On Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:30:41 -0800 (PST), Frogwatch
wrote:

Although I not only work with high tech but also invent it, I am
somewhat of a luddite having never sent a text message or even looked
at a "tweet" and iphones were far off my personal radar but at
Thanksgiving, my sister showed me her iphone and some apps and I
immediately went into "inventor" mode seeing the possibilities.
Why not an app that helps id fish and keeps up withe the constantly
changing fishin regulations?
Why not an app that turns the GPS equipped phone into a chart plotter
( just found this one exists, it is called "inavx")?


Other possibilities:
For my diabetic daughter: An app to calculate carbs of a meal based
on what you eat.
An app to quickly calculate your cars mpg when you fill up.

A "stethoscope" app using the phone held to your chest.
A birdsong app identifying birds based on the calls it hears from
Fourier Analysis.

There is a fellow from Maine named Jeff Siegel who has done a lot of
interesting work with iPhones and other mobile devices:

http://www.activecaptain.com/article...nes/iPhone.php

He also has a very cool web application named "Active Captain" which
is a veritable treasure trove of good cruising information such as
marina information and anchoring locations:

http://www.activecaptain.com/OTW.php

Registration is free, some of it can be accessed via mobile phones.