One of them, MusicID with Lyrics, is cheaper ($3), and the other, Midomi ($5), is about to release an upgrade with new features that will put it farther ahead of Shazam than it already is.  Before we get to that, though, let’s concede that some people care little about peripheral features, like lyrics, videos, bios and the ability to hum or sing a tune into the device and find the song’s name. To them, it matters only that the application finds the name of the song, quickly.  On that measure, Shazam places third — and not by a nose. Midomi and MusicID were both noticeably faster than Shazam on every search I tried, in noisy and peaceful surroundings. It took Shazam 16 seconds to identify Steve Earle’s “Sparkle and Shine,” for instance, which was four seconds slower than MusicID and eight seconds slower than Midomi.  Bear in mind, too, that this test involved Shazam’s new paid upgrade, called Encore, which is faster than the previous version.  By the way, Shazam will continue to exist as a free app, but those who download it now may identify only five songs a month, and they will not get extra features like text-based music search, music recommendations and charts of Shazam’s most popular songs. The full service is still free on Android phones, so grab it now if you want to avoid a future fee. Midomi, meanwhile, also works on Android phones, but not BlackBerrys. MusicID is currently for iPhones only.  In terms of their ability to find songs, I noticed no difference among the apps. They identified nearly everything I threw at them, including “Inni Mer Syngur Vitleysingur,” by the Icelandic band Sigur Ros.  I stumped them all with “You Dance,” by the folk rock band Eastmountainsouth. MusicID and Midomi said they could find no match in their database. Shazam misidentified it as “Sex,” by Robbie Rivera featuring Billy Paul W., a tune that bears absolutely no resemblance to “You Dance.”  Encore’s charts, recommendations and text-search features are the app’s most notable new elements. But otherwise the big change is the velvet rope that separates the new users of the app’s free version from unlimited song “tagging.”  MusicID also allows users to search by typing in the title or artist, but you can also type in partial lyrics and it will identify the song. Midomi goes one step further, allowing you to hum or sing a tune, and offering song titles.  Want to find even more songs along those lines? Midomi suggests artists similar to the performer you just identified, while MusicID suggests 10 similar songs. Shazam recommends five similar songs.  Keyvan Mohajer, chief executive of Melodis, Midomi’s parent company, said that in coming weeks he would release an upgraded version of the app, to include an improved way to look up lyrics and charts. He would not say whether the service would increase its price.  Midomi and Shazam seem to understand that one of the most popular, and dangerous, places to use this application is in the car. On MusicID, you have to aim if you want to hit the Identify Song button, but with Midomi and Shazam, the buttons are so big you can activate the app without taking your eyes off the road.  And if your iPhone is docked and you have upgraded to Encore, you can touch anywhere on Shazam’s screen and the app will identify a song. It’s reason enough to spend $15 on a docking station for the car, assuming Shazam can make its next update good enough to justify such a splurge.  All of which raises a puzzling question: if Shazam’s competitors are faster and more full-featured, why is it by far the most well-known app of its kind, and possibly of any kind, in the App Store?  The short answer is that it was the first of its kind in the App store, and Apple smartly used it to showcase one of the iPhone’s more mind-blowing tricks. The Apple commercials and “featured app” placement helped boost it into the top 10 lists, where people can more easily find it.  But if this microcompetition is any indication, the second-generation apps are better and worth the extra cash they often charge. If Apple, or some enterprising software developer, can come up with a way to help consumers easily uncover these next-generation winners, it might take some of the sting out of your next freemium App Store shopping spree.  If you’re getting tired of typing e-mail messages on a smartphone, a new hardware device could help. The Redfly ($260 for eight-inch screen, $200 for seven-inch screen, at Celiocorp.com) looks like a netbook, but its sole function is to connect to your phone and give you a bigger screen and keyboard for reading and controlling every aspect of your phone. You can also use it to charge your phone. It works only with Windows phones and certain BlackBerry models (Tour, Bold and Curve). ... The app store for Windows phones has only about 350 applications available, but it can still be hard to browse through them. Now Windows has built a Web site for the store, (marketplace.windowsphone.com). The Marketplace is broken down into the usual categories, but be prepared: you can’t buy the apps from the Web site. You must use your phone instead. ... Want to fill that new Android phone with goodies? Check out the free Google Sky Map. Pick a clear night, point the phone toward the stars and finally figure out where to find Orion’s belt. On iPhones, see Pocket Universe ($3) for an even wider range of stargazing tools.  A version of this article appears in print on November 19, 2009, on Page B6 of the New York edition with the headline: Adding a Fee to the Shazam App Invites a Look at Competing Tools. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
Many who paid for the once-free Shazam music search app may not have known about two competitors that are better in many ways.