Words With Friends
Category: Games
Last Updated: November 1st, 2009
Current Version: 3.0.4
Size: 2.7 MB
Price: Free ($2.99 For Ads-Free Version)

Words With Friends is quite possibly the most addicting and fun online game I have yet to play on the iPhone. Easily the hands-down best word game for the iPhone and iPod Touch, Words is a must-have for any fan of word games. Although there is still room for improvement, as I will touch on later, this game takes the classic board game of Scrabble, of which I am also a huge fan, and mixes things up a bit to presumably avoid getting sued. Essentially, the rules are exactly the same as Scrabble, but the double and triple letter and word tiles are rearranged and some of the letters have different values. There is of course an offline mode allowing you to hand your phone back and forth and play with a friend, but where the application really shines is the online play. If you have friends with an iPhone you can send an invite to them through your contacts list (It searches your contacts’ emails to see if they have a matching email on record with a game account) or you can enter their Words username. If you don’t have friends who can play or are just looking for a challenge, you can also have the game automatically search for an opponent and assign you to someone random. Games can be played at a very quick pace or sometimes you only end up making a move every once in a while and the game can stretch over days. For those slower-paced games, it even uses push notifications to alert you when it’s your turn, if you so desire. Don’t worry, though, if an opponent takes too long to play they will automatically forfeit after several days of inactivity. If you’re as hooked as I am and get impatient waiting for an opponent to play, you can also play multiple games at once, up to 20 simultaneous games – a number which makes my brain hurt.

To be fair to an otherwise incredible game, I will be touching on the improvements that I briefly mentioned earlier. First and foremost would simply be an option to mute the game’s sounds without completely silencing your phone. Aside from that, any other improvements would simply make an already great game even better. For starters, some sort of statistic tracking would be fantastic. Even if it isn’t something along the lines of a global leaderboard, just seeing some local stats such as your own win/loss ratio, your best scoring word, and other similar stats would be fantastic. It would also be nice to have a published word list or for them to simply just use the TWL that is accepted by clubs and tournaments across the country. It would also be nice to see the potential score of your word as you are placing down the letters and maybe highlight the placed letters in red if they do not form a valid word. Last, but certainly not least, would be the ability to more easily rearrange your letters when it is your turn and allowing you to move them and test placement while you are waiting for the other player to make their move.

Aside from the improvements I just mentioned, some of which are hopefully already being worked on by the developers, this game is absolutely fantastic. If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch and are looking for a good time sink, install the Word With Friends. You will not be disappointed.

IMDb
Category: Entertainment
Last Updated: December 8th, 2009
Current Version: 1.0.0
Size: 0.5 MB
Price: Free

IMDb likely makes just about anyone’s list of the absolute best websites on the Internet, but for an extremely long time there was a void for users of smart phones or other mobile devices. Not only were there no decent applications that could access it’s formidable database of everything related to TV and Movies, but there was no officially supported mobile website. That era, however, is now at an end.

With the release of an official IMDb app for the iPhone, you can now easily and quickly access virtually any information from your phone that you would be able to access from your computer. You can quickly and easily access movie show times at a theater near you, see what’s on TV, read about upcoming movies, see the latest box office results and there’s even a fun little page called “Born Today” which will tell you which people in their database share a birthday on whichever day it happens to be. The real gem of the app, however, is the search box at the top of the first screen that allows you to search IMDb. This is where most users will likely spend their time, looking up actors, directors, movies, shows, or any other information you could possibly want to know in regards to just about any movie or TV show ever created and everyone who worked on them. This is exactly what makes IMDb the Internet gem that it is. There is no way for me to count the number of times I have used IMDb while watching TV or a movie (not in the theater, of course) to read about the actors, see what else they’ve been in, or just learn some fun trivia about them. Having this app available makes that habit much easier to do. Anyone who has an iPhone and is a fan of movies should be installing this right now, if they haven’t already.

Urbanspoon
Category: Travel
Last Updated: October 14th, 2009
Current Version: 1.12
Size: 0.7 MB
Price: Free

Urbanspoon, for those of you unaware of this iconic iPhone app, is a tool to help you find, rate, and review the best restaurants. Be sure to check their website to make sure they have restaurants in your area, but don’t worry because they have listings it pretty much every major metropolitan area of the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia.

One of the main functions of the application is their restaurant wheel. Simply shake your phone and it will randomly give you a suggestion in your area. If you need to narrow it down a bit, lock in a neighborhood, type of food, or price range to be more specific about the choices it gives you. This is fun at first, but the novelty of the slot-machine search wears off pretty fast. Where the program truly excels is the “Browse” section. This allows you to look at a wide variety of restaurants, searching through neighborhoods, types of food, popular restaurants, and much more. Each section gives you a list of top-rated restaurants as well as more options to narrow it down further and find exactly what you want. Looking for something more close to wherever you are at that moment? Tap on over to the “Scope” section and a map will pop up with the GPS zeroing in on your current location and a few seconds later pins will be placed on every listed restaurant in your immediate area. Click on the pin to see what it is, where it is, get a phone number, and read any reviews. Perhaps you already know exactly what you’re looking for and just need to find the website or get a phone number to make reservations or place your order. If that is the case, then their search feature is perfect for you. Type in what you’re looking for and it’ll tell you what you need.

As with the some of the most successful iPhone apps, social networking is as popular as ever and Urbanspoon does not disappoint. In addition to all of the other features it offers, you can create an account with them (for free of course) and start rating the restaurants you’ve been to with a thumbs up or thumbs down, write reviews, leave comments, submit changes for a restaurant if something is wrong or missing, and even submit new restaurants that haven’t been listed yet. This, in my opinion, is what really pushes Urbanspoon over the top to be the truly fantastic App that it is.

Whether you are a self-described foodie or just looking for a great new place to eat, this application is a must-have on any iPhone or iPod touch.