Patrick’s 10 Must-Have iPad Launch Apps

This early in the iPad’s life it’s hard to find any apps worth your while. I’ve come up with a list of ten iPad apps that I find to be real winners and I thought it would be a good idea to share them you with you. You know the best thing about it? They are all free.

10. Goby – Goby is a great app to find things going on locally. It takes your current location and shows you activities and places you can go while you are there. This app is very useful for people who are not familiar with the area and want to do something with their time.

9. Twitterrific – At the time of writing, this app is currently the best Twitter app out there. It does what it needs to do and it looks good doing it. Until Twitter drops their official app this one is the one I’ve chosen to get the job done.

8.  ABC Player – Basically this app lets you watch all of ABC’s TV shows right on your iPad. Me being such a huge fan of LOST this is a good thing.

7. Pandora – If you are reading this article then I probably don’t need to tell you what Pandora is. This is Pandora on your iPad just like Pandora on your iPhone or computer.

6. USA Today – This app is my favorite app for getting my news for the day, they update it constantly with all the latest news from across the world. USA Today also has a great layout that makes it fun to read.

5. Bible – This is YouVersions.com’s Bible application in HD for the iPad. It has all the features of the iPhone version which means you can start a reading plan, choose any translation you want, bookmark verses, etc. It’s the best Bible application out there.

4. IMDB – This is the Internet Movie Database on your iPad. You can search any movie ever made and you will get all of the information you need about that movie. You can even search by actor, actress, producer, director, etc. It’s all here.

3. 1000 Experiences – When this app was released it jumped right to the top of the most downloaded applications, then it kind of disappeared. It’s out there so go and download it. It gives you the top places to…well, everything. Just download it and you’ll see what I mean.

2. Movies – This app gives you information about movies that are currently in the box office as well as upcoming movies. You can also get info about nearby theaters. This app is just like the iPhone version but better looking.

1. Beatwave – This application is available on the iPhone but is best used on the iPad. It’s an amazing app that lets you create music with no effort at all. I am totally addicted to it. The application is free but you can buy different sounds and an option to record your creations and save them as mp4′s. My daughter could even make a sweet beat with this and she’s only a year and a half.

Check back for my Top 10 iPad Launch Games feature coming soon.

Check out the gallery below to see screenshots of each application mentioned above.

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Patrick’s 15 Must-Have iPhone Apps

There is so many junkie iPhone/iPod Touch apps to sift through these days I decided it would be best to help you guys out and give you my 15 personal favorite iPhone apps. I am very picky about keeping my iPhone organized so I am always deleting apps that I don’t use, these apps are applications that pretty much never leave my phone. I’m limiting this list to just applications because I am also working on a “15 must-have iPhone games” article which should be posted in the near future. Just so you know, this list is in order. Enjoy!

15. TV Forecast – Just add your favorite TV shows and this app will tell you how many days until the next episode airs. If you have trouble keeping track of days this app is perfect.

14. The Weather Channel – This app is the one to download if you don’t think the included weather app is enough. It gives you an hour-by-hour, 36-hour, and 10-day forecast.

13. YP Mobile – This is the official Yellow Pages app. Anytime I need a number for a store I just open this app and I am ready to go. It also gives you direction to the place just by tapping on the address.

12. Movies – This app shows you the lastest movies currently showing in theaters as well as upcoming movies. Watch trailers, rate movies,  list movies you want to see and share them with people on Facebook.

11. IMDb – I’ve been waiting for this app for a while and it’s finally here. The complete Internet Movie Database on your iPhone. Search by actor, film, etc. This is a must-have for any film buffs.

10. Shazam – Here a great song on the radio or in the store? Just open Shazam and it will tell you what the song, artist, and album is. It even let’s you buy the song off iTunes if you’re that impatient.

9. Facebook – This app is a mobile version of Facebook. You can’t do everything that you can do in the browser version but I wouldn’t be surprised if you could by the time the next update comes out.

8. RedBox – RedBox is a rental service where all rentals are $1. This app let’s you reserve the movie right from the phone, then all you have to do is pick it up at the designated redbox.

7. Awesome Note (+Todo) – This application is the ultimate notes and todo list app. Categorize your lists, pick different paper styles, font styles, add photos, etc. This app does it all.

6. NewsRack – Don’t be tricked into buying any other RSS reader. NewsRack is the best. Just trust me and go buy it. At the time of this writing Newsstand is currently not available in the appstore.

