iPhone - Pre-WWDC Edition

Like every other uniformed iPhone enthusiast, I figured I would weight-in on my thoughts for the 2009 WWDC and the future of the iPhone. Since I have absolutely no inside information, the following is pure conjecture on my part. With that said, being an avid iPhone user and reader of blogs, news articles, and the iPhone rumor-mill, the following is my best guess for what we can and cannot expect from the WWDC and the iPhone today.

• 32GB iPhone (white or black)
• 16 GB iPhone (black only and will be the entry-level to this model)
• Operating on iPhone Mac OS-X 3.0
• Faster CPU
• More RAM
• Internal compass support
  
• Improved camera (3.2MP range) with auto-focus
• Video recording capability with digital zoom feature, including a supporting application that will allow basic video editing and upload to YouTube (possibly Facebook and others)
• While I don't believe there will be an additional front-facing camera for video chat, I would be pleasantly surprised it it did.
  
• Same price points as current models
• Better power management (due to new chip and improved OS)
• Approximately 1/2 inch shorter while maintaining the same width and thickness
• Earphone jack moved to the bottom
• Slightly reduced weight
• Improved sound from internal speakers (no idea where the speakers will be located--on the top perhaps?)
• Improved built-in applications including expanded financial tracking (still won't match ETrade Mobile Pro), expanded weather app, improved calendar with built-in todo list support, and an expanded Maps application with turn-by-turn directions (courtesy of Google)
  

Regardless of the accuracy of the preceding forecast, the fact remains that the iPhone will not become a true "real Internet" phone until it comes with Flash (not expected today or anytime soon) and the battery life can be significantly extended (hopefully we will see SOME improvement in this area announced today.

In addition, I believe that you will also see a number of significant announcements from Apple partners as part of the show. They could be:

• AT&T will introduce a data-limited plan at the $10-15 per month range to attract those that want an iPhone, but don't use the Internet resources heavily (like my wife).
• AT&T will bundle SMS messaging into the $30 per month plan instead of charging extra.
• AT&T MAY offer a $40 everything plan to compete with Sprint's unlimited offering. This would include a tethering capability allowing the iPhone to act as a modem for a laptop, netbook, or PC.
• Various vendors will announce a number of new, expanded, or multi-level games that will appear in the AppStore at the same time as the iPhone.
• Activation will be online and can be done by the customer. Basically, I don't think Apple or AT&T really care where the phone is used anymore, just as long as they get a cut of the money.

I still think that the new iPhone will appear in July even if announced today. However, the software 3.0 update will appear AFTER the availability of the new phone. My reasoning is to add 3.0 before the new phone may dilute demand for the new phone. Offering the update after the new iPhone will be the tipping point for some early adopters to spring for the new phone. After all, it's all about the money in these tight times.

Well, that's my take. We'll have to wait and see for a couple of more hours to determine if I was even close to the mark.

TweetStack Not Ready for Primetime

I love Twitter. As such, anything that helps me organize tweets, write tweets, and view tweets is of interest to me. Having an iPhone means having a variety of Twitter applications to choose from. I have used Twitterlator, Twitterific, and finally settled on Tweetie. Up to the point of using Tweetie, I had used the free version of Twitterific. I migrated to Tweetie because it has a few more features, has a more pleasant user interface, and performs fast and flawlessly.

A few weeks ago I bought TweetStack because it advertised a great set of features--basically putting the Mac application TweetStack on your iPhone. The good news is TweetStack allows you to see which tweets are unread (a drawback that I pointed out to Tweetie awhile ago); allows you to group Twitter IDs to create information-specific "stacks;" and allows you to store keyword searches.

The bad news is that TweetStack is buggy and unstable. Their most recent release has fixed many problems and some stability issues, but it remains buggy. If I had to give an analogy, it would be Tweetie is a Mac and TweetStack is a PC--so much promise, yet such a failure in execution.

Keep your eye on TweetStack. But for now, it isn't ready for primetime.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

iPhone Preparing to go Mainstream

The Apple iPhone has managed to accomplish a number of things in the two years since it was announced and the 21 months since it went on sale. First, it has defied many an analyst by demonstrating that a new player in the mobile phone market can establish itself, carve out a segment of the market, and profitably compete. This may not sound like much, but remember that two years ago, analysts were debating whether Apple could succeed in the mobile phone market. The arguments ranged from lack of experience, to lack of support, to lack of features, to being limited by the exclusive agreement with AT&T. Many an analyst scoffed at the idea that Apple would be able to sell 10 million iPhones in its first full year (2009): They sold 13.7 million iPhones.

