DalyDose of…WP7 Apps Wanted

I love my Samsung Focus, I really do.  The Windows Phone 7 experience is amazing and I no longer get the “I feel sorry” look from iPhone users.  Sure they still speak in terms of superiority, but the “cool gap” is closing.

Part of what makes up the “cool gap” is apps.  In 6 weeks of existence, I don’t expect Windows Phone Marketplace to have caught up to iPhone and Android app stores in quantity, but I expect some quality competition.  I have been active in app collection and have found quite a few; that list is forthcoming.  This post is a Wish List of apps that I’d love to see.  Maybe the developers will give us all a happy holiday treat in the near future.

Here is my Top 10…scratch that…Top 9 list of wanted apps

• Bing – “What?” you say.  “Isn’t Bing totally integrated into the operating system?”  Well, yes it is, but it can certainly use some improvement.  The one thing that I’m looking for is native Bing navigation with all the turn-by-turn, voice assisted goodness that I had in WINDOWS MOBILE.  Isn’t Windows Phone 7 supposed to be an upgrade?  Did the Bing folks not get the memo until it was too late.  It is a shame when Microsoft’s own internal developers drop the ball.
• Kindle – we all saw it there at the launch event.  They had a beautiful application and they did a lovely walk through which would indicate that the app was near ready for primetime.  Well, we are all still waiting for this one.  I’m not yet convinced that I want to read entire books on my phone, but I’m willing to buy a couple to figure it out.  Plus, if they can get me some eMagazines on there, I think that would be easier to digest on the mobile screen.
• Waze – another GPS/navigation app, but one with crowd sourcing so that traffic data in constantly updated.  I loved this on Windows Mobile and would love to see it on WindowsPhone.
• Evernote – this was my biggest loss.  Sure WindowsPhone has OneNote, but I’ve logged loads of data in Evernote and I like it better for some things.  They would actually both be installed on my device, but as of now, Evernote hasn’t seen the “Really?” light.
• ESPN ScoreCenter – actually, I’ll take any good sports score application.  I’d love to have news of my favorite teams, but I won’t get greedy right away.  Hello ESPN or Fox Sports.  Pssssst…Microsoft, you have the scores and news right there at MSNBC, you can do it…I believe in you!
• Call Manager/Blocker – This was amazing on Windows Mobile.  I could send certain numbers directly to voicemail without ringing my phone; others could just be blocked and disconnected.  I haven’t found an app like this for WinPhone, but I’m hoping.  This might be tough for developers to pull off because it would require a small part of the app to run at all times and I don’t think Microsoft is allowing that right now.  Maybe they should bake it into the OS.  Pssssssssst.
• Advanced SMS (Texting) – I used to have an app that would let me do some cool things with texting.  It would let me create groups to send to. (I think this can be done now)   It would also let me schedule texts to be sent at a later date/time, which is what I really want to do.  I sometimes want to tell someone something right away and I look at the clock and realize that it would be a bit rude to send the text at 2:30am on a Tuesday.  What I did instead was schedule it to send mid morning.  This app potential likely has the same issue as the Call Manager/Blocker above.
• WhatsApp – I would love to have one of those text message replacement programs like WhatsApp.  If you want to be the one service that everyone can use then you should go ahead and join the Windows Phone party.
• Video/MMS Editing – Ooooh man, I can’t believe I almost forgot this.  I really want to see this happen.  I want to have an app that would edit video and even put together slide shows of pictures for MMS messages.  Microsoft is going to have to unleash video sharing via MMS though.

That’s it.  I was going to make a Top 10, but this is all that I want in terms of apps.  Is that so much to ask for?  I will put it to you good people of the Internet.  Please let me know in comments what app should round out my Top 10!  Also, don’t be afraid to email the developers that you want to see apps for.  You know that whole squeaky wheel gets the grease thing.

BONUS: I know many of you out there want the Angry Birds game so I’ll mention it here.  I’ve never played or seen the game played so I don’t really know what it’s all about, but if as many people want it as I’ve heard it must be worth it!