I'm fed up. Every time I try to send a text message on my iPhone it "fixes" my spelling and changes words from my own shorthand to whatever it prefers. So I spend at least as much time correcting its corrections as I do actually entering my message. Is there some way to turn off the iPhone's autocorrect system?

All my friends have figured out the magic to take photos on their iPhone and upload them to Facebook. Everyone but me. How the heck do you do this, Dave?

Hey Dave, I saw your article from a few days about How to Turn on Closed Captioning in iTunes and am wondering if my iOS devices have a similar capability when I'm watching a movie or TV show on my iPhone or iPad?

Thanks to Siri, I've become a big fan of the Reminders app on my iPhone. Being able to say "remind me at 3pm to get the milk" is really cool. I noticed that the Reminders app can also remind me based on geographic location, either arriving or leaving a specific location. Neat. How do I set geolocation reminders?

I keep reading all these articles about iTunes account security and people having their accounts hacked. I have 2-step security verification set up for Google, does Apple offer something similar for iTunes / App Store accounts?

I want to have song from my song list in iTunes into a ringtone I can use on my iPhone? Is it even possible, and if so, how do I go about this?

Whether the best things in life are free is an issue hotly debated over. With iOS apps, this may or may not be the case! The idea of a "free" app has been all but twisted and exploited in dozens of conceivable ways ranging from "lite" apps, which are essentially demonstrations in disguise, to "Chapter 1" apps that give you the first part of a game for free and make you pay for the rest.

Given that, I've rounded up a few of today's popular free apps, selected with a couple of specific criteria in mind, to see if any of them are actually worth a download...

I just learned that you can add third-party apps to Foursquare so as you check in to different places useful information pops up like favorite dishes, friends who have been to that location, and even the helpful "Eat This Not That" information for some big chain restaurants. I end up at a lot of fast food places, and ETNT would be a great addition integrated into Foursquare, rather than as its own app. How do I get this working, Dave?

I was driving through downtown Detroit the other day and got stuck in a major traffic jam. When I mentioned that to my Dad, he told me I should be looking at Apple Maps on my iPhone before I plan my route through downtown since it includes traffic info and can even suggest alternative routes that'll be faster. Nice. But how do I do that?

Imangi Studios' iOS run-and-jumper Temple Run had fantastic success in the past, becoming one of the most downloaded games in the App Store. Now they're back with Temple Run 2, and they've made a plethora of great changes.

Nearly everything that the first Temple Run had to offer is intact and present in its sequel. The premise is merely this: You, a bold adventurer possessing the name "Guy Dangerous" have dared to steal some sort of generic, sacred idol from a temple... in the sky. Some sort of generic beast doesn't like that, and proceeds to chase you down through an infinite, floating obstacle course riddled with traps and pitfalls.

My son's been awfully obsessed with text messaging on his cellphone and I'd like to check and see what's going on. Is he texting one person a lot, or a group of people, and are they in our local area (area code 415) or from out of area, which would suggest something more creepy and alarming? How can I tell? We have AT&T cell phone service...

I purchased my iPhone 5 just before the New Year on December 29th. I was so excited and still love my new phone, but after using it for a week or so, I knew I was going to need some help getting through my favorite convention, CES, the Consumer Electronic Show.

It is amazing how Las Vegas runs down any mobile phone. Phones simply die much faster out there. I always practice my ABC's, Always Be Charging, but I knew that was going to be next to impossible during CES. CES is a marathon. I'm on the move for the four days, running from meeting to meeting, checking out new products, talking with developers, manufacturers and listening to speeches. There's just no time to plug in and charge.

Hi Dave. I watch some the "judge" shows and often see participants hand Judge Alex, Judge Judy, etc. a printout of text messages on their phone to prove or disprove something. How do I print out text messages on my iPhone 4?

I travel quite a bit on business and schedule events relative to my local timezone, even if it's a meeting or appointment I'll end up doing in a different city and different time zone. Which totally messes me up! I schedule a 6pm dinner for 6pm local time while in my office in Chicago, then when I get to San Francisco and look at my appointments, it's shown as a 4pm appointment. AUGH! How can I fix this?

My sister and I constantly have problems finding each other when we meet on business trips. Somehow where she thinks she is and where I think I am isn't always correct. I understand there's actually a way that we could send each other a map with current locations since we both have iPhones. How do we do that?

I was looking at my Recent Calls list on my new iPhone 5 and realize that it keeps a log of every single call incoming or outgoing, even if the call isn't answered. Since my kids poke around on my phone, I don't really want them seeing every call I get. Is there some way to either edit these recent calls, or even just wipe it entirely?

I have very few contacts in my iPhone phone book, so as friends and family call me, I want to save those numbers as new contacts. It's supposed to be easy. Can you step me through, slowly, so I can figure out all the steps for myself? Thanks.

I spend a lot of time making short videos with my iPhone 5 and uploading them to YouTube. I'd like to have them automatically also appear on Facebook and Google Plus, but when I use the Apple iPhone camera app and upload the video, I then have to log in to YouTube and manually share the videos. Tedious, to say the least. Is there a better option? I have heard that YouTube has a "Capture" iOS app?

My son installed an app on my iPad and now it's posting updates on my Twitter account when he plays. What the deuce? How can it even do that? More importantly, how can I let him continue playing the game but disable the Twitter access?

I heard from a friend that Google Maps has returned to the iPhone, but when I check for app updates, there's no indication that the Maps app has updated or changed in any way. And when I tap on it I see the same old Apple Maps that's been driving me nuts for months. What do I need to do for my Maps app to return to Google Maps?

Just got iphone4, don't want to be logged on FB all the time, as I no longer have unlimited data. I cannot log out of Facebook. The above posts do not help. When I go to the bottom of the list on the left, I have a logout tab, when I click the tab it takes me to another screen that say you are logged in as Celia, then below there is a continue tab, when I click continue it takes me back into my Facebook? Thee is an option under account settings to delete my Facebook account, but I don't want to permanently delete my account.

I was looking in iTunes at how much space I had available for apps, music, movies, etc, on my iPhone and was confused by the over 1GB of "Other" content shown (in yellow) on the usage graph. What is this "other" stuff and how do I get rid of it?

I travel quite a bit on business and schedule events relative to my local timezone, even if it's a meeting or appointment I'll end up doing in a different city and different time zone. Which totally messes me up! I schedule a 6pm dinner for 6pm local time while in my office in Chicago, then when I get to San Francisco and look at my appointments, it's shown as a 4pm appointment. AUGH! How can I fix this?

My sister and I constantly have problems finding each other when we meet on business trips. Somehow where she thinks she is and where I think I am isn't always correct. I understand there's actually a way that we could send each other a map with current locations since we both have iPhones. How do we do that?

I was looking at my Recent Calls list on my new iPhone 5 and realize that it keeps a log of every single call incoming or outgoing, even if the call isn't answered. Since my kids poke around on my phone, I don't really want them seeing every call I get. Is there some way to either edit these recent calls, or even just wipe it entirely?

I have very few contacts in my iPhone phone book, so as friends and family call me, I want to save those numbers as new contacts. It's supposed to be easy. Can you step me through, slowly, so I can figure out all the steps for myself? Thanks.

I spend a lot of time making short videos with my iPhone 5 and uploading them to YouTube. I'd like to have them automatically also appear on Facebook and Google Plus, but when I use the Apple iPhone camera app and upload the video, I then have to log in to YouTube and manually share the videos. Tedious, to say the least. Is there a better option? I have heard that YouTube has a "Capture" iOS app?

My son installed an app on my iPad and now it's posting updates on my Twitter account when he plays. What the deuce? How can it even do that? More importantly, how can I let him continue playing the game but disable the Twitter access?

I heard from a friend that Google Maps has returned to the iPhone, but when I check for app updates, there's no indication that the Maps app has updated or changed in any way. And when I tap on it I see the same old Apple Maps that's been driving me nuts for months. What do I need to do for my Maps app to return to Google Maps?

Just got iphone4, don't want to be logged on FB all the time, as I no longer have unlimited data. I cannot log out of Facebook. The above posts do not help. When I go to the bottom of the list on the left, I have a logout tab, when I click the tab it takes me to another screen that say you are logged in as Celia, then below there is a continue tab, when I click continue it takes me back into my Facebook? Thee is an option under account settings to delete my Facebook account, but I don't want to permanently delete my account.

I was looking in iTunes at how much space I had available for apps, music, movies, etc, on my iPhone and was confused by the over 1GB of "Other" content shown (in yellow) on the usage graph. What is this "other" stuff and how do I get rid of it?

I'm a big fan of the "Find My iPhone" capability in iCloud - it helps me keep track of my Apple devices and even lets me help my wife find her iPhone when it, inevitably, gets lost somewhere during her day. Problem is, as I add new devices, I can't see how to remove old or obsolete devices. Is that possible?

I was complaining to a friend about the poor battery life of my brand new iPhone 5 and they said that the problem was I need to reset all my settings. I don't know what that means, but it makes me anxious that I'm going to lose all my contacts, music, etc. Can ya help a brother out with this one, Dave?

My friends send me a lot of photos via text message and I'd like to be able to save them into my Photo Gallery. Is that possible on an iPhone running the latest version of iOS?

When I say we have a lot of AirPlay speakers in the office here at AskDaveTaylor, I'm not kidding. It looks more like a test facility for AirPlay than anything else when we point music from an AirPlay friendly device to one of the audio systems. But this means we've also gained a lot of experience with AirPlay and have learned to tolerate the stutters and hiccups of wireless music, along with learning just how hard it can be to do something as basic as changing the unit's wireless name or even connect it to a secure wifi network.

That's why I'm so darn impressed with the Contour 200i Air from Pure, a speaker that has the striking design I expect from an Apple product coupled with both the best sound available in a unit this size and a configuration system that makes the usual administrative hassles ridiculously easy.

A few days ago you posted a piece about how to add new photo albums in the Photos app on my iPhone 5 so I could better organize my exploding photo library [see Create Albums in Photos app on the iPhone or iPad]. Helpful. But now I have a ton of albums and want to prune things down, but am afraid of losing photos if I delete my new photo albums. Suggestions?

I have a ton of pictures on my new iPhone 5 already and would like to start organizing things a bit better. How hard is it to add a new photo gallery and move specific photos into that rather than have everything just jammed into "Camera Roll"?

I have the iPhone 5 and I can't figure out how to add a person (friend or not) to my favorites list. It used to be ( from the iPhone only, not my computer or iPad) that you could tap on the arrow icon on a person's page (top right) and one of the options was, add favorite or something like that as well as block and poke. Now it's just block and poke.

I have the iPhone5 and I can't remember my restrictions pass code? How can I recover that? Also, when I go to the App Store & do a search none of the searches will open. Just a blank screen. How do I fix that or could that have to do with the restrictions pass code? Everything else on my phone works accept the App Store

I saw a photo you posted to Instagram the other day, Dave, and thought it was just the coolest thing. It was a view out your window of the trees with their fall foliage, but somehow you'd manipulated the focus so that it looked like they were miniatures and the whole thing was a tiny model. How'd you do that?

