Passbook has only been available for a matter of days, but we’re already finding it pretty handy,” NBC News wrote. “Its usefulness will only improve as more retailers and businesses design their apps to make use of it. Before long, we’ll all hopefully have a lot more room in our wallets because of fewer cards and papers we’ll need to worry about losing thanks to this handy app.”

If you opened PassBook and are still unsure what to do with it, you aren’t alone.

Initially, the app is useless, and until you really need it, it will probably continue to do so. Only a small number of companies have signed up to let you use the app at this point but that is likely to change and when it does, knowing how to use it may help.

Immediately after the update, PassBook will likely be the only new difference you see. It’s a colorful app, displaying a blue, yellow, and green ticket fanned out. When you open it, you’ll be bombarded with even more color, thanks to a screen that offers to take you to see your boarding passes, tickets, store cards, or coupons.

To use PassBook, you’ll have to add apps. You’ll see the button at the bottom of your screen that will take you to the App Store to add apps to PassBook. I’ll go in order to show you how you can begin transforming your wallet into a phone:

Boarding Passes

Currently American Airlines and United Airlines are the only two companies that support PassBook. Inside the app, you’ll store your boarding passes, allowing you to go from home to the airport without carting some ticket around. As you enter the airport, the boarding pass will automatically load, ready for you to use. If your flight time or gate location should change, PassBook will alert you to that, as well.

Tickets

Download the Fandango app for PassBook and you’ll have your movie tickets safely stored on your phone. Once at the theater, the box office worker will be able to scan your screen and get you into the theater without you ever having to take out your phone. Be aware that Fandango charges a “convenience fee” that ranges from $.75-$2.00, but Fandango users have been paying this fee for a while.

Live Nation and Ticketmaster have also signed up for participation, providing tickets to concerts and other special events. You’ll have your tickets with you, safe and sound, when you get to the location and you won’t have to worry about keeping up with them while you’re enjoying the event.

Store Cards

Starbucks is a little late to go live with the app but once it’s active, customers will be able to keep store cards on their iPhone, buying coffee without having to dig through a bunch of cards to find it. Walgreens allows customers to add its loyalty card into the app, which is a welcome change to those of us tired of carrying a keychain full of those things around, just to save a few bucks a month. Hopefully my grocery store will soon do the same.

Coupons

Target is the frontline innovator in the coupon arena, providing coupons directly on the app that can be scanned at the register. You’ll have to set up an account once you’ve downloaded the Target app and in your account you’ll have the coupons targeted to your specific stores. Once you’re set up, you’ll simply need to go to My Target, then choose Coupons and Mobile Coupons.

While PassBook is still new, chances are once you download the app, you’ll begin to see more companies joining in. Since much of it is free, there’s no reason not to begin adding the services that apply to you.

This had me wondering, exactly what features were installed with this upgrade?

• Decline calls—“iOS 6 adds new calling options that give you more flexibility over how you handle incoming calls that you don’t want to take,” Jeffrey L. Wilson wrote in PC Mag. “Instead of simply declining a call, you can now reply to it with a text message (either pre-fabricated or custom) or set a reminder to follow up with a particular person later. You can see the new options by swiping the screen upward when a call comes in.”
• Passbook—This is the first change you’ll notice after the upgrade, since it’s the only new icon that pops up on your screen. As I wrote previously, Passbook will hold your loyalty cards, airline and movie tickets, and, some are speculating, eventually your currency. It was good to know we don’t all have to buy the iPhone 5 to have access to Passbook.
• Maps—If you have iPhone 4S, you’ll have more features than if you have an older phone. Voice command works through Siri, so obviously you’ll have to have a 4S or 5 to access that feature. You’ll also only have access to iOS 6 Maps’ “flyover” feature if you have 4S or 5.
• Do Not Disturb—Once you’ve upgraded to iOS 6, you have to go into Settings and turn Do Not Disturb on. There you can set up your phone to leave you alone during certain hours. During these hours, your phone will remain silent and dark, which is great for those of us who are tired of our iPhone screens blinking on and off throughout the night. Just under Do Not Disturb, you’ll notice an option called Notifications. Click on this and choose Do Not Disturb. Here you can choose to allow calls from your favorites, all of your contacts, or none of your contacts. One word of warning, though. If your iPhone is your only source of contact with the world, it might not be wise to drop all phone calls at night, since an emergency call can come through from someone who isn’t even on your contact list. (Say, for instance, a police officer calling to tell you a loved one has been in a car accident.) You can set up Do Not Disturb to not silence a call if it comes in twice within a three-minute period, but I’m not sure I want to take that chance. Instead, you might want to accept phone calls from everyone, which will silence all text messages and other notifications.
• Facebook integration—This will make sharing things with your Facebook family a little easier, which, of course, is the last thing the world needs. But users want to be able to share every facet of their lives with the world, so this integration is a welcome addition to the Apple operating system.
• Bye bye, YouTube—Yes, the iOS 6 upgrade wiped YouTube right off my phone. Of course, you can download the YouTube app, which was the top free iPhone app the last time I checked, but it’s still a little annoying that an app was removed from my phone.
• FaceTime over cellular—This will likely only apply to you if you have unlimited data. These days not many people do—those who do will probably lose it when they upgrade. But FaceTime will now work over your cellular network, allowing you to see your friends and family as you’re roaming the world, talking to them. You’ll still probably want to seek out a wi-fi for your FaceTime chats, but it’s nice to know this feature is now an option.

