Setup your iPhone 3G

The iPhone 3G is not really like your typical smart phone where you can straight away use all the features out of the box. Most of the features work but there are certain things you need to do before you start using your iPhone 3G. The reason is because the iPhone 3G is actually setup for the US out of the box. When you first use your iPhone 3G, you'll realise that it's set to the US regional settings, and even your world clock is set to Cupertino, which is Apple's home base.

There are 3 things you need to do/check once you get your brand new shiny iPhone 3G:

1. Sync your iPhone 3G with iTunes
   
   Download the latest iTunes, install it, and connect the iPhone 3G to that computer using the provided sync cable. When you first connect it, it will ask you to register with Apple. Please register with it because its at that point of time, it will configure your iPhone to your country. In my case, its Singapore.
   
   Note that if you miss this step, you might not be able to connect to AppStore from the iPhone.
   
   iTunes will also update any new firmware for the iPhone. This is important as the iPhone 3G is still relatively a new product, and new products will always have some problems here and there. The current version as of the date of this post is v2.02. I'm expecting v2.03 this month, which should improve the stability of the iPhone.
   
   
2. Goto Settings > General > International and check your Region Format.
   
   Your region format should show your country. If it doesn't, tap on Region Format and set it to your own country.
   
   If the iPhone 3G date and time still does not show your local time, goto Settings > General > Date & Time. Set your time zone and date and time accordingly.
   
   
3. Tap on Clock and add your own country's clock to the application.
   
   This is just my personal preference because I'm not interested in Cupertino's time. :) I basically removed the Cupertino's clock and replaced it with Singapore.
   

Once you have setup your iPhone 3G, play around with the AppStore... There are many free applications you will be able to download and use into your iPhone.