What's your name? Boyd Timothy

What's your company's name? Appigo

Where are you located? About 45 minutes South of Salt Lake City in Orem, Utah

What's your website address? http://www.appigo.com/

What's your Twitter name? @appigo

What apps do you make? Todo iPhone [App Store link], Todo iPad [App Store link] and Todo for Mac [App Store link], Corkulous [App Store link], Notebook [App Store link], AccuFuel [App Store link]

What apps, other than your own, are currently among your favorites? Dropbox [App Store link], Pandora [App Store link], iKlondike [App Store link],

How long have you been a developer? Professionally, since 1997.

How long have you been an iOS developer? Since early 2008 when the original iPhone SDK was released.

Do you develop for any other platform in addition to iOS? If so, which one(s)? Prior to Appigo I worked on the Linux Desktop Team at Novell with my focus being on .NET apps using Mono. At Appigo our primary focus is on Mac OS X and iOS although we do have a number of supporting online services we've written and also a utility on Windows to sync tasks into Outlook.

What primary computer setup do you use for your iOS development? 15" MacBook Pro, 8GB RAM, with 27" Apple LED Cinema Display

What iOS device(s) do you personally use most often? iPhone, by far … it's with me all the time. My iPad is extremely handy during outdoor music gigs since it stays put in the wind and has a very readable screen.

What mobile devices, other than iOS, do you currently use? None

What's your favorite thing about developing for iOS? Ideas come to life quickly we get immediate feedback from customers.

What's your least favorite thing about developing for iOS? The release process … not having full control of releasing apps as soon as they are ready. Fortunately Apple now lets us choose the release date once it's approved, so that helps with timing releases more appropriately (as opposed to 6 PM on a Friday, which happened frequently in the past).

What feature would you most like Apple to add to the iOS 5 SDK? Voice dictation as an OS feature for all apps that accept text input.

What feature would you most like Apple to add to the App Store? An easy way for developers to respond to specific customer reviews/feedback.

If we were to eavesdrop on you while you were coding, what curse word would we hear you use the most? When I go to debug a problem I think I've fixed and it doesn't work, more times than not, you'd hear me angrily say, "Pieces of crap for breakfast!" ("borrowed" from the movie Happy Gilmore)

What do you do when you're not coding iOS apps? Play bluegrass music (guitar, mandolin, banjo, etc.), fly fishing, yard work, and hanging out with my family.

What should we look for from you next? We believe it's important to provide people with different task synchronization options. File-based task sync is not only possible, it's very stable and working well.

Thanks Boyd!

Apple's iOS 5 built-in a lot of new, basic functionality previously filled by 3rd party App Store apps, which effectively "Sherlocked" those apps, rendering them redundant in a post-iOS 5 world. Or did it? There's a world of difference between basic functionality that serves the needs of only the most casual user, and advanced functionality with enough control and features to satisfy a hardcore pro.

What Apple did with iOS 5, as with previous generations of iOS, is take away the entry-level business of several prominent 3rd party apps, but still left them with the premium, higher order market. While it's always dangerous creating an enterprise based on glaring functionality holes Apple will almost certainly fill at some point in the future, there's just as much opportunity building a great product that Apple's entry into the space can benefit.

Here are a 5 apps (and a couple things more) I think could make that case.

Instapaper

Marco Arment's excellent read-it-later client, Instapaper, which strips away everything but body content from web articles and lets you store it on his web service and access it via a paid iOS app, at first glance, looks threatened by Apple's new Reader and Reading List features in iOS 5 for iPad and iPhone, and OS X Lion Safari. However, as any long term Instapaper user knows (and Arment himself will tell you), Instapaper goes far beyond the bare-bones, Readabiliy-derived, bookmark-synced implementation Apple is providing. Arment uses the example of how Apple baking RSS into Safari and Mail hasn't hurt dedicated RSS readers like Google Reader, Reeder, NetNewsWire, etc., and it's not a terrible. While Google's entry into navigation (with the free Google Maps Navigation) was met by a similar response from traditional turn-by-turn navigation vendors, Instapaper isn't a recurring monthly charge or a massive up-front expenditure. It is well regarded and has a devoted install base, and more importantly it has a passionate and creative developer who's probably as happy to occupy the high end against Reader/Reading List the way MacBook's occupy it against cheap netbooks.

