iPhone E-mail

Unlike many other smartphones, your iPhone can send, receive, and browse e-mail without getting weighed down with compromise. The iPhone doesn�t settle for cramped, odd presentations. Your e-mail looks the way it should�the way it would if you were reading it on your home computer. That�s because the iPhone provides an HTMLcompatible rich-text client. Mail looks better because the client is better. It�s made to work right.

iPhone mail works with most industry-standard e-mail systems. With it, you can send and receive photos; view Excel spreadsheets, PDF files, and Word documents; manage your accounts; and more.


Compatibility
iPhone Mail is surprisingly compatible. It works with virtually all major e-mail providers, including Gmail, AOL, Yahoo!, and Comcast. For businesses, iPhone plays relatively well with Microsoft Exchange. This high level of provider support is because of the iPhone�s support of industry-standard protocols. The iPhone understands the most popular email standards, namely, POP, IMAP, SMTP, and Exchange. If you�re not already familiar with these standards, here�s a brief overview.


POP
POP (aka POP3) stands for Post Office Protocol. It�s probably the most common e-mail retrieval protocol in use today. It allows mail clients to connect to a server such as Gmail or AOL, retrieve messages, and disconnect afterward. This usually happens on a set schedule, such as every ten minutes or every hour; you do not receive mail until your client connects to the server and requests that new mail. POP works by checking in with a server, downloading your e-mail, and optionally leaving the original copies of your e-mail on the server. This leave-on-server option works well with the iPhone, because when you�re on the go, you probably want to check your mail on the iPhone and retrieve it again later when you get back to the office or return home. POP also has its downsides. Unlike the newer and improved IMAP protocol, POP downloads entire messages all at once, so it�s a bit of a space hog on portable devices. The 3 in POP3 indicates the third version of the protocol standard; POP1 and POP2 are obsolete.


SMTP
Mail clients use one protocol for receiving mail and another for sending mail. Your iPhone uses Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) to send outgoing messages. SMTP contacts a mail server and transmits messages you�ve written along with any attachments including text, photos, and so forth. A common kind of SMTP, called SMTP-AUTH (AUTH stands for authorization), allows you to send secure, authorized mail. You provide your account name and a password. Your mail client authenticates itself to the server, and your e-mail is sent on its way.

The iPhone makes sending authenticated e-mail easy. Enter your account name and password into the Mail settings pane. Once you�ve done this, just use outgoing mail to send a note, share a web page�s URL, or pass along a photo that you�ve just snapped with the iPhone�s built-in camera. The iPhone takes care of all the protocol issues. You decide what to send and to whom to send it.


IMAP
IMAP stands for Internet Message Access Protocol. Like POP3, it allows you to receive e-mail on the iPhone. It�s a newer and more flexible protocol. As the name suggests, IMAP was built around the Internet. It introduces advanced ways to connect to the mail server and use the limited bandwidth of mobile connections in the most efficient way. The key to understanding IMAP is to recognize that messages are meant to live on the server rather than go through a retrieve-and-delete cycle. You manage your mail on the IMAP server. You read your mail on a client, like the iPhone.

When you download mail with POP, you download entire messages. When you download mail with IMAP, you download headers instead, at least initially. Headers are the bit that tells you who the mail is from and what it�s about. You don�t download the main body of the message until you explicitly request it from the server. Since the header occupies only a fraction of the space of the message, you can download IMAP data a lot faster than you download POP. The rest of the message stays on the server until you�re ready to read it.

The same thing goes for attachments. Say that someone sends you a 10MB video. It doesn�t get downloaded to your iPhone. It stays on the server until you�re ready to watch it on your home computer. If you�d downloaded the message with POP, the entire video would have transferred with the message. With IMAP, you can read the message that came along with the video without having to download the video file itself until you�re ready to watch it. The video attachment waits for you on the mail server.

