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Congratulations on your new iPhone. There's never been a better time to get one—especially since with the advent of iOS 5 and iCloud, the phone can do more than ever before. Even if you've had an earlier model, there's a lot that's new with the OS this time around. Whether you've got an iPhone 3GS, an iPhone 4, or the iPhone 4S, on any of the three major U.S. carriers, here's everything you need to know to get started:

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First, get a case. Boring advice, we know, but replacing an iPhone out of contract ain't cheap. The very first thing you should do is protect that delicate metal and glass slab—especially the iPhone 4 and 4S, which, in addition to glass touch screens, also have glass back panels.

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With hundreds to choose among, from unobtrusive bumper guards and clear plastic cases, to stylish, colorful designs and wilderness-minded rugged encasing, there's bound to be a carrying case out there that fits your needs and expresses your personality. Check out our roundup of Cool iPhone 4S cases, the Best iPhone 4 cases, and Cool Apple iPhone 4 Cases. At the very least, you may want the $29 iPhone 4 Bumper to improve reception (the 3GS and the 4S don't have this issue), though you probably won't need it if you live in a solid coverage area.

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Dive into iCloud. For the first time, you no longer need hook up a new iPhone to your computer via USB to get it up and running. After charging your handset, just power it up and follow the on-screen instructions. You'll need to make some choices, including the default language, whether you want to activate Location Services (for GPS-enabled apps), and which Wi-Fi network to connect to. Along the way, activate iCloud and choose the data you want to backup (such as contacts, browser bookmarks, or notes). Apple gives you 5GB of storage for free, and you can always buy more if you need it. Note that even software updates are over Wi-Fi now; you won't need the USB cable for those, either.

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Turn on Find My iPhone. Next, you'll want to enable the free Find My iPhone feature. You can enable it during the initial setup (it will prompt you), or at any time after by heading to Settings -> iCloud and scrolling down to Find My iPhone; then tap Allow. Later, if something happens to your phone, or if you just want to test it, install the free Find My iPhone app on another Apple device. That install will then let you find this phone, see its location on map, and remotely wipe out its contents if necessary—always a good idea, if only to protect your email accounts and address book info.

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Sync your movies, music, and photos over Wi-Fi. Syncing media still works over USB, and you'll need to do it once to register the iPhone with iTunes anyway. After that, enable Wi-Fi sync by heading to Settings -> General -> iTunes Wi-Fi Sync on the phone. It will work over Wi-Fi, but you'll need to plug it into a power outlet each time. (Okay, so it's still not completely wireless.) Note that iPhones can sync from your media collections automatically, choosing a random selection of what it thinks you'll like. But unless you don't have much music, or somehow discovered a magic 2TB iPhone that holds everything in the universe (and please, tell us if you did), you'll want to fiddle with the settings. Instead, choose the playlists, photo albums, and videos you want to sync. In iTunes, click your iPhone under "Devices" on the left, and then click Music along the top row of choices. Check the box next to Music, but then also check Selected playlists, albums, and genres; this way you can choose from your collection below. Do the same for movies, TV shows, and anything else you want to sync.

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Get some apps—especially free ones. The App Store contains almost half a million apps now, and many of the best ones are free. We've covered this extensively, so let us steer you in the right direction. Our 50 Best iPhone Apps story covers both free and paid apps as of late 2011, broken down by category (such as utility, reference, and games). If you want to stick with free apps only, have a look at the 40 Best Free iPhone apps for 2011 story, which covers all the important apps in alphabetical order instead. After that, the sky is the limit in Apple's App Store; Apple makes plenty of helpful suggestions to get you to buy more apps (of course), and you can track which ones are actually popular now using the various Top Paid and Top Free lists (overall and by category).

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Shop for media the right way. Apple wants you to buy music, videos, and digital books a la carte from the iTunes Store—and in some cases, that's the best way to go. But there are alternatives that can save you money. For example, Amazon MP3 sells unprotected music tracks often at a substantial discount over iTunes; pay particular attention to daily deals and $5 album sales. If you already have some Kindle books, you may want to continue buying from Amazon instead of iBooks just for the larger selection, although there's not as much money savings there. Finally, take a close look at streaming options; you may find all the new music you want with Pandora (Free for a Basic subscription) or the Spotify Premium $10-per-month playlist-style app. Especially for video, streaming saves money; check out both Netflix ($7.99 per month) and Hulu Plus ($7.99 per month) for copious, compelling TV and movie options.

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Keep an eye on battery life. After a few days, you should have a clearer picture of how long the iPhone lasts on a full charge, depending on what you do and how it's set up. You should see several days of standby battery life. If it's draining before the day is out, even without much use, there's a lot you can do to fix that. Try disabling notifications and location services wherever possible, and reduce the frequency of polling for e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter updates, for starters. Reception also plays a role; if you're in an area with spotty cellular coverage (even inside some large office buildings), your iPhone will strain to pick up signal, which hits the battery much harder. Check out our recent 6 Tips to Boost Your iPhone's Battery Life article for more details.

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Got a favorite iPhone tip for new owners? Let us know what it is in the comments below.

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