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- Weekly App Store Picks: April 11, 2009
It’s time for the very apex of everyone’s Easter weekend, the all important revealing of this week’s picks from the App Store.
But it’s not all about the latest fresh pickings from the App Store, before we get in to all that, I’ve collated the week’s news in handy bite-size form — think of it as factual Easter egg, especially for your brain.
The week was kicked off with rumors and speculation surrounding the next iterations of the iPod touch and iPhone. An official job posting by Apple suggested that the next generation iPod touch will feature a camera. Plus, it’s looking almost certain that video recording and FM transmit/receive will be coming to the next iPhone hardware update.
With the added potential for apps that the forthcoming 3.0 iPhone software update will bring, budding coders can now learn about development via iTunes. Stanford University is now running app development courses for download, available for download now and, what’s more, totally free.
During the week, I reviewed two new iPhone apps: novelty sound tool Amplitude and The Void, an Asteroids-esque space shooter. Note that next week, I’ll be stamping my big boot of opinion down on yet more apps, including Hysteria, a creepy choose-your-own-adventure horror game, and The New York Times Crosswords Daily.
We also kicked off our latest series iPhone Dev Sessions, with a fantastic tutorial on designing an Orientation-Aware Clock, courtesy of Bickbot’s Henry Balanon. If you’re looking to dip in to iPhone-coding, I’d highly recommend this article.
Moving on to the apps, this week I’ve been looking at Fat Tag, RjDj Shake, Japanese Massage and Tap Tap Coldplay.
Fat Tag (free)
The Free Art and Technology Lab — aka F.A.T. — is behind all sorts of clever, disruptive, challenging projects, such as SelfControl — an OS X application that can temporarily block access to specific sites (or mail servers). Their latest release is Fat Tag, a simple graffiti tagging app (with accelerometer-controlled dripping paint). The really special thing about their app though is that, in-keeping with F.A.T.’s copyright free spirit, the source code is available to download from their site. It’s a potentially valuable learning opportunity for fresh iPhone app coders.
RjDj (free)
Back in October last year, my second article for TheAppleBlog was about RjDj Album — a sound toy that the creators described as, “the next generation of walkman or mp3 player… a digital drug which causes mind twisting hearing sensation.”I talked about how RjDj could become an effective sub-platform for distributing some of the most exciting experiences available on the iPhone. That time has come. The latest RjDj app integrates scene-downloading, which means an ever-expanding library of new sonic devices to play with. Plus, you can now share your recordings via Facebook and Twitter. This is seriously innovative and exciting stuff, capturing the iPhone’s true potential. Download it now.
Japanese Massage ($1.99)
If all the action of the week has got you aching all over, this is the app for you. It’s a DIY self-help app that teaches you to squeeze, smooth and pummel that pain away, letting a river of relaxation flow through your body as if it were a blade of grass in the cool Spring breeze. Featuring 20 different massage styles, each technique contains a description and — vital to effective learning — a clear illustration. The key here is that these are all self-massage techniques, so anytime you’re feeling the burn, you can use this app to help ease the stress away.
Tap Tap Coldplay ($4.99)
Let it be stated now. I am not a Coldplay fan. If their not-so-unique brand of proto-U2 stadium rock was a bus to town, I’d rather walk in the rain…even if it took all day and I was just wearing sandals and shorts. However, and this is a big however, Brian Eno lent a hand on their latest album, and — although it’s got that Where The Streets Have No Name epic vibe (courtesy of Eno) — it’s not so bad. As for the app, blending Tap Tap Revenge with Coldplay is a serious success — it makes their music fun and, for fans of the band, this is a must-have. Plus, it’s got Life in Technicolor II, a great tune with a great video.That’s the picks for this week. I’ll return in seven days time with more from the App Store. Drop by TheAppleBlog during the week to find the latest Apple news alongside app reviews too.
In the meantime, what apps have you been using this week?
