Unofficial iPhone Blog

If you’re an Apple iPhone user and security’s not on your mind, you’re at risk; at risk of having a Web mail account hacked; at risk of having your online identity stolen; and at risk of losing valuable personal information, such as wireless service account data, that could result in financial losses, among other disasters.

When it comes to mobile devices, security tops the list of IT security managers’ concerns. And rightly so: According to a Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) survey of 2,024 information security professionals earlier this year, more than half of respondents say risks related to mobile devices and remote workers are up significantly compared to 2007.

Even if you use your Apple iPhone strictly for play, it pays to ensure that you’re checking your e-mail, surfing the Web via Wi-Fi and accessing various content and services in the safest possible ways. You can follow these six tips in a matter of minutes, and potentially save yourself weeks of damage control.

iPhone Security Tip 1: Enable Auto-Lock

One of the most basic iPhone security functions is the Auto-Lock feature, which locks the device’s touch screen after not being used for a preset time period. Users can choose to set their iPhones to lock after not being used for one, two, three, four or five minutes. Auto-Lock can also be disabled altogether.

Auto-Lock is turned on by default, but you can change the settings by first clicking the main iPhone Settings icon, tapping the General tab and then hitting Auto-Lock. Then select the desired time period by tapping the on-screen value. Finally, exit the Auto-Lock and Settings screens by tapping the box in the display’s top left corner.

Though Auto-Lock is not exactly a security function on its own, when combined with the Passcode safeguard described below, it’s an essential iPhone security feature.

iPhone Security Tip 2: Enable Passcode Lock

The iPhone Auto-Lock disables the device’s screen after a preset time period of non-use, but the Passcode Lock feature takes that a step further. Whenever the device’s display locks, whether due to Auto-Lock or because you’ve hit the iPhone Sleep button–found on the top right of the device–Passcode Lock requires a four-digit code to be entered before the device can be employed again.

To turn on Passcode Lock, simply click the main iPhone Settings icon again, hit General and then tap Passcode Lock. On the Passcode Lock menu screen, enable the function by tapping Turn Passcode On. You’ll then be prompted to enter in a new passcode. Good passwords are completely random and should not be chosen based on birthdays or other dates or numbers that could be uncovered by would-be hackers.

You can also specify when a passcode is required. To do so, tap Require Passcode and then choose whether or not you want to be prompted for a code immediately upon using the device, after one minute, five minutes, 15 minutes, one hour or four hours. Setting the passcode prompt to Immediately is the most secure, as users won’t be able to access the iPhone at all without entering the appropriate passcode.

The Passcode Lock screen also has options to Show SMS Preview and Erase Data. When enabled, the SMS preview function allows the first sentence of new text messages to appear on-screen even when a passcode has not been entered. If you’d like the highest level of iPhone security–or just some more privacy–you probably want to disable Show SMS Preview.

The Erase Data function lets you completely wipe your iPhone after 10 failed passcode attempts. After six failed attempts, the iPhone locks out users for a minute before another passcode can be entered. And the device increases the lock-out time following each additional failed attempt–one minute, five minutes, 15 minutes, etc.–so an attempted passcode bypass could take miscreants hours.

iPhone Security Tip 3: Use Wi-Fi Safely on the iPhone

One of the iPhone’s most valuable features is its Wi-Fi support, which lets you connect to high-speed wireless networks for faster Web browsing and better data coverage in spots where cellular coverage is less than stellar. However, employing Wi-Fi networks without taking the proper security precautions can leave your device–and everything on it–open to crafty hackers.

First things first, you want to make sure your own personal Wi-Fi networks is secured using Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) or another wireless security protocol. (Refer to the product literature that accompanied your wireless router for more on how to enable Wi-Fi security.) When you connect your iPhone to that network for the first time, you’ll be prompted for the network’s password–assuming you’re using some sort of Wi-Fi security. You should also modify the name of your personal Wi-Fi network to something custom, to help reduce the chance of coming across another network with the same name.

