Why does my Samsung Galaxy S3 have an "i" ina circle?

Since using your Samsung Galaxy S3 you may have noticed an "i" in a circle with a line through it in the notification bar (as you can see in the screen shot on the left). You may be wondering why it's there, or what happened to make it appear, the answer is simple.

The symbol is the symbol for "no notifications" meaning that at some point you've turned off the notifications on your phone (probably by accident in all honest). To do this you'll have likely pulled down the menu (see the pictures below) and turned off the notifications.

 To get rid of the "i" and turn your notifications back on you need to again pull the menu bar down and click on the "Notification" icon. After pressing this icon, you'll see it light up and your notifications will return to the bar.

How to delete icons from a homescreen on a Samsung Galaxy S3

 I recently showed you how to personalise your phone by moving the icons around on the home screens of your your Android Smartphone, specifically the Samsung Galaxy S3. Now I'll show you how to delete icons from your home screens allowing you to tidy up mistakes (i.e. having the same icons on home screens twice), get rid of icons for apps that you no longer use or just create some extra space.

For this example I will be deleting the "ESPN Cricinfo" incon that sits in the middle of the 4th home screen. I accidentally placed it on the same screen as an existing icon for the same app.

Firstly you need to select the icon you wish to delete. To do this you need to hold your finger on the icon for a few seconds until the screen looks like the image on the right with the icon you selected looking a little bit "ghostly".  After selecting the icon you will notice that the "Apps" icon from the bottom right hand corner has now turned into a bin with the word "Delete" underneath it.
You need to drag the icon from where it is down to the bin. After doing this the icon will be gone from the home screen, however the app will not be uninstalled from the phone and you will be able to replace it on the home screen easily if you wish, or if you delete the wrong icon by mistake.

How to move Icons on a Samsung Galaxy S3

One of the great things about modern day smart phones is the ability to customise your phone exactly how you want it. You're not limited by just changing the background or the ringtone but you can change literally everything about the phone. This guide hopes to show you have to move icons as further customise how your phone looks. Whilst this guide was done with screenshots from a Samsung Galaxy S3, the same method applies with pretty much every phone running Android.

Firstly you need to open up your home screens and find an icon you want to move. For this example I will be selecting the icon for "Ebuddy XMS", which is sat on the bottom left corner of the 3rd home screen (See top left). To select the icon you need to hold your finger on the icon for a few seconds and this will then allow you to drag the icon around the screen.

You can not only drag the icon around the same screen as it started on (see the picture on the right) but also place it on other screens by dragging the icon to edge of one of the screens. This allows you to drag the icon to any of the phone's home screens as you perhaps choose to put your most regularly used icons to the first screen whilst your lesser used icons can be put to the most distant homes screens.

Getting pictures from Facebook to your Android phone via the "Box" app

I've said in the past that one of the things I dislike about Android is that a lot of simple things really aren't as straight forward as they should be. Whilst I love the overall system I hate how tricky it makes things that really shouldn't be difficult and one of the most complex things is using the Facebook app to "save pictures" of your friends. You'd have thought just holding the picture would give you the option but sadly not, instead you need to use another app such as "Box".

Firstly you need to open your friends profile, here we are using the facebook profile of boxing website "Ringnews 24". From the person's profile you need to click "Photos" from the bottom of the screen and then find the specific photograph that you want to
use. For our example we are using the Ringnews24 image of David Haye that the site uses for it's Facebook picture.

When you have opened the picture you need to press the phone's "Menu" button which will see you given 6 options at the bottom of the screen. From those options you need to select "Share" from the bottom left hand corner. After clicking on "Share" you will

see a list of all the sharing apps on your phone, from the list you will need to select "Box" (obviously to use the "Box" app you will need to already have installed on your phone before getting to this stage).

After clicking on "Box" from the list of share apps you will be taken to the Box app "Upload screen" (which should look like the image on the right). The file name by default will contain "facebook", though you can feel free to rename the file in the usual way when using the "Box" app and when you are happy with the name you have to click "Upload".

After uploading the file to "Box" you will then need to download the file (which we wrote a guide on yesterday) to your phone before you can see it in your gallery.

