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5 iOS apps for Tax Day
With roughly a week to go before taxes are due -- the federal deadline is on April 18, and many states have followed suit -- plenty of Americans are scrambling to file before the clock ticks away. We've gone and found five apps that will help you make Tax Day, and waiting for that refund, a bit easier. TurboTax SnapTax (Free, but has in-app purchases): This app from Intuit allows those who are eligible to file with the simple 1040-EZ to do their taxes straight from the iPhone. Snap a photo of your W-2, answer the questions and hit the button to zip your return to the IRS. While the app itself is free, actually filing a return costs $19.99.
5 more great family-friendly iOS apps
I'm always on the lookout for solid family-friendly applications. I particularly appreciate titles that aren't specifically made for children but that nonetheless engage and entertain. The following list is made up of kid-tested & approved iOS applications. None of these apps are child-specific; in fact, many of them are marketed towards adults. And yet, all of these applications deliver long-term entertainment value for what will likely be an appreciative audience. So don't let your purchases be hobbled by a lack of kid-friendly marketing. These apps provide great family fun.
5 apps for the Buddhist
Here's another entry in our "Five Apps For" series, which identifies five iPhone/iPod touch apps that may be of particular interest to a specific individual or group. Enjoy! Sure, the historical Buddha lived about 2,500 years ago, but aspects of contemporary Buddhism are just that -- modern and current. I found a slew of Buddhist apps in the store, and most can be divided into two categories: book-style references and lifestyle apps like meditation timers. It gets repetitive and digging through the heap to find the best took some work, but I've come up with a decent list. If you're looking to add your iPhone or iPod touch to your practice, check out these five apps. No matter which school you subscribe to, you should find something useful (all prices are USD). Equanimity ($4.99) I just had to link at least one meditation timer, and this is the best one I could find. A key part of nearly any Buddhist's practice is sitting meditation. Since most modern practitioners (lay ones at least) can't afford to sit for most of the day, a timer is essential. You can certainly set a stopwatch or egg timer, but Equanimity makes it worthwhile to spend US$4.99 on a dedicated app (here's our full review). Use it to time your sessions with both a prep period and cool down warnings. When you're finished, you can journal about your session and note the number of consecutive sessions you've logged and the total number of hours across weeks and months. Plus, there's no distracting "new-agey" audio to get between you and your practice. Not ready to commit the five bucks? Here's a free lite version and even a browser-based version. Click below for the next four apps.
5 apps for the conference-goer
Heading off to a conference? Here are five little apps you might want to consider adding to your iPhone before heading off to the airport. They all provide functionality that may come in handy when you're on the go. SpeakerClock ($0.99) provides a bright easy-to-read display showing you exactly how much time you have left to present your paper and take questions. It's a deceptively simple application full of lovely little design touches. I used it at a recent conference and found it an absolutely valuable tool to have around. This app works well both on the iPhone and the iPad -- as a conference organizer, it's really great to use the iPad's larger screen from across the room. As a speaker, the iPhone version works particularly well when placed on a small business card stand on the speaker's podium. Want to easily share your contact information? Contxts offers a simple solution. You can sign up for a free account at contxts.com, where you can enter your details. Anyone with a phone (it doesn't have to be an iPhone) and an SMS plan can text a short phrase (like "demotuaw") to 50500 and they'll receive the information you set up at their website. Their free iPhone app lets you edit that information directly. What's more, when you turn the iPhone on its side, you can display a "HELLO my name is" contact sheet that instructs people how to retrieve your contact data. What's great about Contxts is that it's a solution that works with any group of people, whether they've hopped onto the Apple iPhone train or not (of course, if they have an iPhone or an Android phone, there's always Bump).
5 Apps & more for Father's Day
Here in the US, in the UK and in 53 other countries, we're celebrating Father's Day. It's a day for Dad to sleep in, revel in the love of his family, and (perhaps not as importantly, but still nice) receive presents. Lots and lots of presents. Before you purchase yet another soap on a rope, consider our list of potential last-minute gifts for the Mac-loving or iDevice-toting dad in your life. He'll thank you for sure. ( If Dad doesn't have an iPhone 4, iPad or iPod touch -- there's a suggestion right there.) Macworld posted a solid list of apps for dads; some of them are our picks as well, and we've got a few divergent suggestions.
