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Owners of the iPhone are in a league of their own. There are a whole range of applications – free and paid for – that enhance the productivity of the phone. As you wade through directories of applications, you will find that there is something in every category that works towards improving one’s lifestyle as well as the way they work.

Take for example some applications that could create miracles when you are at work. The “Documents To Go” application by DataWhiz is one such. A lot of companies have sought different ways to sync the working of iPhone with Microsoft programs. This is by far the simplest one to use. It has easy to follow instructions and allows you sync all your content and have them available in an instant. If you are the owner of a 3GS iPhone then the “CardPro” application would be interesting for you. It will allow you to keep track of all your visiting cards. All you have to do is take a picture of it and enter the name of the company. The cons are not being able to include additional information or being able to sort in any other way besides company and person’s name. You can enhance your productivity with the Office2 by Byte Squared. This gives you all the advantage of Mobile Office without having to shell out too much.

If the iPhone is a gift for the wife, then you could consider preloading it with some interesting applications. The “Finger Cookbook” is one. It will give her instant access to a number of downloadable cookbooks. All of these come with yummy pictures and are well indexed. If you are in the family way, then the “Baby Bump” for $4.99 would be an ideal way to keep track of the progress of your pregnancy. It shows you the growth of your baby and has several other features. The “Restaurant Nutrition” application too can be very useful to her at work, or when with friends or family. The application comes with most of the popular restaurants preloaded along with the calories that come with their popular meals. This is a free application. For the voracious reader, the “3D Bookshelf” and the “Classics” are priceless.

There are several games such as the “Battle of Midway”, “Mega Man II”, “Number Munchers”, “Ghosts n Zombies”, “Spin Art” and “Photo Tracer” can give you hours of entertainment and some are even useful in entertaining children as well as educating them. Try conducting quiz contests among kids with the Pocket First Aid & CPR or the 2010 World Facebook applications. You are sure to educate your children as well as entertain in the right way.

I get a lot of questions about the quality and features of the CECT

Today, the majority of business is conducted online. E-business has become the order of the day. Internet has simplified and eased the payment process involved in business. To facilitate quick payments, businesspersons use virtual terminals.

Virtual terminals are free payment terminals that are secure interfaces and allow your business to process card transactions. With merchant virtual terminal you need not have a website as you can have several users using the virtual terminal at any point in time. This implies that you can use the virtual terminal to shop anywhere you want and make payment with ease.

However, virtual terminals require a computer or a laptop to process the payment. But if you are into the door-to-door selling business, it is not be possible for you to always carry your laptop wherever you go. Thus, to solve this problem and accept payment easily, you can use the Merchant Virtual Terminal application. You can download and install this application into your iPhone and your iPhone will act as a virtual credit card terminal. It would be easier for you to carry your iPhone than your laptop.

It is the latest application that is designed specifically to help transform iPhones into portable credit card terminals. It thus allows entrepreneurs to accept credit card payments anywhere and at anytime.

After downloading the application you need to set up a merchant account with any of the mobile payment getaways. As you set up a merchant account you can start accepting payment through your iPhone. You can accept payment by entering the payment amount, the card number, verification code and expiration date of the card.

Some customers would be circumspect of providing their credit card details and having you enter their details in your phone. This may result in loss of sale. But you can assure your customer that it is a very secure payment application and that their card details are not stored in your phone. You can assure your customer that your iPhone credit card terminal transmits credit card information directly to the payment getaway and all the transaction detail are protected with SSL encryption.

Merchant virtual Terminal application for iPhone has emerged as a boon for salespersons engaged in the door-to-door selling business. The application has allowed the mobile salesperson to breathe easy. This application, which makes an iPhone a virtual terminal, is an app and inexpensive solution for certain business persons who need to process credit cards on the move using their iPhone.

Apart from mobile salespersons, merchant virtual terminal application for iPhone is useful for people who are into other businesses such as:

Plumbing and Heating Services, Massage Therapists and Personal Trainers, Trade shows, photographers and wedding vendors, Independent contractors, Home renovation and construction services, non-profit fundraising etc.