Trust me I know this is an incredibly long winded way to save the pictures from facebook onto your phone, sadly however their doesn't seem to be a more logical one unless you log in to your facebook account via your browser and save the picture the way we explained in this guide.

Gingerbread Android Easter Egg

 When this site first started it was supposed to be a site talking about phone secrets and now we have a wonderful secret Easter egg hidden on phones running the Gingerbread version of the android operating system.


To start you need to open the settings menu on the phone which will look something like the image on left hand side of your screen. From here you need to scroll all the way down to the bottom until you come across an called "About phone". The icon alongside this option should look like an "information" symbol  as you can see in the image to the right.

After clicking on "About phone" you will see a host of options telling you about various facets of your phone and with a number of other sub menu's. From this menu you need to find the option for "Android version"...then press it...repeatedly. You need to press it around 5 or 6 times inside a second or two (so you may want to use two fingers at once as if they were legs).

If done correctly you will see a hidden image that shows the little Green Android
surrounded by zombies. This is (as the screenshot says) an art piece by Jack Larson called "Zombie Art".

Jack's artwork can be found at www.zombieart.blogspot.com and if your a fan of Zombie based artwork it is seriously worth checking out.

Where did I get all these extra pictures from?

If you are using a Samsung Galaxy S2 (and I presume any phone running Android 3.5) you may have recently noticed your Gallery has a number of new albums and a host of new pictures, as if they've appeared randomly. What you may have noticed about each of those new albums is they have a small white logo on them that looks oddly enough like the Picasa logo (feel free to visit http://picasa.google.com/ if you wish to check the logo). Now, although I'm not 100% certain, it does appear that the update to 3.5 now allows you to access your Picasa/Blogger/Google+ images directly from your phones "Gallery".

Although I've not done a huge amount of testing with this and it may require specific settings to do, it could well explain why so many people have suddenly seen the amount of images on their phone jump from a few hundred to thousands almost over night.

This shouldn't be a major issue for many people though it is worth noting that all your blogs pictures are now on your phone (which means I have over 600 from this blog!)

How to add an extra Gmail account to an Android phone

Whilst we all know you need to associate 1 Gmail account with an Android phone it's possible to add a number of other Gmail accounts, for example a work account and a personal account. This guide will show you how to add an extra Gmail accounts (or accounts associated with Gmail, such as our own @mobilephonetipsandtricks.com email addresses).

Firstly you will need to open the Gmail app and then press on the phones "Menu" button so you'll have a screen like the image on the left. From here you need to select where it says "Accounts". When you click on "accounts" your screen will change to
one like the screenshot on the right with a list of the current accounts connected with the phone, the emails in those inboxes and, at the bottom, the option to "Add account".

After clicking on "Add account" the phone will show you a screen that explains what you are actually doing and will give you a quick explanation of why you'd want to add another account. When you see that screen just click next and then you will see a screen showing you two options, you can either "Create" a new google account or you can "Sign in" if you already have one. The rest of this guide will be as if you ALREADY have one.

After you have clicked "Sign in" you will need to enter your email login and your password, the phone will then connect with the Google servers and you may be asked to input a security code just to prove you are
human.

After the phone has connected with the servers you will be asked what you would like to sync from the account.Remember that things like Contacts and Calendar appointments will show on your phone, so you may wish to just receive the e-mails (so synch Gmail only). When you've selected which options you wish to sync select "Finish". The phone will then show you a screen where it explains the synching procedure and the notification bar. If you've used the phone for a fair bit you will know everything from the screen anyway so just click "Finish setup".
 
After clicking on "Finish setup" you will see your new account added to your old accounts on the Gmail accounts screen (like the image on the right). For the first few minutes the emails in the account won't have synched so give it a while and then you will have your account set up and ready to use. You will now be able to send and receive emails for all the addresses associated with the phone.

How to play NES, SNES and Genesis games on your Android phone

Whilst playing games on your mobile phone may often seem as limited as playing Angry Birds or Fruit Slice you actually have a lot more freedom. If like me, you remember when video games were about having fun, jumping on robots heads and chasing Bowser through dungeons you'll love the fact that the Android phones have a huge number of emulators flying about online.

