Recently, Google gave their social network, Google+, a complete makeover on its website, but the iOS app was still left in the cold. However, today, Google+ for iPhone received an well needed facelift.

The new user interface is entirely different to its predecessor, opting for a sleek black theme across the app. The stream now displays larger images with larger profile images so you can easily who is posting, or sharing. They’ve removed the old side-by-side navigation of ‘circles’ and replaced it with a simple single drop down menu which makes it much easier to change which circle you are viewing, so you can view the posts from the people who are important to you.

One massive update is that you can now finally start ‘Hangouts’ on the go through the messenger. Just start a conversation with a single friend or circle; and then tap on the ‘camera’ icon.

Unfortunately, there is still no sign of an iPad app.

Will this iPhone app update get you interested in Google+ again?

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Instapaper, Pocket (formerly known as Read It Later), and Readability are all great ways to "read later", or time-shift the Web articles and other content you don't have time to read now. (Think of them as TiVo for the web.) Some are highly focused on text, others also prioritize photos and videos. Some are highly focused on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad only, others offer more cross-platform and Android support. Each one tries to solve the same problem -- letting you enjoy the content you want to enjoy, when you want to enjoy it -- but goes about it in a different way. So which one does it best, and for whom?

Note: Instapaper, Pocket, and Readability all have support for both iPhone and iPad but we're focusing exclusively on the iPhone versions for this shootout.

Instapaper vs Pocket vs Readability: Design & Interface

Reading is a personal experience for most of us, and one that should always be be enjoyable. More than likely, you'll want to kick back and relax while catching up on the day's stories. While content is king, the experience you get while interacting with that content can be just as important for most.

Instapaper for iPhone uses a standard list view for separating sections. Clicking into the Read Later section presents you with a list of articles. The main page also contains any folders you've created listed at the bottom. While useable, the interface is rather boring.

Instapaper approaches saving articles in a fairly straight-forward way -- the table view and the file system. You can create folders on your iPhone to categorize and archive articles. Tap into the section you'd like to view and tap on an article you'd like to read. Your top tab, labeled Read Later, is where you'll find all the articles you've saved to the service. Articles are displayed in an a stripped down format, devoid of ads and other cruft, and that makes them really easy to read.

Instapaper also integrates a feature called tilt scrolling that, as the name implies, will scroll the page up and down as you tilt your iPhone. Tab into font settings to switch from light and dark mode, change the font type (with some beautiful new typefaces to choose from), increase or decrease font size, change line spacing, and to widen or narrow margins. Overall, Instapaper does a good job of formatting articles nicely. I have run into a few issues with how it formats images or headers on websites which can be bothersome at times.

Readability's name is well suited as it's obvious that their main goal is to make articles as readable as possible. This includes making menus and navigation as unobtrusive as possible while you're reading content.

Readability approaches things a bit differently when it comes to menus and organization. The main home screen will aggregate a list of your saved content. Tapping on the reading list button will allow you to navigate to items you've marked as favorites or view archived articles.

Readability also allows you to switch between light and dark modes and change the font to customize the experience. Their font choices are beautiful but not always optimal for long form reading. Where Readability really shines, however, is how it makes sure the focus is on having a seamless reading experience. When you tap into an article all the menus and navigation options disappear, leaving you with nothing but the content you want in front of you. Tap anywhere on the screen to bring up the menus. Swipe to the right to bring up your main reading list again.

Pocket for iPhone takes a new approach with their re-designed and re-named application. The interace is very clean but colorful and useful at the same time. Organizing articles by tags, archiving or deleting them, and changing settings is straight forward. Pocket also makes it easy to switch between a scaled down and full blown version of a web page with the tap of a button.

Pocket has newly designed interface to go with its new name. Just like Readability and Instapaper, you can change the margins, fonts, switch from dark to light mode, and customize the experience. But that's pretty much where the similarities end.

Pocket treats photos and videos as first-class citizens alongside articles. You can sort by articles that contain images, video, or just plain text articles. You can also bulk edit from the main screen. Simply tap the edit button and either trash articles, mark them as read, or tag them with categories.

When inside an article, Pocket allows you to quickly switch from a scaled down version and the full blown web version of a saved clip. And toggling between them is super fast. It's also great at rendering inline images, and is really smart about what content should and shouldn't be presented.

While all three have easy to use interfaces, their designs are very different. Instapaper is almost old-school in its presentation, but incredibly focused in its choices. Readability looks very good but the edge goes to Pocket which has the best mix of presentation of functionality. The ability to easily edit and sort articles is great and the interface is both powerful and accessible.

Instapaper vs Pocket vs Readability: Cross-platform support

If you have multiple devices, whether it's an iPhone and iPad, or iPhone and Kindle Fire, or some other combination, being able to access the content you saved on the platforms you use is important. Here's what Instapaper, Pocket, and Readability support:

Instapaper

• iPhone
• iPad
• Kindle Fire

Readability

• iPhone
• iPad
• Android
• Kindle Fire

Pocket

• iPhone
• iPad
• Android
• Kindle Fire

Instapaper doesn't provide official support for Android and none of them seem to officially support BlackBerry or Windows Phone. So for now, it's a tie between Pocket and Readability as far as native mobile app support goes.

Instapaper vs Pocket vs Readability: 3rd party app support

In order for a "read later" service to be of service, it has to be readily available from the apps you use all day. Because Instapaper, Pocket, and Readability have all been around for a while, in one form or another, you can find support for all three services in many of the most popular Twitter, RSS, and similar apps.

Tie.

Instapaper vs Pocket vs Readability: Desktop Support

Instapaper, Readability, and Pocket all provide web browser plug-ins to easily save content to read later, and all offer a web-based way to access this content when and where you want to access it. Just like the mobile apps, however, the experience will be different across each client.

Instapaper on the web sticks to the standard format of just listing articles on a page. You can click into them to view the full blown desktop version or view a text version as well. It gets the job done but it's nothing too exciting.

Instapaper's website sticks to the standard table view of articles. Clicking one takes you to the full article. You can also choose to view a text version or to archive it. It gets the job done and does it well but just like the app, it isn't very exciting to look at.

Readability on the web provides a simliar experience to Readability on the iPhone. The layout and icons are very simliar and easy to find. Each article also has sharing options directly underneath it.

Readability's website also provides an experience that's a closely tied to their iPhone app, and that makes it really usable. It doesn't hide navigation the way the website does, but due to the bigger canvas they have to work with, that's not a problem. You can find your main navigation off the to left and each article will have sharing options and edit options directly underneath it. Easy to use and easy to maintain.

Pocket provides an experience on the web that's a bit different. It looks almost exactly the same as the iPhone and iPad interface. The experience is seamless regardless what device you're reading on. Users will appreciate that.

Pocket's website also tries to be as close to the mobile experience as possible. At least when it comes to layout and format. You can, of course, view full blown articles but the layout feels very simliar. You actually don't even feel like you're on a website for the most part. It feels like you're browsing right from your phone but with the bigger screen real-estate of your computer monitor. Same functionality, same basic layout, just full blown articles.

Since the websites all mirror the apps to a greater or lesser degree, just like with the app, Pocket has the edge here.

Instapaper vs Pocket vs Readability: Cost

If cost is a factor to you, you'll be happy to know that both Pocket and Readability are available for free. (At least up front, at least for now.)

Instapaper costs $4.99 but it's a universal app so you'll only need to purchase once. There's also an optional subscription service that offers additional functionality.

Readability also has a -- now optional, still controversial -- subscription service.

Some users will no doubt prefer the presumed security that comes from paying for an app or service, most just want free stuff, no questions asked.

Tie between Readability and Pocket.

Instapaper vs Pocket vs Readability: Conclusion

While Instapaper vs Pocket vs Readability all have great native apps, fantastic web sites, and excellent services, they all come to the table with very different focuses and approaches.

Power iOS-only users might love Instapaper's thoughtful functionality and no-frills design, while cross-platform users might find it too austere and limited.

New users might take a liking to Readbility's good looks and high level of integration, while power users might find it a bit limited. (Their business model, which we won't get into here, is also a turn-off to some.)

Cross-platform and multimedia users might enjoy Pockets wider device support, slick interface, and first-class handling of photos and videos. Dedicated iOS-centric, article-centric users might not like the broader focus.

So which is the best?

Pocket.

The re-design brought with it much greater attention to detail and it really shows. Pocket provides the best design and user experience for the broadest base of users, both on the app and on the website.

If you're already all-in on Instapaper and video isn't a priority for you, there's no reason to switch to anything else. If you want more than articles, or you're new to the whole idea of "read later" and time-shifting content, give Pocket a go. It's free, so there's no risk to try it out, and you may be surprised how quickly you start saving things you happen upon on the web.

If you've been "reading later" for a while and have a personal preference, let us know why in our iPhone apps forum.

Pocket - Free - Download Now

Readability - Free - Download Now

Instapaper - $4.99 - Download Now

Debt Snowball+ for iPhone utilizes the snowball method of paying off debts to help eliminate them faster and cut down on the amount of interest paid over the life of a loan. If you need a quicker way to pay things down, or feel as if you're paying on loans and just aren't getting anywhere, apps like Snowball+ like this can help you set attainable goals within your budget.

Choose which method of debt snowballing you'd like to use. You can also view how applying additional payments will affect the life of the loan and how much money you can save.

For those not familiar with how debt snowballing works, it is based on the concept of paying something off and using that payment amount to apply towards another debt once it is paid off. You start by choosing whether you'd like to pay large debts off first or smaller ones. Typically, paying off smaller debts first will free up money quicker to apply towards larger debts but paying off larger debts first tends to save you more money as you're most likely not paying as much interest. Whatever method is right for you is what you should use.

Choose a category of debt you'd like to track and pay off - then enter the details of the debt in order for Debt Snowball+ to track it and help you pay it off quicker.

Debt Snowball+ allows you to enter your debt information into the app and categorize each one accordingly. You can set up payment reminders and record additional payments you decide to make. Once all your information is input you can tap on your total debt amount at the top to receive some interesting information. Move the slider up and down or key in amounts to see how much making an additional payment will save you money and time wise.

Once a debt is paid off in full, the concept is that you will then apply the amount you were paying towards the debt that is now paid off to the next debt in line. In essence, you can just pretend you still have the same amount of debts to pay, you're just applying more to each debt as you knock other debts out.

Use the app to determine how much money you can save if you add additional payments. Also record and track payments to see how snowballing your debt is helping you pay things off faster and more efficiently.

I've found Debt Snowball+ to be a great way to track debts on an ongoing basis as well as an easy way to calculate how much to apply in extra payments if you've got some extra coin laying around. I don't really use the reminders within the app as I've already got calendar alerts set up for bills in the default calendar app. I'm assuming most other people will too so that feature seems a bit redundant.

The good

• Great way to track debts
• Easily calculate extra payments

The bad

• Reminders may be redundant

Conclusion

If you're looking for a good way to pay off debts quickly and need something that'll help you be a bit more conscious about your debt to income situation, Debt Snowball+ is a nice way of getting an overall picture of your situation so you can make an educated decision of what snowballing method will work best for you.

$0.99 - Download Now

There are a wealth of note taking apps for iPad already in the App Store, but the simplicity of Daedalus Touch is what makes it so great. It's got an excellent interface that focuses on allowing you to take notes and switch between stacks quickly. That makes it the perfect tool for taking class or meeting notes in an organized way.

Daedalus aims to make accessing and organizing easier with a stacking method as opposed to the traditional folders and notebooks method.

The main difference between Daedalus and other note taking apps is how it handles your notes. There are no notebooks or endless pages to scroll through. Instead, Daedalus sorts your collections into stacks and individual pages within those stacks. When you're ready to start typing on a new page, just swipe to the right. Go back a page by swiping left.

The same functionality is built in to stacks. Double tap to open a stack and just scroll through the pages within that stack from left to right. To exit a stack, pinch it closed with two fingers to return to the main screen.

If you're a student, stacks is a great way to sort notes by class. Make a stack for Calculus, Biology, Accounting, etc.. then quickly swipe between them and double tap into any stack to take more notes or view notes you've already typed out.

Daedalus allows you to search for keywords and sentences within stacks. You can also change font and the overall look & feel within settings.

For the most part, Daedalus keeps its options simple. There's a basic word and character counter in the upper right hand corner of each note. You can switch between three different types of fonts and make the text larger if you'd like. Daedalus also has 4 different layouts to choose from:

• Console
• Dark
• Light
• Sepia

You can choose to turn auto-caps, auto-correction, and spell check on or off. Tapping the eye in the upper left side of the screen will lets you search Google, Wikipedia, and dict.cc for information via a built-in browser. This makes it easy to look up information without having to jump back and forth between Safari and Daedalus.

You can also tap into any stack and type a search term into the top bar. Tap return and scroll through your stack to see the instances of that term. It'd be nice to see it aggregate a list of where the term was found instead of having to page through though.

Daedalus supports both iCloud and Dropbox syncing. You can also export notes into an e-mail, text, PDF, or ePub document.

Daedalus supports syncing with both iCloud and Dropbox. You can navigate to the folder you'd like to bring down and import folders you already have into stacks. Just choose the folder you want to turn into a stack and Daedalus will do all the heavy lifting for you.

From the main stack screen you can click the sync button to sync all the stacks you've created or you can individually sync stacks if you'd prefer only certain stacks be saved to iCloud or Dropbox.

You can share your notes under the export menu in the following ways - e-mail, text, PDF, or ePub. You can also print and copy to the clipboard. Notice there is no export as HTML option to support Markdown. So if you need to type in Markdown, you won't be able to export it directly from the app.

The good

• Fast, accessible interface gets you going quickly
• Excellent organization
• Selective sync is a great way to save space
• Built in browser is very convenient

The bad

• Search function could be better
• No Markdown support
• Can't important single documents, only complete folders as stacks
• No iPhone or Mac version

Conclusion

Deadalus aims to simplify and streamline the note-taking process. For users that don't care about Markdown support and just need the ability to take notes quickly in an organized fashion, Deadalus is perfect.

While I stil prefer applications like Byword for writing and Evernote for notes and lists, there are plenty of people who will prefer the focus of Daedalus.

$4.99 - Download Now

Additional Resources:

• Byword for iPhone and iPad review
• iA Writer for iPhone and iPad review
• iMore apps and games forums

Snapguide is a beautiful way to create, share, and find how-to guides, recipes, and other instructionals -- straight from your iPhone.

Snapguide for iPhone allows you to create instructional guides (including recipes) straight on your iPhone, complete with pictures, videos, and captions. When you're done you can publish your guides and share them via Twitter, Facebook, or email, as well as with the Snapguide community.

When you first open Snapguide, you'll be walked through a quick tutorial and then you'll be able to create an account. Once you've finished the quick sign-up process you can get to creating guides.

Browsing Snapguides

Searching for guides and browsing them within the Snapguide community is quick and simple. Just search for any subject or browse popular or most viewed guides.

Most users will probably want to spend most of their time viewing existing guides created by others. After you register you'll be able to do exactly that. Just use explore the tabs along the bottom to view all kinds of guides. You can also use the search feature in the upper right hand corner in order to search for a specific guide you may want to view.

Creating your own Snapguides

If you're creating a guide for others you can easily add steps including photo, video, and text to make it easier to follow along.

Once you've started to create a guide you can choose between photos, video, or text. Snap a picture or take a video of the first step to insert them into your guide. If you've got a bunch of images or video to shoot, just take them all in one go if you'd like and then go in and edit the steps afterwards.

Snapguide also has Dictation integration so if you're explaining a particularly lengthy step and have an iPhone 4S you can enjoy adding captions to your steps by speaking them.

Add many photos or videos at once and then go back and edit in steps when you're done creating media.

Once you're done snapping pictures or video, just tap them in your main guide window to add captions to them. Move things around or delete steps as needed. Don't forget to add a list of supplies that users will need as well. (Especially important for recipes!)

Once you're done with your guide you can publish it to the Snapguide community and share it via Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail.

Once you've got your guide exactly the way you want it, you can publish it with a single tap. From there it'll be shared with the Snapguide community and other users can comment on it or follow you in order to see all your guides.

You can also choose to email the guide to someone, share it to Facebook, or tweet it out. You'll have to authorize Facebook but Twitter will just pull from your native Twitter accounts (you can choose which account you'd like to tweet it from if you've got more than one). You can also copy the link to share on other sites as too.

If you forgot a step and need to edit your guide, you can do so through your profile with just a tap and then re-publish your guide. You can also re-share guides via your profile as well.

If you figure out later on that you forgot a step or want to word something different, no worries. Just open up your profile and tap on the blue pencil next to the guide you want to change to edit it. Tap into the guide without clicking the blue pencil in order to view how many users have liked it or to share it again.

The Good

• Super simple interface to use
• Great layout that allows you to easily navigate and create guides with virtually no learning curve
• Already a pretty good amount of users and guides

The Bad

• Google+ and Pinterest integration would be nice additions

The Conclusion

Snapguide is a beautiful way to create, share, and find how-to guides, recipes, and other instructionals -- straight from your iPhone. I've yet to find an app that's as intuitive or easy to use as this one for creating or viewing DIY guides. If you've got an iPhone and a spark for creativity, this is the app for you. I've already found tons of home DIY guides I want to get around to trying.

If you've picked up this app, let us know if you've found or created anything particularly interesting! I've already found quite a few guides relating to iPhone, iPad, and iPod. I'm excited to contribute to that number in the near future.

Free - Download Now

Additional Resources:

• More app reviews
• Best of the best apps
• iMore apps & games forums

"Evernote is hands down the best way to take and organize notes on the iPad whether you're in class, in a meeting, or on the go. Pair that with the ability to use Evernote across any platform available and it simply can't be beat."

Taking notes on the iPad is a great way to save on the amount of physical paper you have floating around and a much easier way to stay organized. There's so many note taking apps in the App Store that choosing one can be a bigger task than anything. Syncing notes across all your devices and organizing them has never been easier when you use Evernote for iPad. If you prefer typing out your notes instead of using a handwritten notes app, Evernote is the best choice.

Quickly type out notes and tag them accordingly for quick access from any device with Evernote installed

Whether you need to take freeform notes, create checklists, or upload pictures - Evernote's got you covered. The best part about Evernote is that they've got a client for pretty much any platform you'll be using. I frequently take notes on my iPad in meetings or during consults. When I get back to my office they're already synchronized and available on my iMac. From there I can share them via e-mail, Twitter, or Facebook or send them directly to my printer. If you've ever had to take minutes for a meeting it's never been easier to send notes out to all attendants before you even leave the meeting.

Upon starting a new note in Evernote you'll notice that you've got the option to add them to notebooks and add tags to notes. This makes searching and sorting less of a task and super simple. I've got several types of clients from consulting to web design. I simply tag the note appropriately in my work notebook and I can find their notes in just a few taps from anywhere inside Evernote.

Quickly snap an image of an item, tag your note, and save it for later viewing or price comparing

I've also found Evernote to be a great place to store information such as serial numbers or photos when price shopping. Just take a quick photo inside a new note and tag it however you'd like. I love doing this when shopping for electronics or other items that I want to check prices for at multiple places. It allows me to easily compare prices without hand typing information that's already on the price tag.

View and organize notes by notebook, shared status, tags, and even more with Evernote for iPad

While Evernote is free to use you are limited as to how much storage you can use in one month. A free account gives you 60MB a month worth of storage. It'll reset every month back to zero. If you plan on taking more text notes than anything a free account will suit you just fine and you'll most likely never come close to hitting that cap, unless you're a note taking maniac. If you plan on saving a lot of images or screen caps to Evernote, you can probably come close to that cap and may want to consider upgrading.

For $5.00/month or $45/year you'll get 1GB of storage upload space per month as well as many other premium features including the following -

• Offline access
• No ads
• Extensive note history that allows you to view past versions of your notes (good if you're collaborating with others)
• 50MB uploads per note
• Pin lock allowing you to lock your Evernote application to prevent unauthorized access
• PDF search

I personally have always used the free version of Evernote and I've never hit the cap. 60MB may not seem like a lot of space but if you're only snapping a few pictures here and there and most of what you'll be doing involves taking text notes, a free account will serve you great. While the free version is ad-supported, you'll only really see ads on the PC or Mac version of the client and they're tucked away in a corner and extremely unobtrusive.

The good

• Great user interface across all platforms that's familiar when you jump from one device to another
• A free account will be sufficient for many users
• Fast syntonization across all your devices for easy access to your notes from anywhere
• Multiple notebooks and tags make organizing your notes super simple

The bad

• No way to passcode protect your notes unless you pay for Premium which is a bit of a let down

Conclusion

Evernote is hands down the best way to take and organize notes on the iPad whether you're in class, in a meeting, or on the go. Pair that with the ability to use Evernote across any platform available and it simply can't be beat. Whether you use an iPad and an iPhone or an iPad and an Android or BlackBerry, Evernote has you covered.

What are your favorite note taking apps for your iPad? Is Evernote your favorite or do you think something else deserves the title title for best iPad app for note taking?

Free - Download now

Barcode Scanner is exactly what you need to easily find and enter PointsPlus values, and a great companion app to Weight Watchers Mobile for iPhone

If you're a Weight Watchers subscriber using Weight Watchers Mobile for iPhone, Weight Watchers Barcode Scanner is a great companion app for quickly calculating points values. Manually typing in fat, carbs, fiber, and protein can be a daunting task especially when grocery shopping. The barcode scanner app makes the task super simple and easier than ever, and is a great way to avoid impulse junk food purchases.

