How does a high school student use his iPhone to get the job done and what iPhone apps help get him through his day? TiPb’s iPhone at work contest aims to bring you just such slices of the iPhone life. Here’s michaelchang516’s answer and as a small token of thanks we’re sending him a $20 iTunes gift certificate. If you want to see your name up on the TiPb home page and get a gift certificate all your own, head on over to the TiPb iPhone Forum and share your story now!

I’m a high school student going into my Junior year in September in Taiwan. I’m also the president of our grade and also a leader at the local youth group. So I use my iPhone along with my Mac to do the tasks I have, and also have fun at the same time.

I’ll take you through my day starting in the morning. I use Apple’s default Clock application as my alarm. Then as soon as I wake up, I check Omnifocus to see what needs to be done during the day. This is because throughout the day when a student or teacher would tell me such and such needs to be done, I would quickly jot it down in the inbox of Omnifocus. Then when I arrive home from school, I would take about 10 minutes to organize all the tasks and give it a context, project, start time, due time…etc. All the organizing is done in Omnifocus on the mac and I have syncing set up between my iPhone and mac through MobileMe. After I figure out what I need to do, I will go do them. After that, if I have any free time, I will check Facebook and Twitter on my iPhone with the official Facebook and Twitter apps. Throughout the day, I will also jot in the inbox of Omnifocus if I will have a test coming up or if I have homework due.

I use the Mail app a lot because that’s the primary way our teachers contact us and that’s also how the class officers discuss meetings times. I also use Calendar because I’m quite busy and I need to make sure I don’t miss any classes or meetings. The way I enter my events into Calendar is not directly through the Calendar app, I feel like this is slow because I have to be constantly going in and out of pages. I use an app called QuickCal Mobile to quickly enter my events. This app is very smart and it will read your everyday language and turn it into a calendar event. For example, I would type “Officer meeting tomorrow at noon for 45 minutes in the student office” then it would automatically add an event that’s tomorrow from 12:00-12:45 at the location “student office”.

Evernote is also a big part of how I take notes and write down questions I need to have with me. Again, this syncs with my mac so I can, for instance, have my research information with me when I go discuss our project my partner. But recently I’ve started to use Awesome Note instead of Evernote because the interface is a lot cleaner and prettier and also the notes can be stored offline. Awesome Note also syncs with Evernote servers, so it’s a great addition. For taking notes, if it is a quick note, I don’t ever go into Awesome Note or Evernote to start writing a new note. I use an app called FastEver. This app is very simple and all it does is let you write a quick note and then you can quit the app. Then it will sync and send it up to Evernote servers because this app has task completion written in.

Throughout the day I need to use the browser to look up various things. Most people would use Safari all the time but I’ve discovered a really nice browser called Atomic Web Browser and it really does take browsing on the iPhone to the next level. For making long distance calls, I use Skype. Sometimes I will need to chat with a classmate about homework or projects and I use Beejive IM. This app is absolutely the best IM app in the App Store. It’s really well designed and, most importantly, it’s really fast and snappy overall.

On days when we have class meetings and we’re running a powerpoint, I use the Keynote Remote app on my iPhone to control the slides so I can be on stage and advance slides at the same time.

At last, when I’m home and I’m bored, I play Veggie Samurai (a similar game to Fruit Ninja but tons more fun). Recently, I’ve discovered an app named Pulse News; it basically lets me read all the news I want in one app and in a beautiful interface.

As you can see, throughout my day, I use many fabulous iPhone apps for my school life. I would be completing a lot less if I didn’t have my iPhone.

Any other high school students use their iPhone to stay organized for school? If so, which apps help you the most?

iPhone at Work: high school student is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Wired did some poking around and discovered Phillip Shoemaker, Apple’s director of App Store — the man purportedly in charge of App Store approval and rejection — was or is the developer of fart and urination apps.

Shoemaker apparently had or has a company named Gray Noodle, whose titles include Animal Farts and iWiz. Although the social networking profiles and posts that led Wired to the discovery have subsequently been removed, they’ve retained archive copies. An Apple spokeswoman gave them the following comment:

“Phillip’s apps were written, submitted and approved before he became an Apple employee,” an Apple spokeswoman said in a statement. “His experience and perspective as a developer is one of the valuable things he brings to Apple’s developer relations team. Apple’s policy allows for employees to have apps on the App Store if they’re developed and published prior to their start at Apple.”

Other former Apple employees confirmed that special, executive level permission was required in order for an Apple employee to publish on the App Store, though if the apps predated Apple employment permission for them to remain on the App Store might be easier to obtain.

