I’m a very excited geek right now!  Couldn’t wait for PAX East before.  Definitely can’t wait now!

OMG OMG OMG!!! (sorry, I’m a bit of a spaz right now!)

First and foremost, I am highly impressed with how accurate the application is. I was skeptical at first if the iPhone could provide a true GPS navigation experience. Thankfully the AT&T navigator has put my mind at ease. Every location I searched for was found quickly, as were the directions that were provided. The text to speech support is flawless and correctly pronounced everything that was thrown at it. Voice prompts were done in a timely fashion, giving me plenty of notice of upcoming turns. My favorite feature is how well it works while music is playing in the background. The Navigator program will pause the music during voice prompts and quickly resume when it’s finished. The only downside is the inability to control the music while the application is running.

Searching for a store or business is easily accomplished using a category based menu system similar to what’s found on GPS devices, which also includes the ability to find local gas prices. A regular search option is provided if your location is not included with the other Points of Interest. Searching can also be done mid-route using a button on the bottom of the screen. After the application first calculates your route, it will search for traffic data every 5 minutes. This has already helped me a great deal by letting me know of an accident on the interstate which gave me the option to use another route. Voice recognition support is handled by hitting the call button when prompted. The application calls a number where you can say the street address or business name instead of typing it. After doing so, the application will automatically reopen and the address will be in your recent places. Routes can also be planned by visiting navpreplan.com from any computer.

AT&T Navigator does have some disadvantages, with the biggest one being the price. The application itself is free, however you will get a monthly charge of $9.99 the moment after activation is completed. This has raised some concern as iPhone users feel it should be included in the data plan as they are already paying at least $70 a month. The fee is a standard affair on other AT&T phones, as well as most carries who provide similar services. And while service will cost $120 a year to use, you do not have to pay anything extra to keep the maps up to date. The other positive to this is that you can cancel anytime you want by going to att.com/directbill. AT&T claims the application has a 30 day free trial, but I was told this does not include the iPhone after contacting AT&T. However, some users are reporting getting a refund after canceling. The other big downside is that maps are not stored on the phone. Everything is done on remote servers which stream the data to the iPhone. This will make the application impossible to use unless you always have cellular reception. Maps can take up to 2GB of data, so this frees up a lot of space on the phone. The other downside for some users is the lack of landscape mode. This might not be a deal breaker for all, but it would have been nice to be given the option.

AT&T Navigator does not offer all of the features of a high end GPS device, but what it does provide is an excellent navigation service. If a monthly fee or lack of landscape mode turns you off, you should wait for the TomTom application due out later this summer. AT&T Navigator does provide a great alternative until other GPS applications get released, and you can always easily cancel the service when that happens. However if the monthly fee is not a problem, and you have good reception in the areas you travel, AT&T Navigator is a terrific program which further turns the iPhone into an all-in-one device.

Why you should buy: True turn by turn navigation with full text to speech support; all data stored remotely saving a lot of storage space on the phone; monthly fee comes out cheaper than buying a GPS and keeping it up to date yearly; ability to listen to music while using the application; can cancel the service at any time.

Why you shouldn’t buy: Weak or no reception will make this application useless; you would rather pay a one-time fee; you have a first gen iphone

TweetDeck, the Popular Desktop Twitter Client, Now Available for iPhone

TweetDeck’s primary draw for the twitter addict is organization. The iPhone app carries on this tradition by allowing users to organize tweets into user defined columns that you can switch through with the swipe. If you’re the type that follows your real-life friends, internet gaming buddies, coworkers, websites, news feeds and the odd celebrity or artist, this organization is essential for not letting any tweets get left behind.

TweetDeck is especially useful for not allowing your close friends to get lost in the din

Columns are easy to create, and if your a desktop TweetDeck user, you can easily download your columns from the TweetDeck Servers, letting you get an on-the-go version of your Twitter Organization in minutes.

For the unacquainted, there are a few basic types of columns you can create.

• User Group, a subset of your total follow list
• Twitter Search, where you can search for a term amonst all twitter users
• All Friends, your entire follow list
• Mentions, your @replies
• Direct Messages
• Favorites

Organization is easy in TweetDeck

All Friends, Mentions and Direct Messages come enabled by default, which is pretty standard for this kind of an app.

You can also have multiple twitter accounts on TweetDeck, allowing you to quickly view tweets from multiple accounts, each organized as meticulously as you see fit.

One of other major differences is the “Updates” button, which lets you know which columns have new things for you to look at. As it makes background calls to the twitter server, it will also inform you of new tweets with pop-up notifications. All this can get a little annoying, but it can be useful if your trying to manage a lot of tweets.

Notificaitons keep you updated, but can get annoying quickly

Rounding out the features list is an API Call count at the top of the page, letting you know how many additional calls to twitter you can make in a given hour.

It isn’t without it’s downsides, however. It doesn’t have many of the features that make Tweetie so great, like built in full-screen viewing of twitpic and yfrog images or quick reply/favorite feature using the swipe. It also crashed several times just today, so there seem to be a few stability issues as well.

For those spoiled by Tweetie, some things just seem lame

You should use TweetDeck: If you are following a large number of people, or merely a modest amount of people that you’d like organized better, you want to quickly view more than one twitter account, or if anything but “Free” is too much for a Twitter Client.

You shouldn’t use TweetDeck: If you view a lot of images via twitter, only follow a couple friends, or are too used to the simplicity and awesome of Tweetie to consider anything less.