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Windows Mobile, Palm OS & General Smartphone Tips
Tip: How to Hard Rest Palm's Windows Mobile Treos In many difficult cases, a hard reset is the only way to get your smartphone up and running properly again. It is a last resort, however; because it’ll delete all applications and data on your smartphone and restore it to its default factory settings. This makes backing up your device regularly very important. That way, when the time comes for a hard reset, and it will eventually, even though you will have to re-install all your software, at least your data will be safe. On the bright side, knowing how to wipe your smartphone clean is also important for when it's time to get another one—whether you give your current device away, sell it, or trade it in. You don't want other people having access to your personal information, right? The process by which you perform a hard reset varies from manufacturer to manufacturer and smartphone to smartphone. Become familiar with how to do it for your smartphone by looking in its user manual, for it may or may not be on hand when you need to implement a hard reset. As an example, we’ll go over the process for all of Palm’s Windows Mobile Treo models: the Treo 700w, Treo 700wx, and Treo 750. They illustrate two different ways to hard reset smartphones. And these were built by the same vendor, run one the same OS, and are in the same family of device. We’ll start with the newest model, the Treo 750.
 Treo 750 Reset Button - Lower Left-Hand Corner
 The Treo 750's End Call Button Once the smartphones come on again, it'll be in the same state as when you bought it from the store. All your software and data will be gone. The process for performing a hard reset is very different for Palm's other Windows Mobile Treo models, the 700w and 700wx.
Tip: How to Personalize the Today Screen on Your Pocket PC
Tip: Smartphone – Maximize Battery Performance When Traveling Smart business travelers will pack an extra battery, especially for phones with a high-resolution (read "battery-draining") color screen. If you don't mind adding a some extra weight to your Treo, BlackBerry or other type of smartphone you can also purchase (from your provider) an "extended" battery, which is larger but increases your handset's talk and standby time performance.
Maximize Battery Performance
Tip: Windows Mobile - E-Mail Basics
--If your corporate e-mail system uses Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 or 2007, your can use Exchange ActiveSync on your Windows Mobile device to sync your mail and organizer information directly with your company's Exchange server. To do this, though, you must have an account on the Exchange Server. --Check with your system administrator to find out your Exchange Server address and domain name, user name and password, and any special security requirements, such as SSL authentication. You may also need to activate a data plan with your carrier to utilize ActiveSync. --If your company uses Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 SP2 or 2007, the Global Address List (GAL) contains all user, group, and distribution list e-mail addresses for your organization and is stored on the Exchange Server. Using Exchange ActiveSync on your Windows Mobile device, you can access the GAL and use it to plan a meeting, update a group, or find e-mail addresses, etc. Click here for more e-mail basics.
Tip: Windows Mobile - More E-Mail Basics
Setting Up E-Mail
Mobile Web Mail
Windows Live & Hotmail
Tip: How to Maximize Pocket PC Performance
Tip: Windows Mobile -Trust Your Smartphone's Alarm For devices without touch screens, such as the Samsung Blackjack, begin by pressing Start and scroll to Settings.
Also, just because you've entered an event in your calendar, it doesn't mean you'll actually remember to attend it. To help ensure you won't miss an important conference call (or Little League game), when entering a new appointment, scroll down to the Reminder field to set an alarm to remind you of the appointment. You can use the left and right joystick controls to choose how far in advance of the appointment you want the alarm to go off—anywhere from one minute before to one week ahead of time.
Tip: Windows Mobile - How To Install Ringtones After you've downloaded your new ringtones to your computer, connect your Pocket PC to your PC (via the USB cable). Open ActiveSync on your PC and click the Explore button. Double-click My Windows Mobile-Based Device, and then double-click Application Data. Choose Sounds from the list of folders. Locate the ringtones you downloaded on your PC and then drag them into the Sounds folder in ActiveSync. Once you've done this, disconnect your Pocket PC from your computer, and on your Pocket PC, press Start, then Settings. Tap Phone. From the Ringtone dropdown menu, select the ring tone you want to use. (If you wait a second or two after selecting each choice, you can hear what it sounds like.) When you've found the ringtone you want, tap OK and you're good to go.
