Mortgage Calculator – The Amortizer ($0.99)

Version – 1.1

Review – “A great app for homebuyers and homeowners looking to refinance!”

Whether you’re looking to buy a new house, or you’re looking at refinancing a property, wouldn’t it be great to be able to figure out what a loan would look like anywhere on your phone? Well now you can with a $0.99 app called “Mortgage Calculator – The Amortizer” for the iOS!

The app itself is pretty simple. To calculate the costs of a loan just touch the “+” button in the upper right corner of the screen and fill out the information that you see on the screen.  You’ll need to enter the purchase amount, down payment, interest rate, loan term, etc., and then touch the “Calculate” button in the upper right corner of the screen to figure out the costs associated with the proposed loan.

In addition to calculating the actual mortgage cost, you can also add in your escrow as well to get a more accurate number. To do that just touch the “Add Escrow Cost” button at the bottom of the loan information screen. You can then enter in each cost that is a part of your escrow individually, or you can add the total amount of your current escrow if you choose.

The loan breakdown that you get once you’ve calculated it offers a variety of interesting information. It calculates the total interest that you’ll pay on the loan, the total amount that you will pay on the loan if it goes as scheduled, and a breakdown of how much you will pay each month towards the interest and principal of the loan!

Another great feature of the app is the ability to generate PDF’s of the loan information and email them to anyone! To do this just touch the “Email PDF” button in the upper right corner of the screen. You’ll get the choice of whether or not to include the amortization schedule or not, and then you’ll be taken directly to a form email with the PDF attached to it.

My personal experience with this app is that it made it very easy to get quick figures on what a loan will cost you. Unfortunately what it does not have is a way to calculate what it will cost you to refinance a loan. With that said, the app is only $0.99, and the PDF email feature is a great way to share loan figures with people while on the go. I’d encourage you to head to app store and check it out for yourself today!

- David H.

Download Now! (Lite Version )

Download Now! (Full Version )

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Developer – Brainy Apps, LLC

URL: http://www.brainy-apps.com/products/the-amortizer-for-iphone

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DAILY APP GIVEAWAY

Each Day we give away promo-codes so you can get FREE apps!! Check
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If you have any questions, or are unsure how to redeem promo codes, please check out the following link on Apple’s website! — http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1917

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© 2010, Davidh. All rights reserved.

version 1.2.1

FREE!

AppZapp has been around for quite a while and has brought us apps like “Do Not Press The Red Button”, and many more. They have somewhere around 20 apps in their catalog for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, and they have released a new app to try and sort through it all: Discover the App Store.

AppZapp has released a new app to easily guide you through the AppStore. “Discover the App Store“ is an easy walk through all the apps has to offer, with a simple easy interface. AppZapp also has a “PriceAlarm“ function, that will always inform you of sales or promotions of certain apps you love. You just set up a free account, and select the Apps you want to monitor.

“Discover the App Store” is a great tool to help you find what your looking for in the App Store. It features the same great descriptions and details you’ve come to know from the App Store. It supports App Stores in the US, UK, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

AppZapp Features:
- App offers, free apps and new apps at a glance
- Detailed overview of the apps with pictures and videos
- The feature “Preisalarm“ informs you about markdowns of selected apps
- Watch list for apps
- All changes and updates at a glance
- Browse through all the AppStore categories
- Top 100 list of the most popular apps, sorted by “iPhone“, “iPad“, “Paid“ and “Free“ Apps
- Browse the various AppStores
- Price chart history for each app (30/60/90 days)
- Share Apps via Facebook / Twitter / SMS / eMail

This is a great app for monitoring the App Store. Something the is missing from the actual App Store. Being able to keep an eye on certain apps that you may find a little pricey, and know when there are going on sale, is a terrific feature, that will probably never be included by Apple. The “Changes and Updates at a glance” feature is great, if you’re interested in knowing what has recently been updated, or want to ignore updates and focus on new releases only. Seeing as this app is free, there is no reason we cannot recommend this app.

You can get AppZapp: Discover the App Store now for free, in the App Store. Get it now!

© 2010, Davidh. All rights reserved.

version 1.2

$0.99

When you’re researching your next purchase of pretty much anything, you want to have as much information as you can, before making in decision. This applies to anything from an apple, to a new home. I especially search out the most info I can, when purchasing electronics. With so many different manufacturers and so many different retailers, it can be tough to find the best deal.

Developer SearchBuild also saw this problem in the digital camera market, and decided to do something about it. They has released a great app called Camera Kompare. Just as the name suggests, this app gives you the ability to look up just about any make and model of digital camera. You can check out all the specs, look up prices, and even do a side by side comparison. They have over 1400 cameras included, and more are added with each free update. Also, if you feel there is a camera or feature missing, you can contact them via their support page, and they’ll try to help. With all this info, you should be able to decide on which camera is right for you.

Features:

1. Complete specifications of 1,400+ cameras. Now you can see if a camera has all the features you need.
2. Camera comparison – get a feature by feature comparison between any set of cameras. We’ll help you decide which camera is the right one for you.
3. Find similar – pick a camera you’re interested in, we’ll show you all the similar cameras available. You may find one even better than you had hoped for…
4. Price search integrated – find out what a good price is, BEFORE you buy!
5. Search – find any camera you are interested in, just type part of the model or camera name.
6. Camera photos – thousands of photos of top digital cameras.
7. All modern brands – choose from all your favorites including Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus, Panasonic and many more!
8. All types of cameras – compact cameras, DSLRs, waterproof, interchangeable lens EV cameras and even digital rangefinders.
9. Free lifetime app upgrades.

Camera Kompare, from SearchBuild, is available in the App Store now, for $0.99.

DOWNLOAD IT NOW!

written by Mike McKinnon

© 2010, Mikem. All rights reserved.

