Archive for the ‘How to Guides’ Category
Monday, November 2nd, 2009
With so many people now having the iPhone they no longer stand out as much as they used to. To make your iPhone a little bit different, there are a number of iPhone cases and iPhone covers that you can get to brighten the phone up, but if you don’t want the extra bulk that is normally associated with a case?
The answer – GelaSkins.
What are GelaSkins?
GelaSkins are very thin protective covers that are made specifically for your iPhone. They are made from a strong vinyl that can be removed from your phone without leaving any messy residue behind and are currently for the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS.
Gelaskins for iPhone
The artwork for the GelaSkins comes from over 100 artists including contemporary designs by Keith Haring and Nanami Cowdroy as well as some of the more traditional works by Van Gogh and Monet. As well as making your iPhone look good, GelaSkins protect your phone. They cover all of the back of your phone and will stop it from getting scuffed and scratched during everyday use. (more…)
Friday, October 23rd, 2009
Pop-Up Message
With so many accessories available for the iPhone, compatibility issues will crop up from time to time. We carefully check every iPhone accessory that we sell to make sure that they work with the phone, but an warning message that is sometimes displayed on the handset when some accessories are connected can cause some confusion about whether the accessory will work or not.
If you see the warning message “This accessory is not made to work with iPhone” don’t panic. It doesn’t mean that your accessory won’t work, it just means that you might experience some interference if your phone connects to the internet, a call is made or a text message sent.
The reason that you see this message (normally when you connect to Speakers, Car Kits and other music devices) is that by default, the iPhone will enter ‘Accessory Mode’ when connected by the Dock Connector. This would then lock out all controls on the iPhone as it thinks that commands for music playback will come from the connected accessory.
As not all accessories have music controls, this would cause a problem, so to get round this potential problem accessory manufacturers have the option to tell the iPhone not to enter Accessory Mode but instead display the warning message.
If you see this message when you connect your accessory to your iPhone you will be given the choice to switch to ‘Airplane Mode’. When you see the warning message, you’ve got 3 options:
- Press ‘YES‘ – This will then put the phone into Airplane Mode. This will temporarily disable telephone and internet capabilities while you’re connected to the accessory. As soon as you disconnect your iPhone from the accessory it will leave Airplane Mode and you’ll be able to make and receive calls again.
- Press ‘NO‘ – You’ll be able to access all functions on your phone and the accessory will work as it’s supposed to. If your phone rings, the music will fade in/out before & after the call. With some accessories you may experience some interference just before you receive a call or text message.
- Do Nothing – The warning message will disappear after about 30 seconds and your phone will function as if you’d selected ‘NO’
To try and help you get the best accessories for your iPhone Apple introduced a licensing system that makes it easier to see which accessories will work best with the iPhone. To check if an item is licensed by Apple, just look for the ‘Works with iPhone’ Logo.
Certified by Apple
Friday, October 16th, 2009
Earlier this month, Microsoft released a new version of their mobile phone operating system – Windows Mobile 6.5. Unlike most updates though, not every0ne will be able to upgrade their phone to run this new software as it requires certain hardware features in order for it to work.
If you’ve got a Windows Phone and are looking to upgrade to the latest version, this post should tell you what you need to do to upgrade the software on your phone.
Can You Upgrade?
For most people, the answer unfortunately will be no as the number of handsets that can support Windows Mobile 6.5 is very limited. There are a couple of things that you’ll need to check to see if your handset is one of the lucky ones.
Firstly, you’ll need to know what version of Windows your phone is currently running. To find out you’ll need to access the settings window on your phone.
- Press ‘Start’
- Press ‘Settings’
- Click on the ‘System’ Tab
- Click on the ‘Information’ or ‘About’ icon
The window that appears will then give you information about your phone and the software that it’s running. Compare your software version to the ones listed in the chart below to see if the upgrade is available.
Windows Mobile 6.5 - Can you upgrade?
One thing that is worth mentioning here, is that if you’ve previously upgraded from 6.0 to 6.1 then you won’t be able to upgrade again to 6.5 as your phone will lack the hardware that’s needed for Windows Mobile 6.5.
