iSmashPhone

TwittaRound for iPhone asks: What Are You Doing? And Where Are You Doing It?

In case you've gone through life so far while being blissfully unaware of the phrase "reality augmentation" -- well, today's your lucky day.  Or something.

Michael Zoellner's TwittaRound (currently in beta testing) enhances the iPhone 3GS Twitter experience by utilizing the phone's compass and accelerometer GPS to show you nearby Tweeters.  The video above tells you more about the app.

What it doesn't you is that apps like these use non-public API's to perform their video tricks -- so don't expect to see this in the App Store anytime soon.

[Via Gizmodo]

Take The Phone To The Train

And the "augmented reality" apps just keep coming...

In addition to TwittaRound (see elsewhere in this fine bloggeroo), now comes an iPhone 3GS app to help you locate the nearest subway station.  However, since the app is called "Nearest Tube," it's rate of success kinda depends on how close you are to London town. 

Like TwittaRound, Nearest Tube uses the 3GS's video camera and GPS, adding its own directional apps to point you to the nearest station for the Underground's various train lines.  Unlike TwittaRound, though, Nearest Tube creators Across Air apparently got House of Jobs approval, and their pride and joy will be featured in the App Store "veddy shortly, old bean" -- by their estimates, one of the first aug-reality apps to hold that distinction.

Today's Notable iPhone Apps - Thursday July 9th Edition

Today's iPhone app reviews are all about laziness. With Pizza Hut's new iHut iPhone app, you won't even need to get up from the couch to get the phone in order to order pizza. With ClapLight, you don't even have to lean over to turn some light on in the middle of the night. With Sponge Bob Tickler, you won't have to play with your kids, and with Jelly Car, you'll be too busy playing games to get anything done. Enjoy, lazy people of the world. 

Corporate Branding Races to iPhone Apps: Winners and Losers

iPhone apps are probably the most popular thing to be used since the color TV. We've seen companies of all sizes put together some really cool concepts for iPhone apps. While most of these applications exist only as marketing techniques, some of them are quite useful. The question is, however, are they meeting the expectations of iPhone users? Regardless of the app's cost, we expect these applications to run fast and without a glitch, especially the ones made by established high-tech companies. iPhone apps should be designed for those who are 100% mobile; otherwise, we might as well hop on the computer for the same information.

Corporations are scrambling and fighting for the business in today's poor economy. From starting blogs on their websites to producing iPhone and iPod touch applications, they are doing whatever they can for marketing purposes. Some companies are successful in marketing or branding with the iPhones and some fail miserably, tarnishing what used to be a good reputation.