iPhone: The Missing Manual: Covers the iPhone 3G (Paperback)

by David Pogue (Author)
Key Phrases: descrl bed, home screen, App Store, Call Details, Microsoft Exchange (more...)

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Written by New York Times columnist and Missing Manual series creator David Pogue, this first-to-market update shows readers and tire kickers everything they need to know to get the most out of their new Apple iPhone. As beautiful as the product it covers, this full-color book helps readers accomplish everything from Web browsing to watching videos.

Author David Pogue’s iPhone 2E Tips
The beauty of the new iPhone 3G is that you don’t need one. Almost all of the juicy stuff actually comes with the iPhone 2.0 software and the online App Store, both of which run perfectly well on the old iPhone as well. That, incidentally, is also the beauty of iPhone: The Missing Manual, 2nd Edition. It covers both the old and the new iPhones, because it covers the 2.0 software, the iPhone App Store, and so on. Here are a few of my favorite tips from the book:

1) At the top of the screen, little icons indicate how you’re connected to the Internet: an E for the vast but dog-slow AT&T Edge network, a 3G icon if you’re on the faster but limited-area AT&T third-generation network, and radiating signal bars if you’re on Wi-Fi. The tip here: The two cellular icons (E and 3G) disappear whenever you’re on Wi-Fi. That’s not a mistake. The iPhone assumes that Wi-Fi is faster and better than any cellular network, and if you’re on it, you don’t care about E or 3G (and it’s right).

2) Unfortunately, 3G is a battery hog. If you don’t see a 3G icon on your iPhone 3G’s status bar, then you’re not in a 3G hot spot, and you’re not getting any benefit from the phone’s 3G radio. By turning it off, you’ll double the length of your iPhone 3G’s battery power, from 5 hours of talk time to 10. To do so, from the Home screen, tap Settings->General->Network-> Enable 3G Off. Yes, this is sort of a hassle, but if you’re anticipating a long day and you can’t risk the battery dying halfway through, it might be worth doing. After all, most 3G phones don’t even let you turn off their 3G circuitry.

3) More ways to save power: turn off more features. In Settings, you can turn off Bluetooth; Wi-Fi; GPS; "push" data; and the cellphone radio. Each saves you another bit of power.

4) When typing on the on-screen keyboard, you can save time by deliberately leaving out the apostrophe in contractions like I’m, don’t, can’t, and so on. Type im, dont, cant, and so on. The iPhone proposes I’m, don’t, or can’t, so you can just tap the Space bar to fix the word and continue.

5) To produce an accented character (like é, ë, è, ê, and so on), keep your finger pressed on that key for 1 second. A palette of accented alternatives appears; slide onto the one you want. (Keys that sprout these alternative versions: E, Y, U, I, O, S, L, Z, C, N, ?, ', ", $, and !.)

6) Even if you’ve engaged the silencer switch on the side, the iPhone still sounds any alarm you’ve set. Good to know.

7) You probably already know that you can rearrange your Home screen, and even set up multiple Home screens (up to 9). Just hold your finger down on any one icon until they all begin to wiggle. Now you can drag them to rearrange them (even onto the Dock of four special icons at the bottom), or drag off to the right to create a new Home screen. And what if, in the process of downloading and then deleting new App store programs, you wind up with unsightly gaps on your Home screens? Here’s a quick way to consolidate them onto a smaller number of full Home screens, without gaps: tap Settings->General-> Reset->Reset Home Screen Layout. If you’d put 10 programs on each of four Home screens, you wind up with only two screens, each packed with 20 icons. Any leftover blank pages are eliminated.

8) If you come to the iPhone from another, lesser GSM phone, your phone book may be stored on its little SIM card instead of in the phone itself . In that case, you don’t have to retype all of those names and numbers to bring them into your iPhone. In Settings->Contacts, the new Import SIM Contacts button can do the job for you. (The results may not be pretty. For example, some phones store all address-book data in CAPITAL LETTERS.)

