Did you upgrade from one smartphone to another over the Christmas period? Maybe you jumped from one operating system, like Google's Android, to Windows Phone 7 from Microsoft or iOS with the iPhone?

But it doesn't have to be that way! Follow a few simple steps, and your new smartphone will up and running with all the info you need from your last one in double-quick time. Today, we bring you a How-To guide from gadget helpline specialists the Geek Squad, who list five simple steps for an easy smartphone switchover.

1. Email and Calendars
If using your phone to access your email and calendar then the last thing you want is to see messages and appointments dropping out of your inbox. Transferring onto a commonly used system like Gmail could help you seamlessly transfer not only your email, but also your calendar and phone directory from one phone to another, because the system is compatible with both Google's Android and Apple's iOS software platforms. Apple's iCloud service is also a useful tool, as it allows iPhone users to access third party systems like Google's Calendar and Mail services, meaning you won't miss out on your appointment or message.

2. Messaging services
Many phones offer access to social messaging services such as Twitter or Facebook - it's relatively simple to switch over your account onto a new device, but do make sure it's been disabled on your old phone to stop any 'friends' accessing your feed! The only exception to this rule is Blackberry Messenger which is a service that only Blackberry supports, so if you're leaving the RIM world to join Android or Apple, you won't be able to take your BB friends with you. Consider alternative instant messengers like Twitter and Windows Live Messenger, both of which are supported across multiple platforms beyond mobile alone.

3. Text Messages
Text messages often hold some of our closest memories these days - from organising a first date to a heartfelt message from family, so the last thing you want to do is throw away those memories when you make the switch. Unfortunately transferring your old SMS text messages to your new phone can be a bit tricky. There is some nifty third-party software out there, which does the job for a small premium. Try SMS Export, available through the App Store. The App allows you to export your SMS messages in text format, which can then be transferred onto the MicroSD card in your new Android phone. Finally, download an App from the Android market like SMS Migrator to complete the process.

4. Music
Smart phones are being used more and more as our portable music players, and with downloads available direct to the handset it's important you don't lose any of your collection when you switch phones. The best way to do this is to use a music library on your computer - iTunes or Window's Media Player are the easiest to set up and use. It's simply a case of plugging in your old phone, transferring the music to your library, and then transferring your collection over to your new phone - you can always edit out any musical mistakes when you make the transition!

5. Data
Users tend to particularly worry about losing their data when switching or upgrading their phone, but it's important to remember that things can go wrong at any point, even with a tried and tested handset that you've owned for months, which is why it's a good idea to regularly back up. You can change your preferred settings so that your phone is automatically backed-up to a Cloud service, which means you can forget about needing to sync using your handset USB cable or any potential data loss.

For more gadget help from the Geek Squad, check their site here.

Fancy nabbing yourself a cheap as chips iPad? Well today may well be your lucky day. In what is obivously an attempt to get rid of surplus stock ahead of th eiPad 2 launch, T-Mobile are teaming up with Groupon to offer the first 1,000 members of the group buying session who commit to the deal an original iPad for just £49.

The deal runs for the entirity of the day, but is strictly limited to the 1,000 units T-Mobile have allocated for the offer. No more, and no less either. Either all 1,000 are sold or nobody gets one.

According to T-Mobile, "Customers will be emailed a web sales number, which they will then need to call and quote the Groupon voucher code. The order will then be processed by T-Mobile and the iPad dispatched to the customer."

There is a catch however; the deal also includes a £27 a month data contract on a 24 month deal. It drops to £25 if you're an exisiting customer, but that's still a fair bit of moolah for on a long old contract for what is now essentially last-gen kit.

Still, if you need to get that magical tablet in your life, this is probably the cheapest you're going to find it for a long, long time.

Hurry on over to www.groupon.co.uk for more details.

Your bank balance may be about to breathe a sigh of relief, as Amazon have just announced they are to bring their super-cheap "Black Friday" deals to the UK in time for the Christmas shopping rush.

