The Glitch - Frequently Asked Questions

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Mobile Phones

SPAM mobile texts can be a real nuisance, they basically fall into two categories, legitimate marketing and anonymous garbage.

Legitimate marketing:
If a text message comes from a legitimate company then it will contain clear, sender details and will more than likely be known to you, in this specific instance it should be safe to reply to the text with the simple message 'STOP'.

Anonymous garbage: (Never reply to an anonymous text message)
In ALL other circumstances DO NOT reply to the SPAM text, but simply FORWARD the text to your network provider using the number 7726.

The 7726 number alerts the network provider that this number maybe sending out SPAM texts, when enough users report the same number as SPAM it will investigated by the network and blocked. This is obviously not an instance fix, but this is by far the safest way to deal with unknown, SPAM text messages!

Can I unlock my iPhone from the O2 network?

Yes, and it is far easier than you think, O2 actually have a website page dedicated to this:

https://www.o2.co.uk/apps/help/help?qid=1&q1=2&route=unlocking&case=Handset Unlocking Form

If you have a contract with O2 the above unlocking service is free, if you are a pay-as-you-go customer then there is a charge.

Note 1: O2 customers are often given initial, exclusive priority on new iPhone handsets, thus you may not be able to unlock your new iPhone until this launch period is concluded.

Note 2: The act of unlocking your iPhone does not release you from an active contact; thus if you are not on a rolling contract or at the end of your contract you still have a legal obligation to complete your contract with O2!

Note 3: If you unlock your pay-as-you-go iPhone during a period where you are using special offers (like free Web & WiFi bolt-ons), you may lose these benefits.

Why would I want to unlock my mobile phone from my current provider?

You may wish to unlock your mobile phone from your current provider for a number of reasons:

1. To make it easier to sell to someone who is using a different provider
2. To be able to move your phone to a new provider
3. To be able to use foreign SIMS (that have cheaper rates) when abroad
4. To be able to use multiple SIM cards on your phone

I have noticed a few yellow spots/blotches on the screen of my new iPhone 4, they almost look like stains, have I got a faulty screen?

This is said to be due to the bonding agent used on the screen, and the fact that it's still not completely dry, most likely due to the speed at which the iPhone 4 was brought to the market. Apple has suggested that the spots should fade away with usage; thus users should continue to use the device as normal and allow the bonding agent a few days to totally cure.

After upgrading my iPhone's software to version 4, all my photos are pixilated and low resolution, what's gone wrong?

This is due to a minor glitch during the upgrade process, it is difficult to know what causes this, but you can easily solve the issue by simply un-syncing all your photos and then re-syncing again!

Can I completely erase my iPhone ?

Yes, the procedure is pretty straight forward, but make sure you have backed-up your iPhone in iTunes before you follow the instructions below, especially if you are purchasing a new iPhone, as this will allow you to transfer all your existing data to your new iPhone.

***** WARNING: THIS WILL ERASE EVERYTHING ON YOUR PHONE *****

First click the icon called 'Settings' (Normally found on the home screen)
Next click on the item called 'General'
Now click on the item called 'Reset' (At the bottom of the menu)
From the new options listed select 'Erase All Content and Settings'
If you are sure, click on the red button labeled 'Erase iPhone'
You will be asked to confirm (You may need to enter your security PIN - the default is normally 0000)

The erase can take some time to complete; when it does the iPhone will perform a full reboot. Your iPhone has now been restored to it's factory default state with all your data, contacts, music, videos and applications erased...You were warned!

I hear that EU mobile roaming rates are to be reduced ?

Yes, the EU has defined a group of laws that cap the cost of making and receiving calls when in an EU country, what this means is your mobile provider will not be able to charge you any more than the cost defined by the cap.

The following table shows the reducing roaming costs over the next couple of years:

	Previous Costs	As of July 2009	As of July 2010	As of July 2011
Making a call	39p	37p	33p	30p
Receiving a call	19p	16p	13p	9p
Data (/MB)	£5.79p	86p	68p	43p
Cut-off point	n/a	n/a	£40	£40

* All costs are approximate, your mobile provider may charge less

How have I taken a capture/snap shot of my iPhone's screen; I don't know how I managed it, or indeed that you could do such a thing in the first place?

This is a little know feature of the iPhone, in that you are able to take a screen capture of ANY iphone screen at ANY time. You can even capture frames during playback of a video file!

You simply press the 'Home' button and the 'Power' button simultaneously (you will hear the picture taking sound to confirm you have captured the screen). The resultant screen capture is saved as a 'PNG' file format in the 'Camera Roll' section of 'Photos'.

How do I get my iPhone to stay in CAPS mode for more than one character entry ?

This is a real irritation for any iPhone user, the 'Shift' key only seems to last for one key press, then you have to press 'Shift' again to get another capital letter and so on.

But there is a little known setting within the iPhone that lets you set the 'Shift' key to have a double tap CAPS LOCK mode. (Why this option is not enabled by default is beyond me).

Navigate to:
'Settings', then 'General', now scroll down and select 'Keyboard' and simply turn on the 'Enable Caps Lock' option.

Now when you double tap the 'Shift' key, it turns Blue to show you are in CAPS LOCK mode, just click 'Shift' again to return to normal mode.

How can I get my own ringtones onto my iPhone ?

Even with the latest iphone firmware in place you can still easily create your own ringtones.

1. In iTunes right-click the music file you want to use as a ringtone and select 'Get Info'.
2. Select the 'Options' tab and enter a 'Start' time and 'Stop' time (you should try to make the section on shorter than 15 seconds and no longer then 40 seconds) - this has no effect on the original song length. Now click OK.
3. Right-click the file again and now select 'Convert section to AAC'
4. You may need to search for the new file if it does not appear below your current version, just use Apple's search option and double check you find the new short AAC version you have just created.
5. Now single left-click and hold, drag the file to your desktop or other convenient place (I would create a ringtone directory in the area that you use to synchronise your iphone).
6. Rename the files extension from .m4a to .m4r. (ringtone extension)
7. Now go back into iTunes and from the 'File' menu select the option 'Add File To Library...', browse to the location of your new .m4r file and select.
8. If this is your first ringtone, a new Library item will appear in iTunes called 'Ringtones', now when you synchronise you iPhone and it should pickup your new 'Custom' ringtone.
9. Finally delete the short AAC file you created in step 3, be careful that you delete the short version and not the original.

For reference: iPhone software version 1.1.3, iTunes version 7.5.0