Continue reading "Favorite iPhone Apps, Part 2 -- The Fun " »
Last week, I wrote about why iCaved and bought the iPhone, and my initial "first-48-hours" impression of this decadent piece of gadgetry.
Yeah, yeah, I raved about the juvenile goofiness and silly splendor of the iFart application, which turns your iPhone into a fart gag and is one of the top selling apps right now. Last weekend, I was playing with it while hanging with friends at Red Canoe, a quaint bookstore in Lauraville, when I think I grossed some people out before I showed them it was really just my iPhone. (If you frown upon such sophomoric gags, then you can commiserate with Kara Swisher over at the veritable Wall Street Journal, who calls the iFart "toddler programming.")
Silly, nonsensical apps aside, readers were very helpful in pointing me to a ton of free (or cheap) apps in the iPhone's App Store that they like to use. So I thought it would be useful (for myself and for you) to compile all the recommendations into two blog posts: The Useful (Part 1) and The Fun (Part 2)
Without further iDo, I mean, ado, here are The Useful ones, in alphabetical order. Just hit the jump for the list. If you like an app that's not on the list, let us know with a comment (Note to spammers and guerilla marketers: no self-promoting here.)
Continue reading "Favorite iPhone Apps, Part 1 -- The Useful " »
iFart jokes aside, some have asked about my impressions of the iPhone. Really now -- what more is there to know beyond having the ability to turn a $200 cutting-edge digital device into a source of juvenile humor?
Alright, if you insist, here is my experience with it in my first two days of ownership:
First off, there's so much I have not yet done with this phone. I have not yet "synched" it with my Mac desktop at home, so I can download some music from iTunes and add Address book contacts and some personal photos. I also have hardly used the actual phone part of the iPhone, so I can't really comment yet about the AT&T service in the Baltimore area.
I have, however, put the unlimited use of data/Internet to the test, and used AT&T 3G network and my own Wi-Fi hotspot network at my house. In short, the iPhone is a powerful little device. Though I hesitate to call it a "mini-computer," it sure acts like one in many ways. Regarding the AT&T 3G network, I'm finding that its speeds and capacity are satisfactory and, in some instances, have worked quite well.
For this newspaper, I cover breaking news and yesterday, I found myself driving to two different homicide scenes in Baltimore. (I took the photo above with my iPhone, while waiting at a stoplight on Greenmount Ave. in East Baltimore.) I know the city very well, but I decided to test the Maps/GPS function anyway. The 3G network allowed me to follow my route on my iPhone, without a hitch. It made me think that my $300-plus GPS unit my wife gave me as a birthday present was pretty much unnecessary now. I was able to shoot photos of crime scenes, easily email them to my editor, and check news updates very quickly.
Continue reading "My iPhone Experience: The First 48 Hours" »