Arment was smart, however, to drop the free version before Apple launched Reader/Reading List.

Camera+

Just like Apple put a hurt on HDR (high dynamic range) app makers with iOS 4, the addition of Twitter integration, gridlines, and basic photo editing tools will be challenging for App Store apps that previously filled those post-production and easy sharing niches. There's an especially bitter irony here for Camera+, however, as the Lisa Bettany-driven, Tap Tap Tap built, filter-filled shooter was previously removed from the App Store for using a private API that enabled the volume button to be used as a shutter switch -- something Apple has now added as default to the built-in Camera app in iOS 5. Whether you consider that fair or foul, in a post iOS 5 world, Camera+ still offers those previously mentioned filters. And as for the elements iOS 5 does include, some still seem to prefer Camera+'s implementation. So neither Camera+, nor other popular apps like Hipstamatic or Instagram are in immediate danger.

(Ironically, Apple's iBooks did much the same to Tap Tap Tap's Classic following iOS 4 [Hat tip, @arnoldkim])

LockInfo

LockInfo, the brilliant lock screen information and pull-down notification manager by David Ashman, was the primary reason I jailbroke under iOS 4.x. iOS was (and still is, outside the iOS 5 beta) a modal, interruptive bag of notification hurt, and LockInfo was my salve. With iOS 5's Notification Center, however, Apple has taken almost direct inspiration, offering both the lock screen info and the pull-down notifications that made LockInfo so indispensable. But again, Apple is -- so far -- only covering the basics. As Ashman told us during our video interview at WWDC 2011 there's a lot that LockInfo does that Apple's Notification Center still doesn't do. LockInfo provides quick access to full mail texts, for example, and has a plugin architecture for extensibility. Those who only need very basic, unobtrusive notifications will be fine with Notification Center. Power users will still want LockInfo's fuller feature set.

Todo

Whether you're a fan of Appigo's Todo, or of another app like Omni's OmniFocus, Cultured Code's Things, you probably thought there was no way Apple would ever enter their space. They hadn't in 4 versions of iOS, after all, and since Steve Jobs has assistants to manage his lists, there was a slim chance he even noticed the gap. (That's a joke, I know he doesn't code the entire OS himself. He has people for that too...). Enter Reminders in iOS 5. Time aware, location aware, it will help you get things done whenever, and wherever you need, and unlike Things it offers sync -- with iCal, after a fashion -- from day one. But it's rather spartan. It does what it does simply and elegantly (if you like paper textures), and that's about it. One-trick list-making apps and alarm apps are in a lot of trouble, but deep, highly productive, nerdy apps like Todo and Omnifocus, and even more able alarm apps like Due will still be required for more complex time management. Even Omni's premium price probably won't cause them too many problems since at that price people who get OmniFocus want OmniFocus, they don't want Reminders.

[$4.99 - iTunes link]

Kik

BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) is such a platform lock-in for RIM that it's not surprising astute developers made direct messaging apps for iPhone, including Kik, Whatsapp, and the now Facebook-owned Beluga. That's probably the very reason Apple introduced iMessage in iOS 5, to provide platform users the ability to quickly, easily, and cheaply text each other. (Roshambo'ing the carriers by building it into the previously SMS/MMS-only Messages app was no doubt the cherry on that feature Sunday.) But here's the thing -- Kik isn't a platform owner, so they have no vested interest in locking their users into a platform. Instead, they want to lock them into the app/service, and so they make them cross-platform (though RIM has pulled Kik from BlackBerry App World due to a legal dispute). This means, while they're still proprietary and you're still locked in, you can message people on non-Apple mobile devices, and if you ever switch to a non-Apple mobile device (perish the thought), you can bring your contacts with you. BBM might eventually go cross-platform, Twitter might one day supplant messaging apps, or -- please, oh please -- someone might actually build a great service with non-proprietary pipes on top of Jabber (or something similar), but for now only iOS-to-iOS only users will have any incentive to switch.

