I saw your column last week saying Apple’s MobileMe now does a better job of syncing contacts, calendar items and email. But will it allow me to sync to my iPhone directly from my company’s corporate calendar, address books and email?

MobileMe is meant for consumer data, not corporate data. Essentially, Apple’s own servers act like a company’s servers in order to bring corporate-style push syncing to consumer data that isn’t kept on corporate servers. To sync your corporate contacts, calendar items and email to an iPhone, you would use a different built-in option in the iPhone: Microsoft Exchange. Assuming your company’s IT department certifies the iPhone as an acceptable device, and your company uses Exchange, as many or most do, you can use an iPhone to perform instant two-way syncing of corporate contacts, calendar and email. It works just like a BlackBerry or Windows Mobile phone in this scenario. I have tested this, and found it worked well.

Is it possible to sync a Treo or BlackBerry using MobileMe? If not, how can I transfer my Treo contacts and calendar items to the iPhone?

While MobileMe is agnostic when it comes to computer platforms, working on both Windows and Macintosh computers, it is single-minded when it comes to handheld devices. It synchronizes data only to Apple’s own iPhones and iPod Touch devices. It doesn’t work with the Treo, the BlackBerry, or any other smart phone or handheld device beyond those made by Apple. One simple way to move contacts and appointments from Treo to iPhone is to use Outlook as an intermediary. First, sync your Treo to Outlook. Then, just plug your iPhone into your PC, launch iTunes, and sync the iPhone with Outlook. The data from your Treo should then be on the iPhone. MobileMe isn’t required.

I can’t find the location of the files contained in my Personal folders in Outlook that contain my contacts and saved emails. Can you help?

To find the location of the single combined Outlook data file that contains your email, contacts and calendar, follow these steps. First, select “Data File Management” from the File menu. A window will open showing the name of your data file, which includes its location on your hard disk. Click the button to the right that says “Open Folder,” and you will be in the folder that contains this file, with the file’s name or icon highlighted. Outlook data files use the extension “pst” at the ends of their names.

• You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online free of charge at the new All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

I get confused by all the different models of the BlackBerry — Bold, Storm, Curve, Pearl and so on. Can you briefly explain the differences?

There are too many models to list here, because RIM, the maker of BlackBerry, makes varying versions for competing wireless carriers, and these may have different features, even if they look the same. However, here’s a quick breakdown of the main flavors.

The Bold is the top-of-the-line BlackBerry, relatively large and costly, with a wide keyboard and a big, vivid screen. The Curve is its little brother — still sporting a good, full, keyboard, but lower-priced, smaller and lighter. The newest Curve, called the 8900, has a beautiful screen and is even sleeker than its predecessor.

The Pearl is a slimmer, low-priced, more fashion-oriented model with a truncated keyboard that has two letters on each key and relies on software to guess which one you meant to hit. The Pearl Flip is much like the Pearl, except, as its name implies, it’s a flip phone.

The Storm is the BlackBerry line’s most direct competitor to the Apple iPhone. It’s the only BlackBerry without a physical keyboard, instead relying on a large, beautiful touch screen for typing and navigation. Unlike on the iPhone, however, the Storm provides physical feedback each time you press down on the screen.

I’d be interested in the new, tiny iPod Shuffle, except that I dislike Apple’s earbuds. And, because they have now moved the playback controls to the earbud cord, I can’t use my favorite third-party set. What are my options?

Well, one option is to buy the old model of the Shuffle, which Apple is keeping on the market. It’s larger, but still very small, and has the controls on the player itself, rather than on the earbud cord, so you can use plain old earbuds or headphones from other companies. Plus, at $49, it’s $30 less, though it has only 25% of the capacity of the new one and lacks the new model’s voice features.

Another, costlier, option is to buy better earbuds that have the new controller built in. Apple sells a pair of $79 in-ear buds with a control module on the cord. They were designed for the iPod Touch, but the company says they work perfectly with the new Shuffle. Several other headphone companies, such as Klipsch, have announced plans to offer either headphones or adapters with Shuffle-compatible controls in coming months.

Is it safe to upgrade my Vista PC to the beta version of Windows 7?