5. Giant Bomb – As you already probably know Giant Bomb is the Wikipedia of video games. If you love video games as much as I do then you need an app like this on your iPhone.

4. TextNow – My current texting plan has a limit of 200 texts a month so this app really comes in handy for me. If you are in the same boat as me I’d suggest you check this app out, it’s the best alternative texting app I’ve seen so far.

3. Amazon Mobile – I am addicted to Amazon.com. It’s the only place I ever buy anything these days. This app is a mobile version of it which makes it easy to spend more money than you currently have in your bank account. My advice: Be careful with the one-click purchasing.

2. Bible – This Bible app by LifeChurch.tv is by far the best Bible app on the market. You can read the Bible in any translation you want. Tap on a verse and you can email it to a friend, bookmark it, and even tweet it. You can also start a reading plan like I have which makes it very easy to stay on top of reading the Bible everyday. The app even syncs with the browser version which is located at http://youversion.com.

1. Tweetie 2 – I hate to have to put this one before the Bible app but the truth is, I am checking this app the most throughout the day. Tweetie 2 is in my opinion the best Twitter application for the iPhone. There are a lot of choices out there and I have tried them all. I was using Twitterrific for a long time but decided to switch to Tweetie 2 after learning about all the awesome features.

So there you have it, my top 15 must-have iPhone apps. Do you agree? What are some apps that you think should have made the list? Let your thoughts out in the comments section below.

13 Apps any Android Owner Should Have

Welcome to the world of Android. Now that you have bought your new Android phone, you are probably wondering just what to do next.Well, as good as your phone may be, you cannot unlock the full potential of any Android device until you start adding some applications into the mix.

The good news is there are so many apps out there, you will be able to customize your Android phone in ways you would never believe. The bad news? There are a lot of just plain useless apps, and it can be a little hard to know just where to get started.

With that in mind, I figured it would be a good idea to put together a list of apps that would be useful for just about any Android user. While I do not claim this is a definitive list by any means, it is a good place to start, and many of these apps will improve your experience with your new phone many times over.

Oh, and the best part? Every app I am about to list is free.

So here is my list of apps any Android owner should have:

