If you are like most of the lawyers that I know, then you enjoy a good cocktail.  Granted, I do live in New Orleans so my perspective might be skewed, but hopefully you agree that it is a lot of fun to explore new drinks and enjoy the classic ones with friends, either when out at a bar or at your bar at home.

On July 11, 2008, I stood in line at my local AT&T store to buy an iPhone 3G on the release date.  It was a long line, so there was ample time to talk to the other people, and behind me was Ted Haigh from Burbank, California.  Ted does graphic design work for movies, but he is better known as Dr. Cocktail, one of America’s foremost authorities on the history of the cocktail.  He was in New Orleans for the opening of the new location of the Museum of the American Cocktail, a museum of which he is the Curator, and indeed, a good number of the items in the museum come from his personal collection.

Ted played a role in the creation of the iPhone app Cocktails+.  The other person responsible for the content is Martin Doudoroff, a cocktail enthusiast and technology consultant in New York.  The two of them also created a great online database for cocktails called CocktailDB.  Ted and Martin recently agreed to divide and conquer; Ted is focusing on the online CocktailDB and Martin is focusing on further development of the iPhone app.  And since then, Martin and programmer Ian Baird have added some fun new features, such as the ability to share a recipe from the app via Twitter or Facebook.

If you are looking for a good collection of cocktail recipes on your iPhone, Cocktails+ is a great choice.  The problem with many cocktail collections is that some of the drinks sound like they were just made up yesterday.  But Cocktails+ has great respect for the history of the cocktail.  Each recipe in this app comes from a classic cocktail guide and includes a source and date.  A lawyer’s dream:  cocktails plus citations!

  

Indeed, the older the recipe, the more dated the background in the app (as if you were looking at old paper) — a fun detail.  And for many cocktails, there are multiple versions from different sources over the decades.  For the Sazerac, for example, there is a version from 2003 that uses Herbsaint, a version from the 1940s that uses Pernod, and a version from 1930 that uses absinthe.

  

It is easy to find a recipe from the over 2,000 available.  You can browse by title, by flavor, by type, or by base ingredient, or you can use the search function to search by title or ingredient. 

  

When you are looking at a recipe, if you want to learn more about any ingredient, just tap on it.  This will bring you to a helpful screen describing the ingredient, including possible substitutes if you are missing something in your bar.

  

Although I love Cocktails+ for the classic recipes, the app also includes new recipes from three famous contemporary bartenders.  Many of those, however, are a little over the top for me.  For example, the recipe for a Brandy New Fashioned from famous Seattle bartender Jamie Boudreau includes only three ingredients, but one of those ingredients — Bourdreau’s Cherry Bitters — itself is composed of almost two dozen ingredients and takes over four weeks to make.  Sounds like a fun drink to order and appreciate at a bar, but I seriously doubt I would take the time to make one.

You can mark a recipe as a favorite, but I wish that the app offered the ability to add notes.  Martin tells me that this is the #1 requested new feature for the app, so perhaps we will see this added in the future.  It would also be nice to be able to add new recipes that you come across.  But what Cocktails+ offers now is still a great app.  Indeed, the Wall Street Journal reviewed several iPhone cocktail apps earlier this year, and Cocktails+ was one of its favorites.  You can read the article here, although you may need to be a Wall Street Journal subscriber for that link to work.

If you want to see Cocktails+ in action, you can click here to see a video of the app provided by the developer. 

But better, yet just download the app right now … FOR FREE.  I was ready to recommend Cocktails+ at its regular price of $9.99.  But the developer is offering a special THIS WEEK ONLY — you can currently download the Cocktails+ app for free as a part of a promotion of the new “Publish to Facebook” feature.  This offer ends this Sunday, April 12, so be sure that you download the app now.

Cheers!

Click here for Cocktails+ (free now; normally $9.99): 

There were two articles in the New York Times this past weekend about the iPhone.  They are both getting a lot of buzz, so I though I would link to them in case you haven’t seen them yet, and write a little about one of the articles.

First, there was an article in the Fashion & Style section (of all places) called “The iPhone Gold Rush.”  It talks about some of the (few, lucky) iPhone app developers who have made a ton of money, such as the developer of the iPhone game iShoot who made $800,000 in five months.  A related article also ran in the Bits section of the Times.