Jailbreak

Right before the WWDC 2011 keynote I asked Saurik, founder of Cydia, if Apple was out to make Jailbreak irrelevant. He didn't think they could, and neither did I, but Apple is certainly going through the list of compelling reasons to Jailbreak and checking them off in the stock software, at least some of them, at least to some degree. I already mentioned LockInfo, but Apple still doesn't offer any form of quick actions, like BiteSMS does for responding to text messages without having to switch to the Messages app. Apple doesn't offer quick access either, like SBSettings does for toggling Wi-Fi, Blue Tooth, Airplane Mode, etc. Apple doesn't offer themes beyond wall papers. And like a host of other apps do for a host of other features Apple can't or won't yet support. Nor do I think Apple wants to kill Jailbreak. Aside for their not going out of their way to kill recent exploits (with the exception of easily targetable malware vectors like web-based PDF attacks), it gives Apple a free expert mode and public test bed -- an incubator to see ideas and metaphors tried out on a scale their own secrecy would never allow. They have to have some way of vetting features for next year's iOS 6, right?

Android

As I was writing this article, Seth Weintraub joked that, with iOS 5, Apple tried to Sherlock Android. It's fair to say that however many checkboxes Apple was trying to take away from Jailbreak, they were trying just as hard to take them away from Google's competing OS. While Android's "openness" is disingenuous, their relative freedom and powerful feature set are inarguable. You can still do more on a stock Android device than you can on a stock iPhone, but the gap narrowed with iOS 5. (Ignoring for the moment rooting vs. Jailbreak which is a different conversation). Android still has widgets, it still has skins (a mixed blessing but an important one to many users), it still offers tons of customization options, and hooks into the OS Apple will probably never provide. It's a different OS, operating under a different model, but that will no doubt appeal to a different type of user. And most importantly for iOS, it will keep pushing Apple to check off those boxes and narrow that gap even further.

Who's Sherlocking who?

With iOS 5, Apple certainly killed the low-end, casual market for a lot of iPhone and iPad apps. (Just like they've done with previous generations of iOS, including Installer for Jailbreak when they released the App Store with iOS 2.) For the best-in-class, however, for the premium apps with the pro-level functionality, it's possible Apple's entry into their space will validate their functionality and introduce them to a much larger audience. Only time will tell if they ultimately lose any sales to the new built-in apps, or gain even more customers due to increased awareness. But this has happened before and it will happen again, and the really savvy developers will have positioned their really great apps to take full advantage, and perhaps kill a certain lucrative segment of the built-in apps' user base.

Appigo has just released Todo for iPad, and like Apple themselves, they've used the larger canvas for a more real-world inspired interface. Binders, pages, and pockets, oh my! For fans of Appigo Todo for iPhone, rest assured all your favorite features are here, they're just bigger than ever before. Appigo Todo for iPad currently on sale for $4.99 so if you've been waiting for it, jump on it now. [iTunes link]

All the features come fully loaded:

• Sync with iCal (Wi-Fi required)
• Sync with Outlook (Wi-Fi and Outlook 2003 or newer required)
• Sync with Toodledo.com
• Task reminder alerts (Wi-Fi or cellular data network required)
• Projects and Checklists (subtasks)
• Full Landscape Support
• Notes on tasks with clickable phone numbers and URLs
• Manage multiple tasks at once with multi-select
• Full Calendar View for choosing Due Dates
• Drag and Drop sorting
• Contact, Email, SMS, Phone integration
• Full Task Searching including notes
• GTD support with Contexts and Tags
• Repeating Tasks
• Quick Add Task Entry
• Task Sharing via Email (Import back into Todo)
• Customizable App Badge
• TextExpander touch snippet expansion support (SmileOnMyMac, LLC)

The great folks at Appigo have also been kind enough to give us a couple promo codes to pass on to you, so if you want in, leave a comment below telling us what's on top of your iPad to do list. Make sure to use a real email address, it won't be made public but we'll need it to send you a promo code. Also, promo codes still require a US iTunes account (Apple's rules, not ours).

More screenshots after the break!

Today's top 5 is directed towards iPhone users who travel for work, for fun, or for a little bit of both. From booking to preparing, finding your way to finding your food, and keeping yourself entertained while go, the iPhone really does have plenty of apps for all of that. Just like our other top 5 must-have iPhone app posts, all of these applications are available in the App Store. For the full run down, follow us after the break!

