Ever wondered whether you could put your iPhone to work for practical business purposes, like, say, credit card processing or tracking product shipments? The competition for the best iPhone Application (App, for short) has heated up since we cataloged our 10 favorites last year. In honor of Apple’s super-secret big announcement this week, here are our top picks for the best business iPhone apps:

EverNote: EverNote works like your brain would- if its contents were exported to your iPhone. This app takes any form of information- photos, written notes, voice recordings- and makes it searchable using technologies like optical character recognition. For example, you can take pictures of posters, magazine covers, business cards, or anything else and search the photo based on the content of the text.

WhatTasks: Quite possibly the easiest-to-use task manager in existence, WhatTasks allows you to group tasks (by client, location, etc) and prioritize them using a simple, uncomplicated interface. If your main complaint about task management apps is that it’s a task in itself to use them, look no further- this one’s actually worth it to use.

SugarSync: SugarSync is the iPhone app that accompanies Sharpcast’s Sync service. For $50/yearly, you’ll have access to 30GB of storage that is accessible and searchable on your phone. Changes to files on your computer (document revisions, etc.) are also reflected on your mobile device instantly.

PageOnce: PageOnce lets users view many different accounts (Facebook, Twitter, different email accounts, bank accounts, etc.) on one page. Sign up for the free account and then download the iPhone version, which allows you to access bank account, credit account, and invoicing account pages easily, no matter where you are.

iProcrastinate: If you work best on a deadline, this appropriately-named application is for you. You can group your tasks by due date, allowing you to prioritize your work. Tasks can be easily searched and can be identified by color coding (if you’re looking for something to do while putting off actually getting to work…) And yes, there is an “overdue” category for those that really procrastinate.

BeamME: The “greenest” business card is a virtual one. BeamMe is one of the better contact information transfer apps out there, allowing you to sent information via text or (more conveniently) via email from your phone in a few simple clicks.

Griffin iTalk: There are quite a few voice recording apps available, but iTalk gets our vote for its simple interface and easy compatibility with other Apple products. Use iTalk to record conversations (reporters like it for on-the-spot interviewing) or simple notes and to-do-list tasks.

MWare Mobile: MerchantWARE Mobile acts as a virtual credit card terminal, allowing you to process credit card transactions using only your phone and a connection to a WiFi or 3g network. MWare mobile gets our recommendation because no 3^rd party merchant account gateways are required, it’s easy, to use, it’s secure, and (best of all) it’s free.

FedEx Mobile: This easy-to-use application allows you full access to the range of FedEx services. You can arrange pickups, find a FedEx drop off location, or track outgoing product shipments directly from your phone.

mBox Fax: Faxing (strangely, to some) is still a very common method of transmitting information. Some companies that don’t want to invest in a machine can use this application to accept incoming faxes.

PointerRemote: The next time you need to make a presentation, use your phone as a remote. This tool works with both Microsoft’s PowerPoint and Apple’s Keynote. It also lets you view notes on your phone screen so you can discreetly navigate between slides and topics without craning your neck to read the large screen.

FreshBooks: FreshBooks, an invoicing and time monitoring software program, offers up some of its best features in this mobile application. You can track the time spent to complete specific projects and tasks for later invoicing, keep notes on entries, and monitor job costs when you’re working out of the office.

Any we missed? Share your finds with other business owners and entrepreneurs in the comments section.

iPhones are high-quality, stylish, user-friendly mobile devices that offer a variety of efficient, easy-to-use applications. Business professionals are jumping on the iPhone bandwagon because of the phone’s assortment of valuable business applications.

If you are a business owner and need phones for your business in addition to the iPhone, visit our resource center and compare quotes from phone system providers.

Appealing business iPhone applications can include the capability to accurately monitor income and expenses, effectively organize details, tasks, and contacts, easily convert currency, and more. While there are several business iPhone apps, below is a list of the Top 11 best iPhone applications for businesses.

JustAddMoney Expense Tracker - this business application allows multiple users to track money in real-time. Users can enter receipts, checks, credit card purchases, and cash purchases at the moment of the purchase, customize income and expense categories, transfer money from one account to another, and generate financial reports. Because this is a multi-user application, users can share financial information and get updated instantly upon someone’s tracking entry. This is an ideal solution for businesses requiring constant updating of financial dealings, particularly if colleagues spend from the same account.

Mobile Password Safe – with the advances in technology, it is necessary to have a secure location to store multiple passwords. Mobile Password Safe allows only the user to gain access and passwords are decrypted into the browser, which means they can’t be hacked by third parties. This is the best iPhone application for business professionals with various accounts, codes for computer programs, and other hard to remember passwords. This application keeps passwords organized allowing users to specify labels, categories, and searches. It’s ideal for keeping business passwords separate from personal passwords and it is convenient and secure.

Goal-Tracker is designed to help the business professional reach his or her various goals. This application allows users to enter goals, hold themselves accountable, track progress, and separate and organize personal versus professional goals.

Currency Convert – this iPhone business application offers a quick and easy way to convert amounts of money between 23 currencies. Instant updating with the tap of your finger shows you up-to-date conversion rates on the go. Additionally, you can sort the currencies to keep your most used currencies on top for quick access and convenience.

ACTPrinter – this application is the most innovative and helps save the environment by not wasting paper. It allows a user to “print” any document from a Mac PC to an iPhone or iPod Touch. Essentially, it stores documents electronically so people can take documents with them on their phone and view them easily and conveniently without sorting through a stack of papers.

Timewerks – this is a time-tracking and invoicing application for all types of business professionals. From freelancers to consultants to lawyers to salespeople and contractors, users of this business iPhone application can track billable hours and create invoices. With Timewerks, you can manage and organize the time you spend on various projects and get detailed reports, easily filter through invoices, clients, work items, hours, etc.

iBeam – this application allows you to instantly send items such as contact information and photos directly to another iPhone. iBeam saves time and frustration by allowing iPhone users to instantly “Beam” information to each other as opposed to saying it, repeating it, and typing it into your phone or contact management system.

Ledger – with this, the best iPhone application for businesses seeking a money management application, you can record purchases, money transfers, loans, and receipts. Additionally, you can easily view transactions and details for all accounts, record simple or complex transactions, and edit account and transaction information.

TouchCall - iPhone users can conveniently, easily, and quickly find business information on the go. Say you need the phone number or address for a restaurant you were supposed to be at for a meeting and you’re running late, simply click the easy one-touch buttons on the interface and the information is provided to you.

Task2Gather – this application is ideal for maintaining all your business, personal, and family tasks. You can organize tasks, separate them, and share them with iPhone users and non-iPhone users. Additionally, the tasks are always accessible from your iPhone and your computer. Tasks can be divided into subtasks so you can delegate to colleagues.

Contact Hero – this business iPhone app is more than just a contact manager and online address book. You can collect, merge, organize and manage all your contacts from various contact management systems, such as Outlook, Gmail, or Yahoo!. You can manage your list of calls to make, keep a list of contacts you have made, and keep a detailed list of contact history for each contact. There are various ways to identify your contacts, for example numbers, colorful icons, or country flags. Also, you can schedule email messages to go out to any of your contacts at anytime in the future.