Nothing like a cool new device to close out a hot summer week, right? Sure. Much more important, however, is the associated iPhone 2.0 software update. The arrival of the new software package is something that has many in the consumer crowd eager to outfit their flash drives with an array of third-party developments by way of the long-awaited iPhone App Store.
The question now is, what can we expect to see this week, and what won’t we see? Here are some names that we think will whet your palates.
Social Networking:
This one’s been talked about quite a bit. It will help iPhone users connect with fellow Loopt members and let you know whether friends are across town or just down the block. Send messages and photos if you like. Maintain a journal/blog of your time out in the world, too. The service’s demonstration at Apple’s WWDC 2008 conference signified the potential for location-based services, whether they be social or simply informational in a geographic and directorial sense (which Loopt is, in part. It lets you find interesting places and events shared by network members, and vice versa).
Also built with user location in mind, SpotJots allows users to microblog their way through life with a geo-tagging element tossed in for good measure. 
If you manage a microblog, but think that providing friends with your location would help some in making sense of the “spacial” dimensions of your social network, this one’s definitely a goodie. Unfortunately, a native iPhone-friendly SpotJots application won’t be distributed this week. The service, developed by Ten23 Software, is scheduled to hit the shelves roughly around the first week of August.
What does it take to get premium placement on Apple’s website, anyway? 
Twitterific for iPhone, which just so happened to nab a 2008 Apple Design Award for “Best iPhone Social Networking Application” in June, is pretty impressive. According to Apple’s site:
“Twitterrific uses iPhone OS technologies extensively including Core Location to integrate geographic location and help people communicate their whereabouts, Core Animation for subtle animation effects to reinforce state changes, WebKit for the built-in browser view and integration with Safari, libxml to provide the fastest and most efficient parsing of XML data returned by the Twitter REST API, and integration with Maps making it easy for people to locate friends, family or co-workers.”
Publishing:
This is another item that was featured during the iPhone-centric WWDC keynote, and quite an attractive one, I must say. The application allows the user to quickly post text and photos to the Web, all very intuitively. 
SixApart, the creator of the TypePad platform, had previously launched a piece of software for the iPhone, but it was Web-based. The native option to soon debut will undoubtedly operate in smoother fashion. And it’s integration with the device’s camera utility is a great convenience.
News Reading:
Also demonstrated at WWDC was the AP’s Mobile News Network program, which builds upon the concept first introduced through its Web-based iPhone service APnews.com. It will be available free from the App Store later this week.
This one is certainly the most appealing option for the category currently. That’s because the AP’s feeds only give you so much variety. NewsGator’s NetNewsWire, on the other hand, is as customizable as can be. Crafted for a preliminary demo at WWDC (Clint Ecker of Ars Technica seemed to enjoy a trial run of the application), was purportedly ready for a launch in the middle of June, so cross your fingers. If you’re hoping to pull feeds from multiple sources, this one is definitely something to watch for.
Photo Browsing/Sharing:
We shared the news of Phanfare’s iPhone support last month. Like the SixApart’s TypePad application, Phanfare utilizes the iPhone’s camera to take pictures and upload them to the Web, along with titles or captions. 
There they can be edited, browsed, and shared according to your account preferences.
Entertainment:
Conventional radio may not be seeing the kind of audience that it had a decade or so ago, when the iPod was still just a figment of the imagination. But it’s still around. Over-the-air, over-the-Web, from zero gravity. Whichever. You can get radio any way you like these days. And AOL appears to have spent time ensuring the relevancy of its own digital audio streams as well as some 150 CBS channels by piecing together an application that will determine through Apple’s Core Location technology a user’s position, and present choices for quick and easy listening, either over Wi-Fi or even over a cellular connection.
Miscellaneous:
We touched on this startup some days ago, at which time they notified us of an iPhone application launch scheduled for July 11. Simply put, Where The Locals Eat gives you a list of the Top 100 restaurants, segmented by food type, in 50 American cities.
… And The Question Marks:
Yes, there’s still that merger with Sirius Radio up in the air (so to speak), but according to Executive VP and Chief Marketing Officer of XM, Vernon Irvin, the satellite radio broadcaster is working on an iPhone client. Given the likelihood that an such a service will require a monthly fee from users, though, I’d put my money on AOL Radio coming out far ahead in download count when all is said and done.
SlingPlayer Mobile
We all know it’s coming, but when exactly is a mystery. Sling Media hasn’t been known for its expedience when shipping products. Estimates run into 2009 for this iPhone application.
It was demonstrated at a gathering at Apple’s home campus earlier this year, but the company has kept mum about it since. I would personally like to see something along the lines of an Apple-approved download of Adium or Apollo IM, but chances are those will have to wait. Apollo IM is presently available only for jailbroken devices. And Adium’s developers explain the battle a virtual total recoding of the application for iPhone compatibility will be an arduous one. That is if they do in fact go through with the effort.
Google’s VP of engineering, Vic Gondotra, was quoted in May as having said, “We expect to have applications at day one.” Does this mean a suite of localized Google Apps? We already have Google Maps. And Google assembled a portal with a half dozen or more services for use on the iPhone. What else could there be?
It’s been proven possible. How soon ‘til it arrives in the App Store? (Ditto for Flixwagon.)
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