Personally, i’ve always had one heck of a time backing up contacts and transferring them on to a new phone, but with this app they are all saved on the Mi Phone Book network so loading up your contact list on a new device should be a breeze. (I should be testing how smooth this actually works now that i have the new iPhone 4 – just delivered today!)

The clean and organized interface in Mi Phone Book is very simple to use. Agree to the terms and conditions, then register for a new account. Next you’ll find yourself on the main home page. Here you have My Contacts, Search/Add Contacts, Edit My Profile, Notification, Settings, Close, and a Featured Apps section where advertisers place icons for apps in the App Store. You pretty much have all the usability in Mi Phone Book that you have in the standard iPhone contacts section: view contacts, make calls, send to email address, etc. You can search for a contact based on a telephone number or Mi Phone Book user ID.

The settings page allows you to enter your user name and password, then you can “Remember Login Info” so you don’t have to login every time you fire up the application – definitely worth while if you plan to access the app on a regular basis. There’s also a My Info section; when enabled this gives other users the ability to search for you. Finally, you can sort contact list based on First and Last name.

Now the major catch with Mi Phone Book is that people also need the app to get the full benefits and of course that’s an unlikely scenario. Even so, it has additional features to stand on it’s own. The graphical interface is pleasant to the eye, it’s ease of use and setting controls are well thought out, and usability is decent. Mi Phone Book stay’s synced with your internal iPhone contact list and includes all contacts in the Mi Phone Book network or not so that’s a plus. If you love to network and are into the social scene this is a great app to own; especially for those that seem to have a hard time staying organized. For the everyday person that just wants a simple place to access contacts, this app can do that, but in reality the iPhone’s standard contact list does just as good a job. You’ll want to take advantage of the other features to justify the app purchase.

Application Benefits:

Up-to-date contact information: Mi Phone Book eliminates questioning if a contact’s information is current.

Save time: Mi Phone Book sends IN-Network users your updates automatically when you change your profile so you don’t have to.

Convenience: Mi Phone Book stores all of your contacts – not just Mi Phone Book users.

Sync: Manage your contacts in either your iPhone contact list or Mi Phone Book. They are always synced.

Ease: Update your profile, for example your address because you moved. Mi Phone Book sends your contact information to all In-Network contacts and updates their contact list automatically.

Search: Search for contacts using Mi Phone Book with the Search Tool!

Get Notified: Users will send you a notification to become an IN-Network contact. Simply accept or reject their request. If you accept all their contact information will populate both in your app and iPhone Contact List.

More Fields: Mi Phone Book allows fields that the iPhone contact list doesn’t.

Related posts:

1. Mi Phone Book 1.0 released for iPhone
2. The Daily App Show Shows Amazing Functionality of The Mi Phone Book App
3. iPhone App Review for Mi Phone Book – Make Managing Contacts Hassle-Free
4. iCaller is the best phone in your iPhone
5. To phone, or not to phone, that is the question

Mobile Distortion designed Privacy for Facebook to be mindless.  Essentially, it asks you to login to your Facebook account, and then displays the account settings pages that matter.  It provides you with a brief overview of what the settings on each page mean and provides you with a recommendation on what they should be.  All you have to do is alter your settings on each page, press next when you’re done, and after completing all of the appropriate settings Privacy for Facebook lets you know you’re done.  Some may find that their settings are already perfect, but my guess is the majority of your won’t.  Privacy for Facebook isn’t flashy, but for $0.99 you can be 100% that what you and your friends want to see and share on Facebook stays between you and your friends.

Overall I think if you’re a Facebook user and want to make sure that future employers, stalkers, ex-boyfriends/girlfriends, and the like aren’t able to find you and view all your personal pics, messages, and info, then Privacy for Facebook is definitely an app worth having.  Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t an app you’ll use every day.  You’ll use it once and then store it away for safe keeping (i.e. for the next time Facebook updates their privacy settings).  But at a price of $0.99, it’s a small amount to pay for complete privacy.

