Surfing the web or reading and writing some notes sometimes I want to copy pieces of information and paste it top other apps. With Pastebot I can use my iPod’s copy&paste tool to do exactly that: copy, paste, store and even edit media and information on the fly.

Price: $2.99
Would I buy again?: Yes
Learning Curve: Easy
Who is it for?: Orderly multitasking freaks
Version tested: 1.1.1 iPhone 3GS 3.1.3
Comparable Apps: Scraps, Snipplet
Available Languages: English, German, French, Italian, Japanese
This App was tested by Michael
appstory.tv rating:

Download in iTunes | App Website

This is how it works:

• Browsing the web and coming across interesting information or images you want to save, Pastebot lets you copy the image or information and save it to its own clipboard.
• Simply use the iPod’s copy tool to select the media you want to copy, hit copy, launch Pastebot and the media will automatically show up in the app.
• In the app you can edit text, add a title to an image, or run the image through a filter to perform specific tasks such as cropping and more.
• You can convert all text to lowercase, find and replace words, quote lines, or even wrap in HTML tags!
• For Mac users theres is a desktop preference pane that allows you to wirelessly transfer media to your Book over Wi-Fi.

What I like about Pastebot:

• Works perfectly with all kind of media browsed to with Safari
• Synchronisation with the Mac preference pane works perfectly

What I don’t like about PASTEBOT:

• Pastebot does not work from other apps

All in all Pastebot is a nice tool which helps to be more productive browsing the web and working with media content. I’d really like Pastebot to work from apps, too, though!

© Michael for appstory.tv, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: App, copy, Edit, iPhone, paste, store

I like taking lots of snapshots with my iPhone. But when I want to share these photos by email, I only can send 5 photos at a time. With the “Pocket Scanner”, I can send as many images as I want in one PDF file.

Price: $0.99
Would I buy again: Yes.
Learning Curve: Beginner-Intermediate
Who is it for: Whoever wants to send a bunch of photos from his/her device in one file.
Version tested: 1.1 on iPhone 3G, OS 3.1.3
Comparable Apps: JotNot Scanner, Scanner Pro
Available Languages: English
This App was tested by Kira
appstory.tv rating:

Download in iTunes | App Website

This is how it works:

• In the main menu you tap “Camera”
• You can either choose to insert photos from your photo library by just tapping them
• or use the camera to take a new photo (this didn’t work on my device, though).
• After defining the photos you want in your PDF, you hit “cancel” (yes, the wording is a bit strange),
• Next, you call up “Gallery” and see all the photos you chose previously.
• By tapping “edit” you can reoder the photos or delete the ones you don’t want in the PDF.
• By tapping the photo you can adjust the exposure or convert it to black and white which is qute cool for text.
• Back in the Gallery you can tap “Make PDF” and title your document.
• The PDF is created and saved.
• Now you must go back to the ome screen and tap “View” in order to check the new PDF.
• You can add bookmarks to different pages
• Now cou can to share the PDF by email.
• You can also have the device connect with your computer via WiFi and share the PDF via the wireless network.

I’m really glad that I found a work-around for sharing more than five photos at once. Still, it hurts to spend money because of Apple’s limitations.

What I like about “a Pocket Scanner”:

• Finally I can share as many images as I want by email.

What I don’t like so much:

• It would be cool if the app would support services like Evernote.
• The user interface design can be improved.
• Text recognition is missing, though this feature would probably make the app more expensive.

© Kira for appstory.tv, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: App, pdf, Photo, Scanner

I admit that I’ve been an avid Twitter user for quite a while now. Up until today I have looked at plenty of Twitter tools – and picked my favorite ones. Today I’d like to introduce you to the App “HootSuite” – a powerful tool when it comes to scheduling and managing your tweets.

