thinking about getting an iphone

[zerosoma]

I would be changing from a blackberry pearl to an iphone and i have a few questions.

on my blackberry I have a berry411 app that lets me put in my zip code and it finds numbers and addresses for anything i type in thats near my area. That way i don't have to call information and get charged for finding out the phone number to the nearest store or restaurant etc.. what are the best apps on the iphone that do this?

Same thing with weather apps. which one is the best for iphone.

The only thing thing I think I would miss from the berry is the keyboard keys, I have a yahoo email account so I would still have push email so i'm ready to try the iphone out, I like all the free apps, any ones that are must haves?

my final question is about itunes, i have an ipod I use manual or disk mode on it I like to drag and drop my music on my ipod myself, Can i do this on the iphone as well so I can manage both of them independently?

thank you for any help.

[ReyZero]

There are applications that serve your first request, for restaurants and stores, but the only applications I know of are separate, such as a restaurant app, and a store app. There could be an all in one, I just haven't looked. And there's a lot of different weather apps you can try.
There's already threads on must have applications, so take a gander there. My personal favorite is Pandora for music.
And I'm not 100% sure, but I know my dad has his iPhone and iPod libraries different, and I'm pretty sure you can manually manage songs on the iPhone, but you may have to use playlists (don't quote me, I don't do manual.)

[Jimmy97]

You can manage music manually, but not from different libraries. You sync your iPhone with one library, and that's that. You can't add from anywhere else without resyncing all your music.
Disk mode: There are a few great apps for this, which make the iPhone a great disk device as well as a file-viewer. Course Apple should've given us this functionality built-in, but I'm not complaining too much. AirSharing is a personal favorite of mine. Lets you view many files, play videos, music, etc. It's drag-and-drop, but you need wi-fi. An advantage, if you ask me.

The above poster covered the rest pretty well. I'd just like to add: The Weather app on the iPhone is perfectly fine for me. I'm not sure what your weather needs are though, so you might want to check alternate options on the AppStore such as TheWeatherChannel. On a side note, isn't this "duplicating functionality"? How come Apple lets this app on the AppStore?
As for restaurants and stuff, I heard yelp is good, and urbaspoon for restaurants. If you need to find the nearest Starbucks or something else as popular you can just use Google Maps.

As for apps, well, I'll just add a few of my favorites, even though there's been countless posts about this: Beejive IM for chatting. AirSharing, for reasons above. Last.fm, because Pandora doesn't work internationally (shame), Remote, and it's in bold because it's a must have for anyone who uses iTunes, and then comes AirMouse for controlling your PC remotely, and midomi for tagging music. As for games, my favorite is Edge (and I've tried A LOT). Check it out.

[Pretz]

wait for the next iphone to come out. there was a leak and someone said the new iphone was coming out in june. read this link:

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/iphone-3g-in-uae-this-month-new-iphone-in-june/

i really think you should wait.

[Jimmy97]

Well, there was no need for a leak to tell us the new iPhone's coming in June, and that matte finish is the most obvious idea, so I'm thinking it might not be Apple's plan. But hey, leaked photos of the 3G were on the net months before its release, so who knows.

[ReyZero]

I'd actually prefer the matte finish, but unless they make the screen smudge proof with something, it just wouldn't be complete :P

[Jimmy97]

The matte would definitely be a welcome change for me. I like the gloss perfectly fine, but it's too smudgy. Plus matte just gives it an extra edge :D
True story about the screen though, they should make it smudge-proof or something :)

[iRestore]

In regards to the Apps. Yelp! is the best local directory I have found. Everything is listed and you can search by how close it is to you. I use it for everything. And The Weather Channel has a weather app that in my opinion is the best. Basically all the info you would get from the TV station or internet.