Developer: Logicopolis Technology
Category: Navigation
Version: 1.2
Release Date: january 12, 2009
Size: 0.3 MB
Price: Free
Rating 10/10

Here in Boston there are basically three topics that you can use to strike up a conversation with anyone. They're which ever team is currently playing (Red Sox, Pats, Celtics, Bruins), the weather (if you don't like it just wait a minute and it will change), and the king of 'em all- directions around the city. Everyone has an opinion on how to get there from here, here from there, and anywhere in between. In a city whose streets are built on top of cow-paths established in the 1700's, there are numerous ways to get anywhere, some easy, some complex, some better in the morning, some better on the weekend, some better in inclement weather, some with the most Dunkin' Donuts or Carvel's en route...... you get the point. Fresh Tracks is an app that addresses the issue of getting places the best way, and of explaining how to do it.

Developer: 2K Games
Category: Games
Version: 1.0
Release Date: August 6, 2009
Size: 73.8 MB
Price: $9.99
Rating 10/10

Strategy gamers get no respect. While the sexy games like Fallout and Bioshock take 90% of the press, strategy gamers tend to have to slog through obscure titles to find the right mix of challenge and fun. That's why the Civilization games are so addictive to me. They're fun to play, easy to learn, but get appropriately complex as your civilization builds. So when Civilization: Revolution was released for the iPhone, I regarded it with a healthy dose of skepticism. I could see the simple parts of the game translating well to the iPhone, but what about later in the game, when you have tanks, bombers and nukes?

Developer: Maurizio Caputo
Category: Music
Version: 1.0
Release Date: July 9, 2009
Size: 0.3 MB
Price $0.99
Rating 10/10 (if you like techno)

My old roommate is famous. He went from a shy, unassuming, nice, quiet little jewish boy to a record spinning, trance music cranking, 3 day and night  bump and grind dancing, hot, sweaty techno-bashing party producer. Like raves, only not like raves-way, way better. Like people fly in from Europe for his parties. This is an app he'd flip for, or any other true lover of trance, dance or techno would flip for. This is an app that defines indie in every way.

Developer: Edovia Inc.
Category: Utilities
Version: 1.0
Release Date: August 12, 2009
Size: 1.2 MB
Price: $3.99
Rating 9/10

Touchpad is a very cool utility. It turns the screen of the iPhone into a touch pad like the one on your PowerBook or MacBook. Not only that but it allows you to use the iPhone as a keyboard also. It makes you feel like you have an experimental desktop model. Touch Pad can be best summed up as a mini remote mouse and keyboard for your computer.

I fired up TouchPad and went through the very simple set up process in about a minute. I set it up for use on both my MacBook and my iMac. It will store information for use with multiple computers. Just go to the Sharing Preferences and set up Screen Sharing. The app uses the wifi connection to control screen actions, not bluetooth.

Developer: Cloudburst Research Inc.
Category: Photography
Version: 1.1.1
Release Date: August 10, 2009
Size: 0.8 MB
Price: $1.99
Rating 10/10

While a lot of people complain about the functionality of the iPhone camera, I like its lack of bells and whistles. By not offering many features, Apple has created a developers niche, and creativity flourishes. The Cloudburst guys have developed a great panorama app. I've used the other apps out there that create panoramas from multiple images, and I think that this one, AutoStitch, is by far the best.

This app is as close to the photomerge function that Adobe offers in Photoshop as any other iPhone app has gotten. AutoStitch automatically takes the images that it is given and stitches them together. Other App Store panorama apps require the user to align the images. Just like photomerge in Ps, AutoStitch merges the images seamlessly and produces a noticeably higher quality final image than other panorama apps. Another thing that sets AutoStitch apart is its ability to stitch images vertically as well as horizontally, in a collage type format, even in the same stitch. That trait actually goes above and beyond Ps on your desktop.