9) If you’ve indulged yourself by downloading some goodies from the App Store, then you may find yourself wondering where you’re supposed to adjust their preferences. Turns out they often get stashed away in a completely different program—in Settings. That’s where Apple encourages software authors to locate their own setting screens. For example, here’s where you can edit your screen name and password for the AIM chat program, change how many days’ worth of news you want the NY Times Reader to display, and so on.

10) Don’t type http://www or .com when entering Web addresses. Safari is smart enough to know that most Web addresses use that format—so you can leave all that stuff out, and it will supply them automatically. Instead of http://www.cnn.com, for example, just type cnn and hit Go.

11) Don’t type .net, .org, or .edu, either. Safari’s secret pop-up menu of canned URL choices can save you four keyboard-taps apiece. To see it, hold your finger down on the .com button. Then tap the common suffix you want.

12) The iPhone can now geotag the photos you take with it. Geotagging means, "embedding your latitude and longitude information into a photo when you take it." After all, every digital picture you’ve ever taken comes with its time and date invisibly embedded in its file; why not its location? So the good news is that the iPhone can geotag every photo you take. How you get to see this information, is a bit trickier. Once the photos are synced to your computer, you can view the geotag information in iPhoto (the Get Info command reveals latitude and longitude), Preview (the Inspector window shows a map), Picasa (use the Tools->Geotag menu to see the photo’s location in Google Earth). Unfortunately, the iPhone strips away the geotags whenever you send a photo by e-mail. That’s a good argument for using the free downloadable program AirMe instead of the iPhone’s built-in camera program. It avoids that geotag-stripping problem and many others.


Product Description
The new iPhone 3G is here, and New York Times tech columnist David Pogue is on top of it with a thoroughly updated edition of iPhone: The Missing Manual. With its faster downloads, touch-screen iPod, and best-ever mobile Web browser, the new affordable iPhone is packed with possibilities. But without an objective guide like this one, you'll never unlock all it can do for you. In this new edition, there are new chapters on the App Store, with special troubleshooting and sycning issues with iTunes; Apple's new MobileMe service, and what it means to the iPhone; and Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync compatibility. Each custom designed page in iPhone: The Missing Manual helps you accomplish specific tasks with complete step-by-step instructions for everything from scheduling to web browsing to watching videos. You'll learn how to: Use the iPhone as a phone -- get a guided tour of 3G's phone features and learn how much time you can save with things like Visual Voicemail, contact searching, and more Figure out what 3G means and how it affects battery life, internet speed, and even phone call audio quality. Treat the iPhone as an iPod -- listen to music, upload and view photos, and fill the iPhone with TV shows and movies Take the iPhone online -- learn how to get online, use email, browse the Web, and use the GPS Go beyond the iPhone -- discover how to use iPhone with iTunes, sync it with your calendar, and learn about The App Store where you can pick from hundreds of iPhone-friendly programs Teeming with high-quality color graphics and filled with humor, tips, tricks, and surprises, iPhone: The Missing Manual quickly teaches you how to set up, accessorize, and troubleshoot your iPhone. Instead offumbling around, take advantage of this device with the manual that should have been in the box. It's your call.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 376 pages
• Publisher: Pogue Press; 2 edition (May 11, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596521677
• ISBN-13: 978-0596521677
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #558 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This item is part of The O'Reilly Missing Manuals Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top notch reference source for iPhone, October 3, 2008

By	John A. Suda (Rochester NY) - See all my reviews

For those who already know of David Pogue's Missing Manual series there is hardly any need to read a review of any of the latest publications, like "iPhone, the Missing Manual, Second Edition." For those in need of a written guide to the iPhone, you just buy the book and enjoy it, without wasting any time with comparisons, reviews, or undue deliberation. You can trust the author and publisher. For years, Pogue Press', the Missing Manual series, has been a benchmark of quality for the genre. In an era where manufacturers provide skimpy support materials, the Missing Manual series acts as a great substitute.

