To me, 1Password is the single greatest application on OS X. 1Password is an application that allows you to securely use one master password to access all your web accounts, credit card data, and online identities from your Mac and iPhone. It is as easy as command + |.

What It Does

1Password has 3 main things I consider to be its core functions. The first one is a secure password manager. 1Pasword creates a secure database of all your web passwords and organizes them in a very clear and easy to manage interface. It also helps you to generate very secure passwords all from inside your browser.

The second core functionality associated with 1Password is a great form filler. You can create identities in the application where you fill out names, addresses, phone numbers, emails… Then when you go to sign up for a new web application, all you have to do is click the 1P button and import all your identity info into the form.

The third core functionality is one I don’t really use, but I know people that do, and that is the wallet! This allows you to securely store credit card information in a nice and organized database. It works with credit cards, membership id cards, web services, and bank account numbers.

As promised, Apple has released the iPhone 2.1 firmware update this Friday. Installation took about 20 minutes including a slow download period probably associated with the high number of people trying to download the update.

List of Fixes

- decrease in call set-up failures and call drops
- significantly improve battery life for most users
- dramatically reduced time to backup to iTunes
- improve email reliability, notable fetching email from POP and Exchange accounts
- faster installation of 3rd party applications
- fixed bugs causing hangs and crashes if you have lots of 3rd party applications
- improved performance of text messaging
- faster loading and searching of contacts
- improved accuracy of the 3G signal strength display
- repeat alert up to two additional times for incoming text messages
- option to wipe data after ten failed passcode attempts
- Genius playlist creation

First Thoughts

The first thing I noticed is the major improvement in over all speed. When scrolling the different home screens, and the contacts list, lag is virtually gone. The backing up process that use to take upwards of 30 to 45 minutes is down to about 5 or 10 minutes.

So I have received a couple of emails and comments from people asking what apps I have actually purchased for my Macbook Pro and my iPhone, so I decided to write a post letting everyone know what apps I think are just so totally awesome that I have actually spent money on them.

I will start with my Macbook Pro. I have had my MBP for a while now, so I have really had the chance to explore a lot of the apps that are made for OS X. I was a windows man up until I purchased this machine so I had ZERO Mac OS X apps in my collection.

Adobe Photoshop CS2

I lucked out with this program. As many of you know, Photoshop runs for about $650 at most locations. Well I was able to snag a CS2 version (slightly outdated, currently on CS3) on Craigslist for just $100.00. That is a heck of a deal! I use Photoshop regularly so it was my very first purchase after I got my new MBP.

Price Paid: $100.00
Homepage: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/index.html

As you all already know, I am loving my new iPhone. While the phone itself is awesome, the true enjoyment of the phone comes from the third party apps. Below I am going to walk you through the useful apps I have choose to follow me everywhere I go. This list is only the useful apps; I am going to review games in Part 3 of my iPhone coverage.

If you think I am missing some great apps, please let me know so I can check them out.

WeatherBug

The default weather app on the iPhone SUCKS! It is missing a lot of information that one might want when looking for a weather report. WeatherBug gives you all the normal stuff like current temp, heat index, humidity, and a few day out forecast, but what I really find useful is that WeatherBug allows you to view radar maps that use the Multi-Touch pitch zoom functionality.

While I have had some issues with the radar maps not loading completely, it has not really bugged me. WeatherBug also allows you to view weather webcams around your area. Also, you can track multiple locations very easily.

iTunes Download Link: WeatherBug

Twitteriffic

As most of you know, I am a twitter fanatic. I love posting tweets when I am away from my computer. I have been doing this for sometime via text message, but now I can easily post tweets without using up my text messages.

Twitteriffic has some nice extras too. You can post photo tweets directly from Twitteriffic as it is integrated with the Twitpic.com service. Twitteriffic also uses the built in iPhone GPS to update your profile on Twitter with your exact location. I find this to be a little to intrusive on my privacy. I don’t want people knowing exactly where I am all the time so I don’t use this function.

There are 2 versions of this app, a free version and a pay, I use the free because well, it is free. The only real difference is that with the free version, you see an ad appear in your Twitteriffic home screen. This does not bug, because the ads are tastefully done, and placed in non annoying locations.

Additional Note: Twitteriffic is very complex and might be overwhelming at first, but read the hints and give yourself some time to figure out how it all works then you will love it!

Associated with: http://www.Twitter.com/
iTunes Download Link: Twitteriffic

OK, so I was not planning to purchase an iPhone, but about 3 weeks ago I was told that my company was taking away our Blackberrys. They were scheduled to shut them off on August 1st, and I found out it was for sure on July 24th. Well, that didn’t leave me much time to get a new phone so I rushed over to the AT&T store to order a 16GB Black iPhone. I ordered it in about 15 minutes. The store clerk said 5 to 7 days arrival, so I was not to worried that it would make it to me by August 1st.

I started reading up on Mac Rumors and the Mac Forums only to find that people were seeing 2 to 3 week waits on 16GB iPhone orders. This got me worried so on July 29th, I woke up at 6 A.M. to go stand in line at the Apple store. I didn’t want to wait in line, but at this point I had no choice. Got in the line at 7:15 A.M. to find about 30 people in line ahead of me. At 8 A.M. the store opened and around 8:30 A.M. I was given my “Chocolate Factory Gold Ticket.” At this point I could have left and came back to the store later that day to pick it up but I didn’t have to be to work till 10 A.M. and I worked about .5 miles away. So I waited and waited and waited. 10 A.M. comes and goes, I am about 5th in line so I am just waiting. After I call into work and say I am stuck in traffic, I finally get into purchase my iPhone at about 10:15 A.M. I was a new AT&T customer and I was NOT porting a number so I figured the activation process would be easy. Well it was, it took about 15 Minutes and I was on my way with a working iPhone.

As for my AT&T order, I called and was told I had to wait till the iPhone was received in store to cancel the order. So I waited and waited. Well today, August 5th, I finally got a email that the iPhone was in store. I went to the store, and canceled my order. Oh, and it took about 25 minutes to cancel the order which is CRAP!

OK, so I have been a full week with my new iPhone. Let me remind you that I never even touched a 2G iPhone. I did have a iPod Touch that came with my new MBP. Yea, so let me just say:

I first heard about this program on the TWiT Podcast. It sounded pretty interesting so I decided to check it out. It is currently in private beta mode; this means you have to get invited to use it. After my invite came I installed the Windows XP version of the program which also installed a Firefox button.

This program allows you to make notes in many different ways and share it across platform and hardware. You can make a note in a Windows Vista machine and view that same note on your iPhone with one click of the synchronize button. It works with Windows XP/Vista, Mac OS X, Windows Mobile, iPhone (currently a web application, but soon to be an on phone application), and Blackberry OS (coming soon.)

I use this program daily, anytime I see a interesting article I would like to remember, or need to finish reading later, I don’t bother adding it to my, already bloated, favorites in Firefox. I just clip it into Evernote and save it. Then when I get home it is on my desktop, and if I am on a public computer I can also get to it through Evernote.com.