Tip: Smartphone - How to Locate Voice, Data Coverage (Sprint Nextel Users) Strength of voice and non-3G coverage is indicated in shades of green, while orange shades indicate cellular-broadband (3G) data coverage. You can also check to find out the locations of towers built recently (within the last 90 days) and the locations of towers that are planned to go operational within 120 days.
Tips: Windows Mobile - Pocket Internet Explorer Shortcuts
Open Pocket IE in Full Screen
Favorites Shorcuts
Moving Backward & Forward
Tip: Upload Photos Directly to Flickr Account from a Smartphone Another way to upload images to Flickr from your handheld or smartphone is by sending your photos via e-mail to this address: outside39thus@photos.flickr.com. The subject line of the e-mail will automatically become the title of your image and the body of the e-mail will become your description. E-mailed photos will inherit your default privacy settings unless you set privacy as you
Tip: Some Webcasts, Podcasts for IT, Business Professionals On-The-Go You can download or stream them to your mobile device by simply choosing either the WMA or MP3 link, and right click and 'save target as' to download. Podcasts for IT professionals, for example, include topics like "An In-Depth Look at SharePoint Server 2007 Search Technology," Extending Search Capabilities with Office SharePoint Server 2007," and "Extending SharePoint Server 2007 Search Capabilities by Exposing Data with the Business Data Catalog." Below are some more podcasts available to IT and business professionals.
Podcasts for IT Managers
Podcasts for Developers
Podcasts for Business Professionals
Tip: More Windows Mobile Owner's Circle Benefits
Photo Contacts 3.0
Free Multimedia News
Customize Your Device with Themes
Tip: Smartphone - Stop Telemarketers And should you for some reason want to re-enter the world of unsolicited phone calls from people who want to sell you things, you can remove your number from the list at any time. While the Do-Not-Call Registry applies to all telemarketers, it does not cover certain other types of callers who may want to solicit you. Calls by or on behalf of tax-exempt non-profit organizations, for instance, are still allowed, as are calls from organizations with which you have established a business relationship, calls for which you have given prior written permission, and calls which are not commercial or do not include unsolicited advertisements.
Tips: Windows Mobile - Typing & Navigation
It's Okay to Use the Ok Key So when you see an OK button on the screen, pressing the OK key on your keyboard clicks it for you. And when you see an X (Close Window) icon in the upper right corner of the screen, pressing the OK key on your keyboard closes the window, for example.
Quickly Move Between Data Fields For example, if a Web page asks for your username and password, you can enter your name in the first field, then press the tab key to move to directly to the password field without having to take your fingers off the keyboard. You can also use the tab key to move from one hyperlink to the next. To follow a hyperlink, just press the enter key.
Quickly Launch Applications If you use these keys you can launch those applications without taking the time to navigate through the Start menu. That's a real timesaver.
Take Advantage of Soft Keys In a camera application, for example, a soft key may snap a picture. In Internet Explorer, that same key may work as a back button. The function of a soft key is listed on the screen next to or just above the button. On the Sprint Mogul by HTC, for example, the soft keys have one dot in the center of each. They are located just above the Talk and End keys (see above).
Tips: Smartphone - Keep Your Mobile Number When Changing Carriers
Keep You number Your new carrier will then do the legwork for you by informing your old carrier that you're making the switch. The transfer itself will happen automatically, though it may take anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of days. To cover your bases, you may have to carry around both your old smartphone (the one locked to your original carrier) and your new one 'til the switch is complete. When your old one stops working and your new one starts ringing, you'll know the process is complete.
The Cost of Switching According to the FCC, carriers are allowed to charge a fee to customers at the time their number is ported. However, there are no rules preventing a new carrier from paying an old carrier's porting costs for the benefit of the new customer. Most mobile operators will cover the cost of the switch as a means of enticing new customers. When you switch, be sure to ask your new carrier whether it has a policy of paying or reimbursing such charges.
Tip: Windows Mobile - Take Advantage of Soft Keys
In a camera application, for example, a soft key may snap a picture. In Internet Explorer, that same key may work as a back button.
