Inside the sleek shell of the iPhone is a digital camera. Yes, your iPhone contains a two megapixel, high quality digital camera. This is great news for photographers and snapshooters because you don’t have to take a camera and a cell phone with you everywhere you go. Leave the camera at home; all you need is your iPhone.

Digital photography with your iPhone has never been easier. Instead of using your cell phone to talk, just point and “click.” Actually you tap your finger and instantly you get great high resolution pictures that you can immediately send to everyone on your contact list. If you are even remotely interested in digital photography with your iPhone, you should give it a try to see how easy it really is. I bet that a total beginner can take excellent photographs with the iPhone’s built-in camera.

With your Apple iPhone close at hand — and you will always have it at hand because it’s your cell phone — you never have to worry missing a chance to snap a great photograph. It’s also very easy to store and display all of your special photos. Just a tap of your finger will reveal all of the photos you have saved on your iPhone. In addition, when you take your pictures you have the option of posting them straight into a Mac Photo Gallery. What can you do with these photos? Well, if you see news events or traffic happening, you can snap a photo. Many news stations will pay for photos and short videos taken at a scene, even if you are an amateur. Wouldn’t it be nice to earn a few dollars with your cell phone? Now you can.

The iPhone makes showing off your pictures quick and easy because you can share them almost instantly after taking the pictures. Simply show your iPhone to your friends and have them “flick” the pages to scroll through your photos. You can also easily synchronize your Apple iPhone to your PC or Mac, to further distribute or print your pictures.

The Apple iPhone’s camera is well above the average cell phone standard of 1.5 megapixels. Your iPhone boasts a high resolution, two megapixel camera that is ready to use whenever you want to take a picture. If you are familiar with camera phones, you will find that photography with your iPhone results in picture quality that rivals those from a higher priced digital camera. Even in less than ideal situations such as poor lighting, the iPhone’s camera automatically adjusts to make every photograph you take look fabulous. With the Apple iPhone as your camera you are only limited by creativity and available space on your phone.

Photography with your iPhone is just one of the many capabilities of this cell phone. It really is a feature rich Smartphone that combines a cell phone, a camera, an MP3 player, as well as the ability to search the internet and send texts and emails. You have a device that does it all. The iPhone by Apple is a piece of technology combines form, fashion, and productivity into one device. They have put a lot of functionality into the iPhone and the ability to take and share high quality, digital photographs was not overlooked. This is not surprising, as they have been in the computer and peripheral market for a long time. Cool, eh?

Steve Jobs and his crew at Apple did a splendid job when they launched the iPhone. It’s such a simple device and one that is unique in the crowded field of PDA and SmartPhones. Among Smartphones, the Apple iPhone is probably the easiest use. This is in comparison to devices like the Blackberry and the Treo. But all is not peaches and cream because there is a downside to the iPhone. There are a few things wrong with this device, including the fact that you can’t expand the its memory, no cut-and-paste, and the costs associated with using the AT&T service.

I wonder how Apple could miss out on these important features? Everything is deliberate when it comes to marketing at Apple. I believe Apple is playing the “move up” game and coercing people to upgrade devices every year or two as they build in functionality which should have been built-in from the beginning. That’s exactly what happened with the iPhone 2G upgrade to the iPhone 3G. The 2G model did not incorporate 3G speeds, which is critical to using the Internet, for example.

The first key downside to the iPhone is limited internal memory that you can’t expand. The iPod Touch, which is essentially an iPhone without the phone, can be purchased with 32 gigabytes of memory. But, the iPhone’s maximum memory limit today is only 16 gigabytes. Why would Apple be so stingy on the iPhone memory? One movie alone is probably 200 megabytes or more. This will turn off many people who like to download lots of content.

One thing Apple should have done is allow people to add more memory by using some type of SD card. It could have been small enough so as not to detract from the beauty and elegance of the phone. More memory would also give users the ability to extend the usefulness of the iPhone.

Another downside to the iPhone is battery life. In fact it’s worse than my old Palm Treo 700p. I use my phone a lot. For example, I was out of the office all day one day and used my iPhone within about 4 hours. I was half full on the battery. Compound that issue if you were watching videos or listening to your favorite MP3s. There are battery extenders on the market, which we’ll discuss in more detail in future articles.

