Product Description

Step-by-step instructions with callouts to iPhone images that show you exactly what to do.

 

Help when you run into iPhone problems or limitations.

 

Tips and Notes to help you get the most from your iPhone.

 

Full-color, step-by-step tasks walk you through getting and keeping your iPhone working just the way you want. The tasks include:

      • How to connect to the Internet, Bluetooth devices, Wi-Fi networks, and other iPhones and iPods

      • How to configure and sync your information, and efficiently manage contacts, calls, email, calendars, and events

      • How to use the iPhone’s texting capabilities

      • How to make the most of the iPhone’s powerful Safari web browser

      • How to listen to music, subscribe to podcasts, and watch video­–including movies and TV shows

      • How to display slideshows, create wallpaper, email photos, and link photos to contacts

      • How to customize settings ranging from wallpaper to ringtones

      • How to secure your iPhone with Find My iPhone

      • How to find, download, install, manage, and use iPhone applications

 

BONUS MATERIAL: Find additional tasks and other helpful information on this book’s website at www.informit.com/title/9780789742315

 

CATEGORY:  Apple Digital Media

COVERS:  Apple iPhone

USER LEVEL:  Beginning-Intermediate

 

BONUS MATERIAL: Find additional tasks and other helpful information on this book’s website at www.informit.com/title/9780789742315

 

 

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10589 in Books
• Published on: 2009-10-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780789742315
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author

Brad Miser has written extensively about technology, with his favorite topics being the amazing “i” gadgets, iPhone and iPod touch, that make it possible to take our lives with us while we are on the move. In addition to My iPhone, Third Edition, Brad has written many other books, including My iPod touch; Easy iLife ’09; Absolute Beginner’s Guide to iPod and iTunes,Third Edition; Special Edition Using Mac OS X Leopard; iPhoto ’09 Portable Genius; Teach Yourself Visually MacBook Air; and MacBook Pro Portable Genius.He has also been an author, development editor, or technical editor on more than 50 other titles.

 

Brad is or has been a sales support specialist, the director of product and customer services, and the manager of education and support services for several software development companies. Previously, he was the lead proposal specialist for an aircraft engine manufacturer, a development editor for a computer book publisher, and a civilian aviation test officer/engineer for the U.S. Army. Brad holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo and has received advanced education in maintainability engineering, business, and other topics.

 

In addition to his passion for silicon-based technology, Brad likes to ride his steel-based technology, aka, a motorcycle, whenever and wherever possible.

 

Originally from California, Brad now lives in Brownsburg, Indiana, with his wife Amy; their three daughters, Jill, Emily, and Grace; a rabbit; and a sometimes

inside cat.

 

Brad would love to hear about your experiences with this book (the good, the bad, and the ugly).

 

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Prologue : Getting Started with iPhone

The good news is that getting started with an iPhone is a simple, painless process. You've got your hands on one, so it's time to get going.

Preparing iTunes

Before you can use the iPhone, you have to download and install iTunes on your computer or make sure that if you are using the most current version if it's already installed. To get started, jump into any of the following sections that apply to your particular situation.

Downloading and Installing iTunes on a Windows PC

1. Open a web browser.

2. Move to http://www.apple.com/itunes.

3. Click the Download iTunes button. You move to the Download iTunes screen.

4. Uncheck the two check boxes.

5. Click Download iTunes Free. The installer application starts.

6. Follow the onscreen instructions to install iTunes.

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Mac Installation Section Missing? - If you happen to be wondering why there isn't a section on installing iTunes on a Mac, it's because Macs come with iTunes pre-installed. If you weren't wondering, never mind.

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Updating iTunes

1. Open iTunes.

2. On a Windows PC, choose Help, Check for Updates. On a Mac, choose iTunes, Check for Updates. The application checks your version of iTunes against the current version.

3. If you are using the current version, click OK to clear the dialog telling you so. If you aren't using the current version, you're prompted to download and install it. Follow the onscreen instructions to download and install the newer version.

Obtaining and Signing in to an iTunes Store Account

1. Open iTunes.

2. Click iTunes Store. You connect to the Internet and move into the iTunes Store.

3. Click Sign In. The Sign In dialog appears.

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Already Logged In? - If you see an Apple ID instead of the Sign In button, iTunes is already logged into an iTunes Store account. If the account is yours, skip the rest of these steps. If the account isn't yours, click the account shown and click Sign Out so that you can create or sign in to your own account.

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4. Click Create New Account. You move to the first screen in the account creation process.

5. Read the information and follow the onscreen instructions to create an Apple ID. After you complete the steps, you receive your Apple ID and password.

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Got iTunes Store Account? - You can log in to an existing iTunes Store account by entering your Apple ID and password and then clicking Sign In. Skip the rest of these steps.

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Installing and Activating iPhone

Get ready for this part of the process by taking all the goodies out of iPhone's box. For now, you'll need the phone, the USB-to-Dock cable, and the Dock. Take all the protective plastic off each item.

