I Phone Review

It's hard to believe that only a year after the iPhone app store opened its doors on the web that nearly 60,000 iPhone apps have been created. Some serve important purposes. Others aren't worth the battery juice they'll sap.

Here are a few iPhone apps worth noting. Try a few on for size and see how they fit.

1. Hey Where Are You? While nobody likes to have everyone knowing what they're doing all times, this iPhone app helps you get connected to important people like family and friends to let them know what you are doing. Asking and answering the question, "Hey, where are you?" users can keep each other up to date on their comings and goings. It's a lot easier to get the crowd out to happy hour if they know you are already there? Like many of the iPhone apps available, this one helps you stay connected.

2. Print and Share. Most printing intents end up as pipe dreams. Sure, I'll get you that photo of us at the beach, as soon as I get home, power up the computer, find the photo in billions of computer files, hit print and then actually remember to do all that instead of falling asleep watching Leave It to Beaver reruns like I always do. The best intentions usually end up shelved unless we act right away. With the Print and Share, your iPhone is connected right to your printer. Have it start printing before you even get home. It takes a few steps out of the procrastination process, delivering results even before you make it back to your pad. It's one of the better iPhone apps available.

3. Read it later. Usually, we find the most interesting material on the web when we least have time to read it. That's why the Internet can be such a great source of time suckage as we find stuff we need to learn but always at the wrong time. Like many iPhone apps that make information easier, Read it Later allows you to save these web pages in your phone for further browsing. Don't have time to read about tips for a bigger tax return during the middle of a big deadline? Read it Later allows you to save pages to your iPhone so you can read it at more convenient times, while you're waiting for your hair care appointment or stuck at the DMV with nothing to do.

Real software development for the iPhone might lag behind, but iPhone apps come to the rescue. With over 50,000 iPhone apps being developed every month, it's impossible to keep up on them all. Some will streamline your life, and you'll wonder how you ever got by without them. Others will leave you wondering why anyone even bothered. Here are a few iPhone apps that are worth their hype.

Pageonce Personal Assistant - Have difficulty keeping up on all your accounts? Need to check stats and finances far away from your desktop? This iPhone app keeps all your account information on the same page. You get absolute access to all your online accounts, from investments to banking to your frequent flyer miles. Instead of juggling a dozen or so sites, the Pageonce Personal Assistant does it all with one application for easy convenience.

Fring - Really, once you've got this app, you'll never need an IM tool again. This app includes Google Talk, Yahoo, Skype, MSN, Twitter, ICQ, plus VoIP calls over Wi-Fi if your minutes are low while you are spending the afternoon in a bar or coffee shop. While many iPhone apps are devoted to a particular site, this one streamlines them all into one universally.

Routesy - You can't live in the big city without this baby in your pocket. It's a great way to keep up on train and bus schedules, as well as tell you what to take to get where you need to be. It works even better than the computer, simple and quick. Get the information you need with this smart but efficient iPhone app.

VNC Lite - Want to turn your cell phone into your computer? VNC Lite allows you to view and fully control your computer from your cell phone, providing you are on the same network. If you thought that laptops as thin as children's storybook was as it could get, this beauty puts your desktop in the palm of your hand to make it even better. Some iPhone apps let you connect to your computer. This app practically is your computer.

Bloom - Take Brian Eno's generative ambient music and recreate the experience, and what do you have? Bloom. You drop your fingers on the pastel screen to make simple loops and create your own music, perfect for dancing fingers. This is one of the few iPhone apps that have been created that lets you get creative too.

Free iPhones for you and your family? Sounds too good to be true doesn't it? The latest craze sweeping the internet is affiliate marketing, and it's building up quite a head of steam. There are of course sceptics, but those who have been getting involved seem to be happy enough, and the affiliate sites themselves seem to be growing in number. They promise iPods, iPhones, digital cameras and PS3s to 'members' who sign up for a trial promotion, and get others to do the same. Are these sites for real, are they a scam and how can they afford to give stuff away for nothing? Read on and I'll explain.

What is affiliate marketing and how does it work?

Affiliate marketing is a means of incentivising referrals to websites, a way to get people to get other people to sign up to trials. It might be an ad (like google adwords), or a promotional link banner through your website. It's a bit like a sales commission for doing work on their behalf. If you put a link to another website on your website and someone clicks through it and then signs up to that product or service, you will get paid a commission for bringing in customers. Normally, this is a fairly small amount, but in some cases the stakes are much higher

How can they afford to give away iPhones, PS3s and digital cameras?

It's easy to understand when you study it a bit. To claim your 'free' gift, you need to join up to a site such as kudosnetwork or freebiejeebies (for UK, USA and Canada) and sign up to a promotion such as an online film rental trial. Once you've done this, you select a gift that you want which will have been attributed a certain number of referrals. The higher the number of referrals the higher the value of the gift. Say you needed 18 referrals for your gift, you would need to get 18 people to sign up via your link. By the time your 18 friends have managed to get 18 more friends to sign up, the site has 324 customers, by the next 18, that number has risen to 5832. In a very short period of time, the numbers stack up very quickly, making a lot of money in commission for the site owner.

