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This Week’s Best iPhone Apps

In this week’s world dominating iPhone app roundup: Your every whim, robotically indulged! Radio champagne, poured generously! Football stuff, assimilated! Your computers, turned into wirelessly controlled zombies! Death foods, avoided! And more..

If you’d rather view this roundup in a single page, click here.

Siri: Speech recognition apps recognize speech. Search apps search. Concierge apps consolidate services. Siri does all of the above:

To use the iPhone app, you just have to say aloud a command like “Book a table for six at 7pm at McDonalds” (I’m sure you’re classier than that, but let’s stick with it for now), and then using speech-recognition technology and the iPhone’s GPS capabilities, your command is translated and processed by the app, responding with confirmation of booking-or lack of availability.

The app is paired with OpenTable, MovieTickets, StubHub, CitySearch and TaxiMagic, and recognizes a respectable number of commands with surprising accuracy. Success seem to vary voice to voice, and some types of requests seem to have a higher success rate than others, but really, just find out for yourself—it’s free, and very impressive.

Where Is My Phone: While this app’s name implies that it has some kind of phone-finding capability, Kyle discovered very quickly that this app is fundamentally about farts. And other noises! But mostly farts:

Turning your iPhone into a remote controlled whoopee cushion is what I had in mind. Little Worlds, the makers of the app, apparently also had it in mind, including more than one variety of fart among the dozen or so sound effects included with the download.

Here’s what’s going on: “Where is my Phone” listens for your whistle and then plays the sound effect of your choice (or your own recorded soundbite) when it hears it. The makers claim it can recognize you Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah-ing from up to 30 meters away, and I had no trouble in activating sirens, explosions and the rest just by whistling on the other side of the room.

Not bad for a buck, athough you’ll have to get comfortable with the prospect of planting your iPhone, which is not cheap, in various risky places for sound gags, which decidedly are. Anyway, far be it from me to put a price tag on a good fart joke.

MotionX GPS Drive: Once upon a time, a homely little app called MotionX GPS was described on this site as “Hands Down the Best Value In GPS Apps”. Now, our biggest complaints about the app—its somewhat clunky UI and lack of landscape mode—have been remedied. Says Wilson:

All in all, it’s a palpable improvement for a worthwhile product, especially one so durned cheap. That’s right, it’s still just $1, with $3/month or $25/year turn-by-turn voice service. You may hate GPS navigators, you may even hate GPS apps, but if you are on vacation and you don’t have this app-at the very minimum, that is-you are just crazy.

See, in the App Store, three bucks buys you a decent novelty soundboard, or, you know, that cross-country road trip you’ve been aching to take your whole life.

Logitech Touch Mouse: Air Mouse Pro is one of the coolest apps in the App Store. With it, you can control your computer’s mouse, enter text via the iPhone keyboard, run apps, control media—it basically turns your iPhone into a wireless control center for your laptop or desktop, without the awkward experience of using a full VNC client. Logitech Touch Mouse is that, except with just the mouse and the keyboard. So, 75% of the functionality, for 0% of the price.

NewEgg: To have built a PC in the last decade is to love NewEgg. Now they have a free app, which, if downloaded, raises your risk of impulse-buying a new Mini ITX power supply buy roughly 400%.

Don’t Eat That: There’s a tremendous concept here that’s not fully realized. What Don’t Eat That can do now is tell you what pretty much any listed ingredient on a food label is, and perhaps whether or not it coincides with some allergenic, philosophical or preferential objection you have. It also introduces you to new reasons not to eat specific ingredients. (They’re carcinogenic, bad for kids, etc.)

What it can’t do, though, is take a single food item and break it down for you, which is what it feels like this app is reaching for. If you have the patience to enter ingredients individually, and don’t mind an app that errs (way) on the side of caution with some of its recommendations, you’ll get a lot of use out of this thing.