Second, there was an article by Virginia Heffernan, the former television critic for the New York Times who now writes a column for the New York Times Magazine called “The Medium” which covers, among other topics, the convergence of television and the Internet.  I’ve long been a fan of Heffernan’s writing, even though she has been criticized as highfalutin and called to task for her esoteric references, not to mention once called the “Sarah Palin of Journalism.”  Her column that ran yesterday is called “I Hate My iPhone.”  When you combine the unprecedented popularity of the iPhone with a title like that in a publication as esteemed as the Sunday New York Times Magazine, there is no wonder why the article has been making the rounds on the Internet.  (One of my favorite critiques of her article was this one by Mike Rose in The Unofficial Apple Weblog.)

In the article, Heffernan talks of her purchasing an iPhone and then returning it.  The article is quintessential Heffernan, with phrases like this:  “the iPhone probably sips, like a lipsticky girl with a vodka drink” and “that device’s tarty little face and those yapping ‘apps'”.  Um, okay.  After I stepped over the clever phrases and looked for the reasons that Heffernan returned her iPhone, I found two.  First, she says that she has been a Blackberry user for years and she had trouble getting used to the iPhone’s virtual keyboard.  Heffernan doesn’t say how long she used the iPhone before returning it, but it sounds like it was just a few days, and even she admits that during that time she mostly just kept it in her bag.  She even notes that she felt hesitant to touch the screen after “years of not touching screens — so as not to smudge or scar.”  To perhaps state the obvious, anyone afraid to touch an iPhone’s screen cannot possibly understand all that an iPhone offers.  And it is a shame that she didn’t give herself more time with the iPhone.  The virtual keyboard isn’t perfect, but it is a good tradeoff for not having a physical keyboard always take up half of the space on the front of the device when you only need it a fraction of the time you are using the iPhone.  Moreover, just as it took time to get used to witting with Graffiti on an old Palm or to type with thumbs on a Blackberry or Treo, it does take time to get used to the iPhone’s keyboard.  It appears that her occasional usage over just a few days was not enough.

Second, she found that her AT&T coverage in New York was worse than her T-Mobile coverage.  That is obviously a fair complaint; I’ve heard many people say that Verizon has the best coverage in Manhattan and the surrounding areas.  On the other hand, I get great AT&T 3G coverage in New Orleans.  And I don’t see how returning an AT&T iPhone for an AT&T Blackberry would solve her coverage woes.

What I find most odd is that Heffernan seems like the perfect candidate for an iPhone.  She uses a Mac and an iPod, and Heffernan frequently writes about technology, social media, online videos, and other media.  The iPhone needs to have a phone, of course, but I find that the phone is one of the features that I actually use the least on my iPhone.  I am more often using my iPhone to run third party apps, surf the Internet, watch short YouTube videos, look at pictures, read e-mails or Twitter updates or Facebook updates, etc., and these are the very sorts of things that Heffernan has been writing about for years.  A device like a Blackberry Bold may be better at composing e-mails for those who demand a physical keyboard, but I don’t believe that the Blackberry can compete with the iPhone on all of these other features.  I can’t help but think that if Heffernan had just taken the time to get to know the iPhone, she would scoff at the idea of returning it for a Blackberry.

On the other hand, her experience did result in a fun article with an attention-grabbing headline that caused me, and countless others, to pause while flipping through the pages of the Times Magazine and has resulted in numerous links across the Internet.  For a journalist, I suppose that is one measure of success.  But I also know that lots of attorneys (and others) will read her article, and I hope that it doesn’t mislead them into failing to consider all that an iPhone can offer.

Since the day that the iPhone was first introduced, people have asked for the ability to edit and transfer Microsoft Office documents.  DataViz, whose Documents to Go software offered this feature on other smartphones such as the Palm Treo for many years, started working on such a program a year ago.  A beta of a Dataviz iPhone app has been previewed, but is still not available.

Meanwhile, TechCrunch reported (as did PC World) that Stephen Elop, President of Microsoft’s Business Division, stated yesterday at the Web 2.0 Conference in San Francisco that we may be seeing Microsoft Office on the iPhone soon.  His interviewer asked for more information on this, and Elop reportedly said “not yet, keep watching.”  Note that this is really nothing new — a year ago, Microsoft was talking about possibly developing iPhone apps.

In the meantime, one company is actually delivering — or, in part, about to deliver — the ability to edit Word and Excel files on the iPhone.  Quickoffice previously sold a series of apps with the MobileFiles name, and they are now rebranding and expanding those products (albeit with some price increases).

Quickoffice used to offer a free app called MobileFiles which could be used to download (but not upload) files from iDisk and view certain files such as images and Microsoft Office files.  QuickOffice has stopped offering that product.

