Growing up, I begged my parents for a Swiss Army knife. I envisioned myself heroically whipping it out to cut away tangled shoelaces and whittle hunks of wood into neat little figures. They refused — what if I poked the dog’s eye out, or worse, my own?
Now, as an adult, I have slick, sleek version with me at all times, tucked into my back pocket. Actually, most of us do: our smartphones.
In Sunday’s Times, I reported on how Apple has pushed the capabilities of our mobile phones with its iPhone and the tens of thousands of quirky, goofy and handy programs available for download through its App Store.
But which applications are capturing the eye — and fingers — of Apple executives?
After interviewing Philip W. Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide product marketing at Apple, about the future of the mobile computing industry, I grilled him about which bite-sized programs he likes to use on his iPhone.
His first choice: Shazam, the application that identifies what song is playing in a bar or on the radio and lets users download it.
“There’s just something so amazing about being anywhere, and some music starts playing and you just hold up your phone and can find out what it is,” Mr. Schiller said. “You never again have to say ‘That’s a great song! Who is it by?”
Mr. Schiller also highlighted CNN’s app, saying, “It’s really cool having the news in your pocket.” And he likes Facebook’s iPhone app to stay connected.
For sports, he uses a trio of applications, including MLB.com at Bat, NBA Game Time and ESPN ScoreCenter.
Mr. Schiller also confessed that he likes to devote thumb-time to gameplay, in particular the futuristic first-person shooter Eliminate from ngmoco and geoDefense, a retro-inspired, neon puzzle game.
Finally, Mr. Schiller listed Best Camera, an app that turns iPhone owners into a photo artists. Developed by renowned photographer Chase Jarvis, the application has 14 filters and effects that can be applied to photos taken on the iPhone.
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