Five Essential Productivity Apps for Your iPhone 3G

If you'll tear yourself away from Bejeweled 2 for just a minute, you can actually put your new or updated iPhone to productive use. Here are five App Store gems -- four of which are free -- you'll definitely want to check out. (Note that all links require iTunes.)

• iXpenseIt This $4.99 app helps you track expenses, and even saves receipts by snapping photos of them. It can create graphical expense reports and export your data for desktop access.
• Jobs CareerBuilder's job-finder applet is location-aware: It can search for jobs wherever you happen to be. So if you're visiting another city and want to check out the job market, it's as easy as tap-two-three. Cool!
• Jott for iPhone Talk into your phone; Jott turns your words into text you can add to a to-do list or memo. It's that simple, and it works like a charm.
• reQall A combination to-do list and reminder service, reQall lets you type or say something you need to remember. Then, at the appropriate time, the app issues a reminder via voice, text message, instant message, e-mail, or calendar alert. Really sweet, and free to boot!
• WritingPad Promising a better way to take notes, WritingPad employs ShapeWriter technology, which lets you enter text by tracing out "word shapes" on a virtual keyboard. It works remarkably well.