Three months ago, I reviewed U.S. Code, a free app from Law Professor Shawn

Bayern that contains the
entire text of the U.S. Code.  Because the app relies upon the most recent official electronic version of the U.S. Code — which does not include the very latest statutes adopted by Congress — if you use this app you need to be sure that you are always looking at the very latest version of the law.  Nevertheless, it is very useful to have the entire text of the U.S. Code in a single iPhone app.  Considering that this app is free, it is an app that I encourage every lawyer to download to his or her iPhone.

Prof. Bayern wrote me last night to tell me that the app has been updated to version 1.0.1.  From the number alone, that doesn’t sound like much of an update, but the latest version brings full iPad support.  If you use an iPad in court, even if you don’t have Wi-Fi or 3G Internet access, with this app you can still have the entire U.S. Code at your fingertips.  And whether you are using this app on an iPhone or an iPad, the latest version of the app also updates some of the content.  (Be warned, however, that the app is 200 MB, so it takes a while to download from the App Store and transfer to your iPhone.  This is currently the second largest app on my iPhone, behind Dragon’s Lair, an app that is full of video.)

Click here to get U.S. Code by Shawn Bayern (free): 

Elgato has been giving people the ability to watch and record TV on their computers for as long as I can remember, and now the company has an app that brings TV to your iPhone.  You’ll have to have a hardware device attached to your Mac or PC for it to work, but once you have that, you can stream live or recorded TV to your iPhone.  I’ve been testing this hardware and software combination for a few months now, and while I have encountered some hiccups, once you get the product working you can view great quality TV on your iPhone.

The Hardware Requirement

My focus here is on the iPhone app, but since you can’t use the iPhone app without having Elgato hardware on your computer, I’ll start by addressing that.  The company sent me (free for review purposes) its EyeTV One device, which you can get for just over $100 on Amazon.  The EyeTV One has a USB connector on one side and a coaxial connection on the other side to which you must attach your own antenna.  I use a “Silver Sensor” antenna similar to this one.  The device then works with the EyeTV software on your computer to give you free, over-the-air high definition television on your computer.  The quality of the image is excellent.  For a good sense of how the product works, here is a recent review by Macworld’s Jonathan Seff of a similar product clled EyeTV Hybrid ($134 on Amazon) which gives you not only over-the-air high definition plus also works with unencrypted cable television.

Unfortunately, I have had some trouble with the hardware.  The first unit I was sent would only get a signal for a minute or two and then would stop working.  After trying every software fix I could think of, Elgato sent me a replacement unit that solved the problem instantly.  The company’s service department was excellent, although I wish I had not wasted so much time trying to fix a problem that turned out to be a hardware issue.

Even with the replacement unit, I still sometimes have trouble with the TV signal, but here I am fairly certain that the fault is mine in that it is inherent with over-the-air television.  You have to have a decent over-the-air signal for it to work, and I don’t always get that in the study in my house where my computer is located.  This problem brings back memories for me; I was an early HD adopter back in 2002, back in the days when you needed to use an antenna to get HD local stations.  Because of where my house is located and the buildings between me and the transmitters in New Orleans, I sometimes had problems getting an HD signal with an indoor antenna.  Nowadays, cable and satellite companies provide HD local stations so it has been a long time since I needed to use an indoor antenna to get HD local channels, but with the EyeTV I sometimes find myself having the same problems again.  And there is nothing worse than recording an episode of a show like Lost and syncing it to your iPhone via iTunes only to discover while you are on a plane and ready to watch the episode that the recording is poor.  Yes, that happened to me, and yes, it was annoying.  I hate to dwell on this too much because you might get excellent reception where you live.  For example, Seff noted in his Macworld review that he had “a small antenna on my desk at work with a clear view of San Francisco’s Sutro Tower, from which I could
pick up nearly 40 channels.” 

When it works, however, EyeTV hardware and software on the computer is really nice.  I don’t have a TV in my study, but with EyeTV I can now work on my computer at home and have a tiny window in the corner showing live TV.   Or I can expand the window to full screen, turning my iMac into a 27″ high definition TV with an awesome image.