Version 1.1

Looking for a quick and easy VAT or sales tax calculator? If so then you may be interested in VAT Pro. It is a simple and easy to use calculator that not only works for US states but also includes a decent listing of international sales tax details.

When you open the app up, it defaults to a country’s tax information but it is very easy to change that. By hitting the Countries button it will not only take you to a listing of different countries that are already built into the app but it will also show you a listing of different states within the US. In addition you can also make custom rates as well in the event that the country you are wanting to reference is not yet listed.

After choosing the country, or state, that you want to use, the app reverts back to the default calculator screen. At this point the process is simple. In the first spot you will type in the cost of what you’re looking at and based on the stored values it will return to you both what the sales tax will be and also the total price of what you’re interested in. Easy enough!

Here are a few things you’ll find in this app:

- VAT rates for European countries
- Tax rates for all US States
- Tax rates for over 50 more countries

In a nutshell this app is simple and easy to use. If you are looking for a VAT or sales tax app that is handy and ready to go then you may find this app worth looking at, especially if you could one day take advantage of the international rates as well. The app is currently selling in the app store for $0.99 so pick up your copy today!

- Chris G

© 2010, ChristinaG. All rights reserved.

BudgetCare ($1.99)
Version 1.0.6
Review – “Easy & Simple Budget App, keep your money organized.”
App developer: Suponix
Website: http://www.budgetcare.com/

BudgetCare is a utilities App for the iPhone that is really super easy to use and tracks your daily spending to help you budget and organize your finances. It’s s simple-to use and very strait forward tracking App, and very versatile and useful.

You start by entering your monthly budget – on this section you have the option to repeat for each month, or set manually for each month (for those months when you have a little less, or a little more cash). Then, you track your daily purchases, bill payments and everything else withdrawn from this budget. It’s very easy to add an item, and they provide you with a comprehensive list of categories to choose from. Once you’ve entered in your data you can always see how you have been spending your money, in which categories and the budget remaining.

To view details on the month as a whole, how you spend your money, and on what in detailed form you visit the statistics section where you can view by list – which shows the category and the item totals, or you can view in a pie chart to see where most of your money is going. Within the Statistic section you can view your expenditure by Daily, or Weekly, Monthly. The Yearly view shows you in which months you spend the most. To get a better idea of your spending Habits. If you’re looking for a particular transaction you can always jump to a certain date

Other features within the settings include setting which currency symbol to show (it offers $, €, £, ¥ & p.), you can also manage your categories and sub-categories and add your own for your specific and unique spending habits.

The interface is very iOS iPhone Standard and looks very much like a built-in App. You can also export your info via email in CSV file (for Excel) so that review and save the information that you’ve collected on your home computer.

Quite a few customers have commented that they’d really like to see repeating events for payments out each month which are the same. I can see why, if you use this App for all of your transaction tracking, it would be frustrating to enter in the same rent/cable/car or other bill that repeats. Especially when it is very likley that you have several monthly repeating events. Although this App hasn’t been updated since last year, the description in the App Store does state that this is a feature they are working on and I highly suspect that they know that it’s something that everyone would love to see as a part of this App.

If you’re looking for some simple, easy to use, software to keep track of your budget, you’re going to do well if you download BudgetCare – I’ve seen other records management/finance management Apps that are entirely way more complicated than they need to be, luckily this isn’t one, so try it out!

~ChantelleJoy
Tweet Me: @ChantelleJoytwt

DOWNLOAD NOW

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DAILY APP GIVEAWAY

Each Day we give away promo-codes so you can get FREE apps!! Check
our posts daily or subscribe to our FREE spam free feed.

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If you have any questions, or are unsure how to redeem promo codes, please check out the following link on Apple’s website! — http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1917

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© 2010, ChantelleJoy. All rights reserved.

Protect iPhone 4less (Free)

Version – 2.1

Review – “Go beyond AppleCare with an accident protection plan!”

While the iPhone is jam-packed full of features, one of the things that many people worry about is how to protect it. While the glass screen allows for a very sensitive and accurate touch screen interface, it is also fragile if dropped on a hard service at the wrong angle. While Apple has great customer service, their Applecare packages and manufacturer warranty do not cover accidental damage. That’s where this app comes in!

Protect iPhone 4less is an app that is built by SquareTrade. SquareTrade is one of the leaders in selling warranties for consumer electronic products. They specialize in warranties that cover all kinds of accidental damage!

There have actually been several companies to come out and offer extended warranties for the iPhone. What sets this apart from the rest of the pack is how easy it is to sign up! While they offer all kinds of information on their website about what the warranty covers and how much it costs, if you just want protection without worrying about all the details you can do it in minutes with this app!

The app itself is small. It only took me a few seconds to download and install. When you open the app the first screen you’ll see offers information on how much the warranties cost. If you bought your iPhone in the last 30 days it is $99 for 2 years or $5.99 a month. If you didn’t buy it in the last 30 days the price goes up a little to $149 for 2 years or $7.99 a month. In either case the warranty covers everything that AppleCare does, with the addition of accidental damage coverage with a $50 deductible.

Once you decide you want to purchase a warranty there is a 3 step process. (1) Touch the “Get Coverage” button and fill out the information, (2) enter your payment info, (3) review and submit your order! I was literally able to order my insurance plan through them in less than 5 minutes. As soon as your order is processed you’ll receive a confirmation email with all of the warranty terms included.

I did not have any problems ordering with this app, and it includes all of the information that you would expect to be able to review and make sure you are getting what you want to protect your iPhone. While the warranty does cost slightly more than AppleCare, it offers accidental damage protection, which could save you several hundred dollars if your iPhone gets severely damaged.

