Surfilicious

My Favorite Facebook Apps

We’d like to welcome freelance writer and blogger Chrissie Cole, who’s guest posting here at Surfilicious today about her favorite Facebook apps.

Love it or hate it you probably have a Facebook account and with it you most likely have apps that fall into one of four categories - you love it, have it bookmarked for later, you’ve decided you don’t have time for more apps; you already have plenty or you’ve decided it’s stupid before using it therefore why bother. With that in mind, we have some apps that we love and think you will too if you give them a chance. In no particular order, these are our favorite Facebook apps.

Facebook App – So you have your Facebook account set up and now you want to download a Facebook app to your cell phone so you can access it there too. The app is user friendly and has many features such as – Facebook chat, share Facebook news items with your friends, delete comments and wall posts as well as receive instant notifications and more. BlackBerry users can benefit from enhanced integration.

Causes – Facebook is fun but can also help to make a positive difference. The cause app is for people that want to take advantage of social networking to get the word out about raising funds for important and/or social causes. The causes range from Operation Smile to PETA to Alex’s Lemonade Stand which fights for childhood cancer. The Causes App is also good to establish new causes such as adding Amber Alert to Facebook. Imagine how many more people might see an Amber Alert if it was posted on Facebook.

Twitter – The Twitter App for Facebook allows you to stream your Twitter feed on your Facebook wall which can be helpful and informative for business or your personal blog just as easily. Easy intallation and easy installation make this app a must have on your list.

Networked Blogs – is a favorite choice for many, which allows sharing new posts automatically. If you run a WordPress blog, the Networked Blogs App is particularly useful for post sharing. All of your Facebook fans will be immediately notified of new posts on your blog.

Scrabble App - because everyone needs a break and most people love Scrabble! This app helps you to pick from a million competitors and start laying down tiles for a triple score. You can also take your games with you wherever you go – on your BlackBerry or Tablet – using the official Scrabble App. There are other games that have apps but there are far too many to list here.

Pandora – This app is by far one of my favorites! It links your Facebook account with your Pandora account, which allows you to display your favorite songs and artists along with recent stations. Personally, I like seeing what stations my friends are listening too and often find songs I love or forgot all about. Alternatively, with one click your friends can open up your latest stations with one click.

Disclaimer: While we do love and use these apps, this post doesn’t focus on security issues and the use of apps, as each one is different and as such may share different information with third parties. Please take a moment to make sure you know what information will be shared by enabling the following apps.

Chrissie Cole is a freelance writer for various blogs, including Speedy Incorporation, which helps new small business owners incorporate online as well as offering advice and information about running their business successfully via their small business blog.

911 Cell Phone Bank

Do you have an old cellphone (or two or three or four) lying around gathering dust?

The 911 CellPhone Bank collects used phones and, depending on their value, offers them for resale, or adds them to a cellphone bank that's available for use in emergencies. Proceeds from the sale of the phones are given to local law enforcement agencies.

You can print out a free postage-paid shipping label, making it really easy (and almost cost-free) to send in your old used cellphones.

Via EngadgetMobile.

American Idol Ringtones

This one is definitely for American Idol fans. Cingular is now offering American Idol ringtones, made up of live performances from American Idol, within 24 hours of the show's broadcast.

It will cost you $2.49 for each ringtone, but you can get the latest ones the very next day after a show. You can also browse and buy ringtones from past performances.

If this is making you want to switch your mobile phone carrier to Cingular, we'll hazard a guess and say you're a big American Idol fan ...

Via Mobiledia.

BenQ-Siemens CF61

The BenQ-Siemens CF61 is more than just a music phone - it will actually show the lyrics of various songs on its display so you can sing along.

Can we say karaoke phone?

This one should be a hit at parties, especially once the vino and the beer start flowing (or maybe we should say, after the vino and the beer start flowing).

It's a great looking phone, too, with interchangeable covers and a 1.3-megapixel camera, so you can snap those great party pics. There's also 3D sound, and of course SMS and MMS. Not to mention Bluetooth headset accessories.

Via MobileWhack.

Motorola Pink RAZR V3c

It might be pink, but the Motorola Pink RAZR V3c, now available from Verizon, looks pretty sharp. There's just something about the look of the RAZR V3c that we like, no matter what color you're talking about.

For those of you who like to know this type of thing:

Features and specifications

* Talk time: 180 minutes
* Standby time: 200 hours
* Size: 3.86H x 2.08W x 0.57D inches
* Weight: 3.49 oz
* All Digital Phone
* Integrated 1.3 Megapixel Camera
* Bluetooth Capable
* Speakerphone
* Voice Dialing
* TTY Compatible
* Hearing Aid Compatibility = M3

Via Engadget.

San-X Cellphone Bed

Not that long ago, we would have laughed ourselves silly over this cellphone bed from San-X.

But now that one of us is so enamoured with her iPod, there's only the sound of one voice laughing. The other voice is saying, "Oh, look at those little slippers! They're for wiping the screen! Isn't that just so cute?"

(Because it does look like a nice comfy bed for the iPod, too, doesn't it?)

Via Engadget.

iBall for Your iPod

Here's a little gizmo for getting full use out of your iPod.

The iBall from Oregon Scientific is a wireless speaker for your iPod. It's definitely a nice looking gizmo - not sleek by any means but then again, with a name like iBall, we're not exactly surprised.

About eight inches in diameter, it will also synchronize your iPod with the computer and charge your iPod.

At $299 a pop, it's not cheap, but it will definitely help you get lots more use out of your iPod.

Beanbag Cellphone Chairs

We figure, if you can condition yourself to always give your cellphone a seat (or iPod or whatever handheld you can't leave home without), this beanbag chair will actually come in quite handy.

No more hunting up, down, all around for your phone (or that last ditch method, calling your cell from your landline and hoping that it's got enough juice still that it will ring long enough for you to find it) - you'll know it's sitting, resting in its cool little beanbag chair until it's time to get to work.

You've got to admit, those cellphones look kind of cute, relaxing in their chairs. Great gift idea.

Via Techie Diva.

jWin JD-VD736 Portable DVD Player

This is definitely one for our buy list. (Who we'd buy it for, we're not sure, since we already have a portable DVD player, but ours looks way too boring and ordinary compared to this one.)

The jWin JD-VD736 Portable DVD Player has a 3.6" TFT color LCD widescreen which, okay, isn't exactly large in the whole scheme of things, but if you're looking for portable, you don't necessarily want too large, right?

It reads DVDs, CDs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, MP3 CDs, and Kodak Picture CDs, and has progressive scan and anti-skip protection. It also comes with a rechargeable battery pack and a credit card size wireless remote control.

Hey, Your Cellphone's, uh, Smelly

You know we wouldn't make this up. Really.

Engadget calls them "smelltones" for your phone. Offered by Keitai KunKun, these rather unique little items attach to your phone and emit an odor everytime your phone rings or you get an email.

There are four odors (the descriptions, unfortunately, don't give you much of an idea about what kind of aroma your cellphone will squirt out): the Hello Kitty fragrance, the Disney fragrance (has a relaxing effect, apparently), the Doraemon which sounds like it's one of those "nature" type scents (also with a relaxation effect) and finally, the Morning Musume, which kind of defies the imagination.

(There's only one smell we associate with mornings around here, and that's the scent of lovely lovely java and ready for when we jump out of bed. This only happens, though, if one of us remembers to set that precious timer on the coffee maker before we go to bed.)

Via Engadget.