When you look at your iDevice's capacity thermometer in iTunes, most of the categories are self explanatory: audio, video, apps, books, etc. I know how those categories got to where they are. "Other" is a mystery to me. Is it mostly just the iOS? It's not a big deal, as I tend to keep my iPhone rather spartan most of the time, but I am curious. I was thinking, maybe it could be things like my internet history - I don't know if iOS preserves a cache for faster loading like traditional computers do. If anyone's got any idea, thanks for settling my curiosity.
There was a guide I read somewhere (an Apple guide) that said "other" is primarily the operating system. I would say things like profiles, internet history/cache/cookies that you mention also fit under that.
I notice if I use Hipstamatic a lot and don't transfer those photos then they get stored in that "other" category too, so if you have an app that stores data, that stuff is lumped in there too. If it is a phone I think the text messages might get stored there and I BELIEVE the trash folder of your mail program is considered "other." So lot of miscellaneous stuff is there I think.