To sum all of this up, if you want a plan that truly protects you from having to worry about what will happen if your iPhone gets damaged, you won’t find it cheaper or easier than you will with SquareTrade. If you’ve been looking for a great way to protect your iPhone I’d encourage you to download this free app and get covered today!

- David H.

Download Now!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Developer – SquareTrade

URL: http://www.squaretrade.com

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DAILY APP GIVEAWAY

Each Day we give away promo-codes so you can get FREE apps!! Check
our posts daily or subscribe to our FREE spam free feed.

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If you have any questions, or are unsure how to redeem promo codes, please check out the following link on Apple’s website! — http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1917

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© 2010, Davidh. All rights reserved.

Quick Cancel US (Free)

Version – 1.1

Review – “A great app to have when the unthinkable happens!”

We’ve probably all known someone that has lost their wallet or purse at some point in time. There’s that sense of panic, and then you realize that you need to get everything canceled right away! The problem is that all of the numbers you need to call to cancel your cards are on the cards that you lost! Well thanks to Quick Cancel, when this kind of situation arises, all you need to know is what banks you hold accounts with and you’ll be able to quickly generate a list of numbers that you’ll need to call!

When you open up Quick Cancel, the first thing you’ll see is a brief opening screen with a “Start” button at the bottom. Once you press start you’ll be taken to a list of banks to choose from. While there are quite a few banks on this list (and the developers have been working on adding more), if you have a local bank, chances are you probably won’t find it here because most of the banks listed are the more nationally known ones.

Once you’re done selecting all of your bank account sources all you have to do is touch the “Next” button in the upperright corner. This brings up a list of Credit Card institutions. Do the same as you did with the banks and touch the “Next” button again and you’ll be shown a list of phone carriers.

After you get all of your information entered in you’ll be taken straight to a list of numbers that you need to call! Not only does this app give you a list, but it also makes it easy to call, and keep track of which numbers you’ve called already! To call any number, all you have to do is touch the “Call” button to the right of it. After you make a call using one of the “Call” buttons your list will be saved. when you open the app up again you’ll be greeted by that same list of numbers with any numbers that you’ve already called showing a “Cancelled” button instead of the “Call” button.

I found that this app was both extremely easy to use and it did exactly what it was designed to do! While obviously, this is not the type of app that you hope you will ever need. With that said, in an emergency this app could be a real life-saver! As I mentioned, I did have a little difficulty finding a few organizations, but it was mainly because they were more local organizations. Whether you have a friend that recently lost their wallet or purse, or you personally have lost something, I would definitely recommend that you check this app out!

- David H.

Download Now!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Developer – Kim Neal

URL: http://www.quickcancelapp.com/us/

© 2010, Davidh. All rights reserved.

APPtilities ($0.99)

Version – 1.1

Review – “Extend your iPhone’s utility with APPtility!”

Have you noticed that a lot of the good utility apps cost money? Well what if I were to tell you that you could get over 65 different apps for just $0.99? Well that’s exactly what you get when you download APPtilities | 65+ in 1 onto your “iDevice!” It has everything from social network interfaces to camera and systeminformation apps; over 65 of them total!

When you open APPtilities, the main menu is set up a lot like the dashboard on your iDevice! You can easily rearrange and delete apps by touching and holding an app to enter the app management mode and either dragging icons to a new location, or touching the little “x” to delete that app.

The great thing about a lot of the apps included in APPtilities is how simple they are! For example, the voice memo app just has a “+” button to add new memos. Removing them is as simple as swiping and touching the “Delete” button that pops up! The camera app is also pretty basic. It adds a little bit of extra functionality, without making the interface complicated!

All of the utilities that I tried had very simple to learn controls, and the developers added one more feature that I think a lot of people will really appreciate! If you go to the last screen you’ll see a “Web Apps” icon. Touching this icon will bring up a web browser. All you have to do is browse to the web app you want to use later with this browser and touch the “Add Shortcut” button in the bottom right corner of the screen. Once you do that all you have to do is type in a name for the web app and it will appear in the APPtilities dashboard as another app!

Another great feature is the ability to create one-touch buttons for getting in contact with people! To do this all you have to do is open up the “Shortcuts” icon that starts out by default on the last screen, next to the “Web Apps” icon. You can set these buttons to call, email, or sms any contact in your address books and they are a great way to stay in contact with people!

What I came to find is that the more I played with this app, the more features I became fond of! Something that shouldn’t be taken for granted either is the fact that this app can save you a lot of time if you just need something quickly and don’t want to install another app for it. If you’ve ever considered buying any of the cheap little utilities like calculators, RSS readers, metronomes, and dictionary’s that the App Store has to offer, but you decided against it because of price this is really a no-brainer. So if you’re still reading this, what are you waiting for? Download your copy of APPtilities today for the $0.99 from the App Store!

- David H.

Download Now!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Developer – Ryan Bertrand

URL: http://www.bertrandwd.com

© 2010, Davidh. All rights reserved.

Paper Finance ($2.99)

Version – 1.0

Review – “Home expense tracking made easy!”

Something that you see a lot of in the App Store are finance apps.  Unfortunately I’ve found most of them to be too time consuming and complicated to actually use on my iPhone regularly. Paper Finance is idealSky Software’s concept of what financial tracking should look like on your mobile device!

The very first time you open Paper Finance you’ll be taken through a very brief tutorial. The tutorial outlines all of the different things that you need to know to get started using this app quickly! While a lot of times these “tutorials” are long and annoying, I would highly recommend that you complete this one!

Once you’re finished with the tutorial you’ll be taken to the main screen of the app. The main screen has three basic screens: “Settings,” Home, and “Reporting!” The first thing you’ll want to do with this app is enter in all of the accounts that you plan on keeping track of! This is easy as “swiping” to open up the Settings screen and touching the “Accounts” button. The app starts out with a “Savings” and “Checking” account already in place!

