Droids Made Simple: For the Droid, Droid X, Droid 2, and Droid 2 Global (Made Simple (Apress))

DROIDS DROIDS Made Simple Martin Trautschold | Gary Mazo | Marziah Karch CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK PANTONE 123 C S...

Author: Gary Mazo | Martin Trautschold | Marziah Karch

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DROIDS

DROIDS Made Simple

Martin Trautschold | Gary Mazo | Marziah Karch

CYAN MAGENTA

YELLOW BLACK PANTONE 123 C

SPOT MATTE

Day in the Life of an DROID User Sometimes it’s easier to learn by watching someone else use his or her DROID. The next best thing is to read about it yourself. Follow along here to see how you might best use your DROID in your own personal and work life.

Day in the Life of a DROID User (continued) Email – Ch. 9 Voice – Ch. 2

LEARN MORE...

Utilities – Ch. 23

Contacts – Ch. 12 Widgets – Ch. 6

Games – Ch. 22

Browser – Ch. 11 New Media – Ch. 16

Media Sync – Ch. 25 New Media – Ch. 16

CONTINUED ON BACK COVER

this print for content only—size & color not accurate

Trim: 7.5 x 9.25 spine = 0.000" 000 page count

■ CONTENTS AT A GLANCE

DROIDS Made Simple For the DROID, DROID X, DROID 2, and DROID 2 Global

■■■ Martin Trautschold Gary Mazo Marziah Karch

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Droids Made Simple: For the Droid, Droid X, Droid 2, and Droid 2 Global Copyright © 2010 by Martin Trautschold, Gary Mazo, and Marziah Karch All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher. ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-4302-3279-7 ISBN-10 (electronic): 978-1-4302-3280-3 Printed and bound in the United States of America 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Trademarked names, logos, and images may appear in this book. Rather than use a trademark symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, logo, or image we use the names, logos, and images only in an editorial fashion and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. President and Publisher: Paul Manning Lead Editor: Steve Anglin Development Editor: James Markham Technical Reviewer: Phil Nicklinson Editorial Board: Steve Anglin, Mark Beckner, Ewan Buckingham, Gary Cornell, Jonathan Gennick, Jonathan Hassell, Michelle Lowman, Matthew Moodie, Duncan Parkes, Jeffrey Pepper, Frank Pohlmann, Douglas Pundick, Ben Renow-Clarke, Dominic Shakeshaft, Matt Wade, Tom Welsh Coordinating Editor: Laurin Becker Copy Editor: Mary Behr, Mary Ann Fugate, Patrick Meador Compositor: MacPS, LLC Indexer: BIM Indexing & Proofreading Services Cover Designer: Anna Ishchenko Distributed to the book trade worldwide by Springer Science+Business Media, LLC., 233 Spring Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10013. Phone 1-800-SPRINGER, fax (201) 348-4505, e-mail [email protected], or visit www.springeronline.com. For information on translations, please e-mail [email protected], or visit www.apress.com. Apress and friends of ED books may be purchased in bulk for academic, corporate, or promotional use. eBook versions and licenses are also available for most titles. For more information, reference our Special Bulk Sales–eBook Licensing web page at www.apress.com/info/bulksales. The information in this book is distributed on an “as is” basis, without warranty. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this work, neither the author(s) nor Apress shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this work.

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From Martin and Gary: This book is dedicated to our families—to our wives, Julie and Gloria, and to our kids, Sophie, Livvie and Cece, and Ari, Dan, Sara, Billy, Elise and Jonah.

Without their love, support, and understanding, we could never take on projects like this one.

From Marziah: This book is dedicated to my husband, Harold, the best stay-at-home dad our kids could ever have, and to our kids, Pari and Kiyan. Their support makes it possible, and their praise makes it worthwhile.

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Contents at a Glance ■Contents ......................................................................................................... vi ■About the Authors .........................................................................................xix ■About the Technical Reviewer ........................................................................xx ■Acknowledgments .........................................................................................xxi Part I: Quick Start Guide ..................................................................................... 1 ■Getting Around Quickly.................................................................................... 3 Part II: Introduction .......................................................................................... 29 ■Introduction ................................................................................................... 31 Part III: You and Your DROID. . ......................................................................... 37 ■Chapter 1: Getting Started ............................................................................. 39 ■Chapter 2: Typing, Voice, Copy, and Search .................................................. 67 ■Chapter 3: Sync Your DROID With Your Google Account ............................... 97 ■Chapter 4: Other Sync Methods ................................................................... 105 ■Chapter 5: Wi-Fi and 3G Connectivity .......................................................... 127 ■Chapter 6: Organize Your Home Screen: Icons and Widgets ....................... 137 ■Chapter 7: Making Phone Calls ................................................................... 151 ■Chapter 8: Bluetooth on Your DROID ........................................................... 189 ■Chapter 9: Email on Your DROID .................................................................. 197 ■Chapter 10: SMS, MMS, and Instant Messaging ......................................... 221 ■Chapter 11: Surfing the Web ....................................................................... 239 ■Chapter 12: Working with Contacts............................................................. 257 ■Chapter 13: Managing Your Calendar.......................................................... 273 iv


■Chapter 14: Enjoying Your Music ................................................................ 287 ■Chapter 15: Viewing Videos, TV Shows, and More ..................................... 311 ■Chapter 16: New Media: Reading Newspapers, Magazines, and E-books.......................................................... 325 ■Chapter 17: The Android Market ................................................................. 343 ■Chapter 18: Taking Photos and Videos ........................................................ 365 ■Chapter 19: Finding Your Way With Maps ................................................... 391 ■Chapter 20: Social Media and Skype ........................................................... 409 ■Chapter 21: Working With Notes and Documents........................................ 437 ■Chapter 22: Fun and Games ........................................................................ 469 ■Chapter 23: Utilities: Clock, Calculator, and Weather ................................. 479 ■Chapter 24: Troubleshooting ....................................................................... 493 Part III: Sync Media to your DROID ................................................................. 505 ■Chapter 25: DROID Media Sync.................................................................... 507 ■Appendix: DRIOD App Guide ........................................................................ 525 ■Index ............................................................................................................ 557

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Contents ■Contents at a Glance....................................................................................... iv ■About the Authors .........................................................................................xix ■About the Technical Reviewer ........................................................................xx ■Acknowledgments .........................................................................................xxi Part I: Quick Start Guide ..................................................................................... 1 ■Getting Around Quickly.................................................................................... 3 Learning Your Way Around .....................................................................................................................................4 Keys, Buttons, and Switches .............................................................................................................................4 The Launcher Icon .............................................................................................................................................5 The Four Buttons Along the Bottom ...................................................................................................................6 Short Tap and Long Press ..................................................................................................................................7 Adding, Removing, and Moving Widgets and Icons ...........................................................................................8 Switching Apps (aka Multitasking) ..................................................................................................................10 Starting and Exiting an App .............................................................................................................................11 Menus, Submenus, and Checkboxes ...............................................................................................................11 Reading the Top Status Bar .............................................................................................................................12 Flying on an Airplane – Airplane Mode .................................................................................................................15 Touch Screen Basics ............................................................................................................................................16 Touch Screen Gestures ....................................................................................................................................16 Tapping and Swiping or Flicking ..........................................................................................................................17 Swiping .................................................................................................................................................................17 Scrolling ...........................................................................................................................................................18 Double-Tapping ...............................................................................................................................................19 Pinching ...........................................................................................................................................................20

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App Reference Tables ...........................................................................................................................................21 Getting Started .................................................................................................................................................21 Stay Connected and Organized ........................................................................................................................23 Entertaining Yourself .......................................................................................................................................24 Staying Informed..............................................................................................................................................26 Networking Socially .........................................................................................................................................27 Being Productive ..............................................................................................................................................28

Part II: Introduction .......................................................................................... 29 ■Introduction ................................................................................................... 31 Congratulations on Your New DROID! ...................................................................................................................31 Referring to your DROID ...................................................................................................................................33 How This Book Is Organized ............................................................................................................................33 Quickly Locating Tips, Cautions, and Notes .....................................................................................................34 Free DROID Email Tips .....................................................................................................................................35 Part III: You and Your DROID. . ......................................................................... 37 ■Chapter 1: Getting Started ............................................................................. 39 Getting to Know Your DROID .................................................................................................................................39 What Is Included in the Box .............................................................................................................................40 Power and Lock Button ....................................................................................................................................40 Volume Buttons ................................................................................................................................................41 Slide to Unlock .................................................................................................................................................42 Slide to Mute ....................................................................................................................................................42 Using the Four Buttons Along the Bottom ........................................................................................................42 Slide-out Keyboard (for DROID and DROID 2)...................................................................................................43 Dedicated Camera Button ................................................................................................................................44 Inserting a Memory Card and Removing the Battery .......................................................................................44 Adjusting the Date, Time, Time Zone, and 24-Hour Format.............................................................................45 Adjusting the DROID’s Brightness ....................................................................................................................47 Charging Your DROID and Battery Life Tips .....................................................................................................48 Setting up Accounts on Your DROID .....................................................................................................................54 Setting up Your Google Account ......................................................................................................................55 Using Other Google Services............................................................................................................................55 Setting up More Types of Accounts .................................................................................................................56 Finding Your Email ...........................................................................................................................................56 Securing Your DROID ............................................................................................................................................57 Setting a Screen Lock ......................................................................................................................................57 Locking Your DROID .........................................................................................................................................60 Unlocking Your DROID ......................................................................................................................................60 Maintaining Your DROID ........................................................................................................................................60 Cleaning Your DROID Screen ...........................................................................................................................60 Cases and Protective Covers for Your DROID ...................................................................................................61 Where to Buy Your Covers ...............................................................................................................................61 What to Buy......................................................................................................................................................61 Saving Money on Phone Plans ..............................................................................................................................63 Data Packages .................................................................................................................................................63 Text, Picture, and Video Messaging Plans .......................................................................................................63 Equipment Insurance Plans .............................................................................................................................64 vii

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Mobile Wi-Fi Hot Spot ......................................................................................................................................64 Enhanced Voicemail Plans ...............................................................................................................................65 International Plans ...........................................................................................................................................65

■Chapter 2: Typing, Voice, Copy, and Search .................................................. 67 Typing on Your DROID ...........................................................................................................................................67 Two Ways to Type: Multi-touch and Swype .....................................................................................................68 The Device Keyboard (DROID 2 and Similar) ....................................................................................................73 Dictating Your Text...........................................................................................................................................74 Quickly Delete a Word at a Time ......................................................................................................................75 Typing on the Screen With Two Thumbs .........................................................................................................75 Moving the Cursor Around the Screen .............................................................................................................76 Saving Time With Suggested Words ................................................................................................................78 Using the Spell Checker ........................................................................................................................................80 Adding Words to the Custom User Dictionary ..................................................................................................80 Editing or Deleting Words From the User Dictionary........................................................................................81 Clearing Out the User Dictionary ......................................................................................................................81 Accessibility Options .............................................................................................................................................81 Accessibility – Voice Readouts (Reads the Screen) .........................................................................................82 Using Zoom Mode to Magnify a Portion of the Screen .....................................................................................83 Double Tap the Home Button Options ..............................................................................................................84 Pressing and Holding to Type Symbols (and More) .........................................................................................84 Toggling Caps Lock ...............................................................................................................................................85 Quickly Changing a Word ......................................................................................................................................85 Quickly Change Text .............................................................................................................................................86 Changing the Language and Keyboard Options ....................................................................................................87 Voice Command ....................................................................................................................................................88 Texting by Voice ...............................................................................................................................................89 Using Copy-and-Paste ..........................................................................................................................................89 Selecting Text ..................................................................................................................................................90 Cutting, Copying, and Pasting Text ..................................................................................................................90 Jumping Between Apps or Multitasking ..........................................................................................................90 Finding Things with Google Search ......................................................................................................................91 Modifying Your Search .....................................................................................................................................92 Performing the Search .....................................................................................................................................93 Performing a Voice Search ..............................................................................................................................93 Adding the Google Search Widget to Your Home Screen .................................................................................94 ■Chapter 3: Sync Your DROID With Your Google Account ............................... 97 Activating Your Phone ...........................................................................................................................................97 Activating Your Google Account ............................................................................................................................98 The Wonders of the Cloud ...................................................................................................................................100 More Reasons You Need a Google Account ...................................................................................................100 What to Do When your Calendar and Contacts are Not Already in Google ..........................................................102 Getting Information from Your Old Phone ......................................................................................................102 Fine Tuning Your DROID Sync ........................................................................................................................103 ■Chapter 4: Other Sync Methods ................................................................... 105 Backing up Your Outlook Data ............................................................................................................................107 Google Calendar Sync for Outlook (Windows PC) ...............................................................................................108 viii

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Supported Software (What You Need) . ...........................................................................................................108 Before You Install .............................................................................................................................................108 Downloading and Installing . ...........................................................................................................................109 Setting Up the Software . .................................................................................................................................109 Troubleshooting Google Calendar Sync . .........................................................................................................111 Missing Sync for Android . ....................................................................................................................................112 Reviews of the Missing Sync for Android . ......................................................................................................112 Supported Software (What You Need) . ...........................................................................................................113 Before You Install . ...........................................................................................................................................113 Downloading and Installing PC or Mac Software ............................................................................................113 Installing and Setting Up the DROID Software . ...............................................................................................116 Troubleshooting Missing Sync . .......................................................................................................................116 CompanionLink for Android . ................................................................................................................................117 Reviews of CompanionLink and DejaOffice App .............................................................................................118 Supported Software (What You Need) . ...........................................................................................................119 Before You Install . ...........................................................................................................................................119 Google Calendar First Time User . ...................................................................................................................119 Downloading and Installing the PC Software . .................................................................................................120 Installing and Setting Up the DROID Software (Only Required for USB Sync or CL Hosted Server options) . ....................................................................124 Troubleshooting CompanionLink . ...................................................................................................................125

■Chapter 5: Wi-Fi and 3G Connectivity ..........................................................127 Understanding Your Connection . .........................................................................................................................127 3G and 4G ........................................................................................................................................................128 Wi-Fi ................................................................................................................................................................129 Wi-Fi Security ..................................................................................................................................................130 Bluetooth..........................................................................................................................................................131 GPS ..................................................................................................................................................................131 Creating a Wi-Fi Hotspot with Your DROID. ..........................................................................................................131 Troubleshooting Connections . .............................................................................................................................133 Roaming ...........................................................................................................................................................133 Managing Power ..............................................................................................................................................134 Managing Syncing . .........................................................................................................................................134 Airplane Mode ..................................................................................................................................................135 VPN .......................................................................................................................................................................135 VNC ..................................................................................................................................................................136 Android’s Web Browser . .................................................................................................................................136 ■Chapter 6: Organize Your Home Screen: Icons and Widgets ....................... 137 Home Screen, Sweet Home Screen . ....................................................................................................................137 The App Tray .........................................................................................................................................................138 Adding App Icons to Your Home Screen . ........................................................................................................138 Adding Bookmarks to Your Home Screen . ...........................................................................................................139 Adding Shortcuts ..................................................................................................................................................141 Adding Folders ......................................................................................................................................................141 Widgets .................................................................................................................................................................142 Android Widget Size . .......................................................................................................................................143 Motorola Widgets ..................................................................................................................................................144 ix

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Adding and Resizing Motorola Widgets .........................................................................................................147 Removing Unwanted Items from the Home Screen ............................................................................................148 Wallpaper ............................................................................................................................................................148 Live Wallpapers..............................................................................................................................................149 Media Gallery .................................................................................................................................................150

■Chapter 7: Making Phone Calls ................................................................... 151 Getting Started with the Phone (Dialer) ..............................................................................................................151 Finding Your DROID Phone Number ...............................................................................................................152 Muting the Phone Ringer - Slide for Mute .....................................................................................................152 Examining Different Phone Views ..................................................................................................................153 Using the Dialer Keypad .................................................................................................................................154 Dialing Digits While on a Call .........................................................................................................................156 Using the Speaker Phone ...............................................................................................................................156 Talking Hands-free with a Bluetooth Headset or Bluetooth Car Stereo .........................................................156 Opening Other Apps While on a Call ..............................................................................................................157 Getting Back to the Phone From Any App ......................................................................................................157 Using Speed Dial on Your DROID (DROID 2 and DROID X only) ...........................................................................158 Adding Speed Dial Numbers ..........................................................................................................................158 Using Speed Dial ............................................................................................................................................159 Using the Recent View (Call Logs) ......................................................................................................................159 Placing Calls From Contacts ..........................................................................................................................164 Using Favorites ..............................................................................................................................................165 Voice Dialing .......................................................................................................................................................167 Voice Command .............................................................................................................................................167 Conference Calling ..............................................................................................................................................168 Accessing Voicemail ...........................................................................................................................................170 Setting up Basic Voicemail ............................................................................................................................170 Visual Voicemail .............................................................................................................................................172 Using Google Voice .............................................................................................................................................176 Installing the Google Voice App .....................................................................................................................176 Setting Up Google Voice .................................................................................................................................177 Placing Calls With Google Voice .....................................................................................................................179 Retrieving Google Voice Voicemails ...............................................................................................................179 Customizing Phone Options and Settings ...........................................................................................................180 Sounds, Ring Tones, and Vibration .....................................................................................................................182 Using Your Own Music As Your Ringtone.......................................................................................................182 Using Custom Ringtones and Alerts ...............................................................................................................182 Copying Custom Ringtones and Alerts to Your DROID ...................................................................................183 Selecting a New Ringtone for Text Messaging ..............................................................................................185 Assigning Custom Ringtones to Contacts ......................................................................................................186 Purchasing a Ringtone from the Amazon MP3 ...................................................................................................187 Buy Ringtones from the Android Market ........................................................................................................187 ■Chapter 8: Bluetooth on Your DROID ........................................................... 189 Understanding Bluetooth ....................................................................................................................................190 Turning On Bluetooth .....................................................................................................................................190 Pairing with a Bluetooth Device ..........................................................................................................................191 Pairing with a Headset or Any Bluetooth Device............................................................................................191 x

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Using the Bluetooth Headset .........................................................................................................................193 Bluetooth Stereo (A2DP) .....................................................................................................................................194 Connecting to a Stereo Bluetooth Device ......................................................................................................194 Disconnecting a Bluetooth Device ......................................................................................................................196

■Chapter 9: Email on Your DROID .................................................................. 197 Getting to Know Gmail ........................................................................................................................................198 Understanding Gmail Mobile ...............................................................................................................................199 Inbox and Archive ..........................................................................................................................................199 Priority Inbox ..................................................................................................................................................201 Labels ............................................................................................................................................................201 Automatic Filters ............................................................................................................................................203 The Settings Menu .........................................................................................................................................203 Web Version From Your Phone ......................................................................................................................206 Sending and Replying to Email ......................................................................................................................207 Search ............................................................................................................................................................208 Custom Signatures.........................................................................................................................................209 Notifications ...................................................................................................................................................209 Labels ............................................................................................................................................................211 Confirm Delete ...............................................................................................................................................211 Talk and Other Missing Gmail Features ..............................................................................................................211 Google Task List.............................................................................................................................................212 Buzz ...............................................................................................................................................................212 Multiple Gmail Accounts .....................................................................................................................................212 Switching Between Accounts ........................................................................................................................213 Deleting Accounts ..........................................................................................................................................214 The Email App .....................................................................................................................................................214 Exchange Accounts on Android .....................................................................................................................214 Turning Off Ringtones in the Email App .........................................................................................................214 Outlook Web Access ...........................................................................................................................................215 Corporate Sync Accounts ....................................................................................................................................215 Universal Inbox ...................................................................................................................................................215 Reading Attachments..........................................................................................................................................217 Third-Party Apps .................................................................................................................................................219 ■Chapter 10: SMS, MMS, and Instant Messaging ......................................... 221 SMS Text Messaging on your DROID ..................................................................................................................222 Composing SMS Text Messages ....................................................................................................................222 Composing an SMS Message from the Messaging App ................................................................................222 Options After Sending a Text .........................................................................................................................225 Composing an SMS Message from Contacts .................................................................................................226 Replying to a Text Message ...........................................................................................................................227 Viewing Stored Messages..............................................................................................................................228 Messaging Notification Options .....................................................................................................................229 Multimedia Messaging........................................................................................................................................230 The Messaging App .......................................................................................................................................230 Choosing a Picture from Your Gallery to Send via MMS ................................................................................233 Sending Multiple Pictures ..............................................................................................................................233 Instant Messaging on Your DROID ......................................................................................................................234 xi

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Google Talk ....................................................................................................................................................235 AIM and Other Instant Messaging Apps .........................................................................................................236

■Chapter 11: Surfing the Web ....................................................................... 239 Web Browsing on the DROID ...............................................................................................................................239 An Internet Connection Is Required ...............................................................................................................240 Launching the Web Browser ..........................................................................................................................240 Layout of Web Browser Screen......................................................................................................................241 Typing a Web Address ...................................................................................................................................242 Moving Backward or Forward Through Open Web Pages .............................................................................243 Using the Windows Menu Command .............................................................................................................244 Zooming In and Out in Web Pages .................................................................................................................245 Activating Links from Web Pages ..................................................................................................................246 Working with Browser Bookmarks .....................................................................................................................246 Adding a New Bookmark ...............................................................................................................................246 Using Bookmarks and History ........................................................................................................................247 Managing Your Bookmarks ............................................................................................................................248 Browser Tips and Tricks .....................................................................................................................................249 Finding Something on a Web Page ................................................................................................................249 Emailing a Web Page .....................................................................................................................................250 Printing a Web Page.......................................................................................................................................251 Watching Videos in Browser ..........................................................................................................................252 Saving or Copying Text and Graphics ............................................................................................................252 Remember Form Data and Passwords ..........................................................................................................253 Adding a Web Page Icon to Your Home Screen .............................................................................................254 Adjusting the Browser Settings ..........................................................................................................................255 Adjusting Security Settings ...........................................................................................................................255 Speeding Up Your Browser by Clearing History and Cookies ........................................................................256 Remembering Form Data ...............................................................................................................................256 ■Chapter 12: Working with Contacts............................................................. 257 Loading Your Contacts onto the DROID ...............................................................................................................257 When Is Your Contact List Most Useful? .............................................................................................................257 Two Simple Rules to Improve Your Contact List ............................................................................................258 Adding a New Contact Right on Your DROID .......................................................................................................258 Start the Contacts App ...................................................................................................................................259 Adding a New Phone Number ........................................................................................................................261 Adding an Email Address and Web Site .........................................................................................................262 Adding the Address ........................................................................................................................................263 Adding a Photo to Contacts .................................................................................................................................263 Searching Your Contacts ....................................................................................................................................265 Quickly Jump to a Letter by Scrolling and Sliding on the Contact Card ........................................................266 Search by Flicking .........................................................................................................................................266 Adding Contacts from Email Messages ..............................................................................................................267 Sending a Picture to a Contact ...........................................................................................................................269 Sending an Email Message from Contacts .........................................................................................................270 Showing Your Contacts Addresses on the Map ..................................................................................................270 Contact History and Social Networking Screens ................................................................................................271 Contacts Troubleshooting ...................................................................................................................................272 xii

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■Chapter 13: Managing Your Calendar.......................................................... 273 Managing Your Busy Life on Your DROID ............................................................................................................273 Accessing Your Calendar ...............................................................................................................................273 Viewing Your Schedule and Getting Around ..................................................................................................274 Switching Between the Four Calendar Views ................................................................................................275 Adding New Calendar Events ..............................................................................................................................278 Adding a New Appointment ...........................................................................................................................278 Setting Calendar Reminders ..........................................................................................................................280 Creating Additional Alerts ..............................................................................................................................280 Adding Recurring Events................................................................................................................................281 Choosing Which Calendar to Sync .................................................................................................................282 Editing Appointments ..........................................................................................................................................282 Editing a Repeating Event ..............................................................................................................................283 Switching an Event to a Different Calendar ...................................................................................................284 Deleting an Event ...........................................................................................................................................284 Accepting Meeting Invitations .......................................................................................................................284 Calendar Settings................................................................................................................................................285 ■Chapter 14: Enjoying Your Music ................................................................ 287 Your DROID as a Music Player ............................................................................................................................287 Buying Music from the Amazon MP3 App ...........................................................................................................288 The Music App ....................................................................................................................................................292 Changing the View in the Music App ..................................................................................................................293 The Artists View .............................................................................................................................................293 The Albums View ...........................................................................................................................................294 The Songs View .............................................................................................................................................295 Creating Playlists on the DROID .....................................................................................................................295 Searching for Music .......................................................................................................................................297 Viewing Songs in an Album ................................................................................................................................298 Playing Your Music .............................................................................................................................................299 Pausing and Playing.......................................................................................................................................300 Playing the Previous or Next Song .................................................................................................................300 Adjusting the Volume .....................................................................................................................................300 Repeating, Shuffling, and Moving Around in a Song .....................................................................................301 Moving to Another Part of a Song ..................................................................................................................301 Repeating One Song or All Songs ..................................................................................................................302 Shuffling Your Playlist ....................................................................................................................................302 Now Playing ...................................................................................................................................................303 Viewing Other Songs on the Album ...............................................................................................................303 Exploring Your Music Options .............................................................................................................................304 Listening to Free Internet Radio (Pandora) .........................................................................................................304 Getting Started with Pandora .........................................................................................................................305 Pandora’s Main Screen ..................................................................................................................................306 Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down in Pandora.......................................................................................................307 Pandora’s Menu .............................................................................................................................................308 Creating a New Station in Pandora ................................................................................................................308 Adjusting Pandora’s Settings – Your Account, Upgrading, and More ............................................................309

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■Chapter 15: Viewing Videos, TV Shows, and More ..................................... 311 Your DROID as a Video Player .............................................................................................................................311 Loading Videos onto Your DROID ...................................................................................................................312 Watching Videos on the DROID ......................................................................................................................312 Video Categories ............................................................................................................................................313 Playing a Movie ...................................................................................................................................................314 To Pause or Access Controls .........................................................................................................................315 Fast-Forward or Rewind the Video ................................................................................................................315 Using the Time Slider Bar ..............................................................................................................................316 Other Video Players........................................................................................................................................316 Deleting Videos ...................................................................................................................................................317 Using YouTube on your DROID ............................................................................................................................318 Searching for Videos ......................................................................................................................................319 Using the Bottom Icons ..................................................................................................................................319 Playing Videos ................................................................................................................................................321 Adjusting the DROID’s Video Controls ............................................................................................................321 Clearing Your History .....................................................................................................................................323 Using Netflix and Hulu on the DROID .............................................................................................................323 ■Chapter 16: New Media: Reading Newspapers, Magazines, and E-books .......................................................... 325 Newspapers on the DROID ..................................................................................................................................325 Popular Choices: The New York Times and USA Today .................................................................................326 The New York Times App ...............................................................................................................................327 USA Today App...............................................................................................................................................329 Moving Through and Enjoying Content ..........................................................................................................329 News Widgets .....................................................................................................................................................330 Magazines on Android ........................................................................................................................................331 Comic Books on Your DROID ...............................................................................................................................332 The DROID as a PDF Reader................................................................................................................................332 E-Books...............................................................................................................................................................333 Proprietary Readers .......................................................................................................................................334 Open E-Readers .............................................................................................................................................337 Reading E-Books.................................................................................................................................................340 ■Chapter 17: The Android Market ................................................................. 343 Using QR Codes...................................................................................................................................................343 Browsing the Android Market .............................................................................................................................344 Navigating by Category ..................................................................................................................................345 Paying for Apps ...................................................................................................................................................347 Downloading Apps ..............................................................................................................................................349 Installing Apps ....................................................................................................................................................349 Uninstalling Apps ................................................................................................................................................351 Updating Apps .....................................................................................................................................................352 Rating and Commenting ................................................................................................................................353 Installing Apps Outside the Android Market .......................................................................................................353 Ten Apps to Install Right Now .............................................................................................................................355 ShopSavvy .....................................................................................................................................................355 Lookout Mobile ..............................................................................................................................................356 xiv

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Mint.com ........................................................................................................................................................357 Cooking Capsules Taster ...............................................................................................................................358 Evernote .........................................................................................................................................................359 Pandora ..........................................................................................................................................................360 New York Times .............................................................................................................................................361 Google Voice ..................................................................................................................................................362 WikiMobile Encyclopedia (Bonfire) ................................................................................................................363 Yelp ................................................................................................................................................................364

■Chapter 18: Taking Photos and Videos ........................................................ 365 Understanding Your Camera ...............................................................................................................................365 Megapixels and Image Size ...........................................................................................................................366 Focus .............................................................................................................................................................366 Zoom ..............................................................................................................................................................367 Taking a Picture ..................................................................................................................................................367 Flash Modes ...................................................................................................................................................369 Reviewing and Sharing ..................................................................................................................................370 Share .............................................................................................................................................................370 Set As .............................................................................................................................................................372 Quick Upload ..................................................................................................................................................372 The Camera Roll..................................................................................................................................................373 Scenes ................................................................................................................................................................374 Creating a Panorama .....................................................................................................................................376 Camera Settings .................................................................................................................................................377 Shooting Video ....................................................................................................................................................381 Scenes and Effects ........................................................................................................................................382 Flash and Video..............................................................................................................................................383 Video Modes .......................................................................................................................................................383 Sharing Videos ....................................................................................................................................................384 The Gallery ..........................................................................................................................................................384 Using Picasa .......................................................................................................................................................385 Using Photos As Wallpaper and Widgets ............................................................................................................386 Using Photos for Contact Icons ...........................................................................................................................386 Copying Photos to Your Computer ......................................................................................................................387 Editing Photos .....................................................................................................................................................387 Photoshop Mobile ..........................................................................................................................................388 PicSay ............................................................................................................................................................388 Other Photo Apps ...........................................................................................................................................389 Printing ...............................................................................................................................................................389 ■Chapter 19: Finding Your Way With Maps ................................................... 391 Understanding Google Maps ...............................................................................................................................392 Driving Directions ..........................................................................................................................................393 Map Layers .........................................................................................................................................................394 Traffic.............................................................................................................................................................395 Satellite ..........................................................................................................................................................395 Buzz ...............................................................................................................................................................395 Google Labs Layers ........................................................................................................................................396 Location Sharing With Latitude ...........................................................................................................................397 xv

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Google Place Pages ............................................................................................................................................398 Google Places ................................................................................................................................................399 Starring Locations ..........................................................................................................................................400 Google Street View.........................................................................................................................................401 Using Your Phone for GPS Navigation .................................................................................................................402 CarDock .........................................................................................................................................................403 Email and Text Directions ...................................................................................................................................405 Making Your Own Maps ......................................................................................................................................405 Location-Based Social Media and Games...........................................................................................................406 Foursquare .....................................................................................................................................................407 Gowalla ..........................................................................................................................................................407

■Chapter 20: Social Media and Skype ........................................................... 409 Motorola Widgets ................................................................................................................................................409 Twitter and Microblogs .......................................................................................................................................411 The Mechanics and Culture of Twitter ...........................................................................................................412 Finding Twitter Apps ......................................................................................................................................414 Yammer .........................................................................................................................................................417 Other Microblogs ...........................................................................................................................................417 Social Bookmarking ............................................................................................................................................419 Facebook ............................................................................................................................................................419 Creating Fan Pages ........................................................................................................................................420 Facebook Apps ..............................................................................................................................................421 LinkedIn ..............................................................................................................................................................421 Blogging ..............................................................................................................................................................422 Phone Posts ...................................................................................................................................................423 WordPress ......................................................................................................................................................423 Bump...................................................................................................................................................................424 Buzz ....................................................................................................................................................................424 Cross-Posting......................................................................................................................................................425 Aggregating Content With Readers .....................................................................................................................427 Making Phone Calls and More with Skype..........................................................................................................428 Creating Your Skype Account on Your DROID ................................................................................................429 Log in to the Skype App .................................................................................................................................430 Finding and Adding Skype Contacts ..............................................................................................................430 Making Calls With Skype on Your DROID .......................................................................................................432 Receiving Calls with Skype on your DROID ....................................................................................................434 Chatting with Skype .......................................................................................................................................435 Adding Skype to Your Computer ....................................................................................................................436 ■Chapter 21: Working With Notes and Documents........................................ 437 Finding and Installing These Apps ......................................................................................................................438 Notes-Based Apps on Your DROID ......................................................................................................................438 AK Notepad App .............................................................................................................................................438 Evernote App ..................................................................................................................................................442 Sharing Files and Documents .............................................................................................................................447 Sharing Files with USB Mass Storage Mode ..................................................................................................448 Dropbox File and Document Sharing ..................................................................................................................449 Installing Dropbox on Your Computer (PC or Mac) .........................................................................................449 xvi

■ CONTENTS

Installing Dropbox on Your DROID ..................................................................................................................451 Working With Microsoft Office Documents .........................................................................................................454 Finding Product Reviews ...............................................................................................................................455 Moving Documents to and From Your DROID ................................................................................................456 Quickoffice .....................................................................................................................................................457 Documents to Go – the Full Version ...............................................................................................................460

■Chapter 22: Fun and Games ........................................................................ 469 Using the DROID as a Gaming Device .................................................................................................................469 Acquiring Games and Other Fun Apps ...........................................................................................................472 Reading Reviews Before You Buy ..................................................................................................................474 Looking for Free Trials or Lite Versions .........................................................................................................474 Being Careful When You Play .........................................................................................................................474 Two-Player Games .........................................................................................................................................475 Online and Wireless Games ...........................................................................................................................475 Playing Music Games with Your DROID ..............................................................................................................476 Other Fun Stuff: Football on the DROID ...............................................................................................................477 ■Chapter 23: Utilities: Clock, Calculator, and Weather ................................. 479 The Clock App (for DROID) ..................................................................................................................................480 The Alarm Clock (for DROID) ..........................................................................................................................481 Using the Alarm (for DROID 2/X) ....................................................................................................................484 Using the Timer (for DROID 2/X) .....................................................................................................................485 The Calculator App ..............................................................................................................................................486 Viewing the Basic Calculator (Portrait Mode) ................................................................................................487 Viewing the Advanced Panel..........................................................................................................................487 The Weather App ................................................................................................................................................488 Getting Started with the Weather App ...........................................................................................................488 Other Weather Apps .......................................................................................................................................491 ■Chapter 24: Troubleshooting ....................................................................... 493 Basic Troubleshooting ........................................................................................................................................493 What to Do If the DROID Stops Responding ...................................................................................................493 Managing Your Apps ......................................................................................................................................494 Resolving Issues With Placing a Phone Call, Syncing With Google, or Browsing the Web ............................497 Turning Off Airplane Mode .............................................................................................................................498 Cycling Your Wi-Fi Connection .......................................................................................................................499 Resolving Sound Issues in Music or Video.....................................................................................................499 Resolving Problems When Making Purchases ...............................................................................................500 Advanced Troubleshooting .................................................................................................................................500 Performing a Factory Data Reset ...................................................................................................................500 Increasing Your Text Message Limit ..............................................................................................................501 Additional Troubleshooting and Help Resources ................................................................................................502 The Motorola DROID Support Pages ..............................................................................................................502 DROID-Related Blogs .....................................................................................................................................503 Part IV: Sync Media to your DROID ................................................................. 505 ■Chapter 25: DROID Media Sync.................................................................... 507 Where to Enjoy Your Media on Your DROID.........................................................................................................508 Moving Files With Your USB Connection .............................................................................................................508 xvii

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Selecting a USB Connection Mode .................................................................................................................509 Changing USB Connection Modes ..................................................................................................................510 Dragging-and-Dropping Files ........................................................................................................................510 Disconnecting Your DROID Safely (Don’t Skip!) .............................................................................................512 Using doubleTwist ..............................................................................................................................................512 Downloading and Installing doubleTwist .......................................................................................................513 Getting Started With doubleTwist ..................................................................................................................514 Importing Your Playlists .................................................................................................................................515 Connecting Your DROID to doubleTwist .........................................................................................................516 Syncing Music and Podcast Subscriptions Automatically .............................................................................516 Fine Tuning the Sync .....................................................................................................................................517 Dragging-and-Dropping Media Onto Your DROID ..........................................................................................519 My Music App Won’t Play My Music ..............................................................................................................519 Finding and Subscribing to Podcasts With doubleTwist ................................................................................520 Finding Apps in the Android Market With doubleTwist ..................................................................................521 Buying Music from the Amazon MP3 Store in doubleTwist ...........................................................................522

■Appendix: DRIOD App Guide ........................................................................ 525 Document Tools ..................................................................................................................................................525 Printing ...............................................................................................................................................................527 File Management ................................................................................................................................................528 Virus Protection, Backups, and Security .............................................................................................................529 Presentation Software ........................................................................................................................................531 Web Conferencing ...............................................................................................................................................532 Notetaking and Mind Mapping ............................................................................................................................533 Email Management .............................................................................................................................................535 To-Do Lists ..........................................................................................................................................................536 Expenses and Finance ........................................................................................................................................537 Travel ..................................................................................................................................................................539 Health and Medicine ...........................................................................................................................................540 Law and Legal .....................................................................................................................................................542 Real Estate ..........................................................................................................................................................543 Sales and CRM ....................................................................................................................................................545 Retail ...................................................................................................................................................................546 Finance ...............................................................................................................................................................547 Project Management ...........................................................................................................................................549 Education and Training .......................................................................................................................................550 Social Media .......................................................................................................................................................551 Information Technology ......................................................................................................................................553 Other Apps .....................................................................................................................................................554 ■Index ............................................................................................................ 557

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About the Authors Martin Trautschold is the founder and CEO of Made Simple Learning, a leading provider of Apple iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, BlackBerry, Android, and Palm webOS books and video tutorials. He has been a successful entrepreneur in the mobile device training and software business since 2001. With Made Simple Learning, he helped to train thousands of BlackBerry Smartphone users with short, to-the-point video tutorials. Martin has now co-authored nineteen “Made Simple” guide books. He also co-founded, ran for 3 years, and then sold a mobile device software company. Prior to this, Martin spent 15 years in technology and business consulting in the US and Japan. He holds an engineering degree from Princeton University and an MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University. Martin and his wife, Julia, have three daughters. He enjoys rowing with the Halifax Rowing Association in Daytona Beach, Florida and cycling with friends. Martin can be reached at [email protected]. Gary Mazo is Vice President of Made Simple Learning and is a writer, a college professor, a gadget nut, and an ordained rabbi. Gary joined Made Simple Learning in 2007 and has co-authored the last seventeen books in the Made Simple series. Along with Martin, and Kevin Michaluk from CrackBerry.com, Gary co-wrote CrackBerry: True Tales of BlackBerry Use and Abuse—a book about BlackBerry addiction and how to get a grip on one’s BlackBerry use. The second edition of this book was published by Apress this fall. Gary also teaches writing, philosophy, technical writing, and more at the University of Phoenix. He holds a BA in anthropology from Brandeis University. Gary earned his M.A.H.L (Masters in Hebrew Letters) as well as ordination as Rabbi from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio. He has served congregations in Dayton, Ohio, Cherry Hill, New Jersey and Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Gary is married to Gloria Schwartz Mazo; they have six children. Gary can be reached at: [email protected]. Marziah Karch enjoys the challenge of explaining complex technology to beginning audiences. She is an education technologist for Johnson County Community College in the Kansas City metro area with over ten years of experience. She holds a masters in instructional design and has occasionally taught credit courses in interactive media. Marziah also contributes to New York Times-owned About.com and has been their Guide to Google since 2006. Her first book was Android for Work: Productivity for Professionals. When she's not feeding her geek side with new gadgets or writing about technology, Marziah enjoys life in Lawrence, Kansas with her husband Harold and two children.

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■ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

About the Technical Reviewer Phil Nickinson spent 11 years at a daily newspaper as a sports clerk, page designer, news copy editor and news editor before becoming a full-time online editor with Smartphone Experts in December 2009. He cut his teeth on Windows Mobile and currently is editor of AndroidCentral.com, host of its weekly podcast and has more Android devices than he knows what to do with. Phil lives in Florida with his wife and two daughters.

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Acknowledgments A book like this takes many people to successfully complete. We would like to thank Apress for believing in us and our unique style of writing. We would like to thank our Editors, Steve, Jim and Laurin, and the entire editorial team at Apress. We would like to thank our families for their patience and support in allowing us to pursue projects such as this one. A special thank you to the good folks at Verizon Wireless for lending us DROIDS to complete this book. Portions of this book contain pictures that are modifications based on work created and shared by Google, and used according to terms described in the Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution License.

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Part

I

Quick Start Guide In your hands is one of the most exciting devices to hit the market in quite some time: a new DROID smartphone. This Quick Start Guide will help get you and your new DROID up and running in a hurry. You’ll learn all about the buttons, switches, and ports, and how to use the innovative and responsive touch screen and multitask. Our App Reference Tables introduce you to both the built-in apps and some valuable additions from the Android Market—and serve as a quick way to find out how to accomplish a task.

3

Getting Around Quickly This Quick Start Guide is meant to be just that – a section that can help you jump right in and find information in this book, as well as learn the basics of how to get around and enjoy your DROID right away. We’ll start with the nuts and bolts in our “Learning Your Way Around” section, which covers what all the keys, buttons, switches, and symbols mean and do on your DROID. In this section, you’ll see some handy features such as multitasking and adding and removing widgets. You’ll also learn how to interact with the menus, submenus, and set switches – tasks that are required in almost every application on your DROID. You’ll also find out how to read your connectivity status and what to do when you travel on an airplane. TIP: Check out Chapter 2: “Typing, Voice, Copy, and Search” for great typing tips and other helpful things. In the “Touch Screen Basics” section, we will help you learn how to touch, swipe, flick, zoom, and more. Later, in the “App Reference Tables,” section, we’ve organized the app icons into general categories, so you can quickly browse through the icons and jump to a section in the book to learn more about the app a particular icon represents. This guide also includes several handy tables designed to help you get up and running with your DROID quickly:

Getting Started (Table 2)

Stay Organized (Table 3)

Be Entertained (Table 4)

Stay Informed (Table 5)

Network Socially (Table 6)

Be Productive (Table 7)

So let’s get started!

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4

QUICK START GUIDE

Learning Your Way Around To help you get comfortable with your DROID, we start with the basics – what the buttons, keys, and switches do – and then move into how you start apps and navigate the menus. Probably the most important status indicator on your DROID, besides the battery, is the one that shows network status in the upper-right corner. Understanding what these status icons mean is crucial to getting the most out of your DROID.

Keys, Buttons, and Switches Figures 1 and 2 show all the things you can do with the buttons, keys, switches, and ports on your DROID, DROID 2, DROID 2 Global, and DROID X. Go ahead and try out a few things to see what happens. Tap the Search button (the Magnifying Glass icon) on the bottom of your phone, then tap the Microphone icon to try out Voice Actions. Next, swipe left or right to check out more Home screens, and then double-click your Home button (the House icon) to bring up Voice Commands. Long press (press and hold) the Home button to multitask. Have some fun getting acquainted with your device. Power/Lock

Top Edge

Power/Lock

Top Edge

DROID 2 and DROID 2 Global

DROID Status Bar Drag down for notifications.

Press ALT to type no. and symbols on keys. Tap icons to start apps.

Voice Dictation Search

Launcher icon. Tap to open the App Tray to view and start any app.

Phone

Menu button

Home button

Widgets Use to customize your Home screen.

Back button

Search button

Back button

Figure 1. The buttons, ports, and keys on the DROID, DROID 2, and DROID 2 Global.

Voice Actions Tap to speak commands. Start Browser

Menu button

Home button

QUICK START GUIDE

DROID X Power/Lock button

Top Edge 3.5 mm Headphone Jack

Widgets Use to customize your Home screen.

Status Bar Drag down for notifications.

Launcher icon. Tap to open the App Tray to view and start any app.

Tap icons to start apps.

View Contacts.

Start Phone

Menu button

Home button

Back button

Search button

Figure 2. The buttons, ports, and keys on the DROID X.

The Launcher Icon You may wonder where all your icons are kept. Swiping left or right won’t show you them. To see them all, you need to tap the Launcher icon at the bottom of your main Home screen. Tap the Launcher icon to see all your icons in the App Tray. There are usually more icons than are visible on a single screen; you need to slide your finger up or down to see all the icons (see Figure 3).

5

6

QUICK START GUIDE

DROID 2, DROID 2 Global and DROID X

Slide your finger to view all installed icons.

Launcher icon Tap to see all your icons.

Touch & slide DROID

Figure 3. Use the Launcher icon to see all your application icons in the App Tray.

The Four Buttons Along the Bottom In addition to tapping or the touching the screen, you can use the Menu, Home, Back and Search buttons to help you navigate around your DROID. Menu button

Press the Menu button to see a menu for the currently open app or the Home screen. Press the button again to hide the menu. Inside any app, long press the Menu button to see the virtual keyboard.

or TIP: Press the Menu button, then press and hold it to see shortcuts to the various menu commands appear. Home button

or

Press the Home button once to jump right to your main (center) Home screen. Double-press the Home button to start Voice Command. This command allows you to speak commands to your DROID. (You can learn more about Voice Command in Chapter 2)

QUICK START GUIDE

Long press to multitask and see the eight most recent apps you have opened. Back button

Press the Back button to back out of any screen to the previous screen. Continue pressing to exit an app back to the Home screen.

Search button

Tap the Search button to bring up the Google Search screen. Long press to bring up the Voice Actions screen, where you can speak commands and perform voice Google searches. (You can learn more about Voice Actions in Chapter 2.)

Short Tap and Long Press As you just saw, the buttons do different things when you press them quickly or press and hold them. The same thing works on the touch screen. Short Tap

Icons: A short tap of any icon will start the app. Items inside apps: Tapping items inside apps such as calendar events, contacts, or picture thumbnails will usually expand the selected item to view more details or a larger version of the item. Switches: A short tap of a switch will set it to Off or On. Widgets: A short tap of a widget will do an action in the widget such as advance a screen, open the widget, or open an associated app. For example, touching a Tips and Tricks widget will open the tips so you can view them in more detail.

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QUICK START GUIDE

Long Press

Icons or Widgets: Long press an icon or widget to move it around the screen, between Home screens, or delete it from the Home screen. (Don’t worry: you can get the icon back on your Home screen after you press the Launcher icon.) Items inside apps: Pressing and holding items inside apps such as calendar events, contacts, or pictures will usually give you a context-sensitive menu. For example, long pressing a contact will give the option to view, call, send a text message to, share an email with, or delete the contact.

Adding, Removing, and Moving Widgets and Icons You will quickly find that your DROID is highly customizable, starting with your Home screen. The DROID 2 and DROID X have seven Home screens, and the DROID has five. TIP: We explain more details about how to use widgets and move icons in Chapter 6: “Organize Your Home Screen: Icons and Widgets.” To add a widget, shortcut, folder, or change the wallpaper, you long press anywhere you see a blank spot on a Home screen. This brings up a menu that lets you add any number of items including Motorola widgets, Android widgets, shortcuts, folders or even change your wallpaper (see the image to the right).

QUICK START GUIDE

To remove a widget or other item, you long press until it gets highlighted and drag it down to the Trashcan icon at the bottom of the screen.

To move a widget, icon, or other Home screen item, long press and drag that item around the screen. To move it to a different Home screen, drag your finger to the very edge of the screen.

Long press & drag

Slide your finger off either side of the screen to move it to another Home page.

Long press & drag

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QUICK START GUIDE

Switching Apps (aka Multitasking) If you are like most smartphone users these days, you definitely want to be doing more than one thing at a time. For example, you might like listening to free Pandora Internet radio while reading and replying to your email or text messages. The DROID is built to multitask (see Figure 4). Long press the Home button to bring up the recent apps in the middle of the screen, and then tap the icon of any app you want to start. If you don’t see the icon you want, then press the Home button again to see the entire Home screen. Repeat these steps to jump back to the app you just left. The nice thing is that the app you just left is always shown as the first app in the top-left position in the list of recent apps. TIP: If you don’t see the app you want in the list of Recent apps, then press the Home button, and Launcher icon to start it.

Long press the Home button to bring up the list of recently opened apps.

From any app, you long press the Home button to see the recently opened apps.

Tap the app you wish to start.

Figure 4. Multitasking or switching apps by long pressing the Home button.

Now you can text while listening to Pandora!

QUICK START GUIDE

Starting and Exiting an App To start any app, you simply tap the app’s icon with your finger.

To close the app and exit back to the Home screen, press the Back button.

If you press the Home button, you can leave the app running in the background and start another app.

Menus, Submenus, and Checkboxes Once you are in an app, you can select any menu item by simply touching it. Using the Settings app as an example, tap Wireless & networks, and then tap Airplane mode to set the checkbox (with a green check mark) and turn on Airplane mode (see Figure 5). Submenus are any menus below the main menu. NOTE: Switches set to On are green, while switches set to Off are gray.You can back up to the previous screen or menu by pressing the Back button on the bottom of your DROID. For example, if you’re in the Wireless & networks menu, you can press the Back button to return to the main the Settings menu.

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QUICK START GUIDE

Tap an item to get to the next screen.

Green switches are on.

Tap a switch to turn it on or off.

Gray switches are off.

Tap this button to back up one level.

Figure 5. Selecting menu items, navigating submenus, and setting switches.

Reading the Top Status Bar Most of the functions on your DROID work only when you are connected to the Internet (e.g., email, your browser, the wireless sync to Google Contacts and Google Calendar, Android Market, and so on), so you need to know when you’re connected. The top status bar also has many other status icons that are helpful to know. Understanding how to read the status bar can save you time and frustration. There are a wide variety of status icons on the top bar, and you can see various status examples in Figure 6. Missed phone call.

Media share.

New email.

USB cable connected.

New text message.

Figure 6. Reading your top status bar icons.

Debug mode.

Pandora playing.

3G wireless network.

Data sent or received.

Battery charge level.

Signal strength.

QUICK START GUIDE

TIP: If you touch and hold the status bar, then you can see today’s date.

TIP: Touch and hold this status bar to see today’s date.

Seeing More Detailed Status Messages Touch the very top of the device (above the screen), then swipe your finger down onto the screen to see detailed status messages. Press the Back button to hide the detailed status messages. Notice that there are two areas of status messages: Ongoing and Notifications. Ongoing Status Items In the example to the right, the Ongoing status section shows that we are playing Pandora internet radio, we have USB debugging connected, and we have a USB connection to our computer. Notification Items The Notification section in the image to the right shows that have 152 new email messages. We have a possible connection for Media Share, and we’ve missed three calls. TIP: Tap any item to learn more about it. For example, tapping the three missed calls will show you each caller, so you can immediately call them back if you wish.

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QUICK START GUIDE

Understanding the Data Connectivity Symbols You can read the strength of your data connection and see when data is being transferred by looking at the top status bar. The cellular data signal strength is represented by an icon that shows from one to five bars. The Airplane icon indicates that you are in Airplane mode.

Strong

Weak

Radio Off – Airplane Mode

The two arrows under the 3G show when data is being sent and received.

Data sent.

Data received.

You can tell whether you are connected to a network, as well as the general speed of the connection, by looking at the right side of your DROID’s top status bar. Table 1 shows typical examples of what you might see on this status bar. Table 1. How to Tell When You Are Connected.

In the upper-right corner, if you see letters and symbols...

or

Wi-Fi Network

Cellular Network (Phone, Web, Text, Email, Sync, and Skype)

(Web, Email, Sync, and Skype)

(Connected)

(Connected)

(Not connected)

(Connected)

(Not connected)

(Not connected)

QUICK START GUIDE

Chapter 5: “Wi-Fi and 3G Connectivity” shows you how to connect your DROID to a WiFi or 3G Cellular Data Network.

Flying on an Airplane – Airplane Mode When you fly on an airplane, the flight crew will ask you to turn off all portable electronic devices for takeoff and landing. Then, when you get to altitude, they will say “all approved electronic devices” can be set back to On. TIP: Check out the “International Travel” section of Chapter 5for many money saving tips you can take advantage of when you travel overseas with your DROID. If you need to turn off your DROID, long press the Power button on the top-right edge, and then tap Power off. Follow these steps to enable Airplane Mode: 1.

Long press the Power button on the top edge of your DROID.

2.

Tap Airplane mode from the popup menu.

3.

Notice that the Airplane mode icon in the top status bar replaces the 3G and signal bars. Your phone, web, wireless sync, and any applications that require an Internet connect will not work in Airplane mode.

TIP: Some airlines do have in-flight WiFi networks. On those flights, you may want to turn your Wi-Fi back On at the appropriate time. You can turn your Wi-Fi connection Off or On by following these steps: 1.

Tap the Settings icon.

2.

Tap Wireless & networks.

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QUICK START GUIDE

3.

To enable the Wi-Fi connections, set the switch next to Wi-Fi to On (Green = On, Gray = Off).

4.

To disable the Wi-Fi, set the same switch to Off (gray).

5.

Tap Wi-Fi settings to select the Wi-Fi network and follow the steps the flight attendant provides to connect to the in-flight Wi-Fi.

NOTE: On the DROID 2, DROID 2 Global, and DROID X, you have an Airplane mode widget you can add to your Home screen.

Touch Screen Basics In this section, we will describe how to interact with the DROID’s touch screen.

Touch Screen Gestures The DROID has an amazingly sensitive and intuitive touch screen. If you own a DROID, DROID 2, or DROID 2 Global, you also can slide out the physical keyboard to type. We show you more typing tips in Chapter 2. Typing on the touch-screen keyboard will take a little effort to master. With a little practice, though, you’ll soon become comfortable interacting with your DROID. You can do almost anything on your DROID by using a combination of the following:

Touch screen “gestures”

Touching icons, widgets, or soft keys on the screen

Tapping the Menu, Home, Back, or Search buttons at the bottom of your device (earlier in the chapter, we explained what each button does)

The following sections describe the various gestures you can use on an DROID.

QUICK START GUIDE

Tapping and Swiping or Flicking To start an app, confirm a selection, select a menu item, or select an answer, simply tap the screen. To move quickly through Home screens, contacts, lists, and the music library in List mode, flick from side-to-side or up and down. Figure 7 shows both of these gestures.

Note: The DROID only has five Home screens. DROID 2/Global/X have seven.

Notice the red dots appear here for a second to show you where you are.

Gently touch the screen and swipe left or right.

Tap the Home icon or Home button to return to the middle screen.

Tap any icon or widget to open it.

Figure 7. Swipe left or right to see all your Home screens.

Swiping To swipe, gently touch and move your finger as shown in Figure 8 to move between pictures. Swiping up and down also works in lists, such as the Contacts list.

Touch and scroll

Touch and scroll

Gently touch the screen and scroll left to see the next picture. Figure 8. Touch and swipe to move between pictures and up and down lists.

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QUICK START GUIDE

Scrolling Scrolling is as simple as touching the screen and sliding your finger in the direction you want to scroll (see Figure 9). You can use this technique in messages (email), the Browser app, menus, and more.

The current letter “M” is shown.

Gently touch the screen and scroll up to see lower down on the page.

TIP: Touch and slide this tab to quickly move up or down the Contact list. You see the current letter “M” shown.

Figure 9. Touch and slide your finger to scroll around contacts, a web page, a zoomed picture, and more.

QUICK START GUIDE

Double-Tapping You can double-tap the screen to zoom in and then double-tap again to zoom back out. This works in many places, such as web pages, mail messages, and pictures (see Figure 10).

Double-tap the screen to zoom in.

Double-tap again to zoom out.

Figure 10. Double-tapping to zoom in or out.

Slide your finger around to view more of the web page.

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QUICK START GUIDE

Pinching You can also pinch open or closed to zoom in or out. This works in many places, including web pages, mail messages, and pictures (see Figure 11). Follow these steps to zoom in using the pinching feature: 1.

To zoom in, place two fingers that touch each other on the screen.

2.

Gradually slide your fingers open. The screen zooms in.

Follow these steps to zoom out using the pinching feature. 1.

To zoom out, place two fingers with space between them on the screen.

2.

Gradually slide your fingers closed, so they touch. The screen zooms out.

Pinch your fingers open to zoom in.

Lift your hands from the screen and then pinch open again to zoom in more.

At some point, you cannot zoom in any further. The DROID will vibrate and let you know.

QUICK START GUIDE

App Reference Tables This section gives you a number of handy reference tables that group together the various apps that are pre-installed on your DROID by their functionality. Also included in the tables are other useful apps you can download from the Android Marketplace. Each table gives you a brief description of the app and tells you where you can find more information about it in this book.

Getting Started Table 2 provides some quick links to help you connect your DROID to the Web (using Wi-Fi or 3G); buy and enjoy songs or videos; lock your DROID or power it off; unlock your DROID; and more.

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QUICK START GUIDE

Table 2. Getting Started.

To Do This...

Use This...

Where to Learn More

Turn the DROID on or off.

The Power/Lock button: Press and hold Getting Started – Ch. 1 this key located on the DROID’s top edge.

See all icons on your DROID in the App Tray.

Launcher

Adjust settings and connect to the Internet (via Wi-Fi or 3G).

Settings > Wi-Fi or Settings > General > Wi-Fi and 3G – Ch. 5 Network

Return to the Home screen.

The Home button

Slide your finger Getting Started – Ch. 1 to unlock your DROID.

Completely Press and hold the power down your Power/Lock button. DROID.

Share and sync Share and sync music, videos, and pictures.

Getting Started – Ch. 1

or

Unlock the DROID.

Sync addresses, calendar, email, and notes with your main account.

Getting Started – Ch. 1

Tap this button to power the device off. Getting Started – Ch. 1

Google Sync – Ch. 3

Google Sync

Other Sync Methods – Ch. 4

Picasa, Facebook, MySpace, Photobucket Photos – Ch. 18 DoubleTwist Media Sync – Ch. 25

QUICK START GUIDE

Stay Connected and Organized Table 3 provides links for everything from organizing and finding your contacts to managing your calendar, working with email, sending messages, getting driving directions, calling people, and more. Table 3. Staying Connected and Organized.

To Do This…

Use This…

Where to Learn More

Manage your contact names and numbers.

Contacts

Contacts – Ch. 12

Manage your calendar.

Calendar

Calendar – Ch. 13

Surf the Web

Browser

Browser – Ch. 11

Call your friends.

Phone

Phone – Ch. 7

Call and chat with friends.

Skype mobile

Social Networking and Skype – Ch. 20

Voice Command

Typing, Voice, Copy, and Search – Ch. 2

Control your iPod and DROID with your voice. (Press and hold the Home button.)

Search Google and control your phone by simply speaking.

Voice Search Voice Action

Typing, Voice, Copy, and Search – Ch. 2

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QUICK START GUIDE

To Do This…

Use This…

Where to Learn More

Send text, picture, and video messages.

Text Messaging Messages

SMS and MMS – Ch. 10

View and send email.

Gmail Email

Email – Ch. 9

Find just about anything, get directions, avoid traffic, and more.

Maps

Maps – Ch. 19

Entertaining Yourself You can have lots of fun with your DROID; Table 4 shows you a few ways to get started. For example, you can use your DROID to view movies and TV shows, as well as to check out free Internet radio with Pandora. If you already use a Kindle, you can sync all your Kindle books to your DROID and enjoy them right away. You can also choose from thousands of free and paid apps from the Marketplace to make your DROID even more amazing, fun, and useful. Finally, y ou can buy new music on your DROID from the Amazon MP3 app. Table 4. Being Entertained.

To Do This…

Buy music.

Use This…

Amazon MP3

Where to Learn More

Music – Ch. 14

Blockbuster Rent a video.

Use your computer to sync, buy music apps, and listen to music and other content.

Netflix Mobile Queue

Videos, TV, and More – Ch. 15

DoubleTwist

Media Sync – Ch. 25

QUICK START GUIDE

To Do This…

Use This…

Where to Learn More

Browse and download apps right to your DROID.

Market

DROID App Guide – Appendix A

See playlists, artists,songs, albums, audiobooks, and more.

Music

Music – Ch. 14

Listen to free Internet radio.

Pandora

Music – Ch. 14

Read your Kindle books.

Kindle

New Media and E-Books – Ch. 16

Look at, zoom in on, and organize your pictures.

Gallery

Photos and Videos – Ch. 18

Take and shere pictures.

Camera


Take and share videos.

Camcorder


Watch a video from YouTube.

YouTube

Videos, TV, and More – Ch. 15

Play a game.

Games Need For Speed

Fun and Games – Ch. 22

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QUICK START GUIDE

Staying Informed You can also use your DROID to read your favorite magazine or newspaper with up-tothe-minute vibrant pictures and videos (see Table 5). Or, you can use it to check out the latest weather reports. Table 5. Staying Informed.

To Do This…

Use This…

Where to Learn More

Check your favorite radio news program.

NPR News

Market – Ch. 17

Read the newspaper.

New York Times

Market – Ch. 17

Check the weather.

The Weather Channel

Market – Ch. 17

Check out the latest headlines.

AP Mobile

Market – Ch. 17

QUICK START GUIDE

Networking Socially You can also use your DROID to connect to and stay up-to-date with friends, colleagues, and professional networks using the social networking tools on your DROID (see Table 6). Table 6. Networking Socially.

To Do This…

Use This…

Where to Learn More

Skype.

Skype

Social Networking and Skype – Ch. 20

Network on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn

Social Networking – Ch. 20

Stay connected with friends on Facebook.

Facebook


Follow your favorites on Twitter.

Twitter


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QUICK START GUIDE

Being Productive A DROID can also help you be more productive. You can use it to access and read just about any PDF file or other document with the GoodReader app. You can also take notes with the basic Notes app or step up to the advanced Evernote app, which has amazing capabilities for integrating audio, pictures, and text notes, as well as the ability to sync everything to a web site. You can also use your DROID to set an alarm, calculate a tip, see what direction you are walking in, and record a voice memo (see Table 7). Table 7. Being Productive.

To Do This…

Use This…

Where to Learn More

Take and organize your notes in a whole new way.

Evernote

Notes and Documents– Ch. 21

Move files between your DROID and your computer

Dropbox

Notes and Documents – Ch. 21

Use folders to organize your icons.

Folders

Icons and Widgets – Ch. 6

Set an alarm, countdoun timer, and more.

Alarm & Timer


Calculate a tip or find the cosine of 30 degrees.

Calculator


Open and edit Microsoft Office documents.

Quickoffice Notes and Documents – Ch. 21

Part

II

Introduction Welcome to your new DROID—and to the book that tells you what you need to know to get the most out of it. In this part we show you how the book is organized and where to go to find what you need. We even show you how to get some great tips and tricks sent right to your DROID via short email messages.

31

Introduction

Congratulations on Your New DROID! You hold in your hands perhaps the most powerful smartphones available today, a phone that is also a media player, e-book reader, gaming machine, life organizer, and just about everything else available today: the DROID.

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INTRODUCTION

The DROID can do just about any other smartphone on the market. In a beautiful package, the DROID will have you placing phone calls, listening to music, playing games, surfing the web, checking email, and organizing your busy life in no time. NOTE: Take a look at Chapter 17: “Exploring the Android Market,”and Appendix A: “Droid App Guide” where we show you how to get all the greatest apps to boost the performance and fun of your new DROID! With your DROID, you can view your photos and interact with them using intuitive touchscreen gestures. You can pinch, zoom, rotate, and email your photos—all by using simple gestures. Interact with your content like never before. News sites and web sites look amazing due to the incredibly clear and crisp large touch screen display. Flip through stories, videos, and pictures, and interact with your news. Manage your media library with ease. The Music app features an intuitive interface, letting you choose music, watch videos, organize playlists, and more—all in an effortless and fun way on the DROID’s high definition–quality screen. Update your Facebook status and receive push alerts—all on your DROID. Stay connected to the web and your email with the 3G wireless and built-in Wi-Fi connection of the DROID. All the latest high-speed protocols are supported, so you can always be in touch and get the latest content. You can even turn your DROID into a Wi-Fi Hotspot to connect your laptop and up to four other devices to the internet just about anywhere you get a signal. The DROID and DROID 2 also include a slide-out keyboard to type out emails and notes when you use the device in Landscape mode.

Getting the Most out of Droids Made Simple Read this book cover-to-cover if you choose, but you can also peruse it in a modular fashion, by chapter or topic. Maybe you just want to check out the Android Market app, try the Kindle app, set up your email or contacts, or just load up your phone with music using doubleTwist on your computer (see chapter 25: "DROID Media Sync"). You can do all this and much more with our book. Be sure to check out our DROID App Guide in Appendix A at the end of the book to explore more than 80 apps that the authors have reviewed and tested to help you get the most out of your DROID. You will soon realize that your DROID is a very powerful device. There are, however, many secrets “locked” inside, which we help you “unlock” throughout this book. Take your time—this book can help you understand how to best use and have fun with your new DROID. Think back to when you tried to use your first Windows or Mac computer. It took a little while to get familiar with how to do things. It’s the same with the DROID. This book will help you get up to speed and learn all the best tips and tricks more quickly.

INTRODUCTION

Also remember that devices this powerful are not always easy to grasp—at first. You will get the most out of your DROID if you can read a section and then try out what you just read. We all know that reading and then doing an activity gives us a much higher retention rate than simply reading alone. So, in order to learn and remember what you learn, we recommend the following: Read a little, try a little on your DROID, and repeat!

Referring to your DROID In this book, we generally use the word DROID to mean DROID, DROID 2, DROID 2 Global and DROID X. Occasionally, we will specifically call out DROID 2/X, when we say that we mean this feature works on the DROID 2, DROID 2 Global and DROID X, but not the original DROID. Similarly, if we say only on the DROID or original DROID, we mean that the specified feature works on the original DROID, not the DROID 2/X.

How This Book Is Organized Knowing how this book is organized will help you quickly locate things that are important to you. Here we show you the main organization of this book. Remember to take advantage of the abridged table of contents, detailed table of contents, and comprehensive index. All of these elements can help you quickly pinpoint items of interest to you.

Day in the Life of a DROID User Located inside the front and back covers, the “Day in the Life of an DROID User” reference is an excellent guide to your phone’s features, providing ideas on how to use your DROID and lots of easy-to-access, cross-referenced chapter numbers. So, if you see something you want to learn, simply thumb to that page and learn it—all in just a few minutes.

Part I: Quick Start Guide Learning Your Way Around: Learn about the buttons and switches on the DROID, how to read your status bar, how to start and exit the apps, multitask, turn on Airplane mode and more. Touch Screen Basics: This book’s many practical and informative screen shots will help you quickly learn how to touch, swipe, flick, zoom, and more with your DROID's touch screen. App Reference Tables: Quickly skim the icons or apps grouped by category. Get a thumbnail of what all the apps do on your DROID, including a pointer to

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INTRODUCTION

the relevant chapter numbers so you can jump right to the details of how to get the most out of each app in this book.

Part II: Introduction You are here now . . .

Part III: You and Your DROID This is the meat of the book, organized in 24 easy-to-understand chapters, all of them packed with loads of pictures to guide you every step of the way.

Part IV: DROID Media Sync In Chapter 25, learn how to use doubleTwist to sync your music, playlists, videos, podcasts and more to your DROID from your Windows or Mac computer. Also, buy music using the Amazon MP3 store, check out cool apps in the Android Market and locate and subscribe to podcasts all in doubleTwist on your computer. We also show you how to use Mass Storage mode to transfer media and documents using the USB cable. The more of your media you can load on your DROID, the more fun you will have with it.

Appendix A: DROID App Guide Learn about over 80 apps in the following categories Microsoft Office document editing, printing, file management, virus protection, backup, security, presentation software, web conferencing, note taking and mind-mapping, to-do and task lists, expenses and finance, travel, health and medicine, law and legal, real estate, sales force automation, retail, project management, education and training, social media, information technology, and other apps.

Quickly Locating Tips, Cautions, and Notes If you flip through this book, you can instantly see specially formatted TIPS, CAUTIONS, and NOTES that highlight important facts about using the DROID. For example, if you want to find all the special tips relevant to using the Calendar, you can flip to the Calendar chapter and search for these highlighted nuggets of information. TIPS, CAUTIONS, and NOTES are all formatted like this, with a gray background, to help you see them more quickly.

INTRODUCTION

Free DROID Email Tips Finally, check out the author’s web site at www.madesimplelearning.com for a series of very useful “bite-sized” chunks of DROID tips and tricks. We have taken a selection of the great tips out of this book and even added a few new ones. Click the “Free Tips” link and register for your tips in order to receive a tip right in your DROID inbox about once a week. Learning in small chunks is a great way to master your DROID!

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INTRODUCTION

Part

III

You and Your DROID. . . This is the heart of Droids Made Simple. In this section, you’ll find clearly labeled chapters—each explaining the key features of your DROID. You’ll see that most chapters focus on an individual app or a specific type of application. Many of the chapters discuss applications that come with your DROID, but we also include some fun and useful apps you can download from the Android Market. Sure, the DROID can help you get work done, but it’s for a whole lot more, too. We finish with some handy troubleshooting tips that can help if your DROID isn’t working quite right.

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Chapter

1

Getting Started In this chapter, we will tell you everything you need to know to get up and running on your DROID. This chapter will go into a little more detail than you saw in the Quick Start Guide. First, we will go around the outside of the DROID and describe what each of the buttons and keys on your device does. Second, we will go inside the device and show you how to remove the battery and install a memory card. You will also learn how to charge your DROID and get the most out of your battery life with our battery life tips. Third, we will show you how to connect your DROID to your email, social networking, and other accounts, so you can have your life in the palm of your hand and stay up-todate with anyone at anytime and anywhere! Fourth, we will show you how to clean your DROID and protect it, and even how to give it some “bling” with stylish cases. Fifth, we will show you how to use a password to protect your personal and/or confidential information on your DROID. Finally, we will end this chapter with a discussion and some tips on saving money on your DROID phone plans. There are various options you can add or remove from your phone plan that can save you a good sum of money. TIP: Be sure to check out the Quick Start Guide if you haven’t already done so. This guide explains what all the buttons on your DROID do, how to navigate around the touch screen, and where to find other important information in this book.

Getting to Know Your DROID In this section, we will show you how to use everything you get in the box with your DROID. We will also give you some DROID battery and charging tips.

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CHAPTER 1: Getting Started

What Is Included in the Box The DROID box may seem small, but it contains everything you need to get started (your DROID, a USB cable, and wall plug adapter) except for a good manual – which is why we wrote this book!

The USB Cable This is the cable that connects your DROID to your computer. This cable also doubles as your power cable when you plug it into the wall plug adapter.

The Wall Plug Adapter You will also see your wall plug adapter in the box. This adapter allows you to charge your DROID directly from a wall outlet without having your computer around. All you do is plug the USB cable into this wall adapter and the other end into your DROID. Now let’s explore some of DROID’s basic features . . .

The DROID wall plug adapter.

Plug your USB cable in here.

Power and Lock Button To power on your DROID, press and hold the Power/Lock button on the top-right edge of the DROID for a few seconds (see the figure to the right). Simply tapping this button quickly won’t power on the DROID if it is completely off – you really need to hold it until you see the DROID power on. Tap this button once to put your DROID in Sleep mode when the screen goes off; this saves your battery life.

Power/Lock Press and hold to power on/off. y to sleep or wake. Press q quickly

Top edge of DROID 2

Tap the screen again quickly to wake the device and bring the screen back on.

NOTE: The Power/Lock button may be at a slightly different location, depending on your DROID model.


Volume Buttons The Volume buttons located on the upperright side of your DROID perform multiple functions, depending on the context in which you press them. When you press these buttons, you will see the type of volume you are changing with an on-screen pop-up window, as shown below.

Volume buttons Raise or lower phone ring tone, music volume and phone volume.

Top left edge of DROID 2

If you are not playing any media (e.g., a song, video, or other content), then these Volume buttons will change your phone’s ringer volume.

When you are playing music, watching a video, or listening to other media, then pressing the Volume buttons will adjust the playback (speaker) volume.

When you’re on a phone call, these Volume buttons will change the volume of the caller. Finally, when you are in the Camera or Camcorder apps, the Volume buttons will zoom in or out.

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Slide to Unlock When you first power on your DROID or wake it from Sleep mode, you will see two sliders at the bottom of the screen.

Touch and slide this icon to u oc you unlock your phone.

Touch and drag the Lock icon slider from left to right to unlock your phone. If you have assigned a password to your DROID, then you will need to enter your password to unlock the device.

Slide to Mute The other slider that appears next to the Lock icon when the phone wakes up is the Slide to Mute icon. Touch and drag the Slide to Mute icon slider from right to left to Mute or Unmute your phone ringer, as shown in Figure 1–1.

Touch and slide this icon to Mute or Un-Mute your phone ringer.

Figure 1–1. Slide to Mute or Unmute your phone ringer.

Using the Four Buttons Along the Bottom Along the bottom of your DROID, you will find four buttons: Menu, Home, Back, and Search. Note that these buttons do not appear in the same order on all DROID models. (Be sure to check out the Quick Start Guide earlier in this book to learn what each of the buttons does.)


The DROID 2’s four buttons appear in this order: Menu, Home, Back, and Search.

The DROID X’s four buttons appear in this order: Menu, Home, Back, and Search. The DROID’s four buttons appear in this order: Back, Menu, Home, and Search.

Slide-out Keyboard (for DROID and DROID 2) If you own the DROID, DROID 2, or DROID 2 Global, then you have a physical slide-out keyboard. Slide it out from the left side of the phone and turn the phone to Landscape mode to type using the keyboard (see Figure 1–2). We recommend typing with two thumbs on the keyboard – it will help you type a little faster (see Chapter 2: “Typing, Voice, Copy, and Search” to learn more about these keyboards). DROID 2 or DROID 2 Global Keyboard

ALT key for numbers and symbols.

Voice dictation and voice commands

Search key

DROID Keyboard

Cursor keys to move around screen.

Figure 1–2. The DROID and DROID 2 slide-out keyboards.

ALT key for numbers and symbols.

Search key

Menu key

Trackpad to move around screen.

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Dedicated Camera Button On the lower-right side of your DROID, you will see a small button. This is your dedicated camera button. Press and hold it for about a second to start the Camera app.

Camera button. Press to start the Camera app or take a picture.

You can take a picture by pressing this button once the Camera app has started. You can learn more about taking pictures in Chapter 18: “Taking Photos and Video.”

Inserting a Memory Card and Removing the Battery You need to open the back of your phone to remove and replace the battery, as well as to remove or insert a MicroSD memory card. You also need to open the back of your DROID 2 Global to remove or insert a SIM card. In order to get at the battery and memory card slots, you need to do the following. 1.

Power off your phone.

2.

Remove the back cover by sliding it down and lifting it up.

3.

Remove the battery by inserting your fingernail or other thin object into the little space by the white or silver tab on the battery that says BATTERY REMOVAL HERE. The DROID X has a plastic tab you can pull to remove the battery.

4.

Figure 1–3 shows where the memory card slots are located on your phone. You find these slots in different places on the DROID X and DROID 2 models.

5.

Slide the media card (MicroSD format) into the slot with the notch oriented as shown in Figure 1–3; the metal contacts of the media card must be facing down as you slide it in.


DROID, DROID 2 and DROID 2 Global

DROID X

MicroSD Memory Card slot. You must first remove the battery to access this slot.

Figure 1–3. How to insert a memory card into your DROID.

Adjusting the Date, Time, Time Zone, and 24-Hour Format Usually, the date and time is set and adjusted automatically on your DROID using the wireless network. However, there may be a few adjustments you might want to make, such as your time and date formats. The following sections will show you how to adjust everything related to your device’s date, time, and time zones. When you travel with your DROID, your time zone will usually adjust automatically. Keep an eye on the time and see if it has adjusted to local time when you land in a new time zone. If not, then you can change the time zone by following these steps: 1.

