You’ve drooled over the iPhone hands-on videos on Apple’s Web site. Read the first round of reviews giving the world’s most desired gadget mostly a thumbs-up – including generally positive feedback on the button-less, all-thumbs virtual keyboard that tech pundits collectively agreed would be the iPhone’s biggest potential deal maker or breaker.
Your mind’s made up: You want one.
Well, get in line. Literally. Because even if you can afford the $500 or $600 price of admission, your only real chance of actually snagging an iPhone will be by camping in line at an AT&T or Apple Store on (or before) June 29th and hoping there’s enough to go around. Eventually the stocks will be replenished and getting an iPhone will be as easy as nabbing an iPod.
Until then, salve your iPhone lust and envy by taking advantage of features built into your current phone that maybe you didn’t know you had, or by tricking it out with a number of iPhone-like add-ons. Some were known and familiar, while others were found by searching on the term “iPhone-like” – which produced more than 200,000 hits. Keep in mind that these are just a handful of what’s likely to become a throng of iPhone-inspired add-ons for non-iPhones.
- Joe Hutsko
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It’s the data plan, man
One thing all iPhones owners automatically agree to in order to enjoy many of the device’s slickest features is an unlimited, all-you-can-eat data plan. Unless you’re currently a smartphone user who checks mail and browses the Web, chances are your plan offers voice minutes only, and no data exchange. Fix that by visiting your service’s Web site and adding an unlimited data plan to your account. AT&T, for instance, offers a pricy $80 unlimited data plan for PDAs and notebooks, but also an affordable $20 unlimited data plan for smartphones like my Nokia 6682, which lacks a full keyboard but can still handle e-mail and web browsing just fine.
Incidentally, existing AT&T subscribers who purchase iPhones can add the required unlimited data plan to their existing account for only $20.";
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The look of lust
Earning raves for its silky smooth interface and big on-screen buttons, its hard not to envy the iPhone’s attractive look and feel. While no add-on can turn your existing phone into an iPhone through and through, a handful of them simulate certain pieces of that i-lovin’ feelin’. Plusmo (www.plusmo.com) serves up thousands of “mobile widgets” that offer everything from locating the lowest gas prices or a latte at Starbucks, to weather updates, movie reviews, and blog feeds. If your aim is a more eye-pleasing iPhone-like makeover, the Web site juniskins.com serves up a well-crafted knock-off for Windows Mobile smartphones. Search on “iPhone Nokia theme” for Nokia-compatible themes, or swap out “Nokia” for your phone brand to turn up themes for your device. Does Apple see these imitations as the highest form of flattery? Hardly: The theme “iPhony” for Palm devices was ordered removed from the site Brighthand.com by Apple’s legal counsel. ";
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Surfin’ Safari-style
Most mobile phones come with built-in, dummied-down Web browsers, though only one Web browser I tried – Opera Mini 4 – displays full Web pages that can be zoomed in and out that’s similar to the way the iPhone does it. What’s more, the mini browser, currently in beta, can be downloaded for free – providing your phone is Java-capable and compatible with Opera Mini 4. Find out by visiting www.operamini.com/beta. While you’re there, be sure to check out Opera’s iPhone spoof ad that mimics Apple’s own recent ads. Never one to miss the boat, Microsoft’s Live Labs group is at work on the “Deepfish” Web browser for Windows Mobile devices. Info at the product’s site (live.labs.com/deepfish) promises “a familiar look and feel of Web pages on mobile as seen on desktop,” and “intuitive zooming, panning and cue map for quick navigation and browsing.” Who’s zoomin’ who?
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Text, conversationally speaking
One slick iPhone feature is the way it tracks text messages as ongoing conversations, much like the Mac’s iChat program (which incidentally doesn’t come to the iPhone, though it’s likely to show up in future feature updates Apple promises to provide). While threaded text messaging like the iPhone’s is uncommon, it isn’t new: The Treo line of Palm-based smartphones tracks text conversations in a similar fashion. And though Samsung’s slick Blackjack doesn’t do it out of the box, the add-on program SMS Threader gives the Blackjack and other Windows Mobile-powered smartphones similar good-conversation skills.
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Google Maps and YouTube
Yes, you too can get those iPhone dandies YouTube and Google Maps for your non-iPhone. Point your mobile phone’s Web browser to mobile.google.com to download the Maps application on compatible phones. Like the iPhone version, Google Maps for other phones displays traffic clogs, offers step-by-step directions to get from a to z and every point in between, and even satellite imagery. Go to http://m.youtube.com to reach the service’s most popular videos; scroll to the bottom of the page to choose most viewed or favorites – or jump to the search box to find other videos. The mobile.google.com gateway also offers access to Gmail, and of course Google’s search service. MSN-types can hit up mobile.msn.com for similar access. AOL users can go to mobile.aol.com to reach their familiar services, and Yahoo users can go to m.yahoo.com/start to jump into their way of doing things."; // END editorial data