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Mobile phone tips and tricks

• Tip of the day

• Use your mobile phone as a storage device

Suppose you need to take a file from computer and you don't have a flash disk, and the file is too big to be sent by e-mail. What to do then? It is quite possible that your mobile phone can help you as many modern phones can be used as storage devices. Most phones have a storage card (Micro SD, MMC or Memory Stick Duo) and the maximum capacity of such cards is currently 16 GB, so they can store a lot of data. Those phones that do not make use of memory cards still have an internal memory of up to several GB. So, why not use them as a portable storage device?
If computer has a card reader (all laptops have a built-in card reader), you can just take the memory card from your phone, insert it in the card reader and copy the files (normally this does not come to one's mind but this is the easiest way to transfer information between phone and computer).
If there is no card reader, you can try to establish a connection via Bluetooth. If you have a Windows PC and a Windows Mobile phone, no driver or additional software is needed then. One can also use a connection cable. If your phone has a mini USB socket then there is a good chance that you can find an appropriate cable somewhere around. In all other cases you will need your phone's special connection cable. If your phone requires a driver to connect to PC, it can be downloaded from the Internet.
So, as you see, the easiest way is to transfer data through the memory card, if only there is a card reader available. But, if not, then one can use a connection cable or Bluetooth.

• Use your phone as a webcam

If you don't have a webcam, you can use your phone's camera as a wireless (or wired if you wish) webcam. An application called Mobiola Web Camera 3 available for Windows Mobile, Blackberry and Symbian OS can turn your phone into a webcam. The connection between the phone and computer can be established via WiFi, Bluetooth or USB cable. The Symbian OS version costs $9.95, the versions for Windows Mobile and Blackberry are $19.95.
By the way, there is a free way to broadcast videos directly from your phone without the need of computer. Just install Qik on your phone. This free application is available for iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile, Symbian OS and Blackberry.

• Use mobile phone as a flashlight

Some phones have a built-in LED flashlight, however they are very few and smartphones are not among them. But this feature can be added to a phone using special software that turns the screen white with the maximum brightness, so that it emits enough light to be used as a torch. It may still be not as bright as a LED torch but in some emergency situations it can be very helpful.
For Windows Mobile devices use a freeware program FlashLight v5.00.
For Symbian OS one can use PhoneTorch 2 (there is a free version, latest versions are 1.99).
Both programs can also send a SOS signal in Morse code.
For iPhone see this demo.
For Google Android there is a freeware Flashlight for Android. A similar freeware for Palm OS is FlashLight 2003a.

• Emergency battery charger for mobile phone

Most phone chargers have an output voltage in the range of 4 - 5 Volts. This voltage can be easily achieved with standard batteries (three AA or AAA type batteries produce 4.5 V). That is why those who use mobile phone a lot outside, where there are no power outlets, can make an emergency battery charger (you can first check your local electronics store, because such chargers may be available there). A standard AA type battery has a voltage of 1.5 V. So, you will need 3 such batteries to charge your phone. The easiest way is just to find a LED flashlight working with three AA or AAA batteries.

flashlight

To make a connection, you will have to cut an old charger's cable. If you do not have an old charger but your phone can be charged from computer's USB port, just buy a USB connection cable as it should be much cheaper than a new charger. Cut the cable, strip its wires and solder them to the appropriate points in the flashlight. That's all, your charger is ready! Notice that the capacity of three AAA batteries is not sufficient to fully charge a mobile phone. But, if your phone's battery was dead flat, you will get at least some time to talk. AA batteries have a higher capacity but it may be difficult to find a flashlight with three AA batteries. You could also use a bigger flashlight working with three D type batteries. Their capacity is much higher but such flashlight is much bigger, so it may be not so convenient to carry it. There are also 4.5 V batteries. One such battery should be enough to charge a mobile phone but nowadays it is not so easy to find such batteries.

battery types

Battery types (from Wikipedia): 4.5-volt, D, C, AA, AAA, 9-volt, SR41/AG3, SR44/AG13

• Use your mobile device as a modem for your laptop / PC

Did you know that you can use your mobile phone as a GPRS modem to connect your laptop or PC to the Internet? This feature is especially useful for laptop users as one can have an Internet connection at any location. To use mobile phone as a modem, first of all, it should be connected to your computer via a USB cable or Bluetooth. Bluetooth is more handy of course as you don't need to bother with the cable and can just keep the phone in your pocket. But it will result in a faster battery drain (as for the USB connection, in most phones the battery is being charged, while the phone is connected to the USB port).

