INCREASE GAMING PERFORMANCE

If you update to iOS 4 on an iPhone 3G the performance, to but it mildly, will be poor to the point of frustration. When I first updated mine it was so bad I didn't want to use it -- though admittedly I'd gotten used to an iPhone 3GS, then iPhone 4, and it's never easy to go back.

iPhone Forums and stoovie to the rescue. Turns out there are a few things you can do to make it faster to the point of livable:

• Turn off Spotlight. Go to Settings, General, Home Button, Spotlight Search and just turn it all off. iPhone 3G is so resource constrained Apple wouldn't even enable wallpaper. Indexing Spotlight in the background seems to be the straw that breaks the performance's back. With Spotlight off, it's a usable device again.

If you're still having trouble there's always the nuclear option:

• Restore as a new iPhone. Do a clean wipe and re-install without copying back your data. It's a royal pain in the apps but there seems to be something borked about including old data that just slows stuff down. I got an immediate speed boost with a clean install as well.

Unfortunately, it's Jailbreak territory if you want to downgrade from iOS 4 to iOS 3.1.1 again, and many users seem to have problems even with that method. So try the above methods first and let us know how they work for you.

iPhone lite could be iPhone 5C, if leaked packaging is to be believed

There have been plenty of leaked images of the alleged smartphone with which Apple is planning to expand its iPhone line-up.

Going by several names, including the budget iPhone, iPhone lite, and the plastic iPhone, the device has been touted as being the company's first foray into the mid-level smartphone market. And many pictures and even a video of what is claimed to be the rear shell of the phone have appeared online, generally coming from Chinese factories and sources. Until its actual launch, we expect there to be many more too.

However, the latest leaked photo is not of the phone itself, but what is claimed to be the packaging it will come in. And, if true, reveals the name of the device: iPhone 5C.

Many reports have suggested that the annual iPhone update will not produce an iPhone 6 this year, rather an iPhone 5S. It will be similar to last year's model, but with a few key new features. It's something that Apple tends to do when a major refresh is not necessary. We've had the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 4S, so why not an iPhone 5S? We may not be sure what the S would stand for in this instance - it has stood for Speed and Siri in the past - but it makes sense.

The iPhone 5C would therefore be the cheaper phone, it has been surmised. Some are even speculating that the C stands for Colour, because it is widely expected that the new budget iPhone will come in different hues.

Whatever the case (pun intended) we'll surely find out in the next few months. Apple is yet to launch anything significant in 2013 so there must be something on the horizon.

TRICKS OF HOME BUTTON

The Home Button

Here’s What Your iOS Home Button Can Do Your iPhone's home button has a whole bunch of uses that vary depending on your location and how many times you press it in succession. Here's a look at (practically) all of them. Single Press Pressing the home screen button once while on your first home screen page will take you to the search page. When on the search page, pressing it will take you back to the first page. If you're on the second, third, fourth page (or higher), a single press of the home button will return you to the first page. When your phone is locked, a single tap will bring up the lock screen. If you're in an app, pressing the home button will take you to the home screen (surprise!). Finally, if you press and hold the home button you'll initiate voice control. Double Press Pressing the home button twice while on the lock screen will bring up your iPod controls. Doing that on any other screen will bring up the multitasking bar where you can access apps and settings. Triple Press Triple press is reserved for accessibility options. You can set them as you like by going into Settings -> General -> Accessibility -> Triple-click Home

iPhone tips and tricks with iOS 6

Camera

The iOS 6 camera app offers plenty of new tricks (read our full iPhone 5 camera review), 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.

APPLE SALES RECORD

Profits dip again for Apple, while iPhone sales beat record

Apple’s profits fell for a second consecutive quarter, even as the company enjoyed record iPhone sales for the April-to-June time period.

