I love my iphone, mumsnet on it all the time, have only had it about a week and am still finding my way around it.

Maybe we need a thread for recomended iphone applications.

I've returned to say I think I'm pretty decided on the HTC but the iphone is still tempting me.. esp since I read you can get a shopping list app <swoon>

the blackberry is scrobbed off the list.

Thank you. I have them all separately, I just dream of one where they are all together...

Clemette - the iphone can do all those things. Use the calendar for birthdays (set to recur, then set up to 2 alerts to remind you of each one)

Do a search on Apps for free shopping list application (shopping list lite I think), I have a good To Do list - think I paid £0.59 max.

HTH

I gor mine this week (it is the 3g not the newest one) and I ADORE it. I upgraded it last night for free and although I haven't yet found the holy grail that is something that reminds me about everything I have coming up plus shopping list, plus to do list, plus birthdays all in one app, I am very much enjoying playing!

You can set up recurring appointments/birthdays etc on an iphone. I'm pretty sure that, if you enter the appointment via Outlook and set the reminder further in advance, eg 5 days, this will work when you sync with your iphone.

I have reminders 4-5 days ahead of the appointment on my iphone - so think this was how I set them up?

And I think iphones are for fun, but I can also organise my life with mine (and I've had pretty much every brand of PDA available over the last 14 years )

we are now a his 'n' hers iphone household as my dh just bought the 3gs.

they are for fun, not for organising your life

thanks everyone and Mascara for your research. DH is still convinced either way and is still looking at Palm smartphones. Will report back soon.

I'm on the train mumsnetting right now on iPhone <thumbs nose at blackberry>

HI LL, I've been doing some research and

Storm
There are quite a few scathing reviews about the Storm, though it looks like there might be a Storm II being released at some point this year (might be worth waiting for). A lot of the poor reviews seem to be around the Storms lack of WIFI though I fail to see why WIFI is so important - I must be missing something. More importantly there seems to be an issue with battery life and intermittent hanging. One site did imply it might be there was a faulty batch at the beginning of this year.

iPhone
Played with someones iPhone and whilst I quite liked it the calendar functionality is not up to what I need.. earliest reminder you can set is 2 days prior to the event which isn't enough lead time for birthdays etc & you can't edit the reminder, you have to enter the event then edit the reminder which (I assume) if you have the event recurring across months/years it will impact all of your reminders.. Didn't check whether you could set up recuurances, currently it's on the no list.

I'm now looking at another device that a colleague has - getting a demo this afternoon so will keep you posted...

Have you made a decision?

You don't have to upgrade the OS but if you don't you will find that some of the new apps that come out won't be compatible. That's what I found a while ago when the OS changed and it took me a while to understand why I couldn't download some new games (not very IT savvy!).

heh heh

wouldn't be the first time the old man spouted bollocks

No, you can continue using whatever you like. I'm using a slightly older version of the Mac OS because every time I buy the new software, I end up with a new laptop with the new software on it within weeks so I'm sitting this one out! Hasn't stopped me from doing anything yet and I don't expect it to.

All you have to do is make sure iTunes is updated regularly but that's free.

Ah but is it the same as Windows in that you can continue using it with the old OS if you want to? Or do you have to update it?

Pay for bug fixes? Your DH is spouting bollocks, sorry Apple user for 16 years here and never paid for a 'bug fix' on an iPhone, Mac or iPod. All you ever pay for are major OS updates as you do with Windows Vista or XP or whatever it is. All other updates are free.

Go on, get an iPhone. You know you want to. Your DH knoweth not what he is talking about.

Sod the ideological stuff and just get one.

Haven't paid for any upgrades to the OS.

sorry I can't get all techy on your ass - but maybe you need one of those IT/gadget type blogs/ forums for your more geeky view...

I haven't paid for the upgrade to the software last week after the intro of the new phone (I have the 3g but not the latest phone). This has certainly improved the functionality and I am impressed so far.

I am not aware of any payment being asked for so can't comment on that as yet. I would like to be less tied to Apple but it is as always a swings and roundabouts issue and on balance I am comfortable with my choice.

See. Now I raised the iPhone issue with DH today. We're after His'n'Hers versions .

Turns out <geek alert> that he has ideological objections to Apple's License management stuff.

Apparently (is this true?) you even have to pay for bug-fixing upgrades to the OS?

