Google Apps for iPhone, iPad: 10 Must-Haves - Mobile and Wireless - News & Reviews

By  Nathan Eddy on 2011-07-28 As many of Apple’s smartphone and tablet rivals have been learning over the past few years, a device’s platform is only as good as the applications out there to leverage it. Apple’s App Store boasts tens of thousands of outstanding applications in categories ranging from productivity to games. There is also an impressive selection of apps from search engine giant–and sometimes Apple rival–Google. The two iconic companies have learned to play nicely in smartphone application format to great success. Google has almost a dozen free applications for the iPhone and the iPad , offering users a translation service for 58 languages, a mobile version of the company’s social networking challenge to Facebook (Google+), the Google Voice application and a robust version of the perennial time-waster Google Earth. For the more consumer-minded, mobile versions of Google Places and Google Shopper target your favorite haunts and beloved products and tell you about other places and things you may want or need, which you almost always do. Finally, for the security-conscious, Google’s Authenticator application clamps a two-step verification process to your account, with support for multiple accounts. Oh, and if you want to use your iPhone for a TV remote, don’t sweat—Google’s got an app for that, too.
Google + (Free) This mobile version of Google’s new social networking platform includes Huddle, which lets users send mass text messages. Google Search (Free) With the Goggles, Voice Search and My Location features, search becomes more personalized than ever—if that’s what you’re searching for, of course. Google Earth (Free) Explore the distant corners of the globe via Earth, view geo-located Wikipedia articles and millions of photos with this mobile version of the desktop app. Google Voice (Free) Skip Skype and head to this app for access to voicemail and free text messages to U.S. numbers, and low rates on U.S. and international calls. Google Translate (Free) Translate more than 50 languages through speaking or text, and have access to an offline translation history—ideal for world business travelers. Google Places (Free) Quickly find (and then rate) nearby restaurants, bars, cafés and other places, and check out the apps recommendations based on your ratings. Google Shopper (Free) Shopper helps users find information on millions of products, recognizing items by cover art, barcode, voice and text search. Google TV Remote (Free) Turn an iPhone into a fully functional Google TV remote, using the mouse pad, arrow keys and range of buttons—as well as using your voice. Google Authenticator (Free) This app works with two-step verification for your Google Account to provide an additional layer of security when signing in. Google Books (Free) Gain access to more than 2 million Google eBooks on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with this app.

source: www.eweek.com