Samsung S3's New Tricks

Just woke up with the OTA (over the air) update of my S3 GT-I9300 model yesterday. The baseband version of the update is I9300XXELL4 and has a build number JZ054K.I9300XXELL4. If you have the same model as mine, you can check if you have the latest firmware by going to settings and tapping about device. If you have not got it, connect to wifi and whilst still at the about device page, tap software update.  Depending on the server's traffic, the download should be straightaway or you might need to try again . I recommend to leave it on auto update and connected to wifi and mains plug over night.

Multi Window 

One of the impressive new changes is the addition of the multi window function. This is a native feature of the Samsung Galaxy Note II that displays two separate applications in it's screen when multitasking. Not all applications are supported though. The applications that can be run on the multitasking window is shown at the left side folder when multi tasking is turned on. The list includes, google maps, chat, talk, email, gallery, chat, internet browsers, video player, and social networks. This means it is now easier to attach a photo by opening both the gallery and email applications together in one window and without going back and forth. 

Paper Artist

This another interesting native application for note 2 is now included with the update on the S3. You can transform any photo into work of art easily in a matter of seconds. There are cool effects to choose like pencil art, for real effect and many more. Put a frame to brighten up a dull photo and share it straight away with email, to social networks,  bluetooth  and even to skype contacts. The application can access the camera function to take photos with these cool effects at real time, making you feel like a pro at no time. There's a button you can tap to save your work, and you can retrieve your saved project at the gallery's paper artist folder.

New Gallery

Tired of viewing your photo in a boring stamp grid  like arrangements? The new gallery has 3 ways of viewing it, either by grid, by two's, where you can make the files move forward or backwards like marching side by side, or like in a carousel where you can turn them around in a sweep of a finger. The later is mesmerizing fun especially when your phone is streamed in a bigger screen monitor. It is a must try feature. To help you easily organise your photos or help you find the picture you want to see, the sort by date or time is quite useful.

Samsung Keyboard Continuous Input

This reminds me of the swiftflow beta application I joined to test 3 weeks ago. The concept of this is, instead of typing the word by tapping each letter key, just glide your fingers across the letters that make up the word you want to write without lifting your fingers up from the screen. This makes you type faster and create messages easier than the traditional tapping.

Streaming Multimedia With the Xbox 360

It's boxing day today in the UK, the second most anticipated day next to Christmas, or maybe the first, especially to children. This day is the unboxing of gifts!

If you are lucky enough to have the latest gizmos, ipad's, iphone's, samsung smart phone's, or gaming consoles as gifts, then this post is something worth reading. Sometimes it is not enough to know how to use and enjoy your device on the things they are obviously intended for, mobiles for calling and surfing the net, games consoles for playing games, but it is also good to know a little bit beyond, like streaming contents from your mobile, like movies, pictures and music, into a TV. Streaming is something easy and free to do when you have compatible devices.

Like when you want to stream the contents of your Samsung S3 into a bigger telly, you can use your xbox 360, together with a wifi connection and a big telly to output music, photos and videos.

Stream Samsung S3 Contents

1. To do this, turn on your Xbox (should be connected to home wifi) then initially set up the S3 (also connected to the same home wifi) by going into the settings, more connections, nearby devices, tick file sharing. Under advanced tab, tap shared contents and tick videos, photos, and music, press OK. The phone will detect the nearby xbox then press. OK and you are ready to share.

To start sharing photos, go to gallery and select which photo to show on TV, then press the streaming icon at the top. The Xbox receives the file and output it into the telly.

Watch Video here!

To stream videos, just go to the videos and play the one you want to stream, then press that magic button! For music, you can do the same.

Watch how to do it here!

Stream iPad Contents

1. For iPad or iPhone users, search and download for Xbox 360 streamer from itunes first. Once downloaded, turn on your Xbox and make sure it is connected to the home wifi.

2. Open up the Xbox 360 streamer application from your ipad and press the on power button at the right side (red when on, gray when off), then press the blue button to ready files for streaming.With this application,only music can be streamed.

3. On the Xbox 360, go to music menu, my music apps, system music player, select the ipad 360 streamer source, then the music you want to play.

