By: Hillel Fuld

If you read this blog, you know that it is not often we write about the automotive industry. Well, this is a first. The Frankfurt Motor Show was this week and unlike past years, the mobile industry was absolutely everywhere. Bentley, for example, unveiled its in car entertainment system that integrates two iPads, two Apple wireless keyboards, one Mac mini, and an iPod touch as the heart of its entertainment system. As if owning a Bentley was not enough of a dream for me, the company had to go all geeky on me.

You can read more about Bentley’s mobile initiative here. Awesome!

Moving along, Auto-part and equipment supplier Valeo showed off their automated parking system and used an iPhone to park a Volkswagen. Nope, I am not kidding,

9to5mac explains “The Park4U technology is already deployed by a number of manufacturers including Ford, Audi, Volkswagen, and Lincoln, although we’re not sure when the iPhone app and remote parking capability will be hitting the market. Current versions automate parking while the driver remains in the vehicle.”

Watch the video below and you can see the iPhone app parking the car at the end. It is always exciting when virtual products merge with real life. This takes that to a whole new level.

The default contacts app for iPhone isn’t bad at all, but it’s very straight forward. It shows you your contacts, and allows you to add more, call existing ones, or FaceTime them. However, ContactsXL 3 For iPhone is a viable replacement for it. Sure, it doesn’t quite have the best graphics. However, all the bells and whistles in it definitely make up for its cons. Keep on reading for our full thoughts on this app, priced at 99 cents.

As you can see, ContactsXL has quite a nice amount of bells and whistles that the default contacts application does not offer. Some highlights include:

• Group Management
• Facebook Sync
• Gorgeous Coverview display
• Group Text
• Group Email

Of course, there are a ton of other new features, both those were some that I found interesting. When I say facebook sync, I mean that you can actually import entire contacts from Facebook, not just their profile pictures and additional information. In addition, I found both the group texting and emailing features work quite nicely. I believe you can send out mass texts from the Messaging app, as well as group emails from the default mail app, but ContactsXL brings it all together.

Another great feature was the organization. You can sort through your contacts via their birthday dates, first names, last names, companies, etc. What’s also helpful are the push notifications reminding you of someone’s birthday so you don’t forget to wish them. This option is available in the Facebook desktop app, but not in the mobile app. ContactsXL come in there since it sends you alerts to remind you to wish your buddies.

In addition, there is also a dialer built into the application. It comes into play when you type in just a few numbers and it shows you contacts with those designated numbers in their full phone number. This is useful when you remember a few numbers, but not all of them. What I also found interesting were smart groups. Basically, you can define a set of rules and you will automatically receive a list of contacts that fit your description. Quite useful, actually.

To help you get a grasp on the concept of the application a little bit more clearly, I decided to do a video review of it, which can be found below. Overall, I found ContactsXL For iPhone to be a fantastic application, and a great replacement of the standard contacts application, go check it out now for only 99 cents!

Our Rating: 4/5

Download Link

ContactsXL 3 + Facebook Sync For iPhone App Review

By: Joel Klassen

Parking your car can be an extremely frustrating experience. If you have a both a bad memory and a messed up sense of direction such as myself, looking for your car among the hundreds of other vehicles is a reoccurring ordeal. ParkBud ($1.99) by Wunderstadt GmbH attempts to solve this problem by helping you find parking, remembering where you parked and reminding you how much time you have left on your meter. The app is very well built with beautiful graphics and a wonderfully intuitive design. Watch a review of the app below!

Thank you for watching! Subscribe to the Appboy YouTube channel for more reviews.

Download Link ($1.99)

Developer: Wunderstadt GmbH

The Twitter For iPhone App is a solid twitter client, there’s no doubt about it, especially at the stellar price of free. However, we now have a noteworthy competitor by the name of TweetBot For iPhone. Although it’ll run you a good $1.99 (on sale!), the animations and graphics are gorgeous enough to definitely make it worth it. Keep on reading to see the true beauty of this application.

I’m sure you can already see the amazing user interface of this application. Of course, it has all your standard twitter app features plus more. Some highlights of this app include:

• Multiple Timelines. Quickly switch between your lists as your main timeline.
• Smart Gestures. Use Twitter more efficiently with time-saving and configurable gestures.
• Customizable Navigation. The last 2 tabs are customizable and unused tabs are easily accessible.
• Support for multiple services like Read it Later, Instapaper, Cloudapp URL Shortening.
• Push Notifications via Boxcar.
• Save drafts, add locations and POI’s, attach photos and videos, manage your lists, and much more.