I was looking at all the different settings on my new iPhone 5 and saw in "Settings" something called "Do Not Disturb", but while I can see that I can enable or disable it, what does "Do Not Disturb" actually do?

I read through your blog entry about how to take panoramic photos with iOS 6 and an iPhone 5 and got enthused. I've taken a bunch now. But when I include them on my Web page or blog, they're long and skinny and, frankly, not very interesting. On another site I saw they had an interactive photo where you could zoom in or pan around. Awesome. How do I do that with the photo panoramas on my own blog?

Now that I have a new iPhone 5 - which is totally sweet! - I'm trying to figure out how to take some of these much discussed panoramic pictures, but I can't find an app or a way to switch the camera app to go into panoramic mode. It's iOS 6, of course, but what's the secret? How do I take a panorama with my new iPhone?

I posted a picture on Instagram of my boyfriend and it's gotten a ton of likes. Problem is, it's a picture of him singing in the shower and he's pretty pissed about it. He insists I delete it and save him further embarrassment, but I don't know how to do that! Is it possible to delete or remove an Instagram picture once it's posted??

Instagram. I'm a big fan but am a bit confused when someone tells me that they're, say, @johndoe on the service. Given an Instaname (I think that's what they call it) how do I actually follow that person in Instagram?

A local company just sent me a long complicated sequence of letters and said it's a "promo code" so I can get a free copy of their new iPhone app. Except I don't really know what to do with the promo code. Do I use it as a payment method or credit card or what? I'd rather not name the app in case they read your blog, so if you need to know, please email me separately. Thanks!

Sure you can use Voice Memos to record audio with your iPhone, but if you've ever tried working with it or plugging in a device like the slick new Mikey Digital external mic [see my review of the mikey digital to learn more] it's quickly apparent that Voice Memos is a rudimentary app with few capabilities and doesn't even support stereo recordings. Just as importantly, getting the recordings off the iPhone requires you to import them into your iTunes library and exporting them afterwards to share with friends or colleagues. Awkward.

Enter the free application Blue FiRe from Blue Microphone. It records in stereo, it has a cool interface, and a really cool way for you to get those audio recordings directly off your iPhone and onto your computer. Via your Web browser. Read on...

If you've never used the Voice Memos app on your iPhone, you're missing out on one of the more useful hidden capabilities of the device: the ability to be a quite competent audio recorder. It's not like having a sound engineer on site, but if you're in a meeting and want to be able to capture the discussion and study it later, or you're on a Skype call and want to record it, or are at a live performance and want to enjoy it again later, that gadget in your pocket is definitely ready to do double duty.

Problem is, the mic on the iPhone works well if you're talking directly into it, but if you're laying it on a chair to record something that's 10' or further away, not much of the signal seems to get through!

Enter the Blue Microphone Mikey, an external mic that plugs directly into your iPhone and makes those recordings a whole lot better. This is their second external mic for an iOS device, but the first gen was only for early iPods and didn't work with iPhones or iPads. This new gen definitely does and even has a standard 30-pin connector.

How do I forget or delete a known wifi network on my Apple iPhone 4s, Dave? One time I accidentally connected to my neighbors open wireless network and now my phone constantly defaults to it even though I have my own network. I want to just have the phone delete or forget the network. Can it be done?

With its combination of a beautiful screen, bluetooth and integrated technology like geolocation and Internet access, the Apple iPhone has spawned a new generation of interesting technology ranging from the very futuristic Sphero to the iRadar (the latter of which we awarded a Best of CES 2012 award). While the IPhone is a handy timer, it never really crossed my mind that it could also be useful when cooking on the grill, but it turns out that the iGrill remote meat thermometer - with accompanying iPhone app - is a great addition to your BBQ efforts, and a perfect gift for any guy who isn't a master of the grill...

I've written before about the problems I've had with the built-in hands-free bluetooth system I have in my 2008 Toyota Highlander. I've given up using it, actually, as I got tired of people complaining that they couldn't hear me. I even called up Toyota asking if there was an upgrade path and their answer was "nope." Not so useful. To compensate, we've been testing out a lot of different bluetooth hands-free systems, both little speaker devices that hook to the visor and headsets.

Problem is, a car is a noisy environment, particularly when I'm zipping down the highway at 70mph, surrounded by traffic.

Enter the amazing VXI BlueParrott Xpress wireless headset that's specifically designed for high noise environments like construction sites and crowded spaces. Should be plenty enough for my car, right? Read on to find out...

How do I send an invitation to a calendar event on my iPhone 4S? I like to remind my friends when we have something coming up, but hate that I can't just have my iPhone do the work and have to get onto my iMac to get those email invitations...

I take a lot of photos on my iPhone 4s and I like it as an easy camera. Add photo stream and they're even automatically uploaded to the Web, which is really slick. Problem is, after a few hundred photos, it's hard to keep things organized. Is there some way on the IPhone itself (e.g., iOS 4) that I can create photo albums and move some of my photos into those new albums?

This is almost too hard to believe, but a pal of mine told me he's gone into the local Apple Store, scanned gear with his iPhone and paid for it directly on the phone, never having to interact with a salesman. When he's done, he walks out without a receipt, without a bag, or anything. This has gotta be a joke, otherwise what's to stop someone just walking out with thousands of dollars worth of gear?

I was surprised this morning to find that my kids had spent almost $30 in iTunes with in-app upgrades and add-ons for their favorite games on my iPad. That's not right, but I don't want to monitor each and every button they tap when they're playing. Is there a solution? Can I turn off or disable in-app purchases? Seems rather ridiculous if there isn't some sort of way to stop it!

Early this morning I was poking around in the iTunes Store and came across the most surprising iOS app I've ever seen listed: Windows 7 for iOS, direct from Microsoft Corporation. Unfortunately, by the time I clicked on the download button, it had been pulled and I can't find the listing again when I search. Still, what would you pay to get a fully functional copy of Windows 7 on your new iPad?

I haven't yet figured out how to work with the auto-upload capability of the Google Plus app on my iPhone, but I like the idea that all my photographs are automatically uploaded for me to peruse later. Can you show me how I can actually publish some of them, however? Know what I mean?

[[ Since I'm good friends with the development team and they were instrumental in the creation of the terrific Ask Dave Taylor iPhone app (you do have a copy, right? Every Q&A neatly stored on your iOS device, content updated daily! Get it: Ask Dave Taylor on iTunes) I felt it would be unfair to call this a "review" because, heck, I'm going to like the app. Instead, I just wanted to let you know about this fun new game they're written that works on iOS devices, Facebook as a game app and even on its own Web site. --Dave ]]

My daughter complained a few days ago when she was going through my iPhone, looking for a song that "Dad, you have too much darn music!" It's true. When you factor in my library of music accessible via iTunes Match, I have a bit less than 10,000 tracks, 53.7GB, 15 genres, with the largest of them having 195 albums ("Rock"), 177 albums ("Soundtracks"), 73 albums ("Jazz"), 65 albums ("Electronic") and even 33 Brazilian albums worth of music. A lot.

The question is, though, how well do I remember all my music? How well do I know my own iTunes library?

That's where the fun new app Guess Your Songs comes into the picture. Available on Facebook [Guess Your Songs for Facebook], iTunes [Guess Your Songs on iTunes] and as a standalone Web site [Guess Your Songs.com], how do I rank?

My daughter was holding my iPhone 4s and a text message arrived from my boyfriend, a message that was rather more racy than she needed to see. Awkward. What was confusing was that the phone was actually locked and the message showed up on the lock screen. What's the story with that and how can I disable it in the future?

I've been playing Words with Friends and am just starting a game with someone who I just realized is a gal I don't want to play games with. We have kind of a history. She's sly, though, not having a real name associated with her Words with Friends account, so it was only a mutual friend who told me. Now I want to resign the game. How do I do that on my iPhone?

I've started using the Voice Memos app on my new Apple iPhone 4s and it's simple and darn useful. But if I want to share it with a friend or save it on my computer, how do I copy the voice memo recording from the cell phone?

My son has been doing really well with his new cell phone, but recently he's hooked up with a girl who seems to never sleep and I have more than once found him late at night texting away. Not good. I have talked with him, but I'd also like to work with AT&T Wireless to establish blackout hours on his phone service during which time he cannot send or receive texts. Is that possible?

When I plug in my Apple iPhone 4s into my Dell Windows 7 laptop, it automatically imports all the photos and videos into Windows Live Photo Gallery. It's driving me crazy! I don't want to use this particular program for managing my photos! How can I change it or, better, have Win7 simply ask me what to do when I hook up my iPhone?

My daughter got overenthusiastic and preordered a bunch of upcoming music CDs from the Apple iTunes Store. Not so good. Once they all ship, I'm looking at over $100 in music purchases, way more than I can afford. Is there some way to cancel these pre-orders before they're charged to my iTunes account?

Dave: How do I remove Keynote files i have loaded on iTunes, I am not able to delete them. The delete option in iTunes is inactive.

Hey Dave, how can I delete a number or entry from my favorite list on my new iPhone 4?

I'm addicted to Facebook and am constantly posting updates from the Facebook app on my iPhone. Recently a friend pointed out that everything I post is only to friends, not to friends of friends or the public at large. For some of my updates, that's fine, but for others I do want it in the public eye. How do I change the Sharing settings on a wall update within the iPhone Facebook app?

Is it possible to actually make an appointment at the local Apple Store Genus Bar directly from my iPhone? I know there's a Web interface, but isn't there an iPhone app for this too, given that there are a million apps available?

I have finally figured out how to post a photograph from my Apple iPhone to Facebook and am wondering if there's a way to also post a picture to Google Plus in a similar way? That is, from the Google Plus app. Doable?

There's got to be a way to do this without actually deleting and reinstalling the app! Dave, how the $#@$&(&* do I log my daughter out of her Facebook app on my iPhone so I can log in to my own Facebook account?

Now that I have an iPhone, I am finding that the application icons are a complete jumble. I like things neat. Is there a way in iOS 5 to move them around so I have my favorites on the first screen, and so on?

I admit it, I don't sync my iPad with my computer very often. Nor do I sync my iPhone, for that matter. Just seems a hassle. On the other hand, when I do, there are tons of updated apps. Isn't there some way to update my applications directly on my iPhone or iPad, Dave?

I know this should be ridiculously easy, but how can I create a new contact with phone number and email address directly on my iPhone 4s? I can do it in the Address Book application on my Mac, but surely there's a way to do so directly on the iPhone?

I might be the only iPhone owner who doesn't know this, but how do I actually buy and download an app for my new iPhone 4? I know the ads show it being super easy to get apps, but they don't show you how to actually do it. Help!

I've seen your earlier article about using Image Capture to get photos off an iPhone 4 onto my Mac OS X system, but it doesn't seem to work right. Sometimes I hook it up and it just doesn't see the newest photos, as if it's remembering a previous version of my photo library on the iPhone. Is there an alternative?

I take tons of pictures with my iPhone and upload them to Facebook, Google Plus and Flickr. Nice. But what I'd like to do is some rudimentary cropping and color correction since sometimes they're not quite what I want. Suggestions? I have an iPhone 4, not a 4s.