On your iPad, this xbox icon turns green and the music playing is shown on at the screen.

Watch full video here!

How to Easily Convert YouTube Music Videos into MP3's

You tube is  a rich source of tutorials, and movies, but not only that, of music as well. In fact, I use it as the secondary general search engine next to google, and the first choice when I search for music tracks. Even the weirdest sounding music and composers that I never thought would exists can show in the results when searched for.

I came across a composition called "The Devil's Beauties" on one of my favourite radio stations when sending my wife to work and the first time I heard it, I decided to include it in my "drive time collection." There was no results when I tried to search it using a free android MP3 search, so I decided to use youtube. And there it is at the results at last, although from a different artist, it sounded like the same rendition as the one played on the radio.

The only problem now is to convert it into MP3. I have used freemake video converter with success in the past but at the time of writing, it can not detect any video on the URL's to convert. Given up with freemake, I was tempted to use the built in windows sound recorder. The only problem is the file format would have a windows media audio output which is not compatible with my old MP3 car player which can only support MP3's. I could have used itunes to convert it into suitable AAC version and later into MP3 but this takes more work and this time I got lazy. I want to convert it instantly on the go and without adding more software into my system!

After many tries of the online converters I managed to find, I found a site that convert the youtube video into MP3 without fuss, from http://www.flvto.com/. To use it is very simple. Just go to the site, copy the URL from youtube, then paste it at http://www.flvto.com/, click convert, this might take sometime to load and do it's thing, but when it started, it is amazingly quick. Then click download to get a copy into your computer and your done. You can also select your directory destination if you are using internet explorer!

The good thing about online converters is you do not need to add another software in your system, Free converters have bad points as well. One is , google, that owns youtube,  might prohibit the use of such sites at some point that may render the site unusable. The converted tracks do not sound like the real thing like those in CD's or legitimate MP3 downloads, so for those who has ears for music, buy them legit from shops like Asda Direct,  amazon, play, HMV, and others . Another nasty bit is spywares that might be bundled and open up whilst searching for suitable converters. So be careful.

Note: this is just for everyones info on how to convert music videos into MP3's and I am not encouraging everyone to do it as an alternative to buying the real MP3's!

Interesting Gadget For the iPhone 4/ 4S/ and 5

What do you do with your iPhone aside from making phone calls, internet calls, and surfing the internet? Taking photos and recording video clips of everyday life would be one of the top things on what to do list! With the high spec built in camera hardware , it is tempting to use it. It's portability and accessibility makes it more enticing to use than a proper point and shoot cameras. Film enthusiasts, in fact, has been making movies using iPhone camera. And why not, the built in camera does not only take memories but takes it in high definition as well. Bundled with a stunning screen, it is also perfect for playback, and pleasurable to use to edit pictures and videos. 

Now the big question is, who wants to hold the iPhone when everyone wants to be in the picture? Who wants to press the button then everyone is playing their own role in the film? An improvised stand can help and the self timer function can be useful but this means the subject has no choice but to work around the iPhone's focus to get a decent shot. A dedicated camera man is what's missing, and that's you! Or maybe not.

Meet SWIVL, your  instant camera man. This is made primarily for iPhone 4/ 4S/ and 5. What it does is, it continuously tracks your movement and take your photo or video just like a dedicated camera man. Only that it doesn't get tired of following your every movement. In fact, it can track you at full 360 degrees horizontal rotation, and +10 degrees and -20 degrees vertically. This means you are always in the scene when you move around, as long as you are in it's 10 metre range tracking signal detection. It can be mounted in an ordinary tripod if you need more flexibility. And can be controlled with another iPhone.

See more details where to get SWIVL or click the photo to play the video on how it works.

The Specs

Audio and tracking compatible with iPhone 4 & 4S and iPod Touch (4th Gen)

Also compatible with iPhone 5, Android phones under 11mm deep and cameras using the tripod mount for tracking only

Designed for use without external cases

Swivl will work with most tripod mounted cameras under 175grams, (although you’ll lose some of the functionality)

Product Features:

Motion sensitive tracking - The base automatically follows the marker and you up to 33 feet (10 meters). It swivel’s 360 degrees horizontally and +10 / -20 degrees vertically when commanded from the Marker.

