iPhone Application Wish List

We’ve already spent way too much time trolling through Apple’s new App Store for ways to make our iPhone 3G even sweeter than it is out of the box. We have our favorites, like the iTunes Remote and AIM, and we still love fun items like Midomi, Shazam, and Crash Bandicoot. But we couldn’t help feeling that a few are missing. Here’s our wish list, developers… get crackin’!

1) A video recorder: Apple says it’s possible on the iPhone 3G (we saw an app or two for Jailbroken older models). So how about something "legit" from the App Store?

2) A voice dialer: There’s one up there that claims to be a voice dialer, but in the description, we found out it doesn’t actually initiate a call — meaning you still have to tap. We want real voice-activated dialing.

3) An email client with search: Did you notice there are no alternative email clients currently in the AppStore? The default app is definitely good, but we’re disappointed with its lack of searchability. Apple may fix this at some point, but surely there’s more than one way to design a mobile email app.

4) An alternative Web browser: Firefox anyone? Safari’s pretty solid on the iPhone, but perhaps in the "Think Different" spirit, people should choose their own browser.

5) A TV programming guide for North American cable carriers: Companies like Cox and Time Warner should provide apps for the iPhone that allow you to see what’s on. Even better would be the ability to control a DVR — something like what Zapper does but for set-top boxes that aren’t running Linux.

Some of these items are already available on competing smartphones from the likes of HTC and Nokia. While Apple is playing catch-up in some ways, likely having omitted video recording and email search to get the handset out on time, the iPhone’s potential overshadows its few shortcomings.