A Personal Weather Station for Your iPhone: Netatmo

Imagine having a mini personal weather station at your own house, one that allows you to monitor and track the outside temperature, humidity, air quality, and atmospheric pressure, right from your iPhone or iPad. Now imagine being able to also monitor and track the inside temperature, humidy, CO2 levels, and indoor air quality.

Well, you’re in luck, because if you’re weather-obsessed, meteorologically-inclined, or your daily activities depend on knowing the current conditions outside, the Netatmo Urban Weather Station is for you.

With two sleek aluminum sensor bodies – one for inside and one for outside – measuring the data, an iPhone/iPad app for viewing and sharing it, realtime air quality and weather alerts, and cloud data storage backing it all up, the Netatmo system can help you decide the best (and worst) times for watering the garden, going for a run, riding your bike to work, or making your kids go outside to play. The app also features a 7-day weather forecast, and for those who live in areas with plenty of noise pollution, the sensors also measure and track the sound levels (from 35 dB to 120 dB).

In addition, those who use Netatmo weather stations can also choose to help contribute to a wider community-based network of weather monitoring, so that scientists and meteorologists can further their understanding of the climate and weather in urban environments.

“The Netatmo Urban Weather Program aims to create the largest community based weather and Air Quality monitoring network ever established, offering a wealth of info to scientists and people living in urban environments…”

Apple's Contract-Free iPhone Could Benefit Every Consumer In America

Apple’s introduction of an unlocked and contract free iPhone 5 may be a big thing in the United States, but for the rest of the world it’s business as usual. But it might herald a change in the US market that will benefit consumer choice.

Having consumers buy a subsidised phone on a two year contract has a lot of advantages for the network carrier, but having options in the pay as you go market, as well as SIM only deals and buying the hardware outright is something that is an accepted practice outside of the US.

In the run up to the launch of the iPhone 5 in the UK, SIM only networks such as GiffGaff saw their user base request the new nano-sim in preparation for the unlocked smartphone from Apple; pay as you go data plans in many countries are heavily tailored to data usage for smartphones; and there is very little to stop someone with a two year contract switching the SIM into another phone to see out the contract period. In America the carrier relationship is much more powerful. Handset costs are subsidised to a huge extent. Smartphones on sale for $50 are clearly not being sold at the true cost of production, but it’s the expected price. And if you want to end or switch a contract out, there is a high cost to pay.

By opening up the smartphone market in America with more options for pay as you go users, Apple could have a positive effect on the whole ecosystem. Arguably the press from the American media drives the stories that promote the ‘winning’ smartphones, and that concentrates the story on the carrier, rather than the Lumias, Galaxies, and iPhones of the world.

Just as manufacturers are looking to have people locked into ecosystems, there is a secondary  battle to own the customer. With a reliance on subsidised hardware, the relationship remains with the carrier.

This is where Apple could help the rest of hardware manufactures. Tim Cook’s company does its best to grab user details, both through the iTunes setup and the billing relationship required for app and media purchases. Microsoft are making similar moves with Windows Phone to direct people to register via a Windows ID and set up payment for the Windows Store, and Google has the requirement for a Google account and payment details to fully engage with Android.

All of these relationship require nothing more from the carriers. In essence they become little more than data pipes while the fun stuff happens between users and ecosystems.

Carriers would likely prefer this not to happen, and the two year contracts and subsidies ensure people will return to buy their handsets from them because for many in the US there is no other valid choice. The rest of the world knows differently and the carrier model sits alongside the contract-free option quite nicely.

Opting out of a restrictive carrier grip is a choice the hardware manufacturers would love for the consumers to have. Every little step helps, which is why Apple’s move to supply unlocked handsets should be applauded.

Portable mCAMLITE Turns Your iPhone Into a Versatile Video Camera

The mCAMLITE turns your iPhone into a top-level video camera (Images: Action Life Media)

Yes, you can use your iPhone as a more than decent video camera, but if you want to get better, more professional results, wrap it in an mCAMLITE.

Made from aircraft-grade billet aluminum, the mCAMLITE not only protects your iPhone when climbing on rocks to get the perfect angle, but it gives it the weight and heft you need to stabilize your hands whileshooting.

And because the pros don’t just use one standard lens when pushing for the perfect shot, the kit comes with two 37mm interchangeable lenses: a wide angle for capturing everything you want in the scene, and a macro when you want to get up close and personal. Together, they give you the chance to get shots that are downright impossible with the iPhone’s lens.

