IT HAS been christened a geek's fashion icon. Its intuitive user-interface has also made numeric keypads seem primordial.
Little wonder then that we happily spread-eagled our wallets at the first glimpse of the iPhone.
However, let's face it - there are only so many times you can get entertained by reading your colleague's e-mail jokes, browsing through your nephew's pictures or torturing your friends with Rick Astley songs.
Thank goodness for the nifty programs on the Web that you can use to juice up the power and bump up the fun factor of your iPhone.
Books on iPhone Free, from www.textonphone.com
Are you one of those who spend your weekends browsing through the aisles of Borders? Or do you find yourself peering across your shoulder to find out what the passenger beside you on the train is reading? If so, this app is right up your alley.
With Books, you can access more than 20,000 books, novels and articles for free.
Users can also post their comments or reviews about the books that they are reading - easy way to network with other novel aficionados.
Fring Free, from iTunes App Store
For any self-respecting teenager, not being connected to an online chatting service every minute of every day is social suicide.
This app lets you log on to your MSN, Yahoo, Jabber, Google Talk and MySpace chatting services - all at the same time. In other words, this baby is the ultimate tool for yabbing with friends on the move.
The Club
Free, from iTunes App Store
Admit it - within every one of us is an eager voyeur wanting to know who George Clooney's latest squeeze is or what escapades Paris Hilton has been up to.
The Club satisfies the kaypoh (busybody) in you and dishes out juicy entertainment gossip. It also lets you watch free music videos, listen to new music before it has been released and dedicate tunes to other members of The Club.
Splash Shopper List Manager US$9.99 (S$14.39), from iTunes App Store
If you are one of those who buy butter instead of batter while grocery shopping, then this tool will save you from getting an earful from the wife.
Priced at some $14, this nifty tool makes sure you pick up all the right items by letting you create an unlimited number of shopping lists organised into neat categories ranging from groceries to school supplies.
Even better - you can add in the price of each item, letting you ring up the total bill before you head to the cashiers. Convenient to say the least.
My Budget Money Management Free, from iTunes App Store
If you are anything like yours truly, your credit card expenses is usually numbering a deficit. Time to save up on the pennies this new year.
With this app, you can set up a daily, weekly, or monthly budget and manually key in your daily expenses. This lets you keep tabs on how much you have spent and how much you have got left to splurge.
Add to that, the app also stores your expense history, letting you track whether or not you have been spending way too much dough on yet another pair of Blahniks.
SpeakEasy Voice Recorder US$1.99 (S$2.86), from iTunes App Store
Pen and paper are so passe. Taking notes or reminding yourself to pick up the laundry is much easier with this because it morphs your phone into a voice recorder.
The voice recordings can be played back repeatedly on your phone. It also records up to 10 hours worth of memos. Great for recording lectures of long-winded professors.
Wikipedia Mobile US$2.99 (S$4.30), from iTunes App Store
If you look to Wikipedia for all of life's lessons, this app takes you a step closer to enlightenment.
The app lets you search for things you want to know at the touch of a button. With collapsible section heads, neat tables and nicely captioned articles, the app makes it a snap to snag the information tidbits you want.
What is more - you can also track your search history and save articles for offline reading. Sweet.
buUuk Free, from iTunes App Store
When you are stuck for ideas and do not know where to go for dinner with your friends, try buUuk.
A newly developed local app, it lists restaurants and what diners think of them. A simple interface allows you to scroll through to choose what your palate desires that day: From Chinese, Italian to Japanese and more.
If you like a place, you can also add your own review to the site.
iCabSG Free, from iTunes App Store
Ever found yourself stuck in the middle of Lim Chu Kang with nary a cab in sight? This locally developed app promises to put an end to all cabbing woes.
Launching the app will give you a list of taxi companies in Singapore. Tap on the company you want and the app will automatically ring for a booking.
No more painstakingly browsing through your phonebook in search of the digits of Comfort or Citicab.
Pandora Radio Free, from pandora.com/on-the-iphone
Tired of the tunes on your iPhone but too cheap to download new music tracks? Opt for Internet radio instead.
Pandora lets you stream tracks and radio content, without any audio hiccups or distortions. Simply select the genre and artists that you fancy and the app turns your phone into a mobile radio that plays tunes you like.
The software also analyses your musical tastes and suggests tracks that might strike a chord with you.
Stephanie Gwee is a freelance writer.
This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life on 7 January 2009.