5 apps for Memorial Day
Here in the US, we're celebrating Memorial Day. It's the day we set aside to remember and honor the men and women who gave their lives in military service to our country. It's also the unofficial start of summer, a time when we dust off our grills, cook with fire and spend time outside. Before you step outside, grab one of these five apps to increase your fun. Happy Memorial Day! Bug Spray (free) supposedly emits high-frequency tones that repel flying insects. Back in my day, we just set up one of those zappers. if you prefer a more contemporary approach, this may be it...with a few caveats. From the manufacturer: "Do not use around infants, small children, individuals who are hearing impaired or people who are incapable of physical response to sound." Hmm. Seems this app repels more than bugs. Weather Bug for iPhone and iPad (both free) will let you know if you're planning a backyard BBQ in vain. Get up-to-the-minute weather updates for your neighborhood, browse weather cams, watch animated maps and more. If you like a more minimalist presentation, consider WeatherStation Pro ($1.99) for iPad or Outside ($2.99) for iPhone. [Apologies for the mischaracterization of Memorial Day above; it has been amended. –Ed.]
Gearing up for Macworld: My 5 apps & packing list
Hitting the road for a week or more can be daunting enough when packing for a regular business trip, but when the itinerary includes the hustle and flow of Macworld Expo, I start to think a bit more seriously about exactly what I'm taking and why. The good news is, of course, that a few well-chosen apps can substitute for destination guides and navigational help. The bad news... there's still a lot of stuff to bring along. Here are five-plus apps I loaded specifically for this trip, and a few hardware items that I couldn't do without. The Apps As many times as I've been to San Francisco, I still don't have a firm notion of the city's geography outside the immediate vicinity of Moscone Center (don't blame SF -- I still get lost in my own home town, too). To help me get around, I've tried iBART, BayTripper and the free, location-aware nextbus.com mobile site. Still, I come back to two tried-and-true tools every time. For public transit and walking directions, the Maps app does a great job; bus timing may not be precise, but you get where you're going. If your transit needs are a little more personal, the astonishing Taxi Magic app gets a ride to wherever you are in no time flat -- and with no additional fee, if you pay in cash. Honorable mention: the Zipcar app, if you need wheels of your own in a jiffy. Before boarding the plane to come out to the West Coast, I checked that my two favorite air travel apps were loaded and ready. The Tripit app (paired with a Tripit Pro subscription) keeps my itineraries right at my fingertips, including the ability to search for alternative flight reservations. While I'm hopping through the airports on either end, Gate Guru helps make sure I don't skip past the best place to eat while I'm meandering towards my gate.
Walt Disney World on 5 apps a week
We did a write-up of apps used at Disneyland and Walt Disney World back in November, but I just spent a week at Walt Disney World where my daughter got married, and wanted to add some personal perspective on my experience with five iPhone/iPod touch apps for seven days. There are a lot of apps out for Walt Disney World, but from reviews both here and anywhere else I could find, I decided upon, and bought, five of them. The quality of these apps ranged from beautiful but arcane, to incredibly useful. The most eye-catching of all the apps has to be The Walt Disney World Maps Boxed Set US$3.99 [iTunes Link]. This set contains maps of all four parks: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot, along with Downtown Disney, Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon and the Orlando International Airport tossed in for good measure. Maps of each of the parks can be bought individually for US$.99. When running the app, you are presented with the main screen which goes black for a few seconds and then re-appears. Odd. Tapping on any of the parks gives you a detailed "cartoony-looking" map that can be pinched and stretched to an extent. You can't pinch any map enough to see the entire park on one screen. This means that you really have to know basically what you're looking for before the app can be of much help, and since the map has no text of what the buildings represent, it's hit or miss. At least it was until I found the spyglass button which brings up a screen that searches attractions either by A to Z, by location, or by category. Choosing one brings up a screen with the name, a one line description, and some additional information.
5 apps for Thanksgiving (and not a turkey in the bunch!)