So how do you upgrade?
To upgrade your phone you’ll need to download the software from either your network or handset manufacturers website. Unfortunately though, not all manufacturers and networks are that fast at releasing the software, so you may have to wait a while for the software you need to be released.
Currently, updates have been released for the following handsets:
Updates are due shortly for the following handsets:
I’ll add to this list as and when updates become available. If you have a network variation of one of the phones listed above you will need to wait for your network to release their version of the software before you update as the generic HTC Touch Pro2 version, for example, won’t work on the T-Mobile MDA V or Vodafone Touch Pro2 – even though they are the same handset.
Before you begin the update process we strongly recommend that you back up all data stored on your phone and remove the memory card. Once you’ve downloaded the software, plug your phone into your PC and launch active sync/mobile device manager. The phone should then begin the update process and can take up to an hour to complete.
If you’ve found an update for a UK handset that isn’t listed here, let me know using the comments form below and I’ll get the post updated.
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
Over time, most computers will slow down – not because they’re faulty, just because all the extra software we install fills the hard drive and uses more and more memory – until you get to the point where it’s so slow that you’ll probably replace your computer. One fix is to open your computer up and add more RAM – the memory that your programs use to run. While this isn’t a particularly difficult or expensive process, opening up a computer and replacing components is unthinkable by most people.
Surprisingly, Microsoft have come up with a solution and although it’s been part of Windows Vista (and Windows 7) since it launched, not many people are aware of it. The solution is called Windows ReadyBoost and it allows you to add more RAM/memory for programs by using a standard, everyday USB Flash Memory Pen.
Setting it up is extremely simple – All you need to do is insert your USB Flash drive as normal. Once your computer has recognised the drive, open ‘My Computer’ and right click on the icon for your flash drive and select ‘Properties’.
When the properties window opens you’ll see a tab at the top of the window called ReadyBoost – Click it. , If the USB drive is supported you’ll have options to configure the drive, if it doesn’t you’ll see the message “This device does not have the required performance characteristics for use in speeding up your system”.
Enable Window ReadyBoost in Disk Properties
To enable ReadyBoost on your flash drive, check the radio button for ‘Use this device’ and then adjust the slider to tell windows how much extra memory you want your computer to use. Once you’re finished, click ‘Apply’, then ‘OK’ and you’re done.
Microsoft say that this option is available regardless of the version of Windows Vista or Windows 7 that your computer is running, but it is dependant on some of the hardware in your computer, so it might not be an option for everyone – particularly those who have upgraded their PC from an older version of Windows.
Most current USB Flash Drives will work with Windows ReadyBoost as long as they meet the following criteria:
- The device should have an access time of 1 ms or less.
- The capacity of the USB flash drive must be at least 256 MB (250 after formatting).
- The largest cache file size is 4GB.
- The device must be capable of 2.5 MB/s read speeds for 4 KB random reads spread uniformly across the entire device and 1.75 MB/s write speeds for 512 KB random writes spread uniformly across the device
- The device must have at least 235 MB of free space
- NTFS and FAT32 are supported.
- The recommended amount of flash memory to use for Windows ReadyBoost acceleration is one to three times the amount of random access memory (RAM) installed in your computer.
The USB Flash Drives listed below are our most popular USB Flash drives that are supported by Windows ReadyBoost:
SanDisk 2GB USB Flash Drive
SanDisk 4GB USB Flash Drive
SanDisk 8GB USB Flash Drive
If you want to see what other devices are available, head over to our USB memory section.
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
With all handsets, the phone you buy in the shops is not always the final version. Manufacturers frequently release software updates to fix bugs, improve reliability and add functionality. Historically this would have involved being without your phone for 2-3 weeks or more while you sent your phone back to the manufacturers service centre. Quite often all data on the handset would be lost, and in some cases phones could get lost or damaged on their way to and from the service centre.
BlackBerry 8520 - Is yours up to date?
Most of the major handset manufacturers have now made this a thing of the past by allowing you to update the software on their phones yourself, when and where you want.
Why should I update my phone?