The product that used to be called MobileFiles 2.0 is now called Quckoffice Files.  It remains at $3.99, and allows you to upload and download files from iDisk, transfer files to and from your iPhone using Wi-Fi, e-mail files from  your iPhone, and view a large variety of file formats including Microsoft Office, PDF, iWork, web archives, HTML, and MP3.  (The ability to view iWork files is a new edition to this app.)  Many attorneys will find that this app is the best solution to transfer files to and from the iPhone and view them.

If you want to edit spreadsheets, the app that used to be called MobileFiles Pro is now called Quicksheet, and the price has increased from $9.99 to $12.99.  Quicksheet offers all of the functions of Quickofice Files and adds the ability to edit and create Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.  (Excell 2007 spreadsheets can be viewed but not edited.)  Everything that I said about this app in my review of MobileFiles Pro remains true, the only change being some interface improvements.  This app works well.  (Note that Mariner Software similarly offers a $9.99 product called Mariner Calc that allows you to edit Excel files on the iPhone.  I have’t tried it yet.)

If you want to edit Word documents, Quickoffice has announced that they will release Quickword in just a few weeks.  Quickoffice says that this app will include the ability to select, cut, copy and paste text.  Apple will of course bring those functions to the iPhone in the 3.0 update coming out this summer.  It seems curious that Quickoffice would want to introduce a proprietary version of this feature just months before Apple brings the feature to all iPhone apps.  Perhaps Quickoffice just wanted to beat DataViz and Microsoft to the punch.  Unsurprisingly, Quickoffice says that it will support the iPhone 3.0 version of cut and paste when it is available.

If you want to get all of the Quickoffice apps, Harry McCracken reports that you will be able to buy a Quickoffice suite for $20.  (This might be a reason for you to wait to buy Quicksheet by itself right now.)

The curious thing about editing Office files on a smartphone is that while it seems like a great idea, it may not be something that you use very much in practice.  I had DataViz’s Documents to Go on my Palm Treo for many years, and while I frequently used the program to view files, I virtually never edited Word documents.  Editing spreadsheets is a little more useful because it is nice to be able to see how changing just one or two numbers can change a total.  But regardless of how often you actualy edit Office files on a device such as the iPhone, it is empowering to know that you can do it.  I’m glad that Quickoffice has already figured out how to do this, and I look forward to seeing competing apps from DataViz and, perhaps, Microsoft itself.

Click here to get Quickoffice Files ($3.99): 

Click here to get Quicksheet ($12.99): 

What happens when four lawyers from diverse practices and backgrounds get together to discuss how each uses their iPhone to improve their productivity and reduce a few of life’s frustrations?  You get a great list of iPhone apps that are sure to help you too! Apple reports over 25,000 apps are now available via the iTunes store, making it a daunting task to sift through to find the best. So here are some of the favorite picks from David Sparks of the MacSparky website, Ben Stevens of The Mac Lawyer website and Reid Trautz of Reid My Blog! (who are presenting on this topic at this year’s ABA TECHSHOW, which is taking place right now in Chicago) and Jeff Richardson who runs iPhone J.D., a site dedicated to attorneys using iPhones.

Productivity

• People (free): This app is essentially an iPhone gateway into an online White Pages that is very powerful and very comprehensive. Reid notes that he has located contact information for individuals by using this app that he didn’t think could be easily found.
• Note2Self ($2.99):  This is David’s favorite voice recorder on the iPhone. It automatically starts recording when you hold it up to your ear and as soon as you are done, it gives you an easy menu that allows you to email the voice file to yourself (or your secretary). This is perfect for capturing ideas and tasks for later action.
• reQall (Free): This voice-to-email reminder system is the poor man’s replacement for Jott, and works quite well. Just download the app, open a free account with reQall, and go!  Just dial reQall and speak for up to 30 seconds; within minutes reQall transcribes the message and e-mails it to your pre-designated account. Messages can be sent to others email addresses too.  [Jeff adds:  I haven’t tried reQall yet, but David Pogue gives it a very favorable review in today’s New York Times.]
• Evernote (Free):  Evernote is a cloud based information manager. You can drop notes, pictures, snippets, and other bits of information in it. Evernote then synchronizes the data between multiple devices including PC and Mac computers. While the information is up in the cloud, the Evernote servers do their best to apply optical character recognition to all of your files (including pictures) making it even easier to search your data. The iPhone application does a great job of capturing new bits of information and giving you access to all of your other Evernote data.
• OmniFocus ($19.99):  A Seattle based Mac-only developer, OmniGroup, last year quietly released what David considers the best task list management application he’s ever used. Based loosely on David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” system, this application allows you to sort tasks and projects on a variety of criteria including project, priority, context, and time. Their OmniFocus iPhone application puts all of the power of this application in your pocket. You can use this application for everything in your practice from managing the most complex litigation to remembering when to order new stationary. It also is location aware. That means that if you are in the supermarket, the application reminds you to buy spicy carrots for taco night.
• Things ($9.99): Currently the best-selling task management app at the iTunes store, Things is also based on the “GTD” system. Many users, including Reid, like the simpler, cleaner interface and easier learning curve than OmniFocus. Tasks are easily added and monitored, and related items like web pages and documents are easily associated with each one. Things also has a Mac application–named Best of Macworld 2009–that syncs with the iPhone via any wireless network.
• Calc-12E ($15.99):  David loves the HP 12-C financial calculator. This application faithfully recreates the device on your iPhone. It has the same buttons, functions, and the same RPN calculations. It also has some added bonuses. For instance, with the touch of a button you can email yourself TVM reports.

