If you need to quickly find a customer service number for your (fill in whatever mission-critical piece of business equipment is on the fritz), the free will do it for you. This simple database from Next Mobile Web contains customer service numbers for more than 600 companies (even Apple). Best of all, these aren't numbers that'll dump you into some interminable voice-mail hell; they take you directly to a live person.

Jott for iPhone

Jott is a service that lets you dial a toll-free number and leave yourself a voice memo; the service then transcribes that memo into text and sends it to you via e-mail. The free app () extends that service to the iPhone. After you dictate whatever you want into your iPhone (15 seconds max), your voice note is sent to Jott's server, where it's converted to text; that text is then synced back to your iPhone. (If you need to receive the text on your Mac, this isn't the solution for you; if you want to get your note via e-mail and don't need it transcribed first, see Note2Self below.) The basic Jott service is free, with two upgrade plans: $4 per month lets you send e-mail and text messages from any phone; the $13-per-month Pro plan lets you record 30 seconds at a time.

Mobile News Network

If your job requires that you know what's going on in the world, you need the free iPhone version of the Associated Press's great (). It gives you easy-to-read screens of news in all sorts of categories--including finance, politics, and sports. And it's not like browsing a news site with the iPhone's version of Safari: the screens are specifically optimized for viewing on the iPhone and are easy to read even if you're in a hurry. It's a great way to stay informed when you're on the move.