You may not be experiencing any problems or software issues with your phone, so you may not think you need to update it, but some of the updates released can improve features such as battery life, photo quality and improve support for other devices such as Bluetooth Headsets. BlackBerry have recently released several completely new features onto some of their handsets through the Software Device Update. To see what’s been added recently, take a look at the features chart on the BlackBerry Website.
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Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
Most touch screen handsets they tend to suffer when it comes to battery life, but while the battery isn’t too bad in the N97, you may find that it’s not quite lasting as long as you’d like. To get around this there are a number of options available that will let you use your phone for longer.
The obvious solution is to get an extended battery for your phone & there are currently 2 to choose from.
Mugen Battery & Back Cover
This is the most powerful battery you can get for your Nokia N97. It’s a 3600 mAh battery – that’s nearly 2.5 times more power than the standard battery that came with your phone. All that extra power should mean that you’ll get about a week’s worth of use before you’ll need to recharge it. In order to fit the extra capacity into the battery, Mugen have had to increase the size of the battery, so using this will make your phone slightly bigger. It comes with both black and white replacement back covers which have a built in stylus. Overall the Mugen Battery & back cover will add an extra centimetre to the depth of your phone, and increase its weight by around 30g, a fair compromise considering how much extra power this will add to your phone. The Mugen Battery has been reviewed by our friends over at AllAboutSymbian.com.
- Mugen Extended Battery for the Nokia N97
Nokia N97 Extended Battery
If you want more power, but don’t want to increase the size or weight of your phone, then this is a good alternative to the Mugen. It’s a 1900 mAh Lithium Ion battery that will give you around 25% more power than the standard Nokia Battery. It’s exactly the same size as the standard one though, so you can use this with your existing back cover.
Nokia N97 Extended Battery
Nokia BP-4L N97 Battery
Sometimes the best way to avoid battery problems is to carry a spare battery around with you. The Nokia BP-4L is the same battery as the one that’s in your phone already and can be charged separately to your phone using a desktop battery charger.
Nokia N97 BP 4L Battery
The other option you have is to use a portable charger. These come in a wide range of shapes and sizes, but the most reliable and easiest to use with Nokia handsets is the DC-11 Extra Power Portable Charger.
Nokia DC-11 Extra Power
The DC-11 has a Micro USB and 2mm Nokia charger connections and can charge 2 phones at the same time. It’s the same sort of size as the N97, but can provide up to two full charges of your N97 Battery.
Nokia DC-11 Extra Power
There are a number of other things you can do to help improve your battery life too, take a look at my post on extending your battery life for a few ideas.
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
BlackBerry handsets are great for emailing and messaging, but as with anything electrical, they can sometimes go wrong. One of the more common error messages that seems to come up is “App Error 200″. It still puzzles me why the manufacturers can’t make these error messages a little bit more helpful and actually explain what’s gone wrong – at least then it would be a bit easier to work out how to fix it. Fortunately though, “App Error 200″ is usually fixed with a straight forward firmware update/reinstall.
Problems with your BlackBerry?
The error is caused by an installed application failing and damaging the BlackBerry Operating system in the process. The fix is to simply erase and reinstall the operating system to your phone. This sounds difficult but isn’t too hard in practice. It’s something you can do yourself on your home PC using BlackBerry Desktop Manager. If you don’t feel confident in doing this yourself then you can take it to a BlackBerry repair centre and they’ll carry the repair out for you, but you might have to wait a couple of weeks for them to do it and if you’re out of warranty you’ll probably have to pay for it.
In most cases, the 12 steps listed below should get your handset working again & the process is exactly the same if you want to upgrade your firmware to a newer version.
Before you start though I’d recommend that you check the following:
- The battery in your BlackBerry handset is fully charged.
- You have downloaded and installed the latest version of BlackBerry Desktop Manager – Download now from the BlackBerry Website.
- You have downloaded the latest version of the BlackBerry firmware – Download now from the BlackBerry Website*.
- If you’re working off a laptop, make sure your laptop is connected to a power supply.
- You have the correct data cable for your phone.
*Internet Explorer is needed to download latest version of BlackBerry Firmware. BlackBerry Desktop Manager isn’t an essential part of the process, but it will make managing your device a lot easier.