IMAP also offers a feature that�s called push e-mail. Geeks will tell you that technically speaking IMAP is not exactly the same thing as push e-mail. True push e-mail reaches out and tells your e-mail client whenever new mail arrives in the system. Instead, your iPhone IMAP client connects to and gently tickles the server until new mail arrives. This kind of always-on connection allows the iPhone to receive mail almost as soon as it arrives on the server. In practice, there�s better intention there with push-style mail than actual results. Yahoo! and Gmail offer free IMAP accounts for iPhone users. To sign up for an account, point your browser to http://mail.yahoo.com or http://gmail.com.


Microsoft Exchange
Microsoft Exchange provides e-mail along with other enterprise-level services intended to support Outlook on the Web, personal computers, and mobile devices. Past versions of the iPhone did not support Exchange without, well, jumping through hoops. Exchange Server administrators had to open all sorts of security holes to get it to work, and they usually weren�t too happy about doing that. Fortunately, iOS 4 provides much better compatibility with Microsoft Exchange, to the point that you can now configure multiple Exchange ActiveSync accounts on your iPhone for business use.

Exchange is more than just e-mail, though�it�s also about sharing calendars and contacts. Since iOS 4, iPhones can receive push e-mail from an Exchange Server, access a company-wide global address list, accept or create calendar invitations, and even search e-mails that are stored on the server.

If you�re using your iPhone in a corporate setting that uses Microsoft Exchange Server, it�s best to work with your IT department to ensure that your device is connected to the server in the most secure way possible. If they�re not familiar with how the iPhone works with Exchange, Apple has provided a white paper on Exchange deployment that is free to download: http://images.apple.com/iphone/business/docs/iPhone_EAS.pdf.

Source of Information :  Taking Your iPhone 4 to the Max

Three Ways iPhone Messaging Is Better Than What�s Available on Other Phones

When it comes to messaging, the iPhone offers several advantages over the rest of the field. First, there�s the keyboard. The iPhone keyboard is far easier to use than any other cell phone keyboard. It makes it simple to type and edit messages.

For years, teenagers have been wearing their fingers to a nub texting each other. Texting on standard cell phones is hard work. Because of this, an entire language of texting shorthand has sprung up from �lol� (laughing out loud) to �pos� (parents are watching over my shoulder) to �kthxbai� (OK, thank you, good bye). The idea is to keep everything short and easy to type. Unfortunately, clarity is sacrificed to ease of typing. The iPhone brings simple typing back and allows you to properly say �thank you,� instead of �ty� or �thx.�

Second, the iPhone remembers conversations. You can easily see entire text conversations on a single screen. The iPhone organizes messages by sender, not by date or time. This means that messages from one person, even messages that are separated by hours or days, are grouped together into one easy-to-read presentation.

Third, the iPhone makes it easy to do all the stuff connected with messaging that should be connected with messaging, such as calling the person back directly or updating your calendar when someone mentions meeting you for dinner. Jump out of the text program
(tap Home), pop over to your calendar, and then return exactly where you left off.

NOTE: If you�re new to texting and your text partner is used to cell phone keys, you might want to acquaint yourself with the keypress-saving SMS shorthand. Those abbreviations are more likely to come up with experienced texters. Search the Internet for text message abbreviations for assistance.

Source of Information :  Taking Your iPhone 4 to the Max

iPhone Typing Tricks

Once you�re comfortable with the keyboard, there are further ways to make typing easier. Here are a few more iPhone typing tricks you can use to make your keyboard entry faster and easier.


Contractions
When you want to type a contraction like can�t or shouldn�t, don�t bother putting in the apostrophe. The iPhone is smart enough to guess that cant is can�t. Of course, if you�re referring to a slope or tilt, be sure to tap the word itself to decline the change from the noun to the contraction.

If you�re typing a word like we�ll, where the uncontracted word well is a common word, just add an extra l. The iPhone corrects welll to we�ll and shelll to she�ll.