To ensure that you don’t unknowingly connect to Wi-Fi networks while on the go, you should enable the iPhone’s Ask to Join Networks function. You can turn this feature on by once again tapping the main iPhone Settings tab and then choosing Wi-Fi. On the main Wi-Fi settings screen, turn the Ask to Join Networks function on by simply tapping the on/off button next to the option. After the feature is enabled, you’ll never connect to an open Wi-Fi network without first being asked to confirm the connection. (The device will still automatically connect to recognized networks, or networks to which you’ve connected in the past.)

It’s also a good idea to disable Wi-Fi whenever it’s not in use. This reduces the chance of accidentally connecting to an unsecured or suspect network and saves iPhone battery life. To turn Wi-Fi off, just hit the iPhone Settings icon, tap Wi-Fi and then click the on/off button on the Wi-Fi screen.

iPhone Security Tip 4: Securely Access Corporate, Web Mail

If you’re a corporate iPhone user, the most secure way for you to access your e-mail, at least your business mail, is most likely through a Microsoft Exchange Server–assuming your organization uses Exchange. Lotus Notes users can also securely receive their corporate mail via iPhone thanks to the recent introduction of Lotus iNotes ultralite. (For more on how to receive Outlook and Notes mail on the iPhone, consult your IT administrator.)

For non-business iPhone users, receiving Web mail, like Gmail, AOL and Yahoo Mail, is a breeze; however, the process is not always secure–especially if you’re not aware of how to ensure that secure sockets layer (SSL) protection is enabled, where available. SSL encrypts mail that’s sent and received via iPhone. If you’re unable to connect to your Web mail using the iPhone and SSL, consider using another mail account that does support the safeguard–I’ve setup a number of Gmail accounts using SSL on the iPhone. Or, if you choose to access mail without SSL, be aware that your messages are not secured–think post card vs. sealed letter.

To ensure that you’re using SSL when retrieving Web mail, click the main iPhone Settings tab, choose Mail, Contacts and Calendar and then select one of your active mail accounts. While on the mail account screen, click Advanced, scroll down to the Use SSL option and ensure that it’s set to On.

iPhone users can also access Web mail via their mail provider’s portals, but it pays to be security smart when using this process as well. For instance, iPhone users should ensure that the URL for the mail provider’s site begins with HTTPS://WWW instead of just HTTP://WWW, which signifies that the connection is secured using SSL. A tiny lock also appears just to the right of URLs when iPhone users navigate to pages that use SSL for secure connections. In other words, be wary of logging into any Web site to check mail via iPhone that doesn’t have HTTPS in its URL and a lock to the right of the Web address in your Safari browser.

iPhone Security Tip 5: Browse the Web via Safari

Just like surfing the Web via laptop or desktop computers, navigating the Internet via iPhone is rife with security risks. Proactively optimizing your iPhone browser security settings could potentially mean the difference between a fully-functioning device and an infected gadget rendered useless by malware.

The iPhone Safari browser security settings are basic–and most are turned on by default–but it doesn’t hurt to ensure that your iPhone Safari security settings are in order.

First off, you’ll want to ensure that pop-ups are blocked. Clicking on a malicious pop-up could expose your device to malware and lead to an infection. As mentioned above, pop-ups are blocked by default, but you can check and modify your settings by first clicking the main iPhone Settings icon and then scrolling down and tapping Safari. On the Safari settings screen, ensure that the Block Pop-ups button is switched to On.

You’ll also want to check on your Safari cookies settings. Cookies are pieces of text that are distributed back and forth between Web servers and Internet clients, typically browsers, and they’re used mainly for authenticating users. However, cookies can be a security/privacy risk, as information about users’ devices, operating systems, browsers and, in some cases, browsing habits can be stored within cookies and could, therefore, be accessed by third-parties.

