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The iPhone has become a major success great because of the App Store that offers thousands of applications. These applications let you use the IPhone as a pocket computer and to get work done. In fact, I use my iPod Touch more as a pocket computer than as a media player or entertainment device. There are a lot of Apps that are great for getting work done but because of the size of the App Store it is hard at times to find the good ones so here a list of the Apps that I personally use to get work done on my iPod Touch.

iPhone Apps for Getting Things Done
The iPhone has become a major success great because of the App Store that offers thousands of applications. These applications let you use the IPhone as a pocket computer and to get work done. In fact, I use my iPod Touch more as a pocket computer than as a media player or entertainment device. There are a lot of Apps that are great for getting work done but because of the size of the App Store it is hard at times to find the good ones so here a list of the Apps that I personally use to get work done on my iPod Touch.Mail: (Preloaded on all iOS Devices) E-MailCalendar: (Preloaded on all iOS Devices) CalendarContacts: (Preloaded on all iOS Devices) ContactaToDo: $4.99- Task ManagementMoney Agent Pro: $2.99- Money Management- Also has free limited versionNotes: (Preloaded on all iOS Devices)- Note application (What I am using to write this article)Quick Office: $9.99- Office suite that allows you to edit on Google Docs, Dropbox, Box.net, MobileMe as well as locally on the device. List Master: $2.99- List ApplicationCalculator (Preloaded on all iOS devices)-Calculator Pageonce Finance: FREE- Tracks expenses onlineSimpleMindX: (Free)- MindmappingAIM: Free- Instant MessagingSkype: Free- VOIP/Instant MessagingEmailPush: $2.99- Gmail Push notificationsTextie: Free- Text MessagingReeder: $2.99- RSS Feed Reader (syncs with Google Reader)WordPress: Free- BloggingWikiTap: Free-Wikipedia Dictionary: Free- Dictionary Freesaurus: Free- Thesaurus

Since I predict Apple products usually before Apple Events, I decided to make a big list of predictions to cover what I think Apple will be releasing in the future.

iPad 2.0
I think that the next iPad will come out in September with the next generation of iPods. The major new features I think the new iPad will have will be the high resolution Retina display they have on the new iPhone, it will also a Front facing and possibly rear camera that take high quality pictures and high definition video. They will also offer iMovie for the iPad which I think will be easier to use than the iPhone screen. I also think they will decrease the price by around $100.

IOS4 For iPad
Apple has already announced that they will be releasing IOS4 for the iPad in the Fall. I think it will include multitasking but, it would use a style of application switching more similar to OSX than the iPhone.

Apple TV 2.0
The Apple TV never has never really been popular. I think the next Apple TV will allow you to stream content as well as enjoy content you have on your iTunes. This would be more competitive with other set-top-boxes like the Roku box.

iPod Touch 4th Generation

The next version of the iPod Touch will most likely be coming out in September when Apple traditionally release new iPods. The new iPod Touch will include a new 5 MP camera and will be able to shoot HD video. I think it will also have the powerful A4 processor and retina display from the new iPhone 4. It will definitely have a front-facing camera for Facetime and maybe a rear camera as well for higher quality images like the iPhone 4.

**I don’t really have other predictions for other iPods because I don’t know what else they will adding besides more memory.****

Tablet Device

There has been a leak that there  is development of a multi touch graphics tablet for graphic design and using touch controls on your computer. I don’t know when or what Apple will be announcing, but touch seems to be their focus recently.

Mac OS 10.7

This will probably not be announced until the end of this year or the beginning of next year, but obviously a new version of Mac OSX will be coming out and the next version will be 10.7, my guess will be Lion, i couldn’t think of any other “big cat” name. Once again no ideas on features yet, but we will see!

MobileMe

Mobile Me, in my opinion should become a free service for most things, like mail, contacts, calendar so they can compete with Google and other cloud services. I think they could offer premium services in addition like web hosting and extra services and charge for that, but everything else should be free.  The way it is now, I don’t see many people using Mobileme.

Macbook Air

The Macbook Air hasn’t been much of a success either and I think it won’t really be significantly updated. It may get a slight bump in specs every now and then, but besides that, I think the vast majority of  people will choose a Macbook, especially for a lighter computer, or a Macbook Pro for a more powerful computer. The iPad could also be a device that can be a replacement for the Air as long as you don’t mind the touch screen.

iWork.com

Apple introduced a cloud service for their Office suite, iWork, in 2009 and haven’t mentioned it in any keynotes nor have they taken it out of beta. I think this project needs to be developed into more of a web editing suite instead of just a reader and sharing system, which is what it is now.

iTunes Cloud

I think the iTunes music store will become available on the internet and will also add over the air, synchronization. I think that this one will be announced at the same time as the new iPods in September!

This is all I can think of right now, i’m sure I will predict other things in a future  article but, this is what I can come up with right now.