Tripod Compatible - In addition to iOS devices, it works with any tripod mountable pocket video camera, or point and shoot camera

Remote Control via iPhone

Multiple, flexible mounting options

iOS Digital Microphone - Capture high quality digital audio through a lossless wireless connection to the marker.

Sports and Standard Mode

iOS App Controlled - This App provides remote controls of video. Swivl can be customised for telepresence, monitoring, panoramics, time lapse and more.

Contents:

Swivl

Tripod accessory

Lanyard

Batteries

USB cable - for firmware updates

Battery Requirements:

Base requires 2x AA or an AC Adaptor - available as an accessory/li>

Wireless Marker requires 2x AAA batteries

Optional Accessories

The Base operates on 2x AA batteries and provides you with four hours of action capture. It also can be operated with a separate AC Adapter accessory, also available from Firebox.

Dimensions:

Base measures approximately 14cm(W) x 3.8cm(D) x 10.5cm(H)

Remote measures approximately 5cm(W) x 2cm(D) x 6.4cm(H)

Smart Way to Choose Mobile Tariff

There are thousands of mobile tariffs available out there which is useful and good. But sometimes they are confusing and not easy to compare and making it hard to decide to choose which one is the best mobile tariff according to one's needs. Tailor fit tariff might not be really attainable but by choosing it simply according to what you do most can trim the thousand choices into a manageable and clearer level.

Just by jotting down what do you do with your mobile, your personality and the way you communicate and other  factors like the number of friends you have which are your regular contacts and the nature of your job also contribute to the decision which contract to have. Considering all of these factors will reduce your monthly out goings and that means savings for your pocket.

If you are a light user who doesn't fancy flashy smartphones and texting is the primary means of communication you make, opting for 500 texts with minimum amount of voice calls, usually 30 minutes in a month, and 100MB of internet will be sufficient. You can get this tariff cheaply for at least £4 a month. See deals here.

If you are a heavy voice call user, say at most 500 min per month usage, then add at least £5 to the £4, around £9 a month, can get you through without surcharges. You still get the unlimited texts and 500MB of internet in a month. See more deals here.

For internet on the go users the least price to pay per month for a 500MB of data, unlimited texts and 100 minutes voice calls is £7.13 cost effective. Cost effective means the total round off price of the total amount of contract less the discounts. The discounts usually are in the form of a cashback where in you need to send by post your monthly bill to a designated address and at a specific date. See more deals here.

If you are a smartphone conscious person and you are always looking for the best deal on smart phones, there are deals that can offer you free for a top of the range products, starting from £25 a month contract. There are also gift giveaways with these like laptops, tablet computing, games console, TV's and many more. Even if the effective costs of these purchases will be the same if you buy these separately, it is still a win situation because, it is like you have paid by credit card, paying on monthly basis but without the interest. Not like when you have paid by a credit card in one go and paying the balance every month plus the interest or by a debit card with no option but to splash the cash in one go.

See smart phone deals here.

 Choose your free gift here.

Practical thoughts

The cheapest tariff may not always be the cheapest deal to everyone, depending on the user's usage. A more expensive deal may still be cheaper in the long run considering what's bundled within the contract. Make sure that the voice call you take and other built in bundles with the contract is sufficient to avoid surcharges. Internet data could be very expensive when you have gone beyond your limits!

Look out and be careful for cheaper tariff on new fancy phones as they are usually bundled with the least voice and data bundles.

When a new device is on sale, it is the best time to grab the former best seller like the phones above. It pays  to wait until the new arrival comes.

Google Secret Fun

Google is no doubt, the number one search engine used by most internet users. I would like to think that it is the synonym of search, as it is the first word that comes to mind, when I want to look for something, to look for directions, or to know the cheapest price of a certain product and where I could buy it. But so much with the formal stuff, google is also fun.