Gestures in this app are quite neat. You are able to tap a tweet three times to instantly reply to it. You can double tap a tweeter’s profile picture to view their entire profile. Another interesting gesture is double tapping links to quickly and seamlessly open it up for great viewing. Of course, the app has as built in browser. Simply clicking on a tweet opens up a tab of extra options. These options include replying, retweeting, favoriting, and viewing just the tweet.

TweetBot also has location tagging for your posts to share exactly where you sent the tweet. This is useful if you post pictures so other people can see where exactly you took it. I just keep coming back to gestures over and over again, but that’s just how useful it is.

Sliding your tweet to the right brings up the conversation, while sliding to the left brings up related tweets. It’s a very useful addition to TweetBot and is a very unique feature that puts TweetBot more out there than other twitter clients.

Another handy feature of TweetBot is the ability to bring up your friend list when composing tweets. If you want to work on the tweet later, you can also save it as a draft. Similarly, you can also bring up the trending hashtags with a quick and easy tap of the button right next to it.

If you have a significant amount of missed tweets, it will not load all of them to save data consumption and speed up the process. However, you can easily the blue “+” button where the tweet time difference is to load tweets on your timeline between the given time period.

All in all, TweetBot For iPhone is a solid twitter client. In fact, it’s one of the best twitter clients I’ve ever used on my iPhone, and it’s definitely replacing the standard Twitter For iPhone app for me. Is it for you? Let me know in the comments! Go check out TweetBot For iPhone now in the iTunes App Store for the sale price of $1.99 now!

Our Rating: 5/5

Download Link

By: Hillel Fuld

I think mobile apps can be categorized into three groups. There are apps that you download because someone recommended you do so, and after trying it out, you see no need for the app and you delete it. Then there are the nice apps that remain in the exclusive group of apps you keep installed on your device. You don’t use these apps very often, besides the occasional social setting in which you show off the new app you downloaded.

Then there are the “must haves”. Apps like Dropbox, Facebook, Twitter, and of course Angry Birds (no, that is not a joke, 200 million downloads prove it.). Today, you can add a new app to that final category, Onavo. For starters, I know the team behind the new money-saving app well, and they are superstars, each and every one of them. But you are not going to download an app just because the team is great (wait, why not? It’s free!), are you?

So, what is Onavo? It is an iPhone and as of yesterday, an iPad app that reduces your data usage and thereby decreases you monthly data charge. If you have ever travelled and used your mobile data, you definitely know why this app is defined a “must-have”. However, even if you are not a roamer, data is still relatively expensive especially if you are a heavy user like me, so why not reduce your charges by using Onavo?

The app works in the background and compresses all your data whether it is Web surfing, tweeting, or downloading content. My jerk reaction was “I don’t need an app to run all my Web usage through their servers and slow down my experience”. Then I tried the app, and I might be imagining it, but things seem to move even faster than before, but what is for sure, it did not slow anything down.

Onavo does not stop by compressing your data. It also provides some awesome insights on which activities and apps are using most of your data. Unfortunately, our cellphone bills are the farthest thing from transparent when it comes to understanding monthly charges and Onavo solves that.

As Roi Carthy of TechCrunch explains, saving 5-15MB of data usage can equal $50 and more. In addition, Roi added that since unlimited data plans are pretty much no longer in existence, Onavo can be very beneficial to local users as well.

The latest development is that Onavo raised a $3 million round of funding, which as the company explained will be utilized to expand its core technology to other platforms, Android being the first one.

All in all, this is an app I would happily pay for, after all, you make back your investment pretty much immediately. The fact that it is free, well that just makes it a complete no brainer. Download it here, thank me later!

Let’s get a few things out in the open. I love Facebook. A lot. I also love Twitter. A lot. That said, I don’t always have time to check my pages as regularly I was would like when I am working away on other projects. With the release of Spout, there is now a new and very creative way to read your feeds, and I believe I am not alone with this opinion. Spout displays the info you want in a very cool and stylish interface that allows someone like me to lean over and take a quick look without taking too much time away from the task at hand, for only 99 cents.