The iPhone Safari Accept Cookies function is set to From Visited by default–meaning the browser will accept cookies from sites that you navigate to–but the most security conscious iPhone owners may want to disable cookies completely. Cookies can be disabled by in the Safari settings menu by tapping the Accept Cookies tab and then selecting Never.

iPhone users can also clear their current crop of cookies by clicking the Clear Cookies button at the bottom of the Safari settings menu and then selecting Clear Cookies again on the following screen.

iPhone Security Tip 6: Set Device Usage Restrictions

Though the iPhone has made some significant gains in recent days toward become a suitable business smartphone, its target user is still the consumer. And consumers come in all shapes, sizes…and ages.

IT administrators and parents with little iPhone users have the ability to set iPhone restrictions to, say, block explicit content from being shown on the iPhone’s music or video player. And they can block access to YouTube and stop third-party applications from being installed.

Restrictions options can be located via the main iPhone Settings menu, within the General tab. Once you’ve clicked on Restrictions on that tab, you’ll see a set of potential options beneath the words Enable Restrictions . Tap Enable Restrictions , enter in a four-digit code and then select the specific constraints you wish to impose by hitting the On/Off button next to each option.

Selecting the iPod Explicit option, blocks the user’s ability to sync any iTunes content that’s branded “explicit” by Apple. If you disable Safari, block YouTube and iTunes, or say no to installing apps or using the gadget’s camera, the phone user will not be able to access any of these functions until a passcode is reentered and the restrictions lifted.

Some of them are cool, some generic and some real smart. Watch them and have fun

On Tuesday morning, months of anticipation, speculation, software controversy, and hardware rumors came to a head as T-Mobile executives and Google’s top brass unveiled the G1, the first “Googlephone.” As reporters and bloggers got their hands on the detailed specifications about the device, the software, and the terms of service, hundreds of inevitable comparisons were drawn between the iPhone and this fledgling product. But the differences between the two platforms go far beyond simple differences in specs.

Google is pursuing a decidedly different market strategy with Android. The brilliance of Apple’s iPhone strategy–besides the fact that the phone itself is so compelling–was in the sequence of announcements. You can bet your last share of Lehman stock that Steve Jobs had the App Store and iPhone SDK planned from the start, but did not release them initially on purpose. Apple first announced the iPhone in January of 2007, wowed the tech community, built up six months of hot anticipation, and released it in June of the same year. Its market share immediately exploded, well beyond initial predictions, grabbing percentage points in the double digits within months.

Eight months after the iPhone’s launch, we received word from Steve that there would be an iPhone SDK, developer tools, impressive built-in hardware capabilities, and an App Store to buy and sell software, all confirming the suspicion that the iPhone was not just a phone, but a software platform. Since the App Store’s release, Apple and its newfound army of iPhone developers have been raking in the cash.

What’s notable here is the sequence of events. Apple announced an exciting new product, built and fed anticipation, grew market share, announced the SDK, and then released the App Store. Each of these steps was dependent on the former. Without iPhone’s market share, the SDK and App Store would not have been nearly such a success. Without the cult of iPhone that Apple grew even before the product was available, the phone’s market share wouldn’t have grown so large so quickly.

Google, unlike Apple, first announced the software, before the hardware. This was a critical mistake in my book, one which may seriously affect the long-term success of Android. While the Android development tools showed an example phone interface for programmers to play with, there was no guarantee of the phone’s capabilities. Apple made the very smart decision to preemptively bring in big-name companies like EA and AOL to develop sample applications at the SDK annoucement, showing off the power of the device. This gave developers a chance to ponder the vast array of possibilities for applications, and four months to develop them. It is only really in the past month that Android developers have gotten any idea of what their prospective platform holds in hardware possibilities. For example, no one wants their application to show sub-par processor performance or leave behind shiny, new features of the phone.

Furthermore, Google and T-Mobile are walking a dangerous line trying to achieve two difficult goals at the same time. Not only will these two companies obviously try to build up a stake for the G1 in the smart phone market, but they must also try to concurrently attract developers to their platform. Right now, Android involves only the promise of an audience, and it’s not asssociated with any game-changing hardware. And that may be a recipe for a tough sell.