The biggest hurdle I've had to face since starting back up with Weight Watchers is grocery shopping. I've stuck with buying healthy foods but it can be a task to manually enter in the contents in order to decide whether or not a food I want is a healthy decision.

Once you've sign in you can start scanning and managing foods and point values quickly and easily

The Weight Watches Barcode Scanner helps cut the time I spend looking for healthy foods in half while shopping. If you've used any type of QR code scanner on your iPhone you'll be right at home.

The first time you launch the app you'll be asked to sign into your Weight Watchers account. (You can choose for it to remember you in the Settings tab). Weight Watchers Barcode Scanner will load the scanner by default on launch. Then all you do is simply align a bar code and it scans away. It'll read it and tell you the PointsPlus value for a single serving. If it can't find an item, it'll allow you to manually enter in carbs, fat, fiber, and protein into the points calculator.

Quickly scan an item to see the PointsPlus value in seconds. If the app can't find a value, it'll allow you to manually enter nutrition information.

If the app doesn't know the serving size it will simply say unknown. I've found most of the time that it calculates a points value but says unknown serving size, it's on items that are off-brand or measured in cups. You'll just need to follow the serving size on the box. If you can't get a good view of the bar code with the scanner, you can also choose to enter it in manually.

Quickly add scanned items directly to your favorites or tracker in a few quick taps. No need to jump into another application.

Weight Watchers Barcode Scanner will also keep track of all the foods you've scanned under the Lists tab. Not only can you view the items you've added, you can add them to your favorites or your tracker directly from the application. Since Weight Watchers stores all your information online, you'll see the information added to your tracker via Weight Watchers Mobile as well next time you launch it.

There are a few apps in the app store that spit out Weight Watchers point values. I've found this one to be the best simply because it ties directly into your online tracker and integrates nicely as a companion app to the full Weight Watchers Mobile app. I don't have to jump out of whatever I'm using to scan bar codes and into Weight Watchers mobile and re-enter information. I just add the item I want directly to my tracker from Barcode Scanner and it's already there.

The good

• It makes grocery shopping for healthier foods less of a task and not so overwhelming
• Gives the option to add directly to your favorites and tracker which eliminates having to jump into another app
• The overall UI is very similar to the Weight Watchers Mobile app so you'll feel right at home

The bad

• You'll need a Weight Watchers subscription to utilize the application which may not be an option for some users as the cost may be more than they're willing to pay
• You won't always find bar codes for many off brands
• No auto-focus can be annoying at times when the app doesn't automatically center in on the bar code

Conclusion

If you're looking for an easier way to find PointsPlus values than typing in numbers each time, Weight Watchers Barcode Scanner is exactly what you're looking for and a great companion app to Weight Watchers Mobile for iPhone. While there are competitors out there, they just can't provide the tight integration into the Weight Watchers system that the official app can.

The fact that I can add things directly to my tracker and favorite items while I shop without jumping into multiple other apps makes it a hands down winner.

If Weight Watchers is your diet plan of choice, let us know your experiences in our Health and Fitness Forum and check out what the rest of our staff is picking to get healthier during Mobile Nations Fitness Month.

Weight Watchers Barcode Scanner is free to download but you'll need a Weight Watchers subscription in order to log in and start using it.

Free - Download now

"When it comes to storing and syncing files online, Dropbox's accessibility from multiple platforms, easy to use interface, free starting service, and reasonably priced professional services make it hard to beat."

Dropbox is one of several high-profile cloud storage and sync solutions, but it comes out on top due to its fantastic iPhone (and iPad) support, multi-platform availability, easy to use interfaces, excellent availability and reliability, and highly competitive pricing.

Apple's iCloud is a great way to keep your personal information, your device data, and a few, compatible files like iWork backed up and in sync. However, iCloud doesn't provide anything beyond that. If you want to store files strictly online, if you want to access and edit them from other platforms, if you want past versions of files kept available, if you want an actual filesystem to work with, then iCloud isn't enough. (Anything a previous user of iDisk on MobileMe or .Mac knows and laments.)

Dropbox does all this, easily and transparently, and more.

Dropbox looks just like an iPhone version of Windows Explorer or Mac OS X Finder... or the old iDisk app

Dropbox for iPhone opens up with a list of all the files and folders you have stored on their servers, arrange alphabetically. You can swipe up or down to browse, or just like Contacts, you can tap a letter on the right side of the screen to jump to files and folders that begin with that letter. It's like a very simple, iPhone optimized version of Windows Explorer or Mac finder.

If you tap on a file your iPhone understands, like text, HTML, PDF, documents, music, or video, Dropbox will open it up and show it to you. If it's an image file and the folder you're in has multiple images, Dropbox will show you a small gallery button at the top left and if you tap on it, will switch to a thumbnail view for easier browsing. You can even delete files right from your iPhone if you want to.

Dropbox gives special treatment to images, including a gallery view option

If another app on your iPhone understands and can do more with that file, like edit it, Dropbox will list the app under the action button and offer to send it there for you. You can also tap the Link button to share the file via email or copy it to the clipboard, or the Favorites (star) button to store a copy of the file locally (so you can access it when offline).

If there's another app on your iPhone that can better handle a file, Dropbox will let you send it over.

You can choose how much local storage you want Dropbox to use in the options tab. This makes it really handy for not only stories work files or family pictures, but storing PDF copies of your travel documents (airplane, hotel, event registrations, photo of your passport, etc.) as a backup.

Allot a certain amount of local storage for quick offline viewing

Dropbox, smartly, made an open API (Application Programming Interface) so other apps could tie into their services. A lot of iOS apps have chosen to do so, including list-makers, password utilities, and text editors. Here are just a few of our favorites:

• 1Password
• Elements
• Comic Zeal
• Noteshelf
• PDF Expert

That means it's really easy to access your files from pretty much anywhere. (Several of us here at iMore keep our entire local work directories in Dropbox, which means our computers are in sync at home, at work, and while traveling, and setting up a new computer is much, much easier.)

Dropbox also makes it easy to share folders and files. I've got several folders set up, some private, some shared. When I'm working on a website for a client I can share a folder with them so we can collaborate and they can preview what I'm doing and share back information I might need. This is far more productive than swapping emails and losing track of changes and versions.

Options vary depending on the type of file, but sharing with Dropbox is as easy as tapping and choosing.

You can move non-vital files off your iPhone (or iPad) an onto Dropbox to free up valuable local storage space. For example, if you have an iPhone 4S you have probably noticed how fast you can fill your phone with 1080p video and high quality images. While I was never able to fill 32GB on my iPhone 4, I'm quickly hitting a wall on my iPhone 4S.

Using Dropbox, I can simply upload photos and videos right from within the app, delete them from the Camera Roll, and still have access to them whenever I'm online. (The online part is key -- if you absolutely, positively have to have something available, make sure you store it locally on your device. Dropbox is for the vast majority of stuff that's okay to leave online.)

If you're traveling and away from your computer, and you need to share a file, you don't have to wait until you get back -- just share a link from Dropbox.

Add a passcode to protect sensitive files in your Dropbox

With any online storage solution, security is important. Dropbox encrypts files in transit and when stored on their servers. Dropbox also allows you to protect your files with a passcode on your iPhone. After so many incorrect attempts you can tell it to wipe your data off that device as well. I use Dropbox to store client files and business information so anytime I configure it on my iPhone, I make sure I add a passcode for added protection on top of my default iPhone password.

If that's not secure enough, you can even store encrypted disk images in dropbox, though you won't be able to open them on your iPhone.

Backup is also extremely important. With Dropbox, copies of all your files are stored on their servers. So if you lose your iPhone or your PC hard drive fails, you haven't lost any important date. You just replace the device or the drive, install Dropbox, and all your stuff is back.

While Dropbox is free up to 2GB, there are paid plans available as well

The Dropbox app for iPhone (and iPad, it's universal) is free, as are your first 2GB of storage. If you need more, they have several reasonable price plans available.

• 2GB Basic account - Free
• 50GB Pro account - $9.99/month
• 100GB Pro account - $19.99/month
• 1TB+ Team accounts - $795/year for first 5 users

Dropbox also has a referral program that allows you to net an additional 250MB of storage space for each person you refer. Free accounts can earn up to 8GB from referrals while Pro users can get an additional 16GB of free space on top of their paid storage. (So if you sign up for the free account, hit up your friends and family before they find out about it first!)

The good

• Free basic service, reasonably priced plans for power users
• Dedicated apps for iPhone, iPad, other platforms like Android, as well as Windows, Mac, Linux.
• Online access via Dropbox.com
• Wide ranging support from iOS apps
• Referral program allow you to add quite a bit of extra space at no cost to you
• Save images and video from Dropbox directly to your device when you need to
• Easily create links to share files on the go straight from the app

The bad

• File sharing only available on the website
• iOS app lacks viewers for popular formats like Photoshop
• Online file storage is always susceptible to connectivity issues.

Conclusion

When it comes to storing and syncing files online, Dropbox's accessibility from multiple platforms, easy to use interface, free starting service, and reasonably priced professional services make it hard to beat. Other services like Box.net and Sky Drive are comparable but when it comes to iOS app support and native client ease of use, Dropbox comes out on top.

Free - Download

Google has officially launched its Orkut app for iPhone, letting users of Brazil and India's favorite social network access the service on-the-go.

The official Orkut app for iOS connects you to your friends and family. Now you can send scraps, see your friends updates, upload photos and browse your friends albums anywhere you go. Never miss a conversation again because you are not in front of your computer: get the free Orkut app and stay connected.

• Update your status
• Check your scraps and messages
• Reply to your friends birthdays
• Check your friends updates
• Browse your friends profiles, scraps and photos
• Take new photos and upload them directly to your Orkut albums
• Share your life anywhere, anytime with the people you care about

Although Orkut isn't as popular as Facebook in most parts of the world, the Google-owned social network that's not Google+ has gained popularity in Brazil and India, where roughly 80 percent of its active user base resides.

Orkut is available now in the App Store and is compatible with the iPhone and iPod touch.

• Free -- App Store Link

Have an app you’d love to see featured on iMore? Email us at iosapps@imore.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

Kids have access to your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad and curious how to prevent them from deleting your App Store apps the moment you're not looking? They're fun and games can cause a lot of additional work for you if you're not careful. Luckily, Apple lets you lock down app deletion.

1. Jump into the Settings app.
2. Tap General settings.
3. Next, tap Restrictions.
4. At this point, you'll be prompted to enter your 4-digit passcode if you have one set, or create one if you don't.
5. Scroll down and switch Deleting Apps to 'OFF'.

That's it! Now, if you ever hand over your iPhone to a friend or family member, they'll have no ability to accidentally remove or delete your favorite apps from the iPhone Home screen.

**Bonus Tip: Using an older version of iOS that doesn't provide for app deletion restriction? If you're jailbroken check out No Uninstall in Cydia, which removes the ability to delete apps from the iPhone Home screen.

Daily Tips range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you’d like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to dailytips@tipb.com.

9to5 Mac has word that Facebook for iPad will be getting the new Timeline feature in late January.

Timeline was supposed to come to the iPad in December, but the release has been pushed back due to last minute bugs found during advanced testing. Facebook is now planning to launch the update between mid-January and late January.

Facebook recently updated their iPhone app to include the new Timeline profile layout, but the iPad app was noticeably lacking in that respect.

The Timeline feature is said to work very well on the iPad's larger, multi-touch screen, and will be a "fusion of the web and iPhone/iPod touch version". I'm personally looking forward to this, and it couldn't come any quicker.

Source: 9to5Mac

Capcom has released what I consider one of the best action games of all time, Mega Man X, in the App Store for iPhone and iPad.

• Beautiful Game Graphics Supporting Retina Display -- The nostalgic graphics of “MEGA MAN X” are optimized for the iPhone’s Retina Display.

• Two Different Display Modes - In addition to a “Regular Mode,” a “Full Mode” is available to display the game in full screen.

• Multiple Difficulty Levels

• Ranking Mode with Game Center Support

• 80 Challenges with Game Center Support (The first 20 challenges are not supported by Game Center)

• Support Items Provide Advantages for Game play

One important thing to note is device compatibility. Mega Man X supports the following devices:

• iPhone 3G, 4 and 4S with iOS 4.3 and up
• 3rd and 4th generation iPod touch models, except for 8GB iPod touch units with Model No. A1288 (your iPod touch model number is located on the back of the device)

Mega Man X is available for $4.99

• App Store Link

Source: Capcom

A new Kickstarter project from FMC Smart aims to make sure your iPhone never lets you forget where you've parked again!

After a long day at work or hanging out with my friends or even after going to the shopping mall, there's always a time where I completely forget where I parked my car. Right now, there are apps on the iPhone that will save the location of my car, but I have to manually launch the app to drop a pin each and every time I have parked my car. Stopping to launch an app when I'm running into work or trying to catch a plane is a complete waste of time and totally annoying. So I developed an app that allows the iPhone 4S to remember the last place I parked and the only time I have to launch the app is after I've lost my car, not before.

The way it works is simple an straightforward, using the new Bluetooth Smart technology nestled inside the iPhone 4S it helps find where you've parked your car without having to first tell the app that you've parked in that location.

The receiver sits in your vehicle. All you have to do is launch the Find My Car Smart app and it will automagically locate your car by communicating with the receiver using the BT Smart technology. Unfortunately this only works with the iPhone 4S due to the Bluetooth Smart requirement, but it can be a total lifesaver in those panic moments where you've completely spaced out where you were parked.

The Kickstarter project has a goal of $10,000 in order to being mass production, but they're already up to around $2,500 in funding with 28 days remaining. You can donate just $25 to receive the receiver and a free copy of the app from the App Store, and for an additional $30 you'll get a car charger to ensure the Bluetooth Smart receiver never dies on you. The receiver should begin shipping at the end of January.

Source: Kickstarter

• App Store Link

The official Gmail blog just posted a pretty lengthy entry explaining the changes to their newly updated Gmail app for iOS. While the update doesn't seem to be a huge one, it does bring some much wanted additions -

• Nested Label Improvements
• (iOS 5 only) A new custom sound for sound notifications
• Mobile Signature and Vacation Responder, accessible via the gear settings icon at the top of the menu view
• Numerous bug fixes and UI improvements

I personally have my Gmail account set up via the native mail app and that works fine for me. If you're a hardcore Gmail user that lives by labels and the "Gmail way" of handling mail, this is an update you'll most likely want to check out. The Gmail app for iOS is available for free in the App Store and the update is available now.

• App Store Link

Apple has released their 12 Days of Christmas app a little early this year. The promotion will run between December 26 and January 6 but Apple hasn't put any content in there just yet.

You and your friends can download a fantastic selection of songs, music videos, apps and books for free. Each download will only be available for 24 hours. Get our special 12 Days of Christmas app to make it even easier to access your gifts while you’re on the go.

Don’t have an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch? Don’t worry. Come back 26 December to download gifts from your computer.

Falling in line with their 12 Days of Christmas promotion last year, Apple will promote special daily deals on music, apps, books and more for the holidays. You can download the app now from the Portugal and UK App Store, but content won't start showing up until the promotion begins. If you're outside of Portugal or the UK and see the app available in the App Store, let us know in the comments!

• Free - App Store Link

Oink, a new app from Kevin Rose's app development lab Milk, is now available for download in the App Store. Oink is a social recommendation and ranking app that takes a Foursquare-like check-in approach, letting users rate and rank the different items -- instead of places -- that they like.

The main idea is for users to recommend and rate products from different businesses so they can share with friends and spread the word about the things they enjoy. It seems like a really great idea, as long as enough of your friends are using the service, and gives a fresh approach to finding and enjoying items with like-minded people.

Oink is an easy way to rate and rank the things around you. Instead of just rating places, you rate the items inside. You could easily find the most popular items on a menu and see if a friend has tried anything there. Then if there's something you like, it’s just a single press to rate it and share it with friends.

What you can do with Oink:

• Rate items around you and share with your followers
• See all the cool stuff your friends and other users are Oinking
• Find the best things in town (e.g. Best "Pizza" in Denver)
• Find the items at a place (e.g., Best roller coasters at Six Flags)
• Build "cred" in your areas of interest
• Share your Oink activity on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare

Oink is available on the iPhone and iPod touch for free.

App Store Link

Disney Mobile has come up with a clever new way for kids to play with the iPad -- as an interactive play mat. Dubbed AppMATes, players will be able to interact with a new iPad game based on Pixar's Cars 2 (more games to come) using real-world toy cars on the iPad display.

In an industry first, Disney introduced today Disney AppMATesTM Mobile Application Toys, a new toy line that comes to life digitally when used with an Apple iPad by allowing kids to use the tablet’s screen as a virtual play mat.

The way it works is simple: each toy car has a capacitive sensor on the bottom, and once placed on the iPad these sensors start sending information to the game related to position, movement and character the player is using. The toy car interfaces with the iPad touchscreen seamlessly without the need for bluetooth or any wires and lets the player move the car across the screen while the app reacts to the toys movement in real-time.

Kids will be able to roam around Radiator Springs and Route 66 during gameplay and there's also a free-play mode where kids can complete mission and compete in head-to-head races.

The only concern I have with this is breaking the iPad screen if too much pressure is applied. This could be scary for some parents out there, so a good iPad case would go a long way (we recommend the OtterBox Defender Series).

Either way, this approach breathes new life into play mats by pushing it into the digital age with the iPad. Check out the video below to get a good idea of how awesome this is going to be for kids!

Source: Disney

Facebook has yet again changed the way the news feed functions and manages content. Love it or hate it, these changes are also starting to appear in the Facebook for iPhone app as well. While there is no update from the App Store, it appears a lot of the changes were made from the back end. Your news feed will now filter most recent news at the top followed by older stories.

I've also noticed that the blue corners in the top left of each post appear in the iPhone app but it seems you aren't able to interact with them (yet anyways). These tags allow you to mark things that you like by toggling them. I'm assuming the theory behind this is that Facebook will start showing you more and more things it "thinks" you are interested in and not show as much of the rest. Nice idea but how well it'll actually work is yet to be seen.

How many of you are seeing the new changes in your news feed within Facebook for iPhone?

Football season is upon us again and with it comes the need for score updates, player stats, rosters, and other information hardcore fans want in the palm of their hands. For iPhone users, you've got tons of options when it comes to apps. Whether you just want to check score updates or check on your favorite fantasy football league. Follow along for our top picks.

ESPN ScoreCenter

ScoreCenter is by far one of the most popular sports apps in the App Store. Not only does it contain support for NFL but other sports as well. You can follow your favorite teams and choose to receive push notifications for a variety of different things. You can set alerts for individual games or for a whole season which is nice for people who may not want updates for games they're able to watch. They can just set them for games they know they're going to miss.

I like the fact that ScoreCenter allows you to follow all your teams and see a brief summary in one place. If you just want to check scores and stats quickly you won't have to dig around. But you have the option to see more detailed information if you want to.

ScoreCenter is a free download in the App Store.

[Free - App Store Link]

ESPN Fantasy Football 2011

For those of you that take part in fantasy football leagues, ESPN also offers an app for fantasy leagues as well. You'll need to already have a fantasy league to use this app but once you have one, you can use the app to manage the following aspects of your fantasy league -

• Start, bench, add, or drop players
• Accept or reject trades
• Receive push notifications for scores, substitutions, and trades

The app also allows you to view fantasy league news as well. It's also a free download in the App Store.

[Free - App Store Link]

Pro Football Insider

If you want to view more than just stats, scores, rosters, and rankings - you may prefer Pro Football Insider. It contains not only the information you'd expect but thousands of video clips, updated news and rumors, and even more.

One thing I really found interesting about this app over the others was the integrated Twitter feed which aggregates Twitter postings from not only industry experts but players themselves.

If you're a Pro Football Insider subscriber you'll also have access to even more premium content that the free app doesn't provide. This is an app any hardcore football fan will want to pick up.

[Free - App Store Link]

NFL '11

While I didn't find NFL '11 to be as in depth as some of the other picks, the ease of use and simple to navigate interface somewhat makes up for that. If you need an app that will give you up to date game information along with player stats, rosters, and statistics - NFL '11 should suit you well.

You can customize alerts for teams and games just as you can in some of the other popular apps such as ESPN ScoreCenter. NFL '11 also offers integration with their NFL.com Fantasy Football 2011 service and app. Most fantasy football fans I talked to seemed to prefer the ESPN fantasy app better but if you prefer the NFL fantasy app, this pairing may be a better option for you.

[Free - App Store Link]

NFL Fantasy Cheat Sheet 2011

Here's another app fantasy football leaguers will definitely want to check out. Not only does it aggregate up to date NFL news, standings, and charts - it's one of the better apps out there for managing your fantasy leagues.

Out of the apps I checked out for fantasy football fans, this app seemed to have the best user interface by far. You can quickly view profiles and stats by simply swiping left and right. Other apps sometimes left stats buried and harder to get to. This app is put together exceptionally well and will make managing your content easier than ever.

Some of the main features of the app include the following and much, much more -

• Custom rankings based on your league scoring system
• 2011 projections and stats based on data from 2007 - 2010
• Team depth charts
• Rank players manually
• Draft player tracking

[$2.99 - App Store Link]

While these may be some of our favorite apps to load up on our iOS devices during football season, it doesn't mean there aren't other great ones out there. If you use something different let us know what your picks are as well. Special thanks to ‎@jlew0451, @EckStrm, @Wrnglr, and everyone else who helped out by telling us their favorite football apps!