Here in the USA we're preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving. The typical celebration includes a turkey dinner, family and football on television (and perhaps a drunken uncle or two). Before you set up the folding card table for the kids, check out these iPhone/iPod touch apps meant to make the day more enjoyable. Thanksgiving Jokes Serving the "perfect" dinner while dealing with annoying relatives is stressful, so cut the tension with corny jokes, courtesy of Thanksgiving Jokes [iTunes link]. This free app is based on Dustin Kirk's Stacks platform, which puts flash cards on your iPhone or iPod touch. There's a large variety of topics available from math to trivia: nearly 13,000 in total. Dustin breaks from academia with Thanksgiving Jokes and focuses on groan-inducing one-liners. And you thought the turkey was dry. Turkey Recipes In my day, recipes were taped to cabinet doors. Today there's cooking software and even a dedicated television network. iPhone users can download Turkey Recipes [iTunes link] for $0.99 and pick from 27 recipes. Once you've selected the one you like (or added your own), you're a click away from generating a shopping list. Back in the kitchen, flick through the easy-to-read instructions (just wipe your hands first) and compare your finished product to the included photo. Just don't be too hard on yourself.
iPhone apps and tips for snowed-in TUAW readers
As I write this, snow is falling. That was the view out of my office this morning. Yes, I know it's only October 27th. Yes, I know that winter starts on December 21st. But sometimes in Colorado we get blizzards or major snowstorms in "non-standard" months. We're supposed to get two feet of the white stuff before this storm departs Thursday night. An IM conversation with Mike R. got me thinking about what iPhone apps could be useful when you're snowed in. Here's my list, and be sure to use the comments section below to leave your ideas. You're going to be getting a little cabin fever after being stuck in the house a few days, so why not go insane a bit faster? There are a number of snow globe apps for iPhone in the App Store [iTunes Link], so you can shake them up and watch those little virtual snowflakes falling, all while laughing nervously and sharpening that butcher knife. On a much more positive, happy-thoughts note, how about thinking about where you can go skiing or snowboarding when the roads are cleared and you can actually get the car out of the garage? The first thing you'll want to know are the snow depths at all of your favorite resorts. The US$1.99 Snow Reports [iTunes Link] does exactly that for over 2,000 resorts worldwide. Ski Lodge - Snow Reports [US$4.99, iTunes Link] is similar, but also provides detailed trail maps, directions to the nearest resort, and more. When you're on the mountain and riding your board, it's always fun to use iTrailMap 3D [US$4.99, iTunes Link] to trace your runs via GPS on a map, then send the map to those obnoxious virtual coworkers who keep sending you pictures of the palm trees swaying outside their San Diego offices.
5 apps for the scoundrel
Earlier today we were inspired by Pepsi's AMP UP Before You Score app [iTunes link], which prompts the would-be ladies' man through several pickup routines, each suited to a different type of young lady (sorority girl, tree hugger, goth girl... that one probably requires a bit of sulking). It's a bit of fun if not a little classless (and Pepsi & AMP have since apologized). With that in mind, we've compiled 5 apps for the scoundrel. Fake Call apps This one is more of a trick than a particular app. Here, Manolith describes how to use one of the many fake call apps to your advantage. Before approaching the object of your affection, set up a fake "grandma" profile complete with picture and set to ring one minute into your conversation. Because starting off with deception is the way to go. The fake call apps let you set up a fake phone call that looks and sounds like the real thing, even with a fake "voice" on the other side. Some are better than others, and could provide escape from a scrape. Awesome Pickups Awesome Pickups transports you to the Regal Beagle with the most horrendous pickup lines imaginable. That's probably part of the fun, in daring each other to actually tell a young single, "You must be Jamaican because you're Jamaican me crazy!" Simply tap to move from pickup line to pickup line until you're either slapped or asked to leave. Amazing Rejections: Smackdown If you're on the receiving end of a would-be suitor equipped with Awesome Pickups, Amazing Rejections: Smackdown is for you. Tap to view a laundry list of ill-advised pickup lines and their corresponding denials. Don't feel badly about using an especially vicious rejection, s/he probably deserves it. Relationship Test To end with something more savory than the rest, here's Relationship Test. This app presents a lighthearted quiz to share with your special someone. Have a few laughs while you learn about each others likes and dislikes. There's no heavyweight relationship advice here, just a bit of harmless fun. And it's better than targeting your tweets for a tree hugger. %Gallery-75440%
5 Apps for leaf-peepers
