If you have ever contacted Apple for support on any of their products, you know the first question they are going to ask you is… “What is your serial number?”. The serial number is easy to find on most of their products because they allow you to access it through the software. This is typically a much better alternative to turning the device off to flip it over, remove the battery and squint to read the long string of letters and number in a size 4 font.

The only problem is that each device OS has a different location to find this serial number. This article explains how to find the serial number in your iPhone device. It will also work for the iPhone 3G since they use the same operating system. And it should also work the same for the iPod Touch.

1. From the main screen on your iPhone/iPod Touch, tap the “Settings” icon.
2. On the Settings screen, tap the General section.
3. Now tap the About section.
4. Scroll down a ways and you will see an item for “Serial Number”. That’s it, read that off to the support person and you’ll be on your way.

Apple doesn’t typically rush the release of a product. That is something that most Apple product fans appreciate as a good alternative to the Microsoft model of service pack 1, 2, 3, etc.

However, when the iPhone 2.0 software update was released, it was done prematurely. There were a large number of complaints that came out with the release of this software update (which was included in the new iPhone 3G model). In fact, there were a lot of new bugs in 2.0 on features that were there in 1.x already. Basically, they had messed these features up. And the highly anticipated third party app support was very difficult to work with since those apps had a tendency to take forever to install and crashed frequently.

Apple finally got it right by releasing their iPhone 2.1 software update. If you have an iPhone and have not updated to this version, do it now! It does take that long and you’ll feel like you got a new and improved iPhone instantly.

Here is a summary of what the 2.1 update includes:

If you are planning to upgrade to a new Apple iPhone 3G anytime soon, you are probably thinking, “what am I going to do with my first generation iPhone?” We’ll whether you give it to a friend or family member or decide to sell it on ebay, you are going to need to reset the content and settings to their defaults so the new user can make it their own.

This is a simple task (like most things on the iPhone). Just follow these steps:

1. Make sure you sync your iPhone one last time so you have all of your content backed up to your computer.

2. On the iPhone, go to the Settings -> General -> Reset menu.

3. You’ll see the option to “Erase All Content and Settings”, select this option and confirm. This will do exactly what it says and remove all of the content (music, movies, pics, email, sms, etc) from your iPhone and set all of the settings back to their defaults.

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.

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!

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.

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.

The Apple iPhone combines three amazing products — a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, maps, and searching — into one small and lightweight handheld device. iPhone also introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting you control everything with just your fingers. So it ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, completely redefining what you can do on a mobile phone.

There is also an iPhone Countdown dashboard widget for Mac OS X!

Add this iPhone Countdown to your blog!

When I read the initial news about the Apple iPhone, I was excited to see what Apple had come up with.

I had no idea that I would be as impressed as I was after watching all of the iPhone demo videos.

Once again Apple has made all other related devices look like a complicated mess with their simple approach to user interfaces.

Apple has set a new bar for cell phone technology that all other companies are going to have to match. Even the most elegant of cell phones like the LG Chocolate series of phones looks obsolete next to the iPhone.

One thing I was tired of hearing about new cell phones on the market is how nice the built in cameras are and that being a key selling point for the phone. You will not see one mention of the built in camera in Apples demo because even though it is there, it is not the reason you should want the iPhone.

Apple has done what all other cell phone manufacturers should do and built a personal communications device instead of adding all sorts of useless features to the already over complicated devices that are out there. And especially recently with the approach of a “new” model being the same old phone in multiple colors.

The hardest part now is waiting until July when they are expected to be released. I am glad that I already am a Cingular customer. If this phone really lives up the expectations, it would be reason enough for anyone to switch to Cingular if necessary for the iPhone.