Fresh iPhone Apps for Jan. 13: Google Places, Reeder update, Pose

Combine lots of reviews and information about the businesses around you with Google Places, a free app from Google that takes the lead of today’s Fresh Apps. We’ve also got an offering that bridges social networking and fashion in a slick interface, and a big update to RSS client Reeder that makes viewing articles on it much easier.

Google Places (iPhone) Free

Combining the places information found on numerous sites, Google Places helps you find lots of different points of interest around you by using your phone’s GPS. You can use the app to search through various businesses in your area, get information about them, and even read reviews. Best of all, Places gets its information from services such as Yelp and Google to give you lots of available reviews.

Places also includes a feature called “Hotpot” that takes note of the ratings you give to different businesses, and uses them to make recommendations to you of additional places you might like. It also takes into account the friends you log with the app, and the recommendations they make, to tell you what else you might enjoy.

Reeder update (iPhone) $2.99

This Google Reader client is filled with bells, whistles, and extra capabilities that make reading articles from RSS feeds a lot easier and faster. It works with other apps like Instapaper and Safari, allowing you to send articles to various social networking sites, and lets you do cool things like email articles from within the app.

Reeder’s latest update adds Readability to the app, a service that works to remove clutter code from web pages like images and ads to streamline an article down to just its text. It’s designed to make the articles you browse through on Reeder extremely easy to read — hence the name — plus full-screen viewing and the ability to save photos to your photo library.

Pose (iPhone) Free

Social networking meets fashion with Pose, a free app that lets you take photos of the things you’re considering buying and share them with online friends to get their opinions and help you make a decision.

The app lets you quickly connect an item or outfit and the information about it with other people, getting feedback from other users quickly. You can also browse the feeds of your friends to see what they’re shopping for and check out items picked by “stylish shoppers” that might interest you. It’s a handy way to connect with friends and go shopping with them, even when they’re not actually around.

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