For Windows Mobile phones, follow this link to learn how to Use Windows Mobile phone as a GPRS modem via Bluetooth (your laptop should have the Bluetooth feature of course).
Here you can learn how to Use Windows Mobile phone as a GPRS modem via USB (this does not work under Windows Vista and Windows 7, only Windows XP and earlier versions are supported).

If, after configuring your computer as described in the links above, you cannot establish an Internet connection try the following:
  • Go to Start > Settings > Control panel > Modems
  • On the Modems tab, select your modem, and press Properties
  • On the Advanced tab, you need to enter string in "Extra initialization commands". This initialisation string will need to be entered as:
    +CGDCONT =1,"IP","apn.address" - you should substitute apn.address with the name of the GPRS APN that you wish to connect to. For example for Vodafone, this is internet.

• External Antenna for your Phone

Many phones have an external antenna jack. Here you can read how to make an external antenna yourself, so that you can improve the reception in the areas of weak signal.

• Repair your phone yourself

If you do not want to leave your phone to the service and wait a few days (or maybe weeks) until they repair it, or if you want to save some money, or if you just want to satisfy your curiosity, you can try to repair your phone yourself in case something goes wrong. You can find very detailed instructions with images at Repair Mobile Phone Yourself web site. There is in fact another reason to visit that site. There you can find some cool stuff that you will never get done in the official service centers. For example, there are guides how to add WiFi to some older phones that do not have it.

• Pocket Dictionary

Did it ever come to your mind that mobile phone can be used as a dictionary? That is very easy, just install a dictionary on your phone and enjoy! I would say, that is the most handy dictionary. You always have your phone with you, there is no need to carry anything else - the dictionary is always at hand. Besides, it is much easier to find words than in a classical book dictionary. I would recommend Oxford English Dictionaries from Paragon Software, which are available for all platforms: for Windows Mobile, for Symbian OS, for Blackberry, for iPhone / iPod Touch, for Palm OS, for Android, as well as bilingual dictionaries for Windows Mobile, for Symbian OS, for Blackberry, for iPhone / iPod Touch, for Palm OS, for Android, and for for Java enabled phones.

• One Button Voice Recording

Many mobile phones have a built in voice recording application. However, access to this application is often hidden somewhere far in the phone's navigation structure, so that it may take quite some time to locate and start the voice recording program. This may be crucial when recording phone conversations. A need to record a part of the conversation may appear suddenly, and one will have no time to locate the recording application. Besides, when speaking on the phone, one presses it to the ear, so one simply can't navigate on the phone's screen unless one uses a headset or a handsfree mode.

For Windows Mobile phones, Resco Audio Recorder ($25) can help in such situations. It allows one button recording which can be assigned to any button on the phone. Those who want a free solution can try Power Dictaphone. Although it does not allow one button recording, in those phones that can assign launching a particular application to hardware buttons, recordring can be started by pressing just two buttons.
Notice. In Windows Mobile, recording can be made only from the microphone. That is, you can record only your own voice in phone conversations, not the other party's. That holds even for the Windows' own recording application. To bypass this limitation, one has to direct the other party's voice to the microphone. That can be done by using handsfree. However, in that case it will no longer be one button recording as you will need to press some buttons to activate handsfree mode. Besides, everybody around will hear your conversation. A better way is to use a stereo headset. Just keep one earpiece on the microphone (it should touch the microphone, otherwise the sound will not be recorded) while keeping the other one in your ear.

On Symbian OS phones one can use Total Recall ($15) for one button recording.

On Blackberry devices one button recording can be made with mVoice ($20).

• The best way to backup your phone

One can backup information in any phone by connecting it to PC and running the synchronization software that comes with the phone. However, this way only the user information (like phone book entries, messages, calendar entries, etc.) will be backed up. It would be good to also backup the system information. For example, in the case there is a problem with the phone that would allow one to easily restore the phone to the normal condition. Full backup also allows one to transfer the whole information to a new phone in case the old phone gets lost or one just buys a new phone.
The best backup solution for Windows Mobile devices is Sprite Backup. Its main features are as follows:
- Does not require a PC. It can be installed on the phone and can create a backup file on the storage card.
- Can backup either the user data or the system information (including all files on the phone and all installed applications) or both (i.e. creates a full image of the phone).
- Can create self-extracting backup files, so that the whole information can be restored even after hard reset.
Due to these features, one can restore the whole information (including all the user data, all the applications installed on the phone, the system information) in a few easy steps right from the storage card.
A similar backup solution for Symbian OS is offered by The_Symbian_Tool 1.0 (freeware). However, this program runs only on PC, so that one cannot backup and restore data on the go.

