Flicktweets, launched in 2009 and was said to be the first site of it’s kind to cleverly organize and filter tweets based on movie titles. They’re also powered by MRQE ( Movie Review Query Engine) , the monstrous online movie database.

What it does:

The App:  FlickTweets

The newly released iPhone app from Flicktweets has now brought their service to the mobile platform –and its pretty sweet for movie fans.

Let’s say you’re standing outside a theatre and your friend wants to see the newest Alvin and the Chipmunks movie– you really need to quickly show them how bad it is. Just fire up the Flicktweets app and let Twitter break the bad news.

I would have loved to have posted a snapshot of people griping about how awful the chipmunks movie was. Unfortunately everyone loved it.  Seriously Twitter?

It keeps you up on the latest flicks, those coming soon as well as older releases gone to DVD. Movies are categorized for easy navigation; in theatres, on dvd, coming soon. Flicks are displayed in interactive lists giving the users a blurb prior to selecting; title, showbox image, director, cast, rating and year.

Searching for a movie is possible but failed me numerous times in my attempt to find obscure flicks. They do have the main-stream flicks and blockbusters but the hard-core movie buff may take offense to the lack of rarities; Garbage Pail Kids, Swimming with Fishes and Lady Frankenstein (1971).

The Flicktweets site is smarter than the app. For some reason the app wasn’t able to locate the movie “Joe Versus The Volcano”. In disbelief I checked it on the website –it was there after all.

On this point, obviously this app isn’t the de facto mobile movie app and won’t replace your IMDB app which also offers reviews– at times, labourious to read reviews. This is what makes Flicktweets useful, by viewing reviews in micro format it’s a speedier way to get the overall picture from numerous sources on Twitter in seconds.

The most important feature:

To hear what people are saying about a particular title just tap once on a movie to attain a thread of relevant tweets –it’s bang on. Upon searching for the movie “The Losers” I found it has an uncanny way of finding relevant tweets, not random people calling each other “losers”, as I had expected.

For a synopsis of the flick, just tap the movie again from the micro review screen. There’s additionally a link to view showtimes and buy tickets through Fandango, a service not available in my country (Canada).

Although you don’t need Twitter to use this app, sadly you can’t log in to Twitter either. It surprises me that an app aggregating tweets based on common interests (movies) wouldn’t allow the user to interact with tweet-reviews. Flicktweets apparently realizes this is important and didn’t overlook the feature on the FlickTweets website. Reply links to movie tweets are available should you want to connect with fellow movie-goers.

Verdict:

Sure, we could search for a movie ourselves on twitter but with the added built in movie database for synopsis’ it makes for a great combination for a movie-goer mobile app.

Available on the iPhone, iPod touch & iPad ( Free )  Get it!

In the middle of DJ’ing a house party you’re called away from your desktop forgetting to cue up some tracks.  To your amazement, iTunes cues up your live version of “Like a Virgin” after a kicking Beastie Boys track — your guests recoil in horror.

This tragedy could have been avoided with an app like Djay Remote.

Djay Remote is a sleek fully-functional remote for Algoriddim’s music mixing software, DJay 3.   Using the iPhone, iPod touch or iPad users can mix, scratch, loop and sync tracks from their Mac’s iTunes collection– no importing required.

The app’s user friendly interface displays the tracks on two virtual turntables, album art included.   After cueing up two tracks users can sync the beats per minute or tap automix  for quick and seamless blending . Both songs can be manipulated on-the-fly by flipping back and forth between track 1 and 2 screens.

Djay Remote includes audio FX favourites like pitch, echo and reverb to change the acoustic environment of the song.   Mixing the audio levels and EQ is easy as there’s a built-in digital mixing board –just like a pro DJ would use.

Some of the more advanced functionality of Djay Remote includes the ability to loop and cue.  Set up multiple cue points to quickly jump to different parts of the track or use the nifty looping feature which will record and playback specific segments or riffs.

Since the app requires you to have the Djay 3 desktop software running on your Mac you will need to grab the free trial or purchase the licensed version for $49.99.  The $4.99 price point is a bit high for a mobile app that companions paid software but it’s cool none the less.