So is it reassuring for developers to have someone with experience getting controversial apps approved inside the App Store? Does it mean if you were rejected, you didn’t even meet the Animal Farts sniff test?

[Wired, thanks Luke!]

Director of App Store for Apple also made fart and wiz apps is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Playboy magazine is coming to iPad by the nudity isn’t coming with it. According to founder Hugh Hefner, who broke the news on Twitter, the reason is:

Steve Jobs has a thing about nudity

So yes, you really will be reading it for the articles.

[@hughhefner via 9to5mac]

Playboy magazine coming to iPad absent nudity is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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During QuakeCon 2010, ID Software’s co-founder John Carmack demoed Rage on a iPhone 4 running at a very impressive 60 frames-per-second. And what’s maybe even more impressive is the fact that Carmack believes this game will “kill anything done on the Xbox or PlayStation 2.” We first heard of Rage coming to the iPhone and iPad back in March so it’s good to see that this is finally going to happen and sooner rather than later.

Any first-person-shooter fan out there should definitely be chomping at the bit to see this one land into the App Store “later this year”. And if one title is not enough, perhaps the planned sequel that will be available just in time for the 2011 launch of the PC version will make you happy.

Check out the most impressive video after the break!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

id Software’s Rage running on a iPhone 4 at 60 FPS is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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My current Twitter avatar is a WeeMee for iPhone creation. It’s quick, it’s easy and it produces great results. What’s better than that?

Oh, yeah, getting it for free! Well, the kind folks at WeeMee have given us a ton of promo codes to give away for the latest, iOS4 compatible version of WeeMee Avatar Creator [iTunes]. If you want one, here’s all you have to do:

• Follow @weemeeapp and @TiPb on Twitter
• Send a Twitter #followfriday shout-out to @weemeeapp and @TiPb

We’ve given the writers some extra codes to give away as well, so if you want to double, triple, octuple your odds of getting one, just follow any or all of the below and include them in your shout-out:

• @reneritchie (Rene)
• @backlon (Dieter)
• @iChadman (Chad)
• @JFSikora (Jeremy)
• @llofte (Leanna)
• @GeorgiaTiPb (Georgia)
• @iMuggle (Ally)

Ready, set, Tweet!

WeeMee Avatar Creator – #followfriday give-away is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Chaos Rings fans rejoice! The big hit by Square Enix is now available for iPad. Users have been enjoying the iPhone version for some time now, but the new iPad version supports 1024×768px HD resolutions so you can experience beautiful graphics, detailed backgrounds, intricate character expressions, and intense battle scenes on the iPad’s large screen. The RPG features

• Amazingly smooth 3D graphics
• Gorgeous sound that takes full advantage of the iPad powerful hardware
• A deep story with unique twists for every pair and multiple endings
• Traditional game and battle systems polished to perfection
• Hours upon hours of gameplay, complete with hidden bosses, secret weapons, and more

In celebration of the release of Chaos Rings for iPad, Square Enix is offering all of their games at a discounted price for two weeks. So if there’s a title of theirs that you’ve been meaning to pick up, now’s the time.

If you choose to pick up Chaos Rings for iPad, be sure to tell us what you think!

[$15.99 - iTunes link, Square Enix - iTunes link, touchArcade]

Chaos Rings for iPad now available, all Square Enix games on sale is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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NAVIGON has been on the iTunes App Store for one year, and to celebrate the anniversary they’re offering 50% off their turn-by-turn navigation apps and in-app purchases, including MobileNavigator and MyRegion:

To kick off its second year in the App Store, NAVIGON is celebrating for four days (August 12-15) with a half-off promotion for all North American MobileNavigator apps and most other country versions. The In App Purchase options Traffic Live and Panorama View 3D are also 50 percent off. The additional maps in the MyRegion app get a discount of more than 30 percent.

I recently tried MobileNavigator for the first time when I took a trip up north. We were going to be going through areas of no cell coverage so I couldn’t use the built-in, online Maps app (because they wouldn’t load without data). MobileNavigator puts all the maps on your iPhone so even if you lose data, you still have GPS and it can still display the maps. Sure, it makes for a big download (over 1.5GB for all of North America) but I must say it was amazing. It was very smooth and we never noticed when we dropped from 3G to EDGE or offline — it just kept navigating. It even reminded us about a side trip we’d forgotten about on the way and helped us find a restaurant we just couldn’t locate (we had to trust it though, our own sense of north and south had betrayed us!)

All in all I was very happy with it so if you’re looking for an on-board, offline navigation app for your iPhone, and NAVIGON interests you, this is a great time to try it out. (If you do, make sure you tell me how it works for you).