• How to schedule application launching for a particular time

Want some of applications on you pocket PC or mobile phone to launch automatically at a particluar time? Then use CT Scheduler Lite v1.01 (Windows Mobile) or PyTaskServer (Symnian OS).

• How to copy/move files in Windows Mobile

Windows Mobile cannot display several windows at the same time, that is why one cannot copy (move) files by dragging them from one window to the other. If you need to copy (move) a file in a Windows Mobile device, first select the file in File Explorer, then choose Menu->Edit-> Copy (or Cut). Then open the destination folder in the File Explorer and in the Menu choose Edit->Paste. That's all, the file will be copied (moved) to the new location.

• What to do if there is not enough storage to install a new application

If you get a "Not enough storage" message when trying to install a new application, first of all, you can try to install it on the storage card. However, in some cases you may not want to install an application on the storage card, besides there are some applications that can be installed only in the main memory of the phone. But even in such cases, despite the "Not enough storage" message, it may appear that your phone has in fact enough storage. The thing is that, when an application is being installed, first the installation file is copied to the phone memory, where it occupies space. Then it is unpacked and installed, and after that it can be deleted. That is, the storage required for the installation is approximately twice the size the program occupies in the memory. When the installation file is deleted, the extra storage occupied by it becomes available. To avoid this issue of extra storage required for the installation, if you have an installation file that is executed in the phone (in Windows Mobile it is a *.cab file), copy it to the storage card and run from there. But even if there is only an installation file that runs from PC (an *.exe file), there is still a solution. First connect your phone to PC and run the installation file on PC. It will then automatically create an installation file in the phone memory. At that stage you should locate that file, copy it from the phone main memory to the storage card, then cancel the installation. The installation file will then be deleted from the phone memory but you will have a copy on the storage card. Run in from the card, now it will not occupy space in the main memory so, if only the free memory is sufficient for the application it will be installed.

For example, in Windows Mobile devices the procedure is as follows.
- Connect your device to PC using connection cable or Bluetooth
- Run the installation *.exe file on PC
- When you see the prompt stating "Please check your mobile device to see if additional steps are necessary to complete this installation", check you phone:


- You will see a screen like this:


- Then start File Explorer and find your installation file. It should be a *.cab file located in My Documents.
- Copy it to the storage card (first select the file then choose Menu->Edit->Copy, then open the storage card in the File Explorer and chose Menu->Edit->Paste).
- Then open Task Manager and switch to the installation screen (the screen on the image above). Press Cancel to cancel the installation. The *.cab file will be automatically deleted from the main memory.
- Run the *.cab file from the storage card to complete the installation.

* Notice. Before doing all that, check if there are old installation files (e.g., *.cab files) that remained in the phone memory after earlier installations. Delete all such files that you find, that will free a lot of space in the phone memory.

• Is it possible to block incoming calls from specific numbers?

Yes, that is possible but with certain limitations.
• Windows Mobile. First of all, in Windows Mobile devices one can select "No Sound" ring tone for any particular contact in the contact list. For more advanced options one has to use call blocking software:
Call Firewall (freeware) can block calls from any number or a group of numbers (e.g., one can choose to block calls from all numbers except those allowed). However, before a call is rejected, your phone will ring once. Then the caller will hear a busy tone as if you have pressed the red (hang up) button on your phone. That is, it will be clear to the caller that the call has been rejected intentionally. Unfortunately, this situation cannot be avoided. The reason is that in Windows Mobile phones incoming calls are not routed through the operating system. They are received by the phone hardware and only after that the call processing application starts which allows you to answer the call or to reject it as well as to perform other call related functions.
A somewhat better solution is offered by Photo Contacts PRO 5. Apart from rejecting the call as described above, it can mute the phone when a call from an unwanted number comes. This is essentially the same as selecting "No Sound" ring tone but this program has many convenient options, e.g., one can mute calls from all numbers except those from the white list. Photo Contacts PRO 5 is not a freeware, it costs $30, so it's up to the user to decide if one wants to pay for this service.
• MCleaner (costs $12) is a similar application for Symbian OS, iPhone and Motorola. It has the following options for the incoming calls blocked: "Phone Busy", "Mute Ring", "Busy and Reply SMS", or "Divert Calls to". The last option allows diverting a call to a number that has an answering machine, so that the caller will thing that your phone is off.
• Antair Call Screener ($50) is a call blocking application for Blackberry. Blocked calls are sent directly to the voicemail, so that to the caller it looks like your phone is switched off.
There is a much cheaper application, called Call Filter ($5). However, when this application sends a call to voicemail, the caller hears a busy tone.

