the iPhone a no-brainer and a must have. If you have no SMS messages in your plan this app can help as it sends SMS.

AOL Radio, free – Love this app. Nice interface worked like a charm over wifi, 3G, and even EDGE. Who needs an FM tuner this is free and can tune in hundreds os stations from all over the county AM and FM in most any genre.

FileMagnet, $4.99 – FANTASTIC. Allows you to copy files via WiFi from your Mac to your iPhone or iPod touch. You need to load a free uploader application on your Mac (running Leopard). Once you transfer the files you can view them on your iPhone or iPod touch (as long as it is a supported file type – supported files include PDF, MS Office, images, music, movies, text and folders). Note your Mac must be on the same network as your iPhone or iPod touch.

Remote, free – control iTunes 7.7 running on any Mac or PC or your Apple TV (running 2.1) from your iPhone or iPod touch. Allows you to search, play any playlist and control AirTunes Speakers. I used to use an app called Signal that cost me $24.95 before this.

SpeechCloud Voice Dialer, free – One feature sadly missed on the iPhone is voice dialing as Apple has not gotten to this. SpeechCloud Voice Dialer gets you as close to this as you can get for now. Press the button and say: Call Steve Jobs (or any other contact in your Contacts) and it will search the contacts and match it up bring up a screen to dial the person. Works best over WiFi or 3G, bit slow and not as good on the EDGE network.

Pandora, free – I love Pandora and have written about it many times. This iPhone app is great. I was playing Pandora Internet radio in my car while driving down a local highway! Works best on WiFi or 3G.

Last.fm, free – similar to Pandora with a bit more of a social side to it Last.fm has been widely popular on the web and now goes native to the iPhone and iPod touch. Like the interface and worked well. Gives you information on concert events for the artists that are playing and allows you to share tracks with friends in your contacts.

MLB.com At Bat, $4.99 – this is a baseball fans dream mobile app. Get all scheduled MLB scores and highlights moments after they happen.

MotionX-Poker, $4.99 – Great game that makes full use of the iPhone?s graphics, vibrator, accelerometers, and sound. Puts real dice in your hand! Shake the iPhone, toss the dice and play poker! Works on iPod touch without the vibrate function.

SodaSnap Instant Postcards, free – If you are one of the few like me that is a bit sad to see iCards go away when Apple moved .Mac to MobileMe you might like the iCards on the go app. Take a picture with your iPhone camera (or use one that your have in Photos), add a caption, send an email and your recipient receives a postcard that is personalized, geo-tagged, and looks a lot like what iCards used to send. Perfect when you are on vacation and want to send a card to your friends and family.

Comic Touch, $4.99 – If you like ComicLife on your computer you will love it on your iPhone. Gives your photos that comic relief and Photo Booth type effects. Add captions, comic balloons and send them as emails or save them to your photo library.

Tipulator, $0.99 – I liked this tip calculator better than all the others. Nice interface and was fun to use.

Cro-Mag Rally, $9.99 – the popular PS2 game comes to the iPhone and iPod touch. Fun and entertaining you use your iPhone or iPod touch motion to steer in this 3D game.

Band, $9.99 – make music on your iPhone or iPod touch. I had a blast with this. Features virtual instruments that can be recorded.

Epocrates Rx, free – you open a free account online and with this app have one of those giant Physicians Desktop Reference on your iPhone or iPod touch. Find out about the medication you are taking, identify them by picture, find out what happens when you are taking multiple pills, and save money on your pharmacy bills.

Movies.app, free – find movie showtimes, buy tickets, watch trailers, and get maps to the local theater.

NetNewsWire, free – as a longtime fan and user of NetNewsWire on my Mac and NewsGator on the web I was very happy to see this app for my iPhone and iPod touch.

vSnax, free – video clips of breaking news, gossip, etc. Will keep you entertained with video. Nice interface.

reQall, free – this service can change your productivity and the way you work with its voice to text translations. Requires a free account on their website. Super nice iPhone app that allows you to remember important things. You speak them into the app and you can be sent reminders via email, SMS or calendar alert. A must try for busy people. A lot like Jott but a prettier interface and longer voice recordings.

G-Park, $0.99 – never lose your car in a large parking lot again. Click the app to mark the location when you leave your car and G-Park will use the iPhone?s location services to give to directions back to it! Great for marking and getting back to any location.

Aqua Forest, $7.99 – unique fun application based on multiple physics. Has a puzzle and a free mode that allows you to use your finger to draw and make shapes. Very cool.

Yellow Pages – AirYell, $0.99 – pretty nice all that uses your location to find services. Worth the buck.

Apps I would like to see on the iPhone:

• SlingPlayer – I hope I do not get too old to use it as Sling has a terrible track record for getting new products out.
• Voice recorder that can save back to my Mac – I tried several of the voice recorders available and the free one does an adequate job. None as of yet allow for sync back to my Mac.
• Turn-by-turn voice GPS – I bet we will see this one day.
• Video Recorder – Qik and Flixwagon are working on iPhone apps, but I was hoping to see one in the App Store.

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