MyWorld ($1.99)
Version 1.4.1
Review – “Tag, Sync, Share and GeoTag your Albums”
App developer: TamDev Productions
Website: http://tamdev.net/

MyWorld is an App which allows you to store and share your Photos by location. Using integrated GPS location you can set an album to a particular destination and upload photos directly to your Facebook or Flickr account albums.

It sounds pretty simple, and it is, but this App is a phenomenal convenience for organizing photos from any special occasion by location. You start by opening a new Album – you can either select a location on the Map or have the App find your location directly. Within your Album you can add photos, audio or video (depending on your device) and have all of the media in one simple folder for that particular location or event.

Where this App really shines in the integration with Sharing and Social Media. Firstly, Bump is integrated into both the Map view as well as the album sharing page – so you can easily Bump your albums to another MyWorld iPhone user. Couldn’t be easier. However, if you want to simply post your pics via Facebook, Twitter or Flickr – that’s available too. You add the authorizations within each album and every time you update your album, it’ll update the social media site of your choice, or you can send specific media items individually! I tried my own with Flickr and was impressed that it uploaded quickly, creating a specific set within my photofeed for this Album.

Something else you might not expect but is a very smart inclusion is the ability to Email the media directly or also including a KML (Google Earth) File. Or, if you want to keep it simple you can copy and send the Google Maps shortcut URL created for your album, also listed on the sharing screen.

Finally you can maintain a list of the people who are either in the photos, or were with you at the time by including them directly from your iPhone Contact List or manually entering them.

The only drawback I could find while I was testing out the App is that to add the media to each album you have to add one photo at a time – which can be bothersome if you’re create the album after the event. I was trying to group together a bunch of photos I had taken about a year ago but gave up after the fifth or sixth because it was taking so long. If there is an option to import many photos into the album at once, I did not find it, and hopefully if this isn’t an feature now, it will be included soon.

This App could have many uses – not only as an organization for events and places. If you’re interested in keeping track of the location of where your photos were taken for whatever reason, you should seriously consider getting MyWorld. It’s well designed and full of sharing features that you might not find on other Photo Album Apps.

~ChantelleJoy
Tweet Me: @ChantelleJoytwt

DOWNLOAD NOW

© 2010, ChantelleJoy. All rights reserved.

FlightView ($0.99)
Version 1.0
Review – “Feature Rich, Flight Info – A Must Have for travelers.”
App developer: FlightView
Wesbite: www.flightview.com

I go on vacation pretty once a year, and when I do, my mother is obsessed with watching the progression of my flight, especially on my return flight as she is usually in charge of picking me up at the airport. If you travel more often the likelihood of you having some one wanting to keep tabs on your flights is much higher, luckily Flight View is a solution to having mobile info about any flights.

I think that most people may already be familiar with the website version, but now earlier this month, FlightView launched an App with many of the same features, information and updates, only directly for your iPhone, and it’s fantastic.

This App is Feature Rich. Let’s start with finding the flights you want to track. Of course you could could simply add the airline (by name or airline code) and flight number, but I’m very impressed that it also includes the option to search for flights.

You will have to be connected to the Internet for this, but within this search you can find flights via city or airport search and date of departure, it will give you a full list of flights on that route.

This is handy for two reasons, obviously if you don’t know the exact flight details, but also if you wanted to actually look for a flight in the next few days to somewhere, it includes all airlines on that route including departure and arrival times.

Once you’ve selected your flight, you can save it and begin getting real-time data about it. You can check if an upcoming departure is postponed, you can find out the arrival and terminal information, and (personally this is my favorite feature) watch the flight in map-view. Again, you do need an Internet connection to get current flight information obviously, but once saved the basic details of any flight are viewable anytime.

Another unexpected but very helpful feature as seen below, is that it offers real-time information about flight delays at airports, nationwide, on a map, even.

I can’t imagine how useful this would be for business travelers, and family members of anyone taking flights. Even if this App did nothing more than import and save your flight information it would be worth the price, only $0.99, unbelievable. I highly recommend his App, even if you onion fly a few times a year it would be incredibly useful. This is one of those Apps I would have never thought to look for, but will always keep handy, try it out!

~ChantelleJoy
Tweet Me: @ChantelleJoytwt

DOWNLOAD NOW

© 2010, ChantelleJoy. All rights reserved.

App developer: LuuX Software
Website: http://www.luuxsw.nl/en/GetPacked/

Although I think that half the fun of any trip is the planning process, I don’t know anyone who enjoys packing. You’ll always feel like you’ve forgotten something important. For most people they’d rather not risk leaving something important behind, and trying to remember everything can be stressful. Get Packed takes a lot of the stress of having to pack for your vacation.

