The iPhone has taken America by storm since its much-vaunted release. The rest of the world is slowly working on giving a crap, but to the States the iPhone represents the current holy grail of mobile phones. New handsets with high expectations are relentlessly branded ‘iPhone killers’, though has any phone even come close to knocking the iPhone from its pedestal in the minds of its users? Not even close.

However, during these times of economic uncertainty, a little bit of fiddling you can give your iTouch essentially the same features as the iPhone. Sure, you won’t have an inbuilt camera, but you can’t send MMS messages or record video anyway, so what are you really missing out on? The kink in the plan here is that you need to be in range of a Wi-Fi hotspot to use your iTouch-Phone, but with the ever-increasing number of public hotspots, it’s likely that if you live in an urban area you’re probably not too far away from one most of the time. The only money you’ll need to spend is on a microphone, since sadly the iPod Touch has no built-in mic.

The great news is that besides having to spend a bit of cash on your microphone solution, all the software used in this tutorial to give your snazzy iPod Touch the functionality of the iPhone is totally free. So what are you waiting for?

There’s no need to jailbreak your iTouch or modify it in any way – all you need is an iPod Touch on 2.x.x firmware, a pair of headphones with a microphone, a WiFi network, and access to Apple’s App Store so you can download and use Fring – a free app which supports several different chat protocols.

1. Choose your microphone

Philips iPhone Mic Adapter $9.99 from Target	Apple Earphones with Remote & Mic (MB770) $29.00 from Apple Store	Apple In-Ear Headphones with Remote & Mic (MA850) $79.00 from Apple Store

I’d recommend the Philips mic adapter, mainly because it costs under $10 compared with Apple’s habitually expensive alternatives, but also because it allows you to use your own headphones. However, you’ll lose out on having the remote. If you prefer a hands-free approach, SwitchEasy’s ThumbTacks might be more your style. Thanks to Apple’s proprietary chip in the new iPod shuffle remote/mic combo earphones, pickings are a little slim at the time of writing.

For 1st generation iPod Touch users, you’ll have to come up with a solution that uses the iPod’s docking port, since the 1st gen doesn’t support line-in through the earphone connection. Sadly, the new fancy Apple earphones are not backwards compatible with the 1G iPod Touch. However, there are some alternative solutions which use the 30-pin dock connecter, such as the popular iVoice3.

Once you’ve sorted out your mic, you’re ready to start setting up your VoIP application.

The alternative to Fring is downloading the new Skype for iPhone/iPod Touch application, which was released last Tuesday. How do the two compare, though? Well, Skype is a very recent release and I’ve found that it tends to crash occasionally, though it’s still very much useable. Fring’s current release (v1.0.0.2.4) is very stable in comparison. Both allow you to import contacts from your iTouch’s contact list, and support both text and voice chat… but what really sets Fring apart is its ability to support not only the Skype VoIP protocol, but also 3rd party SIP accounts, MSN, ICQ, AIM, Yahoo, and Google Talk. It even has plugins for Twitter and last.fm, which make it the winner in my book. However, you can add SkypeOut credit and dial any phone in the world from the Skype application, so if you’d rather stick with a brand you know already, go ahead and download Skype for free and have fun making calls on your iPod!

Personally, I have both, since I prefer the look and feel of the Skype application, but love having the extra functionality of Fring.

2. Install Fring

Step 1: Search for Fring in the App Store with your iPod, and download and install it for free.	Step 2: Once installed, fire up Fring and register a new user account (or sign in if you’re already a Fring member).
Step 3: Now simply pick a User ID, nickname, password and email address (only used to retrieve your password if you forget it).	Step 4: Next, link your Fring account to an active Skype account, and a SIP provider if you have one (I recommend voipstunt.com – it’s free!)
Step 5: Your contact list should now populate with your Skype contacts. Just click their names to call and chat.	Step 6: Click the Dialer and… hey presto! Dial the number you want (don’t forget the leading 00s) and hit the green “SIP” button to dial over your own VoIP provider, or “Skype Out” to use your outgoing Skype credit.