If you are into any of the businesses mentioned above, this application would be more useful to you. It would enable you to significantly improve your stream of income and give you an advantage over others in the competitive market. It would allow you to accept credit cards from your customers just by using your iPhone.

Few things compare to the crystal clear clarity and imagery offered by a HDTV unless it is the simple ease of installation found with Direct TV receivers. Setting up your receiver is not usually too difficult with the instruction manual, but there are other necessities besides a top-notch receiver such as connectors and cables. A low quality cable and/or connector is going to diminish your HDTV viewing experience, but a high quality cable and/or connector is going to give you an optimal viewing experience. Do you know the difference between a high quality and a low quality connector or cable? Do you know what is needed to get the most out of one of the many Direct TV HDTV receivers?

The most important thing to know about the quality of your installation of your Direct TV HDTV Receiver is whether the cable being used is solid copper core or simply copper clad steel. While copper clad steel is much less expensive than solid copper core, it will impede the signal strength and not allow the full quality of the HD digital output to reach your Direct TV HDTV receiver. This can be prevented by a professional installation of solid copper core RG6 coaxial cable from the satellite dish to your receiver.

There are two different dishes available to use for Direct TV HDTV receivers are th3 LNB and the 5 LNB. The only difference between the two is that the 5LNB has the capabilities to aim at two new satellites that carry the bulk of the HD transmissions from DIRECTV. This will give you more channels than the 3LNB is capable of receiving. This seems to make the choice an obvious one, but if these satellites are not visible from your location, then the 3LNB becomes a viable alternative. Both dishes are capable of receiving the HD transmissions.

Most connectors used in Direct TV HDTV receiver installation will be gold plated for seamless passing of your signal from one point to another. This has been the practice for many years now to reduce signal noise in connectors and do not let your installer tell you that you can save money by using ones that are not gold plated. The cost difference is minimal but the signal noise being passed is not minimal. Insist on only high quality connectors and cables for your installation to reduce signal noise.

Keeping these hints about Direct TV HDTV Receiver installation will help to keep the process smooth and easy and leave you ready to enjoy some of the finest program viewing available in the stunning clarity that only HDTV can deliver. Do not forget about the digital audio channels that come with every direct tv HDTV programming package. This will only add to your home entertainment pleasures. Check out the available offer from DIRECTV today.

Watch satellite tv on PC instantly? This is a question which is burning in the minds of many people nowadays as PC satellite TV becomes a more popular choice of watching TV than through conventional methods such as cable, or satellite dish. If you are new to this, you may cringe at the idea as the past memories of messy satellite dish setup haunts you. Well, I am about to surprise you with how quick and easy it is to transform your desktop computer or laptop into a powerful satellite TV set. Are you ready to cross over to watch satellite TV on PC?

When you watch satellite tv on PC, your PC basically acts as a receiver for Free to Air (FTA) satellite TV feeds from worldwide TV stations. There are many benefits in watching satellite TV on your PC such as:

1. Free FTA Satellite TV Feeds

FTA satellite TV feeds are free broadcasts. You do not have to a single cent to watch the hundreds of TV programs, DVD-quality movies and streamed video once your PC is set up. Forget about pay-per-movie or monthly subscriptions to local satellite TV services.

2. Variety of TV Programs For The Whole Family

There are literally hundreds to thousands of worldwide channels – interesting sports and radio channels, latest movies, music videos, documentaries, kids educational shows, game and entertainment programs that you can access to from your personal computer. The list goes on. Bring your laptop around and you can even watch satellite TV on PC while on the move.

3. Dummy-proof Software Installation

Non-techie folks would love the simple set up for your personal computer. Load a software, run the installation and once it is completed, your computer then turns into a satellite TV box for you to watch satellite TV on PC. The software is not going to cost you more than a month’s subscription fee for satellite tv services. Be prepared for huge savings!