This may not be a solution for a professional DJ but it’s a fantastic app for those who love music.  I promise it offers lots of time wasting fun.  Just try mixing Snoop with Tom Jones.

Djay Remote works on a WIFI connection (two-way-synchronous).
Compatible with the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.
Djay3 software is available on Mac.

By: @Hilzfuld

As a person who spends a lot of his time on Twitter (follow me here), I read about all the latest rumors circulating the Web. However,  while there are always rumors about the next big thing, since the beginning of the new decade, things are really starting to heat up. Where do I start? The Apple Tablet, Microsoft’s iPhone killer, the iPhone 4.0, Google’s plans for Android, the list doesn’t end. I tried to make a little sense of the endless rumors and see if they all fall under certain categories. Seems like there are some very clear trends forming and a lot is going to change in 2010.

The following is a list of the top eight trends we should expect to see in 2010:

1. Apps, apps, apps: I don’t think there is a single person out there who has not noticed the shift in the mobile market. No  more “who can make the thinnest phone?” It is now “How many apps does this phone’s App Store have again?” Numbers have become increasingly significant, and from what anyone can tell, that is not going to change anytime soon. Want proof? Just watch Apple’s iPhone commercials. No mention of the hardware, nothing about the UI, all they focus on are apps, apps, and more apps.
2. Location-Based Services: They are all over the place. Foursquare, GoWalla, Yelp, and many more. I have to be honest, I have not yet caught on to this viral trend, but anyone who is anyone in the tech space is predicting that these services are in for a big year. If you are not yet familiar, these are apps on various mobile platforms that update your followers/friends about your current location. As soon as you “check in” to the local grocery store, your Twitter followers will know about it. Of course, if you check in to that store enough times, you become the Mayor (sounds silly, huh? I can’t make this stuff up). If I am judging by the number of tweets I see like this on a daily basis, this trend is taking off.
3. Augmented Reality: This is one of the cooler technologies out there. How we will actually use it is a different story. Right now, with apps like Layar, it is nothing more than a nice and very futuristic toy. I am not exactly sure how this is going to be implemented in 2010 to make it a practical tool. What I do know however, is that Augmented Reality is on the lips of all mobile developers, and we can expect to see a lot of it in the coming year.
4. 3D: Since CES or better yet, since Avatar, everyone is talking about it as the next big thing. There are those that claim that 3D has no future, and then there are those that claim that it IS the future. Whatever the case, there is no one that debates that all the big companies in the consumer electronics industry are trying to make use of this hot trend by introducing 3D products. Whether it is a TV, a camcorder, or a mobile app, 3D is huge right now, and we most definitely have not seen or heard the end of it for 2010.
5. Android Dominance: While we just said apps are the determining factor for consumers, Android is the fastest growing mobile OS on the planet, and its numbers do not seem to be slowing down either. Almost all the major phone companies have been jumping on the Android bandwagon and more are jumping in the ring every day. I am not sure what Google’s strategy is by releasing the Nexus One, which in theory, competes with other Android phones, but what is for sure, we are going to be seeing and hearing a lot more about Google’s mobile OS in 2010.
6. Tablets Galore: I do not recall so much hype surrounding the announcement of a product in a long time. When I say a “Long time”, I of course mean since Apple’s last major product release, the iPhone. There are of course many different variations of what this mysterious tablet will be called, what size screen it will have. and what features it will support. Then there are of course the rumors about the competing companies releasing their own tablet. What is for sure (well not for sure, but assuming there is some basis to the millions of rumors), we will be reading our magazines and books on tablets by the end of 2010.
7. Mobile Clouds: While cloud computing might scare some, since we are essentially trusting one of the world’s largest corporations with our most personal information (sounds like a Will Smith movie, which does NOT end well for us consumers), there is no ignoring the trend. Google was the pioneer in this space when they offered pretty much all services you once used natively, a replacement in the cloud. So, Google knows what you are reading (Google Reader), what you are doing every day (Google Calendar), what you are doing every minute (Google Tasks), where you are located every second (Google Turn by Turn Navigation), and even what you , your friends, and family look like (Picasa). However, Google is not alone now. Apple seems to be working on some cloud based solutions themselves, something that became apparent when they acquired Lala. Let’s just say that by the end of 2010, in addition to everything I just mentioned, there is a good chance your iTunes music will be stored in the cloud as well.
8. Interesting Alliances: Apple, Microsoft, and Google. Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? Who is on whose team? Well that depends on the day. The latest developments are that Apple and Microsoft are holding hands (who would have ever believed such a thing could happen?) in order to beat their joined arch enemy, Google. Google started off as a small search engine, and became a company whose hand can be seen in almost any industry in one way or another. That did not bother Apple and Google until Google started stepping on their feet. This pretty much started with Google entering the mobile space with Android, and has not stopped with Chrome, Chrome OS, and the Nexus One. Basically, any product (software or hardware) offered by Microsoft or Apple has a competitor by Google. The latest rumors are that Apple is in advanced negotiations with Microsoft to make Bing the default search engine on the iPhone. However, as important as such a development might be to the consumer, the big question is what it means about the patterns and trends of these three tech giants in the coming year.

