We wrote about iNewz previously and really liked the concept.

Instead of subscribing to one or two RSS feeds, iNews provides you with the news from several different sources all at the same time. In doing so it helps ensure that you get more than one single perspective. Moreover, it organizes and delivers the information is a nice, convenient way.

At the time, however, iNewz suffered from two fatal flaws- it did not permit offline access to articles and there was no way to email something of interest to others.

Did this update fix those issues?  

I am in the midst of evaluating the new RememberThe Milk app for iPhone and am more than a bit impressed.

Just when I thought deciding between the various task apps couldn’t get any more complex… it got even more complex.

Yup, my current task app of choice, Appigo’s ToDo, just received is significant update to version 1.4. It is a significant update that makes the choice between ToDo,Toodledo, RTM, Things and OmniFocus even more difficult.

Truth is, I have been using a beta version of this new version for a bit over a week andvI must say, it takes an impressive app and makes it even better.

Among the enhancements this version brings are improved start-up time, performance, and  network connectivity information.

That, however, is just the beginning. This new version adds…

I was thinking a better name for this might be– "iMysogonist". I mean, assuming one’s "significant other" goes through monthly bouts of crazed erract behavior… come one.

If this app weren’t so obviously sexist it would be downright funny. Oh, who are we kidding. It IS obviously sexist AND it is absolutely totally, completely hysterical.  The app’s description says it all…

With one  button click, always know when your girlfriends / wife have their period. Enjoy peace and quiet in your relationships. Prevent arguments and unnecessary misunderstandings, save money, plan your dates, vacations, weekend trips, and major discussions within her “best  time period” of the month, the Green Zone. iCycle is extremely simple to use and was specifically created for men but can be used by women just as well. If you are dating, married, or simply want to keep track of the important women in your life, iCycle can help improve your relationship(s).

Translation-

I love my iPhone as much as ever but, to be honest, I’ve been more than a little bit underwhelmed by what has been showing up in the App Store lately. The number of significant updates has slowed and it’s been more than a few days since there was something that made me go, "Wow!". Well, this app made me go "WOW!!!!!"

Stanford Professor Dr. G. Wong  and his company Smule released a music application for the iPhone. I wasn’t going to download it. I love music but I’m not a musician. And, quite honestly, I’ve been more than a little bit underwhelmed by the music applications that have come out for the iPhone. Sure, the first time you see them they’re cool but, after a short time, not so much. This particular application, however… WOW!!!! Truly mind blowing. Like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Like nothing I ever thought could happen. Did I mention, WOW!

Here’s the description–

Ocarina is the first true musical instrument created for the iPhone. It is sensitive to your breath, touch and movements, making it even more versatile than the original. Unlike other musical applications, there are no precompiled ripoffs to musicians will find unlimited opportunities for self-expression. But you don’t have to be formally trained to appreciate this enchanting instrument.

–Blow into your microphone to generate music

–Hold on combinations of the holes to change your patch

–Tilt your phone from front to back to change the vibrato depth

 –Tilt your phone from side to side to change the vibrato rate

Here’s the video of it in action,

I saw it and immediately bought the application. (Hey, it was just $.99!)

More than anything Ocarina is something you have to experience firsthand. You blow into the microphone and begins to create a sound. You tapped one of the "holes" that appear on the iPhone screen and it changes the note. Tapped one of the other "holes" in the no changes as well. It’s absolutely bizarre.

I showed it to my wife. While patient with my interests, she doesn’t share my enthusiasm. And yet, her comment, "This takes it to the next level. Very cool."

The application does even more. If you tap the globe icon on the bottom of the application you’re able to see and hear other people who are using the application somewhere in the world. You see where they’re located on a globe and you actually see and hear the notes they’re playing rising up from their location. It is truly something worth seeing and experiencing even if you’re not a musician and have no intention of using the application in the future.

Ocarina is available HERE in the App Store for $.99.

Remember The Milk is the first web-based task program I used. An impressive service, RTM’s ability to integrate with numerous other services such as Jott, Gmail and many more, made it a remarkably powerful option for task management. Thus-far the only option to use RTM with an iPhone was to use Apiggo’s ToDo app or to use the RTM webapp. That changed today with the release of a resident RTM app.

This is one of those apps that has fascinated me from day one. WritingPad offers an amazingly different text input method. Instead of tapping away at the touchscreen you…

enter text into the iPhone by tracing word shapes rather than typing letters. Each shape traced on the soft keyboard with your finger is recognized as a word. Error correction is fast and easy.

Slide your finger from one letter to the next to create words?? Souns too good to be true, right? Amazingly enough…  it actually works remarkably well.

This update is a minor, but significant, one. The "add word" prompt now appears whenever the cursor is positioned above an unrecognized word. As a result, creating a customized dictionary is much easier. That, in turn, means the app will quickly become much more accurate.

While WritingPad has not become my input method of choice, as a free app, it is worth a look. It might be the right input method for you.

You can get WritingPad HERE in the App Store for free.

Back in my Windows days I was a huge fan of Orb, an Internet service that allows you to access digital media on your Windows PC from any Net-connected device. I found it to be a great (albeit sometimes buggy) way to watch shows recorded on my Media Center PC when I was not at home.

Well, Orb just came to the iPhone in the form of a $9.99 app and it looks great. OrbLive…

Talk about an app with a limited lifespan!

It is bad enough that all those Halloween apps need to now be shelved for the next eleven months. At least they might be useful again next year.

This app, however, is done soon. Done, useless, fini! Until then, however, if you want to see the most recent tracking polls in the US election, this app is a neat free way to do so.

In these final hours of the 2008 election, the Obama/McCain Poll Tracker app lets you…

Okay, it is a little embarrassing to admit, but I still haven’t fully committed to a particular task management app for use on my iPhone. I know I need to do it. Every productivity/time management expert recommends picking a system and sticking with it. Unfortunately I still remain.. undecided. 

Part of the problem?? Too many decent choices.

Both ToDo and Toodledo work well with the web-based Toodledo and are improving almost weekly. (The current version of ToDo is great and there are even more improvements in the works!)

Cultured Code’s Things is available in both an iPhone and desktop form and both continue to improve, as well. Most recently the Things desktop version gained a global search feature and the iPhone app gained the ability to simply "click" a phone number or email address to initiate a call or email.

And then there is OmniFocus. The most expensive of the bunch, it is also the most feature-rich.

And… the iPhone app just got its first update. This update to version 1.1 birings…

I love when this happens… a developer releases an app that does the same thing as many other apps with one HUGE exception… this particular one is FREE.

"Free"- as in "no cost to you",

"Free" as in $0,

"Free" as in "just down load and enjoy"

For this reason I was excited to learn that Quickoffice had released a FREE app for accessing, viewing, downloading, storing and managing iDisk files on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

That is a pretty nice price considering the fact that other apps that do this run $5 or more.

At the same time, though, I have come to learn that, too often, you get what you pay for. So is this FREE app for accessing iDisk a winner?? I just downloaded it to check and the verdict is…