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iPHONE / iPOD TOUCH BLOG

iPhone on Vodafone 'Officially'

28/09/09

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As if last night’s news from ‘London Lite’ wasn’t enough of a surprise, it’s now been announced that the Apple iPhone will be available next year on Vodafone too! Let’s hope that the iPhone being available from O2, Orange and Vodafone will create a price war; resulting in better deals for us consumers :-)
iPhone on Orange 'Officially'

28/09/09

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London Lite this evening announce that the very popular Apple iPhone (3G & 3GS) will be available on the Orange mobile network (in the UK) as well as O2!
Apple unloads 47 fixes for iPhones

11/09/09

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The Register (www.theregister.co.uk) keeps us informed of news that at times is very interesting, well I filter it regularly picking bits to Blog about that my gadget followers should be interested in, I hope. So, they today report on a Monster security patch batch from Apple which unloads 47 fixes for iPhones (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3860), Macs and QuickTime, see
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/09/11/apple_security_updates/. Best advice as usual, ALWAYS back up, before you update, to stay safe; to roll back, if things do not go to plan. But then of course you’re backing your PDA, Smartphone, PC & Mac daily/weekly to keep your data safe, aren’t you? :-)

Q&A: Is there a Bluetooth Keyboard for the iPhone?

10/09/09
I believe that the answer is sadly, No. When I got my iPod Touch a few months ago, I searched and searched and after speaking to a reputable assistant in a large ‘Apple Store’ in London, I came to the conclusion that Apple have the power to not let any third party manufacturer make one! :-( So it looks like we’ll have to wait a while. I am certain that we’ll get a Bluetooth Keyboard for the iPod Touch and surely more importantly the iPhone.
If anyone reading this knows otherwise, please leave a reply/comment, thank you.
The Ultimate Screen Cleaner for your iPhone

04/09/09

There are some amazing applicat- ions that are appearing every week on Blackberry’s and Apple’s App Stores and the new Ovi Store for

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Symbian/Series 60 devices. But isn’t this one from the Apple App Store so cute ;-) Ideal to clean up those finger prints from the screen of your shiny PDA/Smartphone :-)
Cut, Copy & Paste on an iPhone

04/09/09

Something that was sadly missing from the first generation of iPhones and iPod Touches was the Copy/Cut/Paste facility; something that most of us do all the time on our PCs.
But thankfully :-) this VERY useful facility is available on the new 3G iPhones and on the latest firmware updates to older iPhones/iPod Touches.
So, on my iPod Touch (version 3.0) (and the same should apply to new iPhones) here are two basic scenarios:

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1) Copying an address received in an email into the notes of a Calendar appointment.
a) Open up the email that has the address that you want to copy;
b) Tap and hold on the address, release, choose ‘Select All’;
c) Select ‘Copy’ (see screenshot);
d) Open Calendar appointment, to paste the address into for the meeting location;
e) Select ‘Notes’, tap and hold in note field, choose ‘Paste’;
f) The address copied from the email will be pasted into the note field, within a calendar appointment.
2) Copying a telephone number from your Contacts into an email/text message.
a) Open the contact that contains the phone number that you want to send in an email/text message;
b) Go into ‘Edit’, open the number to be copied;
c) Tap and hold on the number, release, choose ‘Select All’;
d) Select ‘Copy’;
e) Open the email/text in which to send the number;
f) Tap and hold in the message area, release, choose ‘Paste’.
g) The telephone number copied from contacts will be pasted into the message field of the email/text.
The cut/copy/paste facility has countless other uses.
The principle of cut/copy/paste is that when you ‘cut’ some text, it removes it from a location and temporarily puts it on to a virtual ‘clipboard’, for you to ‘paste’ it into a new location. Whereas using ‘Copy’, leaves the original text in it’s location but puts a copy on the virtual ‘clipboard’, for you to ‘paste’ it into a new location.
iPhone ToDo List/Task Application