OK, these are the top eight trends as I see them for 2010. Almost all of them apply to the mobile industry as well as the entire tech space. Let’s meet back here at the end of the year and see how many of my predictions were accurate. For better or worse, I have a strong feeling almost all, if not all of them are spot on.

What do you think will be some other mobile trends of 2010? Please let us know in the comments.

By: @Hilzfuld

The iPhone App Store is overflowing with games. There are endless types of games, such as puzzles, arcade, mind games, shooting games, etc. However, out of the many games I have tried, there are really a few that stick out in their level of entertainment they provide. Unblock Me for iPhone is one such game.

Like I have said on endless occasions, developers have to understand that there is no correlation between the advanced nature of an iPhone game and its downloads. On the contrary, I am more hesitant to download a game that has a steeper learning curve. If a game is simple natured and seems fun, there are more chances I will download it and keep it around.

Unblock Me is the ultimate game in its simplicity. Yet, it is also one of my all time favorite games on the iPhone. So, how do you play? Did you ever play the board game Traffic Jam? You know the game in which you need to get a car out of a certain space but it is blocked by a traffic jam? Well, it was one of my favorite games as a kid, which might explain the hours upon hours I have spent playing Unblock Me. It is essentially the same concept minus the cars.

You have a screen full of blocks and you need to get the one red block out of a whole in the wall on the right side. However, the red block lays behind other blocks. Your goal is to get the red block free in as few moves as possible. Seems pretty simple, doesn’t it? I dare you to do it in less than 20 moves. My wife tried the game once and passed the first level after over one hundred moves. It is far from simple, yet completely addictive.

Unblock Me is the sort of game you can give someone and be sure they will be occupied for at least the next half an hour. There is also a free version of the app with limited levels and options, but to try it out, it is more than sufficient.

In terms of the interface, the initial screen has four options. Play, Levels, Options, and Buy Full Version (obviously this option is not there in the paid version). The Levels screen in the free version includes Beginner, Intermediate, and Bonus, but good luck getting passed the Beginner level in less than 40 moves.

The Options screen includes the ability to turn off the sound, select the theme, a Help section, credits, and a reset statistics button. Pretty simple and straight forward, just like the game itself.

In conclusion, I would go as far as to say that Unblock Me is one of my top ten favorite games on the iPhone platform, and would highly recommend you check it out. Just don’t complain to me when you are addicted, I warned you.

Our Rating: 5/5

Download Link

Developer: Kira Games

By: Aaron

We live in an era where social networking has taken over some people’s lives, whether it’s Twitter or Facebook. There are a plethora of Twitter clients already out there, many supporting push notifications. What about Facebook? Does it have push notifications? Not until today. That’s right, Facebook 3.1 for the iPhone is now in the App Store (update if you haven’t done so already). There are two new features: contact syncing, as well as the main new feature, push notifications. A very, very long-awaited feature in Facebook for the iPhone platform. It has indeed come a long way.

