The iPhone applications are nothing short of amazing, because they leverage the groundbreaking technology in iPhone – like the GPA, 3D positional audio, real-time 3D graphics, the accelerometer and the Multi-Touch interface. You just have to tap into the App Store, choose and download from thousands of applications available.

Apple recently listed its top 20 free apps and top 20 paid apps for the iPhone, based solely on the popularity, which means the number of downloads from their App Store.

Take a look at the top 20 free apps in the exact order as ranked by Apple:

Facebook

This one is for social networking fans and is #1 in free apps. Facebook app can be downloaded at the iTunes app store for free. You have the chat facility, friend requests, check your friends photos, upload photos, full news feeds, notifications, news feed commends, your entire inbox etc.

Google Earth

Compatible with iPhone (2.0 software update) and iPod Touch, this app enables users to view the exact aerial imagery similar to the one available for the desktop version. You can view photos from around the world, search for businesses, cities and places, view mountainous terrain with just a tilt of the phone, geo-located Wikipedia articles and many more.

Pandora Radio

Stream music on your iPhone using this app! You can just use the name of the artist or the song and Pandora will instantly create a station to play that music. You can create stations based on the genre, read artist bios, store recently played songs and play song samples. (more…)

The little Twitter bird is singing the beautiful song of success! Nobody can deny Twitter is hot. The micro-messaging network is so hot right now that it is the topic of discussion wherever you turn. With their user base growing more than 1000% in just one year, it has registered the fastest growth when compared to other social networking sites, what else can you expect? Not one to be left behind, Oprah got in, opened a Twitter account and got 900,000 followers within a month. Everyone wants a piece of Twitter; including Jay Leno and Ellen DeGeneres and others.

It’s no surprise that all the big cats are now vying with each other to get their hands on this golden bird. Rumor goes that Google wanted it but was turned down. Facebook offered cash and stock worth $500 million, but it is believed Twitter investors were not quite sure that Facebook’s stock was worth as much as they claimed. The price has been going up as fast and furious as the Twitter users themselves.

Now, fresh rumors that have been circulating talk about Apply eying this social networking giant. According to sources, the purchase price it offered is $700 million – in cash and negotiations are on full swing. Oh yes! Apple has plenty of that (27 billion) and can pay cash. Gossip mongers even go to the extent of saying that the acquisition will be announced in June at the World Wide Developer’s Conference (WWDC) in San Jose.

Twitter is receiving “tweet” nothings from everyone that matters – Google, Microsoft, News Corp., and now Apple too; although this is being discarded by many as yet another rumor. Putting two and two together, observers remark that it was only a couple of weeks ago that Apple profiled the site. (more…)

The new iPod Shuffle – This one is the world’s first ever talking iPod! Although, iPod Shuffles have always been small in size, Apple has now outdone itself by creating a very small iPod Shuffle (nano) that has been given the capacity to talk and has much more storage room than its predecessor.

This tiny 1.8” tall and 0.3” thin and sleek gadget comes with increased storage of 4GB that allows you to store more than 1000 songs and create multiple playlists; one for the gym, one for driving, one at home and for any other mood you choose. Apple achieved this feat by removing the controls from the iPod Shuffle itself and creating a unique touch by transferring them to the right earbud cord. This not only makes the iPod smaller in size but also easier to access and allows users to activate features they need without having to stop what they are doing. Some of you may consider it a disadvantage – the fact that you will have to use the headsets that Apple provides with the Shuffle because of the controls being fixed on them; unless Apple comes up with water-resistant headphones in different hues and forms.

Just like all other iPod Shuffles, this one also has no display; however, the new feature, VoiceOver eradicates the need for a display. It tells the user what song is playing as well as give the name of the singer. It also announces the playlists that are available and this helps in switching playlists with ease, without having to look at the iPod to do so. The voice that is heard depends on the type of computer being used. The VoiceOver has been programmed to use over 14 languages, allowing users to listen to different songs from the world over – Spanish or Chinese anyone? (more…)