For many, using an iPhone is a way of life

Kathy Truesdale of Henrico County says her iPhone, purchased only a couple of weeks ago, is an obsession.

"It's on my nightstand and the first thing I look at in the morning," she said. "It's changed my life."

Truesdale and thousands of other iPhone devotees were able to feed their obsessions yesterday as Apple rolled out it newest version of the popular smartphone.

For Sharif Ewees, the occasion prompted his third iPhone pilgrimage.

When the iPhone first came out in June 2007, Ewees waited in line to get the latest smartphone. A year ago, he stood outside the Short Pump Town Center Apple store for five hours to get the upgraded iPhone 3G.

Yesterday, Ewees made the trek yet again to Short Pump, this time to buy the iPhone 3G S, now equipped with faster Web surfing capability, video camera, compass and voice-recognition software.

"I've been completely reliant on it," said Ewees, owner of 28 Media, a local Web design and development firm. "I use it for pretty much everything: e-mail, the map feature, the camera, texting, obviously."

Across the Richmond area and the nation yesterday, iPhone fans checked mailboxes and waited in line to get their hands on the latest smartphone, costing $199 to $299.

Apple would not disclose sales details. Piper Jaffray & Co.'s Gene Munster said in an investor note yesterday that his forecast of 500,000 units sold this weekend will prove to be conservative. Lines appeared to be shorter than in previous iPhone releases as Apple allowed pre-orders.

Truesdale lined up at the Short Pump AT&T store to upgrade. She said the many functions of the iPhone, from e-mail to spreadsheets, allow her to stay accessible when she leaves her state-government office to care for her four children.

Of course, the iPhone isn't the only smartphone out there that has a touch screen, can shoot video, play music or map directions. The BlackBerry Pearl and Palm Centro do those things, too.

In the second quarter of 2008, there were more than 26 million smartphone mobile subscribers, according to the consumer research firm Nielsen Mobile.

Smart phones "have completely changed how people communicate and interact," said Gavin McCarty, director of sales operations for AT&T.

He said having an iPhone or another smartphone allows people to walk around with a computer in their pocket.

McCarty said he heard from an obstetrician/gynecologist who can sync up with her office or hospitals during emergencies to read X-rays and make decisions on the spot.

At the Libbie Place AT&T store yesterday, Carl Gupton bought an iPhone for his wife, Lissa, as an anniversary present. He said he expects her to use the video camera the most.

"She can shoot video of the baby, cut it down and send it to her mom," he said.

The proliferation of specialized applications has made iPhones and other smartphones even more popular.

The apps, as they are called, are "just adding all new levels of utility to people's existence," said Kevin Creamer, director of the Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology at the University of Richmond.

There are apps that give walking tours, provide calorie counts, teach yoga, find your car, recommend a restaurant -- the list goes on and on.

iPhone users alone have access to more than 50,000 apps and have downloaded more than 1 billion since the iPhone was launched two years ago, the company said.

"For me, it's far and away the most useful phone I've had," Creamer said.

He recently used one application to map and get the schedule for the Washington Metro system. He also checks work and personal e-mail accounts, reads newspapers and gets the weather.

Creamer cautioned, however, that users should not let the technology own them -- that the phone doesn't always need to be present.

"Technology is meant to augment our life, not to take it over," he said. "I think it's important for anyone . . . to think about how they can use technology without letting it take over."

Contact Emily C. Dooley at (804) 649-6016 or .

Contact Louis Llovio at (804) 649-6348 or .

Bloomberg News Service contributed to this report.