Since the best videos have sound, the mCAMLITE comes with a 180-degree external microphone, allowing you to capture directional sound and reduce ambient noise, so your YouTube fans can hear every note of your keyboard-playing cat…

The mCAMLITE’s housing is designed with consideration of your growth as an auteur. It has mounts on top and bottom for accessories and tripods, and has a cold shoe on top for pro quality mics and lights. They even offer a pair of action carts so you can slide your cam along to get smooth action shots. So as you get better and demand more from your cam, the mCAMLITE can oblige.

At only $159.95 it’s the perfect starter kit for any visionary filmmaker (or photographer), to add to their portfolio without spending a fortune. Don’t quote me on this, but I think this is how Scorsese got started…

Would you buy an iPad Mini?

As September draws ever closer, consumers, tech enthusiasts and Apple fanboys and girls eagerly await the announcement of the new iPhone, but for the first time in as long as I can remember, there is another Apple device receiving just as much interest at exactly the same time: The mythical iPad Mini.

Normally most Apple rumours take a sideline during iPhone season, but countless leaks, mumblings from ‘sources close to the matter’ and other blogosphere hyperbole have dragged iPad Mini rumours kicking and screaming into the public consciousness. I hear just as many people chatting about the mini iPad as I do Apple’s next mobile handset, which shows just how high the level of public interest the device really is.

With virtually every possible source, bar Apple themselves, leaking information about the iPad Mini, it seems the device is almost certainly being manufactured somewhere in China ahead of a holiday season launch. So this begs the question: Will you be buying one?

Is 7 to 8 inches too small for a tablet? Will you be willing to spend upwards of £300 on a device that does little more than your smartphone? At the end of the day, why go just a little bigger when you could get a 10 inch iPad 2? These are all important questions to ask, so let’s turn to the Android ecosystem, where mid-sized tablets have been available for some time now.

Despite several 7 inch Android tablets from the likes of Samsung and HTC stumbling at the first hurdle (see Samsung Galaxy Tab, HTC Flyer), the 5 inch Samsung Galaxy Note has been an unexpected success in recent months, with over 10 million units sold since its launch last October. Admittedly this is a smaller device, but it shows a definite interest in hardware larger than most smartphones, but smaller than the iPad. A device that you can still use on the go without needing to sit down to operate effectively.

Now let’s add the Google Nexus 7 to the mix. Google’s new flagship tablet has seen overwhelmingly positive reviews over the past couple of months. Even diehard Apple fans are praising it, thanks to the highly polished Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system. Sales of the Nexus 7 have been brisk and sales figures for the tablets first quarter are expected to impress.

With the recent success of the mid-sized Android tablet, it’s no wonder Apple are looking to join the party with a similarly sized iPad. Apple will still sell millions of units regardless of market trends simply because there are millions of developers, tech enthusiasts and Apple fans who’ll want one for themselves, so it might take a couple of hardware generations before we see its more accurate market interest.

Perhaps 7 to 8 inches will be the sweet spot for the tablet form factor. As less and less phone calls are made in favour of instant messages, we may find ourselves carrying tablets instead of smartphones by the end of the decade. I personally use a 4.65 inch Android smartphone and could easily see myself moving to something larger, like a Nexus 7, if I continue to make fewer phone calls. Whether I’m alone in feeling this way or not, only time will tell, but every year devices are getting gradually bigger whilst hardware sales continue to skyrocket.

Will you be throwing your money at an iPad Mini if it materialises, or do you think 10 inches is the way to go? Is a smartphone/laptop combo your preferred solution going forward?, or do you still rock a Nokia and have nothing to do with all that touch screen mumbo jumbo?

Let me know in the comments below…

Apple’s Mobile App Store Is Back After Huge Outage

After an outage spanning almost 24-hours, the Apple App Store is back on your iDevices. Apple users weren’t able to view the App Store, update or download new apps to their handsets, unless they connected it to a computer during the outage. Now though, you should be once again able to access the App Store.

Interestingly, the App Store is once again asking users to download Apple’s own apps via a pop-up message. Normally that’s a one-off pop-up that appears when you first activate the App Store on your mobile device. Perhaps resetting that notification is how Apple achieved a fix?

Let us know if you’re still having problems, otherwise, sing your songs of glee in the comments that you can now update Angry Birds.

How to unlock iPhone

How to unlock iPhone

Author: Faris Sarkis

Unlocking iPhone techniques are frequently created by hackers and software professionals.  In many cases the company specifically Apple Inc. doesn’t present the necessary information because it is against their procedure.  However, there are people today who often cross the limitations figuring out that unlocking is made legal according to DMCA or Digital Millennium Copyright Act Ruling in United States and other countries.

The following software application tempts people wanting can you unlock iPhone:

•    QuickPwn – its most up-to-date version is capable to unlock iPhone 3G as well as all functions of Quickpwn old version.  Just before running Quickpwn, the need to upgrade for the most up-to-date firmware must be performed very first.  Such installation or setup are accessible in the internet.