[UPDATE 5/24/10:  Elgato has now released the $200 EyeTV HD that hooks up to your cable or satellite box.  If this setup works in your home, this looks a great way to use the EyeTV to record from EVERY channel that you get, plus this solution isn’t subject to the problems of over-the-air HD reception.]

The EyeTV app

As I said, however, my real focus here is not the EyeTV hardware but instead the EyeTV app on the iPhone.  Once you get the EyeTV hardware and software working on your computer, the $5 EyeTV iPhone app works quite well.  Using either Wi-Fi or 3G (the ability to use 3G was added only recently), you can stream video from your computer to your iPhone, no matter where in the world you are.  Thus, whatever live TV your computer is able to pick up, thanks to the hardware product such as the EyeTV One, is streamed from your computer to your iPhone.  I noticed about a 12 second delay from live TV over Wi-Fi, and about a 20 second delay using 3G.  If you are watching a live sporting event the delay might be annoying, but for most uses I had no way of noticing the delay at all.

Setting up the EyeTV app to find your computer is surprisingly easy.  If your iPhone is on the same Wi-Fi network as your computer, it happens instantly.  For 3G or Wi-Fi connections to a remote computer, a locator utility running on your computer lets your iPhone find your computer.  It works well.

After you set up the app to find your computer, it does so easily and quickly over either Wi-Fi or 3G.  From the main menu your choices include watch live TV or watch something that you recorded on your computer using the EyeTV software that comes with a device like the EyeTV One. 

 

If you select Live TV, you will get a list of the channels that your computer can receive and a description of what is currently playing  The information comes from TV Guide, which is free for the first year that you have the EyeTV hardware on your computer and $20 a year after that. 

   

If you can use Wi-Fi to watch TV, the quality is excellent.  Over 3G, the image is much more pixelated.  It is difficult to convey this using pictures instead of video, but these two frames will give you a sense of the difference.  The first one is Wi-Fi, the second one is 3G.  To be fair, however, both of these still frames look worse than the video looks.  Capturing just a single frame is not a good way to show off video.

 

 

If you select to watch a recording, you will get a list of everything recorded on
your computer, and if you select an episode you are given more
information from TV Guide about the episode.

 

Start to watch either live TV or a recorded program and the show will stream from your computer to your iPhone.

 

Note that while the app lets you stream something you previously recorded, the EyeTV software on your computer can be set to automatically create an iPhone-compatible version of a show after it records it.  Thus, you can transfer the show to your iPhone using iTunes and watch it on your iPhone just like you would watch a TV show that you purchase from Apple via iTunes.  As a result, it will often not be necessary to stream a recorded show unless you have not yet had a chance to sync it to your iPhone using iTunes.

Watching TV on your iPhone is very neat and can be very useful.  If you are out of town and want to watch your local news, sports, etc. back home instead of whatever is showing on the TV in your hotel room, you can now watch whatever you want on your iPhone using the EyeTV app — assuming that you left your computer on at home.  Or if you are in your office or in some other location that doesn’t have a TV and you want to watch something, such as breaking news on an important event, your iPhone can now function like a portable TV.

Should you get the EyeTV app?  The app itself is easily worth $5, but of course to use the app you also have to spend $100+ for the hardware.  If live TV on your iPhone is not that important, and you would just like to watch the occasional TV episode, it may be cheaper to just buy episodes as you want to watch them from iTunes.  You won’t encounter any commercials and the quality will be excellent.  On the other hand, if you find that you often travel and/or often find yourself in situations where you would like to be able to watch TV when you don’t have access to a “real” TV, the
$100+ might be worth it to you.  One thing that cannot be disputed is that watching live TV on an iPhone is a neat trick, and EyeTV does that job well.

Click here to get EyeTV iPhone app ($4.99): 

Click here to get EyeTV One (the hardware) from Amazon ($104.26).

I’ve written before about the AT&T MicoCell, a device that costs between $50 and $150 (depending upon whether you also purchase extra services) that uses your existing high speed internet to give you a bubble of excellent AT&T 3G service in about 40 feet each direction from the placement of the MicoCell.  If you have trouble getting a good AT&T signal at your home or office, this may be a solution.  You don’t have to purchase anything other than the unit itself, but if you pay $20 a month ($10 if you have AT&T internet service) the calls that you make on the MicroCell don’t count against your monthly minutes.