Spout delivers your information quickly in a very unique and stylish interface. After setting up your Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader and RSS feeds, the app does it’s magic. Once running, your feeds begin to spill onto your device in the form of beautifully crafted messages. Spout allows you to customize the background for a nice personalized touch. Once the Tweets, Facebook updates and RSS feed items start flowing, the animations are insanely beautiful.

Each update is treated with a zooming effect that flies around the screen until the whole update is fully loaded. The best way to describe the process is like watching a leaf land on a small pool of water, rippling out. A great feature is the ability to tap an update and be taken to the source of the update without ever leaving Spout. I would highly recommend this app for anyone with a dock.

It is a great way to keep up to date while working on other items. The latest update adds the ability to use the app in landscape mode which really adds to the already awesome animations. Another nice addition is the ability to use TV/Out or external monitors creating a very cool display for parties or just lounging around. The last important feature in the latest updated at the time of writing this review is the newly added ability to browse your Flickr feed as well!

Spout For iOS is a great way to enjoy your feeds in a new and creative way. At $.99 it is definitely worth checking out in the App Store today, especially if you want to check out some feeds and save your own time. If you already own this app, let us know your thoughts on it below.

Our Rating: 5/5

Download Link

Not that long ago all the buzz about the next iPhone (at that time the iPhone 4) was how Facebook was going to be integrated into iOS. Well, that never happened. The official Facebook app has made advances in certain areas, like live Facebook chat from your phone and the ability to sync contacts from your Facebook friends list to your contact book. However, even with these nice attempts to unify iOS and Facebook, there is still a lot missing. What is truly needed for power iPhone and Facebook users like myself is an app that more closely resembles a Skype sort of interface that integrates Facebook. It may not be perfect but I believe I have found something close. Fone Pro For iPhone is a very neat app that allows you to chat and call your Facebook friends on your iOS device in a way that makes it both easy and effective, for 99 cents.

Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy the official Facebook app for what it is and especially for being  a free app. It does most of what it is supposed to very well but even with that said, the graphics leave a little to be desired. Fone has the nicest interface I have seen so far for any Facebook app. It is both elegant and yet clean and uncluttered. Fone is designed to spruce up your chat experience and it succeeds in this above and beyond most other chat apps.

The interface is easy to use and starting a chat takes a quick click. Using Apple’s built in push service you get instant notifications of chat requests. Fone also allows you to send pics from your iPhone’s camera roll, and also allows for quick and easy photo sharing for pics sent to you. Another nice feature is the ability to view a friends wall from within the app using the built in browser.

I can’t begin to count how many times someone asks if you saw their last post or photo upload while using chat on the phone leaving me with not real viable option to view it. Fone For iPhone fixes that, and does more. You can also keep track of your time spent chatting using the app’s chat history. Fone would be worth the $.99 price tag if it ended right here, but wait, there’s more! Fone also allows you to call your Facebook friends via VOIP for completely free. That’s right, free calls to your friends from right inside the app. A few minor notes, Fone is fully multitasking enabled and also allows for the use of built in emoticons.

Facebook seems to be succeeding in their goal of keeping people connected and with the help of Fone Pro For iPhone that connection finally doesn’t miss a beat on the iPhone. Check it out today for only 99 cents in the iPhone App Store, I’d recommend it to pretty much any active Facebook user. I use this app pretty much every single day! If you already own the app, drop a comment below and let us know how it is

Our Rating: 5/5

Download Link

Let me start off this review by simply saying WOW!  Very rarely does an app do something so cool, that even if I don’t necessarily care about what it does, I have to have it. Meal Snap For iPhone is one of those apps. What is Meal Snap? Meal Snap allows you to simply take a picture of what you are about to eat and boom, the app gives you an estimated calorie count. Can you say awesome? Meal Snap is brought to you by the number one fitness brand in the App Store, Daily Burn, so you already it’s a superb app, at $2.99 it’s truly magical. You have to try it to believe it.

The first thing you see when you fire up Meal Snap is the directions, which are very simple. Snap a photo of your food, add a caption if you so desire, than let Meal Snap “magically” detect the name of the food and the calories it contains. The app also has a calendar bar to the left so not only can you get a count on the current meal available but also for the last day, week, month, or year for that matter.