Email

• EasyWriter ($2.99):  Why hasn’t the iPhone’s built-in Mail app supported landscape mode from the beginning?  Apple’s upcoming 3.0 revision of the iPhone OS software (due this summer) will finally add this feature, but in the meantime David has been using this app which allows you to compose email in landscape. With built in text snippets for frequently typed words and phrases and spell check, David considers this is a no brainer for anyone who writes a lot of email.
• Sideways ($1.99): The app Reid uses to type emails in the landscape mode, similar to Easy Writer above.
• iSignature ($0.99):  The iPhone lets you use a single signature for all of your e-mails.  This app allows you to select from up to six signatures to use in your e-mail.  Jeff’s review on iPhone J.D. is here.
• gMail (free):  Ben has his firm’s email hosted in gMail (using Google Apps), and this free web app gives him instant access to his email account, including the ability to archive.  Jeff uses gMail as his back-up e-mail account, and he also loves this web app.  Note that there is nothing to download from iTunes; just go to mail.google.com using Safari on your iPhone and you will see an iPhone-formatted webpage.  Jeff suggests using the + button in Safari to add a link to gMail on your home screen, which you can tap to launch just like you would any other app.

Legal Research

• Cliff Maier Attorney Reference Apps ($0.99 to $8.99):  Attorney and part time iPhone application developer Cliff Maier has released a variety of reference applications for the iPhone covering various federal and state rules and statutes. Being a California attorney, David particularly like having the California Evidence Code and Code of Civil Procedure on his iPhone. Jeff loves the Fed. R. Civ. Pro. and Fed. R. App. Pro. apps.  The applications range in price from $0.99 to $8.99 and cover a variety of federal and state jurisdictions.  Jeff posted an interview with Cliff Maier on iPhone J.D., along with several reviews of many of these apps.  They were great when they were first released, and with the recent addition of features such as bookmarks, a jump button, improved search, and multiple ways of viewing the rules (by sections are “flattened” all at once), Cliff Maier has set the standard for what a good iPhone legal reference app can be.
• The Law Pod reference apps ($0.99):  Most attorneys will prefer Cliff Maier’s apps because they have more features, but it is nice to have an alternative, especially one that is inexpensive.  The Law Pod has done a nice job creating apps with the federal rules.  Click here for the review on iPhone J.D.
• Manual of the United States of America ($0.99):  With this app from Clint Bagwell Consulting, you get several reference materials including the Constitution, selected Supreme Court cases, the Federalist Papers. While not useful on a daily basis, it makes David smile knowing he’s got Publius on his iPhone.  Jeff’s review on iPhone J.D. is here.
• Wikipanion (free):  There are lots of Wikipedia apps for the iPhone, but Jeff likes this one the best.  The price is right (free) and it is very powerful, allowing your iPhone to quickly link to a virtually unlimited source of knowledge.

Time & Billing

• Time tracking apps (free to $59.99):  Jeff has described almost two dozen apps on iPhone J.D. that allow you to track your time using your iPhone, which can be especially useful when you are away from the office.
• DateCalcPro ($2.99):  This application answers the often asked question, “What is 45 days from today?”. If you need to calculate dates (most attorneys do), this full-featured application does it quickly and easily.
• DaysFrom ($0.99):  Another app that allows you to quickly calculate dates in the future or past.  This one lacks some advanced features, but is simple and fast, which makes it Jeff’s favorite. 

[Jeff adds:  Yesterday I posted this review of iPhone date calculators.]

