A Primer on Smart Phones



When I posted a thread on the O2 Xphone at SPUG, little would I have suspected that in a few weeks, there would be 6,000 views on this subject. Some of my church members are also interested in carrying a Bible and membership directory on their mobile phones, prompting me to whip out this little FAQ on my day off.

This primer is on non-stylus, honest-to-goodness mobile phones running Microsoft Windows Mobile 2002/2003 operating systems. My guess is that with the largest user base of any device, mobile phones is THE wave of the future.



In this write-up, I will use the O2 Xphone as the example of a new breed of smartphones that will do everything you need, and then some. The size is just right, a tad larger than most mobiles. This is necessary in order to sport the larger screen - any smaller, it will be most difficult to read the Bible or view videos. I suspect future generation smartphones will be thinner and lighter.

1 Bare Essentials

First, let me recommend the user to just get the phone without purchasing anything else. You may want to venture deeper as you become more familar and knowledgeable. For the present, let us just stick to it as a mobile phone.

The Xphone, like most smartphones comes with every conceivable feature that one can wish for in a mobile phone - bluetooth, GPRS, MMS, SMS, T9 input, speed dial, speaker phone and tri-band, worldwide capability (GSM 1800, GSM 1900, GSM 900). A mobile phone user would be very much at home with the familar phone layout. Take out the battery, slip in your SIM card, charge it up and use it like a normal phone.



Because of its many features, battery life on the Xphone is not great, so charge it to full capacity before leaving each morning. I am told that an upgrade is available to present users within a month, that will improve the battery life. If you are a heavy user, carry along an extra battery or the charger.

2 A Little Bit of Fun


As in most of the newer mobile phones, the Xphone comes with a camera with video capabilities. Remember that currently, all cameras on a mobile phone are still gimmicky with very low resolutions. If you are taking a lot of shots and videos, you should get an external storage SD card. For the rest of us, I recommend that we just take this as a bonus and not take up too much time or memory on this non-essential.

Also, if you want music wherever you go, the Xphone has a more than capable MP3 player. In the quiet of the office or home, at maximum volume of 10, there is no need to plug in the cumbersome earphones to enjoy these audio, whether it is music or Bible reading. Again an external storage card is recommended for this function. Get an ultra 2 fast card for best performance - do not be stingy in getting the best possible card. 128mb should be plenty.



3. Going Further


Smartphones also come with built-in internet and email access. It is not difficult following the instructions to activitate these. Your telcoms service provider or manufacturer service centre (for the Xphone, it is at #07-01 of the Accord Distri Centre at 20 Toh Guan Road) can also help.

While it is handy to be able to check emails and surf the web, let the user beware of these two consequences. 1. Current GPRS charges are nothing short of daylight robbery. So unless you have a rich uncle taking care of your bills, go easy on the net. 2. Today's emails are riddled with spam and viruses of all kinds. It is just not a lot of fun to fall victim of either as there is little a smartphone user can do to against these.



4. Now the Good Stuff


Unlike mobile phones, there is an active community of zealots for the smartphone who take time and trouble to create freewares for all to enjoy. From games to applications, ringtones to wallpapers; it is possible for a user to enjoy all these and more without shelling out a single cent.

Take for example, the marvellous Bible reader above from OliveTree. It works fine, looks great and comes with many free Bibles. Or you can download the free Orneta Notepad to read databases like the church membership (first convert it to text) and then search speedily for data.



5. Personalising Your Phone


It is pretty easy to personalise the smartphone, the way you do with your mobile phone. There is even a free program, above to do it all for you.

So far, all we have done is to take the Xphone out of the box, charge it and use it. There is no need to install any software. Programs can be installed into your phone by simply clicking on the cab files from a SD card. Contacts can be read from the SIM card and appointments may be entered as you go along. For most users, the primer ends here.



6 Getting Serious

Of course the smartphone does a lot more than that which we have described so far. You can carry your Microsoft Office with you, do Powerpoint presentation via infraD from the phone and view movies on the go, to mention a few.

If you want to do more (you don't have to, you know); pick up the CD that comes with your phone and start the active sync installation. Be careful not to tick the contacts during installation unless you want all your email addresses copied into your phone.

Then surf the web for smartphone communities where you can ask questions and learn all kinds of neat stuff. The first place you want to go is MoDaCo, the largest site on the www for smartphones. Lots of links, news - even software by forum members.



7 Closing Thoughts and Tips

Here are some helpful tips I have picked up along the way. For example, if you want to pick up your phone and go, hold the end call button - it will quickly stop what you are doing and lock your phone so you can put it in your pocket. If you are worried about unnecessary GPRS bills, disconnect or detach it by holding the home button and select the option.

Bottomline: For a reasonable price, you get a great mobile phone, bright screen, PIMs and all the multimedia that we have grown so used to. For me, it is great to carry only one device and yet have all I want with me including a Bible and the church membership data. My cup runneth over.