It’s one thing to talk about the iPhone’s improvements with the 3.0 software upgrade, and another to see how these puppies actually respond in real-life third-party applications. 

The pressure is on, and not all of the applications that came across our paths made the cut. We bring you the best examples from the early crop in a slideshow that shows you how new features like in-app purchases, push notification, and spinning iTunes from within an app plays out.

Shazam 1.7

Shazam 1.7 now uses the phone’s GPS to flag the precise location from which you tag a song. It adds up to a map of your musical journey. Other additions include sending favorite songs to a friend or to Twitter, so others can buy it at will. Shazam also now supports the MacAlly iVoice III external microphone.

Evernote 3.0

The note-taking app Evernote gets a few new features as well as general streamlining in its latest version. Our favorite new features: the map view for notes, which locates geotagged notes (those taken on an iPhone, but not on the Web) on a Google map; and the landscape view for notes, which makes it easier to see all your work. We also like the new improved sync for the iPhone, which stores more of the data on the iPhone. It makes finding notes easier when you’re not online.

AP Mobile 3.0

AP Mobile 3.0 takes advantage of the iPhone’s new notifications endeavor to push out breaking news stories when the app is closed. You’ll get to choose the type of story you’d like to be pinged about, like national, local, or sports headlines. 

In addition, AP Mobile now lets you file stories away on Evernote, a multiplatform note-taking service (see above).

Leaf Trombone: World Stage

Debuted just for the iPhone 3.0 OS, Leaf Trombone: World Stage uses the new push notification to galvanize a community of players to judge duet performances in real time.

A closer look

Here’s a closer look at Leaf Trombone: World Stage’s mode selection for playing duets with other iPhone 3.0 users worldwide.

Gokivo

Gokivo’s (iTunes link) turn-by-turn GPS and directions application ambitiously squeezes in a handful of software tricks, including in-app purchase to buy tiered subscriptions for voice directions, Bluetooth syncing, and an embedded iTunes controller to play songs between voice commands.

Zillow 2.0

Zillow’s “real estate porn” app for the iPhone now gets push notifications. If you set up a search for a particular house configuration (number of bedrooms and price, for example) in a given area, whenever a new home comes on to the market that meets those criteria, you’ll get a notification number on the Zillow app icon. Not like you need to jump fast these days to get an offer in on a house before it sells, but it’s a cool new use of the push technology in the iPhone 3.0 software.

Enigmo 3.0

Enigmo’s 3D puzzle game was one of the first to update with in-game purchase packages. In Enigmo’s case, there are new map packs directed at kids. 

This story was first published on iPhone Atlas.