- Get your #baseball cap on! MLB Extra Innings is on free preview until May 5th. ^eo
Our top 8 list of smartphone tips
March 8th, 2010 a 9:52am
Smartphones have gone mainstream. Need proof? More than 174-million were sold last year worldwide, up 15 per cent from 2008. They’re now in the hands of everyone from gadget lovers to newbies buying their first mobile device.
What makes a smartphone so smart?
It’s what’s under the hood. They’re mini computers in your hand, powerful enough to run software, take pictures and organize your life. Oh, and they make phone calls too.
So, you’ve taken it out of the box and powered it up. Now what? Here, in no particular order, are eight must-dos to make your smartphone that much smarter:
- Download apps: You’ve surely heard the phrase: “there’s an app for that” – referring to the thousands of applications available to iPhone users through the Apple App Store. From maps to games to diet trackers to document editors, there really is an app for almost everything. Costs range from free to more than $20. But apps aren’t just for the iPhone. There’s BlackBerry’s App World, the Android Market, Windows Marketplace and Nokia’s Ovi. You can also grab apps through the Rogers mobile site, which lets you charge apps right to your phone bill.
- Use IM: Most smartphones come with instant messaging (IM) applications built right in so continuing a G-Talk conversation away from your laptop is as easy as tapping the screen. For BlackBerry, its newest messenger program allows you to add a friend to your contact list by simply scanning a barcode generated on that person’s device. Click, scan, chat!
- Get voicemail to text: Dialing into a voice mail box is so 2000. With voicemail to text you get a transcription of the message sent to you right away so you don’t have to run out of a meeting to learn that your kid now needs to be picked up at 6:30, not 7.
- Pop on a headset: In many provinces, it’s now illegal to drive and hold a handset up to your ear. Using a Bluetooth headset takes only a few seconds and allows you to make a call during gridlock without getting a ticket.
- Send an MMS: The M stands for mucho-fast. Ok, it really stands for multimedia messaging service and it’s one of the fastest ways to share pics, vids and audio clips. Snap a pic, click on it, follow the options screen to send as MMS, type in a phone number and an accompanying message and then voila – it’s sent.
- Click shortcuts: Looking to quickly find the last number that called, send an SMS without manoevering through menus, or go to the first message in your inbox? Many smartphones have pre-programmed shortcut keys built right in to save time. Check the device manual or search online for a more robust list. Just think – all those seconds add up to minutes, which add up to hours, which add up to…
- Save battery life: There’s nothing worse than running out of juice. Some of the best ways to maximize your battery charge include: disable Bluetooth when you’re not near your headset; turn off Wi-Fi scanning; shutdown apps that may be running in the background (big drainers: streaming media players and games); turn down the screen’s backlight brightness to 60 or 70% – odds are you won’t even notice, but your battery will.
- Grab the MyAccount app: If you can measure it, you can manage it. Get real-time updates on your account balance, make payments, check talking time as well as messaging and data usage. Now available for iPhone, but if you’ve got another device you can access full account details via your mobile browser.
What did we miss? Let us know your smartphone must-dos by posting a comment below.
Richard Bloom is a regular contributor to RedBoard.
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Hey Richard, since you are talking about smartphones…how ’bout giving one away? Maybe a white BlackBerry Bold. ;)
Hi Bhupinder,
Thanks for the comment. Unfortunately, we don’t have any to give away right now but we are looking into having some giveaways and contests on RedBoard in the future!
That’s cool! Can’t wait for the giveaways. Have a good one!
Some great info Richard. There a lot of smartphone users out there who do not use their phone to it’s full potential just because they do not know how!
I wish I could tether my HTC Magic with my laptop, or do Bluetooth file sharing. I used to be able to voice dial, but that feature was removed with the last Android update for the magic.
As a brand new iphone user I appreciate the tips – especially battery saving ideas. I’m going to adjust my gizmo right away. Thanks!
Thanks Lisa.
The battery stuff is pretty cool — and my post just scratches the surface of what you can do. Try a quick search online for just your device and I’m sure you’ll find more tips! Thanks for reading and sharing your comment.
you say [quote]Download apps: You’ve surely heard the phrase: “there’s an app for that” – referring to the thousands of applications available to iPhone users through the Apple App Store. From maps to games to diet trackers to document editors, there really is an app for almost everything. Costs range from free to more than $20. But apps aren’t just for the iPhone. There’s BlackBerry’s App World, the Android Market, Windows Marketplace and Nokia’s Ovi. You can also grab apps through the Rogers mobile site, which lets you charge apps right to your phone bill.[/quote]
but rogers does not have paid apps for the “Android Market”, very misleading statement, fairly typical of rogers to mislead like that though.
Hi Mike. We totally agree with you and would love to see Paid Apps in Canada. But, it’s up to Google enable that first.
*Update* Paid Apps are now available in Canada. Have a look at our blog post: http://redboard.rogers.com/2010/putting-the-eh-in-android-googles-nexus-one-my-account-and-paid-apps-now-available-in-canada/
Good to hear from you Mary. Google says that it is rogers rogers says that it is Google. I am looking back at history with my HTC Dream/Magic fiasco and I will admit I have a hard time believing rogers on this one.