It's autumn here in the northern hemisphere, and where I live, in New England (and elsewhere around the US too), that brings leaf-peepers. What's a leaf-peeper? It's a tourist, typically from New York or New Jersey, who visits rural New England to observe the beautiful autumn leaves. It's a big deal for us. Each year we New Englanders take a break from eating cranberries, disavowing the Red Sox and pahkig the cah in Harvard yahd to view nightly news reports on peak leaf-viewing projections, which states are changing first and at what rate, etc. Fortunately, there's an app for that. Five, in fact, and here they are. Rest Area If you're traveling from out-of-state, you could encounter unfamiliar highways ... not good when you got to go, if you know what I mean. Is the next rest area 5 miles away or 35? Rest Area [iTunes link] knows the answer. It displays the nearest pit stops as well as what facilities each one has, like bathrooms, vending machines, restaurants, etc. Rest Area costs $0.99US. %Gallery-74446%
5 Apps for the Gastroenterologist
Sometime this summer a wiseacre commenter (we get a few) suggested we do a "Five Apps" for a variety of somewhat offbeat topics. One wasn't so far-fetched however: gastroenterologist. One could say that a gastro doc has about the same needs as any doctor, of course, and that's an easy out. So here are 5 apps that are great for gastroenterologists and possibly any medical specialist... Coming soon: 5 apps for the lemur owner. Epocrates Rx - This free app looks up drugs and is updated weekly. Epocrates [iTunes link] has already been available for other mobile platforms for a while, this is a must-have for physicians, I would think. There's also a Pro version that is designed for medical professionals, and it requires a yearly subscription fee to work. It's $99 for one year, which is pretty reasonable for what this does -- which includes an amazing pill ID tool. DocWrite - Another free app with a service you subscribe to, but this may appeal to more than doctors. DocWrite [iTunes link] is a transcription service that sends your ramblings securely and sends you back a complete transcription in PDF or Word. DocWrite has a web-based dashboard for your stuff, too, so you'll never be without those documents in text or audio. PubSearch - PubMed is a massive database of medical research papers and PubSearch (free version) [iTunes link] is an iPhone app that'll search them. Yes, of course you need a subscription to the database (noticing a trend here?). PubSearch also has a Mac desktop app, although there does not seem to be any coordination between the two. I'd imagine something like sharing bookmarks would be helpful. PubSearch Plus [iTunes link] costs $1.99 and is really the more functional version as it will show full articles and use EZProxy (where supported). Medcalc - A free medical calculator? Yep, Medcalc [iTunes link] includes a ton of formulas for doctors, plus a few indices and charts and whatnot to keep a handy reference for those who need it. This app seems to cover a lot of ground, although I'm not sure how much applies to the field of gastroenterology. Mobile MIM for iPhone and iPod touch - Sadly, this has yet to be released. But I'm guessing it'll be at the top of many doctors' wish lists. MIMvista makes real-deal medical imaging stuff and the MIM app for iPhone was demonstrated at WWDC. The demo was astounding, showing how doctors could merge CT and PET scans right on their iPhone and make notes for later use. The app is pending FDA approval, with no release date or price set.
5 Apps for the weekend warrior
Getting through the work week is hard enough for most of us... but the minute Friday afternoon rolls around, there's a certain breed that face the weekend with a long list of "honey do" projects and household duties. Yes, the weekend warriors need iPhone app love too -- whether to help with those maintenance challenges, or find ways to make the break from the day job a bit more enjoyable. Here's a five app collection just for you, my brothers and sisters in the two-day sprint; enjoy. Weber's On The Grill™ [iTunes link] for iPhone, at $4.99, would seem to be a bit pricey compared to other grill-centric cooking apps selling for $0.99 (dadoo's Grill Guide) or the large number of free and well-regarded cookbook apps on the store (check out Epicurious Recipies & Shopping List, for one). Nevertheless, if you're serious about getting the most out of your grill, the $5 you spend on this app will be well worth it. Weber may be the world's largest grill manufacturer, but the relationship of Weber owners to their grills feels more personal than mass-marketed; in fact, the slightly obsessive and cultish fandom around the Weber brand may seem a wee bit familiar to, uh, owners of a particular company's computers, music players and cellphones. Ahem. The iPhone app takes the Weber customer very seriously, providing a great collection of hundreds of recipes along with grilling technique guides (including videos from chef Jamie Purviance), time and temperature recommendations, a handy shopping list manager, and a convenient cooking timer right in the app. About the only thing that's missing is an optional meat thermometer to plug into the dock connector (which I would totally buy if they made one). %Gallery-70121%
eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers
An e-book (or ebook, or eBook, depending upon who you ask) is the digital equivalent of a paper book. According to KiwiTech, the publishers of Classics2Go, the market for eBooks has increased more than 60% over the last six years and growth from this point is expected to be very strong. We can reasonably connect the start of this burgeoning market to the release of the Amazon Kindle in 2007. Strong sales convinced some wary readers that this was a viable option. You could carry a few hundred books under your arm, and the reading experience was, well, acceptable. Going on a long trip? Wouldn't it be nice to take about 20 pounds of paper out of your luggage? 2007 also marked the introduction of the iPhone; it took about a year for eBook apps to appear on the iPhone. Now there are so many of them that finding the right one for your purposes can be a confusing prospect. I would like to clarify all this a bit by categorizing the four types of eBook apps, at least so far, and letting you know what you can expect from each. In deciding upon an eBook reader you need to consider: what sort of material you will be reading, how much you are willing to spend (if anything) and the quality of the viewing experience. Last year, Andrew Kazmierski and Phill Ryu released Classics (iTunes link). Their idea was to take a bunch of books in the public domain, 22 in the current release, and control all aspects of the user experience. We covered the first release of Classics upon its original release when its price was $2.99. Since then, the price has dropped to .99 and the number of books has increased. This app looked so impressive that it was featured in an Apple iPhone commercial. Upon launch, the reader is presented with a nicely rendered wooden bookshelf displaying colorful dust jackets. Click on a book and start reading. There is no wait, since all the books were downloaded with the app. Future updates bring more books. The books are all the kind of classics that are on school reading lists ranging from Frankenstein and Dracula, to Hound of the Baskervilles. The feature set is slim. Tap the right side of the screen or swipe right to left and the sepia toned pages turn using a pleasing animation. There are two buttons on the top of the screen. One brings down a maroon and gold bookmark and sends you to the bookshelf. When you click on the book again, you are brought to where you left off. The second button takes you to a table of contents. The bottom of the screen tells you the name of the chapter you are reading and what page you are on. The top of the screen displays the title of the book. Illustrations in books like Alice in Wonderland are nicely rendered, and the text is attractively formatted. A change in color of the title bar gives you an idea of where you are in the book.
5 Apps (Mac & iPhone) for pilots
People who fly airplanes, either professionally or for fun, are an interesting bunch. When they're not flying, they are usually doing something to keep their skills sharp or to learn something new. This selection of five Mac and iPhone applications is a sampling of what's available for Apple platforms for the very frequent fliers who read TUAW. 1) X-Plane from Laminar Research is not just one application, but a collection of flight simulation programs for Mac and iPhone as well as "those other platforms." If you're just curious about what it takes to fly an airplane, the X-Plane mobile apps for iPhone and iPod touch are a fairly low-cost way to see if you have what it takes to be a pilot. You can actually start for free with X-Plane Trainer [App Store], which provides your iPhone or touch with a Cessna 172 in which you can learn to take off, fly, navigate, and land. X-Plane Trainer also provides you with constant tips, somewhat akin to having your own flight instructor sitting next to you correcting your mistakes. The original X-Plane app for iPhone / iPod touch was X-Plane 9 [App Store, US$9.99], which has six different aircraft and configurable weather and daylight features. Laminar Research has also added X-Plane Airliner [App Store, US$9.99, see screenshot below] for budding airline pilots, X-Plane Extreme [App Store, US$9.99], X-Plane Racing [App Store, multiplayer, US$9.99], and X-Plane Helicopter [App Store, US$9.99]. To make life interesting, Laminar also came out with X-Plane Space Shuttle [App Store, US$1.99] so you can learn how to land an orbiter.
5 Apps for the art lover
I haven't always loved art. During my life, I went through a phase where I think my engineer / logical-brain kicked the artist brain out of the nest. Now my wife and I are avid art collectors, and I'm writing this while on our annual tour of Santa Fe, New Mexico art galleries. The picture above is a panorama taken on August 6th from the Santa Fe Opera House using the outstanding Pano app for iPhone. As part of our continuing Five Apps series, I decided to take on the challenging task of finding five applications for Mac and iPhone that would be useful to the art lover or collector. Read on for my take on the cream of the art crop.
