Tap and Hold iOS Keyboard Shortcuts

I've had an iPhone since 2008 but it was only recently that I learned of all the keyboard shortcuts that are available by tapping a key and holding it down.  When you hold a key down, a menu will pop up with the other variations for that key.  I mentioned some of these and gave you a link in my Tips for New iOS Users post but here is a more complete list.

Serious Content Creation on the iPhone and iPad

I'm typing this blog entry on my iPhone with my new Apple Wireless Keyboard. The Apple Wireless Keyboard is a bluetooth keyboard that is about the size of a notebook keyboard and can be used with a computer, an iPad, or an iPhone (iPhone 4 and, I think, iPhone 3GS).

The Better Way to Listen to Radio

If you like to listen to the radio, whether talk or music, you are typically limited to what stations you can get locally or you have to pay to subscribe to satellite radio.  If you have an iPhone or an iPad (or an iPod Touch with access to wifi) there is another option and it's actually a very good one.

iPhone Voice Control

One of the not-so-obvious features of the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 is Voice Control.  One of the reasons it's easy to forget about, if you know it's there at all, is that there is no app icon for it and there is very little in the way of settings for it.  Voice Control is extremely useful in the car, when you don't want to take your eyes off the road to place a call or play some music.

It works quite simply: Just hold down the home key for a couple of seconds and let go.  The Voice Control screen will appear and a sound will play indicating it's time for you to speak.  Just say something like "Call John Deaux mobile" and a nice lady will reply back, "Calling John Deaux mobile".  You'll soon be talking to John Deaux without having to take your eyes off the road.  After you've talked to John long enough and want to listen to music, press the button again and say something like "Play playlist eclectic favorites".  (Substitute whatever playlist you are in the mood for.)

For My Verizon iPhone Friends: Some Essential Posts for New Users

Tomorrow is the big day when Verizon iPhones start showing up in a brick and mortar store near you.  Those of you who pre-ordered on February 3 are beginning to receive your iPhones shipments at home.  For those of you who are just getting started with your iPhones, hear are some of the more essential posts from the short time Practical iStuff has been around.  These should help you get started.

1. Tips for New iOS Users
2. Google Sync: The Poor Man's Answer to Mobile Me
3. App Sales: The Way to Score Some Great Apps on the Cheap
4. Apps with Web Components
5. To Doing: To Do Lists on the iPhone and iPad

Taking Measurements with You on the iPhone

My wife and I often needs to write down measurements to take with us.  Sometimes with her it is measuring a space for a piece of furniture, measuring a table for a table cloth, measuring a window for curtains, etc.  I've had to measure closets to put in shelves.  In the past, we would write these down on paper.  When we got iPhones, we started recording these measurements electronically as notes on the iPhone...until we found a better way.

Scanning on the Go with the iPhone

At work, when we submit expense reports for a business trip, we have to attach images of our receipts to those expense reports. Typically, I take the receipts, scan them with our big scanner/copier/printer, and then email them to myself from this mammoth machine.  One time one of my receipts failed to make it back with me.  Fortunately, it was a small one but it could've easily been one that would've caused me big problems.  On my most recent business trip, I tried something different.