Setting up your new phone

If you like gadgets like we do, there is nothing quite as exciting as cracking open the box on a new electronic gizmo. Mobile phones are especially exciting to unbox because of all the odds and ends that come bundled with the handset; there are headphones, hands-free adapters, cables for charging and data transfers, CDs with software and a couple of bonuses too if you're lucky.

Copying contacts

A complete address book is central to personalising your new phone. Before removing the SIM from your old phone make sure you have copied the contacts from the phone's address book to the SIM card. To do this, open the contacts menu, select the contacts to transfer (often there's a Select All option), choose copy then set the destination as "SIM memory".

Before switching phones make sure you copy your contacts from your old address book to your SIM card.
(Credit: CNET Australia)

In some rare cases, like Apple's iPhone, there is no option in the address book to do this. The alternative is to sync your contacts with a PC program, like Microsoft Outlook, then re-sync with your new phone once you're ready to use it.

You might find that if you've switched phone brands, say from Sony Ericsson to Nokia, that the formatting of your old phone numbers will look strange. Looking at Sony Ericsson's contacts formatting on other manufacturer's phones puts a "/1" after the first number assigned to a contact, like "Tom/1". This looks ugly but doesn't affect the phone number field so you don't need to make any further adjustments. Unfortunately, there's no way to fix this automatically as far as we know.

Installing a SIM card

Once the phone and all its components are out of the box you'll want to install the SIM card first, then the battery and then connect the phone to a power supply via the included wall charger. In most instances the SIM card for your new phone will be installed by a sales assistant at the mobile phone store; however, if you've been given the phone by a friend or bought the phone online then this is something you'll need to do yourself.

Line up the clipped corner of the SIM with the image on the phone.
(Credit: CNET Australia)

When you remove the battery cover on a new phone you'll find that the battery compartment is empty and the SIM card slot should be clearly indicated by a small picture of a SIM card. Usually this slot is a small metal grille that you slide the SIM under, though some Nokia phones use a concealed slider drawer to house the SIM and these can be a little harder to find. Once you've identified the SIM slot simply slide the card in using the graphic printed on the phone as a guide. Each SIM card has one corner removed and this will help instruct you on the proper placement.

While your phone is charging, take some time to familiarise yourself with the phone and any included software. Most phones will ship with software included in the sales package. Often this software will help you sync files from your PC to your phone, like music tracks or videos. With more advanced smartphones this software may also let you set-up email accounts, sync data between your business email server and the phone, or install drivers to let you use the phone as a 3G modem.

You might also like to read the manual. This probably sounds painfully obvious, but new phones tend to have shortcuts built into the software to make navigating the menus and applications easier, and the fastest way to discover what these are is to thumb through the user guide.