According to Apple, they have sold more than 30 million devices running the iPhone OS which includes both the iPodTouch and the iPhone. They have managed to do this despite lacking Flash, cut, copy, and paste, and MMS support offered by many competitors. They have managed to make significant inroads to the smartphone market during 2007 and 2008 even though they did not offer a 3G smartphone. They continue to take market share despite having a phone with questionable battery life. While many continue to decry the iPhone's lack of features, it is interesting to note how many phone manufacturers are doing their best to develop a competing product.

What analysts fail to realize (and I suspect to a certain extent Apple itself) is the iPhone has that unique ability to cut across demographics (much as the Nintendo Wii), to cut across geography (the iPhone can be found everywhere, whether licensed or not), and to cut across markets (it is a phone, a PDA, a smartphone, a netbook computer, and a device controller). Young and old are using it. Politicians, mothers, and geeks are using it. Salespeople and gamers are using it. Businesses and retired people are using it. It has single-handedly changed the view of the smartphone market.

With the iPhone 3.0 software and accompanying enhancements to its iPhone hardware, Apple is preparing to to move the device into mainstream acceptance. To do this, it must accomplish the following:

• Deliver a business-class product: With the 2.0 network and security improvements and the 3.0 applications capabilities, iPhone will rapidly become the device of choice for small and medium-sized businesses. With the introduction of external device controls (such as video recording equipment and keyboards) and additional application support (such as Documents-to-Go), the iPhone becomes a full function mobile office. Documents-to-Go support may well become the business killer app for the iPhone. This will occur this summer.

• Deliver a world-class gaming platform: With the peer-to-peer networking introduced with iPhone 3.0 software, the ability to purchase upgrades from within the application, expected graphics improvements with the next generation of device, and improvements to power management, the iPhone will truly become a world-class gaming device. When game makers develop applications that can interface across platforms (PCs, Macs, and iPhones), the killer game app will have arrived. This can be expected before the end of 2009.

• Deliver a world-class Internet browsing experience: This may be the weakest area for Apple. It is ironic that the Mobile Safari full-browser was one of the major selling points for the iPhone in its original release. The Safari browser has now become a weak point. The problem is Apple is trying to force a standard on the market and to date, the market is not buying. This is most evident with the lack of Adobe Flash support. Far too many Web sites use Flash for iPhone not to provide support. As a result, the iPhone is NOT a universal Internet Web browsing device because it cannot render a significant number of highly popular sites. Much like the lack of openness with the Apple operating systems in the 1980s, this lack of Flash support may become the Achilles heel for Apples mobile phone and services strategy. Even a poorly performing implementation would buy significant time.

You will notice that I did not include video support. The reason is that with external device support, the iPhone manufacturer ecosystem will provide that support in a small plug-and-play device that will 1) provide superior video to the built-in camera; 2) reduce battery drain on the iPhone; and 3) will provide a range of format up to and including HD. While video may be in a future iPhone, third-parties will provide superior implementations with Apple's blessing.

Thus, with the introduction of the 3.0 software, the iPhone finally goes mainstream. It will enable reporters to capture and file reports from the field, salespeople to capture orders real time in the customer's office, and anyone to work on-the-go. Oh yes, it will also make phone calls.

What have I missed? We would like to hear your ideas, comments, and input.

iPhone 3.0 Features Announced

It has been a long time coming, but Apple today announced the features to be included in the iPhone OS 3.0. The features are impressive. First the to-date statistics:

• iPhone is now in 80 countries; will be adding 15 mor countries to the 62 that already have the iPhone (math is evidently not their strong point)
• Sold 13.7 million iPhones in 2008
• 17 million iPhones sold total so far
• Including the iPod touch, sold over 30 million iPhone OS units to date
• Now over 25,000 apps in the AppStore

The new SDK will open up an additional 1,000 APIs to developers. The same tools are used for Apple internal development. Features of the new SDK and OS 3.0 include:

• Copy-and-Paste capability (at last!). As presented, it works exactly the way Kevin Rose described in Diggnation. Double-tapping a word brings up the copy/paste menu; dragging two icons allows the user to select the amount of material to copy or paste; then tapping a spot brings up the magnifier allowing the user to select the location for pasting. The capability will work across all iPhone applications. A nice touch (no pun intended) is the action can be undone be shaking the iPhone.
• iPhone 3.0 allows multiple photograph emailing. Before, only one photo at a time could be emailed. A photo icon allows the user to bring up a selection screen to select multiple photos to attach.
  