For its fiscal third quarter ended June 29, Apple reported sales of $35.3 billion, with net profit at $6.9 billion. That translated to earnings of $7.47 per diluted share. Apple’s revenue marked a record for the June quarter, ticking up 1 percent from the $35 billion Apple posted in last year’s third quarter. Still, profits fell 22 percent year-over-year, down from $8.88 billion in 2012. Apple also reported a drop in profit during its fiscal second quarter of 2013.

Apple’s performance for the third quarter topped analyst expectations. Analysts were looking for the company to earn $7.32 a share on $35 billion in revenue.

With a tiny increase in revenue but a drop in profit, you’d rightly conclude that Apple’s gross margin dropped: For the quarter, it was 36.9 percent, versus 42.8 percent on the year-ago quarter. That’s because Apple’s most popular products now have lower margins than the top-sellers a year ago.

Apple says international sales accounted for 57 percent of its revenue for the quarter.

The company also says it has issued $18.8 billion in cash to shareholders through dividends and buybacks.

While Apple generally keeps a tight lid on future product announcement, company officials did reiterate a point made during its second-quarter earnings announcement in April—that the company plans to roll out new products starting this fall and into the next year. “We are laser-focused and working hard on some amazing new products,” CEO Tim Cook said in an statement accompanying Apple’s earnings announcement.”

iPhone stays strong

Apple says it sold 32.2 million iPhones—a record for the June quarter. That’s up from 26 million iPhones in the year-ago period. For the U.S., iPhone sales rose 51 percent year-over-year, Apple says.

“iPhone 5 remains by far the most popular [phone], but we’re also very happy with sales of iPhone 4 and 4S,” chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer told analysts during a Tuesday conference call. Those older phones, of course, are lower-margin devices, since Apple charges customers $200 or $100 less for those phones, respectively, compared to the iPhone 5.

Oppenheimer said that iPhone sales remain ahead of expectations, and that Apple is particularly pleased with the iPhone’s strong year-over-year growth in both developed and emerging markets. Apple says that ComScore shows the iPhone holds the top spot in the U.S. market for the three month period ending in May, with a 39 percent share. And the iPhone is the top-selling smartphone in Japan, and the top or second-best selling smartphone in most markets IDC tracks.

With government, business, and education, iPhone holds a 62.5 percent share of the U.S. commercial market.

Cook suggested that Apple is at least open to the notion of trade-ins for smartphones. “I like the environmental aspect of it,” he said, though he stressed that Apple hasn’t announced any plans on that front. Cook pointed out that “residual value of iPhone stays high, and there’s so much demand around it. So that makes the trade-in program very lucrative.”

iPad declines

The picture was less rosy for iPad sales, but Apple has a perfectly reasonable explanation for the 14 percent drop in tablet sales from last year’s third quarter. A year ago, Apple introduced the third-generation iPad and enjoyed a full quarter’s worth of sales to the tune of 17 million units. This quarter, sales fell to 14.6 million iPads.

Still, Apple has plenty of reason to remain bullish on the iPad. Oppenheimer said that the iPad ranked tops in a 2013 U.S. tablet satisfaction survey by JD Power and Associates. And during the quarter, the company inked a deal with the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest district in the U.S., to roll out iPads to 640,000 students.

In fact, the iPad got the bulk of the credit for a strong quarter of sales to U.S. schools. According to Oppenheimer, the last three months generated the highest quarterly revenue ever for Apple’s U.S. education institution business.

The Mac beats the market

Mac sales also fell in the quarter, down 7 percent from last year to 3.8 million units. Still, Oppenheimer pointed out that the 3.8 million Macs sold beat Apple’s own expectations. And Apple’s sales still were ahead of the total PC market, which saw sales contract by 11 percent according to estimates from research firm IDC (which is owned by the same company that owns Macworld). By Apple’s math, the Mac gained market share during the quarter.

The Mac was one of the few product lines to see any changes during the quarter, withApple updating its MacBook Air lineup at the beginning of June by adding new Intel processors. Company executives had little to say about any impact those new laptops had on overall Mac sales, but Oppenheimer did call it the most successful MacBook Air launch to date, adding that customer response was great.