Having to come up with, and trust, a full packing list can be daunting, but Get Packed actually creates your list for you, and helps you keep track of everything you have actually packed, and have not yet packed, while you are getting ready to go on that business trip, holiday or even camping trip.

When you first launch the App it’ll ask you to enter your country of origin, this will help it create the personalized packing list for just you. There is a series of additional questions that takes only a couple of minutes to fill out and is incredibly detailed.

Once you’ve filled out the information about your trip, where you’re going, what you’ll be doing and how you’ll be traveling, it will create a packing list for you that includes everything you could possibly need in your exact situation. I thought that it was especially thoughtful to think to include the method of transportation you’ll be taking while on your trip. Business travelers will probably have a vehicle, whereas you wouldn’t if you were going on a cruise. This App takes all of that into consideration when creating your personalized packing list. And don’t worry, you can edit the list to add any custom items, or search for specific items within the App’s Database.

Of course it provides you with all of the info about personal items and clothing you’ll need, but some of the more unique categories for your packing list include: To Do before Departure (such as check our passport and visa information), lists for what you will need for your specific modes of transportation. It will also give you a list of helpful tips to do as you leave your house, such as remember to unplug unnecessary appliances, empty your trash bins, or turn down your furnace.

Get Packed will help you stay organized while you are progressing in your packing job, with the to-do lists and the incomplete lists, but another great feature is the option to email yourself your list. This is excellent for making a list for the person you’ll be traveling with and being able to send them the information they’ll need, or if you wanted to carry a paper copy when you go shopping. There’s even a section in the App with other helpful tips, links and sharing options.

I’m certain that people who frequently travel will agree with me when I say that when it comes to packing, you can never be over prepared. So, why don’t you go ahead and download Get Packed so at the very least, you’ll never be under prepared again!

~ChantelleJoy
Tweet Me: @ChantelleJoytwt

DOWNLOAD NOW

© 2010, ChantelleJoy. All rights reserved.

App developer: H2 Group Inc.

You’re in a rush, you’re running late, you just want to send a quick note to tell the person waiting for you that you’ll be a few minutes. Maybe you want to just leave them a voice mail explaining why you’re late. I you want a tool that is quick, easy, simple to use and won’t break the bank, try Geode Communicator.

Upon loading the App it’ll find your GPS coordinates, you can select a pre-set message in text, and/or record a quick voice memo to be included. It’s that quick simple and easy to use, just fire off your “Geode” and who ever is waiting at the other end of your trip will get an email with all the necessary info. One of the features that’s automatically included that I might like best about this App is the ability to set up your own pre-set text fields. Say you want one that says “I’m at Susan’s House”, you can absolutely do that. In fact, you can add up to three custom fields that (and this is maybe the best part) appear at the Top of the list when you load the App.

When you do send your email along it’ll include a link directly to Google Maps showing your exact location. It will also so the text you chose (if any) and if you included a voice recording it’ll be attached in .wav format. Obviously to retrieve your GPS info and send along the email you will need to make sure you’re connected to wifi or 3G when using the App.

You should absolutely go through the configuration when you first load the App because setting up the Default “To:” field is going to save you lots of time when you do end up needing to use the App in a rush. In fact, if you set this up, and use one of the preset text fields, you can send an entire email, including a custom voice mail message, without having to type at all. All in all it will actually only take you about Six clicks, and the recipient will know exactly where you are, and get a detailed explanation (from you) on why you’re late.

This is quick, easy to use, and helpful tool and I think that it’s a great, and informative way to keep in touch, especially if you travel often, or are prone to being behind schedule. Check it out on iTunes, via the link below;

~ChantelleJoy
Tweet Me: @ChantelleJoytwt

DOWNLOAD NOW

© 2010, ChantelleJoy. All rights reserved.

Route4me (Free)

Version – 3.0

Review – “Save time and money with Route4me!”

Whether you’re running errands, calling on clients, or just looking at houses to buy or rent, Route4me is an app that can not only save you time, but money as well! How does it work? All you have to do is enter in all of the places that you want to visit in any order, and Route4me will automatically set up a “route” that will take you to all of your destinations in the quickest/shortest way possible!

When you open this app up the first thing you’ll need to do is enter your email address. This is just to create an account which will allow you to easily share route information with other iPhone users or to send them to your email address so that you can open them up in your browser and print them off!

Something I noticed right away with this app is how the developers tried to keep everything as simple as possible. When you open up Route4me the first screen you’ll see is the “Destinations” screen. This is where you will enter in all of the places that you want to go! The first address on your list will be your “Departure” address. You can either enter it manually or use your current location by touching the button in the lower left corner of the screen.

Entering in destinations is simple. All you have to do is touch the “+” button in the upper right corner of the screen and then type in the address! You can also touch the “Address Book” button to enter in an address from your contacts instead of typing it manually! Once you get all of your destinations filled in you’re ready to create your route! To do so all you have to do is touch the “Plan Route” button at the bottom of the screen.

