Ladies and Gentlemen - the top 5.

So there you have it. Those 5 apps are the ones that I stand by and use frequently. I'll continue to review apps now, however for the time being I'm going to go through my iPhone and review all of my PAID apps - because I mean really, we all like to know if an app is any good before buying it - but who cares if it's free :P.

If you guys have any suggestions then again just email me at sbaile01@gmail.com.

Cheers!

MS Word on the Streets - Dataviz Documents to Go

So how many times have you got an email from your clients, a new pdf of your school schedule, or simply an updated budget from your wife :p. Haha ok all circumstances aside - MOST people will run into a time when they need true word, especially with support for .docx.

What it does:
It's a mobile app for viewing and creating Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint documents and also for PDF files.

Pros:
- It REALLY does it well. Rendering of your documents it precise and allows easy reading.
- Unlike many apps similar you can create fresh and brand new documents - others ones often only let you edit pre-existing files
- There is a desktop sync feature on both versions - this allows you to sync (via wifi) documents (that works on, YES, MAC and Pc)
- There is a google documents sync feature - and it updates both ways (if you change an enclosed document on your pc OR if you change a document on your iphone)
- Landscape and portrait modes

Cons:
- The only issue is larger documents can slow down the app, so changing pages may take a second - but I never had any moments where I was uncomfortable using the app.

Prices:
Pro for $9.99
Premium for $14.99

Overview:
So here's where it comes down to what is this worth to you. You can find free or cheaper alternatives that provide SOME of the functionality that this product brings, but from what I've used - there's nothing like Documents to Go. For the majority Google Docs will be a luxury, not a necessity - so maybe save yourselves a few pennies by not taking the upgrade to Premium.

Rating:
4/5 - At $14.99 it's pricey, an amazing app, sure, but still pricey - so be sure you're after an app like this before you buy it.

Camera Plus Pro - Actual photography!

Ok - so maybe 'actual photography' is a far cry with the built in iphone camera - BUT this app sure ups your camera abilities from the base 'camera app'.

What it does:
It provides a camera app on steroids for your iphone. It brings zoom, tap-anywhere-to-zoom, tap-anywhere-to-take-photo, burst shooting, self-timed shots, grid patterns, anti-shake, tagging, and even geotagging. All of these can be turned on or off (excluding zoom of course). AND that's just the pre-photo effects, after the picture is taken you can edit it in numerous ways (reverse colours (check out my mac keyboard with the colours reversed :P), rotate image, adjust the brightness, adjust the colours (apply lens) - oh goodness there is LOADS that you can do).

Pros:
- As you can see - there really are a bulk of features.
- It remains a simple interface - I'm no camera junkie so the 'iso setting' menu always scared me off.
- The quality of the photos seem to be better than when just using the camera app.
- There's a built in photo storage system on the app itself - called "Quick Roll". This area allows you to individually select each image, edit it to your liking, and then choose one or multiple to move to your iPhone's 'camera roll' in your photo library - this MAY be a con for for some, but personally I like it :D
- There's a built-in 'share' feature so that you can easily publicize your latest shots on youtube, facebook, twitter, or through email.
- There's an auto-save on or off, so you have the choice of saving every photo you take to your quick roll, or you can see the taken first and THEN save it.

Cons:
- No landscape mode - of course you can still take pictures on the side, but until some of the other camera apps it doesn't automatically adjust using the accelerometer.
- No video editing - I didn't expect it, not at all, so I hardly see this as a con, simply something to be aware of.
- Photo saving takes 2 seconds to save into your quick roll, and another 3 or 4 seconds to save that to your camera roll - I mean this is expected, but still a shame.


Price:
Lite is free
Full is $1.99

Overall:
Lite vs full simply seems to be video support or not. That means you get all the features in lite for the single-shot camera mode that you get in the full - not shabby. Of course many of use will want to pay those extra $2 for the video abilities. Personally when I look at the quality of the photos taken and the editing abilities I see that my $2 was WELL spent.

Rating:
4.5/5 - Top notch, I recommend this to everyone who actually wants to get decent pics from their iPhone.

Instant Messaging Plus (IM+) - Like actually :O

This app I got the second day of owning the ipod touch, ooh those days - 1st generation 32gb - what a beaut.

What it does:
It's an all-in-one instant messaging app. You can add from a variety of sources (msn, facebook chat, skype, aol, yahoo, and so on). Allows for portrait AND landscape mode.