Now, this will certainly get easier as more and more consumers adopt the new phones, as they certainly will. But it’s still a very tricky move. To its credit, Google intelligently brought together the members of the Open Handset Alliance, rallying enough allies to attract lots of attention. Not to mention, of course, the fact that we are talking about Google here, a name which carries more weight than Goliath both in the minds of developers and consumers.

Of course, Apple has its advantages, too: Beside the attraction of already-existent hordes of iPhone users, Apple also constructed its SDK to be similar to the OS X development platform, using similar or identical technologies like Core Animation and advanced networking libraries. However, Google does have the upper hand in this arena, at least in theory. Google choose Java as the language for Android and bundled a plug-in for the popular Java IDE, Eclipse. While Apple also bundled a nice suite of tools for its coders, the Java/Eclipse duo has an arguably much wider pool of talent to pick from than coders who have developed for OS X. I can tell you first-hand that there exists almost no recent Comp Sci graduate in the land that has not used Java with Eclipse at least once in college.

In addition, Android carries the label of “open source” to attract free software devotees, and has no cost, cross-platform tools for download on its site. And let us not forget that Android is an operating system, not tied to one device. It will have some appeal that the iPhone won’t as more and more “with Google” devices are released in the upcoming years. Not to mention that Android will be released internationally on a broad scale soon after it hits the United States, a move which Apple waited a year to make.

As different as these two strategies are, however, they’re both completely characteristic of the two companies in question. Google is all about software across many platforms, whether it be programs that run on OS X, Linux, and Windows or Web applications that run in all major browsers. Google puts every ounce of sweat it has into integrating itself further into your online life, and that’s exactly what Android will help them do.

Apple, on the other hand, is all about hardware and software integration. It’s true that Apple designs beautiful hardware, but it’s not a hardware company. It’s also true that Apple designs great software, but it’s not a software company either. The brilliance of Steve Jobs was to tackle both hardware and software design for Apple products. Apple didn’t design a PC and it didn’t design an operating system. Apple orchestrated an experience.

As both companies entice developers with promises of an easy transition to their platforms as well as the promise of profit, the choices that the programming workforce make in this arena will speak volumes about the future of these new mobile platforms.

10 features the iPhone needs to beat Android
What Apple needs to do to keep us happy, or we’re buying a Google phone

Everybody was head-over-heels in love with the original iPhone, mainly because of the innovative touch screen, superb web browsing and Apple’s legendary ease of use. Nobody had ever seen anything like it in a phone before, and it’s still streets ahead of the competition in many ways. But can it keep ahead now that Android has arrived?

We’re going to put our cards on the table and list 10 new features the next iPhone will need to have if it’s going to escape a panning from the critics.

Sadly, the original iPhone was severely lacking in several big areas. The lack of 3G was bordering on the criminal, then there was no picture messaging (MMS) and it also had a crappy camera. iPhone 3G added the faster connectivity, but everything else we’re still waiting for.

Apple seems to have got away with the lack of basic features on the iPhone so far because of the relatively underdeveloped US phone market, where even texting, let alone MMS texting, hasn’t really taken off. In contrast, in Japan, where people are used to mobile phones that are tiny and play television, the iPhone hasn’t done as well.

Here’s what we think Apple needs to add to the iPhone to keep it ahead of the pack. We hope you’re listening, Apple!

1. Cut and Paste
Why, oh why has it taken Apple so long to add this? It’s frustrating that you can’t do it, and it’s so obvious how it would work on the multi-touch screen – just tap and hold, then drag your finger over a block of text to select it. That functionality is currently reserved for the magnifying glass, but that could easily be shifted to a double-tap.

