I'm a big fan of the Take Control series of electronic books, published by Adam and Tonya Engst, the folks who run the excellent and long-running Macintosh newsletter TidBITS. Take Control books are published electronically as PDF files, which means that there is very little delay between when the book is finished and when it is published. They include full color photographs, useful sidebar descriptions of concepts discussed in the main text, and lots of hyperlinks to make it easy to jump to one part of a book that is referenced in another part of a book.
Over the last few weeks, several new iPhone-related Take Control books were released. I was given free copies for review purposes, and I enjoyed reading them. Here are the product descriptions for these three books:
Take Control of iPhone Basics, iOS 4 Edition ($10.00)Learn core iPhone skills with former Apple writer Karen G. Anderson, who helps you decide which iPhone and accessories to buy, understand power management, set everything up nicely (including transferring data from a computer), find your way around, and use the apps effectively.
Take Control of Mail on the iPhone and iPod touch, iOS 4 Edition ($10.00)
Need real-world advice about using the Mail app on your iPhone or iPod touch? Email expert Joe Kissell explains how to devise an effective mobile strategy, plus how to configure accounts and the best ways to receive, send, read, and file your email. You'll also find troubleshooting help.
Take Control of iTunes 10: The FAQ ($10.00)
Find answers to all your iTunes questions! In this FAQ-style ebook, iTunes expert Kirk McElhearn explains importing, tagging, organizing, playing, sharing, and more so you can get the most out of your audio, video, and book collections in iTunes 10. You'll also learn the best way for you to transfer media to your iPad, iPhone, or iPod.
The first book, Take Control of iPhone Basics, is my favorite of the three. If you (or someone you know) is new to the iPhone, this is a fabulous resource that will get someone up to speed. And it is updated for the latest iOS 4, unlike the physical books on the shelf of any bookstore right now. If you are an advanced iPhone user, you will get less out of the book, although I did run across quite a few useful tips that I either never knew or that I had forgotten about.
If you use the links below to purchase any of these books, a small percentage of the sale goes to iPhone J.D. to help offset the cost of running this site.
Click here for Take Control of iPhone Basics, iOS 4 Edition
Click here for Take Control of Mail on the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch
Click here for Take Control of iTunes 10: The FAQ
