I love all the free applications that you can download for the iPhone through the App Store, and was looking for something to let me use the iPhone as a storage drive - like what I can do with my iPod. In particular, I wanted to be able to copy pdf files from my PC to my iPhone, to read them later on the bus ride home from work.

After looking at a few different file browser applications (all of which actually used an online service to store and retrieve files from an iPhone) I discovered a free service called Box.net. It gives you a free 1 GB online file repository that you can upload files to from your PC or Mac.

With the Box.net service, you can store and access your files through your iphone and through any web browser, and without taking up any additional space on your iphone.

It's basically a secure online hard-drive. No need to carry a flash drive around any longer, and no need to sync your iPhone with your computer to view these files.

Do a search in the App Store for "box.net" and you can download the free iPhone application that let's you access your online files.

Once you download and install the box.net iPhone application, then you'll be able to log into your online Box account and view the files that are stored there:

I'm a big fan of free stuff, especially when it works as well as this service does! The 1 GB account is completely free, and you can upgrade to 5 gigs or more for a nominal monthly storage cost.