I’ve been using the Apple iPhone for about a year, and it is definitely a great device which has more than paid for itself in convenience and accessibility. I have even compared its importance to the development of electricity, though that might be a bit overboard.

While I didn’t trade in my phone for the new iPhone 3g, I did upgrade to the latest firmware. With iPhone 2.0 comes the app store, where hundreds of iPhone specific applications are available. Everything from games to productivity tools to news readers are available, some free, some not.

I haven’t dabbled in any of the paid apps yet, but several of the free apps I’ve found very useful including one that pushes New York Times headlines to your phone, and the Instant Messenger app… I feel like Apple originally dropped the ball not including iChat, but the AIM app fills a bit of that void.

One of my favorites is Urbanspoon which triangulates your position and gives you restaurants in your vicinity, which, with the recent update to the app, you can select by food type or select more neighborhoods. It gives information, reviews, and location… it’s great for new lunch spots. It even allows you to shake the phone (taking advantage of rotation sensors in the phone), resulting in a slot machine type effect, with the app making a restaurant selection for you. Fun.

And then there are the tools. Networking through sites like Facebook is made easy with the new Facebook app, allowing photo uploads and more. There are many for flickr, as well. and I just typed this entry with the WordPress app, posting straight from my phone… with a photo even! Excuse any spelling errors, and yes, my thumbs are sore.

photo uploade from my iPhone