As a consistent iPod user and Apple enthusiast, I constantly find myself looking out for the latest and greatest applications. I’ve tried a multitude of personal productivity applications over the last year, however, it wasn’t until recently when I found Diacarta that I felt like I had one that I actually want to use. Other applications at times, seemed confusing while being overloaded with advanced options that in turn make them less intuitive. The user interface is so clean, simple, and intuitive that it literally takes you a few seconds to add another task into your day. With a library of over 50 different icons, the interface also does something I’ve never seen in another personal planner — visually map out your day! You can very easily drag-and-drop these icons to the appropriate time of day and it will snap in place, automatically adjusting the time. How much easier can you get!?

Another neat feature of this application is the ability to switch between your AM and PM tasks or even days, with only the flip of a finger. I liked this personally because if you’re as busy as I can be a times, all those tasks pile up and get to look a little intimidating! So in a way, this is feature is helping to organize your day, and ease your mind.

As a designer, one of the most interesting things about this application was reading about the development of it in another review. Created by Jake and Georgia Yanchar, two former New York City lawyers, Diacarta is said to have evolved from daily organizers that Jake would draw daily in his Moleskine notebook. I think this only says alot about the application and its simplicity. If one person can organize their life from a few sketches in a notebook, and turn it into a iPhone application, it just might be worth a try! You might be surprised!

A game based on typography you say? Where do I sign up!? Think you know your Arial from your Helvetica, your sans from your sans serifs? Then step up to the plate. With three levels of game play from the ease-yourself-in, ‘Somewhat Difficult’ through to the incredibly challenging ‘Exceedingly Difficult’, there’s lots of fun to be had for novices and typographic experts alike. I’m not sure how many of you saw my post with the original Font Game, but this new version puts this font-filled action in the palm of your hands via the new iPod application! Check out the beautifully designed Font Game by John Boardley, Justin Stahl and Kari Kari Pätilä.

Go ahead, press your luck! See if you can beat me.

Props:
Application: Font Game

Image from thinkgeek.com

I have seen many different iphone lenses or microphones in the past but the ‘Bubo’ from OWLE really takes the cake. The rig itself is a single piece of aluminum with four tripod or accessory mounts on the top and bottom of the side hand grip as well as a cold shoe mount for a light or another microphone. It comes with a .45w wide angle/macro combo lens that screws into the rig and a microphone that connects directly to your iphone.

The videos on OWLE’s website are pretty cool, listen to the ukulele video on the Action page to really check out the sound quality. The snowboard video is very impressive, I bet having the extra handling made filming a breeze.

A little interesting fact: Bubo is the name of the mechanical owl in the classic film Clash of the Titans

Link • OWLE Bubo Tour on Youtube
Link • OWLE’s website

I read the NY Times when I have the chance, and this article caught my eye.  It claims that fewer than 30% of iPhone users do work with their iPhones. I beg to differ.  Maybe I don’t represent the masses of users, but in the course of my work, I use the following native apps on my iPhone:

Phone
Mail (I use my iPhone mail reader almost exclusively, especially to weed through the first check of the day – SO easy to sort and delete on the iPhone!)
SMS Text
iCal Calendar
Photos
Camera
iPod (for instructional podcasts, entertainment in the office, transferring and previewing online video files, etc)
WeatherBug (if its going to rain all day, I’m not dragging my camera crew around looking for exterior shots at Lewis Ginter)
YouTube (to preview productions online, provide comps to clients, etc)
Maps
Safari (I develop websites, mobile apps, etc)
OmniFocus (CRM software)
App Store (to keep everything up to date)
NY Times (market info and continuing education, research…like this article)
USA Today (see above)
Newser (ditto…)
Pingle (for updating social networks, blogs, etc)
Facebook (I develop social media brands for local businesses, mobile apps)
Twitteriffic
Tweetie
Twittelator
LinkedIn
MySpace (just to test output for social media clients)
WordPress (for updating this blog, duh)
Yelp (to decide where to take clients to lunch, buy supplies, etc)
Google Earth (to figure out terrain, accessibility, directions to meetings, etc)
MProfs (great marketing newsletter!)
Huff Post (news, market research)
Mashable (market research)
TWC
Joost (video streaming site, testing, etc)
Stitcher (for creating panoramas – great for panning in video!)
Air Sharing (for exchanging files to and from remote locations and my home office)
iHandy Level (for leveling tripods and cameras on-site)
Flashlight (for when we drop a bolt in a dark, smokey bar before a music video shoot, right Josh?)
vCardMailer (like beaming a contact for Treo and Blackberry owners)
Remote (for controlling Keynote presentations)
iRecorder (for site notes, ideas in the car, etc)
Tasks
Clock (countdown timers)
Loopt (for finding other crew members in a crowded site)
…and there are more web shortcuts as well…I won’t completely bore you.

But you get the picture.  If my iPhone is in my hand, it’s in use, most likely for work-related activity.  But it’s so much MORE than a phone.  I seldom use the phone functions on the iPhone.  Less than 25% of my time, I would guess (and I use it for SALES!)

I rest my case, but again…I don’t know how “typical” a user I am, but I know plenty of other people who use them for business, and that number will only increase with further app development, further integrating it into business/server-class applications for larger workgroups.  It’s already happening.  The next rev of the iPhone should be a pretty major release as well…and I’m sure I’ll have one.

Another rambling from the exhaust of the Rocket Pop!

Scott

I referenced the following sources:
http://blog.compete.com/2009/04/29/iphone-smartphone-personal-business-usage/

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/apple-iphone-owners-dont-use-it-for-work/

iPhone photo taken by jkrums, posted on TwitPic

Cara and I were on the highway Thursday afternoon for a wonderful dinner in DC at Legal Seafood, then a mind-bending concert from Metallica (incredible, by the way!).  On the way, Cara checked her Facebook account on her iPhone when she saw an update from a friend about the US Airways crash on the Hudson River.  But she didn’t see any real news of a cause or outcome.  After firing up MY iPhone and paging to the New York Times app, which just refused to update, caused by a massive hit of traffic I assume.  So I paged over to Tweetie on my iPhone where I immediately saw a stream of about 30 tweets about outcome, cause, links to pictures, the captain’s name, and anything else I’d ever want to know regarding the amazing splashdown by “Sully.”

It was the first time I can recall relying solely on Twitter for first-hand news reporting…and ACCURATE reporting I might add, partially from the constant fact-checking and “communal” nature of the medium.

In my mind, this was a watershed event.  A shift away from mass, commercial media outlets like radio or television stations, to more non-commercial means of communication…one owned and operated by a conscientious public eager to provide information that others might find valuable.  In the process, many major news outlets picked up their photography of the plane from bystanders submitting shots from their iPhones! Somehow I knew Apple would find a way to prove valuable, even in NY during a cold emergency.

Another emission from the exhaust of the Rocket Pop,

Cheers,
Scott