TripIt

Tripit [free - iTunes link] is an iPhone front-end to the free TripIt.com online service. With TripIt, once you book your online hotel and flight information, you just forward them the email and they automagically create a itinerary for you include flight times, airport maps, hotel maps, etc. Basically, all you travel has belong to them -- but they'll package and present it to you in a hyper convenient and consolidated manner.

If you're a hardcore traveler, TripIt.com also provides a pro version with added functionality.

Alternative: WorldMate [free - iTunes link] or [$14.99 - iTunes link], recommended by Alli.

Appigo Todo

Making a list and checking it twice isn't just for Santa's once-a-year trip, it's for everyone who needs to keep track of what to pack, where they want to go, and what they want to see. Appigo's Todo Lite [free - iTunes link] is a great starting point for task and list manager, and if you need more, there's a full version of Todo [$9.99 - iTunes] with a feature set that syncs with just about everything.

Alternatives: If you prefer to keep your lists in note-taking apps, check out our top 5 iPhone note apps roundup!

AT&T Navigator or NAVIGON MobileNavigator

If you're driving rather than flying, turn-by-turn navigation and your sense of direction is anything other than perfect, turn-by-turn navigation is a must and there are two major types for you to choose from -- online vs. on-device and subscription vs. paid outright.

AT&T Navigator [subscription - iTunes link] provides online maps and if you only need them for a summer road-trip through areas with good AT&T coverage, you can pay $9.99 grab it and go. (Powered by TeleNav, you can find other carrier-branded versions, like Rogers Navigator in Canada, in international App Store).

If you're going off-grid, however, you'll have to go offline and NAVIGON provides everything from the 1.5GB North America [$79.00 - iTunes link] to (for example) just the US East Coast ($29.00 - iTunes link]. They have a variety of international versions as well.

Alternative: whmurray recommends the built-in Maps app, which isn't turn-by-turn but is GPS-enabled and powered by Google.

ZAGAT To Go

Yes, it's complete overkill and yes, there are a numerous free/cheap ways to find restaurants with your iPhone but once in a while when you're traveling you just want to do it in style and that's ZAGAT To Go [$9.99 a year - iTunes link]. You get ratings and reviews from ZAGAT's famous guide, and an offline mode so you can download it all to your iPhone, iPod touch (or iPad -- it's a universal binary!).

Alternative: Yelp [free - iTunes link] was suggested by Jamesus.

iPod

It's built right into your iPhone and iPod touch (separated as Music and Video) and can keep you entertained with music, audio books, TV shows, movies, and podcasts everywhere from the airport to the airplane, hotel to restaurant. You can either transfer your own media from home before you leave or use the iTunes Store app to buy and rent the latest from Hollywood or download the best free content on the go. When Apple said the iPhone was the best iPod they'd ever made, they weren't exaggerating. (Sure, the iPad gets 10 hours of video out of its battery, but it's still not easy to pocket as the iPhone!)

Alternative: If you've got a SlingBox at home and want to keep up with your local sports teams or favorite shows while you're out of town, SlingPlayer Mobile [$29.99 - iTunes link] will transport your TV to your iPhone anywhere you have a Wi-Fi or 3G signal.

Conclusion

Well there you have them, our top 5 iPhone travel apps. Did we many any of your favorites? Be sure to check out our iPhone App and Games Forum for more of our members' recommendations, and leave yours in the thread -- or in the comments below!

Live from Macworld 2010, Leanna and Rene talk with Calvin Gaisford and Boyd Timothy of Appigo about Todo [$9.99 - iTunes link] for the iPhone, and their plans for the iPad.

Watch along and let us know what you think!

UPDATE: The awesome folks at Appigo were kind enough to pass along ten (10) Todo promo codes for our TiPb readers. If you want one, just jump over to the TiPb App Forums and let us know what features you'd like to see in the next version of Todo -- for iPhone or iPad!

Note: Promo Codes can only be redeemed in the US App Store (Apple's rule, not ours). They also expire, so if you get one, redeem it ASAP! Contest starts now and ends Wednesday, March 3 at 12pm PST. Good luck!