Pros:

• Great guide for helping people keep their Facebook info private from employers, predators, and advertisers
• Very easy to use; a monkey could do it

Cons:

• Displays Facebook normal view (not mobile) so you have to zoom in to view settings and descriptions

Version Reviewed: 1.1

Requirements: iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad; iPhone OS 3.0 or later

Related posts:

1. Flurry Announces Privacy First Initiative
2. deGeo Brings Locational Privacy to Photo Sharing
3. AlheimLaw Privacy/Ediscovery Info App Now Compatible with iOS5
4. MusicStatus for Facebook 1.0 – Share your Music Playlist to Facebook
5. Tracker for Facebook 1.0.2 for iPhone – Innovative, Augmented Reality

Everything about Faces iMake invokes happiness and enjoyment.  The moment the app opens you’re welcomed with imagery and music that induces a smile.  The app is laid out in a manner that people of any age can figure out with ease.  The opening page presents you with sliding menus from which you can use to customize the background color, head shape, and all aspects of your soon to be silly face.  The variety of choices for each option are excellent.  Each item, whether it’s a toy, food, tool, or any other option varies in size, color and shape.  You can even layer and rotate items to get the exact look and affect you want.  All aspects and images within the app are ultra crisp and clear, and the quality of images that you can create from these items is remarkable.

Noteworthy Features of Faces iMake:

• Kid friendly, easy to follow tutorials that teach how to make the most out of the app
• 20+ face shapes to choose from
• 100+ objects to choose from
• Unique and funny sound effects for each item you pick
• Save and share your creations via email or Facebook

I absolutely loved everything about this app.  The music, graphics, tutorials, tone, colors, literally everything are perfect.  It’s been a while since I came across an app that hit it’s mark this well.  Faces iMake is without a doubt an excellent app for kids, and between you and me is just as fun for adults.  If you don’t think so then checkout the friendly little guy I created below.  The sky is the limit with what types of faces you can create with this app.  Don’t hesitate to snatch it up and see what you and your kids can create!

Pros:

• Extremely well done; very kid friendly
• Engaging experience that begs you to keep drawing/creating
• Perfectly designed and executed from beginning to end

Cons:

• None

Version Reviewed: 1.1

Requirements: iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad; iPhone OS 3.0 or later

Related posts:

1. iMagine machine releases Faces iMake-1.3 for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad
2. Faces iMake HD for iPad-Create Collages with Multi-Award Winning Art App
3. iMagine machine releases Faces iMake-Premium!
4. iMagine machine releases Faces iMake 1.1 for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad
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Let’s face it we all use chat because we’re lazy.  It’s a million times easier to type mindlessly on a computer than it is to pick up a phone and talk.  Well, why not amplify the lazy factor and eliminate typing altogether!  Sending voice messages on Palringo Instant Messenger Premium is really easy.  All you have to do is hold down the audio button while you speak.  When you’re done just let go and the message gets sent to your chat buddy.  How easy is that!  No matter what chat client your friends use they’ll be able to listen to your message.  Sending photo messages is just as easy.  Same process, just press the camera icon, take a pic with your camera or select one from your gallery and send it.

So how did Palringo perform?  Well, overall it’s clear that this is a well designed and executed social networking app.  The interface is clean and logical, it comes with a nice grouping of features, and provides users with a lot of support and “how to” information which is nice.  I found most aspects of the chat functionality to work very well.  However, for whatever reason the push notification feature didn’t appear to work for me.  I also was unable to connect to my Yahoo and Facebook chat accounts despite numerous attempts.  Facebook being the most important one for me.  When I attempted to login to Facebook it essentially was treated as suspicious activity.  When I later went to login to my account from a computer it made me answer a series of security questions and recommended that I change my password.  Even after I confirmed with Facebook that it was a trusted source I was still unable to login.  I can’t say this is something that everyone will experience, but obviously for me this was a less than optimal user experience.

