AppTalk

From Lifehacker: The iPhone is a fantastic phone, but if you're a heavy user of Google services, it can be a little confusing to set up your Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Contacts to sync with iOS. If you follow the directions on iPhone and set up your Gmail the way they say, you'll get your mail, but your gmail contacts won't be synchronized with your phone. But if you choose Microsoft Exchange at the prompt instead of Gmail, this will give you access not only to your Gmail, but your calendars and contacts, and they will all sync directly to your phone—when you add a contact in Gmail or edit an event on Google Calendar, you'll see it show up on your phone without having to sync anything. Here's how to set it up.

Wow--I can think of a lot worse things to spend $53 on!

Review: Verbatim Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard for iPhone, iPad 2

We've previously reviewed MLB.com's At Bat, the somewhat pricey ($14.99 for the 20011 season) app that gives you full radio and a lot of TV access for the entire baseball season.

MLB.com At Bat Lite gives you a chance to try it out during spring training. Watch out--it's addicting!

I'm not a huge Oscar's watcher, but if I were, I would CERTAINLY download Oscar Backstage Pass. OBP has 10 live feeds so you get 10 times as much coverage as "mere" TV.

The February appTalk was a perfectly orchestrated presentation of the newest and best iphone apps.

Or not.

Regardless of our technical snags, here's a summary of what we discussed:

• Jim started off by introducing Google Goggles, a fairly recent improvement to Google Search that allows search by phone camera. We showed how a photo of the cover of a book returned search results based on the book title, the author, and even the picture on the cover of the book!

• Ron demonstrated The Photographer's Ephemeris, a great tool that allows you to know and predict the optimal sunrise, sunset, and elevation (and so much more)!

• Jim wrapped up with an even newer google enhancement for the phone: Google Translate. This tool allows you to speak a phrase, and see it and hear it instantly in another! Amazing!

Due to time constraints we didn't have time to talk about the great and free apps available in the new App Store. Here are some of the best:

• Evernote. We've discussed this before--still one of the best ways to collect and organize all your info, regardless of format.
• Remind Me Later: 
• Sketchbook express:  A quick, easy, fun way to draw on your Mac, just like the iPad app, but without the touch screen. Great for a variety of functions, including cropping and quick edits.
• Kindle for mac: Kindle for iPhone/iPad is great, and Kindle for Mac lets you control everything from your desktop. Shop, save, and read, all from within the app.

I love all of these apps, and they're not just for Verizon iPhones, of course. You can be sure we'll touch on some of these at the next appTalk presentation.

10 must-have apps for Verizon iPhone owners (screenshots) - CNET Reviews

And as long as we're on a Skype roll here--even though this isn't an "app":

Skype 5.0 Brings Group Video Chat to Mac OS - iSmashPhone iPhone Blog

As follow-up, here's some more info on Skype for the Mac:

Skype 5.0 for Mac Exits Beta, Group Calling No Longer Free [VIDEO]

Want to have some facetime with someone without wifi? Skype has a new app out that lets you do just that. Here's a full review.

Of course, there may be times when you want a phone call to rescue you from a boring conversation. That's when fake calls comes in handy. .99 is cheap for that kind of intervention!

Finally, Esver showed us how to print on a Brother printer from our iphone using  iBrother Print&Scan.