Touch the Settings icon.

2.

Swipe up to see the items at the bottom of the list and touch Date & time.

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3.

You can see that the Automatic box at the top is checked (set to On) in the figure to the right. If you want to manually adjust the date, time zone, and/or time, then you have to uncheck the Automatic setting (i.e., set it to Off).

4.

To set the date, tap the Set date option and make adjustments by tapping either the + and - icons or the items themselves. If you tap an item such as the number 29 (as shown in the image to the right), you can type numbers to set the day.

5.

When done, tap the Set button.

6.

Tap Select time zone to adjust the time zone. Next, swipe up or down on the next screen and tap the correct time zone.

7.

Tap Set time to adjust the time. The Set time screen is very much like the controls you use to set the date. Use the + or - icons or tap inside the numbers to make adjustments with the keyboard. Tap Set when you are done.

8.

To use the 24-hour time format (e.g., 16:00 instead of 4:00 PM), you tap Use 24-hour time format.

9.

To adjust the date format, tap Select date format.


10. You will now see a pop-up window showing various date options. Tap your selection to choose it. 11. This brings you back to the main Date & time settings screen. Press the Home button to return to your Home screen.

Adjusting the DROID’s Brightness The wonderful screen on your DROID is also one of the largest consumers of your battery life. The default is automatic brightness, which uses the built-in light sensor to adjust the brightness of the screen. When it is darker in your immediate environment, the auto-brightness control will dim the screen. When it is bright or sunny, the screen will be automatically brightened, so it is easier to read. You may want to play with this setting and see how it affects your battery life. First, try the Automatic brightness setting (the default) and see how it works. If you find that the automatic brightness screen seems a little too bright, then you may want to play with this setting and dim the screen. A dimmer screen will help you conserve battery power. If you want to adjust the brightness manually, follow these steps: 1.

Touch the Launcher icon to see all your apps.

2.


3.

Tap Display.

4.

Tap Brightness.

5.

Tap Automatic brightness to set this option to Off (i.e., to make the Checkmark icon go gray).

6.

Move the slider control to adjust the brightness.

7.

Tap OK to save your settings.

TIP: You can also use the Android Power Control widget to adjust brightness.

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TIP: Setting the brightness lower will help you save battery life. A little less than halfway across seems to work fine.

Charging Your DROID and Battery Life Tips Your DROID may already have some battery life, but you might want to charge it completely, so you can enjoy uninterrupted hours of use after you get it set up. TIP: We recommend charging your DROID every night, especially if you use it a lot during the day for phone calls or web browsing.

Charging From the Wall Outlet The fastest way to charge your DROID is to use the adapter and plug it directly into the wall outlet. TIP: Some newer cars have built-in power outlets (just like your home). These outlets let you plug in your DROID power cord. Note that these outlets are sometimes buried in the middle console behind the front seat.

Charging from Your Computer You can also charge your DROID when you plug it into your computer. TIP: Try powering your DROID with different USB ports on your computer. Some USB ports share a bus and have less power, while others have their own bus and more power. For best charging, you should have your computer plugged into the wall outlet. If your computer is not connected to the wall power outlet, your DROID will charge, but at a slower rate. Keep in mind that if your laptop computer goes to sleep or you close the screen, your DROID will stop charging.


Stopping the Verizon VCAST Video Auto-play (Windows PC) If you plug your DROID into a Windows PC, you might see your web browser pop up and start automatically playing a Verizon VCAST promotional video. If your computer speaker volume is turned up relatively high, you might be really surprised by this video. It can get quite loud! Fortunately, there is a way to turn off the auto-play feature of this video: 1.

Right-click the Motorola icon in your Windows tray, as shown in Figure 1–4.

2.

Select When phone connects, launch.

3.

Select Nothing.

Select When phone connects, launch. Then, select Nothing.

First, right-click the Motorola icon in your Windows tray.

Figure 1–4. Stopping the VCAST video from auto-playing.

What Drains the Battery the Fastest? The main drains on your DROID battery are the large touch-screen display and the wireless radios (cellular, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth). As long as you know this, you can increase your battery life – we will show you some cool battery extending tips in the next section. But the short version is this: you want to keep the screen dimmer and turn it off (Sleep mode) as soon as you don’t need it. You also want to keep your radio usage down or limit it to those times when you need it. For example, if you don’t need your GPS location enabled, then turn it off. If you don’t need to use your device for 15 minutes, then you can have the data updates turned off automatically. We will show you how to do this with the Battery Manager feature in the “Using the Battery Manager” section.

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The Power Control Widget A very convenient tool to help prolong your battery life without having to dig through the Settings app is the Power Control widget. Follow these steps to add this widget to your Home screen: 1.

Press the Menu button.

2.

Tap Add.

3.

Tap Android widgets.

4.

Tap Power Control.

The Power Control widget will look like the image to the right. From left to right, the buttons will:

Turn on/off the Wi-Fi radio.

Turn on/off the Bluetooth radio.

Turn on/off the GPS receiver.

Turn on/off the wireless sync to Google.

Adjust your screen brightness. Tap once to brighten, tap again to go to auto brightness, and tap yet again to dim the screen.

Getting More Out of Each Charge Following these tips will help you extend your DROID’s battery life: 1.

Put the DROID into Sleep mode whenever possible: Tap the Power/Lock button on the upper-right edge of the device to put it into Sleep mode whenever you are not using it. We use the term Sleep mode loosely; this feature really just turns off the screen to save the battery.


2.

Turn off Wi-Fi when not needed: The Wi-Fi antenna uses power even if you are not connected to a Wi-Fi network, so turn it off when you don’t need it. Turn off Wi-Fi by going to Settings > Wireless & Networks > Set Wi-Fi to Off.

TIP: DROID 2 and X users can swipe left to the second of the seven Home screens, and then tap

the Wi-Fi switch that looks like this to turn Wi-Fi off or on. is set to Off.)

(This icon shows that Wi-Fi

3.

Lower your screen brightness: Use the Power Control widget to adjust your brightness.

4.

Set a Shorter Screen timeout: Shortening the time your DROID takes to turn off the screen when it’s not being used can help you extend your effective battery life. To do this, tap Settings, then Display, and Screen timeout. Set Screen timeout as short as possible – you can set it as short as 15 seconds, if you can stand it. Sometimes it get annoying when the screen keeps turning off,so play with this setting a bit to find the best interval for how you use the device.

5.

Disable GPS when not needed: Use the Power Control widget to turn off GPS.

6.

Turn off Bluetooth when not needed: Use the Power Control widget to turn off Bluetooth.

7.

Adjust your Battery Manager settings to a Saver mode: See the “Using the Battery Manager” section later in this chapter to learn how to adjust these settings.

Long-Term Battery Life The DROID uses a rechargeable battery that will lose its ability to maintain a charge over time and has only a limited number of cycles during its useful life. You can extend the life of your DROID battery by making sure you run it down completely at least once a month. The rechargeable battery will last longer if you do this complete draining once a month.

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Using the Battery Manager To see the Battery Manager (DROID 2 and DROID X) shown to the right, tap your Settings icon, then swipe up and tap Battery Manager. The Checkmark in the large Battery icon shows that the DROID is currently being charged. The image to the right shows a full battery charge with 100% battery power remaining.

NOTE: On the original DROID, go to Settings/About phone and you can view the battery status and usage.

Tap the Battery icon to see how much of your battery is being consumed by various processes. In most cases, you will see that the display takes the majority of your power. The display and the data updates – which mean your radios such as Wi-Fi and Cell – consume the majority of your power. Press the Back button to return to the Battery Manager screen.


Tap Battery mode at the bottom of the screen to see available modes, as shown to the right. To save battery life, you need to reduce the frequency of automatic data updates and make the screen a little dimmer. The top two settings will allow you to get more battery life. The Performance mode setting gives you the highest performance, but will consume the battery the fastest. With Custom battery saver, you can fine-tune the settings to fit your needs. To learn more details about each preset, tap the Information icon. To adjust the custom battery saver settings, tap the Gear icon. Now you can fine-tune your Off-peak hours, Peak hours, how soon to turn off the data (your radios), and the Display brightness. When you’re done, tap the OK button at the bottom. Press the Home button to return to your Home screen.

As you can see, selecting the correct Battery mode is a tradeoff between your performance needs and the battery life.

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Finding More Places to Charge Your Droid No matter what you do, you will want to find more places and more ways to charge your DROID if you use it a lot. Table 1–1 shows you some other options for charging your DROID besides using your power cord or connecting it to your computer. Table 1–1. Other Places and Ways to Charge Your DROID.

Option

Description

Airport Charging Station

Most airports have wall sockets available today where you can top off your DROID’s battery while you are waiting for your flight. Some airports have labeled charging stations, and others simply have wall sockets that may even be hidden behind chairs or other objects. You may have to do a bit of hunting to beat out all those other power-hungry travelers!

Car Charger Accessory

If you are using your DROID heavily for phone calls during the day, you may want to invest in a car charger or some other way to give your DROID a little more juice in the middle of a long day. These chargers plug directly into the cigarette lighter socket in your car. These run about US $15–25.

Car Power Inverter

If you are taking a long car trip, you can buy a power inverter to convert your 12V car power outlets into a power outlet that lets you plug in your DROID charger. Do a web search for “power inverter for cars” to find many options for under US $50. This is a small price to pay for hours of enjoyment on your DROID!

Setting up Accounts on Your DROID You need to link to at least one Google account on your DROID. You can also connect to many other types of accounts (e.g., email, social networking, corporate, and photo). In this section, we explain the basics of setting up various types of accounts.


Setting up Your Google Account When you power on your DROID for the first time and slide to unlock it, certain apps such as the Calendar, Contacts, and Email require that you connect your DROID to a Google account. This is because your DROID is running the Android operating system created by Google. It was designed from the ground up to be wirelessly connected to a Google account. If you don’t have a Google account already, you can create a free one with a Gmail address by registering at http://mail.google.com/mail/signup. To connect your DROID to Google, you need to enter your Gmail account login and password and follow the steps outlined to log in. We show you the detailed steps of how to do this in Chapter 3: “Sync Your DROID with Your Google Account.” Chapter 3 also shows you how to transfer your contacts from your computer to your Google account, so you can sync them to your phone. TIP: If your workplace uses Google Apps for Enterprise, then you could use this ID as your Google account. However, unless your phone is part of an enterprise deployment, the wiser course of action is to use a personal Google account and add the Google Apps information as an additional email account. That way, you don’t lose your phone data if you switch jobs.

Using Other Google Services We’ll cover how to use other Google services in greater detail in Chapter 3, but virtually everything on Android phones is handled through your Google account. You should set up and explore these tools on the Web for a better understanding of how they work on your phone. If you purchase apps in the Android Market, you’ll use your Google account and the Google Checkout app to complete the transaction. The default email account is Gmail, and the default calendar is Google Calendar. Here are a few of the default Google services you’ll get to know as you use your DROID: Gmail (Google’s email program), Google Calendar, Google Maps, Google Checkout (a payment system like the one from PayPal), Picasa (a photo upload and sharing site like Flickr), and YouTube (a video upload and sharing service).

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Setting up More Types of Accounts Except for the first Google account, which the phone automatically guides you through at the login screen, every other account requires that you access your Accounts page. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

Tap the Launcher icon in the middle of the bottom of the Home screen.

2.

Tap the My Accounts icon.

3.

Tap the Add account button at the bottom.

4.

Select your type of account from the screen, as shown to the right. Use Corporate Sync icon for a Microsoft Exchange account. You may see fewer or more account type options depending on the number of apps you have downloaded from the Android Market.

5.

Follow the on-screen instructions to enter your login information. You may need to accept a license agreement if this is the first time you are accessing an app you just downloaded.

Finding Your Email After you get your accounts set up, you may be wondering where you can find your email. There are two icons for email on your DROID: Email and Gmail. The one called Email handles all email accounts except Gmail. And, as you might imagine, you use the Gmail app for all your Gmail accounts. This is the app you use for all your non-Gmail email accounts.

This is the app you use for your Gmail account(s).


TIP: Sometimes the Corporate Setup option might not work for your Exchange or other type of server. In this case, you can turn to third-party apps for a solution. TouchDown is a $20 app from NitroDesk that allows Exchange ActiveSync with Push email. This company also offers a free trial, so do take advantage of it to make sure the app works with your Exchange service. For example, it is not supported with some Exchange Server 2003 configurations. The newest version of TouchDown also supports other types of servers, such as Zimbra, Kerio, Novell GroupWise, Sun Java Communication Suite, Oracle’s Oracle Collaboration Suite (OCS) and Beehive Suite, and other servers. Check out NitroDesk’s website at www.nitrodesk.com for more information. If you use TouchDown, you’ll have a separate email, calendar, and task list. It will all look familiar to Microsoft Outlook users; however, it doesn’t sync this data with your Google Calendar. You can download TouchDown from the Android Market or by visiting http://www.nitrodesk.com.

Securing Your DROID Your DROID can hold a great deal of valuable information. This is especially true if you save information such as the Social Security numbers and birthdates of your family members in your Contacts list. It’s a good idea to make sure that anyone who picks up your DROID can’t access all that information!

Setting a Screen Lock To set a screen lock to protect your DROID, tap your Settings icon, then Location & Security settings. Next, scroll down and tap Set up screen lock to see the list of lock options, as shown to the right: None: Disable security lock. Pattern: Draw a pattern of dots. PIN: Set a numeric PIN code. Password: Enter a password.

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Tap Pattern to draw a pattern with your finger across nine dots as shown to the right. You will need to draw the pattern twice to confirm it.

The defaults are no visible pattern or tactile feedback – you may want to enable these. If someone is watching you do this, however, then that person may be able to see your pattern code. By default the DROID will not lock for 20 minutes, so we recommend tapping the Security lock timer and setting it to a smaller interval. The most secure setting is When display is off, which means to lock the device every time the display times out or turns off with the Power/Lock button.


If you tapped PIN for the security method, then you would need to type a numeric PIN of at least four digits. You can definitely use more, if you like. In this screen shot to the right, we used nine digits. Make sure that you use a PIN that you will remember.

Tap password to use a complex password that can include letters, numbers, and symbols. Again, your password must be at least four characters long.

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Locking Your DROID Your DROID will lock when one of the following occurs:

You press the Power/Lock button on the top edge, and the security lock timer is set to When display is off.

The security lock timer expires.

Unlocking Your DROID To unlock your DROID, you first slide the lock slider to see the lock code entry screen. Next, enter your pattern, PIN, or password to unlock the phone. You get five attempts to try your unlock code. After the fifth try, the DROID will lock up for 30 seconds before you can try again. If you enter 20 incorrect unlock codes, then your DROID will ask you to enter your Google account information to unlock it. CAUTION: We have heard that sometimes even entering the correct Google information will not allow you to unlock your DROID. If this occurs, then you will need to perform a Hard Reset. See Chapter 24: “Troubleshooting” for detailed information on performing a Hard Reset.

Maintaining Your DROID Now that you have your DROID fully charged, you will want to know how to safely clean the screen and keep it protected with various cases.

Cleaning Your DROID Screen After using your DROID a little while, you will see that your fingers (or other fingers besides yours) have left smudges and oil on the formerly pristine screen. You will want to know how to safely clean the screen. One way to keep the screen cleaner throughout the day is to place a protective screen cover on the DROID, which may also have the added benefit of cutting down on glare (as discussed in the next section). We also recommend the following: 1.

Turn off your DROID by pressing and holding the Sleep/Power key on the top edge, and tap Power off from the Phone Options pop-up menu.

2.

Remove any cables, such as the USB sync cable.

3.

Rub the screen with a dry, soft, lint-free cloth (such as a cloth supplied to clean eyeglasses or something similar).


4.

If the dry cloth does not work, then try adding a very tiny bit of water to dampen the cloth. If you use a damp cloth, try not to get any water in the openings.

CAUTION: Never use household cleaners, abrasive cleaners such as SoftScrub, or ammoniabased cleaners such as Windex, alcohol, aerosol sprays, or solvents on your device.

Cases and Protective Covers for Your DROID Once you have your DROID in your hands, you will notice how beautifully it is constructed. You will also notice that it can be fairly slippery. At some point, it could even slip out of your hands, rock around a bit, or have the back get scratched when you are typing on it. We recommend buying a protective case for your DROID. Average cases run about US $10 – 40, and fancy leather cases can cost US $100 or more. Spending a little to protect your DROID, which costs $200 or more, makes good sense.

Where to Buy Your Covers You can purchase your DROID protective cover at any of the following locations:

Amazon.com (www.amazon.com)

Android Central (www.androidcentral.com)

Handheld Items (www.handhelditems.com)

You could also do a web search for “DROID cases” or“DROID protective covers.” TIP: You may be able to use a case designed for another type of smartphone for your DROID. If you go this route to save some money, just make sure your DROID fits securely in the case or cover.

What to Buy The following sections provide information on the available types of cases to choose from and their price ranges.

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Rubber / Silicone / Decorative Cases ($10–30) What these do: Provide a cushioned grip, absorb DROID bumps and bruises, and isolate the edges of the phone (antennas) from your fingers. Pros: Deliver inexpensive, colorful, and comfortable DROID protection. Cons: Provide a less professional look than a leather case.

Motorola A955 Droid 2 Full Diamond Graphic Case – Purple Heart Image courtesy of www.handhelditems.com.

Waterproof Cases ($10–40) What these do: Provide waterproof protection for your DROID and allow you to safely use the DROID near water (in the rain, at the pool, at the beach, on a boat, and so on). Pros: Provide good water protection. Cons: May make the touch screen harder to use; these covers typically do not protect your DROID from drops or bumps.

Hard Plastic / Metal Case ($20–40) What these do: Provide hard, solid protection against scratches and bumps and short drops. Pros: Provide good protection. Cons: Add some bulk and weight. You may need to remove such covers when charging because the DROID might overheat in that circumstance.

Leather or Special Cases ($50–100+) What these do: Provide more of a luxury feel and protect the DROID. Pros: Provide the more upscale look-and-feel of leather; such cases also protect the front and the back of the device. Cons: Cost more than other cases; add bulk and weight.


Front Screen Glass Protectors ($5–40) What these do: Protect the DROID’s screen from scratches. Pros: Help prolong life of your DROID and protect against scratches; most covers like this also decrease screen glare. Cons: Some may increase glare or may affect the touch sensitivity of the screen.

Saving Money on Phone Plans You know you have to purchase a voice and data plan to use your DROID; however, fully understanding the available optional bells and whistles can help you save some money. TIP: Check with your workplace to see if it offers special deals on Verizon DROID and rate plans. You might be able to save some money through such a plan.

Data Packages At the time of publishing, Verizon offers two data plans that give you access to the mobile web, email, and contacts or calendar sync capabilities of your device. Both plans offered by Verizon feature unlimited calls. Option 1 is an unlimited corporate plan; Option 2 is a regular or “personal” plan. The corporate plan is about $45 / month, and the personal plan is about $30 / month. The only real difference between the plans is that the corporate plan allows you to connect your DROID to a corporate email service, such as Microsoft Exchange Active Sync, IBM Lotus Notes Traveler, or Good Mobile Messaging. TIP: Your DROID comes with built-in wireless sync to your Google Contacts, Email, and Calendar programs. This means that, unless you need a special corporate email connection, you should be able to go for the personal data plan and save some money.

Text, Picture, and Video Messaging Plans Usually, the texting add-on service plans can be added or removed from your plan at any time. Texting rates are all for both inbound and outbound messages. At publishing time, Verizon bills $0.20 for text messages and $0.25 for picture messaging. As soon as you exceed 25 text messages in a month, you should opt for the basic 250 message plan; it is cheaper. Text, picture, and video messaging plans range from 250 to 5000 messages.

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TIP: Save Money on Text, Video, and Picture Messaging You need to watch your monthly bill closely. If you find out that you have gone over $20 in total messaging charges, you may be able to cut the bill down to $20 by calling Verizon and asking to be switched over to an unlimited messaging plan. If you sweet talk them, they will usually institute the plan retroactively, so it reduces your current phone bill.

Equipment Insurance Plans You may be offered a total equipment protection plan that will allow you to get a new phone if yours is damaged or lost. Please note that many of these plans have deductibles of $90 or more and caps on how many phones per year (usually two) that you can recover. New DROIDs with a service plan cost about $200; without a service plan, the phones usually cost $500 – $600. Because this is what you might have to pay to buy a phone to replace your lost or damaged DROID, it seems to make financial sense to get the insurance. At about $8 / month, you are paying $96 per year. If you add on the $90 deductible, you are still at just $186 in the first year and $276 for the second year. This is well below the $500 - $600 price to buy a new DROID without a service plan. NOTE: You can typically add insurance only during the first 30 days after you sign up for the original service plan.

Mobile Wi-Fi Hot Spot A very cool and useful feature on the DROID is the Mobile Wi-Fi Hot Spot feature (also known as Wireless Internet Access). We describe this feature in more In Chapter 5: “Wi-Fi and 3G Connectivity.” This feature allows you to turn your DROID into a secure, private, mobile Wi-Fi hot spot for up to five devices. A good example of this is when you are traveling in a car or sitting in a location waiting for something, and you need an Internet connection for your laptop. In this case, you can use the DROID to connect your laptop, iPod touch, iPad, or any other device that needs a Wi-Fi Internet connection. Usually, the Wi-Fi connection speeds are quite respectable!


TIP: Controlling Costs With Reminders You can set a DROID Calendar Reminder to help you remember to turn off temporary service plan features. For example, Verizon (like most phone companies) bills in advance for additional add-on services such as Mobile Hotspot or Visual Voicemail. Our recommendation is that you put the service on a recurring monthly reminder on your DROID calendar. This reminder should be set to a day or two before your monthly billing cycle ends. When the reminder comes up, you should check whether there are any features that you want to turn off. For example, if you are going on a summer trip and need the Mobile Hotspot feature for just a month, the reminder would help you save $20 or more by making sure you turn off the service when you are done with it.

Enhanced Voicemail Plans Verizon also sells Visual Voice Mail or Premium Voice Mail services on an ad-hoc basis. This means you can turn the features on or off at will, with no penalties. The Visual Voice Mail service gives you the ability to see a list of all your messages on your DROID and tap to listen to them in any order. It’s a nice feature. The Premium Voice Mail service gives you twice the storage for your voice mail messages. At the time of publishing, the Premium plan lets you store 40 messages instead of the standard 20. If you are careful about cleaning out your inbox, then the standard 20 messages included for free should be adequate. TIP: If you use the free Google Voice service, you can get free Visual Voice Mail service. You can learn more about Google Voice in Chapter 7: “Making Phone Calls.”

International Plans If you travel to Canada or Mexico, Verizon offers special plans that allow you to fully use your DROID for voice and data while traveling. Again, these plans can be turned on or off at will. So, if you are only going to be in Mexico a week or so, just remember to turn off the plan when you return home. We cover international travel in more detail in Chapter 5: “Wi-Fi and 3G Connectivity.” Also, if you call from the US to other countries, be sure to inquire about international access plans that give you reduced calling rates to overseas phone numbers. If you travel to other countries, check with Verizon and get the company to enable your phone for international travel. You should also have someone explain all the various plans, as well as any limitations to your coverage when you travel.

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TIP: Plans for Cruise Ships! There are even special plans and rates that will allow you to make calls and stay connected to your data plan when you take a cruise. Rates and plans vary by cruise line, so give Verizon a call to see what is available. Now that you know all about the various service plans, you are ready to start using your new DROID!

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Typing, Voice, Copy, and Search In this chapter, we will show you the ins-and-outs of using the DROID keyboards. We will cover both the virtual on-screen keyboard and the slide out keyboard (for DROID and DROID 2). The on-screen keyboard comes in two flavors: Portrait mode (vertical/smaller) and Landscape mode (horizontal/larger). You will also learn how to use the innovative Swype typing, where you drag your finger across the virtual keyboard to Swype words. You can also fine-tune your keyboard to vibrate, click, or be silent when you press keys. Your DROID also comes with accessibility features such as Voice ReadOuts (where the DROID reads the screen out loud) and Zoom Mode (where you zoom in on a section of the screen for easier reading). You may also choose to skip typing altogether and use the DROID’s voice recognition software to speak your text – it works amazingly well. Your DROID also comes with a Voice Command app to help you control the DROID itself with your voice. Finally, we will show you how to use the DROID’s copy-and-paste features, as well as the highly flexible Google Search and Voice Search functions.

Typing on Your DROID When you first use your DROID, you will quickly find two on-screen keyboard orientations on the device. The first (and smaller of the two) is visible when you hold your DROID in a vertical orientation (Portrait mode); the second orientation is the larger Landscape mode that you see when you hold the DROID in a horizontal orientation. The nice thing is that you can use whichever orientation works best for you.

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CHAPTER 2: Typing, Voice, Copy, and Search

Two Ways to Type: Multi-touch and Swype Your DROID also gives you two ways to type text on your virtual keyboards: Multi-touch and Swype. We recommend trying both methods and seeing which one works best for you.

Quickly Switch Between Multi-touch and Swype While you can change typing modes in the Settings app, one of the fastest ways to change typing modes is to long-press on any word. This will bring up a pop-up window from which you can select Input method at the bottom of the list to change your typing method.

Multi-touch Typing With the standard Multi-touch typing method, you tap each key only once, just as you do on a standard keyboard.

TIP: You know are using the Multi-touch keyboard if you see the ?123 key or the ABC key (which is visible after you quickly tap the ?123 key) in the lower-left corner of your virtual keyboard.

Various Multi-Touch Keyboards You will see the entire keyboard show uppercase letters when you press the Shift key or you are typing at the beginning of a sentence (DROID automatically capitalizes the first letter). You can tap the ?123 key to access numbers and basics symbols, and then tap the ALT key to access the advanced symbols keyboard. Tap the ABC key to return to the letter keyboard (see Figure 2–1). Upper Case

Lower Case

Press Shift

Touch to dictate text.

Numbers & Basic Symbols

Advanced Symbols

Press ?123

Press ?123 Then ALT

Return to letter keyboard.

Figure 2–1. Accessing number and symbol keyboards in Multi-touch mode.


Accessing Settings and Switching Typing Modes from Multi-touch Assume you want to quickly access the Settings program or switch typing modes while using the Multi-touch keyboard. From the Multi-touch keyboard, press and hold the Settings / ?123 key in the lower-left corner of the keyboard to bring up the Multi-touch keyboard dialog box. You can also get to this by pressing and holding any input box. Tap Multi-touch keyboard settings or Input method to access either function.

NOTE: On the original DROID, you have the option of Android keyboard settings instead of Multi-touch keyboard settings. From the Input method dialog, you can switch between the Swype and Multitouch keyboards.

Swype Typing (DROID 2 and DROID X only) When using the Swype typing method, you touch-and-drag your finger around the screen to cross each of the letters in the word you are typing. With Swype, you only lift your finger after completely touching all the letters.

TIP: You know you are in the Swype mode of typing if you see the Swype (stylized S) key or the OPT key (which is visible after pressing the SYM key) in the lower-left corner on your virtual keyboard.

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Follow these steps to type the word “hope” with Swype: 1.

2.

3.

Using Swype to type the word “hope.” 3

Touch the keyboard on first letter (h). Drag your finger across the next letters (o) and (p).

Lift your finger on the last letter in the word.

Lift your finger on the last letter (e).

Swype Help and the Built-in Swype Tutorial If you want to learn more about Swype, the on-board help is pretty good. To access Swype Help, long-press the Swype key in the lower-left corner. To access Swype Tutorial, tap the Tutorial button at the bottom of the Help screen. You will see an Options button; this button provides quick access to the settings screens. Follow these steps to navigate through the available options:

Tap the Next button to move forward (the Next button is the green, right-facing arrow)

Tap the Previous button to move back a step (the Previous button is the green, left-facing arrow).

Tap the Close button (signified by a red “X”) or the Back key to close the tutorial.

2

Drag

Lift Touch

1 Touch the screen on the first letter.

Drag your finger to each letter in the word.


Word Choice Window If Swype cannot figure out what you are trying to type, it shows you a Word Choice window. Follow these tips to navigate the Word Choice window:

Tap any word to select it or press the Space key to select the bold word (in this image, merck is bold.)

Tap the arrow on the bottom of the window to see more choices.

Tap the X button on the left side to close the window.

Various Swype Keyboard Layouts As with the Multi-touch keyboard, you can use Swype to access various number and symbol keyboards using the buttons in the lower-left corner (see Figure 2–2). Upper Case

Lower Case

Press SYM

Press Shift

Swype key – tap for suggestions, longpress for tips.

Numbers & Basic Symbols

Microphone key – tap to dictate text.

Long press for Keyboard Settings.

Advanced Symbols Press SYM Then Shift

Return to letter keyboard.

Figure 2–2. Accessing numbers and symbol keyboards in Swype typing mode.

Getting to Keyboard Options from the Swype Keyboard To quickly access options to change keyboard settings or to change from Swype typing back to Multi-touch typing, you press the SYM key, and then press and hold (long press) the OPT key in the lower-left corner of the keyboard.

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Swype Tips and Tricks Here are some things to keep in mind while using Swype:

Touch and hold the Swype key for tips and tricks about how to use Swype.

No spaces are necessary. Skip pressing the Space key between words because spaces are automatically inserted.

You can enter double letters by “scribbling” on the letter or making a little circle on the letter you want to double as you drag your finger. For example, when typing “hello,” scribble a little on the letter “l” to get the double letter.

If you want to change the last word typed, tap the Swype key to see a list of alternate words appear, and then tap the correct word.

If you get tired of Swype typing, try using the Microphone key next to the Space key to dictate your text (see the “Dictating Your Text” section in later in this chapter for more information).

Sometimes you may want to type in ALL CAPS. Start Swyping as you do normally, then slide your finger until it is above the keyboard. Next, make a circle, and then continue Swyping the rest of the word. It will appear in ALL CAPS.

If you just can’t type a word using the Swyping motion, you can go back to tapping each letter; that still works as a back-up plan.

Swype from the period to the space at the end of a sentence, rather than tapping each separately – this will save you time and make the next letter you type automatically uppercase.


The Device Keyboard (DROID 2 and Similar) If you have a DROID 2 or DROID with a slide out keyboard – also known as the Device keyboard – you can slide it out to type (see Figure 2–3).

DROID Device Keyboard Trackpad to move around screen. Press in or click to select.

ALT key for numbers and symbols shown on the top of the keys.

Symbols: Press ALT then press the Space key.

Search

Menu

DROID 2 / DROID 2 Global Device Keyboard Backspace B Tab Enter Shift

Press ALT to type no. and symbols on keys.

Voice Dictation

Search

Symbols: Press ALT + the Space key.

Figure 2–3. The DROID and DROID 2 slide-out physical keyboard.

Device Keyboard Options You can set a few options on your Device keyboard. From your Settings icon, tap Language & Keyboard settings, and then tap Device keyboard. This brings up a menu with three options: Auto-replace, Auto-cap, and Auto-punctuate. Auto-replace automatically corrects misspelled words.

OK / Click highlighted item. Back

Cursor keys

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Auto-cap capitalizes the first letter in sentences. Auto-punctuate allows you to press the Space key twice to insert a period at the end of a sentence.

Dictating Your Text If you get tired of typing, tap the little Microphone key to the left or right of the Space key on the virtual keyboard. This allows you to dictate your text (see Figure 2–4). In informal testing, the authors found that this dictation worked amazingly well! However, one author’s 10-year-old daughter, Cece, did not get quite such accurate results. “My name is Cece,” she said. But the DROID typed out, “I’m a meanie cc.” OK, so it wasn’t quite right, but it gave us a good laugh.

Tap the Microphone key.

Speak loudly and clearly.

Your voice is transcribed into text.

Figure 2–4. Using the Microphone key to dictate text for emails,text messages, notes, and more.

TIP: To enhance the translation of your dictated words, try these tips:

Dictate in a quiet place.

Try to speak slowly and enunciate your words clearly.

Speak loudly.


Quickly Delete a Word at a Time To save your finger when you need to delete an entire word or series of words, simply press and hold the Backspace key (see the image to the right) to delete a word at a time. This brings up a little window pop-up saying Delete Word Back (again, see the image to the right).

Backspace

Typing on the Screen With Two Thumbs You will find when you first start out with your DROID that you can type most easily with one finger – usually your index finger – while holding the DROID with the other hand. After a little while, you should be able to experiment with thumb typing (as you see so many people doing with other phones). Once you practice a little, typing with two thumbs instead of a single finger will really boost your speed. Just be patient; it takes practice to become proficient typing quickly with two thumbs. TIP: If you have large hands and fingers, try flipping your DROID on its side to get the larger landscape keyboard! You will eventually notice that the on-screen keyboard touch sensitivity assumes you are typing with two thumbs. This means that the letters on the left side of your keyboard are meant to be pressed on their left side, and the keys on the right are meant to be touched on their right side (see Figure 2–5).

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Smaller Portrait Keyboard Larger Landscape Keyboard Flip the DROID on its side to get the larger keyboard.

Type the keys on the left side with your left thumb.

Hold the DROID with both hands near the bottom of the device.

Type the keys on the right side with your right thumb.

Figure 2–5. Typing with two thumbs can be much faster than using a single finger.

Moving the Cursor Around the Screen As you type, you will want to precisely position the cursor in the text, so you can edit it or switch between fields on a form, such as a calendar. The following sections explain how to do this.


Tapping to Move the Cursor You can tap anywhere inside a text entry area on the screen to move the cursor. You might do this to correct a sentence you typed in an email message or to jump between fields in a calendar event, as shown in Figure 2–6.

Tap quickly to move the cursor to a different location.

The cursor at the beginning or end of a field is shown as a half circle.

The cursor in the middle field is shown as a full circle.

Figure 2–6. Tap the screen to move the cursor around.

NOTE: The full and half circles do not appear on the original DROID.

Sliding to Exactly Position the Cursor If you need to position the cursor on the screen more precisely, then you need to touch and slide your finger around the screen. You will see a little window appear above your finger; this tells you where the cursor is located, as shown in the figure to the right. TIP: You will see suggested replacement words based on the word closest to or under the cursor. In the figure to the right, notice that the word “new” is touched. Consequently, the related suggestions are “news,” “newsletter,” and “newspaper.”

Touch and slide your finger around the screen to place the cursor. Notice the suggested words here.

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Keyboard Vibration and Sounds When using the on-screen keyboard, you might find it useful to have some audible or sensory feedback as you press the virtual keys. Follow these steps to toggle a click sound or a short vibration on or off: 1.


2.

Tap Language & keyboard.

3.

Tap the type of keyboard you are using (Multi-touch keyboard or Swype).

4.

For the Multi-touch keyboard, you can turn Vibrate on or off on keypress and Sound on or off on keypress by tapping either option. If you are using the Swype keyboard, you can only turn Vibrate on or off on keypress.

Saving Time With Suggested Words On the Multi-touch keyboard, you will see a line of suggested words appear in a gray bar directly above the keyboard. These suggestions appear whether you have an onscreen keyboard or physical keyboard, as long as you have the option enabled in your settings.

TIP: If you never see the suggested words appear above the keyboard, then you will have to enable suggestions by selecting your Settings app > Language & keyboard > Multi-touch keyboard or Swype keyboard, and then setting Show suggestions to on (a Green check mark button next to the option means it is selected). You can save yourself time when you see the correct word guessed (shown in bold font) by just pressing the Space key at the bottom of the keyboard to select that word (see Figure 2–7). In this example, we wanted to type the word “Martin” but misspelled it as “marton.” The suggested words box displayed the correct spelling of his name with the highlighted word. Since the correct suggestion is highlighted, we can simply tap the Space key to


select it. If the correct word were not highlighted, then we would need to tap the correct word to select it from the list.

Suggested words

Tap any suggested word or the Space key to select it. Figure 2–7. Tap any suggested word to select it or press the Space key to select the highlighted word.

TIP: The Auto-Replace feature also looks through your Contacts list to make suggestions. For example, if Martin Trautschold was in your Contacts list, you would see “Trautschold” come up as a suggested word after typing “Trau” – the figure to the right shows an example of this. After you get used to tapping the suggested words and using the Space key to select highlighted suggestions, you will come to appreciate just how much time this feature saves you. Sometimes when you hit the Space key, the wrong word is selected. In this case, you simply need to press the Backspace key to see the originally typed word. At this point, you can select one of the other suggestions or keep typing.

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TIP: With the Auto-Replace feature, you can save time by not typing the apostrophe in many common contractions, such as “wont” and “cant.” The suggested words will show you the contraction spelled correctly. If the correction is highlighted, press the Space key to select it. If not, then tap the word.

Using the Spell Checker Working hand-in-hand with the suggested words feature is the DROID’s built-in spell checker and its user dictionary. Most of the time, your misspelled words will be caught and corrected automatically by the Auto-correction feature. CAUTION: At the time of publishing, if you ignore the suggested correction or the misspelled word is not in the dictionary, then it will not be corrected before you send your email message. The spell checker on the DROID does not check words after you finish typing them; it only checks words as you type them.

Adding Words to the Custom User Dictionary You can add words to the built-in user dictionary, so they are not auto-corrected by the DROID. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

Tap Settings.

2.


3.

Tap User dictionary.

4.

Press the Menu key and select Add.

5.

Type in your new word for the user dictionary and click OK.

6.

Repeat for as many words as you want to add.


Editing or Deleting Words From the User Dictionary Navigate to the User dictionary screen, as shown in the above image. Next, long-press (press and hold) any word and then select Edit or Delete.

Clearing Out the User Dictionary It’s possible that you will end up adding misspelled words to your user dictionary. If at some point you find that your user dictionary has too many misspelled words, then you can give it a fresh start by clearing out all the custom words. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

Tap Settings.

2.


3.

Tap Multi-touch keyboard.

4.

Tap Clear user dictionary.

5.

Tap Yes to confirm that you want to clear the user dictionary.

The preceding process will clear out all custom words added to your DROID dictionary.

Accessibility Options There are a number of useful features on the DROID to help with accessibility. For example, the Voice Readouts feature will read text on the screen to you. It will tell you what you tap on, what choices are selected, and even read email. If you like to see things in a larger size, you can turn on the Zoom Mode feature; this chapter’s “Using Zoom Mode to Magnify a Portion of the Screen” section explains how to do so.

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Accessibility – Voice Readouts (Reads the Screen) One cool feature of the DROID is that it has a Voice Readouts feature you can turn on to make the DROID will speak anything you tap on the screen. You can even get it to read to you from any email or other text-based document.

TIP: Use a set of headphones when listening to Voice Readouts to better hear what is being said and to avoid disturbing others.

Follow these steps to enable Voice Readouts: 1.


2.

Tap Accessibility near the bottom of the page.

3.

Tap Accessibility again to check it.

4.

Tap Voice Readouts to check it.

TIP: The Voice Readouts gestures are a little different from the normal gestures. A single tap will result in the item being read to you. Once you enable this feature, you have to double-tap an item to select it or set a switch.

NOTE: The original DROID has the options of TalkBack, SoundBack and KickBack. TalkBack recites menu options, app titles, contacts, etc when scrolling through and opening. SoundBack plays a tone when scrolling menus and a different one everytime a menu is selected. KickBack is like SoundBack but with vibration.


Using Zoom Mode to Magnify a Portion of the Screen You may want to turn on the Zoom Mode feature if you find that the text, icons, buttons, or anything else on the screen is a little too hard to see. Zoom mode is not available on the original DROID. Follow these steps to enable Zoom Mode: 1.


2.

Tap Accessibility near the bottom of the page.

3.

Make sure Accessibility at the top is checked.

4.

Tap Zoom Mode to check it.

5.

You will see a warning that the Zoom Mode will collect everything you type. Tap OK to continue.

With the Zoom Mode turned on, you will see a box with gray bars on the top and bottom. In the upper- and lower-left corners, you will also see + (plus) and – (minus) symbols. Tap the + symbol to zoom in and the – symbol to zoom out. Drag either gray bar to move the screen around and zoom in on something else (see Figure 2–8).

+ = increase zoom - = decrease zoom

Drag the Zoom Mode box around the screen using the bar at the top or bottom.

You can now see a zoomed in area of the screen inside this box.

Figure 2–8. Using Zoom Mode to expand a portion of your DROID screen.

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Double Tap the Home Button Options The default setting for when you double-click the Home button is to start up Voice Command, but you can adjust this behavior in your settings. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

Tap your Settings icon.

2.

Tap Applications.

3.

Tap Double tap home launch.

4.

Select from any of the available options.

Note that this list is longer than the screen, so scroll up and down to see all the options available. You can choose from Browser, Camera, Contacts, Dialer, Gmail, Maps, Messaging, Music, News, Social Networking, Text Messaging, Voice Command, and Voice Search. NOTE: Double tap home launch is not available on the original DROID.

Pressing and Holding to Type Symbols (and More) You might wonder how you type symbols that aren’t shown on the standard keyboard. TIP: You can type more symbols than are shown on the screen. To do so, simply press and hold a letter, number, or symbol that is related to the symbol you want. If you see three dots (...) in the lower-left corner of a letter, that’s your tip that pressing and holding that letter will show you more character options (see the figure showing the letter “E” to the right).


Several characters have special, additional characters associated with them, including all the vowels; the letters “C” and “N”; and the . (period) and $ (dollar) symbols. For example, follow these steps if you want to type the ¥ (yen) symbol:

Press and hold the $ key until you see the other options.

Slide up your finger to highlight the ¥ symbol and then let go with your finger over that symbol.

Toggling Caps Lock You double-tap the Shift key to turn on Caps Lock. You know Caps Lock is turned on when the little dot in the upper-left corner of the key turns green. An easy way to see whether Caps Lock is on: all the letters on the keyboard will be shown in UPPER CASE. To turn off Caps Lock, simply press the Shift key again.

Quickly Changing a Word If you want to quickly change a single word, tap it once to put the cursor in it, as shown in the figure to the right. The cursor in this image is in the middle of the word “quickly.” This causes the suggested words shown at the bottom of the image to be related to the word “quickly.” If you see the suggestion you want, tap it. If not, tap the gray triangle in the lower-right corner to see more suggestions.

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Quickly Change Text Sometimes you need to quickly change or delete some text you are typing. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

Begin by selecting the desired text by double-tapping it. Notice that the word you tapped is now selected.

2.

Adjust the selection by dragging the blue handles.

3.

To erase the selected text, press the Backspace key.

4.

To replace the text, simply start typing. The text will be instantly replaced by the letters you type.


Changing the Language and Keyboard Options The DROID includes a few keyboard options to make typing on your DROID easier. The keyboard options are located in the Settings app. Follow these steps to change these settings: 1.


2.


3.

To change your language, tap Select Locale and select another language.

4.

To change your typing method, tap Input Method and select between Multi-touch keyboard and Swype.

5.

To adjust the settings particular to the various keyboards, tap each type of keyboard: Swype; Multi-touch keyboard; and if you happen to have a device keyboard (DROID 2 models), Device keyboard.

6.

Tap User dictionary to make adjustments to your user dictionary. For example, you might add, edit, or delete words to your custom dictionary.

If you changed your local language to Español, then you would see all the labels and menus on the DROID change to Spanish.

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Voice Command The DROID 2 and DROID X comes with a nice feature called Voice Command that allows you to control many aspects of your phone using your voice. Double-pressing the Home button will usually bring up Voice Command. You can also tap the icon to start it. If the default behavior of double-clicking the Home button has been changed (DROID 2 and DROID X only), you can change it back to start Voice Command by following the steps we showed you in this chapter’s earlier section, “Double-Clicking the Home Button Options.” The Voice Command feature lets you do the following:

Call a person by name or number. Send a text message. Send a picture. Send a video. Send an email. Lookup someone’s contact information. Go to a menu. Play a playlist.

When you say (or tap) Check, you can check any number of status items, as shown in the image to the right.


Texting by Voice The Voice Command feature lets you do a lot of cool things. For example, you can use this feature to dictate and send an email to someone. Follow these steps to do so:

Say “Send text” and then the person’s name.

Select the desired phone number or email address when prompted.

You will see a screen with the addressee. Tap the Enter message here window to write the message.

You can continue dictating the message by tapping the Microphone icon next to the Space key on your keyboard. In the image to the right, we just finished dictating the exact message shown as underlined. If the dictation was incorrect, one tap of the Backspace key would erase the entire underlined text.

Tap the Send button to send the message.

NOTE: On the original DROID, just start the Messaging app and then touch the Microphone icon to speak your text.

Using Copy-and-Paste The ability to copy-and-paste is very useful for saving time and increasing your accuracy. You can use this feature for taking text from your email (such as meeting details) and pasting it into your Calendar. Or, you may want to simply copy an email address from one place in a form to another to save yourself the time and trouble of retyping it. There are lots of places to use copy-and-paste; the more comfortable you are with it, the more you will use it.

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Selecting Text If you are reading or typing text, you can select text by double-tapping a word and then dragging the handles as we showed you in the “Quickly Change Text” section earlier in this chapter. You can also select text by long-pressing it and choosing Select all or Select text.

TIP: In the Browser, you can save an image to your DROID by pressing and holding it until you see a pop-up menu. Tap Save image to save the image or Set as wallpaper to set the image as your DROID wallpaper.

Cutting, Copying, and Pasting Text Once you have the text that you wish to copy or cut highlighted, long-press again and tap Copy or Cut. If you want to paste the text in the same screen, reposition the cursor by tapping the screen, and then long-press and select Paste. If you want to paste the text into another app, use the multitasking steps shown in the next section.

Jumping Between Apps or Multitasking After you copy text, you may want to paste it into another app. The easiest way to jump between apps is to use the Recent list. Follow these steps to paste text you copy into another app:


1.

Copy or cut your text.

2.

Long-press the Home button to bring up the Recent list of the eight most recent apps you have opened on your DROID.

3.

If you just left an app running in the background, you will be able to find it in the top left position of the Recent list. Tap any of the eight apps to jump to it.

TIP: If you don’t see the app you want to start in the Recent list of eight apps, then tap the Home button, and then the Launcher icon to see all your apps. From here, you can fire up the app you need. 4.

Paste the text by pressing and holding the screen and selecting Paste from the pop-up.

5.

Long-press the Home button again to see Recent list and tap the app you just left to jump back to it.

Finding Things with Google Search As you might expect from the creator of the most popular search engine on the planet, Google’s Android operating system has a very nice search feature. You even have a dedicated Search button on the bottom of your DROID, as shown to the left. Follow these steps to start a search for something on your DROID: 1.

Press the Search button on the bottom of the DROID and start typing your search word or phrase.

2.

Instantly, you will see matching items and search suggestions appear. Tap the item or search suggestion you desire to view or use.

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Modifying Your Search It’s also a simple matter to change the parameters of your search. Tap the icon (usually the Google “g” ) just to the left of the search box to adjust what you’re searching for. The default setting for search is All, but you can also search only the Web or Apps from the Android Market.

If you want to see more items that you can search for, tap the Settings icon in the upper-right corner of the pop-up window with the search icons.

From this window, you can check or uncheck various items to include in the search. By default, only the Web and Apps options are checked. For example, you can check the Kindle app to search titles and authors of your Kindle books. You can also check Contacts to search your DROID contact list. Or, you can check Music to quickly search for artists, album names, and song names.


Performing the Search The figure to the right shows the results of typing the letter “e” into the Search window. Doing so displays a number of apps and suggested search terms. You have several options at this point. You can tap a given app icon to jump into that app or tap the search term to execute a Google search with your search term. You can also tap the Pencil icon to the right of the search term to select the chosen search term and continue typing more in the Search box.

TIP: To hide the virtual keyboard, swipe your finger down from the top of the keyboard toward the bottom.

Performing a Voice Search After you bring up the Search window, tap the Microphone icon to the right of the Search window to use your voice to dictate the search. Speak loudly and clearly when you see the Speak now window as shown to the right. Once you stop speaking, the DROID will take a second and do its best to type what you just spoke and search for it.

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In the image shown to the right, we searched for “pizza 32174.” This search quickly found all pizza restaurants in the ZIP code 32174. You could search for anything, including the following:

Golf courses

Bars

Plumbers

Libraries

Grocery stores

Panera Bread stores

Your favorite gas station and more!

Adding the Google Search Widget to Your Home Screen If you use the search feature often, you will want to add a Google Search widget to your Home screen. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

The Google Search widget requires four empty spaces across to be placed. Locate such an empty space on your Home screen and press and hold the screen.

2.

Select Android widgets.

3.

Select Google Search.


Now you have instant access to Google Search right from your Home screen.

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Chapter

3

Sync Your DROID With Your Google Account In order to use a DROID, you must have a Google Account. You can still check your work email and use other accounts, but you must have at least one Google Account. When you activate a new DROID, setting up a Google Account is the second thing you’ll do, right after activating the phone number itself with Verizon Wireless. Your Google Account serves as your default contact list, email, and calendar on your DROID. You will be able to view, manage and update your Google Contacts and Calendar using the Contacts and Calendar apps on your DROID. You can add other services such as Twitter, Facebook, and Microsoft Exchange email (we’ll get to that in Chapters 9 and 20); however, by default all new contacts you create directly on your phone go into your Google Account.

Activating Your Phone If you already have a DROID in your hand, chances are you’ve already activated it. If you’re still considering a purchase or an upgrade, here are the steps for activation: 1.

Tap on the screen. You’ll see an Android with a hand.

2.

Follow the instructions on the screen.

3.

Your phone will dial a special number for activation.

4.

You’ll see a message that your phone has been activated.

5.

It may take up to 15 minutes for service. Meanwhile, you can press the Next key to begin a tutorial on activating and using your DROID. This tutorial will also guide you through setting up your Google Account.

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CHAPTER 3: Sync Your DROID With Your Google Account

Activating Your Google Account You have two basic choices: you can use a Google Account you’ve already created, or you can create one. Once you’ve completed this step, you can also go back and add multiple Google Accounts; thus, if you have one email for home and another for work, it’s no problem. Figure 3–1 shows the activation steps for creating a new Google Account, and Figure 3– 2 shows the steps for signing in with your existing account.

Type in your real first and last name and your desired Username.

Tap Tap

Tap to select the text boxes.

Select a different security question if desired.

If you don’t have a Google Account, tap on Create to make one now.

Create and confirm your password.

Bar changes from green to red to indicate password strength.

Tap to change The answer and secondary email are for password retrieval.

Tap the Create button when you’re finished.

Figure 3–1. Setting up a new Google account.

Follow these steps to create a new Google Account: 1.

If this is your first Google Account, press the Create button.

2.

Enter your first and last name and your desired Gmail username in the appropriate boxes.

3.

Google will check to see if your username is available. If not, it will suggest alternatives.

4.

Once you've selected an available username, you need to create a password.


5.

Google will indicate if this is a “strong” password. Our experience is that Google overrates the strength of passwords, so try to create a password that has at least one number, punctuation character, and at least one capital letter.

6.

Next you’ll need to add security questions in case you ever forget your password. You can click the security question to select a different question.

CAUTION: Keep in mind that identity thiefs can use Google to find obvious answers about you, so avoid questions such as your city of birth or high school. You could also make up an answer to these questions that you’ll remember but strangers can’t research. 7.

Now you should enter a secondary email address. This is where your password reset instructions will be emailed.

8.

Agree to the Google Terms of Service by pressing I agree, Next.

9.

Congratulations! You’re the proud owner of a new Google Account.

Tap Tap

If you already have a Google Account, tap Sign in.

Enter your username and password. No need to type “@gmail.com.”

Tap here to type numbers and symbols.

Tap Next when done, and then wait for Google to verify your account. You can add more Google Accounts by tapping the Google button.

Figure 3–2. Adding an existing Google Account.

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Follow these steps to sign into an existing Google account: 1.

If you already have a Google Account, tap the Sign in button.

2.

Enter your username and password in the appropriate fields.

3.

Google will verify your username and password.

4.

Congratulations, your phone is set up to sync with your Google Account.

TIP: You don’t need to type your full Gmail address in the Username field. Just type the part that goes before the @ sign, and your DROID will autocomplete the rest. Once you’re done adding the first account, the DROID will ask if you’d like to add more Google Accounts. To add multiple accounts, just press the Google button and repeat the same steps. When you add new Google Accounts, you’ll need to decide if you want to sync your contacts, Gmail, or both (you’ll learn more about this in the “Fine Tuning Your DROID Sync” section later in this chapter).

The Wonders of the Cloud One of the driving forces behind Google and Android is the concept of cloud computing. Rather than rely on a single computer with a single processor, Google relies on a bank of servers on the Internet for nearly every product or service it produces—in other words, these apps and services are “in the cloud.” When you send Gmail messages, make Google Calendar entries, or add contacts to your Google Contact list, that information is available on your DROID and on any computer you connect to the Internet with when you log into your Google Account. You do not need to connect your DROID to your computer to get the benefit of this syncing. And if you should accidentally break your DROID, you’ll probably be very sad, but you won’t be without your Google contacts or calendar. Have you ever seen someone update their Facebook status or send out a frustrated email where they beg everyone to send them their contact information again to replace all the numbers they lost with their broken phone? As long as you stick with DROIDs and other Android-powered phones, that will never be you.

More Reasons You Need a Google Account If you purchase apps in the Android Market, you’ll use your Google account and Google Checkout to complete the transaction. The default email account on your DROID is Gmail, and the default calendar is Google Calendar. Table 3–1 lists a few of the Google services you’ll get to know as you use your phone.


Table 3–1. Drilling Down on Google Account Services.

Gmail:

Gmail is a free web-based email service, but it’s good enough to replace those email accounts your Internet service provider gives you. We’ll talk about email in greater detail later. Make sure you register for an account. Some Android phones will not let you activate them without one.

Google Voice:

Google Voice is a VoIP (Voice over IP) service that allows you to use a single phone number to forward your calls, create a visual voicemail message with text transcription, and make low cost international long-distance calls. Google Voice isn’t a pure VoIP service at this time. You still need a phone in order to use it, although you can initiate calls from your computer using Gmail.

Google Calendar:

Google Calendar works a bit differently from the calendar in Microsoft Outlook. It includes standard features like events and invitations, but Google Calendar is meant to be even more collaborative. You manage Google Calendar by adding multiple calendars and sharing them with others. For instance, you can have a calendar you allow colleagues to see but not edit, a calendar team members can all edit, and another calendar of fully public events.

Google Maps:

You’re probably already familiar with this map application. Google Maps is the engine behind most of your phone’s geographically sensitive apps. Google Maps does more than provide you driving directions; it can also give you walking and public transport directions. This is invaluable when you’re on the road.

Google Google Checkout is a tool for buyers and merchants to Checkout: complete credit card transactions without revealing the credit card info to the merchant. It’s a competitor to PayPal. You’ll need to set up an account with this service that contains your credit card information if you want to purchase apps from the Android Market. Picasa:

The web-based albums in Picasa Web Albums are Google’s answer to Flickr. If you want to upload pictures from your phone to the Web, this is the default location for sharing such pictures on the DROID. You may want to set up your account with albums and public or private sharing permissions if you need to share photos as part of your job. It’s more efficient to upload photos to Picasa

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than it is to send them as email attachments, though you can do both. Picasa also has a desktop program you can use for syncing and editing photos. YouTube:

If you have any reason to take quick videos with your DROID, set up a YouTube account with your preferred username beforehand. You can upload videos directly instead of offloading them to your desktop computer first. You can also use a YouTube account to comment, rate, and add videos to playlists.

TIP: Most DROIDs do not come with a SIM card. The exception is the DROID 2 Global. This is because they run on Verizon Wireless’ CDMA network and not on a GSM network. This means you won’t be able to transfer contacts by popping a SIM card between phones, but your Google contacts will still sync with new Android phones.

What to Do When your Calendar and Contacts are Not Already in Google If you already use Google for your Contacts and Calendar, by setting up your Google Account on your DROID, these contacts and calendar events flow automatically and wirelessly to your DROID. You're done. But what happens if your contacts and calendar are stored in Microsoft Outlook, the Apple Address Book, another desktop application or even just your old phone? TIP: See Chapter 4: "Other Sync Methods" to learn about ways to sync or share information between Microsoft Outlook, Apple Address Book, Microsoft Entourage, iCal, ACT!, GoldMine, Lotus Notes and other applications and your DROID.

Getting Information from Your Old Phone In the case that you only have your contacts and calendar stored on your old phone and not in any other application, you should try to transfer that information into Google directly or into another desktop application or file. How you get this accomplished varies widely based on the type of phone you have, so we are not able to provide step-by-step instructions here. Instead, you have a couple of options: Option one, ask your Verizon representative for assistance. Option two, do a web search that specifically identifies your phone and says "transfer contacts from (my phone name) to DROID or Google." If you can figure out how to get your contacts from


your phone into a desktop application, or file of the format vCard or .csv (comma separated variable) format, then you will be able to follow the steps below to import them into Google. NOTE: If you can get the data to Google Contacts at http://www.google.com/contacts, it will appear on your phone after you setup your Google Account on your DROID. The backup plan, if none of the sync or import options work is that you can add your contacts manually. See Chapter 12: “Using your Contacts.”

One-time Import of Contact Information from Outlook or the Apple Address Book Follow these steps to perform a one-time import of your contacts from Outlook or the Apple Address Book to your DROID phone: 1.

Export your contacts as a CSV or vCard file.

2.

Use the import link on the upper-right corner of Google Contacts as shown in Figure 3–3.

Add individual contacts.

Import contacts from Outlook, Apple, or other address books.

Figure 3–3. Importing contacts from Google Contacts.

Fine Tuning Your DROID Sync When you add Google Accounts, you choose how much information you want to sync. You may not want to check your work email on your phone, or you may want to read your email but ignore the contact list. It’s your choice. The three basic Google Account items you can sync on a DROID are your Google Calendar, your Gmail, and your Google Contacts.

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Figure 3–4 guides you through the steps for enabling and disabling Google syncing; follow these steps to do so: 1.

From the Home screen, press the Menu button.

2.

Tap Settings, then tap Accounts.

3.

Tap the Google account you wish to modify.

4.

Green checks indicate syncing, and gray checks indicate syncing is disabled. Tap on the checkbox to switch syncing on or off for a service.

5.

Press the Back button until you return to the Home screen.

Figure 3–4. Syncing Google accounts.

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Other Sync Methods In Chapter 3: “Sync Your DROID with Your Google Account,” you learned how to connect your DROID to your Google account to wirelessly sync your Google contacts, calendar, and Gmail. That works well if you already use Google for your personal information, but it will not work for you if you store your contacts, calendar, and other items in your computer using software such as Microsoft Outlook, iCal, or Microsoft Entourage. In this chapter, we show you alternative sync methods to sync some or all of your personal information to your DROID. Some of these options are free, others cost about US$40. We hope that this chapter will give you a good overview of the options and help you implement the one that best suits your needs. While we don’t intend to replace the software manufacturer's level of documentation and troubleshooting materials, we do hope to give you enough to get up and running. NOTE: We cover how to sync media and other files such as documentsusing free software options in Chapter 25: "DROID Media Sync." We discuss ways to sync your email in Chapter 9: "Email on Your DROID." While there are other options out there to sync to your DROID, we decided to cover a few of the more popular software products. You may find other options at different prices or even other free options, but beware that we have heard of people losing all their calendar entries by trying some free sync options not listed in this book. CAUTION: For any sync solution, including the options listed in this book, we do recommend saving a backup file of the personal information on your computer just as a precaution in case something goes wrong with the sync process. It's always safer to have that backup handy.

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CHAPTER 4: Other Sync Methods

Table 4–1 provides a brief overview of the sync options covered in this chapter. Table 4–1. Alternative Sync Methods for Your DROID.

Type of Information

Google Calendar Sync

Missing Sync for

Companion Link

Android Outlook Contacts (Windows)

-

Yes

Yes

Outlook Calendar (Windows)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Outlook Tasks (Windows)

-

Coming

Yes (to DejaOffice app)

Outlook Notes (Windows)

-

Yes (to Fliq Notes app)

Yes (to DejaOffice app)

Outlook 2011 for Mac

-

-

-

iCal (Mac)

-

Yes

-

Entourage Calendar (Mac)

-

Yes (To Fliq Calendar app)

-

Entourage Notes (Mac)

-

Yes (To Fliq Notes app)

-

Address Book (Mac)

-

Yes

-

Entourage Address Book (Mac)

-

Yes

-

ACT! (Windows)

-

-

Yes

Novell GroupWise (Windows)

-

-

Yes

Lotus Notes (Windows)

-

-

Yes

GoldMine (Windows)

-

-

Yes


Backing up Your Outlook Data Before you start syncing your Outlook data, we recommend taking a backup copy of your Outlook data. This may be a single file or several files, depending on how your system is setup. 1.

Determine the file name and folder containing your Outlook data. From the Outlook menu, select File > Data File Management.

2.

Look under the Filename column for both the data file name (usually Outlook.pst or Archive.pst) and the folder name which is listed right after the file name.

3.

Close Outlook to close all the data files.

4.

After Outlook is closed, use your Windows Explorer (shortcut Windows Key + E) to locate all the data files and copy them to a backup location. We recommend something not on your computer, e.g. an external hard disk, CD/DVD, cloud storage, or a USB thumb drive.

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Google Calendar Sync for Outlook (Windows PC) Google provides a free application to sync your Microsoft Outlook Calendar to your Google Calendar. From the Google Calendar, you use the standard DROID sync software described in Chapter 3 to sync Google to your DROID. It is a two-step sync: Outlook to Google Calendar to DROID Calendar. For this sync to stay updated, your computer needs to be turned on, Microsoft Outlook needs to be running, along with the Google Calendar sync, and you need an Internet connection. If any of these are not working, the sync will stop. It should catch up next time everything is on and connected. Learn more on the Google Calendar Sync here: www.google.com/support/calendar/bin/answer.py?answer=89955 Or you can perform a web search for "Google Outlook Calendar Sync."

Supported Software (What You Need) In order to use the Google Calendar Sync, you need the following:

A Windows PC running XP, Vista, or Windows 7

Microsoft Outlook 2003, 2007, 2010 (32-bit).

An active Internet connection

No special software on your DROID—you just use the standard Calendar app and sync it to the Google Calendar.

NOTE: No Mac support was available to Sync your Google calendar to Outlook 2011 or Entourage on the Mac. You can sync your Google calendar to iCal by setting up your Google calendar as a CalDAV account under iCal preferences. Also, Outlook 2010 (64–bit) for Windows was not yet supported, however we understand Google is working on this issue and may have it resolved soon.

Before You Install We highly recommend doing the following:

Turning off any other sync applications that are syncing to your Outlook Calendar.

Making a backup copy of your Outlook Data File. See the “How to Backup Your Outlook Data” section in this chapter.

3


Downloading and Installing Download the software from Google. To find the software, go to www.google.com/sync/index.html. You will most likely see a web page similar to the one shown in Figure 4–1. Click on PC to go to the Google Outlook Calendar Sync for Windows page. Follow the instructions on the website to install the software.

Figure 4–1. Google Sync Services Website.

Setting Up the Software 1.

Start up the software. After you have installed Google Sync, start it up by typing Google Calendar Sync in your Windows search box. Click on the software which appears at the very top of the list under Programs.

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2.

The program may not appear on the screen but will start up in a Windows Tray icon. You need to right-click the tray icon and select Options to see the setup window.

Right-click this tray icon to see the menu.

Figure 4–2. Google Calendar Sync Setup Window.

3.

Enter your Google Calendar username and password in the window shown in Figure 4–2.

4.

Then choose your Sync Options. You probably want the 2-way sync unless you have a strong reason for 1-way sync. With the 2-way sync, any updates you make on your DROID Calendar will by synced to Google and back to Outlook and vice-versa. Everything is kept up-to-date.


2-way Gives you full two-way synchronization between your Google Calendar (and DROID Calendar) and your Microsoft Outlook Calendar.

1-way: Google to Outlook Syncs only from your Google Calendar (DROID Calendar) into your Outlook Calendar.

1-way: Outlook to Google Syncs only from your Outlook Calendar to your Google Calendar (DROID Calendar).

5.

You can then adjust the sync frequency. The default is the shortest duration of 10 minutes; however, you can make it longer interval if you desire.

6.

When you are done, click Save to start the calendar sync from Outlook to Google.

7.

Remember to follow the steps shown in Chapter 3 to get your DROID Calendar to sync wirelessly with your Google Calendar.

Now all appointments from your Google calendar should flow into both your Outlook Calendar and your DROID Calendar app. Pretty soon, all three calendars should be identical.

Troubleshooting Google Calendar Sync Common issues and potential resolutions with Google Calendar Sync are shown in Table 4–2. Table 4–2. Common Google Calendar Sync Issues and Resolutions

Common Issue

Resolution

Error connecting to Outlook.

Make sure Outlook is running on your computer.

Error connecting to Google.

Make sure you have an Internet connection from your computer.

Calendar events are not updated on your DROID.

Make sure your account is setup correctly on your DROID. Make sure your computer is powered on, Outlook is running and it has an internet connection.

Google also provides a wealth of troubleshooting resources. The fastest way to find them is to do a web search for “Trouble Syncing Google Calendar with Outlook.” Then look for a link in the upper right corner of the page that says "Google Calendar Sync Troubleshooting."

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Some of the help topics covered online include:

Events not syncing at all.

Events display the wrong time after syncing.

Calendar alarms aren't syncing correctly.

Trouble connecting to Outlook.

Privacy settings don't match.

Description or error codes 0, 1008, 1011, 2008, 2013, 2016, and more.

Hopefully, with the online resources and the description in this book, you should be armed with enough information to get your Google Calendar Sync set up and running smoothly to your DROID.

Missing Sync for Android The Missing Sync for Android from Mark/Space, Inc. provides you the ability to sync from your Windows or Mac PC to your DROID. Items that you can sync are:

Outlook or Entourage Calendar, Contacts, and Notes

Music from iTunes or Windows Media Player

Photos, Videos, Ringtones, Documents and Files, Podcasts, and Call History.

Learn more about the Missing Sync for Android here: www.markspace.com/products/android/missing-sync-android.html NOTE: The software vendor does not provide a free trial of the software, so we encourage you to read the online reviews and comments about the software before purchasing it.

Reviews of the Missing Sync for Android We found a review of the Missing Sync for Android at publishing time. You should do a quick web search to see if there are any new or updated reviews at the time you are reading this. Try searching for "Missing Sync Android Review." PC Magazine review for the Missing Sync for Android v1.4 (August 2, 2010) at www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2367260,00.asp The review gave the application 2 out of 5 stars and said it worked as advertized; however, it was challenging to use and needed more features to justify the $40 price. This review also included comments from people who have purchased the software. Keep in mind that the PC Magazine review and comments are based on version 1.4 of


the software, so that if the vendor has released an update, some or all of the concerns of the reviewers may have already been addressed.

Supported Software (What You Need) In order to use the Missing Sync for Android, you need the following:

A Windows PC running XP, Vista (32-bit only), or Windows 7 (32-bit or 64–bit) and Microsoft Outlook 2003, 2007, 2010 (32-bit)

A Mac OS 10.5.6 Leopard or later, or Snow Leopard running Entourage 2004, 2008, or Apple iCal

iTunes or Windows Media Player to sync media


Three free apps for your DROID to fully take advantage of the synced data. All three are available in the Android Market app.

The Missing Sync for Android

Fliq Calendar (Required for a 2-way calendar sync)

Fliq Notes (Required to sync notes)

NOTE: At the time of publishing, the Missing Sync for Android did not support Office 2011 for Mac.


Turning off any other sync applications that are syncing to Outlook.


Downloading and Installing PC or Mac Software There is no free trial available of the Missing Sync, so you need to purchase it in order to download it. 1.

Buy and download the software from the www.markspace.com site.

2.

Double-click the downloaded file to get the installation started.

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3.

Once you have installed the software, locate and double-click on the application icon on your PC or Mac. You should see a settings screen similar to the one shown in Figure 4–3.

Figure 4–3. Missing Sync for Android Sync Setup Window.

4.

Check or un-check items to turn the sync on or off.


5.

Double-click a particular item to see more details about that item and to be able to customize the synchronization settings. For example, clicking the Calendar row at the top will show you the Calendar Settings dialog box shown to the right.

6.

Repeat this procedure to set up the sync for all the various data types: Call Logs, Contacts, Folders (easily share documents and files), Music, Notes (sync to Fliq Notes from), Photos, Ringtones (create and sync), SMS Log (keep track of SMS messages received and sent), Video (copy and re-format videos to play on your DROID or copy videos recorded on your DROID to your computer).

7.

When you are done configuring all the data types, you are ready to connect or pair your DROID with the desktop Missing Sync software using the Setup Assistant by clicking the Setup Assistant icon. At the end of this process, you will receive a 5-digit passkey to enter on the Missing Sync app on your DROID to complete the pairing. Follow the steps below to finish the setup on your DROID.

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Installing and Setting Up the DROID Software Go to the Android Market app and search for "Missing Sync for Android," then tap that application. Scroll down a little and tap View more applications to see all the applications by Mark/Space, the developer. You should see three apps as shown in the figure to the right. Go ahead and install all three apps.

1.

After you have already installed, set up, and configured your Missing Sync for Android PC or Mac app, you can tap the Missing Sync for Android app to start it.

2.

Tap the Synchronize button then answer the question "Do you have the Missing Sync for Android installed on your Mac or Windows System?" as a Yes to get started.

3.

Setup either a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection from your computer to use for the sync and tap Next.

4.

Enter the 5-digit passkey that you received from the Missing Sync for Android Setup Assistant to get the sync started.

Troubleshooting Missing Sync The Missing Sync website provides a knowledgebase of common issues and suggested solutions. From your web browser, go to support.markspace.com and click on Technical Support: Missing Sync for Android to see all the support topics. Some of the help topics covered online include:

Configuring Entourage 2008.

Unable to locate Missing Sync in the Android Market.


Some or all contacts are missing after a sync. Error: the location of Outlook is unknown. Seeing an error message during the sync for either Windows or Mac. Hopefully, with the online resources and the description in this book, you should be armed with enough information to get the Missing Sync for Android set up and running smoothly to your DROID.

CompanionLink for Android CompanionLink (CL) software provides various software products to sync to your DROID. With CompanionLink, you have three sync options:

Option 1: Direct USB Sync Android direct via USB

Option 2: Sync to DROID via Google

Option 3: Sync to DROID via the CL Hosted Servers

This will sync from your PC through the USB cable directly to your DROID. If you choose this option, you need to install the DejaOffice app on your DROID.

You need to install a new app on your DROID called DejaOffice to use this option.

This will sync your data from your PC to your Google Account. Then you use the setup process in Chapter 3 to setup the sync from Google to your DROID.

No additional software needs to be installed on your DROID; you use the standard Contacts and Calendar apps.

This is like the Google sync option, except that your data goes to the CompanionLink servers instead of Google.

You need to install a new app on your DROID called DejaOffice to use this option.

The CompanionLink for Outlook software provides two-way sync from Outlook to Google (then you sync your DROID to Google) or Outlook direct via a USB cable to your DROID. In this book, we have chosen to focus on the CompanionLink for Outlook product with the setup that it syncs to your Google Account. We do cover how to get the DejaOffice app installed on your DROID should you desire to use the USB or CL Hosted Server sync options. The steps shown here should be able to help you get a feel for how all the various CompanionLink sync options work.

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CompanionLink supports a number of PC software applications to sync to your DROID:

Microsoft Outlook

ACT! (Contact Management Software)

Palm Desktop and Pimlical

Lotus Notes

GoldMine

Novell GroupWise

NOTE: CompanionLink does not support any Mac software as of publishing. Get all the latest information about CompanionLink's products by visiting their website: www.companionlink.com/

Reviews of CompanionLink and DejaOffice App We found a couple of reviews of CompanionLink at publishing time. Please note that these two reviews are already a bit dated (six months old) as of publishing time, so you keep in mind that any negative comments could already have been resolved in newer versions of CompanionLink. Droid Forums.net Review of CompanionLink (March 7, 2010): Disclaimer: CompanionLink is a sponsor of this particular forum. www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-news/27927-video-review-companionlinksoftware.html Andronica's Blog Review of CompanionLink USB (February 16, 2010): androinica.com/2010/02/16/sync-outlook-and-android-with-companionlink-softwarereview/ DejaOffice (Android App) created by CompanionLink to store Outlook data on your DROID. Read the customer reviews in the Android Market for this app. Keep in mind that you only need to install the DejaOffice app if you want to use the USB cable to sync directly from Outlook to your DROID and skip the sync to Google. If you go with the USB sync option, you have the benefit of not having your data pass through Google; however, you have the added challenge of installing and using a new contacts, calendar, notes, and task app on your DROID.


Supported Software (What You Need) In order to use the Missing Sync for Android, you need the following:

A Windows PC running XP, Vista, or Windows 7 (32-bit or 64–bit) and Microsoft Outlook 2000, 2003, 2007, 2010 (32-bit and 64–bit) or Microsoft Outlook Business Contact Manager 2007 and 2010


A Google, Gmail, or Google Apps account

DejaOffice app (free) on your DROID only if you choose the USB or CL Hosted Server Sync options.

NOTE: At the time of publishing, the CompanionLink did not support any Mac software applications includingOffice 2011 for Mac.


Turning off any other sync applications that are syncing to Outlook.


Google Calendar First Time User If you are setting up a new Google account and have not yet added any events to your Google Calendar, you need to go into Google and add a new event in order for CompanionLink to work. The first time you go into the Google Calendar, you will see a screen similar to the one shown to the right. Click Continue to set up your calendar.

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Downloading and Installing the PC Software We highly recommend downloading the 14–day free trial version of the CompanionLink software by going to www.companionlink.com/downloads/. This will allow you to test out the software before you buy it. At publishing time, pricing for CompanionLink for Outlook was $39.95. The Free Evaluation Software page asks for your email, the product, and which PC software you want to sync with as well as what type of phone you use. TIP: Video Tutorials on CompanionLink's Website Visit www.companionlink.com/support for some good technical support information as well as some great video tutorials explaining how to setup their software. 1.

Double-click the downloaded file to get the installation started.

2.

Once you have installed the software, click your Windows logo in the lower left corner and select All Programs. Scroll down to Companion Link and click on Companion Link Setup as shown to the right.

3.

You should see a settings screen similar to the one shown in Figure 4–4. Click the drop-down menu that says (Select your sync target) to choose one of the Android options.

Android (CL Secure Hosted Sync) — This will sync your data via the Companion Link secure server then to your DROID.

Android direct via USB — This will sync from your PC through the USB cable directly to your DROID. If you choose this option, you need to install the DejaOffice app on your DROID.

Android via Google — This will sync your data from your PC to your Google Account. Then you use the setup process in Chapter 3 to setup the sync from Google to your DROID.


Figure 4–4. CompanionLink for Outlook Sync Setup Window.

4.

Next, click (Select your Contact Manager) to select your software. In this case, we selected Microsoft Outlook 2000 - 2010.

5.

Click Google Settings from the main settings screen to see the Google Settings pop-up window shown to the right. Enter your Google Account email and password. Then, if you want to adjust which Google Calendars to sync (if you have more than one), click the Google Calendars tab and make adjustments. When you are done, click the OK button to save your settings.

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6.

Next, click Outlook Settings from the main setup screen to see the screen to the right. Make adjustments to Selected Categories, if you choose.

7.

Click the Applications tab to adjust how to sync your data. Each check shows you want to sync Contacts, Calendar, or Tasks. You can Sync Both Ways, (1-way) Outlook to Google or (1-way) Google to Outlook.

8.

