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!

A strange thing happens around the corporate office when I whip out my iPhone and check email, place a call, or browse Safari. There is first silence, then Also Sprach Zarathustra (theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey) slowly builds to a crescendo and my office colleagues gather like early man around the mysterious black monolith.

You see, like most offices across the land, we use mostly Blackberries. Now, I'm not sayin' that these BB toters are Neanderthal, pre-man or apes; I mean, they have to have opposable thumbs to work the keyboard, right? I'm merely pointing out that my iPhone is the ONLY iPhone on the premises and somehow I get my work done and keep track of my schedule, contacts and email, just like everyone else. Read on to see if your iPhone can survive in a hostile work environment!

Will It Work?

If you read a previous article of mine, Trippin' with my iPhone, I discussed the merits of the iPhone as a great travel companion and a multi-functional consumer's dream device -- truly a little slice of heaven. Writing that article really got me thinking about how I could effectively use my iPhone at work -- no jailbreaking, no SDK, just the pure, unadulterated Jobsian iPhone fresh out of the box. Could I compete with my BB denizens?

Some of the criticisms I've endured at work go something like these:

• "You don't have true push email."
• "Where's your task list? How will you get anything done if you don't have a task list?!?"
• "You can't receive and accept important meeting invitations." --- hmmmm. Not sure this is a BAD thing. I'm-not-saying-I'm-just-saying.

Even with the much-anticipated 3rd-party apps and forthcoming Exchange support, I've found my iPhone to be a worthy business phone. Although I am sometimes scoffed at by my BB toting peers, I remind them of the aforementioned iPhone upgrades and tell them in my best John Lithgow's Dr. Lizardo of Buckaroo Banzai fame voice: "Laugh-uh while you can, monkey-boy!"

Can the iPhone compete in its current incarnation as a business phone? There are several reasons why I believe it can. I'll now go into further detail about each of those reasons.

Let Me Pencil You Into My Calendar App

In my experience as a Palm user, WM dabbler and a little time on my brother's Blackberry, I've found the iPhone's Calendar to be at least on par with the rest. I can enter the Title and Location, Start and End time for the appointment or activity, set it as a repeating event, set an alert to remind me, and even enter some additional notes. My only gripe is the redundancy required when saving an appointment. There are a few times I've entered everything and forgot to touch "Done" when I was finished. Unlike most of the competition, the iPhone saves nothing unless you tap that "Done" button.

The other drawback is the inability to accept appointments and meetings. The way I work around this is accept (or decline) the meeting on my desktop, then when I sync my iPhone, it's all there in the Calendar. Easy as pie. For me, the iPhone has worked fine for my business and personal calendar.

Visual Voicemail - Anything Less Is SO Twentieth Century!

Even the concept of Visual Voicemail; the ability to see my voicemail graphically, then pick and choose which ones I wanted to listen to, delete, or call back in any order; sold me from the start. I used to dread voicemail and tolerate it as a necessary evil. I have never enjoyed skimming through all of my voicemail to get to the one that is REALLY important. Now, it's a breeze on my iPhone. Tap, listen, delete. Tap, listen, do nothing = saved. Voicemail is now painless and, dare I say, fun. That feature alone has made me the envy of my colleagues.

Make Contact with your Contacts

The iPhone makes even something as mundane as your Contact list a joy to work with and browse. I just flip my finger and scroll along, or even easier, just tap the letter corresponding to my contact's first or last name (depending on how you've arranged your contacts). It's also extremely easy to add a photo to a contact -- either take a new photo on the spot or choose an existing photo from your iPhone's Photo Albums. Contacts on an iPhone and contacts on anything else (BB, WM, Palm, etc.) are all pretty much the same regarding content, but the iPhone's interface just seems to do it all with a bit more style and panache. Again, a worthy Contact app for the business world. If I need to accept a virtual business card, I just do it on my desktop and sync.

Email - It's Not Just For BB Anymore

Let's face it. The BB is an emailing machine. When you think corporate email, you think Blackberry. This has been THE greatest shortcoming of the iPhone being a competent business device, particularly on the enterprise level. With that said, are you wondering how I am getting my corporate email without a BB? I have an answer for you. Gather around; listen carefully; I shall whisper softly this marvelous secret.

Ah, shucks. It's really not a secret, it's just more about schmoozing your I.T. department than implementing some kind of secretive technological wizardry. I merely asked I.T. if they can change a setting on the server to forward a copy of all my work email to my .mac account (or you can go with AOL, Gmail, etc.). Presto! I now get all my work email on my iPhone by virtue of my .mac email address. This does create some redundancy (email at both my desktop work email account AND on my iPhone), but I don't mind. If I delete an email on the desktop, it updates my iPhone, and vice versa. With all due respect to my BB Email Monster toting cohorts, I don't feel like I'm really missing anything. If autocheck every 15 minutes isn't soon enough, then the person trying to reach me can text or call me.

Without A TASK List, How Do You Get Anything Done??

I must admit, I miss the native task lists I can create on my WM and Palm devices. Notes on the iPhone just doesn't cut it. However, there IS a workaround on this point too (bet you figured I had one, eh?). For me, it's as simple as creating a Calendar entry for a task needing completion. I just look at my Calendar, and there's the reminder. Once I've completed the task, I delete the Calendar entry.

Conference Calls the iPhone Way

Yes, other devices can be used for conference calls, and the iPhone is no different in function. Like many other things, however, its not about what the iPhone does, but HOW the iPhone does it. Recently I hosted a conference call with a colleague in California, two in Utah, and an attorney in the Philippines. I was sweating it a little because it was an important call and I had yet to use the iPhone's Conference Call features. The request for me to host the call was a last-second decision and I hadn't even read up on conferencing with the iPhone. Fortunately, user interface is really where the iPhone shines.

I called the main number for the conference and entered the access number for "host". With the three State-side colleagues now on the call, I placed them on hold and dialed the attorney in the Philippines. Once getting him on the line, I just tapped "Merge" and we were now all on the same call together. I used "Speakerphone" and could hear and was heard loud and clear. It was a smooth and seamless conference call experience, all handled from my iPhone. That, my friends, is good business.

Wrapping It All Up

Is the iPhone a perfect business phone? No. IS there a perfect business phone? No again. However, I've found that I can use my iPhone at work and still perform pretty much all the basic business functions that my other phones can perform. I would argue that the iPhone is superior in some areas, like the ease-of-use in setting up a conference call. When in the business world, I want something that just plain works and does it in the easiest way possible so I can save time and, therefore, money.

Even now, the iPhone is a worthy player in the business world. I am very excited to see how much more useful the iPhone will be at work once the 3rd party app and Exchange floodgates are open.

Until then, leave a comment (or two!) about your work-related iPhone experiences or what you think the future will be for the iPhone in the workplace!