Once your route has been calculated you can access it by touching one of the menu options at the bottom of the screen. There are two different ways to view your route information besides the default list of destinations: “Map” and “Directions.” The map view will just give you an overview of where all of your destinations are on the map, while the directions view will give you detailed turn by turn directions between each point on your route!

A little bit of a disclaimer here. If you’re looking for a complete GPS navigation solutions, this is not the app you are looking for! While the directions that it gives are accurate, and it is extremely easy and quick to enter in your destinations, there is no easy way to receive these directions in real-time as you are driving. With that said, this app is a great way to find the quickest/shortest way to visit multiple locations. This is something that you can’t really do with a traditional GPS app because you have to enter the order of your destinations manually!

So in short, when this app is used for it’s intended purpose, which is finding optimal routes for visiting multiple locations, it will save you time and money.  It’s extremely simple to use, and it even looks great on the iPad if you’re looking to plan your routes from home! If you’re still reading this review and think there’s a chance that this app might be useful, what are you waiting for?  Don’t just take my word for it, download your free copy of Route4me and try it out for yourself today!

- David H.

Download Now!

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

Developer – Route4me

URL: http://www.route4me.com

——————————————————————————-

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.

*** Today’s Promo Codes ***

– Mood Detector – Touch & Discover, the Cheapest Option! –
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– Matchsticker 2 –
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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

——————————————————————————-

© 2010, Davidh. All rights reserved.

Everlater – A Travel Journal You Can Share

Version – 2.1

USER REVIEW

I love to travel. I’ve lived overseas and traveled through 21
countries so far, with more planned in the near future. One thing I’ve
never been inspired to do however, is keep a journal of my travels.
Carrying a blank book means added weight, and in order to share its
contents I would have to wait until I returned home. I tried using a
laptop and even my mobile phone, but uploading photos to Flickr,
describing snippets of my trip on a blog, and using maps via Google
Maps turned out to be a time consuming piecemeal way of sharing my
adventures with family and friends.

Sites like TripIt are starting to approach what I have been looking
for though, and one recent contender in particular stands out way
ahead of the others: Everlater (an anagram for e-traveler). Everlater
is a “whole” application, making the most optimal use of both a Web
based app and an iPhone based companion app.

It’s “whole” in another important way, too: you can plan your trip -
even making use of details from similar trips others before you have
taken – and share your plans with friends and family. Then when you’re
traveling you can capture your experiences on Everlater, and your
friends and family can see them. Pictures, commentary, maps, videos -
all available in one place! And there’s more. Everlater connects to
Facebook, Twitter and email to make sharing and notifications simple.

Last summer, I spent a month in Australia and journaled my travels for
the first time – using Everlater! It was easy and took very little
time away from the activities in which I was engaged. The best feature
was that in places where 3G and wifi weren’t available (I was in far
north Queensland, near Cape Tribulation – you’re lucky to find a
landline there!), I still could use my iPhone to log details offline
for synchronization and uploading later, when wifi was available. This
alone saved loads of money on roaming fees!

As you log your activities, you can add details about specific
restaurants, sights, lodging, travel tips, transportation and more.
All these can be viewed by other travelers, enhancing their plans and
helping to inform the Everlater community.

Everlater is a nascent but solid solution to mobile travel journaling,
and your friends and family will love the fact that they can
vicariously join you on your journey. This summer I’m off to South
Africa – I hope all of you will follow my adventures on Everlater. And
even better – let me follow YOUR adventures! You can find me at

http://www.everlater.com/users/geode.

- George D.

Download Now!

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

Developer – Everlater Inc.

URL: http://www.everlater.com/iphone

——————————————————————————-

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.

*** Today’s Promo Codes ***

– iZone –
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– SpellNSay –
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– Soccer City Mania – 2010 World Cup Quiz –
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If you have any questions, or are unsure how to redeem promo codes feel free to comment on this post, or email me at david(at)appshouter.com!

——————————————————————————-

© 2010, Davidh. All rights reserved.

Version 1.3

Review – “A highly developed application that is visually stunning. You’ll open it just to look at it!”

Weather Machine, developed by Massimiliano Torregiani, is gorgeous for starters. It looks nothing like the other weather applications out there. But that is not where it ends. Built within this application is most everything you want to know on a day by day basis when planning your daily or weekly adventures. A very intuitive application with a great interface means it will be something that you will continuously rely on for daily information.

Before I get into the features I *highly* recommend watching the tutorial and reading the hints at start up. There is so much information built into this that if you don’t know how to find it you will miss out on some great information!

Also, this app has numerous ways that you can get to your information. For example, to go through the days you can flip through the pages on the main window, you can click an icon at the bottom, or you can turn the device upside down. It’s very obvious that a lot of work has gone into this application!