•    Unlock.no – is a website that presents iPhone unlocking in 30 minutes only without having computer hardware dismantling.  The procedure will allow connections to Wi-Fi and reveals everything about jailbreaking, troubleshooting and etcetera.

•    Pwnage – a tool that ables to unlock iphone 3G as well as previous versions of iphone. Even the tool cannot be used in iPhone’s newest version of firmware re-lock. It can only do partition and control accessible space on the iphone and large features of customized logo configuration settings.

•    Yellowsn0w – an updated version of Dev team’s original software which unlocks and jailbreaks iPhone.  When an old version dsigns some ineffectiveness, this latest version works efficiently

•    iPhone Unlock Toolkit – has the total remedy for iPhone unlocking and enables GPRS & RSS feeds.  What only users are needed to do is keeping the phone up to date when using the equipment.

unlocking iphone properly

Because of continuous up grade of Apple’s official system, old unlocking applications are disturbed and impaired.  However, with this latest software that Apple has not yet pin lower, unlocking systems is a no sweat in just a several clicks and press.  The following shows how effective it is:

No.1: You require to buy the jailbreak software by browsing the website and pushing the Buy Now icon.

No.2: Right after buy, the username and password will be delivered into your e-mail.

No.3: Enter the password on the Member Area option to be provided authorization on the installing process

No.4: Download the jailbreak installation software

No.5: When the installer is downloaded, start the installation of the jailbreaking software to complete jailbreak the iPhone.

No.6: A jailbreak iPhone is identified when more features are utilized and more actions can be done on the unit due to Cydia installer and third party apps.

Anyway… I’m off to dinner now after typing this evaluation (my hands and fingers hurt!). I hope I made it simpler for you guys with making a conclusion and I hope you enjoy your new unlocked iPhone

iPhone 5 camera review

Digital compact camera sales are falling, while smartphone camera technology continues to improve. Take the iPhone 5: it’s already caused a chunk of the public to fall into near-hysteria upon its launch - with five million units sold in the first three days, it’s safe to say that it’s doing more than a little bit well - but can its updated camera match up to expectation?

Take me anywhere

The iPhone 5 is thinner than the iPhone 4S and lighter too. What’s not to like about that? There isn’t a consumer camera on the market that can boast about being as thin as the iPhone 5, so it will fit into the pocket of even the skinniest jeans.

In fact the iPhone 5 isn't even as thick as four SD cards stacked up on top of one another. Now that's thin.

There’s also no on switch - well, not really. The delay in switching on a compact camera and waiting for its pointless sparkly logo screen to flicker past those dead eyes before it’s ready to go is irksome. The iPhone 5 doesn’t even need unlocking: just a swipe against the camera symbol on the locked home screen and it’s ready to go. There is a slight pause while the virtual shutter blades open up, but this is now even faster on the iPhone 5 than it is on earlier generation iPhones running iOS 6.

The hype

Smartphone cameras are often hyped up as being as good as or better than equivalent compact cameras. But that hype isn’t just restricted to Apple or the iPhone 5, so let’s think about Nokia for a moment.

The Finnish company launched the 808 PureView but - let’s not beat around the bush here - it didn’t sell, did it? And this is the smartphone that was supposed to be the one - full-on Matrix style - in the camera department.

At the iPhone 5 announcement conference the camera part was fairly glossed over; there were some new features added but it wasn’t made out to be the key feature of Apple’s latest.

The images

The crucial part, just how good are the iPhone 5’s images?

The 1/3.2-inch sensor is smaller than you’ll find in any given compact camera and that doesn’t bode so well, at least on paper, for image quality. But this Sony-made, back-side illuminated sensor is, in reality, really rather capable.

In the right light the iPhone 5’s images are just as good as those from many compact cameras. That’s easy to tell from how the images look on the device’s screen, but take the shots off the camera - something that’s probably not done as often as it ought to be - and various blemishes are clear to see.

But we’re not talking great globs of image processing artefacts or stacks of image noise. Nope, it’s really very well processed. Just look at this, ahem, corking snap of some wine corks. Inspect closer and detailed edges are a little “fuzzy”, but this is all normal stuff and exactly what most compact cameras would exhibit.

But, as we say, that’s in good light. The camera does otherwise “hide” in wide-aperture, low ISO, low shutter speed territory which, while fine for some conditions, will often render low-light or night pictures blurry through exposure means rather than on account of the sensor.

When eventually forced to up the sensitivity - even in a very dark club the 1/15th second exposure time and ISO 800 choice seemed conservative to the point of damaging - quality quickly drops off and lacks detail.

