utilities

iHome recently released their first app for the iPhone and iPod touch called iHome+Sleep [App Store]. It's essentially an alarm clock app with a ton of other features built in, like weather and custom backgrounds. It also has something called Overnight News which shows you a recap of your Twitter and Facebook feeds from the night before. You can even have it tweet for you when your alarm goes off!

There's even more stuffed in there, but I recommend that you check it out in the App Store. It's free!

Last week our friends at App Cubby released a free, sponsored version of Gas Cubby called Gas Cubby by FRAM [App Store, Free]. As you may recall from our review, Gas Cubby is a fuel economy, service, and vehicle expense tracking application and it's very useful. I use it regularly, so I was happy to see a free version become available so everyone can try it.

The free version includes all of the same great features as the paid version, with the inclusion of ads and the exclusion of sync. Aside from those two differences, it's exactly the same. If you do end up enjoying the sponsored version, the paid version of Gass Cubby [App Store, $6.99] is totally worth it.

Orbicule — makers of apps like Undercover [App Store] — has just released a beautiful, innovative new alarm clock app called Melatonin. Melatonin [App Store, $0.99] is different from most other alarm apps because it helps you to wake up gradually, instead of jolting you awake with an annoying tone. The app does this by gradually increasing "sunlight," causing your body to stop producing melatonin. After the "sun" comes up, Melatonin will play peaceful nature sounds to wake you up. The result is an easier time waking up and a better feeling in the morning.

The app also aims to provide the same smooth transition into sleep; a sleep timer can play natural sounds or iPod music while the sun sets and the lights fade out.

iCam from SKJM [App Store, $4.99] is one of my favorite iPhone apps because it makes me feel like James Bond. Why? Because you can use it to spy on what happens near your computer while you're away! More precisely, it lets you view live video from your computer anywhere you are. Not only that, you can view up to four at a time. It also has the ability to detect motion and send you a push notification when something starts happening.

It's been around for quite a while, but the guys at SKJM haven't been sitting still. The latest version of iCam includes the ability to record whenever it detects motion, making it well worth the $4.99 price tag. I highly recommend checking it out!

Infinite Labs has released Mover 3, a major update to its popular file sharing app for the iPhone and iPod touch. For those who don't know, Mover allows users to share contacts and photos with multiple devices simply by flicking the desired info from one device to the other. Version 3 has been rewritten from the ground up and promises greater performance and reliability. Additionally, Mover now supports video sharing from an iPhone 3GS.

Mover is available in two flavors: Mover+ [App Store, $1.99] which is a free update for current owners of Mover+ and allows you to send and receive contacts, photos, and video. Mover Lite [App Store, Free] can send contacts and photos as well as receive all content from Mover+.

A video of Mover in action follows below!

If you're like me, a lot of your morning is spent in a dream-like fugue state trying to figure out who you are and what's going on in Internet land. And of course, the first stop is the bathroom. So when I saw OnTheCan [App Store, $0.99] I couldn't deny what a great idea it is. Essentially it lets you save five of your favorite sites and easily view them while you're, well... on the can.

The genius of this app, at least for me, is that you're presented with a row of five buttons. Press the first, read your news, and when you're finished, you move on to the next. Perfect for those groggy mornings when all you want to do is "make iPhone go."

The guys at RiP Dev have announced a new utility for getting files onto the iPhone from a computer. It's called JuiceDrop, and it lets you move files onto a connected iPhone or iPod Touch by just dragging and dropping them where they need to go.

It looks like Google's search app might be getting a little competition. Vlingo, a new voice-powered search application was just released into the App Store. The app has been available for RIM phones for some time, but has now been ported to the iPhone. Like the Google app, it can recognize spoken English words (and works best with an American accent ). Unlike Google's app, however, it can search both Google and Yahoo engines.

Apple released iPhone Configuration Utility 1.0.1 for Mac OS X today. For those who aren't familiar, the iPhone Configuration Utility allows IT personnel to “create, maintain, and sign configuration profiles, and track and install provisioning profiles and authorized applications”, letting one person manage several iPhone 3Gs for business users. The new version is available at Apple.com.

Apple has released three new utilities to help users deploy and manage large numbers of iPhones at the same time for enterprise users. They are the iPhone Configuration Web Utility 1.0 for Mac, the iPhone Configuration Web Utility 1.0 for Windows, and the iPhone Configuration Utility 1.0 for Mac OS X. These tools allow one person to create a single configuration file that can be downloaded from a website or email that can be downloaded onto multiple iPhones.