Advertising is not cheap, and when the consumer is paid instead of the advertising company, it adds up to quite a lot of nice free 'stuff'. Of course they say 'free', but there is time involved although little or not money leaves the hands of the savvy. Hence the appeals to youngsters (who tend to have lots of the former and rather less of the latter).

What's in it for the site owner?

Considerable amounts of money, of course. He needs you, however, to make the wheels turn - the reason he comes up with salivating prizes to get you off your bum selling on his behalf. You are charged with the job of working out which of your friends would be interested in such a scheme, and more importantly which of your friends wouldn't, and you keep pushing to reach your goal like a salesman after his bonus (iPhone). Meanwhile Mr. Site Owner sits there taking a commission for every sale her gets, and passes on a residual to you in the form of your gift. His marketing is clever, and as you can see, he is doing very well out of it.

But if everyone completed their referrals, would the site lose money?

It is possible that if everyone suddenly did complete all their referrals, that the site might temporarily be out of pocket, but they would raise the amount of referrals required to ensure that they are always making a profit. As you come at the bottom of the chain, you are the last to get paid, so to speak, so know that the sites always have cash, and that's how they honour their contract with you, and give you your iPhone. Also remember, it pays for them to keep their reputation sweet amongst their agents (you guys), as without you and your clever efforts, they are nothing. Can they really afford to go around making promises they can't keep? Not for long, and these sites are alive and well and have been for some time, so it appears they've got the balance right.

What about the advertisers?

It is possible that if everyone suddenly did complete all their referrals, that the site might temporarily be out of pocket, but they would raise the amount of referrals required to ensure that they are always making a profit. As you come at the bottom of the chain, you are the last to get paid, so to speak, so know that the sites always have cash, and that's how they honour their contract with you, and give you your iPhone. Also remember, it pays for them to keep their reputation sweet amongst their agents (you guys), as without you and your clever efforts, they are nothing. Can they really afford to go around making promises they can't keep? Not for long, and these sites are alive and well and have been for some time, so it appears they've got the balance right.

So, is affiliate marketing worth getting involved in?

Yes, absolutely, categorically, and for all parties involved. Is it free? Not completely, but if you are wily, it won't cost you a penny, just some time and some clever thinking. Find a list of people want a new iPhone themselves, and get them signed up ASAP.

Examples of two UK based affiliate marketing sites for you to check out are: kudos network and freebiejeebies. Click on the links below to visit the sites. And Good Luck!

Will your phone read you 18th century love poetry as you go to bed at night? With the right choice of iPhone apps, it's possible. Iphone technology achieves the impossible every day, from streaming your entire CD collection to finding the lowest hotel rates in Brazil, all in the palm of your hand.

The fact is that the iPhone is capable of so much that even hard core techies will admit that not all of it is worth doing. Some iPhone apps aren't worth the time to bother, while others dramatically improve your life. The following iPhone apps, however, are worth the rave.

Yelp- Lost in the city and can't find a good bar or restaurant? Give it your best Yelp. This iPhone app will help you find nearby bars, restaurants and banks, though you might not want to hit them in that order. You get the location, directions, and even more. Yelp will offers thousands of reviews from regular Joe users, not just the New York Times. You can also try Urban Spoon, which offers similar services to find eateries.

NYTimes- Speaking of the New York Times, the paper that sets the curve in journalism makes its voluminous editions easy to stream using the iPhone. You can find stories by the section of each day, or view the most popular stories to find out what New Yorkers are gabbing about. The text is surprisingly easy to read on screen, backed by full-color photos. It's a unique application. Almost no other iPhone apps stream entire media publications to your phone.

Stanza - Stuck waiting for a train without a book? The Stanza puts every classic novel in the palm of your hand, as well as any book you can find in their large array of public domain files. You can even add lengthy Word of PDF files and edit your term paper on the train. This is one of those iPhone apps that appeal to a wide range of age groups and careers, from college students to federal attorneys. Don't expect to find Healthcliff's Just for Laughs in their public domain, however, if you can't get your reading tastes out of the third grade.

Jott - Does the iPhone's digital keyboard cramp your mind? Jott can transfer any voice mail into a text to save you the trouble of typing. Ideal for text messaging, Jott keeps all that button pushing from driving you insane.

For people that are tired of listening to the radio or constantly using cds, many choose to use their ipods in their cars. It can be a great way to listen to the music you want to. But if you want to do this, you need to find an ipod car adapter. There are a lot of different types and they can be used in different media docks, so you have to pay attention to what you are purchasing and read the boxes thoroughly.

There are various ways that you can get your ipod to play music in your car. The easiest way, if you don't mind spending some money, is to just purchase the ipod car adapter that has been specifically created for installation into the car. This is the most convenient option if you are looking for an adapter for your own car. You can find them on plenty of popular shopping sites and also at the electronics store, allowing you to compare brands and prices.

