[Review] iPhone apps: AirMe

Website: www.airme.com
iPhone site: N/A
App Store link: [1]
Cost: Free
Uses: GPS & Camera

This was an app I was underwhelmed with. I seriously have considered uninstalling and deleting it. All it does is geotag the snapshot your are taking. It can post to Twitter in the latest version. It does allow you to set a Title & Tags, but not add a description. It uploads to Facebook or Flickr as well as AirMe’s own site. It also allows you to email the photo if that’s your thing.

Suggestions for improvement:
-Do something original to set yourself apart

[Review] iPhone apps: GrandDialer

Website: N/A
iPhone site: N/A
App Store link: [1]
Cost: Free
Uses: Phone & Network

This is the app that Google‘s GrandCentral SHOULD have put out. I’ve not seen much innovation out of GrandCentral since Google bought them. Now keep in mind that GrandCentral DOES have a mobile site at http://Grandcentral.com/mobile, but it’s built for a WAP browser. And you can’t use the main Grandcentral page because the log in is built in Flash. I have nursing recruiters that call me on my GrandCentral number. I don’t give out my cell number or home phone number at all. I give out my GrandCentral number. One of the things I hate about the main website is you CANNOT make a phone call without adding the number to a contact. And with the mobile website you CANNOT add contacts. Folks, I just want a simple type in a phone number. My phone rings. I pick up. And it connects me to the number I typed. But NOOOOO…. But thanks to GGT Enterprises I now can do it. I also can call anyone in my contacts list, but the most important point to me is the number keypad. Now it is MUCH easier to use my GrandCentral phone number.

[Review] iPhone apps: Jott

Website: www.jott.com
iPhone site: jott.com/mobile
App Store link: [1]
Cost: Free
Uses: Microphone

Jott is a web app that I love so the Jott application is one of the first ones I was looking for. And I must say. disappointed. Jott is a phone number you call. Tell it who you want and then speak your message. The updates have fixed some issues with updating your Jott notes on your phone. My big issue is a function design. I use Jott mainly as an interface for other applications like Remember the Milk, Sandy, etc. I can also set up Jott to email people if I am driving. Just call into the number, tell it who to email, tell it your message. Well it doesn’t go any of that. It is great however to use as a voice recorder to self. Which I don’t use much unless I am out gas spotting for my local version of http://www.GasBuddy.com . Then I’ll use it. I pass 5 gas stations on the way home from work I record the gas price using Jott app, Jott transcribes them before I get home and then I enter the prices on my computer when I get home. If you use a voice recorder to remind yourself of notes, etc. this is an ideal app. If a voice recorder doesn’t fit into your work flow skip it. Mostly I use the phone number myself.

[Review] iPhone Apps: G-park

Website: N/A
iPhone site: N/A
App Store link: [1]
Cost: $0.99
Uses: GPS

Simple little application. And probably the most useful 99 cents I spent. You park your car and click the large “Park Me” Button. Step 2 is get lost according to the website. When you’re ready to go back to where you where just click the “Where Did I Park?” button. It will then give you the choice of Directions or Exact Location. Directions are good if you’ve parked a ways away (like when you’ve carpooled). Exact Location is much better when you’re just trying to find your car in a parking lot. This boots you over to Google Maps and drops a pin where your vehicle is.

I’ve almost neglected the With Details button. You can add details such as Level C via the With Details button.

[Review] iPhone app: Facebook

Website: www.facebook.com
iPhone site: iphone.facebook.com
App Store link: [1]
Cost: Free
Uses: 3G connection or Wifi

Facebook has the social network to really embrace the iPhone. Now I’ve heard the whole Facebook is Mac and MySpace is PC debate. But honestly I have different folks who use different systems. I got started with the whole MySpace & Facebook thing when I was a sorority finance advisor. You’d hear about Girl A posting something to Facebook and it got to be a big thing. So when it opened up both the chapter advisor and I made profiles. Even now a vast majority of my friends on Facebook are my sorority sisters. Honestly I’m not like the folks at TechCrunch who live in Facebook and Twitter (ok maybe twitter, but not Facebook).  That was before apps which can make things more interesting, but spammy. I honestly don’t care about a ‘Lil Green Patch. However, I do love the little Free Gifts application and the Twitter application.

