Accept Credit Card Payments From Your Phone, And 9 Other Awesome iPhone Apps

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In this week's loving iPhone app roundup:

Credit cards, swiped!

Space ships, twirled!

Ninjas, hurled!

Sleep deprivation, nipped!

Syncing cables, snipped!

And more...

See Also:

Karate Chop is an indisputable classic

Karate Chop: There's nothing like a faithful port of an indisputable classic:

Remember Karate Champ? It was one of the very first fighting games-coming far before Street Fighter and Tekken-and we loved it dearly. Now this arcade classic will be coming to the iPhone and it looks damn good.

Coming any day now.

Square lets you accept credit card payments with your phone

Square: Remember that little dongle that turns the iPhone's headphone jack into a credit card swiper?

Yeah, well now you can actually try it yourself. Free. (Get an account here.)

How Many lets you compare the weight of all sorts of different objects

How Many?: The sheer quantity of apps in the App Store means a lot of things.

It's means that there's a lot of great, powerful, complex tools! It means there's a lot of junk.

It also means that there are apps for incredibly specific purposes, like this one, which tells you how much one thing weighs in terms of other things.

And when I say thing(s), I mean anything(s): Bears? Cars? Pears? Sure, whatever. $1

Jet Lag Fighter is a guide to avoiding the terrible travel affliction

Jet Lag Fighter: Virgin Atlantic's assembled a detailed guide to avoiding jet lag, which advises you not just in how you should sleep, but when you should be exposed to light, and when you should exercise.

The Impossible Game is totally possible

The Impossible Game: I'm a sucker for single-tap gaming, and this is some of the best single-tap games I've seen on the iPhone.

It's not impossible as the name implies, but it'll take you quite a while to get used to the pace and style. Lovely, clean graphics and addictive music make it feel like a polished rhythm game, which it sort of is.

PewPew 2 is an ultra-fast-paced top-down space shooter

PewPew 2: An ultra-fast-paced top-down space shooter, rendered in wireframe 3D.

You control the ship with one thumb, and control firing with the other. The original PewPew was among the best in its category, and PewPew 2 has way more levels, different weapons, and a couple new game modes. Otherwise it's pretty similar. $2.

Magic Mover moves your iPhone. Sweet.

Magic Mover: From the same people who turned your iPhone's speaker into a tiny little fan, an app that moves your iPhone using its internal vibration motor.

It seems to only push in one direction, which I guess makes sense, it does work — if you're on a slick enough surface. This is the very essence of a gimmick app. $1

Zombie Infection is one of Gameloft's best

Zombie Infection: Ok, I'm getting a little uncomfortable with Gameloft.

Consider Zombie Infection: It's a Resident Evil-style zombie game, with Resident Evil-styled heroes and enemies. Oh, and it's set in South America—sort of like Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles! If you're not familiar with this questionable phenomenon, Gameloft, which often makes officially licensed games like Brothers in Arms, Avatar or Driver, also makes games that are unofficially "inspired" by popular franchises.

See: NOVA (Halo), Brain Challenge (Brain Age), Gangstar (GTA), Modern Combat (Modern Warfare), and Guitar Rock Tour (Guitar Hero).

Anyway, this is probably one of Gameloft's best games, a well-executed, graphically lush 3rd-person shooter with better-than-awkward controls. It's just a shame it feels slightly dirty to play it. $7.

Touch To Give helps you give money to charity.

Touch To Give: An app in the tradition of TheHungerSite, just tap on a button and a sponsor gives to a worthy charity. Free.

Wifi Sync is the best app concept ever!

Wi-Fi Sync: I usually don't include jailbreak apps in our roundups, but the jailbreak process is extremely simple now, and this is easily my favorite app concept of, well, ever.

Wi-Fi Sync is exactly what you'd hoped it was, syncing your iPhone over Wi-Fi with a simple client app. It brings a tear to one of my eyes for being so wonderful, and a tear to my other eye because it's doomed never to be admitted into the official App Store. Luckily, it's available for $10 in Cydia.