Once you’ve downloaded and installed the latest versions, it’s time to start updating your phone. You’ll need to be patient though, as this isn’t the fastest process in the world and it will take some time to erase everything and then reinstall the software. When I ran through it for this post it took around 45 minutes on a BlackBerry Curve 8310 upgrading to 4.5.0.163 on a PC running Windows XP SP3.
To be on the safe side, I’d close any other applications on your computer and go make yourself a coffee while you wait for the update to finish.
It’s extremely important that once you start this process you don’t disconnect your BlackBerry from your computer or switch your computer off until the update has completed and you’re told it is safe to do so by the update application.
- Connect your BlackBerry handset to your computer.
- Launch BlackBerry Desktop Manager.
- Double-click Application Loader. The Application Loader Wizard appears. You might need to unplug and re-attach the USB cable to your BlackBerry in order for it to be recognised.
- Click Next.
- Choose the software that you want to install and click Next.
Update BlackBerry Firmware - Select Software Version to Install
- If you’re asked for a password, type in your BlackBerry password and click Next.
- The Device Application Selection screen appears. Select the applications to be loaded onto your BlackBerry smartphone.
Update BlackBerry Firmware - Select Applications to Install
- If the Device Backup screen appears, choose whether or not to automatically back up the BlackBerry smartphone. Click Next.
- Click Next. The ‘Completing the Application Wizard’ screen will appear and display all the software that will be loaded to your BlackBerry smartphone.
- Click the Advanced button and make sure that Erase all application data and Erase all currently installed applications are both selected. Note: If the Application Loader is not able to access all of the BlackBerry smartphone data, then both Erase all application data and Erase all currently installed applications will be grayed out.
Update BlackBerry Firmware - Check 'Erase all' boxes
- Click Next, You’ll be asked if you want to be notified of future updates, enter your email address and then click Next again.
- Click Finish. The BlackBerry firmware will now be updated on your BlackBerry. You’ll need to be patient though as this will take around 45 minutes to complete – maybe longer.
Update BlackBerry Firmware - Software will take around 45 minutes to udpate
- That’s it – All done. Once you see the update successful screen it is safe to disconnect your phone from your computer.
Update BlackBerry Firmware - Update Complete
If you get any error messages at any point, you may need to start the process again. If you try 3 times and it still won’t work, you’ll need to take your handset to your nearest repair centre or contact BlackBerry for help.
Monday, September 14th, 2009
More and more Bluetooth Car kits now support phone book synchronisation – this is where all the phone numbers stored on your phone are copied to the car kit. It’s a handy feature to have, although the benefits may not be all that obvious.
By having your numbers stored on the car kit, it means that kits that support Caller ID can show you the name of the person calling instead of just the number – what’s more, if your car kit supports TTS (Text to Speech) it can also call out the name of the person that’s calling you.
Another great benefit of having a car kit with phone book sync is that some of them will support voice dialling. Now you’re right for thinking that a lot of phones already support voice dialling, and you’re right, but what I mean here is that the car kit itself handles the voice dialling rather than your phone.
On a standard Bluetooth Car Kit, when you activate voice dialling, you press a button on the kit that then puts your phone into listening mode. Your phone then tries to match what you’ve said against either a pre-recorded voice tag or automatically match it to a name in your phonebook – often getting it wrong as the increased wind & road noise can distort what you say.
iPhone and Parrot Minikit Slim
With some car kits that with phonebook sync and voice dialling, it’s the car kit that listens to your voice and matches it to a name or number stored in it and it then tells your phone to dial that number. As the car kit is optimised to reduce wind and road noise, you get a more reliable match and less mis-dialled numbers. The great news with this though is that your phone doesn’t have to support voice dialling in order for this to work and it even works on the iPhone.
Syncing your contacts
Without getting too technical, there are two ways that your contacts can be transferred to your car kit – each using a different Bluetooth profile. Profiles are predefined ways in which two Bluetooth devices talk to each other. One method uses the OPP (object push profile), the other is the PBAP (phonebook access profile). Which one you use depends on your phone and car kit.