Since it is a beta version, there is always some danger of problems. But I have upgraded a couple of Vista computers with no special tricks or help, and with no significant problems. Still, there are a couple of caveats. First, Microsoft will be replacing the beta with a more polished “release candidate” that could involve a re-installation process, so you may want to hold off. Second, Microsoft isn’t guaranteeing that every hardware feature on every computer or peripheral will work properly under the pre-release versions.

• You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online free of charge at the new All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

In your review of Amazon’s Kindle 2 e-book reader, you didn’t say much about its ability to display newspapers, magazines and blogs. How does it do with this type of content?

The new model’s handling of periodicals and blogs is quite similar to that of the old model’s, which is why I didn’t dwell on it. This wasn’t an area where Amazon changed much.

While I know some Kindle owners happily rely on the device for newspaper reading, in my opinion, the Kindle doesn’t do as well with periodicals and blogs as devices like laptops and the best smart phones. Its ability to render the content optimally is limited by its low-power monochrome screen, and its navigation system is fairly primitive compared to that on a laptop or a good smart phone. Kindle’s features were built mainly for books, which, unlike periodicals, don’t contain links and prompt little navigation in most pages.

Whenever I watch an Internet movie, the monitor on my desktop Vista PC shuts off every 10 minutes unless I touch the keyboard. How can I solve this problem?

Unless your monitor has its own feature that turns itself off after some time period, this is usually easily controllable from within Vista. You simply need to go into the Control Panel, find the power settings, and set the option for automatically turning off the display to “never,” or to some very long interval. Remember to re-enable the screen dimming feature after you’re done with the movie, so you don’t waste energy. If this doesn’t work, check to see if the manufacturer has installed its own software for controlling power settings. If so, you may have to change the settings there.

I am retired and would like to buy a small, wireless computer for travel that would have email and Internet software and very few other applications. The keyboard would be bigger than a Blackberry’s and smaller than a laptop’s. Can you recommend something?

I would look for a so-called “netbook.” These are little laptops, with screens generally 10 inches or smaller, that usually weigh almost nothing and sell for under $500. They typically come with relatively slow processors and relatively limited storage, but every one that I’ve seen is wireless and does a decent job with email and the Internet. There are many models, from companies like Acer, Asus, Hewlett Packard, Lenovo and Dell.

• You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online free of charge at the new All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

Does the new Palm Pre smart phone use the traditional Palm operating system and the many programs that have been written for it?

Palm’s Pre, which is due out later this year to compete with the iPhone and the BlackBerry, doesn’t use this older software, which was once the best smart-phone operating system, but has grown stale. It uses an entirely new operating system called the Palm webOS, which will have to attract developers willing to write new programs for it. It is a clean break from Palm’s previous hardware and software.

How does the Clickfree computer backup system you covered last week compare with Apple’s Time Machine or online backup services like Mozy or Carbonite?

Clickfree simplifies the chore of backing up files to an external hard disk. However, as I noted in the review, it doesn’t back up your whole hard disk, it doesn’t work automatically in the background, and it doesn’t create a backup physically distant from your computer.

Time Machine, which is built into the Macintosh operating system, automatically backs up your entire computer in the background and includes a very easy method for recovering files. It works with external hard disks. But it doesn’t work on Windows PCs, and it doesn’t create a remote backup over the Internet.

Mozy and Carbonite are online backup solutions. Their advantages are that they work unattended and create offsite backups. But they aren’t intended to back up an entire computer, they don’t create a local backup, and they carry service fees.

Does my 13-inch MacBook come with the capability to view PowerPoint files?

No. While Macs come out of the box with the ability to view and create files in the Microsoft Word and Adobe PDF formats, they don’t come with a PowerPoint viewer. In order to view (and create) PowerPoint files on a Mac, your best bet is to buy the Macintosh version of Microsoft Office, which includes PowerPoint itself. There are other methods as well. For instance, Apple’s own lower-priced iWork suite can also open PowerPoint files and create files in the PowerPoint format. And some Web-based office programs, like Google Docs, allow you to view PowerPoint files on Macs.

You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online free of charge at the new All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

How do I transfer contact and calendar data from the Palm devices at our small company to the new BlackBerrys we are getting?

There are several ways to do it, but I’d suggest using Microsoft Outlook as an intermediary, because both Palms and BlackBerrys can synchronize data with Outlook. So, I would sync your Palms to Outlook, and then sync the BlackBerrys to Outlook on the same computers. The data that had once been on the Palms will now be on the BlackBerrys. No special software is needed for this. Both devices come with built-in software for syncing to Outlook.