Pros:
This app really, really, REALLY works. I've never had it crash, push notifications (which it has) ALWAYS send, you get the idea.
You can add a variety of sources.
You can choose to have some sources active, others not (msn, yahoo are active for me, fb chat is not)
You can make your 'status' various preset entries (away, busy, etc) or your own personalized one (running away from goats, sharing a beer with rowan atkinson, and so on)
Contact images show up and work!
You can add push notifications for when a selected contact comes online (like someone who owes you $5 haha)
There's a built-in browser (so you don't have to leave the app - though with push notifications this seems a mute point)
For some of the accounts (msn, yahoo, gmail) you will get push notifications of incoming emails

Cons:
Your status is going to be the same for ALL active accounts. So if you want to be invisible on one account, but online in another -then sorry, but that's a no-can-do.
From what I can tell, there is no way to simply see 'online and offline' - you can hide all offline contacts - but anyone online will be categorized as they are on standard msn or yahoo
If more than one account is active then there will be a logo of the account (fb has an 'f' in a blue box) but ALL of your contacts for ALL of your accounts will be under the same alphabetical list (can be a little overwhelming).

Overall:
I stand by this app. It lets me have one app to talk through all the sources that I do.

Price:
Lite version is free
Full is $9.99

Rating:
4.5/5. If you don't mind ads and you don't need skype or facebook chat - then stick with the lite. Overwise the full version is reasonably priced for you!

Ping! - "BBM" for iPhone

What is does:
Plain and simple - it allows you to share a similar experience to what blackberry users have with Blackberry Messenger. It allows for a messaging world where you can share a user-chosen name (like "Immagoose!") instead of your phone number, then send and receive messages using your data or wifi.

Pros:
iPhone AND Ipod touch users can have this!
It has push notifications - so it acts just LIKE an sms on your phone.
You can connect ping contacts with your onboard contacts.
You can be anonymous - so feel free to meet new friends online, just like BBM for Facebook for the blackberry users (Be careful though guys, online friends are usually better when they remain online and don't know too much about you..).
Messages seem to be sent and received faster than sms.

Cons:
The 'lite' version has ads..
The built in spell checker doesn't typically work - not for me anyways. I tend to type quite well, so I don't notice - but for some this MAY be an issue.
There are no emotions - so ":)" looks just as it's typed, no fun little smiley faces - pitty really.
You have to pay $0.99 to send photos - ON TOP of the $0.99 to purchase the app.
This is a bug, but you CANNOT delete contacts. You can erase conversations, but if you try to delete a contact then the app restarts

Price:
Lite is FREE
Full is $0.99

Overall:
I really like this app - it's simple, but it works. For many you'll probably just stick with the free version - the full version simply adds contact integration, removal of those pesty advertisements, and the ability to send pics..

Rating:
4/5 stars. I mean there's a free version that works well - so can you really complain?

Pocket Informant - the TRUE iPhone Calendar

Hey guys.

Well I don't know if you're as upset as I am with the built-in iPhone calendar.. but well I am!

I hunted a bit and found this app, Pocket Informant!

What it does:
Quite simply, it provides a NEW calendar with a MUCH better interface. It allows wireless syncing with google or toodledo or simply desktop sync - unfortunately ONLY with PC - but a mac version is in the makings! It allows you to add tags to colour code your calendar, add alarms, set default alarms, and so on.

Pros:
You can view either just the reminders and they're set date, a daily agenda, a weekly agenda, or a full month calendar
It has PUSH notifications and badges, so it can remind you - just like the built it calendar.
You can have an alarm 100s of days in advance - or just 1 minute.
It can adjust your calendar to ALWAYS have the current date as the largest bar in the 'week view'
To go from week to week - you just swipe left or right!
You can set it so that you just shake it and it automatically syncs with your online calendar (like I do for google calendar)

Cons:
Badge notifications only disappear 50% of the time. So although you may 'view' an alarm, it may well keep the '1', '2', or so on badging the app symbol until the day ends.

Price:
Lite version is FREE
Full version is $9.99 in the Canada App Store

Overall:
Sorry for so few cons - but I REALLY like this app. If you're as disappointed as I am with the built in calendar then give this app a shot - try the lite, and if you feel that you'll benefit - then move up to the full one!
@ $10 it's a bit pricey, but the fact that they offer a lite version helps that a bit.

Rating:
4.5/5 stars. A solid app - the cost may a little too high for some (if not many..)

Hey guys - welcome to my blog!

So thanks for making it to my blog, I'm interested to see how this thing goes.. and well.. maybe you are too?!

I'm going to give a quick heads up on how I'm going to format this blog. For every app I'm going to give a quick 'What it does', list the main pros and the main cons. I'm then going to state the price (if any!) and then my final feelings reflecting the app, taking in price, functions, etc. I'll rate each app out of 5 stars.

Ha well I'm gonna dive right in to reviewing some apps - starting with my top 5 of TODAY. Tomorrow it could be completely different :P.