Click the Outlook Folders tab to adjust which folders are synced from Outlook. Check the box to Include SubFolders if you desire. Finally, click the OK button to save your settings.


9.

Next, click Advanced Settings from the main window to make further adjustments. Most people will not need to use this area. But it might be good to browse the screens and see if anything might need adjusting. The things you can change are syncing personal category from Outlook, how to handle sync conflicts (Outlook wins, Google wins, create duplicate record, keep latest change), date range for the calendar sync, and name sorting order (First, Last or Last, First). You can also adjust field mapping, phone number formats, and the sync settings as shown in the Applications tab of the Outlook Settings window shown above in step 7.

10. Finally, click the Auto-Sync button to setup how often CompanionLink will sync between Outlook and Google. The default is set to Synchronize Manually, but you may want to sync every 15 minutes or some other setting. Also, you can set the Sync Time to only operate between certain times— usually the work day is fine because who needs to sync changes in the middle of the night? Click OK to save your settings.

11. Now, to get started, click the Synchronize button in the left column of the main window. 12. Finally, if you have not already done so, you need to follow the steps in Chapter 3 to set up access from your DROID to the Google Account to which you just synced all your Outlook Contact and Calendar information. NOTE: Working with a Google Calendar Sync Error. After you click the Synchronize button, if you see an error telling you that CompanionLink was unable to read your Google Calendar, then you need to complete setting it up. See the “Google Calendar First-Time User” section above.

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Installing and Setting Up the DROID Software (Only Required for USB Sync or CL Hosted Server options) NOTE: This step is only required if you are using the USB direct sync option or the Companion Link (CL) Hosted Server sync option from Outlook to Android. If you are using the sync method just described above from Outlook to Google, you don't need to install any additional software on your DROID. Instead, your calendar and contacts flow from Google to your DROID native Contacts and Calendar apps after you setup your Google Account as shown in Chapter 3. To locate the DejaOffice app, go to the Android Market app and search for "DejaOffice," then tap that application. You should see the app as shown in the figure to the right. Go ahead and install the DejaOffice - Outlook app.

1.

After installing DejaOffice, tap the icon to start it up. You will see the screen shown to the right. You will probably want to check both boxes for Sync with the Android Contacts App and Sync with Android Calendar App. This allows Caller ID and e-mail to work well on your DROID. Tap the Configure button to adjust these sync settings. Tap OK when done to start the sync with the Contacts and Calendar apps.


2.

Then, you can tap any of the icons within DejaOffice to access your DejaContacts (Outlook Contacts), DejaCalendar (Outlook Calendar), DejaTasks (Outlook Tasks), DejaNotes (Outlook Notes), DejaToday (Today view), Sync (force a sync), Settings (all settings including sync settings), Categories (Outlook Categories), Read Android Data (sync with your DROID Contacts and Calendar), and Release Notes (notes from the developer about this release of the DejaOffice app).

3.

Think of DejaOffice as your mobile version of Outlook on your DROID.

Troubleshooting CompanionLink The CompanionLink website provides a FAQ (frequently asked questions), video tutorials, Set Up Guides, and the ability to contact tech support via e-mail or purchase premium support for US$99 for 12 months (as of publishing time). Check out all these support options by visiting www.companionlink.com/support/ You may also be able to find additional support and troubleshooting tips by doing a web search for "CompanionLink Google (your issue description)." Hopefully, with the online resources and the description in this book, you should be armed with enough information to get the CompanionLink set up and running smoothly.

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Chapter

5

Wi-Fi and 3G Connectivity Let’s face it, you wouldn’t buy a DROID if you didn’t want to go online. Going online doesn’t just mean using the built-in web browser in Android. Whether you’re using apps or checking your contact list, talking on the phone is just about the only activity that doesn’t involve using your data plan. That’s one of the reasons you can’t buy a DROID phone without also purchasing a data plan. Trust us: you wouldn’t want to do so, anyway. In this chapter, we’ll talk about getting online with your DROID. Android works best when it works online. Google purchased and developed the Android platform around the idea of storing data online or “in the cloud,” rather than just on the device. We’ll go over the different ways your phone can access data and how to get the fastest connection with the least amount of battery drain.

Understanding Your Connection The status or notification bar on the upper part of your DROID shows you what type of connection you have available and the relative strength of the connection. Figure 5–1 shows various types of connection information you might see in your DROID’s status bar. Back in the days when a car phone meant the phone was built into your car, cell towers carried an analog signal that was much like a radio signal, but at a different frequency. This was the first generation of wireless, and it’s no longer in use. The second generation of technology, or 2G, is what Verizon Wireless calls 1X. Instead of using an analog signal, 2G networks are digital. Many phone carriers use the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) standard to deliver 2G data, but Verizon and your DROID use CDMA (Coe-Division Multiple Access).

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CHAPTER 5: Wi-Fi and 3G Connectivity

There’s an available WiFi network.

The DROID is connected to a 3G network.

There are no black bars. The 3G signal is weak here.

These arrows are black when data is being transferred.

The DROID is connected to a Wi-Fi network.

Only a 1X signal is available here.

Notice the relative strength of the Wi-Fi connection.

It may only be 1X, but the signal is very strong.

Figure 5–1. Sample status bar notifications.

Using 1X is like using an old dial-up modem. It works, but it isn’t fast, and you’ll have to spend a lot of time waiting for email to load, apps to sync, and pictures to upload. However, 1X signals are available everywhere your phone can connect to the Verizon network, and it doesn’t take much battery power to use 1X.

3G and 4G CDMA was upgraded to 3G with yet another acronym, EV-DO, for Evolution-Data Optimized. 3G networks have huge speed advantages over 1X networks, but these are still slower than the average coffee shop Wi-Fi hotspot. The fourth generation of wireless technology in the US, 4G, has begun a rollout in select US cities at the time of writing. Sprint has begun its 4G rollout, and Verizon expects to offer full 4G coverage by 2013, including all those areas that only get a 1X signal now. Verizon purchased some of the spectrum previously used by analog television broadcasts in order to build its next-generation network. Verizon is using LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology, which Verizon promises will work much better in rural areas and will be more internationally compatible than the current CDMA network. It will also give phones a large speed boost, so we can do things such as reliably video conference from our mobile phones. LTE is a high-speed, long distance Internet signal that can be used for home and phone networks, and it will likely be used the same way Wi-Fi is used on smartphones today. You might think of it as a form of Wi-Fi that can be broadcast for miles instead of several dozen feet. The bad news is that you will not be able to connect to 4G networks on your DROID, DROID X or DROID 2. Your phone must be specifically made to take advantage of 4G networks. And although we expect an announcement of a 4G version of DROID soon, it did not happen by the time this book went to press.


The good news is that you don’t need 4G in order to have a fast connection. You can still use Wi-Fi; and as Verizon rolls out 4G networks, it’ll undoubtedly sell portable devices you can use to receive 4G signals and create your own portable Wi-Fi hotspot.

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi signals are generally the fastest way to connect your DROID to the Internet. This is the same technology that connects laptops and other wireless devices to networks. It’s fast but short-range, and it’s not the same signal that telecommunications companies (telcos) send over cell towers. In order to connect to a Wi-Fi network, you have to be within range of the signal, and you have to be authorized to use the network. Some book stores, fast food chains, and restaurants offer free Wi-Fi access networks to anyone within range of the signal. Connecting is easy; Figure 5–2 shows you how.

Wi-Fi is on. You can also enable this through a widget.

Select Network notification to find open, pubic networks.

Tap Select an available network to log in.

Use Manage Networks to remove old networks and save batteries.

Use Add Wi-Fi network to add a hidden network.

Figure 5–2. Connecting to a Wi-Fi network.

Follow these steps to connect to a Wi-Fi network: 1.

Go to your Home screen.

2.


3.

Select Wireless & Networks. Then tap Wi-Fi settings.

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4.

Check the boxes to turn on Wi-Fi and receive a notification when an open Wi-Fi network is within range.

5.

Tap an available network to log into it. If the network requires a password, you’ll only have to type it here once. Your DROID will remember your settings next time you use this service.

If you want to add a private network that doesn’t broadcast its SSID, tap Add Wi-Fi network. If you want to remove networks you no longer use, such as hotels you visited only once, tap Manage Networks. TIP: You can also use a Wi-Fi widget from your Home screen to toggle Wi-Fi on and off. See Chapter 6, “Organize Your Home Screens” for specifics on adding widgets. The clear advantage of Wi-Fi is speed. Wi-Fi is superior when it comes to uploading or watching videos. Its chief disadvantage is distance. If you’re not within range of a Wi-Fi network all day or even most of the day, you can extend your DROID’s battery life by turning off your Wi-Fi signal.

Wi-Fi Security A big consideration with Wi-Fi is security. If you’re using an encrypted connection, this isn’t as much of a problem. However, those convenient, open Wi-Fi access points at the coffee shop may in theory expose your phone to unwanted eavesdropping through an exploit called the man-in-the-middle attack where someone intercepts your unencrypted information before it reaches the Wi-Fi access point. It’s also sometimes called a bucket brigade attack, so think of the attacker as a stranger standing in the middle of a bucket brigade with the chance to see the contents of each bucket that passes by. Wi-Fi security usually involves some sort of password protection to access the network. An older, less secure method of connecting to Wi-Fi is WEP. A more secure method is WPA or WPA2. Most personal networks, like your router at home, can be set to use WPA-PSK (pre-shared key.) This is a fancy way of saying that you have to type in a password or passphrase to get access to the network. CAUTION: If you have a choice in the matter, avoid relying on WEP for your Wi-Fi security. It’s an old standard and very easy to crack. Businesses that want to sell or restrict access to their network use a form of WPAenterprise. This type of connection usually requires you to log in when you open your first web page, and it compares your username with a list of authorized users. In some cases, you don’t actually have to log in, but you do have to click something to agree to the location’s terms of service. This is still part of WPA security.


If you aren’t required to log into anything, you don’t need to click OK to agree to the access rules, and you don’t need a password to get onto the network – then chances are that you’re using an open Wi-Fi access point. A skilled hacker may be able to intercept your signal. CAUTION: Unless you’ve installed security software, avoid entering passwords or sending sensitive information on open Wi-Fi networks.

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a super short-range technology meant as more of a wire replacement than a way to get onto the Internet. Bluetooth can be used to communicate with a wireless headset or your laptop, and some apps can use Bluetooth to transfer files between your phone and your computer. For more on Bluetooth, read Chapter 8: “Bluetooth on Your DROID.”

GPS GPS stands for global positioning system. It’s one of the few acronyms in this chapter worth spelling out, because the long name explains what it does. GPS triangulates your position through satellite signals. This isn’t the only way your phone can tell where you are, but it’s the most commonly used method. Devices that use maps or tag your photos by location typically rely on a GPS signal to do this. Android can also supplement this with the location of nearby cell towers and the location of any Wi-Fi networks you’re using. However, plenty of apps require a GPS signal to tell you what movies are showing nearby or the location of the nearest Thai restaurant. GPS activity is represented on the top of your screen as a satellite. If you have the GPS feature activated, you may notice it activating when you open your Web browser, even if you aren’t doing anything directly map related. This is usually to sense your location for local search results and ads. You can turn GPS off when you’re not using it to save your phone’s battery.

Creating a Wi-Fi Hotspot with Your DROID If you pay for mobile hotspot access, which is an add-on service for DROID phones, you can use Verizon’s 3G Mobile Hotspot app to turn your DROID into a wireless modem for your laptop or other device, as shown in Figure 5–3. It’s still sharing a 3G connection to a laptop, so it is not super fast; however, it will let you use your laptop’s larger screen and keyboard while you’re out of Wi-Fi range. You can share your connection with up to five devices, so you could also share a connection with a friend.

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AP stands for Access Point. Use the 3G Mobile Hotspot app.

Tap to turn on the 3G Mobile Hotspot and configure it for the first time.

Tap

Connect to your DROID just like any other network. Mobile Hotspot is on.

The SSIDService Set Identifier is the name of your hotspot. Choose a type of security. WPA2 is the default.

You can see all connected devices.

Check this box to see your password as you type.

Choose a password.

Figure 5–3. Creating a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Follow these steps to connect to a mobile hotspot: 1.

Launch the 3G Mobile Hotspot app.

2.

Tap the checkbox to start Mobile Hotspot service.

3.

The first time you launch the app, you’ll be prompted to set up your AP Settings. AP stands for access point.

4.

Give your mobile network a name (SSID) or leave the default setting.

5.

Choose a security method; WPA2 is preferred.

6.

Choose a password.

7.

Save your settings.

8.

Connect to your network from your laptop, iPad, or other Wi-Fi device just as if it were another Wi-Fi access point.


TIP: Creating a Wi-Fi hotspot uses a lot of energy and drains a battery quickly. Connect your DROID to your laptop with a USB cable to keep the phone charged while surfing. Users on Verizon’s support forum have also reported that June Fabric’s PDAnet program works on their DROID and allows them to tether their 3G connection through their USB port. It’s a $30 app instead of a recurring fee. However, using PDAnet may violate Verizon’s terms of service, so proceed at your own risk.

Troubleshooting Connections The top of your phone will indicate which types of signals you’re using and the relative strengths of those signals, as shown in Figure 5–1. You’ll also see a pair of side-by-side Up and Down arrows; these arrows indicate an active data transfer. Wi-Fi is indicated by a dot with curved lines above it to indicate a point giving out signal. GPS is depicted as a satellite, and it only shows up when it is actively being used. Bluetooth uses the trademarked Bluetooth symbol. If you’re having trouble with your signal, first check the top of your screen to make sure that you have an adequate signal and that you are using the network you expected to use. If you’re using Wi-Fi, make sure you are correctly signed into the network.

Roaming When you wander outside the range of cell towers that belong to your carrier (Verizon), you start roaming. You may be billed for roaming fees if roaming is not covered by your service plan. You may also need to add I-Dial or an international plan to your phone in order to check email or use data on your DROID in Mexico or Canada. See http://b2b.vzw.com/international/naroaming.htm for more information on this topic. Follow these steps to turn off data roaming on your DROID and avoid roaming charges: 1.

Go to your app tray and tap Settings.

2.

Tap Data manager.

3.

Tap Data Delivery.

4.

Make sure the checkbox next to Data Roaming is grayed out. If you do select it, you’ll see a warning box that roaming may cost you money.

NOTE: Data roaming is different from voice roaming. You disable voice roaming through the Wireless and networks settings instead of the Data manager.

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Managing Power All of this connectivity comes at a cost. In order to save battery power, you should disable services you aren’t using. This is especially true when you are traveling and can’t charge your phone immediately. Keep your GPS off unless you’re using a map or other app that hooks into your location. Turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when you’re not actively using them. In order to make all this management easier, your phone has a Power Control widget that lets you toggle your signal on and off with a touch. The DROID even comes with two styles of widgets for toggling your connections. Simply tap the connection on or off from your Home screen. For more information on adding and rearranging widgets, look at Chapter 6: “Organize Your Home Screens.”

Managing Syncing In addition to turning connections on and off, you can control how often your connections sync. Figure 5–4 shows how the Data manager settings can help you save battery time, as well as how to disable data roaming. On the DROID 2 and DROID X, you can also turn off data completely for those times you really need to preserve your battery.

Tap

Tap

Choose Settings: Data manager.

Turn this off to save batteries, or leave it on to enable data sync. Data roaming may cost you money if enabled.

Email and Corporate sync show up on the DROID2 and X. Tap Social Applications (DROID X) or Motorola Applications (DROID 2) to see this.

Figure 5–4. The DROID’s data management settings.


Airplane Mode If you’re on an airplane, on a cruise ship, or in an area you know qualifies as roaming, you may want to just put your phone in Airplane mode. Toggling this mode on means you will not get any connection at all, whether it’s by data, cell, or GPS. The following steps explain how to toggle Airplane mode on and off: 1.

To turn on Airplane mode, hold down the Power key until you see an alert window.

2.

Tap Airplane mode.

3.

Use the same steps to exit Airplane mode.

Your DROID also comes with a Motorola widget to toggle Airplane mode on and off. TIP: In addition to using Airplane mode to avoid roaming charges, you can use it to avoid calls, emails, and other distractions during important meetings.

VPN A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, allows you to log into your workplace intranet and enjoy the security of your corporate firewall without having to be hardwired into the network. Some places require this in order to access Exchange email or view sensitive corporate files. This technology is natively supported on your DROID, but the implementation on your DROID won’t necessarily work with every VPN setup. We’re still waiting on an Android version of AnyConnect, but Cisco assures us it will be done around the time this book goes to press. Follow these steps to log into a VPN from your DROID: 1.

Go to the Home screen and then press the Menu button.

2.

Tap Settings. Then tap Wireless & network settings.

3.

Next, select VPN settings. If you’ve already configured a VPN, it will be available here.

4.

Otherwise, you’ll need to select add a VPN.

You’ll need to obtain the specific format and settings from your workplace. These settings include PPTP, L2TP, L2TP/IPSec with pre-shared key (PSK), and L2TP/IPSec CRT (certificate based). If your workplace doesn’t support one of these protocols, you’ll need to work with your company’s IT department to see if there’s any other way to log in securely.

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VNC VNC, or Virtual Network Computing, provides a way to share screens remotely and control one device from another, even if that device runs on a different platform. If you leave your office or home computer on at all times and your office allows it, then you can use VNC to check documents, email, or execute work tasks from wherever you are. VNC can be used with Macs, Windows, and Linux computers. In order to use VNC securely, you should pair it with VPN. There are several VNC clients available for Android, including Android VNC Viewer, Remote VNC, and PhoneMyPC.

Android’s Web Browser Android has a full featured web browser based on Webkit, as shown in the figure on the right. It uses the same codebase that is used in the Chrome and Safari web browsers. Generally, this browser behaves just like other web browsers. You can also download alternative browsers like the Dolphin browser or Opera.

One thing the Android Browser app is not is Internet Explorer. You may encounter sites that absolutely will not work unless you use IE. You may also encounter websites that won’t work without plug-ins and extensions that aren’t available on Android. If you find this is the case, you might be able to get around this limitation by using VNC and launching IE from your remote computer. For more information, turn to Chapter 11: “Surfing the Web.”

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Organize Your Home Screen: Icons and Widgets In this chapter, we’ll look at ways to customize your Home screen. This way you’re not stuck with a boring collection of apps, and you’re not stuck using the screen arrangement that your DROID came with. You can customize your phone to match your personality and the way you use the device by adding and rearranging icons and widgets.

Home Screen, Sweet Home Screen Icons on your Home screen are just shortcuts to the actual apps, so don’t worry about deleting them or moving them around. You’re not actually deleting the apps. Think of your Home screen as one long screen that can’t be displayed all at once. Alternatively, you can think of it as a series of several pages of screens. The Home screen, shown to the right, is where you can store your favorite apps or display your favorite wallpaper. With your phone in Portrait mode, swipe your finger sideways to flip between the pages of your Home screen. How you organize your Home screens is entirely up to you. A method we’ve found useful is to create a theme for every page. One page might be dedicated to social networking apps, while another page might be dedicated to email and office productivity. A third page might be dedicated to games, restaurants, and entertainment tools.

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CHAPTER 6: Organize Your Home Screen: Icons and Widgets

The App Tray The App tray, which is shown to the right, holds all of your apps, including apps you’re already using as icons on your Home screen. Sometimes you’ll also see apps that don’t do anything by themselves, but add features to an existing app, such as pro feature upgrades. You open the App tray by tapping your Launcher icon at the bottom center of the screen. You can also scroll through apps by swiping your finger up and down on the screen. See Figure 3 in the Quick Start Guide for images of the Launcher icons on the DROID, DROID 2, DROID 2 Global and DROID X. Once the App tray is open, you can launch apps by tapping them. Click the Back or Home button to return to the Home screen.

Adding App Icons to Your Home Screen Let’s review the long press, because you’ll need it here. If you press down on an item and keep pressing for a few seconds, this is what Android calls a long click. However, you don’t physically click the screen, so we’ll call it a long “press” for clarity. You’ll generally feel some haptic feedback when you use the long press – the DROID will vibrate slightly to let you know that you’ve done something different than a regular tap. A long press can be programmed into apps. On the Home screen, a long press is used to add and remove items. Figure 6–1 illustrates how to add an icon to your Home screen.


Long press

Tap

Launch the app tray by tapping Launcher icon on the center bottom of the Home screen.

Long press on the desired app by pressing until you feel the vibration.

Your app icon will appear on the Home screen. Long press and drag the icon to reposition it.

Figure 6–1. Adding icons to the Home screen.

Follow these steps to add an app to your Home screen: 1.

Navigate to page of the Home screen you want to modify.

2.

Open the App tray and find the icon for the app you want to launch.

3.

Long press the app and keep pressing.

4.

The App tray will vanish after a few seconds, and you’ll see the Home screen.

5.

Continue to press down, and then drag your app to the desired position.

6.

Release your finger.

Adding Bookmarks to Your Home Screen You’re not limited to just App icons. You can also long press a bookmark to add it to your Home screen as a shortcut. It will be added to whichever Home screen page you viewed immediately before launching the Browser app. You can read more about using the Browser app in Chapter 11: “Surfing the Web.” However, if you’re already familiar with using the Browser app and adding bookmarks, Figure 6–2 illustrates how to add a Browser app bookmark to your Home screen.

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Tap

Long press Long press on the bookmark you wish to add to the Home screen.

Tap Add shortcut to Home. The shortcut will be added.

The shortcut will have a specific icon for some sites and a generic star for others.

Figure 6–2. Adding bookmarks to the Home screen.

Follow these steps to add a bookmark from the Browser app to your Home screen: 1.

Open the Browser app.

2.


3.

Tap Bookmarks.

4.

Long press on the desired bookmark.

5.

Tap Add shortcut to home.

If you’re already at the Home screen, you can add a bookmark by adding a shortcut after the initial long press.


Adding Shortcuts When you long press on the Home screen, you’ll see the menu shown to the right. One of your menu choices is Shortcuts. Shortcuts aren’t reserved for bookmarks. You can add shortcuts for individual contacts, Gmail labels, items in the Settings menu, and more. Some apps may also have shortcut options. For example, Foursquare, a social location app, allows you to save locations as shortcuts for easy check-ins. And Aldiko, an eBook reader, allows you to save shortcuts to individual books in your library.

All of your Home screen app icons are actually shortcuts, and they can be added through the Shortcuts menu, too. We still prefer adding them with the method illustrated in Figure 6–1 because it’s easy to accidentally click the wrong app when you add them through the Shortcuts menu.

Adding Folders You can add as many contacts to your Home page as will fit. But why stop there? Instead of adding a single contact, you can add a folder, as shown to the right. Follow these steps to create a folder on your Home screen: 1.

Long press on the Home screen.

2.

Select Folders.

3.

Tap your desired folder.

You can either add an empty New folder or choose from the many “smart” folders that have already been predefined and filled with content, such as Statuses or All contacts. Move items into blank folders by long clicking the item and dragging it on top of the folder, just as you would on a computer desktop.

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CAUTION: Removing a folder from your Home screen also removes any shortcuts you’ve moved into that folder.

Widgets Widgets are like miniature applications that run on your Home screen. They can be interactive or passive, and they can be used for everything from instant access to the time and weather, to access to your personal finances at a glance. Figure 6–3 shows some example widgets.

This is an example of a widget specific to Motorola and DROIDs.

Widgets are small apps that run on your Home screen. They’re often interactive. This is the New York Times widget, which can be downloaded from the Android Market. Widgets come in different shapes and sizes and be repositioned on the Home screen.

Figure 6–3. Some Android widgets.

Your DROID comes with two basic styles of widgets: the standard Android widget and the Motorola widget. Motorola widgets were created as part of the Motorola DROID modifications, and they behave a bit differently than standard widgets by letting you resize them. We’ll cover both Android and Motorola widgets. NOTE: The Motorola widgets are not available on the original DROID. You use the same basic process to add widgets to your Home screen that you use to add icons and bookmarks. Figure 6–4 illustrates the process with the Android Home screen Tips widget. This widget was designed to give you tips on how to use your phone.


Long press

Tap Tap Long press on the Home screen where you wish to add a widget.

Tap to select Android widgets.

Tap on the desired widget. In this case, it’s the Home screen tips widget.

The widget appears on the screen. Long press and drag to reposition it on the screen.

Figure 6–4. Adding widgets.

Follow these steps to add a widget to your Home screen: 1.


2.

Tap Android widgets.

3.

Tap your desired widget.

4.

Your widget will be added. Now you can long click and drag the widget to a new location on the screen, if desired. You can even drag it to another Home screen page.

Android Widget Size When you add widgets to the Home screen, most widgets are already a predetermined size and shape. Either they fit in the space given – or they do not. If you long-click a widget, you can move it within a screen. However, you cannot make it larger or smaller. Many app developers make multiple versions of the same widget and label them with size-specific information such as “32” or “41.”

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You might wonder what these measurements mean. If you measure your phone’s screen, not by its physical screen size, but by the number of icons you can store on it, your DROID has a Home screen that measures four app icons by four app icons. Each icon is rectangular in shape to allow space for text labels. The widget measurement generally goes horizontally by vertically. Thus, a widget that measures 41, such as the Power Control widget shown on the right, takes up the space of four apps across and one down. The widget has five buttons on it, but it is only four icons wide on your screen.

Motorola Widgets Your DROID ships with a few Android widgets, and you can download a nearly endless supply from the Android Market. Your DROID 2, DROID 2 Global, and DROID X also ships with Motorola widgets that aren’t available for download. Table 6–1 has a rundown of the different Motorola widgets and what they do. Table 6–1. Motorola widgets.

Airplane mode toggle: This widget allows you to toggle your phone in and out of Airplane mode. It’s useful for flying or for times when you absolutely don’t want to be interrupted. Bluetooth toggle: Like the Airplane mode toggle, this is a simple on and off switch for enabling and disabling Bluetooth. Calendar widget: This is a simple calendar that ties into both the Google Calendar and the Corporate Sync Calendar.


Contact quick tasks: This widget is useful for your frequent contacts like friends and relatives. You can add shortcuts to call, email, text, or even send them a Twitter or Facebook message.

Date and Time: Unlike the Calendar widget, the Date and Time widget isn’t about your appointments. This is strictly a clock for displaying the current date and time. You can select the color and choose between a digital and analog time display. GPS toggle: Like the other toggles, this is a simple on/off switch. This one controls your DROID GPS. Messages: This widget displays email messages from any account you have linked to your DROID. It also displays SMS/MMS text messages and status updates from social networking accounts.

News: The News widget displays news items or blog entries. You can add feeds by URL or subscribe to preset bundles of news feeds.

Photo slideshow: This is a gallery widget that displays an interactive slideshow of photos you’ve taken from your DROID. You can also use it as a quick shortcut to your DROID’s gallery and camera apps. You can only have one Photo slideshow widget at a time. Photo Widget: This widget lets you display a single photo as if it were an app icon or other shortcut. You can add as many of these as you wish, but each one takes space on your Home screen, and each widget can only display a single photo.

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Social Networking: This widget displays a feed of updates from your linked social networking services such as Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace. Social Status: This widget is the other end of the social networking widget. It allows you to update your linked social networking services with status updates. You can update individual services, such as just Facebook or just Twitter; or you can update all of them at once with the same message. Sticky Note: This is the DROID version of a paper sticky note. You can write new notes to yourself and display them until you change the note. It’s not for long-term storage, and it doesn’t pull the information from other sites. Weather: This widget displays weather information with a nice graphic to suggest current conditions. The information displayed in this widget comes from AccuWeather.com. WiFi toggle: This is a simple on/off toggle for using Wi-Fi for your DROID. Toggle it off when you’re out of Wi-Fi range to save battery time. Motorola widgets have a lot in common with Android widgets, but they also give you an extra bonus in flexibility. Motorola widgets are resizable, so they’ll take up as much or as little space as you allow them. Figure 6–5 shows you how this works.


Tap

Long press

Long press on the Home screen by pressing the screen and holding.

Drag

Tap on Motorola widgets and then scroll by swiping up and down.

There are 15 Motorola widgets to choose from.

Drag from the middle to reposition the widget.

Drag a corner to resize the widget.

A frame will appear around the widget.

Long press on a Motorola widget to change the size.

Figure 6–5. Working with Motorola widgets.

Adding and Resizing Motorola Widgets Follow these steps to add a Motorola widget to your Home screen; note that you use the same long press procedure you would to add an Android widget: 1.


2.

Tap Motorola widgets.

3.

Slide your finger along the screen to scroll through the widget list.

4.

Tap to select the desired widget.

Once you’ve added a widget, you can follow these steps to resize that widget to fit on your screen: 1.

Long press on a Motorola widget until your DROID vibrates and you see a green halo around the widget.

2.

A frame appears around the widget. Drag the corners of the frame to resize the widget.

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3.

Tap anywhere else on the screen to complete the action.

In addition to allowing you to resize them, many Motorola widgets also allow you to customize the info they display.

Removing Unwanted Items from the Home Screen The Android Home screen Tips widget is only useful when you first get started with your DROID. After a while, you may want to remove it to make space for other app icons, widgets, or shortcuts. Removing widgets is as simple as dragging them to the trash, as shown in the image on the right. In fact, this is the same process you use to remove any unwanted item from the Home screen, whether it’s an app icon, a shortcut, or a widget. Follow these steps to remove a widget from the Home screen: 1.

Long press the item you want to remove until you feel the haptic feedback.

2.

The item will get a green halo, and you’ll see a trashcan on the bottom of the screen. Drag the item to the trash.

Long press

Long press and then drag unwanted widgets to the trash.

Don’t worry. You haven’t permanently deleted the app or widget. If you change your mind, you can add it back to your Home screen.

Wallpaper So far we’ve covered widgets, shortcuts, and folders. The last option you see when you long press on the screen is wallpapers. Wallpapers provide an easy way to personalize your phone, whether it’s by downloading artwork or using a photo you shot from your DROID. There are three basic types of wallpapers on your DROID: Live wallpapers, Media gallery, and Wallpapers. Figure 6–6 illustrates their basic differences.


Live wallpapers are special wallpapers that are animated or interactive.

Wallpapers are a collection of still images designed to be used as wallpaper.

Media gallery lets you choose and crop a portion of a photo from your DROID’s camera.

Only a portion of the image shows on each screen.

Figure 6–6. Wallpaper types.

Live Wallpapers Android 2.1 introduced Live wallpapers. These are background wallpapers that can be animated and made to react to events on your phone. For example, they might respond to you touching the phone, the time of day, or the sounds playing on your phone. Several Live wallpapers come with your DROID, including the red, lit robotic eye that you see in the DROID commercials. You can also download new wallpapers both as free and paid apps. The screen on the right shows the Shake Them All! wallpaper by Yougli; one of the Live wallpapers included in this app shows the Android logo falling in slow-motion on your screen. It reacts when you shake the screen or touch the androids as they fall. The disadvantage of Live wallpapers is that they take more power to display, especially if they have interactive features.

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Live wallpapers are essentially small apps running in the background, which means they can occasionally crash or cause issues with other running apps. If you find your phone crashing frequently or losing battery power rapidly, try switching to a different wallpaper.

Media Gallery You might want to use a photo you took on your DROID as your wallpaper; this is easy to do, and it falls into the Media Gallery wallpaper category. Keep in mind that you can only use a portion of the photo, and the entire photo will not display at once. You might also notice that the portion of the image you see is actually thinner than your Home screens. As you scroll between screens, the Home screen wallpaper will appear to move more slowly than the foreground images. Follow these steps to display a photo you took with your DROID as the wallpaper on your Home screen: 1.

Long press the Home screen.

2.

Tap Wallpapers.

3.

Tap Media gallery (DROID 2/X) or tap Gallery (DROID).

4.

Choose a photo you want to use.

5.

Select an area of the photo to use. By default, the photo starts with a small, central crop. You can drag the red frame edges until you’ve selected the portion of the photo you want to use.

6.

Tap Save.

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Making Phone Calls The DROID is capable of so many cool things that it’s easy to forget that it’s also a very powerful phone. In this chapter, we will cover the many DROID features you would expect from a high-end smartphone. You can dial by name, save time by using your recent call logs, dial by voice, use speed dial numbers, and use Basic or Visual Voicemail features. You can also use your DROID to initiate a conference call among several people. You can also customize your phone, message, and other ringtones. You can even set a custom ringtone for individual contacts in your address book – this is a great way to know who is calling without looking at your phone. It is easy to use your own music as ringtones on a DROID, but a little harder to use your own music as custom ringtones for contacts or text messages. We will show you how to do all these things, and a few more nice tricks, as well. We will also show you how to purchase ringtones from the Amazon MP3 and Android Market online stores.

Getting Started with the Phone (Dialer) Start your phone by using the Phone icon located at the bottom-left corner of every Home screen. You can also start the phone by using the Dialer icon or Phone icon on the original DROID.

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CHAPTER 7: Making Phone Calls

Finding Your DROID Phone Number Maybe you just received your new DROID and don’t yet know the phone number. Don’t worry; you can find your number in the Settings app by following these steps: 1.


2.

Scroll down and tap About Phone.

3.

Finally, tap Status. Your number is listed under My phone number, as shown in the image to the right.

TIP: You can also check your phone number using Voice Command on the DROID 2 and DROID X. From the Phone dialer screen, tap the Voice Command icon just to the right of the Green phone icon and say, “Check my phone number.”

Muting the Phone Ringer - Slide for Mute Occasionally, you want to silence your phone ringer. Follow these simple steps silence your DROID’s ringer: 1.

Tap the Power/Lock key on the top of your phone to turn off the screen (see Figure 7–1).

2.

Tap the same Power/Lock key to bring up the Lock screen.

3.

Slide the Speaker icon to the right to turn it to Vibrate mode. Notice that the Speaker icon changes to show a Vibrating phone icon.

4.

To turn off Vibrate mode, repeat the procedure. Notice that the icon returns to the Speaker icon.

TIP: You can also press and hold the Volume Down button to mute your ringer.


Notice the mute icon is shown in status bar.

Slide this to mute your ringer and other sounds.

Slide again to un-mute your ringer and other sounds.

Icon shows you are currently in mute mode.

Slide

Slide

Figure 7–1. Slide to mute or unmute your phone.

Examining Different Phone Views Your phone keypad can be shown by tapping the Dialer soft key. There are three other soft keys along the top that give you different ways to use your phone: Recent, which shows recent calls placed, missed, or received; Contacts, which shows your contact list; and Favorites, which shows your favorite phone numbers (see Figure 7–2). Dialer Tap to dial numbers using the keypad.

Recent View placed, received and missed calls.

Contacts Tap to dial from your Contacts list.

Figure 7–2. These soft keys show you different views of your phone.

Favorites Tap to use your stored favorites.

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Using the Dialer Keypad The simplest way to make a call is to use the Dialer. The numbers on the screen are large, so it’s easy to dial a number. Follow these steps to use the Dialer app or Phone app on the original DROID to make a call: 1.

Tap the Dialer icon (see Figure 7–3).

2.

If you do not see the keypad to dial, tap the Dialer soft key the top-left portion of the screen.

3.

Now you can simply start dialing by tapping number keys.

4.

If you make a mistake, press the Backspace key window where the numbers appear.

5.

If you need to type a Plus (+) sign for an international number, press and hold the Zero (0 +) key.

6.

When you are done dialing, press the green Phone key at the bottom

at

next to the

. If the person you are dialing has a picture attached to his contact record, you will see the picture appear (see Figure 7–3). 7.

When you are done with the call, press the End call key (the Red phone

icon)

.

TIP: Sometimes you have to enter a pause in a phone number for a couple of seconds, then dial another number such as an extension or a password. You can dial a pause by pressing the Menu button and selecting Add Pause. You see a comma appear next to the phone number, which indicates a two-second pause. If you need a wait to be inserted, then press the Menu button and select Add wait. A wait will pause in dialing and wait for you to tap a button to continue dialing.


Start the phone by tapping the Phone or Dialer icons.

Tap the Dialer soft key to bring up the keypad.

OR

Tap

Press here to view voice mail messages. Press the green phone key to start the call.

Press and hold the 0 key to type a plus (+).

Tap here for Voice Command. (Dial by voice.)

Hang up with this red phone key.

Figure 7–3. Dialing phone numbers with your DROID keypad.

TIP: You can redial the number you just called by tapping the Green phone key on the Dialer pad. You will see the most recent number you dialed appear; tap the Green phone key again to place the call.

Muting Yourself on a Call If you want some privacy during the call, tap the Mute button in the bottom-middle of the screen. You know the call is muted when you see the green bar at the bottom of the button lit up as shown in the figure to the right. Tap it again to unmute yourself.

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Dialing Digits While on a Call Sometimes you need to dial numbers while already on a call. Common examples include dialing an extension or dialing the first few letters of someone’s last name to look up her name in automated directory.

To start dialing digits, tap the Dialpad button shown to the right. Tap the same button to hide the dialpad, which has changed to say Hide.

Using the Speaker Phone Tap the Speaker key to use the speakerphone on your DROID. Like the Mute key, the speakerphone is on when the green bar is lit on the bottom of the key.

Talking Hands-free with a Bluetooth Headset or Bluetooth Car Stereo If you are in one of the many states or provinces where you cannot legally hold your DROID while driving a car, you will want to purchase a Bluetooth headset or use a Bluetooth car stereo connection to talk hands-free (please see Chapter 8: “Bluetooth on Your DROID” for more information on this topic).


Tap the Bluetooth key in the lower-left corner of the screen to switch audio over to your Bluetooth device. As with the Mute feature, you know Bluetooth is on when the green bar is lit on the bottom of the key. Check out the “Voice Dialing” section later in this chapter for more information.

Opening Other Apps While on a Call It’s easy to multitask on your DROID. This is especially useful when you are on a phone call. For example, you can press the Home button to jump back to the Home screen and start another app, or long-press the Home button to jump to a recently used app. Some common examples of useful multitasking while on a call include the following: Checking and scheduling a new Calendar event. Looking up a name, address, or phone number in the Contacts app. Finding a message in your Email app to use during the call.

Getting Back to the Phone From Any App Returning to your phone call from any app is easy. Follow these steps to get back to your call in progress from the Home screen or any other app on your DROID (see Figure 7–4): 1.

Start by swiping your finger down from the top status bar.

2.

Tap the Phone call in progress to return to the current call or tap the Red phone icon to hang up.

You can also return to a call by long-pressing the Home button to bring up your Recent window of apps, and then selecting the Dialer icon.

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Slide

Tap

Figure 7–4. Getting back to the call in progress from any app.

Using Speed Dial on Your DROID (DROID 2 and DROID X only) The Speed Dial feature lets you use the number keys on the phone’s dialpad to quickly dial phone numbers. You can press and hold a number to call the associated speed dial number. TIP: The only speed dial number that is pre-assigned is the number one (1), which dials your voicemail by default. You speed dial your voicemail by pressing and holding the 1 key.

Adding Speed Dial Numbers You have a few options for adding new numbers to speed dial, including the following:

Press and hold any unassigned number on the dialpad to set it as a new speed dial number. Next, select a contact to assign to that number to.

From any Phone screen, press the Menu key and select Speed dial setup. Next, tap any number that has not yet been assigned to select a contact to assign to it.

From the Recent list, you can add speed dial numbers by following the steps shown in the “Assigning a Recent Caller a Speed Dial Number” section later in this chapter.


From the Contacts view in the phone, press and hold any contact name and select Edit speed dial to assign this contact a speed dial number.

Using Speed Dial It’s easy to use the DROID’s speed dial feature to make a call. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

Bring up the keypad on the phone by tapping the Phone icon and then tapping the Dialer soft key.

2.

Press and hold the correct speed dial number on the keypad to dial its associated number.

Using the Recent View (Call Logs) The Recent view serves as your call log of outgoing, incoming, and missed calls. Touching the Recent soft key displays a list of all your recent calls. Tap the View bar just under the soft keys to filter your view by All calls, Missed calls, Received calls, or Outgoing calls (see Figure 7–5).

NOTE: The original DROID uses a Call log soft key instead of one that says Recent.

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Tap this bar to filter your view.

Tap the Recent soft key to see this screen.

Select a different way to filter your view.

You see only phone numbers when they are not in your contacts.

Outgoing calls are shown in blue arrows, calls received are green and missed calls are red.

Press the Menu button to see these items.

TIP: Tap any contact entry listed to see their contact details.

Tap the green phone icon to call this person.

Tap any phone number or longpress any contact entry to see these options.

Figure 7–5. Working with your Recent screen.

Placing a Call from the Recent View It’s a simple matter to place a call when looking at the Recent view. All you need to do is tap the Green phone icon next to a recent caller to call that contact or number.

Viewing Contact Details from the Recent View It’s also easy to view the contact information for someone listed in the Recent view. Simply tap the contact’s name to view their contact details.


Adding a Number to Your Contacts List Sometimes you will want to add the phone number of a recent caller to your Contacts list. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

Tap the phone number listed in the Recent or Call log list to see a pop-up asking whether you want to Add to contacts.

2.

You will be asked whether you want to add the number to an Existing contact or to create a New contact with this number. If you select Existing, then you will need to choose a contact from your list.

3.

If you select New, then you need to create a new contact with the number listed in the Recent view.

Sending a Text Message to a Recent Caller Another cool DROID ability: You can send a text message to a recent caller. To do so, long-press the name or phone number in the Recent list and select Send text message.

Assigning a Recent Caller a Speed Dial Number (DROID 2 and DROID X only) It’s also a simple matter to assign a speed dial number to a recent caller. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

Long-press the name or phone number in the Recent list and select Add to speed dial.

2.

The next screen (shown to the right) displays a default number (4, in this case) as the next available speed dial number. Tap that number to change it to another number, if you desire.

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3.

When done, tap Add at the bottom to assign this speed dial number to a recent caller.

Tapping the Contact Icon to Access Other Features When you tap the icon shown to the left of the contact name in your Recent list, a little Quick Access pop-up appears above the icon. This pop-up allows you to view the contact’s details; or to call, text, email, or map the contact (see Figure 7–6). If the contact has a picture – such as the one for Gary Mazo shown to the right or just a blank shoulder/head – then you know the person is in your Contacts list. If you see Question mark icon, then you know the phone number is not connected to any contact.

or

Tap the contact icon here to view this pop-up.

Call contact

View contact

Text contact

Email contact

Figure 7–6. Using the Quick Access contact pop-up from the Recent screen.

Map contact


NOTE: On the original DROID, you only see the contact icons in the Contacts and Favorites sections of the Phone app.

NOTE: Certain icons will not appear in the Quick Access window if you do not have the related information stored in your Contacts app. For example, if you do not have an address for a contact, then the Map icon will not appear. Similarly, if you do not have an email address, then the Email icon will not show up. This Quick Access window also appears in your Contacts app when you tap the icon to the left of the contact name.

Tapping the Question Mark Icon to Add, Call, or Text a Recent Caller You have two clues that a given phone number is not in your Contacts list. First, you will see a Question mark icon (?) instead of a face or blank head/shoulders in the icon. Second, you will see a phone number instead of a contact name. To quickly add this number to an existing or new contact, tap the Question mark icon to see this screen. From this screen, you can choose Add to existing contact if this is a phone number for someone already in your address book. Tap Create new contact to associate this number with a new contact entry.

Clearing Out or Erasing Your Recent List Sometimes you may want to delete all the numbers in your recent list. Follow these steps to do so: 1.


2.

Select Clear list to erase all the entries in the Recent list.

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Placing Calls From Contacts One of the great things about having all your contact information in your phone is that it becomes very easy to place calls from your Contacts list on the DROID. Follow these steps to call someone in your Contacts list: 1.

If you are not in your Dialer app, tap the Dialer icon to start it up.

2.

Touch the Contacts soft key at the top.

3.

Locate a contact to call using one of the following methods: a.

Swipe up or down through the list.

b. Press the Menu key and select Search. c.

If you have a physical keyboard, slide it out and start typing a name.

4.

When you find the contact entry you want, tap the Green phone icon next to his name.

5.

If the contact has more than one phone number, you need to select one. If you want the DROID to remember this is your default choice, check the box next to Remember this choice. See the “Calling Favorites” section of this chapter for more information on how to do this.


Using Favorites Your Favorites view shows both contacts you have specifically assigned as Favorites and frequently called contacts. This is a nice view because it can save you time by putting your contacts just a tap away. All your favorites are shown at the top, and the Frequently called contacts are displayed at the bottom. TIP: You can clear out the Frequently called contacts by pressing the Menu key and selecting Clear frequent list.

Adding New Favorites It is easy to add new favorites to your list from the Contacts view in the Dialer app. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

If you are not in the Dialer app, tap the Dialer icon to start it up.

2.

Touch the Contacts soft key at the top to view your Contacts list.

3.

To search for a contact, press the Menu button and select Search.

4.

Start typing a few letters of the contact’s first, last, or company name to find the contact quickly.

TIP: If you have a physical keyboard, then you can also slide out the keyboard and start typing to find a particular contact. 5.

You can simply swipe up or down to find a contact.

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6.

Long-press the contact you want to add as a Favorite and select Add to favorites.

TIP: You can also make any contact a Favorite by just touching the star next to his name in your Contacts app.

Calling a Favorite To call any Favorite, touch the Green phone icon next to the name of the contact in your Favorites screen. If the contact has several phone numbers, then you will be asked to select the phone number to call. TIP: If you almost always use the same number for that contact, then you can press the Remember this choice option in the dialog box that pops up, as shown in the image to the right.


Voice Dialing You can use your voice to dial names and phone numbers from a variety of places on your DROID. Here are three options you have for dialing a call with your voice: Tap the Voice dialing icon in the lower-left corner of the Dialer app’s

Dialer screen.

Press and hold the Search button on the bottom of your DROID until you see the Speak now box appear in the middle of the screen. If you have a slide-out keyboard, you can do the same thing with the Search button on the keyboard. You can also double-press the Home button on both the DROID X and DROID 2 to accomplish this task. Press the button on the side of your Bluetooth headset or the call button on your Bluetooth car stereo to start Voice Command.

Voice Command The Voice Command feature on your DROID enables you to place calls using your voice. Note that you can use Voice Command to dial a contact by name or number; send a text message; dictate an email; check for missed calls; look up a contact entry; play a playlist; check messages; check signal strength, network availability, or battery charge; and much more. We cover Voice Command fully in Chapter 2: “Typing, Voice, Copy, and Search.”

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Quickly Checking Missed Calls If you have a Bluetooth headset, you can quickly check for all missed calls by pressing the button on the headset and saying, “Check missed calls.” TIP: You don’t need a Bluetooth headset for this trick. You can also do this by tapping the Voice dialing icon in the lower-right corner of the Dialer app’s Dialpad screen.

Conference Calling You can get a conference call going fairly easily on your DROID. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

Call the first person and press the Add call button.

2.

Call the second person using any of the methods described in this chapter: Dialer, Recent, Contacts, Favorites, or Speed Dial.

TIP: You know someone is on the phone because the top status bar is now green, as shown to the right. On the original DROID, you won't see a green status bar but you will see a Green Phone icon.


3.

Once the second person is connected, you see a large Green phone icon in the center of the screen and the green Merge calls button. Tap Merge calls to put the callers together in a conference call.

4.

Once you have connected the callers, you have the following options:

Tap End last call to hang up with the second caller.

Tap the Add call key to add another person to the conference call.

Tap End call to hang up on all the callers.

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Accessing Voicemail Your DROID comes with the basic Voicemail features and an optional enhanced voicemail system called Visual Voicemail that costs an extra $2.99 per month at publishing time. Visual Voicemail is a nice feature because it allows you to quickly see all voicemails and play them in any order. You don’t have to listen to each message to see who called; instead, you can just tap the message you want to hear.

Setting up Basic Voicemail Setting up basic voicemail features on your DROID requires only a handful of steps: 1.

Tap the Dialer icon or Phone icon on the original DROID.

2.

Tap the Voicemail icon the Green phone key.

3.

Tap Call Voicemail. If this is the first time you are using voicemail with this phone number, then follow the prompts to set up your voicemail and select a pass code. Otherwise, enter your passcode if requested and follow the prompts to retrieve your voicemail messages.

in the bottom row of soft keys next to

TIP: Your default voicemail password might be the last four digits of your phone number. If you are unsure, give that a try.


Getting Your DROID to Enter Your Voicemail Password Normally, you have to type in your voicemail password or PIN every time you call voicemail. This tip will allow you to have it automatically entered for you by your DROID: 1.

Start your Contacts app.

2.

If you see a contact called Voicemail, press the Menu button and select Edit. Otherwise, create a new contact and call it Voicemail.

3.

In the phone number box, type *86,,,nnnn#, where nnnn is your four-digit voicemail password or PIN. You will need to tap the *#( key to see the Pause key. Each comma (,) is really a two-second pause. Remember to put the pound sign (#) at the end of your entry.

4.

Now you can call the Voicemail contact and have it automatically dial your password. You can make this process even easier by associating your Voicemail contact with your speed dial for the number 1. This will enable you to access your voicemail with a single long-press of the 1 key on your phone’s dialpad.

5.

Start your Dialer app, press the Menu key, and select Speed dial setup.

6.

Tap the Minus key to the right of the top speed dial to remove it.

7.

Now tap the top item (1) to set it as the Voicemail contact that you just edited or created. It should look similar to the screen shown to the right when you are done.

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8.

Next, press and hold the 1 key on the dialpad of your Phone app to automatically call the Voicemail contact and have your password entered automatically. You will see a short pause, after which your password will be sent in a little pop-up window that says, “Sending Tones.” The figure to the right shows this process in action.

TIP: You can use this same trick to add pauses and waits to other numbers when dialing extensions, dialing phone and other passwords, or even when accessing numbers. You need to set up new contacts for each number you want to call, after which you can quickly dial these numbers and their access codes or passwords without entering them manually – and without dialing them each time. We definitely recommend you secure your DROID with a password or other method if you choose to enter sensitive information such as bank access passwords in your DROID contacts.

Visual Voicemail As we mentioned earlier in this chapter, the Visual Voicemail feature allows you to instantly see who has left you voicemail messages. It also lets you listen to them or delete them in any order. At publishing time, this was a paid add-on service from Verizon that costs US $2.99 per month. TIP: You can get free Visual Voicemail-like features from other places. For example, you can choose one of the free apps from the Amazon Market such as YouMail Visual Voicemail or Visual VoiceMail. The other method is to use the free Google Voice app; you’ll learn more about this app in the “Using Google Voice” section later in this chapter.


Follow these steps to access the Visual Voicemail service from your DROID: 1.

Tap the Dialer icon.

2.

Tap the Voicemail icon in the bottom row of soft keys next to the Green phone key.

3.

If this is the first time you are using Visual Voicemail, then you need to tap the Subscribe to Visual Voicemail button at the bottom of the screen and Accept the license agreement.

4.

Enter your voicemail password and click Login.

5.

At this point, you should see your Visual Voicemail mailbox, as shown in the image in the left to the right. The blue dot column indicates that you have new messages you haven’t listened to yet.

6.

Tap any entry to listen to it, delete it, or call the person back. From this detail screen, you can do the following:

Rewind

Play / Pause

Fast forward

Call back the person who left the message

Toggle the Speaker on or off

Delete a message

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Unsubscribing from Visual Voicemail If you decide you want to turn off and stop paying for the Visual Voicemail service, you can do so, but the wireless carrier wants to make absolutely certain you want to stop using the service; you need to confirm your choice four times! Follow these steps to cancel the Visual Voicemail service: 1.

Bring up your Visual Voicemail inbox, as just explained.

2.

Press the Menu key and select More.

3.

Tap Unsubscribe from the menu.

4.

Tap Unsubscribe from the pop-up window.

5.

You may see a warning similar to the one shown to the right. If you’re sure you want to cancel your subscription, tap Cancel Subscription.

6.

You will also have another screen that asks you again to Confirm Cancel Subscription.

7.

You may also be presented with a survey that you can choose to ignore. From this point, it takes about five minutes to cancel.

Deleting All Visual Voicemails at Once The Visual Voicemail service provides the option of deleting all your voicemails at once. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

Press the Menu button and tap More.

2.

Select Delete All Voicemails.


Archiving or Deleting Multiple Messages Sometimes you may want to archive or delete multiple voicemail messages at once. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

From your Visual Voicemail inbox, press the Menu button and tap Select Multiple.

2.

Now each message you tap will be selected with a Green checkmark icon.

3.

Tap Archive or Mark as Heard to save all the selected messages.

4.

Tap Delete or Eraseto delete all the selected voicemails.

Changing Your Voicemail Ringtone and Vibration You can also change your voicemail ringtones and vibration settings from your Visual Voicemail inbox. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

From your Visual Voicemail inbox, press the Menu button and tap Settings.

2.

To change the ringtone you hear when you receive a new voicemail message, tap Select ringtone and change it.

3.

Tap Vibrate to turn the vibration feature on or off when you receive new messages.

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Using Google Voice If you already use the Google Voice app, you will want to install it on your DROID. If you are new to Google Voice, then you should know that this is a great service that gives you the following features for free:

Ring all your phones simultaneously – This feature allows people to reach you whether you are at home, at your office, or out and about with your DROID by calling a new Google Voice number that in turn rings all your phones, wherever you might be.

Receive a free Visual Voicemail-type service – This feature lets you see all your voicemails listed on your DROID screen. You can listen to these voicemails in any order.

Receive voicemails transcribed as email or SMS text messages – This feature provides a very convenient way to read and respond to voicemail messages.

Display your Google Voice number as your caller ID – This feature shows your Google Voice number when people call your DROID.

Send free text messages – This feature lets you use Google Voice to send free text messages from your DROID.

You can learn more about Google Voice by viewing these video tutorials produced by Google at this URL: http://www.google.com/googlevoice/about.html. NOTE: At publishing time, you could not use Google Voice outside the United States.

Installing the Google Voice App Obviously, you’ll need to install the Google Voice app before you can use it. Fortunately, you can acquire this app for free from the Android Market. We initially tried to find it by searching for “Google Voice”; however, we found it hard to locate the app with that search criteria. Instead, we recommend starting your Browser app and going to http://m.google.com/voice. Next, click the Download from Market button. Once you’re in the Market app, follow the steps described to install the app.


Setting Up Google Voice To start Google Voice, tap the Voice icon. You may think you should look for a Google Voice icon; however, the icon is simply called Voice.

The first time you start the app, you need to log in. You need to use the Google account you used to set up your Google Voice account. This account could be the same or different from your default Google account on your DROID. After logging in, you have a few things to set up. Tap the Next button on the bottom of the screen to continue, and then follow the instructions to select and verify your DROID phone number.

Next, you can choose whether you want to use Google Voice to make all calls, no calls, international calls, or be prompted each time you make a call. Choose the option that works best for you. The example shown in this chapter uses all calls, as shown in the figure to the right.

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Now select whether you want to use the Google Voice app’s Voicemail service on your DROID. We recommend doing this because it gives you free visual voicemail and transcription of all your voicemail messages. Make sure that you tap Google Voice when shown the screen to the right. You can also get to this screen from the Settings app > Call settings > Voicemail service. At this point, you will see a screen that asks you to dial a number – the example shown to the right asks us to “dial *713864731790.” This number consists of *71, plus our Google Voice number. Tap the underlined number to dial it from your DROID. You will then see a pop-up window called Call Settings. This window displays a status message that shows your Reading settings. When this process is complete, your voicemail should be correctly set to Google Voice. You will know if you have successfully set up Google Voice as your voicemail service if you see it shown under Voicemail Service on the Call settings screen, as shown in the image to the right. The Google Voice service will now route all your callers to the Google Voice voicemail system when they call you.

TIP: You can adjust many of the Google Voice app’s initial settings by starting the Voice app, pressing the Menu button, tapping More, and then tapping Settings.


Placing Calls With Google Voice The nice thing about using Google Voice is that it is seamlessly integrated into your DROID phone and voicemail systems. To place a call, all you need to do is launch the Phone app; and then call a Recent, Favorite, or other contact as you would normally. If you selected for all calls to be placed with Google Voice as shown above, then the call will automatically be placed using Google Voice. The caller ID displayed on the phone of the person you are calling will show your Google Voice number, not the number of your DROID. That way, the person will call you back on your Google Voice number. This also means that you can use the enhanced voicemail services of Google Voice.

Retrieving Google Voice Voicemails You might think you should be able to tap the regular Voicemail icon next to the Green phone icon in your dialpad to retrieve your voicemail messages. However, this does not work. Instead, you need to tap the Voice app to see all your Google Voice voicemail messages. NOTE: You can also retrieve Google Voice voicemails from any desktop computer browser. You can tap any message in the list to view the entire transcript and play the voice message. When viewing an individual message, you can press the Menu button to accomplish the following tasks:

Call the person back.

Text that person.

View contact details (if that person is in your address book).

Add a Star or press More to Delete the message.

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Customizing Phone Options and Settings You can customize your DROID phone by going into the Settings app. Follow these steps to do so: 1.


2.

Tap Call settings.

From this screen, you can configure the following options:

Voicemail service and settings – Choose whether to use your carrier or Google Voice to handle voicemail.

Assisted dialing – This option helps you place calls when you are roaming overseas.

Auto answer – Check this box to have the DROID automatically answer calls when the device is in Hands-free mode (e.g., when the device is connected to your Bluetooth car stereo or headset).

Caller ID Readout – This option reads out the contact name or phone number via the DROID speaker. You can set this option to ring only (the default value); speak the Caller ID and then ring; or Caller ID repeat. The last option keeps repeating the name or number, which can be a little annoying!

Auto Retry – If a call fails, this option prompts the DROID to automatically try the same number again.


TTY Mode – This option specifies the deaf accessibility settings for the DROID. Possible values for this option are Off, Full, HCO, or VCO.

DTMF Tones – This option sets the length of the tones you hear when you press a key on the dialpad between Normal (default) and Long. This can be useful if you are calling automated systems with a bad connection; making the tones longer can help the system recognize the digits you input.

HAC Mode Settings – These settings govern hearing-aid compatibility.

Voice Privacy – This option adds an extra layer of encryption to your voice calls; it is set to Checked (on) by default.

Show Dialpad – This option enables you to set the phone to automatically show the dialpad after you are connected to a phone number. The default shows the dialpad only for Voicemail, toll-free, and 900 numbers; however, you can change this setting to show the dialpad for Custom phone numbers or even All calls.

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Sounds, Ring Tones, and Vibration The DROID will alert you to incoming calls, voicemails received, and other features with unique sounds or vibrations. These can easily be adjusted using your Music and Settings apps. You can also assign unique ringtones to specific people from your Contacts apps.

Using Your Own Music As Your Ringtone One cool DROID feature: You’re able to make your own music serve as your ringtone. For this to work, you need to sync the desired music to your DROID. If you want to use a custom ringtone, you need to follow the steps shown in this chapter’s “Copying Custom Ringtones and Alerts to your DROID” section. Begin by starting the Music app and playing the song you want to use as the main ringtone on your DROID. In the example shown to the right, we have started an old favorite: 99 Red Balloons by Nena. Press the Menu button and select Use as ringtone.

TIP: Check out Chapter 25: “DROID Media Sync” to learn how to get your music onto your DROID.

Using Custom Ringtones and Alerts You can customize the way your DROID sounds by using the preloaded DROID ringtones and notifications. Or you can use your own custom ringtones and notifications. There are a few extra steps involved before you can use custom ringtones; however, the extra effort can be worth it if you want to hear a particular sound or song when a friend calls or sends you a new text message. The extra effort can also be worth it if you want a particular sound or song to serve as an alarm.


Selecting New Phone Ringtones and Notification Ringtones Your DROID comes with a number of fun ringtones and alerts already preloaded. In this section, we show you how to select these preloaded items. TIP: The steps described in this section will also work for custom ringtones and alarms – once you have them synced to your device. You will learn how to sync these to your DROID later in this chapter. Follow these steps to select from the DROID’s preloaded (or previously synced) ringtones and alerts: 1.


2.

Tap Sound.

3.

Tap Phone ringtone to listen to and select a new ringtone. Tap OK when done. All the standard ringtones and any new ringtones you have added to the media/audio/ringtones folder on your media card will appear in this list.

4.

Tap Notification ringtone to set a new ringtone for your notifications. Tap OK when done. All the standard notification ringtones and any new ringtones you have added to the media/audio/notifications folder on your media card will appear in this list.

Copying Custom Ringtones and Alerts to Your DROID You cannot select and use your own music or custom ringtones until you copy them into the correct folder on your DROID. In this section, we will show you how to copy your own music and ringtones to your DROID. Once you do this, you can enjoy custom ringtones for your phone, contacts, alerts, notifications, and text messages. Note that you need a MicroSD format media card to perform this step. Compatible file formats for ringtones are files with these extensions: MP3, MID, AAC, and WMA. Follow these steps to copy your own music or ringtones to your DROID:

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1.

Connect your DROID to your computer with the USB cable.

2.

Drag your finger down from the top of the status bar to open your Notifications screen, and then tap the USB connection setting.

3.

Tap the USB Mass Storage option (as shown in the figure to the right), and then tap OK.

4.

You should now see your DROID media card appear as a new disk drive letter on your computer.

5.

If you don’t see the media folder, then you need to create one. Next, you need to create the folders as shown in the image to the right. Be sure to place the audio folder inside media, and then place ringtones and notifications folders inside audio.


6.

Now copy (or drag-and-drop) the ringtone or notification alert into the correct folder, as described previously:

The Ringtones folder stores ringtones for the phone and contacts.

The Notifications folder stores ringtones for alerts and text messages.

7.

Next, disconnect your DROID by unplugging the USB cable from your computer. This step is important; otherwise, your DROID will not be able to see the new ringtones and notifications you have added.

Selecting a New Ringtone for Text Messaging You will be able to use these same steps for both the preloaded ringtones and any customized ringtones you have added. Follow these steps to select a new ringtone for a text message: 1.

Tap the Messaging icon.

2.

Press the Menu button and select Messaging settings.

3.

Tap Select Ringtone in the Text messaging settings area.

4.

Swipe up and down to see all the ringtones.

5.

Tap a ringtone to listen to it and select it.

6.

Tap OK when you are done.

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Assigning Custom Ringtones to Contacts Sometimes, it is both fun and useful to give a unique ringtone to a certain contacts in your address book. This way, you know who is calling without looking at your phone. You can use ringtones that are already on your DROID, or you can use one of the following options to get new ringtones:

Purchase ringtones using the Amazon MP3 or DROID Market apps on your DROID.

Create or download ringtones to your computer, and then copy them to your DROID.

Use your own songs synced to your DROID as ringtones.

For example, one of the authors (Gary) sets the ringtone for his son Daniel to the ring tone of Elton John’s “Daniel.” You need to edit a person’s information in Contacts to change his ringtone. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

Tap the Contacts icon.

2.

Tap the contact you wish to change (in this case, Gary Mazo).

3.

Press the Menu button and select Edit.

4.

Swipe to the very bottom and tap the Additional info gray bar.

5.

Swipe again to the very bottom of the screen.

6.

Tap the Call Handling Ringtone option. It will say No ringtone specified when you first change it.

7.

Tap any ringtone to select it and tap OK to save it. Now you will see the name of the selected ringtone on the same screen.

8.

Tap Save to save your changes.

The next time this contact calls you, you will hear the newly selected custom ringtone.


NOTE: On the original DROID, press the Menu button, then press Options and then select Ringtone and choose a unique ringtone.

Purchasing a Ringtone from the Amazon MP3 The Amazon MP3 app connects you to a site where you can purchase files that can serve as ringtones. Follow these steps to purchase ringtones from this site: 1.

Tap the Amazon MP3 icon.

2.

Type ringtone in the Amazon search window and tap the search button (where the enter key is usually located).

3.

You will then see all items that match. The image to the right shows Albums or groups of ringtones. Tap Songs at the top of the list to view individual ringtones. Most individual ringtones are US $0.89 or US $0.99.

4.

Tap the price or FREE button to purchase or download the ringtone to your DROID.

After you purchase your ringtone, follow the steps described in the preceding sections to assign your new ringtone to your phone or a contact.

Buy Ringtones from the Android Market You can also buy ringtones using the Android Market app. Start the Market app and type ringtone into the Search window. You will find both ringtones and apps that help you create ringtones. Once you find a ringtone or app that interests you, follow the instructions provided to acquire the file(s) in question. At this point, you can follow the steps described in the preceding sections to assign your new ringtone to your phone or a contact.

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Chapter

8

Bluetooth on Your DROID In this chapter, we will show you how to pair your DROID with any Bluetooth device, whether it is another computer, stereo speakers, or a wireless headset. Thanks to the technology known as A2DP, you can also stream your music to a capable Bluetooth stereo. NOTE: You must have a capable third-party Bluetooth adapter or Bluetooth stereo to stream your music via Bluetooth technology. Also, there is AVRCP profile support, so many music controls on a Bluetooth device (like Play, Pause, or Skip) can be operated from your DROID. Think of Bluetooth as a short-range, wireless technology that allows your DROID to connect to various peripheral devices without wires. Bluetooth is believed to be named after a Danish Viking and king, Harald Blåtand, whose name has been translated as Bluetooth. King Blåtand lived in the tenth century and is famous for uniting Denmark and Norway. Similarly, Bluetooth technology unites computers and telecom. His name, according to legend, is from his very dark hair, which was unusual for Vikings. Blåtand means dark complexion. There’s also a popular story that the king loved to eat blueberries, so much so that his teeth became stained with the color blue. Sources:

http://cp.literature.agilent.com/litweb/pdf/5980-3032EN.pdf

www.cs.utk.edu/~dasgupta/bluetooth/history.htm

www.britannica.com/eb/topic-254809/Harald-I

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CHAPTER 8: Bluetooth on Your DROID

Understanding Bluetooth Bluetooth allows your DROID to communicate with things wirelessly. Bluetooth is a small radio that transmits from each device. Before you can use a peripheral with the DROID, you have to “pair” it with that device to connect it to the peripheral. Many Bluetooth devices can be used up to 30 feet away from the DROID. Among other things, the DROID works with Bluetooth headphones, Bluetooth stereo systems and adapters, Bluetooth keyboards, Bluetooth car stereo systems, Bluetooth headsets, and hands-free devices. The DROID supports A2DP, which is known as Stereo Bluetooth.

Turning On Bluetooth

The first step to using Bluetooth is to turn the Bluetooth radio On. 1.

From your Home screen, tap your Menu button.

2.

Then, touch Settings.

3.

Touch Wireless & Networks at the top of the list.

4.

You will see Bluetooth in the list.

5.

By default, Bluetooth is initially Off on the DROID. Touch the box to turn it to the On position. You will see a green check mark appear in the box.


TIP: Bluetooth is an added drain on your battery. If you don’t plan on using Bluetooth for a period of time, think about turning the switch back to Off.

Pairing with a Bluetooth Device Your primary uses for Bluetooth might be with Bluetooth headphones, Bluetooth stereo adapters, or a Bluetooth headset. Any Bluetooth headphones should work well with your DROID. To start using any Bluetooth device, you need to first pair (connect) it with your DROID.

Pairing with a Headset or Any Bluetooth Device As soon as you turn Bluetooth On, the DROID will begin to search for any nearby Bluetooth device—like a Bluetooth headset or stereo adapter (see Figure 8–1). For the DROID to find your Bluetooth device, you need to put that device into “pairing mode.” Read the instructions that came with your headset carefully—usually there are a combination of buttons to push to achieve this. TIP: Some headsets require you to press and hold a button for five seconds until you see a series of flashing blue or red/blue lights. Some accessories automatically start up in pairing mode. Once the DROID detects the Bluetooth device, it will attempt to automatically pair with it. If pairing takes place automatically, there is nothing more for you to do.

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Figure 8–1. Bluetooth device discovered and in process of pairing.

NOTE: In the case of a Bluetooth device, such as a computer, you may be asked to enter a series of numbers (passkey) on the keyboard itself or confirm that a passkey is being shown. See Figure 8–2.

Confirm the PIN code provided by the device manufacturer. Select Pair to complete Pairing.

Figure 8–2. Select Pair to connect to another Bluetooth Device that requires a passkey.


Newer headsets like the Aliph Jawbone ICON, used here, will automatically pair with your DROID. Simply put the headset into pairing mode and turn on Bluetooth on the DROID—that’s all you have to do! Pairing will be automatic, and you should never have to re-pair the headset again.

Using the Bluetooth Headset If your headset is properly paired and on, all incoming calls should be routed to your headset. Usually you can just press the main button on the headset to answer the call or answer it on the DROID. Move the phone away from your face (while the DROID is dialing), and you should see the indicator showing you that the Bluetooth headset is in use. In the image you see that the Bluetooth icon is activated. You will also see the options to send the call to the Speaker or Mute the call. You can change this at any point while you are on the call.

Just choose to send the call to any of the options shown, and you will see the small Speaker icon move to the current source being used for the call (Figure 8–3).

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Green light shows Bluetooth is selected.

Now, Speaker is selected.

Figure 8–3. Changing from Bluetooth headset back to the DROID while on a call.

Bluetooth Stereo (A2DP) One of the great features of today’s advanced Bluetooth technology is the ability to stream your music without wires via Bluetooth. The fancy name for this technology is A2DP, but it is simply known as Stereo Bluetooth.

Connecting to a Stereo Bluetooth Device The first step to using Stereo Bluetooth is to connect to a capable Stereo Bluetooth device. This can be a car stereo with this technology built in, a pair of Bluetooth headphones or speakers, or even newer headsets like the Jawbone ICON. Put the Bluetooth device into pairing mode as per the manufacturer’s instructions, and then go to the Bluetooth setting page from the Settings icon, as we showed you earlier in the chapter. Once connected, you will see the new Stereo Bluetooth device listed under your Bluetooth devices. Sometimes it will simply be listed as “Headset.” Just touch the device, and you will see the name of the actual device next to the Bluetooth tab in the next screen, as shown here.

Connected to Media audio means this is a Stereo Bluetooth device.


Next, tap your Music icon and start up any song, playlist, podcast, or video music library. You will now notice a small Bluetooth icon in the middle of top status bar. Touch the Volume buttons on the side of your DROID to adjust the volume of the paired Bluetooth device streaming your music (see Figure 8–4).

First, notice the Bluetooth Audio connection… … Then, touch the volume controls to control the volume of your Stereo Bluetooth Device.

This speaker icon shows the selected device. Figure 8–4. Adjusting the volume of a Bluetooth device.

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Disconnecting a Bluetooth Device Sometimes, you might want to disconnect a Bluetooth device from your DROID. It is easy to get this done. Get into the Bluetooth settings as you did earlier in this chapter. Touch and hold the device you want to disconnect in order to bring up the next screen, then tap the Disconnect & Unpair button, and confirm your choice. NOTE: Bluetooth has a range of only about 30 feet, so if you are not nearby or not using a Bluetooth device, turn off Bluetooth. You can always turn it back on when you are actually going to be using it. This will delete the Bluetooth profile from the DROID. (See Figure 8–5.)

Touch and hold the device in the list of Bluetooth devices to see this screen.

Device is now not paired.

Choose “Disconnect & unpair” to “Forget” this device. Figure 8–5. Disconnecting and unpairing a Bluetooth device.

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9

Email on Your DROID One of the big reasons to have a smartphone is to keep on top of your email. Your DROID allows you to keep track of both personal and corporate email. It works with Microsoft Exchange accounts, Yahoo! Email, and, of course, your Gmail account. You can sync your phone with all your accounts, and you can create signatures to let your recipients know you’re responding from your phone, if you choose. DROIDs offers many options for email: The Gmail app The Email app (includingYahoo accounts) Outlook Web Access Corporate Sync Accounts The Web Browser Third-party apps

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CHAPTER 9: Email on Your DROID

Your DROID also comes with a Motorola widget that creates a universal messaging inbox on your Home screen, as shown to the right. Messages sent to all your accounts can be read without having to launch any email apps. You can read more about widgets in Chapter 6: “Organize Your Home Screens: Icons and Widgets.”

Getting to Know Gmail Gmail is the default email app for Android phones, and your DROID ships with the Gmail app icon displaying on the Home screen. Go to http://mail.google.com to get started with a free Gmail account. To understand the Gmail app, it’s helpful to first understand Gmail on the Web. You’ll also need to visit Gmail on the Web in order to get the best use of Gmail by setting up filters and experimenting with new features. Gmail is arguably the best free email service available. There’s no automatic tagline on the end of your messages advertising that you’re using a free email. You don’t have to pay extra in order to use a desktop or mobile app to access your email. The spam filtering is above average, and you get plenty of storage space. In fact, Gmail works so well that many business users have come to rely on the service through the enterprise Google Apps suite.


TIP: Although it’s not a faux pas to use a Gmail address for professional correspondence, you can use Google Apps to send and receive Gmail through custom business domains. If you own a small- to medium-sized business, you can take advantage of their services from either the limited free “standard” account or the $50 per-user per-year “premium” account. If you qualify for the free standard version, you can set up Google Apps as a free email service for a domain name you already own. For more information, visit Google Apps at www.google.com/a.

Understanding Gmail Mobile There are two basic ways to access Gmail from your phone. You can use either the Gmail app, or the phone’s web browser to access Gmail from the Web. When you use your web browser, by default you’ll see a mobile version of Gmail that is trimmed down and simpler to use on phones. The Gmail app on Android uses push email. That means that you don’t need to keep checking a web site. Your email is always on, always ready to receive new messages. This is just like keeping your desktop email client on in the background when you use your laptop. It’s the big advantage of the Android Gmail app over your phone’s web browser, though the browser does have a few features missing in the Gmail app. When new messages arrive, by default you’ll see a notice in the status bar. You can drag down the status bar and click the notification to launch the Gmail app. We will go over quite a few web-based features in this chapter, but there is an important reason to get to know them first. Many of these features cannot be changed from the Gmail app in Android or Gmail’s mobile browser version.

Inbox and Archive Gmail doesn’t have folders. Rather, Gmail uses labels. We’ll get to that next, so let’s just say that for most purposes, there are only two places for email you want to keep: the inbox and the archive. There are two places for email you don’t want to keep: trash and spam. Generally you’ll want to mark spammy messages appropriately before deleting them, because this helps train the spam filters to recognize unwanted messages.

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If you don’t ever want a message again, by all means delete it. Email sent to the trash is permanently deleted after thirty days. However, messages you might need later should be archived. To archive a message from the Web, select the check box next to the message, and then press the Archive button. It’s on the left side of the buttons above the inbox, as shown in Figure 9–1. Archive messages to remove them from the Inbox.

Report spam to train Gmail’s spam filter.

Stars flag important messages.

Messages are grouped by subject.

Label important messages as high priority.

High priority messages are in the Priority Inbox.

Mark low priority messages as unimportant.

Labels replace folders for sorting messages.

Figure 9–1. Gmail Web.

When you archive a message, you move it out of the inbox. You can still find the message by using the “all mail” label or by using the Gmail search box. For messages of low importance, you may even want to set up a filter that archives the messages immediately so they never clog your inbox. We’ll explain how to do that later in this chapter. NOTE: Gmail messages are grouped into conversations. Rather than showing each message in the order they arrived, conversations are clusters of messages to and from a person or group. The messages are stacked together, so you can view the conversation in context, and they appear chronologically in your inbox according to the last message received. Any actions you apply to one message in the conversation will apply to all of them. If you want to view or act on the messages individually, just click the “Expand all” link to the right of the message. If you keep seeing a super long conversation that you’d rather ignore, use the “mute” option to archive the current and future messages in that conversation. The messages will still be available and marked as unread. They just won’t be in your inbox.