• Introduced a new Messages application that enables MMS for voice, photos, contact cards, location information, etc. The application also allows forwarding messages, and recording and storing voice memos. The application will support both the internal and a plug-in external microphone. It will also allow editing the voice memo, including trimming content. Finally, the memo can be emailed.
• Can now subscribe to additional calendars. In addition, the calendar application adds new support for Microsoft Entourage. Supports all .ics format calendar files.
• iPhone 3.0 has added more search capability by implementing a Spotlight search application for comprehensive search including address book search; email search (by from, to, subject, and headers); calendar search; and notes search (by title and body content). Will allow search across all applications.
  
• Landscape support for both email and notes (again, at last!).
  
• Improved Stocks application with stock news access and more details about stocks.
  
• Notes application sync with the Mac or PC through iTunes.
• Wi-Fi automatic login when a hotspot has been detected.
• Stereo Bluetooth now supported.
  
• Safari has added features including anti-phishing filters, remembers log-in credentials, and has implemented additional parental controls for movies, TV, and applications.
  
• Can now purchase additional content from the AppStore from within an application. It is no longer required to leave the application. This enables an application to sell a basic version and then sell incremental add-on content and capability as the user desires. Examples include purchasing additional "levels" for a game; location-specific content for an application (dining guides, maps, other information); or additional features.
• Peer-to-peer connectivity through bluetooth for gaming and external device control. Bonjour-powered and does not require pairing. This allows multi-user gaming on iPhones without the need for WiFi or 3G. It also allows iPhone users to control everything from equalization on a speaker (that supports such control) to managing medical devices from the phone. Another example is that for an application such as the musical Ocarina, multi-players can now simultaneously play multiple instruments.
• Apple has opened the Maps API to developers, but developers have to bring their own maps. This API allows geolocation, reverse geolocation, cell-tower triangulation, turn-by-turn directions, and similar functions. The reason for the developer needing their own maps is a licensing issue.
• Apple is implementing third-party push notification and background application activity. It will be mediated through Apple servers which will allow it to be more power-efficient than Blackberry or WinMobile (only 23% additional power drain versus 80% power drain with background applications activated). With the push API, developers can push sounds and alerts to the iPhone.
• Other APIs include using proximity sensors for iPod library access; built-in VoIP API; APIs to allow access of a second application's controls from within the first application (for example, a SIMs game character playing music from the iPod library).
• YouTube application has been enhanced to allow account log-in, subscribe to channels, and save videos.
• Features for tethering are included in the 3.0 update, but they are not implementing them at this time. It appears there are still issues with the carriers.
  

The iPhone 3.0 beta is available to developers immediately and will be rolled out to users this summer. It will work on both EDGE and 3G versions of the phone, although some features will not work on the older phones (example given was stereo Bluetooth). The update will be free to iPhone users and will cost $9.95 to iPod Touch users.

With these features, it is evident that Apple is expanding the iPhone's reach both vertically and horizontally. First, the vertical expansion is in the form of reaching further into a business' supply chain. The example given was an Oracle inventory management application on the iPhone that would allow immediate notification of stock-out situations and enable the user to immediately send a notice to a customer. There were numerous examples of business and medical application support demonstrated that provides insight into how Apple sees this platform progressing in the corporation.

Horizontal expansion is in the area of reaching further down the user chain. With the demonstration of networked "pets" and pet social networks, it is obvious that Apple is positioning the iPhone to a younger and younger crowd. This is probably setting the stage to additional iPhone models at the lower end.

With the features introduced in the iPhone 3.0 update, Apple has laid down the gauntlet to other phone makers that it intends to not just become a substitute for their products, but to create a totally new market. This market will be the "broad spectrum" smartphone with capabilities and cost to make it attractive across the entire mobile phone range.

Your additional insights and comments are welcomed.

iPhone Reset

I have noticed an interesting problem with my 3G 16GB iPhone. I have had the phone since last July, but the current problem only showed up over the last week or so. I have 3Gb free, so it isn't because of lack of space. However, I do have 104 added applications along with eight saved links on my springboard. All applications are up-to-date.