File Sharing

• Air Sharing ($4.99):  One of the more popular apps for the iPhone allows you to access your computer files (documents, spreadsheets, slideshows, etc.) from your iPhone, provided you have set up access to those files via the Air Sharing service. Takes about 10 minutes to set up, then works like a charm. Was free in beta, now $4.99.
• FileMagnet ($4.99):  This application allows you to store documents and PDF files on your iPhone for later reference. There are several applications in this category, but David has found that FileMagnet has got the job done for him on trips and in trial.
• MobileFiles 2.0 ($3.99) and MobileFiles Pro ($9.99):  Jeff used to use DataCase, but has recently changed to MobileFiles Pro because the app makes it so easy to get documents to and from the iPhone.  The Pro version even allows you to use and edit Excel Spreadsheets, so (for example) you can keep a legal interest spreadsheet on the iPhone and actually use it, unlike other apps which just let you view a static image of a spreadsheet.  The app will soon add the ability to edit Word files.

Travel

• Google Maps (included): The purpose of this article is to cover apps that you can add to your iPhone, but this built-in app is so good that we couldn’t resist mentioning it.  The interactive features of Google Maps via the iPhone is worth the price of the phone service alone. David often use the Google Locator feature to find himself on the map, and then search for nearby restaurants; with a couple quick taps on the screen, you are talking to the restaurant to check table availability. Works for myriad businesses.
• Google Mobile App (free):  Jeff loves that he can quickly start this app, hold up the iPhone to his face, and then say what he is looking for and have a Google search run based on what he says.  This is often a lot faster and more convenient than typing out search terms.
• Say Where (free): A voice recognition add-on to Google Maps that allows you to speak your destination rather than enter the text into Maps. Amazingly accurate!
• Where To? ($2.99):  This application does no more than streamline the Google maps search process but it does it with panaché. Several of us like that it also lets you save favorite searches. Using it on an iPhone 3g, it can locate all the courthouses relative to your current location in seconds.
• Google Earth (Free):  David recalls when getting aerial photographs of a property was an expensive and time consuming process. Now you can do it right on your iPhone using Google Earth.
• Various weather apps:  It is always nice to know the weather when you are traveling.  Jeff likes the free apps AccuWeather, WeatherBug and The Weather Channel apps, but perhaps Jeff’s favorite is not an app at all — Weather Underground has a fabulous iPhone-formatted version of its website at i.wund.com.

Social Networking

• Twitterific (free): Reid likes this free for using Twitter from your iPhone, but is considering a switch based on Jeff’s opinion below.
• TwitterFon (free):  This is currently Jeff’s favorite Twitter app.
• Facebook for iPhone (free): Popular and useful for accessing Facebook when you are away from your computer. Works well, as it allows updates of your status, monitoring of others’ status, and chatting with online friends.  Ben uses this far more often than he should, and Jeff is also quickly finding it addictive.

News

• NYTimes (free):  Nice app for reading the latest New York Times articles.
• USA Today (free):  While the articles are less in depth than the New York Times, this iPhone app is very nicely done.
• ABA Journal (free):  The latest legal news.

Fun and Relaxation

• Relax ($2.99): When you are upset, angry, or stressed out many experts say to relax and visualize something peaceful. Well, this app is that visualization: It contains looping videos of soothing scenes–such as a crackling fire, seashore, and mountain streams–that will tame the beast in all of us. Ahhhhhh.
• Wurdle ($1.99):  This is Jeff’s favorite timewaster on the iPhone.  Similar to the Boggle game you played as a kid.
• 2Accross ($5.99):  This is currently Jeff’s favorite crossword app for the iPhone.  You can access tons of free crosswords, plus if you are a New York Times subscriber, you can download all of the current and archived Times crosswords.
• Remote (free):  If you have an AppleTV, Apple’s free Remote app is a must have.  The iPhone makes a great remote control for the AppleTV.
• Shazam (Free): How often have you heard a song on the radio but can’t remember or didn’t catch the name of it? Enter Shazam. Merely hold your iPhone near the music source and press the “Tag Now” button, and in less than 20 seconds you have the name and artist of the song–accurate about 95% of the time in our experience. Of course, you can immediately buy it via iTunes. Cha-ching!
• Movies (free):  This great app from Flixster allows you to find movie listings for local theaters along with descriptions and movie trailers.  You can even buy tickets online via this app.
• i.TV (free):  Jeff loves this app which gives you not only your local TV listings, but also movie theater listings, access to your Netflix account, the ability to buy tickets, etc.

Of course, with more apps coming on the market everyday and the new iPhone 3.0 just around the corner, we’ll probably be back soon with more ideas for you, your iPhone, and your law practice.

John Gruber posted a fantastic analysis of the evolution of the iPhone — and the evolution of devices in general — on his always compelling Daring Fireball website.  “Start with something simple and build it, grow it, improve it, steadily over time. Evolve it.”  Read this.  I think you’ll like it.

