My iPhone

I really am stupendously pleased with my new iPhone 3G S!!

So far, I have only been in one place where I could not manage to get either a 3G, Wi-fi or Edge connection. My BlackBerry would only connect through an available Edge connection. Like my BlackBerry, the iPhone will retrieve my e-mail from up to 10 different accounts. Unlike my BB, my iPhone will display the email exactly as it normally appears on my laptop screen. Also unlike my BB, my iPhone will grant me access to GoogleReader without the use of a third-party program AND it displays just like it does on my laptop.

The camera has a 3 megapixel lens, compared to my BB with has a 1.6 megapixel lens. The difference in picture quality is tremendous. Something the iPhone has that my BB never had (and one of the main reasons I bought the iPhone) is a video camera. I have not yet explored its ability to trim videos and upload them to YouTube, but most likely I will this weekend.

Being able to have TweetDeck, which I use on my laptop, on my iPhone also is fantastic. My BB version of TwitterBerry lacked the full functionality of TweetDeck on iPhone, such as the ability to ReTweet a notable tweet. The same is true of the FaceBook application so far, though I have not completely explored all of its abilities.

One feature I HAVE been playing with a lot is the ability to download free music and podcasts from the iTunes store, right through the phone. I also bought 4 songs just to try out the process and it was so painless that I will have to restrain myself from overdoing it (since the songs cost $). I can see I will also be tempted to download missed TV shows ($2.99 each) to watch during my flights when traveling. I still haven't seen the last 3 episodes of "24" or a couple of other shows I try to watch. Yes, I know they're free on Hulu, but the viewing experience leaves a lot lacking in terms of definition and buffering issues. Plus it will make the flights somewhat more enjoyable

Which brings up another cool feature. There is a setting where you can tell the iPhone to go into "Airplane mode" which is simply the ability to turn off the phone and GPS aspects of the phone while retaining the ability to use the audio/video player without "interfering with the airplane's electronic signals." Of course you can only use that during the "turn on acceptable devices" portion of the flight, but it's better than nothing.

I also have not yet fully explored the Apps Store, other than downloading the TweetDeck and FaceBook applications because I use those so heavily. But I'm sure I will be playing with that over the weekend as well. And I still need to try the voice control for dialing other phones or playing music. There is still so much fun with my iPhone ahead of me!!

After I bought the iPhone at the A T & T store, I went around the corner to the Best Buy store and purchased a car charger ($6 cheaper than the one in the A T & T store) and a Jabra BT530 stereo Bluetooth that allows me to listen to music or podcasts (and isn't ugly looking like the dual headsets that remind me of a doctor's stethoscope). It is so cool to be listening to music or a podcast, have it paused when a call comes in, then resume after your call at exactly the point it paused at before the call. I am thinking I won't have a use any more for my MP3 player, other than as another exterior hard drive to hold files.

That is the beauty of the iPhone; it is at least ten devices in one: a phone, camera, video camera, Internet device, music player, digital voice recorder, podcast player, GPS, compass and alarm clock. It's like the Swiss Army knife of Smartphones. In fact, I would dub the iPhone a "GeniusPhone" and that is no exaggeration.

After Best Buy, my next stop was Barnes & Noble where I bought David Pogue's "iPhone-The Missing Manual" book after scanning the Table of Contents and glancing through the pages. I typically read David's columns every week and his Twitter feed every day and, based on his writing style and content, I was reasonably sure his book would be just what a newbie like me would need and I was right. I devoured his book that first night and have used it to refresh my memory several times since.

I am so glad I listened to my friends who were also former BB users when they unanimously declared the iPhone experience to be a vast improvement. Heck, I'm even getting used to the touchscreen way of using this thing, something I wasn't sure I'd ever embrace.

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