Dynolicious is an all-purpose automotive performance meter, utilizing the built-in accelerometer in the iPhone and iPod touch to record your driving characteristics. BunsenTech, the makers of the software, claim that it can record 0-60 times within .08 of a second, accurately estimate your current speed and monitor and record any directional G force. The system seeks to perform nearly every function of (much) more expensive dedicated monitoring units, which seems like an awfully tall order for a $12.99 piece of cellphone software.

Fortunately, bloggers more experienced with the dedicated units have dispelled fears that this app is a waste of money. Dynolicious can actually do what it claims, and presents its data in a useful and attractive way. Realtime speedometer graphing and skidpad display may not be much more than pretty toys, but a bevy of data analysis tools can properly process your driving after it's done. Entering your car's weight and estimated power even allows Dynolicious to fulfill its namesake, calculating actual wheel horsepower and drivetrain efficiency with surprising accuracy. Data is recorded for as many vehicles as you want, and car mods can be noted and taken into account over a course of multiple tests.

Some reviewers are scoffing at the $12.99 price, and others are pointing to the cheaper g-tac, though it only records straight-line performance and doesn't offer nearly as complete of a feature set. Perspective is important though, and considering the high cost of roughly comparable dedicated systems and the amount of money avid car tuners spend on their rides, the price is a veritable bargain. This is one of the most creative uses of the iPhone's hardware I've seen that actually delivers.

[Dynolicious, App Review Marathon]

We just tested it ourselves and got to within 24m accuracy, which is pretty darn good for sitting on a couch inside a house. It's free, and you should download it now. Don't be confused with the other app named Here I am, which is much lousier. This one has an envelope icon. Grab that one here.

Stupid note: When you send an email, the subject reads "hereIam", which looks a lot like "HereLam" when read on the iPhone. Seeing as I was testing it out by sending my location to Lam, it was kind of funny. Thus ends the most boring anecdote you will read today.

If you've played Super Monkey Ball, you know that the EA folks are right when they told us the iPhone devs still have a ways to go before they can tease statistically accurate data out of the acceleromters for precision control of a game. The same problem unfortunately applies to A-Level. Right now, every reasonably level surface in my house is registering around -2 degrees off-center when a measurement is taken in landscape mode. When you tilt the phone straight up to measure with the bottom, the orientation of the accelerometers shifts, and the inaccuracies EA was talking about become apparent as it swings to the opposite side of the spectrum—around +6 degrees off-center.

A simple re-zero button will help this app immensely—allowing you to take quick comparative readings that aren't as susceptible to error. The developer, Posimotion, says this is on the way—but until then, hold on to your old, non-virtual level.

UPDATE: As many of you have noticed, one of the iPhone SDK demo apps is a similar moving-bubble level. While that doesn't preclude someone from releasing what is in itself a potentially useful app (I just used it tonight while moving some furniture around, actually), charging the 99 cents is indeed a little galling.

[iTunes Store via Gadget Lab; Giz's iPhone App Review Marathon]