I’m a big fan of the voice chat option that Palringo Instant Messenger Premium provides.  From what I could tell it works very well.  It definitely couldn’t be much easier to create and send than it is.  However, I found that it may take a little trust and coordination for someone on the other end to listen to it.  When you send a voice message a user receives a message to download software.  As convenient and easy as that may be, I sent it to three different people without telling them exactly what it was and all of them elected not to download the software.  So I’d say if you’re looking to use the voice chat option it’s probably a good idea to first tell whomever you’re chatting with what to expect when you send it.  Perhaps if they’re also using Palringo Instant Messenger Premium they can listen to it without downloading any extras, but I wasn’t able to test with another Palringo user so I’m not sure if that’s the case or not.

Overall I like what Palringo Instant Messenger Premium has to offer.  Unfortunately for me I wasn’t able to experience everything the way I would’ve liked to.  Seeing that I was unable to connect to Facebook and the push notification wasn’t working for me I had to doc it a few points.  If you want to try out Palringo minus a few of the bells and whistles that the premium app offers then you should checkout Palringo Instant Messenger.  It’s considered the lite version and is completely free.

Pros:

• Send text, voice, and picture messages to friends on top chat platforms for free
• Includes location + google maps integration so you can see where your friends are
• Includes push notifications so you can be logged into chats even when the app is closed
• Works in both landscape and portrait mode

Cons:

• Facebook treated this app as if it was a hacker trying to access my account
• I was unable to connect to Yahoo and Facebook
• Push notification did not work for me; not sure why

Version Reviewed: 2.9

Requirements: iPhone or iPod Touch; iPhone OS version 3.0 or later

Related posts:

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2. Interactive Mass-texting Becomes Easier with PhoneTree Messenger for iOS
3. Show your friends how to get where you’re going with Messenger Map
4. Jumvo Connects Families & Friends with Global Voice-Based iOS Messaging
5. iNSTANT for iPhone – Send quick Texts in just three steps

In a way it’s kind of hard for me to explain what iGift4u is.  I mean, there are apps like this out there, but this is like the mother of them all.  It’s literally packed to the gills with a seemingly limitless arsenal of status update material.  You can type your own status update and have it posted immediately to Twitter or Facebook, you can choose from a huge database of famous quotes that are searchable by category, author, keyword, and favorites, a huge database of quotes (blond jokes being my favorite), you can search for videos on YouTube and post them, you can search for images online and post them, you can post fresh pics snapped from your camera or can browse and post from your image gallery, you can view all of your Facebook friends birthdays (literally everybody’s) and can send them a custom gift or event.  You can even purchase an optional music player upgrade that imports songs from your iPod and provides you with lyrics, can run a search on YouTube for any related videos, and can post a status update telling all your friends and followers what song you’re listening too.  Whew, I’m out of breath!  See what I mean?  iGift4u is basically the equivalent of a social networking Swiss Army knife!

Summary of Features (10 apps in one):

• Symbols + Flip app
• Music Player app (available through in app purchase)
• Quotes app
• YouTube app
• Virtual Gifts app
• Birthdays app
• Emoticons app
• Image Search app (locates pics on Bing using keywords)
• Pictures app (loads up your pics)
• Jokes app (lots of good ones)

Overall I was pretty impressed with iGift4u.  It totally works, and definitely has helped not only made my Facebook statuses much more relevant and interesting, but it makes it so easy to do that you keep going back to it.  I do think there’s room for some improvement on the interface though.  It took me a while to figure out how to actually post my status update.  It could just be me, but I found a joke that I liked, pressed the send button, selected Facebook as my update option, and from there expected it to be posted.  But what happens is that you go to a screen that lists out your Facebook friends which gives you the impression that you have to pick somebody to send it to, which I found confusing.  There’s a send button at the bottom right that’s greyed out which I pressed a few times with no result.  Eventually I exited the app and went to Facebook to see if it worked and it didn’t.  After further inspection I noticed at the top there’s an area that says Update My Status, but it isn’t exactly called out and in my opinion is drowned out by the presence of all of your friends list.  This page could definitely use some reworking.  Additionally I found the music player option to be cool, but when I searched for approximately 20 songs worth of lyrics the app only returned one.  Hopefully these things get improved upon in future releases.

