Augmented Reality based applications are fast showing up with mobiles getting equipped with Accelerometers, Digital Compass and GPS.

The iPhone 3GS has a inbuilt Digital Compass which led to such apps showing up in the App Store these days.

Layar is a new AR based App which uses GPS location and internet data to layer information on the screen over live footage.

The major plus of Layer is that its not just limited to a certain category. Layer can be used to in conjunction with Wikipedia entries, bars and nightlife nearby, Twitter users nearby, nearby Hotels or more specific like which Hotel offers Pizzas, etc. just by pointing  the camera at your surroundings.

AR is fast catching up with people and its been looked upon as a really useful app rather than just a cool showoff app.

Get the Layar App from iTunes : iTunes Store Link

NBA Live is the an upcoming offering in the Sports Game genre by Electronic Arts for the iPhone. EA released a few screenshots to showcase its graphics and gameplay. And let me say that these are one of the best graphics I’ve ever seen on the iPhone.

According to EA, the game will deliver the “most realistic 5-on-5 action” for the iPhone.

Features include:

• Real NBA rosters
• 30 NBA teams
• 82-game Season mode, Exhibition mode, Playoff mode
• Virtual analog stick to control the game.
• 15 music tracks from artists such as Matt and Kim, Snoop Dogg and Xzibit.
• Announcer Marv Albert

The default Messages Application in the iPhone is pretty good but theres no way of knowing whether you’ve reached the Word limit for 1 SMS.

To effectively manage this problem, there’s a small hack available that adds a Word count to the Default Messages.App (SMS App).

After installation you can see how many characters you’ve typed and how many messages you’ll send when you press the send button. The Blue Send button will turn into and display the Character/SMS count and turn back into Send once you stop typing!

To use this feature, your iPhone needs to be Jailbroken !

To install, simple open Cydia, go to Search and Search for “SMS Helper“.

There’s really no limit to what developers can come up with these days for the iPhone. Just when you though that there’s an App for every possible category and task, comes this App which doesn’t fail to amaze you!

Viper SmartStart from Directed Electronics is an iPhone-compatible remote starter capable of warming up or cooling down a car.

SmartStart can be used to remotely lock or unlock the doors, pop the trunk or even sound the car alarm !

“Our customers have consistently told us that the two most important features in a remote starter are range and user interface,” Directed Electronics president Kevin Duffy said in a statement. “We developed the Viper SmartStart in response. Range is virtually unlimited, and iPhone owners can use the elegant touch-screen interface they already carry in their pocket.”

The SmartStart can be installed to your car for $499 or made compatible with an existing started for $299.

Visit their Official Site Click Here

iPhone has been the only device where you can get almost any application you want. Pick a task and you have an App for that!

The iPhone also had its share of Image Editing applications but none provided much detailed editing of Images.

Adobe the company behind the most widely used PC/Mac based Professional Photo Editing software – Photoshop has now made available a free to use Mobile based version of Photoshop!

Users can create a free account on Photoshop.com to get started with the Mobile App. The Photoshop.com account is linked to the Application and allow you to store edited Photos online. Users get 2Gb of free space to store photos.

The Photoshop Application provides about 9 different effects ranging from the basic Crop, Rotate and Flip stepping up to more advanced effects like Color settings, Filters, Soft Focus, Vibrant, Pop, Warm Vintage, Vignette Blur, Rainbow, White Glow, Soft Black and White.

Get the Free Photoshop Application on the iTunes Store.

Official Photoshop Mobile Site : mobile.photoshop.com

All those Harry Potter fans  out there have yet another Harry Potter related thing to play around with. There’s a free Application by Warner Bro’s to promote its upcoming feature film Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. And best of all- its FREE !

