Price: Free    Score: 7/10    By Aricka Flowers

Between Facebook, e-mail, Twitter and text messages, there are a plethora of ways to stay in contact with friends, family and acquaintances. But at times, keeping up with Facebook messages and statuses, texts, Tweets and e-mails can get a bit time consuming – especially if you have a large network of friends and family. A new app by Orbit Media is hoping to streamline the social networking frenzy and make it easier for people to keep up with their friends without having to spend time going between a bunch of different apps and phone features.

The Orbit Social Phonebook allows you to take the contacts in your phonebook and sync them with your Facebook friends and Twitter followers. This allows you to see your friends Tweets or Facebook statuses in your contact list before you make a call, which can be quite handy in some cases. You can also send a text message to your contacts from the same place, which is cool because you can send a text in reaction to a Facebook status or Tweet that might warrant a more “personalized” response.

Orbit Social Phonebook takes your Contacts list to a new level with its “Inner Orbit” feature. The option allows users to group contacts into lists that allow you to view them separate from the master phonebook. This is a convenient feature that can help you keep your work, family and social lives separate while also allowing easier communication with your contacts in each group. You can also communicate with an entire group en masse without having to go through your phonebook and cherry pick the contacts to whom you need to mass-message.

A feature called “Social Volumes” lets you control, how often you get messages from your different orbit groups. You can set the updates to come at a specific time of day, week or type. Orbit Social Phonebook can also keep you out of the doghouse because there is a setting that will send you reminders about your contacts’ birthdays. The social phonebook also logs your user trends and automatically creates a Favorites list made up of the contacts you interact with most often.

There are still a few kinks that need to be ironed out when it comes to Orbit Social Phonebook, like the fact that your phone contact photos will be automatically changed to the person’s Facebook or Twitter picture; which can be a bit annoying. But considering the app is free, it’s a pretty cool way to keep track of your contacts, texts and the goings on in the worlds of Facebook and Twitter in one convenient place.

Orbit Social Phonebook requires iPhone OS 3.0 and is only compatible with iPhone.

Price: $2.99    Score: 5/10    By Lara Vukelich

According to iTunes, Contact Hero is an app that aids in business and personal networking. While this app by Spacemonkey Mike does have some potential concerning the former, it doesn’t do much that your iPhone can’t do already.

When the app opens you are greeted by a screen with four entry fields: name, email, phone and mobile carrier. Once you’ve filled out the entry fields and added a contact, tapping on a Facebook icon will take you to facebook.com where a search will be conducted for the name you’ve entered. Tapping on the wheel in the upper left corner of the main screen opens a new screen that has two tabs: contacts and settings.

The settings screen in Contact Hero allows you to turn an automatic email feature on or off. When it’s on, an email will be sent to each new contact added to the app. You can alter the subject line and content of the email that will be sent. Similarly, an SMS message can be sent out automatically to each contact; the message will include the same subject and content that goes out via email. The SMS feature can also be disabled.

At first I thought that the app’s contacts would be separate from your regular iPhone contacts and I saw a potential benefit. It seemed that if a user wanted to keep his or her business networking contacts in seperate location, this app could do just that. It turned out to be only partially true. When you open Contact Hero you will only see the last 100 contacts you’ve entered in the app.  However, when you open your default iPhone contact list the contacts have been added there as well. If you have a large amount of business networking contacts, they may start to clutter your iPhone contacts.

The main benefit I see the app offering is the automatic email and SMS message feature. If you are at a networking event and want to quickly send out your details to each new potential client or customer, I think having your phone send out an email reminding them of your website and phone number might come in handy. You could, of course, do this manually but Contact Hero would save you a few minutes. Doing the same for personal contacts might constitute coming on a little strong, but I guess that’s up to you.

I imagine future updates will increase the amount of information saved in the app, and perhaps the contacts can be confined to the app so they don’t clutter your other contact list. It definitely has the potential to be improved. As of today, whether or not the app is worth purchasing really boils down to whether or not you think that automatic emails are worth the $3 price tag.

