Direct dial by typing a name?

[seenett]

I have searched this question, but haven't seen it asked yet-

Thinking about getting an iphone when/if they give us a 3G version. Currently have a Blackberry 8800 which is the best phone I have owned.

My personal "can not live without" feature of the BB is the searchlight type way of dialing numbers from the address book. To call John Smith, I just type in J-O-H, or S-M-I-T until his name appears. Then I am prompted which number to call - home, cel, work, etc. The same method works for sending an email or MMS.

Does the iphone do this? The online iphone quicktime tour shows you have to scroll through the address book, or jump to the first letter of the name and then scroll - but no mention of a keyboard search.

If the iphone can't do this, what are the odds that it might be included in a future update?

 

[brando88]

As of yet, there is no built in way to search the contacts directly. There is however a third party search application that works very well, and does everything that you are looking for.

As for the future updates. I personally say that the odds are pretty good, considering the iPhone does index the contacts when sending a text or e-mail, just not when trying to make a call. I've seen this complaint many times and believe that because it is not a major change, that it would be easy for Apple to include it in an update to come.