The Good, Bad, & Ugly Side of the Apple IPhone App Store

Apple's new iPhone App store is the most exciting aspect of the phone's updated operating system, which comes installed on the the new 3G models and is a free upgrade for original iPhone owners. Over 500 applications created by third party developers are already available at the App store, many of them free and most of them with a price tag of less than 10 dollars. Apple has been very selective about which apps they'll allow in the store, but have they been selective enough? We'll run down which apps that are worth owning and which apps are a bust. First of all, Apple's own “remote” app is a must have. It turns your iPhone into a remote that can control your iTunes library and your Apple TV, displaying info about whatever song or movie you are playing on the phone's screen. File Magnet is a nifty app that lets you wirelessly upload PDFs, Office docs, videos, pictures, and audio files to view or listen to. Guitar toolkit is awesome for musicians out there, because it features a functional tuner and metronome that uses the phone receiver to help you adjust your guitar tone. And a few games show off the capabilities of the iPhone... Ms. Pac Man, that age old classic, runs smoothly, looks great, and utilizes the touchscreen when you are controlling the additively retro game. Bomberman Touch is another addictive old school arcade classic, while Super Monkey Ball shows off the phones 3D graphics capabilities and uses its motion sensors to let you tilt the phone to control your rolling monkey. But not everything is all wine and roses at the App store... AIM for the iPhone is disappointingly buggy and doesn't allow you to mute the sound every time you receive a message. Facebook's new app actually offers less functionality than their already available mobile site, and The New York Times app is slow and inconsistent with its updates and picture loading. Plus, it annoyingly displays ads, taking up valuable space on its tiny interface. And Ebay mobile should be much more well thought out, but the app is ugly and doesn't give you bidding war updates. Then, of course, there are the pointless, yet kind of awesome apps. iBeer fills allows you to “drink” a virtual beer, which would be much more fun if it could actually download real beer, while iLight turns your screen into a flashlight... or just a blank white screen, depending on how you look look at it. And one of the most popular free apps is PhoneSaber, which turns your iPhone into a real light saber! Or at least makes light saber sounds when you swing it around. It's might be the coolest, geekiest, and definitely most useless app available in the entire store. But you have to download it if you ever truly want to be a Jedi, like your father before you. I'm Marc Gittleman for TekieTV.Com. Keep watching for more news, reviews, and tips for the best new high tech gadgets on the market. Distributed by Tubemogul.