I haven’t had the opportunity to try a MicroCell myself yet, but I mention the MicroCell today because Rachel Metz of the Associated Press just posted a great hands-on review of the product.  If you are thinking about purchasing a MicroCell, read this review.  Dan Moren of Macworld also recently wrote about the MicroCell, although it doesn’t appear that he had a chance to test it himself, and Brian Iam and Matt Buchanan of Gizmodo penned this review a few weeks ago.

All of the reports that I have seen, including these recent reviews, anecdotal postings on online forums, and reviews from folks in places like North Carolina where the product was first tested last year, have been very similar:  the product seems to work great, with the only major complaint being the need to pay more to AT&T for better service.

UPDATE:  Lawyer and iPhone app developer Cliff Maier posted a comment to this original post that I thought was interesting enough that it should be elevated to this post itself:

You know the drill.  Another week, another set of links to iPhone stories of interest to me, and perhaps also to you.

• If you love to listen to music on your iPhone and like the idea of paying a monthly subscription fee to access an enormous music library, you should check out this New York Times article by Bob Tedeschi about the Rhapsody iPhone service which costs $10 a month and now allows you to download music to the Rhapsody app for offline listening.  David Charier of Macworld also has a review.
• An article in the Broward / Palm beach New Times describes an iPhone app developed by Palm Beach lawyer Christopher Hopkins containing Florida and local rules of professional conduct.
• CNET reports that Ellen DeGeneres created a funny mock commercial about the iPhone, and then apologizes about it because someone at Apple got their feathers ruffled.
• Easy Biller is a new time tracking app for lawyers by Blueshift Software.  Click here for Easy Biller ($2.99): 

  

• If you are looking to get GPS turn-by-turn directions on your iPhone, the TomTom app has always received very good reviews.  It is currently on sale for its lowest price ever.  You can get TomTom USA for only $39.99 and TomTom USA+Canada for only $49.99, both of which are $20 off of the regular price.  I haven’t tried either app, but if you have I’d love to hear what you think.  Click here for TomTom U.S.A.: 

  

    Click here for TomTom USA+Canada: 

  

• There is still much to say about the “lost” iPhone that Gizmodo purchased for $5,000.  Stuart Green of the Christian Science Monitor writes that it is unfair that Gizmodo seems to be getting a lot of sympathy instead of the victim of the crime, Apple.
• Nick Bilton of the New York Times interviews Mark Rasch, former had of the DOJ computer crime unit, on the “lost” iPhone.
• Apple announced that it has now sold over a million iPads.  Very impressive.
• Art of the iPhone identifies what it considers the 15 best iPad apps so far.
• Yesterday I mentioned MacSparky’s posts on iPhone Home Screens.  Today I see that Josh Barrett at Tablet Legal is doing something similar for iPad apps.  Check out the apps on his home screen, plus info on the apps that have been pushed back and the possible new contenders for the first home screen.
• And finally, what might the Apple website have looked like back in 1993 when the Newton, not the iPhone or iPad, was Apple’s handheld offering?  Dave Lawrence imagines on his nostalgic site Newton Poetry that it might have looked something like this (click for a larger version):

I usually try to stay away from discussing rumors on iPhone J.D.  Speculation on future Apple products is so rampant that it is the subject of many different websites, and often the reports that are passed off as “rumors” look to me to be completely made up.  Other times, the feature may well be something that Apple is considering, but for one reason or another decides not to include when a product actually ships.  Thus, unless Apple itself tells us that a feature is coming in the future — such as Apple’s recent preview of some of the features of iPhone 4.0 due out this summer — I try not to waste too much time talking about it here.

On the other hand, I don’t see anything wrong with coming up with a wish list of desired features, and I started to think about what is on my wish list a few days ago when California attorney David Sparks — a really smart and nice guy who runs the great MacSparky website and also co-hosts an excellent podcast called Mac Power Users — asked me to share a picture of my iPhone home screen and answer a few questions about what I love on the iPhone and hope to see in the future.  The post that resulted from our talking is now up on MacSparky so check it out if you want to see a picture of my home screen as of today.  It is part of a fun series of posts on MacSparky called “Home Screens” that shows you the first iPhone screen of different people so you can see the apps that others value most.

