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Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
We’ve been nominated for an award as the best online mobile retailer in the What Mobile Awards 2011. It’d really mean a lot to us to take this one home, so if you’ve got a spare sixty seconds then please help us out by voting for us.
We’re question 12. Thanks!
Participate in the What Mobile Awards 2011
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Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
When I moved from Windows onto the Mac, I had been of the mindset that this OS would perform as smoothly as it did on Day 1 for the rest of its computing life. Surfing the web, it seems a whole lot of people had come to similar conclusions. After all, this is the OS that is supposed to be free from viruses, hackers, worms and all similar forms of evil code (and coders). Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The fact is that the Mac is as prone to attacks and bugs as its Microsoft rival. But you know what? If you have the patience and time to follow a set of simple steps to take care of your Mac, you could very well have a perfectly performing Mac OS that lets you work happily ever after…
But before you begin, I would recommend making a backup of your Mac using Time Machine or any other backup app. If you don’t have a backup plan as yet, it’s high time you get one now.
1. Cleaning Up Your Startup
This is a very simple step and so we’ll begin here. It’s always a good idea to check out your startup list to see which programs currently launch automatically at system startup. To check this out, simply click on the ? on your bar, go to System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Items. Go through the list and untick each app that you do not need to be ready at startup.
2. Find CPU and Memory Hogs
This step is a very important. If avoided, it has the potential to make your computer drag along incessantly. What you got to do is go to Application > Utilities > Activity Monitor. Once opened, you will be shown a list of running apps and processes. If any processes relating to inactive programs are shown, you might want to check out if that is supposed to happen – most probably it shouldn’t. You could also see if there are any runaway processes. If you find one, simply restart it.
3. Get Rid of Apps You Don’t Need
If you’re a long time Mac user, you might have unknowingly installed a few apps that you never really needed, or there might be some apps that you don’t use anymore. What you got to do is, open up your Application folder and drag to the trash any app that you don’t use. A fail safe way to know if you would require the app is: Think about how many times you’ve used that particular app in the last 6 months. If the answer is 0 then try to predict how many times you might use it in the next 6 months. If this answer is 0 too, then drag that app to the Trash Bin.
4. Calling in the Maintenance Team
Simply run Disk Utility by going to Applications >> Utilities >> Disk Utilities. There you can get the computer to verify and repair disk permissions and verify and repair the disk itself. These operations are time consuming, and you cannot do them while other applications are running, so you should probably do this step when you do not need your Mac for some time – whether you’re on lunch break, coffee break, napping or checking out some of our cool Macbook cases.
5 & 6. SMC Reset & Battery Calibration
SMC reset is the first thing you ought to do if you are facing increased system temps, higher fan speeds, or lowered battery life. Battery Calibration is a process which is done after the SMC memory is reset so that it can update itself with the latest values of your battery life, voltage, etc. You can find details on how to reset and calibrate your Apple MacBook Pro here. If you feel that your battery is not charging as fast as it used to, option + mouse right click on the battery icon and it will show you the current status of your battery. If it shows Normal, your charger might be at fault. Feel free to check out our MacBook Chargers for one that fits your specifications.
7. Keep your Mac Updated
I really can’t stress how important this is. Apple occasionally issues software updates for the Mac and any of the other Apple applications that you run within Mac like iTunes, Mail, Safari et al. It is highly recommended that you try to keep your Mac updated with the latest updates made available because they also hold security updates for any worms or malware that may have surfaced for the Mac. You can Update your Mac software by clicking on the ? and selecting Software Update.
Conclusion
These tips should get your system running smoother. If you use your Mac as your primary system, it might get prone to scratches and nicks. Browse through our MacBook Protectors to get your Mac protected without the use of heavy cases or bags. If your Mac shows heats up a lot, you might want to try out this laptop cooler review of the Thermapak - we stock it in black and white. If on the other hand you do want the shock protection that comes from thicker cases you could go through our Macbook Accessories page and shop to your hearts desire.
This guest blog written by Dilin Anand.
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Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
The iPhone 4S is the fastest-selling Apple phone ever, with 4 million sales since the phone went on sale on the 14th of October. If you’ve been looking to pick up a new iPhone 4S, whether you’re getting your first iPhone or upgrading from an iPhone 4 or 4S, then this is the article for you.
With so many contract and pay-as-you go options available, there’s a lot of range in what you can end up paying — don’t just take the first deal you can find. If you’re interesting in finding the best deal, read on!
The first decision you have to make is whether to go with a contract or a pay-as-you-go option.
