iPhone App Starts Your Car Remotely

Just when you thought developers had exhausted the iPhone's potential to impress, here comes another: An application that promises to remotely unlock, start and warm your car from almost anywhere in the world.

Called Viper SmartStart, the app was launched earlier this week by Directed Electronics, a vehicle security and remote start systems designer, and can be downloaded for free from Apple's App store.

Using an existing remote car starting system from Viper, with a tap of a few buttons on your iPhone, your car can be started, warmed up and humming, just waiting for you to hit the road.

Although remote starting systems for cars usually have a limited line-of-sight range, Viper says its system has "virtually unlimited range" since your iPhone, not the original remote, communicates over cell networks with your car.

"We think customers will find all sorts of unique and personal value in Viper SmartStart," Mike Simmons, EVP of Directed Electronics' parent company, DEI Holdings, said in a statement. "Whether helping out her husband, who's locked his keys in the car, or securely locking her keys and purse in the car while she takes a jog with some music on her iPhone, we expect to hear about some uses we never anticipated."

Once the Viper SmartStart hardware is professionally installed in the car, the iPhone can also be used to defrost windows, cool down the vehicle in warmer weather, unlock the trunk or activate a panic alarm.

But though the app is free, the hardware that will actually make it work with your car is quite pricey.

The system will only work if paired with one of two Viper SmartStart systems that go for $499 (for those who don't already have a remote start system) and $299 (for those who do have remote start). The first year of service is free but, subsequently, service is $29.99 a year.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are thousands of applications -- from the silly to the serious -- for wireless handheld devices.

Here is a sampling:

App Turns iPhone Into 'Sleaze Detector'

Sleaze ball or sweetheart? A new iPhone app claims it can help singles tell the difference.

Launched in September by information commerce firm Intelius, Date Check lets users perform instant background checks on potential dates from their mobile phones.

Once it's downloaded on an iPhone, the application only needs a name or cell phone number to search publicly available records.

If you activate the app's Sleaze Detector, it scans criminal records to determine if anyone with that name has been charged with drug possession, assault and battery, sex crimes, DUI and other offenses.

If you click Net Worth, it looks for information about home ownership and property value.

It can also check social networking sites, such as LinkedIn to provide employment and education information.

"Date Check is like having a private investigator in your purse," John Arnold, co-founder of Intelius and executive vice president of business development, said in a statement. "Letting a stranger into your life is a huge risk, and in the age of Internet anonymity, a simple online search isn't enough to tell you everything you need to know. "

This application, the company said, "gives singles a safer way to mingle."

But though the app itself is free, the services can cost up to $40, depending on the kind of searches that are selected.

Date Check is available for download in Apple's App store and will be available soon in Android and BlackBerry versions.

PUMA Index Tracks Stocks With Stripping Models

You've probably heard of the Dow, the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ 100. But try this financial index on for size: The PUMA.

To celebrate its new line of bodywear, sports clothing company PUMA launched an iPhone application earlier this month that tracks global stocks, but not in the way you might think.

As stocks on the Dow Jones industrial average go up and down, so does one key element on the PUMA models: their clothes.

"Think of it as an entertaining antidote to Wall Street woes," the company said in a statement. "So now if you lose your shirt, at least our models do too."

Though the application might make Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke blush, the models only undress down to their new PUMA threads. As the Dow climbs, the clothes come back on.

The PUMA application is free in Apple's App store, and the company says it can even help save consumers money. Showing the downloaded application to a PUMA sales associate can get you a 20 percent discount. That offer lasts until Nov. 8, 2009.

App Find Medicinal Marijuana Providers

Smoking marijuana is known to have an adverse effect on memory and concentration, but now, thanks to a new iPhone application, even the foggiest of users should be able to locate their connection -- make that medicinal marijuana provider -- with relative ease.

Launched by AJNAG (Activists Justifying the Natural Agriculture of Ganja), a Web-based community advocating for medical marijuana, the Cannabis app takes those seeking medicinal marijuana through the entire process of obtaining it. The app is downloadable from Apple's store for $2.99.

"Our goal is to put the power of cannabis change in your pocket while you enjoy the most sticky and potent iPhone application available!" the founders say in a statement on their Web site.

Here's how it works. The application displays an interactive map dotted with doctors who can prescribe medicinal marijuana treatment for their patients.

It also shows -- after, presumably, users have procured prescriptions -- the medicinal marijuana suppliers within the users' vicinity. And, what's more, the application includes a database of lawyers who specialize in marijuana-related cases, in should users encounter skeptical local authorities.

To help with grassroots media campaigning, the developers also say they will donate 50 cents for every "Cannabis" purchase to a non-profit reform fund, which they say will be set up once the application reaches 1,000 subscriptions.

Just remember -- Cannabis only works in states where marijuana has been legalized, so if you've scored tickets to a Grateful Dead show in, say, Alabama, don't expect Cannabis to help you score anything else.