Ricky Says

The iPhone's built-in 2 megapixel auto-focusing camera makes it easy to snap decent quality photos, but the process for copying those photos to your computer using iTunes is clunky and a little different than you'd expect from most digital cameras.

Fortunately it's easy to just copy photos from your iPhone to your PC using Vista's built-in photo importer.

Here's how to copy pictures from your iPhone to Vista without using iTunes:

1. Plug in your iPhone to your computer using the usb data cable that comes with your iPhone. Windows Vista will detect your iPhone and ask you what actions you'd like to take:

2. Click "Import pictures" to start the import process.

3. Enter a keyword tag to let you easily find your pictures after they've been uploaded to your computer.

4. Click the "Import" button to start the import process. You can also choose to remove photos from your iPhone once they've been uploaded.

Once your photos have been copied over to your computer, Vista will open the Windows Photo Gallery that's included with Vista, and will show you the pictures you've just uploaded.

No syncing, no fuss, and no iTunes or extra software required. Just photos copied over to your PC like you'd expect.

The iPhone 3G will be my new travel companion when I leave for Zurich, Switzerland tomorrow morning (yep, I finally upgraded from my Blackberry Curve).

The iPhone has a lot to offer the international traveler, and here are 10 ways you can use the iPhone to help you on your next trip abroad (most are applicable even if you're just traveling to another state or province).

Note: if you're looking for ways to save money on data roaming charges, scroll down to the bottom of this page.

1. Mind the Time with a World Clock:

   Keeping track of the current time is the first thing I worry about when I travel across multiple time zones, and the iPhone lets you add a clock for every imaginable city in the world. I've added a clock for my destination city, my lay-over city, and my home city.

   
2. Pack for the Right Weather:

   You can add Yahoo! weather reports for any city, just by opening the Weather app and clicking the little "i" at the bottom right of the weather screen. You can store multiple weather reports and easily flip through them to see what the weather is like in other areas of the world.

   

   Looks like it's cold in Zurich in October, so I'll be sure to pack warm clothes for my trip.

3. Manage your Monday with Currency Convertors:

   Convertor Pro is a freebie that you can download from the App Store that lets you convert any currency to another. It's updated every hour with actual current rates too.

   

   You can also click the "i" in the upper right of the screen to view a graph of the currency conversion rate over the last 5 years - handy for evaluating global economic trends.

Question: I'd like to capture screenshots of my iPhone - is there a way to do this?

Answer: You can take screenshots of your iPhone as long as you're running the iPhone 2.0 software.

Here's how to take screen shots of your iPhone:

1. Hold down the Home button, and press the Sleep/Wake button at the same time. Your screen will flash letting you know that the screenshot was taken.
2. Navigate to your photos (Camera Roll) and the most recent image will be the screenshot you just captured.

Wondering if you have the 2.0 software installed?

The iPhone 2.0 software upgrade is now available -- for iPhones as well as iPod Touches -- from within iTunes. To upgrade, connect your iPhone to your computer, then select its icon within iTunes. Then click the button that says Check for Updates to download the upgrade.

I feel obliged to reply to my own post title "Apple Drops iPhone Price to $199 and Converts Blackberry Fans", and let you know that I decided to actually stick with the Blackberry.

It turned out that I'm not eligible for the upgrade price because I bought my BB less than a year ago and signed up for a 2 year contract with AT&T. So the new iPhone 3G would have cost me $399 for the 8GB model and $499 for the 16GB model - and I just can't justify that much money for a phone and web browser.

Also, reports of the 3G's fast internet speed indicate that it comes at the price of battery life - spent in as little as 2 hours! I can easily go for 2 days on a single charge with my Curver, and I'm not enthused about the prospects of having to plug an iPhone in for charging every few hours.

Fortunately RIM will be releasing the Blackberry Bold very soon in 2008 and it claims to have 3G speed - so I'll keep my eyes on that one instead, and I still use my Curve around the clock for web browsing, email, texting, twitter, taking pictures, listening to music, and finding my location on Google maps.

So it's all still very good in Blackberry land, and I know you want one of those t-shirts ;-)

Question: I recently bought a new iPhone 3G and want to copy all my contacts from my old phone to the new phone. I have quite a few and don't want to have to type them each into the iPhone as it would take forever. Is there a faster way to do this?

Answer: Yes, there's a much faster way to do this by using your iPhone's ability to sync with your Outlook contacts. If you can download your old phone's contacts into Outlook, Outlook Express, or Windows Mail for Vista users, then you'll be able to sync them to your new iPhone using iTunes.

Here's what you'll need:

1. iTunes loaded on your computer (free from Apple).
2. USB data cable to connect your old phone to your computer.
3. Software to transfer contacts from your old phone to Outlook or Outlook Express, which iTunes can then import into your iPhone.

Here's how to do it:

1. Connect your old phone to your computer with a USB data cable.

2. Copy your old phone's contacts to your computer using DataPilot, which works with all major phone types (download here and install on your computer).

DataPilot copies your contacts from your old phone into Outlook, Outlook Express, or Windows Mail if you're using Vista. Then iTunes can import these contacts into your iPhone

3. Run DataPilot and click the Read All button to load all of your phone's contacts.

4. Open Microsoft Outlook and create a new My iPhone folder in your Contacts. This will also work in Outlook Express.