iPhone Software Review

So, the Apple Application Store has been out for a week and a half,
and while I certainly haven't tried everything that's out there, I
thought I'd take a minute or two to tap a review out on some of my
favorites.

(This is being written ON an iPhone, by the way, and I'll do my best
to catch any "corrections" that may creep in, but some may slip
through.)

Anyway, as my husband will confirm, I've kind of become addicted to
checking the App store daily for new fun bits. (Bad Apple for posting
nothing new last night!). I've picked up a bunch of the free apps
(cheap bastard that I am), and a few paid ones, and have had some time
to form opinions about most of them. Here are some of those opinions,
in no particular order:

BEST APP TO MAKE MY GEEKY COWORKERS WANT TO SWITCH TO IPHONE: iSaber.
This app puts a tiny light saber on your screen, which is cool enough,
but what makes it worthy of jealousy is the fact that it makes the
light saber sounds when you swing the phone around. Perfect for
dorky, imaginary duels around the house or office.

BEST APP TO KILL A FEW MINUTES WITH: CubeRunner.
A sweet flying or driving Game that uses the accelerometer to steer.
You tip the phone left and right to steer, and it feels right. The
graphics are super simple, but they work. Not something I'll spend
hours playing, but a fun little diversion.

BEST APP TO KILL A LOT OF TIME: tie between Super Monkey Ball and
Comic Touch.
Super Monkey Ball. You control a little monkey in a hampster ball,
rolling around on platforms that most certainly don't meet office
safety standards. Awesome graphics, cool music, slightly frustrating
controls (same as the Wii version), and a crazy concept. How can you
go wrong?
Comic Touch. I have way too much fun with this app. It's from the
same folks who make Comic Life (www.plasq.com), and is a near-perfect
down-scale of the desktop version. Start with a photo, add word
balloons, captions, etc, and do some simple effects, too. It's made
me look at my photo library with new eyes, thinking about what I can
do with the pictures. I'll work on a single panel comic for a long
time, having a creative ball all the while.

MOST USEFUL APP FOR AFTER-HOURS WHILE ON THE ROAD FOR WORK: Urban Spoon.
Give the phone a shake and it randomly selects, rates, and maps a
restaurant nearby. How cool is that?!?

There are lots more, but for now, I'll stop. Look for more reviews --
and some goofy comics -- coming soon.