With that background, the problem is two-fold. First, every so often when I first turn the phone on, it will boot up as a virgin phone. That is, it requests the user to plug the phone into a USB port and the only action you can take is to access the emergency dialing. When the phone is cold-started (holding both the on/off and home buttons at the same time), the screen notifies the user that the phone has been activated and the phone works normally--until the next time this occurs.

The second problem is that since the last OS upgrade the phone seems to respond more slowly. In some cases, the time from selecting an application to actually having that application active can run to 15 seconds!

While these are not major problems, they are annoying. Has anyone else seen these problems? If so, has anyone found a way to eliminate them? We would like to hear your feedback.

Appigo Todo Review

A friend of mine and I have been discussing To Do applications in light of Jott moving to a subscription model. After reviewing documentation available on different applications, Ralph Jarvis selected Appigo TODO. Herewith is his review.

Appigo TODO
Reviewed by: Ralph Jarvis

This application promises that it will provide the following:

• Free desktop synchronization software to interface with the iPhone application and the iCal calendar on a Mac.
• No other application purchases required.
• Customizable Focus List to identify and complete important issues first
• Context and Tag options for each task
• Repeating tasks capability
  
• Task sharing through email
• Third party integration [e.g., Toodledo, Remember the Milk]
• Language support for English, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish

Based on these features, the application yielded a number of experiences, some documented, some not.

PROS:

The value of this application is the integration to current Apple applications, not third-party applications such as Toodledo or Remember the Milk. Being able to access the iCal and Address Book enhances the tasks at hand. Appigo has a feature called “multiple task types” and provides the user the ability to link a task to a call, email, web address, or physical location. How useful these features are will depend on use and the application has not been used long enough.

Another valuable feature is the flexibility to create tags and assign the to a task. For example, previously New Year's Resolutions were always on a typed list, paper or on a back of an index card. With TODO, a tag called “Resolutions” was created and assigned to the todos representing News Years Resolutions. To access, simply sort on the "Resolutions" tag and it will display resolutions that have yet to be completed.

Most todo lists have the ability to create “lists” or categories and this application makes it easy to set up. Since the application can be integrated with iCal, it is easy to standardize categories in both applications.

I [Ralph Jarvis] purchased Bento last year to develop a CRM. The application is linked to the Mac's Address Book and therefore information from the CRM can be incorporated in corresponding todo items. This capability was not documented, so it remains to be seen how well it works.

CONS:

Appigo advertises excellent customer support. Experience attempting to get support demonstrated that there is little tangible support [but most small companies do not have that luxury, do they?]. I would never give “excellent” to any support group that takes more than 2 hours. In my two instances, both emails were replied over 12 hours later. Regarding the “excellent” customer service, it was polite, but their support only copied web pages as solutions [they really do not understand the support role at all] and there was no phone walk-thrus either. I would recommend that Appigo either hire more support personnel or rephrase their quality to properly set expectations. Don’t expect a lot of support.

If you have always updated from your cradle, then you will have to change your routine. Since I always updated my iPhone with the cradle that came with the phone, I was surprised to find that I had to change my convenient update process to fit Appigo’s new process [albeit, this is supposedly an Apple problem, since the process and code were not in the SDK?]. Currently, there is no support from Appigo for serial synchronization from the iPhone to the MacBook. For those techies out there, maybe you can offer some additional insight.

After hours of tenacious manipulation, I was able to make the iPhone work with my MacBook. The synchronization program always has to be on and consequently, is always on my desktop [I wish they would learn how to minimize this annoyance, perhaps that is not documented in the SDK either?].

SUMMARY

As a relatively new application, I would give them a B- and expect technical enhancements without additional costs. Appigo has set a $10 fee for the application [which I find a little high, perhaps $5 would be better]; however, the synchronization tool is free. The recommendations on the iTunes Apps Store are encouraging to potential users and the integration with Apple applications is the best value of this product. The downside is the “average” support for the product.

Thanks Ralph for the review. What say the wisdom of the crowds? If you have additional input on this application, please feel free to comment on this post.

iPhone Twitter Clients

I have been using Twitter on the iPhone since the first Twitter clients were released to the AppStore. In the one-and-a-half years since the iPhone's appearance, I have used most of the major clients available. Until recently, the Twitter clients on my iPhone simultaneously were:

• Twitterific
• Twittelator
• Twitterfon
• TwitterLink
• Tweetie

There have been others that have come and gone almost as fast. These tended to be the "all-in-one" IM solutions allowing tweets and messaging through a number of different services. In all the cases that I tested, the all-in-one solutions were basic Twitter entry engines and nothing more. As a result, they were dispatched to the deleted file rather quickly since my messaging tends to SMS and Skype.

