If you’re wanting to use your iPhone as a remote webcam, Apple’s FaceTime is probably the best option, but there are a few other free and inexpensive apps that are useful and offer a few features missing in FaceTime. I downloaded and tried out a handful, and while I found none of them to be perfect, I did discover a few that will work well in a pinch. They are also less expensive than purchasing a dedicated remote wireless camera.

If you work at a home-based office like I do, you no doubt spend a significant amount of time getting things done on your Mac. While I have already written about the advantages of using a standup desk, there are also several important and general productivity apps for almost any type of workflow you engage in. These applications not only save me time but in many cases help me work more efficiently.

Apple announced updates to its iTunes Store recently, which now includes the option to download movies, movie bundles, music box sets, TV episodes, and Season Passes at a later time, rather than immediately at the time of purchase. The new “download later” options apply to items purchased on iTunes 11 (Mac or Windows PC versions), or on iOS devices running iOS 6 or later. When you purchase an item it will be added to your iTunes account, followed by a “Download Now?” button giving you the option to download immediately or later.

Though I advocate and try to use the built-in iOS dictation feature for the iPhone and iPad, there are occasions when good old touch typing must suffice. If, like me, you are not a fast or very efficient typist the built-in iOS keyboard can be a little daunting for many users. If you find yourself fumbling with the built-in keyboard, download a few of these free apps and practice typing risk-free.

Popular microblogging platform Tumblr announced yesterday that it’s now serving ads on its iPhone and Android apps. This move comes a year after Tumblr initially allowed ads to appear on its Web interface. These ads will now be arriving on your mobile Tumblr interface, bu they will look a little different; when looking at a sponsored post, you’ll be able to recognize it as such by an animated dollar sign which will appear on the top right corner of the post.

I have previously covered timesaving features in the latest version of Apple’s Mail client, but despite its improved user interface, search features, favorites bar and VIP folders, there are still missing features Mac power users could use to be more productive in Mail. Fortunately, there are several third-party plug-ins that enhance Mail and address some of its annoying problems or missing features.

Google Drive is similar to the popularly used cloud storage service, Dropbox, but Drive includes built-in document creation features that are missing in Dropbox. And though Dropbox integrates with dozens of third-party applications, Google Drive contains convenient document sharing and collaboration features that Google and iPad users should be taking advantage of. Chris Hoffman has already reviewed Google Drive for Android, and in this review I will cover the iPad version.

Newsreader app Pocket has been updated, and now includes a few useful features for sharing selected articles with friends. The Pocket update introduces a completely redesigned Share Menu at the top-right corner of the app, , with a new Send to Friend feature. The new menu item includes a shortcut that lists recent friends you shared content with, making it easier to share with them again on any network.

If you have been standing in the virtual line to get your hands on popular iPhone app Mailbox, we have some good news for you: your wait is over. The developers of the now Dropbox-owned app announced yesterday that you can start using the latest version of Mailbox immediately after you download it from the iTunes App Store.

If you routinely copy and paste text and other items on your Mac and iOS devices, you will no doubt agree that Apple’s default clipboard features are extremely lacking. Both the iOS and OS X clipboards only allow you to save one clipping at a time. Each clipping you make gets overridden by a new one. As a writer, I rely on a couple of third-party clipboard managers that help me stay productive in the work that I do.

Computers should be about getting things done faster and more efficiently. This is where the award-winning productivity Mac application, Alfred comes in. Using a few keyboard shortcuts, and/or keyword commands, Alfred enables you to quickly, among other things, find and launch applications and files, do various types of web searches, access text you saved on your clipboard with a simple keyboard shortcut, and more.

When it comes to using a simple text editor, Apple’s TextEdit application feels outdated for me. It seems like Apple has forgotten about it while other third-party developers have gone on to produce more advanced text editors that work seamlessly across Mac and mobile platforms. One such example is the distraction free writing program, WriteRoom ($9.99), developed by HogBaySoftware.

This week has seen several minor yet useful updates to Google’s Chrome Web browser for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad as well as the browser’s beta channel on Android. The latest version for both platforms includes fullscreen support, and the iOS update also adds Google Cloud Print and AirPrint while the Android version of Chrome has received client-side certificate support and long-press tab history.

NOOK Media, a subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, Inc., announced yesterday the launch of NOOK Press, a new and free self-publishing platform in which authors can write, edit, collaborate, and publish high-quality e-books and distribute them to millions of readers via NOOK Books and Nook e-readers.

A few weeks ago, we published a Beginners Guide To Using the iPhone Camera, which explains how to use the default features of the camera app, including the how to frame, expose and focus a shot, as well as how to use the flash, review your photos after taking them, and even how to snap a photo while shooting video. While there are lots of third-party photography apps for the iPhone, for many users the iPhone camera app is about as advanced as they want to get.