Once you’ve got your accounts set up, adding transactions is extremely simple! From the PaperFinance home screen all you have to do is touch the “New Income” or “New Expense” buttons located there! While a lot of financial apps have tons and tons of different categories and sub-categories to sort things into, this app has just a few basic options. This makes it extremely fast to quickly open up the app and enter in transactions. Speed is very important in an app like this, because if the app is not fast then it’s just too frustrating to open it up to enter transactions!

As you use this app you may find that you have items that don’t really apply well into the built in categories of this app. Thankfully this app allows to you not only add, but also remove categories to make it feel more natural! With that said, the database of categories is quite extensive and I really can’t see most people feeling the need to add new ones!

The final screen that I haven’t really talked about yet is the “Reporting” screen. This screen doesn’t look like much when you just have a few transactions entered. As your database gets larger though, this screen will help you view your finances in a variety of different ways to see how you’re spending it! You can sort these lists byamount, category, name and date. You can also export them in CSV format, or you can create visual graphs and export them in the popular PDF format!

I’ll say this up front, if you’re looking for complexity and a lot of bells and whistle’s then you probably will not be satisfied with this app! With that said, this app is a dream come true for someone looking for a quick and easy way to keep track of their daily income/expenses! What really sets it apart is just how natural the controls feel! It uses a lot of standard iPhone gestures to do things like deleting things and moving in between screens! If what I’ve described still sounds interesting then what are you waiting for? It’s only $2.99 in the App Store so go ahead and check out Paper Finance today!

- David H.

Download Now!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Developer – idealSky Software, LLC

URL: http://www.paperfinanceapp.com

© 2010, Davidh. All rights reserved.

Biz Discounts (Free)

Version – 1.1

Review – “Saving money made simple!”

In case you’ve never heard of it before, Allied Business Network is a program designed to help people who work for or run small businesses to get great discounts on things like the big companies do! They do this by asking people to register with them so that they can contact stores on behalf of you asking for those discounts. What if there was a way to keep constantly updated information on these discounts on you all the time? Well now that’s possible with the Biz Discounts app for iPhone and iPod Touch!

When you open up the Biz Discounts app the first thing you’ll see is a paragraph of text explaining what you’ll need to do to receive the various discounts. With some of them it as simple as giving them a number, and with others you will have to actually go through ABN to set up an account with the company.

Just below the paragraph or so description is a list of all the places where you can get discounts through ABN. They cover all kinds of things from car rentals and office supplies, to hotels and even entertainment! Just below the name of each location that you can get a discount is a brief description of what kind of a discount that you can get.

Once you find something that looks interesting all you have to do is touch it. A new window will pop up with information on exactly how to get the discount, and all the contact information that you’ll need to do it! If you want to order online, or need to set up an account to get the discount, most of the time you will be directed to a website where you can do it. The great thing is that when it takes you to a website you never actually have to leave the app because the browser is all done by a built in browser!

If you don’t have an ABN account, don’t worry, signing up is simple and free! In fact you can do it from within this app! At the bottom of the screen is a menu bar, and the second button is the “Join ABN” button. This will open up a window with a simple form to fill out to sign up! Once you get signed up you’ll be sent an email to confirm everything and then you’re ready to go!

I would say that while most of the discounts in this app are not all that great, it does offer quite a variety of different types of discounts. Where this app really shines is in ease of use! There is nothing confusing about it, and it is very easy to quickly access the information you need and be on your way!

If you like saving money, it’s hard to go wrong with an app like this. It offers a simple no frills interface, high quantity of discounts, and plenty of information. Best of all, this app won’t cost you a dime! That’s right, this app, with all of its great money saving opportunities is absolutely free! so what are you waiting for? If you haven’t already, you should definitely check out and download the Biz Discounts app for iPhone and iPod Touch. It’s hard to go wrong with free!

- David H.

Download Now!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Developer – Allied Business Network

URL: http://www.abnsave.com

© 2010, Davidh. All rights reserved.

CraigsEZList ($1.99)

Version 1.0.0

Review – “Craig’s List made EZ!”

In the past I had tried a couple of different free Craig’s List apps, but I got rid of all of them because they just weren’t all that easy to use. Let’s face it, Craig’s List is just too open ended to be useful on a small screen like the iPhone… until now! If you’ve been hunting for an easy to way to access Craig’s List from your iPhone or iPod Touch you should definitely take a look at CraigsEZList!

When you open this app the first thing you’ll want to do is select the area closest to you to help filter your results. To do this you just touch the button at the top of the screen, select a state, and then an area in that state that you are closest to. Once you get your location set you’re read to start searching!

First you’ll need to select a category. To do that all you have to do is touch one of the little icons around the circle on the “Browse” screen. If you’re not sure what the little icons represent, if you touch and hold an icon it will show you want category it represents in the center. Letting go will open that category, or you can drag around the circle to look at the names of the other categories.

Once you select a category you’ll be given a list of sub-category’s to select from. Once you select a sub-category you’ll be given a list of available listings. You can easily search these listing using the search bar at the top of the screen, or do more advanced searches by touching the “filters” button in the bottom left corner of the screen.

To view any listing you just touch it. The listing view screen has a simple menu at the bottom of the screen with 4 buttons. The first button brings up buttons that allow you to reply to the poster, email the listing to a friend and change the font size to make it more readable. The next two buttons allow you to scroll forwards and backwards through your search results without leaving the item view. The final button allows you to favorite a listing so that you can easily find it later!

