So, my husband surprised me this morning with an iPod Touch.

There really aren’t words to describe how incredibly and fantastically awesome of a gift that was. Either you already understand, or you still don’t really get why that “email” thing is such a big deal.

Right. So. New shiny electronic toy + Me = Where in the name of Pete did my Saturday go?!

Well, I’ll tell you where it went. It went RIGHT into iPod Touch apps.

Contacts and Maps

The first (useful) thing I did was to synch my new iPod (I named him Bones, for anyone curious. <3) with the data I have on Athena (my Macbook). Through iTunes, I was able to choose groups in my AddressBook application on Athena to import into Bones.

After that, I was able to click on an address in my Contacts on Bones and have him bring up the corresponding Maps for the address. I can then use maps to give me directions from place to place (including from “where I am now according to GPS” to anywhere), estimate travel time, give me traffic updates…

…it’s pretty neat, especially for someone like me, who gets lost a lot. I can pushpin any destination on Maps and use my contacts list to populate hotspots.

Mail

Mail hooked up to my gmail account without fuss or muss. It doesn’t seem to really need much introduction – it came installed on the iPod. The only thing I didn’t like was that I accidentally tapped one of the labels and the iPod downloaded ALL of the emails I had stored under that label. Arg.

Still, especially since I keep my email inbox empty 90% of the time, being able to have a quick glance at any new mail in it is pretty nice for me.

Photos

Another thing I was able to synch on Bones was pictures. I created a new Album in iPhoto on Athena full of my favorite photos, and ported them over. Whenever I need a quick smile, I can pull up a quick picture of the hubby. <3

A small thing, sure, but it makes me happy.

Of course, I was also able to set one of those pictures as my background. Some amazing backgrounds included with the iPod, don’t get me wrong, but nothing beats personalization.

Calendar

While I was at it, I also synched my iCal and Calendar, but I’m not sure how useful that’s going to be. It’s really nice that it gave me the option, though.

Weather

The weather app is pretty nifty, too. I have it set to show weather where I am, where my mom is (my most frequently visited city), and my brother-in-law down in Texas.

Now, when I visit mom, I won’t neglect to pack sweaters when it’s freezing there but still temperate down here. At least, that’s the theory. Nothing’s gonna help me remember to pack my spare razor, though.

Metronome

The first of my downloaded apps – I picked up Metronome to help me with my piano practice. It has a few basic time signatures and a “speed up/slow down” within those, as well. I wish I could change the sound effects on it, but it’s hard to complain about free.

Wikipanion

I adore wikipedia – high school english professors may cringe at the research papers it fosters, but when I need to know something obscure fast, it’s my first stop. Wikipanion is access to wikipedia formatted for the smaller screen of the iPod Touch. And it’s free. Did I mention that it’s free?

White Noise

Arguably my favorite of the free apps I downloaded (there is a for-cash version that I’m contemplating getting, as well. Smart move, offering a sampling for free!). White Noise is a selection of looped audio intended to foster relaxation. My favorites are the ocean waves, the thunderstorm, the heavy rain, the chimes, and the crickets. I like to leave it playing on the desk next to me while I do other tasks (like writing a blog post!). Very soothing, very nice.

Pandora

Pandora is a well-known free internet radio with a twist. You provide a band or song that you like, and it builds a custom radio station for you based on that. You can thumbs-up or thumbs-down a song to tell Pandora whether or not you liked it, and the only cost is an advertisement or two. Well worth it, and quite convenient if you don’t plan on storing actual music on your iPod Touch. The app is free as well, naturally.

Echofon

Echofon (previously Twitterfon) is the app I ended up going with for my twitter needs. It’s simple, easy to navigate, and came highly recommended. The keyboard is the standard iPod Touch keyboard, which is a bit dodgy, but it’s very nice for keeping up with new messages. Another free app.

Stanza

I did some online research and decided to choose Stanza as my eReader application for Bones. Stanza accepts a wide range of eBook formats, gets rave reviews in usability by online reviewers, has a lot of online stores hooked up to it, and allows me to upload eBooks from my other machines to it.

I must say, I’m already VERY happy with my choice. Stanza has several free eBook repositories in its arsenal, so I downloaded some old favorites (White Fang, Call of the Wild) and some classics I’ve always wanted to try (Count of Monte Cristo, The Phantom of the Opera, etc). In addition, there were some new free Harlequins up in their library (yoink!) and I was FINALLY able to get some of the Free Baen eBook Library titles from Athena to an eReader.

I downloaded the Mac Stanza software onto Athena to accomplish the moving of books from her to Bones. It went rather smoothly, once I realized I had to have the book open on Athena for it to work.

I believe I’ll be spending a lot of time in Stanza. <3

Toodledo

The only app I actually spent money on (I think it was $3 when I got it). I already use Toodledo.com for my to-do list. It’s relatively simple to master and has just the right amount of features to keep it from being too complicated. Tasks can be put in a category, assigned an importance, and given an end date. Beyond that, you can add notes, set up a repeating schedule, set a start time…a whole host of optional information. It also has an option to send out email digests reminding of overdue and soon-to-be-done tasks.

Having that on Bones (along with the synching between web and iPod) was too good a deal to pass up.

Tail

And there you have it! Those are the apps I’ve spent my day downloading, tweaking, and fiddling with. Not a single game in the bunch (yet).

For those of you with iPod Touch or iPhone – what apps can you not live without? And for those who don’t have one – if you DID have one, what kind of apps would you wish for?

I had some great recommendations via Twitter – UrbanSpoon in particular looked very neat, but I don’t eat out often enough to really make use of it. (UrbanSpoon is a nifty little app that allows you to shake your iPod to randomize a local restaurant recommendation)