While Black Friday will be very familiar to US readers, it's not quite the same shopping institution over here in Blighty. Always the weekend following Thanksgiving celebrations in the US, shops and online stores slash their prices in order to encourage shoppers to spend a bit more so close to Christmas, and to part with their hard-earned Thanksgiving bonuses.

Shops become mad rushes to grab insane deals, with tech chains notably offering bargain deals on otherwise expensive items.

So, for the first time ever, Amazon will be replicating many of the deals for UK users on Friday 26th November. They're promising "unbelievable, pinch-me-to-prove-they're-real, Black Friday deals", the nature of which will be revealed next Monday, 22nd November.

Click here for more info.

Ever taken a screwdriver to the innards of a beloved, dying gadget in the hopes of breathing new life into it? Well you shouldn't bother according to the Gadget Helpline, as in many cases there is a much simpler solution; switching it off and back on again.

In March the Gadget Helpline asked 1,000 flustered callers to try manually rebooting their hardware, and in 274 cases the problem was fixed. That's over a quarter of gadget-related problems, or 27.4% for those not up to the maths.

"It might seem like the simplest piece of advice you can give someone with a faulty gadget but removing the power source from electrical devices, waiting five seconds and then turning gadgets back on resolves a remarkably high number of technical issues," says GadgetHelpline.com founder Crispin Thomas.

"In many cases people tend to think that restarting their device while the power is still supplied is sufficient to fix a gadget problem but in certain scenarios that isn't enough," says GadgetHelpline.com I.T. Director Nigel Coward. "A soft reboot means that rogue data could still be stored in memory, potentially continuing to cause system instability. Performing a 'hard reboot' on the other hand by removing the battery ensures that the system memory of the device is entirely reset to its default 'just switched on' state and tends to solve a wide array of problems."

For more tips for the technically-inept, visit www.gadgethelpline.com.

Each week the Xbox Live team put up a couple of offers to entice Gold subscribers to start flashing the moolah. Sadly, more often than not the games they pick to discount are rubbish. Not this week however.

For one week only as of today, the excellent Shadow Complex will be available for the super-low price of 800 MS points. That's just £6.20 in real world money.

Shadow Complex has rightly picked up numerous "Xbox Live Arcade Game of the Year" accolades. A "2.5D" side-scrolling shooter/RPG/Adventure hybrid, it mixes all the best bits from classic games such as Super Metroid, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Flashback, and wraps them up in flashy 720p graphics, the likes of which rarely grace a downloadable title.

If it's previous 1200 MS point price tag put you off, you've really no excuse now. It's a superb title that could easily surpass many retail big-budget offerings, and right now costs you the same as a portion of fish and chips.

Video review courtesy of IGN

Looking for some cool new apps to pop onto your brand-spanking new Blackberry Storm 2, but can't afford to dip too deep into your wallet? Then here are 3 top-notch apps that you can download, totally for free, each with the Tech Digest seal of approval.

7 Digital

With 7 Digital you can browse the latest charts and preview tracks, then pick your favourites and download DRM-free MP3's straight to your smartphone. 7 Digital also lets you integrate playlists you've already set up and MP3's you already own with an advanced media player, letting you take your whole music collection on the go. Who need's iTunes, eh?
http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/3310

Viigo

Viigo gives one click access to news, weather, entertainment features, live sports scores, cinema listings, Twitter and lots more in an intuitive UI designed specifically for the Blackberry Storm 2. It's simple to use and is a great way of tracking loads of information at once, removing the need to tap in URLs or navigate web browsers.
http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/558

Windows Live Messenger

Just like its desktop namesake, Windows Live Messenger lets you chat in real-time with your contacts. Taking Messenger on the go is great for arranging meet-ups with friends, and quickly lets you access information like addresses or email details.
http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/687

For more apps, check out http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/.