The service from AT&T is not bad. In fact, it’s probably better than Sprint in my particular location. The downside is that it’s pricey. The minimum monthly cost that you can expect to spend on the iPhone on AT&T is something like $75 per month. This gets you a a mere 450 voice minutes, unlimited data (which you’re required to buy) and 200 text messages (which is nominal)? Compared to Sprint it’s about 30% more expensive. But, that’s the price you pay for an iPhone 3G, which arguably is the sexiest phone/PDA on the market.

Another issue that Apple did not address is the lack of a copy-and-paste function. Say you are in an application that has a phone number and you want to put it into the dialer, you can’t copy that phone number into the dialer. You’ll have to remember the phone number or write it down. There have been so many times that I needed to copy something from one application to another, but had to resort to writing it down first. This is such a basic feature for any Smartphone.

Don’t get me wrong. The iPhone is still a cool device especially because of its gorgeous 320 x 320 screen. But there are downsides to the iPhone. I just wanted you to be aware of them before you buy.

I suspect that a good number of people have heard about unlocking their iPhone so that they can use a different SIM in it. This may be a good idea in certain situations. Many people want to unlock their iPhone to get around using AT&T as their cell phone service provider. Others just want to use the iPhone for internet and music capabilities and they do not want to use it as a phone at all. They hack the firmware so that they do not have to activate the phone on any network in order to use it. Here is the question though … Unlocking your iPhone, is it a good idea?

If you are looking to unlock your iPhone to use it on another network such as T-Mobile then you are breaking the law. It is illegal and in violation of Apple’s agreement with AT&T to use it on another network. Apple receives royalties from AT&T for every iPhone that is connected to their network. Apple loses money on every hacked iPhone. Many feel that it is “okay” to hack the iPhone’s firmware so that it can be used on another network. It is my viewpoint that this ethically wrong. Whether you agree with AT&T and Apple’s agreement or not is up to you. If you do not agree with it then do not use the iPhone as a cell phone. In this case, I do not agree with the hacking of the firmware.

On the other hand if you do not want the high expense of AT&T’s iPhone service and you are looking to use the iPhone for its music and internet capabilities then hacking into the firmware so that you do not have to activate the AT&T cell phone service is OK. You should be able to buy the iPhone and use it for the music, video and internet capabilities without having to connect to AT&T’s cell phone network. You can use places that offer free WiFi to access the internet via your iPhone. The iPod does not give you internet capabilities. Therefore, if you want to have internet, combined with awesome content then you really do need an iPhone and you should not have to purchase expensive cell phone service in order to enjoy the reason most people buy an iPhone in the first place. Unlocking your iPhone, is it a good idea? In this case, the answer is yes.

There is a third reason to hack into the firmware. This is really in a gray area as it uses the full capabilities of the iPhone, including using it as a phone. You can add Skype VOIP service for about $10 a month and then you have a WiFi phone. If you are using the iPhone in this way and do not want to use AT&T’s cell phone service you are still going to have to hack into the firmware so that you do not activate the phone with AT&T. Is this in violation of the AT&T, Apple agreement? No, it is not. That agreement is for AT&T to provide exclusive cell phone service for the iPhone. The VOIP service is not cell phone service. Therefore, if you are not using another cell phone service provider for your iPhone you are not violating any agreement. This is one way to get around the exclusive contract with AT&T and still be able to send and receive calls. The only drawback is that you need to be in an area where you can pickup a WiFi signal in order to use your Skype VOIP service.

Is it a good idea to unlocking your iPhone? It depends on your views and intended use. On one hand there are legal and ethical issues with hacking into the firmware in general. However, your intent on why you are doing this also comes into consideration. Apple and AT&T have an exclusive agreement as far as cell phone service goes. Apple does not recommend the use of any other SIM card than the one that came with your phone, but it does not specifically prohibit it either. If you bought the iPhone to use for content and internet only or even if you plan to use it as an expensive Skype VOIP phone, that is your business and you should be able to do this without signing up for expensive cell phone service you do not need. Unlocking your iPhone, is it a good idea? Perhaps.