Remember back a while ago when Joe Hewitt had announced that Facebook for iPhone would eventually have push notifications? This is it. Previously, you had to use boxcar to receive push notifications for the Facebook App, but not anymore.

If you don’t have the Facebook Application yet, you can always pick it up for free.

Download Link

Developer Link

By: @HilzFuld

If you have been paying attention to the online buzz as of late, you have surely heard the name Nexus One thrown around. Google announced its much anticipated mobile phone just two days ago, and the hype it has generated brings me back to when a certain other phone starting with the letter I was announced. However, as exciting or not exciting as the Nexus One is, Google actually announced something else that excited me more.

Yesterday, Google addressed the main drawback of the Android OS for the first time, and said they intend to fix it in the coming months. I am not referring to the tiny and annoying keyboard on most Android phones. I am not even referring to the lack of an Exit option on most Android apps. I am even willing to ignore the “small” number of apps in the Android market. I am referring to the fact that like RIM’s devices, Android phones allow you to install apps on the phone’s memory alone and not on an external SD card. BlackBerrys are actually even worse with the ability to install apps only in the phone’s application memory and not even on the 1GB of internal memory, but that is a discussion for a different time.

Android is here to compete with iPhone. iPhone’s biggest advantage besides its UI is its tremendous number of available apps and the ability to install an almost endless number of them on the phone. Is that too bold of a statement for you? Well what better proof than the fact that Apple spends their entire marketing budget on the famous “There’s an app for that” campaign. They barely focus on the UI, almost never talk about the phone’s features, capabilities, and ease of use. So, if Android is going to compete in this space, Google is going to have to enable app storage on external memory cards. Either that, or add a heck of a lot of storage capacity to the existing Android phones.

At the end of the day, most Android users, myself included, download apps from the market, and end up deleting half of them due to lack of storage on the phone. However, the actual deletion is an annoying and cumbersome process. Quick Uninstaller presents you with a clear list of all the apps on your phone and gives you the ability to delete them in two simple steps. The app looks just like the folder on the Android OS that shows you all your installed apps, but in reality, when you click on one of them, you are asked whether you want to uninstall. It makes the whole process a lot faster and easier.

However, that is not it. Quick Uninstaller also allows you to back up all the apps on your device as well as restore them after deletion. The interface could not be simpler with the options of the app being sorting the apps alphabetically, backing up and restoring apps, as well as viewing them in different ways such as a list or grid. There you have it, a simple yet very useful little app.

Of course in an ideal world in which you could install all the apps you desired, there would be no need for such an app. Unfortunately, almost nothing about Android implies that we are in an idea world. Well, not until Android 2.1 at least.

Our Rating: 4/5

Download Link

Developer:  Bread and Butter

By: Hillel Fuld

If you have not been paying attention, one of the big buzz words lately has been Augmented Reality. There really is no simple way to explain what it is, but let’s just say it is a “developing technology that overlays or augments reality creating a separate mixed reality” (thank you Sharon Greenfield). Yes, I know you are probably more confused now than you were before. What this technology allows you to do practically is aim your camera phone in a certain direction, and using the phone’s GPS in combination with the Web, display results based on the phone’s view. That means you can define that you want the phone to look in a 5 mile radius for pizza stores, ATMs, people on Twitter, or many other things, and the phone will display the results.

How does it do this? No clue, but the app that enables this technology, or at least the leading app in the AR industry is Layar. It is available in the Android market and some of the Apple App Stores depending on your location (not available in the US store yet). Now, contrary to many apps I review, I am not even going to discuss Layar’s UI, since that is not what makes this app impressive, but I will say that in terms of the user experience, there is room for improvement. Why do I say that? Well, I consider myself a pretty fast learning individual, especially when it comes to mobile apps, and I have used Layar for a long time, and still am not convinced I am using it properly or seeing all the results the way the app can show them to me.

However, since I said I am not going to talk about the UI, let’s talk about the app and its capabilities, which will make you forget about the experience very fast. So what is Layar? What I quickly learned is that a layar is the tool you are configuring in the app based on the results you wish to see. So, for example, you can choose Wikipedia, and when you point the phone in a certain direction, it will display Wikipedia results for anything in the range you have defined. You can change the range, thereby increasing the results.