TIP: Other contraction tricks include itsa, which gets corrected to its, and weree, which gets corrected to we�re.


Punctuation Dragging
If you plan to use only one item of punctuation at a time, such as a comma or period, save time by dragging. Drag from the .?123 button to the item you want to include. By starting the drag at .?123, the iPhone switches momentarily to the numbers and punctuation view. After selecting your item, the keyboard automatically bounces back to the alphabet.

TIP: Another punctuation trick for the end of sentences is to tap .?123, the punctuation item you want to use, and then the spacebar. The iPhone is smart enough to recognize the end of a sentence and put you back in alphabet mode. You can also double-tap the spacebar to add a period followed by a space.


Accents
Tap and hold any keyboard letter to view accented versions of that letter. For example, tapping and holding N presents you with the option of adding n, �n, or �. This shortcut makes it much easier to type foreign words.

If you need to do a lot of typing in a foreign language, you can add new keyboards to your iPhone by going to Settings ? General ? Keyboard, tapping International Keyboards, and then adding the keyboards you need from a palette of 51 that are available. To use the keyboards to enter text, open a keyboard, and then tap the small globe to the left of the spacebar, which will display a list of the international keyboards you have installed. Yes, you too can write in Russian on any iPhone.


Caps Lock
To enable Caps Lock, go to Settings ? General ? Keyboard Preferences. When that�s enabled, you can double-tap the Caps button to toggle the lock on and off.


Deleting Multiple Words at a Time
When you press and hold the Delete key, it starts off by deleting one letter and then the next. But if you hold it for longer than about a line of text, it switches to word deletion and starts removing entire words at a time, making it easier to clear text quickly.


Autocapitalization
Autocapitalization means the iPhone automatically capitalizes the start of sentences. So, you can type the day has begun, and the iPhone is smart enough to capitalize the: �The day has begun.� This means you don�t have to worry about pressing the Shift key at the beginning of every sentence or even when you type i because i went to the park becomes I went to the park.

TIP: Enable or disable autocapitalization in Settings ? General ? Keyboard Preferences.


iPhone Typing Test
You may be curious just how fast you can type on your iPhone keyboard. There are several apps in the App Store that can test your typing speed. Search the App Store for typing test to find those apps.

Source of Information :  Taking Your iPhone 4 to the Max

Organizing iPhone Apps with Folders

iOS 4 brought a smile to the face of many longtime iPhone users with the addition of folders. Previously, app icons could not be organized except by locating them all on the same page. Each page could contain up to 16 apps, so if you had a lot of apps, you were often flipping through ten or more screens of apps to find the one you needed.

Now, iOS 4 provides folders. Each folder can hold up to 12 apps, and each Home screen can have up to 12 folders�that�s 144 apps per screen, not including those in the Home row at the bottom of the iPhone display.

Here are some tips on creating and using folders:
� To organize similar apps into folders, tap and hold one app until it begins to wiggle, and then drag and drop it on another app of the same type. For example, to create a game folder, you can tap and hold the Angry Birds app icon until it wiggles and then drag it over to the icon and drop it. Since both apps are in the Games category of the iTunes App Store, the iPhone automatically selects Games as the name of the folder.

� Once a folder is created, you can add any other app (up to a total of 12) to it by repeating the process of dragging and dropping icons.

� To rename a folder, tap and hold the folder icon until it wiggles. Tap the folder icon, and the folder opens with an editable title at the top. When you�re done renaming the folder, press the Home button to save the new name.

� You can also organize your apps and folders in iTunes. With your iPhone connected to your computer, click its name under Devices in the iTunes sidebar, and then click the Apps tab. In the image on the right side of the iTunes screen, drag and drop app icons to organize them the way that you want them.