Priority Inbox Google introduced a new feature called the Priority Inbox. What this is meant to do is filter your important email from what some call bacn. Bacn (pronounced “bacon”) messages are those newsletters, alerts, and coupons that you did at some point sign up to receive and you probably do want to read, just not right now. They’re not really spam, but they’re not really important. They’re bacn. The Priority Inbox flags important, unread messages and displays them at the top of your Gmail inbox on the Web. You can train Gmail to better recognize which messages are important and which are not by flagging them, and you can customize the Priority Inbox to also separate items with specific labels, as shown earlier in Figure 9–1. Behind the scenes, this is really just a new way to display a label or star.

Labels Many email accounts work by allowing you to place email messages in folders. Gmail would prefer you use labels. What is the difference? A single piece of email can exist only in a single folder. You’d have to copy an email message for it to be both in the “work” and “tax related” folders, but it can have multiple labels. Use labels to organize your messages by topic. You can click one of the labels on the left side of the screen (as shown in Figure 9–1) in order to view only messages with that particular label, including messages that have been archived. Gmail automatically creates the following labels:

Inbox

Buzz

Starred

Chats

Sent Mail

Drafts

All Mail

Spam

Trash

You can create other labels as needed. We sometimes set up temporary labels for upcoming conferences or events and then remove or hide the labels after the conference.

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You’ll notice that Starred is also a label. Click the empty star to the left of a message in order to “star” it or give it the star label. That highlights the message with a yellow star. Since you can apply more than one label to an item, adding both a star and a different label could emphasize urgent messages or highlight items that needed a response or required action.

Creating and Deleting Labels You can create labels many ways on the Web. 1.

Click the Labels button at the top of your inbox.

2.

Click Manage labels from the dropdown menu, as shown on the right.

3.

You now are in the Label settings area. You can enter new labels by typing into the box labeled Create a new label.

You can also get to this menu by clicking settings on the upper right-hand side of the screen and then clicking Labels. Another method is to click More on the bottom of your label list on the right side of the screen and then Manage labels. TIP: You’re limited to 40 characters in a label, but it would be wise to keep it even shorter. Long labels mean less space for your message previews. You can edit a label by clicking the label name in the Label settings and then typing the new name in. You can show or hide labels by clicking the link to the right of the labels, and you can delete them as well. Deleting a label does not delete the messages.


Automatic Filters Automatic filters are probably one of the most powerful tools in any email program. When combined with labels, Gmail lets you do quite a lot with filters. 1.

Click the check box next to one or more messages.

2.

Click the More actions button.

3.

Select Filter messages like these.

4.

Gmail will try to guess the criteria you’re using, such as messages from a certain sender or messages containing a particular subject line. If the guess is wrong, you can change the criteria. Once you’ve got the correct criteria, click the Next Step button.

5.

Now you choose an action. Your choices include archive (the Skip the Inbox option), star, mark as read, apply a label, forward it, delete it, or never flag it as spam. If you’re using Priority Inbox, this is a choice as well. You can select more than one action for an item, such as starring and never marking it as spam.

6.

Next, create the filter. You can also select the check box to apply that filter to any previous messages that matched your criteria.

We use filters to automatically prioritize messages from business contacts with stars and subject labels. We de-clutter by archiving distracting mailing lists and other bacon items we may want to read later or notifications from Facebook and Twitter. We also make sure important senders never have their messages marked as spam. NOTE: You can create an easy filter for a group or project by creating a custom email address. Your Gmail address supports adding words to your address by adding them on with a plus sign. For instance, you can have everyone involved with a project send messages to [email protected]. Add a filter for messages sent to that specific address, and then apply the desired label.

The Settings Menu We’ve already explored filters and labels. There are many other options on the settings menu worth mentioning. To adjust settings, click the Settings link on the upper right of the Gmail Web screen, just next to your email address.

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General Settings The first tab offers some general settings. Make sure your browser connection is set to always use https://. That makes sure you use a more secure connection to check your email when using a web browser. It’s also the default setting, so if you don’t have either one selected, it’s still using the secure connection. The other important thing to note is that you can create text signatures and set automatic vacation replies through the appropriate boxes here. Be aware that any signatures you create here will not translate to your phone. You have to set those up separately. If you change anything, be sure to press the Save Changes button before moving on.

Accounts You can add additional email accounts through Gmail and check and respond to them from the same inbox as your Gmail account. They have to be a standard POP3 account, but that includes most web-based email and email accounts offered through Internet service providers. That generally does not include Exchange accounts. The settings are shown in Figure 9–2. To add an email account to your Web Gmail account, do the following: 1.

Log into Gmail on the Web.

2.

Click Settings. It’s on the upper right of your browser window.

3.

Click Accounts and Import.

4.

Click Add POP3 email account.

5.

Enter your email address, password, and any specific settings provided by your ISP.

6.

Decide how you handle messages on the old account. Do you delete them as they’re imported or are they left on the server?

7.

Decide if you’d like to add a custom label (by default your email address will be the label) and if you’d like to automatically archive new messages.


Figure 9–2. Adding email accounts to a single Gmail.

If you add accounts, you’ll want to decide if you should respond from the address that received the email or always use your default email address. We find it less confusing to respond with the same account that originated the email. Your default address is the address you’ll use to compose new messages. You can also add more accounts from your DROID without joining them in your Gmail account. It’s just a matter of deciding how you’d rather manage your email accounts.

Forwarding and POP/IMAP You can automatically forward a copy of each mail message to a different account and either keep, archive, or delete the original message. This applies to all messages to that account, but you can forward selectively by creating a filter. For accessing email on your Android phone, you’ll want to enable IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol). This is the mail protocol that allows your account to sync with your phone. You can also enable POP (Post Office Protocol) if you wish, but this isn’t necessary for Android access.

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Labs, Themes, Offline These are settings that apply only to the web-based version of Gmail. Gmail Labs allows you to add experimental features that may or may not make it into the main release. Themes allow you to customize the look and feel of your Gmail Web experience, and offline access lets you read and compose Gmail messages while not connected to the Internet. Messages sync once your Internet connection is resumed. Feel free to experiment and explore, but be aware that these settings do not transfer to your phone. NOTE: One interesting Labs tool is called Green Robot. This add-on turns the icons of chat buddies into robots if they’re currently using Android for their chat session. It works only for Android, so you can’t tell if they’re chatting from an iPhone or Blackberry. As with other Gmail Labs, this doesn’t change anything in your Gmail phone app.

Web Version From Your Phone If you are in a pinch and need to set up a filter or create a label, you can still do this from your phone. It just involves a bit of wrangling. 1.

Point your DROID browser to http://mail.google.com.

2.

When you are logged in, scroll to the very bottom of the screen. You’ll see that you’re viewing Gmail in: Mobile.

3.

Click the link next to that that says Desktop.

What you see should be similar to the figure on the right. It’s tiny, so you’ll need to magnify your view and scroll around to navigate. You will still have fewer options than you would on your laptop’s web browser. However, you still have all the options you need for effective phone use.


Sending and Replying to Email Let’s return to the Gmail app on your DROID. illustrated in Figure 9–3.

Sending email with Gmail is

Make sure you’re using the correct account.

Tap Compose to start a new message.

Tap

Your To: field will autocomplete as you type. Tap Send when you are finished.

Tap on the Gmail app icon.

Figure 9–3. Composing Gmail messages.

1.

Navigate to the correct account, click the menu button, and select Compose. If you’re using a DROID or DROID 2 with a keyboard, you can slide it out or just use the virtual keyboards.

2.

Start entering an address in the To: field, and Google will attempt to autocomplete the email address from your contact list. If this is to a new contact, you’ll just have to type the whole thing out. Use your finger to navigate to the next fields.

3.

If you want to add a picture attachment or more recipients, press the menu button again. You’ll have the option to add BCC and CC recipients and attachments from your phone’s camera gallery. You can also choose to take a new picture to attach. Picture files are the only type of attachment supported on the default Android Gmail app, but you can still forward messages that contain other types of attachments.

4.

When you’re done with your message, tap Send.

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To reply to a message, open that message, and tap the Reply button. This menu remains sticky at the top of the screen, even if you scroll through a long message. As with desktop email programs, you can choose the Reply or Reply All option. You can also choose to forward messages. Expand your options by tapping the left-facing triangle, as shown in the image on the right.

If you are replying to a message, Android will automatically copy and append the entire message you’re replying to. If you’re used to paring down this message to highlight only the relevant section or insert something in the middle, you’re out of luck. You can’t edit the attached previous message, so just note the relevant parts in text.

Search It’s easy to get trapped into navigating through messages by the subject line and preview, but sometimes there’s a faster way to find what you need. Google is known for search, so it’s unsurprising to find a well-supported search tool within Gmail. Whenever you’re in the Gmail app, press the physical Search button on your DROID, and you can search through your messages. The search tool will auto-suggest as you type.


Custom Signatures If you set a signature on Gmail on the Web, that signature doesn’t get included on email you send from your phone. This gives you the chance to make a custom signature from your phone—perhaps something indicating that you’re using a phone, so your recipient is more willing to forgive short messages and the occasional typo. To set your custom signature, do the following: 1.

Go to your Gmail inbox.

2.


3.

Next, select Settings. On the original DROID, you need to touch More and then Settings.You’ll see the Signature setting, and you can use this to create a text-only signature.

4.

When you’re done, hit Save. That signature will apply only to messages sent from your phone for that account.

Notifications While you’re editing settings, it’s a good time to think about notifications. Do you want a ringtone every time you get a message? Do you want the phone to vibrate? Do you want an update in your status bar? Or, you may want your DROID to do nothing, so you can review new email when you choose? These are options listed under “Notification settings.” By default, your DROID will use the robotic “Droid” ringer, which may be startling the first time you get a message. We get a lot of messages, so we silence the ringers and keep the option Email notifications checked, so we can glance at the Notifications bar to find new messages. Figure 9–4 illustrates how to silence the email notifications.

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Silent turns ringtone notifications off.

Tap

Swipe

Tap

Press the Menu button and tap More.

Tap Settings from the More menu.

Tap OK when done.

Scroll down to see the Notification settings. Tap Select ringtone to change the alert sound.

Figure 9–4. Ringtones.

1.

Go to Gmail.

2.


3.

Tap More.

4.

Tap Settings.

5.

Scroll down the menu to the Notifications settings and tap Select ringtone.

6.

Choose Silent.

7.

Tap the OK button.


Labels Another way you can cut down on your inbox clutter is to sync only certain Gmail labels. Choose Labels in from the Settings menu of the account you want to change, and you’ll see the Synchronization menu as shown on the right. You can choose how far back you want to sync messages in your inbox and choose which labels to sync on a case-by-case basis. You could put an automatic label on some of your bacn newsletters, and then choose not to sync them to your phone, or you could choose to sync workrelated emails only on weekdays. Not syncing labels doesn’t mean you can’t still find the information, just like archiving a message doesn’t mean it is inaccessible. Searching your inbox will still retrieve old messages. It just saves some phone memory and syncing time for things you don’t need instantly available every time you launch the Gmail app.

Confirm Delete If you check this item, you’ll get an extra dialog every time you try to delete a message. If you’re pretty sure with your fingers, leave it unchecked. If you’re nervous that you’ll have a butter finger moment and accidentally delete an important email, leave it checked.

Talk and Other Missing Gmail Features Gmail on the Web has a chat window with Google Talk integration. Rather than accessing Chat through the Android Gmail app, you’ll use the separate Google Talk app on your phone. Messaging.

We cover Google Talk in Chapter 10: "SMS, MMS, and Instant

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Google Task List Another feature you may notice missing from the Gmail app is a task list. It’s a very handy to-do list tool. It’s not included in the Gmail app. However, you can still use the task list. Simply navigate your web browser to http://mail.google.com/tasks.

You can also make a shortcut for your Home screen. 1.

Create a bookmark of this address by pressing the star in your browser bar.

2.

Go to your Home screen and long press.

3.

Select Shortcut.

4.

Select Bookmark, and then find the task list.

Buzz Google Buzz is a social networking component of Gmail. We’ll talk about social networking tools in more detail in Chapter 20, “Social Media and Skype.” Buzz isn’t supported in the Gmail app on Android, but you can download a widget from Google that allows you to post updates, your location, and photos from your phone.

Multiple Gmail Accounts You can set up multiple Gmail accounts on your DROID and manage them all from the Gmail app. The figure on the right shows multiple Gmail accounts. Unread messages are shown to the right of each account. If you click an account, you’ll see only the inbox of that account. You can always get back to the view shown to the right by clicking the menu button and selecting Accounts.

To add another Gmail account to your DROID, follow the same steps you’d use to add any other type of email account, as shown in Figure 9–5.


Tap on the My Accounts app in the App Tray.

Enter your email address and password.

This success message indicates the automatic settings worked.

Choose the type of account. Choose Email for a generic email account.

Tap

Tap on Add account.

Keep Automatically configure account checked.

If you do not see the message, contact your ISP for your email settings.

Figure 9–5. Adding accounts.

You can also add accounts from directly within the Gmail app by pressing the Menu button, going to Accounts, and then tapping the Add account button. When you add another Google account, you’ll be prompted to specify which parts of that account you want to sync. Your choices depend on what services you’ve used, but for email accounts, you’ll have the choice to sync Gmail and Contacts.

Switching Between Accounts It’s important to keep track of which account you’re using when you read or send messages. To switch between accounts: 1.


2.

Tap Accounts.

3.

Tap the email inbox you wish to switch to.

Or 1.

When composing an email, tap the From: field.

2.

A pop-up window will show your Gmail accounts.

3.

Tap your choice.

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Deleting Accounts Deleting accounts is a reverse of the same process that created them. 1.

Go to the Home screen and press the Menu button.

2.

Select Settings then tap Accounts.

3.

Tap the name of the account you want to delete.

4.

Tap the Remove account button on the bottom of the screen.

You’ll get a warning message that you’re about to delete an account, the email, and the synced contacts, and you’ll need to confirm to delete. Alternatively, you could just stop syncing an account if you wanted to retain your contacts without checking the email.

The Email App Android includes the Gmail app for adding Gmail accounts, but there’s also an Email Depending on your Exchange app for checking mail with non-Gmail accounts. server’s settings, this account can sometimes be used to check Exchange accounts as well as standard email accounts that use POP or IMAP protocols. Just like the Gmail app, you can add more than one account to the Email app. The Email app also syncs with your DROID Messaging widget and Universal Inbox. In addition to the Email app, your DROID also has a Yahoo! email app for adding your Yahoo! account.

Exchange Accounts on Android Android 2.2 supports Exchange email through the Email app. As we mentioned earlier, Verizon charges for corporate email sync, so you may have limited success using Exchange email through the standard Email app, you may have problems syncing your calendar, and you may not see your Global Address List (GAL).

Turning Off Ringtones in the Email App Turning off the “Droid” ringtone in the Email app is similar to the way you do it in Gmail. 1.

Launch the Email app.

2.


3.

Tap Email settings.

4.

Tap Notifications.

k


5.

Tap Select ringtone.

6.

Select Silent.

Of course, if you do want an audio notification of new emails, you can use this method to change your ringtone to any ringtone sound you’d like.

Outlook Web Access If you can’t add an Exchange account through the Email app, you might be able to use an Outlook Web Access or OWA account instead. You have to actively check for email yourself instead of getting notification that you’ve got a new message. If you use OWA to access mail, just set up a bookmark on your Home screen for quick access.

Corporate Sync Accounts If you have no luck adding an Exchange email to the Email app, you may need to use a Corporate Sync accounts are designed to be compliant Corporate Sync account. with security standards mandated by corporate email systems. Corporate email accounts can also be remote wiped, or erased remotely if you lose your phone. The disadvantage to Corporate Sync accounts is that as of the time of this publication, Verizon charges more for these accounts. That’s why it’s important to remove any accounts you don’t need.

Universal Inbox Your DROID organizes all your non-Gmail email accounts, your text messages, and social networking status updates into a Universal Inbox in the Messaging app, so you can read all your messages from one central location. The Universal Inbox is shown in Figure 9–6. Please see Chapter 10 for more on using Instant Messaging and this Universal Inbox.

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Tap on the Messaging app icon to find the Universal Inbox.

Click the plus sign to compose a new message.

Click the plus sign to compose a new message.

The Universal Inbox shows messages from everything but Gmail.

The symbol indicates the type of account for the message.

The number indicates unread messages.

Messages with attachments are indicated with the paper clip.

Figure 9–6. The Universal Inbox.

You can navigate to your email messages in many ways:

Launch the Email app in the App Tray.

Use the Messaging app and the Universal Inbox.

Drag down the Notification bar whenever you see a notification that you’ve got a new message.

Use the Messaging widget on the Home screen.

Your Universal Inbox is available through the Messaging app, but it’s also available through the Messaging widget. By using the widget, you can read previews of your email messages right from your Home screen, and even compose replies. Figure 9–7 shows quick ways to check email.


Swipe down

Tap

Pull down the Notifications bar to see a preview.

Tap to go to the message in the Email app.

Tap Navigate to previous messages by tapping the side.

This indicates the type of message – in this case Email.

Tap the Messages widget to preview the email. You can Reply to a message or Delete it by tapping.

Figure 9–7. Two ways to check email.

Reading Attachments Your ability to read attachments is going to depend on the type of attachment, the app you’re using, and the software you have installed on your phone. If an email has embedded pictures, just as with many desktop email programs, you’ll generally see them. Gmail doesn’t automatically download pictures, but you can tap Show Pictures to download and see them. Other attachments require you to click to download and view, as shown in Figure 9–8.

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Tap

Non image attachments will appear as an arrow.

Tap to start downloading the attachment.

Tap

Figure 9–8. Emailing attachments.

If your DROID has more than one app capable of handling an attachment, you’ll see a dialog box that lets you choose how you want to handle the file. Click your preferred app, and you can view your attachment. If your DROID doesn’t have any app capable of viewing an attachment, you can still download it in case you get an app later.

Tap again to view the attachment.

This will only work if you have an app capable of viewing the attachment.


Third-Party Apps If you want an alternative to Corporate Sync, you may be able to use third-party apps. One popular app is TouchDown by NitroDesk. You can get more information here: www.nitrodesk.com/dk_touchdownFeatures.aspx. TouchDown comes in both a free and paid version. The free version lets you check email and get the day’s calendar, while the $19.99 paid version, shown to the right, allows you to sync your Exchange email, accept and send task and event requests, use the Global Address List, etc. TouchDown also supports security policy enforcement, so it should pass muster with most IT departments. You can also use it through OWA if you can’t get it to work with ActiveSync. There’s a fully functional free trial, so you can test to make sure everything works before you purchase it.

TouchDown is a solid app. Not only does it provide most of the features of Outlook in your pocket, it also includes several widget options to keep your Exchange info handy whenever you use your phone. However, it doesn’t mesh your email, calendar, and task information with your other Android calendar contact, or task lists. On one hand, it’s handy to have business separate from personal life, and on the other hand, it would be nice to have access to your Global Address List when using your main contact list.

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SMS, MMS, and Instant Messaging SMS stands for Short Messaging Service, and it is commonly referred to as text messaging or simply texting. Text messages are usually limited to 160 characters, and they are a great way to quickly touch base with someone without interrupting them with a voice call. Sometimes you can text someone and receive a text reply when it would be impossible or difficult to make a voice call. A related technology is Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), which lets you send a message with pictures, audio, or video.

Icon on DROID

DROID 2/2 Global/X

In this chapter, we will cover how to send and receive SMS text and MMS picture/video messages on your DROID. As shown to the right, your DROID has only one Messaging icon, but on your DROID 2/X, you will see two icons Messaging and Text Messaging. The Text Messaging icon is the faster way to get into messaging when you have a DROID 2/X. You will also learn how to send a text message from your Contacts app and how to send a picture as an MMS message from your Gallery app.

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CHAPTER 10: SMS, MMS, and Instant Messaging

SMS Text Messaging on your DROID Text messaging has become one of the most popular services on cell phones today. While it is still used more extensively in Europe and Asia, it is growing in popularity in North America. The concept is very simple; instead of placing a phone call, you send a short message to someone’s handset. It is much less disruptive than a phone call; and you may have friends, colleagues, or co-workers who do not own a DROID – so email may not be an option. One of the this book’s authors uses text messaging with his children all the time – this is how the generation his kids are part of communicates. “R u coming home 4 dinner?” “Yup.” There you have it: meaningful dialog with an 18-year-old – short, instant and easy.

Composing SMS Text Messages Composing an SMS message is much like sending an email. The beauty of an SMS message is that it arrives on virtually any handset and is quite simple to reply to.

Composing an SMS Message from the Messaging App There are a couple of ways to send text messages on your DROID. The easiest way is to touch the Messaging icon (DROID) and Text Messaging icon (DROID 2/X) on the Home screen.

When you first start the app, you most likely won’t have any messages, so the screen will be blank. Once you get started with SMS messaging, you will have a list of messages and current “open” discussions with your contacts.


Follow these steps to send a new SMS message:

Tap here to view your Contacts (for DROID 2/X).

1.

Tap the Messaging icon (DROID) or Text Messaging icon (DROID 2/X).

2.

Touch New message or New text message at the top of the screen.

3.

The cursor will immediately go to the To: line. Touch the To: field and start typing in the name of your contact. Or, you can tap the person with the plus icon as shown in the figure to the right to select a contact from your Contacts list.

4.

If you want to just type someone’s mobile phone number, then press the ?123 button and dial the number.

5.

When you find the contact you wish to use, touch the name and it will appear in the To: line (see Figure 10–1).

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To SMS someone in your Contacts, just type a few letters of their first / last name.

Then touch to select their name. Usually you can only send SMS to mobile phones.

Touchto Select

When ready to type the message, click here.

Click here to add a phone number in the “To” line.

Figure 10–1. Choosing a recipient for an SMS message.

6.

When you are ready to type the SMS message, touch anywhere in the box in the middle of the screen (next to the Send button).

7.

The keyboard will be displayed. Just type in your message and then touch Send when you are done.

NOTE: There is no character counter in the Android OS, so if your messages go over 160 characters, they will be divided into two messages.


TIP: If you prefer, you can use the larger Landscape mode keyboard for sending text messages. It can be easier to type with the larger keys on the DROID X or the keyboard on the DROID and DROID 2, especially when your fingers are a little larger, or it is hard to see the smaller keys.

Options After Sending a Text Once the text has been sent, the window changes to a threaded discussion window between you and the contact. The text that you sent displays with a white background. When your contact replies, his message will appear in a blue background. If you have a contact picture for the recipient, that will show up in the display, as well.

Messaging on DROID

To leave the SMS screen, touch the Back key a couple of times; or, you can just touch the Home key to go back to your Home screen. NOTE: If the message fails to send, it is usually because of a low wireless signal. When you get to a stronger signal area, the message should send.

DROID 2/2 Global/X

At this point, you can send another text message following the steps just outlined. You can also call the contact or view his contact info. To initiate a call to the contact you are texting with, touch the image of the contact in the threaded message to bring up a pop-up window. In the example on the right, you could call Martin by touching the Call button. To look at his contact info, you can touch the Contact Info button.

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Composing an SMS Message from Contacts You also have the ability to send a text message right from your Contacts list on your DROID. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

Tap your Contacts icon.

2.

Find the contact you wish to send a text to by searching or scrolling through Contacts.

3.

At the right-hand side of the phone numbers in the contact info, there will be a Messaging icon (see Figure 10–2). Touch that icon and you will be taken to the messaging screen (as shown previously).

4.

Type in your message and follow the steps listed previously.

NOTE: Remember that you can only send SMS messages to a mobile number.


Choose Messaging icon.

Type in message and then touch Send.

Figure 10–2. Sending an SMS message from your Contacts app.

Replying to a Text Message When a text message is received, your DROID will play an indicator tone or vibrate – or both – depending on your settings. A notification will appear on the screen in the notification bar at the top. Responding to a text is easy. Simply pull down the indicator bar, touch the message response, and then touch Type to compose to enter a response. NOTE: If your screen is locked, you will not see the message. Just slide the Lock tab and you will be able to pull down the indicator bar to see the message.

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Viewing Stored Messages Once you begin a few threaded messages, they will be stored in the Messaging (DROID) or Text Messaging (DROID 2/X) app. Touch the Messaging icon to scroll through your message threads.

Sometimes you will want to continue an earlier conversation with someone. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

Touch the thread you want to continue. The conversation will open up, showing you a threaded view of the previous messages.

2.

Touch the text box and type your message.

3.

Touch the Send button to continue the conversation.

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Messaging Notification Options There are a couple of options available to you with respect to how your DROID reacts when an SMS message arrives. Follow these steps to customize those options: 1.

Start your Text Messaging app and press the Menu button.

2.

Touch Settings (DROID) or Messaging Settings (DROID 2/X).

3.

Scroll down a bit further and you will see a drop down that says Select Ring Tone. Touch this and you can choose the tone for the SMS message. You are limited to the choices offered (usually 12 or more); you can also choose None.

4.

Choose your preferred sound for incoming SMS message notifications and then touch the OK button in the lower-left corner to finalize your selection.

5.

You can also set your DROID to vibrate for every text message received by checking the box next to Vibrate.

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Multimedia Messaging The Messaging app provides the necessary tools to send and receive multimedia messages in MMS format, including picture and video messages. MMS messages appear right in the messaging window, just like your SMS text messages. NOTE: You can send multimedia messages from your DROID that includeimages, videos, locations (from maps), audio (from Voice Memo), and vCard files (from Contacts) in MMS format.

The Messaging App Follow these steps to send a picture to someone else in MMS format: 1.

Touch the Messaging icon to start messaging, just as you did to initiate an SMS message.

2.

Press the Menu button and then select Attach (DROID) or Insert (DROID 2/X) or Add Subject. This will put you into MMS mode; a notification on the screen will let you know you’ve entered this mode.

NOTE: The screen shown to the right is from a DROID. On your DROID 2/X you will see a slightly different screen that is titled with the word Insert but it has almost all the same options.

DROID

DROID 2/2 Global/X


3.

To take a photo, follow the instructions in Chapter 18: “Take Photos and Videos.” If you touch Pictures or Videos, just navigate through your pictures/videos and find the item you would like to add to your message (see Figure 10–3).

Figure 10–3. Choosing an existing photo to send in MMS format.

4.

Touch the picture you wish to send as an MMS message and you will see the picture load into the small window. You may see a warning that the picture is too large to send, tap Resize to shrink the image so it can be sent.

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5.

Select a recipient and type in a short note if you like.

6.

Touch the Send button.

If you already have a threaded discussion with that particular contact, then the picture will show up in that threaded discussion. NOTE: You can continue to exchange images and text in the middle of a threaded discussion. You can always scroll through to see the entire discussion – pictures and all!


Choosing a Picture from Your Gallery to Send via MMS A second way to send an MMS message is to go straight to your Gallery app and choose a picture. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

Start your Gallery app and navigate through your pictures (see Chapter 18: “Take Photos and Videos” for more information on how to do this).

2.

To send only one picture, touch the picture you wish to send.

3.

Press the Menu button and tap Share.You will now see Messaging or Text Messaging in the list of options and other services that are installed on your DROID.

4.

Choose Messaging and the photo will load into the message, just as it did previously.

DROID

DROID 2/2 Global/X

Sending Multiple Pictures You can also send multiple pictures in an MMS message. Start your Gallery app as you did in the previous section. On the DROID, touch and hold one picture until you see a check mark. On the DROID 2/X, press the Menu button and choose Select items. Now tap as many pictures as you want to add. This will highlight your pictures and display them with a green check mark in the corner of the picture’s box (see Figure 10–4).

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Figure 10–4. Selecting multiple photos to send in an MMS message.

Once you have chosen all the pictures you want to send, on the DROID, touch the Share button and choose Messaging. On the DROID 2/X, press the Menu button and select Share then tap Text Messaging and the pictures will appear in the message, along with an arrow that allows the recipient to play a slideshow of the images.

Instant Messaging on Your DROID So far we have covered SMS and MMS messaging in this chapter. However, there are many other ways to stay in touch with your friends and use your DROID as a messaging device. One option for staying in touch with friends and family members is to use one of the many instant messaging apps available. The advantages of instant messaging, as opposed to SMS or MMS messaging, are as follows:

Instant messaging is usually free from additonal charges (assuming you have a data plan).

Instant messages reach your intended audience immediately.

Instant messages let you have quick, ongoing chats in real time.


Google Talk Your DROID is made to operate in the Google world, so it makes sense to start with the instant messaging app designed by Google: Google Talk.

Google Talk is an instant messaging client available to anyone with a Gmail or Google account. You can also invite contacts to become Google Talk “chat buddies” by sending them a Google Talk invite. Follow these steps to invite someone to be part of your Google Talk contacts: 1.

Start Talk from the Home screen.

2.

Press the Menu button and select Add friend.

3.

Type in the Send chat invitation window until you see a match with one of your contacts (see Figure 10–5).

4.

Tap Send Invitation to send the invitation.

Figure 10–5. Sending a Googe Chat invitation to a contact.

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Using Google Talk Using Google Talk is just like using your Messaging app. Start the Google Talk app and choose the contact you wish to chat with. Type your message in the Type to compose box and then touch Send. You can keep your chat window open to have a running chat; alternatively, you can rely on the Notification icon to tell you when you have a new chat message.

NOTE: Even if your contact is not online, you can still post your chat message. In this case, your contact will see it as soon as he or she logs on.

AIM and Other Instant Messaging Apps The Andoid Market is filled with instant messaging apps. AIM is particularly popular chat program, and it can also be tied to your Facebook app for chat.


Follow these steps to download AIM from the Android Market. 1.

Start up the Android Market (see Chapter 17: “Exploring the Android Market” for more information on how to do this).

2.

Search for AIM and download the app.

Using AIM You start the AIM app by touching the icon on your Home screen. Choose whether to log in using you standard AIM account or by using your Facebook account, as shown in Figure 10–6. Input your login information and then chat as you would using the Google Talk app or your Messaging app.

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Figure 10–6. Logging in to your AIM account using AIM or Facebook.

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Chapter

Surfing the Web Now, we’ll take you through one of the most fun things to do on your DROID: surfing the Web. You may have heard web surfing on the DROID is a better experience than ever before—we agree! We’ll show you how to touch, zoom around, and interact with the Web like never before with the web browser on your DROID. You’ll learn how to set and use bookmarks, quickly find things with the search engine, open and switch between multiple browser windows, and even easily copy text and graphics from web pages.

Web Browsing on the DROID You can browse the web to your heart’s content via your DROID’s Wi-Fi or 3G connection. Like other smartphones using a Webkit browser, your DROID has one of the most capable mobile browsing experiences available today. Web pages look very much like web pages on your computer. With the DROID’s ability to zoom in, you don’t have to worry about the smaller screen size inhibiting your web browsing experience. In short, web browsing is a much more satisfying experience on the DROID.

Choose to browse in portrait or landscape mode, whichever you prefer. Quickly zoom into a video by double-tapping it or pinching open on it, which is natural to you because those are the motions you use to zoom in text and graphics.

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CHAPTER 11: Surfing the Web

Why Do Some Videos and Sites Not Appear? (Flash Player Required) Some web sites are designed with Adobe Flash Player. At the time of this writing, the DROID fully support Adobe Flash through the Flash “lite” app that is making its way onto select Android phones. Go to the Android Market, look for Flash Player, and install in. Learn how to download apps from the Android Market in Chapter 17: “Exploring the Android Market.” If you tap a video and the video does not play, or you see something like “Flash Plugin Required,” “Download the Latest Flash Plugin to view this video,” or “Adobe Flash Required to view this site,” you will need to update your operating system to view the video or web page.

An Internet Connection Is Required You do need an Internet connection on your DROID via Wi-Fi or 3G to browse the web. Check out the Chapter 5: “Wi-Fi and 3G Connectivity” to learn more.

Launching the Web Browser You should find the web browser icon on your initial Home screen. Usually the Browser icon is in the bottom row of icons on your Home screen.

Touch the Browser icon, and you will be taken to the browser’s home page. Most likely, this will be the Google start page. Just turn your DROID on its side to see the same page in wider landscape mode. As you find web sites you like, you can set bookmarks to easily jump to these sites. We will show you how to do that later in this chapter.

View web pages in portrait mode.

Or, turn your DROID on its side to see them in landscape mode.


Layout of Web Browser Screen Figure 11–1 shows how a web page looks in the browser and the different actions you can take in the browser. Touch and pull down to view Notifications.

Tap here to see Bookmarks and History.

Tap here to type a web address.

Swipe up or down.

Zoom by pinching open, pinching closed or doubletapping.

New window View Bookmarks

Switch between open Browser Windows.

Go Forward or Refresh page.

Touch to Find on page, Select text, see Page info, Share page or see Settings.

Figure 11–1. Web browser page layout.

NOTE: On your DROID 2/X the icons shown on the menu items may appear slightly different than shown in figure 11-1, but the names and functions they perform will be the same. As you look at your screen, notice the Address Bar in the upper left side of the screen. This displays the current web address. You can also type search words right in the address bar. If you type words and click Go or the Enter key, then the DROID assumes you want to do a web search. By default, this is set to Google search, but you can change that if you want. At the bottom of the screen are five icons: Back, Forward, Add Bookmark, Bookmarks, and Pages View.

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Typing a Web Address The first thing you’ll want to learn is how to get to your favorite web pages. Just like on your computer, you type in the web address (URL) into the browser. 1.

To start, tap the Address Bar at the top of the browser as shown in Figure 11–2. You’ll then see the keyboard appear and the window for the address bar expand.

2.

If there is already an address in the window and you want to erase it, just touch and hold the address and it will become highlighted and the keyboard will pop up.

3.

Start typing your web address (you don’t need the www.).

4.

When you start typing, you may see suggestions appear. Just tap any of them to go to that page. The suggestions are very complete because they are pulled from your browsing history, bookmarks, the web address (URL), and web page titles.

5.

When you are finished typing, tap the Go key to go to that page.

TIP: Don’t type the www. because it’s not necessary. Remember to use the colon, forward slash, underscore, dot, and .com keys at the bottom to save time.


Tap here to type a web address.

TIP: Skip typing www, because you don’t need it.

Use these buttons to save time.

Save time by tapping pages that appear here.

Tap to go to the page.

Figure 11–2. Typing a web address.

TIP: If you turn the DROID sideways, you get a landscape keyboard which might be easier for those with “big thumbs” to use.

Moving Backward or Forward Through Open Web Pages Now that you know how to enter web addresses, you’ll probably be jumping to various web sites. The Forward and Back buttons make it very easy to go to recently visited pages in either direction, as Figure 11–3 shows. Touch the Back button (the soft key at the bottom of the DROID) to go backwards to the last page visited. To move forwards, touch the Menu button, then select the Forward soft key. Let’s say you were looking at the news on The New York Times web site, and you jumped to ESPN to check sports scores. To go back to The New York Times page, just touch the Back button. To return to the ESPN site again, touch the Menu key and then the Forward arrow.

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Tap here to return to the previous web page (nytimes.com).

This would take you back to espn.com.

Figure 11–3. Returning to a previously viewed web page.

Using the Windows Menu Command When you press the Menu button and then select the New window button, the DROID keeps track of all the open windows in the browser. Just press the Menu button again and choose the Windows button to see all the open Browser windows. The URL for each window is now listed. Just touch the desired URL to jump right to that open browser window. In the example shown in Figure 11–4, we touched a link that opened a new browser window. The only way to get back to the old one was to press the Menu button and tap the Windows button and select the desired page.


Open a new web page.

Some images or ads will open a new web page.

Press the Menu button to see this menu.

Tap here to see all open windows.

Tap any page to open it.

Close this page.

Touch to go back.

Figure 11–4. Jumping between open web pages on the DROID.

Zooming In and Out in Web Pages Zooming in and out of web pages is very easy on the DROID. There are two primary ways of zooming—double tapping, and pinching.

Double-tapping If you tap twice on a web page, the page will zoom in on that particular column. This lets you hone in on exactly the right place on the web page, which is very helpful for pages that aren’t formatted for a mobile screen. To zoom out, just double-tap once more. See how this looks graphically in the “Quick Start Guide” earlier in this book.

Pinching This technique lets you zoom in on a particular section of a page. It takes a little bit of practice but will soon become second nature. Take a look in the “Quick Start Guide” to see graphically how it looks.

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Place your thumb and forefinger close together at the section of the web page you wish to zoom into. Slowly pinch out, separating your fingers. You will see the web page zoom in. It takes a couple of seconds for the web page to focus, but it will zoom in and be very clear in a short while. To zoom out to where you were before, just start with your fingers apart and move them slowly together; the page will zoom out to its original size.

Activating Links from Web Pages When you’re surfing the Web, often you’ll come across a link that will take you to another web site. Simply touch the link and you will jump to a new page. NOTE: Once you jump to a new page from a link, the old page can still be found using the technique shown in Figure 11–4 above.

Working with Browser Bookmarks As soon as you start browsing a bit on your DROID, you will want to quickly access your favorite web sites. One good way to do this is to add bookmarks for one-tap access to web sites. TIP: You can sync your Bookmarks from your computer’s web browser. Check out Chapter 3: “Sync to your Google account” for more details.

Adding a New Bookmark Adding new bookmarks on your DROID is just a few taps away. 1.

To add a new bookmark for the web page you are currently viewing, tap the Bookmark icon to the right of the web address window.

2.

The first box says Add, tap that box.


3.

We recommend that you edit the bookmark name to something short and recognizable.

4.

Make sure the location is correct.

5.

When you’re finished, tap the OK button.

Tap to change the bookmark name.

Tap to change the bookmark folder.

Using Bookmarks and History Once you have set a few bookmarks, it is easy to view and work with them. In the same area, you can also see and use your web browsing history. A very useful tool on your DROID is the ability to browse the web from your History, just as you would on a computer. 1.

Tap the Bookmarks icon top of the page.

2.

Swipe up or down to view all your bookmarks.

3.

Tap any bookmark to jump to that web page.

at the

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4.

Tap the History button to view your recent history of visited web pages.

5.

At the top of the list, you see Today, which shows the sites you visited today; at the bottom of the list, you see Older, which shows you previous days.

6.

Tap any history item to go to that web page.

TIP: To clear your history, tap the Menu button and then select Clear history. You can also clear your history, cookies, and cache in the Settings app. Tap Menu from an open Browser page and tap More then scroll down to Settings, scroll to the bottom and tap Clear Cache, Clear History, Clear all cookie data, Clear form data, Clear location access or Clear passwords.

Managing Your Bookmarks It is very easy to accumulate quite a collection of bookmarks, since setting them up is so easy. You may find you no longer need a particular bookmark, or you may want to organize them by adding new folders. Like other lists on your DROID, you can reorder your bookmarks’ list and remove entries.


1.

View your Bookmarks list as you did previously.

2.

Touch and hold, then choose the Edit bookmark button to edit the name or location.

3.

To delete a bookmark, follow the same procedure as above and simply scroll to Delete bookmark.

4.

To copy the link URL, touch and hold the bookmark and scroll to Copy link URL.

5.

To set the bookmark as your Home Page, follow the same procedure and scroll down to Set as homepage.

6.

To toggle between thumbnail and list view, press the Menu button and choose the appropriate view.

7.

When you are finished, tap the Back button and you will return to the previous web page.

Browser Tips and Tricks Now that you know the basics of how to get around, we will cover a few useful tips and tricks to make web browsing more enjoyable and quicker on your DROID.

Finding Something on a Web Page Sometimes, you need to find something specific on a particular web page. Fortunately, it is easy to get a Find on page search box. Just touch the Menu button and then touch More or touch and hold Menu + f, as shown in Figure 11–5. Then just type in the word or phrase you are searching for. This only works on DROIDs with physical keyboards.

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Figure 11–5. Use the Find command on a page the browser.

Emailing a Web Page Sometimes while browsing, you find a page so compelling you just have to send it to a friend or colleague. Touch the Menu key and then touch More select Share Page (see Figure 11–6). You have the option to share the page via Bluetooth, Facebook, Gmail, Messaging, SiteShot or Twitter. NOTE: You can also hold the Menu button and the S key to bring up the share menu.


The web page title is the subject and the link is in the body of the message.

Figure 11–6. Share a link to a web page.

Printing a Web Page The DROID (at the time of this writing) does not have a built-in Print command. You have a couple of options, but neither is very simple.

Option 1: Email yourself or a colleague the web page link and print it from a computer. If you are traveling and staying at a hotel with a business center, you may be able to send it to someone at the business center or front desk to print the page.

Option 2: Buy a network printing app from the Android Market that allows you to print to a networked printer. Of course, this only works if you have access to a networked printer. It’s usually best if you do this from your home or office network and can get help setting up, as doing so can be challenging.

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Watching Videos in Browser You will find videos in many web sites. You will be able to play most but not all videos. If the Flash Player installs properly on your DROID, you can play Flash videos right inside the web browser window. YouTube videos should also play right inside your browser window. Tap the screen to bring up the player controls if they have disappeared. Some videos you click on may actually need to download onto the device. For these videos, pull down the notification window to monitor the download and touch on the file once it is downloaded. Your video player should launch and play the clip. TIP: Check out all the video player tips and tricks in Chapter 15: “Viewing Videos, TV Shows, and More.”

Saving or Copying Text and Graphics From time to time, you may see text or a graphic you want to copy from a web site. We tell you briefly how to do this in this section, but to see how to get it done graphically, including using the Cut and Paste functions, please see the “Copy and Paste” section in Chapter 2: "Typing, Voice, Copy and Search." Here’s a quick look: To copy text, touch the Menu button and then tap More. Choose Select text. Now, drag your finger across the screen to highlight text to copy. As soon as you let go, you will see the words Text copied to clipboard appear on the screen (see Figure 11-7). CAUTION: As soon as you release your finger from the screen, you will see the Copy to clipboard icon. Make sure you have all the text you want highlighted before you release your finger!


Touch and drag

Choose Select text.

Release and text will be copied.

Figure 11–7. Select and copy text from a web page to the clipboard.

To Save or Copy a graphic, touch and hold the picture or image until you see the popup asking if you would like to Save or View the image or Set as wallpaper.

Remember Form Data and Passwords Remembering form data and passwords is a great way to save time typing your personal information including usernames and passwords on web sites. The Remember Form Data tool can remember and fill in information required in web forms. Once this is enabled, just go to any web page that has a field to fill out. if you have your DROID set to remember your login information, you should see it displayed already in the proper fields. Just touch the Login button to enter the site. CAUTION: Having your name and password entered automatically means that anyone who picks up your DROID will be able to access your personal sites and information.

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For Usernames and Passwords The first time you go to a web site where you have to enter a username and password, you type them and press Submit or Enter. At that time, AutoFill will ask if you want to remember them. Your options are Not now, Remember or Never. Tap Remember if you want them to be remembered and next time automatically entered.

The next time you visit this login page, your username and password will be automatically filled in.

Adding a Web Page Icon to Your Home Screen If you love a web site or page, it’s very easy to add it as an icon to your Home Screen. That way, you can instantly access the web page without going through the Browser ➤ Bookmarks bookmark selection process. You’ll save lots of steps by putting the icon on your Home Screen. This is especially good for quickly launching web apps, like Gmail or Buzz from Google, or web app games. Here’s how to add the icon: 1.

Touch the Bookmark icon next to the web address.

2.

Touch and hold any bookmark to see the menu list of options.

3.

Choose Add shortcut to home.

4.

Touch the Home button and the icon will be on the home screen.


Adjusting the Browser Settings There are settings you can adjust in your Browser app. 1.

Press the Menu button from any browser page and select More.

2.

Select Settings at the bottom.

3.

Choose to adjust Text size, Default zoom, Text encoding, Enable plugins, Set home page, and more from choosing the Drop down arrow button.

4.

Choose to Open pages in overview, Block pop-up windows, Load images, Auto-fit pages, Enable java script, Open in background and more by placing a green “check” in the radio boxes

Adjusting Security Settings Under the Security settings heading, Remember passwords, Clear passwords and Show security warnings can all be adjusted. You can modify any of these by either opening the drop down menu or putting a check in the appropriate radio box. NOTE: Many popular sites like Facebook require JavaScript to be ON. Turn it on in the Page content settings.

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Speeding Up Your Browser by Clearing History and Cookies In the middle of the Browser settings screen, you can see a heading marked Privacy settings. The Clear History, Clear all Cookie data, and Clear Cache drop down arrows are all next to the appropriate item. If you notice your web browsing getting sluggish, it’s probably a good time to clear out all three of these by tapping them and confirming your choices.

TIP: Clearing the history, cookies, and cache is also a good privacy measure, as it prevents others from seeing where you’ve been browsing.

Remembering Form Data As we showed you earlier in this chapter, remembering form data is a convenient way to have your browser automatically fill out web page forms that ask for your name, address, phone number, and even username and password. It can save you a tremendous amount of time typing and retyping your name and other information. To enable Remember form data, follow these steps: 1.

Go to the Browser settings as shown previously.

2.

Scroll down to Privacy settings.

3.

Put a check mark in the Remember form data box.

4.

To remember all usernames and passwords, scroll down to Security settings.

5.

Put a check mark in the Remember passwords box.

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Chapter

Working with Contacts Your DROID gives you immediate access to all your important information. Just like your computer, your DROID can store thousands of contacts for easy retrieval. In this chapter we’ll show you how to add new contacts (including from an email message), customize your contacts by adding notes and nicknames, organize your contacts with groups, quickly search or scroll through contacts, and even show a contact’s location with the DROID Maps app. We will also show you how to customize the Contacts view so it is sorted and displayed just the way you like it. Finally, you will learn a few troubleshooting tips that will save you some time when you run into difficulties. The beauty of the DROID is how it integrates all of the apps so you can email and map your contacts right from the contact entry.

Loading Your Contacts onto the DROID In Chapter 3: “Sync Your DROID to Your Google Account,” we show you how to load your contacts onto the DROID using your Mac or Windows computer. You can also use your Google account information to seamlessly and wirelessly sync at all times. Various snyc methods are described in the Chapter 3: “Sync Your DRIOD to your Google Account” and in Chapter 4: “Other Sync Methods.” TIP: You can add new contact entries from email messages you receive. Learn how in the "Adding Contacts from Email Messages" section later in this chapter.

When Is Your Contact List Most Useful? The Contacts app is most useful when three things are true: 1.

You have many names and addresses in it.

2.

You continually add new information as it becomes available.

3.

You can easily find contacts.

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Two Simple Rules to Improve Your Contact List Here are a couple of basic rules to help make your contact list on your DROID more useful. Rule 1: Add anything and everything to your contacts. You never know when you might need that obscure restaurant name, or that plumber’s number, etc. Rule 2: As you add entries, make sure you think about how to find them in the future (First name, Last name, Company). We have many tips and tricks in this chapter to help you enter names so that they can be instantly located when you need them. TIP: Here’s a good way to find restaurants. Whenever you enter a restaurant into your contacts list, put the entire restaurant name in the First name field and type the word “restaurant” into the Last name field. Then when you type the letters “rest,” you should instantly find all your restaurants!

Adding a New Contact Right on Your DROID You can always add your contacts right on your DROID. This is handy when you’re away from your computer—but have your DROID—and need to add someone to your contacts. It’s very easy to do. Here’s how.


Start the Contacts App 1.

From your Home screen, touch the Contacts icon and then the Menu button. Tap the New contact button to add a new contact, as shown in the figure to the right.

Tap here to add a new Contact entry

To start entering the name, tap here

…Then click Done.

To cancel tap here.

Tap here to enter First and Last name.

Figure 12–1. Entering a new contact name.

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2.

Touch the First name and Last name buttons to enter the new contact’s first and last names. You can also add a company name by touching the green + sign next to Organization.

TIP: Keep in mind that the contacts search feature uses first, last, and company names. When you add or edit contacts, adding a special word to the company name can help you find a particular contact later. For example, adding the words “Cece friend” to the Company field can help you find all of Cece’s friends quickly using the search feature. 3.

Under the First Last button are more buttons, as shown in Figure 12–2. Each is activated by touching either the drop-down arrow or green + to the right of the category name. Touch the green + again to add another line—for example, a second phone number or email.

Figure 12–2. Available contact fields.


Adding a New Phone Number

Touch the Phone field and use the number keyboard to input the phone number.

TIP: Don’t worry about parentheses, dashes, or dots—the DROID will put the number into the correct format. Just type the digits of the area code and number. If you know the country code, it’s a good idea to put that in as well. Next, choose which type of phone number it is. There are nine fields you can choose from, including an Other field if you find that none of the built-in fields apply.

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TIP: Sometimes you need to add a pause to a phone number—for example, when the phone number is for someone at an organization that requires you to dial the main number and then an extension. This is easy to do on the DROID. You just add a Pause which shows up as a comma between the main number and the extension like this: 386-555-7687, 19323. To add a pause, tap the * # ( key in the lower left corner of the keypad and tap Pause. When you dial this number from your DROID, the phone would dial the main number, pause for two seconds, and then dial the extension. If you need a longer pause, simply add more commas.

Adding an Email Address and Web Site

Touch the Email field and enter the email address for your contact. You can also touch the tab to the left of the email address and select whether this is a home, work, or other email address. Under the Organization field you’ll also find a More button. Touch the More button and scroll to the bottom. Touch the green + sign and a new field will pop up for the address of your contact’s web site.

NOTE: If you use Facebook on the DROID, it will automatically look for a Facebook homepage to integrate into the contact info.

TIP: Suppose you met someone at the bus stop—someone you wanted to remember. Of course, you should enter your new friend’s first and last names (if you know it), but also enter the words “bus stop” in the Company name field. Then when you type the words “bus” or “stop,” you should instantly find everyone you met at the bus stop, even if you can’t remember their names!


Adding the Address

Below the Email field are the fields for adding the Postal address. Input the Street, City, State and Zip Code. You can also specify the Country and whether this is a home or work address. When you are done, just touch the Done button right below the Address field.

Adding a Photo to Contacts From the New Contact screen we’ve been working in, just touch the Add Photo icon at the top of the Contact editing window. After you touch the Add Photo icon, you’ll see that you can

Take a Photo

Select a Photo from Gallery

If there’s a photo already in place, you can

Remove a Photo icon

Change a Photo icon

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To choose an existing photo, select the photo album where the picture is located and touch the corresponding tab. When you see the picture you want to use, just touch it.

You’ll notice that the top and bottom of the photo are now grayed out and that you can manipulate the picture by moving it and then arranging it in the picture window.


Once the picture is sitting where you want it, touch the Save button in the lower left corner and that picture will be set for the contact.

TIP: If you just moved into a new neighborhood, it can be quite daunting to remember everyone’s name. A good practice to follow is to add the word “neighbor” into the Company Name field for every neighbor you meet. Then, to instantly call up all your neighbors, simply type the letters “neigh” to find everyone you’ve met!

Searching Your Contacts Let’s say you need to find a specific phone number or email address. Just touch your Contacts icon as you did previously and then touch the Search button on the DROID and you’ll see a search box at the top of your Contacts list, as in Figure 12–3.

Figure 12–3. The contacts search box.

NOTE: On your DROID you may not see the Android contact icon to the left of your search window, but it still works the same way!

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Enter the first few letters of any of these three searchable fields:

First Name

Last Name

Company Name

The DROID begins to filter immediately and displays only those contacts that match the letters typed. TIP: To further narrow the search, hit the space key and type a few more letters. When you see the correct name, just touch it and that individual’s contact information will appear.

Quickly Jump to a Letter by Scrolling and Sliding on the Contact Card If you start scrolling through your contacts, you will see a small Contact Card icon on the right edge of the screen. Drag it up or down, and you can quickly advance by letter through the alphabet.

Search by Flicking If you don’t want to manually input letters, you can just move your finger and flick from the bottom up, and you’ll see your contacts move quickly on the screen. Just continue to flick or scroll until you see the name you want. Tap the name and the contact information will appear.


Adding Contacts from Email Messages Often you’ll receive an email message and realize that the contact is not in your address book. Adding a new contact from an email message is easy. Open the email message from the contact you’d like to add to your contacts list. Then, in the email message’s From field, just touch the Android icon next to the name of the sender next to the From: tag. If the sender is not in your address book, you’ll be taken to a screen that lets you choose whether to add that email address to an existing contact or to create a new one. If you select Add contact, you’ll be taken to the same New Contact screen you saw earlier (Figure 12–1). Just make sure you select Create new contact at the top. Once you select Create new contact, you will see the contact editing screen. Add any other pertinent information for this contact (the email and name will automatically be put in) and then select Done.

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Linking Contacts to Another App You might have contact information for the sender of the email message in another app on the phone. With the DROID it is easy to link these contacts together. In this example, Martin, the sender of the email message, is one of my Facebook contacts, and I want to link his picture and birthday to my DROID contact information. Here is how I can link his contact information in my DROID to the information I have in Facebook. 1.

I add him to my contacts, as shown previously.

2.

I start up my Facebook app. See Chapter 20: "Social Networking and Skype" for more information on the topic.

3.

I find my contact information for Martin to verify that he is in my Facebook app.

4.

I touch the Menu button.

5.

I choose Settings in the lower left-hand corner.

6.

I then scroll down to Sync Contacts (see Figure 12–4).

7.

I choose one of the following options: Sync all, Sync with existing contacts. or Remove Facebook data. In this case, I will choose Sync with existing contacts.

8.

Martin’s picture and updated information are then brought into his contact information on my DROID.


Contact info from email is not complete.

Launch Social Networking app.

Verify profile for contact.

Choose Sync with existing contacts.

Now, DROID contact information is more complete. Figure 12–4. Linking social networking contact to an existing contact profile.

TIP: Learning the names of parents of your school-age children’s friends can be fairly challenging. In the First field, however, you can add not just your child’s friend’s name but the parents’ names as well (e.g., First: Samantha (Mom: Susan, Dad: Ron)). Then in the Company field, add in the name of your child and “school friend” (e.g., Cece school friend). Just typing your child’s name in your All Contacts list’s search box brings up every person you ever met at your child’s school. Now you can say, “Hello, Susan, great to see you again!” without missing a beat. Try your best to covertly look up the name.

Sending a Picture to a Contact If you want to send a picture to a contact, you can do that from the Photos app. (See Chapter 18: “Taking Photos and Videos.”)

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Sending an Email Message from Contacts Since many of the core apps (Contacts, EMail, Gmail and Messages) are fully integrated, one app can easily trigger another. So, if you want to send an email message to one of your contacts, open the contact and tap the email address. The Mail app will launch, and you can compose and send an email message to this person. Start your contacts by touching the Contacts icon. Either search or flick through your contacts until you find the contact you need.

In the contact information, touch the email address of the contact you’d like to use. You’ll see that the Email program launches automatically with the contact’s name in the To: field of the email message. Type and send the message.

Showing Your Contacts Addresses on the Map One of the great things about the DROID is its integration with Google Maps. This is very evident in the Contacts app. Let’s say you want to map the home or work address of any contact in your address book. In the old days (pre-DROID), you’d have to use Google, MapQuest, or some other program and laboriously retype or copy and paste the address information. This is very time-consuming—but you don’t have to do this on the DROID. Simply open the contact as you did earlier. This time, touch the address at the bottom of the contact information.


Your Maps app (which is powered by Google Maps) immediately loads and drops a marker at the exact location of the contact. The contact name will appear above the marker. (The satellite imagery is ©2010 Google.)

NOTE: The old company name of Made Simple Learning was BlackBerry Made Simple, that's why it is showing up on Google Maps.

Touch the tab on the top of the marker to get to the info screen. Now you can select Share this place or Search nearby. Touch the Directions icon and then touch the Driving Navigation, Walking Navigation, or Get directions. What if you had just typed the address into your Maps app instead of clicking from your contact list? In that case, you might want to touch Add as a Contact to add this address.

TIP: To return to your contact information, tap the Map button and then touch the Back button.

Contact History and Social Networking Screens On your DROID 2 and DROID X, you can see Contact History and Social Networking feeds for your contacts by swiping left and right from the contact detail screen. (See Figure 12-5.) You can also see history and social networking information for all your contacts together if you swipe left or right from the Contact List view.

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Swipe left to see communication history with this contact.

You first see the main Contact Info screen.

Swipe right to see Social Networking feeds with this contact.

Figure 12–5. Swipe left or right to see Contact History and Social Networking screens.

Contacts Troubleshooting Sometimes, your Contacts app might not work the way you expect. If you don’t see all your contacts, review the steps in the Chapter 3: “Sync Your DRIOD to your Google Account” or Chapter 4: “Other Sync Methods” on how to sync with your address book application. Make sure you have selected All Groups in the settings in your contact management app. TIP: If you are syncing with another contact application, such as Contacts in Gmail, make sure you select the option closest to All Contacts rather than a subset like a particular group.

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Chapter

Managing Your Calendar The DROID makes the old calendar that used to hang on the fridge obsolete. In this chapter, we will show you how to utilize the Calendar app of the DROID to its full potential. We will show you how to schedule appointments, how to manage multiple calendars, how to change views on your calendar, and even how to deal with meeting invitations. NOTE: For most of this chapter, we will talk about syncing your DROID calendar with another calendar because it is nice to have your calendar accessible on your DROID and other places. If you choose, you can also use your DROID in a standalone mode, where you do not sync to any other calendar. In the latter case, all the steps we describe for events, viewing, and managing events still apply equally to you.

Managing Your Busy Life on Your DROID The Calendar app is a powerful and easy-to-use application that helps you manage your appointments, keep track of what you have to do, set reminder alarms, and even create and respond to meeting invitations for Microsoft Exchange users.

Accessing Your Calendar The Calendar icon is usually visible once you touch your Launcher icon. Once all applications are visible on the Home screen, scroll to the Calendar icon.

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TIP: If you use your DROID’s Calendar app often, you can also create a Calendar widget (see Chapter 6: “Organize your Home Screens: Icons and Widgets”); this Calendar widget will show today’s date and any upcoming appointments for the day. If you maintain a calendar on your computer or on a website such as Google Calendar, you can synchronize or share that calendar with your DROID (see Chapter 3: “Sync Your DROID with Your Google Account” and Chapter 4: “Other Sync Methods” for more information on syncing). After you set up the calendar sync, all of your PC, Mac or online calendar appointments will be synced with your DROID calendar automatically, based on your sync settings (see Figure 13–1).

Figure 13–1. Syncing a PC, Mac, or online calendar to a DROID.

Viewing Your Schedule and Getting Around The default view for the Calendar app shows your Day view. This view shows you at a glance any upcoming appointments for your day. Appointments are shown in your calendar (see Figure 13–2). If you happen to have multiple calendars set up on your computer, such as Work and Home, then appointments from the different calendars will display as different colors on your DROID calendar.


Tap to see appointment details. Swipe to the right to see the next day. Event location

Event topic

Colors show events from particular calendars.

Swipe up or down to view more.

Day view.

Tap to see additional calendars or to adjust calendar settings.

Agenda view. (Also list view)

Jump to Today.

Week view.

Month view.

Figure 13–2. The Calendar app’s Day view layout.

You can manipulate the calendar in various ways:

Move a day at a time: If you swipe left or right, you move forward or backward a day.

Change views: Press the Menu key and then use the Agenda, Day, Week, and Month buttons at the bottom to change the view.

Jump to today: Press the Menu key and then touch the Today button located in the bottom-center of the screen.

Switching Between the Four Calendar Views Your Calendar app comes with four views: Day, Week, List (Agenda), and Month. You can switch views by pressing the Menu button and selecting the view.

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Day view: When you start the DROID’s Calendar app, the default view is usually the Day view. This allows you to quickly see everything you have scheduled for the day. You can bring up buttons to change the view by pressing the Menu button; your view options will appear at the bottom of the Calendar app.

Week View: Touch the Week button to see an overview of the current week. Different colored boxes denote appointments.

Agenda view: Touch the Agenda button at the bottom to see a list of your appointments. Depending on how much you have scheduled, you could see the next day’s or even the next week’s worth of scheduled events. Swipe up or down to see more events.


Month view: Touch the Month button at the bottom to see a layout of the full month. Days with appointments have a small dot in them. TIP: To return to the Today view, press the Menu button and touch the Today button at the bottom of the screen.

You can go to the next month by swiping up; you can go to the previous month by swiping down to return to the previous month.

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Adding New Calendar Events You can easily add new events or appointments right on your DROID. These new events and appointments will be synced (i.e., shared with) your computer the next time the sync takes place.

Adding a New Appointment As you might expect, you simply long-press or double tap the screen at a particular time to set an appointment.

To add a new calendar event from any Calendar view, follow these steps: 1.

Touch the day or time block (while in Day view) for which you want to schedule an appointment and then touch New event. The Event details screen will be shown.

2.

Next, touch the box marked What.

Type in a title for the event, then scroll down to the Where box and type in a location. For example, you might type “Meet with Martin” as the title and input the location as “Office.” Or, you might choose to type “Lunch with Martin” and then choose a very expensive restaurant in New York City.


3.

Touch the From or To tab to adjust the timing of the event. To change the date, touch the day and date field to bring up the month, date, and year adjustments. Next, touch the + or buttons above and below to adjust the date and start time of the appointment. Touch the Time field and set the starting and ending times. When done, touch the Set key.

4.

The Where box includes a Description box; enter the event’s location in the latter box.

5.

Alternatively, you can set an allday event by touching the box next to All-day; this sets the switch to ON.

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Setting Calendar Reminders

You can have your DROID give you an audible reminder, or alert, about an upcoming appointment. Alerts can help you keep from forgetting an important event. Follow these steps to create an alert: 1.

Touch the Reminders tab and then select the option for a reminder alarm. You can have no alarm at all or set a reminder anytime from one minute before the event all the way to one week before it, depending on what works best for you.

2.

Once you make your selection, you will automatically return to the Event screen.

Creating Additional Alerts In most cases, you will see a tab that says Add reminder once you set your first reminder.

NOTE: You can set up to five reminders for any appointment. You can set an additional reminder to another time before or after the first reminder. Some people find a second alert very helpful for remembering critical events or appointments.


TIP: Here’s a practical example that illustrates when you might want to set up two calendar reminders. If your child has a doctor or dentist appointment, then you might want to set the first reminder to go off the night before. This will remind you to write a note to the school and give it to your child. You can then set the second reminder for 45 minutes prior to the appointment time. This will leave you enough time to pick up your child from school and get to the appointment.

Adding Recurring Events

Some of your appointments happen every day, week, or month at the same time. Follow these steps if you are scheduling a repeating or recurring appointment: 1.

Touch the Repetition tab and then select the correct time interval from the list.

2.

Once you select the repetition, you will return to the main Event screen.

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Choosing Which Calendar to Sync

If you use more than one calendar in Outlook, Google, iCal, or some other program, then you will have various calendars available to you when you sync your DROID with that program. NOTE: If you create an event and choose an Exchange or Google calendar, then you’ll see an option to invite other users to the event. To see all your calendars, touch the Menu button, touch More, and then touch Calendars. Tap the calendar you want to use to highlight the Sync and Visible icons; this ensures that events are synced and visible in your DROID calendar.

NOTE: To schedule an appointment in a calendar other than the default, start a new event and touch the Calendar dropdown. You should see your available calendars for scheduling the new appointment. Touch the specific calendar you want to place the new appointment under.

Editing Appointments Sometimes, the details of an appointment may change and need to be adjusted (see Figure 13–3). Fortunately, it’s easy to revise an appointment on your DROID: 1.

Tap the appointment that you want to change.

2.

Press the Menu key and then tap the Edit button to see the Edit screen showing the appointment details.


Tap any field to change it.

Tap any event to view it.

Then, press Menu and tap the Edit event button to make changes.

Tap here to save the event.

Tap here to delete this event.

Figure 13–3. Editing an appointment.

3.

Now just touch the tab in the field you need to adjust. For example, you can change the time of this appointment by touching the From or To tab, and then adjusting the time for the event’s starting or ending time. Any field can be adjusted or changed.

4.

When you are done, touch the Done button in the lower-left corner.

Editing a Repeating Event You edit a recurring or repeating event in exactly the same manner as any other event. The only difference is that you will be asked a question before you edit the event. Tap Change only this event if you want to make changes to only this instance of the repeating event. Tap Change all events in the series if you want to make changes to all instances of this repeating event.

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Switching an Event to a Different Calendar If you mistakenly set up an event on the wrong calendar, then tap the Calendar button to change the calendar. Next, select one of the different calendars you have synced to your DROID. NOTE: Remember that only those calendars configured to sync with your computer will update when selected. If you switch to a calendar that doesn’t sync with your computer, the change will only be visible on the DROID, and the event will no longer display on your computer.

Deleting an Event Notice that, at the bottom of the Edit screen, you also have the option to delete this event. Simply touch the Delete button at the bottom of the screen to do so. You can also delete events from the Event Details screen by pressing the Menu button and selecting Delete event.

Accepting Meeting Invitations For those who use Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Outlook, or Entourage regularly, meeting invitations become a way of life. If you receive a meeting invitation in your email, accepting the invitation automatically places the appointment in your calendar. On your DROID, you will see the invitations you accept placed into your calendar immediately. NOTE: If you use an Exchange calendar or a Google calendar, you can invite people and reply to meeting invitations on your DROID (see Chapter 4: “Other Sync Methods” to learn more about this subject).


When a meeting invitation goes to your Gmail or Exchange account, you will receive an email with the invitation; however, the meeting will automatically get placed into your calendar, as shown to the right. Just pull down the Attending drop-down window and respond with either Yes, Maybe, or No.

NOTE: Responding to a meeting invitation requires that you open your Calendar app, touch the meeting invite, and then send your response from there.

Calendar Settings You are able to adjust a few settings in your Calendar app; you can find these by touching the Menu key from inside the Calendar app and then choosing More > Settings. Follow these steps to adjust these options: 1.


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2.

To Hide declined events, just put a check in the box.

3.

Scroll down to Set alerts & notifications and touch the drop down arrow to select either an Alert or a Status bar notification.

NOTE: On the DROID 2/X, you can customize Week view to show either the Work week view (5 days) or the Full week view (all 7 days).

4.

Scroll down to Select ringtone and touch the drop-down arrow to choose from one of the built-in ringtones for your alert.

5.

Touch the drop-down box next to Vibrate and choose when you want your DROID to vibrate for alerts: Always, Only when silent, or Never.

6.

Touch the Default reminder tab and select a default reminder time prior to calendar events. You can choose to have no reminder, or you can select any time interval from one minute to one week prior to the appointment.

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Chapter

Enjoying Your Music This chapter shows you how to turn your DROID into a terrific music player. We’ll show you how to play and organize the music you buy from the Amazon MP3 store or sync from your computer, how to view playlists in a variety of ways, and how to quickly find songs. TIP: Learn how to load your iTunes or Windows Media Player music and playlists into doubleTwist in Chapter 25: “DROID Media Sync”; this will enable you to sync them with your DROID. And you’ll learn how to stream music using the Pandora applications. With these applications, you can select from a number of Internet radio stations or create your own station by typing in your favorite artist’s name – and it’s all free.

Your DROID as a Music Player Your DROID is probably one of the best music players on the market today. The touch screen makes it easy to interact with and manage your music, playlists, cover art, and the organization of your music library. You can even connect your DROID to your home or car stereo via Bluetooth, so you can listen to beautiful stereo sound from your DROID! TIP: Check out Chapter 8: “Bluetooth on your DROID” to learn how to hook up your DROID to your Bluetooth stereo speakers or car stereo. Whether you use the built-in DROID Music app or an Internet radio app like Pandora, you’ll find you have unprecedented control over your music on the DROID.

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CHAPTER 14: Enjoying Your Music

Buying Music from the Amazon MP3 App You can purchase music and ringtones right on your DROID from the Amazon MP3 app. 1.

Tap the Amazon MP3 app to get started.

2.

Now you will see the main screen of the app with the Search window at the top, links for Bestselling Albums, Bestselling Songs and Browse by Genre as well as the featured Free Song of the Day and the Album Daily Deal.


3.

Tap Bestselling Albums to see a list of albums for sale. You will see similar screens when you tap Bestselling Songs.

4.

To purchase a song or album, simply tap the price, enter your amazon.com account information and confirm your purchase.

5.

If you prefer to browse for a song, tap Browse by Genre and then select any sub-genre until you get to the list of songs or albums you desire.

6.

To view only songs, tap the Songs tab at the top of the screen.

7.

To view only full albums, tap the Albums tab at the top.

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8.

You can also search for a particular song, album or artist by using the search field in the first screen you see when you enter the app.

Viewing and Playing Downloaded Songs and Albums 1.

From the main screen in the Amazon MP3 app, press the Menu button and select Downloads to see all content you have downloaded.

2.

Now you will see all the songs and albums downloaded. You will know the item has been successfully downloaded when you see the checkmark next to it and the word Downloaded under it.


3.

Tap any item to start playing it in your DROID Music player.

Enter an Amazon Gift Code, Log Out and Adjust Settings You can enter an Amazon Give Card code, log out or adjust settings from the Setting screen. 1.

From the main screen in the Amazon MP3 app, press the Menu button and select Settings.

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2.

From the Settings screen you can:

Tap Sign out to log out.

Choose to turn on or off the Auto-resume downloads setting.

Clear cache — this can sometimes speed up the app as well as free up memory on your DROID.

Enter a claim code — enter an Amazon.com Gift card or code.

The Music App Most music is handled through the Music app – you find the icon for this app on the Home screen of the DROID.

Touch the Music icon and, as Figure 14–1 shows, you’ll see four soft keys across the top:

Artists: Lets you see an alphabetical list of artists that is searchable like your address book.

Albums: Lets you see your music organized by album title with cover art (also searchable).

Songs: Lets you see an alphabetical list of songs (also searchable).

Playlists: Lets you see synced playlists from your computer plus playlists created on the DROID.

Figure 14–1. The Music app’s soft keys.


Changing the View in the Music App The Music app is very flexible in how it lets you display and categorize your music. Sometimes you want to look at your songs listed by the artist. Other times you might prefer seeing your library organized by album name. The DROID lets you easily change the view to help manage and play just the music you want at a given moment.

The Artists View

The Artists view lists all the artists on your DROID; or, if you are in a playlist, it lists the artists in that playlist. Flick through the list to move to the first letter of the artist’s name. When you find the artist’s name, touch it and all the songs and albums by that artist will be listed, with a picture of the album art to the left. TIP: You can use the same navigation and search features in the Music app that you do in the Contacts app (the address book).

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The Albums View

The music on your DROID is also organized by albums, which you’ll see when you touch the Albums icon. Again, you can scroll through the album covers to find the album you are looking for. Once you start scrolling, you will see the Search tab on the right that you can “pull” down to quickly advance through the alphabetical list of albums. When you choose an album, all the songs on that album will be listed. To go back, just touch the Back button.


The Songs View

Touching the Songs button displays a list of every song on your DROID. If you know the name of the song, flick through the list or touch the first letter of the song in the alphabetical list to the right.

Creating Playlists on the DROID The DROID lets you create a playlist from recently added music. You can change the playlist whenever you want, removing old songs and adding new ones – it couldn’t be easier! To create a new playlist on the DROID, touch the Recently added tab under Playlists.

Touch the Menu button and select Save as playlist. Give your playlist a unique name (we’ll call this one “New playlist 1”), and then touch Save.

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Follow these steps to delete a song: 1.

Touch and hold a song in the playlist to bring up a menu list with six options.

2.

Tap the Delete button towards the bottom of the list. The song will be removed from your music library on the DROID.

Follow these steps to move a song up or down in a playlist: 1.

Touch a playlist to display the songs.

2.

Touch and hold the three gray bars to the left of the song.

3.

Drag the song up or down and then let go.

4.

Touch the Back button to exit the Playlist view.

Touch & Drag

To move a song, touch here and drag up or down.


Searching for Music Every view from your Music app (e.g., Playlists, Artists, Songs) can have a search window at the top of the screen, as shown in Figure 14–2. From any of the music views, just touch the Search button on the DROID. Tap once in the Search window and type a few letters of the name of an artist, album, playlist, video, or song to instantly see a list of all matching items. This is the best way to quickly find something to listen to on your DROID.

Tap in this box to begin the search. Tap

All matching items are shown here.

Type a few letters to search for matching songs, artists and albums. Figure 14–2. Finding music.

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Viewing Songs in an Album When you’re in Albums view, just touch an album cover or name and the screen will slide, showing you the songs on that album (see Figure 14–3). To see the songs on an album that is playing, tap the List button. The album cover will turn over, revealing all the songs on that album. The song that is playing will have a small blue arrow next to it.

Touch the List button to view a list of songs from this album.

Touch the Arrow icon to see the cover art again.

Currently playing song. TIP: Touch any other song to start playing it.

Touch

Figure 14–3. Touch the List button to see the songs on a particular album.


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Playing Your Music Now that you know how to find your music, it’s time to play it! Find a song or browse to a playlist using any of the methods mentioned above. Simply tap the song name and it will begin to play.

Touch here to Shuffle songs or Repeat the song.

Touch here to view a list of songs from this album. Artist, Album, Song

Touch here to play or pause the song.

Previous Song or Back to List (if first song)

Next Song or Back to List (if last one.) Timeline This screen shows the name of the artist, album, and song underneath the picture of the album cover. Along the bottom of the screen, you’ll find the Timeline slider bar and the Previous Song, Play/Pause, and Next Song buttons. To see other songs on the album, just tap the List button. You can also touch the Shuffle or Repeat buttons under the album artwork.

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Pausing and Playing Tap the Pause symbol (if a song is playing) or the play arrow (if the music is paused) to stop or resume the song.

Playing the Previous or Next Song If you are in a playlist, touching the Next Song arrow (to the right of the Play/Pause button) advances you to the next song in the list. If you are searching through your music by album, touching Next Song moves you to the next song on the album. Touching the Previous Song button does the reverse. NOTE: If you’re at the beginning of a song, Previous Song takes you to the preceding song. If the song is already playing, Previous Song goes to the beginning of the current song (and a second tap would take you to the previous song).

Adjusting the Volume You can adjust the volume on your DROID by using the external Volume buttons on the side of the phone. The external Volume buttons are on the upper-right side of the device. Press the Volume Up key (the top button) or the Volume Down key to raise or lower the volume. You’ll see the Media volume control move as you adjust the volume.

Media volume is adjusted using Volume keys on side of DROID.

TIP: To quickly mute the sound, press and hold the Volume Down key and the volume will eventually reduce to zero.

TIP: If you hold down the Previous Song control, the song will rewind; if you hold down the Next Song control, it will fast forward.


Repeating, Shuffling, and Moving Around in a Song In play mode, under the album art, you will see the controls for Repeat and Shuffle. At the bottom of the Now playing screen, you will see a timeline below the Play/Pause indicator that shows you where you are in the song.

Moving to Another Part of a Song Slide the scrubber bar to the right and you’ll see the elapsed time of the song (displayed to the far right) change accordingly. If you are looking for a specific section of the song, drag the slider, then let go and listen to see if you’re in the right place.

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Repeating One Song or All Songs To repeat all the songs you’re listening to, touch the Repeat symbol at the left of the top controls twice until you see it turn green and display Repeating all songs.

To repeat the current song in the playlist, song list, or album, touch the Repeat icon again until it displays Repeating current song.

To turn off the Repeat feature, press the icon until it turns gray again.

Shuffling Your Playlist If you are listening to a playlist or album or any other category or list of music, you might decide you don’t want to listen to the songs in order. You can touch the Shuffle symbol so the music will play in random order. You know Shuffle is turned on when the icon is green; when it’s gray, the Shuffle feature is off.