Price: $ 1.99
Would I buy again: Yes
Learning Curve: Intermediate
Who is it for: People who use Twitter and/or the HootSuite online service
Version tested: 1.0.1 on iPhone 3G, OS 3.1.3
Comparable Apps: Tweetdeck, Seesmic
Available Languages: English
This App was tested by Kira
appstory.tv rating:

Download in iTunes | App Website

This is how it works:

• On the first screen your Twitter stream overview is displayed grouped in tabs, each with the option to view your preset columns (in my case only sent and pending tweets).
• At the top of the screen you can edit these (delete or add columns and tabs).
• You can compose a new tweet by tapping the icon in the top right corner. When in edit mode, you can choose the Twitter account you want to send this tweet from, upload an image to your tweet, shrink a link or (and this is one of my favorite options by HootSuite) schedule your tweet for a certain date and time.
• Next in the nav menu is the stats tool. This is another one of my favorite functions: All clicks on the links you shorten with HootSuite are tracked! Here you can see which of your tweets was most interesting to your followers.
• Further on you find searches. You can perform a search or browse tweets to currently trending topics.
• Last but not least there are the settings in which you can easily add or delete your Twitter and HootSuite accounts.

Some people assume that HootSuite is a classic Twitter client. It is not. HootSuite is your Twitter back office.

What I like about HootSuite:

• Great features, just like the web service
• I love the options for scheduling tweets and viewing the stats on the go

What I don’t like so much:

• Nothing. I simply love it.

© Kira for appstory.tv, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: client, hootsuite, iPad, iPhone, ipod touch, Kira Song, twitter

Wondering where all your money goes? MoneyMaker promises finance with flair.

Price: $2.99 €2,39
Would I buy again: Yes
Learning Curve: easy
Who is it for: everybody
Version tested: 1.6 on iPhone 3GS, OS 3.1.2
Comparable Apps: Pennies, Mint
Available Languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Dutch, Finnish, Swedish, Japanese

This App was tested by Richard
appstory.tv rating:

Download in iTunes | App Website

This is how it works:

• adjust the pre-set budget to you own monthly income
• edit your recurring expenses and additional incomings
• 23 expens-/income-items to choose from
• overview will no show you a gauge indication how much budget is left
• statistics in the overview will tell you how much money you ave spent in average in this month up to this day
• your expenses are filed by month
• elegant animated graph of your expenses
• export to excel

What I like about MoneyBook:

• gorgeous design
• easy and quick handling
• nice chart graphics

What I don’t like about MoneyBook:

• missing categories
• spelling mistakes
• limited features

Budget apps require a lot of discipline. MoneyBook is easy to use, which makes it most likely, that you really use it.

© Richard for appstory.tv, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: App, budget, Business, finances, iPhone, ipod touch, moneybook, Review

Looking for a notepad on your iPhone that does shopping lists, sticky notes and to dos? Awesome note may help.

Price: $3.99 €2,99
Would I buy again: Probably
Learning Curve: Easy
Who is it for: Everybody
Version tested: 2.0 on iPhone 3GS, OS 3.1.2
Comparable Apps: Evernote
Available Languages: English

This App was tested by Richard
appstory.tv rating:

Download in iTunes | App Website

This is how it works:

• Awesome Notes offers 3 kinds of notes
• Quick Notes (stickies)
• General Notes (for groceries etc.)
• To-Dos
• You can sync your notes with Evernote or Google Docs
• Set due dates
• Organize and store your notes in colorful folders

What I like about Awesome Note:

• great design
• all-in-one concept
• great variety of notepads

What I don’t like about Awesome Note:

• minor bugs (syncing creates duplicates)
• tiny buttons

© Richard for appstory.tv, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: App, Business, Creative, Groceries, iPhone, Office, Review, Shopping List, Supermarket, to do list

Yet another business card reader for the iPhone. This one promises to deliver much better results. It also woks with elder models of the iPhone.