The best feature of this app is its simplicity. Everything just works as expected. Another thing that you’ll really appreciate is the “Preset” feature. If you have a search that you find yourself performing regularly as you search for something specific you can set that search as a “Preset.” To set a preset all you have to do is search for what you are interested in, and then touch the “Save Preset” button in the upper right corner of the screen. A screen will come up describing exactly what you searched for, and giving you an option to name your query and save it for later reference. You can then easily access it from the “Presets” screen when you open up CraigsEZList.

I could go on about how the search features work differently in all the different categories, but the fact is that if you use Craig’s List regularly, I have not found an app that is easier to use than this one. The best part is that even though it’s easy, you really don’t sacrifice powerful search features! If this sounds like something you might be interested in then what are you still waiting on? Head to the App Store and download CraigsEZList today!

- David H.

Download Now!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Developer – Jet Money Enterprises, Inc.

URL: http://www.craigsezlist.com

© 2010, Davidh. All rights reserved.

DimeTravel ($1.99)

Version 1.0

Review – “Understanding the effects of inflation made simple!”

You’ve heard your parents or grandparents talk about how they used to buy gas for $0.25 a gallon. How is that possible? Well the answer is inflation. DimeTravel is an extremely easy to use app that will help you to understand the worth of money over time. It uses simple graphs and data on inflation over the years to help you quickly find out how the value of your money has changed!

Something I noticed that really sets this app apart from most financial apps is how efficiently this app runs! It loads almost instantly, has very smooth controls and processes information extremely quickly. It is also an extremely quick download, weighing in an just under 100kb!

The interface very slick, and is optimized well for the iPhone. At the top of the screen is a text box where you can enter an amount of money to see how much more/less it is worth at different times. Just below that you have a bar with the different types of currency that this app supports. You can compare inflation rates of money from Australia, Germany, France, Great Britain, Japan and the United States in this version of the app (with more countries to be added in the future!).

Once you have the currency and amount set you then set the years to compare that number between. There are two ways to compare currency rates. You can either view how much an amount of money would have been worth in the past, or how much an amount of money in the past is worth now. You switch between these two modes by pressing the button on the right side of the screen in the center.

There are two graphs in the main area of the screen. The graph below shows the inflation rate changes for the period of time you have selected. The graph above that one shows the date range that you are currently using. To change that range all you have to do is select the start date or the end date and drag it wherever you want!

I’ve found this to be a great quick reference on inflation rates and currency values. The great thing is that it takes up almost no space on your phone, loads extremely quickly, and is simple enough that even a child could figure out how to operate it! If you’ve been looking for an app to compare currency values then you should definitely check out DimeTravel. It may be a little pricey at $1.99, but you won’t find a quicker or easier to use app than this one!

- David H.

Download Now!

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Developer – Mark Denford

URL: http://www.markdenford.com/site/DimeTravel.html

© 2010, Davidh. All rights reserved.

PricePad ($1.99)

Version: 2.1

Review – “Save money by comparing prices on the go!”

If you’re like most people you like finding bargains, but you don’t like spending the time it takes to find them. Well what if there was a way to instantly compare the prices of what’s in front of you with the entire internet from your mobile device? I’m happy to say that “there’s an app for that” and it’s name is PricePad!

One of things that I asked myself when I downloaded this app is “what makes this different from the other barcode scanners I’ve seen?” Why? Because there are already a lot of good scanners out there that have great interfaces, and plenty of features! Because of that I’ve tried to reflect some of the things that I feel might set this app apart from its competition.

When you open PricePad the first time you’ll start out on the “Add Item” screen. From here you have two options: Type in your item name or barcode, or Scan a barcode. While almost all bar-code scanner’s I’ve used allowed me to enter in the UPC code if you have trouble scanning it, most of them did not offer an option to search by “item name.”

At first I was skeptical as to how well a feature like searching by item name would work, but I was pleasantly surprised! When you choose to search for an item by name it asks for how much the item you are looking at is being sold for and what store it is being sold at. With this information it is able to sift through all of the search results, and only display those that are most relevant!

Something important to look at with any barcode scanning app is how accurate the actual “scanner” portion of the app is. I had great results with the scanner in this app. The only problems I ran into seemed to be when trying to scan some of the smaller less conventional app codes, or if I had insufficient lighting. Something else I found through a little trial and error is that if the item I was trying to scan was setting down on something it was much easier to get the scanner to work than if I was holding it.

Once you actually get an item entered in or scanned the store results are excellent. This portion of the app is pretty much entirely powered by Google. The good thing is that the results are both very accurate and also very detailed. The bad thing is that there really isn’t any form of “app interface” with this. What I mean by that is that the screen you look at after scanning an app is basically a webpage that has been crammed inside this app. This is not a huge deal, but it is noticeably slower than some of the interfaces that I have seen in other similar apps.

The lists feature of this app is yet another really well thought out idea. Like most other barcode scanners all of your search history is recorded and saved in this app. The catch is that it is also placed into various categories to make it easier to find! By touching the “List” button in the menu at the bottom of the screen you’ll be taken to a list of various categories with a search bar at the top. From here it is easy to search for items by its name, UPC code or to browse them by category.

The final option in the menu at thebottom of the screen is the “More” option. From here you’ll get some basic information about the app, as well as a video showing you the basics about how to use it. At the bottom of this screen there are a couple of options that you can toggle on and off. These allow you to do things like set it so that the “scanner” automatically loads up when you open up the app and setting the default “Price Comparison Service.”

All in all this app is solid. Like any app it has it’s strengths and faults. The strengths of this app lie in its ability to accurately find the item that you are looking for. It’s weakness is that it is probably not as quick as a few other apps that I’ve tried. I think that any day of the week I’d prefer accuracy to speed and so I think the choice is clear. So what are you waiting for? Head to the App Store and check out PricePad for your iPhone today!

- David H.