OPP (object push profile) is used to receive contacts that are ‘pushed’ to it from a phone. Syncing your contacts to a car kit that uses the OPP profile needs to be done manually and normally involves putting the car kit into ‘receiving mode’ and sending your contacts over one by one or, if your phone supports it, all in one go. To update a contact you’ll need to delete the entry from the car kit and then send the updated contact to the car kit.
PBAP (phonebook access profile) works very differently. Rather than you having to send your contacts to it, the kit connects to the phone and retrieves the contacts from it automatically. Any changes that you make to a contact will be transferred to the car kit the next time your phone is connected. Depending on your phone, you can normally specify which contacts and call logs are synchronised with your kit too.
Of the two, PBAP is the easiest way to sync your contacts, but as the PBAP is a newer Bluetooth Profile some older car kits and phones don’t support it.
Compatibility
In order for you to be able to sync your contacts both your phone and car kit will need to support the same Bluetooth Profile. If you have a phone that only supports the PBAP such as the iPhone 3G, and a car kit that only supports OPP you’re going to have problems. The iPhone will be waiting for the car kit to read the contacts, and the car kit will be waiting for the phone to send the contacts over. Eventually both devices will time out and no contacts will be transferred. If you’ve got this type of kit, you’ll still be able to use the kit for calls and last number redial, but that’s all.
Parrot Kits
From personal experience, I’ve found that Parrot out-perform every other car kit manufacturer when it comes to phone book synchronisation and the additional features that come with it, so if you’re after a kit that will sync easily and give you all the extra features that I mentioned above then take a look at the ones listed below.
Simple Car Kits
Parrot make a couple of simple car kits, but they’re actually both the same – they just look a little bit different. The Parrot Minikit Slim and Minikit Chic are both slim, portable car kits that can pair with up to 5 phones. They support both the OPP and PBAP profiles, so you shouldn’t have a problem in synchronising your phone book with them. The Parrot Minikit Slim/Chic can store up to 1000 contacts per phone (maximum of 2500 for all phones) and has text to speech synthesis to read out the callers name when you receive a call. Unlike most kits, the Minikit Slim/Chic doesn’t have a speaker, instead it has a vibrating panel for improved audio.
Parrot Minikit Slim & Minikit Chic
Fitted Car Kits
The fitted car kits from Parrot are just as good as the portable ones, if not better. As they’re wired into your car, you get much better audio quality as they route the call audio through your existing car stereo speakers as standard, not only that but they are also designed to work really well with the music player on your phone or a stand alone MP3 player or iPod. Each kit has support for streaming your music in stereo over Bluetooth as well as a dock connector for iPhones and iPods, a 3.5mm line in cable and a USB port for flash memory MP3 players. The current range is based around one model with a few noticeable differences between each of the kits.
Parrot MKi9000 Bluetooth Car Kit
The Parrot MKi9000 is the kit that the next two models are based on. The kit is fitted completely out of sight behind your dashboard and is operated through a small remote (shown above) that can be attached to your dashboard or steering wheel. The MKi range of kits all support both the OPP and PBAP profiles for maximum compatibility with handsets. If your phone supports PBAP, the first time you pair your phone, your entire phone book will be transferred over to the kit. Everytime you connect your phone, the car kit will then check for any updates and download them automatically. The kit also features phone independent voice dialling, so to make a call, press the green button and say the name of the person you want to call. If you have multiple numbers for a contact, you’ll be asked by the kit whether you want to call them at home, on their mobile at work etc. As there is no screen on the MKi9000, all the menus are voice-driven and the car kit will talk back to you as you scroll through them. If you don’t want to use voice dialling, or aren’t sure what a contact is saved as, you can manually scroll through the phonebook using the remote control, with the kit reading out the names of your contacts as you go through. The MKi9000 is better suited to touch screen or large screen handsets as the kit itself has no display.
Parrot MKi9100 Bluetooth Car Kit
The Parrot MKi9100 is exactly the same kit as the MKi9000, but with the addition of a 2 line OLED screen it means you can keep your phone out of sight and still access some of the menu’s on it. The MKi9100 supports OPP and PBAP so your contacts will synchronise in the same way, but by having a screen it means that you can scroll through them visually, rather than have to listen to the car kit read them out to you.