Whilst the legality of emulation is a somewhat grey and murky place (as a result I won't be directing you towards any ROMs) the actual practice is incredibly simple and in some cases is the only way to play specific games. To do this you need to start with an emulator, this is an app (or program if your old fashioned like myself) that needs to be found. Their is a huge number of these available on one...or another market that is used by Android (I'd advise looking on the SlideME market as well as the official Android Market). When you download one of these and then install it, you will then be able to play the ROMs of the game.

For some phones it is possible to use various wireless controls though for others you may find yourself using on screen buttons, both ways are have their pros and cons. Sadly unless you root a Samsung phone however you may be forced into using an onscreen control.

Some emulators that are recommended:
FPSE-A Playstation Emulator
The "oid" series (n64oid, GBCoid, Gensoid, SNesoid, Nesoid, Gearoid, GameBoid, Ataroid) for N64, Game Boy Colour, Genesis/Mega Drive, SNES, NES, Game Gear/Master System, Game Boy Advance, Atari)

We also recommend using a controller like the PhoneJoy to play games for the emulators of the newer consoles.

How to share android apps over your social networks

 So you've managed to find yourself a fantastic app and now you want to share it with your friends and family over facebook, twitter or Google+, this guide will show you exactly how to do this.

Firstly you need to open the app drawer, it will look something like the image to the left hand side with all your apps (though you may have a different view, such as a list view) on this screen you need to press on your phones "Menu" button and then choose "Share app".

After you click on "Share app" you should see a list of the apps on your phone with a tick box next to them and a search box (much like the screen shot on the right hand side). From this screen you need to select the app (or apps) you wish to share. For the sake of this example I'll be sharing the excellent game "The King Of OX", so tick the box next to the game (as I have done in this picture.
After selecting the app (or apps) you want to share click "Done" on the bottom of the screen and then you'll see a screen like the one on the left, the "Share via" screen. This screen will have all your social apps (facebook, plume, twitter etc) so select the one you want to share the app with. For the rest of this example I'll be using Facebook but the other apps are all similar

After clicking on the app you want to share with you will open that app (as you can see in this screen shot I'm sharing it over facebook) and you'll be able to add your own comment. When you are happy with the message and the app your sharing you need to just click "Share" and you'll be sorted.

After clicking "Share" (or send, post etc depending on the app) it will be added to your feed or status and your friends will be able to click on the status to be taken to the app market and download it themselves with out needing to search for it.

Posting youtube videos to facebook on an Android phone

 So you've found an awesome youtube video whilst surfing the web on your Android Smartphone phone and now you want to share it with your friends, but you don't know how. This guide will explain, in details, exactly how you share any videos found on the youtube app with your friends on facebook, twitter, google+ or any other social networking app.

First you will need to load up a video in youtube and make sure the view is set to the portrait view. This should look something like the image to the left and at the top of the screen you can clearly see "More", click on this.

After clicking on "More" you will see 5 new options open up on the screen like in the screen shot to the right. From those options you will need to select on the "Share" icon (which you can see near the right hand side of the screen). If you've used the "share" facility on Android in the past you will know what to expect
and for those that haven't used the "share" facility before it is really simple. You'll see a list of your social apps (similar to the screen shot on the left) which you can scroll down to find the exact app you want to use, for example "Twitter" or "Plume".

When you've selected the app you want to share the video on
you will be taken to the post status screen (like this screen shot of posting on Facebook). When you've added your message to go with the video just post (or share) as you would do normally and it'll be updated to your status.

How to set up Wi-Fi hotspot with a phone running Froyo

When Google released Android 2.2 "Froyo", the upgrade of "Eclair" (Android 2.1) they introduced  the ability to set up a Wi-Fi hotspot. A  Wi-Fi hotspot allows you to use any phone running "Froyo" to act as a wireless modem using the phones data network (mobile internet). This opens up the ability to have the internet wherever you go, so say your on the train and want to browse the internet with your laptop, all you need to do is set up the hotspot and your read to go as long as you can recieve a mobile internet signal.