Source of Information :  Taking Your iPhone 4 to the Max

The iPhone Language

The ways in which you touch your iPhone screen are the words in your communication vocabulary. Here�s a quick rundown of the many ways you can speak to your iPhone:

� Pressing the Home button: The iPhone�s Home button lives below the touch screen and is marked with a white or gray square. Press the Home button at any time to return to your Home screen with its list of applications. Double-pressing the Home button displays icons in a row at the bottom of the screen for all apps that are currently running and, with a flick to the right, displays a set of controls for operating the iPod app.

� Tapping: Tap your iPhone by touching your finger to the screen and removing it quickly. Tapping selects web links, activates buttons on the screen, and launches iPhone apps. When typing text on the iPhone�s virtual keyboard, you may want to tap with your forefinger or, if it�s more comfortable, your thumb.

� Double-tapping: Double-tapping means tapping your iPhone�s screen twice in quick succession. Double-clicking may be important on your personal computer, but double-tapping isn�t used all that much on the iPhone. In Safari, you can zoom into columns of text or pictures on a web page by double-tapping them, and then you can zoom back out by double-tapping again. In the Photos app, double-tapping is used to zoom into and out from pictures.

� Two-fingered tap: The iPhone�s Multi-Touch technology means you can tap the screen with more than one finger at a time. To do this, tap the iPhone display with your forefinger and middle finger at the same time. In Maps, double-tapping zooms into the map, while a two fingered tap zooms out.

� Holding: This gesture consists of putting your finger on the screen and leaving it there until something happens. Holding brings up the magnifying glass while you�re typing. You can also move app icons around on your iPhone by holding an icon until the app icons begin to �wiggle.� They can then be moved around the display and between Home screens to organize your apps, and they can be fixed in place by pressing the Home button. For apps that you�ve installed on your iPhone, holding an app icon also displays a small circle with an X in it in the upper-left corner of the icon. Tap that icon to delete the app from your iPhone.

� Dragging: Drag your finger by pressing it to the screen and moving it in any direction before lifting it. Use dragging to position the view in Maps or to scroll up or down a list of messages in Mail. Some apps offer an alphabetical index on the right side. To use this index, drag your finger along it until the item you want becomes visible.

� Flicking: When you�re dealing with long lists, you can give the list a quick flick. Place your finger onto the screen, and then move it rapidly in one direction�up, down, left, or right. The display responds by scrolling quickly in the direction you�ve indicated. Use flicking to move the names in your Contacts app quickly.

� Stopping: During a scroll, press and hold your finger to the screen to stop the scroll. Apple�s legal text provides a great place to practice flicking, dragging, and stopping. To get there, select Settings ? General ? About ? Legal. Have fun with its endless content of legalese that you can flick, drag, and stop to your heart�s content. If you don�t want to stop a scroll, just wait. The scroll will slow and stop by itself.

� Swiping: To swipe your iPhone, drag a finger from the left side of the screen toward the right. Swiping is used to unlock your phone and to indicate you want to delete list items, such as an e-mail item or contact.

� Pinching: On the iPhone, you pinch by placing your thumb and forefinger onto the screen with a space between them. Then, with the fingers touching the screen, move the two fingers together as if you�re pinching the screen. Pinching allows you to zoom out in many iPhone programs, including the photo viewer, Safari, and Maps.

� Unpinching: To unpinch, you perform the pinch in reverse. Start with your thumb and forefinger placed together on your screen and, with the fingers touching the screen, spread them apart. Unpinching allows you to zoom into those same iPhone applications that pinching zooms out of.

Source of Information :  Taking Your iPhone 4 to the Max

Accessorizing Your iPhone

The iPhone accessory business is a huge and thriving economy. A visit to the iPhone accessories pages on the Apple online store shows a fraction of the iPhone cases, cables, docks, and other accessories that have been developed. If you purchase your iPhone in an Apple Store, your Apple sales associate will show you many accessories that are available for it. These accessories are from Apple and third-party sources, and they provide your iPhone with protection and added functionality. Let�s talk about some of the accessories that can make your iPhone experience more pleasant and fun.


iPhone Bumpers and Cases
One of the most popular categories of products for the iPhone consists of cases or, in the case of the iPhone 4, bumpers. A case is exactly what it sounds like�something that encases the iPhone in fabric, plastic, carbon fiber, or metal to protect the phone from scratches or accidental damage because of a drop.

