» Smart Phones, Web Design, Google or whatever
Posts tagged smartphones
Simple Review of ZTE Engage Android Phone
Oct 6th
Here is a slightly biased, but simple and honest review of the ZTE Engage made during the first week of ownership. Beofre this phone I had a Huawei Mercury that I was very happy with, but I dropped it and cracked the screen. This first week with the Engage Android phone has me leaning toward replacing the damaged screen and returning the Engage (see, there’s the bias I was talking about).
Simple Reivew ZTE Engage Android Phone
Using Your Huawei Mercury as a Wi-Fi Hotspot
Jul 1st
NOTE: You will probably incur additional monthly charge by using your phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot or for USB tethering. See MyCricket.com or ask your local retailer for details.
Back in January 2012 PCMag.com posted a review on the Huawei Mercury saying:
There’s no Wi-Fi hotspot mode…
That may have been true at the time, but since I am typing this post on my Kindle Fire, using my Mercury as a hotspot, I assure you if your phone and Cricket plan are new enough you can.
Ok, time to post this so I can switch back to my PC.
So if you are toting your laptop or netbook around and don’t want the hassle of looking for a Wi-Fi hotspot, the Huawei Mercury is a great alternative so long as you don’t need to use the apps on the phone while its working as a hotspot. Also, you should know what you are doing More >
Huawei Mercury, Change Battery or MicroSD
Jun 19th
Well, here we are with another Huawei smartphone, the Huawei Mercury. Last week I did a video on how to open the back cover of the Huawei Ascend II. If you are interested, I believe Huawei is pronounced “wah-way” or “hwa-way”. If you know which pronunciation is right for sure, please comment.
I think the engineers at Huawei are either trying to protect the MicroSD in their smartphones or maybe they just have a really good sense of humor. At any rate, the back of your Huawei Mercury has a little sticker on the back, and if you feel like staring at it to figure out what it means you’ll see that the phone’s back comes of by prying open the plastic case by pulling down on a small notch below the Home button, while holding up on the case by the camera lens near the top.
But if you are on the Internet and you found this, you either gave up on the sticker or didn’t see it. In any case its almost useless anyway and the user guide isn’t too much help either. Here’s avideo I hope is useful.
Remove Back Cover on the Huawei Mercury
Remove the Huawei Mercury’s back cover to change the battery or microSD card
If you have any questions or comments feel free to hit me up in the comments section below.
Newbie Android Phone Tips for Beginners 1
Jun 14th
Its worth noting that I use a Huawei Ascend II running Android™ Gingerbread 2.3 OS, so not all of these tips will apply if you are not.
Don’t Stop Here
I’d love it if you only read my blog, but you really have to read what others have written about Android phones to get a better picture of what you can do. Also, I’m new to the Android, that’s why I’m writing this post because it will help me get to know Android better!
If you are new to Android try these searches in your favorite search engine(s):
new android tips and hints
beginner android tips and hints
Consider an Extra Battery & Chargers
You’ll need one sooner or later, why not have a battery for work and home? Have a charger for your car, home and work. Either way you can charge your battery or replace it if it starts to die.
| More tips for newbies and Android beginners soon to follow!
Huawei Ascend II: How Do I Upgrade or Change SD Card?
Jun 12th
If you have the Huawei Ascend II android phone, you might need to remove the back to change a battery or remove or upgrade the microSD card. Regardless, you will need to know how to access the SD mini card to remove it.
The Huawei Acsend II comes with a 4GB microSD card, and 3GB are dedicated to music. Keep in mind whatever microSD you use you will lose those 3GB for music and a small amount of space will be used by the Android OS, as with any operating system.
NOTE: If you buy a new Huawei Ascend II it will come with a 4GB SDMicro that is hard-wired to give you 1GB of storage and save the other 3GB for music. If you put your own MicroSD card in that is not made by/for this phone, you will get the entire space minus a small amount for the Android OS.
Huawei Ascend II: Remove Back Cover & Replace MicroSD Card
Gmail, Gmail Mobile Go Persian (Farsi)
Sep 22nd
Google has released its Gmail and Gmail mobile in Persian today. Or as Google put it:
At Google, we want to make our products universally accessible and useful, and that means providing them for as many people as possible in the language they speak. The Gmail and Google Localization teams have worked together to bring Gmail to people around the world in 53 languages. Today that number grows to 54, because we’re proud to announce that through working with the Persian Initiative Team, we are able to release Persian (Farsi – فارسی), as the newest language available in Gmail. If you or someone you know speaks Persian, they can change the language in Gmail by selecting it on the Gmail settings page, under the language dropdown.
- Gmail+Gmail mobile in Persian/Farsi
Click To Enlarge
Mobile Multi Sig, Mobile Sig, and Vacation Auto-Respond
Sep 21st
Gmail announced some new stuff for Gmail for mobile today.
Specifically Google’s Dominic Leung, Mobile Software Engineer announced the addition of these Gmail for mobile features…
- Multiple sign-in support
- Mobile-specific signature
- Vacation Auto-Responder
Multiple Sign-In Support
So, first the addition of multiple sign-in support. You’ve been able to do that on the desktop for a while now (more info & warnings), but now you can also sign in to multiple accounts in the same browser using Gmail for mobile. There was no mention on the post about warnings like the issues the desktop version has offline versions
Mobile-Specific Signature
There are some good reasons to let people you email know you are sending/replying to email on your mobile, for example why your reply is so short, or has typos. Now if Gmail can do something about that “Sent from my BlackBerry” fun that Blackberry (and other mobile users) have to put up with, that would be great. But I digress.
Vacation Auto-Responder
Imagine you’ve prepared everything for a week’s vacation, tidied up your workload at the office, packed all of your vacation gear and you are off toward that relaxing destination in [wherever]. As you drive off, you realize that you forgot to set your vacation autoresponder in your Gmail back at the office. Do you turn around and go back to the office (“Phew! I’m, glad to see you’re not gone yet, we have these last minute details on this important project before you go on vacation.”)? No need, just login to Gmail for mobile and you can now set your vacation auto-response from wherever you can get access – no office visit required!
Photon 4G, The Future of Mobile Computing?
Aug 25th
Back in May the Motorola Atrix 4G caught my attention with its commercials. I think its pretty cool to have a computer that I could put into my pocket and carry around with me, and also use as a phone. 
Of course. Motorola approaches it a bit differently. they picture a phone that can also be used as a computer.
Fast forward to today I’m back writing about Motorola 4G phones, but this time its the Motorola Photon 4G. Watching the commercial, which was slightly reminiscent of the Atrix commercial I just kept waiting, and waiting. For what? I kept waiting to hear (or see) how Motorola had improved upon the Atrix 4G with this new 4G phone. However, it seems they’ve gone the other way and instead of taking the Atrix and improving upon its computing features, its more like they removed most of its computing features, except for the WebTop. More >