No manual control

Which brings us to the first hiccup. Where’s the manual control? It doesn’t need to be complicated amounts of it, just the usual aperture, shutter and ISO controls to help enable the camera to better suit different environments.

Imagine some on-screen “virtual lens ring” sliders to control those elements – that’d be great. In fact, it’d be above and beyond what most, if not all, entry level compact cameras offer.

Sure, there’s a lot to be said for point and shoot. We don’t want that to go away, but there’s a definite demand for greater picture-taking control direct from Apple’s own camera software.

Exposure and focus lock

It's been around for a couple of software versions now, but the AE/AF lock is an essential feature. Press and hold the point of focus and it’ll fix the focus position and exposure level wherever the camera is then moved. It’s not quite the full manual control that we’d like, but is something not to be ignored.

This isn’t restricted to the iPhone 5 though. Go download iOS 6 via iTunes and - apart from the unavoidable Apple Maps-gate issue that also comes bundled - you, too, can benefit from this feature without spending an extra penny, whichever iPhone you happen to be using.

Stabilisation? What stabilisation

Image stabilisation is likely to be the "next phase" in smartphone cameras.Nokia’s Lumia 920 technology sounds promising, but we’re yet to see how that truly performs, though a quick 4S vs 920 at the Nokia launch returned some interesting results.

With the iPhone 5 there is no image stabilisation. The mid-wide 33mm (equivalent) lens might not sound as if would need assistance from stabilisation, but thanks to Apple’s engineers resting on the low shutter speeds - as outlined above - image blur is a common issue in all kinds of light. Some of our comparison shots we had to take half a dozen times and the difference between each varied.

Why so wobbly? It’s the shape of the iPhone. It’s so thin, and the camera's lens is positioned so close to the corner that nimble fingers need to splay out to support this thin slice of phone, and that doesn’t happen with as much success as you may imagine.

No zoom

This one’s a given. Smartphones don’t have optical zoom lenses, and if they did then they’d be bloomin’ huge.

The iPhone 5’s 33mm equivalent lens is a medium-wide-angle offering, and its "sapphire crystal" construction - don’t get too excited though, we’re just talking hard, scratch-resistant glass here - does attribute to better final quality than its predecessor.

The ability to digitally zoom using the classic two finger pinch can give the perception of a longer focal length, but that comes at the cost of final image quality, both in preview where jagged edges are unsightly and in the final image, which will be smaller than the iPhone 5’s fullest 8-megapixel resolution.

There are other, better solutions - such as the 808 PureView’s large, high-resolution sensor and complex processing - but, for now, the iPhone 5 isn’t a patch on a zoom-capable compact.

Panorama

We love the idea of panorama - and check out our full iPhone 5 panorama tips here - but it’s got a whole lot of issues to fix up before it’ll be able to cut its teeth against the compact camera curve.

The panorama direction can only travel one way - in a horizontal direction while the iPhone 5 is held vertically. It’s down to the user to keep a guide arrow central to the rotation as, otherwise, you’ll “run out of sensor” and end up with black nothings poking into the edges of the image. Use the iPhone held horizontally and, in our tests, the vertical panoramas we tried to take went haywire.

Then there’s the stitching. It’s fast and, when it works, it looks good. But there are more than a couple of wibbles and wobbles - indeed, that’s our technical term for it right now - that make it obvious it’s a stitched panorama. Sometimes it looks as though the stitching algorithm has just panicked and thrown in a couple of road bumps just for a laugh, though it’s not the first time we’ve seen it - just take a look at Apple Maps and there are plenty of examples.

Introduce movement from subjects and all kinds of crazy things can also happen. It might be nice to turn your loved ones into Picasso pictures, but then again they might not appreciate it. Panoramas are best left to still, panoramic scenes really.

A small but great feature within this mode is a simple "Done" button. That level of user control - ie, the ability to stop the panorama when you have as much or as little as you want - is something dedicated compact cameras haven't quite figured out yet. This we like a lot.

In short: Good idea, good to see it in a phone, bad to see it not carried out as well as it should be.

Share me

A huge, huge advantage of any given camera phone is its connectivity. Here we've got 4G, 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth all built in - although Bluetooth can't be used to share images and there's still no NFC like the SGS3 - and built-in Photo Streams to auto-backup to the Cloud. There are even Shared Photo Streams.

Direct from the camera roll it's also possible to mail, message, tweet and Facebook an image direct from the phone, while other options such as assign to contact, print, copy and use as wallpaper integrate the camera side of things much more.