This American Life: This American Life is the best thing on the radio right now. (ATTENTION RADIOLAB FANS: You will have failed if this statement nets me less than 20 hate mail letters.) So when I say that the TAL iPhone app does nothing but play you lots and lots of WBEZ’s flagship show, I mean that in the best way possible. Half of what you’re paying for here is utility: you can access any and all TAL shows whenever you want, as well as live streams. The other half of what you’re paying for here is the show itself: anyone who’s listened to their podcast over the last few years knows it costs them a lot of money, and this app is intended to help pick of the bandwidth tab, at least a little. To this end, it helps that it’s very, very good. $3.

Assassin’s Creed 2: Takes the franchise into somewhat odd side-scrolling territory, but manages the transition well. If you have trouble with onscreen controls in general, maybe pass on this one. If you don’t, and you’re an AC fan, it’s worth a look. [via TouchArcade]

Super Bowl XLIV Official Program: As many people as watch the Super Bowl, I have my doubts about how many actually purchase a hard copy of the official game program. Programs are for plays, or foreign films, or your daughter’s dance recital! This is football! (This is something a football fan would say, right?)

Anyhow, this is that print program, adapted for the iPhone. It’s five bucks, packed with photos, historical context, stats and fresh editorial content. Warning: there is roughly a 50% chance (feel free to debate that figure in the comments) that you’ll hate this app come Sunday.

This list is in no way definitive. If you’ve spotted a great app that hit the store this week, give us a heads up or, better yet, your firsthand impressions in the comments. And for even more apps: see our previous weekly roundups here, and check out our Favorite iPhone Apps Directory and our original iPhone App Review Marathon. Have a swell weekend everybody.

This Week’s Best iPhone Apps

In this week’s pixel-doubled app roundup: AT&T’s entire business model, potentially vaporized! Gears and pipes, diligently organized! Google Voice, web-ized! Restaurant menus, analyzed! Ski slopes, virtualized! “Ist” sites, app(et)ized! Ebook apps, plagiarized! And more…

If you’d like to view this gallery as a single page, click here.

Fring: It’s the oldest VoIP app in the App Store, and Fring has always been pretty good, even though you were limited to Wi-Fi VoIP calls. As of Wednesday, the latest version of the SDK allows for VoIP calls over 3G. Read that again, and soak it in, because it’s completely true. This means free, unlimited calls over 3G, assuming you’ve got an unlimited data plan.

I’ve tested the app and Skype calls work fine over 3G, but right now, I can’t seem to connect any SkypeOut calls—that’s the paid service, which would allow me to call landlines—which is worrying, since there’s no technical difference, client side, between a SkypeOut call and a Skype call. Is there some kind of caveat to the new dev policy, or is this just an early version hiccup? Either way, yes. Free.

MenuPages: If you live in one of the cities it covers, MenuPages is as good as food recommendation apps gets. Nearly every restaurant listing (and there are TONS) comes with a full menu. The expected map and contact info features are all here, as well as table booking through OpenTable. Free, somehow.

Zagat 3.0: Still $10, but you get a lot more for your money now. Specifically, you can sync listings and reviews offline, and, because this is The Done Thing now, you can also view listing in a through-camera augmented reality mode. Anyhow, the real value of Zagat is the content, and, uh, that’s still there. So.—Thanks, Jackie!

RealSki

Gizmodo helm-man and keen snowman Brian nearly creamed his pants when he heard about RealSki’s augmented reality iPhone app, and rightly so-the app uses the camera, accelerometer, compass and GPS to map ski-trails of over 80 US mountains.

You’ll need to be running at least OS 3.1.2 on your iPhone 3GS to use RealSki, and to make it work you move the phone around you on the ski-trail, so it can map the location. Then, digital overlays will appear within the app, showing you where the lifts, lodges, restrooms and restaurants are, as well as trails (and their level of skill) and any other parks or features of that resort

The real issue here is that the app isn’t really going to be free for many people. That said, the map purchases aren’t toooooo expensive, and the concept is co—wait, what do I say here? Rad? Rad.