So anyway, back to those wishes.  As much as I love my iPhone 3GS, there are two features that I would like to see in the future that Apple has not yet discussed.  It just so happens, however, that there are new rumors that these features are coming.  (Thanks to Daring Fireball for the links yesterday to these latest rumors.)

iPhone HD

I’ve predicted for a while now that the next version of the iPhone will be called the “iPhone HD,” and the main reason for my prediction is my hope that a primary new feature of the next iPhone is a substantially improved camera.  The camera on the iPhone 3GS is decent, especially if you are outside with good light, and according to independent tests the video that the iPhone 3GS takes is comparable to a non-HD video camera.  But now that tiny cameras such as the Flip MinoHD and the Flip UltraHD take decent  720p (1280 x 720) HD video at 30 frames per second, it seems reasonable to predict that Apple can and will add this same technology to the next iPhone.

I own a Nikon D50 SLR camera that takes amazing photographs, but that camera is bulky so I don’t always have it with me.  The same can be said for my Canon HV10, which takes very good HD video but is yet another thing to carry.  My iPhone, on the other hand, is always with me, so when my kids do something funny when we are at the zoo, park, etc. it is often going to have to be my iPhone that captures the memory.  I’ll never use an iPhone instead of an SLR camera when I have a choice, but when I only have the iPhone, it would be great to have a better camera.

When Gizmodo recently paid $5,000 to acquire a “lost” prototype of the next iPhone, one of the features discovered was what appeared to be a better camera on the back.  Paul Miller of Engadget wrote an excellent summary of the features seen on this prototype, and he describes the camera on the back as follows:

Around back is more good news: the camera lens seems to be larger, which
would theoretically point to an improved camera, a sort of no-brainer
for phone updates in this day and age, though it’s hard to see Apple
shooting up all the way to the 8 megapixel sensors we’re starting to see
from the competition. We’ve heard 5 megapixels as one possibility,
which sounds more reasonable, but this could really fall wherever. Next
to it is an LED flash, which will help for those dastardly low light
situations that the iPhone so struggles with.

Although Gizmodo and Engadget were really just guessing that the camera was improved, there is now a report from Arnold Kim of MacRumors that the latest beta version of iPhone Software 4.0 gives third party apps the ability to record either 640 x 480 video or 1280 x 720 video — i.e., 720p HD video.  While MacRumors often guesses wrong, this report does seem consistent with what Gizmodo and Engadget thought that we might see based on that “lost” prototype iPhone.  So maybe the rumor is true.

It is my wish that we will see a better camera in the next iPhone, and if Apple calls the next device the iPhone HD, that would be a clear indication that Apple is very proud of the improved camera.

Screen Orientation Lock

My other wish is for a software feature that is admittedly minor, but one that I would appreciate.  On the side of the iPhone there is a switch that turns the ringer on and off.  On the side of the iPad, there is a similar switch, but since the iPad is not a phone the switch instead locks the screen orientation.  That way, if you are reading something in portrait mode and happen to tilt the iPad because of the way you are sitting, the screen won’t rotate to a landscape view by mistake.  I doubt that Apple wants to add an additional button or switch to the side of the iPhone, but disabling auto-rotation of the screen seems like an easy preference to add in software.

There is new report from the Boy Genius Report — although I suppose that site is now just known as BGR — that the latest beta version of iPhone Software 4 has an orientation lock feature that can be accessed by pressing the Home button twice and then swiping left.  BGR has a picture of what this apparently looks like in the latest beta version of iPhone Software 4.0.

Just because something is in a beta version, that doesn’t mean it will make the final release.  But once again, it is my wish that this one will make the cut.

I’m sure that Apple has lots of goodies in store for us in the next iPhone and the final version of iPhone Software 4.0, including some surprises that may well become my favorite new features once I see them.  But for now, these two wishes are at the top of my list of unannounced new features.  My fingers are crossed.