And if you want even more suggestions on football or NFL apps, check out our TiPb apps & games forum for more opinions from forum members. You can also give us your opinions on your favorite sports apps in our TiPb apps & games review forum. We'd love to hear from you!

Users of the well known Mac virtual machine software Parallels can now purchase an updated Parallels Mobile from the App Store for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. It will allow you to not only access any of your Parallels virtual machines -- for example, that Windows 7 you're running on your MacBook -- from your device, but also control your Mac as well. Simply log in to your Parallels account and you'll have instant access.

Parallels Mobile offers the following features:

• Use any of your Windows applications, from Internet Explorer to Outlook
• Remotely start, stop any of your applications.
• Stay connected via WiFi or 3G networks
• Control your Mac just like you control Windows (Parallels Desktop 7 only)
• Play back music and audio files remotely - see and hear Flash video on your iPad or iPhone (Parallels Desktop 7 only)
• Copy and paste text between your mobile device and Windows programs (Parallels Desktop 7 only)

There isn't support for Windows Aero and some features depend upon the version of Parallels Desktop you have installed. It's available in the App Store for an introductory price of $4.99. Standard pricing will be $19.99.

[$4.99 - App Store Link]]

Today at Comic-Con, ZeptoLab has announced a partnership with Ape Entertainment to develop a digital comic series featuring Om Nom. If you're a fan of the popular game Cut the Rope, you'll be familiar with, Om Nom. He's the one everyone fell in love with when Cut the Rope was originally released.

"It’s an amazing opportunity to work with ZeptoLab on one of the app world’s most addictive and successful games,” said David Hedgecock, CEO of Ape Entertainment. “The comic book series is shaping up beautifully and we are making something that we know fans of Cut The Rope and fans of good entertainment everywhere are going to absolutely love!"

Angry Birds has spawned a brand beyond the original video game. Looks like Cut the Rope just might as well. What's next, a toy line? 3D movie?

Trying to figure out how to shorten URLs quickly and easily? Droplr is one of my favorite ways. Not only do they have an iOS version, they have a Mac version as well. It's one of my favorite task management apps since it helps me share and organize files.

I find it incredibly useful for uploading images, long URLS, and videos. It also allows you to create shortened links quickly and easily. Long links are annoying and look bad in statuses and posts. If you find yourself needing shortened links quite often, Droplr will help you do just that.

1. First you'll need to purchase Droplr from the App Store. It's currently available for $3.99. - iTunes Link
2. Navigate to the web page that you'd like to shorten the link to.

3. Select all the text and copy it to your clipboard.
4. Launch Droplr and click the plus sign in the upper right hand corner.

5. Next select Shorten Link.

6. Droplr should automatically have the text you previously copied on the clipboard. Click the check mark in the upper right hand corner to confirm that's the correct URL. If it isn't, simply edit it.

7. Droplr will now show the link as created. Simply tap it and it will bring down a menu. The second icon from the left is copy. Tap that and it will copy the shorten link to your clipboard.
8. That's it, you can share the shortened version of the link wherever you want or go back into the Droplr app and copy again when needed.

There are several link shortening services available. I just think Droplr has a nice feature set and a great Mac app as well. If you guys use something different, tell us what!

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you'd like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to news@tipb.com. (If it's especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we'll even give ya a reward...)

Space shuttle Atlantis was launched from Kennedy Space Center this morning at 11:29am. STS-135 is the last mission of over 30 years of space exploration. The two iPhone 4s taken into space are pre-loaded with the app SpaceLab for iOS, which will allow scientists to conduct several experiments, including the following -

Limb Tracker - This navigation experiment will involve taking photographs of the Earth and matching an arc to the horizon through manipulation of an overlay. This performs the function roughly equivalent to a “manual” horizon sensor. It will yield an estimate of altitude (height above the surface) and “off axis” angle, a measurement of the angle of the image with respect to the Earth's center.

Sensor Cal - This sensor calibration experiment uses a series of photos of a reference image, combined with propagated information using three-axis gyro and accelerometer measurements to calibrate the gyros and the accelerometers (i.e. bias and scale coefficients). This will improve the knowledge and accuracy of subsequent measurements.

State Acq State Acquisition - This navigation experiment uses a series of photos of a reference image and of the Earth, combined with information from the three-axis gyro and accelerometer, to estimate the position of the spacecraft (latitude and longitude). The position estimation is generated by manipulating and matching a wireframe overlay of the Earth's coastlines to the acquired Earth image(s). Performing multiple sequences, separated by a known amount of time, can permit estimation of the spacecraft's orbit parameters.

LFI Lifecycle Flight Instrumentation - This experiment will characterize the effects of radiation on the device by monitoring certain areas of memory for Single Bit Upsets - an unintended change in value of a memory location caused by exposure to radiation.

The iPhone's three-axis gyroscopes and accelerometer should perform well in zero gravity and let scientists conduct experiments in a more cost efficient way. The mission will last 12 days but the iPhones will remain in space. The Russian Soyuz vehicle will return the iPhone 4's to Earth possibly as soon as this Fall. Flight data will be collected and analyzed once they return to Earth.

You can check out SpaceLab for iOS in the App Store now (iTunes Link). Not all experiments will work without a zero gravity environment but it's still an extremely interesting app to check out.

[ SpaceLab for iOS, MacRumors]

Michal Bencur, has released his computer programming iPad app, Coders. If you've ever wondered what all that code does in the background of all your gadgets, you may want to check it out. It's an extremely simple coding app with an easy to understand interface. There are a few sample programs built in for you to poke around and you can also create your own. Coders is based on the Lua programming language, which is a pretty easy language to learn.

• Tutorial on how to get started
• Lua programming language
• You can write code that draws on screen: points, lines, change colors...
• work with text, take input from user, write things out

This app isn't meant for hardcore developers, nor should you expect to learn how to code iPhone and iPad apps. This app is mainly geared towards beginners that want to learn to understand the very basics of programming. Developers still may enjoy it even if it's just to jot down quick notes while they're on the go. And if all else fails, I had a lot of fun just creating little programs purely for entertainment.

Coders is currently priced at $4.99 in the App Store. Screenshots after the break.

[iTunes Link]

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

School's out and it's time for a break from work. Curious which are the absolute best apps and games to take with you on your much deserved summer vacation? Odds are you'll want to share your adventures, brush up on local attractions, and stay connected while you're having fun. Luckily there are tons of apps available in the App Store that makes organizing and sharing your vacation from your iPhone super simple.

Whether you want informational apps for your own use or social apps to share, we've got you covered. Read on for TiPb’s top 10 most recommended, most must-have summer vacation apps to get your started.

• Top 10 apps for new iPhone owners
• More top apps

Gowalla

For regular everyday check-ins, I typically use Foursquare. But for trips, Gowalla wins hands down. It acts as somewhat of a "digital passport". They offer stamps and pins for completing trips and checking in at certain places (similar to Foursquare badges).

You can also upload pictures and comments on places that you've traveled to. Sometimes you'll pick up items when you check into places. You can either drop them elsewhere for someone else to find (and to become a founder of a place), or you can choose to add them to your pack where they'll permanently stay. I'll typically drop items I've picked up more than one of and save more rare and unique items in my pack.

Gowalla also allows you to share check-ins and pictures to Twitter and Facebook as well which makes it even easier to let your friends and family follow along with your adventures.

Free - iTunes Link

Instagram

I use Instagram on almost a daily basis but it's especially cool for sharing pictures on vacation. Not only does it upload your images to a plethora of services (Twitter, Facebook, etc) - you can also add all kinds of cool filter effects to your photos before uploading them.

I've always found uploading photos directly to Facebook to be hit or miss. I always use Instagram now. It's fast and connects to all the services I want to share to. The user interface is simple and uploading a photo only takes seconds, which is great when you're constantly on the go and just want to share a quick snapshot.

Free - iTunes Link

TripAdvisor

While you may have already loaded some GPS and navigation apps, you'll also want to make sure you have additional information about certain places. TripAdvisor is a great app to find out about hotels and attractions. You can read and write reviews straight from the app. I know we've saved ourselves some heartache by checking user reviews for certain hotels and restaurants before making our decision.

It'll work regardless where you're at so this is a great one to have on board for virtually any type of trip. And don't forget to write reviews for future travelers as well!

Free - iTunes Link

Beautiful Planet HD

No matter where you're traveling, Beautiful Planet has tons of pictures, facts, and descriptions of the most amazing travel destinations on Earth. I've found a lot of really cool destinations just by browsing through the app in my spare time. While on vacation, you can not only learn about the places you're visiting, but find other really cool areas to check out.

This app is perfect for vacationers that want to spend a lot more time outdoors than they do indoors. I also recommend this to travelers who don't necessarily have a strict itinerary and really want to spend more time exploring than anything else.

$1.99 - iTunes Link

Navigation and/or information apps

No matter where you're going, some type of GPS app should be on the top of your list. I personally prefer Garmin StreetPilot when I travel but you'll want to pick the GPS app that covers the areas your traveling to. That's why I'm not picking a technical "favorite" for this category. What you will want to use will differ based on where you're going. Just pick one that covers the area you're traveling to the best.

You can also look at specified navigation apps as well. I live on a lake and love the water, so I picked up an app called Marine&Lakes. These types of navigation apps are great for specified areas and a lot of times contain attractions or areas that you'd never otherwise discover.

Prices will vary depending what apps you choose to use.

Your top summer vacation apps?

So there you have them, our top 10 best iPhone 4 apps to get you started. Be sure to check out our Picks of the Week and iPhone App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites leave them in the comments below!

Passwords are an important part of having an online presence. I always tell friends and family that you should never ever have the same password for all of your accounts. (Do they listen? Probably not.) Either way, having the same password means if someone gets hold of one of your accounts, they could potentially have access to all of them. Having separate passwords is the best idea but then comes keeping track of all of them. Apps like 1Password and DataVault set out to solve that problem.

I took a look at both of these popular password management apps and pitted them against each other. Follow along to see which one came out on top!

Management & Syncing

When it comes to password management, I want to have easy access to my passwords regardless where I'm at. Both of these apps seem to provide that. Both 1Password and DataVault have iOS apps, desktop apps, and syncing services. So if you need to reinstall your desktop client or iOS client, you won't have to re-enter all your passwords.

I'll have to give the edge to DataVault on this one simply for the fact that they offer many more ways to sync your data than 1Password does. 1Password currently offers wifi syncing and syncing with Dropbox. DataVault offers the same but also offers syncing with MobileMe, iTunes file sharing, ad-hoc, and sync servers such as Box.net. So if you don't feel comfortable syncing with Dropbox or over wifi, DataVault may be a good option.

Features and control

Both apps have tons of features. You can create any kind of entry imaginable from logins, credit card accounts, bank accounts, and more. The desktop clients also offer a ton of profile options to auto-fill forms. Even though we are talking about the iOS version of these apps, I think it's still important to talk about their desktop counterparts since they do work together for one single solution.

In my testing, both seemed efficient and did their job well. Feature-wise they're about even.

Interface and ease of use

I'm the type of person that doesn't want to spend an hour learning to use an app before actually being able to utilize it. (I'm a Mac user for a reason!) I somewhat felt this way while using DataVault. The interface felt uncoordinated and clunky. I had to figure out what exactly I was supposed to put in each field and a lot of times, I was entering things in the wrong fields. DataVault is definitely a powerful application but I just felt as though entering information was a task in itself.

1Password seems a lot simpler. Entering a login or password is easy and doesn't require much work. I also like that I can set two passwords. One being a 4 digit number and the other being a master. I can easily require a master on sensitive passwords and only a 4 digit code for passwords that aren't so sensitive. I use the 4 digit code option on things like forum passwords or membership passwords that don't have any financial data attached. It allows me to access those passwords much quicker.

From a user experience standpoint, I much prefer using 1Password.

Pricing

DataVault and 1Password for the iPhone are both $9.99 at regular price. The desktop clients will vary. As of now, DataVault for Mac and Windows is on sale for $9.95 (regular price is $19.95). 1Password for Mac and Windows is a bit steeper as it starts at $39.99 and goes up from there if you'd like to purchase bulk or family licenses. The setup was a bit easier on the desktop version of 1Password opposed to DataVault.

Conclusion

When it comes down to it, DataVault may be a cheaper all-in-one solution if you want a complete password management solution but 1Password is definitely just as appealing. For me, I prefer the ease of use of 1Password over DataVault. Some users may want to save the $20 difference on the desktop client and spring for DataVault. The features and syncing capabilities are present in both apps. I do wish 1Password would add MobileMe syncing but for now, Dropbox syncing has always worked just fine. Since Dropbox is free, I somewhat consider it a non-issue for most.

If you decide to try one of these apps out (or already use one or the other), let us know which you prefer. If you prefer a different password management app, let us know why in the comments! Also check out the gallery below for more screenshots of both applications!

DataVault for iPhone - iTunes Link

1Password for iPhone - iTunes Link

Square, the mobile payment system that was started by one of the co-founders of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, just received a rather significant update that allows business owners to showcase their products through a feature called "virtual shelves". While the update makes its way to both iPhone and iPad, you'll notice more differences in the iPad version. The iPhone version has a re-designed UI but virtual shelves is currently only available to iPad Square users. You can now add product variations and sort items into shelves. Hit the jump for a complete list of changes and more screens!

• iPad: Arrange your items into shelves, for easier browsing and faster checkout.
• iPad: Small, medium, large; chocolate, vanilla, strawberry - create variations of your items
• iPhone: Refined look and feel.
• Minor bug fixes.

Square has built a lot of momentum recently and a ton of small businesses have adopted it because of its flexibility, ease of use, and straight forward fee policy. I use it for my own business and actually just chose it as my pick of the week. Screenshots after the break. Do you use it? What do you think of the update?

[Free - iTunes Link]

Restoring your iPhone and re-jailbreaking, and wondering how to save your App Store app data? We recently checked out how to use appbackup to save App store app data but now there's a new app on the block called DataDeposit. What's unique about DataDeposit is that you won't need to save any files via SSH or iPhone Explorer. It simply backs up your app data to your Dropbox account. Awesome, right? Hit the jump for a quick walkthrough!

Backing up your app data

1. Download DataDeposit from Cydia
2. Make sure any apps that you want to back up are not running in the multitasking tray. If they are, simply close them out. (I completely emptied out my multitasking tray before backing up data.)
3. From the main screen, select Backup my save data. You'll be prompted to sign into your Dropbox account if you haven't already done so.

4. DataDeposit will populate a list of apps you have installed. Tap the app you would like to create a backup for and select Backup.

5. Once you're done backing up all the apps you'd like to be able to restore, go ahead and restore your device and re-jailbreak.

Restoring your app data

1. Once you have re-jailbroken your device, re-download DataDeposit from Cydia.
2. Launch DataDeposit and this time you'll select Restore from Dropbox.

3. DataDeposit will automagically populate all the apps you have restore points for in Dropbox. Simply go through the list and restore any backups you'd like. Again, make sure they aren't running in the multitasking tray.

4. You're done!

I didn't have too many issues with DataDeposit but there were a few instances where a backup didn't sync up to Dropbox for some reason. So before restoring, I'd make sure your backups really are in Dropbox. I have Dropbox installed on my iMac so I made sure my Mac gave me a notification that it received the backup file for an app before I proceeded onto the next one. If you have issues uploading to Dropbox, there is a setting under change options that allows you to turn off HTTPS uploading to Dropbox. Try that if uploads or downloads fail.

I would really like to see a backup and restore all option added at some point too. Either way, DataDeposit definitely made it a bit less painless to restore a jailbroken iPhone. If you guys try it out, let us know what you think!

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you'd like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to news@tipb.com. (If it's especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we'll even give ya a reward...)

During yesterday's Senate subcommittee hearing on location tracking, Apple was asked why they haven't pulled a number of DUI checkpoint apps like Fuzz Alert which notify users of nearby law-enforcement checkpoints.

Four U.S. Senators, including Sen. Charles Schumer, sent letters to Apple, Google and Research in Motion in March requesting that the companies remove apps notifying users of police sobriety checkpoints their respective application stores. Schumer raised the issue again at Tuesday's Senate subcommittee hearing on privacy.

VP of Software Technology Guy Tribble told senators that Apple is currently looking into the legality of these apps and would remove them from the App Store if they were deemed illegal. He also commented that these apps are only “publishing data that’s actually first published by the police department", to which Senator Charles Schumer responded claiming he was unaware of any police departments who published this information in realtime.

Apparently these DUI checkpoint apps have continued to anger senators after watching RIM pull similar apps from their App World while Apple and Google make sure it's actually warranted before pulling the trigger.

What's your take? Do you think DUI checkpoint apps should be allowed to remain in the App Store or should Apple get rid of them? Sound off in the comments below!

[AppleInsider]

There are a ton of great budget tracking apps in the App Store, but which ones are the financial best of the best? Which iPhone app should you be using to ensure you'll always be within your monthly spending limit, always have that vacation fund ready and waiting, and always be on top of your overall finances?

Although the options are aplenty, we've narrowed the list down to the top 5 apps to help keep you focused on your spending and income levels without giving yourself too much of a headache. Read on after the break!

iReconcile

iReconcile is one of my favorite apps for staying on top of all my personal finances. It comes packed with a ton of great features including a built-in check register, extensive reporting and an online backup and sync service ($1.99/mo or $19.99/yr). Best of all, the app comes with a budget tracker tool that's second to none, allowing you to drill down to yearly, monthly, weekly or even a daily budgeting.

Setting up a budget with iReconcile is quick and easy, with options to choose which categories and sub-categories should be included or excluded from your setup. Another useful feature for me is the rollover option, which lets your remaining funds for the month's budget rollover into the next month's budget without any user input whatsoever. Budgeting with your check register has never been easier, and with the amount of additional features iReconcile offers, I'd highly recommend giving it a try!

[$2.99 -- iTunes link]

Expenditure

Expenditure is a gem of a budget & finance tracking app. It features effortless methods for adding new transactions and going over your allotted chunk of spending money, and comes with awesome features that were missing from some of the other apps I chose for this post. A good example is when adding a new transaction you'll be presented with options for including a photo or a quick note, which effectively pushes the customizability and flexibility of your transactions beyond most basic budgeting apps.

The attention to detail in this app shouldn't be overlooked -- another great example is the built-in currency converter with a rather extensive list of supported currencies, making it easy to keep yourself on a budget when vacationing or out of the county.

[$1.99 -- iTunes link]

MoneyBook

If you've been on the hunt for a more feature-packed budgeting app then look no further than MoneyBook. It's simple in nature, but looking a little deeper you'll find a number of unexpected surprises. Entering a new transaction is a breeze, with flexible options for adding notes or affixing a specific category to individual transactions. In addition, MoneyBook has options to export your finances and also lets you password protect sensitive items you don't want others to see. I didn't see any graph or chart options, so you may want to keep that in mind when choosing which app is for you.

MoneyBook also comes with a free cloud backup service in case you lose your iPhone or just want to make sure your important transactions are stored somewhere other than on the device itself.

[$2.99 -- iTunes link]

Toshl

Speaking of the cloud... Need a secure, simple and intuitive way of keeping your finances in order while simultaneously taking advantage of that newfangled cloud technology everyone keeps talking about? Toshl delivers with a clean iPhone expense tracking app featuring a built-in (and free!) easy to use online syncing service. The app takes away the worry of losing your spending history by syncing everything -- literally everything -- to the cloud automatically after adding or updating a transaction, with manual sync options for those looking for a little more control.

In addition to a well thought out design, the developers offer great upgrade incentives such as multiple user support for family budgeting, added export options for Excel, PDF and Google Docs along with karma points for supporting the developers. You can either use the free service or upgrade to the Pro option for just $19.95/year.

[Free -- iTunes link]

Mint

To describe Mint as a well-rounded and feature-rich finance service would be an understatement. In terms of budget tracking, it beats most apps out of the water with ease. Mint automatically updates your spending and transactions without any user input required. It does so by connecting directly to your bank account through Mint's secure and award-winning online service. It keeps an eye on all of your spending and automatically categorizes your transactions in the background so you don't have to constantly update your spending profile in order for the service to work for you.

You can add checking, savings or even your retirement account information for an in-depth overview of your spending and saving habits, and comes with added notification features so you never miss a bill or come too close to your spending limit. They'll even notify you of any suspicious transactions they see!

Although Mint isn't just for budget tracking, it does a superb job at it. Along with its many features, I see Mint as one of the best options out there for categorizing and tracking your spending while on the go. The service is free, so what are you waiting for?

[Free -- iTunes link]

Your top budget and finance apps?

There's a lot of other great apps out their for tracking and keeping tabs on your finances -- each offering unique features other apps might have missed -- so take a look in the App Store to see what fits your needs. Also, be sure to check out our Picks of the Week and the TiPb iPhone App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites, leave them in the comments below!

Task management apps for iPhone are released into the App Store on almost a daily basis. My iPhone is not only a device I enjoy using in my personal time, it's instrumental in the way I conduct business and keep myself organized.