The function of a soft key is listed on the screen next to or just above the button. On the Sprint Mogul by HTC, for example, the soft keys have one dot in the center of each. They are located just above the Talk and End keys (see above).
Tip: Avoid The Mall, Shop From Your Smartphone Imagine standing in a sporting goods store and using your Windows Mobile device to find out if you're getting the best price on a set of golf clubs. If you're new to shopping from your smartphone or Pocket PC, start by visiting an m-commerce portal such as the mPoria Shopping Portal. It offers millions of products from retailers who use mPoria's GoMobile software to run their mobile commerce sites. Retailers include Buy.com, GameStop, Moosejaw Mountaineering, and TicketsNow.com. The mPoria portal is available on Verizon's Mobile Web 2.0 service and will soon be available through Sprint's Vision service and can be viewed on most Windows Mobile devices by visiting mall.mporia.com via your mobile Web browser.
Tip: Sprint Mogul - Controlling the Speakerphone After the call goes through, tap Menu and select Turn Speakerphone On or press and hold the Talk button (the one at the base of your handset with the green light-up phone) until the speakerphone turns on. When speakerphone is activated, a phone icon appears in the title bar. To turn the speakerphone off, tap Menu and choose Turn Speakerphone Off, or hold the Talk key again until it turns off. (Tapping the onscreen Talk key will not activate or de-activate the speakerphone.)
Tip: Get Free Ringtones for Your Pocket PC, Windows Smartphone
Tip: Amplify a Treo's Low Volume Level This appears to be an all-too-frequent complaint among Treo users, for models ranging from the very earliest to the most recent. (Personally, I've noticed a huge difference between the Nokia N93 smartphone I was using regularly and the Treo 750 I've been using of late. The Nokia model was louder in every way.) A member of our forum community recently posted a question about this very problem; writing how the alarm volume on his friend's Treo is set to high, "but the sound is still low, very low." Whereupon a veteran forum member recommended a shareware program, called VolumeCare, which amplifies a Treo's "so-so normal volume" by boosting handset, speakerphone and wired headset sound levels. It also allows you to adjust your voice volume (microphone) so others will hear you better. While it's a drag that you may have to turn to a third-party to hear your smartphone properly, at least someone has addressed the issue; but only for Palm OS-run Treo's, unfortunately.
Tip: Partnership Means Free Music For Pocket PC, Windows Smartphone Users The service, which costs $49.99 annually (or $14.99 quarterly) boasts over 3.5 million songs in "ad-free, high-fidelity streaming audio." There are over 100,000 channels that, according Mercora, are searchable by artist, genre, and subgenre.
Mecora also allows you to access your music library on your PC, or optionally on Mercora servers, requiring no side-loading or synchronization. You may also listen to music, playlists, and listening histories from up to five "friends and family."
Sound files are optimized versions of the open-source Ogg/Vorbis audio codec. Support for the A2DP Stereo Bluetooth profile means music can be played back wirelessly over a smartphone's Bluetooth connection; so you can listen on wireless stereo headsets, in-car, or through in-house connections. The Mercora M music subscription service is compatible with Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphones and Pocket PCs and Windows Mobile 2003 SE devices. It requires an EDGE, EV-DO, UMTS or HSDPA cellular-wireless data connection. And, as with all services that require the heavy exchange of data over a cellular connection, we highly recommend you’ve signed up for an unlimited data plan with your mobile operator.
Tip: Sprint Mogul - How to Set Up A Conference Call The Mogul is a slider-smartphone that when opened reveals a landscape-oriented QWERTY thumb-keyboard. It is built on Microsoft’s most recent Windows Mobile platform, version, 6. As a Professional edition device (formally known as Pocket PC Professional), the Mogul sports a touch screen.
Tip: Easy (Nearly Free) Way to Make Ringtones Called MyxerTones, the service asks you to choose a track from your computer to upload to Myxer's server and enter your cell phone number. Once the file is uploaded, it SMSs you a link to where the new tone can be downloaded. You must have Internet access with your smartphone to make this work.
I just tried Myxer. It took about 20 seconds for the audio file to upload and less than five seconds for me to receive the text message with the link to my new ringtone.
