Whether you're on your way back to college, or you're the parent or friend of a college-bound Apple fan, there are a lot of great items on the market this summer that are both functional and fashionable.

Back in the prehistoric 1970's when I was a civil engineering student at the University of Colorado Boulder campus, I made the mistake of rooming one year with two high school buddies. One of them, Chuck, was a real stoner and was impossible to wake up (even a stereo with the volume turned up to 11 didn't work). His 2009 counterpart would hopefully wake up on time every morning with an iHome iP9SR iPhone alarm clock (US$99 MSRP).
It's an iPhone charger with shielding to prevent that annoying buzz from GSM transmissions. It's an alarm clock that can play tunes from your iTunes library, AM/FM radio, or just blast out an annoying noise to wake you up. It also has some pretty nice speakers for listening to your music while charging your iPhone prior to your next class.

It's been a long summer, and students everywhere are starting to head back to universities and colleges around the country. It's not easy to get back into a daily grind of classes, assignments and activities but a new application called iStudiez Pro [iTunes Link] is here to help!

Created by Andriy Kachalo and Michael Balashoff, iStudiez Pro is designed to help you take charge of your own schedule by always keeping you on top of where you need to be and what needs to get done. With an intuitive interface, the application promises to make sure "you never miss another course, lecture, and lab, track tasks and deadlines, plan homework, arrange assignments and much more."

Some notable features include:

• Smart day view that automatically displays summary of currently classes and tasks
• Detailed schedule planner to break down classes and assignments
• A view to suit everyone including expanded month and week views, with colored labels for each course
  
• Specific icons for different types of classes
• Supports iPhone features like touch gestures and device rotation
• Integrated address book keeps your contacts and professor's information close at hand
  

The application, available for both iPhone and iPod touch, is selling for $2.99 on the App Store. If you're looking to snag a copy of this app for free, the developers are currently offering a deal that if you see the demo version of iStudiez Pro being used in an Apple store and take a picture, they'll send you a free promo code!

Here's a couple images of iStudiez Pro in action:

Over the last few years, the market has made historic my remembrances of going to the bookstore and paying whatever was marked on the shelf while often vainly trying to find used titles of popular books.

Things have changed: Bigwords.com and its little friend the Bigwords.com app [iTunes Link] are welcome additions to the quest of buying books and still having enough left over for food.

The Bigwords.com app tries to find the cheapest way to buy textbooks. Whether it's one book, or a long reading list, you will save money using this app. You can also make money by using it to sell unwanted books, but being a teacher, I have a problem with that, having never re-sold or thrown away a textbook. Of course,that's just me.

A good way to explain Bigwords is to take you through the process. The Bigwords.com app lets you set a bunch of preferences, each one reducing your options a bit. You can choose books that are new only, new or used, high quality new or used, set shipping preferences, consider eBooks or rentals (along with rental terms) and whether you require a guaranteed buyback from the vendor.

You further customize it by telling it if you are a member of B&N.com, Booksamillion, ECampus.com, whether you have used Half.com, and whether you are an Amazon Prime member. Amazon Prime is a service where for a yearly fee, most everything you buy comes with free 2nd-day shipping. The answers to all of these questions help determine your final price.

TUAW's going Back to School! We'll be bringing you tips and reviews for students, parents and teachers right up until the bell rings.

With students heading back to school around the country today, many are heading back with an iPhone (possibly a iPhone 3G, no doubt). In this post, I'm going to suggest a few iPhone applications that you can use to stay on task, and, of course, "make the grade." Most of these applications are free, considering that most students are low on money (especially college students).

Assignments (iTunes Link)
Assignments is an application that, as the name implies, allows you to keep track of your assignments and classes. This is perfect for both teachers and students that need to keep track of assignments in each class. Not only can you add an assignment with a due date/time and importance, but you can also add recordings. Being able to make a voice recording of your assignment is a quick way to make a reminder, etc.

The "Overview" tab allows you to see anything upcoming or due. You can sort by "All" or "Due Soon." You can also search through your assignments. In the "Assignments" tab, you can view all assignments sorted by class. The "Notes" section allows you to quickly jot a note, add a title, and add a date/time.

Overall, this application performs smoothly and works well when adding/deleting assignments and classes. You can view screenshots of Assignments.app in our gallery. Assignments sells for $5.99 (US) at the iTunes App Store.

VoiceNotes (iTunes Link)
VoiceNotes is a plain and simple way to quickly record a quick note, or even a lecture (just make sure you have enough space on your iPhone). Tapping on "Quick Voice Note" will start recording immediately, but is limited as to the length of the recording. If you tap on the + button at the top, you will be given more recording length.

VoiceNotes allows you to sync notes back to your computer using some additional software provided by the developer. Overall, this is a solid app and can definitely be used for the quick "remember to bring these books to class tomorrow" voice notes.

You can download VoiceNotes for free from the iTunes App Store.

To Do (iTunes Link)
One of our fellow TUAW-ers developed this application, and we can't get over its ease of use and flexibility in creating a simple to-do list. With To Do, you can quickly and easily add a to-do, set priority (and order), and even add a note.

To Do will even allow you to see how many tasks have yet to be completed, right from the home screen. With To Do, you will never forget about that writing assignment for English class. Best of all, this application is on a college student's budget: It's absolutely free!

Camera.app (Built-in)
Never underestimate the power of the built-in camera on your iPhone. If you find that your instructor erases the board way too fast, or if you need to capture a photo of the current slide on the screen, then just get out your iPhone. 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... clicks and you're done! A picture saved in memory, and you didn't even have to write anything. You can also combine Camera with Evernote (iTunes link) to create more structured notes or geocoding around your photos -- great for architecture students or for budding meteorologists.


Did we miss something? Do you have another application that you like/use, but didn't on the list? The party doesn't stop with the post, it continues in the comments below. Be sure to share your favorite iPhone applications to help students "make the grade."