2. Shake to shuffle
This feature appeared on the recent 4th Gen iPod nano, but we can’t see a reason why Apple won’t add it to the iPhone. We’d like to see the feature expanded a little to include other options, rather than just Shuffle, when you shake. Why not have some Shake options in Settings, from which you can choose different functions?

3. A better camera with a flash
This is a no-brainer. The next iPhone will have to have a better camera, or we’re going to bin it without even opening the box (possibly). The current 2-megapixel effort just isn’t up to the job. Oh, and we also want a flash to brighten up those dull indoor shots, too.

4. More memory
Apple wants us to play movies on our iPhones, but it doesn’t want to give us anywhere to put them! 16GB just doesn’t cut it these days. We expect to get at least 32GB in the next iPhone, and 64GB if we’re lucky.

5. Video recording
When your mate’s phone (that he got free) can record video you know it’s no longer a premium feature. Without the ability to record video iPhone owners are second-class citizens in the mobile phone world. Come on Apple, sort it out.

6. Picture messaging (MMS)
See above. Just because nobody in the US wants to send picture messages doesn’t mean everybody in Europe has suddenly changed the way they’ve been using mobile phones for years.

7. A wider choice of providers, not just O2 (UK) or AT&T (US)
A controversial one this, but we think that Apple’s exclusivity to O2 in the UK and AT&T in the US has to end at some point. People want the iPhone on more networks and Apple will want to loosen the shackles to grow its user base, too.

8. Thinner
Of course it will be thinner! Every new Apple iPod or iPhone has to be thinner than the last. It’s the law.

9. More customisation options
Currently you can customise your iPhone’s splash screen (which Apple calls the wallpaper) with whatever photo you like, but you can’t alter the Home screen’s dull black background, or customise the icons in any way. This is never going to keep teenagers who are into Hello Kitty happy. We predict the next iPhone will enable you to apply themes to the Home screen, and even purchase (of course) and download new ones from the iTunes Store.

10. Stationery in Mail
Last but not least, stationery will be available in Mail. Now you’ll be able to send HTML email bordered by pictures of cutesy kittens. Text-only email purists will hang their heads in disbelief, but Apple will be laughing all the way to the bank.

Source: TechRadar

Syncing notes with the iPhone

One of the major limitations to the iPhone’s Notes app is that you can’t sync it with data from any application on your Mac. There’s a work-around, however—each contact has a notes field. So create a fake contact and paste any info you’d like to keep with you in the notes field for that contact in Address Book. One sync later, and all that info will be at your fingertips.

Rebooting your iPhone

Pretend for a moment that your iPhone suddenly becomes unresponsive. Pushing the Home button does nothing. Hitting the On/Off button produces the same discouraging result. What do you do? Apple’s first reset tip is to press and hold the Home button for about six seconds to quit any application that might have locked up your iPhone. If that doesn’t work, trying pressing and holding both Home and On/Off; after about 10 seconds the Apple logo will appear.

(This reboot trick takes a little big longer than the iPod equivalent—holding down Select and Menu usually restarts your music player after four seconds.)

Some more…..

1. Double tap the Caps key on the keyboard and it will change to blue and remain in Caps mode until you tap it again.
2. If you are using custom IMAP account, you may need to set the following to view other folders: Settings | Mail | IMAP Account | Advanced | IMAP Path Prefix = “INBOX” (without quotes).
3. To check bill balance or remaining voice minutes, go to Settings | Phone | AT&T Services then click “Check Bill Balance” or “View My Minutes” button. Free SMS will arrive in few seconds.
4. If something is not syncing right (one of the events in Calendar wasn’t syncing with iCal for some reason), run iSync (yes, iSync) and select Reset Sync History under Preferences.
5. Safari tip: I sync my bookmarks with my Mac, but navigating through them on the iPhone is annoying. So on my Mac I made a new “iPhone” bookmark folder at the top level of Safari’s bookmarks view, and copied the bookmarks I use on the iPhone into it. And as I find out about new iPhone-customized sites, I add them to that folder in Safari. Then on the iPhone I just leave the bookmarks view at that folder, and all the relevant bookmarks are right there.