To upgrade, hook up to iTunes or go into Settings-General-Software Update.

Pain Coach is from WebMD, a leader in providing online health information.

This app handles chronic pain from a holistic angle, encouraging sufferers to keep up with their own symptoms and triggers in order to find solutions. Since the app is free, chronic pain patients can’t go wrong in downloading this app and trying it out.

Each tip is reviewed by doctors and delivered to each user daily, customized to his or her individual situation. The app is specifically designed to help users suffering from back pain, neck pain, nerve pain, fibromyalgia, migraine, osteoarthritis, or rheumatoid arthritis. The app tracks a user’s daily pain level, symptoms, triggers, treatments, and drugs to provide an overall view of that user’s history.

As a user enters symptoms, the app gets to work, with tips geared toward a patient’s particular symptoms.

The app is set up to provide daily tips, keep track of a user’s progress, and provide users access to an extensive library of health information.

Users are also encouraged to set regular goals, which revolve around pain-relieving activities such as performing exercises recommended by a doctor or incorporating more strength-building activities into a day.

WebMD recognized that many who suffer from chronic pain have more than one condition, which is why WebMD’s Pain Coach uniquely enables tracking of multiple chronic pain conditions all within one app,” said Dr. Michael Smith, chief medical editor at WebMD. “WebMD Pai Coach is also a portable reminder and checklist for patients to reference when communicating with their physician at the point of care, enhancing patient-physician communications to help with health decisions and treatments.”

On the physician side, the app is even more welcome than on the patient side.

Prior to launch, WebMD polled physicians and patients and found that 92 percent of physicians would prefer a patient have an easy way to track symptoms between office visits. Thanks to Pain Coach, patients can easily keep up with symptoms and report those symptoms to their medical care providers.

That same survey found patients were interested, as well. The vast majority (89 percent) of respondents agreed that they’d use a mobile app to track pain through a diary. 70 percent reported that they would use a mobile app that provided health-related information to help manage their pain.

Since some patients suffer from more than one type of pain, WebMD’s Pain Coach can keep up with multiple conditions simultaneously.

Patients can attach different goals to different conditions and check those goals off as they are completed.

Once all data has been entered and the user’s tracking is underway, the Pain Coach generates a report that shows in chart form that user’s pain levels, common symptoms, triggers, and treatments. This information can be used to alter your future behaviors, thereby hopefully reducing symptoms. WebMD Pain Coach members can also share information in the app’s extensive library with their social media networks, which is a win-win for the app and its users.

While chronic pain sufferers cannot receive physical help from an iPhone, this app is the next best thing. With an increasing number of senior citizens in this country, it’s more important than ever to find healthy ways to get control of their health symptoms.

In all of that waiting came an exciting invention.

Polaroid instant cameras spit photos out immediately. You had to wait for the film to darken, which took a half a minute or so, but that was nothing to people used to waiting for photos. The result was a photo with a white border that was significantly thicker at the bottom. There was something exciting about gathering around your photo, watching as it slowly developed. It’s similar to what we do today when a friend or family member takes a picture and we all gather to stare at that person’s smartphone screen, but not exactly the same.

A group of instant photography devotees found a way to keep instant film alive. Impossible Instant Lab began as a vision to turn the iPhone digital format into an analog photo. Buyers get a cradle that vaguely resembles an instant camera at the base. The cradle interacts with an app the buyer loads on his or her phone. Simply choose a photo from the app, set the timer, and put the phone, face-down, in the cradle. Seconds later the cradle signals that the photo is ready and, with the push of a button, the photo spits out.

