Your iPhone is first and foremost a mobile phone, so in this part we explore how to use typical mobile phone features, starting with all the neat ways to make an outgoing phone call. You also find out how to answer or ignore the calls that come in and discover iPhone's clever visual voicemail feature, which lets you take in messages on your terms, rather than in the order in which the messages arrived on the phone. You also figure out how to juggle calls, merge calls, and decide on a ringtone. And, if you're lucky enough to own an iPhone 3G S, you see how easy it is to make calls with Voice Control.

After you master all the calling and listening stuff, you're ready to become a whiz at sending and retrieving SMS and MMS messages. As journalists, we especially appreciate what comes next: finding out how to become a champion note-taker.

We close this part by investigating all those C-word programs — namely, Calendar, Calculator, and Clock — plus the new (in iPhone OS 3.0) V-word program called Voice Memos. These handy applications enable you to record memos (or lectures, or anything you can hear, really), solve arithmetic problems on the fl y (with one or two nifty calculators), and help you stay on top of your appointments. And — thanks to a built-in alarm clock — you may actually show up for those appointments on time.

Photo credits:

©iStockphoto.com/Andrew Manley (Top)

©iStockphoto.com/kutay tanir (Middle)

©iStockphoto.com/Elena Solodovnikova (Bottom)