Matt’s Journal

I have been on and on about Quidco in the past, loving the fact you can get cashback from the purchases you usually make online.

Picture this, I’m at work and my boss comes up to me and asks me to find a new Macbook Pro for the graphic designer and a Windows laptop for her. I immediately hit the internet, looking at where would be the most beneficial place to get a cheap laptop that can also work as my boss would like.

Logging onto Quidco, I see that Apple have upped their cashback rate to 6% on purchases, meaning I can get quite a sum back if I get a new Mac from them. Getting the okay, I simply track the business purchase through Quidco, an order totalling £1200. I return to check the status of the cashback in my Quidco account about an hour later, what do you know? £61 tracked and validated there and then!

My employer is none the worse for me doing this, the price they pay is the same. It just means that with a little bit of ingenuity I can profit (albeit small amounts at a time) from being the person consulted to make the necessary arrangements for the rest of the team!

Bonus.

There are a million devices for sale these days that allow you to track where you go and report stats on it. These devices, however, tend to be unsightly wristwatches or are embeddable features of your satellite navigation gadget. TrailGuru steps in and takes away the need for the extra gadgetry and gives you all the same features but from your iPhone.

Getting it is easy. Download the app from the iTunes store, install it to your menu and run it.

Using it is even easier. You click the start button when you start your walk/run/bike and then click stop when you arrive. The application works out your elevation, speed, location and distances.

So you have all this information, now what? Now, you simply click “Post” and it uploads your track to the TrailGuru website. Here you can view your averages and even a map of your outing. Here is mine from my trip to the pet shop on my lunch break:

Click here to see all the statistics related to this route.

If your iPhone is jailbroken or not, this app is a very useful addition to your iPhone program menu.

You’ve been online, weighed up the pros and cons of owning and iPhone, decided there are no bad points and the next day you have an iPhone in your possession.

You open the tiny little box, you pop open the top with the little key and insert your SIM card. What now? Well, here is a little guide to getting your iPhone set-up and furnished with loveliness, including a few suggestions along the way.

1. Unboxing and Connecting to iTunes

If you don’t already have iTunes on your computer, download iTunes 8 and install it.

Turn your iPhone on, let it sync with the carrier network. Your iPhone is going to scream at you to charge it and if you haven’t already, insert the SIM card. Simply take the USB cable and either use the attached plug to charge the device, alternatively attaching it to your nearest USB port, the latter being the better idea so we can get the phone set up while it’s charging.

Once connected to your computer, it will launch iTunes and take you through the registration process. You will be met with the following screen:

If you don’t have an account, it’s not a hard process registering one, be warned though, you will be required to enter a credit card number so you can purchase music and applications, but with this guide we will be installing free iPhone applications so you will not be charged a penny. Once this process is done, you will be registered with Apple and your iPhone will be activated.

2. Syncing Your iPhone With Your Computer

One the sidebar of your iTunes, you will notice under “Devices”, your iPhone’s name. Click that and it will allow you to set the different aspects of what you wish to sync with your iPhone. Items that can be synced to the iPhone include:

• Ringtones
• Email Account Settings
• Calendars
• Music, Podcasts and Audiobooks
• Photos
• Videos
• Webpage Favourites

Some of these features can only be synced if you have certain software installed (Outlook for example) and some also require signing up to Apple’s MobileMe service which syncs contacts, settings, Exchange emails and calendars over multiple computers.

By selecting the tabs at the top, you can set the default options for what you wish to be synced and also whether you want it to sync automatically when the device is connected.

The sync process will be a lengthy process the first time you do it as it will prepare the files to be sent over to the device, future updates will be snappy.

3. Customizing The iPhone

Lets start with moving some of the shortcuts about on the main menus. You may find that you don’t like the default options on the bottom or you want to put some of the applications on different screens.

To start with, we can move the applications around. To do this, simply hold your finger on the menu screen for about three seconds and the icons will begin to wiggle on the screen. From here, simply drag and drop the icons to where you want them, hitting the home button to save the layout when you are done.

Clicking “Settings” and selecting the different options inside this menu will allow a little more customization, one of the most notable for me was to turn off the “Sent from my iPhone” signature option.

4. Installing Applications

There are two ways of doing this, either installing via your iPhone or downloading them via iTunes and then syncing them over.

To download on your iPhone, click the “App Store” icon and let the device load. I tend to hook the phone upto a Wifi network when downloading apps as it tends to be quicker. You can use the menu items at the bottom to search and look for decent applications.

I prefer to browse the App Store inside iTunes, mainly because it’s quicker, lighter on the eye and you can read the reviews a lot easier. Once inside the iTunes Store, simply find the “App Store” link and then it will load the screen similar to the image above. I tend to click the “All Free Applications” link as I am tight and won’t pay for any apps

When you find an application you may like, simply click download and it will download the application quietly in the background, storing it in the “Applications” area inside your iTunes panel. These will be copied across when you sync your iPhone.

As a bonus, here is a list of really useful FREE applications that will rock your iPhone:

• Facebook - This application will allow you to browse Facebook as if you were at a PC, you can chat, write wall posts and view messages. It’s a great timewaster when you are on a long journey.
• Google App - This useful app allows you to search most of your iPhone, the web and of course brings all their other web based services to your phone. Gmail, Gcal, Reader, you name it, it has it.
• Twitterific - For any Twitter fan out there, this application allows you to update your status, send messages and direct replies on the go. It is ad supported but they have an ad-free version for about $5.
• Wordpress - If you have a Wordpress blog, download this app, get it to connect to your blog and you can blog on the move!
• Shazam - This beauty can tell you the name of that tune on the radio that you can never remember who sings it. Simply hold it up to the music source and Shazam reports the artist and song name back in seconds.
• Evernote - This is a note taking tool, syncing it online so you can view it from any internet connected computer. Does both voice and text, comes in very handy when you want to record someone saying something.
• Movies - Working both in the US and the UK, this application connects to Flixster to give you movie trailers, updates and news. It also uses the iPhones locator to find theatre times for the local cinemas near you.
• iRibbit - A fantastic Ebay addon, this monitors your Ebay account and allows you to bid and sell via your iPhone.
• Wikipanion - Want Wikipedia at your fingertips? This is your app!
• iPint - Want to impress your friends? Download this application and make everyone jealous of your iPhone!

Conclusion

This is a very quick rundown of how to do some simple tasks on your iPhone, for more information I would recommend visiting the Apple site directly.

Any tips I’ve missed? Simply leave them in the comments below and I will add them.