I have a quick question related to the new iPhone. I am considering getting my daughter one, but I would like to place some restrictions on whom she can call and text and from whom she can receive calls and text messages. Is this possible?

The new iPhone operating system does include some parental controls. But these mainly involve Internet content and don’t permit the setting of limits on calls and text messages. As far as I know, there isn’t a third-party program that permits such limits, either.

So, you’d be forced to pay AT&T $4.99 a month for a service called Smart Limits. It lets parents control which numbers the phone can call or text, and from which numbers it can receive calls and texts. It also allows a variety of limits and controls to be set. More information is at: www.wireless.att.com/learn/articles-resources /parental-controls/smart-limits.jsp

My Windows hard disk has been partitioned into four small volumes. Now, I want to combine them into one larger volume. What is the easiest way to do this?

I suggest using a program called Norton Partition Magic from Symantec.

You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online, free, at the new All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

When will Google offer its much-discussed cellphone for sale?

Google says it isn’t planning to build or sell mobile phones. Instead, it is developing a cellphone operating system, or software platform, called Android. And it has assembled an alliance of companies, including phone makers and cellular network providers, to create phones based on this new platform. This group is called the Open Handset Alliance. In addition, since Android will be so-called “open source” software, Google expects numerous developers around the world, large and small, to modify the operating system and create programs that will run on it.

If all goes according to plan, Google says it expects to see many different Android-based cellphones and other mobile devices, from a variety of manufacturers and carriers, in various designs and with differing functionality and capabilities. Some may be larger-screen “smart phones,” similar to an iPhone or BlackBerry. Others might be smaller, simpler phones. Still others might fall somewhere between an iPhone and a small laptop.

Google officials say they expect the first Android devices to be available later this year.

After reading your Jan. 3 column, I looked unsuccessfully for a Home and Student version of Office for Mac 2004. Does such a version exist?

In the 2004 release of Microsoft Office for the Mac, this low-priced version had a different name: the Student and Teacher edition. Microsoft presumably changed the name of this $150 product to the Home and Student edition in both Office 2007 for Windows and Office 2008 for the Mac, because, while it was technically limited for sale to families containing students or teachers, no proof was required and it was widely purchased by consumers in general.

However, there’s a big difference between the latest Windows and Mac versions of the Home and Student edition. In the Mac version, it includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Entourage, Microsoft’s equivalent of Outlook on the Mac, which, like Outlook, includes email, calendar and contact functions. But the new Windows version now omits Outlook, and instead substitutes OneNote, a note-taking and information organizing program that is far less commonly used. So, Windows users must spend much more money to get a version of Office that includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.

Is there a way to back up Microsoft Outlook Express emails, particularly Inbox items?

Outlook Express stores your emails in database files, with all the messages in each of your mail folders lumped into a single such file. These files can be backed up, or copied, onto other hard disks, or storage media.

The email data files are usually buried in obscure subfolders in Windows. But you can locate them by clicking on the Tools menu, then Options. This will open a tabbed window. In this window, click on the tab called Maintenance, then the button called Store Folder. This will generally give you a long, complicated path to the folder.

Next, copy this path by selecting it and pressing Control and C. Then, click on the Start menu, select “Run…”, and then press Control and V and then click OK. This should open the folder that contains your email. The inbox is contained in a file called Inbox.dbx. This is the file you will want to back up. If you want to back up other folders, such as the Sent mail folder, you will find them along with the inbox file, with the same “.dbx” suffix.

Some backup programs may automate this process by simply allowing you to designate that you want to back up your Outlook Express emails. There are even some programs specially designed to back up Outlook Express messages. You can find some of these by simply performing a Web search on “backup Outlook Express.”

• You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online for free at the new All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

My IT department will not turn on the feature in our servers that would allow me to receive corporate email on my iPhone. This has forced me to revert back to my BlackBerry Pearl. Can I transfer my iTunes music to my Pearl?

It depends on what you mean by “iTunes music.” If you mean music you bought from the iTunes store in protected format — which describes most of the store’s catalog — the Pearl can’t play it, unless you go through a laborious multistep process to convert it to unprotected files. If you mean unprotected music that is managed by the iTunes program on your PC, the Pearl can handle it as long as it is in open formats supported by the Pearl, including the MP3 or open AAC formats.