I've finally gotten an iPhone 4s and am, of course, excited to play with Siri. It thinks my name is Susie, however, which is really weird. From what I can tell, that's one of the contacts in my address book on the iphone, but why does it think that's me, and how do I fix it?

My kids are a menace. At least, they are when they get their hands on my iPhone and iPad! Well, now that I think about it, they're just all-around menaces. :-) I'd like to add some sort of restrictions to my iOS devices so that they can't just go and buy stuff willy-nilly. This is possible, right? How do I enable content and purchase restrictions on my iPhone and iPad?

I've been reading about the privacy mess surrounding Carrier IQ, a company that apparently supplies diagnostic software for cellphones, and am anxious about my privacy. I have an iPhone and Apple has variously said that they have it, that they don't have it any more, and that they still have it but are going to remove the Carrier IQ utility. What's the story and how can I disable it on my new iPhone 4s?

I love Starbucks and go there all the time. It's no surprise that I like the slick Starbucks app for my iPhone too, it shows me the closest 'bux and also manages my gold card, letting me swipe the phone to pay for purchases and track drinks so I get those lovely free drink after 15 cards. Problem is, my son snagged my phone last time we were at Starbucks and promptly bought himself a new thermos and a bunch of VIA, which I didn't find out about until I saw my balance drop precipitously. Is there some way to prevent this from happen, to add a password to the Starbucks app itself?

I have a huge library of music, Dave, and want to be able to enjoy it on all my Apple devices, but am tired of having to pay for the biggest possible storage on each so that I have space. I've read about iTunes Music Match [ed: actually, it's called "iTunes Match"] and want to know if it'll solve my storage problem while still giving me access to all my tunes?

Everyone keeps telling me how they find all these great bargains and deals by using the location features in their iPhones, but I have an iPhone too and I have no idea how to find any of this stuff. It's a phone. What am I missing?

Hi Dave. I've seen your earlier article on how to tweak my text message notification beep [see iPhone beep repeatedly on new text messages?] but now that I'm running iOS 5, it no longer works. On iPhone iOS5, how can I change this notification setting?

I spend a lot of time surfing the Web on my iPhone 4 and sometimes want to share what I find with my administrative assistant. On my laptop, I can just copy and paste the URL, but in Safari on my Apple iPhone, I can't seem to do the same without a lot of hassle. Is there an easier way to share a Web page address on the little gizmo?

One feature of iOS 5 that I haven't seen anyone write about is the new Newsstand application that, I think, lets me subscribe to magazines on my iPad or iPhone and automatically receive issues as they're released. As someone who flies a lot, it sounds great. How do I subscribe to a magazine in Newsstand on my iPhone?

I spend way too much of my life in meetings and sometimes it'd be very helpful to be able to make an audio recording or "audio memo" of the meeting. I have an iPhone 4s and my husband has an iPhone 4. Can either / both of them record audio or do I need to get a dedicated recording device?

I'm really enthused about the possibility of wireless sync on my iPhone with the release of the new version of iTunes and iOS 5 for my iPhone 4, but rather than just thrash around I am hoping you can tell me how to quickly set up this feature on my Mac?

I'd like to let my friends check in to my house on Foursquare when they get to my place for a party, but I really don't want to have my address be out there for the public at large. Is there some sort of solution where I can retain my privacy but still be a Foursquare venue?

I have and really like the GPS navigational system on my Toyota Highlander but am a bit baffled about something: it seems that my cellphone can't auto-pair with the bluetooth system in the car because it's no longer the #1 phone on the list, my wife's phone is in that slot somehow. Not good. How can I delete her cellphone so mine is #1 and the bluetooth system pairs automatically?

How can I remove a person from favorites but keep him in contact list (he's just a contact, not a favorite) on my iPhone?

How do you set the background on an Apple iPhone? Not the opening screen however, but all the app pages. Thanks.

I'm a huge fan of the Starbucks iPhone app [iTunes link] and use it as my digital loyalty card. Saves me carrying money and it accumulates points and then free drinks. What's not to love? Recently, however, a friend gave me a $5 gift card to Starbucks. I could just use it, but I'm wondering, is there a way to just transfer its balance onto my main card so I get credit for the drink purchase?

I only use Facebook from my Apple iPhone and have no complaints. Except one. I can't unfriend people who I realize I don't want to be connected to on the site. Am I right, or is there a way to unfriend a Facebook friend within the iPhone app?

I want to buy a few new CDs from my favorite artists, but the prices on the iTunes Store seem to be going up. I also want to share the music with my boyfriend and can't unless we have a shared account. Stinks. A friend told me I should buy my music from Amazon instead with its MP3 downloads. How does that work with iTunes, iPods and iPhones?

I know how to mail photos to my Facebook account from my trusty Apple iPhone 4, but I am wondering if there's a way I can upload it with a caption from the phone instead?

My parents live in Mumbai, India and sometimes when I call them I realize that I've mis-computed the timezone change and woken them up. They are forgiving - they're good parents! - but I'd like to be a bit smarter about it all. How can I add Mumbai as a world clock on my iPhone?

I read your article yesterday about how to set up Picasa [soon to be renamed "Google Photos"] so you can email a photo to your Picasa account, but you sort of skipped the step of how to actually send that message from the phone. When I go to send a message, there's never an "add attachment" or "add photo" button on my iPhone. Am I missing something?

With computer technology advancing at a staggering pace it may seem odd, and you may not know, that you may be able to kiss your desktop, laptop and netbook goodbye sooner than you think. You see, as backwards as it seems, the hardware industry is now making big performance gains, using a smaller footprint, less power, thus, higher stability due to a reduction in heat. That being said, it should come as no surprise that Android smartphones are taking over America, and are beginning to rival laptop computers in processing power. Before I go in to depth about the direction I see the computing world going, I figured I would start with answering the questions I get most when I pull out my HTC EVO and people notice that there is little or nothing similar to their Android phone, or their HTC EVO.

First and foremost, it should be understood that what I have done with my phone and about to describe and endorse (albeit incredibly awesome) will void the warranty of your phone. Disclaimer aside, it can all be undone providing you create a backup of the stock "ROM". For whatever reason, the community has been referring to customized operating systems as Roms, or mods, but either way, with the right rom and kernel combination, one can achieve absolutely insane performance and battery life.

Just picked up a used Toyota Sienna van and I'm pretty psyched about it - lots of room and it's really comfortable to drive - but I'm not sure how to pair my Apple iPhone 4 with the navigational system from Toyota. Any help or tips? Before you ask, yes, the car does have Bluetooth as far as I can tell.

I somehow changed the language from English to Japanese on my Apple iPhone 4; how do I change it back?

I have my iPhone set up as a personal hotspot through AT&T but suspect that using it via wifi slows me down and that if I could plug it directly into my computer, it'd work faster. Is that true, and if so, how can I tether my iPhone via USB to my MacBook and gain faster access to the Internet?

I occasionally go to very hip, trendy nightclubs here in Los Angeles and really want to "check in" to them on Facebook so that my friends can see that I'm at the cool party, the favorite club, etc. Can you give me a quick tutorial on how to use Facebook Places to check in so I can do so even in the jostling of the bar or the dance floor?

For all the years I've been going into Starbucks and checking out their free song download of the week, I've always assumed that I needed to enter the redemption code in iTunes on my computer, but the last time I was looking at the card, I realized that you can redeem it and download the new song directly on your Apple iPhone, no iTunes required. Nice!

How do I turn my iPhone 4 off for airplane travel? I think that's called "airline mode" or "airplane mode"?

I've started using my iPhone to pay for coffee and snacks at the local Starbucks and it's very cool. I love not having to carry around my card but instead have the information -- and prepaid credit -- neatly on my phone. I just won a new Starbucks Card, and am wondering if I can have more than one card in the "Mobile Card" app, and if so, how I do it?

I'm impressed with the HD video camera built in to my iPhone 4 and use it a lot to record short videos. Problem is, they don't end up in iTunes so I can't copy them to other devices, watch them on my AppleTV, etc. I know that AirPlay is supposed to help, but that seems really complicated. What I want is a way to copy a video to the "movies" section of iTunes. Is that possible?

Okay, this is embarrassing. I was at an important business meeting and as usual, we all put our cellphones in the middle of the table before we started talking. Then a text message from my girlfriend showed up on my iPhone 4 with a, um, suggestive picture of her. My boss grabbed it, read the message out to everyone and raised his eyebrows at the photo. Super embarrassing! Short of telling her not to text me, how can I avoid this kind of situation in the future?

I would like to know how to save the number of a person that has sent me a text message on my iphone 4! Thank you so much

I have a ton of overlap between the people in my Address Book / Contacts on my iPhone and the people with whom I'm friends on Facebook. Since my iPhone can display people's photos when they ring, I'd really love to have as many of my friend's pictures in my iPhone contacts data as possible. Which leads to an obvious question: is there some sort of tool that lets you import Facebook profile pictures and match them with your Address Book contacts? That'd be very cool...

I have a Personal Hotspot set up with my iPhone 4 via AT&T and it's very nice, but I have heard that running it as a wifi hotspot actually eats up battery, so I'd like to use it as a tethered USB connection because it'll also charge my phone at the same time. Is that possible, and if so, how do I set it up?

I dig Twitter and use it a lot to stay in touch with friends and chat, but recently I've been noticing that if I mention certain words or phrases that I get "@" replies from people I don't know, generally trying to sell me things or convince me to visit their Web site. I don't want this spammy pollution in my twitterstream. Can I report them as spammers if I'm using the Twitter app on my iPhone?

I took the plunge and added "personal hotspot" service to my AT&T iPhone and it seems pretty cool, but I'm not sure of the best way to tap into the personal hotspot wifi with my new iPad 2. I'm a bit afraid to just mess things up. Got any tips?

A friend just pointed out to me that because my iPhone 4 has a GPS built into it, it always knows where I am, and that it records that information in every picture I take with the phone. Since I often post pictures online, I don't want them to all have my exact location hidden within. Is there a way to turn this off?

I'm so excited about the new iOS 4.3 update from Apple for my iPhone 4! Now I understand that even as an AT&T user, I can set it up to work just like a mifi personal hotspot and let me connect other devices ("tether") so they can get on the Internet through my iPhone Internet connection. Cool! How do I set this up?

I have both an SMTP and a MobileMe account set up on my iPhone and just noticed that when I send email from the phone, it has a MobileMe return address, not my proper account address. I think it's picking the wrong account, not just wrong email, so is there a way to change the iPhone default email account?

Okay, so I turned on 2-step verification, which is cool, but now I can't log in to my Google Voice app on my iPhone. This is not good, Dave. How do I fix it??

This is a guest review by photographer Paul M. Bowers.

There are a many reasons you should buy Create Great iPhone Photos by Allan Hoffman, but only one can be the Number One.

I've been a commercial photographer for about 30 years, brung up in the briar patch of large-format transparency photography. You've seen my studios similar to mine in movies and TV- hardwood floors, industrial building, big windows and people running around everywhere. And then there was the darkroom, brimming with hazardous chemicals in which we splashed and played. But I've always had an affinity for small-form factor cameras, beginning with the Canon AF35M (the first real point-and-shoot) and the famous Olympus XA. I've carried these small cameras around the world, and have created some of my favorite images on these. My latest site, JustTheCoolStuff.com is based entirely on small form factor cameras and the iPhone.