In a world that is seemingly obsessed with health, this app is a great addition to your iPhone. Also built into the app is the ability to share your discoveries. The app offers Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare sharing so all your friends are up to date with what your eating. I usually don’t understand the need for Foursquare sharing, but with Meal Time it actually makes sense.

Let’s say you and your friends all love General Tao’s Chicken and are all also watching your figures. You check into your favorite Chinese restaurant, order up that delicious chicken and discover with Meal Snap that the calorie count isn’t all that bad. Now you can share on Foursquare alerting your health conscious friends about the healthy goodness you just ate. Along with the calorie information, the app also allows you to add a rating to your meal for future reference and also for other users to view. You can also categorize your meals according to breakfast, lunch, and dinner for further organization.

Meal Snap has inspired me to eat better and with it’s easy to use built in organization features it also keeps me honest by looking back and seeing what I have eaten and what I probably need to not eat in the future. At the end of the day, Meal Snap is cool and if you use it for nothing else, a great way to impress your friends. Meal Snap is $2.99 in the App Store, and it’s one of my favorite apps for the iPhone.

Our Rating: 5/5

Download Link

Different can be scary. This seems especially true in the world of iOS Apps. We have tons of Twitter, news and weather applications released on what seems like a daily basis. The quantity of iPhone Apps has multiplied over the years. Now, there’s pretty much an app for everything, so it’s hard to come across something truly new and fresh. If you want to get a little outside the box though, the Charles Santoso iPhone App may be just the thing for you. Charles Santoso is a Australian illustrator and concept artist who makes some really cool art that is perfect for your iPhone’s homescreen, at the price of $2.99.

The Charles Santoso app is a digital sketchbook. The idea is simple – you browse through pages upon pages of Charles’ gorgeous art and when you get to something you like you can either zoom in or choose to save it for use a wallpaper. The problem is, almost all of Santoso’s art is brilliant. Charles has a great way to create characters that are whimsical, yet believable.

I know that at this point you are probably not completely sold on this app and that is fine. Some are very happy with the stock wallpapers, but I want to be a little more unique and different than others. This app really helps make my iPhone stand out. Not only are the sketches different but they are also so well done that people will be sure to notice your unique wallpapers. Santoso spends lots of time sketching so you know there always something new to look. At the end of the day, the ability to have the choice of how your iPhone/iPad looks shows off your personality unlike stock wallpapers that lose their luster in weeks, even days.

Charles Santoso is a nice break from the norm for those of us who like to switch things up when it comes to our iPhone lock screen while also delivering a daily dose of inspiration for anyone who likes to sketch or pretend to sketch like me. Check out in the App store today for $2.99.

Our Rating: 4/5

Download Link

If there is one feature that is seriously lacking on the iPhone’s Camera app, it is a timer. The more annoying point is I do not really want to spend a few bucks on an application that adds a feature so simple, it should be baked in.

But then I stumbled across just.SelfTimer for the iPhone. What attracted me to it was its beautiful icon, I have a bit of OCD so all the icons on my iPhone look as stunning as the phone itself.

When you first launch the application, the developer decided to give themselves a little credit, which is fine because the screen is clean and not annoying. Then you get to the screen which displays the camera. It gives you a few options on the top, among the number of seconds you would like to wait, and a button to switch between the front and back cameras. Relatively simple UI which is unique because many timer apps abandon the familiar interface of the default camera application in favor or something that leaves me fumbling to shoot a photo.

It is a simple application that for the price of nothing, I really can’t complain too much about. But there are some items I would like to see on the roadmap, included but not limited a switch to enable/disable the flash. There is no HDR support, as with many third party camera applications, and after you snap a photo you are taken to a page that displays it and asks if you would like to Cancel or Save it. The photos should have a rapid shooting mode, allowing a user to quickly snap one after another. The other night I was at a party and we were snapping timed photos, but the person I gave my iPhone too kept pressing Cancel on accident. All I am asking for is a Setting.

All that being said, the simplicity of this application married with the single most important feature in a camera to me, make it almost a replacement app instead of a companion app. If it added a video toggle, an Off option for the timer, HDR support, and the ability to tap to focus, it would replace my camera app. The developers of this application should seriously consider a Pro version because I am very picky on my Camera apps and this is, by far, the closest I have come to replacing the default one.

just.SelfTimer can be purchased from the iTunes Store for free