04/09/09

When I first used an iPod Touch I looked for some time for a good To-Do list or Task application. I then found ‘Toodledo’ in the Apple App Store. ‘Toodledo’s site is www.toodledo.com.
You can create folders in which to keep task entries as a way of categorising them, it works very well. When you create a new task, it prompts you for: priority, the folder, start time, due date, remind me, repeat and also a note facility for extra information; just great! :-)
Another very useful feature lets you sort tasks 

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by: alphabetically, dated added, date completed, date modified, due date, folder, importance, priority and more. You can then filter your tasks by: completed tasks: show all, show recent or hide. This leads on to my main use of ‘Toodledo’, a great shopping list (as per the screenshot), sad may be :-) but as I’ve said before I moved away from pen+paper 20 years ago when I got by first Psion CM; so paper shopping lists are not favoured! A great way of working like this is to un-tick your shopping list items that are needed, then set the filter to ‘hide’ completed. So as you fill your trolley up and tap on the products (tasks), they dissapear off your list :-) then when you make a new shopping list you just set the filter to show all, then tap/un-tick the products you need. This app will of course work on an iPhone.
iPhone/iPod Touch & Microsoft Office 2007 documents

04/09/09

You can now edit Microsoft Office 2007 Word documents and Excel spreadsheets on your iPhone and/or iPod Touch. Quickoffice for iPhone has now rolled into the Apple iTunes App Store. Quickoffice for iPhone delivers real editing for Word docs, text files and Excel spreadsheets and a robust file management system along with JPEG and PDF viewer. The .docx and .xlsx formats adhere to the 

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Office Open XML standard. They’re the default Word and Excel formats for both MS Office 2007 and Office 2008 for Mac. Priced at £8.99, version 1.4 of the Quickoffice Mobile Office Suite for iPhone can also view – but not edit – PowerPoint and PDF files. In the past, you could only transfer documents from email over Wi-Fi from your PC or mounting your iPhone as a PC drive. Now, you can directly open email attachments. The Quickoffice suite can also swap files with MobileMe iDisk accounts.
iPhone / iPod Touch Upgrade

04/09/09

A software upgrade is available for the iPod Touch, which brings it up to v.3.0. The benefits of the upgrade are: Stereo Bluetooth, Cut/Copy/Paste, Peer to Peer Gaming, Landscape

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keyboard, Spotlight Search and more. It can be easily done via an online connection via iTunes and only costs £4.99! Well worth it and highly recommended. See http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/softwareupdate.html
TomTom for iPhone spells an end to conventional SatNavs?

03/09/09

The new TomTom app that turns an iPhone into a turn-by-turn GPS navigation system is interesting. Could it spell the beginning of the end for standalone GPS…
In my opinion it’s an attractive opportunity but it’ll be interesting to see how the software works when an incoming call/text comes to the iPhone! I would hope that the SatNav drops into the background during the voice call, then reappears with the latest stage of the route; or am I asking too much? With the drivers safety in mind, having to interact with the TomTom GPS software would be dangerous whilst in motion! From personal experience, having used SatNav software on 

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a Windows Mobile device, the multi-tasking exchange between route navigation and incoming voice calls was not ideal. Also, having not looked at the TomTom software yet, it’ll be VERY interesting to see if the navigation maps will be streamed ‘live’ (as SatNav does on my Blackberry, high data charges?) or if the software loaded will have the entire UK (and more?) as it was on my Samsung Omnia (Windows Mobile 6 OS); then purely used the smartphone’s GPS receiver to navigate. See http://www.pcworld.com/article/170299/TomTom_For_iPhone_Spells_An_End_To_Standalone_GPS.html
Apple blogger legally unlocks iPhone

03/09/09

News from ‘The Register’… Thanks to a ‘benevolent

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carrier’ and what appears to be an EU loophole. After paying off the contract (e.g. At the end, not necessarily prematurely), the airtime provider notified Apple, then the next time a sync was carried out with iTunes, it prompted for a official manufacturers software upgrade; subsequent software/firmware upgrades where then possible, along with a change of network SIM cards.
That is one draw back from having a network locked device and being able to always benefit from upgrades/bug fixes issued by the manufacturer.
See: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/08/24/iphone_legit_unlock_finland/
Moving/Rearranging Icons on the screen of an iPhone/iPod Touch

