INBOX:APPLE HAS NOW sold more than three million iPhone 3Gs across the world, an impressive figure until you put it against the 40 or so million Nokia will sell this year and the billion-plus mobiles sold globally.
But until the iPhone, few smartphones have enabled the installation of extra applications with such one-click ease. And many of the best applications are actually free. So what are the most useful apps on the iPhone application store at the moment?
If you're a member of Facebook, and many people are these days, the Facebook application (free) is the best way to track your friends' activity and reply to messages - aside from the in-built e-mail application of course. However, Twitter is the preference of "social updates addicts" these days and the Twitterific application on the iPhone is their drug of choice. If you want to get really geeky, you can try out the Twinkle application to see who's twittering within a mile of you.
In the utilities arena, NetNewsWire is a great RSS reader on the iPhone, or you can try the browser-based services like Google Reader.
Evernote is a clever application for taking notes in any form, whether it be voice notes or written. For voice notes it's probably worth investing the €3 on Audio Recorder. There are lots of free voice recorder applications on the iPhone. VoiceNotes is probably the best but Audio Recorder will allow you to e-mail the sound file to yourself or others - very handy. For written notes you can try out MagicPad (€2.99) which allows you to cut and paste text - unusual on the iPhone currently.
Handy for the holiday diet, Weight Tracker (free) keeps track of your weight and lets you set goals. And while on holiday get Stanza (free), a fantastic mobile reader for ebooks to read on the beach. And pick your way back to the room with Light, a great free utility which just makes the iPhone shine a bright white light.
While at home Remote (free) lets you control your music on an Apple TV or in iTunes on your computer from your iPhone. Pretty much magic.
Shazam (free) is as good on the iPhone as it was on older phones - this will identify a song and allows you to buy it on iTunes.
Want to share your world? SmugShot (free) lets you share your photos on online galleries complete with geotags so your friends can see you on maps, though a more sophisticated equivalent is Shozu, which I recommend. Palringo (free) brings loads of instant messaging services together in one simple application.
Musicians will enjoy Band (€7.99) or Pianist (€4.99) and Last.Fm (free) for tuning into internet radio.
There are also free applications which will turn the iPhone into a German, French or Spanish phrasebook which actually speaks the phrases you need out loud. While abroad, try out cheap international calls on the free Truphone app.
Want some fun? There are increasing numbers of games available and the quality only looks like getting better as developers get used to building for the iPhone. Paid-for games worth checking out include Super Monkey Ball (€7.99). TapTap Revenge (free) is like having Nintendo Guitar Hero on your iPhone. It totally rocks! Or turn your iPhone into a lightsaber with PhoneSaber, the free app which will have kids big and small clamouring to have a go. Just be careful you don't throw your iPhone across the room while pretending to be Luke Skywalker.
As you can see there is probably no end to the variety of iPhone applications that have appeared so far, and little end in sight. It really is up to other phone makers to come up with such a seamless experience from here on in.