There's no SD or microSD, however, so saving images depends on having enough internal storage. With 16GB, 32GB and 64GB versions that shouldn't be an issue, plus files tend to sit around the 2MB mark each. That's plenty of space to keep on snapping, even if other apps and music means the occasional off-load is necessary.

Just for fun: iPhone 5 vs Nikon D4

Yup, we went there. It’s not that we’d expect the iPhone 5 to be better than a full-frame DSLR by any means, but it didn’t do too bad a job.

There’s not the same shallow depth of field, dynamic range or level of detail but, at this consumer level, we doubt that’s going to be too much of a bother. Take a look for yourself at this 100 per cent crop (the D4 image has been reduced by half to fit against the iPhone 5 shot to scale).

Verdict

It really is the good, the bad and the ugly, isn’t it? The iPhone 5 is the perfect take-anywhere camera and, in good light, it’s hard to tell the difference between its images and those from a compact camera.

But the lack of an optical zoom (impractical, granted), no image stabilisation, no manual control, often bizarre exposure settings and the fact that quality jumps off a virtual cliff at high ISO settings - not that these can be controlled - all make an argument for investing in a dedicated high-end compact.

Some new features such as panorama are fun, but more than a little rusty around the edges for the time being and streets behind the compact camera curve. But that’s easy to improve with software updates, and something that we expect will happen.

In a smartphone-only camera context, there are only a handful of contenders to consider, none of which has the current range of features on offer here. It’s in Nokia’s hands now to see what the Lumia 920 can pull off, as, for our money, the iPhone 5 is only bettered - at the time of writing - by the 808 PureView's clever tech and large sensor.

That makes the iPhone 5 a darn good second and, for most consumers, it’ll have the majority of what’s needed including all the back-up and sharing options right there and then. If a big zoom is essential then the iPhone 5 isn’t going to compare, but given the context of what it is - a phone before a camera - and it’s hard not to be impressed for the most part.

Thank you to Vodafone for lending us the iPhone 5 used in this camera test

iPhone tips and tricks with iOS 6

Got a new iPhone 5, or maybe you've upgraded your iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S toApple iOS 6, the latest version of Apple's mobile operating system? We've compiled a list of dozens of tips for you to get the most out of the new featuresApple has added to iOS 6. Some are new, some you might know already, but we can promise this: all will help you get more out of your phone. 

Camera

The iOS 6 camera app offers plenty of new tricks 

 including panorama mode and new sharing options. Here are a couple to help you make the most of the new features. 

Panorama

Go into the Camera app, press on the Options button at the top of the screen, and select Panorama. Tap on the arrow to change direction of the panorama you want to capture - left to right or right to left.

READ: iPhone Panorama tips and tricks

You'll have to hold the phone in portrait for it to work. Hold the phone in landscape mode to do a "vertical" panorama up to the stars.

AE/AF Lock

To change the exposure or the focus of your shot, tap anywhere on the screen and it will change instantly. To lock that exposure or focus (great for dramatic panoramas) press and hold on the screen until the square box "locks in".

Grid

To help your picture composition even further in the Camera app go to Options, and toggle the Grid on.

HDR

HDR or High Dynamic Range is an effect that lets you take a picture and then have the iPhone try to balance the dark and light areas of the photo. If you want to see this in action, go to Options and toggle HDR. iOS by default will save a HDR and non-HDR photo for you. To turn off that feature, go to Settings > Photos & Camera and scroll to the bottom to toggle that feature off.

Insert Photos in Mail

Go into the Mail app, tap on the compose new mail icon. In the body of the message press and hold with your finger. Wait for the menu to appear that says "Select, Select All, Paste", press on the arrow to the right and then select "Insert Photo or Video"  and select the picture you want.

Share a video to YouTube

Although Apple has removed the YouTube app, you can still upload videos directly to YouTube. Go to Photos select the video you want, press the "Share" icon and then click on YouTube.

Get YouTube back

Go to the App Store, search for YouTube, download the official YouTube App from Google.

Turn on Shared Photo Streams

One of the new features in iOS 6 is the ability to share Photo Streams with others. To do this go to Settings > Photos & Camera. Then toggle the Shared Photo Streams option.

Share a Photo Stream

Go to the Photos app, press Edit, select one or more pictures, press share in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen. When the pop-up menu appears press on Photo Streams. Type the recipient's name, the name of the Photo Stream, and whether you want there to be a public website for all to see. 

Send five photos via email

Go to Photos, tap on the Edit button at the top right of the screen, tap on the five images you want to share, then tap on the share button. Tap on the Mail icon and the images will be put in an email ready for you to send. Trying to select more than five will disable the Mail option.

Mail

The Mail app gets new tricks too such as VIP, Flagged emails and per account Signatures. Here's how you go about setting those up. 