1. Barcode Scanner: Seems like an odd place to start, doesn’t it. After all, why would I mention a barcode scanner in this article, and especially as the first item on a like this. Things is, Barcode Scanner is probably one of the most useful applications you can get for your Android phone. It turns your camera into a barcode scanner, something many other programs use extensively. It does one other major thing, however; it reads QR codes. What’s a QR code you ask? It is a 2D code used to lead people to websites when scanned by barcode readers. Sounds boring? Well, they serve their purpose. One of the handiest is people reviewing Android apps can use the QR codes to lead people straight to where to download the app from the market. Trust me; get this app.
2. Toggle Settings: As much as I like the Android interface, there are some things that could use some real improvements. One of those improvements is the way you access the various phone settings. Turning Wi-Fi on and off, changing the brightness, activating GPS; to do any of these things, you have to jump through so many hoops it can drive you mad. That’s where Toggle Settings comes in.  This app gives you instant access to some of the most commonly changed settings, including Wi-Fi, GPS, Volume Control and screen brightness. It also comes with a task killer, something you will find invaluable as Android apps have a tendancy to run in the background even after you have exited them.
3. Apps Organizer: One of the nice things about the Android Interface is you have three home screens to play around with. You can take any application and drop a shortcut on it, as well as adding Widgets, which allow for all sorts of little nifty tricks. The only problem is that if you clutter all of your screens with shortcuts and widgets, you will slow your phone’s interface down considerably. So how do you set up shortcuts to some of your most often used apps on your home page without slowing everything down? The answer is Apps Organizer. This app allows you to organize all of your applications into handy categories, including Internet, Multimedia and Games. Icons representing each of these categories are then placed on your homepage as shortcuts to those applications. You can also select certain apps as your favorites, allowing you to filter them in in your shortcuts. It allows you to find what you are looking for much more quickly without slowing your phone down.
4. AppsManager: One of the downfalls of Android is currently you cannot run Apps off of your SD card without rooting the phone. While word is Google is working on a way to allow for that, many Android users are running out of space in their internal phone memory. AppsManager can help with that. The program allows you to back up almost all of the free Android Apps to your SD card and then uninstall the app from your phone. Why is that useful, you ask? It allows you to download an app you like but would not use often, back it up on your SD card and uninstall the app. Then, on the rare occasion you could actually use it, you can reinstall the app quickly from the card. Those using the G1 like myself will find this very useful.
5. Handcent SMS: While there is nothing wrong with the basic Android SMS client, it can be a little plain. Thankfully, there are several replacements you can download. Of those replacements, Handcent SMS stands out as the best. Handcent is extremely customizable, tracks conversations better than the standard app, and allows you to set you text messages to pop up on the main screen with an instant reply feature. You can also change the color the LED light flashes when you get a text so you can distinguish it from emails or calls. Word of warning, though: if you install Handcent, make sure to disable the native message app’s alerts. Otherwise, you will end up with two alerts for each text message.
6. Missed Call: Remember what I was just saying about changing the LED for your texts with Handcent? Missed Call lets you do the same thing with all kinds of services. I currently have incoming calls blinking white and missed calls blinking red, which allows me to tell at a glance what kind of alerts I have on my phone without unlocking it.
7. Ringdroid: Ever wanted to turn your favorite tunes into ringtones? Ringdroid lets you do that from your Android phone itself. Just upload an MP3, open it in Ringdroid, and you will be given the ability to highlight and cut the part of the song you want to use. Never pay for a ringtone again.
8. PdaNet: PdaNet allows you to turn your phone into a 3G modem via USB. To really make this program work, you need to download PdaNet for Android and the PdaNet Android App off your carrier’s marketplace. Once you set it up, all you will have to do is activate it on your phone and your computer, hook your phone up via USB, and you can surf the web on your computer. Do not be fooled by the fact PdaNet has a limited trial; you can still use it for most web surfing after the trial period has expired.
9. KeepScreen: Getting tired of the screen timing out when trying to use the Google Maps navigation or reading a longer article online? You need KeepScreen. Keepscreen is a simple program that lets you override the default screen timeout of your phone when using specific programs. You can customize it to keep the screen from timing out for any application you have on the phone.
10. Flyscreen: Flyscreen is unlike any other program I have used. It turns your lock screen into an RSS reader, giving you the chance to catch up with your favorite sites without even unlocking your phone. It even has built in connectivity with Facebook and Twitter; in fact, now that I have Flyscreen, I do not use Twidroid or the Android Facebook App. I can follow and reply to tweets or read and comment on my friend’s walls directly from Flyscreen. Each feed you set up is its own separate widget, and you can scroll back 10 feeds (more for Twitter or Facebook). Seriously, you need to give this App a try.
11. ShopSavvy: ShapSavvy is a great app for those of us who tend to be price conscious shoppers. All you have to do is scan the barcode of any item, and ShopSavvy will give you the price of said item in other local stores and many online retailers. You can even create wish lists and add price alerts to help you get that elusive deal.
12. Meridian: If you plan on carrying music or video on your Android phone, you need a good media player. Meridian is the best on the market. It allows you to browse your SD card for music and video, set up playlists and just generally get the most out of your multimedia content.
13. TuneWiki: There are a lot of streaming music players available for Android, including Pandora, LastFM and Slacker Radio. If you are only going to get one app for streaming music, however, it should be TuneWiki. Not only does it have LastFM functionality built in, it connects to SHOUTcast radio, an enormous network of internet radio stations. You can also listen to your music on your phone, search YouTube for music videos and try to find songs by their lyrics. In a market that is overcrowded with different multimedia apps, TuneWiki really stands out.

And there you have it. These 13 Apps will help transform your Android phone into something so much more. I really feel like my G1 is at least 10 times the phone it was when I got it thanks to these and other apps I have downloaded, and I have not paid for a single app yet.

Want to learn more about Android or Android Apps? Check out Android Guys, Force Close, Androinica and 101 Best Android Apps.

Sol Free

Sol Free is available now for the iPhone. Sol Free is an awesome solitaire application that’s…you guessed it…free! Sol Free gives us 3 free card games taken right from the $9.99 Solebon Solitaire which has 20 games if you are interested. These three games include Baker’s Game, Demon, and Klondike Deal 3. Sol Free gives me the only game I ever play (Klondike) so I am totally satisfied. This app has great visuals and is great for playing anywhere. Unlike Platinum Solitaire (which I own) this game has no load screens or developer “movies.” You just start the app and choose your game and you are all set. The game features an unlimited undo button and also an auto button which will complete the obvious moves for you. I actually prefer Sol Free over Platinum Solitaire because it looks great, it starts up fast, and it’s perfect for my Klondike needs.