Suggestions for improvement:
-Ability to confirm friends who add you with groups (ie, limited profile)

My Facebook Profile

More app photos:

Web app photos:

[Review] iPhone App: Remote

Sites: None
App store link: [1]
Cost: Free

This is an app written by Apple. It does a very simple thing. Over your wifi connection it controls your iTunes. You can browse the music/video library on your computer and play it. Just like you can play the part of your library that’s on your phone. See the album art. Everything. The great thing about it being Wifi is you don’t have to be within line of sight to access it. You can be in another room. Or downstairs. As long as your library and your phone are on the same wifi network it will work. Very useful, even if it is a pretty simple concept.

[Review] iPhone Apps: epocrates

Website: www.epocrates.com
iPhone site: N/A (was one earlier, but now I cannot locate it)
App Store link: [1]
Cost: Free for software & basic account (website registration will be necessary)

If you’re not involved in the medical or nursing profession just walk on by. No, I mean it. This was geared toward physicians, but also tweaked so nurses and pharmacists can make use of it as well. I use this frequently. I started using the Palm version of this software back in nursing school circa 2000 or 2001. It was much smaller to carry around with me and I could locate a drug much quicker than my classmates. They all marveled at my technological prowess. I used to look up drugs just for fun with epocrates (yes, I was the geek of my nursing school). Also it had the student friendly budget account of $0. Back in school I used to have physicians ask me for a drug book and I’d hand them my Palm. Quite a few asked “Is this epocrates?” So I knew they had heard of it even if they hadn’t used it before. I’d like to think I influenced a few of the Memphis physicians to get a Palm with epocrates on it. Also the market of drugs changes. Most traditional drug books are updated and rereleased every year or two to reflect new drugs on the market or drugs that have been removed from the market. With this, updates are free. So you no longer need to purchase a new drug book every year or two. It also features a drug interaction check which is quite handy and a Pill ID option so you can identify that little white pill that your patient is describing to you.

[Review] iPhone App: WordPress

Website: www.wordpress.com or www.wordpress.org
iPhone site: m.wordpress.com
App Store Link: [1]
Cost: Free
Uses: Camera

Now for the iPhone platform, WordPress[2]! Use it with a WordPress.com blog or a self-hosted WordPress blog to write your blog posts on the go. If you can tolerate doing that amount of typing on such a small screen. Also you have to manually do your html tags. I’ve sort of adopted a hybridization of html entry and  the editor for most of my posts from the desktop. But it’s great to work on a short post. The ability to save drafts are also handy. My only problem is the on screen keyboard. I want a bluetooth keyboard already.

[Review] iPhone App: Evernote

Website: www.evernote.com
iPhone site: same
App Store Link: [1]
Cost: Free for less than 40 MB per month; $5/mo or $45/yr for 500 MB (last month I only used 1.1 MB)
Uses: Camera, Audio

Notes, Lots of little Notes. This is my Gmail of Notes. It can even search test within a photo. Now I know people who have multiple notebooks made on evernote and use tags religiously. The tag I use the most is “inprogress” for notes I am working on. Me, I’m more of a chaotic stream of conscious person. I don’t file my Gmail messages or label my email (unless I have the autofilter set to automatically do it). I use the search feature to just search what I’m looking for. Evernote allows me to do this with my notes. And believe me the infophile inside me is happy to keep my notes in a way that I don’t have to spend hours looking for them. The handwriting recognition and the ability to search for text in photos also set this application apart from the crowd. So just snap a photo of someone’s handwritten note. It will be searchable.

Suggestions for improvement:
-The ability to edit notes.

[Review] iPhone App: eReader

website: www.ereader.com
iPhone site: N/A
App Store Link: [1]
Cost: Free for the reader. Fees vary on the books.
Uses: N/A

Now this is what the iPhone has been missing. An ebook reader. I had this reader back when I used to use a Palm and had bought a few books for it. Not a lot, but a few. But other things ended up replacing my palm until I just quit carrying it after about 5 years. At that point a battery charge would last about an hour. Keep in mind this is a 1.0 version of the software so there are still several kinks to be worked out. You are unable to load your own content at this time. Currently you can only access ereader.com and fictionwise titles. The website states that the 1.1 version should be out by the end of July and that it will support loading your own titles. (Source: [2]) Then it should become more popular with the masses. Also there is not currently a way to add a bookmark to your book. It auto opens to the last page you had opened, but I use it to mark interesting passages, etc.  Swiping left and right turns the pages which is really cool. Also I know @Lethann likes a white font on a black background, but it is currently black font on a white background (my preference) without an option to change it. You can install dictionaries, but at $30+ per dictionary I probably won’t do it.

Suggestions for improvements:
-Bookmarks
-Load your own titles (supposedly will be implemented in the 1.1 release)
-Ability to change background color