You can choose a Twitter layar too, which displays tweets in your area, although I found them to be outdated and could not for the life of me figure out how to view who the sender was. For me, the biggest issue was getting Layar to display the picture of the results on the screen, worked sometimes and did not work other times, and I could not figure out why.

Other Layars, and there are tens to choose from, include Local layers, which is specific for your area, Foursquare, Worldpeaks (tells you how high mountain peaks around you are), Tripsay, Flickr, and tons more. The app definitely shows the potential for Augmented Reality, and will definitely impress you with its results. However, and this might just be me ( but I doubt it), Layar is hard to use and is definitely not there yet, in my opinion.  I am most definitely looking forward to the next version, and in the meantime, I am leaving Layar on my Android phone, along with very few other apps that are worth the space in the phone’s storage.

Also, if you want to see what the future holds for Augmented Reality, watch the video below of an Augmented Reality app for the iPhone developed by Orange Israel. This app is called Orange 3D and it is not available to the public. It basically allows you to point your iPhone at a company logo and see a 3D image of the product embedded in the logo. Not only that but you can then play with the 3D image, which in this case is an iPhone, and actually launch apps in this case, as well as rotate the object. The potential for marketing? Endless! Check it out and tell me what you think in the comments.

Our Rating: 3/5

Download Link (iPhone. Android is in the Market)

Developer:  Layar

Ever since I started tweeting, I have been using Twitterfon, now Echofon as my default Twitter client on my iPod Touch. I always found it to be the closest balance between form and function. However, Twitter is not what it used to be, and there are many new features that were not around back then. Echofon pretty much stayed the same with the exception of some small updates, but never really made the transition to the new Twitter experience, and specifically the addition of Twitter lists.

However, I still used Echofon over other apps since I preferred its UI over the complicated and non user friendly interfaces of the more advanced Twitter apps out there. All that changes today, and Echofon was just moved to my last home screen and in its place came Tweetings. Tweetings have developed three major products, a Twitter client for Windows, Chrome, and iPhone. The Chrome extension didn’t do anything for me, and I am not looking to replace my beloved Tweetdeck, so I focused primarily on the iPhone app.

I was first introduced to Tweetings by a friend of mine on Twitter who announced that it was in her opinion, the number one Twitter app for iPhone, which of course said to me that I need to try it out. So where do I begin? Let me first say that I personally cannot think of one single Twitter feature that is not included in this app. The interface to my surprise did not suffer from the amount of features Tweetings for iPhone supports and it remains simplistic and intuitive, something that cannot be said for many competing apps.

So as for the app itself, upon clicking on the Tweetings icon, the app opens up to your first column, which by default is your friends’ timeline. There are four other icons along the bottom, which are customizable based on your Twitter needs, but we will come back to that later. What is amazing about this app is that on every one of its screens, there are so many different options from which to choose. They really packed in the features here.

So there are the normal tabs, which include mentions, DMs, search, and More. The More tab is where it all goes down. The options are endless. Before getting into the different options under More, first thing you will notice is the Edit button on the top. Click that and you are presented with a screen full of icons representing all the different features you can place in the tabs along the bottom. There are Lists, Mentions, DMs, Search, Go to User, Settings, Favorites, Nearby tweets, Retweets, Accounts, Trends, and a whole lot more. If you know that you will be accessing one of those options frequently, simply drag it to the bottom tabs and replace one of the app’s default tabs.

Like I said, the options are endless, and I mentioned a few above, but I am not going to list them for you. I will just say that if you can think of it, Tweetings has it, and that includes full push notification support. What is amazing about the app in addition to its feature list and its easy interface, is its speed. Contrary to other apps I have tried including Tweetdeck for iPhone, Tweetings responds with a minimal to no delay. As soon as you open the app, you immediately see how many tweets, replies, or DMs you missed. I would have liked the count to refresh once you exit that tab, like it does in Echofon, but you can’t win em all. In Tweetings, you need to manually mark them as read, not the end of the world, but an unnecessary annoyance.