Next, I tapped the link in the text message to download the tone. MyxerTones attempts to figure out what ringtone format would work best for your particular handset. If it can't, the service offers a dropdown menu to allow you to download your tone as either an MP3, AAC, MMF, QCP, AWB, AMR or WAV file — one of which should work with your device. To know for sure, I recommend you check the documentation that came with your handset.
Tip: How to Set Up Picture Caller ID on Palm OS Treos Here's how to do it: First:
1-Go to Applications Then Do one of the following: A-Select Camera to take a picture and add it to this contact entry when you save the photo or B-Select Photos and choose an existing picture that you want to assign to this contact. After performing A or B, select Done. When that individual calls you now on, from any of the phone numbers you have listed for that particular contact (e.g. Home, Mobile, Work etc.), a photo of that person will appear on your Treo's display.
Click here to head over to Palm's Support Knowledge Library to learn how to create Caller ID Ringtones for your Palm OS Treo. You can do this for the Treos from the 650 onward.
Tip: Porting Palm OS PIM Data to Windows Mobile Palm has a very useful article in its Support Knowledge Library that explains exactly how to do this successfully. Of course, the tips offered in this article apply when porting data from any Palm OS device to any Windows Mobile device. Because all Windows Mobile devices sync with Microsoft Outlook, you must have a copy of that application before you begin. Nearly all Windows Mobile vendors bundle a copy with their devices (HP is the notable exception), so if you don't have Outlook on your PC already you should be okay. Here are two scenarios to keep in mind:
ActiveSync replaces HotSync Manager as your synchronization mechanism. The ActiveSync application on your desktop PC also takes care of software installations. (Microsoft has replaced ActiveSync with an app called Windows Mobile Device Center with Windows Vista. Your previous Palm OS device's settings, third-party applications and historic data will not migrate to the new Windows Mobile device.
Tips & Tricks: Cingular (AT&T) 3125 1-Return to Home Screen from any other screen Press the Home key 2-Lock the keypad from the Home Screen Press and hold the Home button and click Key Lock. Once the keypad is locked, the left label changes to Unlock 3-Unlock the keyboard Press Unlock and then press the * key 4-Call a Speed Dial number Press and hold assigned number key 5-Change volume during a call Press the volume key on the upper left side of the phone 6-Change Profiles Hold down the home key and choose a profile (e.g. silent, meeting, outdoor) 7-Turn on Flight Mode Hold down Home key, Select Comm Mgr, Press 1. To turn off flight mode, follow the same procedure (you can use other functions on the phone) 8-Switch between speaker and earpiece during a call Press Menu, Select Speakerphone On or Speakerphone Off 9-Turn on/off speakerphone during a call Hold the Talk button for several seconds during your call 10-Send a Picture Select Start > Pictures & Videos. Select the picture. Press Send, Select the method of delivery (MMS, email), Enter recipient information, Press Send again 11-Set a Picture as the Home Screen From Home screen, Press Start, Select Pictures and Videos, Open desired picture, Select Menu, Select Use as Home Screen, Follow prompts 12-Reboot (soft reset) Remove the battery 13-Factory Reset Press Start, Accessories, then select Clear Storage (note: all programs you may have downloaded will be erased) 14-Mute a song Press the # key 15-Change font size Navigate to Start, Select Settings, Select More, Select Accessibility 16-Switch to a digital clock on the external screen Navigate to Start, Select Settings, Select External Screen, select either Digital Clock 1 or Digital Clock 2 Tips from HTC
Tip: Transfer Files, Pictures to Cingular 8525 Our moderator provided an answer (no) that could prove valuable to others who own this Pocket PC Phone or any other smartphone like it that can't serve as a USB host. That’s because the 8525’s lack of USB hosting capabilities is what prevents users from directly transferring files between it and another device like a digital camera or flash card reader.
This leaves the most direct way to exchange files as a storage card. Simply copy a picture (for example) to a microSD card—the type of removable storage supported by the 8525—pop it out of your digital camera or flash card reader and place it into the Pocket PC Phone. Of course, the other device must support this memory card format as well for this to work.
For more on the 8525, see our review.