Congratulations! You can now make as well as Skype-to-Skype and Fring-to-Fring calls with other users, absolutely free. Add some SkypeOut credit and you can use that, but watch out – if you don’t make a call for 180 days, they’ll wipe off any credit on your account.

I’d recommend signing up with VoIPstunt for your free VoIP service – they offer 100% free calls to the USA, UK, Canada, Australia and many other countries in Europe, South America and Asia (see the full list here). All you need to do is top up your account with a little bit of credit every 120 days to keep it active. Best of all, Fring supports it out of the box – just enter your username and password and you’re away.

3. Get SMS working
Now that we’ve got the microphone and phone sorted, you’re only missing SMS. Well, you’ve got plenty of options here. For a long time there were apps available that granted jailbroken iPod Touch users completely free text messaging, but sadly a lot of these have been banned, obsoleted, or have not been updated in a long time.

Right now, your best options are:

1. http://sms.dynadel.com (Worldwide, free)
   Open this web page in Safari on your iPod (or even better, make a bookmark and put it on your home screen), choose your country/carrier and type in your friend’s number, type your message and press send. Done.
2. Using the AIM client (Worldwide, free)
   Download the AIM client for iPhone from the App Store on your iPod Touch. Once installed and signed in, you can text anybody by creating a new buddy contact, and set their AIM address as their complete mobile phone number, with country and area code, preceded by a plus (+), for example: +12065550559. It might be better to log on AIM using your computer so you can add friends’ cell numbers more easily. Now you can simply tap the buddy number on your iPod Touch, compose your message, and click Send. Any replies you receive will show up in your AIM client as part of the chat! This method may also work on Fring, as it supports AIM chat – but I didn’t get round to testing it yet.
3. http://www.txtdrop.com/iphone/ (US/Canada only, free)
   Open this address in Safari and send a free text to any US or Canada cellphone.
4. http://www.cbfsms.com (UK only, free)
   Another web-based one, open in Safari and send free UK text messages.
5. http://www.jellysms.com (Worldwide, paid)
   You can purchase the JellySMS app from the App Store for around $3.49 (there’s also an ad-assisted version for half the price). Then simply sign up with a one of the many free VoIP providers they give you, and you can send cheap text messages. OK, so it’s not free, but it seems to be more reliable than the free alternatives, it’s contained within its own app (which supports landscape texting!), and you can set your own caller ID so you can direct replies to the number of your choice.
6. Send SMS through email (US/Canada only, free)
   Quite a nice feature of North American providers is that you can actually send an email to a number via a provider, and it will convert it into a text and send it for you. Try using the iPod’s native Mail app and email your messages to the following addresses, replacing {phone#} with the recipient’s phone number. You will have to know which carrier they’re with, however:

If you’ve got any other working methods for sending and/or receiving SMS on the iPod Touch, let us know! Unfortunately you’ll always need a wi-fi network nearby to use your iPod-come-iPhone mobile phone, but hey! It’s easy to do and it’s a really neat feature.

Many thanks to everybody who helped me out with info for this tutorial! I got most of the info from the iPod Touch Fans forum and Macrumors – check them out if you need even more info on making the most out of your iPod Touch!

It takes a lot of skill, effort and experience to produce a quality wine, so it should be savoured (something I really should try to remember!) Wine tasting is an art that allows you to experience a range of flavours. Learning how to taste wines is a straightforward adventure that will deepen your appreciation for both wines and winemakers. If you fancy yourself as a bit of a wine connoisseur and appreciate a nice bottle of red, I’ve come across just the thing to help you savour the flavour even more. You’ll be surprised at just how different your wine tastes when you move the Magic Flavour Magnetising Wine plug on to different settings. Simply attach the Magnetising Wine Plug to the neck of your bottle of red and pour. Not only does it give a whole new flavour to your wine, but it also makes pouring it much easier.