Переслать - Exclusive Preview: LittleSnapper for the iPhone
The included Camera App on the iPhone is pretty much featureless: Take a picture and you’re done. You must use the Photos app if you want to view or share (via MobileMe) your photos. What if you need more?
If you’re a fan of LittleSnapper, which we have reviewed before, then the folks at Realmac Software have a pleasant surprise for you. Coming very soon to the App Store, LittleSnapper for the iPhone will tantalize you with it’s rich feature set and high utility.
Realmac Software was kind enough to give us an exclusive preview of LittleSnapper for the iPhone. You won’t find this anywhere else, so please enjoy.
What Does it Do?
So what does this fantastic app do? First and foremost, it easily supplants the supplied iPhone camera app by providing a pretty broad set of features. Let’s iterate through the list:
- A fantastic interface with a very simple mechanism to scroll through LittleSnapper’s feature areas.
- Take photos with the ability to name, rate, tag and share the photo via the QuickSnapper service. You can optionally store the photos locally within the Photos app too.
- Share photos via your iPhone Twitter client, including support for Tweetie, Twitterific and TwitterFon.
- Like the desktop version of LittleSnapper, you can also capture an entire web-page for future editing.
Show Me the Money
What does it look like? Let’s take a look.
LittleSnapper HomeThe five main options here are:
- Photo Albums - Takes you to the iPhone Photos App. What is unique is that once you select a Photo, you then return to LittleSnapper where you can add Photo details (see below).
- Snap Webpage - Opens a built-in browser to capture a web page. Currently, due to WebKit limitations, only the screen is captured, as opposed to the full web page.
- Take A Photo - Self explanatory.
- Accounts - Where you can add/edit your QuickSnapper account(s).
- QuickSnapper - Closes the LittleSnapper App and opens Safari, taking you to the QuickSnapper home page.
Options Aplenty
Once you select the Take A Photo option, and after you have taken the photo, the following screen displays:
LittleSnapper Photo DetailsFrom this screen, you can do the following:
- Give the photo a title
- Rate the photo - up to five stars
- Provide a description
- Tag the photo
- Specify the type of Photo - iPhone, Screenshot, Websnap and more
Tag It Baby!
For tagging photos, the UI is quite attractive. Let’s take a look at what you can do.
LittleSnapper Tag DetailsIf you already have tags from your QuickSnapper account, then they are displayed above the image and you can just press the tag to add it. Otherwise, type a new tag for this particular photo.
The Real Deal: Snapping Web Pages
Probably the key feature of the app, you can capture web pages with just a simple press of the screen. These pages are saved as screenshots for later editing.
LittleSnapper Web Page CaptureOk I’m Sold, What’s the Damage?
When LittleSnapper arrives in the App Store (hopefully in the next week), it will come at a modest price of $2.99. For the rich functionality that you receive, this is quite a bargain. Although there are other photo-capturing apps within the App Store, for shear value, this is the app to get.
I Want More
For an initial offering, LittleSnapper for the iPhone is very impressive. However, I would love to see the ability to sync my captured images over Wi-Fi to the desktop version of LittleSnapper. Currently, I have to share the image to my QuickSnapper account, download the image to my desktop and then add it to my LittleSnapper library.
Maybe I missed this, but on the desktop version of LittleSnapper, you can share images to QuickSnapper, Flickr and an FTP site. With the version for the iPhone, you can only share images to your QuickSnapper account.
Still, these two nits are feature requests and I am sure the folks at Realmac Software are already hard at work on them (and other delightful features) for the next release. Until then, I’ll be pleasantly using LittleSnapper for my photo-taking needs…
Переслать - BumpTop as a Finder Replacement: Unlikely
Most people have seen the BumpTop videos on YouTube and TED by now. (If you haven’t, I’ve embedded their current demo vid below. Take a look!) The official desktop replacement has been in private beta (for Windows only) for a little while now, and I’ve had the pleasure of playing along at home. The OS X release is pending, and after what I’ve seen on Windows, I’m interested to use it on my computer of choice.Immediately, you get the cool vibe when using it. As a geek, I must say it’s just as slick as the video presentations we’ve seen. Though probably much better suited for the multi-touch interface it was designed for, at face value the features seem pretty useful. (Or at least a good alternative to the native Desktop.) But is BumpTop going to be worthy of daily use in place of the vanilla desktop we’re all used to? Right now I think its focus is a little too narrow for that. Here’s why.