For iPhone users who don’t leave home without their American Express card, AmEx recently released a free iPhone app to help you keep track of your account.  I wasn’t able to test all of the features of the app, in part because of the type of AmEx card that I use (a Delta SkyMiles AmEx card), but this free app is sure to be useful to any AmEx cardholder, so long as you have one of the following cards:

Green Card, Gold Card, Platinum
Card, Centurion Card [also known as the famous “Black” AmEx card offered to people with substantial net worth who spend more than $250,000 a year on their AmEx card, and no, that doesn’t include me], Zync from American Express, Blue
from American Express, Clear from American Express, Optima
Credit Card, One from American Express, Plum Card from American
Express OPEN, Blue for Business Credit Card, American Express
Corporate Card, TrueEarnings Card from Costco and American Express, The
Delta Reserve Credit Card from American Express, Delta SkyMiles
Credit Card, JetBlue Card from American Express, Hilton HHonors
Card from American Express or Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card
from American Express

Upon starting the app you are prompted to enter your username and password, the same ones that you use to access your AmEx account online.  The app does not store either one, so you have to enter both every time you launch the app.  And if you leave the app open without using it for 10 minutes, the app will log you out of your account and ask you to login again.  After entering your account info, you will see all of your AmEx cards, displayed by showing a picture of the card and the last five digits of your account (which I redacted in the below picture):

  
 

Once you select your card, you can see some top-level account details such as the account balance and next payment due date.  You can click on any of the fields with a > at the end to see your actual purchases on your last statement (or recent activity) organized by date, or you can see your payment history.  In my tests, information downloaded very quickly to the app.

  
 

The app lets you pay your bill if you are enrolled in the Pay by Computer program, but I am not so I could not test that.  The app also lets you view your AmEx Membership Rewards, but since I use a Delta card that ties in to SkyMiles rewards, that feature didn’t work for my card.  The “Contact Us” button at the bottom bring you to a page that lists various AmEx 1-800 and other numbers that you might want to use to get in touch with AmEx.

The App Store description of the app says that “More features are on the way so watch for updates.”  Here are a few that I would like to see.  First, it would be nice to have the option to save your username, and possibly also your password although that raises obvious security concerns if you lose your iPhone.  [UPDATE 6/3/10:  Version 1.2, released on June 3, 2010, added the ability to save the username.]  It would also be helpful if the app could tell you the date on which your next statement will close.  If you have multiple cardholders on your account, the AmEx website lets you look at all of the purchases of a single cardholder, but the iPhone app currently only lists all transactions for all cardholders.  Finally, it would be nice to have some sort of search capability, or at least the option to sort by fields such as merchant.

Even though updates with new features would be welcome, even the current version of the app does a nice job handling the simple tasks that you are most likely to want in an app of this nature — review transactions, see your balance, and see your available credit.  If you have an AmEx card, then you’ll want to get this app.

Click here for American Express (free): 

How often has this happened to you:  you attend a CLE (or for the non-lawyers reading this, a continuing education course or seminar of any kind) and were given a thick and heavy book of materials, and then after the CLE is over, that book goes on a shelf or in a closet somewhere, never to be seen again.

I’ve seen more and more conferences try to get away from this by giving out materials in electronic form instead of written form, a move that I applaud.  For example, at ABA TECHSHOW 2010, each attendee received a thumb drive containing the written materials, and now that the conference is over, attendees have access to a special website containing all of the slides used during the presentation.  This makes so much sense, not only because it avoids wasting paper, but also because it is more efficient to have materials in electronic form so that I can store them on my computer or document management system in a place that allows for easy search and retrieval when I want to use the documents.

Last night, Chicago attorney Kevin Thompson tweeted about a CNET article describing the annual American Association of Neurological Surgeons conference that started yesterday in Philadelphia.  This year, instead of giving each doctor attending the conference a 165-page program book and briefcase-size bag, each doctor receives an iPod touch (in a slender, nylon pouch) with apps containing all of the course materials and conference info, plus links to download follow-up information from the conference.  Insert your favorite joke here about “it doesn’t require a brain surgeon to ….”

 

I think that is an interesting idea.  It would have been even more interesting to distribute iPads to the attendees as I’m sure that the larger screen would make it even easier to read the content.  Is it going too far to give away a device used to read electronic content instead of just the content itself in electronic form?  Sure, but I suppose it is in the same vein (although more expensive) as the tote bags to carry content that are given out at virtually every conference I attend.  And it certainly creates some buzz for the conference.

I’m now counting the days until the first CLE for lawyers gives out a device running the iPhone OS.