There are people who have been using google too much and might have been bored with the usual search result format. So they make the results visually and functionally exciting for internet users like you and me. To break the monotony of the usual search results, here are some examples of their works! 

Auto Type Backwards

Go to http://elgoog.im/, google typed backwards, and the search engine answers back with results written backwards, a mirror image of the normal result. 

Gravity Effect

Go to the link below and the search engine's elements will drop down to the bottom. Type in any search word and press enter and the results will pile up on top of each other.  This works with google chrome and firefox only.

http://mrdoob.com/projects/chromeexperiments/google-gravity/

Guitar Tones

This search effect is one of my favourite. As the name suggests, a guitar note is played whilst you type in the search window. You can also turn your keyboard into a guitar by pressing the keys or running the cursor through the strings. There is an example melody complete with the keys to press to play the tune. Another amazing feature is the ability to record what you play by pressing the record button included at the page. 

http://elgoog.im/guitar/

Terminal

If you 've been computing since the late 80's, then you might have missed the early font available during that era, terminal font. Only this time it has colours. The animation is not high tech as you thought but it nostalgic and complete with tones like that with a dial up modem connection. To do a search, press S or L first . Try it here.

http://elgoog.im/terminal/

Tilt Me

Typing tilt whilst on a search result makes the page slightly tilted to the right. 

Underwater Scene 

Fancy a shark and other fishes swimming as you search? And search elements floating by like a ducky in a bath? Try to ttype in any search word one at a time and the search results will fill in your screen with screenshots of pages, icons and logos based from your searches. Although the results are not functional ( can't get you anywhere when clicked), the floating elements are hypnotic to watch.

http://elgoog.im/underwater/

Zerg Rush Game

When zerg rush is typed on an existing google search result, a group of o's or zero's rush down where the search words and images are, and they destroy anything that comes into their contact. Your mission is to take down them by clicking on them with your mouse.  

iPhone 5 Top Essential Accessories

Accessories can make your gadget look more expensive. I am sure iPhone 5 users use their phones with one or two accessories bought separately from the unit, not only to make it looking good, or add more functions to it, but to  protect it from wear and tear, making the depreciation factors into minimum when it's time to resell for a newer variant. It is a must therefore, to pick the best you can afford for this purpose.

The Screen Protector

This is first thing that comes to mind when I think of phone accessories. It is a must and should be available even before using the phone. The screen shield protects the phone from smudges, scratches, and even screen breakages. This should be applied before the first use as dusts and oil from the fingertips can cause improper placement of the screen.

There are many branded and unbranded products of this kind in the market and because of this, sometimes it is  hard to choose which one to buy. I prefer a premium brand myself as they have properties like easy to apply, all equipment for the application is included with the product, like squeegee, wipes, etc, and does what it promises to do. I find these qualities in ZAGG product.

The ZAGG invisible shield is created from a resilient film that was first used to protect U.S. Military helicopter blades from high-speed damage, the invisibleSHIELD is your personal electronics defender. This rugged film wraps around consumer electronics and keeps them functioning and looking great, just like the day they came out of the box. Featuring ZAGG's exclusive Nano-Memory technology, the invisibleSHIELD has unique properties that provide self-healing qualities and unrivaled abrasion resistance.

The Case

The second essentials is the over all protection, the case. Depending on your taste, whether you prefer silicone materials, fabrics or leathers, as long as it is functional and gives your device a new fresh look. Here are some pointers to remember.

 As  you will be carrying along your phone most of the time, it is best to choose something with extra pockets for cards, emergency cash or a space for a piece of paper for jotting down notes. Many times the  emergency cash has saved my day.

The case should also provide access to all buttons and ports. There was one I bought in the past that I needed to take the phone out to use the camera because the hole at the back is not aligned with the camera and flash. Another nightmare I encountered was to remove the unit to charge, because the very slim and good looking case, has no opening at the bottom.

Another important feature to look for is a built in cradle. I had a bad experience with a slip on type folio case without a cradle. It was alright for the first week, but after a while, the case became loose, and the phone would slip out from the case and down the floor!