1. Connect the USB end of the cable to an available USB port on your computer.

2. Connect the other end of the cable to the Dock.

3. Gently place the iPhone into the Dock by sliding its bottom into the Dock until it connects. When it connects, you see the Apple logo on the iPhone as it starts up. The Activation screen appears briefly, iTunes becomes active on your computer, and your iPhone appears on the iTunes Source list and in the Content pane.

4. Click Continue. You see the AT&T account screen prompting you to choose whether you are a new or existing AT&T customer. If you are a new customer, you have to create an account with AT&T and activate one or more iPhones. If you already have an AT&T account, you can replace your current account with iPhone or add it as a new line. For simplicity's sake, the rest of these steps assume that you are a new customer and are activating one iPhone. The other scenarios work out the same way—just read and follow the onscreen instructions.

5. Select the AT&T account option applicable to you.

6. Click Continue. What you see depends on the option you selected; the rest of these steps assume that you are new to AT&T and are activating a single iPhone. You move to the Transfer Your Mobile Number screen that enables you to move an existing number onto iPhone.

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Not So Fast - If other applications, such as iPhoto on a Mac, open when you connect the iPhone, quit them until you've activated the iPhone.

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7. If you want to move an existing number onto the iPhone, complete the form. If you want a new number, leave the form empty. Click Continue.

If you choose to move an existing number onto the iPhone, the activation process can take up to six hours. The rest of these steps assume that you are putting a new number on the iPhone.

You see the Select Your Monthly AT&T Plan screen. The plans you see depend on where you live, but the information should be self-explanatory. At press time, the differences between the plans were monthly cost versus talk time; all plans included unlimited data access.

You can also add more text messages to your account if you need them. At press time, all accounts included 200 text messages per month.

8. Select the plan and text message options you want and click Continue. You see the iTunes Account screen.

9. Enter your Apple ID and Password and click Continue.

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Sooner or Later, You'll Need an Apple ID - If you didn't already create an Apple ID, leave the form blank and click Continue. You're led through the creation of an iTunes Store account, which you must have to activate an iPhone.

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10. Enter or confirm information as you are prompted, and click Continue. You see the Billing Information screen.

11. Provide the required billing information and click Continue.

If prompted to confirm your address, do so and click Continue. After you provided all necessary information, the terms and conditions screen appears.

12. If you have hours to kill and are legally minded, read the terms and conditions; when you're done, check the check box and click Continue and then repeat the process with the next legal screen. You see the Review Your Information screen.

13. If everything looks correct, click Continue. You see the activation processing screen on your computer and on your iPhone.

When the process is complete, you see the Completing Activation screen. The most important bit of information on this screen is your new phone number.

AT&T begins activating your iPhone. When it is active, you see the iPhone is activated screen on your iPhone.

14. Click Continue. You see the Set Up Your iPhone screen.

15. Enter a name for your iPhone in the Name field.

16. If you want your calendars, contacts, email accounts, and so on to sync, leave the check box checked.

17. Click Done. iTunes moves the information from your computer onto iPhone. You see the sync progress screens on your computer and on iPhone.

After iPhone is active, set up, and in sync, you can start using all its great features. You'll want to start by learning to use its cell phone features, moving iTunes music and video onto it, syncing podcasts, and so on. And that's where the rest of this book comes in.

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iPhone Memory Not Unlimited - If you leave the check box checked in step 16, it is likely that not all information will fit onto iPhone unless your iTunes Library is fairly small. If all the content can't be moved onto iPhone, you see prompts explaining this and suggesting what you can do to complete the sync. (Sync is the action of moving data between iPhone and computers.) Just follow the onscreen instructions to complete the sync process. Later in this book, you learn how to be selective ab...

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Customer Reviews

liked this better than iPhone for Dummies

I had been using the basic features on my iPhone intuitively... flipping once in a while through the thin booklet and the PDF file that Apple provides as a user manual. After a month, I decided that to make the most out of my purchase I had to more proactively learn about all the features.

The presentation in this book is clean and stylish. It's also very clear -- THE INSTRUCTIONS are detailed and ACCOMPANIED BY SCREENSHOTS, which are LABELED WITH NUMBERS that correspond to each step. There's no way to get lost.

It's comprehensive. For instance, there's a section on iTunes and iPod, which is especially useful for the complete novice who need step-by-step instructions about building playlists, finding podcasts, etc. (The Dummies book is limited in this area; there's a separate "iPod & iTunes for Dummies" book.)

If you're already familiar with certain features or there are some you're not interested in learning about, the book is arranged in such a way that you can skip ahead or hop from one section to another. There's an index, of course, but the Table of Contents is as helpful because the headings and subheadings are straightforward, instead of cutesy titles.

The only thing that the Dummies book has extra is a list of ten web resources at the end. They probably have more informational nuggets spread around, but I personally found it unencouraging to wade through all the text. In this book (My iPhone), every page has screenshots and you can see every step illustrated -- it's very visual.

I found a typo on page 94 ("Inlcude" for "Include"), and the iPhone seems to have added a few modifications to the map functions since it first came out. You can find out about those on page 81 of Apple's PDF guide. No biggies. The traffic icon is no longer a car, and there's an icon for finding your approximate location on the map you're looking at.