Between running my own business, contracting for a few companies, and writing for TiPb, it sometimes becomes a task to remember where I need to be or what I need to be doing. I have yet to find an app that combines all the tools I need but the mix of apps I use do a pretty good job of keeping me sane. Follow along for my top picks and to let us know what yours are as well!

Wunderlist

There are several list and task apps on the App Store and I've been through several of them. I recently found Wunderlist and fell in love. Not only is it dead simple and have a beautiful interface, it also allows you to share your lists with others who use the service. Myself and my partners have a shared task list for our business. If I add an event or a meeting, it automatically syncs to their iPhones and iPads as well. Wunderlist also supports push notifications. And the best part? It's free!

[Free - iTunes Link]

Evernote

I've also tried several note taking apps but Evernote still remains my favorite. It's dead simple to use and has a gorgeous interface. I use it frequently while in meetings or for jotting down notes when I'm consulting with a client. I can e-mail my notes to the people that need them before I even step foot out of the meeting.

Evernote also allows you to add tags and different notebooks. I have tags for home, my business, travel, and everything in between. I don't have to weed through dates and all my notes if I don't want to. I can filter all my notes by only the tags I want to see at that exact moment. Evernote is also free but does have a paid subscription if you'd like more monthly storage space. I use Evernote quite frequently and have never ran over my free monthly allotment.

[Free - iTunes Link]

Also check out:

• Top 5 notes apps for iPhone

Due

Due is rather new to the App Store and has quickly earned a spot on the first page of my home screen. I have a bad habit of dismissing reminders and then forgetting that they went off. Due solves this problem for me. I can set repeat reminders and even if I dismiss the push notification, the app will continuously bug me at the intervals I defined until I open the app and actually mark the entry as done.

The overall interface is extremely slick and setting notifications couldn't be easier. Some task management apps are a pain when entering tasks, but not Due. Heck, you don't even have to set a reminder title if you don't want to. You can also tweaks the settings to what you use most commonly. I typically set reminders for about 2 hours later so I have that as my default time. If I need to, I can change that. You can also set repeats and push the reminders back by minutes, hours, or even days in one quick tap.

[$4.99 - iTunes Link]

Droplr

There are many times that I want to share an image or a file with multiple people. This is where droplr has really come in handy. I can upload an image via the app and then e-mail the shortened link to as many people as I'd like. I can also tweet it or copy the link within the app as well. I especially love that they have a free Mac client as well. The iPhone and Mac version will also sync back and forth with each other. This is very convenient for when I'm taking pictures or screenshots on my iPhone that I need on my Mac. I don't have to e-mail them to myself any longer. I can simply upload them via droplr and pick them up in droplr on my Mac.

[$3.99 - iTunes Link]

ToDo by Appigo

Although Wunderlist is now my daily task management app, ToDo by Appigo will never lose its spot on my iPhone. While it may not be as easy to use, it's an extremely powerful task management app. I use it now for detailed projects that have separate deadlines and that have to be done in parts. If we are working on a web design project, I may want to set different completion dates on a project timeline. This is where ToDo really shines. I can organize a project in any way I like. I can mark individual parts of a project done and set reminders on the other parts.

ToDo is worth every penny if you need a very detail oriented task app. They've also just announced a Mac version with sync as well. So if that's what you've been looking for, look no further.

[$4.99 - iTunes Link]

Your top task apps?

Although, there are the top five task management apps that fit my lifestyle, it doesn't mean that there aren't other great ones floating around out there. Be sure to check out our Picks of the Week and iPhone App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites, leave them in the comments below!

How to back up application data is a question I get asked almost on a daily basis. This question seems to get asked even more frequently every time a new jailbreak is released. I never recommend restoring from a jailbroken backup, ever. It can bring all kinds of problems with it and cause crashes and freezes. I always recommend a new restore.

But what about all your game save data and other app data? If you don't restore from a backup, it's gone right? Not exactly. There's tons of reasons why you may need to completely restore your device. Whatever the reason is, appbackup is a huge aid that helps bring your application data with you.

Hit the jump for a walkthrough!

Cydia plays host to a wonderful little app called appbackup. It's free and will back up and save application data for any App Store apps you choose. As a side note, it will not save jailbroken data. There is another app lurking in the Cydia store that will aid you in doing that called aptbackup. We will look at that in a future tutorial.

What you'll need

• A currently jailbroken iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch
• appbackup
• iPhone explorer or an SSH client of your choice on your Mac or PC. I recommend iPhone Explorer as it is dead simple to use and it's free.

Backing up App Store applications

1. Download appback for free via Cydia.

2. Launch appbackup. You'll be presented with a huge list of all App Store applications currently installed on your device.

3. You have two options, you can save all application data or just choose certain application data to backup. I typically save only game data and data from apps that tend to be a pain when wiped clean. To save all, tap "All" in the bottom left hand corner. To selectively create backups, tap the name of the app you'd like to back up and click back up. Do this with all the apps you'd like to save your data from.

4. You'll see the app save your data before displaying that it was successful. It's also worth noting you won't see a restore option until you have a backup saved for a specific application.

Obtaining your backups and transferring them to your Mac or PC

1. Plug your device into your Mac or PC after you've created backups for all the apps you care to save.

2. This is where you'll need to open either iPhone Explorer or SSH into your device. If you're not sure how to SSH, check out the guide referenced above. I still recommend iPhone Explorer, which is what I'm using in all screenshots.
3. appbackup saves your backups in a specific file path. That path is as follows: /var/mobile/Library/Preferences/AppBackup

4. You will need to navigate to the above file path. After you've found the folder, you'll need to make a copy of that folder on your Mac or PC. I typically keep them in a folder on my desktop called App Backups. However you choose to do it is fine as long as you save them in a location you'll remember. After you've found the folder, all you need to do in order to copy it to your computer is drag it to whatever save location you choose.

5. You now have your backups saved in a secure location. Go ahead and restore your device as new and rejailbreak.

Restoring your application data to your device

1. After restoring your device and rejailbreaking, go back into Cydia and re-install appbackup.

2. Plug your device back into your computer and navigate back to /var/mobile/Library/Preferences/AppBackup

3. This time you will want to replace the AppBackup folder with the one you saved earlier. If iPhone Explorer or your SSH client prompts you, choose to overwrite or replace the file. Just make sure you are copying it in the correct directory.

4. Now launch appbackup on your device. In the bottom left hand corner, tap "All" and choose "Restore". It will restore all your application save data from your backup.
5. You're done! You can now enjoy playing Angry Birds and all your other games exactly where you left off!

If you guys try this, let us know how it works for you! If you run into issues, make sure to check out our TiPb Jailbreak Forums for answers to many common questions.

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you'd like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to news@tipb.com. (If it's especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we'll even give ya a reward...)

Exodus International recently launched an app that has the general public and LGBT community in an uproar. The app basically contains a lot of the same information Exodus International has on their website. They focus on individuals who want help dealing with unwanted same-sex attraction. I know many churches and organizations that like to have apps so their members can have easy access to their content.

Most of our readers around TiPb are aware that I am openly gay. While the LGBT community continues to urge people to sign a petition for this app to be removed from the App Store, I personally don't think Apple should be forced to remove this app. That may surprise a lot of people, considering my sexual orientation. To me, Exodus International is simply providing information on their organization. How is this different from a church having a general app in the App Store? Atheists aren't forced to download it. If Apple made us have this app on our phones stock, that would be a completely different story. The App Store approval process should not be made political or ethical.

I respect other people's life choices and religious views, all I ask if they do the same in return. Removing this app would basically say that we do not live in a society where everyone can have a voice. There may be some controversy over some of Exodus' practices but that really is no concern of Apple's. Jeff Buchanan, Exodus International's Senior Director of Church Equipping & Student Ministries had this to say to the Christian Post in an official statement,

"We want to ask that there would be fair and equal representation of religious belief on this platform as is already existing. We would like the spirit of diversity and tolerance that is so valued within the LGBT community."

I personally agree with his statement. After looking over the app, I see no reason why Apple should be forced to pull it. It does not slander or condone negative treatment of gays. It simply provides their information and content for anyone that wants it. What do you guys think? Should Apple be forced to remove it?

UPDATE: Apple has pulled the app from the App Store.

"We removed the Exodus International app from the Apple Store because it violates our developer guidelines by being offensive to large groups of people" [NYDailyNews]

[ABC News, The Christian Post]

Gogo Navigator supports real-time turn by turn navigation throughout the United States and Canada at a decent price. I recently looked at Garmin StreetPilot for iPhone which is currently priced at $34.99. While the app had a great interface and offers turn by turn navigation, I found it had one huge down side. StreetPilot does not store maps natively. This means if you're out of range of a signal you won't be able to access maps since they can't pull from the servers.

Gogo Navigator uses native maps for navigation. Regardless whether you have a signal or not, you can still get turn by turn directions. They offer maps in regular view as well as real-time 3D view. You also have the features you'd expect from a good GPS app like favorites and places of interest (POI). Gogo Navigator is currently priced at $29.99 in the app store which is a great deal for a decent GPS app. It's a much lower price point that most and I found it did the job just as well as some of my other GPS apps. Hit the jump for some screens!

iTunes Link

Scopy for iPhone is an extremely well put together Twitter client with a catch. Scopy only focuses on your Twitter friends' photo streams. It's very similar to services like Instagram but pulls all your friends existing Twitter photos from your stream. You can choose to sort by individual friend as well.

When I want to upload a photo, I can choose my photo service and apply filters as well. Scopy also pulls photos from tons of photo services, so you'll never miss your friend's photos. Hit the jump for a bit more on Scopy and to find out how you can win a complimentary copy!

iTunes Link

Services like Instagram only work as long as you're both using the service and uploading your photos not only to Twitter, but to Instagram as well. This is the reason I like Scopy. It simply searches through your existing Twitter stream and pulls all the images from it. If you're the type of person that likes viewing people's photos on Twitter, you'll love this app. It's extremely well put together.

If I want to view only a certain friend's photos, I can simply find them in my friend's list and view only their photo uploads. The app sometimes doesn't want to load individual photos for some users so I think it may only be pulling photos within a certain time frame.

Want to try a copy of Scopy for yourself? You're in luck! The developer has given TiPb a bunch of promo codes for our readers. How do you win? Follow @TiPb on Twitter and at least one of our writers. Shoot @TiPb and at least one writer an @reply with the tag #Scopy. I've sent promos to give away to quite a few of our writers but make sure to follow all of us to increase your chances of winning! And you never know when when any one of us may have other promo codes to give away on Twitter.

Here's our handles on Twitter, and remember, you have to be following TiPb and the writer with the code to win a code!

• @TiPb
• @reneritchie
• @GeorgiaTiPb
• @iChadman
• @iMuggle
• @llofte
• @jfsikora
• @andrewwray
• @Brian_Tufo
• @JorjLim
• @ChrisOldroyd

Every day, TiPb gets flooded with announcements for new and updated iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps and games. So every day we pick just a few of the most interesting, the most notable, and simply the most awesome to share with you!

• FX Photo Studio HD: Now updated to 3.0.0 with 41 new photo effects and much more! [$2.99 - iTunes link]

• Camera+: Update to 2.1 brings performance enhancements, interface improvements and a limited time sale! [$0.99 - iTunes link]

• Hipstamatic: Updated with Quicksta snap queue, camera bag organization, and limited edition FreePak [$1.99 - iTunes link]

• Adobe Ideas: This digital sketchbook is updated to include VGA Out and the option to purchase a feature that will give you 10 drawing layers. [Free, with in-app purchases - iTunes link]

• Tax FAQs: Have the answers to the 50 most frequently asked tax questions at your fingertips. [$0.99 - iTunes link]

Any other big apps or game releases or updates today? If you pick any of these up, let us know what you think!

Verizon Wireless has released VZ Transfer into the App Store, allowing Verizon iPhone users to restore contact information from Verizon's Backup Assistant service to their newly purchased iPhone 4.

This application is only for Verizon wireless users. Download the free application to transfer your contacts from your Backup Assistant device to your new device. All your contacts will be transferred to your new device with in minutes.

Verizon Backup Assistant is a service that lets users backup their contact information from their phone to the cloud, which includes import/export options with online editing abilities. Users who have used this service on previous devices would be able to download VZ Transfer and restore contact information to the iPhone.

Transferring contacts can often be a pain, so it's good to see Verizon putting out something that will make it a little easier for Verizon iPhone users to get their device up and running with all of their contacts in place.

Will you be using VZ Transfer after you grab your Verizon iPhone on February 10th? Let us know in the comments!

[Free - iTunes link via @daveizzle]

Every day, TiPb gets flooded with announcements for new and updated iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps and games. So every day we pick just a few of the most interesting, the most notable, and simply the most awesome to share with you!

• Portal - Full Screen Browser: This full-screen web browser for the iPhone has only one discrete "portal button" that gives access to features but can easily be hidden away. [$1.99 - iTunes link]

• Magical Images: Bring images to life with the 19th century illusion trick of overlaying a grid consisting of black vertical stripes. [$0.99 - iTunes link]

• BiteSMS (Jailbreak): New 5.1 release with many new features including a new privacy feature that allows you to easily hide any of your conversations for complete privacy.

• Bump: App Sharing! Now you can "bump" your favorite apps to a friend and they'll get direct links to download. [Free - iTunes link]

• Seesmic: Lots of new features, most notably the ability to post to Facebook pages you're an admin for. [Free - iTunes link]

Any other big apps or game releases or updates today? If you pick any of these up, let us know what you think!

Interested in knowing which are the best, most must-have instant messenger (IM) apps for your iPhone? Eager to get you chat on via AIM/MobileMe, MSN/Windows Live, Yahoo!, GoogleTalk, Facebook, MySpace, and/or Jabber but need to know which client supports what and how well? Well read on for TiPb's top 5 most recommended IM/instant messenger clients for iPhone!

Beejive IM

Beejive is probably one of the most popular IM clients for iOS, and for good reason. It supports almost any messenger client you can think of and is completely customizable. Beejive has been making IM clients for a very long time, and it shows. I remember purchasing Beejive for my Blackberry several years ago. Even then, it was an extremely reliable choice.

It comes packed with features such as support for multiple accounts, push notifications, picture sharing, custom backgrounds and chat bubbles, and much more. I have always found it to be extremely efficient and easy to use. Most hardcore users prefer Beejive due to the amount of clients it supports. It also has the longest session option I've ever seen, which is 7 days (eBuddy also offers 7 day support). This means less time outs and having to re-connect.

Beejive has support for the following IM clients -

• AIM/MobileMe
• Facebook IM
• Google Talk
• Jabber
• MSN/Windows Live
• Myspace IM
• Yahoo! Messenger

[$9.99 - iTunes Link]

eBuddy Pro

eBuddy is another IM client that has a pretty large user base. It boasts several great features such as themes, push notifications, picture sharing, and much more. eBuddy also offers a free version of the app that is ad supported and has fewer features. So you can always try before you buy.

When it comes to comparing eBuddy with other clients, it seems to offer about the same Beejive does. A lot of it is really going to come down to personal preference. I personally prefer the overall layout and setup of Beejive but if Beejive wasn't around, I'd have no issues using eBuddy as my full time messaging client.

eBuddy has support for the following IM clients -

• AIM
• MSN/WIndows Live
• Google Talk
• ICQ
• Hyve
• Yahoo! Messenger
• Facebook Chat
• Myspace IM

[$4.99 - iTunes Link]

IM+

While eBuddy and Beejive have rather large user bases, so does IM+. These are probably the three most used clients for iPhone users. IM+ offers just as much as the previous two. And again, it'll probably come down to personal preference. It boasts most of the same features of the previous two but also has some other features that make it unique such as viewing Twitter feeds and advanced chat histories. I like the fact that you can access chat history on your device or on the web. This can be extremely convenient for people who need to save chat histories for work reasons.

IM+ also offers a free "lite" version if you'd like to try before you buy. It supports the following IM clients -

• AIM
• MSN/Windows Live
• Google Talk
• Facebook Chat
• Myspace IM
• ICQ
• Twitter
• Jabber
• Skype

[$9.99 - iTunes Link]

Verbs

A lot of people may be asking why I'm including a client that doesn't support half the features the big 3 support. The answer to that for me is simple; Verbs looks like a client Apple themselves wrote. The UI itself is simply gorgeous. As of now, Verbs doesn't support the feature set the others boast, but I think it's a client to keep our eye on.

If the developers of Verbs can add support for several more clients and integrate a lot of the same powerful features, they'll do very well. Currently Verbs only supports local notifications, meaning if you close out the app from multitasking, you won't receive notifications. This is what's keeping me from using it on a daily basis. If they can issue updates to better the app in a timely manner, I think they'll acquire a pretty good sized user base. It's also a bit cheaper than some of the other options.

Verbs currently supports the following IM clients -

• AIM/MobileMe
• Google Talk

[$2.99 - iTunes Link]

Kik Messenger

Kik Messenger has an extremely easy to use interface and push is extremely quick. But there's a catch. Kik is proprietary. The other user must be using Kik messenger also. They provide cross-platform support for iOS, Android, and Blackberry. The downside is that you won't be able to link AIM and some other popular messaging clients. If your messaging needs are small and the few people you need to talk to have Kik (or you can get them to download it), this will work just fine. Apps like Whatsapp Messenger and Ping! also offer the same proprietary system as well. It'll really come down to which you prefer to use the most (and probably which one your friends use).

[Free - iTunes Link]

Bonus: Official IM apps

If you only use one IM/chat service and for some reason really want the "official" iPhone app for that service, you're in luck -- there are several in the app store:

• AIM AOL Instant Messenger comes in 2 versions, free with adds and cheap without adds. [Free - iTunes link] and [$2.99 - iTunes link]
• Facebook has built-in chat as well as feed, messages, places, groups, events, photos, and more. [Free - iTunes link]
• Myspace gives you access to chat as well as updates, photos, comments, messages and more. [Free - iTunes link]
• Skype not only lets you use Skype chat but also make VoIP and even video calls. [Free - iTunes link]
• Twitter is technically less IM and more DM (Direct Message) but if you want to chat in 140 characters this is the app. [Free - iTunes link]
• Windows Live Messenger with support for Windows Live, Y!, and Facebook, as well as social feeds for Facebook, Flickr, and Myspace, and access to Hotmail. [Free - iTunes link]

Your top apps?

So there you have them, our top 5 best iPhone IM instant messenger apps to get you going. Be sure to check out our Picks of the Week and iPhone App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites leave them in the comments below!

Starbucks has made their Card Mobile app available for iPhone and iPod touch users, allowing you to scan a barcode on your device and make mobile payments the same way it currently works for gift cards. The app works in conjunction with your already existing Starbucks cards. I tend to get a lot of Starbucks gift cards for birthdays and holidays, so it's nice to be able to keep them all in one spot.

You can create a Starbucks account within the app and then add all your cards. You can also add any valid credit card as well to refill your Starbucks cards (or use the Paypal feature on iPhone).

When you go to a participating Starbucks location, they can simply scan the bar code on your phone and it will deduct from your Starbucks card. Over 6,800 Starbucks locations are currently participating as well as over 1,000 Target Starbucks locations. It's an awesome way to say goodbye to some of the bulk in your wallet (or on your keychain). If you guys try it out, let us know how it works! I plan on trying it out for myself as well!

[Starbucks]

Garmin just released StreetPilot for iPhone, the newest addition to their mobile line-up of GPS apps. The app boasts a lot of the same features nüvi owners already enjoy. StreetPilot has up to date map support for both the US and Canada. All maps and directions are pulled from Garmin's servers so you can expect the same quality directions as a native GPS unit. Since maps are pulled from the server, the app only takes up around 7 MB of space on your phone. Hit the jump for a few initial impressions, some screens, and a list of features.

iTunes Link

I had some time to play with StreetPilot earlier today and found it extremely intuitive and easy to navigate. Not only that, the UI is nicely designed as well. I liked the layout of the weather portion a lot and I'm considering using it for weather too. Voice navigation worked just as you'd expect it to. I also tried out the pedestrian directions as well. It re-routed me on a shorter route that didn't take one way streets into consideration. All in all, it worked well.

One thing I noticed while playing with optional settings was that the iPod controls need some work. I couldn't always get it to add the correct songs to a playlist. And skipping a track didn't always register and you'd have to push the on screen button again.

Holding down on any part of a map will bring up a pop-up menu that allows you to choose that location as a destination, find something nearby, save the location, or display the address. There are little shortcuts throughout the app that seemed pretty well thought out. I'm looking forward to using this app on our next trip. If you've picked this up, let us know what you think. If not, what's your favorite GPS app?

For those of you still debating on GPS apps, here's a list of StreetPilot's main features -

Features include:
-Always up-to-date maps for the U.S. and Canada
-Voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions including street names
-Real-time traffic updates to avoid traffic delays
-Speed limits for most major roads
-Integrated Local Search
-Millions of points of interest
-Lane assist with junction view for complicated interchanges
-Address book integration to navigate to contacts
-Integrated iPod® music controls
-Multi-tasking on iOS4 for navigating while calling
-Current weather conditions and forecast
-Place calls directly from search listing
-Navigate in both portrait and landscape mode
-Easy to install with quick load times

Turn on Apple TV, click through to Netflix, find what you want to watch, press play and -- "Sorry we could not reach the Netflix service. Please try again later. If the problem persists please visit the Netflix website. (112)" I've been getting that error consistently lately and the weird part is Netflix on my iPhone and iPad -- on the same Wi-Fi network! -- work fine. It's only Apple TV that has the problem.

