iPhone Report

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I'm still playing with my new toy, figuring out what it can and can't do, installing and uninstalling apps. I'm experimenting with Reqall, which allows you to dictate short memos and "to do" items which it will then transcribe and make available to you in several forms. I got but have not used ParkingPal, which is a timer for when you put coins in a parking meter and need a warning of when they'll run out. I also got FStream, which enables you to listen to web-based radio programs, including our non-paying sponsor, Shokus Internet Radio, and I'm playing with RedLaser, which Marv Wolfman told me about. With RedLaser, you use the iPhone camera to grab an image of the Universal Price Code on some product and the program then searches online sources and tells you where to get the thing cheaper.

Mostly though, I've downloaded some news apps and a few games, and I've spent some time figuring out how to make the iPhone e-mail work for me. I have a complicated set-up here with multiple addresses that go to a couple of different servers and then get filtered and forwarded around until I receive them in a way that suits me. Unlike my Blackberry, the iPhone would not let me put a different "from" and "reply to" address on an outgoing e-mail and my system requires that. I'd tell you how I finally solved it but it wouldn't apply to you since you don't have the Rube Goldberg style system I invented for myself. Just know that if you have something of the sort, and if you don't want people to write back to the direct address of the device via which you wrote to them, you may have to employ a little ingenuity.

Still haven't tried loading the thing with music yet. Also still haven't gotten the guy over yet to install the new car kit so I can put in a dashboard mount and charge while I drive. One thing that is a bit annoying is the short battery life. My old Blackberry could go for days on a full charge. Then again, it did a lot less so I did a lot less with it. My iPhone seems to be good for around 6-8 hours.

That's where I am with it at the moment. Still happy with my purchase. Still aware how much there is to learn. And I'm starting to wish I had smaller fingers more suited to the iPhone keyboard. Maybe they have an app that can reduce the size of your hands.