Lightning Adaptor/Car Adaptor

The lightning cable is new to apple products. If you have been an apple fan before and have bought accessories that takes the older 30 pin cables, then you will need this in order to use with your iPhone 5. This will save you from buying additional sound dock, audio video dock, charging dock and so on. With this connector, the older 30 pin connector devices and cables will not gather dust. You will not just be saving something for your pocket but reducing possible clutters and wastes as well.

The iPhone 5's battery life is impressive, but still you will never know when you'll need a charger when you're away from the mains socket. Chances are, we only realize how important little things are when we need them badly. So, do not get caught with no power when you need to call an emergency number specially when travelling by car. This little car adaptor can be a life saver in an emergency.

This Season's Best iPhone 5 Deal

As the festive season is on, there's a price crash on the iPhone 5 and now is the time to get it, SIM free or on contract. Several online re sellers are even cheaper than buying it direct from apple, saving you something for that leather case or additional accessories. So here's the latest offers from selected retailers.

Contract

Carphonewarehouse

The most recommended offer with an attractive monthly bundle is £36/month for 24 months. This is provided by O2 network with unlimited voice calls to any network, unlimited text cross network, and 1GB of data. You do need to pay £25 upfront for the phone, but it is still the cheapest and most attractive offer so far that I can find online. Delivery is free or you can choose to collect it from the nearest Carphonewarehouse outlet from your location. The total cost for this deal is £889. 

You can choose between black or white unit.

Dialaphone

If you are looking for the lowest effective cost after 24 months then iPhone 5 from dialaphone is the best option. For £33 line rental a month plus £49 upfront payment, Vodafone iPhone 33 is the deal for you. This gives you 600 free minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB of data. It also includes 2GB of wi-fi data from vodafone network. The total cost after 2 years is £840.96

Pay as you go

When call budget is an issue, pay as you go is a suitable option. Carphonewarehouse has a wide selection of networks to choose from offering the iPhone 5. 

Why buy pay as you go? The phone comes with a nano sim card which is ready to use and depending on your choosen network, you can have free international calls, priority tickets, buy one take one cinema tickets, free calls to the same networks and so on. The tag price is £499.95 upfront plus a £10 top up, a total of £509.95. 

SIM Free

Apple store sells the 16GB iPhone 5 at £529 upfront. Carphonewarehouse sells this for £509.95, a saving of  at least £19 which you can use to buy for a protective case or another accessory. The good thing about SIM free is you can use any SIM card from any network from any country. And if you have an existing contract  an incompatible SIM card size, you can call your network to provide you with a nano SIM card.

Accessories

Carphonewarehouse offers further savings of up to 25% off on all apple accessories including iPhone 5. Essential accessory like screen protector and case are a must to keep your device in mint condition and protect it from accidents. See details below.

Now is the right time to get yourself a new iPhone 5 at a holiday season price. I am sure you wouldn't like to miss the price drop, so strike while the iron is still hot.

iPhone 5 Tips

Internet Browsing

• Private Browsing (#1)

As you use your phone to browse the web, information on the sites you visit, the search query you've typed will be saved on the browsers memory. And if you share your iphone5  with your friends and family, this data will be readily available to those who have an access to your phone.  If you do not want  this from happening, activate the Private Browsing by going to Settings, Safari, Privacy, then turn on the Private Browsing button.

If you do not want websites to store your information whilst visiting their pages, you can opt not to accept cookies. Do this choosing Never at Accept Cookies menu.

• Clear History, Cookies and Data(#2)

If you have used your iPhone5 to browse the internet before setting on the Private Browsing option, you might first need to clear your history, cookies and data. And to see which websites has managed to save some data from your browsing habits, check it from Settings, Safari, Advanced, Website Data. You have an option to delete the site from the list or delete all. 

Which one not to delete? 

This depends on who have the access on the phone. If it's just you alone, then I will leave the data from emails and social networks. I will just erase that from banks or shopping and any site that involves financial transactions. Why? Just in case the phone is lost and somebody manages to get an access.

• Auto Fill(#3);

This function is useful in filling out online forms, especially when you are fond of joining websites that asks you to input the same personal entries. When turned on, the Auto Fill function uses the information stored under your name in Contacts. Or if you are creating a profile for one of your friends, you can automatically fill in his details as long as it is saved in his profile. 