Then I got an iPhone [cue chorale] . It became immediately obvious the power this small camera has, especially when combined with the large number of apps available for post (or pre) production. Controls and effects photographers used to drink, drug and teeth-gnash to perfect are available in real-time and in very controllable (and uncontrollable) ways.

This is driving me crazy: I have a ton of music on my iPhone and listen to it instead of my iPod. Easier, less gadgets involved. Problem is, if I shake or jostle my iPhone then the iPod app decides I want to jump to the next song. I don't! Can I turn off shake to shuffle and if so, how??

I hear that there's a new security system you can enable on Google Gmail and the rest of the Google suite that requires you to have your smart phone along with your password? What's the security system called [ed note: "2-step verification"] and how can I use it for my own account?

The Facebook app on my IPhone is frozen and won't do anything! What can I do to fix this problem?

Don't know if you can help me with this, but I recently became an iPhone software developer and am excited to install the latest beta release of iOS 4.3 (it's beta 3 as of this writing). Problem is, when I download it from developer central, I end up with a ".ipsw" file and have no idea what to do with it. Help?

I've never seen this before, but on the icon for Messages on my iPhone 4, there's a small white exclamation mark in a red circle. Not a number indicating how many new text messages I have, but an exclamation mark. Apparently that shows up when something failed. Now what??

I dunno what the story is, but I can't figure out how to upload a photo directly from my iPhone 4 onto Facebook using the Facebook app. i don't want to email it to Facebook, I want to do it within the app. Is that even possible, and if so, how's it done?

This review compares the Arkon GPS Car Kit RWIPC and the Arkon SLIM-Grip Mount IMP-514, and I want to start by saying that Akron Resources really makes quality products of sturdy construction, built for optimal utility and unobtrusiveness. Their GPS Car Kit and SLIM-Grip Mount both fit well within that description, to be used with the iPhone or the iPod Touch.

"Versus" reviews probably should most often compare apples-to-apples and furthermore compare competing companies' products... however this review will compare two different products, both made by the same company.

This comparison is more of an apples-to-oranges comparison, as the SLIM-Grip Mount has no GPS features, and is simply a mobile mount for holding your iPhone for you, while you drive. The GPS Car Kit is not only a mount for your iPhone, but it does so much more, which I'll describe in detail. Please note that this review will in no way encourage you to use your iPhone (nor any phone, for that matter) while you drive. Distracted driving is an ever-growing concern and strict laws are now in place, in most all states. Please drive responsibly, at all times.

My sister sends photographs in the text messages she sends me from her iPhone, but on my iPhone I can't see how to do the same thing. Is there some trick to this, or something I need to enable on the iPhone to text message photos? Or is it something I need to sign up for with AT&T?

I've got the chance to beta test a new game on my iPhone, which is awesome, but they want my IMEI number, and I am a bit clueless about how to find it. Help!?

Are you one of the lucky ones who got a new mobile phone or smart phone for Christmas? So let me ask you this: Have you ever left your mobile phone behind? Say, in a restaurant, a coffee shop, or at work? Don't you just hate that feeling when you finally realize it? I know I do, and it has happened to me more than once, before, but never again.

Zomm is the first ever Wireless Leash™ for your smartphone! Alright, I know what you are thinking. Another device I have to carry? Steeeeve, I'm trying to carry less devices, not more! Well wipe that look of skepticism off your face, you cynical sort. The short answer is yes, it is an additional small device to carry, but a worthwhile one, about which I feel strongly to be a very useful tool.

This is a guest review...

When a developer sets out to design an app, it's my firm belief that they should concentrate on fleshing out the features that exist *first*. Only when those features are complete should new ones be considered. PolyTune is a great example of this. Unfortunately, it's a great example of what *not* to do.

That's not to say that PolyTune is all bad. In fact, it does exactly what it advertises, and quite smoothly. A single strum of your guitar, and the app shows six different indicators. One for each string, each displaying real time like a standard monotuner would. That alone is quite impressive. But I don't think that minor convenience alone is enough reason to buy this app. Especially with all the monotuner apps out there with a plethora of bells and whistles. And especially not with its $5 price tag.

That about sums up what's good about the app. And it pales in comparison to what's glaringly absent. PolyTuner does have some minor configuration options. Just, not many.

Sometimes when I'm browsing the Web on my Apple iPhone 4, I bump into a Web page that I'd like to send to a friend or two via text message. I know that there's a way to email someone the URL of a page I'm viewing, but how can I just get the URL into the copy/paste buffer so I can paste it anywhere?

I just got an Apple iPhone and am totally psyched about it. But I really want to change the photograph that shows up on the front of the phone from the generic picture. Do you know what I'm talking about? [ed: it's the "Lock Screen" according to Apple]

I have a nifty wireless wifi speaker setup in my office where we use AirPlay on our Apple devices to send music to the speakers from iPhones, iPads and our Mac computers. Works awesome and it's built around an old Airport Express, but I realized that anyone can find and access the speakers, not just people in my office. Is there a way to password protect the speakers?

I just got a new iPhone 4 and am excited to get it working, but when I try to use a "Restore" from a previous backup of my iPhone 3GS, I get an error that the software on the new phone is too old. How can the new phone have software that's too old to restore from an iTunes backup??

Can I regift my iPhone 2g updated to a 3G to my 10 y/o niece to use in another state to use as an itouch without hooking up the iPhone capabilities as a phone. She is too young to have a phone. I just want to know if she could have Internet and email capabilities without phone service. Would it need a wi fi spot for this!? Or data plan!? Thanks for any advice!

Every time I send an email message from my Apple iPhone 4, it ends with "Sent from my iPhone" which is about as boring as I can possibly imagine. I've seen other people don't have this and I presume they aren't changing it for each and every message they send, so what's the scoop, how can I change my default email signature on my iPhone?

If you ever wondered what techies did BEB -- Before eBay -- to find the coolest "used" technologies, widgets and gizmos, they simply traveled to a local Hamfest. A Hamfest, for everyone who missed this rare sub-culture gathering of the Ham amateur radio generation[s], it is a massive second hand technology fair, occurring nearly every weekend during warm weather. My father would travel for miles to attend; anything to be surrounded by the old "junk" that was sold to other hams, engineers, hobbyists, anyone who sought out motherboard key chains or electronics equipment that seemed 100's of years old to me. But to my Dad, this was nirvana. Someone else's adventure and inventions became my Dad's treasures.

To "appease" him I would tag along, but I never knew how much of an impact those fairs and that time with my Dad would have on my life until recently. I can trace back my love for technologies and gizmos to those Sunday mornings basking in the hot sun, hanging out with my Dad and rummaging through the broadcast isles and WWII surplus. I expanded my knowledge of old equipment, hardware, inventing, and my father. Now I truly understand the old adage, one mans junk is another's treasure. When my father found something interesting, perhaps something like a $40,000 spectrum analyzer that needed a bit of work that he could buy for pennies on the dollar, he'd tell everyone about his find, why it was so great and why we lugged it home.

Years later, when I find a product that impresses me I spend all my time in a similar fashion trying to share the good word with all who are interested. For instance, although I LOVE my iPhone, the battery life causes some problems for the executive on the go. As I travel from client to client, appointment to appointment, I am on the move and the last thing I need to go wrong is to loose touch with the world. Therefore, I depend on my iPhone to keep me in touch with work and my family.

I've been reading along on your series about the Find My iPhone [iTunes link] application and its slick remote security features [ed: start with How to use Find My iPhone on an iPad, then read How to Remote Lock your Apple iPhone] but for reasons I don't reall understand, when I signed in to my Mobile Me account to use the service, it listed a bunch of devices I no longer have. I want to clean the list up, but I just don't see how to do it on my iPhone??

I'm pretty sure that I lost my Apple iPhone 4, which is bumming me out, and while I already locked it remotely [see How do I remote lock my Apple iPhone?] I want to send a message to the person who might be trying to hack into it that I'll pay them a $20 reward, no questions asked, if they'll return it to me. Can I send an emergency text message to my iPhone?

I think my Apple iPhone was stolen, but I suppose it's possible I just forgot it somewhere. Problem is, I have lots of personal information on the phone and have skipped the hassle of having an access code in the interest of answering phone calls more quickly. Now I want to use the remote-lock capability to send the lock request to the phone, just in case someone does find it and starts playing. How can I easily do that?

According to Apple, I can now use the "Find my iPhone" feature to make sure that I never lose my new iPad. Nice, but for the life of me, I can't figure out how to turn it on, even with the latest iOS iPad firmware updates. What's the secret, Dave?

This is just weird. In the last month or so my Apple iPhone has started beeping for an incoming text message multiple times if I don't indicate that I've read it, whereas before it just notified me once and was satisfied with that. Has something evil happened to my iPhone that everything's in triplicate now?

In the latest version of Apple's iPhone operating system (iOS), I understand that you can now set custom text message alert tones on a per-person basis, which is awesome: I'll then know who a text message is from before I even look at the phone. Nice. But how do I actually set up these custom alert sounds on my iPhone?

As I sit in meetings at work, I often take notes on my iPhone 4 that I want to share with my administrative assistant afterwards, but so far the only way I've figured out is to simply hand her my phone so she can copy everything onto her computer. But really, it's an iPhone, there's got to be a better solution?

Can you tell me how to "capture" an iphone screen and do something with it like email it to someone? I've seen it done, but have no idea how to take a screen shot and then do anything with it...

I don't know how the heck he did it, but my boyfriend just texted me a pushpin from his iPhone and when I tapped on it, it transferred the point to my iPhone map application. I want to be able to do the same, so can you enlighten me please, Dave? You're my last hope of saving face!

I have an Apple TV and like the little silver remote that's included, but a buddy told me that I can actually use my iPhone to control the device if I'm in the house and skip the remote gizmo entirely. Cool. How do I do that??

I just bought an iPhone 4 and am psyched about it, but I want to copy music from my iPod Nano onto it and am stuck. Is there a special cable or something I need? How do I copy music from an iPod onto an iPhone?

I'm an addict, I admit it, I love Starbucks coffee. Complain all day about big corporate versus small business, but when I'm traveling, I really appreciate knowing I'll get a good cup of coffee or a tasty latte on the road. I'm an iPhone user and have a question for you: is there a way I can find the closest Starbucks drive-thru when I'm traveling somewhere new?

Alright Dave, come clean. I've seen you at a meetup playing a game on your iPhone 4, but I've never known what games you enjoy. I know from your Facebook updates that you're a pretty serious gamer, so what do you find appealing and worth playing?

I saw a demo of a video chat using FaceTime where one person was on their MacBook and the other was on their iPhone 4. Incredible! How do I set up my Mac so I can have face to face chats with my girlfriend, even when she's on the road with her iPhone 4?

Seems like all my iPhone apps are updating to something called "retina display." What is that?

I'm borrowing my girlfriend's Chevy Equinox (don't tell her, but I actually like it better than my Ford F10) and want to be able to use my Apple iPhone as a hands-free cell phone in the car. It has a fancy navigational system that includes bluetooth but I haven't figured out all the steps necessary to pair the iPhone with the Equinox. Do you by any chance know how to do that, Dave?

