As the summer months approached not too long ago, people board planes to get away from it all. We take our family and friends with us on all sorts of trips. Following that logic, we have to bring along the iPhone, of course.

As we will see, a high-technological device like the iPhone can turn out to be quite a handy tool on the road.

First we’ll look at special settings that any reasonable traveler should activate while being abroad. Then we’ll extend our iPhone’s functionality with several apps off the App Store. 

T-Mobile released its iPhone pricing. While the iPhone itself seems cheaper, their 24 months contract certainly are not. For now. Until June 30 Orange offers half its monthly charge for the entire span of your contract. That’s a really great deal you’re getting – See Part 1 for further details. After that point in time, this might shift towards T-Mobile. Read this to see who wins over the homo economicus.

The iPhone costs on a 24 mo plan laid out for you...

When Apple announced the new iPhone 3GS, the all new updated version of their cellphone line, I decided I wanted this hot piece of technology.

Now, as virtually nothing is free of charge, the price tag for some iPhone Pleasure in Austria is quite astonishing and requires some calculations before you jump on the 24 months cellphone plan bandwagon.

The iPhone 3GS? You want it? See the costs involved, after the jump.

Our two options are either T-Mobile Austria (see Part 2 for a price analysis) or Orange. While T-Mobile won’t tell me what the prices are yet (Update: They did, yesterday), here are my calculations for an Orange plan that would be affordable and reasonably priced.

It works with pizzas that may or may not be left behind in the oven or anything you want not to forget really. It is handy.

Siebhirn, literally translated is filter brain and this terrible thing I probably have been suffering from since I first set foot on this beautiful globe. I only keep bits of information inside my grey cells that are retainable in terms of personal interest. Hanging up my laundry is not one of the most retained to-do’s in my personal track record of accomplished things in life.

So what would I do without this handy Dashboard widget?

What kind of software do you use to fight your personal burden(s)?

No comment. Or wait, a laptop under 1000? It still runs Vista right?

These comics don’t come as a surprise. Listed by time and intensity of aggressiveness:

• Lauren at the food mart.
• Even more saving tips from Lauren. You’re a PC. A cheap one.

We have been heavily discussing brands and their recognition and perception on this blog. Also I put up some Obama mania entries dealing with recent events. So why not mix it up a bit and look thru this great survey I found (before the election).

Tadaaa: A brand analysis of the presidential candidates’ brand association that was concluded using a survey by conducted Landor Associates and Penn, Schoen & Berland in the beginning of October.

Look through it, now it’s clear why people went for the Obama-Biden ticket, right?

Starbucks, BMW, Mac, Target, Google, Marriot, iPhone, iPod - I could identify with it. · Picture by Landor Associates and Penn, Schoen & Berland

If you spin this a little further and move from brands to everyday products, what would this survey be like? Animal associated with Obama: puppy. Animal associated with Palin: a moose. Now, isn’t this funny?

After two weeks of all the iPhone apps I care to download, I can say this: most of them are useless.

DataCase iPhone App Video: Turn Your iPhone Into A Wireless Drive.

iPhone Applications are blossoming since Apple opened the App Store a couple of days ago. Michael Arrington says exactly what I thought from day one when the App Store opened its doors. However, it looks like this is a pretty neat Application (unlike most downloaded-to-test-but-never-touched-in-real-life) that has a great potential, especially for its wireless hard-drive capabilities. Handy dandy. The user-interface could be a little bit more attractive, but that’s probably just me. DataCase for iPhone & iPod Touch by veiosoft.com.

Short update: I am testing thw wordpress application ja automattic.

Screw that acoustic guitar you had to practise on in middle school. Guitar Hero is way "funner" according to user experience polls.

Amazon.com: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle With Guitar: Windows & Macintosh: Video Games.

Usually this time of the year I would spend a large amount of time in front of a Playstation playing video games with my host brother. He’s in the lucky position, since he possesses a Wii, Playstation, Game Cube, Nintendo something thingy. You name it.

Stuck in Austria, I don’t really have any of these time-consuming but fun-giving (fun-emitting would be the fancy way to say it, I suppose) products. I “only” have a Mac, so what am I gonna do then? I’ll go with waiting for Amazon Germany (nearly and almost Austria) to ship the Guitar Hero bundle (Mac version, preferably) to my house. More on Guitar Hero after the jump…