The Twitter Lists implementation is near flawless, and allows you to access your own lists, lists you are subscribed to, as well as lists other people added you to.  I added Lists to the tabs instead of Friends, but was a little disappointed that I could not add a specific list. Again, not a big deal, but just leaves me asking why they left this out.

All in all, Tweetings is in fact my personal new favorite Twitter app for the iPhone. It surpasses Echofon when it comes to functionality and the features it supports. As far as I can tell, this app is missing nothing, but would love to hear your opinion in the comments.

Our Rating: 5/5

Download Link

Developer: Tweetings

By: Hillel Fuld

As the year and decade are coming to an end, it is safe to say that one can summarize this year in the mobile space using only three words: Apps, apps, and more apps. While all the major players in the mobile industry have released some pretty amazing phones this year, the ones who are bringing in the major numbers are the ones who realize that software is the name of the game.

Apple surpassed the 100,000 mark, Android is hovering around the 20,000 mark, Nokia released its Ovi store, and BlackBerry’s App World is catching up quickly. It is safe to say that Apple still has the lead by a lot, and in my opinion, there is a direct correlation between that lead and the iPhone’s unprecedented popularity.

Among many other factors, one of the things that amazes me about all the various app stores/markets/worlds are the astounding number of free apps available to consumers. It begs the question “how do these developers make money?” The answer? No simple answer, but each platform has created ways to monetize app development, whether it is In App purchasing, premium apps, or some other ideas I have heard thrown around.

Whatever the case for developers, consumers are the ones benefiting from this extreme competition and for almost any premium app out there, there is a free alternative. The free version might be missing a few bells and whistles, but they generally provide the basic functionality found in the paid app. Now, let there be no misunderstanding, I am not saying you should not be paying for apps, these developers spend day and night for months developing their vision of a great mobile app, they deserve to make money. However, if there is a certain functionality you will use once in a blue moon, and you do not have any intention of paying for the app that provides it, chances are you can find it for free.

The following is a list of the top free mobile apps of 2009. Some of these apps are for iPhone, some BlackBerry, and some Android. No Symbian or Windows Mobile apps in this list, simply because I am less familiar with them, no offense Microsoft or Nokia.

1: Facebook for iPhone: This app is most definitely a favorite. There is a reason it is consistently in the Top Free apps category of the App Store. Facebook is actually an easier and more user friendly  experience on the iPhone then it is on the Web. Gone are the days of the mobile web experience that we knew once. No more compromising because you are on a mobile device. This app has anything and everything the website has and it is presented in the clearest and easiest interfaces I have seen on any app to date. The improvement from the last version to the current Facebook 3.0 was also the biggest leap I have ever seen taken in a single release. It was good before, but then it became absolutely amazing overnight. Read the full review of Facebook for iPhone.

2: Bolt for BlackBerry: One of the problematic areas for BlackBerry users is the Web surfing capabilities of the RIM devices. There really is no comparing the iPhone’s Safari to the Berry’s built in browser. However, Bolt does a great job in closing this gap. The browser is fast, accurate, and allows you to access web pages that the default browser does not, such as Youtube for example. However, all that is not what put Bolt on this list. It is the fact that for the first time, the new Bolt actually enables you to set it as the device’s default browser. This is huge for BlackBerry fans. It is not perfect with some links still opening up in the BlackBerry browser, but tweet links open in Bolt, and isn’t that all that really matters?  Read the full review of Bolt for BlackBerry.

3: Advanced Task Killer for Android: Oh, Google, why wont you let Android users exit apps? Whatever Google’s reasons are for this policy, Advanced Task Killer should be one of the first apps you install on your new Android device. It enables you to view all the apps running in the background, decide what action to take for each one, and perform that action in one click. You can choose to terminate all running apps at once, add certain apps to an Ignore list, or select some apps and close them. In a perfect world, Android users would not even need this app, but they do, and it is a great app. Useful, easy, and powerful. Read the full review of Advanced Task Killer for Android.

