If you've got an iPhone, you know the value of apps. For information, productivity, or pure entertainment, they're essential.

But with over 75,000 apps available, and more being added by the hour, how do you know which to download and which to ignore? It can be a crap shoot. So I've started this new regular roundup to give you some guidance.

And since PR flunkies are pitching me these things daily, I'll clue you in to some apps you may not have heard of. Each week, I'll showcase a few that I've tried and use regularly. And if there are some you use you can't live without, leave 'em in the comments and I'll consider them for upcoming roundups.

In this edition we've got:
Danger Zones
South Park Mega Millionaire
AppBox Pro
Dude
ESPN Scores

Danger Zones (Category: Info) $1.99

Ever wonder how many traffic fatalities there have been in your neighborhood? Me either. Until I got sent DangerZones by AppDudes.

This app grabs your location and uses Google maps and data from the US Government's Fatality Analysis and Reporting System to pinpoint the traffic deaths from 2004-2008. A click on the pin head and you get all the info: date and time of the accident, the age and sex of the victims, whether they were driving, a passenger, or a pedestrian, the speed of the vehicle, and if there was alcohol or drugs involved.

Valuable info aside, this app is strangely addicting, in a morbid, voyeuristic way. Set aside a few hours once you download it.
www.AppDudes.com


South Park Mega Millionaire (Category: Games) $2.99

In this game from RealArcade, you can join Cartman, Stan, Kyle and Kenny in Japan's most outrageously humiliating game show for a chance to win 10,000 Yen.

There are more than 20 absurd events to hold interest, complete with all the politically incorrect South Park humor we love. And making the location a Japanese game show? You know what's coming.

Play as any of the characters, or challenge buddies with their "pass the phone" multiplayer mode.

AppBox Pro (Category: Utilities) $1.99

I can honestly tell you, this was the best $1.99 I ever spent. (And that includes drunken value meal purchases at 3am.) There's a reason this app is consistently top ranked.

It's 18 apps rolled into one, and I use at least one of them daily. It includes a Battery Life gauge that tells you how long you have to talk, surf, play games or listen to tunes; a Level; Currency Converter; Countdown Calendar (perfect for warning you of shopping days until her birthday or your anniversary), Period Calendar (lets you know when her "friend is in town" so you can plan your weekends...); Sale Price Calculator, Unit Converter, Holiday Calendar (to cover your ass come gift giving time), and a bunch more.

I've been using the Price Grab function every time I hit the grocery store to compare prices and find the best deal. Definitely saved me more than the couple of bucks I ponied up to buy it.


Dude. (Category: Entertainment) $0.99

Hey dude, if you ever wondered the correct way to say "dude" in different situations, then dude, seriously, you need to get Dude. from AZOMOB.

Just scroll through the pages of dude-appropriate situations, click on the picture, and a professional linguist, fluent in the proper intonations of each dude meaning, gives you the proper pronunciation. Yeah, dude.
www.azomob.com

ESPN ScoreCenter (Category: Sports) FREE

It's not enough I have SportsCenter on in the background all day long, now I'm using their ScoreCenter app on my phone constantly.

Pushing real time scores right to your iPhone, you can be at dinner with your girl's family and still know who's winning the Giants game. Or who's leading the Ryder Cup. Or the weather for next Saturday's Ohio State game.

Just let this sports addict app know what leagues you want to follow (they've got everything, including rugby, lacrosse, racing), and your favorite teams, and it gives you the results. And the starting times and match ups of upcoming games. (There's even the beloved news crawl at the bottom, just like on SC.) Clicking the box gives you the latest info on that game, or analysis and stats for upcoming games. Just a tip: make sure you've got an unlimited media plan before installing.