Now that the Wall Street Journal has decried the iPhone’s inability to sync with corporate e-mail servers, you might have a tough time justifying one on your expense report. And on the surface, the lustworthy little guy does appear to be all play, little work. At the risk of jumping the gun a bit, I’ve compiled five productive uses for an iPhone. More to come once the thing actually ships.
- Learn a foreign language Take advantage of the iPhone’s podcast capabilities and stock it with foreign-language lessons. The more languages you speak, the greater your earning power.
- Sync with Outlook The iPhone can absorb calendar and contact entries from Outlook, just like the iPod. Even better, with the iPhone you should be able to edit and add to that data, something the iPod can’t do.
- Turn text files and Web pages into e-books It’s safe to assume the iPhone will include a Notes applet similar to the iPod’s, in which case you should be able to convert Web pages and text files into e-books for on-the-go reading.
- Leave yourself a message When you need to send yourself a reminder, call Jott. The service transcribes your recording into text and e-mails it to your inbox (or even a co-worker’s inbox). It’s an easy and effective alternative to the traditional voice-mail reminder, and it works with any cell phone.
- Beat the traffic The iPhone might not have GPS capabilities, but it can still help you avoid traffic snarls. Just sign up for SMS alerts at Traffic.com and you’ll receive road reports at designated times, like when you’re headed to work or leaving for an important meeting.
How will you use the iPhone to be a productive little worker bee (or big boss)? Share your ideas in the Comments page.