To get these files into your Pearl, simply use the music-transfer software that came with the Pearl to copy the songs from your computer’s hard disk to either the Pearl’s internal memory or to a flash memory card you may have in your Pearl.

I recently purchased a new iMac with the Leopard operating system, and have installed Windows Vista on it as well, using Leopard’s Boot Camp feature, so the Mac can boot into either OS. I would like both of those operating systems to share an external hard drive so I can back up my files. Is it possible to do that?

Yes, provided you follow one of two scenarios. The first would be to format the external drive as a Windows drive, but be careful to use the Windows format called “FAT32,” not the one called NTFS. Out of the box, Macs can see all Windows drives and can read from them all. But they can only save files to Windows drives that use the FAT32 system for organizing files. The downside of this is that the FAT32 system only allows files of up to 4 gigabytes each.

The other scenario would be to use a Mac-formatted external drive, which doesn’t have that limitation. Of course the Mac operating system can handle such drives perfectly, but Windows can’t even see them. However, in your Vista setup, you can install a third-party Windows program called MacDrive 7, which allows Windows to both read from, and write to, Mac-formatted drives. I have tested it successfully with Vista under Boot Camp on an iMac. The $50 program can be downloaded from mediafour.com.

The hard disk on my new Sony VAIO laptop is filling up fast. It is trying to get me to watch a lot of movie trailers. Is all that video stored in my machine somewhere and if so can I dump some of it out?

If your Sony laptop is like mine, not only are the unwanted movie trailers pre-loaded on your hard disk, but so are the entire movies, which Sony actually charges you to watch. In my case, these files took up over 4 gigabytes of precious disk space. This is a particularly outrageous example of what I call “craplets,” unwanted trial software that litters new Windows desktops. You can delete these files and reclaim all that disk space without any harm to your computer.

You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online free at the new All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

Here are a few questions about computers I’ve received recently from people like you, and my answers. I have edited and restated the questions a bit, for readability. This week my mailbox contained questions about PDAs, Microsoft Office 2003’s compatibility with Vista, and memory upgrades for a MacBook Pro.

My wife has requested that we get her first “PDA” and asked me for my advice on which product to buy. I am unfamiliar with the comparative features and function of BlackBerry and Treo. What would you suggest?

Well, first of all, both of these products are primarily communication devices — they make phone calls and fetch email, in addition to performing the functions of a Personal Digital Assistant. So, if she really just needs a PDA, I’d avoid both of them and get a cheaper Palm PDA that isn’t a phone or email device. The $99 Z22 would do the trick, and, unlike a phone, it requires no monthly fee. However, if she wants a phone-and-email device that is also a very good PDA, the Treo beats the BlackBerry hands down. The latter is first and foremost an email device and now has a decent phone. But its calendar, address book and other PDA functions are weak. The Treo, which evolved from the Palm PDAs, is much better at these tasks, in my opinion, especially for personal, as opposed to corporate, use.

Your columns helped me select a new laptop today that should be able to run Vista Ultimate. However, although two of your columns report that Microsoft Office 2003 should run on Vista, two salesmen at Dell said it wouldn’t. Who’s correct?

A: I am, and it’s sad and troubling that Dell personnel would give out such patently wrong information. One might even suspect they were trying to sell you the newer version of Office when you don’t need it. I have personally tested Office 2003 on a Vista computer, and it runs fine. But, just to make sure, I forwarded your question to a senior person at Microsoft and he replied that the Dell people you spoke to are: “misinformed at the least.” He confirmed that Vista supports both Office XP and Office 2003 (as long as they have been kept up to date with the latest service packs) as well as the new Office 2007. One possible explanation is that the Dell folks you spoke to misunderstood your question. Dell and other companies have ceased selling Office 2003, or will soon stop doing so. Therefore, it’s possible that they were under the impression that you were seeking to buy it, rather than merely to install and run a copy you already owned. But Office 2003 is compatible with Vista.

I own an Apple MacBook Pro laptop that came with 512 megabytes of memory. I am going to upgrade to either one gigabyte or two gigabytes. I am not a gamer. Do I really need two gigabytes for running applications or will one gigabyte suffice? The biggest application I use is Final Cut Studio.

