TwitterFon Pro
Mobile Twitter Client
Developer: Kazuho Okui
Price: $4.99

TwitterFon, the popular iPhone and iPod Touch Twitter Client, released a long overdue update to their app that introduced several new features, the most noticeable being ad support for the free version. But if you think you can get around the introduction of advertisements by skipping the update, you may want to reconsider due to the number of general usability issues that slow functionality and often times crash the app.

Alternately, TwitterFon released the first Pro version of the app. Gone are the load time issues that accompanied Twitter’s recent change to how often API’s can retrieve information. The pro version offers the familiar interface with a few changes to accommodate new features.

The most noticeable difference between its free-version counterpart is that it removes the advertisements. Users will also get multiple accounts support, the ability to save search results, four different themes Shake to reload (who cares?), and landscape Keyboard mode. If those features weren’t enough to sell you, the Pro version has user authenticated support for bit.ly, which can be useful if you need to track statistics while on the go, and integration with Instapaper, a site that lets you save links from your feed so you can continue scanning the bulk of updates.

Comic Zeal
Mobile Comic Book Reader
Developer: bitolithic
Price: $1.99

The Comic Zeal iPhone app offers a way to read comics on a handheld device that conserve battery life much better than other similar applications. While most people may be turned off that it cannot read CBR or CBZ formats, the decision was intentional since CBR files are usually compressed and would require processor power to open (thus also decreasing battery life).

The downside to this is a lack of comics available. However, anyone can use the to upload their own user-created content so its a fair trade off.

The app has a great navigation interface as is storing and downloading new comics. Users can download comics directly from the app itself or upload them if they’ve been stored elsewhere. Version 2.06 offers new “eye-candy” graphics, like the ability to organize collections into comic boxes and bookmark pages for unfinished comics.

Most geeks don’t realize Apple’s app store for the iPhone is chock-full of free apps that have nothing to do with a Lightsaber. There are literally thousands of things to download to satisfy nearly every electronic need you may have. Below is a list of five essential apps every Geek should experience…

The Dark Knight: HaHaHa

Remember when viral marketing began for The Dark Knight? The odd Web sites with Harvey Dent’s campaign all over the place. Billboards with “I believe in Harvey Dent” plastered on them. And then weeks later the picture of Gotham’s would-be District Attorney was defaced with black circles around his eyes and bright red mouthy-lookin’ Bat symbol. The HaHaHa app gives you the ability to tag any picture with the hideously cool graffiti. Literally no one is safe from being Jokerized — not friends, not family, not even your pets are safe from jokerization. I went nuts and Jokerized all my friend contacts for an entire month (which possibly cost me at least one professional relationship and perhaps a dozen evil glares — all worth it.)

Ever wonder what it might be like to have a Star Trek phaser of your very own? I have. Ever since I saw Kirk and Spock fire at a rock, a Horta, or a crazed crewman, I’ve been intrigued with the possibilities of coherent light. This led to early perusal of The Way Things Work: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Technology for the explanation of how lasers worked and time spent pouring over ads in Edmund Scientific catalogs for real lasers. Eventually, I got to do some experiments with lasers in my college physics classes, but I was still not completely satisfied.

Though the Executive Series Fusion has the size, dull matte finish, and heft of a high quality laser pointer, it means serious business. Meant for the optics enthusiast, it is bright — insanely bright. You can see the beam in darkened rooms. You can also damage objects. You can make holes in dark-colored balloons and dark trash bags and cut black electrical tape. The Wicked Lasers web site even says it will light wood or paper matches.

It’s not every day that you see something new in the world of personal stereo headphones. From the lightweight over-the-ear sets that came with the first Walkman to the white earbuds distributed with the Apple iPod, real innovation has been hard to come by. The “look” of the basic product has changed radically over the last 30 years, but the actual mechanics of turning an electrical signal into sound in your ear has remained largely unchanged… until now.

The new AirDrive headphones from InAir Technology represent a significant departure from the design of previous headphones. They do this by placing the drivers that emit sound in front of the tragus of the ear, rather than over or inside the ear canal. Sound from the AirDrive headphones is then caught, reflected, and amplified to the other parts of the human outer ear, allowing the listener to hear whatever those headphones are playing.

The potential benefits of this design are significant. Biggest on the list is hearing protection. Concentrated sound waves are not emitted directly into the ear canal, thereby significantly reducing the potential for hearing damage. Any sound can cause hearing damage if it is loud enough, that is true. The possibility that a sound produced by a personal stereo will reach that threshold is much smaller with the AirDrives than with other kinds of headphones. Another benefit is that the hearing surfaces of the ear are not blocked by the AirDrive headphones while they are in use. It is possible to hear other people and noises much more clearly than with headphones or earbuds that cover the ears. Devices that are brought to the ear (such as a phone receiver) can be used without removing the AirDrives, making tasks like answering the phone less cumbersome.