And apparently I'm not alone.

In my case I couldn't watch anything. A simple power cycle fixed it but some of the folks we've heard from still suffer the bug intermittently no matter what they do. Have you had Netflix refuse to perform on your Apple TV? Let us know what happened, and what if any fixes have worked for you.

Every week a few of us from team TiPb will bring you our current favorite, funnest, most useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they’re iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch related, they’re fair game.

To see what we picked this week, and to tell us your pick, follow on after the break!

Alli's Pick: Evernote

You may have noticed that I recommend Evernote a lot in the forums. That's because I use Evernote. A lot.

Evernote is multiplatform, so not only can you use it on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, but your Mac, your pc, your Android device, or even your Pre. One little note goes everywhere you go, regardless of hardware or geographical location.

Type a note, scribble a note on your screen, record an audio note, or attach a photo. (From your desktop, you can even add documents.) You can email your notes right from the iPhone app and share with your friends or colleagues.

Searching is a dream, and you can tag your notes to your heart's content. Of course, Evernote is free, so you have nothing to lose - everything to gain!

[Free - iTunes link]

Ally's pick: Cut the rope

The latest update to Cut The Rope adds not only a new box but new challenges to the already fun game. You'll now have anti-gravity and a few new obstacles to navigate through.

The first few boxes were relatively easy to breeze through but Cosmic proves a bit more challenging. I'm currently working my way through and 3-starring all the levels in Cosmic Box. I'm about 3/4 of the way through and can't wait for even more boxes to pop up in an update.

[$0.99 - iTunes Link]

Andrew's pick: NPR News

If you're a fan of NPR radio like I am, then you're going to love the NPR News app for iPhone. Not only can you do things like read NPR news articles and share interesting articles on Facebook and Twitter, but you can dive in even deeper to discover NPR hourly news programming in streaming audio format with playlist support. Want to get a 20 minute recap of today's news? Set up a personalized news playlist with selected news broadcasts to help you get up to speed.

What I love about this app is the live radio stream wherever you are. There's a fairly long stretch during my daily commute where I have little to no reception of the local NPR station. I just whip out my iPhone, launch NPR News and I have a crystal clear broadcast to hook into my car stereo. You can also download clips from popular NPR podcasts like Car Talk, Morning Addition and All Things Considered. So, what are you waiting for? Go grab it now!

[Free - iTunes link]

Brian's picks: Slice It!

Slice It! Is a great puzzle/brain game for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad that makes you slice different shapes into equal ratio or surface area. There are 140+ stages in the game and as you move up in stages you will encounter even tougher challenges. Each level gives you a maximum of 5 stars and you even get ribbons if you can manage to slice the shape perfectly. If you get stuck on a certain level you can even ask for a hint to help you on the road to success. Slice It! also incorporates Game Center achievements so you can keep track of all your successes. The app also utilizes the iPhone 4 retina display and is universal for all devices so you only need to purchase it once! The game is currently only $0.99 in the App Store and provides for hours of fun and challenges.

[$0.99 - iTunes link]

Farbod's pick: TuneIn

The best radio app on the app store, TuneIn, allows you to search and listen to over 40,000 local radio stations. You can even pause, rewind, and record live radio just like a DVR. The newest version of the app also includes multitask support and AirPlay. There is no need for an FM radio on your iPhone with TuneIn Radio!

[$1.99 - iTunes link]

George's pick: Sleep Cycle Alarm

Sleep Cycle Alarm is a unique alarm clock, that not only wakes you up, but monitors your sleep patterns as well.

It uses the iPhone’s accelerometer to monitor your sleep pattern so that it can wake you up when you’re in a light sleeping state, using either one of its 8 unique alarms, a default “beeping” alarm, or any song in your iPod Library. If that fails, your iPhone vibrates, to wake you.

It presents your sleep in a graph for you to review in the morning, and calculates your nightly sleep time and your average sleep, which you can then post to Facebook or email to a friend.

For only 99c/59p, even if you don’t see the need for it, its worth a look at anyway.

[$0.99 - iTunes link]

Leanna's pick: Penultimate

Penultimate really is the ultimate note taking application for the iPad. Many people on Twitter have been seeking math help me from lately, and Penultimate is perfect for that. I can write it up on Penultimate, screenshot it, and quickly tweet it back. If desired, I can even email it.

I think what makes Penultimate stand out for me is how it makes your pen strokes look nice - they don't have a fixed width. It reminds me of using a super nice gel pen and improves the look of my handwriting (which needs all the help it can get).

If you want to use your iPad to take handwritten notes, check out Penultimate!

[$3.99 -iTunes link]

Rene's pick: Infinity Blade

I'm going to delete Infinity Blade. I swear to the lords of kobol. Not since Angry Birds has a game made me lose this much sleep. And I need sleep, though obviously not as much as I need to move through a lavishly rendered, gorgeously designed Unreal 3D environment and fight my way past seemingly endless baddies until my blood line gets strong enough to take out the biggest baddie of them all.

Sure Infinity Blade is on rails. Sure you're basically repeating the same game over and over again, gaining more power, spells, armor, and swords as you go. But as I'm wearing my adamtine helmet, frying suckers with my Odin ring, and carving them up on my way to though those amazing vistas and visuals -- I don't care. It's simple without being simplistic. And it's a ton of fun.

What's more, Infinity Blade is a universal app so you can buy it once and play it on all your iOS devices. I'll echo Jeremy's gripe that it would be nice if progress synced between the iPad and iPhone version so we could just pick up either one and keep playing, but overall it's also the most amazing graphics I've seen on iPhone and iPad to date and that's saying a lot.

[$5.99 - iTunes link]

Your pick?

You’re part of the team as well, so jump into the comments and let us know your pick of the week!

DataMan for iPhone is a utility that allows you to monitor your data usage in a few unique ways that a lot of other data utilities don't. The app not only monitors your network usage, it will also monitors your wifi usage. You can view your usage on a map and it will break out where you are using data and what kind of data you were using. For people who want to save a bit of cash and use a lower data plan, this may be an app you would want to check out.

iTunes Link

When you first launch DataMan, you'll notice the app is dead simple to navigate through. The layout's pretty intuitive and easy to use. You can enter your usage period (billing cycle) as well. For me, my usage cycle starts over on the 4th of every month, so I set it to begin on the 4th and end on the 3rd of the following month.

DataMan also allows you to set alerts for different usage levels as well. This way, the app will send you a push notification when you reach certain data usage levels. I also really like the map feature. It will link together all the different places you've used data. Not exactly a "needed" feature for most, but it's certainly neat to see the trends and where you browse the most. The data will not only break up into a total amount, but into how much you're using each day of the month. As you can see in the screenshot above, it also lets you know how much of that data is downstream and how much is upstream.

Some of my friends or family members are on 200MB plans with the iPhones and like to monitor their usage pretty closely. While AT&T allows you to check your data via text, their numbers are always a day to two days behind. Since DataMan monitors data as you use it, you'll always know exactly how much data you've used in real time.

Pros

• Layout is easy to figure out
• Presents you with more information than most data monitoring applications
• Mapping data usage is a creative way to view your usage

Cons

• Sometimes push notifications don't always come through, hopefully this is a bug that will be worked out in an update

Good news for all of you Cut the Rope fans out there as Zepto Lab and Chillingo are getting ready to release an all new holiday gift version in time for Christmas. Many games such as Doodle Jump and Angry Birds have started the trend of releasing holiday game versions. I'm glad to see Cut the Rope is going to follow that trend.

Cut the Rope's most recent update added UI enhancements and an all new Cosmic Box world. I just beat it yesterday by collecting all 3 stars in every level. I'm personally really looking forward to the Christmas release. Just as the Angry Birds holiday version was a separate app, Cut the Rope is going to follow with that trend. Don't get upset yet though. They'll be offering the Holiday Gift version of their app for free!

UPDATE: Cut the Rope Holiday Gift is now live in the iTunes App Store, go get it! [Free - iTunes link]

Anyone else excited to see On Nom wear some reindeer antlers?

ngmoco has released two new games, Touch Pets Dogs 2 for iPhone and Adventure Bay for iPhone and iPad.

In Adventure Bay, the goal is to build an island paradise and attract fellow adventures. You Assemble a crew and set sail, gather treasure maps, and explore uncharted islands in search of exclusive loot with friends. Adventure Bay is available for iPhone and iPad.

Here are the highlights for Adventure Bay:

• Build an island paradise from over 100 items
• Lure adventurers to your island with its many attractions
• Explore the tropics in search of loot and buried treasure
• Complete collections to unlock exclusives
• Help speed your friends along on their own quests

The sequel to Touch Pets Dogs is similar to its predecessor with the addition of new locations to play with your pup and new breeds to adopt. The idea behind Touch Pets Dogs is that you create a custom playland for your new best friend and fill it with toys and treats. You can primp your pups with soapy sponges and dress them in the latest canine fashion. Here are the highlights for Touch Pets Dogs 2:

• Play and Care for your puppy
• Decorate and personalize your own puppy playground
• Invite friends’ puppies over for playdates
• Visit friends’ houses to earn rewards for everyone
• Discover treasures hidden in your furniture

Both titles are free to download with optional in-app purchases. If you pick either of these up, let us know what you think!

[Adventure Bay for iPad - iTunes link]

[Adventure Bay for iPhone - iTunes link]

[Touch Pets Dogs 2 -iTunes link]

Every week a few of us from team TiPb will bring you our current favorite, funnest, most useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they’re iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch related, they’re fair game.

To see what we picked this week, and to tell us your pick, follow on after the break!

Alli's Pick: CalenGoo

I haven't used a day runner or paper calendar since my first Palm Pilot. To me, this is the real magic of using a handheld digital device. I got spoiled using Agendus on my Treo, and in addition to just noting my calendar events, I want multiple ways of viewing them, icons, and more.

CalenGoo really fits that niche for me. It gives me many more options than the (lousy) iPhone calendar, and syncs with Google, MobileMe, or whatever Exchange client you want to use - in combination if you choose.

Day view, list view, month view, icons, CalenGoo has it all, and in the month view, you can pinch to zoom! It also uses Tasks from Google and puts them right on your calendar. The developer is responsive and has been doing regular updates. This is a must have app for productivity!

[$6.99 - iTunes link]

Ally's Pick: ToneFXs (jailbreak)

ToneFXs allows you to change pretty much every system tone on your iPhone that you could think of. I love this app mainly because most of my friends have iPhones as well. Some are jailbroken, some aren't. When an email would chime in, all of us would look at our phones. This app solved that problem. I have my own text and email tones, as well as personalized system tones. I no longer mix up other people's iPhones going off with my own. ToneFXs is available via Cydia on any jailbroken iPhone.

Andrew's Pick: WootWatch

WootWatch is a free app in the App Store that lets you see all the daily deals from woot.com, sellout.woot, shirt.woot, wine.woot, and kids.woot. Some of the features of this app include auto-refresh, support for woot-offs and alerts for when new items become available. You can swipe up to get a detailed description of today's item complete with pictures and product specs, along with a witty overview of why you should buy the item in full Woot style. The only caveat I noticed is when you want to purchase an item, it takes you out of the app and pulls you into safari to complete the transaction. Not a deal-breaker by any means, but it would be nice to have an in-app way of doing this.

What I personally love about this app as a parent is the kids.woot support. This is an app I launch daily in order to see what great deal for the day I might snatch up for my daughter. If you've ever purchased anything on Woot, you know how low the prices can go and how good the deals can get. We highly suggest taking a look at this app, as there's no risk being that it's a free app. Go grab it now!

[Free - iTunes link]

Brian's Pick: Instagram

Instagram is a fantastic photo app that allows you another way of sharing your photos with all your friends on your favorite social networking sites. You can either use the app to take a photo or you can import photos already on your device. Once you have a photo selected you can choose between over a dozen different unique filters to apply to your pictures to make them have different feels than just a normal photo. You can follow friends and leave comments on peoples pictures and share your photos with everyone. It supports all of the iPhone models as well as the iPod Touch and iPad. The app is free in the App Store and is a blast to use and share photos with your friends.

[Free - iTunes Link]

Chris O’s pick: LED-Flashlight

This week I have chosen a very simple app for the iPhone 4. It is a flashlight app, there are many available in the app store; but I use LED-flashlight. It's simple but useful, all it does it light up your camera flash so you can use it as a torch. It is really bright! The app comes in really handy every day for me. While walking the dog, fishing out items lost under the sofa this app is killer!

[Free – iTunes Link]

Chris V's Pick: Sonic the Hedgehog

It's time to go old school! With the rapid release of new games and gaming systems recently, it is easy to overlook some of the classic games out there. Some of these games have been rereleased on the iPhone, including one of my all time favorites - Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic was a speedy little hedgehog, playing in a scrolling 2D background, but the main difference between Sonic and games like Super Mario Brothers is that Sonic was FAST! This game spawned a number of sequels, including ones I remember playing on my Sega Game Gear and Sega Dreamcast, and it is fun to just play some of these classic games. The import works well, and for $4.99, Sonic is a fun way to pass the time. I am sure that eventually many of these classic games will make their way onto my iPhone.

[$4.99 -iTunes link]

Leanna's Pick: Perfect Photo

Perfect photo has recently become my favorite photo editing application. It is loaded with many editing tools and features. One of my favorite things about Perfect Photo is that when you apply a change, the app gives you a random fact while waiting for it to save. Another huge draw to Perfect Photo is the recent addition of red-eye removal and spot healing. Now I can make sure there are no blemishes on my face the faces of my friends before uploading to Facebook and Twitter!

[$0.99 - iTunes link]

Rene's pick: Gift Plan

From Glasshouse Apps, makers of the excellent Barista and Cellar apps for iPhone and Early Edition for iPad, comes Gift Plan -- and it just might save your ass this holiday season. It's gorgeous, of course, and it works as good as it looks. The idea is simple -- we humans (okay, especially we male humans) are forgetful, oblivious, doomed lot who will miss birthdays, anniversaries, and even annual events like Christmas with stupefying regularity. So why keep failing when an app like Gift Plan can help us succeed.

Gift Plan will import your important dates from Calendar and even Facebook, sort, color-label, prioritize, filter, and otherwise help you get your gifting organized, and then remind you with alerts to get it all done.

Best of all, it's on introductory sale right now so save money on Gift Plan so it can help you spend money on your loved ones.

Bonus tip from the developer: Record your wife's clothing size. It'll keep you off the couch.

[$0.99 - iTunes link]

Your pick?

You’re part of the team as well, so jump into the comments and let us know your pick of the week!

Amplitube 2 by IK Multimedia is an awesome little app that allows you to convert your iPhone into a full on guitar rig. Their iPad version was recently featured in one of the new Apple iPad ads. The app has 3 versions currently - Amplitube Free, Amplitube LE ($2.99), and the full Amplitube version ($19.99). We are using the full version for this review to give you a complete picture of what's available.

To use this app, you'll need to purchase an iRig, which are currently priced at $39.99. You'll simply plug your guitar or bass into the iRig which then plugs into your iPhone or iPad. The 3rd outlet allows you to plug into the audio output of your choice. We just used a standard surround system (receiver) for this review. You're also free to use an amp or headphones, which can be great if you'd like to practice quietly. And hey, it's a lot easier to carry around the iRig than an entire guitar rig.

iTunes Link

When you first launch Amplitube, you'll see a plethora of different options. You can choose between different cabinets as well as add effects pedals. The full version of Amplitube comes with most of the effects pedals and tons of extras. You can also purchase more gear via an in-app purchase. We also purchased the four track recorder, which is not included in any version. We tested the iRig and Amplitube 2 with not only a surround sound system, but headphones as well. The results really were quite pleasing. In-app purchases are easy enough and add even more features to the app. They are also extremely reasonably priced when you look at what a new physical effects pedal would cost, for example.

This app is great for anyone who wants to learn to play guitar but doesn't want to invest into a major setup right off the bat. It's also great for professionals who may travel a lot and don't want to always carry a full rig with them. The app also features basic tools like a built-in tuner and metronome as well. The song feature allows you to drop in songs from your iTunes library through file sharing. Then when you launch the app, you can play along with your favorite songs within the app. This is a great feature for wearing headphones and practicing when you don't want to disturb anyone else.

The only down sides we noticed when testing this app was the cramped layout. I pulled my brother in on this review, as I do not pretend to be a master guitar player. He really enjoyed playing with this app and using it, but he was sometimes frustrated by the cramped layout. If you have an iPad that you carry around with you frequently, I'd suggest using Amplitube with the iPad over the iPhone. The layout is much more spacious and it's harder to press buttons on accident. He would frequently hit the wrong tab along the top when trying to toggle between effects pedals or other settings. This is one thing I'd like to see some improvement on in the next iteration. Other than that, this is a great app and one I'd suggest any guitar player to look over. If you aren't sure about buying an iRig just yet, check out the free version of the app and browse through what's available first. It's definitely a decent investment for anyone who wants to be more portable with their guitar or bass.

Pros

• Easy setup with iRig
• In-app purchase makes it simple to buy more effects on the go
• iRig and app are reasonably priced for what they offer
• The Songs option is a great feature that takes advantage of file sharing

Cons

• The layout on the iPhone version is a bit cramped
• The four track recorder is not extremely easy to learn, but once you figure it out, it's a nice feature to have

360 Panorama for iPhone just issued a large update to their popular panorama app that uses the built-in gyroscope feature. This essentially allows you to capture more accurate panoramic photos much easier. It can take a bit longer than a standard stitching app but the overall quality seems to be better. As iPhone photography becomes even more prominent and mainstream, good photography apps tend to do well. 360 Panorama is definitely an app to check out if you enjoy editing and taking photos on your iPhone.

iTunes Link

When you first load the app you'll be presented with a 360 view grid with an image in it. You'll simply select capture and the app will capture what you're viewing as a panorama in real time. The app has built-in light sensing too as well. This will automatically help the app adjust for low light settings. In good light settings, you should have no problem panning continuously to get a pretty good shot. In low light, I tended to go a bit slower to prevent seeing seams in the image.

Occipital has also mentioned that holding your phone at an angle also allows you to maximize capture area. This is a great feature if you have good light quality. In a low light setting, this feature wasn't too great and I'd still recommend holding it in portrait.

After you've finished creating your panoramic shot, you can view it live in the app as a 360 view image. Simply rotate your phone and the gyroscope feature will automatically pan the live shot for you (refer to video for example). You also have the option to save the image to your camera roll as a regular image, e-mail it, or upload. Some uploads allow the full 360 view as well. Nice little add on for those who want an interactive photo.

Overall, I'd say this is one of the better pano apps I've used on my iPhone. The only issue that really bugged me was that when you attempted to move the phone up and down a bit in order to maximize a capture area, the image didn't line up very well and you'd be left with overlapping elements. But for a simple 360 shot, this app will be a great addition to anyone's photography app portfolio.

Pros

• Extremely easy to use
• You have options when it comes to sharing your photos in-app
• Rendering time is faster than other similar panoramic applications
• Overall quality is much better (in most situations) than stitching applications

Cons

• When creating a pano, if you move your phone up and down, sometimes the seams don't match up properly
• In low light settings, seams can be noticeable if you pan around too quickly

Note & Share is a note taking app with support for iPhone and iPad. It is a universal binary so you won't have to purchase them separately. Note & Share also offers integration with several different services. Dropbox, Twitter, Evernote, Google Docs, and Mail are a few popular ones that Note & Share easily integrates with.

Note & Share also supports markdown as well. I recently wrote a review on Markdown Mail, so I was eager to see how Note & Share stacked up against it. I'd say it fairs pretty well. Setting up your services is easy enough and sharing to them is even easier.

When you launch the app, you'll be presented with a text entry box. You can simply start typing your content and then choose how you want to share it. Or you can optionally just save it as a note locally to your phone with a simple tap. You can also clear the entire text entry field with one tap, which is a nice feature.

Note & Share also supports image upload as well. You can choose your media and it will shorten the URL and insert it into your note.

When it comes to exporting to Evernote or any service that supports hashtags, it will recognize those as tags and import accordingly. Your first line of text will also be used as the note title, similar to the way Markdown Mail will title notes.

The interface is not as simple as Markdown Mail's but its still extremely easy to use. I expected the interface to be a bit advanced considering it supports many more features than Markdown Mail does.

If you're looking for a note taking app that allows synchronization and upload with several services, Note & Share is probably the way to go. If you're just looking for an app that allows markdown conversion and offers a way to send HTML rich e-mail, you may want to give Markdown Mail a look. Both apps are extremely good at what they do and neither is a bad choice. As of right now, Markdown Mail is $1 more than Note & Share. I'd say for the extra features, spring for Note & Share.

The developers of Note & Share were also nice enough to give us some promo codes to give away to you guys. Wanna win one? Leave a comment below using a valid e-mail address. That's it, you're entered! We'll pick 2 of you to win free copies of Note & Share! (Reminder: Promo codes only work in the US App Store -- Apple's rule, not ours!)

Pros

• Integrates seamlessly with several services
• One tap delete is a nice feature
• Hashtag support for tags in Evernote works great
• Markdown conversion is extremely simple

Cons

• Text entry field is small on iPhone version and scrolling can be daunting when working with long notes

Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 for iPhone and iPad is definitely a game any Harry Potter fan should check out. From the very beginning you'll be completely immersed in the magical world of Harry we've all come to know and love. You'll start the game off playing as Harry. As you progress, you'll unlock more characters to play as. The controls are easy to learn and before you know it you'll be casting spells, brewing potions, and zooming around on a broomstick!