Google Voice: Hey, so there’s still no Google Voice in the App Store. The next best thing has always been Google Voice’s web interface, but the problem is, it’s never been very good. Today, it is. In fact, if you create a little shortcut launcher and can ignore the Safari’s navigation elements, it’s practically a replacement phone interface. A true app would be better, obviously, but this is definitely tolerable, especially if you’re one of those not-as-rare-as-you’d-expect Google Voice fanatics.

Istaverse: Gothamist, LAist, Londonist, Shanghaist: This are very good sites! If you don’t know whether or not you have one of these local blogs in your city and don’t feel like hazarding a guess at what the “ist” suffix would look like on some variant of your city’s name, just download their new multi-city app. It’s free.

Guerilla Bob: A two-stick top-down shooter in the style of the wonderful Minigore, TouchArcade puts it well: Featuring multiple weapons, a level progression (instead of simply an open arena like most dual stick shooters), and even a ridiculous plot line that focuses on a battle between Guerrilla Bob and Minigore’s John Gore, it almost seems like the developers of Guerrilla Bob went down a wish lists of our forum members and turned them in to a game. If you’ve never played Minigore, you’re in for a surprise, and a treat. A surprise that is also a treat! I don’t know. If you have, well, John Gore is actually in this game, so you know what you’re getting in to. $3.

Cogs: Slot together a variety of cogs, pipes, bells, and various other components in a sort of 3D, steampunk-style sliding squares game. Like most iPhone puzzle apps, you can pick it up and play immediately; like few iPhone puzzle apps, you’ll keep going for hours. Cogs has impressive graphics, but more importantly a coherent artistic vision. The (quality + fun)/cost quotient is very high here, though I’m not sure what the units are in that equation. Maybe I should have used a ratio, I don’t know! Back to Cogs. $1.

AliceX: From the AliceX website:

On January 24th 1984, Apple unveiled the Macintosh. The one and only game Apple ever sold for the Macintosh was also shown that day: Through The Looking Glass.

Steve Capps had sketched out the game a few years earlier, but personal computers in 1980 weren’t capable of the type of animation he wanted. Finally, the Macintosh was powerful enough and Capps wrote the game over Christmas 1982. The game quickly was a hit inside the cloistered Mac group and became Capps’s “ticket” to joining the exclusive Mac team.

If this means nothing to you, you probably won’t get much gratification out of this app. For anyone familiar with the original title, though, this partial adaptation will make you vomit uncontrollably out of pure nostalgic happiness, which is a thing that happens to old Apple fanboys on rare occasions. (I’ve seen it). $2.

Classics: Classics is not new. And though it’s good, it’s not my personal first choice for iPhone ebook apps. (I’ve kinda got a thing for Stanza). But here’s the thing: This week, Apple introduced a service called iBooks for the iPad. The interface looks very, very similar to Classics’, which is odd, since Classics has been out for months. Credit where credit’s due, I say!

The Classics guys have reduced the app’s price to $0 for the time being, to make it abundantly clear who came first, and to make their plight known, or something. So, enjoy? And then enjoy iBooks less, ideologically speaking? Something like that. Free.

Warheads: Missile defense, in subtle 3D. The gameplay is a lot like any other good missile defense game, and the visuals make up for the lack of variation. Well, the visuals, and the price. $1.

This list is in no way definitive. If you’ve spotted a great app that hit the store this week, give us a heads up or, better yet, your firsthand impressions in the comments. And for even more apps: see our previous weekly roundups here, and check out our Favorite iPhone Apps Directory. Have a great weekend, everybody!

AT&T activated 3.1 million iPhones last quarter, 1 million non-phones

While Verizon suffers a bit on paper, primarily thanks to a spendy Alltel merger, AT&T has some pretty good news to report on the “money” front. AT&T’s $3 billion in earnings are up 26% over the year ago quarter, and particularly hot on the wireless front with 3.1 million iPhone activations, 2.7 million new wireless customers, and 1 million non-phone devices like e-book readers. While the 2.7 million bests the 2.2 million newbies at Verizon Wireless, AT&T gained less customers on contract thanks to its any-device-goes ways, so it’s hard to say who’s really in the best position here. Still, with devices like the Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader and now iPad in its fold, AT&T is clearly the go-to for getting your not-a-phone onto the internet. Now if only it could do it, um, well.