Some of the features built into this application are:

- Current Conditions: Temperature, Humidity, Wind Speed, Precipitation Percentage, Visibility, Dew Point, etc. The app also shows a notification if there are any weather alerts for your area.

- Hourly Forecast, including temperature, wind, % of precipitation, and humidity:

- Viewing option to see a day in quarters, or see an extended outlook for multiple days:

- Lunar and Solar Details: Rise and Set for each, moon phase

- Satellite and Radar information:

There is a bit of a learning curve to figure out how to find everything, but once you do the program is easy to navigate through.

My suggestions for this app are that I’d like to see push notifications available as a feature in futures releases because many people, like myself value push notifications for those emergency weather situations.

In addition, if we could zoom in and out of the radars that would be a great asset. I personally like to see the extents of a weather system so I’ll know how long it’s going to last and that’s not always possible without the ability to zoom.

Once you set this application up and learn your way around it, you’ll instantly fall in love with it, both for how impressive it is graphically, and how much information it provides. Adding those two features will make this weather app one that will be hard to compete with!

This app is currently on sale in the App Store, 50% off it’s regular price, so I’d advise getting it while it’s on sale. You will be impressed! More information on this application can be found on the developer’s website, http://www.maxtorregiani.net/wm/Overview.html.

- Christina G

Download Now!

© 2010, ChristinaG. All rights reserved.

Solar Walk – 3D Solar System model ($2.99)

Version 1.1.1

Review - ”An engaging and gorgeous app that happens to teach you great facts at the same time ”

NOTE: As of the next update submission this application will also be available for use on the iPad

Astronomy enthusiasts, who love apps that are gorgeous to look at and full of great information, should really take a look at Solar Walk, by Vito Technology. Following in the footsteps of Star Walk, they come through with another solid start to a great application. This is a great educational application that is so well presented that you will instantly be interested in digging in and learning everything this application has to offer.

You open the app and are instantly impressed with the quality of the graphics. Who needs a menu when they can bedazzle you with the work they’ve put into this application! It starts up and flies you right to planet Earth where it shows you the rotation of the Earth as the current day progresses on.

What happens next is now up to you. Pinch to zoom in for more detail or zoom out to the entire Solar System. Use your fingers to tilt your perspective up or down. Dig into the information button to find out what great facts and tidbits they have in store for you!

There are so many educational aspects built into this app that can be both engaging for adults and children. Click on a planet, moon, etc and hit the “i” button to get factual information about what you’re looking at. Great physical features such as the size, length of day, what it’s made of, and even how the planets got their name. You’ll be amazed at what information you can find out because they’ve really put a lot of work into this!

In future updates I’d like to see a pop up tutorial the first time the app is opened (and then accessible through a button within the application for later retrieval) to explain the basics of moving through the app, what we can find / learn, and how.

It would also be great to expand this out to show other solar system features, such as the asteroid belt, comets, and other objects that reside in our solar system. It would be great to even include the Milky Way

I personally love astronomy related calendars, because people are too often unaware of the amazing events that happen on a daily basis. Plus it keeps people opening the application to see what’s coming up next. Star Walk has an amazing calendar built into it and I’d love to see that feature expanded into this application. It would be nice to see a calendar that includes events such as orbiting comets, meteor showers, asteroid events, etc. Then add a link within the app, telling people if they are interested in some of the great calendar events you’ve already embedded in the Star Walk app, they should run over there and buy it too ..

Another great educational feature would be to show people, based on a location on Earth, how the Earth’s orbiting affects the changes in seasons (based on how the Earth is tilting towards the Sun). Far too often people do not understand the hows and whys behind why we have season changes, and why the Southern hemisphere is different than the Northern. While I understand it, it would be valuable to see it!

Overall, Solar Walk is great app to look at, it will have you looking in every nook and cranny to see what else you can find, and based on my experience with Star Walk the developers seem to be really engaged in building their application with new features, and listening to peoples’ feedback. Plus this app is filled to the brim with great educational values that you’ll want to absorb! You can’t go wrong with an app that’s off to a great start, made by people who want to make the best app out there.

More information can be found on their website (http://vitotechnology.com) and Solar Walk is available in the App Store now!

- Christina

Download Now!

Developer – Vito Technology Inc,

URL: http://www.vitotechnology.com/solar-walk.html

© 2010, ChristinaG. All rights reserved.

Sploro – NY Subway Tour ($9.99)

Version – 1.0

Review – “Take a $10 tour of NYC and learn about the history of its Subway system!”

If you’ve ever done much traveling and/or site-seeing you probably know that hiring a tour-guide can be quite expensive. Well thanks to Sploro, your iPhone can now double as your own personal tour guide! In this review I’ll be taking a look at the tour of the NY Subway system, but there are plenty of other destinations available in the App Store if you’re interested!

