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So these two reporters walked into a bar, and…

It may sound like the start of a corny joke, but it’s actually a real story with a new media twist. See, the reporters began arguing over a point of style.

So they turned to their smartphones to check out The Associated Press Stylebook, says Colleen Newvine, product manager of the AP Stylebook.

“We’ve also heard from journalists who’ve settled bets at the bar by pulling out their Stylebook app,” she says.

Communicators, journalists and novelists are increasingly being tempted by a multitude of applications for smartphones and mobile devices, ranging from dictionaries to voice transcription.

Writers tend to use applications in two broad ways, says Jane Friedman, visiting professor of e-media at the University of Cincinnati and a contributing editor at Writer’s Digest.