BumpTop is first and foremost an application that runs in place of your computer operating system’s desktop interface. It’s neat, but it’s the Desktop, which is usually covered-up by the applications you’re actually using 90 plus percent of the time. In many cases, one of the applications being used quite regularly is probably a file browser, like Finder. This is the space into which I think BumpTop could become a great fit because honestly, who keeps the majority of their files right on the desktop?
Personally, I just don’t focus on my desktop all that much. Some of the craftier among us have begun making their desktops pretty interactive (by using widgets and GeekTool, for instance — see Lifehacker for some of the cool stuff I’m talking about), so they may have room to disagree. For now though, they’re in the minority. But I submit that many of us spend more time in the likes of Finder, looking for files to work with. If BumpTop can come up with a more file-browser-centric strategy, I think it will gain more longevity. Otherwise, I think its cool factor will wear off after a short honeymoon period and fall by the wayside for many users.
You can sign up to get updates on the availability of the Mac version by entering your email address at BumpTop’s web site. If you have a Windows machine, that version is currently available to the public, so you can download and enjoy it for yourself.
Переслать - iPhone Ad Breakdown: Itchy, Office, Student
Apple has started showing three new TV spots in its “There’s an app for that” series. These new ads focus on the outdoors, small business, and college students. Here’s a breakdown of the three apps highlighted in each ad. I’ve also provided a handy list of all the apps that appear on the screen just so you don’t have to spend 20 minutes scrubbing through the video yourself.
Itchy
In the “Itchy” ad, the iPhone tells you where are headed on your hike, what bird you are looking at, and if you are standing in Poison Oak or not.
Compass Go works by using the GPS tracking in the iPhone 3G to try and infer which direction you are headed. Although there are rumors of magnetometers in the next version of the iPhone, there is no such capability in the current iPhone. The accuracy is limited, of course, but it is still interesting. Compass Go is $1.99.
iBird Explorer Plus is a complete bird spotter’s field guide for North America. While fairly expensive at $19.99, this app is a pretty good replacement for a pocket book. The search feature gives it a huge advantage over any paper book.
Howcast is an interesting service where users can upload their own videos that explain how to perform certain tasks. The web site has some pretty interesting listings. This free iPhone app lets you browse through the videos to find what you are looking for. Cameo appearances by: Dietician, AllRecipes, DiggTest, VegOut, CityMint, MySpace, Go Green, Scrabble, Health Cubby, Surf Report, Google, YosemiteEnvi, Trails, Heart Monitor, Pandora, MultiLevel, Metronome, Hotel…earMe, LinkedIn, iXpenseIt, iCam, InnTouch, Anatomy, FedEx Mobile, GetGreen, iTranslate, EleMints, KICKmap, iTalk, Scoops, vlingo, Yelp, Peekaboo, LogMeIn, Pizza Calc, Facebook, YPmobile, NYTimes, Kineo, GoodGuide, Starmap, Photogene, Mint.com, PanoLab, Weightbot, AIM, MacGourmet, JetSet, Print n Share, MobileFiles (Pro?), eBay, Keynote Remote, Shop Lucky, Guitar Toolkit, SnapTell, ViewTi N, Yoga Stretch, Molecules, Where To?, Tuner, Recorder, Spanish, Evernote, Google Earth, Wine Snob, Twitterific, Keener, Mobile News, World Traffic, Gigotron, WeatherBug, Nike Training, Flick Fishing, Remote, Flights, Pano.
Office
In “Office”, the iPhone lets you process a customer’s credit card transaction, print shipping labels, and check your package tracking status.