Every week a few of us from team TiPb -- bloggers, forum crew, and occasional friends alike -- 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 (or iPod touch) related, they're fair game. Well, as 2009 winds to a close, we figured it's time for the staff to bring you not just picks of the week but -- PICKS OF THE YEAR!

So who's on deck for the very best iPhone apps of 2009? What are our picks? Find out after the break!

Chad's Pick: N.O.V.A. -- Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance

This game demonstrates what is possible on the iPhone from a 3D shooter. This game has set the bar. [$6.99 - iTunes link]

Chris' Pick: Navigon MobileNavigator

Pick of the year, pick of the year...how do I choose a single app as my pick of the year? A game with which I have had lots of fun? A utility that I simply use all the time? A twitter app? After much debate and flip-flopping, I decided to go with Navigon as my pick of the year. Navigon (with the recent updates and improvements) is as close as I have seen to a turn by turn app done right. It has a plethora of features, has clear voice guided turn by turn directions, and really is one of the two or three utility apps that I use on a regular basis and gives the iPhone a feature that almost everyone was clamoring for from the beginning. [$59.99 until Jan. 11 - iTunes link]

Derrick's Pick: Simplytweet

Simplytweet is not only my Favorite app but its my app of the year also,. It's a great twitter app that has many features, including Multiple Accounts, Push Notifications, Photo Search, My favorite features are Landscape, retweet or quote tweets (via @theiphoneblog instead of RT @theiphoneblog), and Themes. [$4.99 - iTunes link]

Dieter, SPE Editor-in-Chief's Pick:

Since the iPhone has become my secondary device, I'm finding that my go-to apps on it have changed a bit. The one I use the most: the Kindle app. I love that I have my books with me all the time now and that I can read it in bed without a light. Amazon really nailed the 'just works' aspect with the way they have sync set up - just a few seconds of data access is enough to get myself synced up to the last page I was reading on my actual Kindle. [Free - iTunes link]

Georgia's Pick: Skype

Skype gives you the ability to call anyone else who uses Skype, anywhere in the world, for free. You can also call landline or cell phones for a small fee, and send out IMs. Anything that combines "call anyone" and "free" definitely gets my vote for app of the year. (And if the 4th generation iPhone gets a front-facing camera, maybe we will even be able to have two-way video calls next year). [Free - iTunes link]

Jeremy's Pick: Twitbit

Twitbit has been my Twitter app of choice for some time now. Is it perfect? No, but then again the perfect app does not exist. What really makes Twitbit stand out as my favorite app of 2009 is the hard work that goes into it and the frequent updates to the app (and the updates are free unlike some other over rated Twitter app who's name I won't mention because it would hurt Rene's feelings). The developer, High Order Bit, constantly is striving to improve this app and it has evolved very well. I highly recommend you check it out. [$2.99 - iTunes link]

Leanna's Pick: 1Password Pro

iPhone + Mac + 1Password for iPhone and Mac = best combination ever. Before my discovery of 1Password, I used the same 3 boring passwords for everything. Now I have a different randomly generated password for each login and 1Password makes this simple and hassle-free. When I first started using 1Password for iPhone, I was nervous that it was going to be a pain to have to launch 1Password to copy a password each time I needed it but the process is actually rather quick and worth it knowing that I have secure passwords. This combination is a serious must-have for iPhone and Mac users. [$7.99 - iTunes link]

Matt's Pick: Appigo Todo

Deciding which app I feel is my Pick of the Year was immensely hard. I immediately thought to myself "well it's my most used application..."but then I realized, that wouldn't be it. It had to be something that filled in the gap where the iPhone OS left out, revolutionize the way I worked on the iPhone. Was it easy to use? Could I customize it to fit my work? Finally I came upon the conclusion of - Appigo's Todo application. One of main things I missed coming from the Palm to the iPhone was a todo application. Appigo's Todo, goes above & beyond what the normal todo application should go. With several options to sync & push notification reminders, this is a killer app & an app worthy as a pick of the year [$9.99 - iTunes link]