Now Playing Sometimes you’re having so much fun exploring your options for playlists or albums that you get deeply buried in a menu – and then find yourself just wanting to get back to the song you’re listening to. Fortunately, this is always easy to do – you can just touch the Now Playing icon at the bottom of most of the music screens.

Viewing Other Songs on the Album You may decide you want to listen to another song from the same album rather than going to the next song in the playlist or genre list. In the upper-right corner of the Now Playing screen, you’ll see a small button with three lines on it.

Tap that button and the view switches to a list of all the songs on that album on your DROID. Touch another song on the list and that song will begin to play. NOTE: If you were in the middle of a playlist and you jump to another song from an album, you won’t be taken back to that playlist. To return to that playlist, you’ll need to go back to your playlist library.

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Exploring Your Music Options There are a few options available to you when you are in the Now playing screen. From this screen, touch the Menu key and you should see five soft keys: Library, Party shuffle, Add to playlist, Use as ringtone, and Delete. Library will take you back to your music library. Party shuffle will take you out of your playlist and arrange a random shuffling of music. Add to playlist allows you to add the current song to any playlist on your DROID.

Use as Ringtone allows you to use the current song as the general ringtone for the device. Delete will delete the song from your DROID.

NOTE: On the DROID 2/X, you will see another menu item called Audio Effects. Use this to adjust things like which speakers are connected and adjust the sound profile or use an equalizer.

Listening to Free Internet Radio (Pandora) While your DROID gives you unprecedented control over your personal music library, there may be times when you want to listen to some other music. TIP: A basic Pandora account is free. It can save you considerable money compared with buying many new songs from Amazon MP3. Pandora grew out of the Music Genome Project, a huge undertaking in which a large team of musical analysts looked at just about every song ever recorded and then developed a complex algorithm of attributes to associate with each song.


NOTE: Pandora may have some competition by the time you read this book. Right now there’s one other competitor called Slacker Personal Radio, but there will probably be more. If you want to find more options, try searching the Android Market for “Internet Radio.” Also, please note that Pandora is a US-only application and Slacker is available only in the U.S. and Canada. Spotfly is a similar app for Europe. More options should begin to pop up for international users.

Getting Started with Pandora Pandora lets you design your own unique radio stations built around artists you enjoy. Best of all, it is completely free! Start by downloading the Pandora app from the Android Market. Just go to the Market and search for “Pandora.” Now just touch the Pandora icon to start. NOTE: Some users have reported sound issues with Android 2.2 and Pandora, but they are being addressed.

The first time you start Pandora, you’ll be asked to either create an account or to sign in if you already have an account. Just fill in the appropriate information – an email address and a password are required – and you can start designing your own music listening experience.

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Pandora is also available for your Windows or Mac computer, as well as for most smartphone platforms. If you already have a Pandora account, all you have to do is sign in.

Pandora’s Main Screen Your stations are listed on the screen. Just touch one and it will begin to play. Usually, the first song will be from the actual artist chosen, and the next songs will be from similar artists.


Once you select a station, the music begins to play. You’ll see the current song displayed, along with album art – very much like when you play a song using the Music app. Touch the Information icon in the upperright corner, and you’ll see a bio of the artist, which changes with each new song.

Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down in Pandora If you like a particular song, touch the Thumbs-up icon and you’ll hear more from that artist. Alternatively, if you don’t like an artist on this station, touch the Thumbs-down icon and you won’t hear that artist again. If you like, you can pause a song and come back to it later. Or, you can skip to the next selection in your station.

NOTE: With a free Pandora account, you are limited to a certain amount of skips per hour. Also, you’ll occasionally hear advertising. To get rid of these annoyances, you can upgrade to a paid “Pandora One” account.

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Pandora’s Menu From the Now playing screen, press the Menu button on your DROID. Touch this and you can Bookmark the artist or song, go to Amazon MP3 to buy music from this artist, or Share the station with someone in your Contacts list. You can also adjust your Pandora Preferences.

Creating a New Station in Pandora Creating a new station couldn’t be easier. Start by pressing the Menu key when at Station list screen of Pandora. Just touch the Create Station button along the bottom row. Type in the name of an artist, song, or composer. When you find what you are looking for, touch the selection and Pandora will immediately start to build a station around your choice. You can also touch Genre and build a station around a particular genre of music. You’ll then see the new station listed with your other stations. You can build up to 100 stations in Pandora. TIP: You can organize your stations by pressing the By Date or ABC buttons at the top of the screen.


Adjusting Pandora’s Settings – Your Account, Upgrading, and More You can sign out of your Pandora account, adjust the audio quality, and even upgrade to Pandora One (which removes advertising) by tapping the Preferences icon after pressing the Menu key from the Now playing screen (see Figure 14–4.)

Figure 14–4. The Preferences options in Pandora.

To sign out, tap your account name. To adjust the sound quality, move the switch under Cell Network Audio Quality to either High or Normal. When you are on a cellular network, setting this to Off is probably better; otherwise, you may hear more skips and pauses in the playback. When you are on a strong Wi-Fi connection, you can set this to High for better quality. See Chapter 5: “Wi-Fi and 3G Connectivity” to learn more about the various connections.

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To save your battery life, you should set the Auto-Lock to On, which is the default. If you want the force the screen to stay lit, then switch this to Off. To remove all advertising, tap the Upgrade to Pandora One button. A web browser window will open, and you’ll be taken to the Pandora web site to enter your credit card information. At the time of publishing, the annual account cost is $36.00, but that may be different by the time you read this book.

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Chapter

Viewing Videos, TV Shows, and More The DROID is an amazing “media consumption” device. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the various video-viewing applications available for it. This chapter shows you how to watch movies, TV shows, podcasts, and music videos on your DROID. You can buy or download many videos for free from the Android Market or through doubleTwist (see Chapter 25: “DROID Media Sync” for more information). According to some sources, you will be able to link your DROID to your Netflix account by early 2011 (other video rental services will likely follow soon), allowing you to watch streaming TV shows and movies. You can also use your DROID to watch YouTube videos, as well as to view videos from the Web in your Browser app and in various other apps available from the Android Market. DROID X and DROID 2 phone ship with the Blockbuster app for renting and watching movies from Blockbuster on your phone. NOTE: These apps change quickly. We expect that services such as Hulu plus will also make their way to the DROID. We suggest that you go to the Android Market frequently and type in “videos” to see the changing options.

Your DROID as a Video Player The DROID is not only a capable music player; it is a fantastic portable video player. The wide screen, fast processor, good pixel density, and great operating system make watching anything from music videos to TV shows and full-length motion pictures a real joy. The size of the DROID is perfect for watching clips or shows while commuting or traveling on an airplane. It is also great for the kids in the back seat of long car trips. The decent battery life means you can even go on a short flight and not run out of power! However, if you need more power, you can buy a power inverter or DROID charger for

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your car to keep the DROID charged even longer (see Chapter 1: "Getting Started" for battery tips).

Loading Videos onto Your DROID You can load videos onto your DROID just as you do with your music – through doubleTwist (see Chapter 25). You can also use the USB Load feature on your DROID or Media Share. NOTE: Videos (e.g., DVDs) can be ripped (i.e., copied) to your computer and then synced to your DROID. Make sure you don’t violate any copyright laws in the process of doing so! Video conversion software is widely available on the Web. The optimal output settings for ripping videos to play on the DROID are to use MP4 with the following video/audio codecs and settings: Video Resolution: Up to WVGA (854x480) Codec: H.264, Baseline profile Bitrate: 2.5 Mbps Framerate: 24fps Audio Codec: AAC stereo au

Watching Videos on the DROID To watch videos, touch the Gallery icon, which is usually on Home screen of the DROID. NOTE: You can also watch videos from the YouTube icon, the Browser icon, and other video-related apps you download from the Android Market.


Video Categories In the Gallery app, you will see separate folders labeled Camera, Downloads, and Videos. Touch the Videos folder to go to the Videos section; if you have movies loaded on the DROID, they will be listed in this folder. You won’t see your videos broken down by any particular category such as music videos, podcasts, or movies. Instead, all your videos will simply be shown in a single, continuous list. On the DROID, to get more information on a specific video, touch and hold that video to highlight it, and then press the Menu key and select More. Next, touch Get info to display the details of the video. On the DROID 2/X, tap the video thumbnail to view it in full screen, then tap the information (I with circle) to see the details screen.

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Playing a Movie On the DROID touch the movie you wish to watch, and it will begin to play (see Figure 15–1). On the DROID 2/X, tap the video thumbnail, then tap the video again to start playing it. Most videos take advantage of the relatively large screen real estate of the DROID to play in widescreen or landscape mode; just turn your DROID sideways to watch them.

Touch to Play

Most videos will play in landscape mode. Turn your DROID sideways to watch them. Figure 15–1. Playing a video.

When the video first starts to play, there are no menus and no controls. Indeed, there is nothing on the screen except for the video.


To Pause or Access Controls You can touch anywhere on the screen to make the control bars and options in the Gallery media app visible (see Figure 15–2). Most controls and options are very similar to those in the Music player. Tap the Pause button and the video will pause. NOTE: On the DROID 2/X, you will not have Rewind or Fast Forward buttons, instead you can drag the slider bar back or forth to rewind or fast forward.

Move to a different section of the video. TIP: Drag your finger down to scan more slowly with this control.

Volume indicator.

Show full screen.

Tap to show/hide controls.

Play / Pause

Length of video.

Play/Pause. Tap to Rewind 5 seconds.

Tap to FastForward 15 seconds.

Figure 15–2. The video controls in the Gallery media app.

Fast-Forward or Rewind the Video On the DROID, on either side of the Play/Pause button, you can see the typical FastForward and Rewind buttons. To advance 15 seconds in the video, touch the FastForward button (to the right of Play/Pause). When you get to the desired spot, release the button, and the video will begin playing normally.

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To rewind in five-second intervals, tap the Rewind button. To rewind to a specific part or location, move the slider bar to the desired part of the video. On the DROID 2/X, use the slider bar at the bottom to move around the video. NOTE: There is no way to adjust the volume using on-screen controls. The volume rocker switch on the side of the DROID controls media volume.

Using the Time Slider Bar At the bottom of the video screen is a slider that shows you the elapsed time of the video. If you know exactly (or approximately) which point in the video you wish to watch, just hold and drag the slider to that location. Some people find this to be a little more exact than holding down the Fast-Forward or Rewind Buttons.

Other Video Players The Gallery app is a very limited video player. It functions fine for basic viewing and it is built in to the DROID, which is convenient. However, there are many other media players in the Android Market that you can download and use in place of the Gallery app. Once you have more than one video player installed, you will get a pop-up window asking which video player you wish to use to open the selected video.


One video player that consistently gets great reviews is the Act One Video Player. You can download this app from the Android Market (see Chapter 17: “Exploring the Android Market” for more information on using this marketplace) and search for “video players” or “Act One.” Download and install the app, and it will now appear on your Home screen.

Deleting Videos Sometimes you might want to delete a video (to save space on your DROID). To do so, touch and hold a video from the video list. You will see three soft keys appear at the bottom of the screen; the middle key is Delete. Touch the Delete key (see Figure 15–3) and confirm that you want to delete the file. NOTE: Deleting a video deletes the video only from your DROID – a copy will still remain in your video library, assuming that you have synced your DROID with your computer after purchasing or ripping the video. This means you can reload it onto your DROID at a later date.

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Touch to Delete

Confirm Delete

Touch and hold.

Figure 15–3. Deleting a video.

NOTE: On your DROID 2/X, the Play, Delete, Share and Edit buttons will be in a drop down menu in the middle of the screen instead of along the bottom as shown.

Using YouTube on your DROID Watching YouTube videos is certainly one of the most popular things for people to do on their computers these days. YouTube is as close to you as your DROID.

Your DROID’s Home screen includes a YouTube icon; touch the YouTube icon and you will be taken to the YouTube app.


Searching for Videos When you first start the YouTube app, you usually see the Featured videos on YouTube that day. Just scroll through the video choices as you do in other apps.

Using the Bottom Icons Touch the Menu key and the YouTube app will display five icons along the bottom: Search, Upload, My account, Categories, and Settings. Each is fairly self-explanatory.

To see the videos that YouTube is featuring that day, scroll down to the Featured list. To see the list of most-viewed videos, scroll down to the Most Viewed icon.

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After you watch a particular video, you will have the option to set it as a favorite on YouTube for easy retrieval later on. If you have set bookmarks, they will appear when you touch the Favorite icon. You can also Rate, Comment on, Share, or Flag a video after you watch it.

You can also search the huge library of YouTube videos from your DROID. Touch the Search box as in previous apps, and the keyboard will pop up. Type in a phrase, topic, or even the name of a video. The example to the right shows a search for the newest Made Simple Learning video tutorial, with the user entering “Made Simple Learning” to see a list of such videos. When the user finds a video she wants to watch, she can touch it to see more information. She can even rate the video by touching it during playback and selecting a rating.

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Playing Videos Once you make your choice, touch the video you want to watch. Your DROID will begin playing the YouTube video in Landscape mode. There is no way to force the playback into Portrait mode, so you will need to turn the DROID sideways to watch the video (see Figure 15–4).

Figure 15–4. Playing a video in Landscape mode.

Adjusting the DROID’s Video Controls Once the video begins to play, the on-screen controls disappear, so you see only the video. To stop, pause, or activate any other options while the video is playing, just tap the screen (see Figure 15–5).

Tap to show/hide controls.

Move Slider to advance the video.

Rewind

Play/Pause

Fast-Forward

Figure 15–5. Selecting playback and other video options in YouTube.

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The on-screen options in the YouTube app are very similar to the options you see when watching other videos. Along the bottom is a slider that shows your place in the video. To move to another place in the video, just drag the slider. To fast-forward through the video, tap the Fast-Forward arrow. To move in reverse, tap the Rewind arrow. Press the Menu key and six more soft keys appear: Captions, Details, Rate, Favorite, Share, and More. To set a favorite, touch the Favorite icon at the far left. To email the video, Follow these steps: 1.

Touch the Share icon. Your email will start with the link to the video in the body of your email.

2.

Type the recipient’s name (see Chapter 9: “Email on your DROID” for more information on how to send content via email).

3.

Write a short note to provide some context for the link to the recipient, if you so desire.

4.

Press the Send button.


Clearing Your History For a variety of reasons, you may want to clear your browsing history on your DROID.

Follow these steps to clear the history log in your Browser app: 1.

Touch the Menu key and then touch Settings.

2.

Scroll down to Clear Search History and touch it.

3.

Click the OK button in the center to complete the process of clearing your history.

Using Netflix and Hulu on the DROID In recent years, Netflix has become a leading source of video rentals for consumers. Relatively recently, Netflix has also added on-demand video streaming. This streaming can even be delivered wirelessly to computers and set-top boxes for your TV. At the time of writing, Netflix is developing a new app for streaming movies on the DROID; it should be available by late 2010 or early 2011. Hulu is a Flash-based video service for watching recent TV episodes. While you can get to the Hulu website on your DROID, the Flash lite player available for the DROID will not play the episodes available on Hulu. There is a Hulu plus subscription service available for other smartphone platforms; this same service is due to make its appearance on Android in the not-too-distant future.

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Chapter

New Media: Reading Newspapers, Magazines, and E-books Your DROID has the potential to replace your newspaper, favorite magazines, and even your book library. We’re not saying it’s time to give up paper books completely. We like them, too. However, you may find that your phone is a surprisingly good reading device. In this chapter, we’ll explore ways to get your news and reading done without going to the bookstore or newspaper stand.

Newspapers on the DROID Remember the days when newspapers were delivered to the house? Invariably, if there was one puddle in the sidewalk, that was where the newspaper landed! You took it out of that plastic bag, shook it off, and tried to make out what was in section two—the section that got soaked. Well, those days may be gone forever. You now have the opportunity to interact with the news and even get your paper delivered every day—but to your DROID instead of your driveway. Many newspapers and news sites are developing apps for the DROID, with new apps seeming to appear every day. Figure 16–1 shows two apps for reading popular newspapers.

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Figure 16–1. The front pages of two newspaper apps.

Popular Choices: The New York Times and USA Today The New York Times and USA Today both have large circulations, but each paper has taken a different approach to bringing you the news on the DROID. NOTE: You can always go and visit the dedicated web site for any news source. Some are optimized for the DROID, while others offer you a full web experience. Some require registration or a paid subscription to view the paper’s full content.


You must first find, download, and install a news app on your DROID to use these. Here are the steps: 1.

Locate your desired news app in the Android Market. You may find one or more news apps in the Featured section, and there’s also a direct link to News & Weather under apps on the top of the Android Market home page.

2.

Browse or search for your desired news app, just as you would for any other app.

3.

Once you locate the desired news app, download it as you would any other app.

4.

Once the app is downloaded, tap its icon to launch it.

NOTE: Many news apps are free. Some are free to try, but require you to buy them to continue receiving them. Others offer limited free content, but you need to subscribe to gain access to their full content. See Chapter 17: “The Android Market” for more information.

The New York Times App The New York Times offers a slimmed-down version of the paper in its free Android app. By default, you’ll see the latest headlines. Figure 16–2 shows basic navigation from one section to the next. Simply pull down the section menu and tap.

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Navigate to sections.

Pull Down

Tap

Figure 16–2. Navigating to another section.

Navigating The New York Times app is as simple as touching an article and scrolling through. Drag your finger up and down to scroll through an article, and drag your finger sideways to navigate to the next or previous article in the section. To go back to the Home page, use the back button.You can also share an article with friends using e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, text messaging or any other app designed to handle Android share requests. The New York Times app comes with a handy widget. Rather than launching the full app and navigating to your favorite section, you can add the widget to your Home screen and display headlines from your favorite section. Tap on the small arrow on the side to navigate to the next headline, and tap on a heading to view the full article. To read more about widgets, see Chapter 6: “Organize Your Home Screens: Icons and Widgets.”


USA Today App While not as big and colorful as the physical paper version, you can still get USA Today on your phone. The app is available in the News & Weather category of the Android Market. Note that as of press time, it doesn’t ship with a widget. Download the app as you did the other news apps. The app will detect your current location if you’ve enabled the GPS on your phone. That means the weather section can give you weather for your location as well as other regions. The sections of the paper are near the top of the home screen. Just slide from right to left and then touch the section of the paper you want to read. In addition, you’ll find sections for Headlines, Scores, Weather, Pictures, and Snapshots along the top of the screen.

Moving Through and Enjoying Content After you play for a while with all these news sites, you’ll begin to realize that there is no real standard for moving around. This means you’ll need to become familiar with each app’s own way of navigating articles and returning to the main screen. Here’s a short guide for generally navigating these types of apps; these features are common to The New York Times and USA Today apps:

Showing or Hiding Control Buttons: Pressing the Menu button will generally show all your options for that article, picture, or video.

Getting to the Details of an Article: Usually, you just scroll through the articles, just as you would on a web page.

Viewing a Video: Tap a video to start playing it. Usually, this plays the video in the same manner as any other video. See Chapter 15: “Viewing Videos, TV Shows, and More” to learn how to navigate videos on your DROID.

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Expanding a Video or Image Size: You can try pinching open in the video or image and then double-tapping it. You can also try rotating to landscape mode.

Reducing a Video or Image Size: You can try pinching closed inside the video or image. You can also try rotating back to portrait mode.

Adjusting Font Sizes and Sharing, E-mailing, or Saving an Article The various apps for reading newspapers and other content usually include a button or icon for changing the font size. That same button or another one near it may also allow you to share, save, or e-mail an article to a friend. Some apps allow you to share the article with a social networking site, such as Facebook or Twitter. TIP: Almost all newspaper or magazine apps let you change font sizes and e-mail or otherwise share an article. Look for a button or icon that says Tools, Options, Settings, or something similar. In some apps, the font-size adjustment option shows as small A and large A icons.

News Widgets One of the advantages of using your phone for news is that you’re not restricted to a single source. There are many news aggregators, such as Google or Yahoo News, and there are lots of ways to view news headlines on topics that interest you. On your DROID X, DROID 2, and DROID Global, you can use the Motorola News widget to view custom bundles of news feeds on subject and categories that interest you. On all DROIDs, you can also use the Android News and Weather widget. To learn more about using widgets, read Chapter 6.


Magazines on Android It is no secret that both newspapers and magazines have suffered declines in readership over the last few years. Android offers a totally new way of reading magazines that might just give the media industry the boost it needs. Pictures are incredibly clear and brilliant in magazines on your DROID. Navigation is usually easy, and stories seem to come to life, much more so than in their print counterparts. Add video and sound integration right into the magazine, and you can see how the DROID truly enhances the magazine reading experience. Some magazines, such as TIME Magazine, include links to live or frequently updated content. These might be called Newsfeeds, Live Edition, or Updates. Check for them in any magazine you purchase—they will give you the most up-to-date information. TIP: Make sure to check the user ratings for a magazine or other app before you purchase it. Doing so may save you some money and some grief! The Android Market offers some individual magazines for purchase (however, these magazines sometimes include limited content for free). You can also check out the magazine readers that provide samples of many magazines that allow you to subscribe to weekly or monthly delivery of a given magazine. Unlike newspapers, only a few magazines are available for free. TIME Mobile is one of the few available free magazines for Android. The navigation is similar to The New York Times and other newspaper apps. On the right, you can see how navigating to different sections is accomplished by dragging down the sections menu from the top of the screen. Other magazines are beginning to be offered throgh E-book stores, such as the Nook, Kindle, and Kobo markets.

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Comic Books on Your DROID One genre of “new media” poised for a comeback with the advent of mobile is the comic book. Reading a comic book on your DROID really makes the pages come alive. Readers can also appreciate comics that would otherwise be harder to find, such as lesser known works or imported Japanese manga. As this goes to press, there’s still no official Marvel or DC Comic app for Android. However, DC Comics announced at the 2010 Comicon that they were working on one. There was no word from Marvel, but they do offer an iPhone/iPad app. If you’d like to view free comics from lesser-known artists, the Android Comic Reader app allows you to browse and download content directly to your phone. Navigation is similar to other magazine and e-book readers. The example to the right is a story by Cory Doctorow called “iRobot.”

The DROID as a PDF Reader Another way to get e-books and other content to phones is through PDF files. There are several apps capable of viewing PDF content, including Adobe’s Acrobat Reader. You can find the Acrobat Reader in the Android Market. See Chapter 17: "Exploring the Android Market. Files can be sent as e-mail attachments, downloaded from websites, or transferred directly to your SD card. Clicking on a PDF file should open them in an appropriate reader. We also like to use Dropbox, an Internet-based file sharing and storage app to transfer files to our DROIDs. You can find a quick link to download Dropbox in Appendix A. See Chapter 21: "Working with Notes and Documents" for a description of how Dropbox works.


E-Books Unlike the iPhone, Android doesn’t come with a standard e-book reader. That doesn’t leave you out of options, however. You can choose from a large selection of readers, both for open and proprietary book formats. Keep in mind that there are several formats for reading books, and some companies put Digital Rights Management (DRM) on their e-books to prevent them from being illegally distributed or read in unauthorized readers. Figure 16–3 shows just a sampling of available e-book readers for Android.

Figure 16–3. Android e-book readers.

If you have already begun creating a digital library, you’ll want to stick with an app that is compatible with your content. If you’re just getting started, there are a few things to keep in mind as you choose a reading app:

Proprietary formats: Epub is one of the most widely accepted book formats, but even it comes in DRM and non-DRM varieties. Check to see if the book you purchase is protected by DRM or an open offering.

Storage: Where are your books stored? Can you download a new copy if your phone crashes? Can you pick up your book on one device and finish on another?

Availability: How many books are available from your online bookstore? If you can only buy a few books, and those books can only be read on a single reader, it’s quickly a case of diminishing returns.

Price: What’s the average price for a book? Publishers are moving from a model where e-book stores offer variable pricing, so look at several titles.

Stability: The digital world is a very rapidly changing place. There are no guarantees that your favorite store will stay in business.

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NOTE: Many titles have a sample download. This is a great idea if you are not sure that you want to purchase the book. Just download a sample, and you can always purchase the full book from within the sample.

Proprietary Readers Proprietary e-book readers are extremely convenient, because they’re attached to a bookstore for easy book purchasing. You don’t have to install anything extra or think about where your book will be stored. Just register for an account, click to purchase, and pay for the book when your credit card bill comes due. The reading apps we’ll look at all also allow you to start reading on one device and continue reading on another device. This is very handy if you’ve got a dedicated e-book reader, iPad, or laptop you sometimes carry with you.

Kindle Reader The Amazon Kindle app is available through the Android Market. Amazon has made a Kindle app for several different mobile devices, so you can use it on Android phones, iPods, iPhones, laptops, and, of course, Amazon’s dedicated Kindle e-book reading device. If you’ve registered for an Amazon account, you can purchase and download books for the Kindle app directly from your DROID and read them from your DROID or any other device that runs a Kindle app. You can find free Kindle books as well as paid books, although you must be registered in order to purchase these free downloads. Kindle books do not transfer to non-Kindle readers, and they do not use standard ePub format.


TIP: If you use a Kindle device, don’t worry about signing in from your DROID. You can have several devices tied to your single account. You will be able to enjoy all the books you purchased for your Kindle right on the Kindle app on your DROID. In some books, the publisher might limit this capability, but we have never run into this limit. Just touch the Kindle app and either sign in to your Kindle account or press the Menu button and select create a new account with a user name and password.

Once you sign in, you will see your Kindle books on the home page. You can touch either a book cover to start reading or Get Books to start shopping in the Kindle store.

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NOTE: Touching Get Books from the Kndle menu will start up your Browser. From there you can purchase Kindle books. Once you are done, you will need to exit Browser and start up the Kindle app once again. If you just purchased a title, then you may see a button that says something like Go to Kindle for Android. Tap that button to jump right back to Kindle and start enjoying your new book. To read a Kindle book, touch the book cover. The book will open. To see the options for reading, just press the Menu button, and they will be along the bottom row of icons. You can add a bookmark by touching the plus (+) button. Once the bookmark is set, the plus (+) turns to a minus (-). You can go to the cover, Table of Contents, or beginning of the book (or specify any location in the book) by touching the Go To from the menu. The font, as well as the color of the page, can be adjusted. One very interesting feature is the ability to change the page to Black, which is great when reading at night. To advance pages, either swipe from right to left, or touch the right-hand side of the page. To go back a page, just swipe from left to right or touch the lefthand side of the page. Tap the screen and a slider appears at the bottom, which you can move to advance to any page in the book. To return to your list of books, just press the Back button or the Home option from the Kindle menu.


Nook The Nook is Barnes & Noble Bookstore’s dedicated e-reader. The Nook reader is actually a modified Android tablet, so it’s not surprising that Barnes & Noble has released a Nook app for Android. Register with an account either through the Nook app on your DROID or on the Web. One of the selling points for the Nook app is that it allows you to lend books to other Nook users for up to two weeks. (Shortly before this book went to press, Amazon announced they were going to do the same for Kindle books. )

Open E-Readers In addition to commercial e-book readers like the Kindle and Nook apps, you can use open, alternative readers that support common formats. The disadvantage is that many of these apps are not attached to a bookstore, so purchasing books is not as convenient. We’ll start with Kobo, which looks like a commercial e-reader with a brick-and-mortar bookstore backing it, but it is also an open reader. That means it has the polish of a proprietary reader with fewer content restrictions.

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Kobo Kobo is an e-book reading device owned by Borders and other investors. Just as with the Kindle and Nook apps, you can register with an account and download books directly to the Kobo app. It was formerly known as Shortcovers. Like the Kindle reader, the Kobo reader asks you first to sign in to your existing Kobo Books account. All of your existing Kobo Books will then be available for reading. Kobo uses a “bookshelf” approach similar to many readers. Tap the book cover for whichever book you wish to open. Or, touch the List tab to see your books organized in a list format. You can also directly go to the Kobo store to purchase books by touching the Discover or Browse buttons at the bottom However, Kobo also supports and sells standard Epub and Adobe Digital Editions book formats in their store. That means you may be able to read e-books from public libraries and independent booksellers on your Kobo, too. You can also take books you buy for your Kobo and transfer them to another reader if you prefer.

Touch the Settings button brings up other buttons for seeing information about the book and adjusting the page transition style and font. Touch any of the buttons to make adjustments to your viewing.


Aldiko Aldiko is a free e-book reading app that reads DRMfree Epub formatted books. You can download some books through the Android Market for use with Aldiko, or you can download any Epub book and place it in the eBooks folder on your DROID’s SD card. O’Reilly Media sells DRM-free e-books through the Android Market specifically for use with Aldiko.

Libris Libris comes in both a free version, Libris Lite, and a paid $2.99 app. The paid app offers support for more book formats, including Mobipocket, Epub, Libris, PalmDoc, and plain text, but it can’t read any format with DRM. You can use Libris to read books on your computer desktop (if your computer has Java installed) or on your Android, but the books are not stored online like they are on some e-readers, so you’ll still need to physically sync them between devices. That said, if you’re reading free books or buying them through the Libris-supported Fictionwise online library, Libris has a nice user interface and supplies a free tool for converting text to Libris format at www.hillbillyinteractive.com.

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Reading E-Books Just as with newspaper apps, there are no standards, but there are a series of things that are generally true of most e-reading apps for your DROID. When you first launch an e-reading app, nearly all of them offer a tips menu for navigation.

Horizontal and Vertical: You can switch between horizontal and vertical views for easier reading. Tilt your screen, and the text will reflow to follow. Some readers also let you lock the orientation, so accidental screen movements don’t reflow your page.

Bookshelves: Most apps are organized around a bookshelf analogy. You’ll see a series of book covers showing your available library of choices.

Touch any title in your library to open it for reading. The book will open to the very first page, which is often the title page or other front matter in the book.

Pages: It’s just text. You could just see a very long column of text that scrolls, but nearly every reader has kept the analogy of pages of text to make it much easier to navigate. Swipe your finger sideways to flip between pages. Some apps even show page-curl animations as you do this.

Chapters: You’re not stuck just navigating page by page. You can navigate from chapter to chapter or between bookmarks, or in the case of the Kindle app, to a navigational number point in the text. Press the Menu button, and you’ll usually see a way to navigate directly to a chapter, section, or bookmark.

Contextual Menus: In most readers, you can look up words, make notes, or create bookmarks.

Sometimes pressing the Menu button does that, and sometimes it’s done by long-pressing on a word in the book. Generally, you look up word definitions by launching a Web browser to either an online dictionary or Wikipedia.


Search: You can also search to find specific text within a book. Just look for the magnifying glass button. You can usually either press the Search button or the Menu button to find it.

Customize Your Experience: There’s almost always a Settings menu, and you can usually find this by pressing the Menu button. Some readers have more choices than others, but most allow you to increase or decrease font size, and switch from day or night view (which usually just switches from black text on a white screen to white text on a black screen). In some cases, you can also make the background a tan color for less eye strain.

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The Android Market The Android Market is the primary place for downloading apps for your DROID. Right now, there are several versions of Android shipping on a wide variety of phones, and the Android Market sells apps for all of them. So how do you know if your DROID will run the latest Twitter app? The general rule is that, if you can see an app in the Android Market on your phone, you can run it. Developers can exclude incompatible devices from seeing their apps in the Android Market. However, you should always read the app description just to be sure. In this chapter, we’ll go into more detail about how you find and download apps, how you can leave feedback, and how you can try before you buy. You’ll also learn about must-have apps to download right now.

Using QR Codes Before we go further, let’s introduce the concept of QR (quick response) codes. You may have seen these square barcodes on objects or websites. The QR code was patented by the Japanese company, Denso Wave. Rather than restrict the use of such codes with licensing fees, Denso Wave chose to allow anyone to generate or use QR codes without having to pay a fee, and their use has been growing as smartphone use has grown. The example to the right goes to http://zxing.appspot.com/ generator, which is a free QR code generator. QR codes can contain all sorts of information, including map locations, URLs, notes, names, phone numbers, and product identification. You don’t have to worry about scanning them right-side up; upside down and sideways will work, too. They’re easily read by phone cameras, so they make an ideal way to offer information to phone users without requiring a lot of typing. In fact, you may want to print a QR code on the back of your next business card, so smartphone users can scan in your contact information

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immediately. You can generate your own codes at http://zxing.appspot.com/ generator. Your DROID likely did not ship with a barcode reader, but it’s easy to get one. There are countless apps in the Android Market that allow you to scan QR codes, including Google Goggles and ZXing’s Barcode Scanner. In this chapter, we’ll use QR codes whenever possible. If you’re reading this book with your DROID and (and not reading this book on your DROID), just use the QR code to get to a given app faster.

Browsing the Android Market You can visit the Android Market Showcase on the Web at www.android.com/market; however, this site will only show you a fraction of the available apps. Google has plans to change this in the future, but for now you’ll need to use your phone to see the apps available for DROID. Launch the Android Market app from your phone’s application tray or desktop. The initial page will look similar to the figure on the right, with buttons for Apps, Games, and Verizon; a splash banner; and a list of featured apps.

NOTE: You can also browse available apps on the Web at www.androlib.com, www.appbrain.com, and www.androidzoom.com. These are ad-sponsored sites that pull data from the Android Market; however, as third-party sites, they don’t always produce identical search results.

Notice that each app lists a rating out of five stars, as well as the app’s price. You can tap an app to read more details about it, including user reviews. Sometimes you may want to browse through the featured apps to see what is new; sometimes you know exactly what you want; and sometimes you want to browse, but only within a category, such as productivity apps or shopping. Any of these approaches is valid.


If you know exactly what you want or how to frame what you want precisely, use the Search button at the top of the screen. You can search for a name or keywords. For instance, searching for “Twitter” would show you both the official Twitter app and apps that use the Twitter service in their description, such as HootSuite or Touiter.

Navigating by Category Follow these steps to navigate the Android Market by category: 1.

Tap the Apps button.

2.

Tap a category to select it.

3.

You’ll see three new buttons at the top: Top paid, Top free, and Just in. By default, the Top paid category is selected, but you can switch to free or recent apps by tapping the appropriate button.

NOTE: Apps in the Android Market are weighted by popularity and not strictly listed by rating. This is because it’s easy for an app to get a five-star rating if only one person has rated the app.

Use the search box to find apps quickly.

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4.

Tap the name of an app to see the details page associated with that app. You’ll see something that resembles Figure 17–1; and as you scroll down, you’ll see the app’s name, rating, two screen captures, the price, and a description of the app submitted by the developer. You’ll also see any website and contact information the developer or publisher has provided, such as an email address and phone number. You’ll also see links to any other apps that the developer or publisher may have created. If the app is deceptive or malicious, the very bottom of the page gives you the option to flag it.

The About tab contains information about the app.

The average star rating from other users.

Tap here to read user reviews. Tap here to give this app a rating.

Check here to allow automatic updates in the future.

The Description is written by the app developer.

Tap here to Update this time only.

Figure 17–1 App details.

5.

Tap on the Comments button to see user ratings and comments.

Tap here to Uninstall the app from your phone.


6.

Comments aren’t located at the bottom of the page; rather, they have their own section, as shown to the right. There are Up and Down buttons under each rating. This gives site users a quick-and-easy way to give a thumbsup or thumbs-down to a given comment. You can rate comments as helpful, unhelpful, or spam. This is similar to the way users can rate Amazon.com reviews.

Paying for Apps The Android Market has a huge selection of free apps, but there are times when it’s worth it to pick up a paid app. You use Google Checkout to buy your app, so if you have not already signed up for a Google Checkout account, you should do so. Currently, T-Mobile is the only supported carrier for direct billing (it supports US-dollar transactions only); however, Verizon is rumored to be planning a separate Verizon app market that would support direct billing.

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Google Checkout is an online payment-processing system. Register for a Google Checkout account by going to https://checkout.google.com/buyerSignup and using the same Google account you use as the main account for your phone. You can enter your credit card information, and Google will store it. Be sure to register in advance, so you can avoid the hassle of entering credit card info on a phone keyboard. You can purchase apps in most foreign currencies using Google Checkout and your credit card, as long as your credit card allows foreign currency transactions. Google will give you an estimate of what the price is in US dollars, as shown in the screen capture to the right. However, your credit card may charge you a fee for currency conversion or use a different exchange rate, and that won’t be reflected in the estimate.

NOTE: You have 24 hours after purchasing an app to “return” it for a full refund. Your refund price does not include any transaction fees for foreign currency.


Downloading Apps Other than payment processing, the basic steps to downloading an app are the same: 1.

Go to the Android Market by tapping the Android Market app icon.

2.

Navigate to the details page.

3.

Tap the Install button at the bottom of the screen. Android will confirm that you want to download the app, and it will also show you specific information about application permissions. In most cases, the uses are quite legitimate, but you should read them carefully to make sure a word puzzle game doesn’t have access to dial your phone, for example.

4.

If everything looks good, tap the OK button. Your download will start. You’ll see a progress bar in the Android Market, as well as a notice in your Notification bar that a download is in progress. The notice will change once the download is complete. There’s no need to keep using the Android Market app while you’re downloading. The download will continue in the background.

Installing Apps In most cases, downloading the app installs it automatically. If there are any widgets included with the app, you’ll need to long-tap the Home screen to install them. If there are additional steps, the developer should provide instructions about these. In the case of some paid apps, you may have two downloads. The first is a trial version, and the second is a separate key that doesn’t actually do anything other than unlock the full features from the first download.

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NOTE: Android 2.2 (Froyo) allows developers to give you the option to install apps on your SD card instead of the phone’s hard disk. This can potentially save some space. However, it is up to the developer to allow the option in his app (see Figure 17–2).

Force an app to stop running.

This will remove the data from your app – use with caution.

One way to Uninstall apps.

Move your app to your SD card when this button is available.

Figure 17–2. Installing an app to the SD card.

NOTE: to get to the screen above, go to Settings -> Applications -> Manage Applications and then tap on the application for which you wish to see the Application info.


Uninstalling Apps There are two basic ways to uninstall an app. The more complicated method is to go to the Home screen, press the Menu button, and then tap Applications > “Manage applications.” Tap the app you want to remove, and then tap Uninstall. The second, much easier method is to find your app in the Android Market, navigate to the details page for that app, and tap the Uninstall button. If you paid for the app, you’ll see an Uninstall & refund button. You have 24 hours after a purchase to return it for a refund. However, you must do this through the Android Market. Follow these steps to get a refund on a purchase: 1.

Go to the Android Market by pressing the store’s app icon within 24 hours of a purchase.

2.


3.

Tap Downloads.

4.

You’ll see the name of all apps you’ve recently downloaded. Tap the name of the app you wish to uninstall.

5.

Tap the Uninstall & refund button. You’ll see a warning window telling you that you’re about to uninstall an app. You’ll also be told whether you can install the app again at no charge. In the case of paid apps, not only must you pay for it again (since you’re being refunded), but you cannot return it a second time for a refund.

6.

Android also collects data on why you chose to uninstall an app. Select a reason or “I’d rather not say,” and then click OK.

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Updating Apps Occasionally developers will add features or bug fixes. When there’s an update available, you’ll see an alert in your Notification bar at the top of your Home screen. You can tap the alert to go directly to the Android Market, or you can launch the Android Market app, press the Menu button, and then tap Downloads. Tap an app to view the details, and then tap the Update button at the bottom of the screen. The process for updating an app is very similar to the process for downloading it. You can update everything at once by tapping Update all.

Tap here to update everything at once.

For an app that you’ll unhesitatingly update, you can also specify that you’ll allow automatic updates on that app’s About page in the Android Market, as seen in Figure 17–1. Checking the Allow automatic updating box means available updates will automatically install as soon as they’re available, unless the app changes permissions, in which case you’ll need to update the app manually.

CAUTION: Read the comments before updating an app or allowing automatic updates. Sometimes an update will break something or not work with particular phone models.

Check here to allow automatic updates in the future.


Rating and Commenting If you’ve installed an app, you may want to go back and tell other users how well it works. Even a comment verifying that it works on your model of phone is helpful. The first step is to rate the app. The ratings area is at the top of the app’s detail page under the My review section. Tap the Stars icon, and you’ll see a rating screen resembling the figure on the right. Indicate the number of stars the app deserves by dragging your finger from left to right. Once you are finished, tap OK. Once you’ve rated an app, you’ll see a link to post a comment right under your rating. You can only comment on apps you’ve rated.

Installing Apps Outside the Android Market In most cases, the Android Market is all you need to find apps for your phone. However, developers aren’t required to offer their apps through the market. App developers in countries that don’t yet support paid apps through the Android Market may want to sell paid versions of their apps outside the market, for example. This also allows developers to create alternative app markets, like SlideME (http://slideme.org). You can download apps from other locations, but you need to enable downloads from unknown sources to authorize this ability.

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Follow these steps to enable apps from unknown sources: 1.

Go to the Home screen

2.


3.

Tap Applications. On the original DROID, touch Settings and then applications.

4.

Check the box next to Unknown sources.

Now you can download apps that aren’t in the Android Market. If you know the location of an app, you can navigate there through your phone’s Browser app and install it. You can also install apps delivered by email. Android apps have the .apk extension. Download the APK file, and then tap the message that the download is complete in your Notification bar. You’ll see a screen asking you if you’d like to install the app, similar to the figure on the right.


Keep in mind that this isn’t a move without risks. Apps could have been removed from the Android Market for malicious activity, and those apps can be remotely removed from your phone when you install them using the Android Market. You can still see the permissions required by the app, so be mindful of these permissions before you install it.

Ten Apps to Install Right Now There are a lot of quality apps available, so here are a few of our favorite general-use apps. We’ve provided the QR code, so if you have a barcode-scanning app already installed, such as Barcode Scanner (which might have made the list if we had more room), you can scan in the code and navigate directly to the app on the Android Market. We’ve also listed additional apps in Appendix A at the end of this book.

ShopSavvy ShopSavvy is a longtime favorite free app. It debuted on the Android and really showed off the potential of the phone. It uses your camera to scan in barcodes and comparison shop with both local and online items. Local shopping results are sometimes limited because the app is only as accurate as the data available online. You can set price alerts, tweet about your scans (although this gets obnoxious), view your history, create a wish list, and more. If you’re searching for an item that has neither a barcode nor a store sticker over the barcode, you can also enter your search terms by hand. Best of all, ShopSavvy supports QR codes; so if you download this app first, you can scan any of the QR codes you see in this book.

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Lookout Mobile Lookout Mobile is a free app that provides three valuable services: phone location, virus protection, and backup. You can enable or disable the services as you see fit. For remote location and backup, you need to register with the company’s website at www.mylookoutmobile.com. You can also schedule backups for times when you know your phone will be in its charger. Virus protection may not seem like a huge deal right now; however, it could become a more significant problem as smartphones and the Android platform in particular gain in popularity. Lookout Mobile scans apps as you download them, which means downloads do take slightly longer to install. If you ever lose your phone, the Lookout Mobile app’s Remote locate & scream feature might help you find it.


Mint.com Mint.com is Intuit’s free, online personal finance software. The official Mint.com app is also free, and it gives you access to your personal finances. You can also download a widget that gives you access to this software on your DROID. You can choose whether the phone remembers your data or requires a password each time you log in. This is as simple as making the appropriate choices in the app’s Settings menu, which you access by pressing the Menu button. CAUTION: If you choose to install the Mint.com widget portion, you’re exposing your financial data to anyone within eyesight.

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Cooking Capsules Taster Cooking Capsules is an innovative approach to selling recipes. The Taster module is free, but the Brunch app is a premium app. However, at $0.99, even the premium version isn’t going to break the bank. The app offers you brief video instructions on preparation; a shopping list of ingredients you can check off as you purchase them; and finally, a checklist of cooking instructions based on the video you’ve already seen. Even if you’re not much of a chef, this app will have you cooking like a pro. Try the free Taster app before moving on to other modules.


Evernote Evernote is a web service available at www.evernote.com that allows you to keep virtual scrapbooks of notes, pictures, web clippings, and audio files. You can add tags and search terms to your notes and access them anywhere on the Web. This means you can make a grocery list and have it available on your phone. Or, you might take a picture of something on the road and examine it from your desktop computer. You might even take a quick audio note or picture in the parking garage, so you can remember where you parked. The app also includes a widget. The Evernote app is free, as is the basic Evernote service. There is also a premium Evernote subscription service with higher storage limits.

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Pandora Pandora is an Internet radio service that lets you create custom “radio stations” based around a song or artist. The playlist won’t consist entirely of songs from that act, but it will share common style features as analyzed by the Music Genome Project. You can refine the choices by clicking a Like or Dislike button. It’s a great way to find new music you didn’t realize you liked; it’s also a great way to listen to music on your phone without having to download it. Pandora offers free (ad-sponsored) listening for 40 hours per month. You can upgrade to a premium account for $36 a year; the premium service features unlimited listening and no ads. The Android app is free either way, but it’s subject to the same limits as your user account.


New York Times The official New York Times app is a free app that lets you see the newspaper’s content in a format optimized for mobile viewing. It’s also easier to carry around than a full paper. There’s no registration required, and at this point there appears to be no advertising for anything other than home delivery of The Times. There is also a widget version of this app.

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Google Voice Google Voice is Google’s free phone-call forwarding and visual-voicemail service. It allows you to use a single telephone number as your point of contact, even if you’re not always at the same phone. You can also use it for free SMS text messages and discount international calls. The picture on the right is courtesy of Google, and it shows how Google Voice can also give you a text transcript of your voicemail messages.


WikiMobile Encyclopedia (Bonfire) WikiMobile Encyclopedia may not be the most accurate encyclopedia, but it’s certainly a great first start. If you find yourself looking things up in Wikipedia all the time, it makes sense to have an app that can do that for you. This encyclopedia uses less bandwidth than your web browser, so you get the results faster. The app lets you swipe through pages one at a time; it also includes a Back or Forward option for navigating densely linked pages.

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Yelp There are countless restaurant-finding apps for phones these days, but Yelp has a vibrant user community and ratings for just about every location. You can use this app to find a restaurant, bank, gas station, or drugstore near you, at home, or on the road. The app’s straightforward interface and copious reviews make this a must-have for anyone who travels or just likes to eat out.

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Chapter

Taking Photos and Videos Camera phones are not a new phenomenon, but only recently have those cameras improved to the point that you can leave your point-and-shoot behind and still end up with decent photos. Not every phone is created equal when it comes to cameras, and the same is true for DROIDs. The DROID X sports a higher resolution camera than the DROID 2 or the DROID, but all three are capable of replacing your point-and-shoot in a pinch. Whether you need to document work sites or scan bar codes, this chapter will get you up and running with Android photography. We’ll discuss a few digital camera basics, like megapixels and image size. We’ll also talk about how to adjust your camera for different lighting conditions, and how to turn the flash on and off. You’ll also learn how to enhance your photos and share them by email, Internet, and MMS, (picture texting). Finally, you’ll learn about using your phone to take video footage, and some of the apps that will make your photography and video session shine. NOTE: If you’re using an original DROID, your camera screens and settings are going to look somewhat different from what is pictured in this chapter.

Understanding Your Camera Before going into the nitty gritty of shooting photos, let’s discuss the camera on your phone. Since there is no standard, one-size-fits-all Android phone, there’s no standard Android camera. However, there are a few things most phone cameras have in common. So far, no DROID will match the quality you’ll find in a DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera. This is the type of professional camera with a separate lens and body that lets you adjust just about everything and change lenses for specific purposes, such as long distances or wide angles. DSLRs are expensive, large, and heavy, and we don’t have the technology to fit them in a phone . . . yet. Likewise, you won’t find the video quality in a phone that you will in a dedicated digital video camera, and phones just don’t have the memory to store large, uncompressed video files.

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CHAPTER 18: Taking Photos and Videos

However, if your job does not require professional high-end photography or video, it is entirely possible to use your phone for these purposes, and avoid having to carry around of two or three separate devices.

Megapixels and Image Size Each square on a monitor or phone display is a pixel. A megapixel is a million pixels, or 10001000 pixels. Webcams are generally either a low-quality .3 megapixels (close to the size of old standard-definition television broadcasts) or 1.3 megapixels, the size of an SXGA (12801024) monitor. Neither of those is large enough to yield satisfying print results, because of yet another dimension, pixels per inch (ppi) (also called dots per inch, or dpi). When you display images on a monitor, 72 dpi looks fine. However, if you print that same image, it will look horrible at that resolution. You’ll be able to see every pixel. If you’re printing, you want an image somewhere around the 250 to 300 dpi range for good print results; most professionals use 300 dpi as the standard. That means to get a quality 810-inch photo, you need a camera with at least 5 megapixels for a 250 dpi print and 7.2 megapixels for a 300 dpi print. The Motorola DROID and DROID 2 cameras both have 5-megapixel cameras with flash. The DROID X has an 8-megapixel camera, so both will handle 5x7 prints, and the DROID X will do better for 8x10 prints. Some other smartphones have has an 8-megapixel camera on the back and a 1.3-megapixel camera on the front for video conferencing, and this may be something we’ll see from Verizon Wireless in future DROIDs. Video resolution is lower than print resolution. High-definition (HD) video is at maximum just slightly bigger than 2 megapixels. However, video struggles against the amount of space it takes up, so most phones do not support HD video capture, and those that do generally make some sacrifices. Full resolution HD video can be as large as 1080x1920 pixels at 60 frames per second. Needless to say, that’s not a resolution you’ll see on phones at this point. Many entry-level video cameras don’t even support that rate. The DROID X will shoot 720p at 24fps. That means it will shoot a video of 1280x720 pixels at 24 frames per second. It also uses three microphones to capture better audio. The DROID 2 will capture standard-definition video at 720x480 resolution and 30 frames per second. The DROID will capture the same standard-definition video at 720x480 resolution at up to 24 frames per second.

Focus Point-and-shoot cameras come with either fixed focus or autofocus. Fixed-focus cameras are optimized to take a photo with the same focus—usually from a couple of feet to infinity. They use the same aperture opening and shutter speed for every single picture. That means anything too close will be out of focus. This is the type of focus you get with disposable cameras, because it’s cheap and doesn’t require any sort of adjustment on the user’s end.


Autofocus cameras change the focus by using software and hardware adjustments. The biggest difference you’ll notice as a user is that you can focus on things very near the camera lens, such as bar codes. It also means you’ll have more out-of-focus pictures, since the autofocus might not always work quite as well as you’d hoped, but the overall picture quality will be better. Your DROID camera comes with autofocus, but some settings can use fixed focus benefits. Some settings, such as portrait mode, can also take advantage of tap-to-focus. Just tap the screen to focus on that portion of the image.

Zoom Zoom is another popular feature. There are two types of zoom: optical and digital. Optical zooms use the camera’s lens (the camera optics) to magnify part of the photo frame. You can still get a high-resolution photo from an optical zoom. Digital zoom is just a software solution in which the camera makes part of the picture look bigger. It’s the illusion of zoom without adding any detail to the picture, and this is the type of zoom you find on phones. When possible, it’s best to ignore digital zoom and just stand closer to the subject of your photo or video. However, that’s not always practical or possible, and that’s where digital zoom is handy.

Taking a Picture A lot of this chapter is going to depend on which phone you use. Not only are there differences in physical hardware, but the interface is different between the DROID and DROID 2/X camera and galleries. To take a picture, press the physical Camera button on your phone as shown here. You can also launch the Camera app from the app tray or an icon on your Home screen, but the button is the easiest shortcut. Other software may also allow you to use your phone’s camera, and we’ll cover some of it in this chapter.

Camera button. Press to start the Camera app or take a picture.

When taking pictures, you can hold your phone horizontally or vertically, but the interface tends to work best when the phone is held on its side for a horizontally framed photo. Unlike with some apps, the position of the buttons on the screen will not change as you rotate the phone orientation. (This isn’t true if you’re using an original DROID.) Figure 18–1 shows a typical screen. To take a photo, tap the shutter button on the screen or press the physical Camera button on the side of your phone again. Using the Camera button may prove to be less shaky than trying to hold your phone steady as you poke at the screen, but either method will shoot your picture.

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Figure 18–1. The Camera screen (for DROID 2 and DROID X only).

You have more options than simple pictures. Your DROID will let you choose the mode best for your images by using Scenes, and even apply some Effects before shooting your picture. Figure 18–2 shows some of the options available by dragging the Settings tray to the left. You can also adjust focus by pressing on the desired focal point in some modes. Tap the focal point of your image on the screen gently and wait. You’ll see brackets around the new focal point.


Tag the location where your photo is shot.

This is the previous photo taken. Tap to see the Camera Roll.

These icons give you information about your current settings.

Pull this tab in and out to see camera options.

Use preset Scenes to shoot portraits, night shots, and action scenes.

Effects add filters to your shot like black and white or sepia tone.

Tap here to switch to video mode.

Your camera flash can be adjusted for things like turning it off for museums.

Figure 18–2. Photo settings.

Flash Modes One of the most common things you may want to control when taking photos is whether you use a flash. In most cases, the DROID camera will automatically detect the lighting conditions and make the right choice, but there are cases like shots lit from behind where you want the flash on, or museums and performances where you want the flash off, no matter what the camera seems to think is appropriate. Turn the flash on and off by sliding out the camera options tray and then tapping the Flash button. Your choices are Flash On, Flash Off, and Auto Flash, as shown in the image here.

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Reviewing and Sharing Once you snap a photo, you’ll see your new photo on the screen with a message to tap the screen for more options. If you tap the screen, you’ll see buttons for Share, Set as, Quick Upload, and Delete. Delete is pretty self explanatory, so let’s talk about the other three options.

Share Sharing a photo lets you send it to someone by email, upload it to Facebook, or even send your photos to a retail printer. Android apps can take advantage of photo sharing, so your sharing choices can include all sorts of apps, as shown here. Your DROID ships with the ability to share with Bluetooth, Email, Facebook, Picasa, Photobucket, Text Messaging, and Print to Retail. The Print to Retail option will search for a supported retail outlet where you can pick up your photos, such as Costco and CVS. To share a photo by email: 1.

Snap a photo.

2.

Tap the screen.

3.

Tap the Share icon.

4.

Choose Email or Gmail, depending on the account you wish to use.

5.

Compose your email message and press Send.


To share a photo on Facebook or Photobucket: 1.

Snap a photo.

2.

Tap the screen.

3.

Tap the Share icon.

4.

Choose Photo Sharing.

5.

Choose the appropriate account. Your choices depend on which accounts are set up to sync with your phone, but they may include Facebook, Photobucket, Picasa, and MySpace.

6.

Choose a Caption. Some accounts also let you choose a photo title if desired.

7.

Press Send.

To send your photo to a retail store for printing: 1.

Snap a photo.

2.

Tap the screen.

3.

Tap the Share icon.

4.

Tap Send to Retail.

5.

If your GPS is enabled, your DROID will find a retail location near you. Alternatively, you can tap the Search by City or Zip Code button instead. Use this when you are on vacation or sending photos to another city for someone else to pick up.

6.

You’ll see a listing of stores, the price of prints, and their distance from your location.

7.

Tap a store name, and you’ll also see the store hours.

8.

Tap Choose This Store.

9.

Enter your contact information and specify the number of prints. You’ll be given the total including tax, and you can drive to the store and pick up your photos, usually within an hour.

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Set As You use the Set as button to use a picture to personalize part of your phone. You can set a picture as a Contact, your profile picture, or your Home screen Wallpaper. To create a Contact icon from a photo, do the following: 1.

Snap a picture.

2.

Tap the screen.

3.

Tap Set as.

4.

Tap Contacts.

5.

Choose a contact from your contact list.

6.

You’ll see your photo with a red outline marking the cropped area for your icon. Drag the corners to expand or contract the selection, and drag from the middle of the square to move the center of focus.

7.

When you’ve completed your choice, tap Save.

Quick Upload Sometimes you don’t care about adding descriptions or fancy settings. You just want to post pictures at the touch of a button and sort out the rest later. You can set your camera to quickly upload your photos to a favorite web album, such as Facebook, Picasa, or Photobucket, through the Quick Upload feature. When you tap the Quick Upload button for the first time, you’ll be prompted to specify where you want to upload your photos. After that, tapping the Quick Upload button will go directly to the web album you’ve chosen. Use the Share button instead of Quick Upload if you want to add comments and titles to your pictures before you upload them.


The Camera Roll When you take a photo, you see an image for review briefly on the screen. After that, the review image goes to the bottom corner of the screen, as shown in Figure 18–2. If you tap the previous image, you’ll see the Camera roll, as shown in Figure 18–3.

Figure 18–3. Camera roll.

Drag your finger left and right to progress through the photos. They’re organized chronologically, and you’ll periodically see text indicating when the photos in your camera roll were taken, such as Today, Last Week, or Last Month. NOTE: You still have all the same options for sharing, editing, and deleting photos as you do when you tap the review image shortly after snapping a photo. All you need to do is press the Menu button to see them.

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Scenes Scenes are a quick way to adjust your camera for specific situations. You can adjust for lighting conditions, such as indoor shots, or focus situations like portraits. To change the Scene settings, slide the tray out, as shown in Figure 18–1 and 18–2, and then tap the

Scenes button. You can swipe side to side to navigate through the different scenes. The camera will show you a preview of your scene as you go. Your scene choices for still pictures are shown in Table 18–1. NOTE: On the original DROID, touch the settings icon and then scroll down to Scene Mode. The icons pictured here are not available on the original DROID. The icons may look slightly different on your DROID 2 depending on your software version. Table 18-1. Scenes

Scene Icon

Description This is the default setting. Auto allows the camera to decide how to handle images and is the best general choice.

Landscape mode sets your camera to fixed focus, so you can capture a landscape without the camera attempting to focus on objects in the foreground.

Night portraits will attempt to adjust for very low lighting conditions.


Scene Icon

Description Macros are close-ups and detail shots. Use this to focus on something small and near the camera.

Use this for better sunset pictures. Rather than focusing on the low lighting in the foreground, the camera will capture the pretty colors in the background and silhouette anything in the foreground.

Use this scene setting if you’re having problems with your hands shaking when you try to take pictures.

Portraits are for taking pictures of people. Remember to gently tap to select an area for focus. In this case, you’ll want to focus on the face.

The Sport setting is for taking pictures of fast-moving objects, like runners, horses, or people jumping in the air.

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Creating a Panorama You can create a panorama using your DROID by using the Panorama Assist feature. It’s not completely intuitive, but once you figure it out, you can have some fantastic panoramas. Rather than one continuous shot, a panorama is a long, skinny shot made from stitching photos together. Figure 18–4 shows how this works. NOTE: Panorama assist is only available on the DROID 2 and DROID X.

Figure 18–4. Creating a panorama.

1.


2.

Tap Picture modes.

3.

Tap Panorama assist.

4.

Select a camera direction. You can go left to right, right to left, up to down, or down to up.


5.

Start by taking your first photo. If you’re working left to right, start on the leftmost side of your panorama and snap the photo.

6.

Move your camera slowly in the direction you’ve selected. For instance, if you’re working left to right, move the camera slowly to the right.

7.

Pay attention to the preview window on the bottom left of the screen. You’ll see an arrow and two squares that will show you where your phone is positioned in relation to the last photo.

8.

When you’ve lined up your next photo, the camera will beep and shoot the picture by itself.

9.

Proceed to the next photo. If you do not want to take the full six photos, you can stop the series by tapping the square symbol on the upper right side of the screen. Otherwise, continue.

10. When you’ve taken six photos or stopped the panorama, your DROID will stitch the photos together to form your panoramic image.

Camera Settings The Camera Settings menu lets you change advanced features, such as the Quick Upload album, the length of time you preview images, or even ISO settings on your phone’s camera. To get to the Camera Settings menu, press the Menu button and then tap Settings. On the original DROID, touch the Settings icon (farthest to the right) and scroll down for settings to adjust. Your choices are shown in Figure 18–5.

Figure 18–5. Camera Settings

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Let’s explore these settings.

Picture Resolution This option allows you to set the size of your photos. Larger pictures will print better, but they take more storage space. If you’re using your DROID only to take photos for the Web, you probably don’t need the highest setting, but if you’d like to print some of your photos and have room on your phone’s memory card, increase this. The highest resolution on a DROID or DROID 2 is 5 megapixels, and the highest on a DROID X is 8 megapixels.

Video Resolution This is the size of video you shoot with your camera. Although your DROID X may be capable of shooting HD video, you’ll probably get better overall balance of quality and storage space by using the VGA (640 x 480) setting. That’s the resolution of analog TVs. It can be uploaded to YouTube and edited in programs like Windows Movie Maker and iMovie. If you’re sending video text messages or sending videos by email, you’ll want to make the video even smaller. Try QCIF (176x144) or QVGA (320 x 240). Those are tiny videos to watch, but they take much up less storage space as an attachment to a message.

Quick Upload Album We’ve already discussed setting up a Quick upload album. Here is where you’d change the location. You may want to change locations prior to a trip in order to make it easier to sort the photos once you get back.

Review Time Review Time is the amount of time a photo shows on your screen after you take it. Increase the time for a longer review or decrease it to take the next picture faster.

Face Detection Check this box if you take lots of pictures of people and want the camera to focus on their faces rather than focusing on the object nearest the center of the frame. Leave it unchecked if you primarily take landscape photos or detail shots of items other than people.

ISO Equivalent Sensitivity The ISO Equivalent sensitivity has to do with the light sensitivity of the camera. In film, the ISO setting is used to determine shutter speed, and this setting is used to simulate


that. Faster speeds mean grainier/poorer quality pictures. Slower speeds mean more chance of shaky hands and motion blur. In most cases, your best bet is to leave this setting as Auto and use Scenes to compensate for different lighting situations.

Exposure This is a simulation of film and exposure or how light-sensitive the sensors on the camera are. Just as with ISO settings, your best bet is to leave the setting as is and adjust for specific situations by using Scenes.

Shutter Animation The shutter animation setting just controls whether you see an animation when you snap a picture. It’s entirely a matter of personal preference.

Effects Not only can you optimize your camera for certain lighting conditions and subjects, you can add effects to photos as you shoot them. 1.

Launch the Camera app as shown here by pressing your Camera button or tapping the Camera app icon.

2.

Open the Photo Capture Settings tray tab by sliding your finger on the right side of the screen.

3.

Tap the Effects button.

4.

Slide and drag your finger to the left or right to navigate through the Effects options. You’ll see an on-screen preview of the effect.

Your effect choices are Normal, Black and White, Negative, Sepia, Solarize, Red Tint, Green Tint, and Blue Tint.

Tags Tags are optional metadata that you store with your picture to let you know the location where a photo was shot or add an additional label to classify a photo. Use this to keep track of exactly where you took photos on vacations or during field work or add custom tags for events. Keep in mind that others will also be able to see your metadata if you upload these tagged photos to the Web.

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In order for location tags to work, your phone GPS must be enabled. You can also disable location or geotags separately from custom tags. Figure 18–6 shows how this works.

Figure 18–6. Adding tags.

1.

From the Camera app, press the Menu button.

2.

Tap Tags.

3.

Check the box next Auto Location Tag if you want the camera to automatically geotag your images. Your GPS must be enabled for this to work.

4.

Check the box next to Custom Tags to create a custom tag.

5.

If you’ve already created a tag, it will be listed under Active Custom Tags. Otherwise, you should tap Select to add custom tags.


NOTE: On the original DROID, touch the Store Location icon (second from right) to turn on geotagging.

Shooting Video You can shoot video using the same Camera app and slightly adjusted settings. Drag out the Photo Capture Settings tray, as shown to the right, and tap the bottom button: Switch to. On the original DROID, just move the slider from the Photo to the Video icon. Notice that the button shows a video camera. This will switch your camera to video mode. You can switch back the same way by tapping the Switch to button, only the button will now show a still camera icon. You’ll notice a few other differences in video mode, as shown in Figure 18–6. The icons along the top left still show tags, and rather than showing your resolution in megapixels, it will show your video resolution. Rather than a shutter, you’ll see a red record button on the upper right. Tap it once to start recording. Tap it again to stop or pause your recording. The button will change to show a square DVD-style stop symbol in the middle to indicate that you’re recording, and you’ll see an overlay of the time elapsed on the screen.

Figure 18–7. Video recording.

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Scenes and Effects Just as with still photos, you can slide out the Video Capture Settings tray, as shown here. Just as with still photos, you can choose Scenes and Effects. Just as with still photos, you just need to tap the Scenes button and slide through the available choices. Table 18-2 shows the available Scene settings for your DROID. Scenes for video adjusts audio quality as well as video. Table 18-2. Video Scenes

Scene Setting Icon

Description The Everyday setting is a good overall choice. It records in stereo and is suitable for most situations.

Use the Concert settings for recording concerts or other loud, stereo sources.

Narrative is used when you’re voicing over the video as you film it, such as film of the Grand Canyon while talking about your impressions of the area. The sound picks up behind the camera.

The Outdoors setting tries to reduce the amount of wind noise.

Subject video is good for standard interviews and other situations where you’re filming someone else in front of the camera. The audio is recorded from the front to avoid accidentally picking up random noises from your end.


Effects for video offer exactly the same choices as effects for still pictures: Normal, Black and White, Negative, Sepia, Solarize, Red Tint, Green Tint, and Blue Tint.

Flash and Video What if you want to light up a dark scene? You can use the same light you’d use for the camera flash by using the Light button on the Video Capture Settings tray. Your choices are rather simple: on or off, as shown in the image here. Although turning on the light will help in very dark situations, it’s not a substitute for adequate lighting and it won’t work miracles.

Video Modes Just as you can switch to different picture modes for cool features like panoramas, you can switch video modes on your DROID for sophisticated options. 1.

Launch the Camera app.

2.

Switch to Video mode.

3.


4.

Tap Video Modes.

You’ll see choices like those on the right except for the original DROID. Normal video is self-explanatory, and this is the setting you’ll use to return to your regular video settings. Slow motion video captures extra frames, so when you play the video back, everything appears to be slowed down. Fast motion does the opposite and skips frames. Video Message is used for sending MMS video messages. When you select either Slow motion or Video Message, your video resolution will drop. Your DROID X doesn’t support shooting slow-motion video at HD resolution, and the DROID and DROID 2 don’t support shooting HD video at all. NOTE: You can’t make a Video Message out of a video you’ve already created in a higher resolution, so be sure to change your settings before you shoot your video.

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Sharing Videos Once you create video, you can share that video using the Share button. Just as with still pictures, you can tap the screen right after the video is shot, or you can go to the Camera roll, tap the video, and then press the Menu button. When you create videos, the primary way to upload and share them is through YouTube. This works really well for personal videos, but it’s a bit trickier for corporate videos, because each YouTube “channel” is limited to one user account and one password. Eventually, there may be an easy way to upload to a collaborative channel. Google is currently experimenting with methods to allow users to upload submissions to another channel. YouTube offers unlimited storage for videos and two basic privacy settings, private and public. Private videos can be shared with small groups of other users. You can also upload videos privately at first and make them public later. Public videos are searchable and are automatically closed-captioned using speech-to-text technology. Videos on YouTube are limited to 15 minutes unless you are part of YouTube’s Partner Program for commercial content creators. More information on YouTube’s Partner Program is available at www.youtube.com/t/partnerships_faq. In order to upload videos to YouTube, you must have a YouTube account, and it must be linked to a Google account. However, large files require a Wi-Fi connection. NOTE: When you give public photos and videos tags and descriptions, keep search in mind. Use terms that you think people searching for that video would use, and do not skip fields. The Share button will also work for sending your video as an email attachment or text message. However, you can’t make a video smaller from your phone, so if you’ve shot the video in VGA or higher resolution, you’ll need to upload it to YouTube or transfer it to your computer before trying to send it anywhere else. Even though Photobucket supports video, you can’t upload videos directly to your Photobucket account as of the time of publication.

The Gallery Photos taken from your camera are stored on your phone’s memory card, and you can review these using your Camera app. However, you might also have photos you’ve moved or downloaded from other sources. You can use the Gallery app to return to your Camera roll and browse through your pictures. Tap an album to view the pictures within it. You can enlarge photos using the pinch-tozoom motion. You can view pictures either as a Camera roll or as a grid of preview icons depending on how you hold your phone. Tilt your phone horizontally to view Camera rolls and vertically to view an image grid. Tap an individual picture to view it.


TIP: You can upload or delete multiple photos at once through the gallery by viewing an album and pressing the Menu button twice. Gray check marks will appear on each photo or video. Select multiple items by pressing each one. You can then mass-delete them with the Delete button, or upload them to Picasa or YouTube using the Share button.

Using Picasa Picasa is Google’s online and desktop photo software, and it is the default photo service for unmodified Android phones. It is one of your choices when using the Share button, and it provides an easy way to upload a photo for embedding into a web page. Technically, Picasa and Picasa Web Albums are two separate products, but the distinction is fuzzy, since you can sync online and desktop photos. Picasa Web Albums is located on the Web at http://picasaweb.google.com. Think of Picasa Web Albums as Google’s answer to Flickr. You can upload photos and organize them into albums. Each album can have privacy settings, captions, tags, and location information (geotags). When using the service in a standard web browser, it also has facial recognition capabilities. So far this hasn’t been translated into the phone version, but it’s only a matter of time. Picasa doesn’t provide unlimited storage. At the time of publication, it provides 1GB of free storage, and anything beyond that must be purchased from Google on an annual basis. There are three basic privacy levels for Picasa:

Public: This is just as it sounds. Your album is visible to anyone and can be found in search.

Unlisted: Google will give you an obscure URL, which you can distribute as you see fit. This is not actually private; it’s just hard to guess. However, anyone with the URL can see your album and pass that URL on to other people, so it is a poor security setting for anything you really need to remain private.

Sign-in Required: You specify who can see the album. You enter the name of specific users’ Google accounts, and only those people can see your album, and only when they are logged in. You can add and remove anyone from your “shared with” list.

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To upload a photo to Picasa, click the Share button when viewing a picture in the Gallery app or reviewing a picture in the Camera app. 1.

Select Picasa.

2.

Choose a Google account.

3.

Enter a caption.

4.

Select an album.

5.

Tap Upload.

Using Photos As Wallpaper and Widgets You can use a photo as your Home screen wallpaper. When you’ve shot a photo, you can set this immediately, but you can also use photos stored on your phone’s card. This is explained in further detail in Chapter 6. To make a wallpaper from a photo, you can use the Set As button, but you can also: 1.

Long-press the Home screen.

2.

Select Wallpapers.

3.

Select Gallery.

4.

Navigate to the photo you want to use. You’ll see an outline around part of the photo indicating where it will be cropped to fit as your wallpaper.

5.

Drag your finger to expand, shrink, or move the cropping area.

6.

Click Save when you are done.

Using Photos for Contact Icons You can also add contact photos by browsing to the photo in the Gallery and clicking Menu ➤ More ➤ Set as, and then clicking the Contact icon. You’ll be given the option to crop the image, just as you are for wallpaper. Browse to the contact you want to replace (this is easiest if you use your trackball to scroll through your contacts, so you can avoid accidentally selecting the wrong one). Select the correct contact, and then click Save. This option is also available immediately after shooting a photo through the Set as button, so when you enter a new friend or business partner’s contact information into your phone, take a quick picture of them and add their picture to the contact info.


Copying Photos to Your Computer You can get photos from your phone to your computer in many different ways. The method you use depends on the bandwidth you have available, your privacy concerns with the photos, and your personal style. You can email photos to yourself or upload them to Picasa and download them to your desktop from the Web. This may present privacy issues if the photos are sensitive, and it may just take too long if you’ve taken a lot of photos. Syncing media is explained in more detail in Chapter 25: “DROID Media Sync.”

Editing Photos You can apply effects and choose Scenes, but what if you want to do something more advanced? What if you want to add an effect after you’ve already taken the photo or edit out red eye? Fear not, there are tons of apps that allow you to edit photos directly from your phone, and your DROID even ships with advanced photo editing tools, which were used on the image shown here. Nothing offers the same quality you’d get from a desktop photo-editing program, but you’re using this with a phone camera, not the latest SLR.

To edit a photo, do the following: 1.

Go to the Gallery app and navigate to the photo you wish to edit.

2.


3.

Tap Edit.

4.

Tap Advanced editing.

5.

If you don’t have any other advanced editing software installed, this will launch the Photo Workshop app. Otherwise, you’ll have a choice.

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The advanced editing tools allow you to add frames and stamps, but you can also use it to change the color settings, resize, and crop photos.

Photoshop Mobile Adobe Photoshop is probably the most trusted name in photo-editing software, and Adobe has expanded to also offer a mobile version of its product, as shown here. It’s not nearly as full-featured as the desktop version, but it is considerably cheaper. The current price is free. Photoshop Mobile doesn’t let you take new photos from within the program, but it lets you work with the photos you already have. Think of it as a Gallery app alternative. It allows you to edit a variety of photos features, including soft focus, saturation, tint, cropping, and color effects. You can upload photos to a free Photoshop.com account (you’ll be prompted to create an account if you don’t have one already). Once your photos have been uploaded, you can share and edit them from your Photoshop.com account.

PicSay PicSay is probably the best known of several photoediting apps that allow you to make artistic and novel changes to photos before uploading them, as shown here. PicSay comes in a free trial version and a paid app (about $4.00 as of publishing time). Google Checkout will convert the currency if you buy the app through the Android Market. The trial version of PicSay has an older version of the interface than the for-pay version, and limits the size of pictures. The pro version also offers more editing options. PicSay allows you to apply an impressive amount of effects to photos. Not only does it allow you make whimsical edits like applying fake mustaches or novelty eyeballs, but it has an impressive list of very practical effects. You can use it to edit out red-eye, add captions, or add grain and other textures to photos.


Similar photo-editing apps include Pic Paint and Camera Illusion, along with Photo Workshop, which ships with your DROID. See Chapter 17, "The Android Market" for more information on purchasing and installing apps.

Other Photo Apps If you prefer not to use Picasa for your online photo albums, you can use Photobucket or Facebook. You can also use any other service, so long as you have the proper app installed. You can also share photos using Bump, an app that allows you to exchange contact info by physically bumping the phone of another user. Bump was previously an iPhone-only app, but it is now cross-platform compatible with Android users. Android allows developers to have access to camera controls, so many apps allow you to take photos or use the camera. Price comparison software like ShopSavvy and Compare Everywhere use the camera to scan bar codes. Evernote allows you to take and attach snapshots to notes. Camera Pro and Snap Photo Pro are paid apps that offer higher-end camera features like a timer and grid marks for easier photo composition. Camera Pro even offers to replace the Camera app as the default camera. Google launched an experimental app for searching with pictures, called Goggles. Goggles is best when used to scan man-made objects like DVD covers, text, and famous buildings. Goggles analyzes any photo you take with it and attempts to identify the object and find it in search. If it can’t identify the object, it looks for visually similar images. Goggles is currently not much more than a novelty, but in the future it may end up being an easier way to search than typing search terms into your phone.

Printing If you want to print photos, documents, or other files without downloading them to your PC or sending them to CVS, you can use the PrinterShare app from the Android Market. Download the free Mac or PC desktop component from http://printershare.com, and install the Android app on your phone. This lets you share that computer’s printer access. You can use a trial version to make sure it’s compatible with your network and do some limited printing. The $4.95 pro Android app allows you to print directly to Wi-Fi printers and doesn’t have a page limit. Remember that the resolution on your DROID or DROID 2 is still only enough for quality 57-inch prints or smaller.