One of the great things about the Impossible Instant Lab is that the photo develops gradually, just as instant photos developed in those 1970s cameras. So you and your friends can stand around the photo and watch it develop with that same feeling of excitement your parents had when taking pictures with the real thing.

Interestingly, Impossible Instant Lab was developed in the same German manufacturing facility where Rollei once made its instant cameras. The tower is collapsible, so you can fold your cradle and take it on the run with you. It’s important to note that the Impossible Instant Lab is not a camera. Think of it more as a photo printer, which can be a handy thing to have when you’re on vacation or hanging out with friends.

This is a Kickstarter project, so the device isn’t yet ready for shipment.

The makers are only offering it for pre-sale through Kickstarter, with plans to ship in mid-February 2013. One major deterrent to purchasing the Impossible Instant Lab is its price. The site is listing a planned retail price of $299, plus it looks like you’ll also have to purchase film. You can use film compatible with Polaroid 600 and Polaroid SX70 cameras.

High price or not, you have to admire the passion these guys have for instant photography. It was a passion that led them to buy the last Polaroid factory in an effort to preserve enough film for future technologies like Impossible Instant Lab.

If you’ve ever held an SX 70 in your hand, you probably understand,” the company says on its Kickstarter page. “It’s such a beautiful piece of design and the photos it makes are so different from any other camera – unique and magical. But even we instant film aficionados take a lot of pictures with our iPhones, so we wanted to find a way to turn those digital iPhone images into true instant photos. Well … we invented it. The Impossible Instant Lab!”

As Polaroid cameras fade into history, it’s nice to know there’s at least one way this technology is being kept alive. Pledges start at $189 and you get the unit for this discounted price once it’s available, plus one film voucher. This deal is available in limited quantities, however, so if you’re interested, you’d better hurry and make your pledge.

The app is called Passbook and it’s clear from looking at the prototype that this app is only the beginning. Right now the app aims to store your airplane tickets, loyalty cards, movie tickets, and coupons all in one place. Since the app is integrated into the operating system of the new phone, chances are more and more retailers will work to find ways to make their service work with Passbook, opening up possibilities we’ve only talked about until now…

It gets better, though.

The app has been built to be time and location-based, so the tickets will appear in your lock screen at the designated time. If your flight suddenly changes gates, the app will alert you of that, as well. And because it’s location-based, Passbook will present that Starbucks gift card as soon as you enter the store.

The only thing I can see that might be annoying about that is the fact that every time you pass a Starbucks, your gift card will likely rear its ugly head. If you live in America, you probably pass a Starbucks at least twenty times a day. Your lock screen will look like Starbucks gift card wallpaper by the time you get to your destination, depending on how close you have to actually get to the actual location before your gift card pops up.

Another way Passbook can allow stores to annoy us—I mean help us—is through coupons.

As you pass through the door of your favorite store, the app could flash a coupon on your lock screen. That’s all well and good, but what happens when you happen upon a shopping center with several participating retailers? Will they all then war for space on your lock screen? Just how precise will the GPS on this app be?

At the big iPhone 5 reveal, Apple announced it already has partnerships with various companies for the new app. Going by the brands displayed on the screen at Apple’s site, those companies probably include Fandango, Target, Delta, W Hotels, Starwood Hotels, Sheraton, American Airlines, and Starbucks.

Apps that store loyalty cards have already been available for some time. Functionality has been problematic, to say the least, with most complaints stemming from some cash register scanners being unable to read from a smartphone’s screen. Still, I’ve personally witnessed people using iPhone screens at airports for tickets with no problem, and if all of these major companies are lining up to be a part of Passbook, you can rest assured these companies will make sure their scanners can read the barcode on an iPhone 5, even if not so many people are using the app at first.

Still, it’s important to note that Apple is steering clear of calling this a mobile payment app.

The Wall Street Journal spoke with Phil Schiller, senior vice president of marketing for Apple, who hesitated to call the app a mobile payment system. As Schiller pointed out, mobile payment services are “all fighting over their piece of the pie, and we aren’t doing that.”

Whatever you think of Passbook, there’s no denying it’s a portal into a new frontier for iPhone owners. What begins as a way to stop carrying around boarding passes and reward cards will eventually grow to include credit cards and maybe even your driver’s license. As usual, Apple has integrated the technology into its devices—it’s up to the rest of the world make that technology as powerful as it can be.

