Just under 20 hours before the official release of the new iPhone 3G, Apple’s opened the doors to the App Store. A lot of great apps are already available, and I wanted to share my selection of fantastically designed and useful apps that you can grab when you update your current iPhone (or even better, get a new 3G iPhone).

All of these applications are linked to the iTunes Store, so click the link to proceed to their iTunes page with screenshots and other information.

Twitterrific. – Iconfactory (free or € 7,99)

The Iconfactory’s Twitterrific is already reknowned as the premier client for the microblogging service Twitter on the Mac, and they’ve expanded to the wonderful iPhone and iPod Touch platform. Looking at the screenshots, it boasts a unique and beautiful UI, with familiar characteristics from the desktop application like replies to your tweets that are highlighted in orange. As with the desktop version, the ad-supported version is free, and a ‘Premier’ version is available for €7,99 (I believe this is about $9,99 in the USA).

Tuner. – Nullriver (€ 10,49)

Although pricy, Nullriver (known from their efforts on ‘jailbreak apps’, i.e. applications developed before the official SDK was released) has also come forward with an internet radio tuner with a fresh interface. I know first-hand that Nullriver has made some excellent iPhone products prior to Tuner, and the application looks very attractive for on-the-go music. Certainly an app I would purchase.

Tipulator. – Tap Tap Tap (€ 0.79)

WhereTo. – Tap Tap Tap (€ 2.39)

WhereTo and Tipulator could be considered the absolute cream of the crop in the App Store when it comes to UI. With a few exceptions, no application in the store comes close to the level of polish and detail that can be seen in these applications by the new Tap Tap Tap team. The developers and designer in the team are quite well known; Sophia Teutschler (perhaps you know CoverSutra?), John Cassanta (MacHeist et al) and the very skilled designer Wolfgang Bartelme have produced some excellent applications under this label. I’d recommend checking these apps out first when you get around to browsing the App Store on your portable.

Remote.. – Apple Inc. (free)

Interestingly, Apple themselves released a freeware application on the app store that lets you control iTunes. It’s a very straightforward and iPhone-native application that blends in with the other pre-supplied iPhone apps in an elegant way. No more getting off your couch to skip that album or to switch the speakers you’re sending audio to; Remote lets you do this all from your iPod Touch or iPhone. A very welcome addition to the iTunes featureset.

Trism. – Demiforce (€ 3,99)

I have been playing Trism since the trial version became available on the jailbroken iPhone installer. It’s a very easy to learn and fun game that works with the accelerometers in the iPhone to add an extra dimension to an otherwise unremarkable puzzle game. Cleverly thought up, Trism is one of the more fun games in the App Store, but its graphics aren’t really up to par when compared to the heavy-hitters like Super Monkey Ball.

Moto Racer. – Freeverse (€ 7,99)

Freeverse is also releasing a very impressive 3D racing game called Moto Racer. This speedy game allows you, just like Pangea’s Cro-Mag Rally, to race through detailed 3D environments by using your iPhone as a steering wheel of sorts. Since words don’t really do its gameplay justice, I recommend you just grab it and play it!

Sketches. – Late Night Soft (€ 5,99)

Sketches is also one of those apps that’s been developed before the official SDK was even around. However, Late Night Soft has expanded significantly on its featureset, adding a very innovative and natural interface for managing multiple sketches. Sketches lets you ‘fingerpaint’ sketches, add graphics to photos and maps and interact with the results easily.

Netter’s Anatomy. – Modality Inc. (€ 31,99)

Also featured in the WWDC 2008 keynote, Netter’s Anatomy by Modality is really a niche product for medicine students or people who are active in the medical sector. It is a comprehensive studying and reference application with information on the entire human body and anatomy. The interface is a true work of art, looking crisp, native, and very intuitive (especially for such a ‘sophisticated’ application). If you fit the target audience, I’d certainly bite my lip and pay the (relatively) steep price to purchase Netter’s Anatomy.

Telegram. – Polar Bear Farm Ltd. (€ 7,99)

Telegram is a novel app by Polar Bear Farm that lets users send each other short audio messages, in their words ‘combining the best of three major mobile communication types’ (email, SMS, and calling). The interface is very nicely thought up, although the technical (graphic) implementation of it is a bit shoddy. I think it’s a very cool idea to wrap such a service (a 1-year subscription to their voice messaging ‘backend’) into an iPhone app and make it easy to use with a unique UI. Telegram retails for the going shareware iPhone app price of 9,99 dollar.

Exposure – Connected Flow (free or € 7,99)

From the makers of flickrExport on the Mac, Exposure is an iPhone application following the model of Twitterific; a free version, and a ‘Premium’ edition. Both free apps feature advertisements from the Deck, a non-obtrusive and high quality advertising network. Exposure lets you browse flickr from your iPhone, keep track of your friends’ photos, comment on photos, and, most interestingly, find pictures on flickr that have been taken near your location. This feature sounds absolutely fascinating to me, as it’s very useful to see pictures taken near you (imagine landmarks, or other points of interest and navigation aids).

These are my favorite App Store debut apps; I hope I’ve whetted your appetite for the applications that will come rolling in in due time that also carry some great graphics from my hand. For now, you will have to wait until at least August to see some of those, but trust me: it’s worth the wait!

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