All in all I must say that iGift4u is an excellent app for the money.  You get an aweful lot for just $0.99.  If you’re an avid status updater and tweeter then you’ll love this app.

Pros:

• Works well and is a great value
• Database of jokes, quotes, emoticons, etc. is vast
• The birthdays list generated from Facebook is priceless

Cons:

• May take you a few tries to get the hang of updating your status
• The UI flow could be more user friendly

Version Reviewed: 3.1

Requirements: iPhone or iPod Touch; iPhone OS 3.0 or later

Related posts:

1. Free iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad Promo Codes for iGift4u
2. iGift4u nominated 2009 Best App Ever for Social Networking
3. Funny Status Updates for Facebook HD now available on iPad
4. Funny Status Updates for Facebook iOS App Makes You Laugh
5. Facebook Fun 1.3 for iPhone – The Name Says it All

OMG Texting Dictionary is a simple app. It displays a list of all available texting vocabulary with a description of what it means. It also allows you to share it across Facebook, Twitter and email. This app is in no way going to blow you away. It’s very simple and really much more of a reference app then Social Media as it is listed. That being said it is interesting to scroll through and some could find it really useful as a reference. My gut feeling on this is that unless I’m texting a teenage girl I wouldn’t feel confident the recipient of my text would understand what most of these words are. So it’s pretty important your whole network is in the know prior to updating your text slang.

One interesting factoid of note for OMG Texting Dictionary is it will be given as a free download to celebrities within the famous Swag bags they receive for the Oscars awards this weekend. Swag bags are infamous for containing extravagant gifts or the newest, coolest tech items and novelties. It’s obvious that OMG Texting Dictionary falls somewhere within those guidelines by the who’s who of celebrity.

Related posts:

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5. SchroederDev releases Slango HD – Urban Dictionary for iPad

Meebo is an all in one chat app for iPhone and iPod Touch that offers everything you need to stay connected with all your buds.  Now granted if you’ve got an iPod Touch you’ll need to be connected to WiFi for it to work, but let’s be real, we should all know that by now.  Anyway, Meebo let’s you hook up all of the chat and Social Networking accounts that matter like AIM, Yahoo, Google Talk, and Facebook, and tons more into one easy to use interface.  They even have MySpace chat in there, but does MySpace really matter any more?  HAHA, kidding!  MySpace loyalists don’t hate!

Adding in all of your accounts works just how you’d expect.  Open the app, create a Meebo account if you don’t already have one, then add in all of your chat accounts.  When I said earlier that it includes all of the chat accounts and social networking accounts that matter I wasn’t kidding.  There’s literally too many to count.  Well, maybe not too many to count, but let’s put it this way, I opened up the chat account directory and it’s has so many that it takes several scrolls to get to the bottom!

Some additional features worth noting:

• You can view and search your complete chat history
• You can sync your Meebo desktop chat to your iPhone and take it with you

Meebo works great, looks great, is organized well, It’s comprehensive, and really is my favorite all in one iPhone chat application to date.  It’s really easy to keep track of all of your conversations, and push notification helps break the chain of keeping the app open all the time.  If you’re an avid online chatter then getting Meebo is a no brainer.  Don’t waste a second snatching this badboy up!

Related posts:

1. Social Plus App combines Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, G+, launching soon
2. Palringo Instant Messenger Premium
3. MySocialMania – Update Multiple Social Media Sites With A Single Touch
4. Free iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad Promo Codes for iGift4u
5. Social Media Updation made Easy with iPhone App

It’s safe to say that when natural disasters happen, especially at the scale to which the recent earthquake in Haiti caused death and destruction, the whole world is brought together. It’s very easy to place yourself in the shoes of any of those people devastated by this disaster. Those who have lost their lives, sons, daughters, mothers, fathers and more must be going through unimaginable heartache and sorrow. The physical struggles can be just as difficult as well. Haiti was already the poorest nation on the western hemisphere. Lacking many of the standard conveniences and support systems we take for granted. The aftereffects since the earthquake now show exactly how poor and lacking the countries resources are. Many go without medical care after having sustained serious injuries. Clean water and food for sustenance are a daily struggle. Proper  waste management to help prevent the spread of diseases are non existent.