That’s why Sculpteo stands out.

The company makes a variety of products using polished plastic and 3D design concepts, including iPhone cases suited for the iPhone 4 and 4S. When the new iPhone debuts, these 3D cases can quickly adjust to the new phone size, since each case is custom made to order.

To make your case, you can either download the 3dpcase app from the iTunes Store or design your case from the website. You’ll have several designs to choose from and customize, including geography-related designs. Pick a part of the world that’s personal to you and choose a color. Approximately a week later, a case will arrive with a raised geographic image that you chose.

One design, Bubbles, allows you to use your mouse to adjust the shape of vertical lines on the screen, creating a “bubble-like” effect in the case. Comics allows you to use your own image to create a cut-out, with the comic image of your choice added above it. Cross-stitch gives you five choices of cross-stitch images, including Pac-Man and Apple, and gives your case a threading to make it look as though it’s been cross-stitched. Engraved iPhone cases can be customized with your name and an image you choose. Put your favorite movie character or an emblem of something that is unique to you. The Speaker design turns the back of your iPhone into a fake speaker. These are only a few of the designs available on Sculpteo’s website, with more being added all the time.

We wanted to unleash the creativity and imagination of the user, enable them to participate in the creative process of the case,” M.M Studio, creator of many of the cases at 3dpcase, says on its website. “We chose to compare the knowledge of new technologies and crafts, and feed their creative potential, and demonstrate that far from being in opposition, these two worlds complement each other.”

You can even customize your own 3D images.

Since it may be tough to come up with a design without inspiration, 3dpcase offers samples of designs other users have created in its 3dpcase Gallery. You can see firsthand the images others have used to make their cases stand out. If you like a particular design, you can customize it to make it yours directly from that case’s design page, choosing the colors and other options you want.

There are other services that allow you to customize your own case—some are even 3D. But the great thing about 3dpcase is its price. Cases start at only $19.95. Sculpteo uses multiple layers for its 3D creations, which keeps your case in good shape through years of wear.

While you can’t return your case because it’s customized for you, if there is a problem with your item, contact Sculpteo within thirty days and they’ll try to work things out to your satisfaction. You can also share your designs with friends via e-mail or social media. Each case is made from high-quality polyamide and printed with the latest 3D printers.

One thing’s for certain.

If you design and buy a 3dpcase, you’ll be the only one you know with one. At least until they see your case and want one like it.

There has to be an app for that, right?

Ideally, when you have a car accident, you call the police and they show up at the scene and jot down a police report, which is then officially filed. But in many major cities, police won’t even show up during the busiest hours of the day, simply telling automobile accident victims to move out of the way of traffic, exchange insurance information, and file with the nearest police precinct on their own.

This presents a few problems, one of which is the fact that nobody actually showed up at the scene of your accident to impartially witness what happened. I know we’d like to believe that every human being is honest, but there have been many, many cases where the person at fault in an accident denied involvement afterward. It’s your word against theirs, right? And in a lawsuit-happy country, it’s not completely unfeasible that even if you were the one at fault, the other person could lie, claiming injuries or damage that you didn’t cause in order to get money out of you or your insurance provider.

Luckily, we live in a smartphone world.

People like the guy I saw on my way into work this morning are taking matters into their own hands by documenting, either by taking photos or video, everything that happens. You can show the two cars involved, take photos of license plates, and even take photos or video of the other driver. You could even use your smartphone to video record witness accounts of the accident.

But, taking it a step further, wouldn’t it be nice if you could bundle all of these things up and send them on to your insurance agent? It would make things easier for all involved and provide the documentation your insurance company needs to proceed. The only app I found geared specifically toward car accidents was C.A.R., which is “built upon the latest iPhone OS 3.0 technologies.” Ahem. A little dated, to say the least, but the app does allow you to record all of the details about the other driver, including driver’s license number and contact information.

The great thing about C.A.R. is once all the information is updated and uploaded, the app can compress all photos and information into one e-mail. You will then have to e-mail it to the appropriate parties, but it’s nice to have everything in one place.

Still, wouldn’t it be nice to cut out the middleman and submit information directly to your insurance agent?

This, of course, is up to your insurance company to provide, and currently this technology is lacking, to say the least. Travelers Insurance has an Auto Accident Help app, walking you through each step. You can upload photos, enter all contact information, and e-mail that information to a claims representative, all from the app.