4: Fring for iPhone: I have been a Fring fan for years. Fring leads the pack in free iPhone (along with other platforms, such as Symbian) IM and VOIP apps. With this app, you can turn an iPod Touch, which is in essence a glorified MP3 player, into a phone. Not only does Fring offer you the ability to chat for free with all your buddies across various IM platforms (missing Facebook chat), it also allows you to call them from your iPhone/iPod Touch for free. Fring already had an awesome product, but that did not suffice, and they went ahead and released a new version a few weeks ago that adds video capabilities, so you can now actually video call on the iPhone. The Fring team never seem to rest with new and enhanced versions coming out all the time. I, for one, am excited to see what’s next. Read the full review of Fring for iPhone.

5: UberTwitter for BlackBerry: When I first opened my Bold, one of the first things I looked for was a solid Twitter app. As opposed to the huge number of iPhone Twitter apps, there were less than 10 for BlackBerry. At the time, TwitterBerry was what I was told to use. I did, and thought to myself “there has to be something better than this”. Along came UberTwitter and completely blew me away. UberTwitter to me is the iPhone Facebook app of BlackBerrys. It is the ultimate app that gives me a better Twitter experience on my phone than I have on my computer. The UberTwitter team also do not seem to sleep very much with new releases almost weekly. They are also on the cutting edge of Twitter features with the new Twitter options available in the app almost immediately following their release. Twitter lists is a perfect example. While many leading apps have not yet added lists to their features, UberTwitter has had them for weeks. Not only are Twitter Lists included in UberTwitter, they are actually implemented to perfection, making the entire Twitter experience on the BlackBerry much more manageable than on my PC. Read the full review of UberTwitter.

6: Nimbuzz for Android: This was a difficult one, but not for the reason you think. I had to decide where to include Nimbuzz since it is available on all three platforms, and  it is one of my favorites on all three. Nimbuzz is also an IM/VOIP app that offers you access to any and all platforms you can imagine. The Android app supports AIM, MSN, Gtalk, Facebook, Skype, Yahoo, Jabber, ICQ, and others. The interface is simple and easy to use, and the VOIP features are advanced and always developing. I have had the privilege of working with Nimbuzz for a long time, in fact, I actually tested this app pre release, and I can safely say, there are not many development companies who work harder to make their users happy. The app on Android just like on all the other platforms is a must have, and if it was not free, I would definitely pay for it. Read the full review of Nimbuzz.

7: Echofon for iPhone: I am pretty sure this app was one of the first five apps I downloaded on my iPod Touch (it was called Twitterfon back then), and all this time later, it is still there, and on my very first home screen, so that in itself should tell you about this app. With all the competition out there for iPhone Twitter apps, I still use this as my default. I have to admit that ever since the introduction of Twitter Lists, I am starting to look toward other apps such as Tweetie, Twittelator Pro, and most recently Tweetings, but for me, Echofon is hands down the best free Twitter app on the iPhone platform. The interface is intuitive, the features are plenty, and the app as a whole is blazing fast, a factor missing from some of the premium competition. Like I said, Echofon needs to add some new features, but besides that, and for the basic Twitter user, Echofon is a must have. Read the full review of Echofon for iPhone.

8: WordPress for BlackBerry: While this app is not for everybody, it definitely earned its place on this list. It is actually extremely impressive to see such a huge company like WordPress working so hard to make their BlackBerry app the best it can be. They release updates frequently, and with every new release, the app gets significantly better. I have actually written various blog posts on the WordPress app, and the iPhone version also deserves a mention for being equally as awesome. All the major features and options that the Web WordPress has, can be seen in the app as well. You can actually add more than one blog, which is a useful feature that cannot be used on the Web. In the BlackBerry app, you can add, edit, or delete posts, pages, comments, and the app even includes some basic photo editing functionality. Like I said, almost all features the Web has are available to the blogger within the BlackBerry app. Read the full review of WordPress for BlackBerry.