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Chapter

Finding Your Way With Maps One of the big advantages of owning a smartphone is that, not only do you have a mobile computer with you at all times, but you also have a compass, map, and restaurant guide. This chapter will discuss using Google Maps and other location-conscious apps on your phone for both business and pleasure. You’ll learn how to use your phone for driving directions, deciding where to eat, and letting your friends know where to find you. There are a lot of apps that use maps, but in order to do so, those apps have to know where your phone is. In general, phones know where they are by using the following:

GPS (global positioning satellites)

Cell phone towers

WPS (Wireless Positioning System)

There are dozens global positioning satellites orbiting the Earth. Your DROID’s GPS unit attempts to find the signal from at least three of them and triangulate your position. However, this requires your phone to have a chip that detects GPS signals and be in an area that can detect them. If you’re indoors underground or around lots of tall buildings, your phone might not pick up a GPS signal. Your location can also be estimated using relative positions to cell phone towers. This isn’t as accurate as GPS because cell towers are positioned for better signal reception, not triangulation, so there are generally not three overlapping points for positioning. The third method of locating your phone comes from using a map of known public Wi-Fi spots. It’s a method that works well in urban areas and indoors – precisely the places where GPS does poorly. Because it only requires a Wi-Fi signal, it even works on laptops, netbooks, and tablets. If you combine all three methods, you end up with a phone that usually knows where it is.

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You can enable and disable your phone’s ability to trace your location by using the GPS

Toggle widget, which is a Motorola widget for phones that support them. can also do the following: 1.

Press the Menu button while on the Home screen.

2.

Tap Settings.

3.

Tap Location & Security.

4.

Check the options under My Location.

You

You can choose to enable Wi-Fi tracking, GPS satellite tracking, or assisted GPS, which uses a combination of location methods. The more services you enable, the better your phone will be at determining your location.

Understanding Google Maps Your DROID ships with Google Maps, and it comes with several related apps, all of which will be covered in this chapter. Google Maps-related apps include Google Maps, Places, Street View, and Navigator. You can either launch these apps individually or launch them from within Google Maps. Google Maps works with your phone’s GPS; and if you have location sensing enabled on your DROID, Google Maps will determine your location when you launch the app. You can also use it to search for distant locations. You can move your view of the map with your fingers, and you can also use pinch-tozoom motions to enlarge and shrink the area you’re displaying. You can also use the + and – buttons to shrink and zoom the image. Tap anywhere on the map, and Google Maps will attempt to tell you the address of that location. Press the Menu button to see more options. Remember that if you’re ever lost, you can use the My Location tool and Google Maps to try to determine your location. You’ll see yourself as a point on the map with a light-blue circle around it. Because there are a lot of variables that affect accuracy, the larger circle shows where you could be.


The smaller the circle, the more accurate the prediction. Your location may be indicated as a blue arrow if the DROID can determine which direction your phone is facing or moving. If you don't see any circle around your blue dot or arrow, then your location is as accurate as possible - usually about 3 meters (about 10 feet).

Driving Directions If you just feel like exploring an area, use the Search button. You can either use the physical Menu button or the button that appears when you press the Menu button from the Home screen. This is useful for answering questions such as “What’s near 131st street?” or “Where is Uganda?” It’s not, however, for directions on how to get to places. Follow these steps to get actual driving directions: 1.


2.

Tap Directions.

You’ll see fields for My Location and End point, as shown to the right. The My Location field assumes that you want directions from your current location. If you want to use a different address, you’ll need to enter it here. next to the My Location and End point There’s also a handy Bookmark button fields. This lets you choose from your current location, a place you point to on the map, the address of one of your contacts, or any location you’ve starred. You’ll also see a series of buttons below these fields for choosing what mode of transportation you need. You can choose car, public transportation, bicycle, and walking directions. This is a lifesaver if you’re trying to get anywhere in a big city without a car.

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Once you’ve settled on a start point, endpoint, and means of transportation, tap Go. You’ll see a list of text-based step-by-step directions. Tap Show on map to see the route displayed on the map instead. If you leave your phone’s GPS on, you can even see your progress as you go. We’ve used this to navigate in cities without annoying the locals by pausing too long to figure out directions. Press the phone’s Back button to get back to text directions. From here you can also press the phone’s Menu button to get updated directions, reverse the directions for the trip back, or report a problem with the directions. Press the Navigate button to hear spoken directions that guide you to your destination.

Map Layers Google Maps for Android works by displaying information as a series of information-layer overlays. If you’re familiar with Google Earth, it works the same way. These layers can be turned on and off individually. Follow these steps to use this app: 1.

On the DROID 2/X press the Menu button and then Layers to see some of the available layers, as shown to the right. This list may also scroll. On the original DROID, Layers is activated by the Layers icon at the top right of the screen.

2.

Tap the More Layers button to see even more layers.

3.

Tap each layer to toggle it on or off. You can toggle more than one of these layers at a time.


Traffic Much of the information you see in Google Maps comes from contracts with third parties, and the traffic information is no exception. Traffic information is only available for large cities, and it’s shown by color-coding the roads. Green indicates smooth traffic, yellow indicates delays, and red indicates major snarls. Traffic information can change rapidly, so don’t expect absolute accuracy. It’s also difficult (and dangerous) to check while you’re actually on the road.

Satellite Satellite info comes from a variety of third-party imaging sources as well as Google, and those photos are stitched together and superimposed on the map information. An example is shown to the right. The images are usually great, but sometimes the stitching process distorts the image. Consequently, there are times when an address appears to be in the wrong location, and you’ll notice patches of ground with different image quality. Satellite images are also not necessarily up to date. The photos for any given area could be several years old. Google will often buy new images when something major happens in an area, such as Hurricane Katrina, the BP oil spill, or the earthquake in Haiti, but don’t be surprised if the satellite image of your house doesn’t include your recently built garage.

Buzz Google Buzz is a social networking service. You can make posts in Google Buzz that include your location information, and that adds your post to the Buzz layer on Google Maps. Using this layer, you can see Buzz posts that were made nearby. The Google Buzz layer shows those posts as little quote bubbles over the map. Tap a quote to see the post.

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Google Labs Layers The Google Labs layer is shown to the right. It is a collection of experimental features you can turn on and off. They’re not always reliable, and they don’t always last, but some Google Labs “graduates” have turned into solid and popular features, such as the public transportation directions in the Google Maps app. Most main Google products have their own set of Google Labs experiments, and quite often (as in Gmail) those features just won’t work on your phone. Google Maps is an exception to this general rule. Follow these steps to toggle Google Labs layers on or off:

1.

To get to Google Labs, press the Menu button while in Google Maps.

2.

Tap More.

3.

Tap Labs.

4.

Tap on individual layers to toggle them on or off. You can enable or disable layers at will.

Google does use the relative popularity of Google Labs projects as one factor in determining what stays and what goes from an application or service.


Location Sharing With Latitude Google’s Latitude service is a way to let your social network know where you are. You can use it to make sure people know you made your flight, or let your contacts know you’ve got a trip in their city. Currently, you can only share information with mutual friends, which means you must invite your friends to share Latitude information with you, and they must accept the invitation. You can also use the Latitude service from a laptop or desktop computer, so it doesn’t depend on everyone owning a phone. You have four global choices for sharing Latitude location information: Detect automatically: You just let your phone report where you are to your friends. Set your location: You can manually update your location (and lie about where you are if you wish). Hide your location: Nobody sees your location, but you can still see your friends. Turn Latitude off: Your friends can’t see you where you are, nor can you can see where they are. Keep in mind that your friends are the only ones who can see any of this, and settings for individuals will override global choices. When Latitude was initially released, there was concern that someone could be stalked by having this feature turned on without his knowledge, so you may receive an email letting you know you’ve joined Latitude or that you have turned on location tracking. To add friends to your Latitude account from the Google Maps app, take the following steps: 1.


2.

Tap Join Latitude.

3.

Press Menu.

4.

Tap Add friends.

5.

Choose to add a friend through your contact list or by the friend’s email address.

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The friend will receive an email inviting her to join Latitude or accept your request. When someone sends you an invitation, you’ll receive an email asking if you’d like to ignore the request, share your location back, or accept their request and hide your location. If all of this sounds a bit too personal, you can ratchet it down a notch for more casual business contacts. For example, you can manage friends on an individual level by tapping Latitude and then tapping a contact’s name. You can see where someone is on a map, contact them (through email, Google Talk, and so on), get navigation directions to visit them, remove them as a friend, and set specific privacy settings. Tap Sharing options, and you can choose to do the following:

Share the best available location (most likely your exact location)

Share city information only

Hide your information

You can change these settings later or tweak them by relationship level. For example, you might let your spouse know your exact location and your business contacts know your city only when you travel. You can also globally shut down location information by hiding or manually entering just your city name when you don’t want to broadcast your location.

Google Place Pages Sometimes you want more information about a particular location. In the web version of Google Maps, Google has moved toward a system where each location has a place page. On Android, that means each location has a well-organized detail page with tabs. Double-tap a location or tap the location bubble, and you’ll see the location details, as shown on the right. Not every location will have so many details, so what you see will depend on the information available for the location. Also note that this is a fairly new feature, so sometimes the details themselves are off. Some details you can find include reviews, a location’s website, driving directions, a location’s distance from you, and the ability to share info about a location on social networks. Tap the Places icon to start the Places app.


If there’s an available phone number, you can call it by tapping the Phone button. NOTE: If you need to give someone an address in a hurry, go to the location’s place page, tap Share this place, and send it as an SMS text message. If that person has a smartphone, they can tap the link you sent her and use Google Maps to get directions.

Google Places Rather than randomly finding spots on a map, you can search for nearby attractions by using the Places app. Although it’s a separate app, it’s really just a different interface for the same Google Maps database. You can use Places to browse for apps by category or search individually. Once you’ve landed on an item’s Page Place, you can get navigation directions, phone the business, view the location in Street View, and more. Figure 19–1 illustrates the power of Places. Tap the Places icon to start the Places app.

Tap the star to mark a location as a favorite. Find the location on Google Maps.

Tap

Get directions.

Tap

Call the location. Tap a category or type a search.

Tap a place for more details.

See on Street View when available.

Scroll down for more options.

Figure 19–1. Leveraging the Google Places app.

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Starring Locations You can also use the location details to add a star to a location. Tap the Star icon in the upper-right corner of the screen. It will glow yellow when the location is starred. Simply tap it again to remove the star. Using stars is like saving bookmarks for web pages. This feature enables you to easily find locations you visit frequently or need to find quickly.

Follow these steps to access your list of starred items in Google Maps: 1.

Press Menu.

2.

Tap More. On the original DROID, tap Starred Places.

3.

Tap Starred items.

NOTE: When you travel for business, put a star on the convention center and your hotel before you arrive; this will give you instant access to addresses, driving directions, relevant phone numbers, and nearby restaurants.


Google Street View At first the idea of the Google Street View service seemed a bit creepy: Google used cars with mounted cameras and other equipment to take 360-degree photos of roads everywhere. It’s still a bit creepy in light of the company’s admission that it inadvertently snooped on users in open Wi-Fi hotspots (this is another reason to use caution when using unencrypted hotspots). That aside, Google Street View is an amazing tool for figuring out where you need to be. We use it when we have an appointment at a new location to see what the building looks like before we arrive; we also use it to check whether there’s any parking or tricky intersections along the way.

Follow these steps to get to Street View: 1.

Go to the location details page.

2.

Tap the Street View button, which looks like a person with a triangle on his chest. Not every location has a Street View; if this button is grayed out, that option is unavailable.

3.

Navigate by dragging around the picture with your finger to pan around the scene.

4.

Go further up or down the road by tapping the arrows. The yellow line shows you the path the Street View car took as it traveled.

5.

Exit Street View with the Back button on your phone.

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TIP: Street View uses large pictures and takes some bandwidth, so you should only attempt to use it if you’ve got a fairly strong signal or you are in a Wi-Fi hotspot. If you are not in a Wi-Fi hotspot, be aware that Street View uses a lot of data, so we recommend only using it if you have a large or unlimited wireless data plan.

Using Your Phone for GPS Navigation If you have a phone with maps, wouldn’t it be nice if you didn’t also need a car GPS? As it happens, you can indeed use your phone as a GPS. Google Maps includes navigation instructions, but it also includes a separate app called Navigation that you can use to get directions in a hurry. Navigation is not just for driving directions; you can also use it for walking, biking, and public transport directions. Like Places, Navigation isn’t so much a separate app as it is an interface to get to the same Google Maps data. When you get driving directions, choose the Navigate option. You can select Navigate from within Google Maps or just launch the Navigation app. Directions will be spoken from your DROID’s speaker or Bluetooth headset when attached. Just as with dedicated GPS navigation systems, Navigation will attempt to compensate if you take a wrong turn or choose to take an alternate road. It also has text-to-speech, which means you’ll hear “Turn left on West Highway 50” and not just “Turn left in 1000 feet.” As with any GPS navigation system, this works better for some roads than others. Sometimes the Google Maps data will reflect a less commonly used name for a road, and sometimes the pronunciation will be off. As shown on the right, Navigation displays map information for driving, the length of time it will take to reach your destination, and the direction of your next turn. As you near your destination, Navigation will show you Street View, so you can glance (or better yet, have a passenger glance) to see where you’re headed. Unlike some commercial navigation systems, you cannot choose new voices or change the appearance of your “car” on the map.


You can purchase special accessories for your DROID such as car mounts for charging your phone while using it to navigate. You can also use a cigarette lighter adapter to power your phone while navigating. It’s a good idea to have some sort of dock or charger because navigation eats up a lot of battery juice. Google isn’t the only navigation app for DROIDs. There are a growing number of commercial navigation apps available for download, and DROIDs also come with VZ Navigator, which currently costs an extra $10 per month to use. Because Google’s navigation tools are free and very useful, we feel they’re the best bet. However, you may find a must-have feature, such as live rerouting to avoid traffic jams (available in VZ Navigator), that make a commercial app worth the extra money. It’s still cheaper than buying a standalone GPS unit.

CarDock In addition to Google Maps, Google Navigation, and Google Places, your DROID also has a Google app called CarDock, a tool specifically made for using your phone in the car. CarDock assumes that you will mainly be using your phone as a speaker phone to dial your contacts; using voice commands to find driving directions; and playing music. The buttons on CarDock are intentionally big, so you can press them with a glance instead of a stare. Figure 19–2 illustrates the various CarDock options. When someone calls you, you still have to drag to answer the call, which is unfortunate. Tap the large Microphone button to launch Voice Search. You can use Voice Search to find a location. Be sure to say, “Navigate to” and then your destination. This tells Voice Search that you want driving directions, not just to search for a location on the map. CarDock will launch the Navigation app in order to find your destination. You may see a prompt to choose whether you want to use VZ Navigator or Google Navigation to complete your task. Choose Navigation unless you’re paying for the VZ Navigator service.

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Figure 19–2. CarDock as seen in Night mode.

NOTE: On the original DROID, this is called Car Home and the icons are somewhat different.

Adding a Favorite App You may notice that CarDock has six buttons, and one of them is labeled Add App. You can use this button to launch Pandora, the FM Radio app on your DROID, Amazon’s MP3 Player, or any other app you frequently use while driving. Follow these steps to add an app to CarDock: 1.

Press down and hold your finger on the Add App button (the long-press gesture)

2.

You will see a prompt. Scroll through the list of available apps, and tap the one you wish to add.

3.

The Add App button will be replaced by the name of the app you’ve chosen.

Alternatively, you can assign an app to this button with the following steps: 1.

From the CarDock app, press the Menu button.


2.

Tap Preferences.

3.

Select Custom.

4.

Choose an app.

You must use the Preferences method if you’ve already chosen a custom app for CarDock and want to change it to something else.

Email and Text Directions Many apps link to Google Maps, and Google provides plenty of alternative ways to find directions and locations. If someone sends you a location in Gmail, Google will sense that the information is an address and attempt to automatically create a Google Maps link from it. Likewise, if you receive an SMS message with a Google Maps address link, you can use the link to launch Google Maps.

Making Your Own Maps You may have noticed that one of your options in Google Maps layers is My maps. You’re not limited to Google’s layers in order to make a map. You can actually create your own map as a layer to Google Maps. To create your own maps, you can either use Google Maps on a desktop computer, or you can download the My Maps Editor app from Google. This lets you add photos, lines, shapes, markers, and new addresses. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

Tap a location.

2.

Tap the + button.

3.

Select the type of content you want to add. Photos can only be added if you shoot them from your camera at that moment.

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4.

Once you’re done adding an element, you can add details to it. For instance, you could put a shape around the area of a convention where your company will locate its booth.

5.

Once you’ve added the elements you need, tap the Edit button and choose whether this is a personal, private, or public map.

6.

Give your map a name, and tap the Save button.

All your maps will be available in the My maps layer, but only maps you’ve made public will be visible to other people or available in search.

Location-Based Social Media and Games We’ve focused a lot in this chapter on Google Maps specifically. However, one recent trend worth noting is location-sensitive social media. There are restaurant and service guides like Yelp and Geodelic, as well as apps that tag photos or messages with your location. Your DROID camera can also tag your photos with the location they were taken. See Chapter 18: “Photos and Video” for more information. The Latitude and Buzz services use some of these geo-tagging features, and Twitter has likewise enabled the ability to give location information. However, two rising stars in this field are Gowalla and Foursquare. Both were created around the same time and offer very similar features. App developers are also free to take advantage of the Google Maps library and Android’s location-sensing features. In both the Gowalla and Foursquare services, the object is to check into locations. You need to use a phone or other location-sensing mobile device. You can’t just manually type in a location. The whole point is to actually be there. You can share these check-ins with nobody, your friends, your Facebook page, or the whole world via Twitter.

Both Foursquare and Gowalla are working with businesses and cities to offer features like coupons and specials for users who check in. This unique form of advertising may become very popular because it gives you an obvious way to measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign.


Foursquare Foursquare was cofounded by ex-Googler Dennis Crowley, who worked on a similar project, Dodgeball, which was purchased and abandoned by Google. However, Foursquare takes the social network to a new and different level by adding a gaming component. Dennis Crowley explained it as a method to combine exploring your city with gaming and a little bit of Boy Scout pride in earning merit badges and trophies. Certain combinations of check-ins in Foursquare earn badges. Some examples include checking into the same location three times, finding five karaoke bars, finding three places in Chicago with photo booths, or checking in after 3 a.m. on a school night. Checking into the same location regularly could also earn you a “mayorship.” The picture to the right shows a check in that resulted in winning a new mayorship. The mayor of a location is the person who has checked in most frequently in the last two months, so you need to keep checking in to maintain the title. However, rapid checking in is disabled to prevent too many people from gaming the system.

Gowalla While Foursquare is a bit of a competitive game, Gowalla is more of a personal exploration and virtual geocaching tool. You can earn pins, similar to the badges in Foursquare, and you maintain a passport of places you’ve visited. You can also create and travel on tours of different check-in locations. Gowalla also gives users a few virtual items they can leave or exchange at locations. Examples would be blankets, avocados, and espresso machines. To the right, you can see the luggage tags left at a location. When you encounter a virtual item at a location, you can see the history of who owned the item, encouraging the frequent exchange of these virtual geocaches.

Rapid check-ins are fine with Gowalla, since there’s no mayorship. It’s also much more sensitive to proximity than Foursquare, so you need to be pretty close to a location to

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check in. This makes it ideal for walking tours and pub crawls, but not so great for check-ins within a building or anyplace where the GPS will not work well. In the next chapter, we'll explore social media in more detail.

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20

Social Media and Skype Social media can broadly be defined as Internet sites and apps designed around social interaction. The Internet, has always centered on communication, and now that form of communication entered the mainstream. As we write this, the Facebook site at www.facebook.com is the most popular website in the world. These days, being social can also be good business, so much so that it’s become a regular component of CRM (customer-relationship management). Social media keeps your customers updated with your latest projects, keeps them excited about your products and services, and lets them tell you where you should go next. Social media also helps you personally network with your colleagues or find your next opportunity. Social media done badly can also be bad business for you or your company, so think twice about what you post and exercise some common sense. People have been fired for casual posts they’ve made on their blog, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media websites. In this chapter, we’ll explore some of the social media tools available for Android, as well as how you can make efficient use of your social time both on and off the clock.

Motorola Widgets Your DROID comes ready to sync with several social networking sites, including Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. You can learn more about syncing with your accounts in Chapter 3: “Sync to your Google Account.” In addition, there are two Motorola widgets you can use with your social media. These are covered in more detail in Chapter 6: “Organize Your Home Screens.” Let’s begin by reviewing the two social networking Motorola widgets: Social Networking and Social Status (see Figure 20–1). NOTE: The original DROID has a separate Facebook and Twitter widgets as opposed to the Social Networking widget.

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Post status updates with the Social Status widget.

View posts and status updates with the Social Networking widget

Long press on the screen and choose Motorola Widgets.

Figure 20–1. The social networking Motorola widgets.

Both of these widgets are interactive. Tap on a widget to expand it for more choices. The Social Status widget expands to allow you to make status updates to your Twitter and Facebook accounts. The Social Networking widget expands to let you read, comment, Like, Retweet, and otherwise interact with your social networks (see Figure 20–2).

Tap

Tap to expand the widget, then drag side to side to navigate through messages.

Reply to Event Invitations in Facebook from the Social Networking widget.

Figure 20–2. The expanded Social Networking widget.

Retweet and Favorite Twitter posts.

Comment and Like Facebook posts.


It’s possible you’ll never need another social networking app for your DROID. It’s also possible you’ll find features or social networks missing from your collection if you rely only on the included Motorola widgets.

Twitter and Microblogs Twitter is part of a new generation of short, public blogging tools known as microblogs. Twitter is a rapidly evolving service that essentially started out as a blog-like public collection of SMS messages from a given user. Twitter posts, or tweets, are limited to 140 characters; this limitation reflects their start in SMS. However, Twitter is also available from the Web, so many users are not accessing it with their phone at all. Twitter gained popularity in part because it allowed a lot of open use from third-party tools. Some (but not all) of those tools have made their way to Android, and Twitter features are built into your Social Networking and Social Status widgets, as well as many other apps, including those shown on the right. You might wonder why you would use Twitter. The short messages are great for pointing out items of interest, letting your friends know what you’re feeling, or critiquing a conference as it happens.

Twitter is good for business, too. If your business is transportation, you can let the riders know about delays. If your business is weather dependent, you can let your customers know if you need to make cancellations. You can also use it to advertise specials, promote your latest accomplishments, or deepen your customer engagement by having a conversation about their needs. Or you can use Twitter to listen to what your customers or colleagues in your industry are saying. Chris Brogan has an excellent blog post on the subject of Twitter and business at this URL: www.chrisbrogan.com/50-ideason-using-twitter-for-business.

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The Mechanics and Culture of Twitter We tend to think of Twitter like a noisy party where everyone has to speak loudly. As you walk through the party, you can hear snippets of conversations, but you can’t always be sure who is being addressed. We’re not the only one to make that observation. In fact, there’s an entire book that uses the party analogy: Social Media Is a Cocktail Party by Jim Tobin and Lisa Braziel (CreateSpace, 2008). The basic mechanics of Twitter are this. Twitter is a free service available at http://twitter.com. Every user can make 140 character posts in her own Twitter “stream.” You can follow other users, and they can follow you. You have a stream of all the posts from people you follow. You can choose to make your stream public or visible only to those you preapprove as followers, but you can’t specify privacy on individual posts. The number of followers a person has can be taken as a measure of authority, though it’s not an absolute measure. Ashton Kutcher’s Twitter account is far more popular than Eric Schmidt’s account, even though many would argue that the CEO of Google has more authority in his tweets. Many of Twitter’s conventions are ad hoc creations designed to work around some of Twitter’s shortcomings. Twitter is an unthreaded conversation stream. You can make a post in a stream as a reply to someone else, but your response remains in your Twitter feed, not the other person’s. In order to indicate replies, people began using the @username convention. For example, replies to Marziah would be @marziah. Eventually, Twitter worked this into the system and began making automatic links to users based on this, letting users know whenever they had a new @reply or @mention.

Retweets If someone says something you agree with, like, or want to repeat, you don’t repeat it, you retweet it. A retweet is a repeat that gives credit to the original author. The convention for retweets is RT: @username, followed by the repeated message. Twitter also picked up on this convention and now allows you to press a button and retweet messages with the other user’s icon to indicate the source. However, some users still opt for the old RT: @username style retweets because this approach allows them to add commentary before the retweet.

Hashtags Searching for relevant information on a given topic is difficult, so users began putting unlikely character combinations into their posts to tag them or help them sort related posts in searches.


The # (hash) symbol became the common marker for these tags, so the hashtag was born. Sometimes conventions or advertising campaigns mention a particular hashtag, and sometimes the hashtag is spontaneous and viral.

URL Shorteners You’ve only got 140 characters, so you don’t have room for long URLs. A new class of service emerged that would simply forward links from a shorter URL to a longer one. URL shorteners themselves became shorter to save space, so services like TinyURL.com ended up competing with services like bit.ly and ow.ly. Many of these services also added value, such as metrics for the shortened URLs. NOTE: You should avoid using shortened URLs when they’re not necessary. You are relying on a third party to forward your link when you use a shortened URL. That third party could go out of business or have an outage at any time, making you look unprofessional for having a broken link. In fact, this is exactly what happened to the tr.im shortening service. In April of 2010, the company announced it was going out of the URL shortening business and that it was ceasing all forwards at the end of 2010. Some URLs are also “nicer” than others when it comes to forwarding your links in a way that search engines can easily crawl.

TwitPic TwitPic was created by Noah Everett to solve the problem of photo sharing on Twitter. It’s a separate service, but interconnected. You must register for a TwitPic account at http://twitpic.com, but your Twitter username is your TwitPic username, and each photo has its own comment thread on TwitPic. Many phone Twitter apps tie into TwitPic or use similar services, so uploading and linking a photo is a quick process that can be accomplished entirely from your phone. Your DROID doesn’t support directly uploading photos to Twitter from the Social Networking app at this time, so you’ll need to use a service like TwitPic or a Twitter client that supports such a feature to attach pictures to your updates.

Direct Messages Direct messages – or DMs – are short, private messages you can send to a follower that is also following you. They’re almost like email message, but you’re still constrained to 140 characters. You can send a direct message using a button for that specific purpose.

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Finding Twitter Apps There are many Twitter apps available for Android, including the official Twitter app from the Twitter team, which is shown to the right. That doesn’t mean the official app is the best or the only possibility you should consider. You can also use the Social Networking app that comes with your DROID, and many third-party apps provide enhanced features not available in the official app. It may be helpful to make a list of priority features before deciding on an app. Most apps also come with lite and premium options, so you can try before you buy. Some factors in your decision may include the following:

Support for multiple accounts

URL shortening

Link metrics

Speed

The ability to upload and link pictures or video

The ability to create and track custom keyword searches

Support for both viewing and adding lists

Ability to follow, unfollow, and block accounts

Ability to easily send retweets and direct messages

Available widgets

Background sync


Hootsuite is our favorite Twitter app for a balance of features and price. You can use it to manage multiple accounts, and the interface makes it clear which account is posting. If you buy the premium app, you can also track visitors through the URL-shortening service, ow.ly. The image on the right shows our favorite extra feature: scheduled tweets. You can use this feature to precompose press releases or turn 3:00 a.m. deep thoughts into mid-afternoon topics of conversation. Using the feature is as simple as pressing the Calendar icon when composing a message and choosing when to send it.

Twidroyd and Touiteur (pronounced Twitter) are a pair of popular apps that feature both free and paid versions. Twidroyd was formerly known as Twidroid, but its publisher, TweetUp, changed the name when it purchased the service to avoid any branding confusion with the LucasArts trademarked term, droid. Verizon Wireless actually licensed the term droid for your DROID.

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Touiteur offers nice features like trend search, but you must upgrade to the 1.99 (about $2.60) version to upload pictures or manage multiple accounts. Tweetcaster (shown on the right) is a $4.99 app with a pleasant user interface that supports saved searches. This feature enables you to keep checking certain hashtags and keywords. You can also search for nearby tweets to see what’s trending in your local community. Seesmic is a full-featured free app that supports multiple accounts and is also available for desktop computers.

Twitter’s official app is easy to use and supports all the official Twitter features, such as lists, trends, and @mentions. Lists are shown to the right. The official Twitter app also comes with a nice widget, a splash screen with a bird that flaps its wings and lists trending topics. However, the official Twitter app doesn’t support multiple accounts at this time.


As you consider choosing a favorite Twitter app, you need to keep a few things in mind. Nearly all of the apps that support Twitter allow you to change how often they check for new tweets. Unless you absolutely, positively must be notified of new tweets, you should turn this down to a reasonable, battery-conserving setting of 30 minutes or longer. Many apps allow you to use either your own URL-shortening service or use one supplied with the individual apps. You should pick a service that offers you tracking and metrics, even if you don’t think you’ll use them just yet. It’s easier to have the data than it is to wish you had the data. Bit.ly and Ow.ly both allow data tracking and are popular choices.

Yammer If you want the instant communication of Twitter, but you want to restrict access to only your company, you may want to try Yammer (www.yammer.com). Yammer creates a Twitter-like atmosphere that is only accessible to people with the same email domain. Yammer also adds threaded conversations to the tweets and organizational charts, so it has value beyond a simple Twitter imitation. Recently, it has added the ability to create communities across multiple email domains, so it’s possible to have a partnership community with vendors and customers or a group of close friends with different email domains. Yammer makes an official app. It’s not robust, but it does allow you to post and see status updates. Fortunately, the intra-company nature of the Yammer service means that you don’t need the same bells and whistles for communication that you would for Twitter.

Other Microblogs Twitter stole most of the microblog spotlight, but you may prefer a different platform for your message. There’s no shortage of microblogging services, so there’s no chance of naming them all. Some, like Jaiku, seem to be short on dedicated apps. Others have a large selection of dedicated apps, but none of these other microblogs are included in the Social Networking widget on DROID.

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Tumblr is worthy of mention. It allows short microblog posts, but it also supports multimedia better than Twitter by directly embedding it in threads. It also enables threaded responses to posts. Tumblr users create rich Tumblogs with pictures, videos, links, and text. There are multiple Android apps that support Tumblr, both free and premium. Just as with Twitter and Facebook, there’s also an official Tumblr app. The free ttTumblr app shown to the right offers a lot of features in conjunction with a simple user interface.

Plurk is another microblogging alternative to Twitter and Facebook. It organizes posts on a timeline and assigns “karma” for participation. Like Tumblr, it allows easier multimedia embedding, and it has builtin privacy settings to make it useful for both small and large groups. Posts are organized on a scrolling horizontal timeline, which allows threaded responses. The web timeline interface makes it challenging to translate to a phone app; however, the PlurQ app (shown on the right) does a good job of implementing this feature on a phone.


Social Bookmarking Social bookmarking is a method of sharing sites you like. In the purest form, Delicious, one of the leading social bookmarking services (www.delicious.com), allows you to save a bookmark with a quick note and tags to organize the bookmark by category. You can also network with other users to see their bookmarks and measure the relative popularity of bookmarks by seeing how many other users have marked a particular site. Instead of using a dedicated, standalone Delicious-based app, you typically use the service through add-ons to your browser. When an app such as Bookmarking for Delicious is installed, it adds an option from within your web browser to add bookmarks to your Delicious account. To add bookmarks, make sure Bookmarking for Delicious is installed and then follow these steps: 1. Tap Menu. 2. Tap More. 3. Tap Share page. 4. Choose Delicious. For more information on the built-in Browser app, please refer to Chapter 11, “Surfing the Web.” Digg (http://digg.com) is another popular social bookmarking site. Unlike Delicious, Digg also adds a threaded comment discussion. Digg emphasizes quantity and focuses on showing the most popular links of the moment as a method of crowd-sourced news. Users can digg or bury items to see what stories float to the top. Similar services include Reddit and Slashdot. Sites like these can attract huge crowds of visitors to a business’s site, so it makes good business sense for blogs that can handle high levels of traffic to leverage social bookmarking sites to entice people to visit. Android apps are available for all three social bookmarking services. You just need to decide how involved you need to be from your phone. For example, do you need to comment and submit bookmarks, or do you just want to see what the currently trending articles are? Do you want a full app or just a widget?

Facebook The Facebook social network started out as a simple virtual yearbook for college students, but it has since morphed into one of the most popular websites in the world. At the time of this book’s publication, it’s even more popular than Google search in terms of the sheer volume of page views on the site. Facebook intends for people to use their actual names instead of pseudonyms. Users are also intended to share information with small to large circles of acquaintances. However, Facebook has been facing increasing scrutiny over its privacy policies and confusing security settings. When you use Facebook, the wisest course of action is to

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assume anything you say is completely visible to the world; indeed, you should make this same assumption for any website you post information to. Facebook allows multiple types of posts, from quick status updates to photos, videos, and longer notes. You can also link to articles, videos, and pictures hosted outside of Facebook, as well as add apps that incorporate games, group reading lists, and more. Facebook is also moving toward a universal Like button that allows you to interact with pages and websites outside of Facebook. You might wonder how you manage both personal and business contacts on Facebook. You can do so in a couple of ways. One approach I don’t recommend is to create multiple accounts. If you create multiple accounts using your real name, it will only serve to confuse you and your contacts when they try to add you as a friend. The two approaches you can take are either to friend everyone and assign them to friend groups through the privacy settings or to create a fan page. Fan pages (officially, Facebook just calls them “pages”) got their name from the way people used to add them to their feed. Users would “become a fan” of a given page. Facebook has changed this mechanism to a simple Like button. TIP: Currently, Facebook has a 5,000-friend limit on personal accounts. If you anticipate reaching that limit between clients, fans, and good friends, then you need a fan page. Even if you don’t anticipate an overwhelming deluge of clients and business contacts friending you, it may still be disturbing to manage personal and work acquaintances in the same social space.

Creating Fan Pages You set up fan pages through the Ads and Pages application. If you don’t have any pages, search for “Ads and Pages” from within Facebook. We suggest using a desktop browser to set this feature up. The advantage of using a fan page is that you can make a fan page an official company presence without needing to be friends with any of the fans of the page. The disadvantage is that you do not see the activity fans generate anywhere outside of that page. Whether or not you want your business contacts mingling with your classmates and relatives is a personal decision. However, you should decide how you want to handle the situation before you get your first friend request. It’s a lot easier to have separate spaces established in advance than it is to move everyone over to new spaces later. CAUTION: Whether or not you are Facebook friends with colleagues, business partners, or customers, it’s just bad business to badmouth any of them. They may not be able to see what you’ve said, but it’s not hard to copy-and-paste. The last thing you need is for casual gossip to get back to the person you badmouthed. People have been fired for less.


Facebook Apps Your DROID already supports Facebook through the Social Networking app. Original DROID owners can use Facebook’s official app, which is shown to the right. Facebook’s official app is great for personal networking. You can also use it to sync status updates with your contacts, check into locations, and you can upload photos directly to Facebook.

Personal Facebook management isn’t a problem, but managing fan pages and groups from your phone requires going beyond the default Social Networking widget. The easiest method to post directly to fan pages we’ve found is through the Ping.fm service. Ping.fm (which is also the URL) allows you to cross-post to an impressive number of social media sites at once. We’ll cover cross-posting in more detail at the end of this chapter.

LinkedIn LinkedIn is a social networking site for professionals. It’s designed primarily as a place to hang your resume, cross-network with business partners, give and receive recommendations, and offer status updates about your latest accomplishments. Although it’s something you may think of as a tool for job seekers, it’s a good idea to build and maintain your network even when you aren’t actively looking for work. You can establish yourself as a trusted source in your community by joining groups and recommending colleagues. Chances are you will need to look for work at some point, and it’s better to have connections and trust already established than to try to build them when your situation is desperate.

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LinkedIn has grown in popularity among business users by adding features for use beyond a simple chart of connections. LinkedIn claims to have more than 65 million users in 200 countries. As it has grown in popularity, LinkedIn has added features that go far beyond job seeking. You can network with colleagues in user groups, add your Twitter feed, and add applications like reading lists and document sharing. Android doesn’t sport an official LinkedIn app at the time of this book’s publication, and there are only a couple of third-party choices. Linked, by JUPE, is shown to the right. Linked is an ad-sponsored app that offers basic status updates and reading, allows you to see your contacts, and allows you to search and send contact requests.

Blogging Blogs – short for weblogs – started out as a series of manually maintained updates with no ability to comment. However, today blogs are a thriving, interactive format used worldwide. Many businesses use blogs to keep customers informed about their products, issue press releases, or just put a human face on their company. Freelancers often keep blogs as a way to promote themselves. In some cases, the blog itself has become the business, with advertising and market tie-ins generating enough revenue for the blogger to quit his day job. Blogs are generally intended to be public and visible, so it’s vital that you and your boss be clear on your intentions when it comes to corporate blogging. If you maintain a personal blog, it should go without saying that you need to be careful what you say about your boss or customers, even when blogging under a pseudonym. The standard format for most blogs is that the newest entry goes at the top, with older entries following it. The blog page itself uses either the RSS or Atom format for blog aggregation to make it easier for viewers to read the blog or find new updates without having to visit the blog itself. Feeds can be full, partial, or headline only. While full feeds are certainly the most convenient for readers, they also make it easier for content thieves to steal blog entries and claim them as their own.


Phone Posts Most blog platforms offer a method to email blog entries. Some also offer a way to post blog entries via SMS text message. Some, like LiveJournal, even offer a way to call and voice-record a message. In LiveJournal’s case, users can then manually transcribe the voice recording, so you can call in with a quick update (e.g., “It’s a girl!” or “Accident on the 435 bridge”) without having to enter text. As Android and smartphones become more popular, blogging platforms have also discovered the value of providing a native phone app for making and managing posts. Blogaway and other third-party apps support Google’s own blogging service, called Blogger; however – and inexplicably – Google hasn’t released an official app for its blogging service at the time of writing.

WordPress WordPress deserves special mention because it is the most popular blogging platform in the world. It can be used for content management that goes beyond blogging; however, blogs remain the core functionality that drives the popularity of WordPress. WordPress is open source and free. It can be templated and modified to run on corporate sites, and it can power personal blogs as well. There are a large variety of plug-ins and extensions from both free and premium developers available for this service. WordPress is supported on Android through a native WordPress app, which is shown to the right. This app lets you post messages with formatting, tag posts, and geotag posts; the app also lets you manage comments. You can also add photos and video to your posts.

You aren’t offered as many options for templating and administration as you’d see in a desktop browser. However, you probably don’t want as many options when you’re trying to type them in on a slide-out keyboard or touchscreen. If you need more access on the road, you can log into your account from your DROID’s Browser app.

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Bump It’s possible you may prefer to socially network the old-fashioned way. You still can. The Bump app, shown to the right, is available for both iPhones and Android. This app allows you to share your contact information by launching the application and then literally touching another Bump user’s phone. You’re not limited to just DROID users. Android and iPhone Bump users can share contact info with each other this way. You do need a reasonable network connection because the Bump app transmits your information over cell or Wi-Fi networks, not Bluetooth. Android users can also use the Bump app to share free apps from phone to phone.

Buzz Google has been trying to compete in the social media arena, but so far it hasn’t made much progress. One of its latest endeavors is its Google Buzz (Buzz) service. This service is part of Gmail, but it behaves like a separate service. Google has been heavily promoting Buzz, so it may end up becoming more popular as a social and selfpromotional tool. Buzz allows for long posts that can embed photos and videos, as shown to the right. You can create private or public posts and follow the posts of your contacts. Posts in your Buzz stream are often bumped to the top of the list based on who last replied. Thus, the more popular Buzz users tend to dominate the conversation. You can feed Twitter posts into Buzz to allow threaded comments on them, but Buzz posts do not feed back to Twitter.


The Google Buzz app for Android is a widget that enables quick posting of photos and location information. It also enables you to adjust your privacy settings. Reading Google Buzz is still handled through the mobile web browser interface; however, this is something that we hope will change with time.

Cross-Posting Once you’re up and running with all these social media services, many of which use similar posting formats, you might wonder how you manage your time posting to them. Fortunately, you can take advantage of cross-posting tools that let you focus on the tool or format that is easiest and/or most rewarding for you. The Motorola widget, Social Status, does exactly this. Follow these steps to use the Social Status widget: 1.

Tap the Social Status widget to enter a new status.

2.

Tap the selection box to choose a service for updates.

3.

Your choices are Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and All services. Choose All services to cross-post your update.

4.

Tap Post to finish posting the update.

Increasingly, apps are offering built-in cross-posting to and from Twitter and Facebook. While you can use the Social Status widget to make cross-posts individually, you may want to create other types of cross-posts.

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If you’re primarily a blogger, but want to add tweets to announce new blog entries, one way to do so is through Twitterfeed at http://twitterfeed.com. This is a free service that takes just about any blog feed and translates it into a shortened Twitter or Facebook post. You specify any prefix or suffix and how you want the post to be shortened, as shown to the right.

RSS Graffiti (www.facebook.com/RSS.Graffiti) is a service for porting blog posts into Facebook fan pages. There are many other cross-posting solutions as well, including free and paid apps. If you want to go beyond simply scooping a feed from one place and putting it into another, you can use a more powerful cross-posting service. Ping.fm, as mentioned earlier, is a free service that can crosspost to Facebook fan pages. Ping.fm can also cross-post to an impressive variety of social networks, blogs, and microblogs. From within Ping.fm, you can also make groups of media to post to; for instance, you could have a “press release” group that goes to your business Twitter account, Facebook fan page, WordPress blog, and Delicious bookmark. Any post you make to that group is automatically cross-posted. NOTE: Ping.fm is the web service, not the DROID app that enables cross-posting. The DROID app for using the Ping.fm service is called AnyPost. AnyPost, which is shown to the right, is a fantastic free Android client for Ping.fm. You can use it to post to services one at a time or as a group. A similar service for Android is Moby. However, this service is more blog-oriented and does not let you post to as many services.


NOTE: As far as cross-posting is concerned, there’s a fine line between posting the same message to multiple groups and simply spamming. The more places you cross-post, the more places you’ll also have to monitor comments.

Aggregating Content With Readers If you want to read all your content in one place rather than posting it, you’ll want an aggregator (aka feed reader). Feed readers take feeds from other sources and pile them into one place for easy reading. Tweets, blog posts, news items, and even Google searches are delivered as feeds that you can add to a feed reader, and many blogs add handy links for adding feeds. The universal symbol for an RSS feed is this: . When using most Android browsers while logged into your Google account, you can simply click the RSS icon in a blog to launch the Google Reader app. This app allows you to add a site’s feed to your Google Reader account. Google Reader is a robust feed reader that lets you organize feeds by category, share likes, mark favorites, and leave comments. It also keeps track of the last item you read. Unfortunately, official Google Reader support is currently only handled through the mobile web interface, which is shown to the right. The Google Reader app is capable, but it suffers from a few shortcomings. The most important interface issue when using the Google Reader app through the web interface is that you can’t use the Back button on your phone. It’s a hard habit to break when you’re used to navigating apps, but the Back button will exit your browser instead of going back to the previous feed.

Some third-party apps support the Google Reader service, including free apps like NetaShare and paid apps like eSobi. You can specify whether you want feeds to sync in the background (do not choose this option if you’re concerned about battery life). You can also use it to specify how many feeds should be fetched at a time.

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Making Phone Calls and More with Skype Social networking is all about keeping in touch with our friends, colleagues, and family. Passive communication through sites such as www.facebook.com and www.myspace.com is nice, but sometimes there is just no substitute for hearing someone’s voice. Amazingly, you can make phone calls using the Skype app from your DROID. Calls to other Skype users anywhere in the world are free. A nice thing about Skype is that it works on computers and many mobile devices, including iPhones, other Android phones, BlackBerry smartphones, and other mobile devices. You will be charged for calls to mobile phones and landlines, but the rates are reasonable. Your DROID ships with Skype already installed. You don’t need to download anything to use it.

NOTE: As of October 2010, Verizon Wireless customers can only use Skype on 3G networks; however, Skype users in the US on other networks can only use Skype on Wi-Fi.


Creating Your Skype Account on Your DROID If you need to set up your Skype account and have not already done so on your computer (see the “Using Skype on Your Computer” section later in this chapter), then follow these steps to set up Skype on your DROID: 1.

Tap the Skype icon from your Home screen.

2.

Tap the Create Account button.

3.

Tap Accept if you accept the No Emergency Calls pop-up warning window.

4.

Enter your Full Name and Email.

5.

Enter your Skype Name and Password.

6.

Choose whether to receive Skype news and offers.

7.

Tap the Create Account button to create your account.

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Log in to the Skype App After you create your account, you’re ready to log in to Skype on your DROID. To do so, follow these steps: 1.

If you are not already in Skype, tap the Skype icon from your Home screen.

2.

Type your Skype Name and Password.

3.

Tap the Sign In button in the lower-left corner.

4.

Check the box labeled Sign in to Skype automatically. You should not have to enter this log in information again; it is saved in Skype. The next time you tap Skype, it will automatically log you in.

Finding and Adding Skype Contacts Once you log into the Skype app, you will want to start communicating with people. To do so, you will have to find them and add them to your Skype contacts list: 1.

If you are not already in the Skype app, tap the Skype icon from your Home screen and log in, if asked.

2.



3.

Tap Add a Contact.

4.

Tap Search Skype Directory and then type someone’s first and last name or Skype Name.

5.

Tap the Magnifying Glass button to locate that person.

6.

Once you see the person you want to add, tap his name.

7.

Tap Add Contact.

8.

Adjust the invitation message appropriately.

9.

Tap the Send button to send this person an invitation to become one of your Skype contacts.

10. Repeat the procedure to add more contacts. 11. When you are done, tap the Contacts soft key at the bottom. 12. Tap All Contacts from the Groups screen to see all new contacts you have added. 13. Once this person accepts you as a contact, you will see him listed as a contact in your All Contacts screen.

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TIP: Sometimes you want to get rid of a Skype contact. You can remove or block a contact by tapping her name from the contact list. Press the Menu button and select either Remove or Block.

Making Calls With Skype on Your DROID So far you have created your account and added your contacts. Now you are ready to finally make that first call with Skype on your DROID. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

If you are not already in Skype, tap the Skype icon from your Home screen and log in, if asked.

2.

Tap the Contacts soft key at the top.

3.

Tap the contact name you wish to call (see Figure 20–3).

4.

Tap the Call button.

5.

You may see a Skype option and a Mobile or other phone option. Tap Skype to make the free call. Making any other call requires that you pay for it with Skype Credits.


Tap the contact you wish to call.

Tap Skype for a free call. Tap the call button.

Figure 20–3. Placing calls from Skype on your DROID.

NOTE: You can call toll free numbers for free using Skype Out on your DROID. The following notice comes from the Skype website at www.skype.com: “The following countries and number ranges are supported and are free of charge to all users. We’re working on the rest of the world. France: +33 800, +33 805, +33 809 Poland: +48 800 UK: +44 500, +44 800, +44 808 USA: +1 800, +1 866, +1 877, +1 888 Taiwan: +886 80”

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Receiving Calls with Skype on your DROID With the new version of Skype, you can have Skype running in the background and still be able to receive a Skype call when it comes in. In theory, you can even be on a voice call and answer your Skype call! TIP: If you want to call someone whom you know uses Skype on her DROID, just send her a quick email or give her a quick call to alert her to the fact you would like to talk to her using the Skype app.

Buying Skype Credits or a Monthly Subscription Skype-to-Skype calls are free. However, if you want to call people on their landlines or mobile phones from Skype, then you will need to purchase Skype Credits or purchase a monthly subscription plan. If you try to purchase the credits or subscription from within the Skype app, it will take you to the Skype website. For this reason, we recommend using a web browser on your phone or computer to purchase these credits. TIP: You may want to start with a limited amount of Skype Credits to try out the service before you sign up for a subscription plan. Subscription plans are the way to go if you plan on using Skype a lot for non-Skype callers (e.g., regular landlines and mobile phones). Follow these steps to use the Browser app to buy Skype Credits: 1.

Tap the Browser icon.

2.

Type www.skype.com in the top address bar and tap Go.

3.

Tap the Sign In link at the top of the page.

4.

Enter your Skype Name and Password, and then tap Sign me in.

5.

If you are not already on your Account screen, tap the Account tab at the right end of the top nav bar. At this point, you can choose to buy credits or a subscription.

6.

Tap the Buy pre-pay credit button to purchase a fixed amount of credits.

7.

Tap the Get a subscription button to buy a monthly subscription account.

8.

Finally, complete the payment instructions for either type of purchase.


Chatting with Skype In addition to making phone calls, you can also chat via text with other Skype users from your DROID. Starting a chat is very similar to starting a call; follow these steps to do so: 1.

If you are not already in Skype, tap the Skype icon from your Home screen and log in, if asked.

2.

Tap the Contacts soft key at the top.

3.

Tap the name of the contact you wish to chat with (see Figure 20–4).

4.

Tap Send IM.

5.

Type your chat text and press the Send button. Your chat will appear at the top of the screen.

Tap the contact you wish to chat.

Tap Send IM.

Type your message. Figure 20–4. Chatting with Skype on your DROID.

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Adding Skype to Your Computer You can use the Skype app on your computer, as well. We will show you how this works next. You can also use Skype to make video calls on your computer if you also have a web cam hooked up. NOTE: When you call from your computer to a DROID, you will not be able to make a video call. To create a Skype account and download the Skype app to your computer, follow these steps: 1.

Open a web browser on your computer.

2.

Go to: www.skype.com.

3.

Click the Join link at the top of the page.

4.

Create your account by completing all required information and clicking the Continue button. Notice that you only have to enter information in the required fields, which are denoted with an asterisk. For example, you do not need to enter your gender, birthdate, and mobile phone number.

5.

You are now done with the account setup process. Next, you are presented with the option of buying Skype Credits; however, this is not required for the free Skype-to-Skype phone calls, video calls, or chats.

TIP: You only need to pay for Skype if you want to call someone who is not using Skype. For example, calls to phones on landlines or mobile phones (not using the Skype app) will cost you. At publishing time, pay-as-you-go rates were about US 2.1 cents; monthly subscriptions ranged from about US $3 - $14 for various calling plans. 6.

Next, click the Get Skype link in the top nav bar of the site to download Skype to your computer.

7.

Click the Get Skype for Windows button or the Get Skype for Mac button.

8.

Follow the instructions to install the software. For more information on downloading and installing software, see the “Getting iTunes Software” section in Chapter 30: “iTunes User Guide.’

9.

Once the software is installed, launch it and log in using your Skype account.

You are ready to initiate (or receive) phone calls, video calls, and chats with anyone else using the Skype service, including all your friends with the Skype app installed on their iPhones.

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21

Working With Notes and Documents In this chapter, we will give you an overview of two popular and free notepad apps (AK Notepad and Evernote) that you can install on your DROID because nothing is preloaded other than a simple sticky-note style Motorola widget. See Chapter 6, "Organizing Your Home Screens" for more information. Dozens of notepad choices exist, so it is not possible to cover everything available; therefore, we have chosen two apps that have a lot of popular support and some great features. Next, we will look at an easy way to transfer your documents between your computer and your DROID using handy and free software called DropBox. This app allows you to drag-and-drop files to a folder on your computer. Next, those files are copied or synchronized to your web-based DropBox account. Finally, after installing the DropBox app, you can access those same files on your DROID. Finally, so many people use Microsoft Office that we will also cover how to open and edit Word files, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentation files on your DROID. We will show you two apps in this arena: Quickoffice, which may be pre-installed on the DROID 2 and DROID X models; and the full version of Documents to Go. Both of these apps allow you to open, view, create, and edit Office documents.

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CHAPTER 21: Working With Notes and Documents

Finding and Installing These Apps You can obtain all the apps we discuss in this chapter from the Android Market (see Chapter 17: “Exploring the Android Market” for more information). The easiest way to find apps is to tap the Search icon and type the exact name of the app in the Search window. Because there are dozens of alternatives in this case, you may be overwhelmed at the number of apps if you type in only the general category. Once you find the app you want, tap it and install it. If it is an app you want to use frequently, move it to one of your DROID Home screens by longpressing it and dragging it.

Notes-Based Apps on Your DROID We will cover two of the many notes-based apps that you can use on your DROID. The AK Notepad app is more of a standard, easy-to-use notepad app. Evernote is a more of a full-featured note-taking app that includes the ability to attach multimedia items to your notes, including pictures, files, and voice notes.

AK Notepad App To use the AK Notepad app, begin by downloading and installing the AK Notepad app from the Android Market. If you are used to other notepad apps from other devices such as an iPhone, iPad, or BlackBerry, this app will look familiar. The default Note view displays yellow-lined notepad paper.

Adding and Labeling (Tagging) New Notes It’s easy to add and label new notes. Simply tap the Add note line at the top of the main window to start composing a new note.


Now just start typing your note. Be aware that the first line or first few words become the title of your note. To add a label or tag to organize your notes, simply precede the label with a number sign (#) like this: #mytag.

When done typing, press the Back button on your DROID to save your note and return to the list of notes.

If you are not satisfied with the preassigned title of a note, like the Groceries list example in the previous screen shot, you can tap the note to open it. Press the Menu button and select Edit title. Adjust the title and tap OK. Now you see the newly adjusted title in the list of notes. To view a list of only those notes that contain certain labels or tags, press the Menu button and select Labels. Next, tap the label of the group of notes you want to view. At this point, you will see only the notes with that selected label.

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Using AK Notepad As a To-Do Alarm Reminder You can use AK Notepad to remind you of to-do items. For example, you might want to set a reminder at 5 PM for the Groceries list item. Open the note, press the Menu button, and select Remind me. Select from one of the preset durations or select Custom date/time if you need another reminder time, and then select the time you want. In this case, we would select 5:00 PM today.

When the reminder rings on your DROID, it will give you a vibration and usually a ringtone. (You can change the way AK Notepad alerts you in the app by pressing Menu button > Settings > Notification settings.) The alert will pop up in the very top status bar. Drag your finger down from the top of the DROID screen to see all the reminders. Now you can tap the Groceries list to view your list as you go through the store.

TIP: Keeping Track of What You Buy As you walk through the store, you can edit your Groceries list and put a space before each item as you drop it into your shopping cart. This way, you can be sure not to miss anything on your list!

Pinning a Note to Your Home Screen You can pin or place an icon for any of the notes in AK Notepad as icons on your Home screen for quick access. From the


AK Notepad list view of your notes, longpress the note and select Pin Note to Home Screen. Next, press the Home button to jump to your Home screen and swipe left or right a few times until you see the new Note icon. Repeat this process for all notes you want to have quick access to on your Home screen.

Sync Your AK Notepad Notes to Catch.com AK Notepad provides a free service that will sync all your notes to your own account on the Catch.com website. This can provide you with the following: an instant backup of all your notes, the ability to view your notes on your computer, and the ability to add new notes by typing them on your full computer keyboard instead of the small keyboard on the DROID. Step 1 – Go to Catch.com and setup a new free account. You could also do this from the AK Notepad settings screen, if you wish. You will probably receive a confirmation email from Catch.com to verify it was you who signed up for the free account. You need to click the link in the email to verify your status. Step 2 – Open up AK Notepad on your DROID, press the Menu button, and select Settings. Scroll down to the Catch Sync section and tap Sign in. Enter the username and password you used to set up your Catch.com account and tap the Sign In button.

Now your list of notes on your DROID will instantly display any new notes you have added from Catch.com, as well as the Welcome to Catch.com note. The great part is that everything is now kept synchronized between your DROID and the Catch.com website. This means you can now enter or edit notes both places, and the changes will be reflected in both places (see Figure 21–1).

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Catch.com website showing your notes.

AK Notepad on your DROID showing your same notes.

Figure 21–1. Syncing notes between Catch.com and the DROID AK Notes app.

Evernote App Like AK Notepad, Evernote provides the ability to write and sync notes to a website. However, Evernote is designed to be a more comprehensive note-taking system that includes the ability to add multimedia notes. For example, you can add voice, pictures, videos, and even geotags (elements that indicate the GPS location) to all your notes. With Evernote, you can even find text inside images. For example, if you take a picture of a receipt with the word “Starbucks” on it, Evernote can find that receipt later by the recognizing the text of the word “Starbucks” in the image. The other nice thing about Evernote is that there are apps for multiple mobile devices, so you can view notes you synchronize from your DROID, PC, or Mac on an iPod touch, iPad, iPhone, or BlackBerry.


Getting Started with Evernote To begin working with Evernote , download and install the app from the Android Market. Once Evernote is downloaded and installed, you need to tap the Evernote icon. The first time you use Evernote, you will be prompted either to sign in or create a free account. Tap Create account to set up your free account or enter your Username and Password and tap Sign in.

Adding and Tagging Notes After logging in, you see the main screen. Evernote’s main screen gives you various options for adding, tagging and viewing your notes:

New note (add a new note which can include attachments of pictures, audio, video or files)

Snapshot (take a picture with your DROID camera)

All Notes (view all your notes)

Tags (view your notes organized by their tags)

Notebooks (view your notebooks)

Search (use the Evernote powerful search feature)

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Viewing and Finding Notes To view your notes, press All Notes, Tags or Notebooks from the main screen. Follow these steps to find a note: 1.

Press the Search icon from the main screen.

2.

Type a word or few words to search for notes containing this text.

Keep in mind that the search engine will usually be able to locate images that contain text that match your search, as well.

Adding, Tagging and Organizing Notes Follow these steps to add a new note: 1.

Tap the New note icon from the main screen.

2.

Give your note a unique title and type any text in the textbox below the title for your note.

3.

To assign this note to a specific Notebook, tap the Notebook icon and select a notebook.


4.

To assign one or more tags to this note, tap the Tag icon

.

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From this screen you may type a new tag and click the plus sign (+) in the upper right corner to add It to the list. Tap the X next to any tag to remove it.

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Or you may press the Tag icon in the upper left corner to select from tags you have already created.

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You may select as few or as many tags as you would like to assign to this note, tap the OK button at the bottom.

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Adding Snapshots (Taking a Picture to Add to the Note) You may want to add a picture or snapshot to a note. From either the main menu or the note detail view, click the Snapshot icon to bring up your camera; this will enable you to grab a picture and save it as a note. The picture is also geotagged with your current GPS location in Evernote; this enables you to track where you took it. You can even take a picture of a document and have Evernote find words in the image of the document.

Attach Pictures, Audio, Video orFiles to Notes Sometimes you will want to upload a file with a note. Tap the Attach (paperclip) icon from the note detail view screen to select a picture or other file from your DROID to upload and attach to a note. To locate pictures you have taken on your DROID, tap the dcim folder and then tap the Camera folder.

Select Pictures to browse and attach a picture to the note. Select Audio to attach an audio file (music track or sound recorder file). Select Video to attach a video (you must be a paid or Premium Evernote user to use this feature). Select File to browse to a file on your DROID or SD Card to attach to the note.


Adding Text to, Emailing, Deleting, Creating a Shortcut, or Editing a Note When you are viewing a note, you have several options that you can get to by pressing the Menu button. For example, you can Edit, Email (send the note as an attachment), Delete, and Refresh the note. You can also view Note info, including details about the note such as its Title, Notebook, Tags, Date created and Last updated, and Location. If you are viewing a multimedia note such as a picture or audio file, you can Append text (add text to the note), Email, view Note info, Delete, or View in full size (see the image in full size on the screen). You can also create an icon or shortcut to this note on your DROID Home screen by selecting Create shortcut from the menu.

Viewing or Updating Evernote on Your Computer As we mentioned earlier, all your notes get synced to the Evernote website wirelessly and automatically. You can then log in to your Evernote.com account from your PC, Mac, iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, or BlackBerry to check out or update your notes (see Figure 21-2). This is a great feature if you have multiple devices, and you would like to stay up-to-date or add notes from any of them. Evernote.com

Evernote

Figure 21–2. Your notes are synced between the Evernote.com website and your DROID Evernote app.

Sharing Files and Documents Your DROID comes with the built-in ability to share files between your DROID’s MicroSD format media card (also known as the SD card) and your computer using the USB cable. You can also use third-party apps to make the sharing process easier and more seamless. We cover one such app called DropBox in this section.

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NOTE: You will need an SD card to transfer files to and from your DROID. This section assumes you have an SD card installed in your DROID (most DROID models come with an SD card preinstalled). Check out our “Quick Start Guide” at the beginning of this book for more information about how to open up your DROID and install a card if you need.

Sharing Files with USB Mass Storage Mode When using the USB Mass Storage mode, the SD card in your DROID looks like another disk drive letter on your computer. This means you can drag-and-drop files between the SD card and your computer. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

Connect your DROID to your computer using the USB cable.

2.

Drag your finger down from the top to see your status messages.

3.

Look in the Ongoing section for USB connection and tap it.

4.

Select USB Mass Storage and tap OK.

NOTE: If you are in USB Mass Storage mode, your computer can see and access the files on your DROID SD card; however your DROID cannot. In order to view or access any files (e.g., pictures, music, and videos) on your DROID, you need to switch back to Charge Only mode on this screen. Or you can simply unplug your DROID from your computer.


5.

6.

Now you will see your DROID SD card appear as a removable disk on your computer. In the image to the right, the DROID has shown up as Removable Disk (G:). Note that your pictures/videos and music are stored in the following locations on your DROID:

Your camera pictures and videos are stored in dcim / Camera folder.

Your music is stored in the music folder.

You can now open up folders on your DROID SD card and drag-and-drop files to and from your computer.

Dropbox File and Document Sharing If you want more seamless and easier-to-use file sharing, try the Dropbox app. You will need to install the Dropbox software on both your computer (PC or Mac) and your DROID. At the time of publishing, Dropbox was a free application and service for up to 2 GB (gigabytes) of storage. If you want more storage space, you will have to pay a monthly fee. 50 GB of storage costs $9.99 per month, and 100 GB of storage costs $19.99 per month. TIP: You can also use Dropbox as a backup service for your important files. If your DROID or computer crashes, you will still have a backup copy of your files in your Dropbox account on that company’s servers.

Installing Dropbox on Your Computer (PC or Mac) You need to install the Dropbox app on your computer before you can use it to dragand-drop files into the Dropbox folder. Files dropped into this folder are synchronized with the Dropbox app folders on your DROID for easy retrieval. Follow these steps to acquire and set up the Dropbox app on your computer:

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7.

Open a web browser on your computer and go to www.dropbox.com.

8.

Click the Download Dropbox button to get the software for your Windows PC, Mac, or Linux computer.

9.

Double-click the file you downloaded to start the Dropbox installation. You will be prompted to create your Drobpox account. Enter your information and click Next.

10. Select your Dropbox folder size on the next screen. The current rates are as follows:

2G = Free

50 GB = $9.99/month

100 GB = $19.99/month.

11. Next, you will see some tour screens explaining how Dropbox works, where to set up your Dropbox folder on your computer, and how to quickly access the folder using the Dropbox tray icon shown to the right.


If you click the Dropbox tray icon, you can see the following commands:

Open Dropbox Folder

Launch Dropbox Website

Recently Changed Files

Your usage status (showing 0.1% of 2.0 GB used)

Your status of syncs (All files up to date)

Help

Get More Space

Preferences

Exit

12. Learn more about how to use the Dropbox application by viewing the online video tutorials for the app at www.dropbox.com/tour.

Installing Dropbox on Your DROID Once you have set up Dropbox on your computer, you’re ready to repeat the process on your DROID. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

Install the Dropbox app from the Android Market and tap the Dropbox icon to start it.

2.

You need an account to get going, so choose one of these options:

I’m already a Dropbox user – This allows you to enter your username and password. I’m new to Dropbox – This allows you to set up a new account.

I’m already a Dropbox user I’m new to Dropbox

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Go ahead and enter your login credentials or set up your account. 3.

After you log in, the next time you open the Dropbox app, you will immediately be taken to your Dropbox shared folders.

4.

Tap any folder to open it or tap any document to open and view it. First, the file is downloaded to your DROID; second, you are asked how you want to open and view the file.

5.

Depending on the type of file you tap, you will either see the file open immediately (like a picture) or be asked which app you would like to use to open the file. In the image to the right, we tapped a .pdf file, so we were asked which application to use. If you always want to use the same app, then tap the Checkbox icon at the bottom next to the text that says, Use by default for this action.

Moving Files From Your Computer to Your DROID Once the software is set up on your computer and your DROID, you can drag-and-drop or copy-and-paste files into your Dropbox folder on your PC or Mac. Within a few minutes of doing this, that document will appear in the Dropbox app on your DROID. The same thing works in reverse: if you place a new file in the Dropbox folder on your DROID, it will appear in minutes in the Dropbox folder on your computer (see Figure 21–3).


Drop the file into your Dropbox folder on your computer.

Grab any file or files to copy to your Dropbox folder on your computer.

That same file “appears” in the Dropbox app on your DROID in minutes!

Figure 21–3. Copy files into your Dropbox folder on your computer, and they appear in the Dropbox folder on your DROID.

Moving Files from Your DROID Follow these steps to move files from your DROID to your computer and Dropbox account: 1.

Tap the Drobox icon to start it.

2.

Press the Menu button and select Upload.

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Specify the type of file you would like to upload: Picture, Video, Audio, or Any file. If you select Picture or Video, then you will see a screen similar to the one shown to the right. You can then choose Files (which allows you to browse all your files) or Gallery (which shows you the Gallery app). If you select Audio, then you will see these options: Files, Select music track and Sound Recorder (record sound now).

4.

Once you select your file, it will be automatically uploaded and saved on your Dropbox account on the dropbox.com server. After a very short time, you will also see that same file in your Dropbox folder on your computer.

Working With Microsoft Office Documents Microsoft Office documents are ubiquitous, and it’s helpful to be able to view them on your DROID. Fortunately, you can open and view Microsoft Office documents on your DROID with the free version of Documents to Go. If you want to create and edit documents, then you have to use Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite, which may already be loaded on your DROID, or the full version of Documents to Go Full Version for USD $14.99. If you need to purchase Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite, the regular price Is USD $19.99. Both products have fairly strong customer reviews and are available on the Android Market. TIP: Check your list of applications; you may already have the full version of Quickoffice preinstalled on your DROID. Be sure to check whether you already have it before you buy any thirdparty software for creating or editing Office documents.


The ability to open and view documents on your DROID means you can stay productive on the road. When you add the ability to edit these documents and forward them to colleagues in email messages, then you can really boost your mobile productivity. Go ahead and edit that document while waiting for lunch, waiting at the airport, riding the train, or flying in an airplane. NOTE: Imagine putting the core of Microsoft Office on your DROID and just how many many features and functions it includes. We could easily write 50 pages or more about either Quickoffice or Documents to Go; however, we will do our best to stick to just the basics to help you get started and become productive.

Finding Product Reviews You will find product reviews both on the Web and in individual user reviews on the Android Market site. Do a web search to find the latest reviews and comments; to facilitate your research, we’ve gathered links to a few reviews at major sites:

Review of Quickoffice with some comparison to Documents to Go (ZDnet - 6/9/2010): www.zdnet.com/blog/cell-phones/quickoffice-brings-clouddocument-access-and-editing-to-google-android/3996

Review of Documents to Go (ZDnet - 5/28/2009): www.zdnet.com/blog/cell-phones/review-documents-to-go-rocksgoogle-android-with-unique-office-functions/1307?tag=rbxccnbzd1

Review of Documents to Go 2.0 (Brighthand – 11/11/2009): www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=15697

NOTE: Keep in mind that the reviews and comments are based on specific versions of the apps; if a vendor has released an update, some or all of the concerns of the reviewers may have already been addressed.

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Moving Documents to and From Your DROID As we discussed in the “Dropbox” section of this chapter, you can use apps like Dropbox to easily transfer files between your computer and your DROID. Everything is shared and synchronized wirelessly. Another popular way to move documents is to attach them to email messages. You can receive and send attachments to yourself and others. Learn more about working with email in Chapter 9: “Email on Your DROID.” Follow these steps to transfer documents between your computer and DROID via email: 1.

When you receive email attachments, they will be listed at the bottom of the message. Tap the Preview button to open the attachment.

2.

You may be asked to select a particular app to open this attachment type.

3.

Tap the app you wish to use to open and view the document.

4.

If you are composing a message, you can attach a file or document by pressing the Menu button and selecting Attach.

5.

Browse to the file location and select one or more files to attach to that email message.


Quickoffice You may already have Quickoffice pre-installed on your DROID. Take a look through your app icons; if you don’t see it, then you can purchase it for about $10 from the Android Market.

As we mentioned previously, you can start Quickoffice by selecting it as the app to open an email attachment with. We’ll start by drilling down on the app itself: 1.

Tap the Quickoffice app to start it.

2.

You will see the main screen of Quickoffice. From this screen, you can select between the various Quickoffice apps and QuickPDF, as well as browse for files on your DROID. Tap Update to check for updates to the software. Tap Support to load the User Guide, bring up Frequently Asked Questions, or Submit a Support Ticket to the software publisher about an issue you are having. Tap Explore to follow Quickoffice on social networks, view the Quickoffice blog, read news releases, and provide feedback.

3.

If you tap Quickword, Quicksheet, or Quickpoint, you will see a screen similar to the one shown to the right that asks whether you want to Create New Document (this option is not available in Quickpoint), browse the SD Card (browse the SD memory card), or see a list of Recent Documents.

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Formatting Text in Quickword Once you have a Quickword document open, you can change its text formatting by following these steps: 1.

Select text by double-tapping it, and then tap the screen above or below the selected text to expand the selection.

2.

Press the Menu button and select Format.

TIP: To show the keyboard, select Keyboard from the menu.

3.

From this screen, you can set the font style (bold, italic, underline, or strikethrough), font face, font size, font color, and highlight color. Tap OK when done.


Getting Around in Quickoffice Once you understand that you get to most of the commands by pressing the Menu button, you can access all the functionality in the Quickoffice apps. What follows is a list of menu commands accessible from the various apps:

Quickword menu commands – Open, Save, Format, Keyboard (show/hide), Search (find text), More, Page View (shows entire page), New (new file), Save As, Properties (document properties), Updates (check for app updates), About, and Help.

Quicksheet menu commands – Open, Save, Worksheet (jump to different worksheet), Keyboard (show/hide), Number Format (set as General, Number, Currency, Date, Time, and so on), More, New, Save As, Search (for text), Font Format (same as Format in Quickword), Go To Cell (type in a cell reference such as A10 to jump to it), Properties (document properties), Updates (check for app updates), About, and Help.

Quickpoint menu commands – Open, Save, Save As, Go To Slide (jump to slide number), Start Slideshow, More, Properties (document properties), Updates (check for app updates), About, and Help.

Quickpdf menu commands – Open, Reading View (reflows the text on the page so it is more easy to read and does not require scrolling left and right), Go To Page, Bookmarks (view bookmarks in the file), Find (search for text), More, Rotate (rotate the page left or right), Updates (check for app updates), Properties (document properties), About, and Help.

Editing Text in Quickpoint In order to edit text on slides in Quickpoint, you need to long-press the text you wish to edit and select Edit Text from the pop-up window. Next, you will see the text on a new screen. Tap anywhere to position the cursor and use the keyboard to change the text. Tap OK when done.

NOTE: Editing Text Inside Graphics – Quickpoint is the Clear Winner At the time of publishing, Quickpoint lets you edit any text on a PowerPoint slide by longpressing it. This works whether the text is in the main text area or inside a graphic such as a callout. However, Slideshow To Go from Documents To Go only allows you to edit text placed directly on the slide; it does not allow you to edit text inside boxes, callouts, or other graphics.

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Zooming in Quickoffice The best way to zoom in or out is to pinch open or pinch closed with your fingers on the screen. Double-tapping only works to zoom in or out in Quickpoint; otherwise, it will move the cursor and start a selection.

Documents to Go – the Full Version The Documents To Go - Full Version (version 3.0) costs $14.99 at publishing time. The key difference between the full and the free version is that the full version of Documents to Go gives you the added ability to create, edit, and send Microsoft Office and Adobe PDF files. You can buy the full version of the app from the Android Market. Documents To Go consists of three main programs: Word To Go (for Word documents), SlideShow To Go (for PowerPoint documents), and Sheet To Go (for Excel documents). Tap the Documents to Go icon to start it. From the main screen, you can tap any of the following options:

Recent Files – View recently opened files.

Starred Files – View files you have starred as your favorites.

Local Files – View files on your SD memory card.

Google Docs – Access files stored on your Google account.

Desktop Files – Access files you have synchronized from your computer.

Upgrade Store – Buy additional features.

Plus sign – (lower-left corner) Click to create a new Word, Excel, or PowerPoint document.

Settings Gear – (lower-right corner) Click to access settings.


Word To Go Tips You’ll probably spend the most time using the Word To Go app. In the upcoming sections, we’ll look at several tips for getting the most out of this app.

Zooming in or out Tap the screen once to bring up the (-) and (+) Magnifying glass buttons at the bottom of the screen. Tap these buttons to zoom out or in. Note that pinching open/closed does not work.

Selecting Text Obviously, you’ll want to select text to copy-and-paste or otherwise reformat it. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

Long-press to bring up the Edit pop-up window. Try to position your finger exactly where you want to start selecting text because it does not allow you to change the starting point of your selection. It works best to zoom in as much as possible first to make the words larger.

2.

Tap Selection Mode.

3.

Drag your finger across the screen to adjust the selected text. If you see that your starting point for the selection is incorrect, press the Back button and start at Step 1 again.

4.

Long-press again to choose from the menu. Options include Cut, Copy, Font (change font size, style, type), and Bullets & Numbering.

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Menu Commands You may be amazed at the number of features and functions available to you in Word To Go. Just press the Menu button to see the following commands:

File – New, Open, Close, Save, Save As, and Send via Email

Edit (this brings up the same options as long-pressing the text) – Toggle Keyboard, Start/Cancel Selection, Select All, Cut, Copy, Paste, and Undo

View – Zoom, Find, Go, Table of Contents, Comments, Footnotes, and Endnotes

Format – Bold, Italic, Underline, Font, Paragraph, Bullets & Numbering, Hyperlink, Bookmark, Increase Indent, and Decrease Indent

Insert – Page Break, Bookmark, Hyperlink, Table, and Comment

Tapping More brings up the following menus and options:

Preferences – Format for new files (Word 97-2004 or Word 07-2008), Name, Initial, options for Track Changes (such as how insertions and deletions are shown and what colors are used).

File Properties – Name, Type, Location, Size, and Last Modified

Word Count

Help – Check for Updates, About, and Help


Sending a File Via Email, Bluetooth, Dropbox, and More The Send a File command works in all the Documents To Go applications. Follow these steps to send an email from Documents To Go: 1.

Press the Menu button, select File, and then Send via Email.

2.

You will see a screen similar to the one shown to the right. You will only see Dropbox as an option if you have it installed. You may see other applications you have installed as options, as well. Select the method you would like to use to send your file.

Slideshow To Go Tips The Slideshow To Go app lets you edit PowerPoint documents. The next section looks at ways to get the most out of this app. For example, once you get the hang of using the Menu button, you can use the long-press to bring up the Slideshow To Go menu. This menu lets you do almost anything possible from this app. Remember that you can flip your DROID on its side to make a slide fit its screen better.

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Editing Slide Text (Using Outline View) Editing text on a slide is easy to do. Simply longpress anywhere on the slide and select Edit Slide Text. This switches you into Outline view. This will give you a screen similar to the one shown to the right. Tap your finger anywhere to place the cursor for editing text. Tap the screen to zoom in or out using the Zoom buttons on the bottom of the screen. Use the keyboard to type your changes. You can select, format, and copy / paste text by following the steps described in the “Word To Go Tips” section. To insert a new bullet item, press the Menu button and select Insert > New Bullet Item. From this Insert menu, you can also Insert Slide (insert a new blank slide) or insert a Duplicate Slide.