When you open Sploro the first thing you see is a cute graphic with small photos of landmarks with feet shown walking between them. At the bottom of this screen are 3 menu options. The first one will take you straight to your tour, and the other two will show you list of other available tours close to the one you’re viewing and allow to keep up with the latest updates on upcoming tours as they become available!

The first screen you will see once you get started on your tour is an overview of all the stops you will make along the way. The overview includes a thumbnail picture, a title, a general location and a short paragraph of information. At the bottom of the screen are some basic navigation buttons. The “Map” button will give you an overview of where all the stops on the tour are, the “Directions” button will give you a summary the directions for getting from one point to another and the “Tour Details” is a comprehensive list of all stops on the tour with some basic information about what it is you will see on it!

All you have to do to get started on the tour is touch the first stop. When you do you’ll be taken to a screen with some photos at the top, playback controls just below those and “Map” and “Directions” buttons at the bottom of the screen. Finding the starting point is simple. You can either touch the “Directions” button to receive directions, or touch the “Map” button to view an overview of your tour. From the map overview you can touch the button in the upper right corner of the screen to see where you are in relation to the stops on your tour.

Once you have found the place the tour specifies that you start out just touch the play button. In the NY Subway Tour the first audio talks about the history of the New York Subway and the important role that it played in making New York City the largest tourist stop in the United States! While you’re listening to the audio you can “swipe” through the pictures related to that site as well.

Once you’re done at your current destination all you have to do is touch the “skip forward” button to switch the app to the next destination. Again you will be given the same two buttons at the bottom of the screen to help you find the next destination. You can either use the ‘Directions” or just walk towards the next point on the map using your iPhone’s GPS to see where you are in relation to it.

I’ll have to say that I was very impressed with the wealth of historical information that was included in this particular tour. Even though I don’t live in New York it was very interesting to find out about the history of the Subway, from how it was built to what kind of an impact it has made over the years! This coupled with the integrated tools to help you find your way make this app a winner in my opinion!

After seeing this app, and all of the great information it contains I would definitely recommend it! While the price did seem a bit high at first, it is obvious that a lot of work went into putting all of this material together. I know that I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for Sploro tours in areas where I intend to travel to in the future. If you’re planning a trip to New York, or if you live close and would like to know a little about it’s history then what are you waiting for? Check out Sploro today!

- David H.

Download Now!

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

Developer – Sploro, Inc.

URL: http://www.sporo.com

© 2010, Davidh. All rights reserved.

Opera Mini Web Browser (Free)

Version – 5.0

REVIEW – “An amazingly fast mobile browsing alternative to Safari!”

Apple shocked the world when they decided to approve this App! There are a ton of people that have been just waiting to get their hands on a true alternative to the iPhone’s built in Mobile Safari browser, and now the wait is finally over! Opera is well known for creating some of the fastest mobile web browsers for a variety of different devices, and the Opera Mini Web Browser for iPhone and iPod Touch is definitely fast!

Obviously one of the first things to note is there are still a few things that this app cannot do that Safari can. This is mainly because Safari is built into the iPhone OS itself and so has the ability to constantly run in the background! With that said, that is one of the first things I’ll point out. While the Opera Mini app definitely starts more quickly from a “cold” start up after you’ve just rebooted, this is fairlyunimportant because most of the time you are starting Safari cold because it was already running!

The main interface when you start up Opera Mini consists of menu bars at the top and bottom of the screen and a list of shortcuts to commonly visited websites in the center of the screen. These shortcuts are extremely easy to manage. To add a new link to a blank button just touch it. If you want to edit or remove a link all you have to do is touch and hold that button and a menu will pop up asking if you want to clear or edit the link.

The main interface of the browser itself is fairly intuitive. The top of the screen houses two little bars that you should be familiar with. The one on the left is of course the address bar, and the one on the right is a search bar. The search bar will also allow you to select what databases it is searching. All you have to do is touch the little arrow in the right side of the search box and it will bring up a list of sites that you can search.

The menu at the bottom of the screen offers several different buttons and options. The first three buttons are all basic browsing options: forward, backward and refresh. The next button toggles the “tabs” feature on and off. If you use a desktop web browser regularly then you are probably very familiar with tabs. These allow you to have quick and easy access to a variety of different websites without actually physically leaving your current page!

One of the things that I was particularly impressed with was how quickly switching tabs really was. As long as your device is not low on memory because you haven’t reset it in a while or it just has a lot of things running the tabs load up almost instantly! The interface for them also allows you to view and manage all of your open tabs while you are looking at your currently open webpage!

The final menu option at the bottom of the screen is the little wrench icon. Touching this icon will bring up a variety of different options from bookmarks, history and settings all the way down to an ever-present link to the Start page, a function to search for something within the current page and even a help option if you’re not sure how things are supposed to be working!