9: Photoshop for iPhone: I know according to the order of this article, this should be another Android app, but given the proportions and numbers of the various app stores, I thought I would finish off with two iPhone apps. It is safe to say that no top iPhone apps article should leave the Photoshop app unmentioned. When it was released by Adobe, it generated a lot of buzz. How can Photoshop, that advanced photo editing software, be available on a mobile platform? Well, the answer is, it cant! This app shares a name with the desktop version of Photoshop and that is where the similarities end. OK, and they both edit pictures. So they are not the same, but the iPhone app is no less awesome, in fact, to a photo editing newbie like myself, it is even more amazing. The app is ultra simplistic and allows you to do some basic but professional editing to your iPhone’s photos. This, along with most of the above apps would probably be a top app even if it was not free. Read the full review of Photoshop for iPhone.

10: FlingFree for iPhone: Since all of the above apps are either social, communication, or utility apps, I figured this list has to include at least one game. I come across tens of new iPhone games daily, and most of them get deleted from my iPod within seconds. The few that remain include a very few that I actually play regularly. Fling is one of those  games. The game incorporates all the factors that make a successful game. It has great visuals, entertaining music, and of course a highly addictive nature.  Fling is one of the many apps that come in a free version so you can test it out and in this case, as soon as you are addicted, download the premium one. The paid one costs $.99, which is a small fee to pay for such an awesome app. I am not going to try to explain to you how to play this game, because no matter what I say, it will not do it justice, but let’s jut say, download the game, play for a few minutes, and consider yourself dared to not get addicted. Read the full review of Fling for iPhone.

Among the hundreds of thousands of mobile apps available today, there are so many more that come to mind for this list. Apps such as Bing (iPhone), Bump (iPhone), eBuddy (iPhone and Android), Waze (iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile and Symbian), Layar (iPhone and Android), Flyscreen (Android) and many more, but these are my top 10 free apps of 2009. If you have others or dont agree with some of these, would love to hear about it in the comments.

By: Raphael Amselli

Some of you may not know it, but I am from France, and more precisely from Paris. There are a few things that Parisian are particularly proud of, but two monuments automatically spring to mind: the Eiffel tower and le Louvre. I haven’t as of yet found an app relating to the former (if you think you have a great idea, post it on appboy!) but there is one for the latter.
As far as I can remember, the group responsible for Louvre has always been at the forefront of the new media. I remember a time, where you could visit the museum on a computer. I am not even saying online because it was at a time when multimedia was in it’s infancy and windows 95 merely a project!

And it looks like they may have done it again, but this time on the iPhone.
Let’s get one thing out of the way: nobody can argue that an app called “le Louvre” is not going to have great content! The museum holds some of the most famous and most recognizable pieces of art in the world, whether it is paintings or sculptures, the most famous one being the Mona Lisa. It is also a great place with a lot of history: it used to be the palace for the French kings until they moved to Versailles. It is said that it would take a visitor several days to view the whole of the Louvre.

With that much to show, the challenge is how to do justice to that many pieces in a simple usable application. To me, the developers have pulled it off! The way to navigate this application is identical to the way you would browse albums on the iPod: by flicking left or right. Once the application is started, you are presented with the top level menu which takes you to different sections of the app (Artwork, Tour of the Louvre, The Palace, etc…). As I said before, to navigate through this menu, flick left or right and tap the screen to select. There is also a small arrow icon at the bottom left to allow you to go back as well as a magnifier icon to search through the app.

Navigating through each of the sub-sections is similar. So if you have selected the artwork section for example, all you need to do is flick left or right to view the different pieces and tap to select them. Selecting one of the piece of arts allows you to view that piece in more details and get access to a lot more information than just a small picture: if for example you select the Mona Lisa, you can see a detailed picture of the painting as well as a brief historical description, some technical details about the painting and a video giving a more detailed commentary. You also get a map of the Louvre showing where to see the painting in the museum, which you probably won’t need if you use this app! The last but in my opinion best feature is that you can bookmark the pieces you would like to go back to later on: this is particularly useful considering the amount of data available through this app.

It would take me a lot more time to go through the content of this app in details, and probably would take away the pleasure of discovering it. I must admit that this has become one of my top applications for iPhone/iPod Touch. The multimedia division of the Louvre has again built a well crafted information packed application. To think that they have managed to make that much information accessible in such a user friendly way is amazing. This application is free, but I would have gladly paid for it.

Our Rating: 5/5

Download Link

Developer: Louvre