The contract will typically allow you to have a much lower upfront cost (as low as the first monthly bill) and you’re also sure to enjoy slightly better value for things like minutes, texts and internet allowances, although it’s likely that at some point you won’t use up all of your allowance, or go over it. Most mobile phone contracts are 18 or 24 months, meaning that you will have to keep your phone (and your plan) for quite some time, giving you less freedom in the long term. Finally, contracts are the most expensive over the long term.
The pay-as-you-go option has a very high upfront cost, as you’ll typically have to purchase the phone outright (or at a small discount) from your mobile provider. Once you’ve got the phone, you’ll be paying less each month (as you only need to buy as much credit as you use), but you’ll be receiving slightly worse value for money: £30 spent on a month of contract will usually get you a lot more than £30 spent on minutes, texts and internet individually. There are some good deals that nullify this, to some degree. The big advantage of the pay-as-you-go option is that you have much more freedom. You get to choose precisely how to spend your money, whether on minutes, texts or internet allowance, to suit your own usage patterns. You can even pay to have your phone unlocked and then switch providers.
It’s also possible to take a 12 month contract. These middle-of-the-road deals offer a lower (but still significant) upfront cost but a higher monthly rate. The advantage of the 12 month contract is the cost is spread out more evenly across the year, and you’re free to upgrade your phone or switch to a cheaper contract after a year, which seems a much more reasonable amount of time than two.
Now that we’ve laid out the trade-offs, let’s have a look at some specific deals for the iPhone 4S, starting with the contract deals. We’ll look at the best contract deals currently available for each price point, then move onto how to check for the latest deals using comparison websites, and what to look for.
12 Months
Not many carriers are offering 12 month contracts on the iPhone 4S.
18 Months
The only carrier offering an 18 month contract I could find was Vodafone.
24 Months
The offerings from Three and Tesco are the best value, with the rest offering identical deals to each other.
How to Choose a Good Contract Deal
There are also quite a few useful contract comparison websites which you can use to look at deals from multiple networks and retailers. The two I’ve used are omio.com and phones4u.com, but others are available too.
BillMonitor.com is an excellent resource for choosing the right plan based on your actual usage habits; given your login details it can check your usage patterns and advise you as to which plan would give you the best value.
Finally, you can also apply the standard array of discounts and vouchers to get better deals or money back. One good site for this is QuidCo.com, which offers money back offers on a wide range of products, including smartphones like the iPhone 4S.
Using these resources, you now must judge each deal as its presented. It’s a good idea to write things down on a bit of paper (real or virtual) as you go along, so you can get a clearer idea of the various deals, as there will be different ones between comparison websites. Remember to ensure that your plan fits your usage habits, so don’t pay extra for a plan that has unlimited texts if you only use a few dozen a month. You’ll be stuck with your choice for up to two years, so take the time to find the best deal!
If you’ve found a particularly good deal for the iPhone 4S, why not share it with us by leaving the details in the comments below? If it’s a top deal, we’ll add it to the article!
You can also buy a sim-free iPhone 4S for £499 direct from Apple. Then it’s just a case of finding your favourite mobile operator.
Of the deals I’ve found, Giffgaff and Three are above the rest. The Giffgaff deal is the cheapest of all the deals I’ve found, including contract deals, working out at £619 for 12 months and £739 for 24 months with unlimited data.
If you’ve already got an iPhone 4 or iPhone 3GS, it’s quite possible to trade in your old iPhone for a new 4S. You can do this by selling your phone via eBay or mobile phone recycling sites.
Via eBay.co.uk, you’re likely to get around £250 for a 16GB iPhone 4, which is about half of buying the iPhone 4S sim-free from Apple.
Recycling sites tend to offer less, with about £210 – £240 per iPhone 4, but they offer a much more streamlined experience; you don’t have to deal with eBay’s sometimes treacherous PayPal system and arranging your own shipping. MobileValuer.com is a good comparison site for these services.
The best deal available is from stellar provider Giffgaff – buy an unlocked iPhone 4S directly from Apple, and pair it with giffgaff’s exceedingly generous £10 monthly goodybag, which comes with 250 minutes and unlimited texts and data. If you’d prefer a contract deal, Three’s services are the best, with the highlight being £99 up front and £35 a month for 2000 minutes, 5000 texts and unlimited data.
I hope you’ve found that this article helpful. If you find a better deal for the iPhone 4S, let us know so we can add it to the article! If you’d like to contact me, then hit me up via the comments below or via Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for reading.
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Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
Now, if like me you bought the Blackberry 9900 Sim Free because you wanted the best of both worlds, i.e both a physical keyboard and touchscreen then all well and good. If, like some others I know, bought the handset because they could not make up their minds on what was best for them – the undecided type if you like, then I have some advice on how to protect your beloved Blackberry 9900 Sim Free if you fall into the latter category.
