After years of using a Dell Axim for my PDA, earlier this year I chucked it and moved to the iPhone. And now I’m totally devoted to the product especially with the 3.0 operating system upgrades which I just downloaded to my 3G version of the phone. There are about 100 new features on this version of the iPhone and two in particular are making a big difference in my daily productivity. First, Apple has finally added a copy, cut and paste feature. Second, I can finally work on emails in landscape mode and, hence, have a larger keyboard to work with when typing messages.

There are also a couple of new apps that I am finding really helpful. First, NewsAddict is great if you like to read news on your iPhone. The app combines over 20 news sources – including the big ones like the New York Times, CNN, and the Wall Street Journal – in an easy to view format. The $1 price tag is obviously great and once you’ve set this application up, you can skip the separate apps the individual publications provide as well as well as viewing the sites on Safari.

Amazon has also produced a Kindle app that allows you to read books available in the Kindle format on your iPhone. I’ve been reading books on my PDA for more than five years and love the format. First, I like a bright screen and the iPhone meets that test. Second, the iPhone allows you to flip pages quickly with just a slide of your finger across the screen. The iPhone also has a key advantage over the Kindle device – it’s always with you. I read books just about everywhere I have a few spare moments and look at waiting on lines as an opportunity to get a little reading in. There are other book apps as well that are pretty good including eReader and Stanza.

Another app that is helping me a lot is TripIt which aggregates all of your travel details for a particular trip in an easy to read itinerary. The kicker is that you just forward your trip’s email receipts to plans@tripit.com and it recognizes your email address and puts all of the details in your itinerary for you so that you don’t need to retype all of that information. This is a huge time saver.

And finally, my favorite new app is the NY Times crossword puzzle which is now  up each day in an easy to use format. And the Times has an archive available if you like to feel good about yourself and do only the easier Monday puzzles