Apples to Oranges
Apples to Oranges is a unit conversion application for the Hiptop (aka Sidekick) from Danger, Inc..
Using this application, you can convert between different units and systems of measurement, such as Celsius to Fahrenheit, feet to meters, cups to tablespoons, or Euros to Canadian Dollars.
Apples to Oranges also supports custom units, so if the Apples to Oranges is missing your favorite units, you can create a custom unit and assign the conversion ratio you'd like to.
The Apples to Oranges manual and FAQs are available online.
Layout
Apples to Oranges has a fairly simple interface, with one data entry field, a popup menu for the "from" units, and a popup menu for the "to" units.
An output field shows the result of the conversion, and a history area shows a history of the last seven conversions performed.
Built-in Units
Apples to Oranges has over 200 different units built in to the application. Let's take a look at them:
Length
On the left, we see the "categories" of units. "Length" is selected, so to the right of Length we see a sub-menu with the different units for Length. Clearly you won't often need to convert from angstroms to Astronimical Units, but hey, it's there if you need to.
Currency
Apples to Oranges provides over a dozen currency conversions built-in, though the data taken is from late 2004. To update the conversions, you can enter your own values, taken from a currency exchange center or a web site like xe.com. Auto-updating currencies via the network unfortunately isn't included with the currently shipping version of Apples to Oranges; for more on why this is the case, see the Apples to Oranges FAQs.
Speed
Many of your favorite speeds are built in, including miles per hour and kilometers per hour. Conversions for the "speed of light" and "speed of sound" constants are also included.
Volume
This is where many common cooking measurements are included, such as cups, tablespoons, pints, and teaspoons.
Temperature
Celsius, Fahrenheit, Kelvin, and Rankine fill out the built-in Temperature units.
Weight
Several Weight (or "Mass") units are provided, including three different conversions for short, long, and metric tons.
Computer
Several common computer memory and speed terms are included, so that the conversion between bits and kilobytes is less confusing.
Base N
This is intended mainly for programmers, who need to convert to & from binary (base 2), hexadecimal (base 16), octal (base 8) and decimal (base 10). It's also useful for converting among hex RGB values.
Prefix
This is for converting between different prefixes or suffixes. So if you have 1,000 centi-<something> and you want to convert to "mega-<something>" or "hundredths", these units will help with the conversion.
Time
Converts among different measurements of time, like figuring out how many seconds are in one day. Constants are used for values which change (i.e. a year sometimes has 366 days).
Date
The "Date" units are for converting to and from "seconds since Januray 1, 1970 00:00:00". This measurement is commonly used for timekeeping on computers, stored as a (typically large) number. A separate dialog is used for entering the date and time.
Mileage
Mileage conventions in the U.S. and Europe are fairly different, in that the U.S. measures mileage in "miles per gallon", while Europe often uses "liters per 100 kilometers". This is a trickier calculation than usual, as a higher "mpg" number equals a lower "L/100km" number.
Area
Several Area units are included, so that the always-fun "acres to square feet" conversion can be performed with ease.
Energy
Energy includes such units as "BTU", "ergs", "joules", and fan-favorite "megatons of TNT".
Power
More standard Power units are built in, like "horsepower" and "megawatts".
Force
Over a dozen Force units let you convert between, say, "newtons", and good old "dynes".
Pressure
Included are variety of pressure units that have been used over the years, such as "inches of water", "atmospheres", "feet of head", "kiloPascals", and "pounds per square foot".
Custom Units
In case your favorite units aren't built in to Apples to Oranges, you can enter your own custom units. You can name your custom unit, assign it an abbreviation, assign it a conversion ratio to a built-in unit, and save it. (Saving your custom unit backs it up to Danger's servers, just like your Address Book.)
Your custom unit then appears in the category sub-menu. Here's an example of a custom Speed unit:
You can edit or delete your custom unit at any time. See the Manual for more on how to create custom units.