How some in North Carolina are using mobile applications to bolster business.

• Position: APP STATE

AccessNC

Developer: Small Footprint Inc.,

Winston-Salem

The N.C. Department of Commerce commissioned this free app that allows users to search commercial properties throughout the state based on attributes such as size, location and price. They can save favorites, get directions or send listings to coworkers or clients.

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drinkNC

Developer: Mike Rollinson, Greensboro

Rollinson, who oversees brewing for Greensboro-based Natty Greene's Brewing Co., wanted to tie the state's nascent craft-brewing industry to more-established winemakers, so a friend built drinkNC to provide directions to wineries and breweries in the state. It's free for now, but he plans to charge restaurants and bars to be included.

CeQOL.

Developer: Carolinas Surgical Innovation Group LLC, Charlotte

Created by an arm of Carolinas HealthCare System, it predicts the odds a hernia patient will develop chronic pain after surgery, the most common complaint. The free app, which earned an award from Hospitals & Health Networks magazine this year, determines if the risk is high enough to warrant alternative approaches.

HeartStar

Developer: Little Green Software LLC, Durham

The first in a planned series of health-related apps from the Triangle developer, HeartStar records blood pressure using any Bluetooth Smart meter to create an activity history. It's free to users, but physicians, who can use a Web portal to monitor a large number of patients, have to pay a fee.

Stealz

Developer: Stealz Inc., Raleigh

It rewards users for posting pictures of themselves at one of Stealz's 300 or so customers--who pay 530 a month or 5300 a year--to Facebook or Twitter by giving them points they can redeem. For example, collecting 15 points at Old Glory Bar-B-Que in Washington, D.C., allows you to play rock-paper-scissors with a bartender. Win, you get a shot. Lose, you get a Busch Light.

Temple Run

Developer: Imangi Studios LLC...