Refresh your inbox

In iOS 5 you would have to press an arrow button, now you just drag down from the top of the page as if the inbox was on an elastic band.

VIP

If you get a lot of emails and don't want to miss certain emails from certain people (your other half or the boss, for example) you can make them a VIP. To make someone a VIP, find an email from them, press on their name to see their Contacts card. Beneath their details press on the setting "Add to VIP". They are now a VIP. To Remove them go to the same place.

Mark as Unread or Flag

To mark as Unread in Inbox view, press the "Flag" icon at the bottom left-hand side of the status bar at the bottom of your screen. A pop-up menu will appear and you can select to Mark as Unread or Flag.

See your VIP or Flagged inboxes    

In the Inbox view press on the Mailboxes icon at the top left hand side of the screen. It will take you to all your inboxes, and your VIP and Flagged inboxes too.

Multiple email signatures

If you have more than one email account on your iPhone, iOS 6 will let you have different email signatures for different accounts.

To set up your signatures, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and scroll down to Signature. Tap on Signature and then Per Account. You can then add personalised signatures for the accounts you want.

Maps

A new iOS a new Maps app to learn and master. These tricks will help get you started. 

Change the volume for turn-by-turn directions

If you want to change the default volume for turn-by-turn directions, go into Settings > Maps. And you can then change the volume to "No Volume", "Low Volume", "Normal Volume" or "Loud Volume" if you are in your soft-top convertible.

Miles or kilometres

If you're a KM kind of person you can change Maps to give you distances in kilometres instead of miles. To do this go to Settings > Maps, and then select which metric you want.

Flyover

To see major cities in 3D with all the Sim City-like buildings, you need to find the city you want to view, make sure you are in satellite mode, and then press the "3D" icon in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen.

See the world

Open Apple Maps, make sure you are in satellite mode, pinch to zoom out as far as you can, and you've got the whole wide world in your hand

How to get Google Maps back 

You can't at the moment, but you can create a home screen icon to access the web version of Google Maps quickly. To do this Open Safari and enter the URL maps.google.co.uk, then click OK when the Notification pop-up appears asking whether you are happy for "https://maps.google.co.uk" to use your current location. When the page finishes loading, click on the share icon in the centre of the menu bar at the bottom and click on the "Add to Home Screen Icon", on the next pane click "Add" in the top right-hand corner. You are done. When you want to find yourself, simply click on this icon and as long as you have internet access you'll be able to use the Google Maps service.  

Siri

Siri gets new tricks and instructions for you to bark at it. Here's a couple to help you get the football scores quicker. 

Launch apps with Siri

Click and hold the Home button and say, "Launch Music", or "Safari", or "Facebook" and Siri will open up the app you've asked for.

UK football scores

Click and hold the Home button and say, "What was the football score for West Ham" or whatever team you support. Siri will go off and find the latest score from the last game your team played. You can also use to find out where they are in the league too. 

What's on at the movies?

You can also ask Siri what's on at the movies. Simply say, "What's on at Odeon Cinema Bracknell today" or wherever you live and it will go off and get movie details for you 

Facebook

Facebook gets the Twitter treatment in iOS 6 allowing you to quickly share with your friends. 

Post to Facebook

The iPhone now shares stuff with Facebook, allowing you to post status updates from your phone quickly. To do this you drag down from the top of the screen to reveal the notification centre. The tap on the Facebook icon with the words "Tap top Post" next to it.

Update all Contacts

To get Facebook profile photos for your Contacts go to Settings > Facebook and tap on the Update All Contacts button.

Disable Facebook from Calendar and Contacts

If the idea of filling your Contacts and Calendar with Facebook friends sounds too much don't worry you can turn it off. Go to Settings > Facebook and toggle off the relevant settings on that page.

Tell your friends what you are buying

Facebook is now also in iTunes, allowing you to Like tracks and albums. To show your love for a track or an album open a track, tap Reviews, and tap Like.

Privacy

Sharing gets a lot more control in the new iOS 6. Here's how to make the most of the new features. 

Enable Passbook to work when iPhone is locked

The idea with Passbook, Apple's new ticket wallet hub, is that you use it to access movie tickets or boarding passes quickly. To make sure this works, go to Settings > Passcode Lock. Once you've entered your Passcode lock you can set whether you want Passlock to be accessed or not. While you are there you can also turn-off Siri access.

Limit Ad Tracking

With more and more apps offering you ads, you can turn off the ability for the ads to track you, but it is buried in iOS 6. To do this go to Settings > General > About > Advertising. Toggle the option to Limit Ad Tracking.

