Once you get past all the hype, the Apple iPhone really is a remarkable piece of modern technology. Maybe you’ve resisted getting one because it seems to be a fad, or you’re under the impression that most people who have an iPhone only bought it to be trendy or look cool. While that may be the case for some people, other iPhone owners will tell you that having the device contributes a lot more to their productivity than a regular cell phone [goingcellular]. Aside from being able to send and receive e-mail, stay in touch with clients, and network, an iPhone can actually make your life a little easier.
Save Money – Newspaper coupons have been around for ages. Some people spend hours clipping and organizing them, and then planning their grocery shopping around them to get the best deals. Then came online coupons, which made things a little easier.
Now there are coupons for your cell phone. In particular, there are a couple of iPhone apps that are intended to help you find local deals not just at the grocery store, but at department stores, and home improvement warehouses. One of the most popular coupon apps is Cellfire [cellfire], but also give Yowza!! a try.
Get Where You’re Going – How many times have you traveled to a new city, either for work or pleasure, and spent much of your time there finding your way around? Just locating a place to eat can be time consuming and stressful when your time is limited, and you’re hungry. And walking around a city with your nose in a map just screams tourist and makes you a target for thieves. Enter the iPhone, and apps like Lonely Planet Travel Guides.
Lonely Planet [lonelyplanet] is well known for its thorough and informative travel books. Now they’ve taken their travel experience and knowledge, and put it into an iPhone app. Find things to do and see, and great places to eat with just a few taps on the touchscreen. This app currently includes information for 34 cities, with more additions planned.
Find a Movie and Buy Tickets – Remember when, in order to find out what movies were playing and at what times, you had to buy a newspaper? Then Moviefone came along, which you could call and a recording would tell you what was playing at your local theater, and at what time. It was a little more convenient, but still cumbersome, having to wait for the recorded, mechanical voice to get through all the listings you were interested in.
Now, all you have to do is power up your iPhone, and download the Flixster app. It lists theaters that are close to your location, and you can select the ones you frequent as favorites so they’re always at the top of the list. Then you can see what movies are playing at the theater you select, and at what time. In fact, you can get movie listings and showtimes up to a week in advance. You can also get information about the movies, see and leave reviews, and watch trailers.
The best part is, you can do all this when you spontaneously decide to go see a movie while you’re at the mall, and you don’t have to buy a newspaper or listen to a robot voice to decide what to see. Even better, download the Fandango app [fandango], and you can buy tickets right from your phone and not have to stand in line at the box office.
Pay Your Wireless Bill – It happens to everyone. You go on vacation, or you’re visiting family without access to a computer, and your cell phone bill is due. If you don’t pay it promptly, your service will be interrupted, causing even more of an inconvenience. What to do?
Well, you could call your wireless provider and pay over the phone, sure. Or, if you have an iPhone, which means you have service with AT&T [goingcellular], you can use the myWireless app to pay your bill directly from your phone. No need to call, wait on hold, and have a discussion with anyone. With this app, you can pay your bill in less than a minute, and not have to worry about being without service because of a forgotten payment.
If you are looking for a simple application to organize your events, calendar and dates then Planner is a great option. Planner only costs $0.99 and it allows you to include very basic and pertinent information for individual dates. This can include the time, location, notes and information. You can also get really detailed school information in there such as homework schedules, the percentage that will make up the final grade, and even a progress bar. Planner is one of the most basic of all the best contacts and calendar applications for the iPhone, and this is its strength. You will not be able to do everything you need with Planner, but it can meet some of your requests.
One article about the new iPhone says “Apple could be planning to introduce a built-in fingerprint sensor to its next-generation iPhone later this year, which could spell trouble for rival smartphone makers.”