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Developer – Blue Ring Mobile LLC

URL: http://www.blueringmobile.com

© 2010, Davidh. All rights reserved.

mileBlaster ($5.99)

Version – 1.3

REVIEW – “Manage your rewards all in one place!”

While I’m probably not necessarily the target audience for this type of app, I can definitely see how it could be useful.  mileBlaster is an app that is designed to help you manage and view your “points” and air-line miles on all of your various rewards programs.  Are you tired of wandering what your balance is on accounts while on the go?  Well this app will allow you to enter in all of your account passwords once and then be able to manage them all by just logging into one account!

When you open up the app for the first time you’ll need to set up an account thankfully the process only takes a few seconds and can be done from within the app.  Once you have an account set up the next thing you’ll need to do is add all of your rewards accounts to it.  If you haven’t already signed up for web access to your accounts you’ll need to do that and make sure you have all of your username’s and passwords for them.

Adding rewards programs to your list is fairly easy.  All you have to do is select the program you want to add, and then enter your username and password.  Once you have all of your rewards programs you want entered into the app it is extremely simple to get a quick overview of all the current points/reward miles that you have available.  All you have to do is touch the “Totals” tab at the top of the screen and you’ll get a list.

If you want more detail about your account you can touch on any of your accounts to get a detailed overview.  You can also handle a few simple tasks from here, like editing your account info if it changes, updating your rewards information manually and deleting a rewards program that you no longer use.

Another great feature of this app is that you can search for special rewards offers that are available for a trip that you plan on taking.  All you have to do is touch the “Bonus” tab at the top of the screen and then enter in your point of origin and destination in the small boxes at the top of the screen.  Obviously there will not always be rewards points to where you want travel, but this app does have a variety of different programs and offers to choose from.

The major gripe I have about this app is that it feels more like you’re using a website instead of a native iPhone app.  The load between pages is slow, and the screen always totally refreshes when you switch from tab to tab.  You can decide whether or not that is a dealbreaker, but keep in mind that if none of the app is native, that means that you are having to load all the pictures and images over whatever internet connection you’re using.  If it is a little bit sluggish over WiFi then there is a good chance it will be even slower over 3G or EDGE.

With that said, if you are tired of always having to log in to each individual rewards site to check balances and/or status, this app could be the fix that you’ve been looking for.  The interface, while not beautiful and speedy, is simple, and does keep you from having to remember tons of different username’s and passwords all the time.  The app seems a little pricey to me, but in the end that’s a call you’re going to have to make.  If you have a lot of rewards programs to keep up with, and are constantly on the road, then $6 is probably worth the convenience that this app has to offer so check it out!

- David H.

Download Now!

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Developer – CTM Holdings, LLC

URL: https://www.mileblaster.com/

© 2010, Davidh. All rights reserved.

Life Goals ($3.99)

Version – 1.1

REVIEW – “Help get your priorities in order with the Life Goals app!”

Do you have big aspirations in life?  If you’re like most people you what you want to do with your life, but you have no idea how you’re going to get there.  Well that’s where the Life Goals app will come in handy!  Life goals is an app that is designed to help you look at your life from a different perspective.  There are so many things that most of us want to accomplish that it’s important to sometimes sit back and look at everything from a more broad perspective.  This app is a great tool to help you do that!

When you open up the Life Goals app, the first thing you’ll see is a list of categories for your goals.  There are a variety of different categories that range from Career and Art to Health, Finances and relationships.  To add new goals, or new categories, all you have to do is touch the “Edit” button in on the screen that you want to add them to.  You’ll see a “+” button in the upper left corner of the screen.  Touching it adds a new item to the screen that you’re working on.  You can then edit it by touching leaving edit mode and touching the little blue arrow to the right of it.

Once you have all your goals set up you have several different options for viewing them in the menu at the bottom of the screen.  The “To Do” screen will show you an overview of all your goals.  It sorts them based on “Effort” they will take, the “Impact” they will have and the date that they need to be finished if you have a specific date.  While it takes a little while to enter in all the information in this way, this option really brings a unique perspective to your life!

For the visual people out there this app also offers several charts that will help you prioritize your tasks.  There is a “Matrix” and a “Life Chart,” as well as a “Chart Stats” screen that gives a quick summary.  While the charts are kind of neat to look at, they are not quite as big of a deal as the “To Do” list is.  What they can do though is help you to realize if you have realistic goals set or not.

To sum it all up there are some good and bad things about this app.  The bad thing is that it will take you a significant amount of time to get it set up the way that you want.  Not only will you have to think of and enter all of your goals, but you’ll also have to enter “Effort” and “Impact” fields, as well as suggested due dates for all of them.  The good thing about this app is that it can help you to gain great perspective on your life very easily.  That and it’s only $3.99!  If you’d like see how your life can change with a little bit of perspective then you should definitely check out the Life Goals app.  So what are you waiting for?  If you’re still reading this then go ahead and check out Life Goals in the App Store today!

- David H.

Download Now!

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Developer – Kintarla Pty Ltd.

URL: http://www.reefwing.com.au/Reefwing_Software/Welcome.html

© 2010, Davidh. All rights reserved.

Market Millionaire (Free)

Version – 1.0.0

USER REVIEW

As an avid stock trader and regular reader of financial news, I figured I’d give Market Millionaire a try.  I’ve used iTrade and Virtual Stock Market Lite in the past (they’ve been pretty good), but I think I’ll be using Market Millionaire from now on.  All three are free, so it doesn’t hurt to try them, right?  A few things made Market Millionaire stand out to me, but time will tell.

The first thing I noticed was that Market Millionaire allows users to find securities in worldwide markets.  Most of the other stock market games limit you to the NYSE and NASDAQ, but I’ve been able to find things on some of the Canadian exchanges and European exchanges as well.  It looks like there isn’t support for some of the smaller foreign markets (Singapore for example), but it’s got a decent set to start with.

