Down at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., Thursday, the company officially launched the software development kit that will allow other companies to create applications for the iPhone. CNET News.com's Tom Krazit tells News.com's Leslie Katz what this will mean for consumers--and businesses.

Whether you're an iPod guru or an iTunes newbie, setting up the iPhone presents a new set of challenges. The underlying dilemma is that you've got an amazing convergence device with only a handful of storage. Unlike an iPod, the iPhone's limited memory has to hold a robust operating system, applications, e-mail, and Internet downloads. The good news is that with just a few little tweaks, you can customize iTunes to squeeze the most from your iPhone. With just 4GB or 8GB of storage, the iPhone does not afford you the luxury of holding your entire digital music library. Think of your iPhone as an iPod that needs to be kept on a strict diet. Because the iPhone does not allow you to manually drag and drop music from your iTunes library, you're faced with three options--have your entire music library sync to the iPhone every time you connect to your computer; have only certain iTunes playlists sync to your iPhone; or prevent music from syncing at all.

One of the coolest aspects of the iPhone's iPod is the ability to browse your music collection in Cover Flow mode. Unfortunately, if you haven't added cover artwork to your music in iTunes, then Cover Flow is just a depressing parade of generic blank boxes. Don't despair! Adding artwork in iTunes is easier than ever and can actually be somewhat fun.

iPod Dock Extender

iPod Extension Cable

If you're considering buying an MP3 player, you've probably noticed that you've got about a million options for players to buy. Searching online or in stores, you've found that you could buy everything from a barebones player with a tiny screen that costs less than a nice dinner to things the size of small laptops with more features than most computers packed 10 years ago.

Making sure you get everything you need when you buy an iPod isn't as simple as just going into the Apple Store, grabbing a music player off the shelf and paying. There are some other purchases you should make to ensure you get the most out of your iPod experience. There are thousands of accessories for the iPod, from speakers to cases to headphones to car kits. What you need will really depend on how you plan to use your iPod, but here are a few ideas for what you should buy to make sure you're full equipped to rock.

Upgrading from an older iPod model to the latest, most wonderful, and cutting edge iPod can be an expensive proposition. Plus, you've got a perfectly good iPod on your hands, so can you use that to your advantage to cut the cost of your new toy?

This site contains a number of documents labelled "101." Just like in a college course, these documents are introductions and overviews to everything you need to know on a particular topic. Each page has a collection of links to specialized information in the site about each of these topics.

For many users, iTunes is a great program for managing songs, videos, and connections with their iPods. However, some users are frustrated by iTunes's limitations or want to add features such as the ability to move songs to and from their iPod. These users need programs that are iTunes alternatives.