As more insurance companies follow Travelers’ lead, you may see more auto accident victims snapping photos and tapping away on our smartphone screens at the scene of the crash. Whether your insurance company has an app or not, those photos and videos can still be handy for sending to the claims adjustor once you get one on the line. So snap away, but don’t stand in the fast lane in rush hour traffic to do it like the guy I saw this morning. There’s no app for common sense, unfortunately.

Here’s a rundown of some of the games people are talking about this week.

• VOTE!!!—If all of the election coverage has you down, this app can put you right in the heat of battle. Become President Barack Obama or his opponent Mitt Romney and start fighting for the win. Designed to raise awareness of the importance of voting, the app has the two candidates battling it out with microphones, rubber chickens, and a variety of other weapons. Players get battle assistance through making choices such as “healthcare” and “SuperPac” which helps strengthen them for battle. Cost: Free.
• Bad Piggies—Since this one is from the makers of Angry Birds, it’s highly anticipated. “There’s a lot of empathy towards the lovable enemies from the Angry Birds games, and we’ve been constantly asked: what about the pigs’ side of the story?” said Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio. “Bad Piggies gives you the chance to play as the second-most-loved characters in the Angry Birds universe, and explore this rich world through their green eyes.” Bad Piggies is set for launch September 27.
• Monsters Ate My Condo—From Adult Swim, the people who give you something to watch at night, comes this fun app about hungry monsters gobbling up high-rise buildings. Those who tried out Adult Swim’s first game, Robot Unicorn Attack, know these games are not meant to be taken too seriously. Just have fun and don’t try to overthink things too much. Cost: $.99.
• Year Walk—Coming this winter, Year Walk is from the same people who brought us Beat Sneak Bandit. This app has a dark premise, mixing monsters, folklore, and “a little bit of occult.” The app is set in 19^th-century Sweden and seems to create a mystery for the player to unravel.
• Annoying Oranges: Kitchen Carnage—If you like Fruit Ninja but have played it until you’re over it, Annoying Oranges may give you just the shake-up you’re looking for. Toss fruit toward a blender and rack up points as your fruit is blended into tasty oblivion. Cost: $1.99 full version; Lite version free.
• Arms Cartel Global—Not the best game for kids, but for grown-up kids, Arms Cartel Global is worth checking out. In essence, you’re building a huge illegal drug cartel while shooting down rival cartels. In this game, you’re more of the mastermind behind the operation instead of doing anything so if you’re more of a first-person shooter type of gamer, stay away from this one. Cost: $.99.
• 100 Floors—Learn math and have fun…all at the same time. Your challenge with each floor is to open the elevator doors on each floor. That’s the challenge, but it’s not easy. There’s no prize waiting on the other side of those doors, but you’ll spend so much time trying to get the doors open, that in itself will be the reward.  Cost: Free.
• What’s My IQ?—This sequel to the hit games Stupidness 2 and Stupidness 3 gives you a set of puzzles you must complete to test your problem-solving skills. At the end, you’re given a score that represents your IQ. Cost: Free.
• Ski Safari—You’re skiing down a mountain in this app in a desperate effort to outrun an avalanche. Animals can serve as weapons to help ward off danger. Cost: $.99.
• Middle Manager of Justice—Anyone who has to endure corporate America in order to earn a living can appreciate this app, which in essence ridicules the middle manager. In this case the middle manager is manager of superheroes. The game is free, but you’re given the option of paying real money for “Superium” to advance your game. Cost: Free.
• The Tiny Bang Story—One of the first things you notice about this game is its hand-drawn renderings of a world where tiny people live. The setting: Tiny Planet. The people: threatened with extinction by a meteor attack. It’s up to you to save the planet and make yourself a hero. Price: $2.99.

Every now and then, it’s nice to check out a few of the newer games. All of these are being talked about for a reason—most of them offer a fresh perspective on old, familiar gaming concepts that keep us all glued to our iPhone screens.

I can’t really relate to that. In fact, I dread the day all my friends start being able to do that because I’ll then have to endure every detail of every step they make every time I log in. Plus, for someone who prizes privacy in any form, something like this seems absolutely panic-inducing. Even if you aren’t against your movements being shared with the world, by the time you realize some stalker has been tailing you for the past two months, it will be too late.

Investor Mark Cuban, who is also owner of the Dallas Mavericks and star of TV’s Shark Tank, believes in the technology enough to put his money and support behind it. Until recently, the only way to even begin to encourage check-ins is by using something called “serendipity,” which has the app running in the background at all times, using location-based services to alert a smartphone user whenever someone is near a friend or, say, at a location that rewards customers for checking in.

