Top 25 Phone Applications

It’s not a phone anymore. It is a platform. As more of us come to rely on our more sophisticated multimedia phones for everything from email to Web browsing, travel planning to shopping, the future has become clear. Resistance is futile. Cell phones are the next PC.

While not all of our favorite mobile applications work on every carrier and phone (check your provider and your own phone deck for availability) a number of widely available titles continue to impress us as examples of just how good the emerging technology can get.

Facebook for iPhone

Hands down the best iPhone Web app, this portable version of your profile page and status updates from contacts brings all of the important pieces of the social networking mainstay to the device in a perfectly formatted, tab driven way. You can access your own and friends photos, email, and profile details.

MapQuest Find Me

The most popular application on cell phones, AOL’s MapQuest, gets super-charged with GPS. The phone locates you and then gives maps, directions, points of interest (gas, banks, stores, etc.) and even tracks friends and family who have also opted into being seen by you.

Orcs and Elves

This game from the father of Doom and Quake (John Carmack) is an exceptional turn-based role playing dungeon crawl. Excellent level design and a strong mapping component make the game deep but manageable. It is among the only games that actually compels you to flip your phone for more hacking, treasure-hunting and Orc-bashing.

Opera Mini 4

This downloadable alternative to the built-in WAP browser renders full Web pages on phones, just like the iPhone. This Java-based app, however, lets you zoom into a portion of thumbnail image of the entire page. Copy and paste, link forwarding tasks and multiple viewing modes make this a better browser than just about anything a carrier offers.

5 Earthcomber

Earthcomber sets one or more locations and then clusters around them directories of every kind of service, from food and gas to nighclubs, ATMs, WiFi HotSpots, and sites to see. Then it kicks you over to maps and direction.

Mocospace

A full-featured social networking application available from your browser. MocoSpace has profile browsing, chat and IM, a friend finder , and personal pages for blogging. You can even share images and videos.

Orb networks

The brilliant mobile access (via WAP browser) module to Orb’s personal multimedia service is the easiest way to pull images, audio and video, including recorded TV from your home PC into your phone. Orb renders all of your media for remote access from most phones.

WorldMate Professional Edition

This must-have for road warriors and frequent fliers turns most smart phones into a personal travel valet. It has worldwide weather and flight times and delays. It maintains itineraries, calculates currency exchanges, and tracks expenses.

Yahoo Go!

Yahoo mobilizes its full portal. Using widgets that access news, mobile search, weather, sports, email, IM and most of the familiar online services, Yahoo Go packs more information and resources into a cell phone screen than any other app we know. It even pull sin your RSS feeds.

Pandora mobile

The superb Web radio service gets a downloadable application that sends peerless streaming audio of your personalized music stations through the phone’s digital channel.

Quickoffice

Don’t leave the office without the Office. This mobile version of a full office suite will edit and view Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files.

Sprint TV

Sprint has one of the most evolved mobile TV buffets of any provider. Within Sprint TV you will find many free and subscription-based services for specific entertainment, sports and financial information channels.

Scene it

For anyone into home theater, movies and TV, this is a surprisingly satisfying translation of the full DVD entertainment trivia game. Questions refer to images and video that stream into the game application, and you have only seconds to answer correctly.

Livelocal

More than weather, more than news. This is a superb video and text feed of all things local. LiveLocal gives you radar weather, forecasts but also ties into multiple local news stattions.

ComedyCentral Take Out

If you like ComedyCentral hits, then here is the one stop access point to video clips, ringtones and wallpapers.

eBay Mobile

One of the best mobile versions of a Web service we have seen, eBay Mobile gives you remarkably deep access to the eBay catalog. Never miss a bargain again.

Instyle Mobile

As mobile magazines go, this compilation of celebrity gossip, loads of images of last nights parties and fashion pics stands out for its daily updates and wonderful usability.

Weatherbug mobile

Among the many mobile weather apps, Weatherbug Mobile feels the most local. Not only does it give you a big and colorful view of current and forecasted weather, but the company’s network of devices at schools and institutions offer neighborhood readings and from your neighborhood and you live Web cam views of nearby conditions.

AOL Mobile

Now available from a WAP browser, AOL’s portable portal gathers all of their considerable assets: MapQuest, Moviefone, AIM, city guides, search and of course the ubiquitous AOL Mail.

GetMobio

Dubbed a “Lifestyle Portal” this ad-supported and free downloadable applications is a directory of local services, weather, and even your own RSS feeds. It even has a guide to cheap gas in your area, a connection to your Twitter account, movie times and a trivia game.

iTunes WiFi Music Store

At long last, Apple makes music browsing and downloading available straight from the iPhone or iPod Touch. This iTunes store lets you sample tracks quickly, search the entire online catalog, and even sych back all your purchased tunes when you re-connect the device
to your PC.

BuzzWire

If you like podcasts on an iPod, then BuzzWire is the service you have been waiting for. Just about any feed that contains an audio or video podcast can be pulled in anywhere anytime on a phone. Even an iPhone can’t do that.

MyWaves

MyWaves offers one of the most reliable video streaming solutions that works on any phone with a WAP browser. From Web or phone, you can easily find and subscribe to almost any video show available online. The on-phone rendering is superb and the iPhone version is staggeringly good.

24 SoonR

A remote access solution for cell phones, SoonR takes a simple approach. A resident program on your PC desktop shares folders of your choosing with the SoonR service, which you in turn access from a WAP browser. SoonR can forward a file to an email address or just open most file types, including images and documents, for a quick peek from anywhere.

25 VZ Navigator

Verizon’s excellent navigator gives you turn by turn voice directions that are just as good as dedicated in-car systems costing hundreds. The integrated search and mapping service locates everything from gas to ATMs and restaurants. Wherever you go, VZ Navigator is like your own personal Mr Checkov.