When you start the game you'll start from the very beginning. There are cut scenes every so often as you progress through the actual story line. To skip cut scenes, you can simply double tap. I personally don't typically skip them as I find them quite enjoyable. Most of the music in the game is music you find in all the movies, so if you enjoy the scores to the movies, you'll love it. If you didn't, well you can always turn the music off in settings.

After you hit your first save point in the game, you can quit to the lobby area. In the lobby, you'll see four doors which represent the 4 books the game covers - Sorcerer's (Philosopher's) Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, and Goblet of Fire. Once you complete one story line, you'll gain access to the next. If you ever want to go back to a previous story, you can jump back to the lobby and go back. I find myself doing this whenever I get stuck. I'll go back and find hidden secrets or items I didn't find the first time around.

The lobby also contains an area to view your Lego models as you unlock them. This area is located off to the left. Down the stairs you'll see an hour glass. When you stand in front of it, it will tell you how much game play time you've accumulated as well as the percentage of the game you've beaten. To the left from the bottom of the stairs, if you stand in front of the Weasley twins, you can browse the shop and buy items such as cut scenes, characters, and more with the Lego coins you've collected on your journey. The lobby is also where you'll be able to customize your character (clothes, features, etc).

The overall gameplay experience is great. The difficulty level increases at an even pace as you learn new spells and play through mini quests. As you go on, the game can be a little difficult at times. To me, that just means it will keep me busy for longer. As much as I love games like Cut the Rope, it didn't keep me occupied for very long.

I'm really enjoying playing through this game and I'd have to say I'm impressed with the quality. Sometimes moving your character around can be a little glitchy if you get stuck on the side of an object, but once you get the hang of it, it's all cake after that. If any of you TiPb readers out there picked up this game, let us know what you think in the comments as well!

Pros

• Easy to learn controls
• Gameplay difficulty increases at a pretty steady pace
• Tons of secrets and items to unlock that will keep you busy
• Music and cut scenes are cute and fun to watch in Lego form
• Graphics are astounding, especially on iPhone 4 and iPad

Cons

• Moving your character around can sometimes be glitchy, not very often though
• Initially loading the game is somewhat annoying as there are about 8 banners before the actual click to begin game finally comes up
• Save points are rather far apart, if you quit before one, you lose your progress. Keeping the game multitasked is an easy way to solve this issue though

Star Walk for iPhone is an amazing star gazing app that allows you to turn your iPhone into a digital planetarium. You can use the app as simply a reference app or as an interactive app as you're star gazing. For iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS users you can use the built-in compass function to make the app even more interactive.

iTunes Link

When you launch Star Walk you'll be asked if you'd like to allow the app to use your current location. Clicking yes will allow the live view feature to locate you and show you the part of the sky that is viewable to you.

iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS users can take this a step further. Simply point your iPhone in the direction you'd like the app to tell you more about. The app will also track any movements you make and change live view to reflect the part of the sky you are navigating to. This app is perfect for amateurs as well as professionals. I would have loved this app when I took an astronomy course in college (I probably would have paid a lot more attention). I'd highly recommend this app to any college or high school student taking an astronomy class.

The app also has a nice daily info page that will show a ton of information pertaining to your individual location including sunrise, sunset, length of the day, and moon phases. The app also shows information pertaining to other planets including sunrise, sunset, and the angles at which you'll need to look from the horizon to see certain bodies (alt/az coordinates).

When it comes to the search feature, you've got tons of choices. Not only can you search constellations but you can search other bodies in the solar system, deep space objects, individual stars, and satellites. If an object is not visible from your location or at that particular time of day or year, it will be grayed out.

My absolute favorite feature of this app is the live view. It's simply gorgeous and extremely intuitive. You can view the simulation or choose an option that utilizes the camera to show your actual sky with star charts over it so you can interact with the real sky.

iPad and iPod touch users are not left out. Star Walk also offers a gorgeous iPad version as well. You can use location based features while you are in wifi. When you're not, you still have access to a beautifully put together reference app as well.

If you're in the market for an awesome astronomy reference app, this is hands down the one you want. These are just some of the features that make this app great. And it gets better! The makers of Star Walk were nice enough to give us some promo codes to celebrate the release of Star Walk 5.0! Four (4) lucky readers will be picked to receive codes for the iPhone version of Star Walk. Simply leave a comment letting us know what you'd use Star Walk for and we will pick 4 of you to receive a copy free, courtesy of TiPb and Star Walk! Make sure you leave your comment using a valid email address as that's how we will contact you to receive your code. (Promo codes only work in the US App Store, Apple's rule, not ours!)

Pros

• Beautiful interface
• Live mode is extremely smooth and accurate
• Daily info is extremely informative and well laid out
• Easy to use for even the most amateur star gazers
• Great resource for students
• Integrated night mode is a welcome feature
• Picture of the day feature is a nice way to learn about different bodies in our solar system and beyond

Cons

• A better UI for search would be nice. The rest of the app has a great UI

Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 is now available in the App Store for $4.99. It's a universal binary but they do warn that iPad owners will need to wait for iOS 4.2.

The game features most of the scenes from the first four installments of the epic series including the Triwizard Tournament, the Quidditch World Cup, the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets and much more. Aside from that you can also play as over 100 different characters while completing tasks and flying around on brooms! The game also takes advantage of the iPhone 4's retina display for an even better gaming experience.

It's been an exciting few days for Harry Potter fans everywhere. First was the release of Deathly Hallows Part 1, and today Harry Potter fans everywhere can rejoice and download the Lego Harry right to their iPhones and iPads.

If you've picked this up, let us know what you think in the comments!

[iTunes Link]

Skyfire for iPhone is a web browsing application that converts Adobe Flash to HTML5/H.264 so you can view it on iPhone or iPad touch. Seeing as Apple chose not to implement Flash into iOS, a lot of videos on the web still can't be watched on an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. Skyfire steps in to try and bridge this gap and while it's a nice feature to have, but not always the best experience.

iTunes Link

While having access to Flash content may be useful to some, the overall process can be daunting. A lot of times, I found that the app would take a while to convert the content. If you are on wifi, the process seems to be a bit smoother, but on 3G it was definitely noticeable. I will give them a little bit of a break here seeing as they sold a ridiculous amount of copies and had to pull it due to their servers being overwhelmed. This may be part of the reason streaming is taking a while.

Either way - in my experience, once the content did stream, it seemed to be quite choppy and broken up. I'm hoping this is something that will get better as Skyfire adds more server bandwidth. A lot of the times I noticed the audio streamed pretty quickly but the video portion would struggle to keep up with the audio or fall behind. Seeing as viewing Flash content is the main feature of the app, I'm really hoping we see major improvements in the near future.

As for the rest of the app, I actually quite enjoyed using it as a browser. Settings will give you an option to browse privately, which is nice. It also gives you the option of desktop or iPhone mode. To me, this is much easier than having to toggle individual sites from mobile to desktop view. It will save you a bit of time and you can just switch with two clicks instead of searching a site to figure out how to toggle mobile views on or off.

Sharing is also easy within Skyfire - you simply click the little plus symbol in the bottom right corner of the screen and you can share directly through Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail. There is also a feature called Facebook Quickview which allows you to view your Facebook profile and stream from within Skyfire. It's a nice feature but not something I really see a need for. I've never been a fan of the Facebook for iPhone app so I suppose having access to the mobile or desktop site in one click may come in handy here and there. It's still not something I see myself personally using very often.

Skyfire also has a feature that allows you to search for video and content on any term you choose. When you click the search icon, it brings up suggestions of what you may search for based on the page you're currently viewing as well. This is an extremely neat feature but sometimes it would throw out weird suggestions that had nothing to do with the site you're browsing. If this feature is refined a bit more, I could see it becoming something I'd use frequently.

Bookmarks can also be added just like they can in Safari, so you should feel right at home if you've become accustomed to using bookmarks in Safari. It would be nice if your already existing bookmarks from Safari could be imported into Skyfire. Other than that, the overall browsing experience is great. I'm just not sure the main selling feature of the app is quite up to par yet.

Pros

• Great overall browsing experience
• Adds a bit more functionality than Safari currently offers
• Toggling between desktop and mobile mode is easy and more convenient than switching on individual sites

Cons

• Flash to HTML5 converting to streaming process can be quite daunting and slow at times
• Audio and video do not always sync up after streaming to HTML5
• Experienced a few crashes on 3G while trying to convert and stream video
• Search suggestions can be a bit off at times

Every week a few of us from team TiPb will bring you our current favorite, funnest, most useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they’re iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch related, they’re fair game.

To see what we picked this week, and to tell us your pick, follow on after the break!

Alli's Pick: TV Forecast

Easily one of my most used apps, TV Forecast has a place of honor on my home screen. A very simple app, you add your favorite shows, and it lets you know when they're coming on.

In addition to telling you the day and time, TV Forecast gives you a synopsis of the episode and even information on past episodes. I especially like it since I never know when shows will come back from hiatus. With TV Forecast, I never miss anything!

[$1.99 - iTunes link]

Brian's pick: Stardunk

Stardunk is an incredible basketball type game that allows you to play by yourself or online globally against other players using Game Center. The goal of the game is to score as many points by getting the ball through the hoop as many times as you can within the designated amount of time. You can also get multipliers for perfect shots and also gain add-ons like 3 balls at once by hitting the 4 blocks behind the rim. The graphics are stunning and the gameplay is virtually flawless. It is an intensley addictive game and for being a free app it is well worth the download.

Check out our review for Stardunk.

[Free - iTunes link]

Chris’s pick: Sky Mobile TV

Sky Mobile TV is easily my most used iOS application. It is a UK only app; it is linked to Sky Satellite TV services available in the UK. If you are a subscriber to Sky Sports channels, this app will enable you watch them over WiFi or 3G on your iOS device. The quality of the stream is simply stunning and even on a limited 1-MB ADSL connection it is flawless. The app is a universal binary so runs great on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

In my home, it is difficult to get near the TV Remote control due to my wife and two children hogging it all the time, now I can sit down in the evening, catch up on the latest sports news or watch a live Premiership football (soccer) game all from the comfort of my iPad.

A word of warning, Sky Mobile TV is not compatible with iOS 4.2. Sky is working on an update; but it may not be done in time.

[Free - iTunes link]

Farbod's pick: PdaNet (jailbreak)

Much like the popular MyWi, PdaNet allows for tethering your iPhone's 3G signal to another device via either the creation of a wifi hotspot or through a USB connection.

PdaNet requires that your iPhone be jailbroken and it comes with a 14 day free trial. Afterward, there is a $15.99 option to continue using the app without secure sites being blocked.

I very much prefer PdaNet to MyWi as the transitions from on and off are much smoother and PdaNet has a much smaller footprint than MyWi. You can get it on Cydia, give it a try!

Georgia's pick: Connectuss

This puzzle game is your old connect the dots game taken to a new level. Very simple and easy, plus lots of fun!

[Free - iTunes link]

Leanna's pick: Plants vs Zombies HD

Of all the different platforms I have played Plants vs Zombies, the iPad is by far my favorite. PopCap games got me addicted all over again (I even played while my students took an exam). Being able to touch the large screen in multiple places is what makes the experience that much greater.

If you're unfamiliar with the game, the objective is to place plants with special powers that will fight off the zombies that are trying to get into your house. If the zombies get in, they'll eat your brains! There's nothing like a good ol' zombie killing.

[$9.99 - iTunes link]

Rene's pick: Simplenote

On the surface Simplenote is just what its name implies: a simple, universal iPhone/iPad note-taking app. Scratch that surface, however, and what do you find? More surface. Kidding. You find some very interesting sync possibilities, not just for you, but for family teams as well.

We waited a long time to get notes sync on iOS and frankly it never fails to disappoint. Simplenote lets you set up an account and it automagically mirrors the content of the app not just on your iOS devices but with the cross-platform desktop Notational Velocity as well. This is great if you want to quickly type something on your iPhone, update it on your iPad and later view and edit it on your Mac, Linux, or Windows box. But that's just the beginning. Let's say you put both your and your spouse's iPhone on the same Simplenote account. You write down a shopping list and go shopping. She grabs the cereal, deletes it from the list. Boom. It's gone from the list on your iPhone as well. You child at home finishes the milk. They run over to the iPad, add milk to the list. Double boom. It's on both your and your spouse's iPhone and the race to the dairy isle is on! Change spouse to business partner and you can easily use Simplenote to share ideas back and forth on whatever project you're currently working on.

It's not a task manager. It's not a reminder. It doesn't have deep organization or triggers or alarms or location popups. It's simple as the name implies. And sometimes that's just what you need.

[Free - iTunes link]

Your pick?

You’re part of the team as well, so jump into the comments and let us know your pick of the week!

Girls Night Out for iPhone proves a bachelorette party is no fun without a good embarrassing game. This little game is a mixture between "Truth or Dare" and a scavenger hunt. Ideal for a bar or night club environment, this game will send you and your friends off to complete embarrassing and hilarious tasks such as kissing a bald man on the head. There are three different categories: Warm Up, Actions Speak Louder, The Hunter, The Gatherer, 'Naughty Girl' and Truth be Told.

• Over 175 different cards to complete
• Choose to play from six different card categories
• Have the ability to add your own cards
• Two different ways to play the game – Race your friends to complete the same challenge or individual challenges with a time limit

Now for the giveaway! The good folks from Wee Black Sheep Entertainment have generously given us 3 promo codes to give away to you, our awesome readers! To enter, let us know which bar or nightclub you would love to play this game. If you choose to pick this one up, let us know what you think!

Contest begins now and ends Friday, November 12 at 8p EST. (Winners must have a valid US iTunes account. Apple's rule, not ours!)

[$0.99 - iTunes link]

YouTube Link

Trainyard for iPhone combines simplistic graphics and design with puzzles that are not so simple. The concept of the game is to get all the trains into the correct stations without a collision. The first several levels will teach you the basics but after that, you'll definitely be scratching your head.

[iTunes Link]

After learning a couple basics, you'll quickly be sending trains into the correct stations. Then you'll gradually learn more maneuvers and techniques as the courses get more difficult. One thing I really liked about Trainyard is the progression. You don't feel bored but the levels don't overwhelm you either. Before each new trick or maneuver, you'll spend several levels getting to know techniques before adding another.

You'll need to learn techniques such as crossing tracks and merging trains. In some stations, you'll have two trains and a hub that's a different color. For instance, if you have a station that will only accept a green train, you'll need to combine a blue train with a yellow in order to make one green train. The game will only use primary color trains and if you make a bad mix, you'll get an ugly brown train, which no station will accept.

As you get further into the game, you'll have to combine several techniques to get the correct patterns. There isn't only one right solution to many levels though. While you may solve a level one way, another user may solve it another way. Trainyard also lets you upload your solutions to help other users. If you get stuck on a level, you can always view how other users solved those levels on the Trainyard site.

Each level will have a star amount it's worth. You'll need to collect a certain amount of stars in order to unlock new cities. Once you collect all the stars, you'll unlock expert mode which will give you access to even more levels.

Levels also give you the option to clone them. This will let you solve the puzzle more than once since there can literally be hundreds of possible combinations for each level. So if you want a new challenge, try and solve the puzzles in more than one way. The only addition I'd really like to see is GameCenter integration.

Pros

• Difficulty increases at a steady pace
• Graphics and sound effects are simplistic and refreshing
• Sharing solutions is not only a great idea, but incredibly easy
• Longer game play than most puzzle or strategy games

Cons

• No GameCenter integration
• A way to see solutions in app would be awesome

Every week a few of us from team TiPb will bring you our current favorite, funnest, most useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they’re iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch related, they’re fair game.

To see what we picked this week, and to tell us your pick, follow on after the break!

Ally's Pick: Angry Birds Halloween

Angry Birds has been a favorite of many for several months now. I know many others are like me and get super excited when they see updates for it in the app store. Imagine my excitement when I saw Angry Birds Halloween!

The concept is the same as the original with a Halloween twist. There's new achievements to be gained and costumed pigs to defeat. You'll also notice the addition of a few new birds in this game.

This game is a separate purchase through the app store and will run you $0.99 for around 45 levels of Angry Birds goodness.

[$0.99 - iTunes Link]

Andrew's Pick: HauntFinder

Want to go to a haunted house this Halloween, but don't know where to look in order to get the most horrifying experience? Well then, HauntFinder is the app for you! With this single-use app you can find all of the major -- and frightful -- attractions in your area! The app gives you all of the great haunted houses to visit within a 200 mile radius, and contains reviews and more information straight from HauntedHouse.com!

We'd highly recommend this neat little app for Halloween, especially if you aren't sure which haunted house you and your group of friends want to hit up after gorging yourself on all the candy you got from Tick-Or-Treating (you can never be too old to still go every year, right?).

[$2.99 - iTunes link]

Brian's Pick: Doodle Jump

Just in time for Halloween, Doodle Jump has been updated and now has a Halloween level for you to enjoy! Turn Doodle into Doodlestein and navigate your way through zombies, vampires, witches, and other creepy creatures! The update is free for those of you who have had Doodle Jump and they also announced that while you enjoy the new Halloween level they are hard at work at an update for Doodle Jump that will bring Game Center features into their awesomely addictive game!

[$0.99 - iTunes link]

Leanna's Pick: Sex Offenders Search Lite

We teach our children not to talk to or accept candy from strangers - except on Halloween. Children are encouraged to approach the homes of strangers and ask for candy on this one night of the year, but do you really want your child to knock on any door?

Sex Offenders Search Lite allows you to search for sex offenders by your location. It provides the address, name, and crime committed of the offenders. This could be a welcomed addition to your trick-or-treating outing. You can quickly search the neighborhood for sex offenders and make sure your children do not approach the house of someone who has committed a crime against a child. Of course this doesn't offer full protection for your children, but it may ease your mind to know that these homes are being avoided.

[Free - iTunes link]

Rene's Pick: Netflix

Since Halloween is mostly a Canadian and US custom, forgive me for picking Netflix, an app currently available only in those two countries. And, well, Halloween and scary movies were just made for each other. Cream of the crop here is the Apple TV version of Netflix. The interface is so good you just know Apple banned Netflix from the building and built it themselves. The iPhone UI is okay, though the iPad version is basically the website and scarier than any horror movie monster. Let's fix that Netflix, shall we?

But back to the movies. There's tons of them for you to enjoy, from classics to fairly recents. You can stream them live to any of the aforementioned devices and -- the killer feature -- you can start on one, switch to another, and it remembers where you left off and just keeps on playing from there.

So when it's late, the kids have stopped knocking on the door, the candy has been eaten, the jack o'lanterns have burned down, and everything is dark and quiet, tap on Netflix and queue up a good Halloween fright film. Then another.

[Free + Netflix subscription - iTunes link]

Your pick?

You’re part of the team as well, so jump into the comments and let us know your Halloween pick of the week!

Amazon has released Windowshop for iPad. If you use Amazon as frequently as I do, you may already realize that the current iPhone and iPad offerings are pretty grim.  I've never been a huge fan of the Amazon app as it seems to just be a mobile version of the site shoved into an app.  Windowshop seems to bridge that gap quite nicely on the iPad and it's now available in the App Store as a free download.

It does an extremely nice job of separating categories and allowing you to quickly switch between them.  To me, this is a lot less tedious compared to weeding through search results and refining them.  Your categories will simply appear at the top and you'll be presented with columns of search results.  From there, you can simply pick the best category at the top that best suits what you're looking for and just search within that section.  If they could make a scaled down version of this for the iPhone as well, I'd be all set!  Pick it up and give it a shot, and of course, let us know what you think!

[iTunes Link]

We City is the latest addition to ngmoco's successful We Rule and We Farm line of games for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. We City has the same flavor as We Rule and We Farm with the goal of building your city and making it as awesome as you can. There are over 100 buildings and decorations like cafes, salons, apartments, hospitals, and even hot dog stands.

As with their other games, We City is powered by the plus+ network so that you can play with your friends and speed up your progress through the game.

However, there's no Game Center support (yet?). Did ngmoco miss that memo?

If you pick this one up, let us know what you think. Is it better than We Rule and We Farm?

Screenshots after the break!

[Free - iPad iTunes link - iPhone iTunes link]

GV Mobile+ for iPhone made its first appearance in the app store a while back before it got quickly pulled, along with any other Google Voice type app.  Google cried foul, the FCC got involved, and we saw no type of Google voice app for quite a while.  Since Apple revised their App Store approval process, GV Mobile+ has made it's second debut in the App Store.

[iTunes Link]

GV Mobile+ is one app you can use to connect to Google Voice.  For those of you not familiar with the service, it basically allows you to choose a Google Voice phone number (free) with which you can use to forward calls to any number.  The Google Voice service used to be under the name Grand Central.  I think the Grand Central name was a little less confusing.  Keep in mind, Google Voice is not a VoIP service, so you'll still use your plan minutes.  The main idea behind it is you can give everyone one number and it'll forward all your calls to whatever number you choose.

