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Looking to get more exercise into your life? New research from Stanford Medical School reports that people who use pedometers walk about 2,000 steps more every day than those who don't. That translates to an extra mile of progress each day.

So that's one little gadget that can help. Walking has been on my mind lately because one strategy that has really worked for me is to listen to public radio shows on my iPhone iPod while I walk the dog. I know that if I walk my way through an entire 40-minute podcast each day, broken up into two or three segments, I have met my exercise goal.

But even better than that, I often walk farther than I had planned because I get caught up in a compelling show--turning public radio "driveway moments" into "walkway moments."

My iPhone and I got off to a rough start. I rushed in to buying one and initially felt that the actual device did not live up to the hype. It's clear that only a miracle could have met everyone's expectations after all the buildup, but part of my lukewarm response was due to the fact that the other gadgets I relied on, my Blackberry Pearl and first generation iPod Nano worked just fine. It took a lot to convince me that merging these devices was worth the hassle of carrying around the iPhone, which neither fits snugly in a small pocket nor hangs from a neck lanyard.

But there is good news. Now that I have used it for four months, I may finally be ready to swap my Blackberry Pearl for the iPhone, at least some of the time. I appreciate the fact that I can do just about everything but blog on the iPhone. Emails, messaging work well. The calendar application on the iPhone motivated me to finally get into using synchronized iCal on my Mac in addition to a paper calendar. The visual appeal of iPhone's interface finally got through to me. While my Blackberry can do email, messaging, internet browsing, and calendars, it all looks better on the iPhone.

While the rest of the blogosphere is looking forward at the new iPods launched Wednesday, I want to take a look back and say goodbye to the now-outmoded version of the iPod Nano.

"Summer lovin' had me a blast. Summer lovin' happened so fast..."

When iPhone came out, I fell hard. I was all ready to sign up as an early adopter. After all, the iPod tops my list as the gadget that has improved my life the most over the the past five years (with TiVO in a close second place). Apple convinced me that the iPhone was the next quantum leap in the digital lifestyle.

Well, now that iPhone and I have been together for a couple of months, I wish I could kick it to the curb like a summer fling. Unfortunately, we're bonded together by a two-year contract. Why hasn't iPhone been the end-all, be-all device I was hoping for?

The iPhone has landed in the real world and at my house it's been more of a thud than a revelation. Will iPhone be an indispensable tool or a special-occasion gimmick? Find out how everyone's tech fantasy is squaring with one busy family's reality.