You can Access this by going to Settings, Safari, Auto Fill, My Info then choose the entry where you keep your information.

• Reading List

Action Button

If you come across an article you want to read later, most of the time, you just hit the bookmark button and the web address is saved in the bookmark for later access. The disadvantage of this method is, your bookmark continuously piling up of addresses creating clutter especially when you seldom tidy up your list when you no longer need it or have finished reading what you've wanted to read.

A solution for this is to use the Reading List instead of the Book Mark. You can save a website to read later without adding it to your bookmark by pressing the action button  when you are browsing then press Add to Reading List.To get back to the saved reading list, tap the bookmark icon and the Reading List is at the top. Once you've accessed the saved item, it will be automatically deleted from the list.

• Reader's Aid

And whilst reading, you can magnify the text of the article without necessarily pinching it out to zoom the page with your fingers. You can even take off all the distractions like adverts and photos by using the Reader in Safari. It is activated when you tap on the title of an article, the Reader button will be available at the address bar. A tap on the reader will give you the option to increase or decrease the size of the text, by tapping on the relevant icon. The text then will be auto fitted into the screen for easier navigation and reading.

Texting

• Keyboard Shortcut

Predictive text helps texting quick and easy. The only downside to this is, it spells out the whole word in english. You can not use a shortcut of words when the function is on. Another way to compose text quickly is to use keyboard shortcuts. It doesn't matter if you use any language or several languages, or write abbreviations of words. It does understand and spells out words the way you want it, only in a flash and quicker way.

Try the function by going to Settings, General, Keyboard, Shortcuts, Add New Shortcut then enter the Phrase you want to use and the Shortcut for the phrase, one letter for each word and do not leave a space between the letters.

Useful when texting the same phrase or word every time.

• Customized Vibration

Allocating a customized ringtone to a contact lets you know who is calling before you answer the phone. This function has been around for sometime. How do you know who is calling when your phone is on a vibrate mode?

You can now predict who is calling you or sending you a message when your phone is on silent mode by just  observing the vibration it makes. There are several preset vibrations you can choose from to assign to your contacts. You can also make a new customized vibe by going into Settings, Sounds, Ringtone, Vibration, Create New Vibration then tap on the screen to make your own sequences.

To set up the customized vibration to your contacts, go to the name of your contact, tap edit and choose the preset vibe or the one you've made.

The Cheapest iPhone 5 Deal

The most sought  iPhone 5 is now available to most retailers, but sometimes the shelves are dried up empty  and could not cope up with the overwhelming demand, so ordering it is not straight forward. It test your patience and how well you plan for it's delivery. It also test your wallet.The lowest tariff at the moment without paying for the phone is £39 a month for 2 years contract. This translates into £936 for the 16GB model. If you want to pay for a lower tariff, you need to pay a contribution of owning it. The lowest upfront payment is £49 and £37 monthly or a total of £937 for 2 years. The difference in tariff is just a pound, but if you take a look closely, the £1 difference means a lot in terms of what you'll get, the free minutes and data bundle. See the deals here.

 Advantage of Buying Direct From Apple

 If you have the available cash to get this product, no doubt the cheapest way to get the iPhone 5 is through apple store. The lowest spec is priced £529 upfront. This is the 16GB model which you can have it on colours black slate or white silver. The price already includes delivery and packaging. It is almost one half cheaper than getting it with a contract.

The advantage of getting it direct from apple rather than from auction sites is you  are sure the product is authentic. You are sure about the warranty of the product that you can send it back in case there's a problem with it without necessarily shouldering the bill of sending and again, delivery back to you after repair or replacement.

Another advantage is, your iphone 5 is sim free. This means, you can pop in any compatible sim card from any network and from any country.


