"iphone app" news and stories

Calorie counts can now be made with a flick of your iPhone. Meal Snap, by health and fitness brand DailyBurn ($2.99 on iTunes), allows users to calculate calories for any food item in the app's 500,000-item database, from an apple to a bag of chips, simply by snapping its picture. Users can then choose to log it into a food diary, to keep track of daily intake, or share findings on Twitter, if you're a lifestyle pusher.

But the counting isn't exact. A few minutes after snapping, a reading reveals a range of possible calories -- an apple could be anywhere between 64 and 96, while a container of yogurt registered between 135 and 204, notes the Daily Mail, who ran a test of their own. So nutrition sticklers, beware, these are mere estimates. The app will also estimate fat content, vitamins, carbohydrates, proteins and other breakdowns, notes chief executive at DailyBurn, Andy Smith, according to Daily Mail.

And it may do wonders for our appetite, says Smith. "The pure act of tracking something can cause a psychological change that can help people on their health and fitness journey," he tells the Mail. "Just the simple fact of logging it makes me more aware of what I'm eating." No lie. Weight Watchers members have been doing just that for decades -- without a camera.

Want to know whether that box of Post Cranberry Almond Crunch cereal that you're eyeing in the grocery store is really that good for you? Forget reading the side of the box; check your iPhone instead.

The folks over at Fooducate.com have just released a new version of their free mobile app that allows users to scan the bar codes of more than 200,000 food products to find the truth behind the nutrition label. Sure, Post trumpets the fact that its Cranberry Almond Crunch is made with whole grains, but, as the Fooducate app warns, the cereal isn't made with 100 percent whole grains, and it has the equivalent of 3.5 teaspoons of sugar, mostly added.

Not only that, but the app gives each product a letter grade (Post's Cranberry Almond Crunch gets a lackluster C+), and suggests healthier alternatives (try B+ Multi-Grain Cheerios instead). Users can also rate products themselves and post reviews, though we're not sure how many moms with a squirming toddler in the cart want to spend the time wading through dozens of comments about canned soup.

In any case, the app (which is currently only available for Apple products) is a kind of Rosetta stone for all that appears Greek to most of us as we scan the ingredients list of the average processed food product. To wit, who knew that "hydrolyzed collagen" is an additive akin to MSG? Or that you'd find it in a protein bar?

If you're a fan of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's, and, let's say, you like a good throw on a roulette wheel, and you just happen to have an iPhone or a Droid, there's a new app for you, kids. Carl's Jr. has just launched their Happy Star Rewards Program.

"In a nutshell, what we're doing is dragging the antiquated punch-card type of loyalty programs into the 21st century," Brad Haley, executive vice president of marketing for Carl's Jr. and Hardee's said in a press release. "We are not only offering a GPS-driven check-in app to keep track of customer visits digitally, but we are offering guaranteed rewards, a restaurant locator, a social media interface, streaming videos, menus, nutritional information and more." (The Carl's Jr. app is available at the iTunes App store and Android Market.)

Visit one of the Carl's Jr. locations once, for your favorite Guacamole Bacon Six-Dollar Burger, for example, and after the first check-in and every subsequent fourth check-in, you earn a spin on The Wheel of Awesome™, the rewards application you can also find on the company's Facebook pages. Once the wheel has been activated, users spin it with their finger for a chance to win discounted and free menu items, branded gift cards, prizes and merchandise from participating partners (such movie tickets for The Green Hornet). The more you check in, the greater the value of the potential prize.

Don't know what to make for dinner? Or lunch? Or brunch for the family?

There's an app or two for that, and their numbers grow every day.

Lifehacker rounded up its favorite apps for cooking and recipes available for the iPhone, highlighting what makes each one great, for everyone from home gourmands to kitchen novices.

On the list: Cooks Illustrated, Epicurious, Allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner, Evernote, Whole Foods Market Recipes and How to Cook Everything.

You're out at a restaurant for a special occasion and have ordered an absolutely delicious bottle of wine. It's so good, in fact, you'd like to know if they sell it at your local wine store. With Snooth Wine Pro, a new iPhone app, you can find out simply by taking a quick photo of the label.

Snooth Wine Pro can identify that wine and then provide you with reviews, locations that carry it and even online ordering options in seconds. You can even find other wines from the same vineyard.

We tested out the app on the only bottle of wine we had in the house -- a housewarming gift and the only bottle in the wine fridge: a Grgich Hills Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2002.

We snapped a photo of the label with the iPhone and the app was able to not only identify the wine, but other vintages and other varietals made by the Grgich Hills vineyard and it listed stores across the country where you could find the bottle. (The nearest was 57 miles away in Middletown, N.Y. which sells it for $69.99.)