Top 5 Apple iPhone Features
Of course the iPhone is not perfect, but it is a huge step in the right direction for cell phones. If you have an idea of how the iPhone could be make better, tell us your feature request.Top 5 Apple iPhone Features
5. Phone Call Management
The phone call management gives you the buttons and features you need easily accessible but only when you need them. This is the key to giving you a simple yet useful interface.
4. User Interface Experience (Touch screen)
Most advanced and easy to use User Interfaces ever on a hand-held device.
3. iPod Features
You would expect Apple to get this one right.
2. Text Messaging (SMS) Application
I never used text messaging before but this makes text messaging work like an Instant Messenger applications. And the best part is that it make so much sense to do text messaging this way.
1. Safari Browser
A full browser available to you wherever you need it. I’ve used this many times in which I would have previously had to get my laptop out, including a good example of pushing the Safari browser on the iPhone to the limit.
What Are Your iPhone Feature Requests?
After using the new Apple iPhone for a full two weeks, I’ve been able to put it through most situations and get an idea of what it does best and what it still lacks.
Now before we get too far into bashing the iPhone, lets just get one thing straight. I believe this is one of the most advanced hand-held devices, and I’m not just talking about cell phones, on the market right now because of its revolutionary touch screen user interface. For a version 1.0 phone, Apple did an amazing job.
The best part is the capability for Apple to release free updates to the operating system software to improve the user interface, fix any possible bugs, and hopefully add additional functionality.
I figured I would get the discussion started on how this great device could be improved even further through this type of update to the iPhone software. Make sure you comment and leave your feature requests for the iPhone.
My Top 5 iPhone Feature Requests:
1. Full “push” integration with Gmail (additional overall mail functionality)
Similar to what the iPhone already has with Yahoo Mail. I know there are a lot of corporate users out there wanting full Exchange ActiveSync support also but I don’t use Exchange so it would be more useful for me to have full Gmail support.
2. Additional ringtone control
Most phones out there allow you to customize a different ringtone for text messages versus phone calls or voicemails. It seems as though maybe Apple overlooked this one in the software as you can only turn the text message tone on or off, you cannot change it. The default tone is kind of quiet so it would be nice to be able to change that.
Of course, being able to use your own audio files as a ringtone would be a level of flexibility most would want to have also.
3. 3G High Speed Data Network
Now I’m not sure this one could be done without upgrades to the hardware. It would be a pleasant surprise if Apple thought ahead enough to put the hardware in the phone to support the AT&T 3G network and a software update just “unlocked” this functionality one day. Not likely but it would be nice.
4. Support for Media Files in Safari
There isn’t much missing from the Safari browser. Especially for a cell phone, this feature alone gives the iPhone so much functionality. But there is one little thing that would be very nice to improve the experience. Add support for the browser to play flash and media files on pages. There are some fairly common websites like espn.com that have media features that won’t play on the iPhone but would be very nice to have, especially when you are on Wi-fi.
5. Additional “widget” like applications
It would be nice to see Apple continue to improve the iPhone by adding more applications to the main menu (home) screen. There is a blank row capable of holding 4 more applications that is just begging to be utilized. Perhaps an instant messaging application that supports all of the major networks, like Adium for Mac.
Share your ideas for new features for the iPhone now!
Pushing Safari On The Apple iPhone To The Limit
Apple did a great thing when they put their full Safari web browser on the Apple iPhone. The functionality of the Safari browser paired with an unlimited data plan from AT&T, or even better a Wi-Fi hot spot, turns your iPhone into a mini laptop.
I just purchased the iPhone this weekend while on a business trip and on the way home, I found a deal on an item on eBay that I really wanted to bid on. My first thought was to call my brother and have him login and place the bid for me. This is what I would have normally done in the past.
Then I realized, I have everything I need to buy something on eBay with my iPhone.
Right before the auction ended, I jumped on my iPhone, opened up Safari and went to eBay.com. Placed my bid for the item and a few minutes later received an email, on my iPhone, that said I had won the item.
This is only one great example of how useful and powerful the iPhone device is. Try doing the same thing I did with this on a traditional cell phone. I know it can be done on some smart phones but not nearly as easy and as quickly as I was able to do with the iPhone.
The Safari web browser on the iPhone opens up a huge world of opportunities for iPhone specific web applications. But it is not limited to only web applications designed for it, you can use the iPhone Safari web browser with pretty much any existing web site.
Think about how much functionality is available to you right there in that one feature of the iPhone.
If you have a story about something you’ve been able to do with the new capabilities available through the iPhone, be sure to tell me about it by commenting below.
How To Find The MAC Address of Your Apple iPhone
If you have a wireless network that you secure by restricting the MAC addresses, then you will have to enter the MAC address of your Apple iPhone in order to allow it to connect to that network.
To figure out the MAC address of your iPhone, start at the home menu. Select Settings -> General -> About. Scroll down that screen and you’ll see a setting called “Wi-Fi Address”, that is your iPhone MAC address.
Now enter that exact address as an allowed MAC address on your wireless network. The directions on this will vary because every router’s menu and interface is different so consult your router manual if you need help with this.
Once you have done this, go back to your iPhone and go to the Settings menu again. Select Wi-Fi and it should display your network in the list of available networks to connect to. Click the network name to connect.