So he is interested in something that mimics it. Can't possibly be kosher and good, can it? Or am I just blinded by branding. We need some IT geeks guys here don't we?

I have the iPhone and I bloody love it. My poor laptop has been gathering dust (though I am on it tonight). As I can happily pootle about on tinternet and MN etc. without having to find a safe spot to set up the computer.

Checking emails etc is so easy and the connection to itunes has been a revelation as I have never owned an MP3 player before so have downloaded loads of audio books and podcats which are great for those nightfeeds. Though snorting with laughter at the Adam and Joe show in the early hours didn't go down well with DH

It is beautifully designed and very intuitive to use - applications are addictive and ds loves playing pocketgod, BBC iplayer also works really well on it so what more could I possibly need. As far as organising your life there are a dizzying number of applications to do that sort of thing and all are reviewed to help choose the most effective... not perfect but fabulous.

I have a BlackBerry curve - important as it has the Qwerty keyboard. I got it to replace having to carry around a laptop when working abroad, so that I had something to receive e-mail on.

But I really don't like it. It's not intuitive and is really 'clunky' to use. Getting on to the WWW is hopeless and really slow.

Calendar function is great, especially as it synchs with the work calendar - and this is one of the greatest bugbears with the Joggler, that it is a separate calendar.

I lust after an iPhone!

I use it in the house, in the office for checking my own emails, on the train. Playing games, taking photos (cameras not great but okay for outside snaps), updating to FB, v. accurate weather reports for various locations, I use the alarms all the time, I l-o-v-e it!

Evening bump.

Come ooooooooooooooooooooon. List all the brilliant things it does for Busy Mums On The Go.

And Crackberry addicts: fight your corner too. We need to know.

That's ok, you'll be eligible for an upgrade next year when the newest new one comes out

Eyeballs I didn't know they were worth so much second hand!! Mine isn't up in Jan it will be July 2010 as I got it this Jan. But still like you say the 3G is a lovely toy so I'm not too well maybe a little

Claire yes I have the new one. My contract isn't up till Jan either but, like a lamb to the slaughter I walked into the Apple Store last week and handed over £440 of my hard earned cash for a PAYG phone. In my defence I have sold my two previous iPhones this week and have covered £380 of that so it's not as bad as it looks . It's fab! But if you have the 3G that's fab too

I gawd I love love love my iPhone

It is truly the best piece of gadgetery that I and DH have ever owned - and trust me when I tell you that DH loves gadgetery of all kinds

Blackberries suck - iPhones rule

But blackberry is such a 'worky' thing iPhone is fun and practical.

Eyeballs have you got the new iPhone? I have ages left on my contract (I Got it in Jan).

another thing that swayed me to the blackberry was that when I went into various phone shops to check out what was on the market now nearly all the sales reps said they had blackberries

I can't add much to what has been said already but I've had an iPhone since they were launched in 2007 and am on my third model now as it is so addictive I have to have the latest one. I will never have another make of phone, this one does everything I could possibly need and if this model was the last ever one, I would use it till I died. I have wifi at home and it connects to that. I do use it at home a lot - DD won't go to sleep unless I have my arm pinned underneath her so I use it for the internet at such times, and at work to access sites that the bsatards bosses have blocked

I use the calendar, clocks, voice memo, camera, iPod and have many nice little apps for it.

I love my iPhone

Yes, it states on blackberry site that the storm syncs with outlook wirelessly.

So much praise for the iPhone though.. I'm so torn

I've answered on the other thread but my blackberry does have wifi

For me it's all about the organiser.. I rarely have to commute so not too fussed about mobile internet.

I use outlook at home & at work if I could sync everything into one piece of hardward I can carry round it would mean I wouldn't miss birthdays etc

Is the iPhone really that much better than the storm, I can get the Storm for free lol

So go for an iphone with a link to the O2 calendar to connect to ur Joggler ..?

Ahh

You need a complex techy system thing then?

What I mean is, to be clear - I have a Palm PDA, as does DH, separate phone, on a PC all day and all night. Palm now very old and not mobile/interactive enough. Prefer to upgrade to smart phone etc.

But I like the IDEA of the centralised calendar, with a hub in kitchen instead of paper calendar. so I can then issue my many DSs with something too as they get older and they can synch their own appointments for me etc...

