iPhone Guru

Now it is possible to use your iPhone to search Google just by speaking your search query. Google Mobile app for iPhone added voice to search functionality with the latest version of the application that was just released on the App Store. Surfing the web by speaking is easy, simply launch Google Mobile and bring the iPhone to your ear and when you hear the loud beep just say what you are looking for. Google Mobile automatically detects your location so you won’t need to append your city or general location to the search query. With the Google Mobile app on your iPhone you will not have to type what you are searching for anymore. Give your fingers a break, let your voice do the searching! Google Mobile app is available now from the App Store.

Cats and captions, ah the fun never ends! Introducing the I Can Has Cheezburger app for iPhone. This app brings the content of any of the sites in the Cheezburger network to your pocket. Laugh at user-submitted captioned celebrity photos with RoflRazzi or visit the land of magical land of fail at Failblog. Witness comical mispelled product packaging with Engrish Funny or have some laughs with celebrity look-a-likes at Totally Looks Like. The laughs never stop with the I Can Has Cheezburger app for iPhone and it’s now available for free in the App Store.

One of the coolest ways to make music is with Cosmovox for the iPhone. Cosmovox actually turns the movement of your iPhone into electronic music. It is a very good example of another theramin emulator for the iPhone as this time around the tones are created by the movement of the entire device. You can choose from many different frequencies and my favorite thus far is Mystic. You simply can’t ever go wrong with music apps, they hit the spot every time. All that I ask as your trusty iPhone Guru is that you be careful swinging your iPhone around being a 21st century Mozart! Your cat will flip out and scratch you if you take this app too far so keep it mellow, eh! Cosmovox is available now from the App Store for only $1.99.

Panolab is a great free application that gives your iPhone the ability to take super wide angle panoramic photos. The iPhone camera captures images at 2 megapixels with a prime lens. Panolab uses a simple yet intuitive user interface to stitch your photos together and the results make for interesting images. If you want a super master shot of your surroundings Panolab can help. The hardest part about stitching your photos together is the touch interface. During testing as I lifted my finger off the screen after lining two images up the gesture of my hand would blur the image out of alignment. A pixel by pixel nudge feature would be beneficial to Panolab but it is still a useful tool for on-the-go experimental photography with your iPhone.

iKoto for iPhone emulates a traditional Japanese harp and it sounds suprisingly true to it’s real life counterpart, the Koto. The Koto was introduced to Japan in the 7th century from China. iKoto brings 13 pitch-adjusted strings to your fingertips and is played by plucking the strings. It reminds me of an oriental style autoharp. iKoto for iPhone is available now for only 99 cents on the app store and delivers a great musical instrument in your pocket.

Are you looking to discover new music without listening to commercials or having to pay money? Pandora app for iPhone is a good choice to meet your needs. Everyone loves music and Pandora breaks music down for you scientifically by analyzing the elements of music via the Music Genome Project. The Music Genome project is a database containing descriptions of practically every aspect of musical compositions; harmonic tones and dry recording sounds and beats made for dancing, etc. Pandora requests a search query and will ask you what song or artist you enjoy listening to and you simply type in your response and Pandora does the rest. Within seconds great new music will be streaming to your iPhone even over the Edge cellular data network. Pandora creates a “station” you may share with others or keep private that plays only music similar to the song or artist you’ve searched for. You can extend your musical discovery experience onto your desktop or portable computer by surfing to www.pandora.com and from there you can play previously created stations from your iPhone or make new stations. The experience is incredible and every track links to the iTunes music store should you wish to support the artist by purchasing their music online. Pandora for iPhone will help you find fresh new music you will love without commercial interruptions.

Celebrate Halloween with Crazy Pumpkin for iPhone! Crazy Pumpkin is a free application which turns your iPhone into a scary jack-o-lantern and it doesn’t require any carving. Shake your iPhone to change the glow color and hear frightening sounds. You can create hundreds of combinations. Here is the Crazy Pumpkin secret combination:

Caisss Chess for the iPhone brings the strategy of chess front and center to your fingertips. The computer makes a steady adversary even when the strength is set to one and I am no novice to chess. The gameplay is solid with minimal thinking times between moves by the computer. The sprite based two dimensional graphics offer several customization features as far as board colors and pieces. The game saves your place if you close the app, perfect for the snail-paced games I love playing. You can learn how to become a better chess player with the built in hint function. This is one of the more expensive apps that I have rated here at iPhone Guru but for the time and effort the author put into developing such a solid strategic engine it balances out the cost. You can save and export games and even play against friends via email. Caissa Chess retails for $9.99 and is available now from the App Store.

The Theramin was invented in 1919 by Leon Theramin and was the first musical instrument which could be played without being touched. The Theramin is played by waving ones hand over it and the end result sounds like a martian invasion. Theraminator for iPhone recreates the spooky sounds that helped to set the mood for classic soundtracks in sci-fi horror films such as The Day the Earth Stood Still. Features include adjusting pitch and delay and double and triple finger gestures also adjust the frequency. Theraminator is available now from the App Store for $2.99.

Koi pond is a lovely app brought to the masses by the Blimp Pilots. This app is well worth the 99 cents. You can shake the iPhone to feed your koi fish! If you put your finger in the middle of the pond and leave it there the koi fish will come nibbling your fingertip. Tap the lower right hand corner to reveal customization options such as different water colors and times of day. You can even customize the ambient noises. Give it a shot! Available now from the App Store.