The 10-in-1 Silicone Case Pack for BlackBerry Bold 9900 is perfect if you want to change around your case to match your outfit or mood, or if you just can’t decide on which singular Blackberry 9900 case to buy in the first place!
Made from a high quality flexible silicone, these cases really improve the feel of your BlackBerry Bold 9900 and also increase the grip. Just because the case is thin it doesn’t mean you’re losing out on protection and the weight of the case is negligible and not at all bulky.
Designed specifically for the BlackBerry Bold 9900, all the cut outs for the ports and buttons, camera etc are made to measure. Now you just have to decide which colour to use on which occasion.
Still unsure if these are right for you? I would hate to confuse you but there are plenty more Blackberry 9900 Cases and Screen Protectors in our range along with other great Blackberry 9900 Accessories.
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Obvious disclaimer: Mobile Fun take no responsibility for any damage that may come from following the directions or indeed rooting your phone at all. This will void your phone’s warranty, so be careful. Having said that, I’ve had no issues whilst following these directions, so at least theoretically this should work as intended.
If you’ve got an HTC Desire, you might feel a bit behind the times. It was a great phone when it launched, but nowadays there are faster and shinier phones, sporting custom interfaces and with vastly more internal memory. Indeed, the lack of internal memory for installing apps is probably the biggest flaw of the otherwise excellent Desire, and makes trying out new apps a very tiresome business, as you have to free up some space before you can install something.
A great way to free yourself of that tiresome burden, as well as try out some cool alternative flavours of Android, is to root your Desire. Rooting refers to a process whereby you gain administrator access (or root, in Unix parlance) to the phone, allowing you to exercise a greater level of control over the phone’s software.
While rooting can be both simple and effective, it can also go wrong, at worst leading to the complete death of your phone. While this isn’t a common ocurrence, it’s worth following the directions carefully and reading that disclaimer at the top of the page before you begin.
Before you actually install any software, it’s worthwhile to make sure that everything will proceed smoothly and give you the best possible chance of getting your phone back to the way it was, should anything bad occur.
1. Make a backup of all of the data on your phone and SD card. Connect the phone to your computer, and copy across all of the contents of each to your hard drive.
2. There’s an Android application called LifeSaver 2, which makes a backup of your phone calls and text messages to your SD card; do this before you back up your SD card if you’re worried about losing these.
3. Your contacts should be saved via Google’s synchronisation service, but note down your essential numbers just in case.
4. Go through your phone and note down each of the applications that you want to re-install on your new phone. There’s nothing worse than having to re-locate that essential application with the silly name, so spend some time on this, remembering to include widgets and system software in addition to your other commonly used apps.
5. You also need to prepare the PC you’re going to use to root the phone: uninstall HTC Sync if it’s installed.
6. Ensure there’s active service on your phone and you have at least 30 MB free on your SD card.
2. Download Unrevoked 3. Just grab the latest version for Windows, then run the .exe file once it’s finished downloading. It should say “waiting for device.”
3. Make sure USB debugging is on (Settings->Applications->Development). Plug in your phone via USB.
4. The phone should be automatically detected, and the procedure will start. Follow the prompts to continue. Once you’re done, the phone will be rooted and the custom recovery image will be installed.
1. Download Rom Manager from the Android Store.
2. Choose ‘Download ROM’. Pick what you like (I’d suggest Cyanogen, including the optional extras).
3. You’re asked if you’d like to back up your stock rom and wipe your data. Accept all of these.
4. The ROM will be downloaded, and once it’s done your phone will reboot and automatically back up your phone, wipe the data, and then install the new ROM. Just follow the on-screen prompts.
5. Sometimes, you can end up in the Clockwork Mod Recovery menu and without the automatic back up, wipe and reinstall. If this does occur, don’t panic: you can do the same steps manually.
To control the menus, use the volume buttons on the side of the phone and press the circular button to make a selection. Then follow these steps:
a. Back up your current ROM to your SD card (go to the ‘backup and restore’ menu, then select ‘backup’).
b. Next, wipe the data (‘wipe data/factory reset’ and ‘wipe cache partition’) from the phone.
c. Finally, install the new ROM from the SD card (‘apply update from sdcard’ then ‘choose zip from sdcard’). Choose the ROM .zip file (e.g. Cyanogen). Once it’s installed, install any extras (e.g. google apps).
d. When you’re done, select the top option: ‘reboot system now’.
6. With luck, your phone will restart with the new software and you’ll get to set it all up again. Enjoy your new ROM!
If you do follow these instructions and keep your Desire running longer, then you may find the only thing not new and shiny is your battery life, so try picking up an HTC Desire battery to keep things running longer.
I hope this worked for you! Let me know how it goes in the comments, but please read the disclaimer before you start!
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