Contact Hero is compatible with iPhone and iPod Touch and requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later

Price: $0.99    Score: 9/10    By Nancy Jones

Are you a textaholic? Do you want to keep texting even while you’re walking? Do you want to tweet, text or email without interruption? If this sounds like you – then Type n Walk, developed by CGactive LLC, is definitely worth a look. You won’t miss a beat as you type away whilst navigating your surroundings using the “transparent screen” (courtesy iPhone camera) and your peripheral vision.

Type n Walk allows you to create a message and then copy and paste it into your favorite social networking venue. It couldn’t be easier. Check out the YouTube video to see a good representation of what you will see after you download the app. As you walk or wheel (chair, not bike) along you can type your message while keeping aware of your surroundings. When you finish your message, you simply copy and paste it into your favorite email, tweet or text-messaging app. Type n Walk doesn’t replace your favorite app – it enhances it.

Is there a downside? Maybe. I’m personally pretty sensitive to motion and I think that with prolonged use I might actually experience the effects of motion sickness. Other than that, I think you can count this as a very useful app for anyone who wants to communicate on the run!

Here’s a few tips on how to use it.  I realized that I had to hold the iPhone in front of me, rather than holding it horizontally.  It still works if you hold it horizontally, but what you see is what is directly underneath the phone – like your feet.  Holding it in front gives you a great view of what is ahead of you. I know… it’s obvious.

But you don’t have to walk and text – you could be sitting and waiting for someone and keeping an eye on what is going on around you. I tested Type n Walk in various levels of light and it worked well in all normal light situations. In dark areas you can’t see a lot – but that’s not a surprise. I live in a sunny area and in really bright areas, with sunglasses, I noticed a little bit of difficulty seeing through the screen. Again, that’s no surprise. It’s the same issue with all electronic devices. I wouldn’t suggest that you bike and type or drive and type, but excluding those activities, have fun!

The best thing about this app is that it doesn’t supersede any of your apps. It’s a slick, simple, helpful app that complements the existing social networking and texting features of the iPhone.

Type n Walk is compatible with iPhone only and requires iPhone OS 3.1 or later.

Price: Free    Score: 10/10    By Nancy Jones

Is it self-help, poetry or lies? Whatever it is, BeingMeSucks, developed by Edward Chen, captivates you. With the same winning concept as Texts From Last Night and FMyLife, this app allows you to share your frustrations and disappointments while seeking agreement that being you does indeed suck. Did you do something embarrassing? Having problems with your marriage? On the other hand, have you been hit with a series of financial problems?

You can enjoy the catharsis of getting a problem out in the open (anonymously) and the validation of having others acknowledge your hurt and frustration. As the person whose life sucks, all you do is create a profile and then you are ready to post a short blog (less than 350 characters) letting people know why you deserve sympathy.

As the voyeur, sorry, I mean observer you read the stories and give them a thumbs up, “Yes, being you sucks,” comment on the story or you can share the stories with friends through Facebook or Twitter. One recent blogger wrote, “I got turned down for a job by a freakin’ postcard in the mail.” You sympathize immediately. I am willing to bet that has happened to a lot of people. Sometimes the stories evoke sympathy, sometimes they make you laugh and sometimes you say, “no way had that happened.” Whatever your reaction, new stories are loaded at the rate of a couple an hour. I expect this rate to increase as more and more people download this app.

You will find stories about work, love, money, embarrassment, health, family and the favorite catch-all, miscellaneous. Whatever part of your life that sucks – there is a category for you. Some stories are the beginning of an interesting story and you want to know what happens next. Some are happy or sweet. I am not sure if I think they are missing the point or if they serve as an antidote to all the pain and frustration of the other stories.

Social networking has become an integral part of our lives. This app gives us another venue to share our fears and troubles and get needed validation from others. BeingMeSucks may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it delivers what it promises – an outlet for those in pain and an opportunity to feel a little better about your life.

BeingMeSucks is compatible with iPhone and iPod Touch and requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later. It is not suitable for children 12 or under due to mature themes.