Yet More iPhone Stuff

The first Microsoft product I've ever loved: recently released for iPhone, Wordament (which works perfectly well on iPad, too) is awesome. It's a word game much like Boggle - sort of like lightning-round Scrabble - and, like all great games, an enormous amount of subtle fine-tuning has yielded an incredible, and incredibly addictive, playing experience.

If you try Wordament, some things to bear in mind: the top scorers, with their seemingly impossible numbers, are not cheating. And Wordament allows contractions (they've, c'mon, tick-tock, etc). And if you try to sign in but it's not working, read this.

In the more-clever-than-useful department: Cycloramic, an app that takes panoramic videos unaided....by spinning your iPhone around via the "vibrate" feature.

And, at last, an app with realtime NYC subway arrival info (for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 trains plus 42nd Street shuttle, at least to start).

On second thought, maybe don't break your iPhone out on that subway platform. A significant portion of all city-wide thefts involves iPhones. It's a bona-fide crime wave, so never forget that when you display your phone you're essentially flashing several hundred dollar bills.

If you're more Zsa-Zsa Gabor than Jimmy Breslin, Uber efficiently sends you the closest nice black town car on their massive computerized grid, and charges you a fair price(plus stiff surcharge). It's considerably more than a taxi, but provides a much better and faster experience. Even if you're not Zsa-Sza, it's great in the rain, in the boonies, or when you simply need to get the hell out of where you are (I think of it as my seldom-used hyperspace button).

Lots of people know about Uber, but did you know that, starting in February, you'll be able to hail NYC yellow cabs via smartphones? Here's info, and go here to pre-register.