Hi Mike,
Since paid apps are not available on the Market on all Android phones all Canadian 3G networks, it’s pretty sure that it’s up to Google to enable paid apps.
Agreed but it would be nice to see the Canadian telco’s pushing Google hard on this one. As both an Android user and developer this limitation is pretty irritating and makes it difficult to recommend an Android based handset to anyone since not having paid applications is such a major limitation.
Interestingly I’m not sure why enabling paid applications is such an issue for Google, because you can use Google Checkout as a Canadian. If you sign up for Google Checkout and plop in an American SIM card, even a deactivated one, in your Android handset you can buy paid apps just fine over wifi in Canada.
Frankly, I would not mind seeing Rogers, Bell and Telus start refusing to carry Android handsets until this issue is sorted in order to try to force some action on Google’s part.
In this situation you as a company need to man up (if possible) and talk to google, to sort out all the problems that plague you. To even advertise Android market you should get paid apps. To sell a android phone, you should expect to update it when it becomes available. We can’t be buying new phones every time there is an update. Don’t tear apart this and answer how you are not plagued or advertising campaigns you’ve started. Just tell us when you’ve fixed this.
Wow. I think you forgot the “Ironic” tag for this blog post. ;-)
Here’s the BEST tip for buying a smartphone… don’t buy an Android smart phone that has been customized for the carrier by the manufacturer.
Rogers had HTC customize Android on the HTC Dream and Magic, and as a result they had NO intention of giving us updates to the OS _beyond_ Android 1.5 until they encountered a huge back-lash from the community.
In the end we get 2.1 for the Magic, but it comes at the price of a locked down (no rooting) ROM with Sense UI that has more bugs than before they tried to fix the 911 problem. You can see a list of the post 911 bug fix issues on my blog.
It comes down to this: Carrier-branded vs Google-branded. If you buy a carrier-branded phone, you _might_ not get (unless you complain long and loud) any updates to your phone’s OS. If you get a google-branded phone, with no fancy UI over top, you will get sweet sweet OS updates from Google, with little to no interference from the carrier.
Read more here: Carrier-Branded & Custom UI vs the Google-Experience > http://www.iwantmyonepointsix.com/?p=217
How do you distinguish between a ‘Carrier-Branded’ phone and a Google-Branded phone?
I just ordered an LG Eve with Android 1.5 on it… Hope I can get an update for it!
The LG Eve have LG apps pre-installed including a custom Home.
So this is not a “Google-Branded” device.
As far as I know, the only Google Branded devices are the HTC Dream (Dev Phone 1, G1 from T-Mobile US, not the one from Rogers), the HTC Magic (Dev Phone 2, ION not the one from Rogers) and the HTC Nexus One.
You missed the fact that these are essentially mini computers, and as such need to be updated on a regular basis to stay current and up-to-date.
And if you actually use a Smartphone like you should you can save money and be ahead of most users in getting the most out of technology…just get a data plan and be smart.
Skip the apps…you have a mini computer in your hand and it can already do many things without apps. Instead of buying an app to view a website, see if your phone can view it already. Also there are many lite or mobile versions of websites too…and using these in your phones browser can save you the cost of the app and use less data, saving you data costs.
Yes use IM! Skip using text messages since you can do the same with IM. Once everyone has a smartphone with a data plan text messaging will go the way of the dodo bird. Save on your text messaging plan since it won’t exist in the future.
Cancel your voicemail! I know I said skip the apps for some things…but for others they can be great…use a “voicemail” app. My phone can answer itself and play a message and record the caller. All on it’s own. No dialing into a voicemail box with a password…the message is right there in my phone to listen to. And it doesn’t cost you extra!
Smartphone have more features…many actually have speakerphones as well. Good for an emergency call so you can make that call and not have to hold the handset.
Send an MMS? M stands for money wasted. Your Smartphone can do email and attachments right out of the box. And your friends don’t have to view them on small screens if they don’t want…they can get their email on their computer directly.
Shortcuts? My dumbphone has shortcuts. Hardly a smartphone issue.
How about instead of a MyAccount app make an app that installs on the phone and you program in yout plan details and your own phone can warn you if you are about to go over any of your plan limits or generate extra costs? Now THAT is an app I would buy. Paying for an app that just surfs to a website is a waste. Even running it is a waste since my broswer is already open.
@Rogers Mary,
What about Nokia Ovi Store Apps. I have been trying out your Nokia N86 8MP. Why I can not access paid apps from Ovi store?
Friends south of us can!
I called Rogers Customer Care once to ask about Ovi Store and its paid application. Rep had no idea about Nokia Ovi Store.
Totally agree! We would love to see paid apps from in Canada but in this case it has to be enabled by Nokia first. Same was true with Google, which just enabled paid apps in Canada for Android this week.
Rogers needs to give away a Sony Ericsson X10!!!! ME WANTS!
Why do I not have an option to be able to extract a voicemail sent to me as an audio file (.mp3) from my wireless device?
If I am subscribing to enhanced voicemail, this should be a feature available for me to use.
That’s a great suggestion Puleen. I’ll pass that on to the voice mail team so they can review when planning future business decisions.