In the settings page there are several different options that have a great deal to do with how good the websites that you visit will look. One of the reasons that Opera’s browsers are the fastest is because their servers actually compress all of the webpages before you view them! You can actually control how much the sites are compressed from this settings page, as well as control things like font-size whether to view “Mobile” versions of websites and toggling on/off the full screen option.

I tested both Opera and Safari on a variety of different web pages. The speed of Opera is extremely noticeable while browsing over a 3G or EDGE connection. Something I did notice though is that on the majority of websites I really couldn’t read the body text of their pages unless I was zoomed in. This is mainly because of the compression that the sites go through and is not a huge deal. It would make it much more difficult to to browse websites with lots of information laid out across the screen like the New York Times website!

Another thing I noticed is that while Opera Mini has decent compatibility with most websites, you cannot stream audio from directly within the browser. If you click a link with an audio file, what happens is that it will close Opera and load up the player from within Safari. While this is not a huge deal, it was definitely a little bit of a nuisance when browsing any site with a lot of embedded audio.

A couple of features that I really liked about this app are it’s ability to save your passwords to the websites you visit and it’s ability to quickly search a page for certain text. The password save feature is simple and easy to use. Basically, when you enter a password and access a page it asks you want it to save that password for later use! The search feature is both simple and awesome! To search all you have to do is touch the little wrench icon in the bottom right corner and then press the “Find in Page” option. I was impressed with how quickly this feature responds in real time and this will be a great tool to help me surf the web most efficiently!

So in the end it really comes down to what you are using it for. If you’re on the road and you just want raw speed over a poor cell connection, and maybe a few extra frills then Opera may be just what you’re looking for. If; however, you’re looking for the beautiful experience with the least compatibility problems Safari is still the top dog in my opinion. But don’t just take my word for it. Head to the App Store today and check out the lightning fast Opera Mini Web Browser on your iPhone or iPod Touch!

- David H.

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Developer – Opera Software ASA

URL: http://www.opera.com/mobile/

© 2010, Davidh. All rights reserved.

Apartment Search – CribQ ($2.99)

Version – 1.0.1

REVIEW – “Hunting for an apartment has never been this easy!”

If you look back you’ll find that I’ve reviewed several different apps that were designed to help you find houses and commercial properties for sale.  What about those of us that are just looking for a decent apartment?  Well if you live in one of the supported metropolitan areas Apartment Serach – CribQ is a great way to find what’s available! This app not only summarizes all the apartment information on Craig’s list, but it also offer some great features like a map view, favorites list and more!

When you open the app the first thing you’ll see is a map overview.  The first thing you’ll want to do is select “Options” from the menu at the bottom of the screen and set the location that you want to search.  There is an option to use your current location, or to select from a list of all of the city’s that have apartment listings.  Using the tabs at the top of this screen you can switch to a couple other options screens that will allow you to set up things like filters on what types of apartments to show and how recent listings shown should be.

Scanning through properties is a breeze.  From the map view all you have to do is touch a property and you will see a basic preview of the information related to it.  Touching the property information at the top of the screen will take you to a full screen view with more information on it.  Within this information you can access all the pictures of the property, as well as a small map of the neighborhood around it and you can even view the original Craigs List posting if you want!

As you scan properties, if at any time you want to contact the owner of a property you can do so by highlighting it and touching the little phone or mail icons in the bottom left corner.  Another way to navigate houses from the map is by using the little arrow keys in the bottom right corner.  At any time you can add notes and/or favorite properties to help you remember details that might be important to you later!

If the map view is too much for you, or if you’d rather just look at all of them in a list you can do that as well.  All you have to do is touch the “Results” button in the menu at the bottom of the screen.  The list you see will be the same list of properties that are currently shown in the map view.  You can get a new list by moving your location on the map somewhere else, or zooming in/out.

All in all the results in this app seem to be pretty accurate.  The pictures and navigation feel polished and are a whole lot better than just hunting through posts on Craig’s List!  The major drawback to this app is that it only works in a few supported metropolitan areas.  With that said, if you live in a supported area this app will not only save you time but also the frustration of trying to find decent apartment listings online.  So what are you waiting for?   If you’re in a search for your next apartment grab this app today!

- David H.

Download Now!

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Developer – Hug Sandwich

URL: http://sfbay.cribq.com/

© 2010, Davidh. All rights reserved.

Tripit (Free)

Version 1.3.2

REVIEW – ” Organize all of your trip itineraries in one easy to use app.”

This app is perfect for the busy person on the go because not only does it keep all your trips organized but it does everything for you. Tripit creates a travel itinerary based upon your own travel bookings.