Mickey, the Cell Phone Junkie's Pick: All-in-One WiFiRemote

WiFi Remote is one of the coolest apps I have. For $5, it allows me to control my Windows 7 media center that I have connected to my living room TV over my WiFi network without having to deal with a keyboard and mouse. It is like having a pocket control for the computer with me all the time. I can sit on the couch and either surf, or simply control the media I want to watch. The best part is that both my wife and I have it installed on our iPhones, so either of us can control it. [$4.99 - iTunes link]

Rene's Pick: Boxcar

And here's why -- iPhone 3.0 introduced a couple innovations to the iPhone app space, namely (and finally!) push-notifications and in-app purchases. Sure, augmented reality like Gunman is coming on strong, we're all looking forward to Unreal Engine 3 powered games, and one day we may see the fruits of app accessory access, but for today, for 2009, Boxcar is delivering. Not only is it an innovative example of push-notifcation and in-app purchase, it uses both fill gaps both in other apps (like the PNS-challenged Tweetie, Twitterrific, and yeah, Facebook), for Apple and Google who still haven't delivered push Gmail without taking up the lone ActiveSync slot on the iPhone (which GoogleSync requires), and in the latest version, for Growl and RSS notifications as well. Bottom line, Boxcar has leveraged iPhone 3.0 to make great apps and services better, and that makes it my pick of the year. [Free + in-app purchase - iTunes link]

Your Pick?

You're part of team TiPb too, so what's your pick of the year? In 2009, what was your most used, most eye-popping, most "this changes everything" iPhone app?

Every week a few of us from team TiPb, bloggers and forum crew alike, 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 (or iPod touch) related, they're fair game.

So who's on deck this week and what are our picks? Find out after the break!

Chris' Pick: GPA+

While still lacking some features (as of our review) this app offers a wide variety of options and settings for tracking courses, assignments, and GPA over the school year. You can add courses and individual assignments, you can track your semester or cumulative GPA, and it provides tools to determine how well you need to do to improve or maintain your GPA. While a little buggy at times, and limited in some cases to the type of data you can enter, it provides an all-in-one solution for any student who wants to track their semester in one iPhone application. Some of our concerns in the review were addressed with various updates that have been provided. [$1.99 - iTunes link]

EleMints - A full featured periodic table of elements, with enough data and versatility for most students. A little more expensive, but the features should wow any potential chemistry student (plus with the updates I have read about, it should address some of the issues I had in the review). [$4.99 - iTunes link]

Wikipanion - While Wikipedia should never, NEVER be used as a reference in a paper, it can be used to get some general information about a topic. Wikipanion is a great iPhone app that interfaces with Wikipedia. Students can use it as a source of general information to look up a variety of topics for just about any class they may take. [Free - iTunes link]

James' Pick: Appigo's Todo

Back in May, I selected Appigo's Todo as my pick of the week.  While I use it more as a business app, this does not exclude its ability to be a robust app for students as well (students have things to do as well, no?).  Todo offers students the ability to create projects with different sub-tasks and prioritize them accordingly.  Don't take my word for it...TiPB's Matt Sawyers (aka msbaylor on the forums) reviewed Todo in his Round Robin. [$9.99 - iTunes link]

Justin's Pick: Cocktails+

I guess I've been out of school too long and haven't used any apps I think are "Back to Schoolish". Unless it's back to party school college! then I guess I would say Cocktails+ [$2.99 - iTunes link] and a very good free one called 5800+ Drink & Cocktail Recipes Free [Free - iTunes link]

Leanna's Pick: ACT MATH Foundation

f you're in high school and thinking about college, then the ACT exam is likely in your future. Since studying is high on your priority list, you could go to your local bookstore and purchase a heavy review book, or pick up ACT MATH Foundation from the App Store. This app reviews 361 topics that are covered by the ACT Math exam and has practice tests with instant detailed score results. Indriam Inc. also offers similar apps for the GED, GRE, SAT, and GMAT. Studying has never been so fun! [$1.99 on sale - iTunes link]

Matt's Pick: iHomework

After coming from a palm pilot, I used DueYesterday and missed it very much. Having said that, there are several options out there, but iHomework seems to be the best assignment & grade tracker (and the closest to what I used to use). The application can easily track multiple classes and multiple assignments in each class. One of the really neat things about the app is its grade tracking. It has the ability to do simple grade tracking and more advanced tracking (weighted assignments). With these two types of systems, this makes it a perfect solution for both high school and college students. [$0.99 - iTunes link]

