The Top 10 iPhone Apps Of 2008

Pandora Radio has been popular on the Web for a few years now. But by bringing its streaming mix of eclectic music to the iPhone, the service is currently basking an entirely new and well-deserved bout of popularity. The application is easy and free. Download it, enter the name of an artist or song you like and listen as Pandora streams similar music to your iPhone.

A personal favorite and recent recipient of an Apple commercial, UrbanSpoon means you're never without a place to eat again. Instead of standing around with friends and asking, "What do you feel like eating?" and then going through the inevitable 10 minutes of "I don't care. Anything but Chinese. What do you want?" conversation that takes place, UrbanSpoon streamlines the process. Use the iPhone's GPS to locate the restaurants in the area, select a cuisine and price point, shake and let the recommendations roll in.

Moving social networks to mobile devices is changing the way people use them. And Facebook's well-designed and intuitive app was a game-changer. Facebook included everything a well-connected social media-ite wants from the company: full news feed, people search, friend request, photo tagging and captioning, inbox, etc. It's the entirety of the social network available to you with the simple click of an application button.

A staple for any geek. Who hasn't wondered what it would feel like to swing around a lightsaber? The app from the iTunes Store comes with realistic sound effects. The latest version allows you to customize your character and duel other users.

Bored on the train or trying to get more information on the mountain you plan on hiking the next time you jet away to the Swiss Alps? Google Earth has the images. The application allows you to tilt your iPhone to get a better view of what you're checking out. Into Geo-caching? The Google Earth app allows you to view geo-located Wikipedia articles to see exactly where the what you're looking up went down.

Can't leave your Twitter conversation behind at your desktop? Anxious to let your friends know what's happening in realtime? Twittleator gives you a full-blown Twitter client on your iPhone. Search tweets, explore timelines, post pictures and send direct messages to your friends with this app. Never be offline again.

Fring is a free application that provides you with even more flexibility with your iPhone. Not only can you place VoIP calls over Wi-Fi--to avoid using those expensive and precious minutes from AT&T--but you can chat with your friends. Fring rolls AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, Twitter and Yahoo into the iPhone's capabilities. The latest version fixed the bugs from the old version and added French localization, in case your language of choice isn't English.

Ever wish you could've recorded a conversation with a customer only to find that a recorder is nowhere to be found? Recorder takes care of that problem by turning your iPhone into a recording device. Seek and pause during playback, e-mail short recordings and pause in the middle of an interview are just a few of the features. Recorder also lets you adjust the levels for the best clarity possible.

The Ocarina application is quickly on its way to becoming the most popular application of 2008. It's easy to use. Open the application, blow into the microphone and tap the buttons to play any melody that comes to mind. The latest version of the app also lets you see what's being playing around the world and listen in as users from Rome to Juneau play Ocarina songs.

One of the most consistent complaints about the iPhone is its camera: picture quality, blurriness and stability of pictures. Sudobility's Night Camera application tries to eliminate all of those problems while enhancing those nighttime photo ops and every picture-taking event in general. Night Camera gives you three seconds to frame the shot before it starts checking the accelerometer. Once the app detects that the camera is steady it will snap the photo.