I was trying to log in to Facebook this morning and noticed that in addition to specifying an email address, you can also specify a cell phone number when you want to log in to Facebook. Cool, seems like a good way to have a second option if I otherwise lose my password and can't get into my email account for some reason. How do i set up a cell phone number on my Facebook account, David?

How do I create menu folders [ed note: actually you're talking about app folders on your iPhone / iOS 4 home screen] on my iPhone 4?

I know how to add new apps to my iPhone, but I'm not entirely clear how I update those apps when there are new versions available. Is this something I can do on my phone, or do I need to use iTunes to update iPhone apps?

Being the computer guru you are, I'm sure such a question won't tax your awesome technical problem solving savvy but here goes: How do I delete podcasts or music from my iPhone or iPod that I don't want anymore?

I read your earlier article on How to subscribe to a podcast in iTunes but am not entirely clear how to get those podcast episodes onto my iPhone automatically. How do I subscribe to a podcast on my iPhone?

I hear that you've got a podcast you record weekly, Dave. How can I find and subscribe to it ( ed note: it's called the Boulder Open Podcast [iTunes link] ) in iTunes? I'd like to give it a shot and find out what you sound like too!

I am a pretty heavy user of my Apple iPhone 4's email capability, constantly reading messages as they arrive and sending out responses after tapping madly on the tiny virtual keyboard. It works. My question is whether there's a way for me to see my sent messages on the phone, so I can check prior discussions I might have had with an individual??

I'm baffled! I want to start using Facebook Places when I'm in public venues (having read your article yesterday about Facebook Places and Privacy, thanks for that!) but it can't ever find my location. Is there some secret to getting it to work on my iPhone 4?

My friend sends me photos from his late night parties via text message [actually, it's MMS, the multi-media message service that he's using] and I want to send him pics too, via text message, but I don't know how. Got some tips for me?

How do I save a text message on my Apple iPhone 4? Can I forward it to an email address on my phone, for example?

I have an iPhone 4 and while I haven't seen any major problems with the reception based on how I hold the phone, what the heck, I'd like to get a free case through the program Jobs announced earlier in July. How do I score a free Apple iPhone 4 bumper or case??

My parents are traveling in Africa and I want to be able to quickly see what the time is where they are in Johannesburg, South Africa, before I try to text or call them. I know that the iPhone has a Clock app as part of the built-in software, but how do I add a specific country clock to the list?

My Dad gave me a bluetooth headset that he isn't using, a Nokia BH-700, and I want to pair it with my iPhone 3GS, but I can't figure out how to proceed since the instruction manual has vanished. I have the power adapter, so at least I can charge it, but that's about all I have figured out how to do so far. HELP!?

I've had an Apple iPhone since the iPhone 3 was released and now that I have an iPhone 4, I realize that I should be able to pair it via bluetooth with my Toyota GPS navigational system. I have no idea how to proceed, however. Any chance you have a Toyota and can help out?

A friend showed me how to use Spotlight search on my new iPhone 4, and it's a great way to find things quickly, but I really, really don't want to have it search the thousands of songs I have on my phone, just my contacts and address book information. Is that something I can tweak or alter?

I was able to see large photos of incoming callers from my contact list and now I'm just getting the wallpaper backdrop on my iPhone when my friends call. How I do I revert to the viewing the full photos of my contact list when I make or receive calls?

A friend and I were having a beer when her phone beeped: it was a direct message she'd received on Twitter. Cool. How did she set that up and how can I do the same on my iPhone?

Okay, so I now know how to pair a cellphone with my Mac via Bluetooth - thank you! - but I am still unclear about how to actually transfer a file to the device. Can you shed light on this additional step, Dave?

I saw your earlier article about how to pair a bluetooth speaker with a Mac OS X system, but am wondering about how to do the same with my son's older LG phone? I know that the iPhone has a good connection with the Mac OS X system, but what about other cellphones that support bluetooth? How do you pair 'em?

I'm starting to get paranoid about the geolocation capabilities on my iPhone. How can I figure out which of my many iPhone apps are tapping into the geo information and reporting it back to the app developer??

If you follow my Twitter stream (I'm @DaveTaylor on Twitter) you already know that I'm a bit of a fanatic about the FIFA World Cup and this year it's the first time I can actually bring the World Cup with me thanks to my Apple iPhone. It's every four years and the iPhone was introduced in 2007, so I think I had a Motorola RAZR during the last Cup (e.g., a phone that was dead useless in terms of helping me enjoy the matches).

The World Cup is the single most popular sporting event in the world, but oddly is unpopular here in the United States. That's the subject of a different article, however. Suffice to say, I find it odd that only one or two of my friends even watch matches, let alone pay attention to the entire Cup.

Fortunately, there's lots of commercial interest in the World Cup with useful apps from both ESPN [iTunes link] and Fox Soccer Channel [iTunes link]. What I really wanted was to watch the matches live on my iPhone -- now my iPhone 4 -- and that's where MobiTV comes in...

Now that I have a new iPhone 4 - thanks to standing in line for four hours - I am eager to try some of the new features and am a bit baffled by how to get to FaceTime, the video conferencing system on the phone. Do you have an iPhone 4? Can you show me how to do it?

Based on your enthusiasm for Foursquare, I have been getting more into it and am connecting with a variety of different people in my community. Generally it's good fun and since I only check in when I am in a public setting, I have no worries about privacy with people I don't know. Except there's this one guy who uses his checkins to advertise his workshops incessantly and it's annoying to get those alerts. I want to unfriend him. But how can I do that in Foursquare?

I want to give my daughter my old iPhone so she can use it as an iPod Touch sort of device and am concerned that she'll listen to material that doesn't meet my approval as a parent. What I'd like is to put some sort of limiter or lock on the phone so that any music that is marked as having explicit lyrics is skipped or prevented from playing. Possible?

I travel a lot, flying to a city then driving around visiting customers. It's pretty boring. So I listen to a lot of audio books (or are they "audiobooks"?) on my iPhone. I recently finished one while in Houston and was stuck: for future reference, is there a way to buy a new audiobook directly on my iPhone, without a computer involved?

This is beyond annoying: I've been using the Notes application on my iPhone 3G to keep track of different things and now that I want to get the notes of, I realize that I'm kind of trapped. I can't see any way to access them off the phone, even within iTunes, which reports that it's backing up and syncing those same notes. Frustrating!!

I'm about to throw my Apple iPhone out the window, Dave, so help me out! I bought an audio book on CD-ROM from the local used bookstore, ripped all the tracks in iTunes, then set the files to "audiobook" format. Sync'd on the iPhone, they show up as audio books, but when I go to play it, the tracks are in shuffle mode, and there's no way to prevent it! How do I fix it??

I downloaded like 5 apps off of iTunes to put on my iPhone. But, when I unplugged my phone from the computer, the games weren't on there!! I don't know what 2 do?? Plz help. Thanks!!

How do I set up another photo album and how would I transfer pictures on my Apple iPhone 3gs to each corresponding albums? Thank you.

When I go to the local gym and want to check in on Foursquare, I always have to search for the venue rather than having the app just show me it as an option for my current location. What's up with that?

Ok, I get you like small form-factor cameras because having one with you is better than having a pro rig that's in the closet at home, but which camera do you suggest for an advanced amateur photographer? I take a lot of pictures of our [dog, cat, ferret, parakeet, hamster, kids] to send to grandparents and post on Facebook, but want to be able to shoot really good quality pictures too, not just snapshots. What do you recommend?

A friend of mine gave me a copy of the movie Tomb Raider (I already own the DVD, but I want to watch it on my iPhone 3GS while at the gym) and I can't figure out what to do with it. The file is in ".avi" format and when I double-click on it I get an error from QuickTime Player, and have no idea how to copy it onto my phone. HELP!

I'm not sure what happened, but my AT&T LG500 cellphone is suddenly locked up and insists that I need to enter a PUK code. Well, it says "PUK PIN Code", but either way, I don't know what the code is. Help! Each time I try the counter goes down by one and I'm afraid something bad's going to happen if I get to zero too... HELP!

Ever since adhesive companies like 3M came up with high-quality sticker materials, companies have slowly but surely been licensing brands, logos and artwork to help us personalize our laptops, car windows and personal electronics. The first generation were a pain to work with because the stickers were often too sticky: put them on slightly wrong and you were quite literally "stuck" and lifting corners to erase stray bubbles or seams could end up ruining the skin and leave it unstuck on one side.

The latest generation are a huge improvement with their increased thickness and extraordinary vivid color retention. They can be cut into extremely accurate forms and custom fit whatever device you have. With iPhones, they wrap around the back of the phone and include cut-outs for the camera lens and an irregular edge that neatly extends the sticker without covering up any of the controls.

But are they worth it? Should you rush out and drop $15-20 to emblazon your favorite band, artist or comic book hero on the back of your iPhone?

To find out, I was given sample skins from the two main players in this market: GelaSkins and MusicSkins. Both use the exact same 3M film, and both seem to use the same die to cut their stickers to fit the iPhone, so the difference is primarily in the graphic itself. But there's more to it than that, as you'll see...

I made the huge mistake of letting my son play with my iPhone and when I went back to check a note a few days later was horrified to find that they were all gone. Really not good! Is there any way to recover notes from my iPhone or from within iTunes? If it makes a difference, I'm running Windows 7 on a Dell laptop.

My kids have learned how to do screen captures on my iPhone and now whenever they're playing with the phone, they're taking screenshots of what they're doing, be they games, checking my address book or just looking at a map. Cute, but darn annoying when my photo library is overrun with this stuff. Worse, it's tedious as hell to delete them, one by one, on the phone. Without resorting to my computer, is there any way to delete more than one picture or photograph at a time on the Apple iPhone 3GS?

Now that I have a bunch of apps on my new Apple iPhone 3GS, I want to change what's where in the most efficient manner possible: dragging back and forth isn't my idea of fun when there are three screens full of icons! What's the best approach for reordering my apps on the iPhone?

My son and his friends are really into a iPhone program called Foursquare, and whenever they go somewhere, they "check in" so that they can find each other. Neat idea. Is there some way that I can add my own restaurant to the list of places where people can check in so that they'll see we're popular and perhaps check us out?

I got a text from a friend of mine, iPhone to iPhone, and darn if she didn't have all sorts of cute little icons in her message to me. When I asked how she did it, she said "emoji!" I have no idea what that is or what it means, but I really want to be able to respond in kind ASAP. Help?!

Another game for the iPhone? I already have over a hundred games on my iPhone (one reason my kids are always stealing my phone!) so when my friend Gary dropped me a note to let me know that his long-time hit Gold Strike [iTunes link] was now available through the iPhone App Store, I was skeptical. He writes great games but still, another game? Fortunately, I sprang for the $0.99, dropped it onto my phone and am impressed!

I've been hearing a lot about how the American Red Cross has raised millions of dollars in relief funds for the Haitians through people "texting 'HAITI' to 90999" but I have an iPhone and I know how to send text messages to my friends by finding them in my Contacts app, but how do I send a text message like that to a non-phone number numeric code [they're called "shortcodes" in the industry, btw --Ed]?