GRE Connect - Recently I have been preparing for the GRE and I scouted out a number of different apps. So far GRE Connect seems to be the best. It not only has a wealth of information - explanations, questions & answers, but it also has some very nifty progress tracking, diagnostic test and quizzes to prepare you for the GRE. Further more if you buy their Desktop application, you can sync with it and keep everything up to date. This, however, will set you back an additional $20, but you are still able to backup for free. [$9.99 - iTunes Link]

iStudiez Pro - iStudiez Pro has the best graphical interface for tracking assignments, but lacks any type of grade tracking. If all you want to do it track assignments, then this has a very nice calendar-view feature. [$1.99 - iTunes Link]

Rene's Pick: QuickOffice

Though higher education and I agreed to cease hostilities and go our separate ways many moons ago, based on my dim and distant memories there was some need to write and perhaps calculate... stuff. Kidding aside, if you need any type of document editing capability, QuickOffice will help you get your learn on. [$12.99 on sale - iTunes link]

reQall - reQall for iPhone is a client for reQall's web service (free or pro for $30 a year). David Pogue shows it off with typical... Poguiness on YouTube but the quick version is reQuall lets you capture and organize ideas and tasks in a variety of easy and efficient ways. [Free - iTunes link]

Your Pick?

You're part of team TiPb too, so what's your pick? What app was your absolute fav last week? Let us -- and everyone -- know in the comments!

Every week a few of us from team TiPb, bloggers and forum crew alike, 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 (or iPod touch) related, they're fair game.

So who's on deck this week and what are our picks? Find out after the break!

James' Pick: Appigo Todo

As a heavy Outlook (and therefore Exchange) user, one shortcoming even the highly anticipated 3.0 upgrade does not address is the management and synchronization of tasks. Although I was initially disappointed, Todo by Appigo has filled the void quite nicely. Todo is a robust app that can organize multiple todo lists, projects, and even manage your shopping list. One great feature of Todo is the ability to sync with Toodledo, Remember the Milk and even has a free desktop sync client. For more information, see the uber review as put together by TiPB's very own Matt Sawyers (msbaylor on the forums). [$9.99 - iTunes link]

Jeremy's Pick: UFC Undisputed 2009.

[Ed: Not an iPhone app, but Xbox 360/PS3 and what's held Jeremy hostage lo this last week!] I've been waiting for this game for a very long time and my patience has paid off. Must have for any gamer who loves mixed martial arts. Anyone out there who thinks they can take me... You know how to contact me.

Leanna's Pick: Word2Find

This is a quick little game that tests your vocabulary and unscrambling skills. You are given 6 letters and must produce as many words from them within the time limit. There is always at least one word that'll use all 6 letters. Word2Find is one of those games you can get away with playing while in class or a meeting... not that I would ever do such a thing... [ $0.99 - iTunes link]

Matt's Pick: Tweetero

Yes, Tweetero is a Twitter application and while is has all the usual standard Twitter actions, what put this on my radar was that it allows you to save Tweets that you can send later. Of course it doesn't have all the nifty features of say, Birdhouse, but it is nice to have the option to save, edit and send later (or even send all saved). The interface is rather simple and the Home layout is reminiscent of Tweetie, best of all this little gem is free! [Free - iTunes link]

Rene's Pick: iStat

iStat is by Bjango, whom you may know by the name iSlayer on the Mac, makers of the awesome iStat series of widgets of the same name as this app. Confusing? Maybe, but the app itself is as simple as it is awesome. It shows you all kinds of nifty stats and measures about your iPhone (and even lets you free up system precious system stats or email your UDID at the touch of button), but here's the killer feature -- it shows you stats for any Mac you've connected to as well. Want to know how hot your MacBook is running in the living room or what your Mac Pro is doing in the office without getting up? iStat makes it easy. If you have an iPhone and a Mac, and any sort of geek-cred, you need iStat. Best of all, it's at sale price right now!

[$1.99 - iTunes link]

Your Pick?

You're part of team TiPb too, so what's your pick? What app was your absolute fav last week? Let us -- and everyone -- know in the comments!