Lawyers, especially litigators, frequently need to calculate dates:  a brief is due in 45 days, an appeal is due in 30 days, a contract or an order compels performance in 100 days, etc.  I have been trying out some of the various date calculator apps for the iPhone for some time and I thought I would share my thoughts on three programs.  

DaysFrom Date Calculator.  This $0.99 app by Quinn McHenry of QD Ideas, LLC is my favorite of the bunch because it is simple and fast.  At the top of the screen the reference date is listed — by default, it is the current date, and you tap to change it.  Listed below are the resulting dates that are a certain number of days in the future (or past).  What I love about this app is that the user chooses the date ranges at the outset, and then they are set for as long as you keep them (although you can always add or remove the date ranges).  Thus, once I set up the app just once for the date ranges that I use the most, subsequent uses of the app are very fast.  Just pick the starting reference date and the ending dates are automatically listed.

  

This app does lack more advanced features, such as the ability to only count business days.  Quinn tells me that he first developed this app for his wife, a pharmacist who often needs to know what is 100 days in the future, and that while he has considered adding more advanced features such as excluding weekends, holidays, etc., he found that it just added too much complexity to the app.  Frankly, I think that Quinn made the right call.  Simplicity is a virtue, and being straightforward and quick is what makes this app great.  And priced at only a buck, I can’t imagine anyone being disappointed with this app.

DateCalcPro.  This $2.99 app from Adam Alexander has a few more features than DaysFrom.  When you launch the app, the default start date is whatever date you used last in the app and the default calculation period is whatever you set the last time you used the app, which some might find to be a useful feature.  You can count either a number of days, weeks, months, and/or years in the future or the past.  You can also pick two dates and the app can tell you the number of days between those dates (or even the years, months, weeks and/or days between the dates).  By default, the app counts every day, but you can also tell the app which days of the week to count, such as only Monday through Friday.  That feature could be useful if you are in federal court and confronting a deadline of less than 11 days for which, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 6, you don’t weekends or holidays; the app won’t take into account holidays, but the app can handle the weekends for you.  Frankly, for those 10 days or less periods I can just do the math in my head, but I can see this feature being very useful if you need to count business days for a longer period of time.

  

This app works well, and the author even has a Google Groups forum where you can discuss the app and request more features.  The only reason that it not my favorite of the apps is that it is just a little too powerful for my needs.  Because of all of the options, I find myself having to adjust several settings to get what I want, and DaysFrom just works faster for me with fewer taps.  But if you have the need for more sophisticated date calculations, you will like this app.

Date Calc.  This $4.99 app from Morgan Brown Consultancy, Ltd. is the most ambitious app of this group.  It allows you to not only count calendar days and business days, it also allows you to choose from one of 16 different holiday calendars.  The U.S. calendar, for example knows about 10 holidays:  New Year’s Day, MLK’s Birthday, Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas.  (Yes, that list complies with Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 6(a)(4)(A).)  You have an option to either go to today when you launch the app or go to the last date that you entered.  Like DateCalcPro, you can either pick one date and then count forward (or backward), or you can pick two dates and determine the number of days between them.  The app even allows you to send your results via e-mail.  So in terms of sheer number of features, Date Calc has the most.

  

As you can see, the interface of this app is unique and does not comply with the normal iPhone user interface (UI) standards.  In one sense this is a plus; it is nice to see a calendar.  On the other hand, the UI takes some time to get used to and the buttons are small and non-standard.  Please be aware that there is one very important aspect of Date Calc that you must consider when using the app — currently, the app begins counting on the first date of a range.  Thus, if your starting date is April 1 and you want the app to count forward 5 days, the app will tell you that the last day is April 5th, not April 6th.  In other words, the app does not comply with Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 6(a)(1), nor the rules of most states, which tell you not to count the day that begins the period.  (In Louisiana, for example, see La. C.C.P. art. 5059.)  However, the author of the app, David Morgan-Brown, tells me that this will be addressed in an update to the app that should be released in May.  He also plans to add the ability to save common offset calculations (15 days, 30 days, etc.) and larger fonts, which he tells me are two other features frequently requested by lawyers.  Those additions would greatly improve this sophisticated app.

For me, the UI is a negative, but I realize that is purely a personal preference.  Fortunately, the developer has made it easy for you to decide for yourself whether you like the UI becasue there is a free version of this app called Date Calc Free.  This version only tells you the number of days between two dates that you select; you can’t pick one date and then have the app count a specific number of days in the future.  The free version also lacks the holiday calendars.  Nevertheless, if you are thinking of getting the full version of Date Calc, I encourage you to first try the free version just to get a sense of whether you like the interface.