Price: $4.99 1,59 €
Would I buy again: Likely
Learning Curve: Easy
Who is it for: Business Travelers
Version tested: 1.1 on iPhone 3GS, OS 3.1.2
Comparable Apps: Business Card Reader, Worldcard Mobile
Available Languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian
This App was tested by Richard
appstory.tv rating:

Download in iTunes | App Website

Technically the Cardreader is outstanding, on the operating side we experienced some glitches – plus – the handling could be much better.

This is how it works:

• The Cardreader starts by loading data from your address book
• To scan a new business card, you take a picture of a business card
• The app is scanning the information and puts it into the corresponding field of your address book
• nice feature about this reader: it maks recognition problems red – so you know where you might need to do some corrections
• the typing is a little complicated too, especially to access the part that you need to fix
• Once the corrections have been made you press ‘done’ and the data is stored in your address book
• In the settings menu you can adjust the camera with features like shake protection
• load dictionaries to recognize your language better

What I like about Cardreader:

• best text recognition on the iPhone
• works with 2G and 3G models
• highlights recognition problems

What I don’t like so much:

• bugs in the address book
• accessibility (buttons too tiny)
• correction mode needs makeover

© Richard for appstory.tv, 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: App, Business, Camera, iPhone, Office, Productivity, Tools

Ever wanted to edit a more sophisticated video on the go? The ReelDirector is one of the first full feature video editor right on your iPhone! Take a look.

Price: $4.99 €3,99
Would I buy again: for sure
Learning Curve: intermediate
Who is it for: travelers, artists
Version tested: 2.0 on iPhone 3GS, OS 3.1.2
Comparable Apps: -
Available languages: English
This App was tested by Richard
appstory.tv rating:

Download in iTunes | App Website

This is how it works:

• The App gives you a few options to choose from: the opening title, the credits and where you want to place them in your movie
• you begin to select our favourite clips from your picture/video library
• you can trim the scenes by setting new in- and outmaks
• you can determine the type of transition between any of the scenes
• you can even add photos to your movie and animate them with a Ken Burns effect
• when you’re done with the video you can record a new audio track
• to render will actually take a few seconds

Considering the fact that professional card readers cost you up to 100 dollars – this app does its job quite well. You definitely get what you pay for.

What I like about ReelDirector:

• very intuitive
• complex functionality on such a tiny screen
• stunning editing and effect quality
• fast processing
• amazing results

What I don’t like so much:

• no social network-integration
• the handling of the audio timeline is confusing
• can’t choose music from your music library

© Richard for appstory.tv, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: App, Camera, Creative, Edit, Film, Movies, Review, Video

Remember everything! Thoughts, ideas, things you see and like – remember them all in one place. And you won’t forget any of them. Nothing more and nothing less is the promise of Evernote.

appstory.tv rating:

Download in iTunes | App Website

Did you ever wonder what you might have looked like in the early 50ies? Or as a hippie? OldBooth will transform you in no time – and is guaranteed to make you laugh.

This is how it works:

• There are basically 4 ways to capture and oRichardanize everything you like:
  …Snap a picture of your favourite item
  …Leave a voice memo of your latest idea
  …Take a text note in order to recall everything later in the office and
  …Upload any file you cannot afford to forget

• Watch out! This app only has full functionality on an iPhone – but not on an iPod Touch – since you cannot take photos with an iPod Touch, yet.
• This scary girl is crazy. An absoulte must have! I’ll take a foto, together with the retailer’s address, and …. upload it. How my daughter will like it?
• 5 seconds after saving, my new capture will be uploaded to the Evernote server. After that it’s available on my phone and on the desktop.
• There is a free and a premium version of Evernote. For the upgrade from 40 MB to 500 MB er month, a secure SSL upload and no ads – you’ll pay 5$ per month or 45$ per year.

I really like Evernote, because I’m the guy who loses his ideas regularly. All things in one place and I’m perfetly oRichardanized – love that!

© Michael for appstory.tv, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Are you traveling a lot and wanna transfer all the data from the business cards you collected into your iPhone address book? The Business Card Reader promises to make that much easier.