• Where to find freeware applications for mobile phones?

You can find a lot of freeware programs for mobile phone on the following Web sites: www.freewareppc.com, www.freewarepocketpc.net (Windows Mobile), www.symbian-freeware.com (Symbian OS), www.blackberryfreeware.com, www.blackberryfreaks.com/ (Blackberry)

• Where to find phone area codes?

Click here for international and local phone area codes.

• Lern how to make online credit card transactions absolutely safe.

• Scientific calculator for mobile phones.

If you need to use a scientific calculator, you can try the following programs: KoolCalc (Windows Mobile), Calc4M (Symbian OS), PCalc Lite (iPhone).

• Get information about the food products you are buying

Get the latest information about the food products you are buying - Food additives, Colorants, Danger ingredients, Halal, Asthma & breathing difficulties, Allergies & skin reactions, Countries unapproved for use as a food additive, Countries unapproved for use as a food additive etc. All information is up to date from an online database. KnownFood

• Display your phone's screen over an external monitor or an LCD projector

Using a special adapter you can display your phone's screen over an external monitor or an LCD projector. You can also connect the headphone output to external speakers (see the next tip), and then you can use your phone as a video player to comfortably watch at home videos stored on your phone.
By the way, some i-Mate phones have an AV output so, if you buy such a phone, you will be able to use it as a video player without any adaptor.

• Connect you phone to external speakers and use it as a media player

Modern mobile phones can store a lot of music on the storage card. For example, a 2 GB storage card can store approximately 30 hours of CD quality music. Newer phones support cards up to 16 GB, which means approximately 240 hours of music. With such a capacity you do not need a CD player or any other device, you can store all your favorite music in your phone. But to enjoy how quality sound and comfort, you would of course like to play that music over external speakers rather then over headphones. That is, in fact, very easy. The headphone output in any phone can be easily connected to external speakers, amplifier, TV set or any other sound system. Just use an appropriate connection cable that can be found in any electronics store.
If your phone has a standard 3.5 mm headphone socket then you can use cables shown on the images below to connect it to external speakers or a TV set:

If your phone has a smaller 2.5 mm output, you can use a 2.5 - 3.5 mm adapter:

If you can't find one in your local electronics store, you can get it from Amazon.com. A similar adapter is also available for iPhone.
In case your phone has a special hadphones connector, like for example some Sony Ericsson models, you may also be able to find an appropriate adapter

Or, if you can't find an adaptor, using scisors and a soldering iron you can make a new connection cable out of a headphone jack and one of the standard cables shown above.

• Backup your phone automatically, find lost phone and do more with Microsoft ® My Phone

If you have a Windows Mobile 6.x phone, you can use Microsoft® My Phone service to backup your phone automatically, to ring your lost phone (even if it is in "silent" or "vibrate" mode) and to do much more. Currently (Nowember 2009) the service is free, although some premium features will be offered for a small charge in the near future.

• Use your Windows Mobile phone as WiFi hotspot

Mobile Wi-Fi Router lets you use your phone's internet connection as a WiFi hotspot so that you can connect your laptop to the Internet. (It supports only WEP when it comes to encryption).

• How to type text in various languages

If you have a Windows Mobile touchscreen phone, you can use an on-screen keyboard to type text in various languages that contain non-unicode characters. We recommend Hikeyboard. Although this programs costs $ 10, it is stable, unlike many free on-creed keyboards which stop working sooner or later. Besides, Hikeyboard allows installing several keyboard layouts in different languages, which can be easily selected from the program interface.

