[qjz]

I have a love/hate relationship with my smartphone, but I'm still amazed at some of the things I can do with it. Adding to your list:

When my car's GPS took me miles down a road that was washed out on a trip hundreds of miles from my home, Google Navigation on my smartphone suggested a different route that got me safely to my destination.

It's a flexible and reliable alarm and kitchen timer.

I can read novels comfortably in bed on my smartphone (none of my several laptops are very ergonomic for this purpose).

I can map my bike rides and get stats on min/max/average speed, elevation, etc. (all the while using it as a music player).

It lets me easily maintain multiple shopping lists.

I can tune my guitar with it.

It functions as a real flashlight (my phone has a very bright LED).

My smartphone is no replacement for a computer, but it's better at these tasks than any computer I own.

[bambax]

> I can read novels comfortably in bed on my smartphone

Really? I tried with an iPod Touch and an iPad, and really hated both. Then I bought a Kindle and found it extraordinary. The Kindle is the best device I've ever owned.

[idiopathic]

I bought the Kindle when it first out and loved it but never carried it with me, and found it difficult to read at night - so as soon as reader version came out for my Android, I used that and never looked back.

Reading in bed with a smartphone is great because the light does not bother my partner, and after two minutes of my falling asleep, the phone switches off its screen as well. Any bed lamp I use keeps me awake rather than allowing me to fall asleep.

(I know I am the exception as I have been reading on Palm Pilot screens since the late 90s - it was the only way to make sure I could get enough reading time in medical school.)

[bambax]

My Kindle case has a lamp that is very effective and yet not too bright. It's perfect for reading in bed.

(And you can't use a smartphone to read on the beach or any place under direct sunlight...)

[gbog]

> use a smartphone to read on the beach

Not only that. To the GP: I read also on my phone (Nexus one) but I feel the backlight is not very gentle for my eyes, even when using FBreader in night mode. Also, characters are too small. To me, a (real B&W e-ink) Kindle is better, or a paper book.

[nuclear_eclipse]

Actually, if you get a phone with the AMOLED screens, you can read in direct sunlight. I have a Nexus S, and I do that every single day. I take it out of my pocket the moment I step outside, the screen automatically jumps to full brightness, and I have no problems at all using the phone to read emails, set up GPS while I'm walking to my car, or compose text messages. I can even do this with my sunglasses on.

[wazoox]

I have both an eInk Sony reader and a B&N NookColor, and both are pretty good for reading. I prefer the eInk for casual reading, but the Nook is great for PDFs and papers, and reading in bed without light :)

[rbrcurtis]

reading on an an LCD really is a love it or hate it sort of thing; I love it, many people I know, who are more attached to paper books, hate it.

[josephb]

If you are a reader, Kindle all the way.

[delackner]

Oddly, with the conceit of an offline GPS app (map data in the phone) every item you listed would work without a mobile data connection.

The killer network-enabled app is still on the drawing-board. (I don't feel like being able to instagram a photo and have your friends "like" a black-n-white photo of your dinner WHILE YOU ARE STILL EATING IT! is it).

[jessedhillon]

Spotify: 90% of the songs I can think of, including Hindi songs, anywhere you have a data connection.

[gbog]

> my car's GPS took me [away]

Why not using your phone navigation then? Here in China, without turn-by-turn GPS, I would be lost in nowhere, and the Chinese things they sell as GPS don't count.

> My smartphone is no replacement for a computer

Mine is, in many cases. Before, I was in the habit of turning on my laptop to check some pages or feeds after dinner, now I do this confortably installed in the sofa, on my phone.

I just miss, obviously, the content production abilities of a computer. Hope they'll find quickly a way to input text conveniently in a phone-sized thing. (I won't bet on the voice for that, maybe just a good hand writting detector could work as well)

[rbrcurtis]

Text input in horizontal mode is pretty comfortable, IMO, but then the screen you are inputting into usually isnt visible. I'd like to see a phone with a popup screen for horizontal mode. :P

edit: oh yeah, they make slide out keyboards for this exact reason. totally forgot about those.