Conclusion.  These three apps take different approaches to calculating dates.  All of them do the basic job of counting forward (or backwards) a number of days, and which you pick is really just a matter
of personal taste on factors such as the interface and simplicity versus features.  DaysFrom is my favorite of the bunch because of the simplicity, but DateCalcPro is fantastic for its advanced features.  Date Calc seems less useful for litigators right now because of the way it counts, but once updated in May, I suspect that some people will consider it the best because of all of the advanced features.  It is nice to have choices, and I would be interested to hear from you on which one you like the best.

Click here to get DaysFrom ($0.99): 

Click here to get DateCalcPro ($2.99): 

Click here to get Date Calc ($4.99): 

Click here to get Date Calc Free (free): 

Yesterday, two new apps were added to the iTunes app store that are incredibly useful and free — always a great combination.

First, Skype released an iPhone app.  Why do you need Skype if your iPhone is already a cell phone?  Because with Skype, you can make calls over a Wi-Fi connection, which means that you don’t use up the minutes on your plan, plus you can even make calls on your iPhone when you are in another country over Wi-Fi.  Calling another Skype user is free; calls from Skype to a normal phone line cost about two cents a minute, or you can get unlimited calls to normal phone lines with a monthly plan.  I have only tried the app for a few minutes, but it seems to work as advertised.  Here are some of the better articles describing the app, although note that these are not reviews because they were written during the day on Monday and the app didn’t become available until late Monday night: Reuters, PC World, TidBITS.  (Note that if you don’t have an iPhone but instead have an iPod Touch, you can plug a pair of earphones with a mic into your iPod Touch and use Skype to make calls.  I’ve always described the iPod Touch as the “iPhone without a phone,” but now that there is a Skype app, even the iPod Touch can act somewhat like a phone, although I imagine you would have to have the app running to receive a call.)

[UPDATE:  Skype sure is popular.  The company says:  “In less than two days, Skype for iPhone has been downloaded more than one million times – around six downloads every second.”  Wow.]

Second, if you use DirecTV, then you should definitely get the free DirecTV app.  The app allows you to view a guide directory, so you can browse all of the channels on a time and date or you can pick one channel and then scroll through the upcoming listings.  You can also search for particular shows by program title, episode title, description, category, channel name or cast and crew.  And once you find something that you like, you can use the app to tell your DirecTV DVR to record it.  I have been using a DirecTV webpage to do these same things for a few months now; it worked, but it was slow and awkward.  The iPhone app is beautiful, functional and fast.  You can tap for more information on any listing, and there is often a picture that you can tap to see a roll of photographs — typically pictures of the cast members.  With this great app, you can easily tell your DVR to record a show (or an entire series) whether you are in the office, on the road, or even across the country.  Here are some of the better reviews of this app:  DBSTalk (in the first post, download the PDF file for a comprehensive review), TUAW, Art of the iPhone.  Here are a few pictures:

  
 

  

Click here to get Skype (free): 

Click here to get DirecTV (free): 

Within the last year, two documentaries about Apple have been released.  I haven’t yet seen MacHEADS, which I understand focuses on Mac users, but I recently watched Welcome to Macintosh:  The Documentary for the Rest of Us.  It is a fun and informative 80 minute look at the last 20 years of Apple hardware, told through the voices of people with a long history with Apple.  Some of the best include Andy Hertzfeld (co-creator of the Mac), Guy Kawasaki (former Apple Evangelist) and Wayne Wenzlaff (who placed the first order to sell Apple II computers at a chain of computer stores). 

By far the most amusing interviewee is Jim Reekes, who worked at Apple from 1988 to 1999, during which time he wrote the Mac’s Sound Manager and other audio software for Apple.  Reekes is perhaps most famous for creating the chime that plays when you start a Mac.  It was first used in the Mac Quadra in 1991 and then became standard on all Macs after Steve Jobs returned to Apple.  Describing the creation of this chime, Reekes says in the documentary that he realized that a user would hear this sound whenever the computer crashed, so he tried to design a “palate cleanser.”  He describes the startup sound as a “widespread C major chord with a high E in the upper voice which, to me, just sounds more bright and sort of unresolved, but happy.  It’s a happy chord.”  Of course, that sound is now synonymous with the Mac, and I chuckled when I heard it in Pixar’s Wall•E movie (it played when Wall•E’s solar panels finished charging).  Jim Reekes is a good storyteller, and his sarcasm is absolutely hilarious.  He was a surprise star of this movie.