Source: MacWorld

Create e-mail folders

Well, actually, you can’t create e-mail folders on the iPhone. What you can do, however, with an IMAP e-mail account is create folders on the IMAP server—for example, if you have a .Mac account, using the .Mac Web Mail interface. Those folders will then appear on the iPhone, and their contents will—eventually—be synced between the iPhone and the server

Save e-mail messages as drafts

If you want to save a message you’re working on so you can come back to it later, tap Cancel. Instead of deleting the message immediately, Mail pops up a dialog asking you to Save, Don’t Save, or Cancel. Tap Save and the message is placed in your Drafts folder. If your account doesn’t currently have a Drafts folder, Mail will create one. However, don’t be alarmed if the message doesn’t appear in Drafts immediately; in my testing, it takes a while to show up.

Pick where you listen to voicemail

If you’ve got a Bluetooth headset, incoming calls get routed there automatically—not so when you call up Visual Voicemail. However, an Audio button on the Visual Voicemail screen lets you set where you listen to your message: the handset, the built-in speaker, or a Bluetooth headset.

Find another way to scroll through Contacts

Everyone knows that you can scroll through the Contacts list on your iPhone two different ways—either flick your finger on the list to scroll up or down, or tap on one of the letters on the alphabet running down the right side of the screen to jump to contacts beginning with that letter. But there is a third way: hold your finger on the alphabetical list and then slide up and down—you’ll be able to scroll through your Contacts in a more controlled manner than by flicking your finger.

Use the Favorites and Recents list for more than just phone calls

Favorites and Recents are part of the main Phone screen; the former is iPhone’s version of frequently called numbers while the latter is a list of people who you’ve called and whose calls you missed. But this is not just a phone feature—assuming the numbers in Favorites and Recents belong to a mobile phone, you can send them an SMS message. Just tap the > button next to the contact name or number and then tap the Text Message button at the bottom of the contact listing.

Save time in driving directions

One of the primary uses for the iPhone’s Map application is to get driving directions. Both the starting point and destination fields offer the Bookmarks button, so you can quickly use a bookmark, recent location, or contact when searching for directions. The first thing you should do in Maps is find your own address and then bookmark it—this will make finding directions to and from locations as easy as tapping your home bookmark.

As with the iPod, the iPhone lets you set the speed of audiobook playback.

Recreate some of the iPod’s audio controls

If you listen to an audiobook on an iPod, you probably know that, ever since the fourth-generation iPod’s release, you can alter the playback speed to make it go faster or slower as your preferences dictate. That feature makes its way over to the iPhone as well. Just tap Settings and then the iPod option; tap the Audiobook Speed entry and in the resulting screen, tap to choose among Slower, Normal, or Faster.

In fact, that’s just one iPod feature that also appears on the iPhone. You can also use the Settings screen to turn on Sound Check (the feature that makes volume more consistent from one track to another) and change the EQ with 22 included equalization presets.

Change your iPod icons

By default, the icons on the bottom of the iPod screen are Playlists, Artists, Songs, Videos, and More. You can change those first four, just as you would the commands that appear on an iPod’s main screen. Simply tap the More icon and, in the More screen, tap the Edit button at the top-left of the screen. A Configure screen will wipe up from the bottom and display icons for Albums, Podcasts, Audiobooks, Genres, Composers, Compilations, Playlists, Artists, Songs, and Videos. To substitute one of these icons for one that appears at the bottom of the screen, just tap and hold on an icon and drag it over the icon you want to replace. Tap Done when you’re done.

Say goodbye to already-viewed videos

Even owners of the largest-capacity iPhone might feel constrained by the 8GB limit when it comes to storing videos. A full-length motion picture takes up around 1GB of storage, which is a significant chunk of space for just one piece of media. To help ease the storage crunch however, the iPhone offers to delete videos after you’ve finished watching them; just tap a button and Pirates of the Caribbean will disappear off your iPhone, freeing up more space.

