A reporter’s best champion, but also indispensable for anyone who wants to dictate memos or memorialise other audible stuff on their cell phone. The app is little more than a large, red RECORD button on your iPhone screen; push it to capture audio in the high-quality AIFF format. What makes iTalk especially cool is the free, companion iTalkSynch application, which you download to your computer. That program can “sniff” the audio files on your iPhone and download them to your PC, via Wi-Fi. Now all we need is an app to do perfect voice-to-text translations.

9. SayWhere
You get used to typing on the iPhone after some time, but punching in addresses to locate directions is by far the biggest drag. DialDirections was the first to introduce speech-recognition capabilities to the iPhone with SayWhere, which translates users’ speech into queries for Google Maps, Yelp, Traffic or Yellow Pages. It’s a nifty app, especially for keeping drivers’ eyes on the road rather than the iPhone’s virtual keyboard.

8. Tweetie
Twitter, a new form of micro-blogging, became more legitimate when it broke the news of the deadly Mumbai attacks. And Tweetie is the best app we’ve found to follow your Twitter friends. The app neatly separates Twitter feeds into categories, and the interface resembles the bubbly iChat interface that most of us have come to love. It even lets you search Twitter and save those searches for later.

7. Ocarina

Some genius figured out how to use the microphone on the iPhone as an air-flow sensor now we’ve got a virtual ocarina, albeit not potato-shaped. Hold the phone up to your lips and blow; four “holes” appear on your touch screen allowing you to play almost any scale (which you select under Settings). Share your tunes with other Ocarina players around the world, or just set the app to listen to their masterworks.

6. Shazam
Everyone’s familiar with this scenario: You hear a really catchy, unfamiliar song on the stereo and you have no idea what it’s called. You hum it to yourself repeatedly and attempt to remember the lyrics, only to forget it after slamming a few shots at the bar. Shazam will never leave you struggling to recollect these thoughts again: Hold the iPhone up to a speaker playing the unknown tune and the app will identify it album, artist and song title just like that.

5. AP Mobile News Network

The Associated Press’s news-on-demand app is the gold standard. It gives you top news stories, as well as business, sports, show biz and other categories, which you can sort by most recent or most read. It even uses the phone’s GPS chip to deliver up local news.

4. TapTapRevenge
You’d have to be living on a different planet (or a retirement home) if you haven’t heard of Guitar Hero, the game that gets players to twitch their fingers compulsively along with the beat of their favorite songs. Developer Tapulous took the same idea to make an extremely addictive rhythm game called Tap Tap Revenge. Tapping blinking lights on a screen to catch songd isn’t exactly the same as rocking out on plastic guitars and drum pads, but it’s still highly addictive. And Tap Tap Revenge is so popular it’s even offering the option to download new tracks to tap to, similar to Guitar Hero and Rock Band’s music stores.

3. AroundMe

Simplicity makes this app a must-carry for the road warrior. Like the name applies, it list all the critical services around you banks, coffee shops, bars, gas stations, hospitals, movie theaters, restaurants and so on. Using geolocation, the app orders each service by its proximity to you how many yards away and, like other apps aimed at the traveler, maps out a route from here to there, if requested. It also creates a contact page for every entry, which you can save to your own contacts list.

2. Pandora
Pandora’s alternative music distribution made this happen, and the app is cool as hell on the iPhone. Add a station for an artist you like, and the app will play that artist’s music as well as similar tunes you might like. What better way to find new music with the wealth of new bands out there?

1. Google Earth
When Steve Jobs called the iPhone “Your world in your pocket,” he probably didn’t expect Google to deliver the world in your pocket. Well, virtually. Displaying satellite imagery around the world in a 3-D globe, Google Earth is one of the most accurate, mind-blowing apps that truly show off the powers of the iPhone. If you want to impress your grandmother with a demonstration of just how far technology has come since she was a girl, this ought to do the trick.

After you download a new software application and decide you need a cell phone skin or cell phone charger. AwsWireless.com offer quality cell phone accessories you can trust.

I was driving behind a individual today that was moving very slow. I though a old individual was driving untIl I noticed cell phone. Personally I would not dare talk to my wife on my cell phone for very long. I would certainly crash!

I have been talking on cellular phones and driving for years without accident. Trust me when I say it depends on the conversation. I can talk business all day with no trouble, but personal matters increases my stress level and stop me from concentrating.

Its against the law to drink and drive technically. I say technically because you can have a certain level of drink in you, but not be intoxicated over the legal limit. OK, back to cellular phone in the car.

Cell phone use while driving is getting more attention from State Legislators.

California will soon join (other states) that ban cell phone use while driving a vehicle. In an effort to make the roads safer in California, the law was passed that you must utilize some type of hands-free device in your car. One could argue that changing the radio, putting on make-up, and reading the paper is not safe as well. The only difference is that you could receive a small fine for holding your cell phone in your hand in California starting July 2nd 2008.

Bluetooth Headphones are becoming more and more popular today. The price usually ranges from about $30 $150 for a headset. Some people choose a cheaper wired headset solution that ranges from $10 $20. Do you really need a headset of any type? The best way to determine is to consider the conversations you experience in your vehicle. If you are saying yes and no to the other party you probably could do without a headset. If on the other hand you are talking with you spouse, kid(s), boss or someone requiring a lot of your attention you probably need a Bluetooth or wired headset.

The more you pay attention to the caller the less you pay attention to the route and other drivers. We all have had some narrow escapes on the cell phone, trying to change the radio, and yes applying make-up. Safety is the key and you can be proactive about it or just let your luck of the draw determine what happens.

I recommend you check into a headset of some sort when you are at your local phone store. The Motorola Bluetooth Headset H560 wireless bluetooth headset has been getting some great reviews. You can buy it at marquel.com product page located here. The noise suppression feature makes the Motorola H560 a high headset at a modest price. Regardless of what you decide about a headset stay safe and respect you fellow drivers!

Several states restrict cell phone use while driving. State cell phone driving laws address issues specific to each state. For example, many states have identified cell phone use by novice drivers as an emerging highway safety problem and have restricted the practice. In some states, localities restrict cell phone use while driving through local ordinances or policies. Others prohibit localities from implementing such ordinances through preemption laws.

Current state cell phone driving law highlights include the following:
Cellular Phone Driving Laws

* 5 states (California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Washington), the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands have enacted jurisdiction-wide cell phone laws prohibiting driving while talking on handheld cell phones. Get your Motorola bluetooth today!
o With the exception of Washington State, these laws are all primary enforcementan officer may ticket a driver for using a handheld cell phone while driving without any other traffic offense taking place.
* 17 states and the District of Columbia have special cellular telephone driving laws for novice drivers.
* School bus drivers in 15 states and the District of Columbia are prohibited from all cell phone use when passengers are present, except for in emergencies.
* Washington and New Jersey are the only states to ban text messaging for all drivers, but other states are expected to follow suit.
o New Jersey has primary enforcementan officer may ticket a driver for texting while driving without any other traffic offense taking place. Washingtons law is secondarily implemented.
* No state completely bans all types of cell phone use (handheld and hands-free) while driving.
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Some states, such as Utah and New Hampshire, treat cell phone useage as a larger distracted driving issue.
o Utah considers speaking on a cellphone to be an offense only if a driver is also committing some other moving violation (other than speeding).2

You can visit the GSHA web site for more information about your state driving laws or visit Marquel.com for your cell phone accessories needs.