03/09/09

You can move around and rearrange icons on the screen of an iPhone and/or iPod Touch easily. Press one of the icons for about 1-2 seconds. The icons will start to shake, now you can slide the icon(s) into there new position. Perhaps move all your regularly used apps to the main front screen and your top four to the bottom of the screen that always stays in place; on my iPod Touch my bottom top four are Calendar, Mail, Contacts & Fliq 

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Notes. Then press the large round button on the lower front of the device, to fix the new layout. This process can be repeated whenever you want.
iPlayer on an iPhone / iPod Touch

02/09/09

The great BBC iPlayer (www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer) works very well on an iPhone/iPod Touch, but I suggest via a Wi-Fi connection rather that potentially high 3G/GPRS costs. If fact I use my iPod Touch for iPlayer rather than using iPlayer on a PC. Basically, because streaming video data onto the screen of an iPhone/iPod Touch is a lot less than  the streaming of data on to a PCs screen; therefore minimising the risk of exceeding your monthly broadband allowance.

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Catching up on what you’ve missing from the Beeb is quite watchable on a handheld device, especially in a landscape view. Yes, I confess, I’m an Eastenders fan :-)

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iPhone Sound Record

31/08/09

There are many different sound/voice recording programs for the iPhone/iPod Touch, many are free :-)
If you want to use this software on an 

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iPod Touch, you’ll need to get an earpiece with an in-line mic(rophone) from an Apple Store or eBay. Using this software with an iPhone will use the iPhones built-in microphone. So though away your dictaphone and put one of the great sound/voice recording apps on to your iPhone/iPod Touch.
iPhone Wi-Fi Connectivity

31/08/09

This blog also applies to the iPod Touch. Wi-Fi connectivity on an iPhone/iPod Touch works very well, in that once you’ve set up a ‘trusted’ network when you come into that Wi-Fi zone, your device will automatically connect to that Wi-Fi network. When I used my iPod Touch as my primary PDA and had several email accounts set up along with my home Wi-Fi network; as soon as I came home, my iPod Touch would automatically connect and pick up any emails waiting for me. One criticism to Apple, is that the volume of the email received alert was way too quiet! Then if you set up other Wi-Fi networks (aka Hotspots) that you enter during the day, your device can be well ‘connected’ whilst you’re travelling. To set up a Wi-Fi connection on your device:
1) go to ‘Settings’,
2) tap on ‘Wi-Fi’ and set it to ‘On’,
3) your device will then search for Wi-Fi networks within reach. The locked/secured Wi-Fi networks will be shown with a padlock, in which case you would need the access code.
These days there are a number of free Wi-Fi networks that offer free connection to the internet. Sadly, I think in the UK, more shops/retail outlets/bars/clubs/hotels and coffee shops should be providing literally free Wi-Fi; enabling Wi-Fi enabled mobile users to utilise their online power of their devices in the form of email, web browsing, VoIP such as Skype, IM (MSN). Many coffee shops etc give an access code which only lasts for maybe 1hr. So, come on now, let’s see all coffee shops, bars and hotels in the UK giving literally free Wi-Fi access to their customers. Ending on a positive note in this area, I thank ‘The Cloud’ (Wi-Fi provider) and the McDonalds chain of fast-food restaurants for providing free Wi-Fi.
iPhone Screenshots

31/08/09

There are times when it might be useful to grab a screenshot of your iPhone/iPod Touch. Maybe you want to quickly capture an internet page or a particular part of a game. I use the screenshot functionality of my iPod Touch and on different devices I use, primarily to use in training, support and to publish on websites/blogs. The in-built process used on an iPod Touch is as follows:
Press and hold the round menu button on the lower front of iPhone/iPod Touch, then briefly press the ‘power on’ button. The screen will flash with a camera shutter sound; as the screenshot is taken. The screenshot image is stored under ‘Saved Photos’ in the Photo Album on the device. PROBLEM… How can I now get the images from