There is no “real” post on iPhone J.D. today, but here is a little something to get you thinking about Mother’s Day.  If your Mom loves her iPhone (or iPad), why not show her that you know what she loves by giving her some iPhone apps for Mother’s Day.  Former Macworld and current The Loop writer Jim Dalrymple has a list of Twenty iPhone and iPad apps to help

celebrate Mother’s Day.

There was a lot of iPhone related news this week, from new developments in the “lost” iPhone saga to essays by Steve Jobs to possible dates for the debut of the next version of the iPhone, plus many other stories along the way.

• Let’s start with the updates on the “lost” iPhone that Gizmodo purchased for $5,000.  Last Friday night, as people like attorney Lauren Hirsch were analyzing whether Gizmodo broke the law, the police executed a search warrant and seized computers from Gizmodo reporter Jason Chen’s house, and there are questions and more questions whether that search was legal.  For now, the police are not doing anything with the items they seized until that issue is sorted out.  Brian Chen of Wired figured out the identity of the person who sold the iPhone prototype to Gizmodo for $5,000, and McSweeny has a funny, imagined story of what he might have to say for himself.  And then CNET reporters discovered someone else involved with the sale of the prototype iPhone to Gizmodo.  The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart had a long, funny commentary on the situation, and Niki Black even started an entire blog devoted to this story:  The “Lost” iPhone & Gizmodo Blog.  I suspect that this story is still not over, and probably won’t be until Apple actually introduces the new iPhone.
• And hey, now we might have a date for them to do so.  WWDC is Apple’s developer conference.  At WWDC 2008, Apple introduced the iPhone 3G.  At WWDC 2009, Apple introduced the iPhone 3GS.  So I’m wondering the same thing as Macworld:  at WWDC 2010, scheduled for June 7 to 11, 2010, will Apple introduce the next version of the iPhone?
• We won’t have to wait until June 7 (or so) to hear from Steve Jobs.  Dan Moren of Macworld reports that on June 1, Steve Jobs will be the opening speaker at the D: All Things Digital Conference.  The last time Jobs spoke at D was in 2007 when he and Bill Gates sat down together.  
• And you don’t even have to wait until June 1 to find out what is on Steve’s mind.  Yesterday, Steve Jobs used the apple.com website as his own personal blog and published an extensive, well-written article explaining why Apple doesn’t allow Adobe Flash to run on the iPhone.
• And if that is still not enough Steve Jobs for you, you’ll be pleased to know that Time magazine has once again named Jobs in its Time 100 list of important people in the world.
• This past February, I reviewed Siri, an app that lets you speak a question and then gives you an answer, acting as sort of a digital personal assistant.  I was really impressed, ending my review by saying:  “I strongly encourage you to download this app today, not only because
  
  you will find it immediately useful, but also because I believe that
  
  this is a preview of the future of mobile technology.”  Apparently I wasn’t the only one impressed; Dan Frommer of Business Insider reports that Apple purchased the company.  I am excited to see how Apple incorporates and improves upon this technology.
• Mike Schramm of TUAW reports that 25% of all music sold in the U.S. is sold through iTunes.
• Mike Schramm of TUAW also reports on a presentation by Aaron Hillegass and Joe Conway on the lifecycle of an iPhone app.
• Although you can use Facebook on an iPhone either using the great Facebook app or via Safari (which can use either an iPhone-optimized version of Facebook or the full Facebook), until this week you could not view videos uploaded to Facebook.  But according to Sarah Perez at ReadWriteWeb, Facebook is now starting to direct iPhones (and iPads and iPod touches) to MP4 / h.264 versions of videos that the iPhone can play.  I’ve tested this myself and it works great … but for now, only works in Safari.  I imagine that a future update to the Facebook app will add this same feature.
• On to some iPad news.  Should you get one?  Macworld writes about the surprises and disappointments of the iPad after a month of use.
• How do you justify buying an iPad, both to yourself and your law partners?  Colorado attorney Tomasz Stasiuk has some advice.  Stasiuk also has tips for better iPad web browsing.
• Riva Richmond of the New York Times suggests four ways to keep your iPad secure.  (The advice applies to an iPhone as well.)
• Need to count something, pretty much anything, an an iPad?  Then check out TallyPad for the iPad, a $0.99 app by attorney Dan Friedlander.
• And finally, a chocolatier in Paris came up with the perfect Mother’s Day present, assuming that your Mom loves her iPhone:  chocolate iPhone apps.  Unfortunately, they are now sold out, but don’t they look yummy?  (Link via iPhone Savior.)