In general, one gigabyte is all a MacBook Pro needs for doing common tasks such as email and Web browsing, word processing, music playback and simple photo and video editing with built-in programs like iPhoto and iMovie. However, Final Cut Studio is a massive video-production program meant for professionals, and it demands lots of memory. In fact, Apple’s Web site for the latest version of the product suggests between two gigabytes and four gigabytes, depending on the content you expect to edit and produce. So I would go with two gigabytes, or even more if your model of the MacBook Pro can handle it. In fact, if you are more of an amateur, I’d consider the lighter-duty Final Cut Express, which Apple says does fine with one gigabyte and can handle high-definition content with two gigabytes.

Write to Walter S. Mossberg at mossberg@wsj.com

This week, I was swamped with questions about Apple’s hot new iPhone, so this is a special all-iPhone edition of Mossberg’s Mailbox.

Can you physically remove the included AT&T SIM card from the iPhone and replace it with another AT&T card or one from another wireless carrier?

Yes, and no. The SIM card, which carries the iPhone’s account information, can be removed by inserting a paper clip into a tiny hole at the top of the phone. However, Apple says that if you replace the included card with one from another carrier, like T-Mobile in the U.S., or Orange in Europe, the phone won’t work. According to Apple, some non-iPhone AT&T cards may work, but some may not.

It’s possible that hackers will figure out a way to override this lock on other carriers’ SIM cards. But, as of now, the iPhone will work only with AT&T. Even overseas, at least until Apple does deals with foreign partners, you won’t be able to use SIM cards from other carriers. The iPhone will work overseas, but you will have to roam with AT&T and pay high charges. For instance, according to an AT&T spokesman, if you make a call in Europe, it would cost $1.29 a minute. It would cost 99 cents a minute if you are on one of AT&T’s $5.99 per month international plans.

Since the iPhone battery is sealed in and can’t be easily replaced by the user, what happens when it dies? Will you have to buy a new iPhone?

No, but you will have to send the phone to Apple, or drop it off at an Apple store, to have the battery replaced. The battery is covered during the phone’s one-year warranty period. After that, replacing the battery costs $79, plus $6.95 for shipping, and takes three business days. Details are at apple.com/support/iphone/service/battery/. Some small companies may eventually offer to do this for less, or in less time, as they have for the iPod.

One twist: because a phone is a necessity, Apple is offering loaner iPhones for $29 while your phone’s battery is being replaced, or for the period of any other repair on the iPhone. You will have to switch the AT&T SIM card from your own phone to the loaner, and then back again. Details are at apple.com/support/iphone/service/faq.

In addition, Apple warns that all the data on your iPhone will be wiped out during a battery replacement, but notes that it can easily be restored by simply syncing again with the iTunes software on your computer once you get it back with a fresh battery. That’s because, whenever you sync your iPhone with iTunes, it backs up the data on the phone. You can also use this method to fill your loaner iPhone with your own data.

Can I use the iPhone via a Bluetooth wireless connection in my car? Can I use Bluetooth to transfer files or other information between the iPhone and a computer?

In my two-week test of the iPhone, I succeeded in connecting it without much trouble to the built-in audio system and microphone on a friend’s BMW. Almost instantly, the over 700 contacts I had on my test iPhone were displayed on the car’s dashboard screen and calls could be made and received through the iPhone.

However, this first iPhone can use Bluetooth to connect only with cars and with wireless phone headsets. It cannot use Bluetooth to transfer any data to or from a computer, to play music through stereo wireless headsets, or for any other purpose. As with many other missing features, Apple has the ability to add these to the iPhone through software updates delivered by synchronizing with your computer.

If the iPhone’s Web browser is so good, why can’t it play video on Web sites I visit?

At launch, the iPhone version of the Safari browser is missing some plug-ins needed for playing common types of Web videos. The most important of these is the plug-in for Adobe’s Flash technology. Apple says it plans to add that plug-in through an early software update, which I am guessing will occur within the next couple of months. However, a separate program included on the iPhone can play a limited selection of videos from YouTube, and the phone can play videos you purchase from Apple’s iTunes store, and certain videos you create yourself.

You have been critical in the past of some smartphones that don’t allow you to delete emails with a single click. Can the iPhone do this?

