13 Best Features of the iPhone
After using the iPhone for 2 months, here’s my list of favorite features.
1. Google Maps. The map is easy and quick to use, even while driving. And the traffic feature has saved me many times.
2. Lots of free games. 3rd party developers have risen to the challenge and made lots of games, like the iPhone games at MacMost.com. Best of all, they are free, which means that you’re not adding to your phone bill.
3. Wifi Web surfing rocks. If you have WiFi at home and work, then most of the time you are browsing the Web, it is very fast.
4. The Edge network isn’t too bad. In urban areas, it seems downright zippy. Not the best, but very usable for finding out quick bits of info or checking your email.
5. You can use it as a Remote Desktop. Several apps have appeared. I’ve been using telekinesis. I can log into and control a desktop Mac.
6. Camera plus 8GB. The camera isn’t great, but being able to store tons of pictures means I’ve been using it a lot. This beats phones that have a limited amount of storage.
7. Video looks great. Watching video on the iPhone is very nice. I almost prefer to watch video podcasts on it over my laptop.
8. Built-in speaker. I was always frustrated that I couldn’t even listen to a simple audio podcast or book unless I used headphones or plugged into something. Now I can keep listening to a podcast as I walk from my car to the office.
9. Camera plus Contact List plus Sync. So I started taking pictures of friends and then adding the picture to their contact. Then when you sync to your Mac, the picture moves into the Address Book and now appears when they email me. Nice touch.
10. Reading News. The iPhone beats a newspaper. I use the Google RSS Reader to look at news every day. It works so well on the iPhone that I can get all my news this way. Digg and some other sites have iPhone versions too.
11. FaceBook. The iPhone FaceBook application is great. I can do most of the basic tasks and keep my account up-to-date. It is a pleasure to use.
12. Getting Podcasts Direct. If you forget to sync or subscribe to a podcast, you can usually browse to their Web page and listen directly, or WiFi or Edge. So you never run out of things to listen to.
13. Photos. No one was ever too impressed looking at photos on my video iPod. But when I take out my iPhone to show family pictures people love the look and feel of the photo app. I love the fact I’ve got the last 3 months of photos in my pocket.