@Ball

SimplifyMedia does exactly what you want. For right now it's free and appears to be functioning perfectly between my desktop Mac and two other "invited" Macs.

Find it here:

http://www.simplifymedia.com/

I do, actually, miss the voice dialing a great deal. Most of the time I'm using my headset (a Jawbone) with the iPhone while driving; with other phones I am able to tap the button on the headset and name the person I want to call. With the iPhone I'm forced to take my eyes off the road and hand off the wheel to make my call. I've created a list of Favorites that takes some of the pain out of the process, but still, it's not as easy as voice dialing.

In regards to the call quality I find it to be better than most phones. The sound coming through the phone's earpiece is clear and sharp - anyone who doesn't find it that way needs to experiment with moving the phone around until it's in the right position on their ear (I had the same problem at first with the RAZRs - until you know just where to put it the sound can be fuzzy).

The speakerphone is better than most - I find that I can leave the phone in the dock and answer it with the speaker (however, you'd think that the phone would be smart enough to switch to the speaker automatically when it's in the dock... you have to proactively hit the "Speaker" button... does someone at Apple really think I'm going to lift the entire phone/dock assembly to my head to answer it??) and the sound is very good in both directions.

Just my 2 cents.

# 2 and #20 -

While these are both excellent suggestions and will work for map-specific or location-specific functions (e.g., "pizza 10024" or "starbucks 90035") there are about a dozen other Google SMS functions that will not work using Google's voice service or Google Maps.

I use Google SMS daily - usually multiple times each day - to get definitions, weather in other cities, area codes, zip codes, currency conversion, translations and much more. It's a powerful tool that offers options most people don't even think about. If you're in business, or an avid reader, or just need a combination almanac/encyclopedia/dictionary/translator at your fingertips, Google SMS will do the trick.

I've written a fairly detailed blog post about it here:

http://www.thewirelesswizard.com/tips-tricks-shortcuts/2007/5/30/-google-search-gets-smarter-perfect-for-mobile-text-inquiries.html

On the matter of splitting the messages - I've already received split messages (those exceeding 160, not 140 characters) on my iPhone so I know the function works.

Finally, I wholeheartedly agree that iChat is woefully missing from this product. There are a whole lot of other things missing, too, including some very basic items like voice dialing and the ability to delete emails in bulk, but the most glaring omission in my perspective is the inability to sync sent mails from the iPhone to your Mail application on the Mac.

I mean, if the iPhone and the Mac are _supposed_ to be integrated, then let's really integrate them. Widgets don't sync (stocks, weather, etc., all need to be set up separately on the iPhone - shouldn't they "sync" the same way addresses and calendar items do?) and calendar items can't even be viewed in full unless you enter the "Edit" mode on the iPhone's calendar.

It's a great product and I've already stopped carrying my Treo, my digital camera and my iPod - all replaced with this one device - but it's still "rev 1.0" and needs a lot of work. Let's hope that the next iteration resolves a lot of these minor, but annoying, items.

Is Apple's iPhone/iTunes Activation Process A Trojan Horse For Even Better Things?

Something wonderful is going to happen at 6:00 PM on June 29, 2007 - and it isn't the introduction of Apple's iPhone. Don't get me wrong - that will be a great thing, too, and I intend to get one (although I'm not about to stand in a queue all night - I'll just order online and let Mr. FedEx drop it at my door).

No, the great thing that will be happening is that, for the very first time in the 20+ years of cellular phone sales history, you won't have to go through the activation process in the store where you bought the phone.

With no disrespect meant to the hard-working salespeople in retail I can tell you that my experiences in getting phones activated (and I've gone through this, conservatively speaking, about 25 times) has been uniformly unpleasant. It's a mysteriously long, convoluted and repetitive process that makes you feel like the Tin Man - frozen in time - being serviced by the Scarecrow (if they only had a brain).

Why the process couldn't be more automated has always been a source of frustration to me; in a world of web sites, over the air programming and broadband access isn't this something that I could do myself?

Read more here:

http://www.thewirelesswizard.com/tips-tricks-shortcuts/2007/6/29/is-apples-iphone-activation-through-itunes-a-trojan-horse.html

I've written an extensive analysis of the Jawbone in my blog - see it here:

http://www.thewirelesswizard.com/tips-tricks-shortcuts/2007/6/6/the-only-wireless-headset-to-consider.html

Being a certifiable geek myself I can tell you that, for the most part, geeks don't get it. This phone will be a smash hit despite its lack of HSPDA, an SDK or any other irrelevant set of initials.

After 25 years of building businesses in the wireless industry I believe that I've got a bit of credibility here - I've owned, carried and helped design cell phones and systems since (OMG, I can't believe I'm about to say this) before many of you were born... or at least before you started high school. That's right - I've had a phone in my car, backpack (never a briefcase) or pocket for - are you sitting down - 30 years.

If you want the full opinion check out my blog - I just wrote a piece called "The Geeks Don't Get It - 10 Reasons The iPhone Will Be A Smash Hit."

Find it here:

http://www.thewirelesswizard.com/tips-tricks-shortcuts/2007/6/11/the-geeks-dont-get-it-10-reasons-the-iphone-will-be-a-smash-.html

Actually, I think the most interesting aspect of this isn't what Clear Channel is doing with it today, but what the implications of text-to-machine possibilities are for the future. Here's a clip from a post that I've written for my blog that will appear on Friday (June 1) that specifically addresses this issue:

----------

This service has the capacity to get quite sophisticated. Of course, the potential for targeted advertising is huge... once you've sent in a request for a song the station knows what type of music you like so there's the possibility of sending coupons for downloads, CDs (wow - how quaint would it be to actually walk into a record store and buy a CD?? I honestly can't remember the last time I did that), movies and more. If you request a traffic report for an area at a certain time maybe tomorrow you'll get a coupon or an ad for a restaurant that's right along the way - a free dessert with dinner or an invitation to happy hour. Once you send information into the system they'll start extrapolating it into some kind of revenue-producing service.

