iPhone app for the great outdoors

I love the outdoors but I'm not much of a hiker. One of my biggest fears, apart from coming across a bear, would be getting lost. With an application called GPS Kit, I could now venture out into nature with little fear of losing my way. This iPhone app has full-featured maps with caching, real-time GPS readouts, and track & waypoint recording and sharing capabilities. You can view your track, heading and waypoints on street, topographical and satellite maps. This app also allows you to measure the distances easily with your finger on the iPhone.

I've played with a huge number of GPS applications designed mostly for the iPhone, and this is by far the best app I have seen for a true outdoors person. On your iPhone you can personalize the app dashboard to see the data of your choice and in what units you want to see it. You can view your moving time, stopped time and average speed. The app also has an advanced compass that works if you have the iPhone 3GS.


Now if someone could just make an iPhone application that was an electronic bear repellant, I'd be all set to go!

Expensive apps

There is no lack of free or cheap applications available for today's smart phones, the Android, Blackberry and iPhone. In fact, many of the apps that I've blogged about have been free or just 99 cents. What did surprise me is how expensive some of the apps can be.

The iTunes store has plenty of medical applications that run between $20 to $100. There are also some expensive apps for financial planning, mortgage calculations, banking, and programs a broker could use.

The most expensive iPhone app available at iTunes right now is called iRA Pro, which sells for $899.99. It's a mobile video surveillance command centre for your iPhone or iPod touch.

The second most expensive app, $449.99, is a financial management software program called MyAccounts ToGo. Next is an automotive repair software app for just $349.99 called PDR Quote.

At one time Apple's iTunes store carried an app called I Am Rich, which didn't do anything, except charge $999.99 for the little icon. This allowed rich (or stupid) people to show their friends they could blow a grand for an iPhone app that did nothing. Funny enough, the most expensive Google Android application ever is very similar, but for the bargain price of $200. You get a blue glowing diamond shaped image. I won't be buying it so I can't tell you much more about I Am Richer for the Android.

Top Paid iPhone Apps

I just did an article about the top free iPhone apps available at the iTunes store for your iPhone or iPod touch. Now for you big spenders, here is a quick preview of the top paid iPhone apps. Again, this is what you get as the top apps from Apple's iTunes store, not my choices!

#1 is Civilization Revolution, where you are a leader from the dawn of man to the modern age! This top app lets you wage war against history's greatest leaders, inspire your nation and build the world's most powerful empire! You start by choosing from 16 civilizations throughout history and lead them to victory... all on your iPhone or iPod touch. For $9.99, this latest offering in the legendary award winning Sid Meier's Civilization series of strategy games is sure to please!

#2 is Moto X Mayhem, and the title describes it well. You drive a motorbike through 7 challenging levels. When I say "drive" I actually mean you climb near vertical hills and then basically drive off a cliff and hope you land on a downslope. This app lets you control the brakes and gas, and lean the biker forward and back to negotiate some wild terrain. I especially like the graphics and noises when the biker crashes. This best app kicks butt and is a bargain for just 99 cents.

#3 is Cartoon Wars also for 99 cents. Although fighting and war games really aren't my genre, this app is highly rated by those that buy it. The graphics appear quite good and there are plenty of different variables to entertain even a serious gamer. This top app is compatible with both iPhone and iPod touch.

It will be interesting to watch these current top apps from the iTunes store and see how they compare to new hot apps and the long running most popular apps. Stay tuned!

Top free iPhone apps

A quick search of Apple's iTunes store for the top free apps and I am presented a list applications, most of which I've never heard of. iTunes isn't showing me a list of the all-time most highly downloaded apps, but what's hot right now. That is why this list of top apps is always changing!

Here is a quick description of Apple's top three iPhone apps on iTunes (say that quickly 3 times).

#1 is 20Q Mind Reader. Apparently it can probe deep into your mind and challenge your skills to see if you can outsmart the system in 20Q! This best app claims to be able to read your mind. Digital Chocolate, the maker of this top iPhone app, has over 20 different applications available at the iTunes store.

#2 is Doodle Buddy, which I consider to be the best of the three. I guess they forgot to ask me what the world's best app is. The 2nd top app lets you finger paint with your iPhone. This fantastic app lets you draw on pictures you've taken, such as drawing on a friend's face. You also have the option of drawing with said friend (who also has an iPhone), drop in small preloaded pictures, and just shake the iPhone to clear the work you've done. I like the sound effects that accompany the work in progress.



#3 is Stand O' Food. Basically, you just make hamburgers! I don't get it! If I eat a greasy fast food burger I feel sick. The last thing I want to do is cook bacon and slap together burgers as fast as I can on my iPhone before the patrons leave in a huff! But apparently this is the #3 free top app right now.


I think G5 Entertainment has better iPhone and PC games. It's not their fault that customers are stupid!

i Jiggles

I am usually most interested in iPhone applications that can be used as a reference or tool. Sometimes I even like a game if it is well thought out and displayed nicely. What I didn't expect was an app that made me laugh. iJiggles did just that!

What this app does is jiggle or smear a picture. You can put halos around the eyes and make them wobble around on your iPhone. Or give somebody droopy ears or a nose like Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Pink Panther). Some people (men) might even imagine putting two halos on a picture of a woman's chest area and then move their iPhone around and watch them jiggle! Did I mention you can adjust the size of the Jiggly bits too? You can also alter the shape of a building, car, house, anything you choose to take a picture of.


Above is an example of what you can do with a tall structure. I looked at some other examples of what can be done but decided against using those as I want to keep this blog child friendly. Select a picture from the library on your iPhone or take a new picture and you can adjust three variables: springy, size and inflate.

OK, it's a silly app and maybe a waste of your otherwise productive time. But it's a huge amount of fun and worth a few chuckles for just 99 cents! So go ahead and iJiggle some people.

Google Earth for iPhone

Google has dominated much of the web and PC world for years, and more recently, introduced their own smart phone (the Android). As well as making applications for this incredible mobile device, Google has developed some of the best iPhone apps available.

I've used Google Earth on my Mac since introduced, but I just downloaded it to my iPhone and it's awesome. When I opened the application it found my location with the GPS feature. By my best calculation, it missed my location by 12 feet. I was surprised how clearly I could see after zooming in quite close.


A few cool features are the search option, the Panoramio layer and geo-located photos. There is a history for a quick find of previous searches which can also be erased. You can even view geo-located Wikipedia articles. The BEST feature on this Google iPhone app (sounds odd putting those together) is the Tilt option. Just tilt your iPhone to adjust your view to see mountainous terrain. This app takes full advantage of the GPS, gravity meter and 3 accelerometers built into the iPhone to give you a fantastic view of the high-resolution imagery Google has in the desktop version.


Google Earth works on the iPhone (2.0 or later) and the iPod touch and is a free application that Kicks Butt!

WunderRadio

One of the recent iPhone applications that I have downloaded is WunderRadio. It plays thousands of streaming internet radio stations and other audio streams. Here are some of the things you can listen to with this app on your cell phone.

-local radio stations based on your GPS location
-select any station by city location
-choose music, sports, news, traffic, talk shows
-weather radio (underground weather)
-current affairs and international news
-fire, police and ambulance scanners
-live air traffic control frequencies
-railroad information


You can build a list of favorite stations and shows on your iPhone and even play back a missed broadcast. WunderRadio is available on the Blackberry, iPhone, iPod Touch, Windows Mobile (6.0 and newer), and soon on the Google Android. It can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.


At $6.99, it might sound a little pricy for an app, but considering that it turns your mobile device into an almost unlimited broadcasting station, it's a kick butt bargain!