If you don’t mind the occasional reckless driving ticket or maybe even a little involuntary manslaughter, here’s a tip on how to use your iPhone to project a video image on your windshield while driving.
If your iPhone apps are crashing a lot, try installing the apps using iTunes instead of your iPhone. This tip was first noticed by Leo Laporte of the Twit podcasting network, and I’ve been finding it to be a great one. There are many other things wrong with the iPhone 2.0 software (sluggishness with typing and contacts), but hopefully Apple will resolve many of these issues in an upcoming software update.
To fix a crashing app, delete it on your iPhone by holding down the app’s icon for a few seconds until the red “X” appears, then tapping it to delete it. Sync the iPhone with iTunes, and the app should reinstall (assuming you’ve backed up that app before). This won’t fix all crashing, but I’ve found it alleviates many crashing issues that involve an app not opening at all or shutting down soon after opening.
This is an obscure tip, but one of the cool features of top-rated Platinum Sudoku is the ability to draw the numbers with your finger. However, some of drawings don’t always translate correctly. Drawing a number 5, in particular, is troublesome. To create the number 5, draw the two shapes like in the picture above. Make sure to draw them quickly, else it will falsely recognize only the first shape.
The rest of the numbers pretty much work exactly as they are normally written, although I find the number 4 sometimes troublesome as well. See picture below of a number 4 that translated correctly as well.
Balancing a checkbook can be hard. A crucial step is always knowing how much money you have in your account. Many online banks, including Chase, offer a free service to send you your account balance and other account alerts via text message or email on a daily basis. This tip works on any device that can receive emails or text messages.
These are the alerts that Chase online banking offers:
Daily Alerts
Alerts to notify when:
A direct deposit greater than ($ USD) has posted to this account
A payee has been added to my online bill payment profile
An ATM deposit has posted to this account
An overdraft protection advance was made to this account
Any scheduled online repeating payment series has ended
Check has posted
Daily account summary for this account, including transaction details,
total deposits, withdrawals and end of day balance
Funds previously deposited to your account have been returned
It is three bank business days prior to the payment date of an upcoming
scheduled bill payment
My account is overdrawn
My balance is above ($ USD) for this account
My balance is below ($ USD) for this account
One or more checks or payments were not paid because your balance was
too low
There is ATM card activity on this account of more than ($ USD)
Security Alerts
Alert to notify when:
A bill payment exceeds ($ USD)
A debit card transaction exceeds ($ USD)
A wire transfer exceeds ($ USD)
An ATM withdrawal exceeds ($ USD)
An external transfer exceeds ($ USD)
An overnight check exceeds ($ USD)
Incoming wire transfer exceeds ($ USD)
My mailing address has changed
Many other financial services, like credit cards, offer similar online account alerts.
The important question is, is the information it sends safe? The alerts I receive offer no information that would be a security risk–only embarrassment over how small my checking balance is. Besides, you should be password protecting your iPhone. If you’re interested in account alerts, check out your online bank’s help section.
To create a group of contacts for your iPhone, you must use the Mac program Address Book. A group is made up of multiple contacts, and only those contacts appear on screen when you select the group. For example, you could label all your family contacts under a group called “Family.” A group like this could come in handy if you wanted to make calls to all your family members in an emergency or to make an announcement.
Groups created in the Mac program Address Book
For now, groups cannot be created using just the iPhone, nor can you remove a contact from a group. The only thing you can do with groups using the iPhone is create a new contact inside a group. For instance, if you navigate to the group “Work,” and create a new contact by tapping the “+” icon, that contact will be added to “Work.” Hopefully, the option to create and alter groups using the iPhone will appear in the future.
I frequently have people send me text messages full of juicy secrets, gossip, and political intrigue. With the iPhone’s default setting, those messages will pop up for anyone to see, even if the phone is locked. There is a way to turn off the content of text messages from showing on a locked screen. It’s in the iPhone Settings menu.
Tap the Settings icon on your iPhone’s home screen.
Tap General.
Tap Passcode Lock.
Go to Show SMS Preview and slide the tab to Off.
Now, the content of text messages won’t show on the screen when the iPhone is locked. However, an alert will still pop up saying you received a text message.
I admit, I’ve never used a case on my first-gen iPhone. And it definitely shows the wear and tear of the past year. I know many out there love their cases, including Megan Fox, star of Transformers. Just check out that beautiful white case covering her first-gen iPhone. That is one gorgeous casing. You did notice she was holding an iPhone, right?
I highly recommend iLounge.com for case reviews and all iPod and iPhone third-party accessory reviews in general. If you’ve never heard of the site before, iLounge has been writing up reviews for iPod earphones, cases, and everything else iPod for many years now. They literally have thousands of reviews on third-party accessories for iPods and iPhones.