One perk Google Voice does offer is free SMS.  GV Mobile+ has an extremely nice layout which integrates your current address book and you'll be able to text anyone from your Google Voice number the same way you'd send a regular text via the Messages app.  For a lot of people, this could be an excellent way to get rid of texting completely.  I wouldn't recommend it just yet though.  One big feature GV Mobile+ is lacking is push notifications.  It's rather annoying to have to keep checking the app to see if you've received new messages.  Push is supposed to be coming in an update.  I'm not quite sure why it wasn't there upon launch.  If you're really looking to ditch texting quickly, there are always workarounds.  I currently use Notifo [iTunes Link] to send me push notifications for Google Voice.  You can set it up online and it'll only take about 5 minutes of your time.  Growl apps and other push services will also work just fine until GV Mobile+ is updated to support push.

The app is dead simple to use and even allows you to create a separate favorites list than the one in your current address book.  The app gives you all the main features of Google voice in one neat package.  Along the bottom you've got your dial pad (phone book), SMS, History, Voicemail, and Settings.  When you place a call, your phone will ring (from yourself) and you'll simply answer and it'll connect the call.  It's dead simple to use.  SMS works just as you'd expect it, and voicemail sends down not only the audio but the translations as well.

Push is still a huge factor that keeps this app from being awesome.  Once push is added, I think it'll be amazing.  I've tested having someone leave a voicemail or texting my GV numher while I'm in the app and I'll get it pretty much instantly.  If push will be that quick, I can see several people using this app as their main communication app.  I know I would.  Let's cross our fingers it comes quick!

As a side note, in my video I wasn't sure what call presentation did. As a helpful YouTube user pointed out, call presentation is the feature that asks unknown callers to state their name before it connects to you. You can then hear their name and choose to either accept or deny the call. Neat!

Pros

• Slick interface

• Easy to set up

• Extremely responsive (no crashes or failed calls as of yet)

Cons

• No push (yet)

GetGlue for iPhone and iPad [iTunes Link] are social networking sites where you can let your friends know what you're watching, reading, playing, or thinking about.  Similar to FourSquare and Gowalla, you check in to show your friends what you're up to.  You can also leave reviews on pretty much everything and people can then like your comments or let you know if they find them helpful.  As you check into things, you can earn stickers for your favorite items. You can also choose to have those stickers mailed to you once you collect 7. Click through for more screenshots and another video featuring the iPad version!

When signing up for GetGlue, you can choose two ways. You can either create a GetGlue account or just simply connect with FaceBook. After that, you can immediately start checking in and subscribing to other people's feeds. GetGlue recently released an iPad app in addition to their iPhone app. They also have a GetGlue app for Android users as well. The general feel of GetGlue somewhat reminds me of Netflix, which isn't a bad thing. Instead of NetFlix offering you suggestions simply based on your ratings and previous watched, your friends and followers can too. As you rate different movies, games, tv shows, and topics - you'll collect more stickers and see more recommendations tailored to your personal tastes.

I've been using GetGlue for a little over a month now and I really enjoy the service. I've found some interesting movies and shows through the app and through comments other users have left for me. GetGlue has also recently announced their partnerships with such networks like Fox, Showtime, PBS, HBO, and Universal. You can now collect exclusive stickers for shows such as The Big C, Dexter, Glee, and several others. Aside from checking in and viewing your subscriber feed from your iPhone or iPad, you can also log into GetGlue on your computer at GetGlue.com. GetGlue is free in the app store. If you've already checked it out, let us know what you think in the comments!

Pros

• Learn about new movies, music, and shows through your friends and subscriptions

• Easy sign-up with FaceBook connect

• View trailers directly from movies or show pages

• Wealth of info available for several titles

Cons

• No retina display support for iPhone 4 (yet)

• Multi-tasking doesn't appear to be present yet

• Subscriber counts is off at times (probably a bug that can be easily addressed)

YouTube Link

As usual, Steve Jobs began his Apple music event keynote today by giving a breakdown of iOS devices sold to date -- 120,000,000. It took them from June 2007 to June 2010 to reach 100,000,000 and only 3 months to add another 20,000,000 on top of that. Jobs also said they're activating new devices at a rate of 230,000 a day.

While older, 2007 devices are no longer compatible with iOS 4, iPad apps won't run on iPhone, and camera apps won't run on iPad or older iPod touches, that's still a huge number of broadly compatible devices for developers to target. Case in point...

App Store downloads have hit 6.5 billion, which is an astonishing number. And yes, whoosh, that's increasing at a rate of 200 a second. There are 250,000 apps in the App Store now, 25,000 of which are iPad apps.

iTunes meanwhile hit 11.7 billion songs, 450 million TV shows, 100 million movies, 35 million books, and 116 million accounts.

In terms of Apple Retail Stores, they now have 300 in 10 countries with one in Spain set to increase both counts soon. On some days they get more than 1 million visitors. They teach 80,000 one-to-one classes a week. Over 50% of Mac buyers are new to the platform.

We reviewed Clearcam for iPhone last week, and this week, the developer was nice enough to share some promo codes with us to give out to you guys! Since our review, the developer released an update to the app that fixed some of the issues I had, such as some shots coming out a bit blurry for an unknown reason. He's also added a few tweaks that have made the overall image quality even better!

What do you have to do to get your hands on a code you ask? Simply leave a comment below, that's it. We'll pick a handful of you at random on Friday to win some codes.  Remember! To win a code, you must leave a comment with a VALID e-mail address. If I can't send you an e-mail at the account you left the comment with, another comment will be selected.

UPDATE: Give-away is over, winners after the break!

And don't forget, we also do giveaways on Twitter from time to time randomly, so if you haven't already, follow us on Twitter for chances to win other promo codes as well!

TiPb - @TiPb

Rene - @ReneRitchie

Jeremy - @jfsikora

Georgia - @GeorgiaTiPb

Leanna - @llofte

Ally - @iMuggle

The developers of Clearcam are also on Twitter, so give them a follow as well!

@occipital

@twoteethtech

• apeach
• Todd
• E Pow
• Cheerios
• shinseiromeo
• Brb
• Scott
• Ricky
• Eduardo Freitas
• Jason
• Samouflage
• Tesh
• Jailbreak4ever
• Mo
• TrickyD

Congrats!

Chaos Rings fans rejoice! The big hit by Square Enix is now available for iPad. Users have been enjoying the iPhone version for some time now, but the new iPad version supports 1024x768px HD resolutions so you can experience beautiful graphics, detailed backgrounds, intricate character expressions, and intense battle scenes on the iPad's large screen. The RPG features

• Amazingly smooth 3D graphics
• Gorgeous sound that takes full advantage of the iPad powerful hardware
• A deep story with unique twists for every pair and multiple endings
• Traditional game and battle systems polished to perfection
• Hours upon hours of gameplay, complete with hidden bosses, secret weapons, and more

In celebration of the release of Chaos Rings for iPad, Square Enix is offering all of their games at a discounted price for two weeks. So if there's a title of theirs that you've been meaning to pick up, now's the time.

If you choose to pick up Chaos Rings for iPad, be sure to tell us what you think!

[$15.99 - iTunes link, Square Enix - iTunes link, touchArcade]

Apple has begun filing patent applications for 1st party (i.e. Apple produced) iOS apps that include screen drawings of well known 3rd party (i.e. independently produced by developers for the App Store) apps.

Is Apple trying to steal the hard work and shatter the good will of App Store developers? Is Apple merely showing how App Store apps could hook into future Apple apps/hubs? Is it something in between?

Let's take a look after the break...

[Venomous Porridge, Thanks Dev for the tip!]

Venomous Porridge originally posted the image up to and this commentary:

one of the diagrams in Apple’s patent application for a travel app is a direct copy, down to the text and the positions of the icons, of an existing third-party app that’s been available on the App Store for years.

I can’t see how this is even close to OK.

The image is chilling for developers, especially since it doesn't appear like Apple contacted them to let them know they were using it, and doesn't appear to really explain the context of the usage in the application. That Apple would use an exact rendering of an existing app, when they could easily make their own, far more defensible artwork, is curious. That they show it clearly labeled as "Where To?" is more than curious.

FutureTap, the makers of Where To? said they did not have any deals in place with Apple for the patent and posted the following:

We’re faced with a situation where we’ve to fear that our primary business partner is trying to “steal” our idea and design. So how to deal with that? — As some of you know, we’ve always been more than grateful for the platform Apple created. And, in fact, still are. However, we can’t ignore it if the #1 recognition value of our (currently) only app potentially is under fire.

This is where a lot of coverage has ended to date. A few excellent comments have kept it moving forward, however. Macro Arment of Tumblr and Instapaper added:

Is it possible that Where To is being intentionally and innocently used as an example of a related app as an inconsequential portion of the much larger and more complex patented concept that wouldn’t interfere with it?

Brian Ford adds:

The other clue that this isn’t about an underhanded attempt to patent the Where To app is that various pictures showing several completely unrelated app designs are all used to describe this same patent. None of the other drawings are consistent.

Venomous Porridge subsequently updated with a second post

I think it’s more likely that the people involved in drawing up this patent simply didn’t think about the message it would send to developers. I’m sure it’s not Apple’s practice (or intention) to plunder the App Store submissions bin for new things to patent. But there remains a conflict of interest in Apple acting as the sole steward of the iOS software universe while also filing patents in areas that have long been staked out by third-party developers. If those developers suddenly get cold feet toward submitting innovative apps for fear of their ideas suddenly appearing in Apple’s patent filings, it will be hard to blame them.

Which is pretty much how this reads. Apple is the giant in their forest and sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally they'll step on the far, far smaller villagers who inhabit it. If enough villagers pick up torches and pitchforks and make enough noise, the Apple giant might pause, shrug, say "my bad" and be try to be more careful for a while, but it will always be the giant in their own forest.

It would behoove Apple none the less, especially since developer relations have been tense over the years, to try and create a preemptive strategy in terms of reaching out and assuaging developer fears. If they're going to include Where To? or other app screens in their patents, create a process where that's noted in draft and the developer is contacted and given context.

Ultimately it doesn't look like Apple is being evil here, just inconsiderate.

Tweetings for iPhone is a full featured Twitter client complete with push notifications.  Last week we looked at the iPad version of Tweetings, so this week we'll look at the iPhone version.  In many ways, it's very similar.  The layout is extremely similar and it also offers things such as push notifications.  The iPhone version also adds themes into the mix as well.

It's definitely a worthy contender against the big guys like Twitter for iPhone (formerly Tweetie) and Twitteriffic.  Read on for screens, a feature run down, and how you can win a copy of Tweetings for iPhone from TiPb!

Much like the iPad version of Tweetings, the iPhone version includes features such as list support, combined direct messages, support for iOS4, push notifications, now playing support, and FaceBook integration. It also adds themes into the mix. There are a total of seven themes to choose from. They are silver, carbon (dark), plain, speech bubbles (glossy), speech bubbles (matte), shadows, and shadows evolved. I'm a fan of shadows evolved as it's simple but clean. It adds subtle gradients. Themes are, of course, a matter of personal preference. I'm a fan of simple and clean. I've never been a fan of the themes within Twittelator Pro as they seem to always be overdone. Even making my own, I can never get something quite "simple" enough for my liking. It may just be the layout that doesn't do it for me. I just want to be able to access what I need, when I need it without having to search or dig through menus.

For those of you who didn't read my iPad review, Tweetings has built-in push notifications. I tested this against Boxcar and the results were pretty good. At some points Boxcar would chime in a little ahead and vice versa with Tweetings sometimes pushing to me quicker. My conclusion was that it probably just depended on how loaded the servers were. They were pretty much neck and neck.

You also have support for services like Instapaper, you can configure them right from within your settings. Your settings panel can be accessed either within app or through your general iPhone settings.

Viewing user's profiles within Tweetings is simple enough and allows you options like follow and unfollow as well as showing you their bio and their location (if they've chosen to share this).

Another feature I like about Tweetings is combined timelines, which allows you to view a conversation between any 2 people you choose. If someone tags you in a tweet and you aren't sure why, you can always use the combined timeline feature to figure out where you came into the conversation.

Overall, Tweetings for iPhone is an incredibly decent Twitter client with an awesome developer that completely backs their work. You can always contact the developer with questions or concerns via Twitter via the handle @Tweetingsapp.

Pros

• Built in push notifications
• Great developer support
• Frequent updates
• Good theme selection
• Pull down to refresh

Cons

• Sometimes a little laggy when scrolling (most of these seemed to be fixed in the last update, only when scrolling rather quickly does this happen)
• Some clients out there are just as good for a bit cheaper, if Boxcar hadn't of went free, Tweetings would be ahead due to native push
• Sometimes crashes after changing a theme or using the nearby feature, hopefully this will be fixed in an update

Giveaway!

[US iTunes App Store account required to redeem Promo Codes -- Apple's rule, not TiPb's -- and they expire so if you get one, use it quickly!]

YouTube Link

As you all know, we've been watching the App Store for iOS4 compatible updates. We've found a few we think are worthy of a postup, and as normal, if you guys find anything especially awesome, feel free to leave it in a comment or send it to me in an e-mail (ally (dot) kazmucha (at) tipb (dot) com) and if we think it's awesome too, we'll include it in our next roundup!

Hit the jump to see what we found lurking in the App Store this time!

Bing

Bing is relatively new to the search game, but it's definitely holding it's own. As far as search engines go, I'm a fan of how Bing is organized and how it now interacts with your social networks. Bing is now updated for iOS4 support (mainly multitasking). There was no talk of support for the retina display for iPhone 4, and I'm really hoping this is something Microsoft will eventually add. It's already got a beautiful layout, that would just make it even more enjoyable to look at.

[iTunes Link]

CoPilot

CoPilot is a popular navigation app.  There are several versions of CoPilot, so you'd have to find the one that's for your country.  It provides turn by turn satellite navigation and it's now compatible with iOS4 and offers background navigation.  It'll even continue giving your directions while talking on the phone.  CoPilot has also added support for the iPhone 4's retina display.

[iTunes Link] - (North American Version)

Gowalla

Now this is an app I use on a daily basis and for the past few weeks, the GPS glitches had been driving me nuts. It would tell me I was somewhere I definitely was not, and it was creating spots in the wrong places for a lot of people. They released an update recently that allows support for iOS4 but there was one little problem, every single time you'd open Gowalla, if it was backgrounded, it refused to update your GPS location until you physically closed the task and reopened it, then it would show GPS accurately (some of the time). I was surprised to see Gowalla released an update so quickly, but the new one seems to solve the GPS not refreshing. I have also noticed for the past few days, it's been spot on, which is a nice change. There's also now support for the iPhone 4 retina display. Badges and Pins have been tweaked a bit and overall, I'd say I'm happy with this update. It really needed it, and I'm glad to see Gowalla has responded to user issues quickly.

[iTunes Link]

Waze

Waze is a unique type of social networking application that's based upon movement. On top of that, it's also a completely free turn by turn nav app that'll give you traffic reports. The most recent update to Waze adds support for backgrounding and Facebook integration. The app will automatically kill the background task after 10 minutes of no movement. If you've experimented with it, let us know what you think in the comments!

[iTunes Link]

Osfoora

I'm relatively new to Osfoora (finally caved and got it after several people suggested it). I'm definitely not disappointed and it's my main Twitter client (for now anyways, I'm pretty shallow when it comes to Twitter clients). The most recent update to Osfoora adds support for iOS4 via multitasking. I didn't see anything about an update for the iPhone 4 retina display but the icons look sharper. I could just be seeing things, anyone else catch this or is it still the same? Overall, Osfoora is incredibly quick and multitasking will take you right where you left off. You can also upload a picture or video in the background, which to me is extremely useful, especially when I'm in areas with crappy Edge service.

[iTunes Link]

FarmVille is a widely popular real-time farm simulation game created by Zynga. It was originally created as a flash game for Facebook and eventually became available at farmville.com. Players can now farm on go with the most recent version of FarmVille on the iPhone.

If you have already invested a lot of time with a farm on Facebook, FarmVille for the iPhone allows you to access your existing farm via Facebook Connect. If you're a new farmer, you can create a new farm with the app; however, you must have a Facebook account to play.

Farming on the iPhone is much better than on the web. Although the game takes a long time to load, there is no lag while playing - this can't be said for the flash-based version. It's a quick tap to harvest anything which makes collecting from animals and trees nice and quick. To use a tractor, tap and hold a plot of land, then drag across the other plots you want to plow; your plowing can take any shape and does not have to be in groups of four at a time (like on the web). When your crops are ready to harvest, FarmVille sends you push notification.

You can also visit your neighbor's farms, send and receive gifts, purchase coins and FV cash, access the market, organize your farm, and much more. The only FarmVille feature that seems to be missing is co-op farming. There is also one bug; sometimes the harvest indicators for tress and animals are misaligned making it difficult to know which object needs to be harvested.

Zynga did a great job with FarmVille on the iPhone, and now I rarely play FarmVille on the web. Now, if Zynga would make FarmVille a universal app for iPhone and iPad, a farmers life would be complete!

[Free - iTunes link]

Pros

• Tractoring is better than web version
• Special iPhone only items (like Snow Leopard)

Cons

• Takes over 40 seconds to load (on wifi)
• Many harvest indicators for trees and animals are misaligned
• Must have a Facebook account

Tweetings for iPad is a relatively new Twitter client.  It comes not only for iPad, but iPhone and Mac as well (we'll look at the iPhone version next time).  Tweetings is all around a very full featured Twitter client.  It has everything from unread tweet management, geolocation tagging, now playing, nearby tweets, and even push notifications.

Tweetings has also recently been updated to support iOS 4 and iPhone 4.  The update also fixed a couple bugs including one that really irked me -- scrolling.  It only did it with certain themes but it was irritating nonetheless.  The problem seems to have disappeared since the update.

Read on for a breakdown, pics, and how you can win a free copy of Tweetings for iPad!

For the most part, Tweetings should be very familiar to you if you've used clients such as Twitter for iPhone (formerly Tweetie 2). Tweetings comes complete with pull down to refresh and even carries familiar UI elements to Twitter/Tweetie 2. To me, that's part of what I really loved. The UI isn't completely overdone. I'm a fan of simple and elegant; a streamlined UI is typically what wins me over. It's typically the reason I've stuck with Twitter for iPhone, the interface and simplicity.

Don't let Tweetings completely fool you though, it may look simple but it carries some pretty advanced features. It also has native push. I attempted to test this by keeping Boxcar active and the push for Tweetings. For the most part, it was touch and go. Sometimes Boxcar would chime in first, other times Tweetings would. I'm only going to assume this has to do with how busy both servers are at any given time. Either way, I'd call it a pretty fair fight.

From the screenshot above, you can see how Tweetings also has a feature that will allow me to combine two users timelines together. It's very similar to a conversation type feature, but I somewhat like it better. Say I wasn't sure what Leanna was replying to, well if she @ replied me with any tweet, and not that specific one, a conversation tool wouldn't pick that up, where completely combining our timelines, I can easily read through and pick out what she was talking about. This to me is extremely useful and intuitive.

Direct Messages are also now grouped by user, which I prefer. No one likes scrolling through pages of direct messages searching for something. I believe this was implemented in the most recent update as well.

The iPad version also has a quickpost feature which I like quite a bit. It just brings a little box down and monitors your characters. If you'd like to attach a photo or other type of media, just go to the regular compose screen.

Clicking on a user's display picture will also present you with a quick view of ways you can interact with that user, which I find extremely useful.

You can also click on the physical tweet to be presented with several more options including seeing that users profile, location, and of course, your combined timelines.

There's also a lot of fun extras I found within Tweetings such as TweetCost, a spam reporter, and a block feature. You can also tweet now playing, which will probably be a fun feature for a lot of users.

Overall, I'd say Tweetings is an all-around solid choice. I experienced a few bugs here and there, but the developer seems pretty quick to fix them. He can also be found on twitter with the handle @Tweetingsapp. He's very responsive to issues and questions. So if you're in the market for a Twitter client or you're bored of your current one, I'd have no issues telling you to give Tweetings a try. It's very reasonably priced for what it is. If you decide to take it for a spin, or currently use it, let us know your thoughts in the comments!

[iTunes Link]

Pros

• Reasonably priced
• Tons of basic and advanced features
• Lots of extras
• Great developer support and frequent updates
• Available across 3 platforms
• Built-in push that actually works

Cons

• Experienced a few crashed in the iPad version
• Sometimes conversation view doesn't catch everything
• Settings panel could be simplified just a bit, it could be a bit overwhelming to Twitter beginners

Give-away

Want a free copy of Tweetings for iPad? Just leave a comment below telling us what you want in an iPad Twitter client. What feature is most important to you?

(Reminder: Promo codes require a US App Store account -- Apple's rule, not ours! -- and they expire. If you get one, use it quickly!)

[YouTube Link]

iMovie for iPhone 4 is a video editing application designed by Apple. iMovie is also the name of the video editing software included in iLife, which is bundled with every Mac. iMovie is only available for iPhone 4. (Don't be sad, it needs the extra RAM and Apple A4 processing power).

As with most Apple products, iMovie is very easy to use and is fairly intuitive. If a tap doesn't do what you want, a double tap will. iMovie can be used in either portrait or landscape, but landscape seems more natural for me.

While in editing mode, the top center of the screen shows your movies, the bottom of the screen has the timeline, and the sides of the screen have options: projects, upload media, upload media directly from camera, and play. When choosing media to add to your project, there are three tabs: video, photos, and music. Videos are listed in reverse chronological order, but photos are listed in chronological order. I find this annoying because it's very likely that the photo I want to choose was recently taken and scrolling through hundreds a photos every time gets tedious. Not to mention, scrolling through photos is very laggy. This needs to be fixed.