But during the call, executives implied that there were better things to come. Oppenheimer noted that June’s Worldwide Developers Conference included previews of both the Mac Pro and the next version of OS X, code-named Mavericks.

The sweet sound of retail success

The iTunes Stores—which includes the App Store, Mac App Store, iBookstore, and the music, movies, and TV sections of iTunes—generated $4.3 billion in billings, Oppenheimer said, culminating in the best week and best month ever for App Store. That translated to quarterly revenue of $2.4 billion, up 29 percent year over year. Total quarterly revenue from iTunes, software, and services generated $4 billion in revenue.

Oppenheimer said that Apple now has over 320 million iCloud accounts, and 240 million Game Center accounts.

As for brick-and-mortar retail efforts, the Apple Store saw revenue of $4.1 billion for the quarter, virtually unchanged from the year-ago quarter. Oppenheimer reported that Apple saw 16,000 visitors per store each week.

For the quarter, Apple had an average of 405 stores, with average revenue per store at $10.1 million—down $1 million from the year-ago quarter. Apple opened six stores across five countries during the quarter, giving it 408 stores around the globe; 156 of those outlets are outside the U.S.

The company plans to open nine new stores during the September quarter, giving it 27 new openings during the 2013 fiscal year. It’s not just about new stores, however: Apple says that it relocated four of its stores to more appealing spots; it will complete 23 such relocations before the end 2013 fiscal year in September.

Eye on China

China has been a particularly critical part of Apple's business in recent years, but that took a hit in the third quarter. “China was weaker” in this quarter, Cook acknowledged, but maybe not as weak as it might seem at first blush, he argued. “Our sell-through in China was only down four percent from the year-ago quarter, when you normalize for channel inventory,” he said. Hong Kong drop was worse, though mainland China was up five percent year over year, “but that’s a lower growth rate than we have been seeing,” Cook added.

“I attribute that to many things, including [the fact that] the economy there clearly doesn’t help us there or others,” Cook said.

Still, China drove $4.9 billion of revenue—about 14 percent of the company’s earnings—Cook pointed out. “And a few years ago, that was within the hundreds of millions. We have a very strong market there.” He added that year-to-date, iPad sales are up 48 percent in China year over year, and half a million developers in China are working on iOS apps. He also said that Apple would double its number of retail stores in China “over the next couple years.”

Cook said that Apple will continue to work to boost iPhone and iPad sales, “both of which are currently lower then where we would like or need them to be. We’re doing that very cautiously, because we want to do it with quality.” He added that, “over the arc of time, China is a huge opportunity for Apple, so don’t get discouraged over the 90-day cycle with economic factors.”

Paying dividends

Apple’s not done returning cash to investors. The company’s Board of Directors has announced another cash dividend, this one at $3.05 per share of common stock, payable on August 15 to any shareholder as of August 1

IOS

iOS speed tips: Launch and find apps like a pro

It’s easy to launch apps on your iPad or iPhone, but once you’ve downloaded dozens,finding the app you want can prove a challenge. Here are some tips to help you cut through the clutter and make your iOS device easier to use.

Put your favorite apps in the Dock

To get quick access to your favorite apps, move the ones you use most into your iOS device’s Dock. To do this, tap and hold your finger on an icon until all your apps’ icons wiggle. Pick an app in the Dock that you don’t use routinely and drag it off. Then, drag the one you want onto the Dock in its place. Your favored app now will be easier to tap one-handed. (If you have an iPhone, your thumb can get to the bottom of the screen more easily than the top.) And, the app will be available from any home screen

Organize apps with multiple home screens

If you have lots of apps, it can help to group them by type or function in folders.

If you have a lot of apps, you can sort them onto different home screens. To add a home screen, tap and hold your finger on an icon until all your apps’ icons wiggle. Then, drag any icon to the right of the screen. Wait a second until your iOS device swipes the home screen to the side and displays a new, empty one and then drop the app there. You can now swipe back to the previous home screen and drag more apps, if you wish. You can see how many home screens you have (and which one you’re on) by looking at the tiny line of dots that appears above the Dock and below the home screen’s icons.