Location Services

You can set which apps can see where you are and which apps can't. To do this go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services and select which apps you want to track where you are and those you don’t.

Contacts, Calendars, Reminders, Photos, Bluetooth Sharing, Twitter and Facebook

Some apps want to have access to a lot of your data. If you don't want to share that data with certain apps you can now opt not to individually, app by app. To do this go to Settings > Privacy. You can control everything from here.

Safari

There are plenty of new features in Safari of which to take advantage, including offline reading, iCloud tab support and the ability to upload images to websites. 

Full-screen browsing

To view your favourite website without any clutter, rotate your iPhone into the landscape position and tap on the two arrows pointing away from each other in the bottom right of the screen. To get the address bar back scroll towards the top of the screen.

Add to Reading list for reading offline

Safari on iOS 6 now supports offline reading, handy if you want to carry on reading an article on the Underground or on a plane that doesn't have Wi-Fi. To do this, on the web page you want to save, press the "Share" icon at the bottom and tap on the "Add to Reading List" icon. To get that page again, press the bookmarks icon at the bottom of the screen and tap on the Reading List option.

iCloud Tabs

If you've got Safari on the desktop you can catch up where you left off on iOS 6 too. In Safari, press on the bookmarks icon and then iCloud Tabs. It will reveal the tabs you had/have open on your desktop computer even if your computer is off. If you've got other devices with iOS 6 on them linked to the same account, it will display those too.

Choose your search engine

As default Safari on iOS 6 uses Google, but if you prefer Bing you can change the iPhone to use that or Yahoo instead. To do this go to Settings > Safari > Search Engine and change to your preferred search results there.

Search within current page

If you are looking for a specific word in a webpage you can search for it via the search box in Safari. Go to Safari, type in what you are looking for then scroll down to the bottom of the page. The number of incidences of the word will appears at the bottom.

Upload images

Previously you've not been able to upload images to a CMS or site such as Flickr from the iPhone, but you can now. To do this go to the site to which you want to upload an image and tap on "Choose File". You can then select an image from your Photos gallery.

Passbook

Automatic updates

To make sure you get automatic updates with your boarding passes using Passbook tap the "i" icon and select Automatic Updates. You can also set it to Show on the Lock Screen too.

General tips for iOS 6

It's not just specific apps that have got new features, there are plenty of new bits and bobs to take advantage of around the whole of iOS 6. 

A better alarm

You can now choose to wake up to a song of your choice rather than just a sound. Go to the Clock app > Alarm. Either opt to edit an alarm you already have or press the "plus" symbol to create a new one.

In the next panel press "Sound" and then scroll up rather than down. Press "Pick a song" and choose the song you want from your iTunes Library.

Reply with Message

When you get a call in iOS 6, if it is a mobile phone number you can reject it with a text message to save your having to then go through a number of hoops as you do with iOS 5. Next time someone calls press and slide up the "Phone" icon. To set  several "boiler plate" replies go to Settings > Phone > Reply with Message. You can have three ready and waiting next time someone calls.

Remind yourself to call back

Tap Remind Me Later and you can have your phone remind you "In 1 hour", "When I Leave", or "When I get home". The last two work by using your phone's GPS to register that you are on the move. To set up where home is, make sure your address details are in your own card in Contacts as your home address.

Do Not Disturb

Addicted to work, but need a push to say that you should stop. Maybe an important meeting that you don't want to be disturbed in unless it is really important? Then you need Do Not Disturb. To get it up and running go to Settings > Do Not Disturb. To change the settings of Do Not Disturb however you need to go to Settings > Notifications > Do Not Disturb. Here you can set a schedule (say, every night from 10pm) on whether you'll allow calls from your favourites or those who call you repeatedly.

Tap to go to the top

If you want to go to the top of the page in Safari, or the top of your Inbox, or Twitter list, or anywhere for that matter, single tap on the clock at the top of the screen and you'll zip up to the top of the page. Handy.

Lost iPhone

Prone to losing your phone? iOS 6 has a lost phone mode that can be accessed via the Find iPhone app on another device or via iCloud.com. Via the service you can have your phone ring so you can find it down the back of the sofa, or if it is on and got a signal see where it is via GPS. If you've lost it completely you can either lock it or remote wipe it so your data doesn't fall into the wrong hands.

If you are a bit more trusting than that, you can set up Lost Mode that prompts whoever has found it to call a specific number so you can get the phone back.

Setting up different tones for different tasks

Settings > Sounds, and choose the various sounds and vibrations patterns you want for each service.

Vibrate on Ring

You can now have your iPhone Vibrate on Ring, Vibrate on Silent, or none of the above. To do this go to Settings > Sounds and select the options you want.