Christel Burris started her legal career as a receptionist for a small law firm in San Francisco, and has held held numerous other positions in law firms over the years, including IT manager.  For the last 25 years, she has been a legal technology consultant.  She lives in Asheville, NC and her company, Push One
Button, Inc., provides training, legal-specific
technology, content development and consulting to businesses from California to
the UK.

Earlier this week, the always interesting TechnoFeature newsletter from TechnoLawyer published a great article she wrote on iPhone apps for lawyers.  For any of you who missed it, Burris gave me permission to republish it here.

An Apple Skeptic Turned iPhone Fanatic:  11 Essential Apps for Lawyers Plus a Review of AT&T’s 3G Microcell

by Christel Burris

INTRODUCTION

Some of you may remember a TechnoFeature article I
wrote last year, Mythbusters:
Should Your Law Firm Switch From Windows to Mac? It created
a firestorm on the Mac legal Web.

You might surmise from that article
that I dislike all Apple products. You’d be wrong. I have fallen in love with
one Apple product — the iPhone. Not surprisingly, the
iPhone now comprises more of Apple’s revenue than any of its other products,
including Macs.

I admit I’m a bit behind on the iPhone craze as I am very
much an “anti-trend” kinda gal. But I finally caved in and switched to AT&T
so I could have an iPhone … and there’s no going back for me. The iPhone — from
its display to the way it feels in your hand to the capacitive touch screen — is
simply gorgeous.

While its business applications are definitely not what
drives the iPhone (get a BlackBerry if that’s all you need), it will give you
both time-wasting and business functionality. During my research for this
article, I asked three of my iPhone-using attorney clients which legal business
apps they use and all three sheepishly replied, “None.”

APPS, APPS,
AND MORE APPS FOR LAWYERS: MY TOP 11 PICKS

What I really love about
the iPhone is “there’s an app for that.” No kidding. Any function you can think
of, search for it on the App store and you’ll probably find it. What are my
favorite apps for lawyers?

1. LogMeIn
Ignition ($29.99).  If you have an account
(fee-based or free) with LogMeIn, you can access your desktop using LogMeIn
Ignition. Granted, the display is quite small but I’ve been able to log onto a
client’s desktop using LogMeIn Ignition and perform a quick task like attach a
document to an email message or troubleshoot an error.

2. Ilium
eWallet ($9.99).  I live and breathe by this app. Store all your
passwords, credit card information, etc., and sync it to your Windows
desktop.

3. Facebook (free).  If you’re a
Facebook junkie, this is one app you can’t live without. Keep in touch with all
your Facebook friends directly from your iPhone.

4. TaskTask
($4.99).  If you have an Exchange server (2003 or 2007) and you need to
manage Tasks, try this app. Create and modify tasks directly on your iPhone, and
synchronize wirelessly with your Exchange/Outlook account.

5. Dragon Dictation
(free).  No set up or training required, and the accuracy is exceptional.
This app is useful for composing email or text messages and even updating your
Facebook status.

6. TouchMeeting (free but requires
account).  A desktop and mobile Web conferencing service. Attend or host an
online meeting from your iPhone.

7. InerTrak for iPhone
($4.99).  An easy-to-use app that can keep track of time and expenses spent
on different matters. You can check off days as they are billed, and view daily
totals for each matter as well as a summary view across all matters. Each matter
can include an hourly rate, automatically showing the monetary as well as time
totals. InerTrak for iPhone can synchronize data with InerTrak for Windows. You
can also email your time entries.

8. DocScanner ($5.99).  Scan
black and white and color documents to PDF or image files using your iPhone by
snapping a photo. This app can also make scanned images searchable with its
build-in OCR software. All image processing takes place on the iPhone, after
which you can email the files.

9. Evernote (free but
requires account).  Create text, snapshot, and voice notes that you can
access from your iPhone or Mac or PC using the desktop software or a Web
browser.