4. No More Disruption to Satellite TV Transmission

Have you ever missed your favorite TV show because of a hurricane? If you have been depending on satellite dish, then there are high chances that due to some unforeseen circumstances such as strong winds, heavy downpour, your own or neighbor’s kid’s super kick that sent the ball knocking down your satellite dish, your satellite dish gets dislodged and stops receiving the TV transmissions. You would be glad to know that all these can be avoided when you watch satellite TV on PC using special software solution. No satellite dish is required.

5. Entry-level PC requirements

In order to watch satellite TV on PC, entry level requirements are more than sufficient. By that, I meant that you would need an internet connection preferably broadband for tip-top transmission speeds and the following minimum requirements for your personal computer:

a. Pentium 4 CPU or higher

b. 512 Megabytes (MB) RAM

c. Minimum 32 Megabytes (MB) VGA graphics card

d. Sound Card

Most of these are built-in and you shouldn’t have a problem running the satellite tv software application. If you are a gaming junkie, you probably would have upgraded your computer system for laser-sharp graphics display. Optional upgrades such as GeForce, or Radeon graphics card are perfect for movies with tons of CGI as they bring you superb resolutions. I know of folks who have also invested in top-of-the-line stereo systems to go along with their PC. People would go to such lengths nowadays to simulate theater experience.

Even without these peripherals, the crystal clear video and audio quality of PC satellite TV already makes it a delightful experience for anyone to watch satellite TV on PC. Find out from my blog how you too can get a taste of watching satellite TV on PC using internet software.

This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any ezine, newsletter, blog or website. The author’s name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.

Have you just bought a new iPhone and are having a hard time getting the voice mail set up? You may have spent hours on the phone with customer service and gotten nowhere. Here, you will find the help you need to get your voice mail set up easily.

The first thing is not to put the SIM card from your old phone into your iPhone. Everything else will work but you voice mail and visual mail will likely not work. If you go to an AT&T store, you can get a new SIM put in your phone and help with getting everything from your old SIM card transferred to it.

Now you are ready for the next step. Call customer service at AT&T (the exclusive iPhone service provider in the US) and tell the representative that you need to setup voice mail. Be sure to tell him or her to check to make sure the forwarding feature to forward calls to your voice mail is turned on. This is something that is often overlooked by customer service representatives. Once this is done, you are ready to actually setup voice mail.

Before you begin, it is a good idea to know what password you want to use. Might write down what you want to record as your outgoing message, too. Doing this will save time and make the process to setup voice mail go smoother.

Your password should be between 6 and 15 characters. Make sure it is something you can remember but others will find impossible to guess. Now you tap the voice mail icon on your iPhone. You will be asked to create a password at this point. Enter the password you have created and then you will be asked to record a greeting. You will have the option of using a default iPhone voice mail greeting that will include your phone number or you can record your own. You can change your greeting at any time by tapping voice mail, greeting, custom and then record. Do not forget to save your greeting once you are satisfied with it.

Students at Penn state who subscribe to Penn iPhone can log in to My iPhone and setup voice mail for their iPhones. PennKey authentication will be required. Once on the home page, look for Features and Voice Mail and go to that page. Here, you will put in the password you have created. You can change this password at any time by logging in on My iPhone or through the voice mail icon on your phone. After you have entered your password, re-enter it is the field, Confirm Password. After up press the submit button, your account will be updated to include it.

To record your greeting, press the ‘messages’ button, it will be to the right of the keypad. Press ’0′ to bring up the mailbox options. From there, you will be prompted to choose the type of greeting you want, such as busy, unavailable and name. Then you will get a prompt from the system to record your greeting. When you are finished, choose accept, listen and, if you desire, re-record. When you are satisfied with your greeting, press * or # to go back to the menu or exit.

AT&T’s announcement late last year that they would now allow VoIP calls over their 3G network is BIG news for the VoIP industry. Better late than never, Apple, has finally started approving VoIP apps for the iPhone. The VoIP industry has generally seen strong growth in past years, but that growth has typically been from consumers making the switch from analog PSTN lines to VoIP for their home or business. This growth has expanded as broadband internet service (a requirement for VoIP) has become more widespread.