But here’s the down side, as its Free, don’t expect any great 3D Graphics or anything even remotely close to what you see on its PC/Console Game adaption. This is like just an interactive trailer of the Movie. Read the official application description below :

Explore the world of Harry Potter with this exciting new iPhone app for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince!
View official film content including Videos, Posters, Character Information, and More…

Now you can interact with an engaging recreation of Dumbledore’s Pensieve- a device that allows you to view memories. You will unlock new Memory Vials as you explore the vast assortment of contect that appears in the Pensieve.

Insert yourself and your friends into a Wanted Poster or the Daily Prophet by using your iPhone Camera or your Photo Album on your iPod Touch.

Key Features:

· Explore official film content*
· Unlock new content in the Memory Vial navigation system
· Interact with the Pensieve’s 3D water effects
· Insert moving footage into a Wanted Poster or the Daily Prophet
· Save theatrical posters and images to use as your wallpaper

Download it from : iTunes Link

iPhone already has a plethora of some awesome Racing based games. Some of my favorites included GTS World Racing, Asphalt 4, Speedburst and a few others. But I’d always been waiting for the Need for Speed (NFS) Series to get ported over to the iPhone ever since EA took keen interest in developing iPhone/iPod Touch applications.

Well finally the wait is over and EA has just released its latest iteration of the NFS series – NFS Undercover for the iPhone !

Here’s how the Tagline goes :

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES? Get behind the wheel of the world’s #1 racing franchise to find out! Explode into a racing frenzy on your iPhone and iPod touch in this action packed adventure of hot pursuit and betrayal.

IGN.com’s Levi Buchchan says :

“Not only is the game extremely fast, especially when you tap the on-screen NOS button, but the graphics outstrip anything that your’ve seen on the iPhone thus far.”

This comment might be enough (apart from this being from the NFS Series) for you to purchase this game right away !

NFS Undercover for iPhone is available right now in the App Store for $9.99 and is 92.3 MB big.

[AppStore Link]

Check out a few Screenshots :

There’s have been quite a few ways to use your iPhone as a Modem. Earlier methods were cumbersome and too complex for normal users.

Then came an easier way, an app called NetShare was launched which made things very easy.

I had also posted a Tutorial to Use your iPhone as Modem via the NetShare Application.

But NetShare was not a free application. An alternative to NetShare has just been released and is now available via Cydia !

The Application is named simply as “iPhone Modem” and promises to tether your iPhone within just 10 seconds !

I haven’t personally tried it yet, but from what I heard it works just as advertised and easy to use !

Get it now from Cydia.

About those wondering what Cydia is, Cydia is a AppStore like Application. You need to JailBreak your iPhone.

Electronic Arts most anticipated adventure game of this year, Spore was released this Monday for the iPhone. The iPhone version is titled as Spore Origins.

Some of the iPhone/iPod Touch Specific Features that Spore will have are :

• Tilt, turn, and twist your way through the primordial ooze with your motion-sensing accelerometer.
• Pinch, pull, and poke your creation in the Creature Editor, customizing the texture, shape, and body parts to fit the way you play.
• Personalize your game-play by skinning your creature with pictures from your device’s Photo Albums.
• Experience 2 exciting game modes: Evolution and Survival.
• Survive 30 challenging levels teaming [sic] with bizarre creatures.
• Navigate treacherous caverns to explore various strange worlds.
• Enjoy vivid graphics, dynamic animations and atmospheric music on your evolutionary journey.

You can download this Game from the AppStore or follow this Link to download it.

Spore Origins Costs 10$ ! Check out this Review if you’re wondering whether its worth the 10 bucks or not.

Spore Walkthough : Modmyifone

A new plugin of sorts has recently appeared in Cydia which makes the iPhone Vibrate with each key press. This takes the iPhone 1 step closer to tactile feedback.

The application is named KeyVib and provides just a Toggle Switch to Enable or Disable the Vibration. The software is reported to not drain much battery and is pretty conservative in terms of battery usage.

KeyVib is currently available via the iSpazio Source.

Note : To use this Application you need a JailBreaked iPhone and 2.0+ Firmware !