It's not only the most hotly anticipated game of the year, it's also one of the priciest. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has a recommended retail price of £54.99. Sainsbury's however have managed to undercut all the major competition, selling the game for just £26.

In an aim to make as many copies of the game available to the public as possible, Sainsbury's will only be allowing one copy per customer. However, it's not uncommon for retailers to run out of stock of games, and at a price like that, Sainsbury's are in for quite a busy day.

You can pick up your copy of Modern Warfare 2 here (Xbox 360/ PS3). If there are any copies left that is.

With the sad and slightly tinged with irrelevance news of project Kangaroo biting the dust, we here at TD wanted to share our alternative suggestions for good, damn good and downright excellent places to watch TV on the internet.

So, instead of waffling on - which believe me, I do like to do - about why Kangaroo's failure isn't so bad and yet is important in terms of intelliectual property, let's get straight to the heart of it. What are we going to do now? Where should we watch TV online. Well, this is the Tech Digest answer.

Sir, ma'am, click on the picture below and we'll explain...

More TD Tips: Gadgets to use on the Toilet | Self-defence gadgets

Buying Christmas presents has become a very easy thing since the dawn of the fabulous Tech Digest Top 100 Gifts of 2008 countdown. But if you want to be some kind of maverick about the whole thing and go off book, then before you go making any grave tech errors heed our warning on today's TD Tips.

As always with this feature, I canvass the opinions of our four writers and today the question is: what is the worst tech present you could receive this Christmas. The rules are that they must truly hate said gadget and, as always on TD Tips, it must be available to buy today.

Click on the poxy device below to begin the this gallery of ghouls.

Related posts: Best Christmas websites | really expensive gifts

Everyone has their own way of getting the festive season right and today on TD Tips we're going to let you into our little secrets on the best Christmas websites money doesn't need to buy.

There's very little in the way of rules. It has to be up and running and that's about it. Click on the very large NO to begin.

We're sick of the credit crunch. In fact, I'm not going to mention it again in this post.

Christmas is about spending flipping great wads of cash on getting the wrong presents for your loved ones who then pretend to really like what you got them before shoving it in the cupboard or having the balls to ask you for the receipt.

If someone has offered you a bottomless purse for your gift this year, or you are a very rich but, until now, silent benefactor of either Gary, Andy, Duncan or me then here are a few ideas of what to get.

The rules for TD Tips this week are pretty simple: 1) It must be available to buy now, and 2) it must be bloody expensive.

Click on the pricey bugger below to begin. It'll cost you a fiver though.

Related posts: Self Defence Gadgets | Gadgets to use on the toilet

Well, we thought we'd get a little more savory today after last week's celebration of World Toilet Day here on TD Tips and instead we've chosen to take another serious issue and make is as silly as possible.

With all the media hoo-har over the possibility of handing potentially lethal taser weapons over to non-specialist trained police officers, who may or may not suffer inferiority complexes and large chips on their shoulders, we thought we'd take our pick of the best non-lethal self defence gadgets that money can buy.

The rules are that it must not kill and, as always on TD Tips, it must be available to buy now. Click on the dangerous image below to begin.

Related posts: Winter Gadgets | Portable gaming

Today is World Toilet Day! Didn't know that, did you? No, you probably won't meet many people who knew about it either. Not exactly the first one you pen into your diary at the beginning of the year.

All the same, World Toilet Day is here, whether you're ready or not, to celebrate the humble, yet vitally important, toilet and make us consider its importance. Two and a half billion worldwide go without one which is more than an icky thought when you consider the amount of problems caused in the spread of parasites and disease. So, next time you sit upon your cool, comfy piece of porcelain remember how lucky you are.

In the mean time, we at Tech Digest join in the World Toilet Day celebrations by considering what a wonderfully productive place the toilet can be. There's plenty you can get done, apart from the obvious, and so, here for your questionable pleasure are our tips for our favourite gadgets to use on the toilet.

