This is not an over-complicated app by any means, but it does what it is supposed to well.  That is, displaying images from Flickr in an easy to use format.  While it works in both portrait or landscape mode, landscape will obviously give you the best experience.  This has the so-called standard layout of the menus on the left, and a large viewing area on the right of the iPad.  Whether you are displaying photos from your own gallery, groups you are a member of, or just general browsing, you can view images in either a list or gallery style.

Browsing in the gallery mode you will now have the thumbnails on the left, and a larger gallery image on the right, and clicking a button will give you the detailed view where you can add/view comments, see tags, and find the location on a map.  FlickStackr also gives you the option to open in Safari, share view e-mail, add to favorites, or send to a Stack.  Stacks are basically a favorites area where you can send photos for viewing at a later time, even off-line if you choose.

And an added bonus is that you can upload pictures to Flickr right from FlickStackr.  You still have the same options to add information to your upload as you would by uploading via the website.  All in all this is a great application for browsing (and uploading) images to Flickr.  It only costs $0.99 and it is designed for both the iPad and the iPhone.

FlickStackr (iTunes Link)

In Mac OS X, if you need to burn some files or a music CD, it’s not too hard to do the basic things. However, if you need more and ask around for the application to do it, Toast will be the answer you get most of the time. When I had my Mac Mini it didn’t have a DVD burner, so I was limited to what I could burn, but with my new iMac I can burn just about anything, and I was excited that Toast would be my first review on it.

Toast 10, developed by Roxio, comes in two flavors. Toast 10 Titanium and Toast 10 Titanium Pro. You can view the comparison here, but in short Titanium Pro includes additional items like SoundSoap, Sonicfire Pro, and offers HD video burning and more. Some of these functions can also be used in Titanium with the purchase of additional plugins.

It put Toast 10 through its paces in every function that I was able to, with the exception of Blu-ray media as I do not have a Blu-ray burner. Toast 10 includes several components including Spin Doctor, Disc Cover 2 RE, Streamer, Get Backup, DiscCatalogMaker RE, and Mac2Tivo. For most general tasks I relied on the main Toast 10 window, which gives you access to most of the essential burning functions including audio, data, video, etc.

The user interface is clean, and is easy for anyone to pick right up and use. It gives you a list of choices under each section, such as Data, and from there you select which format to burn, whether it’s “Mac Only”, “Mac & PC”, DVD, photo, etc. The video section even lets you select from a list of DVD menu styles to apply to your video, along with other options like adjustable video quality. Of course burning media is just the start. If you need to copy CDs, DVDs, or even Blu-Ray disc, it’s not a problem and is as simple as a click or two.

When dealing with videos, copying them and converting them into a format that is viewable on all types of devices has always been a challenge. With Toast, just pop in a video DVD or video files, and it will be converted to your choice of formats. Another neat feature is that it can also optionally add the video to your iTunes library.

As mentioned above, Toast 10 also includes a few other very useful components. One that really stood out to me was Streamer. Drag your videos into the window, it’s exported, and then is available for streaming on your iPhone or iPod anywhere you are. Another really cool item is the CD Spin Doctor. This lets you capture streaming music or other audio you are listening to, and will then tag it and add it to your iTunes library.

Other items include Disc Cover 2 which gives you the ability to create labels for your discs. Another application that is very slick is Mac2Tivo. I unfortunately don’t have a Tivo so I was unable to test this function, but it has the ability to share videos from your Mac to your Tivo. If you are a Tivo user, this will no doubt come in handy.

Toast 10 was a pleasure to review, as it is one of the most feature complete packages I have ever used on a Mac. I really just touched on half of what Toast is capable of doing, and even if you don’t need every single item included, the overall product is a must-have for any Mac user who needs a copy, burning, and media solution that goes way beyond anything that is included with Mac OS X.

Link: Toast 10 by Roxio

Recently, I needed to find an application that was “similar” to one I use on Windows, which was Microsoft Visio.  After asking around on Twitter, there was only one response from a bunch of people…..OmniGraffle.  Wow, how did I not run across this before?  Needless to say this was an app I had to grab, as just looking briefly at the screenshots on their website, I knew this would work for me.

Just to get you up to speed, OmniGraffle is an application to create diagrams, charts, layouts, mockups, and everything else in between.  My need at the time was to create a detailed network chart of devices, computers, wireless access points, etc.  I was anxious to jump in to Omnigraffle and see what it could do.
Upon start OmniGraffle presents you with a fair amount of templates to get you started.  These range from space planning, to organizational charts.  Of course, you can start with a clean slate by starting with a blank page.  OmniGraffle is one of those applications where you can jump right in and get to work.  However, you would be missing out on so many features that there isn’t enough time to describe them all.