The only hassle that you will encounter when buying from apple store is the waiting time for the delivery of the product. For those who want the phone straight away, getting it from apple may not be suitable. That is because you need to wait about two to three weeks before your order is delivered. In my case, it took exactly three weeks. My advice is to calculate the day you are home before ordering because you need to sign for it and may need to show any identification card. If you will not be home, make sure to leave an identification card to whoever at home to receive your order. But just in case no one is around and you missed the delivery, you will be given a notice when they'll be coming back or a number to call to arrange a delivery. Buy iPhone 5 from apple.

Using an Existing Contract for the iPhone 5

What if you have an existing older iphone contract and hasn't ended yet? Can you buy a sim free iPhone 5 and put your existing micro sim in it?

The iPhone 5 takes a smaller form,  nano sim, and the existing micro sim won't be compatible to the tray provided. But still you can use your existing contract to use it with the phone. What you need to do is to request a nano sim card from your network. O2 is good at this. When I placed the order from the apple store, I did contacted them through their website, and the nano sim card was delivered two days after. Get your O2 nano sim card here.

Setting up your Sim Free iphone using existing credentials.

On O2, using your existing and current tariff to your iphone 5 is easy. Once you have your phone and nano sim, you just need to contact O2 that you want to transfer your existing credentials into the nano sim for your iPhone 5. You can do this online or through a text in four simple steps. You will need your existing phone number and the number of the nano simcard located at the back of the sim carrier. 

To do it online go to http://swapmysim.o2.co.uk/. Alternatively, send a text swap to 20220 from the existing number you want to use and O2 will send you a code for the sim swap process. The swap will take at least two hours up to 24 hours, but in my experience it was under 2 hours.

Is there any problems using a contract from a non iPhone sim card?

There was no problem making and receiving a call, sending and receiving messages, surfing the net via wi-fi or data bundle during the first two weeks, but I  noticed the other day that there was an error saying "You are not subscribed to data service" when it can not connect to the internet using the data bundle.

There was nothing wrong with the existing APN settings for iPhone when I compared it with the O2 website. Then I realised  that the existing APN is from a non iPhone unit. So I changed it with the credentials, APN and user name, of the original contract, and did not changed the password.

This resolved the problem!

Getting it Sim Free From Resellers

The 32GB, however, is available to their certified resellers at the same apple price of  £699. The advantage of buying your iPhone through them is the readiness of the product. You can get it the next working day after you order or you have the option to pick it up at their store later if you buy online. Another advantage is you can choose which day you want your item delivered. See further details here!

The Round Up

No doubt, like the past models, the price of the iPhone 5 with contract will drop, but I guess not any sooner. When the next model will be out, might be an iPhone5 S or 6, will be the start to get it at a lower price if you have the patience enough to wait for sometime.

If you can not wait that long the cheapest way then to get it is to buy sim free from apple for the lowest spec, or from their re sellers  for the higher specs and want it ASAP.

Practical Features of IOS 6

IOS 6 is not only available to the new iPhone 5, the latest apple mobile phone released. The older iPhone 4 or 4S can also be upgraded to IOS 6. This newest operating system makes everything faster than the previous one. It also bundled with features that makes even the older devices do more and simplify things by launching a function in fewer taps, thus saving more time.  

Here are some of changes that the IOS 6 I think are useful, specially to the old iPhone models.

Battery Percentage Indicator

The first feature I noticed is the presence of battery percentage indicator at the top of the screen. This feature can be turned on or off by presing to the Home Screen>Settings>General>Usage(then scroll down further)>Battery Usage> then turn on the On button.

You can monitor more accurately the approximate remaining time for your phone before it needs charging. The percentage data can also give you a hint on when to turn off some features of the phone to keep your phone running the ability to receive calls for longer.

Email Attachment Made Easier

Sending email attachment was a nightmare in the previous Mail native application. Copying and pasting one at a time at the files you want to attach was a pain. This time with the new IOS 6 it is easier. 

Whilst at the compose mode at the mail application, lightly tap a part of the typing area and tap the arrow after Select All to get to the attachment menu. From there you can attach photos or videos.

Ease of Button Access

The iPhone's distinct one function button interface makes it simple to use. But sometimes there are times that you wish it has other buttons to get you from a function to another without pressing repeatedly at the same single button. And sometimes that single button becomes stiff and needs a stronger push for it to work. Taking a screen shot requires two hands and a combination of two buttons, which is not really user friendly to do, as one will be holding the phone and pressing the power button and the other pressing the home button to make the combination.

