Ebay | Glenn Ward

My (08.09) favourite iPhone Apps, Social Media, Sat Nav, Remote Access and more…

The launch of the iPhone 3GS has brought about many new and more advanced apps. On my 3G my most used apps were (in order) email, maps, iRail, twitterific, wordpress, facebook, eBay, aroundme. These are the apps that I found to be a massive timesaver and helped streamline my life. I could do my emails, blogging and stay up to date with my Twitter followings on the train and even check my eBay. Getting out of London at the weekends and having maps in my pocket meant that I rarely got lost, in conjunction with AroundMe I rarely even spent time looking for things.

Current Favourites
Using maps for directions has evolved, I now use Copilot Live, I used to have this on a Touch Diamond and to be honest put my Tom Tom away after a while. I have written about other 3D Sat Nav apps available at the App Store. Also I am a big fan of the remote access app, LogMeIn Ignition, although slow (possibly down to network and WiFi speeds) the concept is sound and I’m sure as soon as O2 upgrade their the 3G network and if I hardwire into the modem I might not be editing video from my iPhone but I will be conducting most other tasks. Also, look into Internet Tethering, o2 now support it and I’m sure it will be quicker and more reliable as it was developed by Apple but it does carry a monthly bolt on charge price depending on your data needs.

A few nice to haves
A few websites I often visit have developed iPhone apps, I don’t use these on a daily basis but they are useful to have in my pocket. Wikipedia, always good as a quick reference and very easy to use. Google Earth, better in a WiFi area but often very handy. Rightmove saves some time looming at houses and also provides a location tool so if anyone ever asks you, I wonder what house prices are like in this area? You can tell them.

The intelligent thing about these apps is that the developers have thought about why you should use the app rather than just navigate to the site using Safari.

Future Apps
The introduction of the video camera to the iPhone has opened the door for real time apps and I am especially looking forward to the augmented reality stuff. Here’s a few teasers. London Tube Signs, Twitter real time location tweets and even a Sat Nav that displays the route on reality not a 3D generated image.

Guide to beating the Credit Crunch – Online Bargains and Discount Codes

It used to be that saving money took time so if you calculated your time spent saving, you might as well have just paid full price in the first place. So here’s a short guide or even directory on how to save money on nearly everyone of your purchases.

Bargain Sharers and Discount Codes
Ok my first tip and I check this on a daily basis is hotukdeals, this probably the largest bargain sharing site in the UK that avid bargain hunters post their finds both online and in-store constantly. The site works like a forum and so when you hit the site there will only be the offers rated and approved by the admin. I always push the all button in the top left hand corner of the page to display all recent posts. You’ll notice two things, Quidco and cash back and I’ll talk about these later. There are other similar sites, rboffers but posts are often replicated and there is not as great a following.

Bargain / Clearance Sites
So we all want to know where we can get the cheap stuff from online, here’s a few links to start you off you may find more as you browse through the offers on sites such as hotukdeals.

Saverstore
Halfcost
Bargaincrazy
Cdiscounts
Bigpockets

Cash back
There are a few cash back sites although one stands out from the rest for me, it’s simple to use and provides results. I average around 10 pound cash back each month which is paypalled to me. Once I have found what I want to buy I visit the Quidco site sign in and search for the retailer, follow the link to the site and shop as usual. Quidco takes the first fiver you earn but this can be swallowed up in one purchase and is a small price to pay considering how much you can make back. You’ll be surprised at how many stores offer cash back so shop around to get the best possible combination of price and Quidco.

Discount Codes
Unfortunately, just googling for discounts is a bit hit and miss, when you find a code this way it has often expired. Best practise is to go directly to the source, websites such as hotukdeals – click on vouchers, rboffsrs, martinmoneyexpert. Remember that these codes often work in conjunction with Quidco….. double prices! Intellectual quote, Toy Story.

Free Stuff
We had a phase during university of seeing who could get the most free stuff and my Hotmail account is still paying the price for now. My most successful place to start was martin money saving experts forum under the free stuff section and follow the posts to the website that take your fancy, make sure you have a decent auto fill plugin or toolbar in your browser and fill in your details in seconds. Go for the odds not all come good but I received a lot of free stuff in the post soon after some of which like Jack Daniels I was still receiving gifts up until I moved to London.

Buying and Selling
I have done my fair share of buying and selling. Mainly I have sold on eBay and have even bought to sell too when I had the time. I’m not going to go into some massive guide to eBay buy will mention the pitfalls I have come across. The biggest thing to mention is that ebays listing fee is not all you will pay when selling your goods, at the end of the sale eBay will also add on top a final value fee calculated at a percentage of the value of the highest bid. On top of this you will pay Paypal a nominal fee for accepting payment using their service and if you don’t intend to use your paypal money then you will pay again to transfer an amount under £50 into your bank account. I hope I have not put you off using the site, I still use it for getting rid of things that would otherwise gone in the bin or storage but I don’t plan to get rich there or even find many bargains there anymore. Gone are the days of the car boot sale prices, eBay is now a traders marketplace and you have to know where to look for a good price. Try building up a collections of eBay shops in your favourites the sell what you are interested in at good prices and always check the postage charge, not all sellers will calculate an accurate charge. There are alternatives to eBay. Loot is still going strong, Freeads, ebid, Vivastreet, Gumtree and the new Swoopo although I don’t know whether I am a fan yet!