OmniGraffles includes a ton of stencils, shapes, fonts, fills, and much more.  Much of this is common objects you would use when creating a document.  You don’t have to rely on these completely though, as you can use virtually any image by simply dragging it onto the canvas.  You can also create your own stencils, and there is even an online repository to download more.

Creating your chart is easy, there is no other way to put it.  Drag your objects onto the canvas, and then you have a huge range of tools at your disposal.  Just about everything is editable and adjustable, so the manipulations you can do to your design is almost endless.  Whether it’s a mockup of a website you are planning, or a network chart, you will not find anything better to create them with than OmniGraffle.

Trial downloads are available at http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnigraffle/.

The iPhone is one of the most locked-down devices available today, yet, one software product is opening it up. PhoneView, from Ecamm, is built to give you access to the file system, your media, and more on your iPhone or iPod touch.

First off, PhoneView can serve as a ‘Finder’ for your iPhone. It gives you access to the file and folder hierarchy, allowing you to transfer files as you please. However, your phone must be jailbroken to see the entire disk, otherwise just the media folders will be displayed.

Another unique feature to PhoneView is the ability to view and export Call History and SMS messages. Additionally, the app allows you to view and edit notes, use the iPhone as a storage device, and gain access to the media, without going through iTunes.

The entire set-up is extremely simple, for after installing, the app will instantly open whenever an iPhone or iPod Touch is connected to the computer. From there, navigation is simple to any Mac user. The iTunes-esque sidebar contains all of the locations, and the content is displayed in a fashion that resembles the Finder.

PhoneView is undoubtedly a great tool to have, but is not for every user. Most people don’t need, or want, the access that PhoneView provides. In fact, most of this functionality can now be duplicated with either the 3.0 software, or other free tools via jailbreaking the iPhone software. However, if you’re looking for a way to gain easy access to your content on an iPhone or iPod touch, PhoneView is an elegant and effective solution.

See more on PhoneView and download it from ecamm software.

The iPhone may be capable of doing some pretty powerful and impressive things, but sometimes you only need it for simple tasks. One of these instances is seeing in the dark, which is where Flashlight comes in.

While there are no shortage of flashlight emulators available in the app store, I’m using the free one from John Haney Software aptly titled ‘Flashlight.”

By default, it opens to a blank white screen. However, you can also switch to a variety of colors, and even create a custom shade. The brightness of each color can also be adjusted by swiping up or down. There’s even a series of ‘Special Effects’, that include many pages of blinking colors and boxes.

Flashlight is, as it needs to be, incredibly simple. At free, the price can’t be beat. So, if you’re looking for a flashlight replacement in your iPhone, download “Flashlight” from the iTunes app store.

Web development tools for the mac are vast and plenty, yet Espresso is the newcomer to the game, from software veteran MacRabbit software.

Within Espresso, websites are stored as ‘projects’, which include a folder hierarchy and Espresso project file. Existing websites can be transformed into Espresso projects by importing a folder.

The interface to Espresso is elegantly done, with a three-column design. On the left, there is an iTunes and Finder-esque sidebar, with the ‘Workspace’, ‘Project’, and ‘Publish’ categories. “Workspace’ contains the documents that you are currently working on, which is a new take on tabs. ‘Project’ contains the file and folder hierarchy for the website you’re working on, while ‘Publish’ is an FTP manager for uploading and transferring project files locally and server-side.

The central column within Espresso is the main coding window and workspace. To the left is a ‘Navigator’ pane, which shows the tags used in the current document. Below that, are the ‘Quick Publish’ and ‘Snippets’ panels. ‘Quick Publish’ is a toggle to turn on or off automatic uploading to a server, while ‘Snippet’s allows you to create frequently-used fragments of code for easily adding to documents.

Espresso also has many advanced features that speed up production time and increase usability. For instance, there is a find-and-replace function that allows you to search within a document for any text or code, and then, if requested, you can then replace found text with something else. There’s also a live preview window that shows real-time changes being made to a document.

For being a 1.0 product, Espresso is an excellent web development solution. There’s even added ability for users to expand Espresso by downloading sugars, which add support for scripting languages, and themes, which modify the look of the editor.

I haven’t used Espresso exclusively, but after receiving a license in the MacHeist bundle, I’m definitely going to use it on a new project. See more about Espresso and download a free 15-day trial from MacRabbit Software.

Growl is one of the most popular, and widely used, Mac OS X utilities for displaying system-wide notifications. Prowl will now transmit your computer’s Growl notifications to your iPhone or iPod touch.

