Tuesday, November 18, 2008
My Newest Coolest Toy
I picked up an iPhone a couple of weeks ago. It is so much more fun, and functional, than my BlackBerry Pearl was. While much larger, I love the screen. I didn't like the fingerprints and oil smudges so I added an Invisible Shield screen cover. It adds a lot of protection, a grain so to speak that gives it more grip and texture. I also had a friend help me tweak it so I could customize the background and sounds. (I think it was dumb not to allow more customization than Apple did. But there are work arounds.)
This is a much better mix of a PDA and cell phone than I have had in a long time. There are free and low-cost programs that allow the functionality to expand.
- I can speak a name and have the phone dial it. This freebie on the iPhone works better than my BlackBerry did with a similar function.
- I can speak an address and have Google Maps show me where it is, and provide me with directions. How kewl is that!
- A new Google Search is out that allows you to speak your search term. The program senses the movement of putting the phone to your ear and it listens for your query. When you lower the phone, it starts searching. The speech recognition isn't perfect but it is good.
- A free TV schedule I have allows me to search on keywords so I know when a program I may be interested in will air. "Photography" as an example, tells me about shows on this hobby of mine.
- My Foxmarks is a program that syncs my browser bookmarks on my PCs and laptops where I use Firefox. I can access all my bookmarks on my iPhone with this.
- Firebox allows me to add a password protected folder where I can securely put personal information that is encrypted. This is in addition to the passcode needed to logon to the phone to start with.
- iMapMyRide allows me to use GPS to track my path on a workout. I was recently in an RV on a trip. I was in the back and could tell not only where we were, but track our speed and distance. The Google Maps allows me to know where I am, but I had more info with this freebie and can save that trip and data about it. The driver didn't know I knew she was speeding.
There are so many add-on programs, bot free and low-cost, that this really puts the fun in functional again.
I picked up an iPhone a couple of weeks ago. It is so much more fun, and functional, than my BlackBerry Pearl was. While much larger, I love the screen. I didn't like the fingerprints and oil smudges so I added an Invisible Shield screen cover. It adds a lot of protection, a grain so to speak that gives it more grip and texture. I also had a friend help me tweak it so I could customize the background and sounds. (I think it was dumb not to allow more customization than Apple did. But there are work arounds.)
This is a much better mix of a PDA and cell phone than I have had in a long time. There are free and low-cost programs that allow the functionality to expand.
- I can speak a name and have the phone dial it. This freebie on the iPhone works better than my BlackBerry did with a similar function.
- I can speak an address and have Google Maps show me where it is, and provide me with directions. How kewl is that!
- A new Google Search is out that allows you to speak your search term. The program senses the movement of putting the phone to your ear and it listens for your query. When you lower the phone, it starts searching. The speech recognition isn't perfect but it is good.
- A free TV schedule I have allows me to search on keywords so I know when a program I may be interested in will air. "Photography" as an example, tells me about shows on this hobby of mine.
- My Foxmarks is a program that syncs my browser bookmarks on my PCs and laptops where I use Firefox. I can access all my bookmarks on my iPhone with this.
- Firebox allows me to add a password protected folder where I can securely put personal information that is encrypted. This is in addition to the passcode needed to logon to the phone to start with.
- iMapMyRide allows me to use GPS to track my path on a workout. I was recently in an RV on a trip. I was in the back and could tell not only where we were, but track our speed and distance. The Google Maps allows me to know where I am, but I had more info with this freebie and can save that trip and data about it. The driver didn't know I knew she was speeding.
There are so many add-on programs, bot free and low-cost, that this really puts the fun in functional again.