Price: $5.99 €4,79

Would I buy again: very likely
Learning Curve: easy
Who is it for: business travelers
Version tested: 1.1 on iPhone 3GS, OS 3.1.2
Comparable Apps: WorldCard mobile, Cardreader
Available Languages: English
This App was tested by Richard
appstory.tv rating:

Download in iTunes | App Website

This is how it works:

• In the menu there are basically only 2 options:
• one is to photograph a new business card
• the other one is to choose an already existing business card from your picture library
• to get the best results, a good lighting situation is absolutely necessary
• Watch out – this App only woks with the camera that comes with the iPhone 3GS!
• Once the picture is taken, the program starts to scan the picture
• Now you have a new contact form with the text transferred from the card
• The transitioning process woks quite well. But, minor corrections need to be made

Considering the fact that professional card readers cost you up to 100 dollars – this app does its job quite well. You definitely get what you pay for.

What I like about Business Card Reader:

• faster than typing
• very intuitive
• mostly correct transfer to corresponding data field

What I don’t like so much:

• not completely free of spelling mistakes
• requires 3GS (S!) camera

© Richard for appstory.tv, 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: App, Business, Camera, iPhone, Office, Photo, Scan, Scanner, Stationary, Travel

When you desperately need a file you won’t have it with you nor you can access it. No longer – with dropbox you can sync your files online and across computers, and share them with your network.

appstory.tv rating:

Download in iTunes | App Website

This is how it works:

• First of all: dropbox is an iPhone app which perfectly woks together with your desktop – either a desktop app or browser-based.
• After having set-up the user account and installed the apps – both on the desktop and on the iPhone or iPod touch, you can upload files from your computer to your dropbox.
• It’s a very simple user interface resembling other file hierarchies. Just upload – and later download – your files, and create or download complete folders.
• With the free version of dropbox come 2 GB of data volume you can work with. If you need more, you can pay $9.99 p. month for 50 GB, or $19.99 p. month for 100 GB.

Being on the road you can easily access your data from your iPhone or iPod touch, view and download files – and share them with your friends or work groups. Additionallly you can take photos and shoot videos with your iPhone which will be synced with your dropbox, too.

© Michael for appstory.tv, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Shopping list organizers are bound to inspire shopping races. You go in, get the job done – and get out! The App “Shopper” makes shopping more effective than ever.

Price:   $0.99 €0,79
Would I buy again: Definitely
Learning Curve: Easy
Who is it for: Anybody who needs a good laugh
Version tested: 6.0 on iPhone 3G, OS 3.1.2
Comparable Apps: Groceries, ShoppingList, ShopShop
Available Languages:  English, Dansk, Deutsch, Español, Français, Nederlands, Norsk, Português, Svenska, Русский, and 日本語
This App was tested by Kira
appstory.tv rating:

Download in iTunes | App Website

This is how it works:

• When calling up the app, I’ll be able to choose from your existing shopping lists or to create a new list (tap “+”)
• Now I can enter the name of my list.
• If I already have a saved list, I can simply copy the preferences by tapping “based on” and chose my existing list.
• I can now add items to my list by either text search (“+”) or by browsing the category aisles
• At the top of the shopping list my current store is displayed – this is the supermarket near my home which I’ve already added.
• By tapping it, the aisles re-arrange themselves to the aisle order in this supermarket. I defined the aile order when editing my stores.
• Now when I go to my supermarket, I am presented with the items I need in the order I walk past them. All I need to do is put the item in my cart an tap it in my list.
• One of the coolest features is the autmatic supermarket-recognition via GPS – my shopping list will re-order according to my current location!
• I can even share my shopping lists by email and synchronize them with my optional shopper-account online.

What I like about Shopper:

• List-sharing via email and synchronization with your optional shopper online account,
• I love the possibility to configure the aisles according to each store,
• I love the GPS-function which associates my location with the stores I am currently visiting.