Tip: Windows Mobile - Cut Wires with Bluetooth Bluetooth Shortcourse: Bluetooth is an open specification and standard for allowing a wide variety of devices to communicate through a short-range (up to 30-foot distance) wireless connection. It works for both voice and data communications. So, in effect, it allows you to link your smartphone to a headset (for example) wirelessly where wires were once required. In addition to wireless headsets (both of the standard and stereo variety with more recent editions of the specification), you might leverage Bluetooth to connect your smartphone to a handsfree carkit, GPS unit, a PC, etc. First, before two Bluetooth wireless devices can connect, they must establish a partnership. Some accessories refer to this as pairing or forming a trusted partnership. To pair your Windows Mobile smartphone with an accessory:
1. On your Bluetooth accessory, turn on the Bluetooth feature and make the device discoverable. Refer to the accessory's documentation to learn how. Now the devices will see each other when they're turned on and within range. Here's a general guide to connect you device with a Bluetooth accessory once they've been paired:
1. Put your Bluetooth accessory into Discoverable mode. Refer to the accessory's documentation to learn how to do this. How to delete a Bluetooth pairing If you no longer want to automatically connect with a device, go to the Bluetooth Settings screen and select Devices. Highlight the connection you want to remove, press and hold Center, and then select Delete. Click here to head over to Palm's Web site to get more specifics about how to leverage Bluetooth to transfer photos, documents and other items to a PC; beam Calendar appointments, Contacts, Tasks, Memos to a handheld or PC; make calls through a Bluetooth headset or car kit; use a GPS device; and ActiveSync with a Windows PC. Client-server architecture purports to make enable users to dictate up to 160 words per minute.
Tip: How to Maximize Pocket PC Performance These series of tips, from Microsoft's Pocket PC and Pocket PC Phone Windows Mobile 5.0 How To section, promise to help users maximize performance so as to get the most out their devices. Memory See how much memory is available 1. Tap Start > Settings > System tab > Memory. On the Main tab, the amount of memory allocated to file and data storage versus program storage is displayed, as well as the amount of memory in use versus the available memory. See available storage card memory You can see how much memory is available on a storage card that is inserted into your device. 1. Tap Start > Settings > System tab > Memory 2. Tap the Storage Card tab.
Tip Free up program memory
1. Stop programs you are not currently using.
Tip
Close programs
1. Tap Start> Settings > System tab > Memory > Running Programs tab. Next: Move & Delete Files Move & Delete Files Move files to a storage card
1. Tap Programs > File Explorer. Delete files 1. Tap Programs > File Explorer. Tap and hold the file, and tap Delete. Delete large files 1. To find your largest files, tap Programs > Search. In the Type list, tap Larger than 64 KB, and tap Search. Remove programs You can only remove programs that you installed. Programs that come with your device cannot be removed.
1. Tap Start > Settings > System tab > Remove Programs. Next: Battery Battery Make the battery last longer How long your battery power lasts depends on battery type and how you use your device. Try the following to help preserve battery life:
On the Advanced tab, you can specify when your device turns off to conserve battery power. For optimum conservation, specify 3 minutes or less. Next: Backlight Settings Backlight Settings Adjust the brightness of the backlight If your device supports it, you can increase or decrease the brightness of the backlight.
1. Tap Start > Settings > System tab > Backlight > Brightness tab. Set the backlight to dim after a time delay If your device supports it, you can set the backlight to dim after a specific amount of time has elapsed.