5 Apps for movie nuts
Just a few years ago, lovers of movies had one option of finding out where and when a film was playing: the newspaper. Remember them? They came sometime after scrolls and before Pong. Next came Mr. Moviefone. Who of you cannot hear a certain voice in your head as you read: 'Hello and welcome to Moviefone'? The voice has been doing it since 1989, and has recorded over three million voice prompts. Moviefone represents many theater chains including: some AMC screens, Cineplex Odeon, Clearview Cinemas, Galaxy Cinemas, and National Amusements theaters depending upon location. And then came the Internet. Some years later, in 2000 Fandango emerged to create some competition. Using a ton of funny commercials and movie trailers featuring paper bag puppets, they gave Moviefone a run for their money representing such chains as: some AMC screens, Carmike Cinema, Century Theaters, CineArts, Cinemark, Edwards, Regal, United Artists, and others depending upon location. Both have Internet sites where, for a service charge ranging from $.75 to $2.00, tickets could be bought online to make sure you wouldn't be shut out of that midnight showing of Transformers 2. Then came the iPhone/iPod Touch and things got considerably easier, although there is no clear demarcation of what service sells what, or where. I want to give you two alternatives, each using one of the two competing services. Now Playing - Free This is one of the nicest apps going. It uses Fandango for purchasing tickets, but it does a whole lot more. In fact, it has the fullest feature set of any movie app I've come across. Here are some of the things it can do: Netflix management: Many options found on the Netflix site are available here but I found them a bit harder to get to than on the web site. Queues can be re-ordered, add to or deleted from. When adding you have the option of moving your choice to the top of your queue. If you're not sure if you want it, you can be transferred to Amazon, IMDb, Wikipedia or even the Netflix site via Safari for more information. I should note that when using any of the Netflix oriented functions, the app takes quite a while to download all your Netflix account information. Movie searching by theater: Choose a theater and get show times and the option of playing a trailer. A website button brings you to all of the sites mentioned plus the Metacritic review site, or you can read the first paragraph of a number of reviews from top critics. You are also alerted if the movie is already in your Netflix Queue and given the Netflix star rating. Movie schedules can be emailed. A full list of upcoming movies along with DVD release dates can be found along with the ability of saving any upcoming title to your Netflix queue to receive it after it's released. It doesn't have the nicest interface out there, but it's jammed with functionality and the price is certainly right. Note: Fandango service charges a 'convenience fee' ranging from $.75 to $2.00 depending upon venue and location.
5 Apps for the cyclist
Apple products and the bike go together well. They seem to appeal to the same sort of folks: evangelistic, committed aficionados willing to pay any premium, to be brutally honest about it. Oh, and let's not forget, they love to talk at length about these objects of their affection at parties. You know who you are. You've got a copy of Colorado Cyclist in your bathroom. So it seems like getting the iPhone working for you on the bike would be a no-brainer. And it pretty much is. Here are five apps that I've found I like, most centered around the fact that the iPhone's built-in GPS gives cyclists the kind of on-bike information they want, and the après vélo experience they crave until the next fix, I mean "ride." From the outset, you'll need a bike mount, if you want to take advantage of these apps' functions en route. Otherwise, the iPhone slips just fine into a jersey pocket, and will hold a GPS lock even though a ziploc sandwich baggie. Mount-wise, pickings are slim, but there are a few out there that are relatively low-profile. Plus, battery life can be a problem. Most endurance athletes are out there for hours at a time, and GPS tracking can quickly drain an iPhone battery. if you take care to turn off everything non-essential, you may be able to get that whole ride in. Or, you can do what this guy is doing; he's building an iPhone bike mount with power. Maybe now the iPhone can make its RAAM debut. On to the apps! 1) Ascent Mobile. I have a warm place in my heart for Montebello Software's Ascent. If I harken back to the old days, Garmin could barely be bothered to come out with a Mac version of its then-popular TrainingCenter software and had shunted all its Mac users to MotionBased. Ascent came through with elegant desktop software that tapped into the data side of the bike geek. Finally, a place to really churn through the routes and elevation, while watching your heart rate, speed and cadence throughout that quad-shredding ride. You can zoom right into your loop post-ride and slice and dice the data to see any element of it you like. What's more, Ascent really made it look good. By the time Garmin came out with its watered-down and feature-hobbled Mac version of TrainingCenter I was so over Garmin software. I used it strictly for the route-upload function and kept everything else on Ascent, with an online version stored on MotionBased for route sharing (though I've since moved from MotionBased to RunningAhead now that RA has GPS upload.) So I was thrilled to hear that Ascent was coming out with Ascent Mobile, $9.99US. Ascent Mobile gives you all the relevant data you could want on a ride, plus lots of ways to check out your ride right on the iPhone afterward. Best of all, it naturally syncs with the desktop version of Ascent, sold separately. Can I let go of my trusty Garmin Edge 705? Quite possibly. We'll see where this little relationship goes. (Oh, and yes, Erica, it gives your max speed.) 