Since my iphone arrived way back in August I have had plenty of time to download and test a wide range of apps available.  So I thought it was high time I recommended a couple more excellent free options that you just wouldn’t want to be without.

MMS Photo Messaging

One of the main problems with the iphone has been the lack of built in MMS capability which the majority of other mobile phones have as standard.  Well just maybe that problem has been resolved for FREE, MMS Photo Messaging (by Ed Lea) is a great little app that allows your iphone to receive pictures directly without the need to visit that annoying 02 website. 

The way it works is simple, a four digit code is within the standard notification SMS that you receive when a picture has been sent, take this code along with your phone number and add it to the MMS application, once this has been added the app will happily download the images directly into your inbox at no charge.  Beware however, that sending messages is still a little expensive and you will need to purchase credit for this unless your contract already allows MMS.

There seems to be only one small problem with this app, every few weeks 02 change the four digit key that is required to download your pictures, so you have to remember to update this in the app which is more of an annoyance that a major issue.  Even with this small draw back I still think this has helped overcome my concerns regarding the iphone’s lack of MMS capability and I would recommend that you give it a go.

Social networking

As MMS Photo Messaging makes the iphone do a job it should have done all along, the next two add something extra that I personally can’t live without, I’m talking about Twitterrific and Facebook.  Twitterrific by The Iconfactory and Facebook are exactly what you would expect, great conduits into the social networking world.  Between them they offer everything you should need to keep up-to-date with friends and let your followers know what you are doing. 

As with most free apps there are a few draw back.  Twitterrific doesn’t seem to have the functionality to search for people or the abilility to clear the list for ease of navigation, but this is more than likely available through the premium edition if you are willing to pay £5.99.  Facebook on the other hand doesn’t have any obvious major flaws, although being able to have multiple accounts saved would be a nice addition.

There are many more apps that are worth a look, here is a short list of others I am using:-

• Remote – Allows you to control your Apple Mac itunes via a WI-FI connection
• Ustream – Watch live video broadcasts on you phone
• Seadragon Mobile – Microsoft’s high resolution gallery

I will post again soon with a detailed overview of the 3G iphone, and maybe some more apps that you should pick up.

As 2008 finally came to a disappointing close, probably only to be remembered more for the global economic meltdown than the historic presidential win for Barack Obama, I express some of my hopes for 2009 both for the web and in general.

2008 was with out doubt a terrible year, but there were some personal highlights for me.  Firstly I discovered Wordpress; this amazing CMS sent me in a new direction with my online creativity both in my design life and my career, and then there was the iphone 3G, which for me is the best gadget any self respecting geek could wish to own.  With both of these being the only real highlights of 2008 for me, then surely 2009 would be a roaring success in comparison?

Well here are some of my hopes, whether or not they happen remains to be seen.

The web has started to move away from the 2.0 tag over the last twelve months, and my hope is that it will take on a more interactive, user generated form where users not only view your site but take part as well.  I’m not talking about social networking or even wikis, but closer exchange between users.  Twitter offers the ability to follow and communicate in a more immediate way than has previously been offered in blogs, youtube offers not only a great place to watch videos but has now become a rich resource in the exchange of knowledge, this instant communication and connection between people will only become more advanced over the next twelve months, and that can only be a good thing for the future of the web.

2007 and 2008 saw a massive increase in free open source web apps and script resources, hopefully 2009 will be no different as people become more comfortable with these advancements.  With google’s API offerings ever on the increase and scripts such as Jquery adding slick functionality to websites, maybe the days of static two dimensional web pages will finally draw to an end, and all sites will offer better more complete web experiences.

I don’t just hope the web improves in 2009, but also the technology that manages our computers improves along with it.  I don’t think anybody can deny that Window Vista was a complete disaster, from problems with speed to early versions being unstable this proved to be a particularly bad move for Microsoft.  During 2008 talk started about a new Windows version and only this week the beta version started being offered to certain individuals.  Windows 7 as it is currently known is suposed to be light weight, and at first glance looks like the OS that Vista should have been, this is another big hope for me in 2009, can Microsoft manage to release an OS that even comes close to Apples OSX and finally give PC users something to shout about,  i’ll be honest, I have my doubts but I have still got my fingers crossed.

In 2009 I will try to update nasarik.com more regularly, and still offer basic tutorials and opinion that help people at the early stages of web design improve and grow as the internet does the same.

Since my iphone arrived in July I have been putting it through its paces as well as expanding the catalogue of applications on this excellent little gadget.  From games to apps that help me maintain my website there are some great free downloads from the Apple App store you shouldn’t be without!

Klick is a great little application that allows you to upload photos straight from your iphone to your Flickr account, using the iphone built in location software you can tag you photos immediately with your location.  If you have a Wordpress account you can even feed you flickr photos straight to your site from your Iphone.

If you use a number of instant message clients such as AIM or Microsoft messenger then IMPlus bridges the gap between your iphone and your IM buddies. Simply choose the network you want to access and simply fill in your user name and password, you can have multiple accounts so you can switch between them easily.

When boredom sets in on long journeys your iphone conveniently becomes a games console (well sort of) and the range of games is quite impressive, and one that won’t disappoint is Cubes lite.  The aim of the game is to rotate a three dimensional rubix type cube and clear large numbers of matching colour blocks to achieve the required score totals for each level.  The only drawback with the lite version of this game is the lack of levels, at three levels the game is over quite quickly, but that won’t stop you trying to beat you high score.

If you are a wordpress blogger or want ot be but just can’t find the time, then the wordpress app may help.  I find it difficult to find the time to post due to family and work commitments so this has given me the ability to post from my phone in a really user friendly system, my only problem with it is the lack of image control, in this day and age images with posts are so important and this lets it down badly.

Other apps that may interest are:-
Twitteriffic
Phonesaber
Ipint
Facebook
Flashlight

All I am waiting for now is a good quality Sat Nav application, I heard that Tom Tom are developing a version for the Iphone but nothing seems set in stone yet.  If, however this does appear on the market in a free version I will post with details.