The phone-surrounding metal antenna of the iPhone 4 caused a stir when initial buyers of the phone complained of issues with signal strength. Apple responded shortly with an acknowledgment that most cell phones exhibit the same loss of signal when held a certain way by offering initial buyers a free iPhone 4 Bumper. The Bumper ($29) is an attractive two-tone band that wraps the external stainless steel antenna in hard plastic.

The iPhone 4 Bumper does not protect the screen or back of the iPhone 4. It�s made of a hard aluminum-doped glass that is almost metallic in strength. The material can withstand impacts, can withstand drops, and is virtually scratch-proof, but that doesn�t keep iPhone owners from wanting to protect their devices.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of cases made for the entire family of iPhones. Some popular models are made by OtterBox (http://www.otterbox.com), Case-Mate (http://www.case-mate.com), Incipio (http://www.myincipio.com), Griffin (http://www.griffintechnology.com), and Marware (http://www.marware.com).


iPhone Skins
Skins are another popular form of protective gear for the iPhone. Instead of a thick shell of some other material encasing the device, skins literally stick to the iPhone like a second skin. Some are brightly decorated, while others are completely transparent.

GelaSkins (http://www.gelaskins.com) makes colorful designs from a number of artists, and you can also create your own designs from photos or original artwork. The skins are inexpensive, provide protection against scratches, and turn your iPhone into a movable feast of art.

Two other manufacturers make very popular skins for iPhone. Zagg (http://www.zagg.com), makers of Invisible Shields, can send you a kit to install your own iPhone skin, or you can have one installed at thousands of retail locations. We�re also fond of StealthArmor (http://www.fusionofideas.com/stealtharmoriphone4.html), which comes in both transparent and patterned materials.


Power Adapters
Even though newer iPhones tend to get better battery life than the older models did, you still need to keep your battery charged. Apple sells the $29 USB Power Adapter, which is exactly what comes with your new iPhone. Why would you want another one? It�s always nice to have an extra to keep in your office for away-from-home charging or to take with you when you travel.

Speaking of travel, you�ll want to keep your iPhone charged when you�re in the car, so why not consider a car charger? Several models are popular, including the Griffin PowerJolt ($24.95) and the Belkin Micro Auto Charger ($24.95).

Your computer can also charge your iPhone through the regular Dock Connector to USB cable that comes with the device. However, some people prefer the vertical orientation and ease of plug-in that comes with a dock.


Docks
Docks come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and capabilities. The most bare-bones dock that you�ll find is the $29 Apple iPhone Dock, which allows you to place an iPhone onto the dock connector for charging and syncing while putting the device into a portrait orientation for easy viewing.

From there, your imagination and wallet are the limit. Higher-end models are equipped with speakers to turn your sleek little iPhone into a loud �clock radio� or boom box. The latter category is well represented by the $300 Harmon Kardon Go + Play Micro Portable Loudspeaker Dock for iPod and iPhone, while the former category is described by the iHome iP42 Dual Alarm FM Clock Radio for iPhone and iPod (http://ihomeaudio.com; $100).


Cables
Although the only cable you may ever need for your iPhone is the included Dock Connector to USB cable, there are other cables that can provide video-out functionality�perfect for watching photo slide shows or video stored on your iPhone on a big-screen TV.

Apple makes the Component AV Cable ($49) and Composite AV Cable ($49) for connecting an iPhone to either Component (Y, Pb, and Pr video and red/white analog audio ports) or Composite (composite video, red/white analog audio cables) television inputs.

The $29 Apple iPad Dock Connector to VGA Adapter also works with the iPhone 4 and newer models to provide a VGA attachment to a television, projector, or VGA display.


