I am a gadget lover and as a gadget lover, I really love phones. So for the past few months I have resisted the temptation to follow the crowd and get an iPhone. Mostly because everyone had one, but also for a few other reasons:
- The lack of a real keyboard. I love to text and tweet and I think the keyboard is a real weakness for the chronic tweeter. I am hoping some update will allow for a landscape keyboard like on the blackberry Storm.
- Support for the home team. As a Microsoft employee I really try to help the home team. I bought a WinMob phone days after joining Microsoft 3 years ago.
So why did I sell out. Over a month ago I was getting ready to go to NYC for SMX East, and I dropped my phone breaking the screen. I replaced the aging HTC Wing with a HTC Tilt. The Tilt was bulky, but I really liked the keyboard and I enjoyed being able to play with Qik and other Apps that the tilt supported.
Then, just days before PubCon Las Vegas, I dropped the Tilt in a glass of Grape Juice. You may ask how did that happen. let’s just say it was an early morning post hockey and I was not paying attention. So I replaced the grape juice soaked Tilt, with a new one.
Then came Las Vegas…
During a very busy evening I left my jacket behind at a restaurant in the Palms. The contents of the jacket included both my phone and apparently my eyeglasses. I decided this was an omen; a sign. I have given WinMob the better part of 3 years and now it is time for me to try something else.
I admit I had a lot of excitement for the forthcoming HTC Touch HD, but I can’t wait forever and this thing won’t make it stateside till late next year. So today I finally bit the bullet. No more WinMob. Hopefully this means less reboots and headaches with slow interfaces. Either way, I really like my slick black phone.
One thing I need your help on is what Apps should I install. I am a productivity nut and a twitter user so let that be your guide. Please fill in the comments what app is your favorite and why…
After 30 days I will write a new post letting you know which ones I tried and what I thought about each one.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
SplashID – I’ve got hundreds of logins and passwords and this desktop to iPhone app is perfect for storing and being able to easily retrieve them. I’ve used it for years (since I had my first handspring) and until the iPhone started releasing apps, I carried my Treo and the iPhone just for that data and app alone.
Hello Jeremiah, my name is Melissa and was referred your link by @scottpolk…anyways, here is what I have to say in response to your post:
Before I got the iPhone I too was really worried that I was not going to be able to text as fast as I was able to on my Razor. I felt with my Razor I had achieved master status with texting and that there was just no way that I was going to be able to type on a non-button keyboard. BOY OH BOY, was I wrong. I now see sparks coming from my iPhone because I am able to type so fast on it. My iPhone even remembers what I am trying to say when I don’t even type the word correctly. The auto correct can be a bit off at times but the majority of the time it’s awesome!
I have had my iPhone for 8 months. I tweet, text and surf the net on it, all day long. I am very very satisfied with the iPhone. I would NEVER go back to a “landscape keyboard.” You will get use to it and LOVE IT, trust me!!!!
To answer your question on the Apps for Twitter, I have not paid for any of the Twitter apps but here are some FREE apps that I really like: Twitterific, Twitterfon, & Twinkle. The majority of the time I use Twinkle because it is just very user friendly. You can locate Tweets in certain distance from your location. The only downside is that you also can see non-twitter peeps, so they are usually the weirdos that contact you. Well maybe more so because I am female, not sure if the weirdos contact the males??? You can test that one out. Twinkle also allows for you to send pictures and uses their own picture interface. As with Twitterfon they use Twitpic, so once you post a pic, it will save it in your Twitpic account. Twitterfon does not allow for you to send pictures but the app is cool to use.
Other apps for twitter that I have tried but am not to thrilled with are Loopt, Twittelator & Twittervision.
Other great apps not related to Twitter that may be great for you to use for productivity are Flutter, which lets you send picture texts, since Steve Jobs has forgotten to incorporate that into the iPhone. Palringo, it is a IMing service. iHeartRadio, has local radio stations you can listen to. Stitcher Radio, AirSharing, which I have not used but is a cool feature to have per @scottpolk, because you can use your iPhone as a hard drive. i.TV, lets you look up your local tv guide. Of course the most recent app that I am crazed over is Google Mobile which now has voice recognition, and is pretty darn accurate for me. @scottpolk mumbles too much and it could not understand him but I have no issues.
I have just recently downloaded Cell Spin but have not tried it yet, but it is suppose to be cool because you can blog, tweet, etc. I have also downloaded Instapaper, but not yet used. It is an app in which you save webpages for viewing later, I guess like a bookmark.
Sorry this is such a long comment, but I get excited when I talk about the iPhone…shhhhhh don’t’ tell anyone but I’m addicted
Hope I was able to assist. Enjoy the new world with your iPhone.
@MelissaCruz
Ok, so I don’t have an iphone, but as a Canadian and a Timmy’s lover, I think you should get TimmyMe – http://timmyme.com/. Uses geo-location to find the closest Tim Horton’s. Essential, IMO, even for American’s
@Saffyre9 I will try that who knows maybe when i am in canada at christmas that wil be helpful.
@melissaCruz thanks for all the suggestions. I will try some out.
Yes … @melissacruz is very addicted .. trust me i know
@scottpolk
@scottpolk I noticed from her twitter feed.
Here are a few apps that I have thoroughly enjoyed:
- Tap Tap’s Revenge (a cute game reminiscent of guitar hero)
- Remote (a remote control for iTunes)
- Twitteriffic