With the Assistive Touch, you can do the task with only one touch. Activate it by going to the Settings>General>Accessibility>Physical & Motor>then turn on Assistive Touch.

This will show a button that can be dragged and positioned anywhere you want in your screen. The button can give you an immediate access to the Home button, favourites, Voice Control, and functions of the device like lock and unlock and rotation of the screen, volume control and mute, screenshot and can check the opened application.

Add Fun Emoticons and Clip Arts on Messaging Applications

Make your messages more interesting by inserting emoticons, symbols, and signs. This is compatible to notes, messages, emails and social network status updates. This is activated by adding other keyboard function on the iPhone.

Go to Settings>General>Keyboard>Keyboards>Add New Keyboard>choose Emoji. On the keyboard, you will notice a new globe icon at thee second left bottom of the screen. Press that and a large collection of signs, symbols, clip arts and emoticons is ready to use in your messages. Impress your friends by adding this in your messages.

Spotlight Search

The spotlight search is beefed up some muscle as it can tell you the folder where a certain item is located. It is useful when you are looking for a  certain application from a folder you can not remember. It also works with any file, music files for example. Very useful when you keep hundred of songs inside your device. This saves you from  opening folders and scrolling through the contents of the folder.

Last Tip

Though it is a bit lengthy to update an apple product,  it is worth the trouble. The last thing you do not want to do is to lose file in the process. It is very important to do a back up before you start updating, as this may wipe out files and can no longer be recovered.

This is done by right clicking the name of your connected device on the iTunes interface and clicking back up. And I would choose to back my files up both into my computer and up the cloud.

Easy Sync Mobile Contacts for iPhone5

The painful part of having a new phone is transferring contacts from the previous mobile phone. There are ways to do it using the native hardware and application provided within the phone like bluetooth transfer or just the simple SIM swapping on most phone brands, however in apple products, it is inconvenient, bluetooth doesn't support contact transfer. And again, even if you have managed to save all your contacts into your regular SIM or micro SIM, there is still a problem specially with the iPhone 5 that requires the newest nano SIM form factor, they just do not fit,physically.

iTunes is still the best solution of connecting and transferring of contacts between apple devices, but as it needs computer to connect, it is not convenient. Using iCloud service is also an other alternative and could free you from wires but  is only applicable to apple devices in terms of contacts synchronization. Latest update of the devices is also needed for the service. If you are in a hurry and wants to sync your contacts straight away, you can bypass both iTunes and iCloud with the free PhoneCopy application.

Phone Copy Application

This application lets you syncronise your contacts between your iPhones or other phones without downloading large applications. You do not need iTunes and doesn't need wires either. It is a time saver and no complicated settings. Just register online, download the application on your iPhone, synchronize it, and you are ready to copy your contacts to your new iPhone 5.

Register online. 

On your PC, go to https://www.phonecopy.com or just click the logo above. Choose to register and a confirmation email will be sent. Go to your email and confirm.

Download App

On your source iPhone(where the contacts you want to copy), download the phone copy application using iTunes. Sign in with the credentials you have associated with phone copy and press synchronize. 

During the synchronization, you will be asked to choose which way you want to synchronize, from the device to the server or from the server to the device. Obviously for the first time, you want to copy all your contacts from your device to the server. This would take a minute or two depending on the number of contacts in your phone.

Edit Contacts. 

Check the synchronized contacts by logging in with your PC ( why PC?  It is easier to edit documents with a laptop or PC), and delete or  edit your contacts as necessary. 

Do not worry if you've deleted a contact accidentally as the deleted contacts will be in a separate folder and can be reverted in just a click.

Synchronize on the New iPhone 5

On your new iPhone 5, download the same application and log in with the same credentials as the old iPhone. Click synchronize, this time from the server to this device,  and you're done!

This application supports Android devices as well.  Just follow the same procedure and you can sync contacts from apple to android or vice versa.