I've been using mobile devices since the Handspring Prism and switched to the iPhone in 2010 when it first arrived in Canada. Slowly but surely, I've come to rely on it more and more, not only for blogging here on iMore, but for managing my day job as a therapist.

My iPhone's built-in alarm wakes me up in the morning. With eyes still half closed, I fumble for it, and peer at Intelliscreen X, my jailbreak Lock screen extender, to see if any urgent SMS messages or emails have come in over night. If nothing's there, I freely admit to hitting snooze and getting as many more winks in as time and family will allow.

Since I spend most of my day seeing clients at my office, where I'm offline and petty much unreachable while in session, I depend on SMS and email to stay in touch and keep track of any scheduling changes and additions. I can't have sound alerts on so unobtrusive visual notifications are really important to me. In between sessions I need to be able to look and see a list of everything that's come in while I've been busy, and respond as quickly and efficiently as possible. I use BiteSMS for jailbreak to handle my SMS heavy lifting. It lets me quickly see and reply to SMS messages even if I'm busy using another app (or game, shhh!) at the same time.

Since I'm often in a rush to get out of the house in the morning, I've come to rely on the Nexia Home Security System so I can do everything from lock my doors to turn on or off lights no matter where I am.

On my way to work I listen to music in the built-in Music app. I actually listen to music all the time. Whenever I'm out and about and hear something I like, I use Shazam [Free - Download now] to identify and buy it, and musiXmatch so I can -- yes, I can't believe I'm admitting this! -- sing along!

I'm also constantly taking photos with the built-in Camara app. I take photos of everything -- beautiful skies, outfits that look interesting, nail polish I'm testing out, hairstyles I've tried. You name it, I shoot it. I haven't gotten into any of the App Store photography or sharing apps, but I have used the amazing olloclip to do wide-angle, fisheye, and macro shots.

If I have to set Reminders or create quick Notes while traveling or in between sessions, I use Siri. I've played around with a number of jailbreak Siri extensions, but I don't use any of them regularly.

At work my iPhone becomes -- steady now! -- a phone! I use it to make an return calls. (And yes, I still remember phone numbers and use the dialer to place calls...) I also use the built-in Calculator for book-keeping. I have some events in the Calendar app but those are mostly for family and personal appointments. I still use a good old fashioned agenda book for client appointments.

Whenever I have a free moment, I love to decompress with casual games. My current favs include Draw Something and Zuma's Revenge [$1.99 - Download now]. It's not exactly the same as my long, lamented Stoneloops, but it's close.

Nothing beats a fun, casual game to de-stress during those quiet moments between the chaos!

I now use the awesome iMore app to keep up-to-date with the site, and Tapatalk to read and reply to the iMore forums. I don't use Twitter much, but when I do I'm now using Tweetbot. I also use Notes to rough out my reviews.

Before doing an accessory review, I use Tapatalk to get feedback from the forums, and Notes to outline the criteria.

When I finally get home, I switch to the iPad and enjoy surfing the web, gaming, and watching videos the bigger screen. When I go to bed, however, it's back to the iPhone. Nothing can beat its mobility.

I'll check my schedule for the next day, catch up on any remaining emails and texts, maybe play a few more games. Then I set my alarm and catch as much sleep as I can before repeating it all the next day!

Interest in seeing how other members of the iMore nation use their iPhones and iPads at work? Check out the full series! Want to share how you use your iOS device? Add your story to our official iPhone at Work or iPad at Work threads in the iMore Forums!

Every week the editors at iMore carefully select some of our favorite, most useful, most extraordinary apps, accessories, gadgets, and websites. This weeks selections includes a musical game, a jailbreak tweak, an accessory and app to accept credit card payments, a music identifier, a news readers, and a photo editor.

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

Guess Your Songs - @Alli_Flowers

Remember the old game show "Name that tune?" Remember how if they told you enough about the song, you could guess it in a single note? Well what if you only had a single note and no background information? What if that tune came from your own iTunes library?

Guess Your Songs is a great new game that you can play on your iPhone, iPad, Facebook, or directly through www.guessyoursongs.com. It uses your iTunes library, and plays you a snippet of a song. It could be a single note, it could be 10 notes - depends on the song - whatever fits into the two seconds you get to listen. Oh, and it's not the beginning of the song, either. This can be a challenge.

Once you listen to your two seconds of music, you get three choices. Guess Your Songs will display the album art (if you have it), and give you three song titles. All you have to do is tap the correct song. This can sometimes be tricky. For instance, I played one round, where I got two seconds of silence. When I looked at my choices, two were classical pieces, and the third had a lengthy bridge with spots that were so quiet they could have been silence. Very difficult to make that call!