10 LawStack (free).  Looking for a “legal
library in your pocket?” LawStack comes preloaded with the US Constitution,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, Federal
Rules of Evidence, Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, and Federal Rules of
Criminal Procedure. You can also download other materials from within the
app.

11. Fastcase (free but requires
account).  Search case law from anywhere you have access to the
Internet.

IPHONE PROS AND CONS

The iPhone is not perfect,
but it has more going for it than against it. Below you’ll find my principal
pros and cons.

Attributes of the iPhone worthy of praise include:

• Native Support for Exchange Server — works with no drama.
• Voice Memos (iPhone 3GS only) — a simple voice recorder for making notes to
  yourself.
• Voice Control (iPhone 3GS only) — Place a call or play a song using voice
  commands. To activate this feature, hold the “Home” button down for 3
  seconds.
• Games — Stuck in an airport and don’t want to work? Play every kind of game
  imaginable. Or just surf the net with the excellent Web browser.

I may
love the iPhone but there is definitely room for improvement:

• Keyboard Navigation — What, no cursor keys? Editing can be quite cumbersome
  with no easy way to move back and forth through text.
• USB Support for Transferring Data — Most apps sync data via WiFi. I have set
  up an ad hoc wireless connection with my laptop but getting it to work reliably
  can be a challenge.
• AT&T — At this point, the iPhone is only available through AT&T. I
  dumped Sprint (which has excellent coverage in my area) to move to AT&T and
  my experience with its network has been less than stellar. There is a rumor
  afoot that a Verizon iPhone is en route this year. We’ll see.Also,
  AT&T does not offer insurance. Every smart phone I ever had from any carrier
  included the option to buy insurance through the carrier and have the cost
  appear on your monthly mobile bill. Insurance is useful for those of us who tend
  to run over, drop, or give swimming lessons to our smartphones. Not so with the
  iPhone. Break your iPhone, and you will dish out bucks for a new one. If you
  have a problem with it, take it to your local Apple store (if you have one) for
  a warranty repair. However, if you need a loaner, it will cost you. You can,
  however, purchase insurance through a service like SquareTrade.

  As
  an aside, AT&T offers a device called a 3G Microcell
  ($150). With AT&T coverage less than desirable, this device has made my
  transition to AT&T from Sprint relatively painless. Currently, the device is
  being tested in a few US markets (North Carolina being one of them). There are
  no per minute fees or any other charges whatsoever. There is an optional package
  ($19.99/month) that enables you to make unlimited mobile calls using your 3G
  Microcell connection. Also, there are some rebates available to lower the $150
  price tag.

  The 3G Microcell is a device that acts like a wireless network
  extender (also called “femtocell”). It uses a broadband Internet connection to
  give you 5-bar 3G access in your home or small office. The set up process is
  simple and it just works. I’ve used it for three months, and have had to reboot
  (power off/on) maybe three times. There are a lot of complaints that the 3G
  Microcell is just AT&T forcing the customer to pay for extending their
  less-than-adequate network. The AT&T 3G Microcell will roll out to the rest
  of the US starting this month.

CONCLUSION

Bottom line? I
love my iPhone despite a few drawbacks. It has all the functionality I could
ever need (or imagine) in a handheld device. Would I give it up? You’ll have to
pry it from my cold dead hands!

This article originated in TechnoFeature, a weekly TechnoLawyer
newsletter containing in-depth reporting by leading legal technology and practice management experts, many of whom have become “household names” in the
legal profession. It’s in this newsletter that you’ll find TechnoLawyer’s oft-quoted formal product reviews and accompanying TechnoScore ratings. Learn more about TechnoFeature.

– – – – – – –

A big thanks to Christel Burris for sharing her thoughts on the iPhone.  Here are links to the apps that she recommended, many of which I also recommend and have previously discussed on iPhone J.D.:

1. LogMeIn Ignition ($29.99): 
2. Ilium eWallet ($9.99): 
3. Facebook (free): 
4. TaskTask ($4.99): 
5. Dragon Dictation (free): 
6. Touch Meeting (free): 
7. InerTrak for iPhone ($4.99): 
8. DocScanner ($5.99): 
9. Evernote (free): 
10. LawStack (free): 
11. Fastcase (free):