Let’s face it…we all make calls one of two ways for the most part. We use our land line service, or we use our cell phone. Since most wireless cellular carriers have been reluctant to allow (as in block) VoIP traffic over their data networks, the usefulness of VoIP on a cell phone has been limited to those times when you have access to a Wi-Fi connection. This is fine if you’re at home or in the office, but doesn’t work when you’re out and about, unless you stop by Starbucks or McDonalds. Because of this, VoIP on a cell phone has been a hard sell, reserved more for techies than mainstream.

Now, with the allowance of VoIP over 3G, VoIP for cell phones becomes much more attractive, as you can make VoIP calls anywhere AT&T has 3G coverage, while still utilizing VoIP over Wi-Fi in areas with no 3G. While VoIP is not likely to work over AT&Ts 2G Edge networks due to speed and latency, 3G coverage areas still encompass a vast amount of potential VoIP customers. One thing to keep in mind is that AT&T will someday upgrade their wireless networks to include the 4G LTE technology, which essentially gives you a Wi-Fi like connection covering entire cities. Once handsets incorporating 4G become available, the ability to use VoIP reliably in more places makes it just that much more attractive.

Consider a single, heavy user with an iPhone. Let’s say they have the Nationwide Unlimited Plan for calling minutes at $69.99/mth. If they had a low cost VoIP plan with unlimited minutes, they could reduce that to the Nationwide 450 plan at $39.99/mth. While that’s a savings of $30 per month, they would need to sign up for a VoIP provider that would allow use of VoIP on their phone. Unlimited VoIP plans with calling anywhere in the US and Canada can be found for less than $19.95 per month. Of course, if a user has to get a VoIP plan at $19.95, they are only saving around 10 bucks a month, but this scenario is a bare bones base model and it only gets better from here.

If you’re a road warrior, and/or make calls to Canada or other international destinations, the cost savings and usefulness of your cell phone only gets better. In addition, if you travel to international destinations, you no longer have to worry about how you’re going to make your cell phone work in other countries. In the past, you would have to have an unlocked phone with GSM capability, along with purchasing a SIM card from another country’s cellular provider. With VoIP, all you need is a Wi-Fi connection, and you’ll be making calls back home with no additional expense.

Going back to our heavy user example with an unlimited plan, additional cost savings can be realized in other areas. First, most VoIP plans allow for unlimited calls to Canada. Adding Canada to an AT&T cellular plan is very expensive, depending on the number of minutes you’d like to have. Just adding the ability to call Canada with AT&Ts service will add $20 to $60/mth to your bill. Having a VoIP plan also gives you the ability to use your cell phone for low rate international VoIP calls. If you’re already using VoIP with a landline to make international calls, chances are, you’re ready to transfer that technology over to your iPhone.

Many cell phone users have never considered using VoIP instead of wireless minutes. Others have considered it, but have discarded it as having limited usefulness due to the constraint of needing Wi-Fi for it to work. With AT&T opening up the 3G network for VoIP traffic, now is a great time to think about using VoIP whenever possible. With a good VoIP application on your iPhone along with a good VoIP service provider, you may be pleasantly surprised at the voice quality, while saving money, and adding more functionality to your smartphone.

Our next article will be dealing with converging your land line service with your cellular service. The best way to do this is by using an IP PBX style of server in your home or office. With the availability of low cost installations of this technology, it is possible to save a great deal of money when dealing with family plans, and business situations where the company pays for all or part of an employee’s wireless bill. Although, the popularity of “ditching the land line” for wireless service has increased as more unlimited plans have come online, converging land line and cellular may be about to change that. Stay tuned…

If you are an iPhone user, you probably have missed a phone call or two. Of course, there are many reasons why wou miss a phone call, but to miss it just because you didn’t hear the ring? Not a good reason at all. Especially when you know that you own a powerful device that is suppose to help you be in control of your communications. Disappointing but true, because of the iPhone’s lower than normal ringer volume, many people are missing phone calls.

