iPhone Gets High-Profile Apps

Apple's App Store continues to be popular with consumers, and it has attracted applications from high-profile organizations such as Hewlett-Packard, National Public Radio, and USA Today.

HP launched an application earlier this week that enables customers to wirelessly print photos from their iPhone or iPod Touch. The first application of its kind, the HP iPrint Photo app currently lets consumers print 4-by-6-inch photos over Wi-Fi networks on HP printers.

The app is fully compatible with Apple's Bonjour technology, as well as the multitouch interface of Apple's devices. It works only with JPEG images, but that could change in the future, HP said.

"Today's news demonstrates how HP is enabling customers to turn special moments captured on the go into high-quality photos," HP executive VP Vyomesh Joshi said in a statement.

Apps with a news focus have received a warm reception, and the App Store is already filled with news apps from the BBC, The New York Times, The Associated Press, and others. NPR and USA Today are the latest news organizations to get on the iPhone.

The free NPR Mobile enables users to browse and stream audio content from NPR's large library. Users can find full-length programs, segments, and programming that isn't available on local stations.

"Oftentimes, when I wake up in the morning, I half-hear a story on Morning Edition, and want to come back to it later in the day," the app developer wrote on NPR's blog. "With NPR Mobile, I've been able to do this, and hear the full story on my time."

USA Today's application is similar to other news publications, and users can read headlines from various topics. These headlines can be shared with others via text message, e-mail, or Twitter. The app also takes advantage of the iPhone's GPS to find the user's location for weather information, and it allows users to participate in interactive poll questions.

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