• How to find text in SMS messages

Windows Mobile's messaging application does not have a search feature. To find specific text in SMS messages you can install SmartphoneFind 2.0 ($ 11.95). This program can search for a particular text string within any category of data, like SMS and e-mail messages, Contacts, Appointments, Tasks, etc. (Note that Windows Mobile has a built in search function in the Programs menu, however that function cannot search within SMS messages).

• How to add WiFi to your phone

If your phone does not have WiFi built in but has a micro (mini) SD card slot you can buy a WiFi SD card. Such cards are available from Spectec and many other manufacturers. Just google for "WiFi mini SD card" or "WiFi micro SD card" (without quotation marks). Even if your phone does not use an SD card, you can buy a WiFi Bluetooth adaptor. Such adaptors are more rare than SD cards, however you can find them on the Web.

• What to do if your phone got wet

First of all, immediately remove the battery. Then dry the phone with napkins as well as you can. Then you have to wait until it dries from within. You can put it in a bowl of dry rice and leave for a couple of days (you may change the rice from time to time). You can also take the phone apart, if you know how to do that, and dry it with a hair drier (but do not overheat it). But in this case too wait for at least one day before inserting the battery.

• If you have problems syncronizing your Windows Mobile device with PC

If you have problems syncronizing your Windows Mobile device with PC using Microsoft ActiveSync, that may be caused by a firewall. On Microsoft Web site you can find instructions on how to configure some firewalls to avoid connection problems: If you have a different firewall you can try similar opreations adapting the above insntructions to your firewall. Besides, in some cases installing the latest version of ActiveSync helps to solve the problem.

• Control your PC remotely from mobile phone

With LogMeIn you can control your computer remotely from any computer or mobile phone connected to the Internet. No software installation required (a small client is downloaded automatically when you connect for the first time). The service has a free option.

• Send and receive faxes on mobile phone

Some mobile phones are able to send and receive faxes. For those phones that do nat have this feature there are fax applications. Cortado Fax is a fax application available for Windows Mobile, Symbian OS and Blackberry (there is a monthly service fee of Euro 7.98). Simple Internet Fax allows sending faxes from Windows Mobile and Palm OS devices (program costs $14). scanR allows converting images to pdf and other formats and faxing them to any number via a web interface using any mobile device for a monthly fee of $3).

• Print documents from your Windows Mobile phone

If you have a Windows Mobile phone, you can print faxes, e-mails, SMS messages and other documents using PocketWhere. This program connects to available WiFi networks and can print documents on printers connected to those networks.

• If you forgot your key inside the car

If you forgot your key inside the car and the door is locked but there is a spare key at home try the following. Call someone at home and ask them to press the door open button while holding the key close to the phone. You should be holding your mobile phone in about 20 cm from the door lock. The lock will open. According to the visitor comments, this method really works although not with all car brands. You can try if it works with your car.

• "How to cook an egg with mobile phone" or "use headphones"

Use headphones when speaking on mobile phone. Two journalists once cooked an egg with two mobile phones. So think, what happens in our brain when we press a working phone to our ear. Besides, when using headphones, one's hands remain free. That is especially useful for drivers (and helps improve safety on the roads).

• Use your mobile device as a remote control

If your mobile device has an IR port, you can use it as a remote control for your TV, DVD player and other home appliances. Just install a special program for Windows Mobile or for Symbian OS (these programs are not free).

• How to increase the storage capacity of your smartphone

If you have a smartphone or PDA running Windows Mobile 5.0 or 6.0, then it supports SD cards up to 2 GB. In order to be able to use higher capacity cards, you need to install an appropriate driver.

• How to schedule SMS sending for a particualr time

If you want your SMS message to be automatically sent at a particular time in the future, for Windows Mobile phones you can use SMS Scheduler, and for Symbian OS phones SMS Timer. These programs allow sending SMS automatically at any chosen time.

• How to create contact groups for SMS messaging

Many phones allow creating contact groups, so that one does not have to select contacts one by one to send a message to a group of recepients. However, this feature is missing in Windows Mobile. If you have a Windows Mobile phone just install SMS Scheduler. This program allows creating contact groups and sending messages to the group.

• If some keys in your phone are not working

If some keys in your phone are not working or working not well, after some time start working again but some other keys stop working, that means that most likely there is moisture in the keypad. Try to dry it with a hair drier. This really helps but be careful not to overheat your phone. You may try making several attempts instead of heating the phone at once too much. And if the warranty period has expired and you are confident enough in using screwdriver, you may open the phone to dry it.


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