The rules are simple, you must be able to carry it in and operate the device while your pants are down, and, as always on TD Tips, it must be available for purchase now. Enjoy and don't forget to flush.

Click on the image below to begin

It's that time of the week again. Time for us to pick a topic, seemingly at random, and tell you what you should buy to get the most out of it. This week it's portable gaming devices. I'm being quite broad with that definition - I'm including anything from proper consoles, to mobile phones, to electronic sudoku on a keyring. Unsurprisingly, however, no-one plumped for the keyring.

Click the world-famous Nintendo DS below to begin your magical portable gaming tour.

Gosh, did you get snow last night? We did. A veritable blizzard of the stuff. In London, too - a "heat island". It got me thinking - we don't get a lot of winter gadgets. Tonnes of summer ones, tonnes of Christmas ones, but no winter gadgets.

So I sent the Tech Digest team hunting far and wide for the gadgets most useful when the nights draw in. Dan got lost in the process, and has somehow ended up in the southern hemisphere, so I'm afraid there's no gadget from him.

Click the picture below for our favourite winter gadgets.

Sonic the Hedgehog was voted the UK's favourite games character in a survey of 500 people as announced yesterday in a part of a promotion for the upcoming London Games Festival.

We were not particularly happy with this at Tech Digest. I was quite amused to see Blanka from Street Fighter make it to number 10 but, on the whole, the list was a rather bland collection of the Marios, Donkey Kongs and Lara Crofts of this world.

These are all very worthy characters but where's the imagination? Where are those precious gaming memories? So, TD Tips today takes a slightly different turn in bringing you our favourite game characters of all time, which only leaves one question: Which is yours? Let us now in the comments and, of course,...

...click on the image below to start the tour.

It's all been a bit cash heavy in the last few weeks with the TD Tips for best mobile phone deals and expensive, stylish laptops. So, this week we bring you some blissfully wonga-free websites to tell you what's worth doing in, around and nowhere near town at all. I can't guarantee you won't spend money when you get wherever you choose to go, but I can promise you five good ways of searching for what to do with your spare time.

So without any further ado, here are our tips for the top reviews, guides & listings websites. No rules this time, except that the site has to be up and running.

Click the image below to begin.

It's all iPhones, Google phones and the BlackBerry Storm today as well. But we're not all made of money. What about good honest old phones; contracts you can afford? Well, today on TD Tips, myself and the Tech Digest team give you our advice on what we'd do, if we were you, and you were currently looking for a new contract.

The rules are as follows: 1) You've got £450 to spend, 2) You must be able to use your phone (i.e. some minutes and texts must be included), 3) you can go SIM only but you must declare what phone you will be using and 4) as always on TD Tips, it must be available to buy now. Oh, and if you know of any great off-the-shelf deals yourself, then let us know.

Click the picture below to see what we've come up with

Last week saw the best digital cameras you can buy for under 200 quid but today on TD tips we're getting a little more flash. What with the release of the £2,999 limited edition Sony Vaio Bond Z Series laptop today - I posed this question to the TD team:

Which laptop would you buy purely for looks? Which one, for you, is the most stylish?

The rules were simple: 1) no budget, 2) no precious metals or gemstones and 3) absolutely no Swarovski crystals. The last rule, as with all TD Tips, is that it has to be available to buy now. Click the suave machine below to begin.

It's all very well talking about what's about to hit the shelves and how brand spanking new and expensive all sorts of techno-gadgetry is but sometimes you want to buy something now. So, TD Tips is our new Wednesday morning regular where each of us five writers on TD puts our necks on the lines and says what we would buy when push comes to shove. The only rule is that it has to be available now and there has to be a link to prove it. Oh, and no second hand allowed.

What with Photokina 2008, I thought we'd get the ball rolling of our choice of digital cameras - but not any old digital camera. We'd probably all buy the latest Nikon and Canon SLRs given the choice, so instead we've each got a budget of £200 to buy the image grabber of our choice. Here's what we came up with. Click the image below to take a look.