The more eclectic your collection, the easier it is to guess correctly. If you have a large collection of music from the same genre, it could prove very challenging!

So challenge yourself to see how well you know your own music collection, and give this a try!

Free - Download Now

Zeppelin (jailbreak) - @JorjLim

Zeppelin is a very simple jailbreak tweak that allows you to change your carrier icon. Instead of reading "O2" or "AT&T" you can actually customise it to show the actual logo of the company, or even something completely different like the batman symbol, the Apple logo, or even the logo of your favourite sporting team.

When you initially download it it comes with some basic icons; from popular sci-fi series, video games as well as popular brands. However there are endless numbers of bonus packs to download in the Cydia store for free. (It even has their own category in Cydia)

If you want to really have simplicity, you can even set it to "none" to have nothing there at all.

One of the good things about this tweak is that you don't even have to respring when you change an icon, so you can switch between them on the fly without having to worry respringing your phone.

You can download this fun little tweak from Cydia for free.

Square Register for iPad - @iMuggle

I've been using Square as the main method for taking credit card payments for PXLFIX since last summer. I love the ease of use, idiot proof interface, and low fees. As much as I've always enjoyed being able to take a credit card wherever I was, whether in the office or on a consult, I've felt like Square could add a bit more customization.

Square Register is exactly what I'd been wanting to see them do. I can now have a beautiful virtual shelf showing all our services and repairs, I can favorite certain items that get used more than others, and add photos for each item. I also like the fact that I can choose whether or not an item is taxable. In the state where my business is located, we don't yet have to charge tax on labor so we have to break that out on invoices. Square makes it easier than ever. Just toggle tax on or off for any individual item.

I've been playing around with Square Register since it came out and I have to say that it's one of the best options for small businesses that don't want to be anchored to one point of sale or commit to several monthly fees. You can sign up for Square for free and receive a reader for free as well. Square Register is also a free download via the App Store.

Free - Download Now

USA Today - @Gmazo1

I'm a News junkie - I always have been. First thing in the morning - after I read my emails and check tweets from the night, i fire up two or three news apps to see what's going on in the world. I have vacillated between my iPad and iPhone - but usually turn to the iPad for one app - USA Today. AFter checking the front page of the New York Times, this has been my go to app.

Now, USA Today has been updated for the iPhone and it is awesome. They did a complete redesign of the iPhone app; the sections are in big, bold colorful letters on the left hand side. In each "category" you can choose from lots of options. Being a sports nut, I really appreciate the ability to see Top Stories, Scores and each sporting league right there for easy perusal.

I also like that the settings menu is built into the app. I can manage my alerts, choose display options and get support via email or twitter. There is even a handy weather widget on the front page that can be set to multiple locations. All in all, this is a great upgrade and has made this my new "go to" news app when I am just looking for quick stories - not in depth analysis.

Free - Download Now

Shazam - @Bla1ze

I'm getting old. My memory for the names of songs and tunes I like is no longer as good as it once used to be. For example, watching the iPad announcement I sat there wondering what the name of the song they played while showing off the new stores was pretty much for hours, even though I knew I had heard it before. I gave up though, and headed off to the app store to find an app that would know instantly. I found Shazam, played a few seconds of the song, Shazam sent it to the cloud and immediately gave me the answer I was looking for -- We are young by Fun featuring Janelle Monae. Shazam is free and available in the app store, right now.

Free - Download Now

iPhoto for iPhone and iPad - @llofte

One of the announcements during Apple's iPad event was iPhoto for iPhone and Mac. When rumors first started surfacing about this, I'll admit that I wasn't too thrilled because I've never been a fan of iPhoto for Mac. I'm happy to report that I'm actually very impressed with iPhoto for iPhone and iPad.

I don't want to repeat myself, so please take a look at my full review.

$4.99 - Download Now

The new iPad - @reneritchie

What? Stop looking at me like that. It had to be done! The new iPad packs an ridiculous amount of technology into a sleek, sexy package for an unbelievably low price. It's such a design, engineering, and logistical achievement that I'm guessing Apple's competitors likely went into collective apoplexy after watching the event on Wednesday and are probably still on pure oxygen.

2048x1536 Retina display pixels in a 9.7-inch display is crazy. It's more than your 1080p television at a tiny fraction of the size. 4G LTE networking is fantastic for those with coverage, and the Apple A5X chipset looks to be quad-core graphical monster. It's even got a 5mp version of the iPhone 4S' fantastic iSight camera built in.

