I Got the iPhone - A Mini Review

I got the iPhone. Gerdy (my dog) made me. My justifications:

• It was released in the month of my 30th birthday
• I got a new project today (or any day)
  
• Gerdy dragged me into the store on our walk that usually never involves W.95th and Broadway. How can I deny her.

Every time I take it out of my purse, people ask questions. If it's a man, he says: "Is that the iPhone?" If it's a woman, she says: "Is that the iPhone? Oh, is that your cat on there? Oh! My cat...yadda yadda." I have a picture of Dinah on the phone as my wallpaper, which is not that unusual, but the screen is so big and clear, that it looks revolutionary.

I'm timing myself for this post, to show you how the iPhone has improved my life. At 10:42am I took a picture of myself on the iPhone to show you how good it is.

See how good I look? ;) Kidding. I'm at Panera, working and listening to Sarah McLachlan. At 10:43am I emailed it to myself. At 10:44am I answered an email while waiting for my picture to show up in my inbox (Panera has free wireless). By 10:45am, I had received the email, saved it to my computer, loaded up my FTP software and uploaded the picture to the FashionMista server so that it could display here on this blog. This means that at 10:42am I took a picture, and by 10:45am it was ready to go live on the web, whenever I finish yapping away on this post.

I was super excited when I got the iPhone, but really, I just felt complete. I am a Mac girl, so I have been waiting for years and years for Apple to release something that gives us Apple-ites a calendar and address book in the palm of our hands, just like everyone else.

iPhone Highlights (in no particular order)

• If it's not in a case, it slides into my cloth lined wallet.
• Address book and calendar synch with my computer via iTunes. It literally updates just like an iPod
• When I synch the address book and calendar, the iPhone actually alerts me to how many contacts on each device - the iPhone and my computer, a PowerBookG4 - will be updated. This means I can type an event into my iPhone calendar, and it will fly into my computer calendar when I synch the iPod. Same with the Address book. And by "synch" I mean plug in the iPhone into my computer.
• While jogging and subsequently stretching, I can: listen to my 1200 songs while I jog, answer an incoming call from David about when he is finishing golf, then send an email to a friend to reschedule drinks, then call my sister-in-law to pass along a thought on how she can get married housing at Ohio State. The best thoughts come while jogging in the sunshine, so it's best to have all the tools in one place to deal with or nurture all thoughts.
• iPhone earphones, which include a microphone to talk on, work as regular earphones. So I can plug them into my computer when working in a coffee shop (as pictured above). You could also have surround-sound phone if you like. Too consuming for me, but you might like it.
• While driving cross country on the highway in Ohio, I could quickly tell David where the nearest Jiffy Lube was at the next exit, thanks to the Map function in iPhone that uses Google Maps.
• The Map function lets you zoom very far in to see small streets.
• Love the calculator. So cute and easy to use. My old phone calculator on my Nokia PDA reminded me of my TI-81 graphing calculator, but without the graphing feature.
• Ring tones. A personal favorite. David's ring tone is an actual motorcycle that is revving up. My mom is a barking dog because her dog, Chipperdee, is always barking in the background when she calls me. My sister is chirping crickets because those are peaceful. My morning alarm are actual church bells, which actually don't do a great job of waking me up because they sound like real church bells outside, which is very peaceful.
• The clock and alarm. Spin the wheel and you set the time. Look at an iPhone and you'll know what I mean.
• Camera is fabulous. It sucks battery life, but is so convenient.

I'll stop here. I'm going to write more on the pros and cons of the iPhone on my That IT Girl blog, but I am happy I got it. Typing is one thing that will be quite different from what you are used to. It is not very easy to type and drive at the same time, since the keys are displayed on the screen. That's right. It means that you cannot feel buttons for keys. Oh, and it works on Apple and PCs (Windows based computers).

More to come!

Free 411 From Google! 1-800-GOOG-411

I love GOOG 411! A little news flash in my Gmail told me about Google's new free 411 service for businesses currently percolating in their Google Labs. I called from my internet based (Vonage) land line, and the nicest mechanical man asked me: "What business name or category?" and without thinking, I just said "restaurant" and then it asked me which intersection or zip code. I wanted the number for a Joey's Pizza in Chagrin Falls, OH to see if it came up, but all I could think to say was "44022".

Not two seconds later, the man at GOOG 411 was giving me the top 8 results, starting with the very yummy Gamekeepers Tavern as a restaurant in or near 44022. Joey's Pizza was in there, as was Dinks. I tried "pizza" for 10025 in New York, and it really didn't have any pizza listings. That, or it could not understand me above my fan.

Next, I tried a direct search for Joey's Pizza. I started with "Cleveland, OH." I did not get a direct match. But clearly it was there. I tried "Moreland Hills, OH," but instead it gave me related listings, which included "Boston Market." Errr. Wrong. So then when GOOG asked me for my city and state, I gave the zip code of 44022 and stated the restaurant name. Bingo.

To learn more about GOOG 411, I posted the full version of this post on my technology blog, That IT Girl. Click here learn about more fun GOOG 411 facts, like how a little man makes the usual machine noises. To use Google's free 411 service, dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) from any phone.

iPhone Crazy

As the littlest orphan in Annie said: "Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!"

I'm so excited for the iPhone, I could just cry! Cingular/AT&T sent me the email today to start the anticipation for the iPhone. Words cannot express. Ok, maybe a few. They are: Calendar, Mail, Address Book, real live mini Internet, slide scrolling (never had a pen slider thing, don't want one). People get this way over bands. I'm quivering for the chance to sync all of my numbers in my Address Book program on my Mac with the phone in one click! Or slide! And no more keeping 3 calendars! Maybe I'll just keep 1! But how could I lose the Google Calendar. I do love it so.

Oh my goodness. And I just remembered. I think I'm eligible for a partial upgrade.

Apple's iPhone - Uh Oh

I have to get this Apple iPhone. I don't get anything when it first comes out b/c I like to let the bugs work out and read the reviews, but this will be a tough one because I can finally easily - very easily - integrate my Apple calendar/mail/address book in with it, vs downloading 3rd party software onto a Windows based PDA. Don't get me wrong - I still love my Nokia E62, my favorite part being my calendar items showing up on my main screen at all times to remind me of things. But this is going to be a tough wait. It comes out in June. I am already a happy Cingular Customer, so that's no problem.

But it's got to be a good phone. That is the Nokia E62 claim to fame, that it is a phone first, data device second. And it is. It has one too many clicks to do easy things, like calling someone, but it's all no big deal once you get used to it. The interface on the iPhone will be great too, if it's Apple. My Nokia E62 is forced into a Windows interface, where YOU have to understand IT. Still not a big deal, but not as fun as when Apple organizes something. I'm very happy with the calendar on my E62, and accessing Gmail is a breeze b/c I downloaded something from Gmail of which I have no idea how it works, but it does. I go into my Apps folder, click on the red Gmail envelope, and the program is launched. It doesn't take me to the site, and I didn't really configure my E62. Regardless, it works fine. Also, the E62 has no touchscreen, but a mini joystick. The iPhone does have a touchscreen. The keys appear on the screen, so that will be interesting. I've never had a touch screen, so I'm not making a sacrifice here by not having one with the E62.

iPhone Links and Reviews:

• David Pogue of the New York Times Gets Hands On Time with the iPhone - His Review
• Update on Cicso's iPhone Trademark
• Why Apple Makes This Guy Cry
  

photo from the New York Times

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