Share your tips

Do you have any tips for iOS 6 that you want to share? Let us know what they are in the comments below.

Apple Unlikely To Release Cheaper Version of iPhone

Following the release of Apple, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) sixth-generation iPhone 5, the third-generation iPhone 3GS was effectively phased out, with the iPhone 4 becoming the free-on-contract model.

According to an analyst from Needham & Company, Apple may not be introducing a more affordable version of the signature smartphone to appeal to consumers with a lower budget.

Charles Wolf’s latest note to investors says that emerging markets could benefit from a lower-priced iPhone. However, that may not be possible at the moment, as the iPhone 4 is currently the option being pushed to prepaid customers or customers looking to get a free phone on a two-year contract, in lieu of the iPhone 3GS

Developing or emerging markets are usually dominated by prepaid customers, and unsubsidized phones in these countries usually cost around $150. Wolf offered an interesting perspective on whether Apple should release a cheaper iPhone for these markets, describing the dilemma as an “open question.” He added, however, that as China is now the largest smartphone market in the world, it would make sense for Apple to target prepaid markets in the future.

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Most smartphone buyers in China are predisposed to buying unlocked, or non-contract handsets.

To back up this postulate, Wolf suggested that the current unsubsidized price of an iPhone 4 ($450 in most areas) is too high for Apple to gain a significant market share in emerging markets. But as the iPhone 5 will be offered by China Mobile Ltd. (NYSE:CHL), which has 688 million subscribers, Apple could make do for now in terms of market share as the carrier is presently the largest in the world.

What to expect in the mobile space the rest of the year

As the excitement over the iPhone 5 wanes, it is easy to assume the mobile space will get quiet for a while. This isn't going to be the case, as the remaining months in 2012 look to be big for mobile technology.

Tablets on the way

While only a rumor, the iPad Mini is expected to arrive in October to much fanfare. In the past it has not been prudent to put much stock in rumors about Apple's products, but given the total leak of iPhone 5 information the small iPad rumors hold more water.

An iPad Mini will set the Android tablet market on its ear. Android hasn't scratched a big share of tablet sales to date as the iPad has owned the market. A smaller version of the iPad would be in a position to grab even more of the market share from Android. The iPad Mini may be the biggest device launch of the entire year.

Amazon recently captured attention with the unveiling of the Kindle Fire HD line, and the 8.9-inch model will arrive in November. The Kindle Fire has already captured a bigger piece of the tablet market than Android tablets, and the HD version should continue that trend.

The hardware packed into the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 is very good for the low price, and it should be a big seller for the holidays. It's not really an Android tablet with the proprietary interface from Amazon, and many prospective buyers will go for the simple operation over the more PC-like operation of Android tablets.

The tablet space will see a major happening late this year as the first Windows 8 tablets hit the market. The tablets based on Windows RT should appear with the release of Windows 8 toward the end of October.

Microsoft will have its Surface RT tablet with keyboard case on sale, and it could be a disruptor in the tablet world. That will largely depend on pricing, which Microsoft is not divulging yet.

Other major OEMs will be hitting the market at around the same time as the Surface, so tablets running Windows RT will be flooding the stores. Recent pricing information leaked would indicate that Windows RT tablets are going to be priced on the high side, but we'll see soon if that is the case.

We may seem some Windows 8 Pro tablets running full Windows this year. Microsoft stated its Surface Pro tablet will not be out until early next year, but other OEMs may look to beat that to market. Pricing of Windows Pro tablets is looking to be on the high side, but we should start seeing them late this year.

Tablets are going to be the big story for the rest of 2012, and there will be no shortage of new models to fight for buyer's dollars.

Smartphones poised for release

The big news in smartphones the rest of this year will be the release of Windows Phone 8. We've already been teased with looks at upcoming handsets from Nokia and HTC, and other OEMs will no doubt join the fray. 

Windows Phone 8 is looking to be a capable competitor to the big guys, Android and iOS, and pairing it with hardware that is state-of-the-art will capture attention. 

The iPhone 5 had the expected big release and will no doubt continue to have big sales for the rest of the year. There won't likely be any surprises from Apple coming soon, so the setting is ripe for Windows Phone 8 to get the attention Microsoft is hoping to get.

There will continue to be Android phones released throughout the year, but nothing on the horizon looks to be ground-breaking. There will probably be new handsets from the top players, a Samsung Galaxy S4 comes to mind, but it should be business as usual for Android phones.

RIM won't be releasing its next-generation BlackBerrys until next year, but will likely tease the faithful with regular information about BlackBerry 10 throughout the rest of the year. BB10 is looking pretty nice from what's been shown so far, but the details of the hardware will be the deciding factor for RIM.