My Favorite IPhone Applications Reviewed

The Apple iPhone and iPod Touch have helped the words "There's an app for that" become a catch phrase. According to their latest press event, Apple touted the fact that they have sold over 30 million iPhones and 1.8 billion applications. It doesn't matter what your interests are or what your need is; there really is an iPhone or iPod application for you. The problem is, how do you sort out the good from the bad? There are many useless joke or fart applications that make it hard to find the real gems.

I have owned an iPhone ever since the first generation. I now own an iPhone 3GS and I have gone through my fair share of applications. There are many that I have ignored after time, some that I have deleted, but there are a few iPhone applications that I use nearly every day. These are the applications I could not live without.

Productivty Application I Could Not Live Without:

The Apple iPhone is a smartphone, and smartphones are supposed to increase your productivity. The application I rely on most often to help me stay organized and productive is reQall.

reQall is a fabulous "memory manager." Most simply put, reQall keeps are your bits of information and data organized and streamlined. More importantly, it does its job without you having to type a word. reQall for the iPhone allows you to speak notes, to-dos, and events into your phone. These spoken items get translated from speech to text by the reQall service, and then they are stored on your iPhone. The events can also be added automatically to a Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar, or iCal Calendar. Effectively, you can keep your entire schedule organized just by talking.

reQall is also location aware, so you can use the built-in iPhone GPS to help you remember things in a specific location or time. For example, you an speak your shopping list into the phone. It will automatically be converted to text, and when you walk into the store, your phone will alert you and give you the list. Setting up locations is simple, and entering text is even easier. I have not found a better way of getting things done, than by using reQall.

reQall [iTunes Link] is a free application. Users must create an account for the reQall service, but basic accounts are free as well.

Game Application I Could Not Live Without:

Yes, the iPhone has helped me be productive, but it has also allowed me to have a bit more free time on my hands. This free time has allowed me to let go of some stress with a little bit of game playing. The game that I have kept, never deleted, and still play today is Fieldrunners.

If you are not familiar with the genre of games known as "Tower Defense" games, then you are missing out. These games are as simple or complicated as you want them to be, great for problem solving and strategy, and allow you to have a different gaming experience every time. The concept is simple; there is a constant stream of bad guys that try to get from point "A" to point "B". You need to set up an offense and defense to destroy them to win.

With Field Runners, you get three different game boards, a collection of different types of defensive weapons, and a good variety of bad guys. As the bad guys attempt to cross the screen, your job is to destroy them. Some of the weapons at your disposal include Tesla Generators and missile launchers. Each weapon has a strength and a weakness, and each enemy has a relative strength as well. Personally, the flyers are the biggest problems, and the giant robots can be a pain too.

The graphics are superb, and the controls are perfect for a touch screen. Choosing and placing weapons is very intuitive, as is zooming in on the screen. The game allows you to pause and resume so that you do not lose a game when you exit it. There are also several unlock-ables and challenges.

Fieldrunners [iTunes Link] is only $2.99. Considering the game has unlimited replay value, it is a steal. I have had nearly 50 games installed and deleted from my phone. Fieldrunners has passed the test of time.

Utility Application I Could Not Live Without:

If I am going to spend money on an application, I want value. After all, it is easy to spend $.99 on something useless and not lose sleep over it, but after spending $.99 a few time, the money adds up. That is why my favorite utility for the iPhone is AppBox Pro.

Here are some of the things you get with AppBox Pro:

• Currency converter
• Unit converter
• Countdown calendar
• Countdown timer
• Ruler
• Random number generator
• Tip calculator
• Loan calculator
• Flashlight

Like I said, that is only some of the things you get with AppBox Pro. There are 18 applications included, most of which are available for $.99 on their own. With AppBox Pro, you get all of those applications wrapped into one. The interface is well designed, and each of the applications are quality made. Personally, I do not know why you would waste your time, money, and homescreen space with all of the individual applications when you could have them all in one.

AppBox Pro [iTunes Link] is only $.99; it is one of the best selling iPhone applications in the world, and it deserves to be.