And it's almost the same size as the iPad 2, and the same price. If you haven't gotten a tablet yet, it's a great time to start. If you have an original iPad, it's a great time to upgrade. If you have an iPad 2, it's a good upgrade provided one or more of the features fixes a real problem you've been having.

I'll be lining up to get the fully loaded version on launch day, but if you haven't made up your mind yet, we've got everything you need to help you decide right here:

• 2012 iPad buyers guide

Tell us your pick!

Those were our picks, iMore Nation, so now it's your turn! Tell us your pick of the week below. Give us the name of your favorite app, site, or accessory, and tell us why it made your life more productive, more informed, more entertaining, or just plain more fun. Jump into the comments and let us know your pick of the week!

Shazam has launched a new app called Shazam Player which can be used as an alternative to the inbuilt Music app on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Shazam Player lets you stream lyrics for supported tunes as well as view a huge store of information on the band or artist you are currently listening to.

Switch to a music player with a difference - Shazam Player™ the NEW app from Shazam! Why just listen to your music when you can now see streaming lyrics, watch YouTube videos and read reviews of your favorite tracks and artists! Get to know your music with Shazam Player. It’s your music. Shazam Player lets you do more with it.

• Bring your music to life with LyricPlay. See streaming lyrics in time to the music - you’ll always have the words to your favorite songs with you
• Share the soundtrack of your day on Facebook and Twitter
• Watch YouTube videos and concert clips
• Find tour dates for the bands and artists you’re into
• Manage your music – see your iTunes playlists and create new playlists on the fly
• Select your favorite tracks and hide ones you don’t want to hear
• Add to your music - buy new tracks on iTunes from within the app
• View music by artist/album/title and use the Track Tray to see all the great Shazam features available for each song
• Top tracks – a changing list of LyricPlay tracks – buy them straight from the app if you don’t already own them
• Identify new music you’re hearing by instantly launching the Shazam App

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!

• Flow for iPhone: Keep your personal and professional life organized in one place - create, delegate, and discuss tasks. [Free, with Flow account - iTunes link]

• Shazam: New friends feature: see what your friends are tagging – listen to previews of their tags, buy the track, watch videos and more! [Free - iTunes link]

• Evernote: Create snapshot notes using the iPad 2 cameras, and on the iPhone, add titles, dates and location to images. [Free - iTunes link]

• Atomic Web Browser: Update added search suggestions to full screen search. [$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!

Apple Senior Vice President of Marketing was asked what his favorite iPhone Apps were, and here's what he said:

• Shazam [Free - iTunes link] “There’s just something so amazing about being anywhere, and some music starts playing and you just hold up your phone and can find out what it is,” Mr. Schiller said. “You never again have to say ‘That’s a great song! Who is it by?”
• CNN News [$1.99 - iTunes link]: “It’s really cool having the news in your pocket.”
• Facebook [Free - iTunes link]
• MLB.com at Bat 2009 [Currently free - iTunes link]
• NBA Game Time 2009 [$9.99 - iTunes link]
• ESPN ScoreCenter [Free - iTunes link]
• Eliminate Pro [Free - iTunes link]
• geoDefense [$1.99 - iTunes link]
• Best Camera [$2.99 - iTunes link]

Some great apps, if no huge surprises.

[New York Times via Gartenberg]

We typically don't follow every little Apple or AT&T lawsuit that closely because, frankly, there are too many of them and the frivolity of some just harshens our collective mellow. Case in point, according to Apple Insider:

Apple, AT&T and several others have been named in a new patent infringement lawsuit, presumably for their connection to Shazam, a maker of music identification software distributed under the same name for the iPhone and several other mobile devices.

The suit was brought by Tune Hunter, Inc. Assuming their case has merit, why sue Apple and AT&T instead of focusing on the actual Shazam app in question? Tune Hunter claims it's because the iPhone duo are contributing to the infringement. For our part, we couldn't help but notice Apple especially is contributing towards having tons of money.

They're also suing Samsung, Napster, Motorola, Gracenote, LG Electronics, Pantech Wireless, and Verizon.

This is a huge coincidence since we just had our App vs App: Shazam vs Midomi on TiPB. I love these commercials since they are so simple and really show what the iPhone can do. Well, since I think most carbon-based life forms know what the iPhone is, it is time for Apple to show how the App Store's apps can make a difference in your life. 