My friends are all into playing the game "FourSquare" and when I checked it out, it looks like it's only for smartphones like the iPhone. Kinda stinks because I don't have a "smart" phone, just a regular cellphone. Am I stuck in the cold, or is there some way to play FourSquare from my Mac laptop?

Okay, this is crazy. My friend and I both have Apple iPhones. We both have Facebook accounts, and we both have the Facebook app for the iPhone. On his, however, if he shakes his phone it gets the latest data from his Live Feed, but on mine, nothing happens when I do that. Is my iPhone 3GS busted, or what??

If you're big into movies, TV or other media, you already know that more and more shows and productions are getting short movies to advertise them, "trailers" that you can now even find for books and video games (though you're not likely to see those in a movie theater). I write a film blog too, so I pay close attention to trailers for upcoming movies, which is why the Apple iPhone app TrailerSpy Mobile [iTunes link] caught my interest. Here's what I found...

I got a very nice card from my grandma that included $10 "to buy some music for my new apple phone". It wasn't a gift card, though, so I figured I'd just buy the music directly in the iTunes Store on my iPhone and drop the $10 in the bank. Did it, but now I'm baffled: how do I copy that purchased music onto my MacBook Pro laptop? Do I need to download it again from the iTunes Store, or can iTunes just pull it from the phone?

I have the Facebook app on my Apple iPhone 3GS and like it a lot, but am wondering if there's any way I can manage my fan page while mobile, in addition to accessing my regular user account?

[This article is written by Contributing Editor Gary Moskoff]

A lot of companies are realizing that they can advertise and promote their brands through utilities, games and other applications for the Apple iPhone, including Walmart, Starbucks, REI, Sears, Audi, Target, Nikon, Toyota, Honda, Ikea and Nike, to name just a few.

Most of these, however, come across as me-too applications that aren't particularly creative, games that aren't very fun or as applications that just don't have much cool factor or completely miss their target audience of iPhone users anyway.

So who do I think is doing it best? You might be surprised...

I've written a lot about iPhones, and traveled down many different routes in terms of how to use them efficiently, how to have fun, and how to solve a wide variety of problems or glitches. If you've watched closely, you'll have also see in the screenshots that I have a lot of iPhone apps on my phone, in fact I think I've maxed out the number of screens I can create on the 3GS device.

Most of those apps? Games. I have a lot of games for my iPhone and while many of them are intended to keep my kids entertained (their favorites currently are Surviving High School, Cooking Mama, Oregon Trail, Sally's Spa and Pocket God) there are definitely some that I have added for my own enjoyment.

Peggle has you shooting a ball to bounce off, and thereby eliminate, red pegs on screen

Enter iPhone and computer game developer Popcap. I started out downloading Peggle and then finishing the game -- three times through! -- and asking them to release a new version so I could continue to play. Instead, they told me that they'd released a new game and wanted me to try it: Chuzzle.

I've been buying different applications for my iPhone and would like to start leaving some ratings and reviews of those that I like. I can't figure out how to do it from my iPhone 3GS, however: what's the secret?

I've finally gotten my iPhone application published by Apple and it now appears in the iTunes App Store. Super cool. Now, however, I have a few people asking for "promo codes" rather than actually wanting to pay for the app. Since they might offer me some great visibility, I am fine with sending those codes, but don't know how. Help!

Last week I thought I'd lost my Apple iPhone but after a day I found it. Still, I've become a bit paranoid, but having a security code on the phone itself is too annoying. Instead, is there a way for me to remotely set a security code if I do lose the phone again?

Every so often I get an email message on my iPhone 3GS and want to save it for later, rather than have it vanish as it's replaced by newer messages in the mailbox. I can't see any way to save it, though, other than in folders, and I have a feeling I'll just forget what's there. Is there a better solution?

Imagine a device that's about the size of three credit cards and can let you and four of your friends (or multiple of your devices) connect to the Internet at decent 3G speeds, all while sitting in your briefcase / computer bag / coat pocket. The up-and-coming "mifi" (mobile wifi) devices are a fascinating hybrid gizmo that offers the smallest wifi base station you can imagine, tapping into either the Verizon or Sprint data networks.

Verizon loaned me one of their mifi-2200 units and I have to say this is a fabulous gizmo, one that I'll find out about buying when my loaner period is over. It's that good.

As I said, the device is tiny: even in its little cloth pouch, it's less than half the size of my Apple iPhone, and considerably lighter. It uses a micro-USB connector for both charging and direct connectivity (if you prefer to use it as a tethered cellular data network modem), so it's also extremely portable. I know I've gotten into having it in my computer bag 24x7.

When sending mail from Apple iPhone 3GS my copy says from barber This is incorrect. How can I correct this? Thank you! Barbara

I park in various lots downtown when I have meetings there, and, well, sometimes I forget where I parked. I started out taking a picture of the front of the parking structure with my iPhone 3GS, but suspect there's a better solution. HELP!

I'm psyched that after months of waiting, AT&T has finally announced that there's now multimedia messaging service (MMS) available on the iPhone 3G, but, darn it, I hooked up my phone to my computer but it didn't say there was an update. So how do I get there, how do I enable MMS on my Apple iPhone?

I watched the latest Apple announcements and was pretty impressed by the different things that Steve Jobs talked about, but the one that caught my attention was the iPhone Application Genius recommendation service. I'm a bit of an app-aholic, so I like to see what's new, but with tens of thousands in the iTunes app store, well, a recommendation service seems like a great idea. How do I use it?

Now that GPS apps like Tom-Tom are showing up on the Apple iPhone 3GS, I'm wondering if I really need to buy those expensive apps when Google Maps that's included with the iPhone does such a great job? I know I can get directions, but can I get turn-by-turn directions like I would in a handheld GPS?

I'm borrowing a colleague's tiny little Verizon wireless cell modem gizmo, the MiFi 2200, and I'm totally impressed with it, except for one huge thing: what the heck do the lights mean?

I don't know if this is even possible, but my girlfriend keeps sending me cute pictures and when I read them on my iPhone I really wish I could save them and use them as wallpaper images. Is that even possible on the iPhone, or do I have to get my computer involved in the process?

What a gaffe! I wanted to get more information about the new TomTom turn-by-turn directions application for the Apple iPhone 3GS and clicked "Buy App" instead of the icon for the app. Next thing I know, I've just paid $99 for this app and it's downloading onto my computer. Not good, not good at all! What can I do?

I just recently downloaded the game "Besieged" for my Apple iPhone but am stumped, unable to get past the last boss. Is there some trick or walkthru or something you can point me to, Dave?

If you've owned an Apple iPhone 3GS, 3G or still have an original iPhone, I don't need to tell you that one of the constant hassles with the phone is battery life. It's better in the newest phone, but everyone who has an iPhone seems to have their own strategy for minimizing battery usage, ranging from "don't use the 3G network" to "disable wifi" to "turn off everything, especially bluetooth".

I leave everything enabled on my phone except Bluetooth and my adaptation strategy has been to have lots of power cords with me: two in my house, one in my car, and one in my computer bag so I can sip at USB power whenever I'm using my computer on the go. It's a hassle, but it's manageable.

Where this breaks down is when you're at a trade show or out for the day, without the chance of getting near a power plug, computer or vehicle. You've seen it at parties, i bet: people making BFF's because they have the ability to quick charge iPhones, huddled by the wall outlet like it's the illicit drug of choice.

It's no surprise that add-on and extension batteries are a popular accessory for Apple iPhones, and six months ago, the major contenders were awkward battery devices with universal plugs that acted like an external gas tank: useful if needed, but clunky as heck.

The newest generation of these devices are sleek and double as iPhone cases, and two of the best are from Tekkeon and Mophie.

Do they work, though, and how do they compare? Read on...

A buddy of mine was showing me how on his iPhone he has a tiny percentage display of how much battery life he has left on his iPhone, in addition to the usual battery graphic that's displayed. But he wouldn't show me how to get it on my phone. Before I do something drastic to him, can you tell me how to get that to show up?

I use Mobile Me with my iPhone now, and am finding that the gallery feature is pretty cool, but it's tedious as heck when I have to upload them one at a time. Isn't there a smarter way to do this on my Apple iPhone 3GS?

I'm sick of tapping into wifi signals where I can find them and being stuck without any Internet access when there isn't one, or when it's password protected. So I sprung for a Verizon Mifi2200 device that they tell me will met me connect from my MacBook Pro to the Internet anywhere, any time. But how do I get it all set up on my Mac?

I'm a big fan of Apple gear, like you are, and while I've been an iPhone owner for quite a while, I've always been pretty leery about paying for the Mobile Me service. Apparently, though, one of the slick new features is the ability to always find your phone if it's otherwise lost, called "Find My iPhone" or "Find My Phone" or something like that? Coolness. Can you show how it works?

Now that I have an iMac and an Apple iPhone 3GS I am thinking I should also sign up for Apple's Mobile Me service so I can have wireless syncing and be just a bit safer in case I lose my phone too. How do I proceed?

I've started reviewing Apple iPhone games and just had a game developer tell me that he'd like me to check out his game and sent me a promo code. I'm a bit baffled by this: how do I redeem a promo code for an iPhone application so that I don't have to pay for the game?

Thanks to your articles and some experimentation on my part, I have figured out how to make videos on my new Apple iPhone 3GS. My question is: how do I upload these videos directly to YouTube as I keep reading you can do?

One of the cool new features of the Apple iPhone 3GS is the ability to take videos. Nice, but I can't figure out how to get to the video camera? I know how to take photos, though, so I figure it's related to the iPhone camera (rather obviously, eh?) I have also heard that you can edit the video right there on the iPhone, but I don't believe it. I mean, isn't the screen too darn small?

Okay, since you wrote about Spotlight on the new iPhone OS 3.0 (see How to work with Spotlight on your Apple iPhone 3.0), can you also explain to me how the heck the new Voice Memos application works? As far as I can tell, it's the only other new app included in Apple's iPhone 3.0 upgrade but I can't figure out how the heck it works...

I finally updated the operating system on my second generation iPhone and the new OS is definitely cool - and faster - but I'm not too sure how to use Spotlight, the search feature that so many people have been talking about on Twitter and elsewhere. What does it really do for me and how do I get to it?

I love that on my new Apple iPhone 3G I can flip a switch and turn the phone from ringing to muted so I don't bother people. Problem is, the darn thing vibrates like a sex toy and it's still annoying in meetings and at meals. Is there some way to disable the vibrate feature too? Thanks.

This is just the weirdest thing: I got a new Apple iPhone after my old one broke and now when I hook it up to my iMac, it sees the phone, but I can't copy the photographs off the camera. In fact, there aren't even thumbnail preview images when I check with ImageCapture. What's going on?

In his sermon last weekend, our pastor talked briefly about the dangers of our teen children sexting. He didn't go into it and I've no clue what it's all about, but I want to know more about sexting before I talk with her so I don't seem completely clueless. Help?

The Japanese and American cell phone markets are opposite like lamb and tuna fish. That was one of the first things that I noticed when I spent a few weeks there two summers ago. I've always had a less than optimal view of our cell phone market's infrastructure where the best network gets the ugliest phones and the worse network gets all of the good looking phones but without the reception. That's why when I went to Japan and saw that multiple companies had summer cell phone lines coming out like seasonal clothing lines, I was taken aback.