Here’s the app pricing:

• MobileNavigator North America (includes maps for Canada & US): $39.99 instead of $79.99
• MobileNavigator USA: $24.99 instead of $49.99
• MobileNavigator Canada: $29.99 instead of $59.99
• MobileNavigator US MyRegion East, Central or West: $14.99 instead of $29.99, additional regions $11.99 instead of $14.99.

And in-app purchases

• Traffic Live: $12.99 instead of $24.99
• Panorama View 3D: $4.99 instead of $9.99

[iTunes link]

NAVIGON celebrates App Store anniversary with 50% off sale is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Apple’s iOS Developer News is letting developers know how to set up Game Center achievements and leaderboard categories:

You can now set up metadata for your Game Center Achievements and Leaderboard Categories in iTunes Connect. Setting up these elements will allow you to test the full capabilities of Game Center for your app in the sandbox environment.

Apple announced Game Center way back in early April but instead of shipping it in June with iOS 4, they said it would be coming “later this year”. The basic idea is to give “Xbox live” style social networking to iOS devices like iPhone and iPad.

For example, Chad challenges me to the latest hot FPS. I get a Game Center notification but since I don’t have the game, it asks me if I want to get it and then automagically handles the download, and since it knows Chad and I are friends, gives me a grenade launcher and sets me after him. Then it shows all our other friends how Georgia sniped me just as I was about to blow him up. Dang.

Though it’s obviously game-centric, there are rumors Apple could extend features to other apps as well.

[iOS Developer News]

Let’s hope “later” comes as soon as possible.

Game Center slowly coming to life? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Camera+ is no longer in the iTunes App Store following a bizarre week that rejection, revelation, feature requests, and possible take down.

Here’s the short version — Camera+ pushed out an update that would let users take photos via the hardware volume buttons. Apple rejected the update because it does not currently allow that functionality. Camera+ developers TapTapTap posted about the rejection and said they’d filed a feature request with Apple to change the policy and allow volume buttons to be re-assigned. They also let slip on twitter that a little easter egg would allow the volume buttons to be re-assigned in the current version of TapTapTap. Then they deleted the tweet, but the internet had already picked it up and propagated it.

Apple has a policy on easter eggs. If they’re disclosed and innocuous they’re fine. If they’re undisclosed and used as a way to circumvent the review process and App Store policies, they’ll get you removed. Basically, if the feature wouldn’t get approved out in the open, don’t try to sneak it in as an easter egg.

So now either Apple has pulled Camera+ or TapTapTap has taken it down themselves to proactively remove the easter egg. We’ll likely have to wait until they let us know.

And that’s where I start to wonder if it’s really a story, or media manipulation as marketing? They’ve already made a reported $500,000 in sales, and this little round of publicity — should they get back into the App Store — won’t hurt. Except, of course, when the press starts to feel played, it will eventually backfire.

Maybe that’s the real easter egg?

[9to5Mac, thanks maj0!]

Camera+ no longer in iPhone App Store is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Distant Suns 3: Space Travel for the Rest of Us is a universal iPhone & iPad application that puts the universe in your hands:

• View from the Earth or out in the solar-system with the new Spaceflight mode
• Compass aware for the 3GS and iPad. Just aim and identify.
• Over 130,000 pinpoint stars scintillating like diamond dust in the palm of your hand
• Realistic ghostly band of the Milky Way
• All 88 constellations with images and articles on their mythology
• Viewpoint Lock keeps any planet centered
• Current weather patterns on the earth, updated every 3 hours
• Preference panel to change the way stars are rendered in over a dozen different ways.
• The Messier catalog of galaxies, nebula and star clusters
• Dozens of photos from the Hubble Space Telescope
• All 8 planets (Pluto is optional)
• GPS aware
• Red interface to preserve your night vision
• What’s Up? Gives a quick one snapshot overview of where all of the important stuff is
• Point and Identify mode reveals a wealth of hidden data for each star, planet or deep-sky object
• Planetary data and information

In anticipation of the Perseid Meteor Shower on Thursday, August 12, the folks over at First Light have provided us with 14 promo codes to give away! Winners will be able to use the app to assist in their stargazing for the event. How do you win? Head on over to the forums and let us know your favorite planet/constellation. The contest begins now and ends Thursday, August 12 at 3 PM EST. (A US iTunes account is required to win. Apple’s rule, not ours!)

[$9.99 - iTunes link, NASA]

Distant Suns 3 for iPhone and iPad – give-away is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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