Credit Card Terminal is one of the most expensive app store purchases at $49.99, but it is a pretty useful business tool in the right situation. When you compare this to dedicated mobile credit card terminals, it is actually a decent deal. You will still need a merchant account and payment processor to use with this app. There is an offer to sign up with Authorize.net through the app itself.
Print n Share is a pretty nifty little app that lets you print emails, attachments, photos, and web pages from your iPhone. You install helper software on your Mac or Windows computer that receives the print request from the iPhone and then your computer actually sends the job to any printer it can see. Print n Share is $6.99.
FedEx Mobile is a simple app that lets you track packages that you have sent through FedEx. Anything you have done through FedEx Manager using the same account will automatically appear, as will any packages you have added to My FedEx online. And it won’t cost you anything, either.Cameo appearances by: Clinometer, ABC Animals, ACTCurrency, MySpace, BeatMaker, Photogene, Ambiance, Bloom, BofA, CameraBag, CityMint, Classics, Cor.kz, Apartments, NYTimes, WeatherBug, 365XWords, AIM, Open Table, FlightTrack, VegOut, Currency, iXpenseIt, Facebook, ZAGAT ‘09, YPMobile, Eventful, Flights, DiggTest, Baby Monitor, Dynolicious, YosemiteEnvi, Bee Book, Anatomy, iBird Plus, WeightBot, 1800Flowers, Preschool Adventure, Dietician, AmbiScience Brain Power, French, Drync Wine, MobileFiles Pro, LogMeIn, GetGreen, MacGourmet, LinkedIn, Keynote Remote, JetSet, Spanish, iCam, Pandora, iTranslate, ???Map, Kineo, Compass Go, Mark On Call, Starmap, Gigotron, Mint.com, World Traffic, Mobile News, GoodGuide, PanoLab, Keener, Google, Trails, Remote, GuitarToolkit, NYTimes, Scoops, Shop Lucky, Nike Training, PA Traffic, eBay, Beacon, Tipulator, InnTouch, ViewTi G, All Recipes.
Student
During “Student”, the iPhone lets you find an apartment, find the best price for a textbook, and crop some drunk jerk out of your photo so you can send it to your mom.
Apartments will help you find its namesake for free, basically. It allows you to search for rentals using either your current location, or by entering city, state, and zip information into a search field. Results have photos, driving directions, links to maps, and contact information. You can’t specify search criteria like price range or number of bedrooms, though.
SnapTell is an app that also pretty much does what its title suggests. Just snap a picture of something with your iPhone’s camera, and it’ll return a description complete with the thing’s name, rating, and links to sites with more information like Google, IMDb, eBay, etc. Probably won’t work with your cat, but DVDs and and books are fine.
Photogene lets you do basic photo editing work directly on your iPhone. Obviously, it’s nowhere near as powerful as Photoshop, but it does let you make up for a lot of the failings of your iPhone’s built-in camera quickly and easily, as well as add text and other effects to your photos. Photogene will cost you $2.99.Cameo appearances by: Airsharing, Health Cubby, Peekaboo, Kineon, Color Expert, Where To?, eBay, Open Table, Compass Go, iCam, Evernote, Trails, Dietician, FedEx Mobile, WordBook, GoodGuide, MySpace, Fieldrunners, VegOut, Surf Report, Weightbot, Spanish, Todo, Tactile, Bloom, AIM, Pandora, Pizza Calc, EleMints, Threads, Howcast, Scoops, YosemiteEnvi, dB, iBirdPlus, Heart Monitor, FlightTrack, Barista, Clinometer, MySpace, SpeakEasy, Google, BofA, ZAGAT ‘09, X-plane, AllRecipes, Ambiance, ColorSplash, RepairPal, TideGraph, 365XWords, StarMap, CityMint, CoffeeBreak, WeatherBug, Ocarina, Anatomy, Keynote Remote, Facebook, Scratch, GuitarToolkit, AroundMe, Nike Training, Pano, Srabble, Dynolicious, Primrose, Shop Lucky, Gigotron, Face Melter, AmbiSci BP, Remote, Twitterific.