AT&T activated 3.1 million iPhones last quarter, 1 million non-phones originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple lifts VoIP over cellular restrictions in new iPhone SDK

Great news for the VoIP world: iCall, the maker of the iCall VoIP iPhone app that can catch a GSM call and flip it over to WiFi, has issued a press release saying that the new iPhone SDK allows for VoIP over 3G cellular connections. Previously such calls had to be made over WiFi, since AT&T’s network (or someone well acquainted with AT&T’s network) didn’t think it was man enough to take the VoIP traffic. Interestingly, iCall says its 3G-friendly VoIP app is available now, and is the first and only such app in the App Store — which seems like some pretty quick turnaround on everyone’s part, but apparently the 3G restriction wasn’t anything to do with the software itself, but instead a server-side block. We just tested this out and it totally works, and while we’ll be looking for more verification that the ban has indeed been lifted, it sounds like it’s time for some cheaply connected international parties in the streets.

Filed under: Cellphones

Apple lifts VoIP over cellular restrictions in new iPhone SDK originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone SDK calls out nonexistent iPad cam, confirms split views and popovers are iPad-specific

iPhone owners holding out hope that OS 3.2 would bring some of these fancy new iPad spoils to their devices might be in for a disappointment, because two of the big ones — split view and popovers — are both referred to in Apple’s updated human interface guidelines as “iPad-only.” Realistically, this shouldn’t come as a surprise; both of these UI elements were built to shine on larger displays, and it’s hard to say how you could make either one of them work on HVGA — but it’s important for devs to note that heavily investing in these are definitely going to make it difficult to make their apps compatible across all iPhone OS-powered devices. Considering that iPhones will almost certainly continue to dominate iPads for sales volume, we know how we’d be developing.

In other news, running the updated iPhone simulator in iPad mode gives you the option to take photos, which doesn’t make a heck of a lot of sense considering that it doesn’t have a camera. There are plenty of plausible explanations for the muck-up, but our guess is that Apple’s left the vestigial capability on-board since the framework’s already in place for the iPhone and there could very well be iPads down the road that have a cam (or two). Follow the break for a shot of the iPad’s Address Book imploring you to take a photo — and savor it, since it’s probably the closest you’ll actually get to snapping a shot on the device any time soon.

[Thanks, iPhone Dev and Eric]

Continue reading iPhone SDK calls out nonexistent iPad cam, confirms split views and popovers are iPad-specific

iPhone SDK calls out nonexistent iPad cam, confirms split views and popovers are iPad-specific originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple iPad recap

If you were following this morning’s Apple announcement, it may have been quite overwhelming and your head could be spinning in confusion. We’re here to clear things up and give you additional details over what we posted this morning. What…

iPad vs. iPhone: what does 3G cost you?

With the announcement that the iPad would continue Apple’s often-rocky relationship with AT&T to serve up wide-area data, we wanted to know: exactly what does an iPad cost you over the course of a couple years? Granted, the iPad doesn’t support voice calling — nor does it require a contract, unlike the iPhone — but for anyone who uses an iPhone primarily for browsing and gaming, this could make for a serviceable alternative that saves money over the long term. Follow the break for the full rundown.

Continue reading iPad vs. iPhone: what does 3G cost you?

iPad vs. iPhone: what does 3G cost you? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPad vs. iPhone… fight!

At last, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! Two minimalistic slate-style devices, together at last. Check out our full hands-on for the rest of this holy war.

iPad vs. iPhone… fight! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPad vs. iPhone… fight!

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/iPad_vs_iPhone_fight’; At last, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! Two minimalistic slate-style devices, together at last. Check out our full hands-on for the rest of this holy war.

iPad vs. iPhone… fight! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple announces the iPad, changes the course of history

Today at 10:00AM PST, hundreds of thousands of eyes were glued to computer screens as Steve Jobs made one of the most anticipated announcements in Apple history: the iPad. Some might giggle or scoff at the name, but that’s where…