The way Tripit works is that you email them your travel bookings, no matter what site you used to make your bookings. While at first I was a little put off by the idea of having to email your bookings, for someone who has a very busy schedule, it definitely saves some time.

Even more than just sending all of your travel info to your iPhone it gives you important details such as the weather, so that you know what to prepare for. It also allows you to completely customize your itinerary so that you can keep track of extra details or even label your trips in a way that makes it easy to tell them apart.

While I currently have very little use for this app as most of my travel is done as vacations and those vacations usually consist of little more than driving to the port and hopping aboard a cruise, it does allow me to keep travel of my father’s and my husband’s travel intinerary because it makes it very easy for them to just send the information on to me.

It gives up to date flight information, maps to airports and hotels, just about everything you may need to quickly access so that you never miss a flight or get lost on the way to the hotel again.

The fact that it is so easy to share trip information is great for family and colleagues so that everyone can keep track of when flights are delayed or when someone might be stuck at the airport.

This version is completely free as a promotion for you to book on their site but for those who really enjoy the features of this app, Tripit Pro offers even more features that frequent travelers may really enjoy.

Stephanie S.

Download Now!

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Developer – Tripit Inc

© 2010, StephanieS. All rights reserved.

Siri Assistant (Free)

Version 1.0

REVIEW – ” A great voice recognition app that really gets things done.”

Siri Assistant may be the best free iphone app that I have come across in a very long time. There were many moments that I wondered why an app like this would be given away for free, because it is incredibly efficient and useful.

With most voice recognition apps I expect to be misheard and definitely misunderstood at least half the time. This was not true with Siri, there were only a few instances where the app did not pick up on what I was trying to say, and sometimes it even worked with noises and voices in the background.

Siri combines many apps that I already have on my iPhone into one easy to use, voice activated app. Need to find a good restaurant, movie times or flight information? Siri can do all of that and more simply by my asking it to.

All I had to do was click say and something like ” Table for 4 Texas de Brazil tomorrow” led me to Open Table where I could see the available times for the following evening. I could look up information for a Delta flight and not only see where it was landing and when but I could see a map of where it was on its journey.

Siri can even find local shops and businesses, give you quick link to call them or lead you to more information and directions. When I looked up movie times for the local theater I could even get movie summaries or watch the movie trailer, all within one voice activated app. This is great for when I am driving and want to get an idea of when things are playing without having to do any typing at all.

The voice recognition might give you a bit of trouble if you have an accent but my husband was able to get it working for him, though many of his requests were a bit strange and obscure to begin with.

I was truly impressed by this app and it is one that I can really see myself using quite often as an easy way to get directions, movie times, nearby restaurants…I can even do a web search by saying “ask bing” which means that just about everything that I use the iPhone for can now be easily voice activated.

Give this app a try while you can because I enjoyed it and since it is free, you really cannot go wrong.

Stephanie S.

Download Now!

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Developer – Siri, inc.

© 2010, StephanieS. All rights reserved.

Packing Pro ($2.99)

Version – 4.0

REVIEW – “The ultimate tool for regular travelers!”

If you travel on a regular basis you’ve probably left things behind on more than one occasion.  If that’s the case you might be interested in Packing Pro by Quinn Genzel.  Packing Pro and its slightly less functional Packing is an app that keeps a database of commonitems that people take on trips.  Not only will it keep track of things that you need to bring but also a list of things that you need to do before you leave on your trip!

I’ll have to admit I was definitely skeptical of the idea of an app that’s main purpose is to make a list of things to have ready and/or pack for your trip.  I was definitely surprised at just how useful it really is.  The best thing is that it comes with a rather large database of common travel items built in already.

When the app opens up you’ll be taken to the “Packing” screen.  At the bottom of the screen is a menu that allows you to quickly access the “Catalog,” “Design” and “Help” pages.  When you are ready to create a list all you have to do is touch the “Create New List” button.  Once you touch that button you’ll be given several different options.  You can create a list totally from scratch using items that are in the apps “Catalog,” you can use a previously created list to create a new one, you can use one of several pre-set lists or you can get “Expert Help” to create a customized list based on how many people you are travelling with, how long the trip is, weather conditions and several other variables.

Once you get a preset list you can then go through and quickly customize it to fit your exact specifications.  In the rare occasion that you have an item that you regularly pack that is not in this apps “Catalog” you can easily add new items from within your current list or from the “Catalog” screen.

While I was quite happy with the default display settings, there are quite a few options to customize them.  There are several different “preset” designs, but if none of those are to your liking I was pleased to find out that you can easily change individual settings as well.  Everything from fonts to sizes and colors can be changed to your liking.

While most people probably don’t travel enough to justify spending the full $2.99 on this app, you’ll be pleased to know that there is also a $0.99 version of this app.  However, for the regular business traveler this app is worth its weight in gold!  This app is simply an amazing resource for keeping track of all the little things that can sometimes make traveling stressful.  So what are you waiting for?  Check it out in the App Store today!