Переслать - iPhone Dev Sessions: How To Make An Orientation-Aware Clock
For this tutorial we’re going to build a simple clock that is orientation-aware, meaning that when you rotate your iPhone, the time rotates with it. I’m assuming you have a basic knowledge of the iPhone SDK.
To get started, you will need a label for the time and a background image. You will also need a timer. To get started, you must declare your outlets in code before Interface Builder will be able to use them. I’ll show you how to do that now.
Let’s Get Our Hands in Some Code
Edit SimpleClockViewController.h so it looks like this:
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h> @interface SimpleClockViewController : UIViewController { IBOutlet UILabel* clockLabel; NSTimer *myTicker; } @endThe
myTickeris going to be responsible for updating theclockLabel. We will implement that code later.The next thing you want to do is drag
background_image.pngto your project (see image below). You can get the image here.
You want to copy the item to the project’s directory so put a check mark next to “Copy items into destination group’s folder (if needed).” Your settings should look similar to this. Click Add.
Open SimpleClockViewController.xib. Drag
UIImageViewfrom the Library to the View window. This will act as a placement holder for our background image.
Bring up the Attributes Inspector. Set the Image to
background_image.png. Set the Mode to Scale To Fill so that thebackground_image.pngstretches out when we rotate the iPhone.
Bring up the Size Inspector and change the Autosizing settings to look like this. The arrows in the Autosizing box act as outward springs, which cause the view to resize itself proportionally based on the width or height of its superview. The “I”s act as struts that keep a fixed distance when the View is changed when you rotate the iPhone. If that’s hard to visualize, Interface Builder has an animation to the right of the Autosizing box will help you visualize its current settings.
Drag a Label to the View window and resize to approximately the width of the window. Center it. This makes the time larger and also positions the time to be rotated around its center point when you turn the iPhone into landscape mode.
Change the font of the label by selecting the Label and hitting Command-T. Change the settings so you’re using Helvetica, Bold, size 48.
Bring up the Attributes Inspector. Change the Layout Alignment to Center. Again, we’re doing this so the time rotates around its center. Change the font color to white so it looks good on the dark background. It should look similar to this:
Bring up the Size Inspector and change your Autosizing settings to look like the image below. This makes sure the time rotates and positions itself correctly around its center.
Lastly, Control-Drag from File’s Owner to the Label and choose
clockLabelwhen the outlet box pops up. This tells your Label which variable it is in the code.
Save and close Interface Builder. Back in Xcode, open SimpleClockViewController.h and add
runTimerandshowActivitymethods. These declare the functions we’re going to write.#import <UIKit/UIKit.h> @interface SimpleClockViewController : UIViewController { IBOutlet UILabel* clockLabel; NSTimer *myTicker; } /* New Methods */ - (void) runTimer; - (void)showActivity;Open SimpleClockViewController.m and add the methods we just declared.