But if you are looking for an adapter for a car you don't own, perhaps consider some other options. If you want something that you can use in other cars or for stereos at another point, consider a radio adapter. They have a decent price and they are easy to work with. However, if you are in an area where you do not have decent radio reception, you are not going to have the best sound quality available.

Do you have a cassette tape player in your vehicle? Try a tape adapter instead. You can make use of the rewind and fast forward buttons for skipping songs in this case. This can be a useful option, which you wouldn't have if you used the radio adapter. The other great part is that you will not have any sound issues like you would with a radio adapter.

If you have a CD player, you have an option similar to what is available with the tape adapter. However, for this, you would have to remove your stereo and plug your ipod in with RCA adapters into the port found in the back of the stereo. Two sides are in RCA jacks in the stereo and one side is in your ipod in this scenario. In addition, RCA adapters for ipods are usually really cheap.

Regardless of what you pick, you should consider whether or not it will work properly with the type of car that you have. Most adapters will list if they are universal or compatible or not. Also consider the other uses of the ipod car adapter that you may be purchasing.

In the past, if you had an ipod car adapter, it was mainly only to play your music in your car. However with new technology and other options, you can also charge your ipod from many of the same adapters while you are driving and listening to your ipod on the road. Sometimes these type of adapters can cost more, but they are worth it for people that are concerned their ipod might run out of battery life during long times on the road, or people that just want their ipod constantly charged. Consider all of the options available and try to pick what will give you the best sound quality for a decent price.

A common looking item these days is the iPod. These media players are a popular device. They are completely portable. An exciting option available to vehicle owners is the car connection in which the iPod can be played over the vehicles speakers. Many people agree that radio commercials and advertisements are boring, long winded and irritating. Many people say there are too much talk and not enough music on the radio. The iPod car connection can give the driver the freedom to listen to whatever music they would prefer to listen to while they are driving.

A connection between the car's sound system and the iPod is a car connection. As stated earlier, the driver can listen to the iPod's music library over the car's speakers. There are different types of car connections. Some have better sound quality than others. The different types of connections also come with different prices as well as different sound quality.

A highly recommended approach to the car connection is the iPod smart cable connection. This connection is basically a box connected into the compact disk changer jack. A message is transmitted to the radio and the iPod. Models vary and some have an LCD display that can be put on the dash or in the glove box.

This system is expensive but does not require professional installation. It produces an excellent sound quality. It costs typically over one hundred dollars and sometimes can cost over two hundred dollars. A vehicle owner needs to determine what they are willing to pay or can afford with regards to an iPod cable connection.

Another way to make a car connection is through an antenna direct connection to a FM modulator. The vehicles' antenna fits into the rear of the modulator and the plug from that fits into the rear of the radio. These connections cut the signal. Sound quality is better and getting a professional to install this is a good idea. It typically will cost between thirty and seventy five dollars.

A cassette adapter is an inexpensive way to make a car connection to the iPod. The tape is put into the cassette player in the vehicle. A wire is on the tape and the end is placed in the iPod jack. This system costs between ten and twenty dollars. This adapter will only work with vehicles that have cassette players. Many newer models do not have the players.

There are many types of iPod car connections. These connections can range in price from ten dollars to well over two hundred dollars. Many of these cheaper connections will result in poor sound quality. At least the vehicle driver can listen to the music they love on their iPod but through the vehicle's speakers. The top rated connection is the iPod smart cable connection. A vehicle owner who is interested in listening to their iPod in their vehicle should research the topic. Decide which type of option is best for the vehicle and proceed to get the best car connection they can. It is good to know that there are many options available to the vehicle owner.

Every year there's always a good range of electronics available and this year is no different. However, as we approach Christmas it's the time of year when everyone wants the best deals. The new iPod nano is probably one of the best deals available and because it's available from a wide range of online and offline stores, you can pretty much guarantee that you will get a good deal.

There are probably well over 100 large online stores that stock the new iPod and this is because it's one of the most popular gadgets available right now. It works for both adults and children and is simply one of the best music players there is. However, if you want to get a good deal you'll have to do a lot of price comparison.

There are lots of options to choose from and you may find it difficult to make up your mind. Well, if that's the case then you should read on to learn how to choose the right products for your needs. You will also need to set yourself a budget so that you don't overspend.

A lot of companies offer iPod accessories along with the iPod in a sort of package deal. This will cost more but it could be better value for money - and iPod accessories are great stocking fillers. Before you go shopping, it's a good idea to learn a little more about the iPod and what features are available.

The latest iPod nano is available with 8GB or 16GB of space and it also has a camera so that you can take photos and upload them to your computer or keep them with you on your iPod. There are a lot of features on the new ones and they're great as gifts because they are something that will last a long time.

When you go shopping for an iPod, just be sure that you set a budget and work out where all the good deals are. You'll need to do some price comparison before you buy anything and just make sure that you're aware of all the major stores that stock them so you can get yourself a good deal.