Yesterday was the big keynote, which I thought was a bit of a let-down . They started out by going over stats and then had 2 developers come on stage and demonstrate their apps Netflix and Farmville. I am excited about being able to watch Netflix on demand videos on my iPod but, not so much  about Farmville. A lot of the keynote was just reviewing what was announced at the iPhone OS 4, now called iOS 4, announcement since I already covered that, at the time of the keynote, so I won’t cover them again. Here are the real announcements of the event

1. PDFs in iBooks

This is really something they should have had from day one, but  now the iPad and iPhone will have a built-in PDF reader.

2. iPhone 4

The biggest announcement was the iPhone 4, which was the leaked iPhone from  few weeks ago. The design is thinner and was called “The Thinest iPhone Ever”. It has a front facing camera in addition to the camera on the back of the phone. It also has a secondary mic for noie cancelation and they built the antenna into the side of the case for better call reception. The screen on the new iPhone is slightly smaller but the resolution is much higher and they screen is supposed be much more clearer  compared to the previous iPhones. iPhone 4 also now uses the new A4 processor developed for the iPad making the iPhone 4  extremely fast! They also greatly increased the battery life of the phone with talk time up to 40% more talk time.  They also built in a gyroscope for 6-axis motion gaming, something I don’t know much about, but it is great for better gaming and maybe motion-based Farmville. The Camera on the back of the phone is 5 megapixels, and has a LED flash. It can also record 720p HD video which is really cool. Apple also made a version of iMovie for the iPhone for $4.99 for more advanced video editing. It is similar to iMovie on the Mac but, is very powerful for the mobile platform.

3. iOS4

They renamed the iPhone operating system to iOS  4 to have a unified name for the operating system that is on all 3 platforms. They demonstrated the feature which I covered already.

4. Facetime (Video Chat)

The final announcement was the introduction of video chat on the iPhone called Facetime that, only on WiFi . It is interesting because it lets you call with both the front and back camera and switch between them during the call. It is an open platform so other developers can use the platform but, for now is iPhone to iPhone only.

Release Dates

iOS4: June 21st- Free for All Customers!

iPhone 4- June 24th 16 GB: $199 32 GB: $299 and iPhone 3Gs for $99

I was disappointed that the iPhone remained only on AT&T and that it was all iPhone news, although I expected that. I think there may be another event later this month focused more on the Mac, Apple TV and MobileME and maybe the rumored wireless touchpad devices that has been leaked.

Tomorrow, Steve Jobs will deliver the annual opening keynote at the Worldwide Developer Conference. This keynote has had a lot of speculation around it, so I will, as I have for several years, make my predictions on what I think will happen at the keynote. Comeback tomorrow, where I will have a full summary of what happened and give my thoughts on it. We will also record an episode of The Weekly Spin right after the keynote and cover the news of the week as well as the keynote.

1. 4th Generation iPhone

This is almost definite since the prototype iPhone was found in a Silicon Valley Bar and was quickly remotely wiped and demanded to be returned to Apple. The one question is whether or not the new iPhone will solely be available on AT&T or if they will add other options. The rumor is the iPhone might become available on Verizon especially now that AT&T has eliminated their unlimited data plans for new customers.

2. iPhone OS 4.0

Another thing that i’m quite sure of happening is that the iPhone 4.0 software will become available to the public. It was announced earlier this year and the new OS is usually release around the same time as the new iPhone Hardware.

3. Mac OS 10.7

This one  I don’t really think is as likely, as the decoration at the Moscone Centre suggests more focus on the iPhone platform than the Mac, but there is a chance they might preview the next “big cat” Mac Operating System

4. Safari 5

Another less likely rumor is that Apple will unveil the 5th version of their Safari web browser and add  extensions. Although I don’t think they will be doing much if anything with the Mac, if they do, this would make sense because their developers would be the ones to make extensions for Safari.

5. Mac Mini, Macbook Air and Macbook Air Refreshes

This is one of the longest shots for the event but all three of these products’ inventory is low and the Mac Rumors Buying Guide says they are at the end of a product cycle.  The Mac Pro is the most likely at this event since they are used by software developers, but the Macbook Air on the other hand, is very much in need of a refresh. There is also rumors of another event later this month, that I think may be focused on the Mac.

This morning, I was listening to Macbreak Weekly and they were discussing how Apple has shifted their focus from computers, to mobile devices. I believe that although, mobile devices have become much more advanced, we still need computers and desktop devices. I knew that Steve Jobs had begun to respond to his email more frequently and decided why not give it a shot and email him. To my surprise, less than 15 minutes later, I got a push notification that said I have a email from Steve Jobs. I have the original message and the response below. Obviously, Apple isn’t going to do away with computers any time soon, as his response suggests and they agree there is still great value to having a computer and mobile devices.

My Message:

Steve’s Reply:

Rumors have emerge in the past weeks of Apple making MobileMe, their web service that provide Email, Contacts, Calendar, photo gallery and web hosting which currently costs $100 per year. The rumors say the reason is so that they can compete with Google’s free apps that have those features and many more! I think that if Apple makes some changes to MobileMe, it will be a  much better service and many more people will use it.