CAUTION: Not all applications support these connection cables, so be sure to contact app developers for assurance that their app will drive your TV, projector, or display prior to purchase.

Source of Information :  Taking Your iPhone 4 to the Max

iPhones System Requirements

iPhones are unlike most other cell phones. Like the iPod, you�ll need a computer to connect your phone to. iPhones need to connect to computers regularly to synchronize music, videos, photos, e-mail, contacts, calendars, and more. You also won�t be able to activate your phone on the AT&T network until you successfully connect your iPhone to Apple�s iTunes program. For the iPhones in production at the time of publication, the computer system requirements are as follows:

� A Mac computer running OS X 10.5.8 or newer with a USB 2.0 port, or a Windows computer with a USB 2.0 port and Windows 7, Vista, or XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 3 or newer. Note that the system requirements are constantly changing as both iPhone and computer features evolve. We recommend viewing the most recent system requirements before you make any purchase decision (http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html).

� iTunes 9.2 or newer.

� iTunes Store account.

� Internet access.

Before you purchase an iPhone, make sure that you have a computer on hand that is up to the task.

 NOTE: If you haven�t installed iTunes on your computer, download a free copy from http://www.apple.com/itunes. Versions are available for both Mac OS X and Windows systems, and they�re easy and quick to install.

Source of Information :  Taking Your iPhone 4 to the Max

How to select your iOS4 iPhone

At any given time, there are relatively few models of iPhones available, all of them come with iOS 4, representing a new generation of the operating system software that powers the features of the iPhone. Usually you�ll see an entry-level iPhone that is less powerful and has less memory, as well as the current model with state-of-the-art features and much more memory.

How do you choose the model that�s right for you? It all comes down to two factors: cameras and memory. The first generation of the iPhone 4 has two cameras: a 5-megapixel camera with an LED flash that�s capable of taking high-definition video and a front-facing camera that is perfect for shooting self-portraits and making video calls. As for memory, you need to make a decision about whether you want to double the purchase price of your phone for a few more gigabytes of memory. We recommend getting as much memory as you can. If you load a lot of movies and videos onto your device, you can run out of space on a top-of-the-line iPhone very quickly.

Here are some questions to ask you while selecting the model of iPhone to purchase:

� How big is your music library? If your library is small, a unit with less memory might be fine. If it�s large, the extra space on some iPhone models helps to store additional music and podcasts.

� How many videos do you want to carry around? A single two-hour movie may occupy more than a gigabyte of storage. If you travel a lot, especially on airplanes, you may want to pay more to store additional movies and TV shows with those extra gigabytes.

� Do you plan on using your iPhone as your primary camera and camcorder? If you do, then look at the more sophisticated models with higher resolution, flash, and high-definition (HD) video capabilities. If you already carry a digital camera or camcorder with you on a regular basis or don�t frequently shoot photos or video with your existing phone, then the base iPhone model may be for you.

� Is the thought of making video calls exciting to you? For some people, just answering a regular cell phone call is a challenge. But if you love to have regular face-to-face conversations with friends and relatives, then you may want to consider the model with the built-in FaceTime video calling feature.

� Do you need to carry lots of data? Many iPhone apps use iTunes data storage and can synchronize files with your computer. Whether that data consists of presentation slide shows, project management files, or some other information that you need at your fingertips, the size of the data being stored can add up quickly. If you think you might need to do this, maybe the extra gigabytes on a more expensive iPhone model could be put to good use.

� How long do you intend to keep this iPhone? If you�re an early adopter who likes to trade up at the earliest possible opportunity whenever Apple offers a new model of iPhone, you may want to �buy in cheap� each time the new models are released and sell your old iPhone on the aftermarket. If you�d rather get the most use out of the iPhone over the longest period of time, then paying more up front means you won�t outgrow the iPhone quite as fast.

Source of Information :  Taking Your iPhone 4 to the Max