Twitterific: Of the remainder mentioned above, up to recently my favorite has been Twitterific. I have used the free version since it first appeared in the AppStore. It provides a simple interface to view tweets in list view:



The view gives the message, the tweeter's badge, and how long ago it was sent--basically everything you need.

Twitterific also provides a detailed view providing the same information at a larger font, as well as buttons to reply, mark as favorite, switch to list view, check the tweeter's detailed identification information, refresh the tweets on the iPhone, and initiate a tweet.



Twitterific's detailed information gives the name, userID, number of followers, location, bio of the tweeter.



It does not allow further drill-down.

Finally, the user can initiate a tweet with a window that allows typing with real-time character count (important with 140 characters of real estate), the ability to post a picture, and the ability to mark current location.



All-in-all, Twitterific has is good. However, since I link to a lot of Web pages in my tweets as well as re-tweeting a lot of information, I found these capabilities lacking--particularly the inability to have links automatically shrunk. Twitterific is free in the AppStore and the Premium version provides multiple account support for $9.99.

Twittelator: The second client that I have used heavily is Twittelator. I tried it out during the fall when I had a second Twitter account that I used frequently. I figured instead of upgrading to a client that could handle multiple accounts, it would be an opportunity to directly compare Twitter clients. Again, Twittelator provides a basic view screen. One difference is the screen will group senders together when their messages are sequential.



A key advantage of Twittelator over Twitterific is that the user can mark a tweet as a favorite (star) or reply (return arrow) directly from the list view screen. Also, touching the sender's badge will bring up the sender's detailed information.



The detailed information available on the initial screen is comprehensive compared to Twitterific, including a list of followers as well as buttons to access the sender's favorites, initiate a reply, initiate a reply, and send a direct message.

Twittelator is a great product. My main complaint was the list screen with the grouping of tweets. For some reason, I found it more confusing than helpful. It is a good client. Twittelator is available free in the AppStore and a Pro version that provides multiple accounts is $4.99. For the differences in features of the upgraded versions, you get more for your money with Twittelator than Twitterific.

Twitterfon: The third client I used was Twitterfon. Of the three discussed to this point, I found Twitterfon to have the cleanest list view. First, it opens where you last viewed. While the others do the same, it can sometimes confusing which was the last tweet viewed. Not so with Twitterfon.



As the above image indicates, new messages that have not been viewed since last access are color-highlighted.

Tapping a tweet will bring up an abbreviated profile screen that provides the number of followers, the ability to reply, send a direct message, and re-tweet a message.



Since I often re-tweet messages that would be of interest to my followers, the re-tweet button is very handy. The detail screen also provides a button to bring up the tweeter's complete profile and a button to access the person's tweet timeline. Of the three mentioned so far, Twitterfon is the best of the lot. Twitterfon is free in the AppStore and there is no premium version. Therefore, if you are looking to support multiple accounts, you will need to look at other clients.

TwitterLink: The third client has very basic Twitter functionality. It's one claim to fame is that it installs a bookmarklet that will allow the user to view a Web page, shrink the URL, and automatically insert that URL into a TwitterLink message window.



It was a major shortcoming of the previous three clients and I used TwitterLink just for that purpose. By using the easily installed bookmarklet, it was easy to send a shortened URL.



The big drawback is that TwitterLink is good at basic messaging only, it does not let you browse tweeters you are following. TwitterLink is free in the AppStore.

Tweetie: The final client is Tweetie. After much review and looking at recommendations on Twitter, it seemed that Tweetie was the most popular of the clients available for the iPhone. The list view screen is similar to others mentioned in this review--it is clean, carries the tweeter's badge and message. A major advantage of Tweetie over the others is the posting time is a date and time, not a relative time. I find this easier to determine whether a tweet is still relevant. My one complaint is that Tweetie does not highlight unread messages loaded since the last time the application was accessed.



Tweetie provides two views: Basic, and bubbles (similar to the iPhone's SMS application). Views are selectable through Tweetie's settings in the iPhone Settings application.




