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): 

I'm still on the fence on whether and when to get an iPad (and if so, whether to get the original or the 3G version) and I expect that many of you are in the same boat.  Thus, I'm always intrigued to read about how other lawyers are using an iPad to do things that they couldn't do with an iPhone.

Peter Summeril is a plaintiff's attorney in Utah with the firm Hasenyager & Summerill, and he also runs the website MacLitigator.  Summeril recently tried a case against a public golf course after his client's golf cart flipped in an area he alleged was steep, improperly banked and leaf covered.  The jury found the city 70% at fault and found damages to be $361,661.  But what really interested me about the trial is that he used an iPad to run his openings and closings, display admitted documents and display deposition transcripts during cross-examination.  As Summeril describes on his MacLitigator website, the iPad worked so well that his laptop "sat somewhat despondent at counsel’s table" only used once for a quick search during trial.

If you are an attorney trying to decide whether to get an iPad, or an iPad owner trying to decide how it can be used at trial, be sure to read Summeril's great post.

As someone who travels a fair bit, I often have layovers at an airport while I wait for the next flight.  Typically there is just enough time to get something to eat or buy something I need, but the time is tight enough that I need to be efficient in doing so.  GateGuru is a very helpful app that lets you make the most of your time in the airport.  It used to cost $1.99, but now it is free.

When you start the app, if you are at an airport the app quickly figures out where you are.  Otherwise, you can jump the last airport at which you used the app or you can select from a list of airports.

Once you select an airport, the app allows you to select a particular terminal or concourse and then shows you all of the establishments at that concourse.  You can filter the list to only display food options, shops or services.  Each entry displays the name, category and location so you know where in the concourse to find the establishment.

You can tap on an entry to get more information such as reviews.  I rarely find the reviews helpful, but sometimes they are, such as this review indicating that the particular restaurant is one of only two sit-down restaurants at the concourse.

In addition to limiting your search to a particular concourse, you also can search the entire airport.  For example, let’s say you are at the Atlanta airport (which has a great train making it easy to go from one terminal to another) and you feel like going to the Chick-fil-A.  Where is it?  GateGuru quickly tells you that it is on Concourse A, right next to Gate A10.  Instead of wasting time looking for a directory in the airport and then looking over other peoples’ heads as they also try to figure out where to go, you can just head straight to the A10 area.

I’ve done a lot of traveling over the last few months, and this app has been a big help.  GateGuru makes it easy to quickly determine restaurant options or find a service, from an ATM to a shoeshine.  I see that the app has several other features — for example, it allows you to add bookmarks, review establishments, suggest additional entries for the app — but I haven’t used any of them.  For me, the core function of the app, the ability to efficiently determine what is available at an airport, makes this a must-have iPhone app for the frequent or occasional traveler.

Click here to get GateGuru (free): 

I’ve been a Macworld reader and subscriber for as long as I can remember, and today the magazine and its website are perhaps the best source of iPhone news and reviews.  The first issue of Macworld was released on January 24, 1984, the same day that the Macintosh itself was introduced by Steve Jobs.  Last year, on the 25th anniversary of Macworld, the magazine’s current editor, Jason Snell, wrote about that first issue revealing, for example, that there is no date on the issue because nobody knew for sure which day the Macintosh would debut.  Kev Kitchens of Low End Mac wrote another good article about the first issue of Macworld, which apparently included an interview with Bill Gates.

One of the founders of Macworld magazine was David Bunnell, a media entrepreneur who founded other magazines such as PC World.  Earlier this month, he started a series of posts called “My Close Encounters with Steve Jobs” on his website in which he describes the origin of Macworld magazine.  The posts are very entertaining and include lots of humorous stories about Bunnell’s meetings with a much younger Steve Jobs.

If you enjoy reading entertaining stories about Apple history, you will love this series of posts.  Here is a link to Part 1, and from there you can page through his website to get to the most recent entry, although along the way you’ll have to skip through some other posts which are not part of the story.  Or, here are direct links to the entries so far: [I’ve updated this post to include links to all 15 parts.]

Part 1: Meeting Steve

Part 2: Seeing the Macintosh for the Very First Time

Part 3:  We Met with the REAL Steve Jobs and He Showed Us the Macintosh!

Part 4:  Steve Jobs Tells Us to “Belly Up to the Bar”

Part 5:  Steve Jobs Comes Up with a Weird, Outlandish, Bizarre, Puzzling and Stunning Ad to Introduce the Macintosh

Part 6:  Steve Jobs Poses for 1st Cover of Macworld, Then Changes His Mind, but…

Part 7:  Andrew Fluegelman Urges Apple to Delay the Mac’s Introduction

Part 8:  Pat McGovern Meets with Steve, the Deal is Done

Part 9:  Steve is F*cking Great!

Part 10:  Steve Thumbs his Nose at the Apple II

Part 11:  The Macintosh Speaks for Itself (literally)

Part 12:  The Fat Mac Saves the Day

Part 13:  Steve Brings Tina to the Macworld Dinner Party

Part 14:  Ella Fitzgerald Sings Happy Birthday to a “Young Man Named Steve”

Part 15:  Steve’s NeXT Big Thing

This is a great series of stories about Steve Jobs and the early days of the Mac and Macworld.

I’m attending the PLAC conference in San Antonio in a few days.  If you are also attending
and you want to meet up and talk about all things iPhone, send me an e-mail or just track me down at the conference.  I look forward to seeing some of you there.