The other thing I like is the clever implementation of the stock search tool.  You can start typing in a company name and it’ll drop down a list of tickers that could match that name.  It cuts down on typing, and this way I don’t have to remember all the tickers for every company in my portfolio.

Finally, I’d just like say that while it’s not as feature rich as some of the others, the layout is intuitive, and everything you need (company information, news, etc.) is readily available within a few taps.  The app is free though, so it’s hard to complain about these little things.

- Matt

Download Now!

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Developer – ChickenBrick Studios, LLC

URL: http://www.chickenbrickstudios.com/games/mm

© 2010, Davidh. All rights reserved.

TapScanner ($1.99)

Version – 1.0

REVIEW – “Check prices and share products with your friends with TapScanner!”

If you’re a regular at AppShouter you’ve probably noticed that I’ve already reviewed several bar scanning apps in the past.  So what, you might ask, is different about TapScanner?  Well I’m here to tell you that it’s all about the networking!  While RedLaser has already established itself as a leader in this category of apps, TapScanner is attempting to take that winning formula and add both a new interface and an easy way to interact with some popular social networks!

One of the things that I was impressed with is that the interface of this app is extremely polished for a newly released app.  The graphics are all simple and yet at the same time very smooth looking.  When you open this app up for the first time you will be asked to register with the TapBase website.  Some may see this as an intrusion of privacy but what it’s for is the social aspect of the app, and all they ask is for an email address and password.

Once you are registered you’re ready to start scanning things.  The main screen that you start at has three buttons along the top of the screen, two buttons in the center and two small buttons in the bottom right corner.  To scan a barcode all you have to do is touch the “Scan” button on the right side of the screen.  The scanner itself works extremely well.  I did not have any trouble whatsoever scanning barcodes as long as they were of the standard type.

If you find the scanner cumbersome or you have an iPod touch and have no camera you can also manually enter barcodes by touching the “Tap” button just to the left of the Scan button.  However you choose to enter the barcode, once you have one entered it will quickly search an internet database for that particular bar code and then display the results on the screen.  Unfortunately this is one area that this app seems to have difficulty with.  I scanned a variety of objects that I had laying around the house and many of them did not show up displaying a “ERROR: NOT  FOUND” message.

With that said, the company behind this app has not even quite published their website yet so I’m betting that the amount of barcodes that read properly will increase greatly with time.  Assuming this is the case, the social features of this app are really quite nice.  Not only can you quickly and easily post an item to your facebook or twitter, but you can also email it to your friends!  This app also keeps a list of all the products that you have shared in any manner on the “Shares” screen of this app.  This allows you to quickly and easily review a product repeatedly to different people!

So in summary I’d have to say that this app has absolutely huge potential!  The interface, both for browsing products that you have found and for scanning and entering barcodes, is one of the slickest that I have seen in the App Store.  If the developer continues to improve its database of items this could in time become the app to beat in this category, and at the very least it is worth an honorable mention for it’s great interface!  If you are a social network junkie, and you like to shop, this is an app that you just can’t afford to pass up!  So what are you waiting for?  Head to the App Store and download TapScanner today!

- David H.

Download Now!

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Developer – TapBase LLC

URL: http://appshopper.com/utilities/tapscanner

© 2010, Davidh. All rights reserved.

HomeBudget with Sync ($4.99)

Version – 2.0.1

REVIEW – “Help keep the family budget in sync!”

There have been a lot of different finance apps that allow you to keep track of your income, bills and expenses.  While many of them are excellent utilities, it can often be a pain to try and balance the budget out if there are multiple people using the same accounts.  That is where HomeBudget with Sync by Anishu, Inc. comes in!  This app allows you to track all of your financial information and also have it wirelessly sync between multiple mobile devices!

When you open up HomeBudget the first thing you’ll need to do is go and set up your accounts.  To this you’ll need to touch the “Accounts” button at the bottom of the screen and then press the “+” button in the upper right corner to add new accounts.  Once those are all set up then you’ll want to start entering in all of your regular expenses in the “Budget” area of the app.  There are all kinds of settings for recurring bills and expenses as well as for income.

Setting up your budget information to sync between devices is simple.  You first touch the little gear icon in the upper left corner to go to the “Settings” screen.  From here you will scroll down and open up the Family Sync settings.  All you need to do is set up a group and a group password and then set all of your devices to that same group and password.  Once this is set up you’ll need to “Send Initial Data” with the button at the bottom and everything after that point will be automatically synced when you have internet available!

While this could definitely be a good way to balance anyone’s budget, this app is particularly useful for people that need to keep track of business expenses.  Why is that?  Because anytime you enter a new expense you are given the option to also attach a photocopy of the receipt to that expense record.  This makes it extremely simple to track expenses and save the receipts simultaneously!

While the customization of this app and its backup features are top-notch, something I would really have liked to see in this app is a way to download information directly fromonline banking resources.  Obviously this takes a lot of work on the developers end, and you do risk trusting the banks information over your own if you’re not careful.  At the same time the initial setup of this app can get a little bit tedious to say the least.

In summary, this app has a few strong points and a few weaknesses as well.  It really depends on exactly what you are looking for whether it will be right for you.  If what you are looking for is a detailed accounting tool to pay attention to the little details then you will probably like this app.  If; however, you are just looking for a tool to give you easier/quicker access to your financial information there is a chance that you might find this app too much work in the long run.  Thankfully there is a free version of the app for people that are having trouble making a decision.  So what are you waiting for?  Head to the App Store and check it out today!

- David H.

Download FREE VERSION Now!

Download FULL VERSION Now! ($4.99)

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Developer – Anishu, Inc.

