Go Beyond AIM…

This one’s mainly for Mac users, but can be used for Windows as well. Last week, I wrote a review of Meebo, a multi-IM app for iPhone (also Beejive IM, a similar app). Meebo also has an online webapp component for PC use, but many (including myself), prefer full applications – such as iChat, Mac OS’s built in IM app.

Now, it’s easy to set up AIM with iChat – just type in screen name and password, and you’re good to go. But in recent years, new chat services have been cropping up – specifically, Google Talk and Facebook Chat – as part of accounts you already have. Now for me, I hate having multiple things open for what is essentially the same purpose. So, here’s a little help in setting up iChat with not only AIM, but Google Talk or Facebook Chat as well.

Google Talk (Snow Leopard 10.6) -

This one’s pretty easy – iChat 5 has the feature of adding a Google Account just as easily as an AIM account – just select the Google Account option when creating a new account in preferences.

Google Talk (10.4 Tiger/10.5 Leopard) –

A bit more difficult, but not by much. When creating a new account, select “Jabber Account” – as the ID, enter your Gmail account “______@gmail.com”, your password as the password. The server is talk.google.com, and the port is 5223 – and check the Use SSL box. All set.

Facebook Chat: (10.4-10.6) –

Similar to Google Talk – but a few differences. First, you need your Facebook username – “______@chat.facebook.com” – which you can find by going to the “Account Settings” – where it lists your username (right after your name, 2nd from the top).  Going into iChat now – in Preferences, go to the “Add Account”, and again, select Jabber. Enter in the “______@chat.facebook.com”, the _____ being your Facebook username from earlier, and the password, your regularly Facebook password. Server options are: server is “chat.facebook.com”, Port is 5222. Uncheck SSL for this one. And you’re good to go.

Personal tip – in General Preferences in iChat, enable “Use the same status for all accounts” – allowing you to log in and out of all 3 at once. Enjoy!

Now, for everyone else – those not using iChat. While not personally familiar with these programs, Google lists here how to set up other clients, and Facebook is compatable with Pidgin, Adium, and anything else that can use Jabber using settings that they give here. Enjoy!

We all know that the handy user experience of iPhone is one of the selling point. But not so many people do realize that there are several shortcuts, tips and tricks available on the iPhone which able to make life much easier.

We believe every single iPhone users would like to know all of the tips and tricks for every feature of iPhone. In fact, if you dig and explore a little deeper, you will know that you can actually do a lot more on your iPhone. With these lesser-known goodies, you can easily get the most out of your iPhone.

This week, we’ve collected some really amazing tips from Web and our own experiences to present you 25 most wanted tips for iPhone 3G. Full list after jump!

More: You might also be interested in 25 Most Addictive Free iPhone Games.

1. How to Disable iPhone 3G GPRS or Edge Connection

   Tap "Setting – General – Network – Cellular Data Network". In the “APN, Username and Password" field, simply type in some words so iPhone will not pass the correct values to service providers. Restart your iPhone if necessary.

   

2. How to Set Content Restriction

   You can set restrictions for iPod content for the use of some applications on iPhone. For example, parents can restrict explicit music from being seen on playlists, or turn off YouTube access entirely.

   Just go to “General – Restrictions” then tap Enable Restrictions and enter a four-digit passcode to restrict your content.

   

3. How to Customize iPhone Wallpaper as Google Calendar and Notes

   gCalWall Lite enables users to add their upcoming Google Calendar appointments to their home/unlock screens.

   

4. How to Train your iPhone to Learn New Words

   You can train your phone to “remember” words if you type them repeatedly, but this tutorial will teach you a better way to train your iPhone to learn new words on the fly.

   

5. How to Select Other Domain Name Endings

   When you type a website URL in the address bar, you can now hold down the ".com" button to get a selection of other domain name endings and tap on any of the endings to insert them in the address bar. [via tuaw]

   

6. How to Take Screen Shot

   Hold the "home" button, then hit the "power/sleep" button, the screen will momentarily flash, and the iPhone’s current screen contents will be saved to the Camera Roll.

   

7. How to Hide SMS Preview

   With Show SMS Preview disabled you will only get a generic "New Text Message".

   Go to "General > Passcode Lock" and enter a 4-digit passcode. After that disable "Show SMS Preview".

   

8. How to Increase the Volume of the Ringer

   Your iPhone’s ringer volume issue can be resolved by using a custom ringtone rather than ringtones currently available on the iPhone.