- (void)runTimer { // This starts the timer which fires the showActivity // method every 0.5 seconds myTicker = [NSTimer scheduledTimerWithTimeInterval: 0.5 target: self selector: @selector(showActivity) userInfo: nil repeats: YES]; } // This method is run every 0.5 seconds by the timer created // in the function runTimer - (void)showActivity { NSDateFormatter *formatter = [[[NSDateFormatter alloc] init] autorelease]; NSDate *date = [NSDate date]; // This will produce a time that looks like "12:15:00 PM". [formatter setTimeStyle:NSDateFormatterMediumStyle]; // This sets the label with the updated time. [clockLabel setText:[formatter stringFromDate:date]]; }The
runTimermethod only has 1 line of code split into multiple lines. All it does is call theshowActivitymethod every 0.5 seconds.The
showActivitymethod formats theclockLabelso it looks like “12:15:00 PM” and sets it to the current time. As mentioned above, this method is called every 0.5 seconds.We want to call
runTimerafter the view loads. This is a common method that, when Xcode generated SimpleClockViewController.m, they included a method calledviewDidLoad. This method is called immediately after the View items are loaded. Find theviewDidLoadmethod and uncomment it.Add
[self runTimer];to the end of the method. It should now look like this:// Implement viewDidLoad to do additional // setup after loading the view, typically from a nib. - (void)viewDidLoad { [super viewDidLoad]; // This calls the runTimer method after loading // SimpleClockViewController.xib [self runTimer]; }When Xcode generated SimpleClockViewController.m, they also included
shouldAutorotateToInterfaceOrientation. By default, views display only in portrait orientation, so you need to implementshouldAutorotateToInterfaceOrientationmethod if you want to support other orientations.Locate the
shouldAutorotateToInterfaceOrientationmethod and uncomment it. You can support only some orientations such as portrait or landscape with Home button on the right, but we don’t need to limit ourselves to those scenarios. We want to support all orientations so the view rotates correctly no matter how we’re holding the iPhone. To do this, replacereturn (interfaceOrientation == UIInterfaceOrientationPortrait);withreturn YES;.// Override to allow orientations other than // the default portrait orientation. - (BOOL)shouldAutorotateToInterfaceOrientation:(UIInterfaceOrientation)interfaceOrientation { // Return YES for supported orientations return YES; }Now you can build and run it! Hit Command-Left to see your UI rotate with the iPhone simulator. You can Build and Run the project to make sure everything is compiling and running.
Переслать - New Boxee Alpha for Mac and Apple TV Released
Do-it-all media software Boxee just got a new update that should have Apple users jumping for joy. It incorporates elements from recent test releases and is now relatively bug-free compared to early antecedents. Those elements include Hulu and Pandora integration, as well as other App Box releases.The alpha will get Hulu working again, in case you haven’t already downloaded the test fixes. The reason for Boxee’s renewed ability to play Hulu video is the new XULRunner browser it uses to play video, which sidesteps Hulu’s recent limitation of playback to non-browser based devices and applications. It also enables Boxee to play pretty much any video you can find on the web by adding URLs with video RSS feeds as sources. In the new alpha release, all of these features — and the new support for Pandora, PBS and RadioTime — are present, minus the bugs and connection issues that were present in the test builds.
The big news for developers is that Boxee also released its official API late yesterday to the public, so that anyone can develop their own plug-ins for the software. Development is supposedly open to all, with Boxee claiming they won’t decide what is and what isn’t published. Users will be able to install new applications via the App Box. The API is Python-based, and comes with full documentation. You can learn more about the API at Boxee’s developer web site.
Now that Boxee is open for community development, it truly has become more or less exactly what Apple TV should’ve been. Apple should be taking notes, or at least thinking about not trying to bar access to its hardware every time it releases a firmware update.
Переслать - iPhone App Roundup: Corporate Use
For corporate users, there are many apps within the iTunes App Store that enhance the default iPhone experience. Let’s take a look at the available options and see how you might be able to leverage these apps to improve the use of your iPhone within the Enterprise.
Email + Calendar
Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync
Although this doesn’t fall into the standard “app” category, having this collaboration toolset is fundamental to most users within medium to large enterprises. In the iPhone 2.0 release, Apple added Exchange ActiveSync support, giving every user access to both their corporate email and calendar.
Unfortunately, a limitation of this support is that you can only accept meeting invitations; you cannot send them. Compared to the native Exchange support on Windows Mobile, BlackBerry Enterprise Server or Motorola’s Good Mobile Messaging, this is an oversight on Apple’s part.
For users in environments without Microsoft Exchange, other third-party Mac software vendors have stepped in to provide alternate ways to support ActiveSync. These include Communigate, Notify Technology and Google.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Having your customer data with you when you’re away from the office is pretty important. Thankfully, the major vendors in the CRM space have provided apps to connect to your corporate data.
Salesforce Mobile (free, but requires a Salesforce license)
Salesforce.com recently released the 3.0.1 version of their Salesforce Mobile application. If you have a Mobile User License, you can view/edit all of your Salesforce.com data.