Let's look at some things that could be done with text messaging in the near future in your everyday life:

* Waiting on line at a restaurant for a table? Why carry one of those silly coaster-like pagers that only work within a 30-foot radius of the restaurant? Shouldn't it be easier, less expensive and more user-friendly for the restaurant to send a quick text message alerting you when your table is available?

* Why does my doctor or dentist call me to confirm an appointment? Yes, they could send me an email, but I'm not always at my computer (I gave up my Blackberry years before they even started becoming popular with the masses - after sending/receiving 200+ emails/day). I do, however, always have my phone with me... so why not send me a text reminder with an option to confirm/change/please-call-me reply back to the doctor's office?

* How many times have you called the pharmacy, or actually gone to the pick-up window, only to find out that the prescription you requested isn't ready yet? Wouldn't it be easier for you - and them - if their system automatically sent you a text message when the prescription was filled? Their systems already require a prescription to be "closed out" when it's completed so that the insurance claim for reimbursement is filed - this should be an easy add-on.

* One service that I'll talk about in more detail in a later post takes real estate into the texting realm... yard signs have a special code on them for prospective buyers to request information that's sent directly to their cell phones - including photos - while they're sitting right in front of the house.
-------
There's more, if you're interested, here:

http://www.TheWirelessWizard.com/tips

As I said, the truly interesting part here isn't being able to request a song, but what this process may be indicating as the leading edge for the future.

Just my 2 cents.

There's a better, faster and more effective process for creating links in Mail that offers a more professional (and neater) appearance while guaranteeing that the link will work in every email application.

When you copy the link that you want just type "CLICK HERE" and select those two words. Then choose "Add Hyperlink" under the Edit menu and paste the link into that window. Doing so turns the "CLICK HERE" into a live link and eliminates long URLs, wrap-around problems and sloppy-looking emails. It takes about two seconds of extra time and resolves a huge number of issues.

You'll find fewer people who are greater proponents of high-speed wireless access than me (see why at www.TheWirelessWizard.com), but I don't think that the lack of HSPDA is going to be much of a big deal to 99% of the potential iPhone buyers in the world. In fact, I don't think that most buyers are going to notice for two reasons:

1. The knowledgeable and cutting-edge folks that read and comment on these pages aren't the typical buyers for the iPhone. Most of the buyers will be in it for the overall user experience... the ability to see things on a big screen, the ability to expand and "pinch" the image on the screen to make a browser page more readable, the elegance of the Apple interface, etc. The vast majority of people won't use it for anything more than a phone, some pictures, text messaging (let's hold the virtual keyboard discussion for another time) and the very occasional browsing. For all of that, EDGE will be fine.

2. More importantly, however, the simple fact of the matter is that HSPDA (and EVDO, for that matter) simply haven't propagated throughout the carrier's entire system to make a difference. As I write this I'm in a relatively affluent suburb close to L.A., where the penetration rate for cell phones is about 100% - I honestly don't think there's anyone here above the age of 10 or below 85 that doesn't have at least one cell phone - and yet, Cingular, Sprint and Verizon haven't expanded their high-speed service here. Sure, I've got coverage all over town, but it's only in very small portions of the entire area that I travel in that the lovely little "3G" icon appears on my Cingular phone's screen.

And, going back to the initial point of this post, the likelihood of anyone actually needing a quad-band phone is pretty minimal. There's a small cadre of jet-hopping travelers that find them essential but most people simply won't care.

Readers of these posts strike me as being intelligent, passionate and - for the most part - articulate. What I don't think that readers are considering is what marketing folks like to call the "fat" part of the market. You don't need to satisfy the "fringes" with HSPDA, quad-band technology when 90+% of your market will want the product because it's cool, hip, has a giant screen, neat interface and makes a statement about their personality.

Just my 2 cents.

In my humble estimation many of you are missing the point. The superior technology (Nokia N95, HTC, whatever) is irrelevant in the face of superior marketing. The world is littered with the roadkill of superior technologies that didn't prevail due to ineffective marketing campaigns.

Apple has consistently knocked the cover off the ball during the past several years with their marketing. The iPod, for example, is certainly not a technological masterpiece (although I've owned several and have the latest version now it could stand some improvement in a few areas) but the tie-up of iTunes, the dancing silhouettes, the TV ads, etc, have combined to make the iTunes a textbook example of masterpiece marketing. iRiver, Sansa, etc., may all offer more technology, but they won't sell more. 100 million units, anyone? 2 billion songs sold? Case closed on superior technology.

Finally, in regards to the ATT/Cingular/Mobility issue - I personally think that ATT shareholders should rise up and revolt against the obscene amount of money that was essentially wasted in morphing ATT to Cingular and now will have to be deprogrammed from America's collective consciousness.

On a final, more personal note, using repeeeeaaaating letters and ALL CAPS or obscenities in comments immediately brands you as an imbecile or an uneducated moron. If you can't bring yourself to use some intelligence to write your commentary perhaps you can spare the rest of us the pain of your immaturity. Your parents must be so proud.