The big iPhone story this week was the prototype iPhone purchased by Gizmodo for $5,000.  Heck, even I couldn’t resist talking about it twice.  But believe it or not, that wasn’t the only iPhone news of note.  Here is the other iPhone-related news that I came across and wanted to share with you.

• MacUser UK reports that Google announced yesterday that it plans to bring free turn-by-turn navigation to the iPhone, although it didn’t say when it would do so.  The free turn-by-turn directions that Google provides with its Android phones has gotten good reviews, so from that standpoint it would be nice to see it on the iPhone … unless you happen to be one of the developers of an iPhone app that does the same thing.  I imagine that the more expensive apps on the iPhone will continue to offer premium features, but it could make it difficult for some of the less expensive iPhone apps which have more limited features.  (Link via Chicago attorney Dan Saavedra.)  [UPDATE:  Now Google is saying that they didn’t really mean that it is coming to the iPhone, according to this report from PC World.  “We did not say we would bring it to iPhone, we said to date we’ve had
  
  it on Android and that in the future it may come to other platforms but
  
  did not confirm this will be coming to iPhone at all.”  Hmm.]
• If you are a tax attorney, you might be interested in two “Law ToGo” apps from Jade Nile, LLC that came out over the last month.  One contains the Tax Code and the other contains the Treasury Regulations.  You can see videos of each app on the Law ToGo website, and attorney Martha Sperry has a review on her Advocate’s Studio website that walks through the features of the app.
• Zusha Elinson writes for The Recorder / Law.com about Apple’s outside IP litigation counsel.  Weil, Gotshal is handling a counterclaim filed by Apple against Kodak last week, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr is handling a dispute with Nokia, and Kirland & Ellis is handling Apple’s patent offensive against HTC over Google Android phones.
• Speaking of lawsuits, Charles Starrett of iLounge reports on a new class action filed against Apple alleging false-positive readings on the iPhone’s moisture sensors.  I once stood in line behind someone at the Apple Store Genius Bar who was quite insistent that her teenage son had NOT gotten his iPhone wet and therefore it was still in warranty.  I didn’t buy her story at the time, but who knows.
• Earlier this week, I discussed Apple’s last fiscal quarter in which it sold a record number of iPhones.  Those sales benefited not only Apple but also AT&T, which sold 2.7 million of the 8.75 million iPhones last quarter.  Electronista has more details.
• Apple added a support article to its Knowledge Base warning people that if you jailbreak your iPhone, it may become unstable.  I agree, and that is why even though I know that there are some interesting things that you can do once you jailbreak an iPhone, I have never done so and I don’t recommend that you do so unless you fully appreciate and accept the risks.
• If you want a really thin battery case for your iPhone, for a long time the Mophie Juice Pack has been the product of choice.  However, Engadget reports that MiLi has come out with a similar case that is a twentieth of an inch less thick.  So there.
• Apple has been running some new ads for the iPhone, continuing its theme of showing off great apps.  You can see all of the latest ads on the Apple website right here.
• Marco Tabini of Macworld looks at the feature currently in the iPad in limited fashion, and coming to the iPhone in 4.0 this Summer, that allows you select a document in an app such as Mail and choose to open it in a third party app.
• Greg Lambert at 3 Geeks and a Law Blog writes about Thomson Reuters offering prizes for app developers.  The focus of this contest is apps for financial professionals, but I hope that the company is also working on a useful Westlaw app for the iPhone.
• Paul Miller of Engadget writes a good report on what we know about the hardware features of the “lost” prototype iPhone that Gizmodo purchased for $5,000.  I imagine that we will see most if not all of these features in the next generation iPhone that I expect Apple to debut in June.
• Infamous bank robber Willie Sutton has been widely (and perhaps falsely) quoted as answering the question of why he robbed banks by saying “because that’s where the money is.”  You might expect that Apple puts Apple Stores in the areas of the country where there are the most people who buy Apple products, but as Gary Allen of ifoAppleStore reports, this is actually not the case.
• Tony Bradley writes in his Tech Audit column at PC World that the upcoming 3G version of the iPad could be the ideal mobile business tool.  I’m still trying to decide whether to buy an iPad, but my current thinking is that the 3G version makes the most sense for lawyers.
• On the other hand, the Wi-Fi version of the iPad will work just fine if you have a portable Wi-Fi hotspot such as the MiFi.  The MiFi, which gets great reviews, typically sells for anywhere from $50 to $250, but Amazon is currently selling it for ONE CENT if you get a two year Verizon contract ($40 a month for 250 MB of access, $60 a month for 5 GB of access).  Sounds like a great deal.
• Jeff Smykil of Ars Technica reports
  
  on data from advertising group Chitika which leads them to conclude that over half of
  
  all iPad users use Windows at home.  The data source sounds a little
  
  unreliable to me, but the conclusion may well be correct.
• Bill Gates on the iPad, as reported
  
  by Phil Bronstein of the San Francisco Chronicle:  “It’s okay. The
  
  scenarios aren’t that clear. But it’s good looking.
  
  [Steve Jobs] does good design, and [the iPad] is absolutely a good
  
  example of that.”
• And finally, would you like to turn your iPhone into a retro phone?  Then you’ll want to get the iRetrofone Base being sold on Etsy for $195.00.  (Link via iPhone Savior)