The video of Google’s upcoming voice-search app grabbed my attention yesterday.

Think about it- being able to initiate a Google search by simply saying "search iPhone application review sites" and having Google return… "www.whatsoniphone.com" is nothing short of amazing!

Think about it- being able to say "Starbucks Coffee near me" and having Google show Starbucks coffee shops in the area and then map your way to them.

Think about it… then keep thinking because that may be all we get to do- at least for now. I noticed that the app, which was supposed to show up in the App Store yesterday, still hasn’t. (Beleive me… I’ve checked… a lot.) Now 9to5mac has a post reporting that the demonstration video, which we linked on the site, is down. 

What does it mean?

I love seeing new apps appear in the App Store. Sure, I only have an interest in a small percentage of the ones that appear daily, but every now and then there is a new app that makes me go "Wow!"

As much fun at that is, though, what is even more fun these days is seeing my favorite apps get incremental updates that add new features, increase speed and stability and, little by little, make my iPhone an even more powerful device.

Things had been quiet on both fronts lately but in the last day or so a number of my favorites received updates yet again. While none of them are earth shattering, it is nice to see good apps getting even better.

Among the recent updates…

Yesterday,  Brad did an update on my current favorite RSS reader– Byline. I moved to Byline from NetNewsWire a number of weeks ago and have found that it’s an excellent RSS reader. The main reason for the switch?  My desire to be able to access clipped/saved articles remotely. 

I like NetNewsWire. I like it’s tight integration with the desktop version of the software. I like the layout of the iPhone application and the fact that it includes a "next post" button in the middle of the bottom of the iPhone since I find it to be the best placement for it. And I like the price– it is free.

Unfortunately, I was getting increasingly frustrated at the inability to access my clipped articles from my iPhone after they have been clipped. That’s right, once I had clipped an article the only way to access it was through my desktop browser or by going to the NewsGator web application. This was a huge issue for me since my "system" has me look through all my RSS feeds as quickly as possible, mark those I want to read in more depth, and then return to those I had marked. The system didn’t work with NetNewsWire.

As a result, I decided to try out Byline. I found that I really like it. It integrates with Google Reader, which was, for quite some time, my RSS reader of choice. Tell you the truth, I’m really happy to be back to it and not quite sure why I left in the first place.

The blogosphere has been widely reporting the fact that Google now has optimized the search results delivered to the iPhone even more.

That means that when using Google on the iPhone or the iPod Touch results will be returned in an easy-to-read optimized manner.

Nothing new here. Google has been increasingly working toward making all of their services and features fully available and optimized on the iPhone and the iPod Touch. I love the fact that when I go Google on the iPhone I’m offered a rich experience of being able to choose from either Google’s search feature, calendar, reader, or even more. Fact is, as much excitement as there has been with regard to the first Android-based phone, the G1, with the many offerings that work so well on the iPhone one could make an argument that the first "Google phone" is actually from Apple.

So Google improve the quality of the results that a return to the iPhone. That’s great. Here’s what I don’t get…

There are many applications out there for reading RSS feeds.  However, the one which has been repeated to me as the cream of the crop when it comes to iPod Touch/iPhone apps is Byline.  An earlier incarnation of this application had already been reviewed here at Whats on iPhone, but I thought I would add my thoughts about the current generation.

For those who are fans of the previous app, the price has been halved to five dollars (granted, that’s more than the recent price drop to four dollars, but it’s still better than it was), so you’re probably feeling a little ripped off right now.  You can still recommend to friends and those who live on news feeds.  Obviously, Phantom Fish listened to all the criticism of the high cost from the last release.

Now I have to give a little confession:  I’ve never used news feed programs before.

The iDict Series is a series of "primary language oriented" dictionaries. That means that most of their offerings begin with your primary language (in this case English) and then offer translations of words to a number of different languages.

Their Quick Deluxe version offers translation to and from 157 different languages. While it normally costs $9.99 it is free for the next three days.

If you have the need to translate words from one language to another this is a great utility and might well be worth picking up. Moreover, for the next three days, if you might EVER need to translate words from one language to another this is something you should DEFINITELY pick up while it is free.

You can get iDict Deluxe for free HERE in the App Store.
 

We wrote about Smart Dial WEEKS ago and after a 9 week (yes, nine week!) review period it has been released in the App Store. According to the developer Gary Fung, Smart Dial is…

… the dialer app everyone has been waiting for! Never scroll through thousands of contacts again! No need to search your contacts with a qwerty keyboard! Smart Dial allows you to quickly dial your contacts by spelling their name directly on the number keypad.

Smart Dial’s features include-

Long before you could just "Google It" to find out if a product was worth the money, there was the "bible of shopping"- Consumer Reports.

There were stacks of old issues in my house growing up because if CR rated "it" (whatever "it" was, highly, "it" was worth buying!)

Even now, if you want a source you know is reliable CR is the place to go. What makes CR different is that they do not accept outside advertising, free test samples or anything else that might limit their ability to offer unbiased reviews. They have "… no agenda other than the interests of the consumer…" And it shows!

Now, thanks to the new CR app, to get that wealth of information now all you need to do is reach in your pocket and pull out your iPhone.