Parrot MKi9200 Bluetooth Car Kit
The last one in the range is the Parrot MKi9200. Again its the same basic kit as the MKi9000 but with a 2.4″ colour screen. The bigger screen obviously makes it easier to scroll through your phone book, but it can also show you album art and detailed information on the song that is currently being played from your phone or iPod. On the back of the screen there is an SDHC memory card reader that can handle cards upto 32GB in size – so depending on how much music you own, you could carry your entire music library with you all the time. The screen is detachable and can be removed easily.
There are other car kits that support phone book synchronisation – I’ve listed a few below, but these don’t have all the extra features that the Parrot ones do – and the voice dialling features are all phone dependent.
Tags: car kit phonebook sync, iPhone Car Kit, iphone phone book sync, iphone voice dialing, iphone voice dialling, opp profile, parrot minikit chic, parrot minikit slim, parrot mki9000, parrot mki9100, parrot mki9200, pbap profile, phone book sync, phonebook sync, transfer contacts to car kit, tts,
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Friday, August 28th, 2009
If you use mobile broadband while you’re travelling or you spend most of the day working out of your car, you might struggle to maintain a decent connection to your network – this will be due to the fact you’re sat in a metal box with no end of interference from all the wiring and electrical gadgets in the car.
If you’re in a cafe or at home you can boost your signal by using a Clip Antenna or a High Gain Antenna, but inside a car they won’t be anywhere near as effective. For this reason we’ve just released our 3G Mobile Broadband Vehicle Antenna for use in cars, lorries, caravans, motorhomes, boats etc.
Car Antenna for Huawei USB Modems
Unlike the Clip Antenna and High Gain antennas that sit next to you, the Mobile Broadband Vehicle Antenna is designed to be mounted on the outside of your vehicle. This way it can pick up the signal from your network and carry it directly to the antenna to provide you with a better reception and faster download speeds.
The antenna is small and portable and can be stored in the glove box or a door pocket when not in use. It measures just 15cm long and has a small magnetic base that is just over 3cm in diameter. It can be mounted in seconds and won’t cause any damage to the paintwork on your vehicle.
The Mobile Broadband Vehicle Antenna is currently only available for Huawei dongles that use the CRC9 connection. These dongles include the E156G, E160, E160G, E169, E620 & E110.
Tags: 3G Dongle, 3G signal Booster, Antenna, Ariel, broadband antenna, e160 antenna, e160g antenna, huawei aerial, huawei antenna, huawei sub dongle aerial, k3565 antenna, MF627 antenna, Mobile Broadband, mobile broadband antenna, mobile broadband car aerial, mobile broadband car antenna, mobile broadband signal,
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Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
One of the most asked questions on the Mobile Fun Blogs and Forums at the moment is “How do I set up email on my Tocco” and although there are suggestions and a settings spread across the site, I thought I’d bring it all together into one post to make setting up your Hotmail, Gmail or Yahoo email accounts on your Samsung Tocco F480, Samsung Tocco Lite or Samsung Tocco Ultra quick and easy.
Set up email on Samsung Tocco F480, Tocco Lite or Tocco Ultra
Now, before I start I just want to say that these settings should work on all phones, not just the Tocco’s. You may find that they need a little tweaking depending on your network – particularly the SMTP settings. Without getting too technical on you, the SMTP server is similar to your local sorting office, you send your letters there and they then get sorted and sent on to the person you sent the email to. In an attempt to cut down on the amount of spam being sent, some mobile networks restrict the SMTP servers that you can use and in most cases force you to use their own.
So, if you set your phone up using the same SMTP server as your email provider, but find that you get an error message when you try and send a message, go back to the account settings and change the SMTP server to that of your network. Don’t panic if you don’t know what they are – I’ve listed them all for you at the end of this post.
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Tags: email settings, gmail email settings, hotmail email settings, hotmail tocco lite, hotmail tocco ultra, hotmail tocco vodafone, hotmail vodafone, tocco email settings, tocco gmail, tocco yahoo mail, yahoo email settings,
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