The app takes advantage of the 3.0 software to send Push Notifications to you. Setting up the computer-to-iPhone connection is simple, you simply sign up for an online Prowl account. Then, you download ‘Prowl’ as a theme for Growl, and all notifications will be ‘pushed’ to the iPhone.

The entire system is flawless, and having Growl notifications sent to the iPhone is a genius way of getting updates. The app works fine, and the only issue I’ve found is the inability to have notifications simultaneously displayed on the computer and on the iPhone.

While Prowl isn’t free, it’s worth it for any avid Growl user and isn’t terribly expensive at $2.99. See more by visiting Prowl in the app store.

The Sims, a popular video-game franchise from EA, has been ported to the iPhone as a life simulation game.

As many fans know, The Sims allows users to create people, design their homes, and control their lives. The iPhone version allows for many of the same features, but is heavily centered around the ‘life control’ aspect of the game.

For users that are interested in building and designing homes on-the-go, The Sims 3 for iPhone won’t fill your desires. There are minor moving, rotating, and purchasing methods for furniture, but these tools can’t compare to the features of the desktop version.

While controlling your Sims’ life, you’ll need to keep them satisfied and fill their wishes. Satisfaction levels include ‘Hunger’, ‘Energy’, ‘Bladder’, ‘Hygiene’, ‘Social’, and ‘Fun’. There are up to 73 goals and wishes that your Sim could come across for you to complete.

Within the game there are mini-challenges that improve a Sims’ skill set, which include ‘Cooking’, ‘Fishing’, ‘Repairing’, and ‘Gardening’. Of course, relationships are also a huge part of the game, in which you can befriend, anger, date, or marry the other Sims.

The Sims 3 is an extremely addicting game, that has engrossed me for many hours. There are numerous features and aspects to the game, some of which were mentioned here, that make it worth the expensive price tag.

See more about the Sims 3 for iPhone.

Analog recipe managers aren’t fun to use, or easy for that matter. One of the new digital recipe managers for the mac is SousChef from Acacia Tree Software.

At its simplest, SousChef allows you to import and create recipes. Recipes can have pictures, ingredients, directions, notes, and other information assigned to them. Each recipe can then be printed, blogged, or emailed.

SousChef can also store Grocery lists, that can either be printed or emailed. There’s even a full-screen cooking mode that includes support for control via an Apple remote and voiceover reading. Recipe search can be done with any number of factors, including name, ingredients, category, and cuisine. These factors can be combined and modified to any degree.

One feature that is unique to SousChef is a vast online database of recipes that, at the time of writing, has totaled over 103,000 recipes. The cloud database is accessible by the in-app search. SousChef will also keep track of recently imported and recently cooked recipes.

For the most part, SousChef is an excellent recipe manager and stacks up nicely against the other competition. It offers great features and has a supreme ease-of-use. SousChef costs $30, and can be downloaded for a free trial from Acacia Tree Software.

Blogging, as most people know, is typically done by writing posts in an online client. Yet, if you find yourself blogging a lot, and to different blogs, using the web interfaces can become tedious and even annoying. Luckily, MarsEdit is here to improve that experience as a desktop client.

The main window in MarsEdit is set up to display blogs on the left, with a list of posts on the right and previews of the selected posts below the list. Above all of that is the toolbar, which holds many basic functions. There’s nothing slick and flashy about MarsEdit, but it is functional and gets the job done.

Creating or editing a blog post opens up the blog editor and preview window. The editor is based around a large coding window. Of course, no coding knowledge is necessary to add text to the post, but the editor does support HTML and is not rich-text based. The editor window also has options for choosing categories, editing server options, adding media, and even some service-specific functions (such as choosing a post type in Tumblr).

There are many other powerful features to MarsEdit that aren’t located in the editor, such as the ability to schedule and edit posting dates, edit trackbacks, adding tags, and adding technorati tags. Unfortunately, some of these functions are hidden, or buried away, instead of being placed in the prominent editor window.

MarsEdit is also extremely powerful, with the ability to add and store local drafts, adding custom preview templates, support and ability to add macros, ability to upload photos to google, options regarding sending new posts, and sending pings. Each blog that you register can also have specific settings that pertain only to that blog. There are numerous blogging services supported, including but not limited to WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, and Typepad.

While there are other blog editors that are a bit flashier and do certain tasks well, none excel like MarsEdit does. It’s easy to use, simple to figure out, and powerful in more ways than one. Plus, their service is excellent.

From Red Sweater Software, MarsEdit 2 costs $29.95 and is available for a free 30-day trial.