By CHONG JINN XIUNG

THE Apple iPhone 3G is many things in one: A phone, a music player, a personal organiser, a gaming platform and much more.

The iPhone, available exclusively from Maxis (www.maxis.com.my), owes much of its diversity to the vast variety of applications available in the iTunes App Store.

There are literally thousands of applications added each day with nearly every imaginable genre you can think of.

The downside is that a lot of developers are just trying to make a quick buck or two with their apps so it's difficult to find some of the real gems in the App Store.

We waded through the App Store and found a few practical and fun applications that you shouldn't miss.

Midomi

(free)

Got a song stuck in your head but can't remember the title? Yes, it can be pretty frustrating.

Fortunately, with applications like Midomi, all you've to do is hum or sing the tune of the song to your iPhone, wait a few seconds and presto, it'll display the title and artist.

While it isn't as fun as singing them to your iPhone but you can also search by keywords by saying them.

You can say, for instance, the title and the artist and Midomi will list all its guesses along with the different variations of the song by different artists.

Additionally, search results even come with a clip of the song and links to YouTube videos.

All in all, a very handy application if you are a music buff or whenever you need to brush up on your music knowledge.

Skype

(free)

Skype was one of the most awaited applications for the iPhone and it doesn't disappoint as it's possibly one of the most useful communication applications available for the device.

While it doesn't have all the features of the desktop version such as video calls, it makes for it with a very intuitive interface that will be instantly familiar to Skype users.

However, you are limited to making calls over the WiFi network as the application will refuse to connect over 3G.

It particularly comes in handy if you're overseas and have to make a call home.

The application will allow you to make free calls to other Skype users and if you have Skype credit, you can even make calls to land lines.

Call quality was great with nary any interference or static even when making long distance calls.

Aside from making calls over Skype, you can also chat with your friends using the instant messaging feature.

Overall, Skype is a polished app that you should try out.

Photogene

(US$2.99)

Pictures taken using the iPhone's default camera application often leaves a lot to be desired.

One of the app that stands out from the rest is Photogene, a useful little application that lets you tweak and adjust your photos easily on the iPhone.

It is just like having Photoshop in your pocket as Photogene lets you perform simple adjustments like cropping, rotating or aligning pictures.

Photo buffs may come to appreciate the robust toolset for adjusting picture saturation, sharpness and even the colour temperature.

Of course, there are also fun stuff you can add to your pictures like thought bubbles or frames.

For an iPhone photo application, Photogene offers a lot of useful options to adjust your photos.

It is highly recommended if you take lots of pictures on your iPhone.

ColorSplash

(US$1.99)

Have you ever wanted to create dramatic monotone images with only a single object in colour?

Now you can just do that with ColorSplash, another cool photo editing application that lets you experiment with your photos in new ways.

You can choose from an existing image or snap a new one with the built-in camera and ColorSplash will convert your photo into black and white first.

Now you just have to use your finger to slowly 'paint' over the photo to bring back the colour to the part of the image you want.

Also, you can easily zoom in and out of a photo using the regular pinch gesture to paint more accurately.

The application is pretty forgiving if you make mistakes as you can undo any number of accidental brush strokes and even save multiple sessions.

But you have no control of the brush size so it's easy to accidentally paint beyond what you intended.

We tried creating a few cutout pictures of our own and the effect was pretty pleasing though it was time consuming.

Considering that ColorSplash is essentially a one-trick pony, it might not be as useful as Photogene.

Still, it definitely is a lot of fun for the first few times and it doesn't cost much.

Excuse Maker

(US$0.99)

If for some reason you constantly have to make up excuses then your trusty iPhone can do just that for you with the help of Excuse Maker.

It's a fairly simply application that lists tons of excuses, some of which are good and funny, which you can use.

Excuses are divided into sub categories, each detailing a specific situation like being late, cancelling a date or just general excuses.

However, Excuse Maker is a pretty generic application that's pretty uninspired as it doesn't really take advantage of the iPhone's features.

You can't, for instance, generate a new excuse by shaking the iPhone.

And even if you don't manage to get away with the excuse, you'll probably have a good laugh over it.

Keeper

(US$0.99)

If you use your iPhone for daily work, you're bound to have sensitive information stored on it.

Keeping your personal information and sensitive documents safe is something that Keeper does best.

Like a secure bank vault, all data kept in Keeper is protected by a strong 128-bit encryption.

Keeper's password protection system allows you to set a password that uses numbers and letters to make it harder for it to be broken.

If you are extremely paranoid and afraid that your information could fall into the wrong hands, there's even a self destruct feature.

No, it does not blow up your iPhone but the feature will delete all traces of your data after four wrong guesses.

Don't worry, your vital data is not completely lost as you can regularly back up the data to a computer via WiFi or 3G.

It's better to be safe than sorry and Keeper is definitely a good application at keeping your sensitive data away from prying eyes.

AppSniper

(US$0.99)

Are you addicted to the App Store? Do you have to know the best deals on your favourite apps?

Try AppSniper, a useful application that lets you browse the latest and greatest applications the App Store has to offer.

It's easy to use as you just have to launch it and make it sync to its server via WiFi or 3G. Once synced, you can easily browse through the full list of applications by genre.

If you find an application that interests you, just tap on it and AppSniper will display everything you need to know about the application.

It will also display screenshots, ratings and an amazingly detailed chart of the app's price changes.

And if you like what you see, AppSniper can direct you to App Store so you can make a purchase.

But, of course, AppSniper wouldn't be complete if it doesn't have a 'sniping' function.

The sniping function allows you to set a target price for multiple apps. When the price drops to the target price, AppSniper will inform you about it when you launch the application.

All these features make AppSniper a handy utility to have if you are addicted to the AppStore and want to keep up with the latest deals.

Sudoku Grab

(US$0.99)

If you are a big Sudoku fan and you can never get enough of it then you are going to love Sudoku Grab for the iPhone.

The unique application is named such because it can grab the puzzles off nearly any source - newspapers, magazines, puzzle and books.

This should, hopefully, provide you with a limitless supply of Sudoku puzzles to enjoy.

Not only is the concept pretty cool but it also works amazingly well. Just snap a picture of the puzzle and Sudoku Grab will attempt to extract the puzzle from the picture by identifying the numbers in the puzzle.

Sudoku Grab's ability to recognise numbers isn't perfect, so you will have to confirm the numbers from time to time. From our tests, it usually guesses correctly about 90% of the time.

Sudoku Grab is a robust application as it also has its own set of built-in puzzles that range from easy to nail-biting tough.

If you are stuck, the game can offer you hints and it can even solve the puzzle for you if have given up.

There's very little fault to find with the game and no Sudoku fan should be without it.

This story was first published in The Star/Asia News Network.