Now you’ve unwrapped your new iPhone or iPad and had a play about, you may be wondering if there is anything you really should install or set up.  We’ll address what you should install in another article, but one of the first things to set up is Find My iPhone.

If you’re new to Apple and aren’t sure what this is, Find My iPhone is a service used to locate your iPhone or iPad should it go missing or get stolen.  Previously something which required you to be a fully paid-up member of MobileMe, it was recently changed to being a standalone free service.  Very helpful, we’re sure you agree.  Here is a quick guide on how to get started:

• If you’re very new to Apple, you’ll need to have an iTunes account and know your Apple ID and password.  You’ll need all this to download the Find My iPhone app, plus to sign-in to MobileMe.
• On your iPhone go to Settings, Mail/Contacts/Calendars, Add Account and MobileMe.
• Enter your Apple ID and password.  This is the same as you use for iTunes.
• Agree to the Terms of Service if prompted.
• A screen with an on/off slider for Find My iPhone will appear. Slide it to on, agree to the message and hit Save.

That’s it!  You can view the location of your iPhone via the application you downloaded, or by visiting me.com.  All you need to do is sign-in with the same Apple ID you used above, and the location of your phone will appear on Google Maps.

Add your iPad by following the same procedure.  One thing to note about this new free version of Find My iPhone, is that it only applies to the iPhone 4 and iPad, so if you’ve got a 3G or a 3GS, you’re going to need to pay for the full MobileMe program.