URL: http://www.anishu.com/

DEVELOPERS NOTES

Download FREE VERSION Now!

Download FULL VERSION Now! ($4.99)

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© 2010, Davidh. All rights reserved.

“This application now provides our customers with anywhere, anytime access to their credit card account information, which is important for people on the go. It will help more customers to stay connected in real-time to their finances and to make informed spending decisions,” said Liza Landsman, Head of North America Consumer Internet & Mobile, Citi.

With mobile access to their account information, Citi credit card customers can manage their spending more wisely.  By utilizing Citi’s Mobile App for the iPhone, consumers can quickly check account balances and available credit at any time with just a tap of the screen. The App also provides details on recent transactions, as well as the date on which the next payment is due, which can help prevent the accrual of fees from inadvertently late or missed payments.

The new capability enhances an iPhone application launched by Citibank last year for its retail banking customers.  Citibank’s iPhone App was one of the first mobile banking applications offered by a major U.S. Bank as an application specifically designed for the iPhone. Through this technology, Citibank has offered its customers a mobile banking option that is as fast and effortless as banking online.

Citi Mobile is available free on the Apple App Store® and on iTunes®. Credit card customers can simply download the application and sign on using the same User ID and Password they use to access their accounts online at CitiCards.com.

To learn more, please visit www.citibank.com/citimobile.

Citi Mobile(SM)

In 2007, Citibank was the first major U.S. bank to offer its customers a downloadable mobile banking app. Since then, Citi has continued to expand the Citi Mobile service, anticipating consumers’ needs for more flexible and convenient ways to manage their money.

• Text Messaging. Citi credit card customers can text MYCITI (692484) to request their balance, minimum payment, or recent transactions.

• Citi Mobile(SM) for Smartphones. Citibank customers can launch their mobile browsers and go to citi.com to access their accounts. Also available en Espanol.

Citibank

Citibank is a member of Citi, the leading global financial services company, which has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 140 countries. Through its two operating units, Citicorp and Citi Holdings, Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com. Citi and Citibank are registered service marks and Citi Mobile is a service mark of Citigroup Inc.

iPhone is a registered trademark of Apple Inc. iTunes Store is a registered service mark of Apple Inc. Apple Store is a service mark of Apple Inc. iPhone is a registered trademark of Apple Inc. iTunes Store is a registered service mark of Apple Inc. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.

SOURCE Citigroup Inc.

RELATED LINKS

http://www.citi.com

© 2010, Angelina. All rights reserved.

Bargain Bin (Free)

Version 3.0.1

REVIEW – “Now you can find out when all your favorite apps go on sale!”

Saving money is even more important these days than ever before and with Bargain Bin you can save money in a whole new way. Having an iPhone without apps is well boring but now you can know when your must -have apps go on sale or better yet become free!

This app is so easy to use and perfectly useful that you will be wondering how you ever lived without it. We have all reached that moment where an app we paid full price for drops to half price or worse goes to free, and it can be incredibly frustrating. But now you never have to worry about that happening again.

When you open the app you can either browse for apps that have already been reduced to bargain prices or to free so you can grab whatever deals are happening right now.

But that is only half of the benefit that this app offers, you can also search through categories and find every app in the app store. When you find an app you like, you can add it to your watch list. Whenever that app drops in price you will get a push notification letting you know.

You can also create a subscription for your favorite types of apps so you can be alerted when an app you might like drops in price. So anytime a popular game gets a price drop you will be there to snatch it up before anyone else.

You also do not have to worry about bargain’s expiring and still showing up because once an app goes back to normal price it gets removed from the bargain bin.

I like the ease of use of this app and I think it is a great way to save some extra cash. I am also glad for the push notifications because otherwise you could easily miss out on a great deal simply because you did not check the app.

I highly recommend picking up this app because it will definitely save you money in the long run.

Stephanie S.

Download Now!

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Developer- Proximi

URL: http://appadvice.com/pricedrops

DEVELOPER NOTES

BargainBin 3.0 with (PUSH NOTIFICATIONS & APP WATCH LIST)

**Update: New version fixes “no items” bug & based on your feedback we have changed it so that tapping on an app will not take you to the App Store.

** The only app which pushes app price drops directly to your iPhone or iPod Touch. You can setup custom watch lists so you can get notified if the app you care about goes on sale. Even set the price you are waiting for!

SAVE MONEY IN THE APP STORE

Are you tired of paying full price for an app and seeing it half price or even FREE the next day?

App prices change and limited time sales are happening around the clock. With BargainBin, you’ll never overpay for an app again.

BargainBin constantly watches the App Store to inform you as soon as an item goes on sale. New items are falling into the BargainBin continually, so check back often to make sure you never miss a deal. And don’t worry, we won’t clutter your BargainBin with old deals that are no longer valid.

BargainBin Features:

•Sale prices updated as they happen
•Set your “watch list” to be informed about price drops for apps you care about
•Get push notifications when price drops happen
•Setup subscriptions for your favorite type of apps so you never miss a deal again
•Price tags that indicate when apps are: Free or Bargains (50% off or greater)
•Filters that allow you to see Free Apps only, Bargain Apps only, or All apps on sale
•Browsing by a specific category or all Bargains
•Browse only popular apps that have gone on sale
•Viewing screenshots of the application quickly, without having to go to the app store
•Viewing application descriptions quickly, without having to go to the app store

Of course classic apps like Facebook, Pandora, Google, & Shazam are free, but lots of hidden gems can only be found for cheap for a very limited time. Get BargainBin now and start saving money. Don’t go poor because of the App Store.

A much simpler, easier to use and more powerful app than AppSniper and Pandorbox…

Download Now!

© 2010, StephanieS. All rights reserved.