Every week a few of us from team TiPb, bloggers and forum crew alike, will bring you our current favorite, funnest, most useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they’re iPhone (or iPod touch) related, they’re fair game.

So who’s on deck this week and what are our picks? Find out after the break!

Chad’s Pick: Pandemonium

Pandemonium was just release for the iPhone for $4.99. This game was originally published on the PSone and has stood the test of time very well. The game plays like a 2D action platformer, but with 3D environments. Check it out on the App Store, the game is a lot of fun! [$4.99 - iTunes link]

Chris’ Pick: Handbrake

I have been using Handbrake upon the recommendation of our illustrious leader to convert some of my DVD’s to iPhone format. Easy to use, settings already determined, I am slowly building up my iPhone movie collection. [Free - Website link]

James’ Pick: Taxi Magic

Have you ever been stranded somewhere and needed a taxi? Well, there’s an app for that. Actually, there are dozens of apps for that. However, most are a glorified directory of search results that one could obtain from Google Maps. Enter Taxi Magic. With a push of a few buttons, you can have a cab dispatched directly to your location. What Taxi Magic does is bypass the (human) operator and send a message to the dispatch system to direct a taxi your way. Taxi Magic uses GPS to determine your location and allows you to edit the location before sending the request. Also included is the ability to pay for the taxi using a stored credit card. Magic yes indeedy! [Free - iTunes link]

Jeremy’s Pick: NBA Game Time

With the NBA playoffs in full swing it’s nice to be able use this free application for when I can’t watch the games from the comfort of my home. Did I mention it’s free? [Free - iTunes link]

Leanna’s Pick: Geek Jokes

Ever looking for some good, cheesy, geeky jokes? – Geek Jokes provides just that. It has jokes in various categories of science, computers, and video games. Although the main screen UI is quite terrible, Geek Jokes will provide you and your friends with some free giggles – and giggles are good for the heart! [ Free - iTunes link]

Matt’s Pick: 3D Gallery

3D Gallery allows you to create your very own virtual art gallery. There are controls on screen that allow you to manuveur through two virtual galleries with photos on the walls. The really great feature here, is that you can customize the photos on the walls with your own art. You can also resize or move the photos on the wall. The application also allows you to save multiple layouts (gallery customizations.) [$2.99 - iTunes Link]

Rene’s Pick: QuickOffice Files

I’ve been using this app since it was called Mobile Files in order to access and view my iDisk (MobileMe’s online storage) files remotely on my iPhone. When I travel, I store PDFs of all my plane and hotel information on my iDisk and QuickOffice Files lets me reference them at the airport or at check-in — just when I need them the most. Locally, I get the same ease-of-access for all important docs of the day. Invaluable. [$1.99 - iTunes link]

Your Pick?

You’re part of team TiPb too, so what’s your pick? What app was your absolute fav last week? Let us — and everyone — know in the comments!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb Picks of the Week: Pandemonium, Handbrake, Taxi Magic, NBA Game Time, Geek Jokes, 3D Gallery, QuickOffice Files

It’s late at night and you can’t sleep. Your significant other has already called it a night and you’re bored out of your mind.

In both scenarios above, you desperately want to catch up on your DVD backlog, but who has the time? Well, read on for this week’s Tip on how to turn your iPhone into your very own silver screen!

You are probably well aware of the ability to watch videos on your iPhone. You can connect to iTunes and rent movies, download to your iPhone, and enjoy. You may not know, however, that you can squeeze your own DVD collection (or at least several titles from your collection) onto your iPhone to watch whenever you wish.

In order to watch movies on your iPhone, the video file needs to be compressed. There are numerous applications out their on the web that you can purchase for a nominal fee and start “ripping”, or compressing, your movie collection. However, one app that I’m fond of that just so happens to be free of charge is Handbrake. 

Handbrake is easy to use. Just load your DVD, start up Handbrake, and it scans your DVD for the files it needs to compress. Just make sure you select the proper format for your movie; Handbrake will rip your DVD in the format you preset, i.e. iPhone or iPod Touch, iPod Classic, etc., depending on the screen size. Once the scan is done, you click “Start” and your movie file will be compressed in about an hour or so. Once compressed, just copy the file to the “Movies” section of your iTunes Library and then sync your movies to your iPhone. You are now ready to take your DVD library with you wherever you go!

Keep in mind that you should only compress movies that you OWN (ahem). Now you can plug in your headphones and watch a movie on your plane ride or with your head propped up on a pillow in bed without disturbing anyone. The sound quality is great with the headphones and the picture quality is surprisingly good too. Whether it’s your favorite movie or television series, try it out today!

That’s it for this week’s Tip. If you have a tip of your own that you would like to share with the rest of us, please leave a Comment or you can email me at: brian.hart@tipb.com.

Disclaimer:  Tip o’ the Week makes no guarantee, express or implied, that any tip found herein will be new or particularly useful to the reader (and please only watch movies on your iPhone when in a seated position — and NO, driving a car doesn’t count as a “seated position”). 

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Tip o’ the Week: iPhone Cinema