There is much to say about Apple history and a lot is, of course, not covered in this movie.  There is little discussion of software, no discussion of former Apple CEO John Scully firing Steve Jobs in the 1980s, and a lot of classic stories are left out.  One funny law-related story that I was surprised to see omitted was the story of “Sosumi,” a sound included with every Mac from the 1990s until today.  Fortunately, this story is included in the great DVD extras as part of a 23 minute interview with Reekes.  The background to the story is a 1981 settlement between the Beatles’ Apple Corps and Apple Computer whereby Apple Computer agreed to stay out of the music business.  Ten years later when computers became powerful enough to create pretty good music, Apple Corps sued Apple Computer.  At the same time, Reekes was developing new sounds to be included with the upcoming System 7, and one of the lawyers handling the lawsuit brought by the Beatles objected to the titles of some of his sounds as being “too musical.”  Reekes describes what happened next:

Late at night, we were working, it was literally midnight or later, a few of us were sitting around and I walk into the group and I say, “I can’t believe that I just got this e-mail.  The lawyers are saying the name of my new beep sound is sounding too musical and we’re going to have to take it out.”  And I was like, “we’re not taking it out.”  So I had to figure out what we would call it.  And so I told the group, “I know, I’ll call it ‘Let it Beep.'”  I thought that was actually brilliant.  But it was too obvious.  And so everyone was laughing, and then they thought I was serious.  “No, you can’t do that,” and I’m like, “No, I’m not serious,” I’m like “so sue me.”  And then, that is when it hit me, hey that would be a good name.  I just have to spell it funny.  So that’s why I said, I could spell it like it’s Japanese.  Sosumi.  And that is literally where it came from, just in the moment, exactly like that.

So then luckily, the director, Sheila Brady, of Software Engineering, was in the room at the time.  And I said “Sheila, I need you to contact the lawyer, tell him we’re going to change the name of this dumb thing that sounds too musical, and don’t tell him what it is, but spell it for him.  Because if you say it, he’ll get it.  And I don’t think that lawyers have a sense of humor anyway, so they probably won’t get it if you just spell it and just tell him that it’s a Japanese word, it doesn’t mean anything about music.”  So she did.  She called him and left him a voice mail and said we got this new word, it’s a Japanese word, she misunderstood what I said and said it’s a Japanese word that literally means nothing musical.  And so that actually became one of the urban legends.  No, it’s just some nonsensical word that I made up.

Reekes says that he never disclosed the true story behind “Sosumi” until after he left Apple in 1999.

There are very few mentions of the iPhone in this movie (although it is discussed somewhat more in the DVD extras), but if you enjoy hearing Apple-related stories like the one about Sosumi, you should definitely watch this movie.  You can buy the DVD directly from the filmakers at their website for $19.84.  (Cute; the Mac was introduced in 1984.)  You can also just rent it through Netflix.  Here is the movie trailer:

The iPhone Blog has a nice post this week on how the new features in iPhone Software 3.0 will be appreciated by business users, which includes just about all lawyers who work at a law firm.  Features discussed include anti-phishing in Safari, an improved call log, the ability to create meeting invitations, additional language support, LDAP support, notes sync, VPN on demand, etc.  Many of these are features that I’m really looking forward to for me and my law partners who use iPhones.  Click here to read the post.

With over 25,000 apps on the app store, it can be hard to decide which ones to download.  Thus, I always find it helpful to see lists of the apps that others are using.  I am currently working with a few prominent lawyer bloggers to complie a large list of suggested apps — hopefully that will be finished and posted here next week.  But until then, here are a few other lists that are worth checking out.

Today, Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal posted this list of his favorite apps on the iPhone.  His picks are Tweetie (a good Twitter client, but I currently prefer the free TwitterFon), Facebook, Kindle, ICE, Easy Wi-Fi (note that Apple may include some or all of the functions of this $2.99 app for free in the iPhone Software 3.0 coming out this summer), ReaddleDocs (I use MobileFiles Pro to do something similar), Quordy (I am addicted to the similar gave Wurdle) and Google Mobile (which I also love).  Check out his column on the Wall Street Journal site (if you subscribe) or here on his free All Things D site for more info on his picks.

Last week, Virginia Lawyers Weekly ran this article by Justin Rebello with a list of recommended apps for lawyers.  Picks include Jott, Air Sharing, Stage Hand, NumberKey, Recorder (note that Apple will include a free Voice Memo app in the upcoming 3.0), Datacase, 1Password and Evernote.  As noted above, I use MobileFiles Pro which replaces the need for Air Sharing or Datacase.

California attorney Scott Wu also recently posted this list of over 30 favorite and free apps.