The idea behind Truphone is that when you don't have an affordable cell phone signal, you can use broadband VoIP on your iPhone (or other compatible mobile phone) to make phone calls.

Downloading Truphone on the iPhone is simple. Go to the Apps store and search for Truphone--load the app as usual. When you click on application the first time, it runs you through setting up your phone which is as simple as entering your phone number into the phone and clicking "Go". Truphone calls you and asks you to enter code that you pre selected. After you have crossed that bridge, the phone sends you an SMS message with a username and password for the Truphone site. You do your final setup on the site and they credit you $4.00 to start with. An email validation is sent to your email account.

Over the weekend, I purchased an iPhone. I have been a long time Sprint customer for cellular service--my wife and I have had a shared plan for some time. My latest phone had been a Treo 650--which has been a great phone. Prior to the 650 I had a 600. Prior to that I had a Palm Vx along with a cell phone. You can probably see the PDA pattern.

When the iPhone came out I felt the pull, but still had quite some time left on my contract with Sprint.

Lets get the things about the iPhone I don't like out of the way:

1. In the US, the phone is tied to one carrier--AT&T
2. On a device that costs between $400-$500, what is with the measly 2 mega pixel camera?
3. When you send a photo attached to an email, it reduces the size to 640x480
4. Where the heck is 3G?
5. I have been a pretty heavy user of Dial Up Networking (DUN)--basically, you pair your phone to your laptop and you can access the Internet through that connection. It is slow, but it works. DUN is not supported by the iPhone without a hack.

Ok, now that we've got my dislikes out of the way, let me just say that the experience of unboxing an iPhone is similar to taking other Apple products out of the packaging. It is a very satisfying experience.

On Friday a collegue handed me an Ubuntu install disk. I booted up from the CD and lo and behold, it appears that the Macbook Pro can handily handle Ubuntu. At some point soon, I will run boot camp and turn the laptop into a dual boot machine. Pretty cool.

I am an Apple fan.  I've used Macs since the ][e and either owned or have heavily used a Plus, LCIII, Bondi Blue iMac, G5 iMac, iBook, and a Macbook Pro.  I've owned two different iPods.  When the iPhone was announced and then shipped, my wife strongly encouraged me to buy one and replace my aging Treo 650.  My current carrier is Sprint, which makes that problematic.  Besides, I rarely purchase hardware before it goes through a couple of revisions.  That said, I've handled the iPhone several times and it is slick.

I want one...

I'm selling an iPod nano on eBay.

If you are interested in a good deal, check out my listing. It is brand new--normally retails for $200--and I'm selling it for $150 plus shipping and insurance.