A second clean feature is swiping an entry brings up a menu that allows the user to rely, set the tweet as a favorite, or view the sender's profile.



The profile information is the most comprehensive of the clients reviewed.



As the image above illustrates, the user can get about all the information they need on the tweeter, view their timeline, followers, who they are following, as well as send replies, direct messages, or block/unblock that individual (selections are off-screen at the bottom of the preceding image).

The message screen allows the user to insert a picture (much as the others, it uses twitpic.com), insert current location, and provides real-time characters remaining in the message. However, a great feature is the "More" button that provides access to some features not available in other clients.



A major negative of Tweetie is that documentation is difficult to find. It is on the atebits.com Web, but you have to search for it. If the application had basic instructions on setting up multiple accounts, where you can find settings, and similar information, it would be very helpful.

Tweetie has a feature I have not seen in others except TwitterLink--using a bookmarklet, you can add a link to a message and the link is shrunk to save characters. However, finding out how to set up the bookmarklet can also be an adventure. It would be a great improvement if they provide a link to a Web site as done by TwitterLink that walks you through the set-up process, including the basic entry of the bookmarklet.

With that said, Tweetie seems to the be the best of the bunch and within striking distance of having features found favorable in other clients. Hopefully, these features will be made available in future releases. Tweetie does not have a basic free version, but is available for $2.99. For feature versus cost, it is the best of the clients reviewed here.

If you have information to add or insight into Twitter clients not covered in this post, please feel free to comment.

All I want for MacWorld

This is getting to be old. It's the same old story. The iPhone is a great phone, and could be a great handheld computing device...but. So, all I want from MacWorld is not an iPhone Nano. It's not a new larger iPhone/iTouch Netbook. I want the things that should have been available on the iPhone when it first appeared.

Understand, I practically live on my iPhone. I can go for days without using my computer. I can track my personal and business email. I can research information on the Web, and I can take notes for later use. More often than not, I even write my blog posts on the iPhone (this is one of those exceptions). The point is that I use my iPhone a lot and I use it many times as a substitute for my laptop. With that background, here are my gripes.

After a year-and-a-half of clicking back-and-forth between applications trying to remember that 45-digit long URL, Apple give me Cut/Copy/Paste. It can't be that hard. People have applications in the AppStore with the feature enabled. It doesn't matter if you screw it up and have to redo it at a later date, just give me the damn function. My memory isn't what it used to be. Therefore, memorizing a piece of information and switching between applications and then typing is getting less productive the older I get. When I forward a message in email, I don't like to make the reader suffer through all the various forwards. As a result, doing so on the iPhone can literally take hours. It's a dumb feature to be missing and enough is enough.

Add Flash. I don't care if it's doggy, just give me the capability to view Flash content on the iPhone. Whether Steve Jobs likes it or not, Flash is a Web standard. I am finding that there are numerous Web sites that I do not have access to simply because the iPhone does not support Flash. As Adobe expands their Web application suite, this is only going to get worse. Add to this problem the fact that many sites are also now using Microsoft Silverlight and the problem gets worse. Quicktime is a Web standard; good for you Apple. However, Flash and Silverlight are also standards and the iPhone should also support them.

Bring Mobile Safari up to standard so it can be used with sites such as Google Apps. If this means an improved Java engine, so be it. While Apple may be protecting their installed base of iWork users and continuing to show appreciation for the Microsoft Office for Mac crowd, the fact is sites such as Google Apps are catching on and users want access to the presentation, word processing, and spreadsheet functions offered. Locking this capability out of the iPhone will only drive users to alternative platforms (such as the Google OS-based phones). Embrace the evolving Web and ride the wave. Otherwise, Apple may be left in the backwash of a missed wave, much as happened in the '80s.

While I would love to have the ability to rename photos on the iPhone (as has been on my gripe list for more than a year), at a minimum, let me at least pull up the image information. The information on date and time taken are available in the phone as that information is passed to iPhoto. Make it available directly on the phone for crying out loud. While you are at it, allow the photo application to capture GPS coordinates since that field is available.

Finally, Documents-To-Go, get your act together and release the package for the iPhone. I have heard rumors of this being done since the iPhone was released and I am still waiting. Is it copy/paste that's holding you up? If so, implement your own version.

What say you? While I don't mean this to be a infinite wish list, what are the absolute functions that you feel are needed to make the iPhone a true portable computing substitute?