What I don’t like so much:

• Comprehensiveness has its weaknesses, the app has grown and the many possibilities it have made it a bit confusing.

© admin for appstory.tv, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: App, GPS, Groceries, iPad, iPhone, ipod touch, Isles, Kira, Kira Song, Manager, Review, Shop, Shopper, Shopping List, Supermarket, Video

Being an addicted Twitter user myself I must updates my statuses via desktop and my mobile all the day. Having collected some friends with a few thousand status updates every day I need a twitter client with utmost usability. I think one of the best – or the best – is Tweetie 2.

appstory.tv rating:

Download in iTunes | App Website

Using twitter all the day, Tweetie 2 is my favourite client. High usability cum nice design – it’s a treat.

This is how it works:

• After having installed Tweetie 2 you have to add your twitter account with username and password. Tweetie 2 checKira your credentials and then fetches your timeline, @-replies and Direct Messages which are neatly displayed at the bottom of the screen. A blue dot indicates new status updates for each category.
• At the top of the screen you see the name of your account – which is important for those, tweeting with more than one account. Below you find a search box.
• Moving the timeline, @-replies or DM downwards with your finger, you refresh the statuses. If you refresh your timeline, @-replies and DM will automatically be refreshed as well.
• If you select on tweet by your finger’s touch, you’ll be able to reply to this tweet, retweet it, quote it, forward it via email, post a link to this tweet, translate or favourite it.
• Even faster you are by selecting a tweet with your finger’s swoosh to the right. The tweet transforms itself to an action bar with the same actions mentioned before.
• Writing tweets with Tweetie 2 is fun because it supports Horizontal Screen and tweets with more than 140 characters will automatically shortened with Twitlonger and will be posted. And a click on the number of available characters allows you to shoot a new or use a saved foto and include it in your tweet, as well as choose the right hashtag, @username and your own geotag.
• Using the Search function of Tweetie 2 you can use the twitter search, go to a user directly or search for tweeple nearby.

Best mobile twitter client there is at the moment.

© Michael for appstory.tv, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

The Skype mobile app for the iPhone is great for saving phone costs, especially when travelling in a foreign country. Beware that depending on your phone service provider’s contract, you perhaps may only use the phone function on a WiFi network.

Price: free
Would I buy again: Definitely
Learning Curve: Intermediate
Who is it for: Anyone who uses Skype on their computer, anyone who wants to save phone costs.
Version tested: 1.2.2 on iPhone 3G, OS 3.1.2
Comparable Apps: TruPhone, Beejive, Fring
Available Languages: English, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Chinese, Danish, Finnish, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish
This App was tested by Kira
appstory.tv rating:

Download in iTunes | App Website

The Skype iPhone app is a great cost saver. You might know the program for your computer. If not: Skype is a free chat- and Voice over IP software. It lets you make free calls to the people you have added to your skype contacts. So let’s have a look at it.

This is how it works:

• When you call up the app, it will either ask you for your skype login or sign you in automatically
• If you have an account with skype, the app will retrieve your contacts and personal info now
• Next, your online contacts will be displayed
• You can tap a contact and chose to call – this will only work over WiFi – or chat with the person
• Calls might only work on WiFi for you, depending on your phone service provider
• Chatting will work over the phone network
• The skype app saves your chat conversations (tap “chats” at the bottom) and displays them in a cute speech bubble style
• You also have a dialing pad (tap), your dilaing history (tap) and the possibility to edit your skype info
• Once you close the app, you are disconnected from skype, so you won’t be able to be contcted via Skype anymore

If you’ve been using Skype on your computer, you will be a native to the app. If you’re new to Skype, you will gueranteed enjoy its cost saving quality.

© admin for appstory.tv, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: App, Chat, Free Phone Calls, IM, Instant Messaging, iPhone, Kira, Kira Song, Movie, Review, Skype, Video, VoIP