Oracle CRM On-Demand (free, but requires an Oracle license)
The team at Oracle released five applications for connecting with their on-demand CRM product.
- Business Approvals for Managers
- Business Approvals for Sales Managers
- Business Indicators
- Mobile Sales Assistant
- Mobile Sales Forecast
Daylite Touch ($49.99/year per user)
The team at Marketcircle released this app last week. For more information about Daylite Touch, please read my First Look article.
Search2GO for Salesforce CRM ($9.99)
The Search2GO app enables Salesforce.com users to search for leads, contacts, accounts and so-called “opportunities” within their account. The cool feature of Search2G0 is that users can access their Salesforce.com data without the additional Salesforce.com mobile license. There’s also a Lite (free) version that provides read-only searching.
Expense Management
Another important tool for business travel is being able to maintain your expenses. Here are some great choices.
Expense2Go for Salesforce (free)
Expense2GO lets folks manage their business expenses and synchronize the data with the online expense management application in Salesforce.
XpensTracker (7.99)
In terms of popularity, Silverware Software’s XpenseTracker is at the top of the iTunes Business Apps list for expense management. It’s rich feature set, combined with its pleasant UI, provides a complete solution for the corporate traveler.
Others in the category: iXpenseIt ($4.99) and iXpenseIt Lite (free).
File Management & Manipulation
As a corporate user, having your files with you is critical. Plus, being able to have PDFs of your boarding passes and itineraries is just plain helpful when you don’t always have access to a printer.
MobileFiles Pro ($9.99)
The folks at QuickOffice built MobileFiles Pro for the true mobile professional. This application makes it very easy to add your files to the iPhone via a simple web browser interface. You can read many different file types (Microsoft Office, iWork 08, PDF) as well as create/edit Microsoft Excel 2003 files (.xls) right within the application. Further, if you use MobileMe, you can access your iDisk files as well.
Documents-To-Go (price unknown)
Dataviz is the file management king of the SmartPhone world. They are currently at work on their version for the iPhone. Dataviz expects their iPhone version to ship sometime in the second quarter of 2009.
Others in the category: ReaddleDocs, Air Sharing and DataCase.
Task Management
For corporate users, having your tasks with you on the road and being able to update/sync with them back at the office is crucial to “Getting Things Done.”
One item of note: If you use Microsoft Entourage, you’ll have to wait for the new update that supports Exchange Web Services to have Notes and Tasks synchronization capabilities.
iMExchange ($7.99)
iMExchange enables you to sync your Outlook Notes, Tasks and Categories to your iPhone. It works with both Exchange Server 2003 (SP1) and 2007.
Others in the category: Keynotes and Key Tasks
Itinerary Management
If you’re on the road, the best way to keep track of the flight and travel information on your iPhone is by using one of the following apps.
FlightTrack Pro ($9.99)
Using this app, as long as you have a TripIt account, you can synchronize your flight itinerary. FlightTrack Pro lets you see where planes are in-flight (only if you’re tracking other flights, as you can’t check your own flight status in-flight), and it has a fantastic UI.
TravelTracker ($9.99)
TravelTracker uses more of the TripIt API to sync not just your flight information, but your notes and itineraries, including hotel and car reservations. Although this is more expensive, it’s also a more comprehensive application.
Others in the category: FlightTrack and Flight Status
Virtual Meetings
Cisco WebEx Meeting Center (free)
Using the WebEx Meeting Center App, you can easily join an online/virtual meeting. The app sizes the information appropriately for the iPhone screen so you can view the meeting data accurately. The bonus to this application is that it’s free to join meetings. If you want to schedule meetings, you will need an iPhone-enabled WebEx account.
Conclusion
I’m sure that I haven’t included every potential corporate application available in the App Store. However, the purpose of this article is to expose you to which apps will best help you as a corporate user of the iPhone. Please comment below and provide additional suggestions/recommendations of apps you think are best for use within the Enterprise.
Переслать
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