Group similar apps into folders

Another way to group apps is by creating folders. Tap and hold on an icon until all the icons wiggle, and then drag one app onto another. Then, wait a second. Your iOS device will create a folder, and will give it a name based on its contents—for example “Business” or “Arcade.” If you prefer to name it yourself, tap next to the name and type in a new one. Then, tap outside the folder’s contents, or press the home button, to close the folder. To launch an app in that folder, tap the folder, and then tap the app’s icon.

Put a folder of apps in the Dock

Put a folder of apps in your iOS device's Dock so you can access more apps from any home screen.

You’ve seen how to use the Dock, and you’ve seen how to set up folders. Well, you can also put a folder in the Dock. Instead of only having four apps accessible from your iPhone’s home screen, you could have three apps and a folder, or up to four folders. Once you’ve moved a folder into the Dock, tap to open it, and then tap an app to launch it.

Arrange apps in iTunes

While you can do everything I’ve described on your iOS device, sometimes it’s easier to get organized in iTunes. Connect your iOS device to your Mac. Then, in iTunes, click theDevices list to find your device, and then click the Apps tab. You’ll see your main home screen, and all your apps, along with other home screens you’ve set up. You can drag any app to any home screen, create folders, delete apps and more. When you’re finished, click Sync so iTunes sends the new setup to your iOS device.

You may find it easier to rearrange your apps within iTunes.

Use Spotlight to launch apps

You don't need to remember which folder an app is in with Spotlight; just type a few letters of its name to make it appear.

If you have lots of apps, tapping folders and swiping through multiple home screens might be a lot of work. There’s another way you can do this: Just swipe to the right from the first home screen to bring up the Spotlight search field. Type a few letters of the app you want to launch, and, when you see it in the results list, tap it to launch it.

Dictate to Spotlight

If you don’t like typing, you can save some time by dictating to Spotlight. When the Spotlight search field is visible, tap the microphone icon on the keyboard, next to the spacebar. Say the name of the app you want to use and then tap Done. (Note that you probably won’t see the name you’ve dictated until after you tap Done.) Tap your app in the search results list.

Have Siri launch apps

Using Siri to open apps can be faster than using the Spotlight search field. Press and hold the home button until the Siri screen displays. Say “Launch app name,” or “Open app name.” Siri will open the app, or, if there are more than one that contains the word you said, it will show a list of apps that match. Tap one to launch it.

Switch to another open app

To see which apps are running, double-press the home button. You’ll see a row of icons at the bottom of your screen; these are apps that are currently active. Swipe to the right to see more apps, and tap the one you want to switch to when you find it.

IOS TRICKS AND TIPS: SIRI TRICKS

IOS TRICKS AND TIPS: SIRI TRICKS: Your own private IMDb.  You probably already know that you can use Siri to get information about what’s playing at movie theaters near you...

IPAD TRICKS & TIPS

We'd be the first to admit using Apple's iPad isn't exactly rocket science, and we will also admit that Apple is at the top of its game when it comes to easy-to-use products.

But if you didn't take the time to read the owner's manual, we have some quick and neat tips and tricks that can help you get the most out of your tablet.

From managing the sound levels of your tunes, to organization your apps, to muting in the case of emergency, we have 10 handy hints for you to work your way to iPad ninja status.

Check out our tried and tested iPad tips, and impress your friends when they come to you for help with their iPad. Be sure to let us know if there are any shortcuts you'd like to share in the comments below.

1. Open Safari Links in a New Page

Remember that you can have multiple webpages loaded in Safari simultaneously. So if you're not sure about a link or want to keep your current page open, you can open the link in a new window (a little like tabbed browsing, but without the tabs).

To do this, rather than just tap the link, press and hold it until you see an option to "Open in New Page," hit this, and Safari will open a new window and load that link.

