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April 3, 2009
Is That a Computer in Your Pocket?
Dear Larry,
I have an iPhone and feel like I’m not taking full
advantage of it. What am I missing?
D. J.
Dear D. J.,
I have helped many people in the area with their iPhones, but
only a few of them knew how to make their iPhone so much more than a fancy iPod.
The secret lies with apps, mini-programs you can install that
unleash the iPhone’s real power. As of March 17, 2009, the Apple iPhone App
Store offered some 25,000 different programs, most of which cost $4.99 or less,
many of them completely free!
You can either find iPhone apps on your computer via iTunes or
on your iPhone via the App Store icon. Let’s try this out together. Start up
iTunes on your computer, then click on the “iTunes Store” link.
Wouldn’t it be nice to look up contacts using the sound of
your voice? In the search box in the top right corner, type “voice” and press
Enter. Click the “See All” link to the right of where it says “Applications.”
Scroll all the way down to find Melodis Voice Dialer and click
it to call up a description (this particular app is free). When you’re ready,
click “Get App.” After entering your iPhone account information (don’t worry,
you won’t be charged a thing), the application will be downloaded to your
computer. When you next sync your iPhone, an icon for the program will appear on
your phone.
Click the icon to launch it. Press and hold the green button
while you speak the name of one of your contacts into your iPhone. With a little
bit of luck, the contact information will suddenly appear allowing you to call
this person via any of the phone numbers you have stored. As usual, when you’re
finished with the program, press the Home button to return to the main screen.
As you can see, there’s nothing to this! Want some more free
apps to try out? Convert units with “a2z Pro,” chat via AOL Instant Messenger
(“Aim”), shop on “Amazon Mobile,” find a restaurant via “AroundMe,” escape from
a bad date with “Fake-A-Call,” locate your lost car keys thanks to “Flashlight,”
track your weight loss via “Lose It,” choose a movie to see with the help of
“Movies,” read the headlines from the “NY Times,” read a classic book with
“Stanza,” or catch an episode of CSI on “TV.com.”
Before long, your iPhone will be brimming with new icons. Want
to arrange them? Click and hold any one of the icons until they all start to
shake. Drag an icon where you want it, even to the edge of the screen to drop it
onto a new page. Click the X next to an icon if you no longer want that app on
your phone.
Take advantage of the power of your iPhone with the help of an
iPhone app!
This is Larry Schneider, logging off.