Editing your movie is a breeze. You can drag clips around, trim the edges of clips, add titles, quickly switch between themes, and make minor edits to transitions. If there is a clip or photo you want to remove, just drag it off the timeline. There is one thing I want to mention about titles, however. They are very nice, but you cannot edit their length. Titles are automatically the same length as the clip you have the title attached to. Another simple feature that is missing is the ability to add plain text against a colored background.

Although there are a few little things missing from iMovie, I found it to be an excellent and quick way to edit a video. This is the first release of this app and I look forward to the changes that Apple may bring to it in the future. For only $4.99, iMovie is worth every penny.

Video and screenshots after the break! (To see a completed movie that was created with iMovie, check out my quick review of the iPhone 4's camera)

Pros

• Very easy to use
• Comes with 5 themes: Modern, Bright, Travel, Playful, News
• Can add your own music or chose from Apple's theme music
• Export as, medium (360p), large (540p), or HD (720p)

Cons

• Titles last the entire duration of clip, with no option to set the length.
• Cannot add more than one audio track
• Cannot split clips
• Must pan over images. Cannot have entire photo displayed in video.
• Searching through photo library has major lag
• Photos are listed in chronological order instead of reverse chronological order
• Cannot add a text slide

[$4.99 - iTunes link]

MathBoard for iPad is an educational application designed to help you or your child excel in arithmetic operations. The level of difficulty is customizable, making MathBoard a great learning tool for children in kindergarten through elementary school as well as adults who wish to brush up on their basic math skills.

MathBoard is simply a multiple choice quiz generator. You can customize which topics you wish to be quizzed on, how many questions are in the quiz, and what range of numbers you want in the problems. Topics include addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, squares, cubes, and square roots.

While taking a quiz, there is a small area at the bottom of the screen where you can use your finger (or stylus, if you prefer) to work on the problem as if you were using a pencil and paper. This is an excellent feature of MathBoard, however, the area is too small. For example, when working out a multiplication problem of two numbers with two or more digits, you quickly run out of space to complete all the calculations in the traditional manner. Instead, you must continue your work next to the work you already did. This can be very confusing for a child who is new to the procedure. I would like to either see a pop-up to do scratch work on or landscape support. Most of these problems require vertical space to work out and rotating to landscape may solve the lack of space issue.

After completing the quiz, MathBoard displays your score and gives an option to save the quiz. If you do, you can come back to it later and retake the entire quiz or just the questions you got wrong.

Despite the small scratch work space, MathBoard is an excellent application for learning arithmetic. The interface is very beautiful and much more enjoyable than taking printed quizzes with pencil and paper!

Video and screenshots after the break!

Pros

• Excellent problem generator
• Includes addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, squares, cubes, and square roots
• Option to allow negative numbers
• Quizzes can have 10-250 problems
• Select number ranges from 0 to 1000
• Option to time quiz
• Space to do "scratch work"

Cons

• Scratch work space is too small
• No landscape support

[$2.99 - iTunes link]

As announced during the WWDC 2010 keynote, the widely popular guitar game Guitar Hero is now available for iPhone and iPod touch.

With Guitar Hero, you will be able to "play" songs from multiple rock artists by tapping, strumming and sliding to the music. It also features robust avatar customization and social integration so you can share to Facebook and view leaderboards.

Guitar Hero will include the following tracks:

• Queen – “We Are The Champions”
• Rise Against – “Savior”
• The Rolling Stones – “Paint It Black”
• Vampire Weekend – “Cousins”
• Weezer – “Say It Ain’t So”
• The White Stripes – “Seven Nation Army”

In addition, you will be able to download song packs via in-app purchase. Each song pack contains three songs and is grouped by the following artists:

• The Faint, Minus the Bear and Silversun Pickups
• Band of Skulls, Obits and The White Stripes
• Darkest Hour, The Dillinger Escape Plan and Protest the Hero
• A Day to Remember, AFI and Breaking Benjamin
• Vampire Weekend
• Queen

If you pick this one up, let us know what you think! Are you a rockstar yet?

[$2.99 - iTunes link]

So you have an iPhone and you use Twitter, but with the plethora of Twitter applications available in the App Store (including one that just went official), which do you chose? TiPb is here to help with a Twitter app roundup! Now this is not your typical top 5 or top 10 must-have, best Twitter app list. This is about options and alternatives, and Ally, Leanna, and guest writer Alli Flowers have chosen the following 12 to review and help narrow your search:

• Twitter for iPhone
• Twitbit
• Tweeterena
• Osfoora
• HootSuite
• SimplyTweet 3
• Tweetdeck
• Twitterrific
• Twitbird Pro
• Twittelator Pro
• Echofon
• Fluttr

To see what we had to say, follow us after the break!

Twitter for iPhone

Previously known as Tweetie, Twitter for iPhone [Free - iTunes link] is the official Twitter application from Twitter. It is full featured and easy to use. Swiping a tweet will get you reply options, and tapping the tweet will allow you to view attached photos or url’s. The swipe to reply seems so natural, and it’s uncluttered. Likewise with Tweetie’s settings - you know exactly what you’re looking at and what will happen if you turn something OFF or ON.

— Alli

Twitbit

If you're looking for a Twitter client with fast and reliable push, Twitbit [$2.99 - iTunes link] is the app for you. However, an excellent push notification system isn't the only thing appealing about Twitbit. The UI is very clean and clutter free. On the bottom toolbar, you will find tabs for your timeline, mentions, messages, lists, and more. Twitbit comes with 4 themes: Gradients, Dark, Plain, and Chat.

The two main complaints about Twitbit is the lack of "quick reply" from the timeline and no option to "reply all". The most impressive feature is how quickly notifications are pushed to your iPhone. Notifications are received within seconds of them being sent.

The developers of Twitbit regularly release updates and do an excellent job of replying to users and adding requested features.

— Leanna

Tweeterena Series

Tweeterena currently comes in 3 flavors; Tweeterena Lite [Free - iTunes link], Tweeterena [$0.99 - iTunes link], and Tweeterena Pro [$3.99 - iTunes link]. The free version is ad-supported while the $0.99 version is sans ads. Tweeterena Pro will get you the following features, which the cheaper versions leave out:

• Multiple Account Support
• Facebook integration
• Custom Backgrounds
• Quick watch user functionality
• Friend grouping

I spent most of my time with the Pro version. As far as I’m concerned, Tweeterena (Pro version or not) has little improvement since I last evaluated it. In terms of functionality, it doesn’t offer anything some other clients offer for a lower price or even free. My biggest issue with Tweeterena was honestly the general layout and color schemes. They just don’t work well. You get funky shading that just doesn’t look right over the backgrounds. Also, custom backgrounds are somewhat very misleading. You don’t get to customize your background throughout the entire layout, only in the compose screen. So to me, that just doesn’t cut it when several other clients that offer that allow it through the entire thing. And lastly, the settings are split up. Part are found in-app and part are in settings, which to me makes no sense. My honest opinion is that there are much better clients out there for cheaper that are a much better value.

— Ally

Osfoora for Twitter

Osfoora [$2.99 - iTunes link] offeres a clean UI with all the features anyone could want. “Borrowing” from Tweetie, Osfoora allows you to pull down to refresh in any view. While Osfoora has been my primary Twitter client for about a month, my main complaint is that you must tap on a tweet in order to Reply All. Otherwise, tap/hold will get you the typical reply options. I have two favorite things about Osfoora. One: it does a super job of showing conversation threads. Two: the Osfoora developer is extremely active on Twitter, and very responsive to user requests.

— Alli

HootSuite

HootSuite [$2.99 - iTunes link] is a cute little twitter app that also supports Facebook integration. If you use ow.ly to shrink your links, HootSuite will display your stats of shared links.

Unlike most Twitter clients, HootSuite uses columns instead of tabs as method of switching between your timeline, mentions, DM's, etc. To switch between columns, just swipe left or right from your current column. The advantage to columns is that you can add and remove and organize custom columns so you can taylor your experience Twitter to you.

HootSuite is missing one important feature: conversation view. Reading conversations is a huge part of my Twitter experience, so I find the lack of support very disappointing. HootSuite also does not support push notifications. Other than those two missing things, HootSuite is an excellent Twitter client.

— Leanna

SimplyTweet 3

SimplyTweet 3 [$4.99 - iTunes link] was honestly one of my favorite clients I reviewed. It’s drop dead simple to navigate around and very similar in style to Tweetie 2. Along the bottom you have all of your essential functions.

One thing I really enjoyed about using SimplyTweet 3 was how fast it was. SimplyTweet also supports all your essential functions. A major plus of SimplyTweet is built-in push. I was a little skeptical at first, but it was extremely quick. And the conversations view is something I really wish other clients would start implementing.

Final thoughts on SimplyTweet 3? It’s an extremely decent twitter client. At $4.99, it’s a bit steep compared to some other respectable options. Either way – if you’d like built-in push bundled with a twitter client with a great UI and easy to navigate interface, SimplyTweet may just be for you.

— Ally

TweetDeck

If you like TweetDeck on your desktop, you might very well be happy with TweetDeck [Free -iTunes link] on your iPhone - especially since it’s free. I love being able to view my tweets in columns (similar to Twitter lists). It can save you time when you don’t really want to look through your entire follow timeline - especially if you follow a large number of people. All the basic features of any Twitter client are included in TweetDeck, and I really can find no fault in it. Columns begin zoomed out so that you can scroll left and right between them, and when a column is chosen, it zooms in so that you can scroll up and down through the tweets. TweetDeck’s columns work the same way as the views on every other client, but with a little more flexibility in that you decide exactly who you want in each column. Not much variety in design - you can choose from “dark” or “light.”

— Alli

Twitterrific

Twitterrific was the first Twitter application released with the launch of iPhone OS 2.0. So it has been around for a long time and has seen many improvements and won many design awards. Twitterrific is available in two versions: a free, ad supported version [iTunes link], and a premium ad-free version [$4.99 - iTunes link]. Neither versions include push.

Those design awards were well earned as style is what Twitterrific does best. The UI is beautiful and you can easily change font size with a tap of a button on the timeline. Twitterrific includes 3 themes: Raven, Snowy, and Basic. It also offers the unique option of left-handed controls. Twitterrific is an excellent full-featured Twitter client with a wonderful design.

— Leanna

Twitbird Pro

Another client that showed up on the Twitter scene not too long ago that pleasantly surprised me is Twitbird Pro [$2.99 - iTunes link] Not only is Twitbird Pro rich with features, there are tons of customization options, including changing your wallpaper throughout the entire app, which I enjoyed. Twitbird Pro has a very unique conversations view which was implemented extremely well. Twitbird Pro also has built-in push services. There’s a slight catch though. The push that comes with Twitbird Pro only supports push between Twitbird Pro users. If you’d like global push from all Twitter users, that’ll cost you $2.99 for the upgrade in-app. I did not buy the push service, so if anyone has any hands-on, sound off in the comments about the reliability/speed. Boxcar supports Twitbird Pro, so I just set Boxcar to open Twitbird Pro and had no issues. My verdict is that TwitBird Pro has tons of potential. The implementation and layout is almost there, but not quite.

— Ally

Twittelator Pro

Twittelator Pro [$4.99 - iTunes link] was the first truly great Twitter app for iPhone. There are so many options it can sometimes be confusing. Perhaps when iPhone 4 is released, there will be a real purpose to having sounds on new tweets, but for now it’s a feature that you can’t take much advantage of, and due to the lame nature of the sounds… you probably wouldn’t want to. Nonetheless, Twittelator Pro does everything: sounds, themes, conversations, photos, geotagging, you name it. For some reason, scrolling quickly to the top in Twittelator Pro is disconcerting. One tap goes up a page, two taps goes straight to the top. It just seems like one option too many. Replying to a tweet in Twittelator Pro can be a trial. Double tap the time shown on the right to quick reply, tap the avatar for the full set of options beneath the user’s profile.

— Alli

Echofon

Echofon for Twitter is one of the few Twitter clients that offer push notifications. The free, ad-supported version [iTunes link] only pushes mentions and DMs from other Echofon users. The "pro" ad-free version [$4.99 - iTunes link] sends notifications from all Twitter users.

If you are looking for reliable push notifications, Echofon is not for you. I highly recommend test-driving the free version before purchasing the ad-free version to see if push meets your standards. If you're a FireFox or Mac (or both) user, one great feature of Echofon is that it syncs unread tweets across all platforms.

One thing that some people may love and others may hate is that conversations are viewed with oldest on top. This is obviously the most natural way to read a conversation, but I find it a bit awkward because it goes against the Twitter style.

Other than my disappointment with push notifications, I view Echofon to be a great Twitter client.

— Leanna

Fluttr

My last client was Fluttr [$2.99 – iTunes link]. I somewhat decided to review Fluttr last minute. I was browsing the app store and the layout looked pretty slick.

Unfortunately, I don’t have too much to say at this time. Every time I tried to test it out, I got tons of API errors and it never wanted to load my mentions (see screenshots).

From what I could get out of it, it had the same problem TwitBird Pro has with mentions. You have to click back to the home screen in order to access anything. To me, it’s a bit redundant, as you shouldn’t have to do that for main functions. They should be easily accessible all along the bottom. The UI is put together very nicely and I think it’s a client to definitely keep an eye on. A few good quality updates and it could be a good contender. It does have several features including lists. If I could have used them without getting errors, I may have been more willing to give it more time on my main iPhone home screen. The bugs are what keep me from recommending it as of now. Either way – jump down for screens!

— Ally

Conclusion

Given the packed field of competition amongst Twitter clients, the winner will have to have something very special. Something way beyond push notification or themes. I know several people who continue using the first Twitter client they tried when they got their iPhones. Some of us (like the three of us bringing you this roundup), keep trying new Twitter apps in search of that je ne sais quoi. We’ll know it when we see it, I’m sure. But we have to keep trying them all, and discovering which tiny things we love and which we dislike, waiting for that one perfect app that puts all our favorites together in one beautiful package. Which one is right for you? Heck if we know - we can’t even decide which is right for ourselves. But this is truly a case of it being the trip and not the destination that makes it all worth the ride.

The popular IM client BeejiveIM is now available on iPad. It offers much of the same functionality of it's iPhone cousin, but really takes advantage of the iPad screen real estate. Here are the key features that BeejiveIM boasts to bring:

• Reliable and efficient networking: be connected 24/7, and it's gentle on your battery
• Be connected even after you close the application. Get notified instantly when you get a new message with push notifications
• Works with multiple IM networks, multiple accounts per network: AIM/iChat, MSN, Yahoo, GoogleTalk, Facebook IM, ICQ, Jabber, and MySpace IM
• Send and receive files, including pictures and voice notes. View and forward received documents.
• Desktop-like instant messaging with all of your IM buddies from a single intuitive user interface.

I have spent a little time with BeejiveIM for iPad and I find the experience to be wonderful. The UI is strait forward and the app is very stable. Notifications come in quickly as well. I dare say that BeejiveIM offers the best IM experience currently available on the iPad.

If you pick this one up, let us know what you think!

[$5.99 - iTunes link]

What else is there to say? Through the App Store, we all have purchased one billion apps from developers and Apple. From productivity to games to Twitter Clients to Cat Twitter Clients to, yes, body function emulators. Crazy thing is, we would have bought even more if Apple would have rejected so many. There are over 35,000 apps in the store now, if you didn't know, another towering achievement.

So kudos to you, Apple, for finally getting mobile apps right. Kudos to you, developers, for churning out so much great stuff. And finally, kudos to you, iPhone user, for laying down your hard-earned and showing the world that people will pay good money for good software if they're just given the chance.

I love me some crossword puzzles. You can keep your silly Sudoku, I played enough logic games getting my philosophy major from a department that didn't go for them crazy postmodern language games (seriously, the folks at St. Thomas love them some logic). I love having crosswords on my smartphone because it's the perfect 'quick game' app: you can spend two minutes or twenty on them, there's many new and free ones available every day, and they fend off cognitive decline in old age (Seriously, speaking of Catholics, look into the "nun study").

Anyway, point is I want my crossword puzzle app to be awesome. So this week's App vs. App is crosswords. Today's contestants: 2 Across (1.2.2) by Eliza Block and Crosswords (1.13) by Stand Alone, Inc. Which one will better serve your word-puzzle fetish? Read on!

Getting Puzzles

Both 2 Across and Crosswords allow you to download around a dozen different free crossword puzzles, many updated daily. These puzzles are in the .puz format -- which I know because I spent many an hour hunting for .puz files back in my days as a PalmOS Treo user (full disclosure, the best PalmOS cross app is developed by Stand Alone). It's a standard crossword file format that can be made available for download by any crossword app and can either be free or by subscription (i.e. both can download the NYT puzzles if you've subscribed).

Both apps allow you do download these free puzzles as often as you like and also give you access to download a nearly unlimited number of puzzles by going backwards in time. 2 Across gives you a decidedly-standard-iPhone method of selecting a source, drilling in, and then choosing the date you want to download. Just press the "+" button at the bottom center and away you go.

It's a simple system that's very iPhone-esque in its UI and methodology (remember that, it'll be a trend).

Crosswords has the same functionality -- the ability to download any single puzzle from essentially the same sources and also the ability to download from previous dates. But Crosswords improves on the whole process in two ways. One: instead of using the standard iPhone 'dial' date picker, it presents you with a month view, allowing you to tap multiple dates very quickly. You find these by pressing the "+" button in the upper-left of the puzzles list. Two: the best thing about Crosswords is that there's a big old "Get Todays' Puzzles" at the top of your puzzle list every day. Quick, convenient, and automatic. Love it.

Managing Puzzles

Both 2 Across and Crosswords have a nice, clear list of your saved puzzles. Both show your progress -- 2 Across uses a pie-chart and Crosswords a status bar. You hit the edit button to delete puzzles. Here again, 2 Across utilizes familiar iPhone elements and is clean and simple.

Crosswords listing also uses some iPhone UI elements, but it's not as 'standard' as 2 Across. For one thing, there's that "get puzzles" button I mentioned. For another, there are a lot more buttons on the Crosswords listing. This can be a little jarring for some, but once you figure out what everything does (note that one of the buttons is 'help'), it's pretty great. You can sort by date or by last played. The last crossword puzzle you were playing is always indicated by a checkmark, and those status indicators are nice.

Doing Puzzles

Turns out you use a crossword app for more than downloading, tracking, and managing puzzles! Both apps have great crossword-playing abilities, though again you're going to run into some differences.

The same theme I've hit in the above sections applies to the crossword itself. 2 Across utilizes some very standard iPhone elements and has an immediate and intuitive feel to it. You can pinch-zoom, it has a standard iPhone keyboard, there's buttons for useful bits like looking at all the clues, looking at them in split-pane, switching to 'pencil' mode, and so on. You can show and hide the keyboard, enter multiple letters in a square, and you can even swipe in the 'clue area' to jump between clues

In all, you'll spend perhaps more time than you might like zooming in and out and so on, but here again I find this to be like standard iPhone apps. It might not be the most efficient way of doing things, but it's certainly intuitive.

Crosswords, on the other hand, is the polar opposite. I hated Crosswords in its 1.0 version because its default way of doing things were very un-iPhone-like and it also seemed to suffer from crashes. At 1.13, however, things are noticeably improved. Where 2 Across uses the standard iPhone UI bits, Crosswords uses them and also tosses in all sorts of other options.

The downside here is that you really need to take a half dozen visits to the settings when you first start using Crosswords, because the different options can be confusing and some of the defaults are annoying (I'm looking at you, compact keyboard option). That said, once you know what all the options and features and widgets are, you simply enable the ones you want and disable the ones you don't. After that, Crosswords can do, erm, crosswords in pretty much any way you like from the intuitive, iPhone-esque methods that are similar to 2 Across to a more traditional method that utilizes a floating directional pad for switching between clues.

There are also tons of nice and useful touches like the clue view showing you the letters you've already entered for a word. Unfortunately, I did run into more pauses and slowdowns in Crosswords than I did in 2 Across, so there are some bugs yet to be tracked down from that 1.0 release.

On the other hand, landscape mode! There's not as much functionality when you're in landscape mode, but it's a neat option and a nice alternate view.

Conclusion

2 Across is $5.99 and Crosswords is $9.99, but for a crossword junkie like myself (Jai Alai!) 3 bucks is much less important than playing my puzzles quickly and easily. In that regard, both apps do make the grade. In point of fact, after several weeks I still can't fully decide which one I like best and haven't banished either from my iPhone. I don't recommend this method, however.

The good news is that both apps have a 'lite' version which you can try for free to see which you like better before you lay your money down.

The thumbnail difference is this: 2 Across is intuitive, iPhone-like, and easy to use. Crosswords is a little too complex and option-heavy, but more powerful. I consider myself a 'power user' with smartphones (but not Crosswords, yet. I'll get you, Sunday New York Times!), so Crosswords is likely to get the 'stay' on my iPhone.

2 Across

Pros

• iPhone-like UI
• Snappy
• Simple to learn

Cons

• Have to manually download puzzle-by-puzzle and day-by-day
• No Landscape mode

Crosswords Rating

Pros

• Landscape Mode
• Lots of options

Cons

• Some occasional lag and missed-taps
• Lots of options