Instantly smoothen the taste, reduce the tannic taste and appreciate the lingering and aroma of your wine. The Magnetising Wine Plug is the world’s first and only device to turn your VSOP brandy to closest XO (about 30 years old) taste. This clever little wine plug is able to create 8 different structures of taste, simply by altering the settings and pouring. Reds often have berry, woody and bell pepper tastes.Your initial taste gives you your first impression of the wine’s components and flavours. So how does it work? When the red wine passes through a specific magnetic field, the field instantly changes the physical state of the young wine to become a deluxe wine.

There are 8 structures of taste for you to choose. Simply insert the Magnetising Plug into the open bottle of either Red wine or brandy and pour. That’s all you have to do. The change is instant as the Red wine or Brandy passes through special magnetic field. It changes the physical states of the beverages eg. surface tension, PH values, etc, but no Chemical changes take place. Now, I don’t claim to be a wine expert, but I’ve still had a lot of fun trying this little plug out!

You get up early in the morning and check your reflection in the mirror. It’s a bit of a drizzly day, so there’s not much light coming into your bathroom. You brush your hair, check your makeup and leave the house to get into your car. You get to work in time for your important business meeting just as the weather is starting to brighten up and pull down the mirror in the car to apply your lipstick – aarggh! That’s when you notice the monster brows! Your eyebrows looked fine at home, so why are they suddenly sprouting out everywhere?

It’s often difficult to find the right level of lighting to tidy up your eyebrows effectively and even if you do have the right light, you need the right tweezers too. Well, how about a really decent pair of tweezers that provide the light you need every time you pluck? Introducing LA-Tweeze, the illuminated tweezers that will keep your eyebrows under control wherever you are!

Simple, yet ingenious, these fantastic Tweezers have a little light built-in, so if you’re late to meet your friends for lunch or in a rush to get out in the evening, you can throw them in your bag and pay a visit to the powder room at your convenience. The Illuminated Tweezers come in their own little lipstick style case, so you can find them more easily when they’re at the bottom of your handbag. If you’re out at a bar or night club there’s no need to stand at the mirror with all the other ladies, plucking your eyebrows – you can retreat to the privacy of a cubicle and you’ll still have enough light to give yourself a quick makeover.

I may not be able to afford the plastic surgery to transform me into an image of perfection, but at least I can give my eyebrows an instant lift with LA-Tweeze!

With spring around the corner I’m feeling urges to redecorate and revamp the house! If you’re anything like me you probably dread DIY (I’m always impatient to get to the paint and make things look pretty stage!) Well, they say a bad workman blames his tools, so if you’re planning some household maintenance, make sure you’ve got the right tools! A Multi Wall Scanner should be standard issue for any competent DIY-er. It sometimes necessary to drill and cut holes into the walls in your house. This can be a frightening prospect when you don’t know what’s hidden behind them. You don’t want to drill through the wall to put your new shelves up only to discover you’ve inadvertently hit a water pipe or mains cable. If only you could see through walls! Failing incredible super power status that comes complete with X-ray vision, a Multi Wall Scanner is the next best thing.

A Multi Wall Scanner could save you forking out on expensive repair bills by helping you identify where is safe to drill in your walls, to avoid unnecessary damage. Traditional Stud Finders work, but they can damage the wall and the magnet technique is very slow. A Multi Wall Scanner shows you exactly where each stud is before you get drill happy! It also alerts you to any pipes or electrical cables hidden behind your wall. Mine even has a special ‘Deep Stud’ mode (ahem!) which can detect studs that are hidden behind plaster or lath. Whether you’re hanging a picture or putting up a new set of shelves, take advantage of the latest wall scanning technology and avoid expensive repair bills. If you need to drill, don’t drill without the one!