1. Tap Start> Settings > System tab > Backlight.
Tip: Windows Mobile – Trouble Sending E-Mail? Change Outgoing Mail Server After setting your Windows Mobile device to send and receive e-mail you may find your smartphone can receive messages just fine, but sending e-mail is another matter entirely. Sometimes this happens because, for one reason or another, your ISP's (Internet Server Provider) send-mail server won't work over your carrier's network. So one thing you can try to circumvent this problem is to replace the server listed in your on-device Outgoing Mail preference area with your mobile operator's send-mail server. So, for example, if your EarthLink outgoing e-mail server (smtpauth.earthlink.net) isn't doing it for you, then try replacing it with your operator’s: If your carrier is Cingular (AT&T), for instance, then with cwmx.com. I've tried this out with a Treo 750 and the solution worked fine. For convenience sake, Palm provides a compressive list of ISP incoming and outgoing e-mail servers and details about some operator send-mail servers here. If your carrier isn't listed contact it directly for this information. Here's how we changed the Outgoing Mail preferences on the Windows Mobile-based Treo 750 (the directions should be - if not the same - then similar with other Windows Mobile handsets): 1-From the Start menu select Inbox 2-Select Menu on bottom right of screen 3-From the dropdown menu that appears select tools 4-Then select options from the next menu that comes up 5-The options screen shows all the e-mail accounts you have setup with your device. It is also where you can add a new account. 6-Select the account you're having trouble with and want to change the outgoing server 7-Click next 3x until you get to the Server Information Screen 8-Delete the server listed under Outgoing Mail: and replace it with the send-mail server of your carrier. 9-Hit Finnish Here Microsoft offers directions on how to setup wireless e-mail on your Windows Mobile Pocket PC or Smartphone. An e-mail setup wizard walks you through a series of steps that will lead to customized directions for your specific Windows Mobile Pocket PC or smartphone. You input your e-mail address, country of mobile operator, specific wireless carrier, operating system (e.g. Pocket PC Windows Mobile 5.0, 2003 Second Edition and 2003 or Smartphone Windows Mobile 5.0, 2003 Second Edition and 2003. Here's a simple way to tell if your Windows Mobile device is a Pocket PC or Smamrtphone: If it has a touch screen its a Pocket PC, if not then a Smartphone.
Tip: Motorola Q - How to Setup Personal E-Mail Windows Mobile Smartphones and Pocket PC Phones, like most advanced wireless platforms nowadays, allows you to send and receive personal e-mail from a Internet Service Provider (ISP), IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol), or POP e-mail account on your mobile device. While the instructions below are geared towards the Motorola Q, as they come from Motorola support site, they should work just fine with most other Windows Mobile for Smartphone-run handsets, such as the T-Mobile Dash, Samsung BlackJack and Cingular 3125. Before you begin, collect the following information from your e-mail provider: account type (POP3 or IMAP), mail server name for receiving messages, mail server name for sending messages (if different), username, password and domain name, as well as any special security requirements. Motorola provides a list of common POP3/IMAP settings here. Once the above information has been gathered follow the list of steps below.
1. Press Start
Tip: How to Enter Alternate Characters on a Windows Mobile Treo On the Treo 700w/wx and 750 keyboards, you can enter symbols and accented characters that don't appear on the keys using the alternate characters list.
Here's a table (taken from the Treo 700wx user guide) that shows all the characters and their corresponding keys.
Tip: Browse Smartphone Files with Desktop PC This tip, from Palm, Inc.'s Support Knowledge Library, should prove helpful to those with a lot of files on their device or memory card. Follow the instructions below to browse the contents of your smartphone from your desktop computer. - Connect your smartphone to your desktop PC. - In the Windows taskbar, click on the green ActiveSync icon. Select Open Microsoft ActiveSync. - In the Microsoft ActiveSync window, click Explore. - The Mobile Device window for your smartphone will open. Now you can browse the files on your device as you would any desktop PC files. Note: When you double-click a folder in the Mobile Device folder, it may take a few seconds for it to open. Alert: BlackBerry, Windows Mobile Patches Address Time Changes Changes to the dates when Daylight Saving Time (DST) starts and ends could cause problems for your Windows Mobile Pocket PC and Smartphone or BlackBerry, causing these devices to display incorrect times from when DST begins to when it ends. Both Research In Motion (RIM) and Microsoft address this with downloads and instructions on their respective Web sites. From 2007 onward, DST will start three weeks earlier (2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March, the 11th this year) and ends one week later (2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday in November, the 4th this year) than in the past. Previously, it began the first Sunday in April, which happens to be the 1st this year (no joke to those whose appointments become mixed up, however) and ended on the last Sunday in October. Microsoft and RIM have posted patches and instructions to address this situation; so when DST comes around your handheld or smartphone will alter the time correctly on the proper dates. That when you set an appointment, for example, it will reflect the correct hour you set it to occur.
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