2) B.iCycle. Ok, maybe you're more of a "just the facts, ma'am" kind of rider. We've got one for you, too. B.iCycle, $9.99US, is a simple, GPS-based tracker that gives you some easy stats during your ride. It saves your tracks for later viewing on a map, and gives you all of the essential features you might want, without too much feature clutter. It has a nice map view for on-bike routing, and a way to email your route to yourself afterward. Think of it as a very inspired bike computer. 3) Bicycle Gear Calculator. Ok, grease monkeys, this one is for you. It's obviously not intended for on-bike use, but half the fun of the sport is the tinkering you get to do with your bike while you're not on it, talking about it at parties, or relentlessly reloading chainlove.com for the next steal. Now you can talk gear ratios with ease. Input chainring size, sprocket size, and crank length and all the relevant math is done for you. Plan ahead for a big hill ride and get your bike properly geared so you look like Laurent, Stefano, or Marco (may he rest in peace) on those hills. $4.99US at the iTunes store. 4) iMapMyRide. iMapMyRide is another GPS tracker, but is borne out of the website mapmyride.com, which is the sister site to mapmyrun.com, a favorite of mine, pre-Garmin Forerunner. The nice thing about this app -- other than the fact that it's free -- is that it is built to work well with the website, which is a great place to discover new routes and make connections with other like-sported people. I can't say the app itself is revolutionary in any way, but if you're already multi-sport and have been taking advantage of the MapMyFitness community-based functions, iMapMyRide may be a useful way to go for you. 5) TrailGuru. I didn't want to leave the mountain bikers completely out of the loop, so here's something for you singletrackers. I'm not entirely sure how this differs from some of the other GPS-based tracking software, but the community associated with it seems to be more interested in off-road use, so you may find that you discover new and interesting ways to tear up the trails near you. It seems to be a fave around TUAW, so I'd be remiss not to mention it. If you have experience with this app, let us know in the comments. I'm still working on integrating the iPhone into my fitness endeavors. I admit I love my Garmins (yes, I have both the Edge and the Forerunner.) And I can't imagine I'd be brave enough to do with my iPhone what I did with my Forerunner 305: put it under my swim cap at the start of a triathlon. But you never know. If you ever see a fellow race participant with what seems to be a very oddly-shaped head under that swim cap, come and introduce yourself to me.
5 Apps for the lawyer
It's official. The iPhone has come into its own in the legal world. It took a little time, and lawyers are notorious Luddites (you can pry the WordPerfect out of their cold, dead hands) but they do like Bright Shiny Objects, and nothing fills the lapel pocket like an iPhone. The iPhone finally cracked the law-firm standards stranglehold by virtue of its compatibility with Microsoft Exchange, which freed lawyers from the non-choice of "would you like a Blackberry, or a Blackberry?" Granted, the Blackberry still seems to have a better handle on business needs, but for some, the iPhone is worth getting to know. It should go without saying -- I will say it, though -- many of the productivity apps that are useful to everybody are useful to lawyers, so two of these apps are not strictly law-related. (See if you can spot them! It's a brain teaser and a post!) Also, certain obvious apps don't exist yet, such as a standalone LexisNexis or WestLaw legal research app. That said, the web will suffice for now. In fact, though I've artificially constrained myself to only standalone applications, the iPhone really shines for accessing web research sites given that Mobile Safari is (mostly) a full-featured browser. So, without further ado, here are five apps that give a glimpse into what the iPhone can do for attorneys. 1) DataViz's DocumentsToGo. Nobody expects to write a brief or a memorandum from start to finish on an iPhone (though I am waiting for a good enough voice-recognition app so that getting a draft started is feasible), but any legal writing usually goes through more revisions than your average pre-1.0 beta software. Often this happens right as you were planning on leaving for the day. DocumentsToGo allows you to edit and change documents, as well as email them over Exchange (requires $9.99US Exchange version) to other team members. Of course, iPhone OS 3.0's cut/copy/paste was a prerequisite to making any word processing application workable, but now document editing has become at least moderately feasible. Nothing replaces your desk, covered in open books or a large monitor with LexisNexis or WestLaw opened to 18 different searches, but this gives you just a bit more flexibility and just may save you a panicky trip back to the office at 11:30pm on Saturday night.