Apple has had a recent sting of new ads from baseball to finding a place to eat. This ad deals with [iTunes link] Shazam, a free app that allows you to hold your iPhone up to a music source, and Shazam will tell you what the song is and give you links to videos and even a link to the song on iTunes.

How cool is that?

[This is an iPhone blog App vs. App review! Last week, we ran our Google Earth vs. Earthscape showdown, with Google Earth scoring the win. But which commenter won an iTunes gift certificate? Congratulations musicobsession! Want your chance to win the winning app this week? Comment below!]

Have you ever had a song running on infinite loop in your brain but can't quite place the name or artist? What about those times you are in a store or in your car and you hear a song that you really like, but you have no idea what the name of the song or artist is? Fortunately, there are two excellent FREE apps for your iPhone, Shazam and Midomi, that can help you name the song and artist, watch the music video, and even buy the song. How do they compare? Read on for App vs. App, music tagging edition!

How Do They Compare?

I'll say this up front - both Shazam and Midomi are both excellent products and have nice interfaces, so the edge in this contest will boil down to feature sets. Without further ado, let's dive in and compare these two contestants!

Shazam

The design and interface for Shazam is all about simplicity. When you open up the app, you are presented with My Tags, the main screen for Shazam which displays anything you tagged Today and anything you tagged that is Older. "Tagged" means you have identified unknown music with song title, artist, and other information associated with it.

From the My Tags screen, you can view older Tags or tap "Tag Now" in the upper right corner of the screen to tag some new music. Be sure to have your iPhone close to the music source when you tap Tag Now, because as soon as you hit the button, Shazam will start "listening" and do it's best to identify the music your are listening to.

If Shazam is successful in tagging the music, your iPhone will display the artist, song title, genre, record label, and album from whence the song came. Album art will also be displayed. If you scroll down, there are several tag options: purchase the music via a link to iTunes, watch the music video on YouTube (if available), take and attach a photo, attach an album photo, share the tag with a friend, or delete the tag. All of this is very straight-forward, but requires an audible sound source of the original music. Shazam is simple and effective in it's design and it's easy to use.

So, to use Shazam, just open the app, select "Tag Now", and let your iPhone listen to the music to identify the artist and track name. You can save your tag history and build your own list of music over time. You can buy the music you hear via a link from Shazam to iTunes. If your tagged music has a music video, Shazam will link you to the music video on YouTube. You can personalize your tagged music with your photos and send your tagged music to friends and family via email.

Shazam works well, is simple to use, and gets the job done. It does require a music source to tag your music.

Midomi

When opening Midomi, you will see a splash screen for a couple seconds, then the application will launch where you left off before. Midomi is similar to Shazam in that it helps you identify music and tag it, but if Shazam is the Toyota of identifying and tagging music, then Midomi may be the Lexus.

Midomi is loaded with more features. In addition to tagging music by "grabbing" the music (your iPhone listening to the music, then matching it with song title and artist), Midomi has additional options. You can sing the lyrics, hum the tune, speak the lyrics, artist or song title, or enter the information by typing it. This is all very handy if you have that song bouncing around in your head, don't have a music source nearby, but want to put a name and face to your torment - just hum the song and Midomi will search it's 17 million plus database.

Like Shazam, Midomi tags the song and gives you the options of watching the video on YouTube, buying the song from iTunes, bookmarking the song, and sharing with a friend via email.

There are a lot more screenshots for Midomi because there are many more ways to tag your music. If you have a music source, then great - select the "Grab" tab and let Midomi listen to your music. Or, use one of the other several tabs, like Type, Say, or Sing. Each is self-explanatory and adds additional dimensions to identifying and tagging your music on Midomi.

You can Type the artist, song title, or lyrics and let Midomi search it's database. You can Talk into your iPhone and let Midomi recognize your speech, or if you are brave and consider yourself a shower-singing aficionado, then give it your best shot and Sing or hum the song. This latter method may be the least accurate given that it's dependent on your talent level.

Another advantage of Midomi is the vast database of music samples. When you tag your music, you can play a sample of the music on Midomi, which may be helpful in verifying you have tagged the correct song. On a humorous note, when using the Sing method for tagging your music, the sample you play may be the singing voice of another Midomi user out there somewhere.

Conclusion

Both Shazam and Midomi offer features like tagging music with artist name and song title, linking to music videos on YouTube, and sharing your tagged music with a friend via email. However, this is where similarities end and Midomi takes it to the next level. With the additional methods of tagging (Say, Sing, and Type) and a database of music samples, Midomi is more feature-rich.

Midomi Rating

Shazam Rating