NOTE: At the time of publishing, you could not use Slideshow To Go to edit text inside a slide’s objects. This holds true for callout boxes or any other kinds of graphics. It is good to know that Quickoffice’s Quickpoint app does allow you to edit text inside graphics in a PowerPoint file.

Switching Views (Slide View, Outline View, and Notes View) Follow these steps to change your current view of a slide: 1.

Press the Menu button and select View.

2.

Select Slide View to view the slides, Outline to view the text on the slides, or Notes to view notes on the slide.


Moving Around It’s easy to navigate between slides in Slide To Go. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

Swipe left or right to move between slides.

2.

Long-press the screen and select Go To Slide to jump to a particular slide.

Sheet To Go Tips The Sheet to Go app is Document To Go’s Excel viewing and editing app. As when using Word To Go and Slideshow To Go, you can use the Menu button, Zoom buttons, and drag your finger around the screen to do almost anything you need to in the app.

Moving Around the Spreadsheet Tap your finger and drag it around the screen to move around the spreadsheet. Press the Menu button and select View to move to other Worksheets or Go to jump to the beginning (Home) or End of the current spreadsheet or to a specific cell.

Selecting and Editing a Cell Here are a couple tips for selecting and editing a cell. Tap the cell to select it, and then tap your finger in the edit box at the top of the screen. Now you can edit the cell text. Be sure to start all formulas with an Equals sign character (=). You can input this sign by pressing the ?123 key and then the ALT key. Or, you can press the Menu button and select Operators. TIP: While editing a formula on your computer in Excel, you can just click cells to reference them. However, to add a cell reference in a formula on your DROID, you need to either type out the cell reference (e.g. “E8”); or press the Menu button, select Cell Reference, and then tap the cell.

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Adding Functions While you are editing a cell, press the Menu button and select Function. This displays a list of virtually every function available in Excel. To narrow the list, tap the All dropdown list at the top of the window. Next, you can filter for categories such as Financial, Date & Time, Math & Trig, Statistical, and so on.

Freeze Panes You can freeze panes or hold all the cells above and to the left of the currently selected cell unmovable by pressing the Menu button, selecting View, then choosing Freeze Panes. Repeat this procedure to Unfreeze Panes.

Switching Worksheets To move between worksheets in a spreadsheet workbook, press the Menu button, select View, and then Worksheets.

Inserting Various Elements You can insert a function, AutoSum, sheet, row, or column by pressing the Menu button and selecting Insert. At this point, you can choose your preferred option.

Selecting an Entire Row or Column It’s also easy to select an entire row or column. Tap the row header (number) on the left side of the screen to select the row. Similarly, you can tap the column header (letter) on the top of the screen to select that column.


Adjusting Row and Column Sizes (and Hiding or Unhiding Them) Now let’s look at some tips for adjusting the sizes of rows and columns. Press the Menu button, tap More, and then tap Row or Column to see a menu similar to the one shown to the right. From this menu, you can accomplish the following tasks: select a row or column, adjust a row width or column height, autofit (for columns), or hide or unhide a row or column.

Many of the Menu commands are similar to what we described in this chapter’s “Word To Go Tips” section, including Send as Email, Save, and Save As.

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Fun and Games Your DROID excels at many things. It is a multimedia workhorse, and it can keep track of your busy life. Your DROID also serves as a nice gaming device. You can even find versions of popular games for the device that you might expect to find only on dedicated gaming consoles. The DROID brings many advantages to portable gaming: the high-resolution screen delivers realistic visuals; the high-quality audio provides great sound effects; and the accelerometer allow you to interact with your games in a way that many PCs and dedicated gaming consoles (outside of the Wii) don’t. For example, in racing games, the last feature lets you steer your car by turning the DROID as you hold it. The DROID is also great for lots of other fun stuff such as following your local football team. You can even use the DROID as a musical instrument with great apps like xPiano (which we will show you later in the chapter.) NOTE: There is enough fun stuff to do with the DROID that we routinely discover that the DROID has disappeared from its charger and we have to yell out: “Where is my DROID? I need to finish this book!”

Using the DROID as a Gaming Device The DROID includes a built-in accelerometer, which is essentially a device that detects movement (acceleration). Combine the accelerometer with a fantastic screen, lots of memory, and a fast processor, and you have the makings of a great gaming platform. With literally thousands of gaming titles to choose from, you can play virtually any type of game you wish on your DROID. With most games, you can even take a phone call and come back to the exact place you left off when the call ends. This means no more restarts!

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NOTE: Some games do require that you have an active network connection through Wi-Fi to engage in multiplayer games. With the DROID, you can play a driving game and use the DROID itself to steer. You do this simply by turning the device. You can touch the DROID to brake or tilt it forward to accelerate.

Raging Thunder.

The game on the right, Raging Thunder, is so fun and fast that it might make you car sick!

Tap to brake.

Or, you can try a fishing game, where you feel like you are fishing from a real boat! In the Fishing 2 Go app shown here, you flick your DROID to cast the line then rotate your finger on the screen to reel in your fish.

Wind with your finger to reel in your fish.

Tilt to steer.


If music/rhythm games are your thing, then you will find many such programs in the Android Market. Popular console games such as Guitar Hero (and many others) have been ported to the DROID. On some games, such as the new Guitar Hero, you really have to “strum” to keep pace and score points.

The DROID also has a very fast processor and a sophisticated graphics chip. Bundling these together with the accelerometer gives you a very capable gaming device.

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Acquiring Games and Other Fun Apps As is the case for all DROID apps, games can be found in the Android Market (see Figure 21-1). You can get them either through doubleTwist (See Chapter 25: “DROID Media Sync”) on your computer or through the device’s built-in Android Market app.

Tap to view Top paid, Top free or Just in.

Tap to learn more, preview and buy

Touch and drag to scroll down or up.

Tap Back button to see All games, Arcade and Action, Brain and puzzle, Cards and Casino and Casual. Figure 22–1. The layout of the Android Market’s Games section.


To get a game, fire up the Android Market, as you did in Chapter 17. Next, go to the Games tab. You will also find many games in the Featured section of the Android Market. Figure 22–2 shows the App Purchase page for a game available for the DROID.

Touch the Free or Price button to Purchase.

Touch Games.

Scroll down to view screen shots of the game.

Touch to read Comments.

Touch to visit Developer Web Site or get Support Touch to Buy or Install.

Figure 22–2. The layout of the App Purchase page.

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Reading Reviews Before You Buy Many of the games have user reviews that are worth perusing. Sometimes, you can get a good sense of the game before you buy it. If you find a game that looks interesting, don’t be afraid to do a simple Google search to see whether any mainstream media outlets have performed a full review. Just touch the Comments tab to see user reviews of any game.

CAUTION: Be aware that some of the reviews may contain explicit or foul language.

Looking for Free Trials or Lite Versions Increasingly, game developers are giving users free trials of their games to see if they like them before they buy. You will find many games have both a lite version and a full version in the Android Market. Some “free” games are supported by the inclusion of ads within the game. Other games are free to start, but require in-app purchases for continued play or additional features.

Being Careful When You Play You might use the DROID to cast your line in a fishing game, as you would in real life. You can also move around a bit in driving and first person shooter games. So be mindful of your surroundings as you play! For example, make sure you have a good grip on your device, so it doesn’t slip out of your hand; we recommend a good silicone case to help with this.


CAUTION: Games such as Angry Birds can be quite addictive!

Two-Player Games The DROID really opens up the possibility for two-player gaming. In this example, we are playing checkers against one another, using the DROID as a game board. You can find similar two-person gaming apps for other board games, such as chess or checkers.

Online and Wireless Games The DROID also allows online and wireless, peer-to-peer gaming (if the game supports it). Many new games are incorporating this technology. In Raging Thunder, for example, you can play against multiple players on their own devices. The example to the right shows the screen presented when a user chooses the Multi Player option from the Raging Thunder menu. At this point, the user now chooses Internet to go online and join a race against opponents.

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NOTE: If you just want to play against a friend who is nearby, select Wi-Fi mode for multiplayer games. If you just want to play against new people, try going online for a league race or game.

Playing Music Games with Your DROID The DROID’s relatively large screen means that you can even install a piano keyboard on your DROID and play music. There are a number of musicrelated games available; check out the Arcade subcategory of the Games category in the Android Market to see what’s available. One of the apps that was in the Top 5 of the Free DROID apps category when we were writing this book was xPiano, which turns your DROID into an onscreen piano. Download the app and just have fun with it! If you have children, they might enjoy it, as well. NOTE: Some apps want to use your location and notify you of this when downloading. You can always say “no.”


Other Fun Stuff: Football on the DROID There are many great apps that can provide you with endless hours of entertainment on the DROID. Since Verizon is the official provider of the NFL now, they have an NFL Mobile app in the Verizon section of the Android Market. Start up the Android Market and then touch the Verizon tab. NFL Mobile should be one of the first apps you see. Touch the app and then choose Install on the next screen.

In the NFL Mobile app, you press the Menu key to see the main menu of options. When you first register the app, you pick your favorite team. The favorite team on the DROID in this example is set to the Patriots. Touch the My Team tab to go to your team’s page. So, if this team is playing, then the view automatically goes to that team’s game first. If this team is not playing, then the app displays a recap of the team’s previous game. Alternatively, it might list the details of the team’s next game.

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Touch the News and Videos tab and you can see the days NFL headlines. You can also watch video highlights by touching the Videos tab.

Touch the Live tab from the menu to watch TV broadcasts of live games. If no game is currently on and an upcoming game is going to be televised, that will be indicated at the bottom of the Live screen.

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Utilities: Clock, Calculator, and Weather The DROID is useful for a great number of tasks, and it comes preloaded with several powerful and interesting utilities. One of the nice aspects about having a DROID is that many of its simplest and easiest-to-use apps and abilities are things that you will find yourself using quite frequently. In this chapter, we will walk you through how to use several such apps and features, including your clock, the built-in Calculator app, and the Weather app. Specifically, we will show you how to set the clock’s alarms, including how to use the snooze feature and dismiss alarms. We will also show you how to use both the Basic and Advanced modes of the built-in calculator. Finally, we will show you, not only how to configure the built-in Weather app, but also how to download other free weather apps you might want to add to your DROID. We will also show you how to add a Weather and Clock widget to your Home screen for easy viewing. Your DROID can replace your wristwatch and even your alarm clock. You can use it to set multiple alarms – even a different alarm for every day of the week. Finally, you can set up a widget for the clock right on your Home screen. You can do all this in the Clock app on the DROID and in the Alarm and Timer app on the DROID 2 and DROID X. Another extremely useful application is your DROID’s built-in Calculator app. You can use this app to determine the tip for your meal or to perform other simple calculations. For example, you might use it to determine how much 120 licenses of the Made Simple Learning video tutorials would cost a company.

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Your DROID’s Weather app is part of the News and Weather app, and you can use it to look up the weather for the next few days in your own city (or any other city in the world).

TIP: You can always find additional utilities in the Android Market. Check out Chapter 17: “Exploring the Android Market” for more information on the DROID’s official marketplace.

The Clock App (for DROID)

Your DROID comes with a built-in clock that also provides various alarm options. Touch the Clock icon to start it. On the DROID, touch the Clock icon to see the screen shown to the right. You will immediately see the current time and date. Beneath this date and time information, you will see a snapshot of the local weather. On the DROID, you will also see four soft keys at the bottom of the screen: Alarm Clock, Photo Slideshow, Music, and Home. To launch a slideshow of all your photos from the Clock app, touch the Slideshow icon. To jump to your Music app, touch the Music icon. To return to the Home screen, touch the Home icon.


The Alarm Clock (for DROID) The DROID’s alarm clock feature is flexible and powerful. You can use it to easily set multiple alarms. For example, you might set one alarm to wake you up on weekdays and a separate alarm on weekends. You can even set an additional alarm to wake you up from your Tuesday and Sunday afternoon naps at 3 pm. To get started, tap the Alarm icon in the lower row of soft keys of the clock on the DROID.

This will display any alarms you have set. If there are no alarms set, tap the Add alarm tab at the top to add a new one.

You can adjust the time of the alarm by using the + (plus) and – (minus) keys above and below the numbers to set the time. Touch the AM icon and it will change to PM.

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Touching Set takes you to the Alarm Options screen. From this screen, you can adjust the Repeat, Ringtone, Vibration, and Label of the alarm. If this is a one-time alarm, then leave the Repeat option set at Never. This setting will cause the alarm to automatically be set to Off after it rings.

If the alarm does repeat, then adjust the repeating function of the alarm by touching the Repeat tab. Touch the days of the week you would like the new alarm to be active. TIP: You may touch as many or as few days as you want.

You can adjust the sound the alarm makes by touching the Ringtone tab and then choosing an alarm sound from the list. For silent alarms, set the sound to Silent at the top of the list to have an onscreen silent alarm – no sound will be made. Tap OK when you are done adjusting your Ringtone settings.


To adjust the Snooze feature, press the Menu key from the Clock app and then choose Settings. Snooze will be in the default 10 minutes position. NOTE: The pre-set Snooze duration is 10 minutes; however, you can adjust that value to anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes.

You can rename your alarm by touching the Label tab. The keyboard will launch, and you can type in a new name for that particular alarm.

Be sure to give your alarm a name that is easy to recognize.

Give your alarm a name that is easy to recognize.

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NOTE: If you want to use the alarm feature to wake up in the morning at different times on different days, you will need to set an alarm for each day of the week by following the aforementioned procedure.

NOTE: An alarm will not turn your DROID on if it is completely powered off. However, if your DROID is in Sleep mode (see Chapter 1: “Getting Started”), then your alarms will ring just fine.

Using the Alarm (for DROID 2/X) On the DROID 2/X, you get to the Alarm using the Alarm & Timer icon. Settings are very similar to the DROID Alarm, with some minor variations. Here is how to add a new alarm on the DROID 2/X. 1.

Tap Alarm & Timer.

2.

Tap the Alarm tab at the top to make sure you are on the Alarm screen as shown to the right.

3.

Press the Menu button and select Add alarm.


4.

Now, you will see the Set alarm screen as shown to the right where you can adjust many aspects of the alarm such as:

Turn on alarm - place a checkmark here to activate this alarm.

Name - Set a easily recognizable name such as "Pickup from school"

Time - Adjust the time for the alarm.

Sound - Adjust the ringtone, you can even select a video to play if you choose!

Vibrate - Check this box to make the device to vibrate as well as ring at alarm time.

Repeat - Choose which days of the week for this alarm to be active. In this case we just wanted week days.

Volume - Check this box to have the sound increase in volume for the alarm unless you silence it.

Using the Timer (for DROID 2/X) On the DROID 2/X the Timer app provides a count-down timer that can prove handy in a number of situations. For example, you might use it in lieu of a kitchen timer to remind you to take something out of the oven in 30 minutes or to ensure that you cook your pasta for exactly eight minutes. Or, you might use it to remind yourself to turn off the sprinkler in one hour. All of these situations are great reasons to use the Timer app. Follow these steps to use the built-in Timer app:

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1. Tap the Timer tab to enter Timer mode. You can add or subtract time in minute and hour increments by pressing the + and – buttons. 2. Tap Start to start the timer. 3. Tap Cancel if you need to stop the timer before it goes off; otherwise, it will go off with a ringing sound and vibration when the countdown expires. NOTE: You can continue to use the phone for other tasks without stopping the timer.

The Calculator App Another handy app included on your DROID is the Calculator app. The DROID’s Calculator app can handle almost anything a typical family will throw its way, performing both basic and scientific calculations.


Viewing the Basic Calculator (Portrait Mode) Click the Calculator icon to start the Calculator app. When first started, the Calculator application is a “basic” calculator. All functions are activated by simply touching the corresponding key to perform the desired action. If you need more advanced functions, simply press the Menu key and then touch Advanced panel soft key.

Viewing the Advanced Panel Once your Calculator app is in Advanced mode, turn the DROID sideways to enter Landscape mode (horizontal). This gives you a bit more room to work with your calculations.

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The Weather App The DROID also comes with a very useful and easy-to-use Weather app built in. The location of the Weather app is initially in

the News and Weather app for which is on the Home screen.

, the icon

The DROID 2 and DROID X devices also feature a separate News app, which is an RSS reader. For more information on the Motorola widgets that ship with your DROID, see Chapter 6, "Organizing Your Home Screens. You can have the Weather app automatically set up your location, or you can manually set up another location to check the weather forecast.

Getting Started with the Weather App You start the Weather app by tapping the News and Weather icon. By default, the DROID will use your GPS location to find the closest city or town. If the DROID is not able to do that, you will need to add your location manually. NOTE: By default, GPS is not turned on at first boot on the DROID 2 and DROID X devices. Thus the News and Weather app may use your wireless connection or cell-tower triangulation, but it won’t use GPS by default. The original DROID, however, has GPS turned on by default. Follow these steps to adjust the settings of the Weather app: 1.

Touch the Menu button to reveal two soft keys at the bottom: Refresh and Settings.

2.

Touch Settings and then choose the Weather settings.


3.

The Use my location box should have a check in it. You can uncheck the box and then touch the Set location tab to input a new ZIP code.

4.

To see a detailed hourly forecast, touch the i button.

5.

Drag your finger along the chart to see the temperature and humidity throughout the day (see Figure 23-1).

Touch here see detailed daily weather information.

Touch here go the The Weather Channel home page.

Drag finger across to see hourly temperature.

Figure 23–1. The current and hourly views of the weather from the built-in Weather app.

Adding a Weather Widget One of the great things about the software on your DROID is that it is highly customizable. One way to customize it is to add widgets to your Home screen. A widget is essentially a live, updating shortcut to another app. It’s easy to add a Weather, Clock, or other widget to an available Home screen on the DROID. For more on widgets, see Chapter 6: “Organize your Home Screens: Icons and Widgets.”

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Follow these steps to add a Weather widget: 1.

Slide to a blank Home screen – either to the left or right of the current Home screen.

2.

Touch and hold anywhere on the screen until the Add to Home screen menu appears.

3.

Choose Widgets or Android Widgets from the menu.

4.

Choose News and Weather to make a widget for the News and Weather app.

5.

On the DROID 2/X, you will then be asked to configure the widget to show Weather, News, or News and Weather.

NOTE: You can also choose an analog-style clock; doing so will display such a clock as a widget on your Home screen.


Other Weather Apps The Weather app bundled with the DROID is certainly functional, but there are alternatives available. Most of the weather apps are free in the Android Market, but some also offer premium versions for a modest fee. NOTE: Most of the free weather apps are supported by ads in the app. For the most part, these ads are not intrusive. The easiest way to find alternative weather apps is to go to the Android Market and touch the Apps icon at the top of the screen. The store actually includes a distinct News and Weather category. In the Weather category, touch Top Free at the top and then search for apps. You can learn more about downloading apps in Chapter 17: “Exploring the Android Market.”

The Weather Channel The Weather Channel is one of the preeminent weather authorities today. The Weather Channel website can be accessed right from the DROID’s Weather app. Just touch the small Weather Channel icon on your News and Weather home page to visit the site. When you first go to the site, you will input your ZIP code or address, so a custom home page with your weather can be created. This home page shows the current weather. You can scroll down the page to see Hourly, 36 Hour, and 10 Day forecasts. Scroll further down the page to see local video, weekend forecasts, weather tools, and more.

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AccuWeather Another weather authority, AccuWeather, has put together a very comprehensive weather app for the DROID.

You can download this app from the Android Market, as explained earlier. When you fire up the AccuWeather app, you will be prompted to use your location for determining local weather – we recommend allowing AccuWeather to do this. The home page of the app shows you the current temperature and conditions, along with a graphic of what the sky should look like where you are. There are soft keys to show different views. The upper level of soft keys at the top of the screen shows buttons for Current, Hourly, and 15 Day forecasts. There is also a soft key for Map, Video Indices Alarms, Alerts, and Risk. The bottom of the app’s screen includes the following function keys: Location, Refresh, and Preferences.

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Troubleshooting The DROID is usually very reliable. Occasionally, as with your computer or any complicated electronic device, you might have to reset the device or troubleshoot a problem. In this chapter, we will give you some useful tools to help get your DROID back up and running as quickly as possible. We will start with some basic, quick troubleshooting and move into more in-depth problems and resolutions in the “Advanced Troubleshooting” section. We will also cover some other odds-and-ends related to your DROID and give you a list of resources where you can find more help for your DROID.

Basic Troubleshooting We will begin by covering a few basic tips and tricks to get your DROID back up and running.

What to Do If the DROID Stops Responding Sometimes, your DROID won’t respond to your touch because it freezes in the middle of a program. If this happens, try these steps to try to revive your DROID: 1.

Press the Home button once to see whether the app you’re in can be closed; if things go well, you will jump out to the Home screen.

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2.

Long-press the Home button to see whether you can bring up the list of Recent apps. Next, try touching one of the other apps to switch to that app and see whether you can get back to the Home screen by pressing the Home button again from the new app.

3.

If your DROID continues to be unresponsive, try pressing and holding the Power/Lock button on the top of the phone until you bring up the Phone options. Next, tap Power off, and then turn your phone back on by pressing and holding the Power/Lock button.

4.

Make sure your DROID isn’t running out of power. Tap the Settings icon, then Battery Manager on the DROID 2 and DROID X. If you have 15% power or less, you should recharge your DROID right away.

5.

Try performing a battery-pull. Begin by removing the battery and replacing it. Power off the phone as described previously, if possible, and then open the battery cover door and remove the battery. Wait a few seconds and replace the battery and door. Next, power on the phone and see whether everything is working again.

If these steps don’t work, or if your DROID seems to be getting stuck with particular apps, then read the “Managing Your Apps” section. If your DROID still won’t work after trying all these steps, then you will need to perform a factory reset of your DROID or look at more advanced troubleshooting techniques or additional resources that we’ll touch on later in this chapter.

Managing Your Apps You can do a few things to manage and troubleshoot your applications on your DROID in your Settings app. We’ll cover some of these in the upcoming sections.


Forcing an App to Stop Occasionally, you will want to force one or more applications to quit or stop. This is called a Force stop on your DROID. Follow these steps to stop an app: 1.

Tap your Settings app.

2.

Tap Applications.

3.

Tap Manage applications.

4.

Tap the Running tab at the top of the screen to see all the apps currently running.

5.

Locate the app that is causing you trouble.

6.

Tap the Force stop button in the top-left portion of the screen to force the app to stop running.

TIP: You might want to tap the Clear cache button to reset the memory for this app, and then try restarting it.

Resolving Memory Problems We all love to install cool new apps on our DROID. However, at some point, the love must come to an end when we receive an “Out of Memory” error. At that point, we can either remove unused apps or try to move some apps from our main internal memory to our SD card.

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Deleting Apps Follow the steps described in the “Forcing an App to Stop” section and tap the Uninstall button. If the app you want to uninstall is not running, then you need to tap the Downloaded tab at the top of the screen instead of the Running tab to find it.

Moving Apps to Your SD Card Some apps, but not all, will allow you to move them from your main DROID internal memory to your SD Card. This can save you space on your DROID and allow you to install more apps. Follow the same steps shown in the “Force an App to Stop” section and tap the Move to SD card button. If the button is not clickable or grayed out, then the app cannot be moved to the SD card. If you see an error message that says something like “the application has failed to be moved because there is not enough storage left,” then you may simply need to put your SD card into Charge Only mode or disconnect your DROID from your computer (see Chapter 25; “DROID Media Sync" for more information). Once you have moved an app to your SD Card, you can move it back to your phone by tapping the Move to phone button; you find this button located in the same space.

TIP: If you do need to free up some space on your SD card, try moving some of your media files to your computer and deleting them from your SD card. This should free up SD card space, so you can move apps (see Chapter 25: “DROID Media Sync” for more information).

Changing the Launch by Default Setting Sometimes you set the default open or launch setting for an app and want to change it later. For example, you might originally set the default to open Microsoft Word documents to the free version of Documents To Go. If you later purchase Quickoffice, then you might want to change this default to Quickoffice, which provides more complete editing tools. In this section, we will show you how to accomplish this.


When you open certain files, you may see a dialog box similar to the one shown at the right. If you check the Use by default option for this action box at the bottom of this dialog, then you have associated this type of file to the Launch by default for the selected app. In this image, Word To Go has been selected. You can change this default selection by following the same steps you used to set this option.

Follow the steps shown in the “Force an App to Stop” section and tap the Clear defaults button in the Launch by default section to deselect an app as the default app for opening a given file type.

Resolving Issues With Placing a Phone Call, Syncing With Google, or Browsing the Web There are several reasons you might not be able to place a call, sync with Google, or browse the web. One simple reason is that your DROID might be in Airplane mode. You can tell if you are in Airplane mode if you see the Airplane icon in the top status bar, as shown to the right.

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Turning Off Airplane Mode The interesting thing is that you may not have turned on Airplane mode; it could have been turned on by the phone itself. If you are out of an area with good wireless coverage for 15 minutes or more, your DROID will switch to Airplane mode to conserve battery life. You just need to turn off Airplane mode to fix this problem. If you try to place a call when in Airplane mode, you will see the message shown to the right. Tap Yes to turn off Airplane mode and make your call.

When you are trying to browse the web, the message is not quite as straightforward as the one shown to the right.

To quickly turn off Airplane mode, follow these steps:

1.

Press and hold the Power/Lock button on the top of your DROID.

2.

Tap the Airplane mode button.

Turning Airplane mode off should allow you to browse the web and make phone calls, assuming you are in a place with good wireless cellular coverage.


Cycling Your Wi-Fi Connection Another trick that can help you establish or re-establish connectivity is to cycle your WiFi connection off and on. This might help with your Internet connection in locations where you are using Wi-Fi to connect. Follow these steps to cycle your connection: 1.


2.

Tap Wireless & networks.

3.

Tap Wi-Fi to turn it off (it is off when the checkmark next to Wi-Fi is gray).

4.

Once the Wi-Fi connection is off, tap Wi-Fi again to turn it back on (it is on when the checkmark is green).

Resolving Sound Issues in Music or Video Few things are more frustrating than hoping to listen to music or watch a video, only to hear no sound coming from your DROID. Usually, there is an easy fix for this problem: 1.

Check the volume by using the Volume Up key in the upper-right edge of your DROID. You might have accidentally lowered the volume all the way or muted it.

2.

If you are using wired headphones from the headphone jack, unplug your headphones, and then put them back in. Sometimes, the headset jack isn’t connected well.

3.

If you are using wireless Bluetooth headphones or a Bluetooth (car) stereo setup, then try these steps: a.

Check the volume setting (if available on the headphones or stereo).

b.

Check to make sure that the Bluetooth device is connected. Follow these steps to do so: i.


ii.

Tap Wireless & network settings, and then make sure the box is checked next to Bluetooth.

iii. Tap Bluetooth settings and make sure you see your device listed under Bluetooth devices at the bottom of the screen. Also, make sure that its status is Connected to phone audio or Connected to media audio. iv. If it is not connected, then see Chapter 8: “Bluetooth on Your DROID” to learn how to reconnect it.

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NOTE: Sometimes you may actually be connected to a Bluetooth device and not know it. If you are connected to a Bluetooth stereo device or connected to your car stereo’s Bluetooth (and the car stereo volume is turned down), no sound will come out of the DROID itself. 4.

Make sure the song or video you want to play is not in Pause mode. If you see the Play button on the screen, then your song or video is currently paused.

If none of these steps helps, check out the “Additional Troubleshooting and Help Resources” section later in this chapter. Finally, if that does not help, then contact the store or business that sold you your DROID for assistance.

Resolving Problems When Making Purchases So you have this cool new device, and now you want to buy some fun apps or music from the Android Market or the Amazon MP3 store. Sometimes, you may receive an error message or a message that says you are not allowed to make a purchase. Follow these steps to resolve these issues: 1.

Both stores require an active Internet connection. Make sure you have an active Wi-Fi or 3G connection. For assistance, check out Chapter 5: “Wi-Fi and 3G Connectivity.”

2.

Verify that you have an active Google Checkout account. We show you how to set up your Android Market account in Chapter 17: “Exploring the Android Market”; similarly, we show you how to set up your Amazon MP3 account in Chapter 14: “Enjoying Your Music.”

Advanced Troubleshooting If you’ve tried the tips and tricks in the preceding sections and you’re still having issues, then you may need to resort to more advanced techniques. In the sections that follow, we will walk you through some more advanced troubleshooting steps.

Performing a Factory Data Reset One technique that can help when others fail is to perform a Factory Data Reset. This procedure will work if you can still turn on your phone and get to the Settings app; however, you should use it only as a last resort. If you cannot get into the Settings app, then you need to do a battery-pull or hard reset, as described in this chapter’s “What to do if the DROID Stops Responding” section.


CAUTION: Performing a Factory Data Reset will erase all the data you have on your DROID. If you are syncing to Google or another application, all the data synced automatically will be saved. Don’t worry about pictures and videos stored on the memory card; those will not be lost when you do this reset. Follow these steps to reset your DROID: 1.


2.

Tap Privacy.

3.

Tap Factory Data Reset.

4.

Tap Reset Phone to start the Factory Data Reset process.

5.

Once the process is complete, you will need to set up your phone as you did when you first got it out of the box (see Chapter 1: “Getting Started”).

Increasing Your Text Message Limit Sometimes, you may find you receive an error message while you are texting that says you have reached your message limit. The default is usually 200 messages per conversation. You can increase or decrease this limit inside the Text Messaging app by following these steps: 1.

Tap the Text Messaging icon.

2.

Press the Menu button and select Messaging settings.

3.

Tap Message limit at the top.

4.

You will see a screen similar to the one shown to the right. Use the + or - buttons or simply tap the number itself to type a new number. You can select between 10 and 999 messages for the limit.

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Additional Troubleshooting and Help Resources Sometimes you may encounter a particular issue or question that you cannot find an answer to in this book. In the following sections, we provide some good resources that you can access from the DROID and from your computer’s web browser. The Motorola support site and knowledgebase are helpful if you are facing a troubleshooting problem that is proving especially difficult to resolve. The DROID 2/DROID X-related web blogs and forums are good places to locate answers and even ask questions about unique issues you might be facing.

The Motorola DROID Support Pages To get to the Motorola DROID support pages, follow these steps. 1.

On your DROID or computer’s web browser, go to www.motorola.com.

2.

Click SUPPORT in the top-right corner of the main navigation bar.

3.

Click Android support in the right column.

4.

You should now see a screen similar to the one shown in Figure 24–1. From this screen, you can click VIEW SUPPORT DETAILS under your DROID phone in the right column.

Figure 24–1. The Motorola Android Support Page.


DROID-Related Blogs One of the great things about owning a DROID is that you immediately become part of the worldwide camaraderie of DROID owners. Many DROID owners would be classified as “enthusiasts” and are part of any number of DROID user groups. These user groups, along with various forums and websites, serve as great resources for DROID users. Many of these resources are available right from your DROID, and others are websites that you might want to visit on your computer. Sometimes you might want to connect with other DROID enthusiasts, ask a technical question, or keep up with the latest and greatest rumors. The blogs are a great place to do that. Here are a few popular DROID (DROID, DROID 2, DROID X, etc.) blogs: www.androidcentral.com www.droid-life.com www.theandroidblog.com www.droidx.net www.droidblog.net www.technocrati.com www.droid-forum.com www.engadget.com/droid

TIP: Before you post a new question on any of these blogs, please do a search on the blog to make sure your question has not already been asked and answered. Also, make sure you are posting your question on the right section (e.g., DROID) of the blog. Otherwise, you may incur the wrath of the community for not doing your homework first!

Finally, you can do a web search for “DROID blogs” or “DROID news and reviews” to locate more blogs.

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Part

IV

Sync Media to your DROID Your DROID is a great mobile device for enjoying all your media - pictures, videos, ringtones, and music. You can take great pictures and videos right on your DROID. You will want to know how to transfer all your pictures and videos on your computer for safekeeping. You may also want to know how to easily transfer your music library, playlists, videos and pictures from your computer to your DROID. We cover two simple solutions including doubleTwist and using Mass Storage mode to transfer media and documents between your computer (PC or Mac) and your DROID. Soon, you will be able to fill your DROID will all sorts of media. With doubleTwist, you can also browse the Android Market, search for and subscribe to podcasts, and purchase music from the Amazon MP3 market. Sometimes doing this on your larger computer screen and keyboard is a bit easier than on the DROID itself.

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Chapter

25

DROID Media Sync In the final chapter of this book, we will cover a couple good options for helping you sync or transfer media (e.g., music, pictures, and videos) between your computer and your DROID. These software products will help you sync your iTunes or Windows Media Player music and playlists, as well as your pictures and videos from your computer (PC and Mac). You can also use these tools to transfer the pictures and videos you take on your DROID back to your computer for safekeeping. The media transfer and sync options we cover are listed in Table 25–1; this table also lists when you might want to choose each option. Table 25–1. Media and Sync Options for Your DROID.

Solution

When to Use

Compatibility & Price

Drag-and-drop elements using your USB cable connection.

To quickly transfer one or more files between your computer and your DROID.

PC and Mac

Use doubleTwist – an “iTunes-like” media player and sync tool for your DROID.

To sync iTunes or Windows Media Player playlists and related media.

PC and Mac

Dropbox document and file sync (See Chapter 21 for details.)

To transfer files and documents wirelessly between your computer and DROID.

PC and Mac

Free

Free

Free (up to 2GB)

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CHAPTER 25: DROID Media Sync

NOTE: You can find several alternative media sync options not covered in the preceding table. For example, your DROID comes with the Media Sync app, however, it only syncs media to PCs, so we do not cover it here. Verizon supplies an app called VCAST Media Sync; however, it also works only for PCs, so we do not cover it in this chapter, either. There are also many other solutions available on the market to sync media to your DROID. If none of the options described in our book serve your needs, please do a web search for “DROID media sync.” During our research, we saw that Salling Software (www.salling.com) had both Mac and PC versions of its Media Sync program. Finally, Winamp (PC-only, www.winamp.com) lets you play your media on your computer (like iTunes) and also sync media to your DROID.

Where to Enjoy Your Media on Your DROID You can view, play, or listen to media on your DROID in a few different programs. As you have seen, we have chapters devoted to each type of media supported on the DROID in this book (see Table 25–2). Table 25–2: Playing Media on Your DROID.

App

Type of Media

Chapter

Songs and Podcasts

Chapter 14: “Enjoying Your Music”

Pictures and Videos

Chapter 18: “Taking Photos and Videos” Chapter 15: “View Videos, TV Shows, and More”

Moving Files With Your USB Connection Your DROID’s USB connection provides the most basic method for transferring files between your DROID and your computer. It works not just for media files, but for all types of files, including Microsoft Office documents, PDF files, or anything else. What this method does not provide is the ability to sync your playlists from iTunes or Windows Media Player or perform any sort of compression or optimization for the music, pictures, or videos you transfer to your DROID.


CAUTION: You may not be able to play video files that you have just dragged-and-dropped onto your DROID SD card using a USB connection. This is because most video files need to be encoded in a specific format to play on your DROID.

Selecting a USB Connection Mode When you first connect your DROID to your computer with the USB cable, you may see a screen asking what connection mode you would like to use. We recommend the Mass Storage mode in order to sync media. You can change your mode while you are connected to your computer; see the “Changing USB Connection Modes” section in this chapter for more details. The following connection modes are available:

Mass Storage Mode – This is the recommended mode for syncing media. It allows only your computer to view and update the DROID media card files (your DROID cannot access the SD memory card in this mode). The SD card in your DROID appears as a removable disk (see image to the right). This mode is required to use doubleTwist, and it allows you to copy files backand-forth between your computer and your DROID. If you try to access any files from your DROID stored on the media card while in this mode, you will receive the following error: “The SD card cannot be found.” You need to change to a Charge Only mode to see files from your DROID.

Windows Media Sync – This mode allows both your Windows computer and the DROID to see and access files on the media card. Your DROID appears as a portable device (as shown in the image to the right) inside Windows Explorer. You would use this method to sync when using Windows Media Player.

PC Mode – This mode also allows both your computer and the DROID to see and access the media card; like the Windows Media Sync method, your DROID appears as a portable device.

Charge Only – This mode is really for charging only, and it does not make the SD card in the DROID visible to the computer. You cannot use this mode to transfer media. However, since the SD card is visible to your DROID in this mode, you can play your media on your DROID when connected in this mode.

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Changing USB Connection Modes After you have plugged your DROID into your computer, you can change your connection mode from any of your Home screens. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

Connect your DROID to your computer using the USB cable.

2.

Drag your finger down from the top of any Home screen to see the notifications and then tap the USB connection item in the Ongoing section near the top.

3.

Tap any mode you wish to select. To sync media, tap the USB Mass Storage mode and tap OK. To access your SD media card and charge your DROID from the USB connection, select Charge Only.

Dragging-and-Dropping Files Once you have connected your DROID to your computer in Mass Storage mode, you are ready to drag-and-drop files between your computer and your DROID SD card. Follow these steps to do so:

Step 1: Open your DROID SD card window on your computer On your Windows computer, open Windows Explorer and look for the removable disk that is your DROID SD card. On your Mac, use your Finder to locate the removable disk that represents the DROID SD card.


Step 2: Drag-and-drop files between your computer and the DROID SD card Open a window on your computer with the type of media you want to drag-and-drop. This media could be your music files, pictures, or videos. Next, locate the correct folder on your DROID SD card for the same type of media. Table 25–3 lists typical locations for common media types on your DROID. Table 25–3: Typical Folder Locations for Media on Your DROID SD Card.

Type of Media

Folder Location on the DROID SD Card

Pictures or videos taken with the DROID camera

Dcim / Camera

Ringtones for the phone

Media / Audio / Ringtones

Notifications (e.g., alarms)

Media / Audio / Notifications

Music

Music

Files from Documents to Go

Documents

Once you have the source and destination folders open, you can drag-and-drop files between the folders to transfer the files. For example, to copy a Microsoft Office document from your computer to the SD card on the DROID, you would drag-and-drop it into the documents folder, as shown in Figure 25–1.

2

Drop the file into the correct folder on the SD Card (in this case documents).

1

Click on and drag any file or files from your computer (example: MS Word document).

Figure 25–1. Dragging-and-dropping files between your computer and the DROID SD card.

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Disconnecting Your DROID Safely (Don’t Skip!) Because of the way your DROID handles files, you will want to be sure to Eject the DROID from your computer prior to yanking out the USB cable. On either a Windows or Mac computer, you can right-click the disk drive that represents your DROID SD card. This image is from a Windows PC, but the view from your Mac’s file explorer will be similar. The DROID in this image is Removable Disk (G:). Select Eject from the menu and then unplug your DROID. On a Mac, you can also drag the Disk icon on your desktop to the Trash to safely eject it.

Using doubleTwist doubleTwist is one of several software alternatives to iTunes and Windows Media Player that work well for syncing music, pictures, and videos to your DROID. In addition to the DROID, doubleTwist is available for many other smartphones and devices. Also, doubleTwist, like iTunes, lets you purchase apps from the Android Market, subscribe to podcasts, and buy music from the Amazon MP3 store (just as you can on your DROID). According to its official website (www.doubletwist.com), doubleTwist was founded on the following philosophy: To be a “unifying media platform that connects consumers with all their media and all their devices, regardless of whether they are online or offline.” doubleTwist has several compelling features. For example, it can import all your iTunes or Windows Media Player information – including playlists – and then allow you to sync this information on your DROID. It can also help you share large media files like videos and high-resolution photos with your friends and family. For example, you can use it to send baby pictures to Grandma or lots of pictures you’ve taken on your DROID to your friends.


Downloading and Installing doubleTwist The first step to getting your media onto your DROID using doubleTwist is to download and install the application on your PC or Mac. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

From your computer, visit www.doubletwist.com and click the Free Download button; the website will sense which version of the software is right for your computer.

2.

Download the install file and follow the directions for setup.

3.

On a Mac, simply drag the doubleTwist icon to your applications folder.

On a PC, double-click the installation file in your Downloads directory if it did not start automatically. 4.

You will be prompted to create a doubleTwist account unless you have one already. Enter your username, email, and password for a one-time setup of your doubleTwist account. A few moments after setting up your account, you will receive a confirmation email letting you know that your doubleTwist account is now active.

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Getting Started With doubleTwist Once you have the program installed on your computer, you are ready to set it up and start syncing your playlists and media from iTunes or Windows Media Player to your DROID. Start the program by double-clicking the doubleTwist icon on your desktop or locating the program in your Start menu. You’ll want to get familiar with what doubleTwist offers. In the top of doubleTwist’s left column, click the Android Market, Podcast Search, and Music Store options to see what they look like. If you are familiar with the iTunes app, you will already know how to use these features (see Figure 25–2).

Figure 25–2. Accessing the Android Market, Podcast Search, and the Music Store (Amazon MP3) from doubleTwist.


Importing Your Playlists You’re now ready to import your playlists from iTunes or the Windows Media Player: 1.

Click Library from the main menu at the top.

2.

Select either Import iTunes Playlists or Import WMP Playlists (Windows Media Player) to import your playlists.

3.

You will then see a warning message that any changes made in doubleTwist to the same playlists will be lost and replaced with the current playlists from iTunes or WMP. Click Import to continue.

4.

When the process is complete, you will see all your playlists in the left column under PLAYLISTS. Click any playlist to see its contents in the main window.

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Connecting Your DROID to doubleTwist In order to sync media or just drag-and-drop items onto your DROID in doubleTwist, you have to connect it to your computer with the USB cable. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

2.

Follow the steps shown in the “Changing USB Connections Mode” section in this chapter to set your connection to USB Mass Storage mode. You should immediately see your device listed at the very bottom of the left column. It may show up as Motorola A955 (as shown in the image to the right) or as another Motorola model instead of DROID, DROID 2, or DROID X.

TIP: Troubleshooting USB Connection Problems If you do not see your DROID in doubleTwist, then try using another USB port on your computer. Also, double-check that you are in Mass Storage mode and not some other USB connection mode.

Syncing Music and Podcast Subscriptions Automatically After you have successfully connected your DROID and it is visible in doubleTwist, click your DROID in the left column under DEVICES to highlight it. (Remember: It may show up as Motorola A955 or another Motorola model.) At this point, you should see the General tab in the main window, as shown in Figure 25–3. Check the box next to Music to sync your music, and then check the box next to Subscriptions to sync your podcast subscriptions.


2

Check these boxes to sync Music and Subscriptions (podcasts).

3 1 Click on your device here.

Click the Sync button.

Figure 25–3. Setting up automatic syncing of your music and podcasts with doubleTwist.

Fine Tuning the Sync If you have a large amount of music or podcasts, you will want to fine-tune the sync process by clicking the appropriate tabs at the top of the window. Follow these steps to use doubleTwist to fine-tune how your DROID syncs various types of media: 1.

Begin by syncing your music. Click the Music tab to selectively sync only certain playlists.

2.

Click Only the selected.

3.

Place checkmarks only next to the playlists you want to sync to your DROID.

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4.

Next, import new pictures and videos that you have taken on your DROID to your computer. Click the Pictures tab and check the box next to Import new pictures from my device, as shown in the image to the right.

5.

Now it’s time to sync your subscriptions. Click the Subscriptions tab to selectively sync only certain podcasts.

6.

Click Only the selected.

7.

Check off only the podcasts you want to sync to your DROID.

8.

You can also check Only sync at the bottom and select from only a few recent shows or only episodes you haven’t yet played.

9.

Once you are done with your fine-tuning, click the Sync button in the lowerright corner to start the doubleTwist media sync.


Dragging-and-Dropping Media Onto Your DROID If you want a little more control over what is syncing, you can easily drag-and-drop individual items (e.g., songs and podcasts) onto your DROID or entire playlists or albums. With your DROID connected and visible, grab a song, playlist, podcast, or other item in doubleTwist and drop it onto your DROID (it’s listed under DEVICES in the bottom of the left column). Each item you drop will be synced to your DROID (see Figure 25–4).

1 Click and drag any item from your library (Song, Podcast, Playlist, etc.)

2 Drop it on your device here.

Figure 25–4. Dragging-and-dropping media (e.g., music, playlists, and podcasts) with doubleTwist.

My Music App Won’t Play My Music Occasionally, you will see the following error after you sync or drag-and-drop music files onto your DROID: “Sorry the player does not support this type of audio file.” If you see this, try powering your DROID off and then on again. If that does not correct the problem, open the back of the device, remove the battery for a few seconds, and then put the battery back in again. This usually fixes the problem.

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Finding and Subscribing to Podcasts With doubleTwist You can find just about any podcast you want using doubleTwist. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

Click Podcast Search in the upper portion of the left column in doubleTwist.

2.

Type in a word or a few words to help you find your podcast in the main Search window and click Search. In the example to the right, we searched for the word “marketplace.” You can play the most recent episode of a podcast by clicking the Play latest episode button. To subscribe to a podcast, click the podcast title.

e


3.

Click the Subscribe with doubleTwist button to subscribe to a podcast.

Finding Apps in the Android Market With doubleTwist Many users find it more convenient to quickly browse and find great apps using a desktop computer and keyboard rather than their DROID devices. However, your DROID gives you yet an easier option for finding and downloading great apps. Specifically, you can combine a free Barcode scanner app, QR codes, and the doubleTwist app to simplify the process of locating and acquiring apps from the Android Market. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

Click Android Market in the upper portion of doubleTwist’s left column (see Figure 25–5).

2.

Click any app or perform a search to locate the app you wish to purchase or download.

3.

Click the Barcode button, also known as the QR code, to enlarge it on the screen.

4.

Use the Barcode scanner app on your DROID to scan the QR-code. (You can download this app for free from the Android Market.)

5.

Tap the Open browser button once the barcode is recognized.

6.

This places you in this app’s detail page in the Android Market app. Click Install or Buy at the bottom of the screen to get the app on your DROID.

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Tap

Figure 25–5. Locating and downloading apps to your DROID with the Barcode Scanner app and doubleTwist.

Buying Music from the Amazon MP3 Store in doubleTwist It’s possible to purchase music from the Amazon MP3 store using your DROID’s built-in Amazon MP3 app; however, you can also buy from this store directly from the doubleTwist app. Follow these steps to do so: 1.

Click the Music Store link in the top portion of doubleTwist’s left column to see the Amazon MP3 music store.

2.

Enter a search term or click any album you see.

3.

Click the Buy button to purchase and download the desired song or album (see Figure 25–6).

4.

You will need to sign into your Amazon.com account to complete the purchase.

5.

The song or album will be downloaded to your doubleTwist library.

6.

Use the techniques described earlier in this chapter to sync the song or album to your DROID.


Figure 25–6. Finding and purchasing music in the Amazon MP3 store from doubleTwist.

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Appendix

DRIOD App Guide This appendix includes information on apps you can download and install for your DROID. We’ve included QR codes, so you can use a barcode scanner app on your DROID to navigate directly to a given app. Read Chapter 17, “Exploring the Android Market,” for more information on QR codes. CAUTION: We want to make you aware that apps may change frequently. Some of the apps listed in this guide will have been updated, others may be gone altogether, and new and improved ones added by the time you read this book. Please use the apps listed in this guide as a starting point to become familiar with what is possible and help you find some useful apps.

Document Tools If you work in an office, you may need to deal with documents. At the time of publication, there are no solutions to reading Microsoft OneNote on Android. That may come in the future, but for now we recommend using Evernote instead. Of the document-management software we tested, DataViz’s Docs to Go and QuickOffice Mobile Suite from QuickOffice were the most stable and offered the best interfaces for both viewing and editing documents. However, you may have different results with different types of documents, so the best approach is to use free trial versions of apps that interest you and compare how well these apps display the types of documents you typically use. Docs to Go allows some editing and formatting, and it will even handle DOCX files. It’s not a replacement for a full-sized word processor, but it is a good complement to one.

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APPENDIX: DRIOD App Guide

TIP: Check out Chapter 21: "Working with Notes and Documents" for descriptions of how to use Docs to Go and QuickOffice. ThinkFree Mobile is another popular choice, although in our testing it suffered from more formatting errors when trying to display documents. Table A–1 shows these and other document tools. Table A–1. Document Tools.

App Name

Price

Notes

Docs to Go, by DataViz

Free trial/$14.99

The free trial allows you to view documents, and the paid version allows you to edit them. It supports Word and Excel formats; the paid version also supports PowerPoint.

QuickOffice Mobile Suite from QuickOffice, Inc.

US$9.99

This is a complete software solution offering good capabilities for creating and editing Microsoft Office documents on your DROID. For some PowerPoint editing it has better capabilities than Docs to Go.

OfficeSuite Viewer, by Mobile Systems

Free trial/$1.99

The free trial is for 30 days. The app supports Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files.

ThinkFree Office Mobile, by ThinkFree Mobile

Free/$9.99

This app had a high failure rate in our testing when trying to open files.

The free version is just a viewer. The paid version can be purchased either item by item (e.g., word processing, spreadsheets, and slideshow) or all at once. It will download and open Google Docs, and it has a built-in file browser. Overall, this app has a nice feature set; in my testing, however, it did not display documents well and often made them difficult to read with black backgrounds.

Adobe Reader, by Adobe

Free

Allows you to view PDF attachments, but does not let you create or edit them. This is stable, free, and offered directly from Adobe. It also supports pinch-to-zoom and viewing from the Web.

QR Code


Printing If you’ve got a document ready for printing, why not print it directly from your phone? PrinterShare lets you do exactly that. However, as of publishing time, it did not yet support printing Word or Excel files, so this app is most useful for printing photos, not Office documents. You also need to install desktop software in order to print to non-Wi-Fi printers. The free trial lets you print a test page to verify that it will work. As Android gains popularity, you can expect to see more printing solutions; however, at the time of publication, it’s a lonely field. Table A–2 shows PrinterShare, the only app in this category.

Table A–2. Printing Apps.

App Name

Price

Notes

PrinterShare Droid Print, by Mobile Dynamix

Free trial/$4.95

Use the free trial’s test-print feature before committing to a purchase. Be aware that Office files are not supported, but PDF files and photos are.

QR Code

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File Management It’s nice to be able to view or edit your document attachments, but it’s also nice to know where those files are stored on your SD card without having to connect your phone to a computer in order to do basic file-management tasks. Your DROID comes with the Files app for file management. File-management software lets you see and move your files; it also enables you to break things if you don’t know what you’re doing or you aren’t careful. Use caution when moving files and renaming folders. Of the apps we’ve evaluated, EStrongs File Explorer was our favorite, but there are many strong, free choices. We like to combine File Explorer with Dropbox, which allows us to share and sync files through the Internet and access them from any computer or mobile device. Table A–3 lists the available file-management options. TIP: To learn more about Dropbox, check out Chapter 21. To learn about which folders store all your pictures, videos, and ringtones, check out Chapter 25: "DROID Media Sync. Table A–3. File-Management Apps.

App Name

Price

Notes

EStrongs File Explorer, by EStrongs

Free

This app allows file copying, file moving, multiple file selections, ZIP expansion, app management, and FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and Bluetooth file transfer.

AndExplorer, by LYSESOFT

Free

This app allows file copying, file moving, GZIP, and other file-management functions. It features a straightforward user interface.

QR Code


App Name

Price

Notes

File Manager, by Apollo Software

Free

This app has a cleaner interface than EStrongs File Explorer, but it does not include support for Bluetooth file transfer.

Linda File Manager, by Nylinda.com

Free

Linda File Manager is also a solid choice, but it also lacks Bluetooth support.

Dropbox, by Dropbox

Free

This app allows Dropbox users to access and share files between users and computers as if they share a common folder. Basic accounts are free, and premium accounts offer more storage. Visit the website at www.dropbox.com for more info. See Chapter 21 for more details about Dropbox.

Virus Protection, Backups, and Security Viruses may seem like a remote worry; however, as mobile devices become more popular, the bad guys will figure out better ways to distribute them. However, losing your phone and/or having it stolen are big potential problems right now, especially if you store sensitive data on your phone. It may be a job requirement that you be able to wipe business data from your phone if it is stolen. Your DROID already ships with the ability to remote wipe and back up your phone data. Lookout Mobile is our top pick in this category. It’s free and provides three services within one app. If you feel the virus protection is unnecessary, you can disable that feature and use only the Data Backup and Missing Device features (see the figure to the right). We also appreciate that it sends you an email whenever you use remote location to make sure your online account hasn’t been breached.

QR Code

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Table A–4 shows virus protection and other security apps. Table A–4. Virus Protection, Backups, and Security Apps.

App Name

Price

Notes

Lookout Mobile Security Free, by Lookout

Free

This app provides virus scans, remote location, and file backup. The remote location can either show you where your phone is on a map (if GPS is enabled) or emit a loud alarm.

KeePassDroid, by Brian Pellin

Free

This is a password manager based on the open source KeePass project. You can combine this with Dropbox to make a cloud-based password safe.

WaveSecure, by WaveSecure

$19 per year

WaveSecure offers theft protection with remote location, remote lock, and remote wiping of the data on the SD card.

Norton Security Beta, by NortonMobile

Free trial

This is a beta release with an unknown pricing model for the full release. Its features include virus scanning, call screening, remote wipe, and remote lock.

Super Private Conversation, by Superdroid.net

Free

This app blocks unwanted SMS and phone calls and filters specified SMS conversations for privacy.

QR Code


Presentation Software Most of the document-management software listed earlier can handle viewing PowerPoint files. Chances are slim that you’ll need to actually present from your Android phone; however, if you need to, you can use Docs to Go or the slideshow feature in your phone gallery in a pinch. At this time, the DROID and DROID 2 do not support TV out, so you can’t just plug the device into a TV or monitor and see video images. This is a hardware – not software – limitation, so most of us actually giving presentations using Android phones are stuck projecting them from an overhead projector. However, the DROID X does come with TV-out capabilities, which means you can present slideshows from your phone. This also means you can pair them with portable projectors that take standard TV connections, use the MightyMeeting app, and leave the PC behind. Table A–5 shows some presentation options.

Table A–5. Presentation Software.

App Name

Price

Notes

MightyMeeting, by MightyMeeting

Free

This app enables you to give PowerPoint and Keynote presentations from your DROID. It can be used to either lead or attend live conferences with invited attendees. Files must first be uploaded to your MightyMeeting account before they become available as presentations. More information is available at www.mightymeeting.com.

Oration Sensation, by EpiCache

Free

Oration Sensation is a presentation timer that offers vibrating timed alerts at preset intervals. You can save a list of presentation types, such as “short sales pitch” or “conference presentation,” and keep your phone in your pocket. The alerts will let you know when it’s time to switch slides or move to Q&A.

QR Code

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App Name

Price

Notes

PPT Remote for PowerPoint, by Johan Brodin

Free

This lets you use your phone as a Bluetooth remote for PowerPoint presentations. Test it beforehand (obviously) because not all computer and device combinations will be compatible.

Gmote 2.0, by Marc Stogaltis and Mimi Sun

Free/$2.99

Gmote is a general Wi-Fi remote control for your PC that can be used for music files as well as PowerPoint. It’s crossplatform compatible, so you can use this to control Mac media, as well. However, it requires server software to be installed on the computer you want to control, making it a no-no for some work environments. The $2.99 version is “donateware” for the developers.

QR Code

Web Conferencing At this time, none of the DROID models covered in this book have a front-facing video camera, so they can't be used for video conferencing. However, Web conferencing from your phone is starting to emerge as a real possibility. WebEx and GoToMeeting don’t have official apps at the time of publication, but that may change as their competitors eliminate the need for a PC. As mentioned earlier, MightyMeeting offers the ability to host and attend live conferences without requiring a laptop client. Table A–6 shows some handy apps for managing web conferences. Table A–6. Web Conferencing Apps.

App Name

Price

Notes

MightyMeeting, by MightyMeeting

Free

This app uses www.mightymeeting.com. If you own a phone with TV-out capability, you can present directly from your phone to the screen. You can also use this for live meetings with live chat feeds from users on a variety of phone platforms or using the Web. (Currently, mobile attendees must have US phone numbers.)

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App Name

Price

Notes

Fuze Meeting, by FuzeBox

See note

Fuze Meeting is a subscription webconferencing service. The dedicated Android app is free, but the presenter must have a Fuze Meeting account. More information is available at www.fuzemeeting.com.

Vibrate During Meetings, by Sidetop Software

$2.99

This doesn’t create web conferences; rather, it makes you more polite during conferences and other scheduled meetings. When your calendar says you have a meeting, your phone will automatically switch to Vibrate mode.

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Notetaking and Mind Mapping You may not want to take traditional notes during a meeting from your phone unless you’re a very fast thumb typist. However, you may want to access notes you’ve taken earlier or leave yourself quick sticky notes. Some apps are also tied into to-do lists. You may prefer mind mapping to traditional notetaking. Android can help with that, too. Thinking Space, shown in the image to the right, is one of several mind-mapping applications that allow you to diagram words and ideas visually, rather than by creating bullet-point lists. Table A–7 shows Thinking Space and other notetaking options for Android.

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Table A–7. Notetaking Mind Mapping Apps.

App Name

Price

Notes

ColorNote Notepad Notes, by Notes

Free

This is a virtual sticky-note app for your phone. It lets you take quick, color-coded notes or make simple todo lists.

Notebook, by Darkgreener

Free/£.99 (about $1.55)

This notetaking app uses an oldfashioned book font for a more formal feel, but it also has some nice features. The full version lets you import email and provides password protection.

Mind Map Memo, by Takahicorp

Free/¥180 (about $2.08)

This is a simple mind-mapping app. The paid version provides a few additional features like extra node options.

Thinking Space, by Charlie Chilton

Free

Thinking Space is a full-featured mind-mapping tool that offers a lot of customization options.

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Email Management We discussed email in Chapter 9: “Email on Your DROID.” Android has very capable native options for email; however, in the corporate world, you may need more than what comes in the Android box, and you may not want to pay Verizon for monthly access to Corporate Sync email accounts. Table A–8 shows some email-management apps.

Table A–8. Email-Management Software.

App Name

Price

Notes

Exchange by TouchDown, by NitroDesk

Free trial /$19.95

TouchDown supports security policies and ActiveSync. You can also specify times to turn off push notifications. TouchDown also comes with a variety of widgets. It does not merge your Gmail and Exchange calendars or tasks. After the trial expires, you can still use some, but not all of its features.

RoadSync 2.0, by DataViz

Free trial/$9.95

This app offers features similar to TouchDown. After the trial expires, the product is disabled.

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536


App Name

Price

Notes

SpamDrain, by _SpamDrain_

$30 per year

SpamDrain is a web-based spamfiltering service. All filtered messages are still available via the website, and messages not marked as spam are delivered to your inbox. The app comes with a 30-day trial.

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To-Do Lists You can use a widget bookmark for Google Tasks, but it’s easier and more efficient to use a dedicated app. Google didn’t write it, but gTasks ToDo syncs with Google and combines Android-level app power with an intuitive user interface. If you use the Pure Calendar widget, you can display gTasks To-Do items as part of the widget. Table A–9 shows gTasks ToDo and other to-do apps.

Table A–9. To-Do List Software.

App Name

Price

Notes

gTasks ToDo for Android, by SSI

Free

Provides online and offline Google Tasks syncing. This feels like the missing app Google should have created. There is a paid version of the app that includes autosyncing, but it is not sold through the Android Market.

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App Name

Price

Notes

Astrid Task/Todo List, by Todoroo

Free

Astrid is an open source taskmanagement tool that syncs with Remember the Milk. It’s a solid choice for anyone who doesn’t need Google Tasks syncing.

Got To Do Lite, by Slamjibe Software

Free/£2.00 (about $3.10)

This app is based on the “Getting Things Done” system (created by David Allen).

Expenses and Finance Tracking expenses is a necessary evil. We were very happy to learn about web-based services like Expensify and Mint.com (see the figure to the right). These services handle most of the data–entry process for you, letting you just see the results. For personal finances, Mint is our favorite. You must have a Mint.com account to use the app. It makes it easy to keep track of your accounts, portfolio, and budget. It can also send you email or text alerts for events you specify, such as when you are charged a banking fee, when you make a large purchase, and when your bills are due. Table A–10 shows some of our favorite finance apps.

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Table A–10. Expenses and Finance Software.

App Name

Price

Notes

Mint.com Personal Finance, by Intuit

Free

You must have a Mint.com account to use the Mint.com Personal Finance app, but both the service and the app are free. Mint.com makes its money through sponsored offers for credit cards and other financial services.

Expensify Expense Reports, by Expensify

Free trial/$4.95

Expensify is a web-based service for creating expense reports “that don’t suck.” Most transactions come directly from your credit card as you charge them, but this app is used for entering cash transactions and taking photos of other receipts that are not automatically entered. More information is available at www.expensify.com.

Personal Assistant, by Pageonce

Free/$7.00

Personal Assistant combines bank and credit-card management with travel itineraries, frequent flyer mileage, phone minutes, Netflix, and portfolio management.

Finance, by Google

Free

This is Google’s official app for Google Finance. It offers multiple-portfolio support and stock quotes.

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Travel If you have to travel for work, you’ll appreciate travel apps that track your mileage, list your schedule, help you find places to eat, and make sure you don’t say anything embarrassing to the locals. Kayak is a great app for comparing airfares across all airlines, hotel prices and even learning information about your local airport. Google Maps includes public transportation directions when available, but there are also third-party apps for specific cities available, so don’t forget to search the market before you travel. Google Maps for Android also includes the Places app, which allows you to browse nearby locations by category. Our favorite travel app, aside from the preinstalled Google Maps, is TripIt. It allows you to see your itinerary and share it with close contacts, while providing general information to professional contacts or the public in general. TripIt can also be tied in with LinkedIn and Facebook. Table A–11 shows TripIt and some other travel app options. Table A–11. Travel Apps.

App Name

Price

Notes

TripIt Travel Organizer, by TripIt

Free

TripIt is a web-based service that tracks your travel itinerary and mileage. The phone app gives you your flight schedule and appointment information on your phone.

Kayak Flight & Hotel Search by Kayak

Free

Allows quick searches of airfares across all airlines and web sites, hotels, cars, check flight status, and even airport information such as "Where is the gift shop?

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539

540


App Name

Price

Notes

Gaia GPS, by Trailbehind

$4.99

This app provides offline road and topographic maps for times when you’re traveling out of cell tower range. It’s aimed primarily at outdoor sports, but it’s still very useful for traveling to rural areas.

Geodelic, by Geodelic Systems

Free

This is also known as Sherpa on some phones. Geodelic finds nearby restaurants, cafes, attractions, and so on. You can browse by category of food or distance.

Google Translate, by Google

Free

This is Google’s official app for its Google Translate service. Not only does this app translate text to and from more than 50 languages, but it also has an audiopronunciation guide.

Health and Medicine Health-care professionals were among the first to see the immediate usefulness of mobile technology, and app writers haven’t ignored this. Epocrates has a long tradition of offering its reference materials on PDAs and other mobile devices, and pharmaceutical companies are making their own apps. Medical Spanish Audio is our favorite app of this group. It lists Spanish phrases by category, such as trauma assessments. If you check the box next to a question, you can bookmark it for reference; and if you click a question, the app will pronounce it aloud for you. See Table A–12 for a list of health and medicine apps.

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Table A–12. Health and Medicine Apps.

App Name

Price

Notes

Epocrates Rx, by Epocrates

Free

Epocrates Rx is a free reference app for drug information. At the time of publication, the software is still in beta, so Epocrates may choose to charge for a premium service or full version in the future.

Skyscape Medical Resources, by Skyscape

Free

This is a general medical reference that includes prescription and over-thecounter medicine.

Medical Spanish Audio Lite, by Mavro

Free/$6.99

This is an app for non-Spanish-speaking care providers, enabling them to communicate with Spanish-speaking patients. The paid version removes the ads.

Medical Mnemonics, by Regular Rate and Rhythm Software

$1.99

So you’re not a medical professional... yet? This app helps students study with a library of mnemonics; it also lets them create and submit their own.

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541

542


Law and Legal For those working in or around law offices, there are reference materials and news sources available for the DROID. DroidLaw is a good example of such an app. You can use it to sort through legal procedures, but you can also use it to track many popular legal blogs and news feeds. For legal students, there are lots of study guides and flashcard games. There are also a few specialized apps for calculating billing hours and target dates. Legal students may also consider apps like Locale that automatically turn the phone’s ringer off at certain locations, such as the courthouse. See Table A–13 for a list of law and legal apps.

Table A–13. Law and Legal Apps.

App Name

Price

Notes

DroidLaw, by BigTwit Software

Free/varies

DroidLaw is a legal reference app. The base app is free, but you can expand it through paid modules that contain the material you need, such as Supreme Court cases ($2.99) or the United States Code ($3.99).

LangLearner Legal Dictionary, by LangLearner

Free

This app is a simple dictionary of legal terms for lawyers, legal assistants, and people studying law.

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Wathen Legal News, by Genwi

Free

This app provides international legal news stories and allows you to comment.

Lawyer’s Calendar Calc, by Hawkmoon Software

Free/$1.99

This app calculates target dates and the number of workdays between two dates for legal billing purposes.

Real Estate Real estate agents can benefit from many generalized apps, such as to-do lists, galleries, email apps, and notetaking apps. There are also a number of apps using the MLS database both for professionals and consumers. Zillow, for example, is a Google Mapsbased app that makes estimates of house values and shows current listings. If you click a property listing, it will show a picture of the property and details. It provides useful general information for both consumers and agents. See Table A–14 for more real estate apps.

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Table A–14. Real Estate Apps.

App Name

Price

Notes

Mortgage Calculator, by Siva G

Free/$4.99

This is a fairly straightforward mortgage and autopayment estimator with PMI (private mortgage insurance). It relies on data from Bankrate.com. The pro version offers more options.

Mortgage Pro, by Skynet Creations

Free

This is a mortgage calculator that helps buyers evaluate A– or 30-year mortgages, points, balloon payments, and other mortgage options.

RE/Max University, by Mediafly

Free

This app was written specifically for RE/Max agents, and it includes corporate communications and training videos.

Real Estate Vocabulary Quiz, by Upward Mobility

$2.99

Studying for a real estate broker exam? This app offers vocabulary quizzes. The company also offers many state-specific versions.

Zillow Real Estate, by Zillow

Free

This app comes from the same makers as the Zillow website. This app gives estimates (“Zestimates”) of property value and shows listings on a map.

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Sales and CRM CRM (customer relationship management) seems like something that was meant to be done from your phone. You can find tools that work with Microsoft CRM, and Salesforce.com is developing tools that are not yet on the market. There are also plenty of smaller CRM companies that are willing to work with Android, such as Simply Sales, and several developers have introduced standalone apps for the freelancer. If you’re interested in using CRM apps, try a few out to see what works best for you. See Table A–15 for a list of sales and CRM apps.

Table A–15. Sales and CRM Apps.

App Name

Price

Notes

Locale, by two forty four a.m.

$9.99

Locale sets your phone’s ring behavior based on the time, who is calling, what is on your schedule, and the phone’s location. Set it to stop ringing during sales meetings or prioritize some calls over others. Many other apps also work with the Locale app’s settings.

Mobile CRM for MSCRM, by Softtrends Software Private Ltd

Free trial/$99.00

This app is a third-party solution for connecting to Microsoft CRM. The full version is expensive, so take advantage of the fully functional trial to see whether it will serve your needs.

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546


Simply Sales, by MyOlive.net Small Business Portal

Free

Simply Sales is a simple CRM app that integrates with Gmail and Google Maps. The app was written by MyOlive.net, which also offers a small business CRM portal.

Retail Small business retailers will really appreciate being able to accept and process credit cards from their phones. For the most part, these apps are free; however, you must have a merchant account, and the apps and services in this space charge membership and/or transaction fees for credit-card processing. The FaceCash app promises an innovative way to let retailers and merchants handle transactions. Rather than carrying a credit card, a user relies on FaceCash to show merchants an ID that prominently showcases a picture of her face and transfers the funds from an account with FaceCash rather than a credit card. A user can choose to tie her bank account to the payment service or rely on transfers from other customers (such as her parents). You can think of this service as PayPal with an easier ID system. However, FaceCash isn’t useful if nobody accepts it, and nobody asks to use it; therefore, most merchants will still need to process credit cards. See Table A–16 for a selection of money-processing retail apps. Table A–16. Retail Sales Apps.

App Name

Price

Notes

Pocket Verifier, by MerchantAnywhere

Free app/$299 hardware

This app uses your phone’s built-in Bluetooth to process credit cards from a device sold separately. It only runs on Android 2.1 and higher. More information is available at www.merchantanywhere.com.

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App Name

Price

Notes

Mobile Credit Card Processing, by Merchant Swipe

Free

It requires you to manually input the credit card information into the phone, rather than giving you a swipe reader. More information is available at www.merchantswipe.com.

Square, by Square

Free

Square is a relatively new company that’s been making a splash with its payment system. Square officially opened for business in October 2010.

FaceCash, by Think Computer Corporation

Free

FaceCash enables a purchaser to use her phone for payments instead of carrying a credit card. The purchaser uses the app for payment. It shows the merchant a picture of the true phone owner’s face for security verification, and no paper or plastic needs to change hands. Both the purchaser and retailer must have FaceCash accounts.

Finance Android lends itself to personal-finance and portfolio-management software. One example is Google’s own Google Finance app.This app allows you to track general stock direction, portfolios, and financial news. There are also many apps written specifically by banks for their customers. You should always double-check the author and read reviews before downloading an app that claims to have been written by your bank. You’ll also find currency converters, MBA study guides, and basic expense-management software. See Table A–17 for a few apps that stand out either by offering more features or superior look-and-feel.

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Table A–17. Finance Apps.

App Name

Price

Notes

Google Finance, by Google

Free

This is the official Google Finance app; it includes stock quotes and financial news.

Personal Assistant, by Pageonce

Free/ $7.00

Personal Assistant combines investmentportfolio and personal-bill management with flight itineraries, cell phone minutes, and the ability to monitor your Netflix queue.

pFinance, by BiShiNews

Free

This app is a personal-finance manager that also tracks portfolios and financial news. What makes this app so nice are the simple calculators in the Finance column. For example, the app includes things like a tip calculator, an interest calculator, and a currency converter.

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Project Management Project managers have to keep track of a lot of parts and people in order to do their jobs. It seems ideal for them to be able to do some of that tracking from a mobile device, rather than having to lug around a laptop or transfer handwritten notes. Mobile Project Manager is a very capable mobile app. It can import from MS Project format, create Gantt charts, and send reports via email. You can add both location and contact resources, as well as attach files from your phone’s SD card. Mobile Project Manager does have an overly exuberant Help screen that tries to pop up every time you enter a file; however, you can uncheck the box to display the Help screen at all times, removing this annoyance.

See Table A–18 for a list of project-management apps. Table A–18. Project-Management Apps.

App Name

Price

Notes

Upvise Pro, by Unyverse

Free trial

This app handles simple CRM and project management.

Mobile Project Manager, by Hawkmoon Software

Free/$2.99

This is a simple project manager that allows you to import, export, and share Excel files.

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549

550


App Name

Price

Notes

Time Tracker, by Sean E Russell

Free

This is a simple time-tracking app for figuring out the time spent on a project or task. It also generates reports on projects and tasks.

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Education and Training Higher education institutions have begun offering apps and services aimed at students. The apps and services include maps, enrollment information, and access to the campus learning-management system. The developers for both the Blackboard and Moodle services have recognized that students may want to access coursework with a mobile phone. For example, the developers of Moodle have worked on optimizing the mobile browser experience for general usability on all mobile platform – without a dedicated app. Meanwhile, Blackboard is partnering with Sprint to offer a free native app for Sprint customers. Schools that wish to support other phone networks pay an additional licensing fee. Currently, most Android apps aimed at students focus on E-Books, flash cards, grammar, and study guides. There are some true gems among these apps. Google Sky Map shows a view of the stars that changes as you change the angle you hold your phone at (as if your phone has become a virtual telescope). Likewise, Google Earth provides a virtual globe with layers of customizable information about the planet. See Table A–19 for a list of education and training apps. Table A–19. Education and Training Apps.

App Name

Price

Notes

Grade Rubric, by Android for Academics

Free/$0.99

This is a simple grading app for teachers that use rubrics. The paid version can email final grades. It does not tie into a learning-management system at this time. The company is developing a version that will sync with Google Docs and create a grading spreadsheet.

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App Name

Price

Notes

Google Sky Map, by Google

Free

This app shows a map of the stars, but that is a simple explanation. It’s one of the apps we regularly pull out when people ask why they’d want a smartphone.

Blackboard Mobile, by Blackboard

Free

This app only works with institutions that are running Blackboard’s learning management software with the mobile plug-in. It allows students to participate in distance-learning courses from their phone.

Formulas Lite/Formula Droid, by Abhishek Kumar

Free/1.50 (about $1.95)

This is a scientific calculator and formula reference guide for students; it includes things like periodic tables and a web reference. The paid version removes ads.

Social Media Social media has become an important part of doing business and interacting with the world. Table A–20 lists a few of the more popular social media apps.

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Table A–20. Social Media Apps.

App Name

Price

Notes

HootSuite, by HootSuite

Free/$2.99

HootSuite is our top pick for Twitter on Android. Schedule tweets, manage multiple accounts, and see analytics. The paid version offers more features.

Facebook, by Facebook

Free

The official Facebook app is different from the Motorola Widget on the DROID X and DROID 2 phones.

WordPress, by Automattic

Free

If you have a WordPress blog, whether on WordPress.com or on your own server, this app will let you post to it (provided that your blog is WordPress 2.7 or higher and has the correct server settings enabled).

Google Buzz, by Google

Free

The simple GoogleBuzz widget allows you to make quick posts with pictures and/or location information to the Google Buzz service.

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Information Technology Your IT staff may have already installed, modified, and mastered the apps for Android covered in this section; however, if you’re looking into using an Android phone, it’s good to know you can manage your server or answer help-desk tickets from your phone. Not only are there a wide variety of IT tools for Android, but a large portion of them are free and written for the convenience of IT professionals, such as the difficult-to-read but very useful ConnectBot, which enables SSH (Secure Shell) connections from your phone. Table A–21 lists a few apps that don’t require special phone hacks to work.

Table A–21. IT Apps.

App Name

Price

Notes

Zendesk for Android, by Zendesk

Free

This app is for existing Zendesk customers. It allows you to remotely track and manage help-desk tickets.

android-vncviewer, by androidVNC team + antlersoft

Free

This is a simple, open source VNC (virtual native client) viewer for Android. It connects to TightVNC, RealVNC, and Apple Remote Desktop.

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ConnectBot, by Kenny Root and Jeffrey Sharkey

Free

ConnectBot is a simple, open source SSH client for Android. It’s difficult to see the tiny text, but it makes up for this by giving you the ability to copy-and-paste.

IPConfig, by Mankind

Free

This is a simple utility that provides statistics about your current Wi-Fi connection, including your IP address and DHCP server.

AndFTP, by __LYSESOFT

Free

AndFTP is an FTP and SFTP (Secure FTP) app for Android. It also provides open, rename, cut, paste, delete, and other basic functions. Although we doubt you’d want to use this app to set up and configure websites regularly, it works well for fixing small problems quickly.

Other Apps Finally, we’ll review a small handful of apps that are worth mentioning, even if they don’t quite fit into one of the broader categories. It may logically belong in the education app category, but the Kindle app likely won’t replace textbooks until Amazon adds better audio navigation for the user interface. However, for the mobile professional, E-Books are starting to come of age. Amazon chose an E-Book format incompatible with industry-standard ePub books, but made up for it by developing apps for most mobile platforms, including Android. The user interface for Kindle for Android is more intuitive than the standalone Kindle eReader because you can swipe your finger to turn pages rather than pressing a button. You also don’t get a month-long battery life on your phone; however, the books are still easy to read, even on a small screen. For more information on E-book readers, see Chapter 16, "New Media.


