With the pending release of the new iPhone 4S it seems like it’d be a good idea to get ahead of the question everyone I know who’s getting an iPhone for the first time is going to ask me: WHAT APPS SHOULD I GET? Okay, sit tight… I’m gonna spare you the list of all the apps I’ve every used and liked and just list what I think is valuable and worth looking at adding to your shiny new toy. I’m also not going to include any of the built-in apps that come installed with the iPhone. One more disclaimer: I haven’t messed with iOS5 yet, and I’m sure I’ll love some of the goodness it’s bringing… that stuff isn’t mentioned here either.

I’ll break is down in to two categories: Everything Else and Games. Why those two? Cuz if you’re looking for games you’ll know what to read, and it’s too tough to categorize everything else. Crappy reasoning, but deal with it.  Most everything on this list is either free or dirt cheap–if it made the list, it’s worth whatever it costs.

EVERYTHING ELSE

• Evernote – Your notes… about anything you want… everywhere you want them. While it’s a good note app by itself, this one really shines if you have it on multiple devices.
• Our Groceries – A simple grocery shopping list with a simple way to sync it. Example: Monique and I both have iPhones, we both have this app, we both can add and remove things on a grocery shopping list and have it update immediately. The best part about this app is that it doesn’t try to be more than it is. Give me a simple list and let whoever I want to see it, see it. If I have time to run by the store on the way home, I can check the list to see what I should buy.
• Sports Apps – lemme clump these together (CLUMP!)  I use Sportacular for most things (but go find your favorite as there’s plenty out there to choose from), then there’s a few specialty things I need (I need them, I say!) like Speed for all things racing, and Yahoo’s Fantasy Football app (however clunky it always starts out being each year, it always gets better as the year progresses)
• Social Media – You’ll wanna go get Facebook and Google+.  Facebook because you have to use it and Google+ because you want to.  Also grab Twitter (although iOS5 will have ) and Foursquare if you’re into that kinda thing.  Now you can let everyone you know where you’re eating and what type of soft drink you just poured yourself.  (please don’t)
• Yelp – Speaking of eating, this will tell you where you wanna do that, based on the public’s opinion, which is always a pretty good judge of that kinda thing.  But the people don’t stop there, oh no… Yelp can also give you pointers on mechanics, gardeners, or whatever you’re looking for.  I like the yelp, it’s not just for girls!
• IMO – Instant Messaging on your phone.  I paid $10 for one that wasn’t as good as this one, it has its quirks, but it’s free and it does every protocol you can think of.
• Moxier Wallet – Okay I know I’m all over the place, but that’s what you get when you’re in a category called “Everything Else” duh.  This app is a vault of sorts, keep all of your top secret info in here.  I use it to remember all of my logins and passwords to websites.  It’s fully encrypted and password protected of course. This isn’t the only app like this in town, there’s a ton!  But this is just the one I use, there might be something you like better out there.
• Your Bank’s App – Speaking of finances, if you’re bank is a real bank, they probably have an iphone app.  Heck I have a credit union and they’ve got one.  So look it up, it’s a nice way to check balances and what not quickly.
• Subscription Entertainment – Two in this group… Netflix and DirecTV.  The former for instantly watching media, and the latter for scheduling your DVR.  You have to, of course, subscribe to the corresponding service (I told you this was my list!)
• Shazam – Why the heck is this so far down the list?  I use it all the time.  You’ve heard about it, right?  This is the app you want if you need to identify music you hear in a public place.  Activate it, hold it up, and seconds later you know what song is playing.  I also use it remember to remind me to buy songs I hear on the radio during commuting.
• Instagram – with the upcoming iOS5 changes, I would have recommended Camera+ but I don’t think you’ll need it anymore.  Have a look at Instagram for some cool presets for your photos.  I could list a ton more photography apps that I have, but that’s another post all together.
• IMDB – Not only is it a great app for all things movie facts, but it’s also got a great local showtimes feature.  If you’re looking for a movie trailer app that also has local times in it, check out the newly released iTunes Movie Trailers app.
• KAYAK – Great for checking Airline fares, but it also has a great airline tracker that I use more than anything else it offers.
• Shopping Apps – Going to list a few here, no need to go into why.  You need a UPC code scanner with price comparison, these are great for when you’re in the store and want to make sure you’re not getting ripped off, or at least know you are before you buy the thing anyway.  The two I have are Red Laser and Price Savvy, both do essentially the same thing. I also like the ebay and Amazon apps, the latter having the ability to take a picture of something and find it on Amazon!  So naturally, I took a picture of Vork… that was interesting because it found a book by some dude that looks pretty much just like Vork.  Creepy.