1. Price Reduction- If they don’t make it Free, then at least reduce the price to $50/year  $100 is too much for the few features it offers.
2. Free For iPhone Owners- Mobile Me also offers great features for the iPhone like “Find My iPhone” to find lost iPhones and “Remote Wipe” to securely delete the information on your iPhone over the internet. MobileMe should be included for free to all iPhone users so they can all take advantage of these very important features.
3. More Storage- Currently MobileMe offers 20 GB of storage for Mail, Photos, calendar, and files, for a lot of people that may not be enough. Storage should be increased at the very least to 100 GB if not unlimited.
4. iTunes Sync- Right now, iTunes is a major pain to setup on multiple computers or to move between computers. Why not have MobileMe sync all your iTunes content over the air and to your iPod or iPhone so you don’t need to plug your device in to sync, and content can automatically sync between computers.
5. Web Access/Streaming iTunes Content- In the event you don’t have your iPod or iPhone with you MobileMe should offer an option to stream song, videos and podcasts from your iTunes library on the web.

Although many people call the iPad a larger iPhone that can’t make calls. However, that large screen is great for consuming media. Not only for watching movies, TV shows and video podcasts, but also streaming content from the web. Many major media companies are making applications to view their content on the iPad. TWIT is a great example because they made a special app just for the iPad to view the live stream in either video or audio. The large screen iPad allows you to see more details and watch higher resolution video. It also is easy to travel with and take whereever you go and watch either downloaded content or if you can get online over 3G or WiFi you can stream content. This can make the iPad a perfect device to consume content whereever you are and you can enjoy your content anywhere  and very high quality. It adds just one more reason the iPad is a great device!

One Thursday, Apple gave a media preview of the next generation of the iPhone operating system. Many of the requested features that people have wanted are finally added and i think it is definitely worth the upgrade. They featured 7 major features which were the focus of the event, but there were over 100 additions to this version.

Multitasking- is the one feature that a lot of people have been demanding since the release of the first iPhone. It is very well executed on the iPhone and it isn’t supposed to be as resource-intensive as other mobile multi-tasking. This will make the iPhone platform much easier to get things done on. However, this will only work on iPhone 3Gs and 3rd generation iPod touches. This means that i’m out of luck but, for those with new hardware, this will make getting things done where every your go much easier.

Another great getting things done feature is Folders which allows you to group application into folders and have easy access to all your apps. It also will allow users to have over 2,000 apps and it will make organizing apps much easier.

You are now also able to customize the wallpaper of your device which is nice although I don’t know why it took them so long to add this feature.

The default Mail app got a few upgrades as well. Unified inbox lets you put multiple mail accounts into one mailbox so you can check all your mail in one spot. This makes it much easier for people who have multiple email accounts, as I do, you don’t need to check account individually although, you can if you still want to. Mail also has threaded conversations, like Gmail grouping together email conversations. The final addition to Mail is the ability to open attachments with other applications, which is very important if you want to edit attached files wherever you are.

As, I expected, Apple has made a version of iBooks, their ebook reader for the iPad, available for the iPhone.  It would have been foolish if Apple didn’t include this. You can sync your bookmarks and books with your iPad as well and make it easy to pick up on one device where you left off on the previous one.

Several Enterprise features have been added as well, you can now encrypt your email more thoroughly, use VPNs, and developers can even encrypt application data.

iAds is an interactive Ad system that can be enbedded in apps and have unique ads that are more than a standard banner ad and are even interactive.

Apple’s new Social gaming network will let gamers play against their friends over the internet and develop a mobile equivalent to the Playstation Network or XBox live. This will even further the iPhone as a portable gaming device.

Over-all this new version will greatly enhance the iPhone and has set a high standard for other mobile phone platforms to compete with. iPhone 4.0 will be out this Summer, and will be out in the Fall for the iPad. Pricing has not been announced but, even if it is $10 it is still worth it for the extra features you will gain.

When Apple debuted the Apple TV in 2007, it was meant to allow the user to access their iTunes content in their home media center to get the best possible experience. Later, users were able to directly download content on their Apple TV but, it never was that popular of a product. If Apple wants to make the Apple TV a successful product, then they need to make major changes to the Apple TV and take some ideas from the other set top boxes like Roku and Boxee.

1. Applications
The app store on the iPhone, iPod touch and now the iPad allows users to browse and download applications they want to expand the feature set of the device. On the Apple TV there doesn’t have to be the over 50,000 apps there are available in the iPhone app store but, apps for extra media and accessing social networks like Facebook and Twitter would be great to have on the big screen TVS.

2. Games
Going with the applications the app store could also open up the Apple TV as a gaming console and would be able to get more great entertainment on their Apple TV. They could target both the casual games that make the iPhone a great gaming platform as well as more serious games appealing to all gamers. The one advantage Apple has in this market is that they have mastered digital downloads through the app store and could use downloads as a cheaper alternative to optical disks.

3. Streaming Web Content
Both the Roku and Boxee box have the ability to stream content from the Internet both live and prerecorded. On Roku you can watch shows from Revision3, TWIT and other content providers. You can also watch the TWIT Live Stream as Leo broadcasts live everyday. This would add another dimension to the Apple TV and make it have the capabilities to replace your cable or satellite subscription.

Apple has done a great job designing the Apple TV’s user interface by making it slick and easy to use. However, they now need to step it up another notch and make it a full entertainment device.