Firehouse Scheduler is another great app. It was created for emergency responders, and it is designed to keep track of shift schedules. Finally, if you or your business owns a car, aCar is a great app to use to make sure you take care of it. Table A–22 lists all three of these apps. Table A–22. Other Apps.

App Name

Price

Notes

Kindle for Android, by Amazon

Free

Purchase, download, and read Kindle books from your phone. The app keeps track of your downloads and reading progress between devices, so you can start a book on your kindle and finish reading on your Android phone.

Firehouse Scheduler, by Leaky Nozzle

$5.99

This app is an emergency responder’s scheduler. It’s designed to track shifts, vacation time, paydays, sick time, and traded shifts. Leaky Nozzle also has a variation specific to the New York Fire Department.

aCar, by Armond Avanes

Free

This app tracks car expenses, maintenance, and mileage. It has reminders for regular maintenance items like oil changes. This app is useful whether you’re maintaining a business or personal car.

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556


557

Index ■ Special Characters and Numerics $ key, 85 ?123 key, 68–69, 465 1-way sync option, 110 2-way sync option, 110 3G, 128–129. See also network connections 4G, 128–129 123 button, 223

■A

A2DP (Bluetooth Stereo), 194–195 ABC button, 308 ABC key, 68 About page, 352 About Phone option, 151 aCar app, 555 Accept option, No Emergency Calls pop-up warning window, 429 access controls, 315 accessibility, 81–85 double-clicking Home button, 84 Voice Readouts feature, 82 Zoom Mode feature, 83 Accessibility option, 82–83 Account screen, 434 account set up, 54–57 Accounts page for, 56 email, 56–57 Google account, 55 Account tab, 434 accounts, Microsoft Exchange, 56 Accounts option, 104, 213 Accounts page, 56 AccuWeather app, 492 Act One Video Player app, 317 activating

Google Account, 98–100 phone, 97 add a VPN option, 135 Add account button, 56, 213 Add alarm button, 481 Add App button, 404, 406 Add as a Contact option, 271 Add Bookmark icon, 241 Add call button, 168–169 Add Contact button, 431 Add contact option, 267 Add friend option, 235, 397 Add note line, AK Notepad app, 438 Add Pause option, 154 Add Photo icon, 263 Add POP3 email account option, 204 Add reminder tab, 280 Add shortcut to home option, 140, 254 Add Subject option, 230 Add to contacts option, 161 Add to existing contact option, 163 Add to favorites option, 166 Add to Home screen menu, 490 Add to playlist soft key, 304 Add to speed dial option, 161 Add wait option, 154 Add Wi-Fi network option, 130 Additional info gray bar, 186 Address Bar, 241–242 Address field, 263 addresses, for contacts overview, 263 showing on map, 270–271 adjusting brightness, 47 adjusting volume, 300 Adobe Reader app, 332 Ads and Pages application, 420 Advanced editing option, 387 Advanced mode, Calculator app, 479, 487 advanced panel, Calculator app, 487 Advanced panel soft key, 487

557

558

Index

Advanced Settings option, CompanionLink, 123 Agenda button, 275–276 Agenda (List) view, 275 Agenda view, 275–276 aggregating content, with feed readers, 427 AIM app, 236–237 Airplane icon, 14, 497 Airplane mode, 14–15, 135, 498 AK Notepad app, 438–441 adding and labeling new notes, 438–439 pinning notes to Home screen, 440–441 syncing to Catch.com, 441 using as to-do alarm reminder, 440 AK Notepad settings screen, 441 Alarm and Timer app, 28, 479 alarm clock, 481–484 Alarm Options screen, 482 alarm reminder, using AK Notepad app as, 440 Albums icon, 292, 294 Albums tab, Amazon MP3 App, 289 Albums view, 294, 298 albums, viewing other songs on, 303 Aldiko app, 339 Alerts icon, 492 All Contacts button, 431 All Contacts list, 269 All Contacts option, 272 All Contacts screen, 431 All-day box, 279 All dropdown list, Documents To Go app, 466 All Groups option, 272 All Menu button, 259 Allow automatic updating check box, 352 ALT key, 68, 465 always use https:// option, 204 Amazon Gift Code, 291 Amazon Kindle app, 25, 32, 92, 334, 336, 554 Amazon MP3 App buying from, 288–290 Setting screen, 291–292 viewing and playing songs and albums, 290–291 Amazon MP3 icon, 187 Amazon MP3 store, search of in doubleTwist, 522 Amazon search window, 187 AndExplorer app, 528

AndFTP app, 554 Android Comic Reader app, 332 Android icon, 267 Android Market, 343–364 apps in downloading, 349 installing, 349 purchasing, 347–348 rating, 353 uninstalling, 351 updating, 352–353 browsing, 344–347 home page, 327 installing apps from outside, 353–355 purchasing ringtones from, 187 recommended apps from, 355–364 Cooking Capsules Taster app, 358 Evernote app, 359 Google Voice app, 362 Lookout Mobile app, 356 Mint.com app, 357 New York Times app, 361 Pandora app, 360 ShopSavvy app, 355 WikiMobile Encyclopedia app, 363 Yelp app, 364 search of in doubleTwist, 521 using QR codes with, 343–344 Android Market option, doubleTwist app, 514, 521 Android support link, 502 android-vnc-viewer app, 553 Android widgets option, 50, 94, 143 AnyPost app, 426 AP Mobile app, 26 AP Settings option, 132 app icons, adding to home screen, 138–139 App Purchase page, Android Market app, 473 App tray, for home screen, 138–139 Append text option, 447 Apple Address Book, importing contact information from, 103–104 Applications button, 273, 354, 495 Applications option, 84 appointments creating, 278–282 one-time, 278–279 recurring events, 280 reminders for, 280 editing, 282–285

Index

accepting meeting invitations, 284–285 deleting, 284 moving to different calendar, 284 recurring events, 283 apps, 21–28, 525–555 AK Notepad, 438–441 adding and labeling new notes, 438–439 pinning notes to Home screen, 440–441 syncing to Catch.com, 441 using as to-do alarm reminder, 440 in Android Market downloading, 349 installing, 349 purchasing, 347–348 rating, 353 uninstalling, 351 updating, 352–353 Calculator, 486–487 Clock alarm clock, 481–484 Timer app, 485–486 document tools, 525–526 Documents To Go, 460–467 sending files via email, Bluetooth, or Dropbox, 463 Sheet To Go app, 465–467 Slideshow To Go app, 463–465 Word To Go app, 461–462 education, 550–551 email, 535–536 entertainment, 24–25 Evernote, 442–447 adding and tagging notes, 443 adding audio or voice notes, 446 adding pictures or snapshots, 446 adding text notes, 444 adding text to, emailing, deleting, or editing notes, 447 getting started with, 443 upload and attach files to notes, 446 viewing and finding notes, 444 viewing or updating Evernote on computers, 447 for Facebook, 421 file management, 528–529 finance, 537–538, 547–548 finding and installing, 438 games, 472–473

health, 540–541 information, 26 IT, 553–554 legal, 542–543 moving apps to SD cards, 496 notetaking, 533–534 presentation software, 531–532 printing, 527 productivity, 28 project management, 549–550 real estate, 543–544 retail, 546–547 sales, 545–546 security, 529–530 Sheet To Go, 465–467 adding Functions, 466 adjusting row and column sizes, 467 freezing panes, 466 inserting various elements, 466 selecting and editing cells, 465 selecting entire rows or columns, 466 spreadsheets, 465 switching worksheets, 466 Slideshow To Go, 463–465 editing slide text, 464 navigating, 465 switching views, 464 social media, 551–552 social networking, 27 starting and exiting, 11 stay connected and organized, 23–24 switching, 10 to-do lists, 536–537 travel, 539–540 troubleshooting, 494–497 changing launch by default setting, 496–497 forcing apps to stop, 495 resolving memory problems, 495–496 for Twitter, 414 Weather, 488–492 AccuWeather, 492 adding Weather widget, 489–490 Weather Channel, 491 web conferencing, 532–533 Word To Go, 461–462 Menu commands, 462 selecting text, 461 zooming in or out, 461 Apps button, 345

559

560

Index

Apps icon, 491 Apps option, 92 Apps suite, Google, 198 Arcade subcategory, Android Market app, 476 Archive option, 175 Archive.pst file, 107 archiving messages, and Gmail app, 199–200 Artists soft key, 292 Artists view, 293 Assisted dialing option, 180 Astrid Task/Todo List app, 537 Attach option, 230, 456 attachments, for email, 217–218 Attending drop-down window, 285 audio folder, 184 Audio note option, Evernote app, 443 audio notes, adding to Evernote app, 446 Audio option, Dropbox app, 454 Auto answer option, 180 Auto-cap option, 73 Auto-correction feature, 80 Auto-fit pages check box, 255 Auto Location Tag check box, 380 Auto-Lock field, 310 auto-play on Windows, stopping Verizon VCAST video, 49 Auto-punctuate option, 73 Auto-Replace feature, 73, 79–80 Auto retrieve messages option, 229 Auto Retry option, 180 Auto-Sync button, CompanionLink, 123 Automatic brightness setting, 47 automatic filters, Gmail app, 203 Automatic setting, 46 automatically syncing, with doubleTwist, 516 Avanes, Armond, 555

■B

Back button, 42–43, 243 Back icon, 241 Back key, 70, 225 Back option, WikiMobile Encyclopedia app, 363 backing up, Outlook data, 107 Backspace key, 75, 79, 86, 89, 154 Barcode button, doubleTwist app, 521 Barcode scanner app, 521–522

Basic mode, Calculator app, 479 Battery icon, 52 battery life charging options, 54 extending, 50–51 fastest draining of, 49 and Power Control widget, 50 using Battery Manager, 52–54 Battery Manager, 52–54, 494 Battery mode, 53 BATTERY REMOVAL HERE tab, 44 Blackboard Mobile app, 551 Blåtand, Harald, 189 Block option, 432 Block pop-up windows check box, 255 Blockbuster app, 24 blogging, 422–423 blogs, DROID-related, 503 Bluetooth, 131, 189–196 Bluetooth Stereo (A2DP), 194–195 disconnecting or forgetting device, 196 pairing with device, 191–193 turning on, 190 using Bluetooth headset, 193 Bluetooth check box, 499 Bluetooth icon, 193, 195 Bluetooth key, 157 Bluetooth option, 190, 499 Bluetooth Stereo (A2DP), 194–195 Bluetooth tab, 194 Bluetooth toggle widget, 144 Book button, Kindle app, 336 Bookmark button, 393 Bookmark icon, 246, 254 Bookmark option, 308 Bookmarking for Delicious app, 419 bookmarks adding to home screen, 139–140 in Browser app, 246–249 adding, 246–247 adding to home screen, 254 managing, 248–249 using, 247–248 Bookmarks icon, 241, 247 Bookmarks list, 249 Bookmarks option, 140 bottom icons, 319–320 Braziel, Lisa, 412 brightness, adjusting, 47 Brightness option, 47 Browse button, Kobo app, 338

Index

Browser app, 239–256 activating links in, 246 Back and Forward buttons for, 243 bookmarks in, 246–249 adding, 246–247 adding to home screen, 254 managing, 248–249 using, 247–248 copying text and graphics in, 252–253 emailing web page, 250 finding something on web page, 249 history in, 247–248 Internet connection is required, 240 launching, 240 printing web page, 251 remembering form data and passwords, 253–254 screen layout of, 241 settings for, 255–256 clearing history and cookies, 256 remembering form data, 256 security settings, 255 typing web address in, 242 using Windows button, 244 videos in, 251–252 and VPN, 136 zooming web pages, 245–246 double-tapping, 245 pinching, 245–246 using Zoom buttons, 245 Browser icon, 240, 312, 434 Browser option, 248, 255 browsing Android Market, 344–347 web, 497 Brunch app, 358 bucket brigade attack, 130 Bump app, 424 buttons along bottom, 6–7 overview, 4–5 Buy button, doubleTwist app, 522 Buy pre-pay credit button, 434 Buzz layer, Google Maps, 395 By Date button, 308

■C

Calculator app, 486–487 Calculator icon, 487 Calendar app, 273–286

accessing, 273–274 creating appointments, 278–282 one-time, 278–279 recurring events, 280 reminders for, 280 editing appointments, 282–285 accepting meeting invitations, 284–285 deleting event, 284 editing recurring events, 283 moving to different calendar, 284 settings for, 285–286 syncing, 282 views in, 274–277 Calendar button, 284 Calendar dropdown menu, 282 Calendar event, 157 Calendar icon, 273, 415 Calendar view, 278 Calendar widget, 144, 274 Calendars option, 282 Call button, 225, 432 Call Handling Ringtone option, 186 Call Settings, 178 Call settings screen, 178 Call Voicemail option, 170 Caller ID Readout option, 180 calling from contacts, 164 with Google Voice, 179 from Recent view in Phone, 160 with Skype app making calls, 432–433 receiving calls, 434 Camcorder app, 25, 41 camera. See also Camera Settings menu; photos adjusting for specific situations, 374–377 flash modes, 369 focus, 366–367 megapixels and image size, 366 Scenes button, 374–377 zoom, 367 Camera app, 25, 41, 44, 367, 379–380, 383 Camera button, 44, 367, 379 Camera folder, 313 Camera icon, 379 Camera roll, 373 Camera Settings menu, 377–380 Effects setting, 379 Exposure setting, 379

561

562

Index

Face Detection setting, 378 ISO Equivalent Sensitivity setting, 378–379 Picture Resolution setting, 378 Quick Upload Album setting, 378 Review Time setting, 378 Shutter Animation setting, 379 Tags setting, 379–380 Video Resolution setting, 378 Cancel button, 486 Cancel Subscription option, 174 Caps Lock, 85 Captions soft key, 322 CarDock app, 403–405 Catch Sync section, 441 Catch.com, syncing AK Notepad app to, 441 Categories icon, 319 category, browsing Android Market by, 345–347 cautions, 34 Cell Network Audio Quality field, 309 Cell Reference option, Documents To Go app, 465 cells, selecting and editing, 465 Change all events in the series option, 283 Change only this event option, 283 Charge Only mode, 448, 496, 509–510 charging. See also battery life from computer, 48–49 options for, 54 from wall outlet, 48 chatting with Skype app, 435 Check option, 88 Checkbox icon, 452 checkboxes, 11 Checkmark icon, 47, 499 Checkout service, Google, 55, 101 Chilton, Charlie, 534 Choose This Store option, 371 CL (Companion Link), 124 cleaning screen, 60–61 Clear all cookie data option, 248, 256 Clear cache button, 495 Clear Cache option, 248, 256 Clear defaults button, 497 Clear form data option, 248 Clear History option, 248, 256 Clear list option, 163 Clear location access option, 248 Clear passwords option, 248, 255

Clear Search History option, 323 Clear user dictionary option, 81 Clock app alarm clock, 481–484 Timer app, 485–486 Close button, 70 cloud computing, and Google Account, 100–102 colon key, 242 ColorNote Notepad Notes app, 533 Column option, Documents To Go app, 467 columns adjusting sizes of, 467 selecting, 466 .com key, 242 comic books, 332 Comments button, 346 Comments tab, 474 Companion Link (CL), 124 Companion Link Setup option, 120 CompanionLink, 117–125 installing on computer, 120–123 on DROID, 124–125 requirements for, 119 reviews for, 118 setting up Google Calendar for, 119 troubleshooting, 125 CompanionLink for Outlook software, 117 Company field, 260, 269 Company Name field, 262, 265 Compose option, 207 computers installing CompanionLink on, 120–123 installing Dropbox on, 449–451 viewing or updating Evernote on, 447 Concert settings, 382 conference calling, 168–169 Configure button, 124 Confirm Cancel Subscription option, 174 Confirm Delete option, Gmail app, 211 ConnectBot app, 553–554 contact icons in Recent view in Phone, 162 using photos as, 386 Contact Info button, 225 Contact quick tasks widget, 145 contacts, 257–272 adding new, 258–263 address for, 263 from Contacts app, 259–260

Index

email address for, 262 from email messages, 267–269 phone number for, 261–262 adding photo to, 263–265 composing SMS from, 226 linking contact to another app, 268–269 loading onto DROID, 257 making list useful, 257–258 order of, 271–272 and Recent view in Phone adding number from, 161 viewing details from, 160 ringtones for, 186 searching, 265–266 sending email message from list, 270 sending picture to, 269 showing addresses on map, 270–271 in Skype app, 430–432 troubleshooting, 272 Contacts app, 227 Contacts icon, 186, 259, 270, 372 Contacts list, 17, 57, 79, 162–164, 265, 308 Contacts option, 92 Contacts service, Google, 103 Contacts soft key, 164–165, 431–432, 435 Contacts view, 159, 165 Continue button, 436 cookies, for Browser app, 256 Cooking Capsules Taster app, 358 copy-and-paste, 89–91 between apps, 90–91 selecting text, 90 using long-press, 90 Copy link URL option, 249 Copy option, 90 Copy text to clipboard button, 252 Copy to clipboard icon, 252 copying in Browser app, text and graphics, 252– 253 photos to computer, 387 Corporate Setup option, 57 Corporate Sync accounts, 215 Corporate Sync icon, 56 Create a new label box, 202 Create Account button, 429 Create account option, Evernote app, 443 Create new contact option, 163, 267 Create New Document option, 457 Create Station button, Pandora, 308

CRM (customer relationship management), 409, 545 cross-posting, to social media sites, 425–426 Crowley, Dennis, 407 cursor, moving on screen, 76–78 Custom battery saver setting, 53 Custom date/time option, AK Notepad app, 440 Custom option, 405 Custom Tags check box, 380 customer relationship management (CRM), 409, 545 Cut function, 252 Cut option, 90

■D

Data Delivery option, 133 Data File Management option, Outlook, 107 Data manager option, 133 Data manager settings, 134 data packages, and phone plans, 63 Data Roaming check box, 133 Date & time option, 45 Date & time settings screen, 47 date, adjusting, 45–47 Date and Time widget, 145 Day button, 275 Day view, 274–276, 278 Dcim/Camera folder, 511 Default reminder tab, 286 Default zoom option, 255 DejaOffice app, 117–120, 124–125 Delete All Voicemails option, 174 Delete bookmark option, 249 Delete button, 296, 304, 370 Delete Event button, 284 Delete key, 317 Delete old messages option, 229 Delete option, 175 Delete Word Back pop-up window, 75 deleting appointments, 284 one word at a time, 75 Delicious option, 419 Delivery reports option, 229 Description box, 278 Desktop Files option, Documents To Go app, 460 Desktop link, 206

563

564

Index

Details soft key, 322 Detect automatically option, 397 Device keyboard option, 73, 87 Dialer app, 154–156 accessing on call, 156 muting call in, 155 Dialer icon, 151, 154, 157, 164–165, 170, 173 Dialer pad, 155 Dialer screen, Dialer app, 167 Dialer soft key, 153–154, 159 Dialpad button, 156 Dialpad screen, Dialer app, 168 dictating text, 74 dictionary, for spell checker adding words to, 80 clearing out, 81 editing or deleting words from, 81 Digital Rights Management (DRM), 333 direct messages (DMs), for Twitter, 413 Direct USB Sync Android direct via USB option, CompanionLink, 117 directions, Google Maps, 393–394 Directions icon, 271 Directions option, 393 Disconnect and Unpair button, 196 disconnecting DROID, safely, 512 Discover button, Kobo app, 338 Disk icon, 512 Dislike button, 360 Display option, 47, 271 DMs (direct messages), for Twitter, 413 Docs to Go app, 525–526, 531 Doctorow, Cory, 332 document tools, 525–526 documents, 437–467. See also Documents To Go app AK Notepad app, 438–441 adding and labeling new notes, 438–439 pinning notes to Home screen, 440–441 syncing to Catch.com, 441 using as to-do alarm reminder, 440 Dropbox file and document sharing, 449–454 installing Dropbox on computers, 449–451 installing Dropbox on DROID, 451–454 Evernote app, 442–447

adding and tagging notes, 443 adding audio or voice notes, 446 adding pictures or snapshots, 446 adding text notes, 444 adding text to, emailing, deleting, or editing notes, 447 getting started with, 443 upload and attach files to notes, 446 viewing and finding notes, 444 viewing or updating Evernote on computers, 447 finding and installing apps, 438 Office documents, 454–467 moving documents to and from DROID, 456 product reviews, 455 Quickoffice, 457–460 sharing, 447–449 Documents folder, 511 Documents To Go app, 460–467 sending files via email, Bluetooth or Dropbox, 463 Sheet To Go app, 465–467 adding Functions, 466 adjusting row and column sizes, 467 freezing panes, 466 inserting various elements, 466 selecting and editing cells, 465 selecting entire rows or columns, 466 spreadsheets, 465 switching worksheets, 466 Slideshow To Go app, 463–465 editing slide text, 464 navigating, 465 switching views, 464 Word To Go app, 461–462 Menu commands, 462 selecting text, 461 zooming in or out, 461 Done button, 263, 283 dot key, 242 Double tap home launch option, 84 double-tapping overview, 19 to zoom, web pages in Browser app, 245 doubleTwist, 512–522 Amazon MP3 store search in, 522 Android Market search in, 521 automatically syncing with, 516 connecting DROID to, 516 dragging-and-dropping files in, 519

Index

importing playlists, 515 installing, 513 podcast search in, 520–521 sync options in, 517–518 troubleshooting music that will not play, 519 doubleTwist library, 522 Down button, 347 Download Dropbox button, 450 Download from Market button, 176 Downloaded tab, 496 downloading apps, in Android Market, 349 Downloads folder, 313 dragging-and-dropping files in doubleTwist, 519 syncing media by, 510–511 draining of battery. See battery life driving directions, Google Maps, 393–394 Driving Navigation option, 271 DRM (Digital Rights Management), 333 Drobox icon, 453 DROID creating playlists on, 295–296 as music player, 287 stops responding, 493–494 using YouTube on, 318–323 adjusting DROID's video controls, 321–322 clearing history, 323 playing videos, 321 searching for videos, 319 using bottom icons, 319–320 using Netflix and Hulu on DROID, 323 as video player, 311–313 DroidLaw app, 542 Dropbox app, 28, 528–530 Dropbox file, 449–454 installing Dropbox on computers, 449–451 installing Dropbox on DROID, 451–454 Dropbox tray icon, 450–451 DTNF Tones option, 181 Duplicate Slide option, Documents To Go app, 464

■E

e-books, 333–339 Aldiko app, 339 Kindle app, 334–336

Kobo app, 338 Libris app, 339 navigating apps for, 340–341 Nook app, 337 Earth app, Google, 550 Edit bookmark button, 249 Edit button, 282, 406 Edit option, 186, 387, 462 Edit pop-up window, Documents To Go app, 461 Edit screen, 282, 284 Edit Slide Text option, Documents To Go app, 464 Edit speed dial option, 159 Edit Text option, 459 Edit title option, AK Notepad app, 439 editing photos, 387–389 other photo apps, 389 using Photoshop Mobile, 388 using PicSay, 388–389 education apps, 550–551 Effects button, 379 Effects setting, Camera Settings menu, 379 Eject option, 512 elements, inserting, 466 email, 197–219. See also Email app adding contact from message, 267–269 addresses, for contacts, 262 attachments for, 217–218 Corporate Sync accounts, 215 Gmail app, 199–211 and archiving messages, 199–200 automatic filters, 203 Confirm Delete option, 211 Labels in, 201–202, 211 multiple accounts in, 212–214 notifications for, 209–210 Priority Inbox, 201 replying to email, 207–208 searching in, 208 sending email, 207–208 signatures in, 209 Outlook Web Access, 215 receiving directions via, 405 sending web pages, 250 third-party apps for, 219 tips, 35 Universal Inbox for, 215–217 Email app, 214–215, 535–536 Exchange accounts on Android, 214 turning off ringtones in, 214–215

565

566

Index

Email field, 262–263, 429 Email icon, 56, 163 Email settings option, 214 Enable java script check box, 255 Enable plugins option, 255 Encyclopedia app, WikiMobile, 363 End call key, 154 End call option, 169 End last call option, 169 End point field, 393 enhanced voicemail, and phone plans, 65 Enter message here window, 89 entertainment apps, 24–25 Epocrates app, 540–541 equipment insurance, and phone plans, 64 EStrongs File Explorer app, 528 Event screen, 278, 280 events. See appointments Evernote app, 359, 442–447 adding and tagging notes, 443 adding audio or voice notes, 446 adding pictures or snapshots, 446 adding text notes, 444 adding text to, 447 getting started with, 443 upload and attach files to notes, 446 viewing and finding notes, 444 viewing or updating Evernote on computers, 447 Everyday setting, 382 Exchange accounts, Email app, 214 Exchange by TouchDown app, 535 Exchange service, 57 exiting apps, 11 Expand all link, 200 Expensify Expense Reports app, 538 Expensify service, 537 Explore option, 457 Exposure setting, Camera Settings menu, 379

■F

Face Detection setting, Camera Settings menu, 378 Facebook, 419–421 apps for, 421 fan pages for, 420 FaceCash app, 546–547 Factory Data Reset procedure, 500–501 fan pages, for Facebook, 420

Fast-Forward option, 315–316, 322 Favorite icon, 320, 322 Favorites, in Phone, 165–166 adding, 165 calling, 166 Favorites screen, 166 Favorites view, 165 Featured section, Android Market app, 473 feed readers, aggregating content with, 427 File Explorer app, 528 file management apps, 528–529 File Manager app, 529 File option, 462–463 File Properties option, 462 Filename column, Outlook, 107 Files app, 528 files, upload and attach to notes, 446 Filter messages like these option, 203 finance apps, 537–538, 547–548 Find on page search box, 249 finding something on web page, 249 Firehouse Scheduler app, 555 First field, 269 First Last button, 260 First name button, 260 Flash, 240 Flash lite player, 323 flash modes, camera, 369 flash, using when shooting video, 383 flicking, 17 focus, camera, 366–367 folders, adding to home screen, 141 Folders app, 28 Folders option, 141 football games, 477 Force stop button, 495 forgetting Bluetooth device, 196 form data, remembering in Browser app, 253–256 Format option, 458, 462 Formulas Lite/Formula Droid app, 551 Forward arrow, 243 Forward button, for Browser app, 243 Forward icon, 241 Forward option, WikiMobile Encyclopedia app, 363 forward slash key, 242 Forward soft key, 243 forwarding settings, for Gmail, 205 FREE button, 185 Free Download button, 513

Index

Free DROID apps category, Android Market app, 476 free trials, games, 474 Freeze Panes option, Documents To Go app, 466 freezing panes, 466 From field, 213, 267 From tab, 279, 283 Full Name field, 429 Function option, Documents To Go app, 466 Functions, adding, 466 Fuze Meeting app, 533

■G

Gaia GPS app, 540 GAL (Global Address List), 214 Gallery app, 25, 233, 313, 315–316, 384, 387, 446, 454 Gallery icon, 312 Gallery option, 386 games, 469–478 acquiring apps, 472–473 football, 477 free trials or lite versions, 474 music, 476 online and wireless, 475–476 reading reviews, 474 safety, 474 two-player, 475 Games app, 25 Games tab, Android Market app, 472–473 Gear icon, 53 General tab, doubleTwist app, 516 Genre option, 308 Geodelic, 540 Get a subscription button, 434 Get directions option, 271 Get Skype for Mac button, 436 Get Skype for Windows button, 436 Gift Code, Amazon, 291 Global Address List (GAL), 214 global positioning satellites (GPS), 131, 391 Gmail, 198–211 and archiving messages, 199–200 automatic filters, 203 Confirm Delete option, 211 Labels in, 201–202, 211 multiple accounts in, 212–214 deleting, 214 switching between, 213

notifications for, 209–210 overview, 198 Priority Inbox, 201 replying to email, 207–208 searching in, 208 sending email, 207–208 settings for, 203–206 accounts, 204–205 forwarding and POP/IMAP, 205 general, 204 Labs, 206 offline, 206 Themes for, 206 signatures in, 209 web version from phone, 206 Gmail icon, 56 Gmail service, 55–56, 101 Gmote 2.0 app, 532 Go key, 242 Google Accounts activating, 98–100 and cloud computing, 100–102 multiple in Gmail app, 212–214 deleting, 214 switching between, 213 setting up, 55 Google Apps suite, 198 Google button, 100 Google Buzz, 212, 424–425, 552 Google Calendar, setting up for CompanionLink, 119 Google Calendar Sync, 108–112 installing, 109 requirements for, 108 setting up, 109–111 troubleshooting, 111–112 Google Calendars tab, CompanionLink, 121 Google Checkout service, 55, 101 Google Contacts service, 103 Google Docs option, Documents To Go app, 460 Google Earth app, 550 Google Finance app, 547–548 Google Maps, 391–408 driving directions, 393–394 email and text directions, 405 GPS navigation using, 402–405 Latitude service, 397–398 making own maps, 405–406 map layers, 394–396 Buzz layer, 395

567

568

Index

Google Labs layer, 396 Satellite layer, 395 Traffic layer, 395 overview, 392–394 place pages, 398–402 Google Street View service, 401–402 Places app, 399 starring locations, 400 sharing location, 397–398 Google Maps service, 55, 101 Google Outlook Calendar Sync for Windows page, 109 Google Reader app, 427 Google Search, 91–95 Google Search widget, 94–95 modifying parameters of, 92 performing search, 93–94 Google Settings pop-up window, CompanionLink, 121 Google Sky Map app, 550–551 Google, syncing with, 497 Google Talk, 211–212, 235–236 Google to Outlook option, CompanionLink, 122 Google Translate app, 540 Google Voice, 176–179, 362 installing app, 176 placing calls with, 179 retrieving voicemails in, 179 setting up, 177–178 Google Voice service, 65, 101 GoogleBuzz widget, 552 Got To Do Lite app, 537 GPS (global positioning satellites), 131, 391 GPS navigation using Google Maps, 402–405 GPS Toggle widget, 145, 392 Grade Rubric app, 550 Green check mark button, 78 Green check mark icon, 175 Green phone icon, 151, 160, 164, 166, 169, 179 Green phone key, 155, 170, 173 Green Robot tool, 206 Groups screen, 431 gTasks ToDo app, 536–537 Guitar Hero app, 471

■H

HAC Mode Settings option, 181

hands-free calling, 156–157 Hands-free mode, 180 hard plastic cases, 62 hashtags, for Twitter, 413 headsets, Bluetooth, 193 health apps, 540–541 help, for Swype, 70 Help option, 462 Help screen, 70 Hide declined events check box, 286 Hide your location option, 397 history for Browser app, 256 clearing, 323 History button, 248 Home button, 42–43, 84 Home key, 225 Home screen, 137–150 adding to app icons, 138–139 bookmarks, 139–140, 254 folders, 141 shortcuts, 141 App tray, 138–139 Motorola widgets, 144–148 overview, 137 pinning notes to, 440–441 removing items from, 148 wallpaper for, 148–150 Live wallpapers, 149–150 and Media Gallery, 150 widgets for, 142–144 Hootsuite app, 415, 552 hotspot, creating, 131–133 House icon, 4 Hulu, 311, 323

■I

i button, 489 icons, adding and removing, 8–9 I'm already a Dropbox user option, Dropbox app, 451 I'm new to Dropbox option, Dropbox app, 451 images. See also photos IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol), settings for Gmail, 205 Import iTunes Playlists option, doubleTwist app, 515 import link, Google Contacts service, 103

Index

Import new pictures from my device check box, doubleTwist app, 518 Import WMP Playlists option, doubleTwist app, 515 importing contact information, from Outlook or Apple Address Book, 103–104 Include SubFolders check box, CompanionLink, 122 information apps, 26 Information icon, 53, 307, 446 information technology (IT) apps, 553–554 Input method dialog box, 69 Input method setting, 68–69, 87 Insert menu, Documents To Go app, 464 Insert option, Documents To Go app, 462, 466 Insert Slide option, Documents To Go app, 464 inserting memory card, 44 installing apps in Android Market, 349 apps outside Android Market, 353–355 CompanionLink on computer, 120–123 on DROID, 124–125 doubleTwist, 513 Google Calendar Sync, 109 Google Voice, 176 Missing Sync on computer, 113–115 on DROID, 116 instant messaging, 234–237 AIM, 236–237 Google Talk, 235–236 international phone plans, 65–66 Internet. See Browser app Internet hotspot, creating, 131–133 Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), settings for Gmail, 205 Internet Radio, Pandora, 304–310 adjusting settings, 309–310 creating new stations in, 308 getting started, 305–306 main screen, 306–307 menu, 308 Thumbs up or Thumbs down, 307 Invitees tab, 280 IPConfig app, 554 ISO Equivalent Sensitivity setting, Camera Settings menu, 378–379 IT (information technology) apps, 553–554

■J

Join Latitude option, 397 Join link, 436 Just in button, 345

■K

KeePassDroid app, 530 keyboard. See also typing layouts for Multi-touch, 68 for Swype, 71 options for, 87 slide-out, 43 typing with, 73 vibration and sounds for, 78 Keyboard option, 458 keys, 4–5 Kindle app, 25, 32, 92, 334–336, 554 Kindle for Android app, 554–555 Kobo app, 338

■L

Label option, 482 Label settings area, 202 Label tab, 483 Labels button, 202, 211 Labels, in Gmail app, 201–202, 211 Labels option, 439 Labs layer, Google Maps, 396 Labs option, 396 Landscape mode, 32, 43, 67, 225, 321, 374 LangLearner Legal Dictionary app, 542 Language & keyboard option, 73, 78, 80–81, 87 Last name button, 260 Launch by default section, 496–497 Launcher app, 22 Launcher icon, 5–6, 8, 47, 56 Lawyer's Calendar Calc app, 543 layers, Google Maps, 394–396 Buzz layer, 395 Google Labs layer, 396 Satellite layer, 395 Traffic layer, 395 Layers option, 394 leather cases, 62 legal apps, 542–543 Library option, doubleTwist app, 515

569

570

Index

Library soft key, 304 Libris app, 339 Like button, 360, 420 Linda File Manager app, 529 Linked app, 422 LinkedIn, 421–422 LinkedIn app, 27 links, activating in Browser app, 246 List (Agenda) view, 275 List button, 298–299 List mode, 17 List tab, Kobo app, 338 List view, 276 lite versions, games, 474 Live tab, 478 Live wallpapers, 149–150 Load images check box, 255 Local Files option, Documents To Go app, 460 Locale app, 542 Location & Security settings option, 57, 392 location-based social media and games, 406–408 Foursquare, 407 Gowalla, 407–408 Location key, 492 Lock icon, 42 Lock tab, 227 locking screen, 60 logging in, to Skype app, 430 Login button, 253 long click, 138 long-press for copy-and-paste, 90 overview, 7–8 Long Term Evolution (LTE), 128 Lookout Mobile app, 356, 529 Lookout Mobile Security Free app, 530 LTE (Long Term Evolution), 128

■M

magazines, 331 Magnifying Glass button, 431, 461 Magnifying Glass icon, 4 Mail app, 270 Mail, Contacts, Calendars tab, 271 maintenance, 60–63 cleaning screen, 60–61 protective cases hard plastic/metal, 62

leather, 62 rubber/silicone, 62 screen protectors, 63 waterproof, 62 where to buy, 61 making calls, with Skype app, 432–433 man-in-the-middle attack, 130 Manage applications option, 351, 495 Manage labels option, 202 Manage Networks option, 130 Map button, 271 Map icon, 162, 492 maps. See Google Maps; location-based social media and games Market app, 25, 32, 113, 116, 118, 124, 176, 187 Mass Storage mode, 509–510, 516 Media/Audio/Notifications folder, 511 Media/Audio/Ringtones folder, 511 media folder, 184 Media Gallery, and wallpaper, 150 Media gallery option, 150 Media Share service, 312 Media Sync app, 508 Media Sync mode, Windows, 509 Media volume control, 300 Medical Mnemonics app, 541 Medical Spanish Audio app, 540 Medical Spanish Audio Lite app, 541 meeting invitations, accepting, 284–285 megapixels, 366 memory card, inserting, 44 memory, troubleshooting, 495–496 Menu button, 42–43, 290 Menu commands, Word To Go app, 462 Menu icon, 233 menu, Pandora, 308 Menu+p command, 255 menus, 11 Merge calls button, 169 Message limit option, 501 Messages app, 24 Messages widget, 145 messaging, 221–237 instant, 234–237 AIM, 236–237 Google Talk, 235–236 MMS, 230–234 composing from Photos app, 233 composing in Messaging app, 230–232

Index

sending multiple pictures, 233–234 SMS, 222–229 composing from contacts, 226 composing in Messaging app, 222– 224 notification options for, 229 replying to, 227 threaded discussion window for, 225 viewing messages, 228 Messaging app, 215–216, 226, 228–230 Messaging icon, 185, 222, 226, 228, 230 Messaging option, 233–234 Messaging settings, 185, 501 Messaging widget, 214–216 metal cases, 62 microblogs. See Twitter Microphone button, 403 Microphone icon, 4, 89, 93 Microphone key, 72, 74 Microsoft CRM app, 545 Microsoft Exchange account, 56 Microsoft Outlook, backing up data, 107 MightyMeeting app, 531–532 Mind Map Memo app, 534 Mint.com app, 357, 537–538 Minus key, 171 missed calls, checking with voice command, 168 Missing Sync, 112–117 installing on computer, 113–115 installing on DROID, 116 requirements for, 113 reviews for, 112–113 troubleshooting, 116–117 MMS mode, 230 MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service), 230–234 composing from Messaging app, 230–232 from Photos app, 233 sending multiple pictures, 233–234 Mobile Credit Card Processing app, 547 Mobile CRM for MSCRM app, 545 Mobile Hotspot service check box, 132 Mobile option, 432 Mobile Project Manager app, 549 Mobile Queue app, Netflix, 24 Mobile Wi-Fi Hot Spot, and phone plans, 64–65 Month button, 275, 277 Month view, 275, 277

monthly subscriptions, for Skype, 434 Moodle app, 550 More actions button, 203 More button, 262 More Layers button, 394 More option, 249–250, 252, 255, 462, 467 More soft key, 322 Mortgage Calculator app, 544 Mortgage Pro app, 544 Most Viewed icon, 319 Motorola Android Support page, 502 Motorola DROID support pages, 502 Motorola icon, 49 Motorola widgets, for social media, 409–411 Motorola widgets option, 147 Move to phone button, 496 Move to SD card button, 496 movies. See videos MP3 App, Amazon, 24, 186–187, 288–292 MP3 store, Amazon, 522 Multi Player option, Raging Thunder app, 475 Multi-touch switching between Swype and, 68 typing with, 68–72 accessing settings for, 69 keyboard layouts for, 68 Multimedia Messaging Service. See MMS multiple accounts, in Gmail app, 212–214 deleting, 214 switching between, 213 multitasking copying and pasting between apps, 90–91 overview, 10 music, 287–310 Amazon MP3 App buying from, 288–290 Setting screen, 291–292 viewing and playing songs and albums, 290–291 changing view in Music app, 293–297 Albums view, 294 Artists view, 293 creating playlists on DROID, 295–296 searching for music, 297 Songs view, 295 DROID as music player, 287 Internet Radio, Pandora, 304–310 adjusting settings, 309–310 creating new stations in, 308

571

572

Index

getting started, 305–306 main screen, 306–307 menu, 308 Thumbs up or Thumbs down, 307 Music app, 292 options, 304 playing, 299–303 adjusting volume, 300 moving to other parts of songs, 301 Now Playing icon, 303 pausing and playing, 300 Previous or Next songs, 300 repeating one or all songs, 302 repeating, shuffling, and moving around in songs, 301 shuffling playlists, 302 viewing other songs on albums, 303 as ringtones, 182 troubleshooting sound, 499–500 viewing songs in albums, 298 Music app changing view in, 293–297 Albums view, 294 Artists view, 293 creating playlists on DROID, 295–296 searching for music, 297 Songs view, 295 Music folder, 511 music games, 476 Music icon, 195, 292 Music option, 92 Music Store link, doubleTwist app, 514, 522 Music tab, doubleTwist app, 517 Mute button, 155–156 Mute option, 193, 200 muting call, in Dialer, 155 phone, sliding to, 42 ringer, with slide to mute, 152–153 My Accounts icon, 56, 319 My Location field, 393 My Location option, 392 My Location tool, 392 My Maps Editor app, 405 My maps layer, 406 My review section, 353 My Team tab, 477

■N

Navigate button, 394

navigating Slideshow To Go app, 465 Navigation app, 402–405 Need For Speed app, 25 Netflix Mobile Queue app, 24 Netflix, using on DROID, 323 network connections, 127–136 3G and 4G, 128–129 Bluetooth, 131 creating hotspot, 131–133 GPS, 131 status symbols for, 127–128 troubleshooting, 133–135 airplane mode, 135 managing power, 134 managing syncing, 134 roaming, 133 VPN, 135–136 Wi-Fi, 129–131 Never option, 254 New Bullet Item option, Documents To Go app, 464 New contact button, 259 New event option, 278 New folder option, 141 new media, 325–341 comic books, 332 e-books, 333–339 Aldiko app, 339 Kindle app, 334–336 Kobo app, 338 Libris app, 339 navigating apps for, 340–341 Nook app, 337 magazines, 331 news widgets, 330 newspapers, 325–330 navigating apps for, 329–330 New York Times app, 327–328 USA Today app, 329 PDF files, 332 New message icon, 223 New Note screen, Evernote app, 443, 446 New window button, 244 New York Times app, 26, 327–328, 361 News & Weather category, Android Market, 329 News & Weather link, 327 News and Videos tab, 478 News and Weather app, 480, 488, 490 News and Weather category, 491 News and Weather icon, 488

Index

News and Weather option, 490 News and Weather widget, 330 News app, 488 News widgets, 145, 330 newspapers, 325–330 navigating apps for, 329–330 New York Times app, 327–328 USA Today app, 329 Next button, 70 Next Song button, 299–300 Next Step button, 203 NFL Mobile app, 477 Night mode, 406 No Emergency Calls pop-up warning window, 429 Nook app, 337 Normal video mode, 383 Norton Security Beta app, 530 Not now option, 254 Note icon, 441 Note info option, 447 Note view, AK Notepad app, 438 Notebook app, 534 Notebook option, Evernote app, 444 notes, 34. See also documents Notes option Documents To Go app, 464 Evernote app, 444 notetaking apps, 533–534 Nothing option, 49 Notification bar, 349, 352, 354 Notification icon, 236 Notification section, 13 Notification settings option, AK Notepad app, 440 notifications for Gmail app, 209–210 for Messaging app, 229 notifications folder, 184 Notifications option, 214, 229 Notifications screen, 184 Now Playing icon, 303 Now Playing screen, 301, 303–304, 308–309 NPR News app, 26

■O

OCS (Oracle Collaboration Suite), 57 Office documents, 454–467 moving documents to and from DROID, 456

product reviews, 455 Quickoffice, 457–460 editing text in, 459 formatting text in, 458 getting around in, 459 zooming in, 460 OfficeSuite Viewer app, 526 Ongoing section, 13, 448, 510 online games, 475–476 Only sync option, doubleTwist app, 518 Only the selected option, doubleTwist app, 517–518 Open browser button, doubleTwist app, 521 Open in background check box, 255 Open pages in overview check box, 255 Operators option, Documents To Go app, 465 OPT key, 69, 71 options for keyboard, 73–87 music, 304 for Phone, 180–181 Options button, 70 Oracle Collaboration Suite (OCS), 57 Oration Sensation app, 531 Organization field, 262 Other field, 261 Outdoors setting, 382 Outline view, Documents To Go app, 464 Outlook Folders tab, CompanionLink, 122 Outlook, importing contact information from, 103–104. See also Microsoft Outlook, backing up data Outlook Settings option, CompanionLink, 122 Outlook to Google option, CompanionLink, 122 Outlook Web Access, 215 Outlook.pst file, 107

■P

Pages View icon, 241 pairing with Bluetooth device, 191–193 Pandora app, 25, 360 Pandora icon, 305 Pandora Internet Radio, 304–310 adjusting settings, 309–310 creating new stations in, 308 getting started, 305–306 main screen, 306–307

573

574

Index

menu, 308 Thumbs up or Thumbs down, 307 panes, freezing, 466 Panorama assist option, 376 panoramas, 376–377 Party shuffle soft key, 304 Password field, 429 passwords remembering in Browser app, 253–254 for voicemail, entering automatically, 171–172 Paste function, 252 Paste option, 90–91 Pause button, 300, 315 pause controls, 315 Pause mode, 500 pausing music, 300 PC mode, 509 PDAnet program, June Fabric, 133 PDF files, 332 Pencil icon, 93 Performance mode, 53 Personal Assistant app, 538, 548 personalization, with photos, 372 pFinance app, 548 Phone, 151–187 conference calling, 168–169 Dialer in, 154–156 accessing on call, 156 muting call in, 155 Favorites in, 165–166 adding, 165 calling, 166 finding own phone number, 151 Google Voice, 176–179 installing app, 176 placing calls with, 179 retrieving voicemails in, 179 setting up, 177–178 hands-free calling, 156–157 muting ringer, with slide to mute, 152–153 opening apps while on call, 157 options for, 180–181 placing calls from contacts, 164 Recent view in, 159–163 adding number to contacts from, 161 assigning speed dial from, 161 clearing list, 163 contact icon in, 162 placing call from, 160

question mark icon in, 163 sending text message from, 161 viewing contact details from, 160 returning to call from app, 157 ringtones for, 181–186 assigning to contacts, 186 copying custom ringtones, 183–185 purchasing from Amazon MP3, 187 purchasing from Android Market, 187 selecting for calls, 183 selecting for text messages, 185 using own music as, 182 speaker phone, 156 Speed Dial in, 158–159 adding numbers for, 158 using, 159 views in, 153 voice dialing, 167–168 voicemail, 170–175 entering password for automatically, 171–172 setting up, 170–172 Visual Voicemail, 172–175 Phone button, 399 phone calls, 497 Phone dialer screen, 151 Phone field, 261 Phone icon, 151, 159 Phone key, 154 phone numbers, for contacts, 261–262 Phone options, 494 Phone Options pop-up menu, 60 phone plans, 63–66 data packages, 63 enhanced voicemail, 65 equipment insurance, 64 international, 65–66 Mobile Wi-Fi Hot Spot, 64–65 picture messaging, 63–64 text messaging, 63–64 video messaging, 63–64 phone posts, to blogs, 423 Phone ringtone option, 183 Phone screen, 158 Photo Capture Settings tray, 379, 381 Photo Sharing option, 371 Photo slideshow widget, 145 Photo Widget, 145 Photo Workshop app, 387 photos. See also camera adding to contacts, 263–265

Index

adding to Evernote app, 446 copying to computer, 387 editing, 387–389 other photo apps, 389 using Photoshop Mobile, 388 using PicSay, 388–389 and Gallery app, 384 panoramas, 376–377 personalizing phone with, 372 and Picasa, 385–386 printing, 389–390 sending to contacts, 269 sharing, 370–371 size of, 366 sliding through, 373 uploading quickly, 372–378 using as wallpaper and widgets, 386 using for contact icons, 386 Photos app, composing MMS from, 233 Photoshop Mobile app, 388 Picasa, 55, 101, 385–386 PicSay app, 388–389 Picture modes option, 376 Picture Resolution setting, Camera Settings menu, 378 pictures. See photos Pictures option, 231 Pictures tab, doubleTwist app, 518 Pin Note to Home Screen option, AK Notepad app, 440 pinching overview, 20 to zoom, web pages in Browser app, 245–246 Ping.fm service, 426 place pages, Google Maps, 398–402 Google Street View service, 401–402 Places app, 399 starring locations, 400 Places app, 399, 401 Places icon, Google Maps app, 539 Play button, 500 Play latest episode button, doubleTwist app, 520 Play option, Evernote app, 446 Play/Pause button, 299–300, 315 playing music, 299–303 adjusting volume, 300 moving around in songs, 301 moving to other parts of songs, 301 Now Playing icon, 303

pausing and playing, 300 Previous or Next songs, 300 repeating songs, 301–302 shuffling playlists, 302 shuffling songs, 301 viewing other songs on albums, 303 Playlist view, 296 playlists importing with doubleTwist, 515 shuffling, 302 Playlists soft key, 292 PlinkArt app, 551 PlurQ app, 418 Plus sign option, Documents To Go app, 460 Pocket Verifier app, 546 Podcast Search option, doubleTwist app, 514, 520–521 POP (Post Office Protocol), settings for Gmail, 205 Portrait mode, 67, 137, 321, 367, 487 Post button, 425 Post Office Protocol (POP), settings for Gmail, 205 Power button, 15 Power Control widget, 47, 50–51, 134, 144 Power key, 135 Power/Lock button, 22, 58, 60, 494, 498 Power/Lock key, 152 power, managing, 134 Power off option, 60, 494 Power/Sleep button, 40, 50 PPT Remote for PowerPoint app, 532 Preferences icon, 309 Preferences key, 492 Preferences method, 405 Preferences options, 309, 405, 462 presentation apps, 531–532 Preview button, 456 Previous button, 70 Previous Song button, 299–300 Previous songs, 300 Print command, 251 PrinterShare app, 527 printing apps, 527 photos, 389–390 web page, 251 Priority Inbox, Gmail app, 201 Privacy option, 501 Privacy settings, 256

575

576

Index

productivity apps, 28 project management apps, 549–550 protective cases, 61–63 hard plastic/metal, 62 leather, 62 rubber/silicone, 62 screen protectors, 63 waterproof, 62 where to buy, 61 purchasing apps in Android Market, 347–348 resolving problems when, 500 Pure Calendar widget, 536

■Q

QR codes, using with Android Market, 343–344 QR (quick response), 343 Question mark icon, in Recent view in Phone, 163 Quick Access pop-up menu, 162 Quick Access window, 163 quick response (QR), 343 Quick Upload Album setting, Camera Settings menu, 378 Quick Upload feature, 370, 372 Quickoffice, 457–460 editing text in, 459 formatting text in, 458 getting around in, 459 zooming in, 460

■R

Raging Thunder app, 470, 475 Rate soft key, 322 rating, apps in Android Market, 353 RE/Max University app, 544 Re-Record option, Evernote app, 446 Read reports option, 229 Reader app, Google, 427 Reading settings, 178 real estate apps, 543–544 Real Estate Vocabulary Quiz app, 544 receiving calls, with Skype app, 434 Recent apps list, 494 Recent Files option, Documents To Go app, 460 Recent list, 90–91, 158, 161–163

Recent screen, 160 Recent soft key, 159 Recent view, in Phone, 159–163 adding number to contacts from, 161 assigning speed dial from, 161 clearing list, 163 contact icon in, 162 placing call from, 160 question mark icon in, 163 sending text message from, 161 viewing contact details from, 160 Recent window, 157 Recently added tab, 295 Record icon, Evernote app, 446 recurring events creating, 280 editing, 283 Red phone icon, 154, 157 Refresh icon, 488 Refresh key, 492 Remember form data check box, 256 Remember Form Data tool, 253 Remember option, 254 Remember passwords check box, 255–256 Remember this choice check box, 164, 166 Remind me option, AK Notepad app, 440 reminders, for appointments, 280 Reminders tab, 280 Remote locate & scream feature, Lookout Mobile app, 356 Remove account button, 214 Remove Facebook data option, 268 Remove option, 432 removing battery, 44 items, from home screen, 148 Repeat button, 299, 302 Repeat option, 482 Repeat tab, 280, 482 repeating songs, 301–302 Repetition tab, 280 reply button, 208 replying to SMS, 227 requirements for CompanionLink, 119 for Google Calendar Sync, 108 for Missing Sync, 113 Reset Phone option, 501 resources, 502–503 DROID-related blogs, 503 Motorola DROID support pages, 502

Index

retail apps, 546–547 retweets, for Twitter, 412 Review Time setting, Camera Settings menu, 378 reviews for CompanionLink, 118 games, 474 for Missing Sync, 112–113 Rewind button, 315–316, 322 Rewind option, 315–316 Ringtone tab, 482 ringtones, 181–186 assigning to contacts, 186 copying custom ringtones, 183–185 in Email app, turning off, 214–215 own music as, 182 purchasing, 187 selecting for calls, 183 for text messages, 185 settings, 482 for Visual Voicemail, 175 ringtones folder, 184 Risk icon, 492 RoadSync 2.0 app, 535 roaming, 133 Root, Kenny, 554 Row option, Documents To Go app, 467 rows adjusting sizes of, 467 selecting, 466 RSS icon, 427 rubber cases, 62 Running tab, 495–496

■S

safety, when playing games, 474 sales apps, 545–546 Satellite layer, Google Maps, 395 Save as playlist option, 295 Scenes button, camera, 374–377, 382 Scenes setting, video, 382–383 screen cleaning, 60–61 protectors, 63 screen layout, of Browser app, 241 screen lock locking, 60 setting, 57–59 unlocking, 60

Screen timeout setting, 51 scrolling, 18 SD cards, moving apps to, 496 Search box, 93 Search button, 4, 6, 16, 42–43, 91, 165, 167, 341, 393 Search by City or Zip Code button, 371 Search icon, 319, 438 Search nearby option, 271 Search option, 444 Search screen, 7 Search Skype Directory button, 431 Search tab, 294 Search window Amazon, 187 doubleTwist app, 520 Market app, 187 search window, Amazon MP3 App, 288 searching. See also Google Search contacts, 265–266 by flicking, 266 jumping to letter by scrolling, 266 in Gmail app, 208 Secure FTP (SFTP), 554 Secure Shell (SSH), 553 security, 57–60 apps, 529–530 locking, 60 setting screen lock, 57–59 unlocking, 60 Security lock timer setting, 58 Security settings, for Browser app, 255 Security settings heading, 255 Seesmic app, 416 Select all option, 90 Select date format option, 46 Select Locale option, 87 Select Ring Tone drop-down menu, 229 Select Ringtone option, 175, 185, 210, 214, 286 Select tags option, Evernote app, 444 Select text option, 90, 252 Select time zone option, 46 Select to add custom tags option, 380 selecting text, 86–90 Selection Mode option, Documents To Go app, 461 Send a File command, Documents To Go app, 463 Send button, 89, 224, 228, 322, 370–371, 431, 435

577

578

Index

Send chat invitation window, 235 Send IM button, 435 Send MMS button, 232 Send option, 235–236 Send text message option, 161 Send to Retail option, 371 Send via Email option, Documents To Go app, 463 Set alerts & notifications option, 286 Set as button, 370, 372, 386 Set as homepage option, 249 Set button, 46 Set date option, 46 Set home page option, 255 Set key, 279 Set location tab, 489 Set time option, 46 Set time screen, 46 Set up screen lock option, 57 Set your location option, 397 setting up Google Voice, 177–178 voicemail, 170–172 settings for Browser app, 255–256 clearing history and cookies, 256 remembering form data, 256 security settings, 255 for Calendar app, 285–286 for Gmail, 203–206 accounts, 204–205 forwarding and POP/IMAP, 205 general, 204 Labs, 206 offline, 206 Themes for, 206 for Google Account sync, 103 for Multi-touch, 69 for Swype, 71 Settings button, 338 Settings Gear option, Documents To Go app, 460 Settings key, 68 Settings link, 203 Settings menu, 141, 211, 341, 357 Settings option, 129, 133, 175, 190, 209, 248, 377, 392, 441, 483 Setup Assistant icon, 115 SFTP (Secure FTP), 554 Share button, 234, 370–372, 384, 386 Share icon, 322

Share option, 233, 308 Share Page option, 250, 419 Share this place option, 271, 399 sharing documents, 447–449 location, with Google Maps, 397–398 photos, 370–371 Sharkey, Jeffrey, 554 Sheet To Go app, 465–467 adding Functions, 466 adjusting row and column sizes, 467 freezing panes, 466 inserting various elements, 466 selecting and editing cells, 465 selecting entire rows or columns, 466 spreadsheets, 465 switching worksheets, 466 Shift key, 68, 85 ShopSavvy app, 355 Short Messaging Service. See SMS short tap, 7–8 shortcuts, adding to home screen, 141 Shortcuts menu, 141 Show Dialpad option, 181 Show on map option, 394 Show Pictures option, 217 Show security warnings option, 255 Show suggestions option, 78 Shuffle button, 299, 302 shuffling playlists, 302 shuffling songs, 301 Shutter Animation setting, Camera Settings menu, 379 Sign In button AK Notepad app, 441 Evernote app, 443 Sign In link, 434 Sign in to Skype automatically check box, 430 Sign me in button, 434 Signature setting, 209 signatures, in Gmail app, 209 Silent option, 209, 215 silicone cases, 62 Simply Sales app, 546 Sky Map app, Google, 550–551 Skype app, 428–436 chatting using, 435 contacts in, 430–432 creating account, 429 credits, 434

Index

installing on computer, 436 logging in, 430 making calls with, 432–433 and monthly subscriptions, 434 receiving calls with, 434 and Skype credits, 434 Skype Name field, 429 Skype option, 432 Skyscape Medical Resources app, 541 Slacker app, 305 Sleep button, 40 Sleep mode, 40, 42, 49–50, 484 Sleep/Power key, 60 slide-out keyboard, 43 slide text, Slideshow To Go app, 464 Slide to Answer function, 193 slide to mute, muting ringer with, 152–153 Slide View option, Documents To Go app, 464 Slideshow To Go app, 463–465 editing slide text, 464 navigating, 465 switching views, 464 sliding moving cursor on screen by, 77 to mute phone, 42 to unlock phone, 42 Slow motion mode, 383 SMS messages. See text messages SMS (Short Messaging Service), 222–229 composing from contacts, 226 in Messaging app, 222–224 increasing limit, 501 notification options for, 229 and phone plans, 63–64 receiving directions via, 405 replying to, 227 ringtones for, 185 sending from Recent view in Phone, 161 threaded discussion window for, 225 viewing messages, 228 Snapshot icon, Evernote app, 446 Snapshot option, Evernote app, 443 snapshots, adding to Evernote app, 446 Snooze feature, 483 social bookmarking, 419 social media aggregating content with readers, 427 apps for (in general), 551–552 blogging, 422–423

Bump app, 424 cross-posting to, 425–426 Facebook, 419–421 apps for, 421 fan pages for, 420 Google Buzz, 424–425 LinkedIn, 421–422 Motorola widgets for, 409–411 social bookmarking, 419 Twitter, 411–418 apps for, 414 DMs for, 413 hashtags for, 413 retweets, 412 TwitPic for, 413 URL shorteners for, 413 vs. Yammer, 417 Social Networking app, 27, 413–414, 421 Social Networking widget, 146, 409–411, 417, 421 Social Status widget, 146, 409–411, 425 Songs option, 187 Songs soft key, 292 Songs tab, Amazon MP3 App, 289 Songs view, 295 Sort list by drop-down menu, 272 Sound option, 183 Sound setting, 78 sounds, for keyboard, 78 Space key, 71–74, 78–80, 89 SpamDrain app, 536 Speak now box, 167 Speak now window, 93 Speaker icon, 152, 193 Speaker key, 156 Speaker option, 193 speaker phone, 156 Speed Dial, 158–159 adding numbers for, 158 assigning from Recent view in Phone, 161 using, 159 Speed dial setup option, 158, 171 spell checker, custom dictionary for, 80–81 adding words to, 80 clearing out, 81 editing or deleting words from, 81 Sport setting, 375 Spotfly app, 305 spreadsheets, 465 Square app, 547

579

580

Index

SSH (Secure Shell), 553 Star icon, 400 Starred Files option, Documents To Go app, 460 Starred items option, 400 starring locations, in Google Maps, 400 Stars icon, 353 Start button, 486 Start menu, 514 Station list screen, Pandora, 308 stations, creating, 308 Status option, 151 status symbols, for network connections, 127–128 Sticky Note widget, 146 Stop option, Evernote app, 446 Street View button, 401 Street View service, Google Maps, 401–402 submenus, 11 Subscribe to Visual Voicemail button, 173 Subscribe with doubleTwist button, doubleTwist app, 521 Subscriptions tab, doubleTwist app, 518 suggested words, while typing, 78–80 Super Private Conversation app, 530 SUPPORT link, 502 Support option, 457 support pages, 502 swiping, 17–20 double-tapping, 19 pinching, 20 scrolling, 18 Switch to button, 381 switches, 4–5 switching apps, 10 Swype switching between Multi-touch and, 68 typing with, 69–72 accessing settings for, 71 help and tutorials, 70 keyboard layouts for, 71 tips for using, 72 Word Choice window for, 71 SYM key, 69, 71 symbols, typing, 84–85 Sync all option, 268 Sync Both Ways option, CompanionLink, 122 Sync button, doubleTwist app, 518 Sync Contacts option, 268 Sync icon, 282

sync options, in doubleTwist, 517–518 Sync to DROID via Google option, CompanionLink, 117 Sync to DROID via the CL Hosted Servers option, CompanionLink, 117 Sync with Android Calendar App check box, 124 Sync with existing contacts option, 268 Sync with the Android Contacts App check box, 124 Synchronization menu, 211 Synchronize button, CompanionLink, 116, 123 syncing Calendar app, 282 with CompanionLink, 117–125 installing on computer, 120–123 installing on DROID, 124–125 requirements for, 119 reviews for, 118 setting up Google Calendar for, 119 troubleshooting, 125 with Google, 497 with Google Account, 97–104 activating Google Account, 98–100 activating phone, 97 and cloud computing, 100–102 importing contact information, 103–104 sending information to Google Account, 102–103 settings for, 103 with Google Calendar Sync, 108–112 installing, 109 requirements for, 108 setting up, 109–111 troubleshooting, 111–112 managing, 134 with Missing Sync, 112–117 installing on computer, 113–115 installing on DROID, 116 requirements for, 113 reviews for, 112–113 troubleshooting, 116–117 syncing media, 507–522 disconnecting DROID safely, 512 dragging-and-dropping files, 510–511 and USB connection modes changing, 510 overview, 509 using doubleTwist, 512–522

Index

Amazon MP3 store search in, 522 Android Market search in, 521 automatically syncing with, 516 connecting DROID to, 516 dragging-and-dropping files in, 519 importing playlists, 515 installing, 513 podcast search in, 520–521 sync options in, 517–518 troubleshooting music that will not play, 519

■T

Tags option, 380 Tags setting, Camera Settings menu, 379–380 tapping double-tapping, 19 moving cursor on screen by, 77 overview, 17 Tasks app, 212 Technical Support:, Missing Sync for Android link, 116 telcos (telecommunications companies), 129 text Quickoffice editing, 459 formatting, 458 selecting, 86–90 Word To Go app, 461 Text encoding option, 255 Text icon, Evernote app, 444 text messages. See SMS Text Messaging app, 24, 501 Text Messaging icon, 501 Text messaging settings area, 185 Text option, Evernote app, 443 Text size option, 255 texting, with Voice Command, 89. See also SMS ThinkFree Office Mobile app, 526 Thinking Space app, 533–534 third-party apps, for email, 219 threaded discussion window, for Messaging app, 225 Thumbs-down icon, Pandora, 307 Thumbs down option, 307 thumbs, typing with, 75–76 Thumbs-up icon, Pandora, 307 Thumbs up option, 307

time, 45–47 Time field, 279 time slider bar, 316 Time Tracker app, 550 Timeline slider bar, 299 Timer app, 485–486 Timer mode, 486 Timer tab, 486 tips overview, 34 for Swype, 72 Tips widget, 142, 148 to-do lists, 536–537 To tab, 207, 223, 270, 279, 283 Tobin, Jim, 412 Today button, 275, 277 Today view, 277 Top free button, 345 Top paid button, 345 top status bar, 12–15 data connectivity symbols, 14–15 more detailed status messages, 13 touch screen, basics of, 16 TouchDown app, 57, 219 Touiteur app, 415–416 Traffic layer, Google Maps, 395 Translate app, Google, 540 Trashcan icon, 9 travel apps, 539–540 TripIt app, 539 troubleshooting, 493–503 CompanionLink, 125 contacts, 272 cycling Wi-Fi connections, 499 DROID stops responding, 493–494 Google Calendar Sync, 111–112 increasing text message limit, 501 managing apps, 494–497 changing launch by default setting, 496–497 forcing apps to stop, 495 resolving memory problems, 495–496 Missing Sync, 116–117 music that will not play, 519 performing Factory Data Reset procedure, 500–501 placing phone call, syncing with Google, or browsing web, 497 purchasing problems, 500 resources, 502–503

581

582

Index

DROID-related blogs, 503 Motorola DROID support pages, 502 sound issues in music or video, 499–500 turning off Airplane mode, 498 ttTumblr app, 418 TTY Mode option, 181 Tumblr app, 418 Turn Latitude off option, 397 Tutorial button, 70 tutorials, for Swype, 70 Tweetcaster app, 416 Twidroyd app, 415 Twitter, 411–418 apps for, 414 DMs for, 413 hashtags for, 413 retweets, 412 TwitPic for, 413 URL shorteners for, 413 vs. Yammer, 417 two-player games, 475 Type to compose box, 236 Type to compose option, 227 typing, 67–80. See also keyboard Caps Lock, 85 changing one word quickly, 85 deleting one word at a time, 75 dictating text, 74 with keyboard, 73 keyboard options, 87 and keyboard vibration and sounds, 78 moving cursor on screen, 76–78 with Multi-touch, 68–72 accessing settings for, 69 keyboard layouts for, 68 selecting text, 86 and suggested words, 78–80 switching between Multi-touch and Swype, 68 with Swype, 69–72 accessing settings for, 71 help and tutorials, 70 keyboard layouts for, 71 tips for using, 72 Word Choice window for, 71 symbols, 84–85 with thumbs, 75–76 using spell checker, 80–81 adding words to dictionary, 80 clearing out dictionary, 81

editing or deleting words from dictionary, 81

■U

underscore key, 242 Unfreeze Panes option, Documents To Go app, 466 Uninstall & refund button, 351 Uninstall button, 351, 496 uninstalling apps, in Android Market, 351 Universal Inbox, for email, 215–217 Unknown sources check box, 354 unlocking phone, sliding to, 42 screen, 60 Unsubscribe option, 174 unsubscribing, from Visual Voicemail, 174 Up button, 347 Update all option, 352 Update button, 352 Update option, 457 updating apps, in Android Market, 352–353 Upgrade Store option, Documents To Go app, 460 Upgrade to Pandora One button, Pandora, 310 Upload file option, Evernote app, 443, 446 Upload icon, 319 Upload option, 386, 453 uploading photos, 372–378 Upvise Pro app, 549 URL shorteners, for Twitter, 413 USA Today app, 329 USB Cable, included in box, 40 USB connection item, 448, 510 USB connection modes changing, 510 overview, 509 USB connection setting, 184 USB Load feature, 312 USB Mass Storage mode, 184, 448–449, 510 Use 24-hour time format option, 46 Use as ringtone option, 182 Use as ringtone soft key, 304 Use by default for this action option, Dropbox app, 452 Use by default option for this action check box, 497 Use my location check box, 489

Index

User dictionary option, 80, 87 User dictionary screen, 81 Username field, 100 utilities, 479–492 Calculator app, 486–487 portrait mode, 487 viewing advanced panel, 487 Clock app alarm clock, 481–484 Timer app, 485–486 Weather app, 488–492 AccuWeather, 492 adding Weather widget, 489–490 Weather Channel, 491

■V

VCAST Media Sync app, 508 VCAST service, Verizon, 312 Verizon tab, Android Market app, 477 Verizon VCAST video, stopping auto-play on Windows, 49 Vibrate drop-down menu, 286 Vibrate During Meetings app, 533 Vibrate mode, 152, 533 Vibrate setting, 78 Vibrating phone icon, 152 vibration, for keyboard, 78 Vibration option, 482 Video Capture Settings tray, 382 Video Indices Alarms icon, 492 Video Message mode, 383 Video Resolution setting, Camera Settings menu, 378 videos in Browser app, 251–252 deleting, 317 DROID as video player, 311–313 loading videos onto, 312 video categories, 313 watching videos on, 312 modes, 383 playing movies, 314–317 Fast-Forward or Rewind options, 315–316 other video players, 316–317 to pause or access controls, 315 time slider bar, 316 sharing, 384 shooting, 381–383 Effects setting, 382–383

Scenes setting, 382–383 using flash, 383 troubleshooting sound, 499–500 using YouTube on DROID, 318–323 adjusting video controls, 321–322 clearing history, 323 playing videos, 321 searching for videos, 319 using bottom icons, 319–320 using Netflix and Hulu, 323 Videos folder, 313 Videos option, 231 Videos section, 313 Videos tab, 478 View bar, 159 View more applications option, 116 View option, 462, 464–465 VIEW SUPPORT DETAILS link, 502 viewing songs in albums, 298 views in Calendar app, 274–277 changing in Music app, 293–297 Albums view, 294 Artists view, 293 creating playlists on DROID, 295–296 searching for music, 297 Songs view, 295 in Phone, 153 Slideshow To Go app, 464 Virtual Network Computing (VNC), 136 Virtual Private Network (VPN), 135–136 Visible icon, 282 Visual Voicemail, 172–175 changing ringtone for, 175 deleting all messages, 174 selecting multiple messages, 175 unsubscribing from, 174 Visual Voicemail service, 174 VNC (Virtual Network Computing), 136 Voice Actions function, 23 Voice Actions screen, 7 Voice app, 178 Voice Command feature, 23, 67, 84, 88–89 Voice Command icon, 151 voice dialing, 167–168 Voice dialing icon, 167–168 Voice icon, 177 Voice Memo app, 230 voice notes, adding to Evernote app, 446 Voice Privacy option, 179 Voice Readouts feature, 81–82

583

584

Index

Voice Readouts option, 82 Voice Search function, 23, 67 voice searching, 93–94 Voice service, Google, 65, 101 voicemail, 170–175 entering password for automatically, 171–172 setting up, 170–172 Visual Voicemail, 172–175 changing ringtone for, 175 deleting all messages, 174 selecting multiple messages, 175 unsubscribing from, 174 Voicemail icon, 170, 173, 179 Voicemail service option, 180 Voicemail settings option, 180 Volume buttons, 41, 195, 300 Volume down button, 152 Volume Down key, 300 Volume Up key, 300, 499 VPN settings option, 135 VPN (Virtual Private Network), 135–136

■W

Walking Navigation option, 271 wall plug adapter, included in box, 40 wallpaper, 148–150 Live wallpapers, 149–150 and Media Gallery, 150 using photos as, 386 Wallpapers option, 150, 386 waterproof cases, 62 Wathen Legal News app, 543 WaveSecure app, 530 Weather and Clock widget, 479 Weather app, 488–492 AccuWeather, 492 adding Weather widget, 489–490 Weather Channel, 491 Weather Channel app, 26, 491 Weather settings option, 488 Weather widget, 146 Web Access, Outlook, 215 web browsing. See Browser app web conferencing apps, 532–533 Web option, 92 Week button, 275–276 Week view, 275–276 What box, 278 When display is off setting, 58, 60

When phone connects, launch option, 49 Where box, 278 Wi-Fi, 129–130. See also network connections cycling connections, 499 security for, 130–131 Wi-Fi mode, 476 Wi-Fi option, 15, 499 Wi-Fi settings option, 15 widgets, 142–144 adding, 8–9 Motorola widgets, 144–148 adding and resizing, 147–148 for social media, 409–411 moving, 8–9 news, 330 removing, 8–9 size of, 143–144 using photos as, 386 Widgets option, 490 WiFi toggle widget, 146 WikiMobile Encyclopedia app, 363 Winamp program, 508 Windows button, for Browser app, 244 Windows Media Sync mode, 509 Windows tray, 49 Wireless and Networks option, 15, 129, 190, 499 wireless games, 475–476 Wireless Positioning System (WPS), 391 Word Choice window, for Swype, 71 Word Count option, Documents To Go app, 462 Word To Go app, 461–462 Menu commands, 462 selecting text, 461 zooming in or out, 461 WordPress app, 423, 552 Worksheets option, Documents To Go app, 466 worksheets, switching, 466 WPS (Wireless Positioning System), 391

■X

X button, 71 xPiano app, 469, 476

Index

■Y

Yahoo! email app, 213 Yammer, 417 Yelp app, 364 YouTube, on DROID, 318–323 adjusting video controls, 321–322 clearing history, 323 playing videos, 321 searching for videos, 319 using bottom icons, 319–320 using Netflix and Hulu, 323

■Z

Zendesk for Android app, 553

Zillow app, 543 Zillow Real Estate app, 544 Zoom buttons Documents To Go app, 464–465 web pages in Browser app, 245 Zoom Mode feature, 67, 81, 83 Zoom Mode option, 83 zoom, on camera, 367 zooming in Quickoffice, 460 web pages in Browser app, 245–246 double-tapping, 245 pinching, 245–246 using Zoom buttons, 245 Word To Go app, 461

585

Index

Index

Index

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Droids Made Simple: For the Droid, Droid X, Droid 2, and Droid 2 Global (Made Simple (Apress))

Droid X For Dummies

Droid 2 For Dummies

My Droid

Droid X2 For Dummies

Droid Companion

Droid X: The Missing Manual

Droid X: The Missing Manual

Droid X: The Missing Manual

Droid 2: The Missing Manual

Droid 2: The Missing Manual

The Droid Pocket Guide

The Droid Pocket Guide

Droid Pocket Guide, The

Droid X2: The Missing Manual

Droid X2: The Missing Manual

iPad 2 Made Simple

Simple Machines Made Simple:

XML Made Simple (Made Simple Programming)

Office XP Made Simple (Made Simple Computer)

Windows XP Made Simple (Made Simple Computer)

Law Made Simple 12E (Learning Made Simple)

ASP Made Simple (Made Simple Programming)

iPhone 4S Made Simple: For iPhone 4S and Other iOS 5-Enabled iPhones (Made Simple Apress)

iPhone 4S Made Simple: For iPhone 4S and Other iOS 5-Enabled iPhones (Made Simple Apress)

Teams: Learning Made Simple

Teams: Learning Made Simple

Spray Finishing Made Simple

Psychiatry Made Ridiculously Simple

Teams: Learning Made Simple

iPad Made Simple

Droids Made Simple: For the Droid, Droid X, Droid 2, and Droid 2 Global (Made Simple (Apress))

Droid X For Dummies

Droid 2 For Dummies

My Droid

Droid X2 For Dummies

Droid Companion

Droid X: The Missing Manual

Droid X: The Missing Manual

Droid X: The Missing Manual

Droid 2: The Missing Manual

Droid 2: The Missing Manual

The Droid Pocket Guide

The Droid Pocket Guide

Droid Pocket Guide, The

Droid X2: The Missing Manual

Droid X2: The Missing Manual

iPad 2 Made Simple

Simple Machines Made Simple:

XML Made Simple (Made Simple Programming)

Office XP Made Simple (Made Simple Computer)

Windows XP Made Simple (Made Simple Computer)

Law Made Simple 12E (Learning Made Simple)

ASP Made Simple (Made Simple Programming)

iPhone 4S Made Simple: For iPhone 4S and Other iOS 5-Enabled iPhones (Made Simple Apress)

iPhone 4S Made Simple: For iPhone 4S and Other iOS 5-Enabled iPhones (Made Simple Apress)

Teams: Learning Made Simple

Teams: Learning Made Simple

Spray Finishing Made Simple

Psychiatry Made Ridiculously Simple

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iPad Made Simple

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