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‘Saved Photos’ on to my PC, I can see how to sync them from my PC to my iPod using iTunes but how about from my iPod to PC? I do have sync’ed photo albums between my PC and iPod.  So I thought, aha, I’ll copy & paste the images from the ‘Saved Photos’ album to an album that’s already in-sync with my PC. So, using the new copy & paste functionality, I can select and copy an image from ‘Saved Pictures’ but can’t see how to paste it into an in-sync album… :-( Hope someone reading this blog might have an answer?
SOLVED! :-)
Not someone reading this but the question put to a colleague who uses an iPhone. Connect your iPhone/iPod Touch to your PC, then open up ‘My Computer’ from your desktop, low-and-behold :-) there should be an icon (probably at the bottom) called iPhone or in my case ‘Ozzie’s iPod. When you open this up, you’ll get access to the mysterious ‘Saved Pictures’ folder, so that ‘YES’ you can copy them on to your PC. Thanks Graeme :-)

Flash Light for Blackberry

31/08/2009

There are those times when having a bit of light can make things so much easier. Two examples that spring to mind are when it’s so dark that it’s hard to see where to put your key into a lock, no not when you’re drunk as as skunk trying in get in at the early hours of the morning! ;-) oh and, that time of the morning when you’re trying to find your underwear in a dark cupboard but haven’t got the heart (or the nerve) to turn the bedroom light on and disturb your partner who’s fasto! We’ll hear it is, a virtual ‘Flash Light’ for your PDA.
‘Flash Light’ for your Blackberry is free and available from the ‘Blackberry App Store’.
Apple 'App Store'

31/08/09

Probably one of the biggest enhancements in the world of mobile technology apart from everything get smaller, lighter, faster and cheaper :-) has to be the great facility to download new applications online, straight on to the device; often for free! otherwise for a small cost.
Downloading free applications/programs from the hundreds of titles in the Apple ‘App Store’ for the iPhone/iPod Touch is a fine example that works so well, it couldn’t be easier. Purchasing apps (applications) from the same store is easy too.

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The ‘App Store’ should exist as an icon on the screen of your iPhone/iPod Touch. You just need to set up a secure online account for payment via a credit card, you’ll then receive an email listing your downloads free/paid for as well as obviously seeing your purchases on your credit card bill.
Another great feature of the Apple ‘App Store’ is that it shows you when app updates are available. So you can simply and quickly have the latest updates to the additional programs that you’ve got installed, brilliant!
The Nokia Ovi store is a similar great example for Nokia/Symbian devices and also the great ‘Blackberry App Store’.
iPhone London Tube

30/08/09

For regular commuters of the London Underground Tube network, this app is a must have; it’s great. The ‘Map’ view let’s you pan around the network. The ‘Lines’ view, lists all the different tube lines, with a search facility. When you’ve selected a line, it shows it’s entire length and the zones which it covers.

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The ‘Stations’ view lists all the stations alphabetically, again with a search facility. When a station is selected it shows which line(s) it is on. It also lets you see where on the tube network, the station is; or a route to it from another station. Finally ‘Route’ let’s you, yes, plan a tube route. London Tube is available from the Apple App Store. 
iPhone Fliq Notes

30/08/09

When my Apple ‘iPod Touch’ was used as my primary PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), I wanted a really good application to create notes. After searching for a while, I came across the great application called ‘Fliq Notes’ by Mark Space; just Google “Fliq Notes”. It let’s you create notes, which are stored numerically/alphabetically, or by date/category. A very useful PC version of ‘Fliq Notes’ is available; that allows you to ‘Fliq’ notes between your iPod/iPhone and PC/Mac(?). Also check out ‘Missing Sync’.

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All About iPhone

30/08/09

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A useful site for fellow iPhone users is www.allaboutiphone.net. Can’t blog further as I’m not personally an iPhone user, yet! Although I did use my iPod Touch (which is basically an iPhone minus phone functionality) as my primary PDA for a couple of months.

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