If you fancy yourself as a bit of a Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay or Delia Smith and you’re always on the lookout for new kitchen gizmos and gadgets then this is a real treat! My husband loves kitchen tools and accessories as he likes to play at playing chef (luckily I enjoy sampling the results!). The problem is with his birthday following Christmas so closely, people take advantage of his love of all things kitchen (well, you know how difficult it can be to choose presents for men) and he ends of with so many different devices for the kitchen that we’re fast running out of space. Which is why I was delighted to discover the Folding Colander from JosephJoseph.

For something that performs such a basic function, a colander certainly takes up a lot of cupboard space. Not this one! It folds completely flat for easy storage and uses 12 hinges to take shape. It may have been a long time in development, but I for one think it was well worth the wait. While your colander may be designed to drain, you don’t want it to put a strain on space. So, chuck out your old colander and invest in this one (available in a range of funky colours) and you’ll have a bit more space to accommodate the next must-have kitchen gadget!

If the January Blues and a lack of cash are causing you to curse, then you should really check out this great swear box. Not only will you keep your language in check, but you’ll also be saving money which you can then use to treat yourself in the last of the sales!

These days we have so many gadgets that we really do take them for granted – until they run out of power that is! If our mobile phone, PDA, iPod or PSPs, runs out of power when we‘re out and about we‘re suddenly savage and cursing modern technology (well, you are if you‘re anything like me!)

PowerBank is the perfect solution to keeping all your favourite gadgets fully charged throughout a journey. Basically a beefed up battery, PowerBank is ready for action whenever any of your many devices need an emergency charge – you know the kind of situation I’m talking about – you’re stuck in the car and your child’s iPod has just died causing all sorts of unnecessary stress! PowerBank provides a lifeline, PowerBank in such a gadget emergency!

Fully charged, PowerBank delivers enough power to recharge a device anywhere between two and four times; every gadget is different. And weighing just 65g, it‘s compact enough to carry around on your travels. Simply charge PowerBank via the mains or via USB before your journey, and then take it with you for a reserve power supply. PowerBank comes fully equipped with all the relevant adapters for your gadgets, so you can leave their various chargers and docking stations at home. Red LED indicators let you know PowerBank’s charging status, and it even comes with a built-in LED torch to shine some light on the situation. So now you’ll always have the power!

As I watched the last of the current series of Dragon’s Den last night, my husband was putting up our Christmas tree. Some of you will think it’s a little late, some of you may even think it’s slightly too early, but the weekend conspired against us so we only got round to it last night. Anyway, as he was putting it in the stand and adding the lights a man came into the Den to pitch his ‘Tidy Tree Sack’. “How topical”, I thought, and watched in interest.

Basically, the concept is that this huge red sack sits beneath your tree in a somewhat decorative capacity and collects all the needles that fall off (more or less dependant on your choice of tree). Then, when Christmas is over and you’re taking the decorations down, the disposal of your tree is quick, easy and convenient. The Tidy Tree Sack pulls up over the tree and gathers at the top so that you can get it out of the house without the needles flying everywhere.

The Dragons reactions ranged from nonplussed to verging on outrage! Peter Jones said this Santa Sack for Christmas trees was ‘almost laughable’ and was really not happy about the fact that the bag would cost you almost as much as your tree. Deborah said it was a good idea, but you could run up your own with a big sheet and a sewing machine and Theo said quite simply; ‘You’ve wasted part of your life!’

I’m sure you can guess the outcome here! The poor man failed to secure any investment, but do you know, I think he’s on to something. It won’t be long until we’re all struggling to get rid of our trees and cursing as all the needles leave a carpet of green in our wake. I’m thinking in particular of one year when our tree shred so much we had to get it out through the window and we were still finding needles stuck in the floorboards the following August! So, I think the Dragons could’ve shown a little more festive cheer. Ok, the idea could be improved slightly, but if you struggle with your Christmas tree disposal each year, this could be £15 well spent!