- David H.

Download Packing Now! ($0.99)

Download Packing Pro Now! ($2.99)

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Developer – Quinn Genzel

URL: http://www.quinnscape.com/

© 2010, Davidh. All rights reserved.

2010 World Factbook ($.99)

Version 1.17

REVIEW – ” Get a wealth of information about any country for a bargain price.”

As a political science student I spend a great deal of my time online and there can be no greater resource for basic information about any country than the World Factbook. The 2010 World Factbook is packed with information and maps that are a must for any student or anyone that does international business.

If you have any interest in world affairs this is one app that you have to have. Just open up the app and you are taken to a listing of every single country in the world. Click on the country of interest and you have information on their government, population, technology, geography and even current issues affecting them. You can even click on maps to see the country relative to its position in the world.

The maps are striking and you can zoom in and out to your heart’s content which is fun for geography students who are trying to memorize country locations. But just the sheer wealth of information offered by this app is amazing, especially for the price.

Now all the information in the  factbook is available online but being able to have such an easy to use app, that goes with you everywhere is well worth the price and much cheaper than purchasing the print version. Even better the app gets periodic updates so you can be sure that it will always be up to date and giving you the information you really need.

I may be a little biased toward this app because it is useful to know the parties in a country or their government system, the current issues and the brief history of just about every country as an international relations graduate student. Unfortunately I am not always as well versed as I should be, but this app always keeps me informed and I can look up in seconds any bit of information I need.

The added benefit to this app, besides the ease of use and the updates every two weeks, is that all information is contained within the app so you do not even need an internet connection to use the app.

Stephanie S.

Download Now!

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Developer -Fuzzy Peach LLC

© 2010, StephanieS. All rights reserved.

FastMall (Free)

Version – 2.0

REVIEW – “Discover a new way to shop with your mobile device!”

There are literally hundreds of developers out there, and they’re all looking for that next app that’s going to change the way we do things.  While a lot of apps that are released seem to be gimmicky, FastMall by MindSmack has not only come up with a great idea, but has done a great job of surrounding that idea with lots of useful features!

FastMall is the only app that you need when you take a trip to the mall!  Not only will it give you directions to your local mall but it also does a variety of things from keeping track of where you parked to finding you a store’s phone number and the latest deals!  Thankfully, while it does do a lot of things, this app still manages to keep the interface simple enough for anyone to just pick it up and starting using it.

When you open up FastMall the main screen is filled with 9 icons.  The main page works a lot like your device’s main app screen.  If you touch and hold on one button the icons will all start shaking and you can rearrange them however you want.  When you have them all just where you want them you can go back go back to normal by pressing the red “Done” button in the lower left corner of the screen.

Finding a mall is as easy as touching the “Malls” button.  This will default to showing the malls that are closest to your current location, but you can search for malls in any location by using the search bar at the top of the screen.  You can also search malls by mall name and view only your “My Malls” list if you are logged into your FastMall account!

As great a resource as the mall finder is this is just the beginning of what this app can do!  Once you find the mall you are interested in and select it you will be taken to a screen with several different options.  The first option is the “Virtual Map.”  Unfortunately, I was unable to fully test this feature because the closest mall currently in their database was almost 200 miles from where I live.  The good news is though that they are adding new maps constantly, and they listen to customer feedback to help them select the next malls that they add!

While I was unable to actually use the Virtual Map feature at my local mall, I did load up a mall that had this feature available and look at it.  I was impressed to say the least!  What this feature basically does is show you a detailed map of the mall and then overlays it with important information such as where the restrooms are, where the theater is in the mall if there is one, and it also allows you to select a store or location in the mall and get turn by turn “directions” to it no matter where you are in the mall!

Another thing that is really great about this app is that you can easily add your favorite malls to the home screen.  When you have a mall you want to add open all you have to do is scroll down to the bottom and touch the “Add This Mall To Main Menu” button.  While most of the options on the main menu are useful, some of them you will use less frequently and this allows you to have one touch access to your favorite malls!

What will make or break an app like this is the details, and that is where this app excels.  All the way down to the little things like the integrated “Where Did I Park?” feature.  Yes there is already an app for that, but if you are using this as your virtual mall assistant did you really want to close it and go find another app to help you find your car?  Honestly with all the features of this app, the time it could potentially save, and the money you could save by staying informed on the latest deals I would have expected this app to be attached to some kind of fee.   That is why for the price of free this is one app that you should not pass up.  If you don’t already have this app on your phone, you need to download it today!

- David H.

Download Now!

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Developer – MindSmack, LLC

URL: http://www.fastmall.com/

© 2010, Davidh. All rights reserved.