Share your URLs

If you want to send the URL of a Web page you’re viewing to a friend, tap the Address Bar, then tap Share. A new e-mail message, containing the URL, will open in Mail; just choose a recipient(s), add any comments you want to include, and tap Send

Scroll through separate boxes on a Web page

If you encounter a scrolling box or list when surfing Safari on your iPhone—say you’re responding to a post at some forums —and try to scroll using your finger, you’ll find that the entire page scrolls, instead of just the box. The trick is to zoom in and scroll such areas with two fingers.

Make a call from Safari

If you find a phone number in Safari that you’d like to call—say the phone number at a restaurant you’d like to make reservations at—there’s no need to jump to the phone component. Just tap the number; iPhone will dial it for you. (This is also the case with phone numbers and URL embedded in e-mails and SMS chats; tapping either one will place a call or open a Web page, respectively.)

Find out where those links go

When in Safari, holding your fingertip down on a link instead of tapping it produces an information balloon that displays the underlying URL. The same thing happens in Mail when you hold a link, which makes this tip much more useful. Now when those “account update” e-mails appear, you can press and hold on the link to find out if you’re really going to be taken to the site the e-mail claims.

Avoid Mail confusion

Don’t name two of your e-mail accounts with the same name in your iPhone, as Mail will get confused and copy the settings from one account to the other. And you can’t fix the situation by simply renaming one account; you’ll need to delete one of the accounts and then recreate it.

Mark previously-read messages as unread

There doesn’t appear to be a way to the mark a read message as unread on the iPhone, but it’s in there. While viewing a message, tap Details, which reveals a Mark As Unread option; tap it, and the next time you view your Inbox, the message will display the Unread indicator.

Recover ‘lost’ e-mails

Say you try to send an e-mail, but the iPhone can’t get network access. You might think your message has disappeared completely, but don’t worry—it’s still on your iPhone. A temporary Outgoing folder is created, and the message winds up in there. You can access this temporary folder from the main screen of the sending account; the folder will disappear once network access is available and the message is sent.

Create a home page in Safari

With the regular version of Safari that runs on your Mac (and now your Windows-based PC), setting a particular site as your home page is as simple as going to the General tab in Preferences and typing in a URL. You can’t do that on the iPhone, however.

But you can use this work-around: Add your would-be home page to your bookmarks list and then move it to the top of your bookmarks list. Yes it’s an extra tap—first the Bookmarks button and then the bookmark itself—but it will get you to your favorite Web page with a minimum of fuss.—DF

Get a bigger keyboard for Web browsing

Like any other iPhone function requiring data entry, tapping Safari’s address bar summons an on-screen keyboard. However, if you rotate the iPhone horizontally before tapping the address bar, the Safari window will switch to horizontal mode; then, when you then tap the address bar, the onscreen keyboard also appears horizontally.

More important, it will also be much larger than the standard vertical keyboard, making data entry a little easier. By the way, Safari is currently the only iPhone application in which this horizontal keyboard appears.

Rotating your iPhone horizontally before summoning the onscreen keyboard produces this horizontal—and much easier to use—keyboard.

(Also worth noting: If you summon the keyboard before rotating your iPhone, then Safari won’t rotate.)

Use your iPhone as a storage device

One of side benefits to the iPod beyond its music-playing capabilities is the fact that you can use it to store files. You can’t do this with an out-of-the-box iPhone. But with the help of a $10 program—and a Mac—you can.

The app is iPhoneDrive, a small utility from Ecamm Network that displays the free storage area of an iPhone in the manner of a Finder window in Column view. To add files to the iPhone, either click the Copy to iPhone button or drag a file or folder to the iPhoneDrive Window; dragging from the iPhone or clicking on Copy From iPhone puts iPhone files on your Mac.

Note that music and photo files for use on your iPhone are off limits