Sunday, September 19, 2010

Using Your iPhone as a Flash Drive

 By: Sam Strickland

Photo: ihelplounge.com

One of the great things about the iPhone is that it combines numerous devices together into one relatively simple package. Much like a universal remote control gets rid of the need to have three or four remote controls, like one for your DVD player, one for your cable box, one for your TV, one for your stereo system, et cetera, your iPhone does this as well. Except on the iPhone, you're combining your cell phone, your iPod, your camera, your video camera, internet browser, and very nearly your entire computer into one simple device. Thanks to the adaptability of this device, however, you can also add another to that list. The iPhone can double as a flash drive.

It's limited, though, to use with Macs, not surprisingly, but a ten dollar application that you can download easily enables your iPhone to use its storage capacity for storing files and documents and making them portable, much like keeping a key chain flash drive in your pocket.

The PhoneView application from Ecamm opens your iPhone up to your computer for easy access. Now you can send files directly to your iPhone for storage, and back to your computer again, or to any computer using PhoneView. You can also use your iPhone to back up the photos and other media stored on your computer. You can also offload your contacts and text messages to the computer for archiving, if you want to get them off your phone but don't want to get rid of them entirely, or if you're worried that you might lose them if your phone is damaged or stolen.

One downside is that you can't open files that you put on the iPhone on the iPhone itself, you can only offload them onto another computer for display there. Another downside is that the PhoneView program is not compatible with Windows PCs or Linux devices, and requires the PhoneView program to be installed on any computer that you wish to use your iPhone to exchange files with.

So, sadly, there are still some reasons you may wish to tote around a flash drive. Flash drives are small, but nonetheless mean more hardware you have to carry around, but they are compatible with all manner of modern computers. Also, compared to PhoneView, flash drives are usually slightly cheaper than PhoneView, with larger ones with comparable sizes to the iPhone's storage capacity running a little higher.

So if you're a heavy iPhone user, and you use Macs most of the time, PhoneView might be the best way for you to rid yourself of extra hardware and get more out of your iPhone!

Sam Strickland is a prolific writer with deep interest in science, technology and real estate. You can share this article with all of your friends. It must, however, be shared in its entirety, unedited and unaltered in any way from its original format, or permission to re-distribute is null and void and copyright is in force.You can contact him at : samstrick1959@gmail.com

Article Source:
http://www.articlebiz.com/article/1051328787-1-using-your-iphone-as-a-flash-drive/

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