A year on: state of the iPhone 3

AP Photo / Paul Sakuma

'One year later. Light-years ahead' reads the banner above that a sharp-eyed photographer spotted at San Francisco's Moscone Centre in readiness for the World Wide Developers' Conference. It takes place there next week, Monday 8th June (our Tuesday).

The banner seems to make it clear that WWDC is going to be all about the iPhone and OS 3. If so, no doubt I'll be writing about that (and hopefully much more) after Tuesday, when the news starts rolling in.

Meanwhile, there have been some very interesting apps on the iPhone while it's still in v2. Many of these will get revamped or even completely new features when OS 3 is released.

Some apps look really cool, but after a week, you just don't use them. Truphone was a free app that promised much, enabling phone calls between Truphone users on the iPod touch (with suitable mic-equipped earbuds) and iPhone users over wireless networks. However, I found it so slow and laggy as to be verging on unusable, unfortunately. At least it was free.

Of the apps I keep going back to, B.iCycle, tracks my bike rides, gives me a count of calories burnt and other stats, then uploads a track to Google Earth and emails the link to me. A couple of times it's stopped inexplicably, maybe in a hole in Vodafone's coverage or something, I don't know, but it works flawlessly 95 per cent of the time, so I consider this $13.99 well spent.

UltraTimer is a goody if you're involved in sports, cooking or anything else that needs timing. Set your own custom time sessions with alarms - you can even program in the break in a football match, complete with different sound effects and vibration. Well worth $2.59.

Note that LifeHacker has a rundown of fitness apps for iPhone.

The Voice Memo recorder in OS 3 is really good, by the way. I needed some pub background noise for a soundtrack for a film. The iPhone did a great job, since it was background noise anyway, but just how good it was surprised me.

I'd be lost without Maps, too. Literally.

Earthscape is interesting. The $1.29 app lets you shoot a picture, tags the location and displays it on a globe. People browse, comment on the photo, add it to groups - at first I thought it was naff, but it's actually quite absorbing if you have to while away a few moments or you see something interesting to capture with your iPhone camera. Note the app is supported on other platforms, so it's not just the iPhone community you're interacting with.

Games don't do it for me - until I discovered iFighter Lite. I don't know why, but now I like arriving early and having five minutes to while away before meetings. If I could just get passed that armoured train....

Spawn Lite is great for kids. The free app is a bit like the iTunes visualiser except it reacts to your fingers. It's not much cop for adults after a few minutes, but it can keep toddlers amused for ages. (The full version is currently on sale for $1.99.)

Even Tourism Queensland has developed an iPhone app. It has a mapping service allowing users to search for and contact holiday products in Queensland including accommodation, events, attractions and tours. The app is free (search 'queensland' in the iTunes Store).

Canon has even made a cool iPhone app that lets you control some Canon SLRs if they're plugged into your Mac. The Lite version is $2.59 and it works over WiFi. It lets you fire the camera and review images, while the Pro version ($13.99) lets you take over shutter speed, aperture, white balance and more. Just check before you buy to ensure your model Canon is specifically supported.

In interesting iPhone news, Lonely Planet made its San Francisco guide available free in the week before WWDC, saving you $19.99. Grab that before the price goes back on.

In NZ app developer news, New Zealand company Polar Bear Farm recently released Face Match. It adds face detection to the iPhone camera. A full rundown is on the PBF website.  The PBF guys also brought Bluespark, XK72, IMS and Magic Jungle Software to my attention, all successful NZ app developers (just search on their names in the app store).

I mentioned Orsome a few weeks ago - every Orsome app I have is superb. I use Orsome's TV Guide and WeatherNZ apps every day.

A German beer distributed in NZ has had an app developed locally for it. Beck's beer's app lets consumers invite Beck's into their social life by providing consumers with free gig tickets, door passes and Beck's beer at events across Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch over the next few weeks.

The NZ distributor thinks this is the first time an app like this has been used for a beer company anywhere, although it sparked some concern from public safety watchdogs. If you have a Facebook account, you can read about that here.

Finally, Simon McOscar is on the lookout for people in Wellington with iPhone development experience to work with one of his clients, a well known creative/design agency. Simon says "Preferably people who have commercial experience, but I'd be happy to also talk to anyone that has had a play and developed apps in their free time." Email him if you'd like more info: simon@potentia.co.nz

Now, just what will WWDC bring, exactly? We'll know - exactly - shortly.

Mark Webster mac.nz

Pictured above: A banner spotted at San Francisco's Moscone Centre in readiness for the World Wide Developers' Conference next week.