   

9. How to Save Images in Safari and Mail

   Just touch and hold an image in Safari or Mai, an action sheet will be presented to enable you to save the image. The image will get stored in the “Saved Photos” library of the Photos app.

   

10. How to Insert Extra Punctuation Keys

    Touch and hold the punctuation key and you get a set of additional keys to choose from.

    

11. How to Force Quit An App

    Have you ever been using an app and it’s become completely frozen? You can actually apply a force quit on it by pressing the Home button for at least six seconds.

    

12. How to Switch Punctuation Keys to Alphabet Keys Quickly

    Mode changes in between the punctuation keys and alphabet keys are pretty annoying. To solve it, just press the “.?123? key, but don’t lift your finger as the punctuation layout appears. Slide your finger a half inch onto the period or comma key, and release. The ABC layout returns automatically.

    

13. How to Fast Forward/Rewind Music & Video

    Press and hold the skip forward/back arrows to fast forward or rewind rather than skip tracks. Also, press on the album art to manually FF/rewind.

    

14. How to Access iPod Controls or Phone Favorites Instantly

    Go to "Settings – General – Home Button". You can customize by double-clicking the Home Button goes to Home, Phone Favorites or iPod Controls.

    

15. How to Maximize iPhone Battery Life

    Here’s how to live with the iPhone’s battery life while using it a whole lot.

    

16. How to Erase iPhone Data Thoroughly

    A method that should wipe out almost all remnants of your personal data.

    

17. How to Backup Your iPhone Contacts

    A neat application dubbed IDrive Lite that allows you to backup, share and restore all your iPhone contacts completely free of charge if you’ve updated your iPhone software to 2.0.

    

18. How to Design iPhone Themes

    If you’re bored with your default iPhone theme and plan to get more funky on it, you can visit iPhone Theme Generator and grab your own customized theme. It also provides a very good guide on how to install the theme into your iPhone.

    

19. How to Access the Scientific Calculator

    To access the scientific calculator, just rotate your iphone sideways into landscape orientation while using the calculator.

    

20. How to Share Your iPhone Apps with Others

    Melvin Rivera has a great step by step set up, so if you are a multiple iPhone family then you may want to head on over and check it out.

    

21. How to Use iPhone as External Disk

    DiskAid is a tool (freeware) for PC and Mac which enables to use your iPhone or iPod Touch as external Disk. With DiskAid you can transfer files and folders via USB between your device and your Computer.

    

22. How to Create Free iPhone Ringtones Using iTunes in Windows

    A few steps you can actually convert a DRM-free song into a ringtone using only iTunes in Windows.



23. How to Convert Videos for Your iPhone

    An useful resource for converting videos online as well as off. This tutorial also teaches you on how to copy videos to your iTunes and iPhone.

    

24. How to Sync An iPhone with Multiple Computers

    This tutorial allows you to add music/videos/podcasts from multiple machines.

    

25. How to Migrate Cell Phone Data to iPhone 3G

    Fone2Phone can help you migrate contacts, events, tasks, notes, bookmarks, photos, music and movies to the iPhone 3G.

    

Summer is almost here as schools are starting to close, and that means people going to camp, beaches, vacations you name it; We are all on the go. Many of us take our iPods because we can’t live 1 minute without it, but what about all the videos on YouTube that we watch for enjoyment; how can I get that on to my iPod for me to take on the go? Click the “More” button for the answer.

YouTube videos onto your iPod or other video playing device= one simple FREE download: the YouTube Downloader. Just follow the steps below.

• Download the YouTube Downloader here. (Don’t worry bout viruses btw, for one, I use it and my PC is fine, and, if that isn’t enough for you, 1 million+ people downloaded it too.)
• Go to YouTube and go to the video you want to download
• Copy the site address (URL) from the top of the web browser (where it says http://youtube.com….)
• Paste the site address and make sure the circle “download video from YouTube” is checked.

Pic of what YouTube Downloader looks like, and what should be checked at this point

• Select the spot you want to save to a place you’ll remember like the Desktop, for example).
• Click the circle “Convert Video {previously downloaded} from file” and from the list, click which file type you wish (video designed for cell phone, iPod, iPhone/iPod Touch, just sound)
• Delete the original file so you don’t have confusion with the two now different files (old is saved .FLV)
• Add file to iTunes by going to the Add File to Library under File
• Go to your converted file (saved where other file was saved)
• Add file to iPod/ iPhone

See, that wasn’t too bad. Let us know how it goes or if you have any questions in the comments.