Check out my new iPhone wallpaper! Super Mario is totally creeping behind my icons What apps do you have on your homescreen? Take a screenshot and share a link to it in the comments!

(press the sleep button at the top of your phone and the home button at the same time, the photo will then be in your library, and you can upload it to twitpic or flickr). Remember to link it in the comments!

This past month I’ve been using an iPhone app that literally has made me happier (or perhaps it’s just a placebo) The app is called Sleep Cycle. It analyzes your sleep patterns and wakes you in your lightest sleep phase. Think of it like Google Analytics for your sleep!

Before I purchased the app, I wanted to learn more about sleep patterns- so I did some light research (which means I Googled a bunch of different things and read for 30-minutes about sleep patterns). The short and sweet of what I found out is that a typical person’s sleep patterns is to go from light to deep sleep (REM) about 3 to 5 times each night. I won’t bore you by going off on a scientific tangent about the details of REM sleep and how it works, but generally speaking, getting deep sleep is the most important.

The Sleep Cycle iPhone app can’t measure your eye movement (which is the best indicator of if you’re in a light sleep vs. deep sleep), BUT what this app does measure, is your overall physical movement when your sleeping. The bottom line is, when you’re moving in your sleep, you’re likely in a light sleep- and when you’re not moving- you’re in a deep sleep. This app tells you that.

(two of my own recent personal sleep patterns)

For $0.99, this app has replaced my alarm clock. It’s awesome! All you do is put your phone under your pillow while you sleep. The motion sensor will detects when you’re in your lightest sleep within a 30-minute window of the alarm time you set. If you start to drift into deep sleep, it wakes you up in that 30-minutes so you don’t feel tired, groggy or exhausted. How cool is that!?!

If you’ve got an iPhone, this app is worth checking out- I think it’s pretty darn cool to know in the morning if you had a good night’s sleep.
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I’m a big fan of podcasts. Recently, I learned you can stream podcasts without having to download them on your iPhone! I’m sharing this with you because it’s seems to be such a “hidden” feature that I certainly wasn’t aware of (but it’s been available for a while). Launch the iTunes app and just search for any podcast and click on the title to start playing it. Simple and easy. I have a 20-minute commute into work each day, which is the perfect time window of time to catch up on my podcasts without having to dock my iPod and download them first.

Some people think podcasts are dead. I don’t agree with them. The podcasts I follow I are my own personal “virtual teachers”. I consider it my free continuing education tool. It helps me stay up with industry knowledge, teach me how to be better communicator, they provide motivation and I always enjoy comparing notes on how others “tell a great story”. Mitch Joel’s Six Pixels is one of my favorites to follow.

Do you listen to podcasts? What are your favorite podcasts to follow and why? Make a comment and share it with everyone. It’s great discovering new and interesting podcasts. Tell me your what are your favorites.

Recently, Apple recalled the USB power adapters for the 3G iPhone. They claim some hocus pocus about the adapter’s “metal prongs can break off and remain in a power outlet, creating a risk of electric shock“. Anyways, I got mine in the mail today — and I was a bit surprised. Check out the box they sent the ultracompact power adapter (that’s what they call it on their website), watch my video blog below.

**UPDATE**
My friend Ryan sent my pictures of his faulty USB charger. He described to me how when he simply pulled it out of the wall, one prong came out. Here’s a picture of his charger:

Back in 2007, Steve Jobs described a feature released on the original iPhone called Starbucks Select:

“You walk into a Starbucks. Order your latté. While you wait, you hear a song wafting from the loudspeakers. You love it. So you get out your iPhone and buy it over Wi-Fi. Just like that. The iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store on iPhone tells you what’s playing in select Starbucks and lets you buy it along with other featured Starbucks content.”

Back in ’07, I remember thinking this was the beginning of a great business model that could grow outside of just purchasing a song at Starbucks. But Apple has not moved forward with it.

Think about it… why draw the line at just selling Starbucks music? Why not something in more functional everyday commerce areas like retail stores, concerts, festivals or any event.

• What if… if you were at a concert and you had the ability to pull your phone out and order the album that’s being played on stage? Why not give people the ability to order the t-shirt and have it shipped to their house so they don’t have to carry it around? Let them order the album of the opening act or make a donation on-the-spot to the artist’s favorite charity.

• What if… while watching the Super Bowl you were able to get real-time updates pushed to your iPhone as commercials aired allowing you to bookmark for more information later or buy the product right away?

• What if… while watching American Idol you can purchase the shirt David Cook is wearing on stage? This would of course be done through an American Idol iPhone Application — in which you could vote for contestants and watch previous performances.

• What if… [insert more great ideas I haven't thought of yet here]

While I’m unfamiliar with the technical requirements it takes to setup a wi-fi base that once connected you’re iPhone would load a “Store Application”. I’m assuming with the launch of the App Store and it’s API, this in theory, could be relatively simple for the folks at Apple. Another alternative I’d offer: instead requiring developers to code a “Store Application” from scratch — is Apple could offer an application that resides in the next firmware update (universal user interface, few customizations here and there, standardized checkout — essentially give developers places to slot graphics, products, prices and descriptions). This would allow developers to then utilize an API to setup their own custom settings within using the web service. There could even be a per transaction fee Apple can mandate in order to monetize the Application.

Is my idea that far fetched? I’m sure critics would argue not enough users have an iPhone for this to be worth the investment on either Apple or the businesses. To which I would point out one million people purchased a 3G iPhone during is launch weekend. Is that enough users?

These are just thoughts, sparks, ideas… what are you waiting for Apple?
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**UPDATE** This post was featured on !  How cool is that?  Check out the article that mentions this blog post.