GAMES
You should know that I’m not into really serious gaming on my phone… I have an Xbox for that! But I do, however, have a list for you:

• Game Center – Before you play any games, register on Game Center.  It’s an app that’s already on your phone and it’s so much fun to add this social aspect to your games. You’ll be able to tell what your friends are playing, how you rank against them, and even use this app to play games with them!  Add me, I’m “joepopp”!
• Angry Birds – Oh just get it already.
• Cut the Rope – When you get bored of Angry Birds (hey, it happens), another place to get that similar fixanother one of those addicting games with a cool unique concept.  This one takes things a bit too far, if you ask me in the later levels, but the first 4 worlds or so are a lot of fun, and passable by non-gamers which is always attractive.
• Red Remover – See above, put it in the same folder as those two once you get it.
• Trainyard – It’s a puzzle strategy game!  This one involves getting trains from point A to point B, but there’s a whole lot more to it than that.
• Seven Little Words – Monique found this one, and man is it addictive.  This one is less about arcade-y puzzle action like the three listed above, it’s a word game, no timer, just play it.  Tons of add-on games available too.
• Words With Friends and Hanging With Friends – two great social turn-based word games for free! I’m “joepopp” if you wanna play!
• There’s more games I dig, but I’m just gonna list’em here in case you made it this far down the list and still want to download stuff:  StarDunk, Tiny Wings, Strategery, Slice It!, Wurdle, Moxie, Solitaire, DrawRace, Flight Control, Blue Block and Fruit Ninja.

Let me close with some advice.  Activate “Find My Phone” as soon as you can, and put a passcode on your phone!  Your life is in this thing, as well as the life (Well, the contact information) of all of your loved ones.  A simple 4-digit passcode will keep people from snooping in your phone and it’s only a minor inconvenience for you.  Small price to pay for peace of mind.

And you know what, kids?  That wasn’t even all of the things I could have put on this list.  I think I owe you a part 2 sometime.  This should be enough to get you all started though.  Have fun with your new phone!

Lightroom is multi-platform, it works for all kindsa image types (you don’t have to shoot in RAW format, but it helps), and it offers a great interface that is both intuitive and advanced. There’s a demo, and a lot more information available on the Adobe site.

Let’s hope this is a good sign of things to come with the final release of Adobe CS3, which my Intel-based Mac Pro is thirsting for.

I had to post about this because it’s not just one thing, it’s many that this company has done lately to make me change the way I use the internet. It’s all about Google Maps/Local/Earth, Gmail for domains, and Google Browser Sync for Firefox. Other hot Google things worth mentioning, and definitely worth a look, are Sketchup, Google Checkout, Google AdSense, and Google Spreadsheets.

Google Maps, Google Local, and Google Earth… man, what an interface! If you haven’t used these, where have you been? Go check them out.

I know I’m incredibly late to the Gmail party, but after signing up when it first came out, it took joining the Gmail for domains beta program to really get my attention. I have replaced horde as our webmail client on e-popp.com with Gmail and I’m just amazed with it. The interface is so nice, the way that labels work, the POP access, the 2GB of space that no longer lives on my server, and the overall speed of the thing makes it a no-brainer. I often find myself using webmail at home now instead of Apple mail! Fitting nicely in with gmail is Google Calendar: a standards compliant ical-based calendar that works so well with gmail that it will look through your emails for words that resemble invitations and ask you if you want to add it to your calendar. All of the functionality of a stand-alone application, with the benefit of being able to access it from anywhere. I even have reminders sent to my cell phone. Brilliant!

That leaves Browser Sync. I’ve been looking for something like this for a long, long time. In short, it syncs up your bookmarks on any computer you use firefox on. For example, I have the same bookmarks at work on my mac and my PC as I do on my mac and my laptop at home. If I add or delete a bookmark on any of the computers that are using Browser Sync, all of the others are automatically update next time I use them, and the update is fast too. Different computers, Operating Systems, platforms, whatever, as long as it’s Firefox, it’s synced.

Some would say that all of these server-based applications leave openings for privacy to be breached. This is a huge debate and it’s something Google will have to confront and assure its users about while developing all of these

I know this entry kinda reads like a paid advertisement, but Google is really making some quality stuff that will improve the quality of collaborative web-ware in the future. To keep up with Google’s new stuff, keep tabs on Google Labs.  Google Google Google.

Or wait. Maybe this isn’t so revolutionary? Maybe Yahoo and Google released this kinda thing months ago? Yup, they did. The release of Windows Desktop Search is a result of Microsoft “laboring to catch up in Web search” as ZDNet put it. That’s not totally fair to Microsoft though. They have created a more robust app than its Yahoo or Google counterparts. It even integrates a bit more into the operating system, and contains a few more bells and whistles.

Where it gets interesting is when you start to factor in what Apple has done. They announced that “Spotlight,” an indexing search function would be built into their Tiger OS 10.4, back in June of 2004. Last month Tiger was released and Spotlight is a dream. It’s not only integrated into the operating system seamlessly, but the cool thing about it is you don’t have to think about it. You get that same instant quality searches no matter how you search, and no matter what you search in, even 3rd party apps can take advantage of the Spotlight technology built into the OS.

I can go on about Tiger, but I’ll save some of that for another post, as Dashboard alone is one of the coolest things ever built into an OS. I just thought it was interesting how once a good idea is thrown out there, everyone jumps on the bandwagon, fast. While I think that Spotlight is easily the best implementation of the index searching lot, anyone who hasn’t downloaded an app like this should pick one and try it. Finding things on your computer has never been so easy.