Speaking of which, here are some of the iPhone-related news items that I ran across this past week:
- Starting today, you will be able to download a new carrier profile through iTunes which will allow you to use MMS multimedia messages with the iPhone. This has generated a lot of publicity because MMS has been available for other cell phones for a long time and has been conspicuously absent from the iPhone. However, I, for one, don't care much about this. Do people really use MMS that much anymore? If I want to send someone a picture, I just use e-mail, or maybe I upload the picture to MobilMe, Flickr, etc. But for those to whom this matters, the updated carrier profile will be available for download around late morning for those on the West Coast and this afternoon for those on the East Coast.
- If you use Google's Gmail for your email, calendar, etc., you can now have your new messages pushed directly to your iPhone just like you have been able to do with Yahoo! Mail and Microsoft Exchange for a long time. You get push Gmail by setting up a new Gmail account on your iPhone but acting like it is an Exchange account. For more information, see this article from Macworld and these instructions from Google.
Netflix is coming to the iPhone, just not any time soon. In response to a recent question from Reuters about the possibility of streaming Netflix movies to the iPhone, iPhone Alley reports that Netflix CEO Reed Hastings responded: "It's something that's likely to come over time. But nothing in the short term. (With) movie watching, we are not focused on mobile yet, but (instead) on the TV, on Blu-ray and on the video game consoles. We will get to mobile eventually, including the iPhone."
- Galen Gruman writes an article for InfoWorld about the use of the iPhone with Microsoft Exchange. Gruman is not a fan, but the article has some interesting information.
- John Brandon provides advice in Macworld for getting the best video from your iPhone 3GS.
The always entertaining Michelle Slatalla used to write the Online Shopper column for the New York Times, and she then wrote the great but short lived column on raising a family in the digital age called Cyberfamilias. Her current Times column is called Wife/Mother/Worker/Spy, and in this week's article Does This Pencil Skirt Have an App? she discusses the iPhone weight loss app Lose It!.
- For the law students who read this website: I got word from the BARBRI division of Thomson Reuters that the free BARBRI Mobile Bar Review Application is now available in the App Store. According to the press release: "BARBRI
Mobile gives students with an iPhone or iPod touch the ability to
answer thousands of StudySmart MBE questions as well as study BARBRI’s
Conviser Mini-Review. The BARBRI app closely tracks each student’s
progress, compares the student’s performance to thousands of bar exam
takers nationwide and provides individual feedback throughout the study
process. The app also helps law students prepare for final exams.
Enrolled students can watch exam review lectures, work multiple choice
questions or review outlines on their iPhone or iPod touch. Students
who are taking the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination
(MPRE) can access the MPRE lecture, StudySmart questions and
mini-review content." It appears that the app includes some free information, but is most powerful if you are enrolled in a BARBRI course. Click here to get BARBRI (free):
- The latest version of the Black's Law Dictionary app, version 1.1, now brings you back to the page you were looking at when you last used the app. My review is here.
Do you often find yourself trying to charge your iPhone at an airport, only to find that someone else is already using the only convenient outlet? Divorce attorney Lee Rosen has a great solution: carry a mini surge protector with you and ask to share the outlet. Smart idea. You can get the Belkin Mini Surge Protector
for only $15.22 at Amazon.
- And finally, for all of you Starbucks addicts out there, Starbucks now has two free iPhone apps. The first one is called myStarbucks, and it can tell you the location of the closest Starbucks, includes an interactive menu to help you plan your drink (or food), and lets you save your favorite drinks, get nutritional information, etc. You can even pinch to zoom to change your drink from a tall to a grande to a venti. It's nicely done, and helpful for those of us who can never remember the difference between a Vivanno and a Macchiato. Click here to get myStarbucks (free):
- The second Starbucks app is called Starbucks Card Mobile, and it lets you check the balance on your Starbucks Card, reload your card, view your transactions, and even pay using the iPhone app. The pay feature is currently only active in 16 test locations in Silicon Valley and Seattle, but it may be a sign of what is to come on the iPhone from other companies. Click here to get Starbucks Card Mobile (free):