I was used to a network here where my phone's novelty wears off within the hour that I get it, and then I'm trapped in a contract for far too long with expensive escape fees. In Japan though, I could customize my plan (daytime only service or TV reception for example) with a good looking phone and solid service even underground in subway stations, according to Japanese cell phone customers.

If the cell phone world is so perfect in Japan, why is it so fundamentally flawed here in the States? Why is it so rigid, straight forward and uncompromising? Why as consumers haven't we demanded the flexibility that the Japanese cell phone industry exudes?

Google is one of many companies that's been pushing the various capabilities of mobile devices and exploring how to make its vast storehouse of search data accessible in novel and interesting ways to people with the G-1 (the so-called Google Phone) and the Apple iPhone.

The latest example is Google's introduction of its mobile shopping interface, officially called Google Product Search for Mobile. If you never search for products for sale - probaly to do some comparison shopping - you might never bump into it, but it's pretty cool.

Let me show you...

I'm just starting to get up to speed with Google's slick Google Voice application and have heard that you can use it to make free or at least pretty darn cheap international calls. I'm psyched! My brother is in Sweden and we rarely talk because of the cost of long distance. How can I gain access to the cheap international calling with Google Voice?

I love my shiny new iPhone, but I'm totally concerned someone will steal it, find all my personal information and steal my data.  What can I do to prevent it from being lost?

I've been hearing a lot of buzz about the new Skype for the iPhone 3G, but am a bit lost about how to download specific applications onto my phone. Can you show me all the steps?

I've been using my Apple iPhone 3G for a few weeks now and am pretty darn impressed with all it can do and with the zillions of apps in the iTunes Application Store. This afternoon, however, I saw someone else who had completely reorganized the app icons on his home screen. I want! How do I do it?

Just heard about the slick Skype for iPhone and want to get it and install it. Well, I can get it by downloading it from the App Store, but can you step me through configuring the Skype application so I can start using it ASAP?

I don't know how it changed, but suddenly the default search engine on my Apple iPhone 3G is Yahoo, not Google. Now I like Yahoo as much as the next guy, but I really want Google back. How the heck do I change the default search engine in Safari??

Hi Dave. I'm hugely enamored of the Google Maps feature on my Apple iPhone, but there's one thing that baffles me: how do I reset the "current location" as a starting or ending point when I'm using the phone for directions?

What the heck, I got a note from Apple that I need to update my carrier data on the Apple iPhone? What's it all about?

i have a problem with my iphone 2g 8gb. the phone was working just fine, until i downloaded the call me application from cydia, i turned off & now it wont turn fully on, the screen only freezes showing the pineapple, tried pressing both buttons & holding the initiation one, nothing.. what can i do?? does it still work?

If you're highly mobile, if you travel to trade shows or just walk around campus all day, or perhaps if you take long plane flights, you already know that for all the great features of the Apple iPhone, extended battery life ain't one of them.

Indeed, when we recently attended the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show it was by the end of the first day when it became apparent that the iPhone just didn't have the battery longevity we needed.

That's why we decided to test out extended iPhone compatible batteries at the show, seeking out vendors and asking them for samples and demo units. Most of them were not very good and I'll note that when I tried one that was powered by a pair of AA batteries it died before even completing a single charge. Useless.

Fortunately, I did find one that I was very impressed with, the Power Air Zpowerpac13 and have subsequently been sent a second that's also very good, the morphie juice pack.

I've gone through an amazing number of iPhone cases in the last year or so, between the ten or so I reviewed for the first gen iPhone and the cases I've been sent for the newer 3G phone. At first, my iPhone cases of choice were the rubberized ones like those from InCase Designs. (they call it a "form-fitting, injection molded material", of course, but to me it's just a fancy sort of rubber)

Then I realized that since I like to slip my iPhone into the front pocket of my pants, I'd often end up with the case collecting lint. Not so good, so I moved to harder plastic shells, but didn't really find any that I loved. Well, I like the Griffin Wave for its mix and match capabilities, but not enough that I haven't kept looking.

Until iFrogz generously gave me a couple of their 3G Luxe cases. What can I say, these just ROCK!

I've been reading all of your extensive iPhone help on the site and found it a great boon to learning how to do things. I can't find any info on how to set up my phone to require a code be entered before it'll unlock, however. Do you have information on how to lock an Apple iPhone?

So I want an iPhone but AT&T’s service is just too expensive! There must be a better way! I have a Windows PC not a Mac, by the way. Do I need a Mac running Mac OS X to unlock my phone?

I found "Image Capture" (you didn't mention it was an application, so I searched and found it) and tried what you suggested. When I click on download, however, nothing happens. Tried this with just one photo selected, as well as "Select All." Any suggestions?

I got a text message from AT&T telling me that I can now connect my iPhone up to the AT&T wifi network at Starbucks for free. Nice, but I've heard it's convoluted. Can you document it so I know how things should proceed?

I'm going back and forth on whether to spend the money and buy myself an Apple iPhone. In a lot of ways it seems like a very cool phone, and certainly it has far more features than my clunky old LG. I know about the core functions, but my first glance at the iPhone Application Store was totally overwhelming. I mean, there are HUNDREDS of applications. Tell me, what are your favorites and do you stick just to free apps, or have you bought some too?

My wife and I have a series of ideas for Apple iPhone Apps, but are not even close to programmers... What would you recommend for us? I am trying to start with writing a document that outlines the Apps...games. From there, do we just turn it over to a programmer? Do we need to worry about property rights, etc.?

I'm always on the go and seem to constantly bump into interesting and weird situations. I'd love to be able to take those photos and share them with my friends on Facebook, but I don't know how to connect my phone with my Facebook account. Can you step me through this entire process, please?

Okay, so your article yesterday about Genius playlists in iTunes (see How to Create Genius Playlists in iTunes 8) has me intrigued and I'd like to experiment with it. But on my iPhone. Is that a possibility? That is, can I create a Genius playlist on my iPhone 3G or, I suppose, on an iPod Touch?

I really love Miley Cyrus and want to turn her great song "Life's What You Make It" into a ringtone for my Mom's cellphone so that when I call, she hears Hannah Montana (well, Miley) singing, letting her know that it's me. I've heard that's not too hard but have no clue how to proceed.

I love my iPhone and have been having all sorts of fun playing with it. What I want to do, however, is assign custom ringtones for some of my friends. Ultimately, of course, I'd like to have specific songs for specific people, but even just having the ringtones that are included with the phone assigned would be cool.

I've been reading your cool iPhone app developer series on your business blog and am inspired to dig into the Apple iPhone SDK and write a few games. I'd love to charge a few bucks for my games, but want to make copies available to my friends for free. Is there any way to do that?

Man, it was one of those crazy moments. I realized a split second after it was too late that I'd just driven over my cellphone. I checked it out and, surprisingly, the phone didn't seem damaged at all, except it just won't turn on. I called AT&T and they told me that it'd cost $99 to replace it and that I couldn't cancel the cellphone number because my contract wasn't up. Augh! What are my options at this point?

I just bought a new 3G Apple iPhone and now want to give my old iPhone to my brother-in-law. He's even ready to pay for it. Problem is, I want to wipe it clean so he gets a pristine phone. How do I do that?

I am old enough to remember when all you could do with a phone is make a call…heck I remember rotary dial telephones. I think my parents' were the last in the state to get with touchtone. I kept teasing them that the Smithsonian is going to come and confiscate their rotary phone.

In the 80's, I had one of those "mobile phones" there were the size of a loaf of bread, and weighed about the same as a third grader. But I was cool, listening to Depeche Mode and driving my 1971 Plymouth Fury. Risking hernia or concussion every time I used my "mobile phone".

Fast-forward to 2008....

I have a couple of movies in iTunes that look great when I view them on my computer, but when I copy them to my new iPhone, I can't watch them: the phone complains "format not supported". How can I fix that?

I just heard that there's a software update for the Apple iPhone 3G. I want it! But I'm confused: how do I update the software on my phone?

I just upgraded from a first generation Apple iPhone to a shiny new 16GB white iPhone and am excited to switch over completely. All my data, phone book, etc are on the old system, though, and I am perpetually anxious about first sync as I'm afraid that the empty phone address book will overwrite my huge address book data already on the computer? How do you clone the old iPhone and the new?

Now that I have a shiny new iPhone, I've gone a bit wild adding applications from the iTunes Application Store. So many applications that it's out of control. Now I want to delete some, but each time I delete them on the iPhone then hook the phone up to the computer, they reappear! :-(

I'm excited to add the many new capabilities and improvements to my beloved Apple iPhone, but have heard that the jump from 1.1.4 to 2.0 completely wipes your phone. Can you show me how to step through this firmware upgrade and reassure me that my contacts, photos, music, etc will all be there on the other side?

I just downloaded the latest version of iTunes, all excited about being able to finally get to the Apple Applications Store and grab some new stuff for my iPhone, but when I restart, it's not there?!

My iPhone is being very weird: when I plug it into my iMac the computer doesn't seem to recognize it any more. How do I fix it so I can be a happy iPhone user again?

I have a RAZR with Verizon and keep lusting after the Apple iPhone. Now that they have a new 3G phone coming out, do you think I should terminate my contract a few months early and get one?

I've signed up for Twitter and am having lots of fun with it, but every time I add someone new, all of their Tweets end up going to my cellphone as SMS text messages. This is bad, and it's driving me crazy. Is there some easy way to fix this?

My digital camera has a cool feature: it can take little movies. They're not as good as a real video camera, but my kids love mugging for me and the results are often quite hilarious. Like "America's Funniest Home Videos" caliber. How do I put them on my Apple iPhone so I can share them with my friends?

I had my old Mac laptop, an iBook, stolen and now that I have a new one, I realize that I can't get the music off my Apple iPhone which is driving me crazy! Is there some way to sync the iPod music and video portion of my cellphone without having to start from scratch again?

I am a big fan of my Apple iPod, but I can't figure out how to have it automatically download the most recent podcast from the podcasts I subscribe to. I think there's something I can do in iTunes to get this to work, but I'm just not exactly sure how to proceed.

Saw your earlier note about creating custom Apple iPhone website icons and think it's very cool, but I'm wondering: how did you delete the icon you didn't want to keep?

One of the features added to the latest revision of the Apple iPhone operating system that's garnered quite a bit of attention is the ability to save Web page bookmark icons directly on the main screen of the phone. Experimentation reveals that some sites have cool icons while most are just miniature representations of the Web site. What's the difference? Read on and find out, including step-by-step directions on how you can easily ensure your own site (or blog!) has a custom iPhone icon too.

I have heard that in Japan people use their cellphones as simple payment devices, even for vending machines, which sounds super cool. Here in the US, though, seems like there's not much at all I can do with my phone. Is there a service that lets me send money to my pals, for example?

It was about four months ago that my 4GB Apple iPhone showed up and, after an initial scare that it was broken from dropping it - screen down - on a hard tile floor, connected to the network, replacing my Blackberry Pearl. I got the $100 credit for the Apple store after having watched the price drop $200 a month after I bought it, and I've gone through a number of cases already (!) and have a stack of different ones from the folks at Marware that I'm using now.

