I read with interest your article on page 21 of the second issue of iPhone Life. I loved your point about making it easier to organize apps in the Home screen pages. I would also like to see Apple include a built-in zoom feature on the iPhone’s camera.
Kathe Oster
Kathe: The zoom option would be a good one, but it would likely require new hardware. The camera on the original iPhone and the 3G is of low resolution and has no optical zoom capability. A software fix could create zoom capability, but it would lower the image resolution. Fortunately, Apple is releasing a new version of the iPhone (the iPhone 3G S) that has and improved 3 megapixel camera and video recording capabilities (see page 10). If you’re willing to upgrade, that might be the way to go.
Todd Bernhard
Need an FM Transmitter to listen to iPhone through my car stereo
I read your article on audio books on page 30 of the second issue of iPhone Life. You mention listening to audio books while driving using an FM transmitter, but don’t identify the brand. I also listen to audio books and podcasts while driving and am interesting in purchasing an FM transmitter.
Kevin Bals
Kevin: I purchased an older model of the Griffin iTrip Auto Universal a while back and used it without any problems. More recently, Griffin sent me their latest model for free (for review purposes). It’s called iTrip Auto SmartScan, and I used it last week on a 12-hour drive (six hours each way); it worked great. You press the button and its new “SmartScan” feature finds an FM frequency that’s not being used. It’s a great improvement over the older model. It’s also nice because it uses the audio jack for power, but also has a USB port for powering your iPhone or any other mobile device. (You supply the USB cable.) You can find more info about it on Griffin’s Web site (griffintechnology.com/category/fmtransmitters).
Todd Bernhard
iPod touch 2G article
I enjoyed your article on the iPod touch 2G which appeared on page 12 of the second issue of iPhone Life magazine. Based on your article, we purchased one for our daughter and would like to purchase the game pictured on the first page of the article. However, we are not able to locate it at the iTunes app store. Can you tell us the name of the game?
Phil Damin
Phil: I got the image of the touch from Apple’s PR people; it came with that screen. The name of the game is Cro-Mag Rally, and it’s available on the App Store for $0.99. I hope your daughter enjoys it.
3 ways to improve the iTunes App Store!
I have three suggestions that would make selecting apps and using the App Store a lot easier:
- Every app that costs more than $0.99 should have a free demo version available.
- You should be able to drag apps into a favorites list in the App Store.
- Apple should place all new apps in a section of their own for the first two weeks.
Lee England
Correction: Landscape keyboard for Mail in OS 3.0, not 2.0
The article on page 20 of the second issue mentioned that the iPhone 2.0 OS allowed the keyboard to switch to the more spacious horizontal mode in Mail, when the iPhone or iPod touch is rotated. This was incorrect; the feature was added to Mail in the 3.0 version of the OS.