While check-ins have continued to grow in popularity, they still haven’t realized mainstream success.

Even many avid social media users are hesitant to use check-ins, not realizing the special perks that can come from doing so. By making it automatic, businesses that participate in social media can easily boost their visibility.

The problem for customers is that facial recognition technology can lead to other things. Remember the movie Minority Report? It’s not too far in the future for our society. You enter a store and a voice greets you by first name, then displays an ad custom tailored to you. Only in our world, that ad would flash on your iPhone instead of on screens inside the store. It’s a scary process.

Experts are quick to point out that most of these services would be opt-in. And the immediate use of this technology is to capture crowd information about places. The video will give information about how many people are in a particular area at various times of day.

It’s great for traffic patterns, security, and much more,” Cuban explained. “We are posting cameras in certain environments where anonymity is required, and we don’t and won’t capture faces or anything that could identify an individual. We will simply provide incredibly accurate traffic information and patterns.”

However, the rest of the description of this new technology included information on face recognition technology. As the description states,

Facebook provides a database of 500mm people and their names from around world. While not all profile pictures are going to be valid in facial recognition software, most will. Few people exclude their basic name and picture information from public search, so FB could be the first to provide a database of names and faces to the commercial world of facial recognition.”

So if all of this makes you nervous, the first step would be to exclude your name and picture information from public search. This can be done by either setting each photo to private or, if allowed, setting entire albums to private. While you’re at it, be sure you change your privacy settings so that all future postings are private or you’ll have to keep doing this.

As more apps seek to use social media information for marketing purposes, it will become increasingly important that you lock your online profile down to safeguard against it. If you want to see what information can be accessed about you, just take a look at your Facebook profile under the “View As Public” setting.

Time to lock yourself in the house on Sundays with a six-pack in the fridge and the remote at your side. But you don’t have to become a hermit during football season, with these handy apps allowing you to keep up with the game even as you’re tooling about town.

• ESPN ScoreCenter—Since this is consistently the most popular sports app in the iTunes Store, it’s likely you already have it. But if you don’t, you’re missing the ability to receive push notifications about sports scores, news, and standings. You can also read up on the latest news about your favorite team at any time. ESPN ScoreCenter covers the NFL, NBA, NHL, and more. Price: Free.
• Apps to watch NFL Games—There are a wide variety of ways to watch TV on your iPhone. Which way you choose depends on your choice of memberships. NFL Sunday Ticket for iPhone is available to Direct TV subscribers, while NFL GamePass Mobile is available for a rate of $24.99 a week or $79.99 a month. Verizon customers can use NFL Mobile and those who own a Slingbox can use SlingPlayer Mobile to view anything they’ve recorded from their TVs.
• ESPN Mobile—This app allows you to listen to podcasts and radio shows about football through your iPhone. Coverage isn’t limited to football, but during football season there are many broadcasts to choose from. Cost: $2.99.
• NFL Rivals—One of the most popular NFL iPhone games, NFL Rivals allows you to play for the betterment of your favorite team. Your score is added to your team’s overall ranking, so you can work hard to help your team win. Even better, on game day, you can play games when your team is playing them. Cost: $.99.
• College Football Radio & Live Scores—Keep up with your favorite teams’ scores and latest news with this app full of radio stations. The app advertises itself as having more stations than any other app…guaranteed. You can also save your favorite stations to help you listen in on your favorite teams without having to search for hours to find them. Cost: $.99.
• CBS Sports Mobile—Keep up with college teams, research stats for your fantasy football league, and get the latest sports news from CBS Sports with this iPhone app. You can also watch game previews, recaps, and sports commentary programming. Cost: $4.99.
• NFL.com Fantasy Football 2012—For the fantasy football enthusiast, this dedicated app provides real-time scoring, the ability to set your lineup, get official news and injury updates, manage multiple teams, and more. This free app is updated for the upcoming football season to get you ready to start putting your team together.
• Pro Football Insider—From popular sports magazine Pro Football Weekly, Pro Football Insider provides stats, schedules, and standings, along with insider information and news. More than 1,000 videos are posted each year with an integrated Twitter feed that can help you keep up with what everyone’s saying about your favorite teams and players. The app is free but you’ll need a subscription to Pro Football Weekly to view premium content.

Football apps can help you keep informed and tuned in throughout the entire football season.

From pre-season to the Super Bowl, you’ll impress all your friends with your insider knowledge of the sport and all of your favorite teams.