But after months of having it in my pocket, plugged into my car, on lunch tables with colleagues, and in various cities and states throughout the United States, what's my opinion of the phone now? What do I really love about it, and what drives me batty?

Read on...

I just upgraded my G5 mac to the latest Leopard software and am leery about syncing my iPhone with my computer because I'm afraid I'll lose data. However, I really need to get the photos off the phone and don't want to email them to myself, one by one. Your suggestion?

Maybe I'm the one dim bulb in the chandelier, but why do so many people want to unlock their iPhone, and for that matter, what does it mean to unlock the phone anyway? I can't read any Apple-related Web site nowadays without 25% of the news being about this, that or the other person who figured out some way to unlock the phone?

Okay, I read your tutorial on how to chop out a segment of a song to create a ringtone in mp3 format (see how to extract an mp3 snippet as a custom cellphone ringtone). Now I'm ready to actually find out how to copy that to my Apple iPhone and then set it as a custom ringtone. Can it be done?

I have a ton of mp3 format audio files on my Mac OS X system and want to chop a short segment out of it to use as a custom ringtone for my Apple iPhone. What's the solution?

I have a new Apple iPhone and have been greatly appreciating all your iPhone help, but am still a bit baffled by one thing: when I send mail from my iPhone, I can see how I can Cc myself, but then I see my own messages in my [Microsoft] Entourage mailbox. That's daft. Is there some smarter way to set things up?

I have an iPhone and appreciate all its features but one: I can't use the calendar capability because I use Google Calendar, not iCal on my Mac. Is there some way that I can either manually or automatically synchronize Google Calendar with iCal?

I know I can go to the Apple iTunes Store and buy movies to download onto my iPhone at a rather painful $10-$15 per movie but there are two problems. First, the selection is extremely limited, and, worse, I already own tons of DVDs. Between my Mac and PC, surely there's some way to copy one of my favorite movies onto my iPhone so I can watch it on the go?

My new iPhone is the belle of the ball. In fact, it's a problem: everyone who sees it picks it up and starts playing with it. Is there some way I can enable a security code or password so that only I can use it when it wakes from sleep?

I would like to know how to configure my Apple iPhone so that I can check my Google Gmail messages whenever I'd like. What's the best way to do this?

Just got a new Apple iPhone and bought a movie from the Apple iTunes Store so I can watch it on the phone, but it fails with "computer is not authorized to watch this movie", even though I bought it and originally downloaded it on my Mac. What the heck? How do I authorize my computer?

I'm stumped. With my iPod I simply drag and drop the music I want to take with me from my library onto the iPod on the left side of iTunes, but my Apple iPhone doesn't allow me to do that. How the heck do I put songs on the iPhone without synchronizing my entire (massive) music library?

I have a new Apple iPhone and am having fun with it, but I can't figure out how to download photographs or pictures onto it. Is there some trick or technique? Also, in case it makes a difference, I don't use iPhoto to manage my photo albums.

I'm psyched by all the hype and enthusiasm and am seriously considering buying a new Apple iPhone when they replenish their stock here in San Francisco, but I'm curious: do I have to go to a Cingular/AT&T store to activate my iPhone? I am already a Cingular/AT&T customer, if that makes a difference...

I spent a fair amount of time on the phone with Leslie Brooks Suzukamo, Telecom, Technology and Energy Reporter for the St. Paul Pioneer Press earlier this week. Our topic of discussion? Whether the new Apple iPhone is going to be a good business phone or not. He quoted various industry sources and so-called pundits who predicted that it wouldn't and that it's designed exclusively for consumers. But he -- and they -- are so terribly wrong...

I saw your entry about how to filter incoming Blackberry email so you don't drown in the trivial, but I have a different question: how I can set up a vacation hold, a way to completely disable all email notification without actually shutting down my account? I'm going on a long-weekend to Mexico and don't want to pay data roaming charges for email I don't care about anyway!

I don't get it, I have a new Blackberry Pearl and have been enjoying getting used to its predictive typing system, SureType, but all of a sudden my phone is now into the same annoying multiple-keypress input system that my pre-Pearl phone forced me to use. How do I switch back to the predictive SureType system?

Since you seem to be delving into the world of the Blackberry Pearl with your Mac system, I was hoping you could tell me how to use the Pearl as a wireless (bluetooth) modem with my Mac OS X Powerbook system. Didja figure that one out yet, Dave?

I just bought a Blackberry Pearl, figuring it's the best phone out there until the Apple iPhone arrives, and am pleased with its ability to "push" email out to me anywhere, tapping into my main email account. Problem is, lots of my email is from lists where I don't need to actually be notified in real time, they're just for me to file for later. Can I filter or otherwise tweak Blackberry email on my Pearl?

I just got a shiny new Blackberry 8100 Pearl phone and it's all working fine, except I am hitting an error when I try to use Google's Gmail mobile app: "net.rim.device.app.systemControlledAccessException: Missing RCC signature. Not allowed to access Certicom functionality." What the heck does that mean and what do I need to do with my Cingular Pearl to get it working with Gmail?

Dave, when we were having lunch a while back, you told me the other day that the only way to turn off the text alert was to turn off the sound on your RAZR phone, but I didn't believe it, so I asked Verizon about it. They said I can do it with Menu > select Settings > select Ring Styles > highlight Style Detail > press Change > highlight Messages > press Change.

Like just about everyone else in the United States, I now find myself with two phone lines, my business office line and my cellphone. After talking with a representative at the telco monolith Qwest, I have signed up for something they call "call forwarding" because I think I can use it to forward my business line to my cellphone. Only one question: how the heck do I actually do that?

I bought a cute little green Migo phone from Verizon for my daughter, figuring that it wouldn't be abused or sidetrack her too much during school since it doesn't have a camera, mp3 player, sms capability, etc. Frankly, it's just a four button dialpad. Nice, cute, she loves it, but I can't figure out how to program the $#@$#@ speed dial numbers on the Migo!

I'm just about to buy a new mobile phone and I don't know if I should get my phone on a plan or on prepaid, which is better and cheaper? Can you offer up some advice, please?

Hi i brought a new Samsung sgh-d500 mobile phone and i can't put music on my mp3 player. I need to know how to put music on my phone from the computer but i don't know how. Can u please help me? Thank you!

I'm frankly baffled. My new Motorola RAZR v3m is a great phone, but when I try to hook it up to my computer via bluetooth I don't see any of the file navigation services you show in your tutorials. It appears that I'm missing some sort of feature and really want to know how to turn it on so I can grab photos off my camera directly. Any tips?

I really want a Gmail account from Google but can't find anyone that has an invitation! So I'm looking at the Gmail home page and notice that it indicates I can sign up by just having a mobile phone. Well, I have one of those, so I'm hoping you can tell me how to get a Gmail account through my cellphone?

I have an ancient Palm V device that I've been thinking of tossing into the junkheap of old computer gear, but someone told me I could actually run Linux on it. I find that unimaginable, but hey, I have time, is it possible? And if so, how the heck do I do it?

I have a Motorola RAZR (V3c) with U.S.Cellular. How do I set up the alarm to ring daily without haveing to set it each day?

I have the razr phone from verizon. On the bottom tool bar there is an icon of a man as if he is speaking I am thinking this means voice command. How do I get this icon off my bottom toolbar. I got it on accidentally when I was fooling with the phone. Thanks so much!

I once saw someone show a short movie clip they'd downloaded onto their Nokia mobile and ever since have been trying to figure out how to do that on my own phone. Nokia's not much help, though, but since I saw you have some other stuff about cellphones, I thought you might have a clue?

I read your earlier note about changing the Nokia ringtones, borrowed from Yuan's Nokia Smartphone Hacks, and thought it was pretty informative. Thanks. Now, my question: can I customize the wallpaper on my Nokia cellphone?

I need some help on getting ringtones on my motorola v710. when i went to the store to get some ringtones, the guy said he cant get it on my phone. he was using mobilephone tools or something. he said there was supposed to be some MUSIC tab on the program he was using. why is it?

My wife was a sweetheart and gave me some way cool new toys for my birthday, a Motorola SLVR iPod cellphone, and the latest of the Motorola bluetooth headsets, the H700. They're both darn cool, but I can't figure out how to get them to pair. Can you help me out?

I love my Prius. I also now love my new Moto SLVR cell phone. They both speak bluetooth, but I'm darned if I can figure out how to link the two together. Can you help me out? I realize you might not have a Prius but maybe you could sneak into a Toyota dealership and take some pictures? :-)

I just got a new Motorola SLVR cellphone from Cingular and it's very cool, but somehow I can't figure out how to use the iPod area of it. How do I hook it up to my Mac and download some songs onto it, and, for that matter, how many songs can it hold anyway?

Dave, can ya help me out? I can't pair oakley Razrwire with my RAZR v3c, though it seems like since they're both from Motorola it should be pretty easy to get it working. Help!

I have a Sanyo mm-5600 cellphone but i cant get it to play the music that i download on to it. Can you offer me any advice or assistance, please?

This is a weird question, but I seem to recall that Paypal used to have a feature where I could "beam" money to someone else with a cellphone, but when I go to the site today, I can't find anything about it. Is there any way to do this?

How can I copy a DVD from my G4 powerbook (I have pocketmac pro) to my I-mate Jam phone which uses windows Pocket PC? I'm familiar with Mac the Ripper but I don't know how I can convert the files to ones that my phone can read, I'm really confused regarding what mp4 setting to use (most available softwares are for ipod conversion eg. MovieToGo)

I'm sure there's a way do to this: how do I assign a different ringtone to specific people on my new Motorola RAZR v3c cellphone? I have Verizon service, if that makes any difference.

Well, it appears that I have forgot the password to reset all my settings on my samsung d500 phone. Help!

Dave, can you record voice records and apply them as ringtones in the Motorola RAZR V3?

I dunno, maybe I just make things difficult for myself, but I just bought a Motorola HS820 handsfree bluetooth headset to use with my new Motorola RAZR cellphone, and I can't get the silly thing to work with my phone! I follow the directions, but the headset is never seen by the RAZR?

I have a SAMSUNG D500 and I recorded a song but it wont let me use it as a ringtone how do i do it!!?

This might be a bit too specific, but I can't figure out how to have my PC see my new Motorola RAZR V3c via the bluetooth system. My PC has bluetooth, but it never sees the phone. Suggestions?

Dave: I can't get my V3c voice memo tool to work. I upgraded from a Motorola V710 which had an easy two-step process for recording and listening to voice memos. The V3c allows me to record (over multiple steps), but then I can't find where/how to listen to my memos! I know this is a 'low on the radar' issue, but any insight would be appreciated.

I just heard that Google supports SMS, which should theoretically mean that I can do really easy Google searches from my Nokia cellphone. Is that true? And if so, how do I do it?

Dave, I'm very excited. I just bought a brand new Motorola RAZR V3c cellphone and it's as cool and sexy as can be, but I'm now wondering what I can do with the bluetooth capability. How do I use this thing to copy pictures up and down from my Mac to the RAZR?