For those unfamiliar with the series, I'll elaborate on the iPhone book. It is a great book. It is designed to tell you in an objective casual, easy to follow fashion, all you need to know about using your iPhone. It is lavishly produced in heavyweight glossy paper with high resolution full-color graphics. The text is larger sized and organized in a very easy-to-read layout. There are many dozens of sidebar "Tips" which break up the text and make learning about the iPhone very easy.

The best part of the book is the content where you get a very thorough, comprehensive, and well-organized presentation of the iPhone hardware, software, and services. In six parts and fifteen chapters, Mr. Pogue covers nearly everything an average user needs to know about the product. There are plenty of sections covering advanced topics, as well, including use of the iPhone in a business setting. Part One is a guided tour to the hardware and how to get started making calls and texting. In this chapter and throughout the book, Mr. Pogue gives more than mere description and explanation of features, he provides step-by-step instructions and practical guidance on use. In the first chapter, for instance, he provides an experienced user's perspective on how to be more efficient using the virtual keyboard.

Part Two discusses the music and video features and the camera and photo capabilities. Part Three explains how to get online using the multiple means - 3G, 2G (Edge-ATT's older, slower system), and WiFi using the web browser and e-mail programs. The author provides handy references to useful websites and third-party applications which can run on the iPhone and extend its capabilities, like the Zoho suite of productivity applications and RSS readers. The next part covers the third-party software now available for downloading from the Apple site. The App Store is explained and a lot of the applications are briefly reviewed and evaluated. Pogue also describes how to install custom ring tones as well as making one's own using Apple's own Garage Band.

In the "Beyond the iPhone" section, Pogue covers the all-important syncing features and options, the Mobile Me support services provided by Apple, the iTunes symbiosis with the iPhone, and the customer settings options. Three appendices cover setup and signing up, suggested accessories, and troubleshooting and maintenance.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars VERY VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!, August 28, 2008

By	John R. Vacca "Tech Write Independent Reviewer" (Pomeroy, Ohio) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Do you have an iPhone 3G? If you do, then this book is for you. Author David Pogue, has done an outstanding job of writing a book that is designed to serve as the iPhone manual.

Pogue, begins by covering everything related to phone calls: dialing, answering, voicemail, conference calling, text messaging, and the Contacts program. Next, the author covers the iPhone's ability to play back music, podcasts, movies, TV shows, and photos. Then, he explores in detail, iPhone's third talent: Its ability to get you onto the Internet, either over a Wi-Fi hot spot connection or via AT&T' cellular network. Finally, the author describes the world beyond the iPhone itself--like the copy of iTunes on your Mac or PC that's responsible for filling up the iPhone with music, videos, and photos, and syncing the calendar, address book, and mail settings.

This most excellent book describes everything you need in a pocket computer. More importantly, this book provides updated and expanded information on how to use the new all-in-one (cellphone, iPod, Internet and wireless syncing) iPhone 3G.

24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly good, September 6, 2008

By	John Faughnan "John G Faughnan (www.faughnan.... (St. Paul, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This is to a good manual as the iPhone is to the Blackberry Pearl.

Really.

I'm a geek. I rarely buy manuals. When I scanned this in the bookstore, however, I quickly found four important things I didn't know. I gritted my teeth and paid my $25. At $17 with Amazon it's a bargain.

The only manual I can recall that was this good was Pogue's original Palm manual.

It's clear Pogue doesn't write these things any more -- he credits a large technical team and support from several members of Apple's iPhone 2 development team. It's also clear that his hand is on the tiller, and that he's chosen strong people.

I'd compare it the iPhone, but really, the iPhone is much buggier and is missing more features. From the layout, to photographs, to prose to the terrific index this is more like what we hope iPhone 2.2 will be like.

The companion web sight is very well done, and the book comes with directions on a private newsletter subscription.

Buy the book, you'll be happy.