email

Yes it will work, you just need to set it up properly.

It should work just fine since most ISPs provide/support POP accounts and the iPhone's email client supports accessing IMAP and POP accounts.

Will the email account that I presently have on the
macbook throught bellsouth work on the iphone, or
will I have to get another email account some where
else?

Your incoming mail should be fine, but you need to check with Bellsouth to see if they will allow you to send mail from your iPhone while you are out and about (using your EDGE connection). Many ISPs do not allow people to use their mail servers unless they are connected to their network.

AT&T has an outgoing server you can use (cwmx.com), but the trick is that one only works when you are out and about - NOT when you are on a WiFi connection. Catch 22.

The simplest way to resolve this is to get a free GMail account, and have all your Bellsouth mail forwarded to that account. GMails spam filters are among the best, so that is an added bonus. When you configure your email account on the iPhone, do NOT use the GMail shortcut - use Other. By using Other, you can use your bellsouth ID as your Address, and then use all the GMail information for incoming and outgoing servers. That way, when you reply to a message, it will look like its coming from your Bellsouth account. No one will know you are using GMail except you.

PTBoater,

I have only run across very few email service providers that do not provide an email server to use when out and about. However for those that do not, the work around you have posted is an option to try.

Often searching their support pages for "travel email server" or "hotel email server" will find the appropriate server settings.

This article discusses configuring the port number in the iPhone's Mail.app:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305634

Hope this helps,

Nathan C.