Yes. If you are reading an email and want to delete it, you just tap on a trash can icon at the bottom of the screen and the message disappears into the trash can with an animation that resembles water being poured through a funnel.

However, in the iPhone email program’s list view, it takes two steps to delete an email. You have to swipe across the message header or preview with your finger, and then tap the red delete button that appears. You can also press an “Edit” button, which allows you to delete emails in the list view, but this still requires two taps per message.

Unlike on a BlackBerry or Treo, the iPhone doesn’t allow you to delete whole groups of email en masse by date, or even to select large groups and then delete them en masse. This would be a good feature for Apple to add down the line.

Can you buy an iPhone and just use it to play music and videos like an iPod, and to surf the Web or get email over Wi-Fi, without signing up for an AT&T service contract?

No. None of the iPhone’s functions, except calling 911, will work unless the phone is covered by a two-year AT&T service contract, and has been “activated” by AT&T. That will cost you $60 a month at a minimum. If you are thinking of buying an iPhone, you should plan on being an AT&T customer, and if AT&T coverage is poor where you live, work and travel frequently, I advise you NOT to buy an iPhone.

You and many others have criticized AT&T’s EDGE data network, which the iPhone uses, as slow. You have noted that AT&T has a much faster data network. Can the iPhone be upgraded to use that faster network?

No, it can’t. This first edition of the iPhone can’t use any cellular network faster than EDGE, which is much, much slower than the fastest cellphone data networks available from AT&T, Verizon or Sprint. It can, however, use very fast Wi-Fi wireless networks, when you are in range of them.

Apple hasn’t said anything about future iPhone models, but I fully expect a future model that can use these faster cellular networks, which are usually called 3G networks. So, if this is very important to you, I’d suggest waiting to see if such an iPhone emerges. But I don’t expect this to happen anytime soon.

In the past few days, AT&T seems to have tweaked its EDGE network, at least in some locations, so it runs faster than it has in the past. In my own speed tests, around Washington, D.C., I have seen repeated speeds of around 150 kilobits per second, roughly 50% better than the 100 kbps I have seen with EDGE in the past. However, I have also recorded speeds as slow as 82 kbps. And, even the new, faster speeds are way below those of the faster American cellular data networks, which can easily reach 500 to 800 kbps on a phone.

How good is the iPhone’s To-Do list or Task function?

Awful — in the sense that it doesn’t exist. The phone does have a calendar, of course, which syncs with the most popular calendar programs on Windows and Macintosh computers. And it has a Notepad, which doesn’t sync with any program on any computer (though you can email notes to yourself and others). But it has no To-Do list function at all.

Write to Walter S. Mossberg at mossberg@wsj.com

Here are a few questions about computers I’ve received recently from people like you, and my answers. I have edited and restated the questions a bit, for readability. This week my mailbox contained questions about getting new Gadgets for Vista Sidebar, the type of keyboard on the BlackBerry Curve, and whether the iPhone will allow third-party programs to be installed.

I really enjoy the Sidebar feature in Windows Vista. But how can I get new Gadgets for it?

Gadgets — the small programs that run in the new Vista Sidebar, which is a strip along the side of the desktop — can be found in various places on the Web. But one good place to get them is a site maintained by Microsoft called the Windows Live Gallery, at http://gallery.live.com. This site also has other useful downloads, such as toolbar buttons.

Does the new BlackBerry Curve have the half-keyboard, like the Pearl, or the full one like the larger BlackBerrys?

The Curve, which is wider than the Pearl but narrower than other BlackBerrys, has the full keyboard. It does, however, use the Pearl-type scroll ball instead of the older side-mounted wheel.

Will the new Apple iPhone allow users to download applications beyond those that Apple ships with the phone?

Not immediately, when it goes on sale June 29. However, when I interviewed Apple CEO Steve Jobs last week at the annual D: All Things Digital conference, he said Apple is working on a way to allow third-party programs to be installed on the iPhone: “I think sometime later this year we will find a way to do that, because that is our intent.”

* * *

Because of the volume of email I receive, I can’t routinely answer individual questions by email, or consult on individual problems or purchasing decisions. I read all questions I receive and select three each week to answer in the column.

Write to Walter S. Mossberg at mossberg@wsj.com