So, what are the reasons why the iPhone’s ringer volume is low? Some iPhone users put the blame on the iPhone’s small speakers. Smaller the speakers are… the lower the volume. Makes sense? Generally, this can be true but it may not be the actual cause.

The actual case is, which many iPhone users have attested to, is that the audio level of the iPhone’s stock ringers are really low. So, what you can do to fix this problem is to find new ringtones other than those that are already on your iPhone.

Yes, the frequency of the ringtones that are already on your iPhone are low. Thus, if you want to be able to have a louder ringtone, then you will need to find a ringtone that is made of a higher frequency, which can be found right in your computer.

If you are a MAC user, simply go to the application called Garage Band and find a new ringtone within this location. Perhaps the best ringtone from Garage Band is the “Cell Phone Ringing” sound clip. Then, run iFuntastic, if you have an Intel-MAC. If you are running a WindowsPC, you can either run iPhoneRingtoneMaker or iBrickr. These applications will install the ringtones from your computer to your iPhone, thus giving you the ability to have a ringtone that is clearly audible. If this sounds too techie for you, you may visit some websites that offers tutorial on how to get custom ringtones for your iPhone.

Some people think that it is cool enough to own an iPhone. I totally disagree …what’s cool is to be able to understand how your iPhone works, compared to any other PDA phones in the market. The key to having a great experience owning an iPhone is to be able to use it at its best. And, to be able to use your iPhone at its best, is by tweaking a little bit of its default settings.

I was recently contacted by someone who was a little bit confused about how the data or web usage works on the dual sim iPhone clones. The person wanted to know things like the following: if both sim cards have to have data to be able to get online; if both sim cards have to be from the same carrier; if you could browse with one card and surf online with the other; and if you still need data usage if the phone has WiFi. I will address these concerns in the following article.

I suppose that some people assume that having two sim slots might change how these phones browse the web, but they really don’t. In fact, they give you more options than you might have otherwise had. The dual slots can be used to have two phone numbers. (Many people will have one for business and one for personal use. This is especially helpful if your employer pays for your work phone but not for your personal usage. Now you no longer have to drag around two phones.) These clones can allow you to make use of pre paid or pay as you go plans. They also allow for you to have one slot for web use and the other for talk / text / IM and messaging use, which can work out to be less expensive.

And, you never have to use both slots. If you really only have the need for one, you only need to set it for single slot usage. And, you’re not stuck with this if you later change your mind. You can easily switch back between the single and dual options. As far as obtaining data, there is really no need to be paying for it on both cards. Many people will buy one of the all inclusive data cards for their web usage rather than adding this to their plan to save money. Or, if they don’t want to pay for web that they aren’t using, some will opt for choices like Go Phone’s inexpensive $4.99 for 1MB of data so that they aren’t paying for something that they don’t use, (but know that they have this should they need to get online.)

And no, you absolutely do not have to have the same carrier on both slots. These clones will work with nearly all GSM sim cards. This means it’s feasible to use a low cost choice like a Go Phone sim on one slot for talk and text and then to use a prepaid data card on the other. This sometimes works out to be cheaper and ensures you aren’t being charged monthly for something that you’re not using. (Examples of GSM carriers are T Mobile, AT&T, Fido, and Cingular.)

Whether you’ll be able to browse the web when you’re talking on the phone depends on which model of clone you have. Many of the newer models (like the CECT i9) have what is called dual sim active which does allow for this. The older models like the original P168 did not have this option.

As far as WiFi goes, there are some clones that offer it (like the F003.) if you have access to what you know is a reliable hot spot, then it’s possible that you won’t need to have data on either sim. You’ll just connect to the web via WiFi. But, do keep in mind that you may want to get a spare, low cost pay as you data go back up in case you find yourself in a situation with no hotspot available but you still need to be able to get online.