I urge everyone to download Note To Haiti and read through the heartfelt and inspirational notes posted by other users. Also…if possible donate $10 to the cause. It’s not much money but it can go a long ways towards changing someone’s life.

Related posts:

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3. Note Hub Released: #1 in Productivity
4. Microsoft Courier Tablet Lives On with Sling Note for iPad
5. Small Wonders send their Puppets to Chile

People Flasher, created by VisiComm, doesn’t fit the mold of what most would consider to be a Social Networking app.  It’s not an all new app designed to compete with Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, or anything like that.  This app is focused solely on making in person communication easier and more effective.  The areas where this app is helpful is when you’re trying to get someone elses attention.  So like restaurants, clubs, parties, events, bus stops, hailing a taxi, emergency situations, traveling in foreign countries, things like that.  Instead of yelling, flailing your arms wildly, and jumping up and down, you can now create a flashing sign on your iPhone to get someones attention.  So if you find yourself in Turkey needing to flag down a mini bus, or in a local bar wanting to get the attention of a pretty girl across from you, PeopleFlasher helps you get their attention easily and clearly.

In addition to the standard message creating and display options of PeopleFlasher, it also includes World Flash.  World Flash displays the messages that other users are flashing from all over the globe.  It’s very similar to the global listening feature that made Ocarina so popular.  If you like the idea of checking out other peoples flashes then you’ll probably like this feature a lot.  I found the feature to be okay, but for the most part, since the messages that people display in PeopleFlasher are really short, I didn’t find it all that amusing.

Overall we found PeopleFinder to actually work.  At first glance we thought there was no way this app would ever be useful, however after taking it to the streets we were proven wrong.  The flashing screen is very noticeable, and the messages it displays are surprisingly legible, even from relatively long distances.  For the app to be most effective we recommend only using it at night or in dimmly lit places.  The areas where we think the app could be improved would be for the look of the interface to be upgraded.  Even though the end result is a colorful flashing image, the interface itself is rather plain.  Aside from minor tweaks here and there, PeopleFlasher does exactly what it says it does.  If you live in an urban area, are a frequent traveler to countries where you don’t know the language, or are a young high school or college aged individual, you may really like this app.  At a minimum you’ll be able to hail cabs faster and will probably generate quite a few laughs and conversations when you bust the app out.

Related posts:

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2. I Am T-Pain
3. moodspin
4. PhotoTag
5. Full Screen Browser

To get started all you have to do is open moodspin, enter your Twitter username and password, and click the login button.    Once logged in you can select from a myriad of themes.  Choose from Colors, moods, sports, food and drinks, supporting causes, shopping, and holiday themes.  Beneath each theme there are multiple options to choose from.

Choose the one you want then review the status box.  You can type in your own status by touching inside the box to activate the keyboard, or you can keep the pretyped one, it’s totally up to you.  When ready, press the update button and just like that your Twitter profile and status are updated.  It’s that easy!

If you’re hungry and going to grab a burger for lunch, add a cheeseburger, if it’s breast cancer awareness week add a pink ribbon, if you’re angry at your teacher or boss add an upset looking emoticon.  In a nutshell, moodspin allows you to enhance your Twitter profile with mood identifying images and statuses, quickly and conveniently, directly from your iPhone or iPod touch!

Another pretty neat feature of the moodspin iPhone application is that it seamlessly integrates with the moodspin website.  Each time you post a new status in your moodspin app it automatically logs it online and includes a link to your moodspin page in your Twitter update.  Anyone can click on that link to view your mood history.  You can check back over the month to see if you have any days were you’re consistently moody or happy.  You can even go on the site to view the Top 3 Moodiest People!  Do you think you can be one of the top 3 moodiest people?  If so, you better go download moodspin right away.  The app is FREE so you might as well give it a shot.  Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the ability to update Facebook statuses is coming soon as well!

Watch the video to see moodspin in action!

Related posts:

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2. iGift4u
3. Mi Phone Book
4. Emergence
5. Christmas Gifts List