Thumbs-up.

Thumbs up on Brad Miser's "My iPhone"


This book has 419 pages, including nine pages for chapter contents at the front and almost a full 12 pages of indexed items at the back. The soft cover is glossy and stiff with an attractive and colorful iPhone, bigger than life-size, on the cover.

The book uses high quality slick paper and bright colors to denote chapters in the contents section that correspond to page number tabs of the same color within that chapter appearing deeper in the book. This makes it easy to find what you want to know in the chapter list and jump right to it, visually.

Especially well done is the ">>>step-by-step" feature in almost every chapter relating to how to program your iPhone. These are against a sky-blue background with numbered instructions appearing in easy-to-read black type. Additionally, as you work your way down the numbered instructions, a red circled number corresponding to that instruction appears in the crisp iPhone screen shots so you can follow along, fully oriented. This is exceptional, clear and professional.

The book contains 12 chapters that cover everything from "Getting Started" through managing your phone calls, contacts, text messages and emails to some of iPhone's unique features, such as listening to audio and watching video, connecting with the Internet and surfing the Web and taking and storing photos

Especially unique to the iPhone is the use of downloadable free or low-cost applications that allow your iPhone to do some pretty amazing things, like a voice Google search, or the Wall Street Journal mobile edition (allowing you to read this business newspaper for free, while their Web site charges a subscription fee), or the iTalk app that lets you record interviews and download them to your computer via wireless (just to name a few examples of the multitude of applications.)

Let's take a look at that chapter on apps. It clearly lays out the two different ways to obtain them. One is by linking up to iTunes from your computer, selecting the app of your choice available in the Apps Store, placing it in your library and then selecting it for syncing with your iPhone when it is connected to your computer.

But the iPhone also has an App Store application, allowing you to select apps right from your iPhone connected to the Apps Store, and load and install them right to your iPhone. Both methods are clearly spelled out with easy instructions.

The chapter on how to use iPhone applications smartly has a section on maintaining them, and deleting the ones you end up not liking. The book offers some sage advice if it was an app you paid for. You can delete it from iPhone alone, leaving it on your iTunes for future use should updates improve it and you decided you once again want it on your iPhone. (The book clearly describes how you can allow updates to happen your apps, meaning at some point, and improvement might make you want that app on your iPhone again). If you follow the writer's advice, you'll never pay for that app again.

The book smartly advises readers not to use the iPhone direct connection to the App Store unless you do so via Wi-Fi or a 3G network. Using the more standard E cellular network will be too slow and frustrating, explain the writers. (Actually, I've tried it and it wasn't so bad.)

There is an excellent chapter on iPhone's GPS application, called Finding Your Way with Maps. Clear instructions walk you through fully utilizing it. You can easily find a route between two locations, and get walking, public transit or car route and street-by-street directions. I hadn't used this default app (comes with the phone, not one you install on your own), and the directions in "My iPhone" made it easy to play with and recognize the amazing features in the GPS.

But here's why I like this book even more. The writer is really looking out for consumers, manifested by his willingness to call out the inefficiencies or ineffectiveness of an iPhone feature. These sections are sprinkled throughout the text as the author found the need. They are easy to spot, with a rust-colored background, white type, and the heading "It's not all good."

In the GPS chapter, this consumer-oriented section pointed out that the iPhone Maps app doesn't give directions audibly, meaning a driver could be in a real and dangerous fix if he's trying to follow the route and directions on his iPhone while driving. In some states (Alaska!) this would be illegal.

Overall, the publishing quality of this book is very high. I found no copyediting errors or oversights. I was tripped up once by reading a back-cover blurb that talked about iPhone's "visual voicemail." I went right to the index and searched for those words, hoping I could skip to it and find out exactly what it was.

No dice. That particular enticing item isn't listed in the index. I did find it as a subsection labeled Using Visual Voicemail under the Making Calls chapter in the contents section at the book front, so I wasn't too delayed. I still think if the item deserved a back cover blurb, it probably deserved its own line in the index.

Overall, this is a high quality, top-notch overview of the iPhone. It's sturdy for refreshing and referring to as your iPhone knowledge increases and you want to expand your effectiveness on the iPhone. I predict you'll go back for refinements and tune-ups all the time.

One last suggestion: Since the applications for the iPhone are a growth industry into and of themselves, it might have been fun if this author listed Web sites where readers could find reviews of new apps. If the publisher maintained a companion Web site with the author's recommendations on apps, even better! These items couldn't be in the book, but an addendum Web site might be a flexible way to handle it.

Good job, overall.

Helpful Guidelines to Maximizing your iPhone
My husband purchased the iPhone for my birthday. I am not a Techie, so I was challenged to learn by reading this book. I have successfully been able to configure my phone, email, and internet, etc... The directions were easy to understand and the pictures are priceless-- very informative and step-by-step procedures are provided. I was able to follow the book and maximize the use of my iPhone. I highly recommend it.