To manage the pages you have open or to return to another page, look to the top of the browser and there you'll see an icon that looks like two overlapping boxes or pages. If you press the icon, it will show you all the pages you have open (just like in the graphic below). From here you can tap any of the "X" buttons to close an individual page.

2. Activate AutoFill in Safari

The AutoFill option is a great time saver for anyone who knows and trusts anyone else who might use their iPad, as it automatically remembers your usernames and passwords for services.

To activate it, ensure your details are saved in "Contacts," then head to "Settings," choose "Safari," and click "AutoFill" and then set both options to "On" and select your file from "Contacts" in the "My Info" field.

3. Quick Mute Your iPad

Although the iPad has no "mute" option, you can still quickly silence your device by pressing and holding the down volume button — this quickly drops the volume down to zero in about two seconds.

4. Make Use of the Home Button

The iPad's "Home" button will take you to your homepage if pressed once, but it has a few other functions worth knowing about as well.

To access these functions, go to "Settings," press "General," then choose "Home." Here you can select which function you'd like a double press of the button to carry out, such as opening up "Spotlight Search" or accessing the iPod.

From this area in "Settings" you can also set "iPod Controls" to "On," which will mean when you have music playing and you're in another program or app, a double press of the "Home" button will bring up basic music controls.

5. Add a Website Shortcut to Your Home Screen

Although you won't need to do this for Mashable (thanks to our free iPad app) there is a quick way to add shortcuts to your favorite sites directly to your home screen.

Head to the webpage you want to create the shortcut to, tap the "+" sign at the top of the page and select "Add to Home Screen." This will then create a shortcut icon offering one-click access to your most-used sites.

6. Make iBooks More User-Friendly

The iBooks app's swipe-to-turn the page function is really nice when you first play with it, but the truth is (and it's especially true if you're a fast reader) it gets a little old if you're settling down to read more than a few pages.

You can tweak iBook's settings to offer a shortcut to go to the next page, if you simply tap the left margin.

To make this the case, head to "Settings," then under the "Apps" section, press "iBooks," then "Tap Left Margin" and make sure "Next Page" is ticked, which will change it from the default option — the previous page.

7. Activate iPod Sound Check

You know how annoying it is when your songs play at different volume levels, leaving you either scrambling to get across the room to turn it down, or sighing with frustration as an inaudible track comes on? Well there's a way to stop that from happening.

All you need do is navigate yourself to "Settings," click "iPod" and then turn "Sound Check" to "On," which will help regulate volume levels.

Oh, and while you're there, take note of the "EQ" menu that offers a ton of different sound options depending on the style of music you're listening to, or you can regulate sound levels for spoken words to help optimize sound for podcasts or audio-books.

8. Squeeze Six Apps into the Dock

Until iOS4.2 arrives in November, bringing with it the joy of folders, there are a few ways to help organize your apps and make items you use often more accessible.

You can have 11 pages to arrange your apps on, so although there's no way to make a games folder, for example, you could drag and drop all your games apps onto one page to create a themed "games" page.

Also, the dock can have up to six apps in it, so you can pick two more than the standard layout offers (just touch an app until it wiggles then drag it into the dock to move it) to make more items closer to hand from any screen.

9. Use a Space Bar Trick

In addition to the keyboard shortcuts, tips and tricks we have previously brought you for iOS devices, we have one more spacebar trick to share.

The spacebar will create as many spaces as there are fingers on it, so one finger will produce one space, two fingers two spaces and so on.

We can't see that this is going to be the most useful trick you'll ever learn, but it's interesting if for no other reason than to see how the Apple engineers had fun with the display's multi-touch capabilities.

10. Download the iPad User Guide eBook

Did you know you can download the official Apple iPad User Guide as an e-Book?

While available in Safari's pre-loaded bookmarks, for offline access to the guide simply download it for free from the iBooks store, and search for "iPad".

Download it now, and the next time you have a iPad query and are not hooked up to the 'net you'll be ready to go.