Palm only works with its own software so that is out.

Smart phone like iPhone or Blackberry seems the only way to go, but just wanted to know about synch-ability/share-ability...

Not sure which thread to post on! I have an iPhone and a blackberry bold (not the storm). For me the iPhone wins hands down.

If you need it to be an organiser then they both do that - the iPhone has a very good calendar that syncs with outlook when you connect it to your computer (assuming you use outlook - I don't know if it syncs with other software). The blackberry I have is my work phone and it syncs with my work outlook without being connected. I'm not sure how this works it just does!

Obviously both have address books, I find the iPhone easier to use for that.

You can type notes on both but again it is much more accessible on the iPhone - on the blackberry I have to in to the menu, then choose applications then choose memopad. Both now have voice recorder so you can record memos to yourself.

What other sort of features were you looking for? I have no idea how the joggler works so can't compare I'm afraid.

<<<sob>>>

mine was murdered last night.

death by glass of orange squash

i have not recovered yet

no insurance

too much too bear

i must leave this thread now

too painful

I knew i knew your name form a big long thread somewhere

oh dear

<slinks off>

(btw it has bee at least 3 days since someone called me a loon - i was doing so well!!)

MoM - you loon, I'm testing the Joggler too

And mine does work, but am not wholly convinced it is solving the problems I want it to solve. See I could just do what Amazonian said and have a mini-PC in the kitchen if I wanted, couldn't I?

Yes I agree about it being simple to use. I am addicted to a free game from Itunes on it - bubblewrap. Yip does exactly what you think it does!

I love being able to pick up my email whilst on it.

Lupus, the joggler is not a handheld device so you can cross that off your list - it needs a plug or it doesn't work!

I love the IPhone and definitely wouldn't buy anything else.
It's extremely easy to use (a plus point for a technophobe like me!) and it looks better than any of the other devices around. The only downside (or upside depending on which way you look at it) is that I'm CONSTANTLY on MN on it- train journeys, in the park, you name it....

And the iPhone just feels so nice!

I set reminders for all birthdays, meetings etc. You can programme 2 alerts for each, so maybe 2 days in advance, then 2 hours in advance, depending on appointment. You can also easily repeat recurring appointments/birthdays.

Get one!

I have one, but think Amazonianwoman has said it all. Mine is the 8gb but it was free and £35 per month.

We were in London at the weekend and downloaded the underground map from Itunes for 59p. It was so impressive instead of having to fiddle about with the map.

Would recommend it.

You could print out a week's/month's view from outlook to use as eg a kitchen calendar?

Wifi access is also very useful, I don't think blackberries have wifi?

Ok I'm on my iPhone right now!

I've had various PDAs over the years - palm pilot, compaq one, loads basically, also had a Sony ericsson P910 then a P1i. The iPhone beats them all hands down.

I sync mine via ITunes with Microsoft outlook on our home laptop, so does DH, so I can see what we're all doing. DH also syncs his at work - he has a separate work calendar I think, but I can look at that too if I want to (quite useful, you know how crap men are at remembering appointments etc)

I also sync all my contacts with outlook, and my notes.

I can pick up all my ntlworld emails easily (also easy to set up) as well as work emails.

Web access is fantastic and user interface is excellent. MN access is great, as is online ordering from eg John Lewis sites.

I didn't think I'd be bothered about iTunes but it's great to be able to plug it into an iTrip in the car to listen to music, including some of the kids' music. Saves having CDs rattling around the car!

What else? The only downside is I've developed a sudoku addiction . There are some useful applications like currency/weight etc conversions, notes, weather forecasts, loads! The google map feature is great, essentially a sat nav (a basic one)

Oh, it's a good phone too.

I couldn't be without it, and I'd never go back to a separate mobile and PDA. I think the 8gb iPhone costs around £95, with a monthly charge of £35 for about 600 minutes and 400 texts

Nobody with an iPhone has a lunchbreak to MN obviously...

Oooh nice work LL

and a shameless bump t'boot!

MAscaraOHara and I.

Blackberry question

Because we need better gadgets to organise our lives, and are wondering what works best.

I have been interested in testing the Joggler, to work out what handheld device, other than my current Palm PDA, has a calendar that can be adapted for shared use as well as stored on the thingummyjig.

I'm sure MoH has her own questions...