The first step to setting up the hotspot is opening the settings screen on your phone. To do this press "Menu" on the home screen and then click on "Wireless & networks". Inside this menu you should see an option saying "Portable Wi-Fi hotspot settings". In here set up the name of the hotspot and a password (if you want to have one) and then click on the tick box beside "Portable Wi-Fi Hotspot".


After doing the above you will need to scan for Wi-Fi connections on your laptop
and find the connection that has the name you set up on your phone. As I was using a HTC Wildfire for this example I've set up the connection as "HTC Portable Hotspot" though feel free to call it anything you wish.
If you had a password set up on the connection for security you will then be asked to enter it.

After doing this you "should" be ready to go. For some reason whilst doing this guide I managed to stumble into some form of problem, clicking on "OK" seemed to send Windows into correcting the error. Repeated attempts to replicate the error haven't seen them come up so I'm not too sure what the error ACTUALLY was.

To stop the connection go back into the "Wireless & network" settings and untick "Portable Wi-Fi hotspot".

Whilst it's a useful feature and it is well implemented in phones running Froyo a few issues do need to be pointed out before you start. Firstly using a phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot will drain the phones battery at a quicker rate than usual which can be problematic though maybe a bigger issue is that the phones internet allowance will be eaten into. Unless you are on an unlimited internet deal I'd advise being careful when using a phone as a hotspot as you can run up a bill from the network data.

It's also worth noting some networks have made it difficult to use a phone as a modem, often if you call your network they can help you sort out any issues and barriers they've put in their users way.

What phones are the best Android phones currently available?

So far we've looked at the best Budget Androids and the best Androids with a Qwerty Keyboard, but lets just take a look at the out and out best Androids currently available. These are for those who like to be up-to date and have the money to burn on a handset to make people say wow, so I wouldn't advise reading on if you're on a shoestring. Unlike most "best android" lists we're not going to look purely at the 4 most impressive handsets but the handsets that standout for whatever reason, they are the best of their own type, if you will.

Samsung Galaxy S2
The king of the Androids is the Samsung Galaxy S2 which is a dream phone it features a huge 16GB of internal storage (with space for a 32GB memory card), a lightning quick 1.2Ghz dual core processor, with HD video recording ability and 1GB of RAM. As well as the internal technology the screen is huge, clear and bright and makes the most of AMOLED technology.
As well as being a hugely impressive piece of technological kit Samsung have managed to compress the handset down into something that is just millimeters thick and yet has all the power you could wish to have in your hands.
Whilst the phone is impressively powerful this power can be a drain on the battery which is maybe the only major issue with the phone and whilst some people aren't a fan of Samsung's "Touchwiz" system it does work well (and can be changed easily enough if you really hate it).

HTC Sensation
There is only really one phone that can rival the Galaxy S2 and that's the HTC Sensation which HTC's top handset at the moment. Like the Galaxy S2 the phone has a 1.2Ghz dual core processor and HD recording facility as well as running Gingerbread though where the phone, for me falls down is on the lack of internal storage.
Although not as technologically as impressive as the Samsung phone it does hold it's own and gives a very solid alternative. The phone uses HTC's own user interface (HTC Sense 3.0) and if you've been a HTC fan for a while you'll know exactly what to expect with a very sturdy and reliable piece of kit.
Whilst the phone isn't quite as good as the Galaxy S2 in terms of raw numbers it will appeal to some people much more as it's thicker and feels much tougher and although it's "second" it's a very, very good second and can be found at slightly cheaper prices.

LG Optimus 3D
The LG Optimus 3D is a funny one, for most it's the only 3D handset currently worth owning (being a better option than the rival HTC EVO 3D) though as a smartphone it's not the most impressive. Whilst it comes with Froyo pre-installed you can upgrade it to Gingerbread and whilst it "only" has a 1Ghz dual core processor what it brings to the table is 3D.
The phone is chunky, it's heavy, it's thick it feels a bit sluggish at times but it brings wonderful 3D effects, a screen that jumps out at you and the ability to not only take 3D pictures and take 3D video but the ability to watch 3D films as they were designed to be watched.
At the moment it seems 3D hasn't really taken off in the mobile phone world though the LG Optimus seems like it's a trend setter and although it's not the best phone on the market and in fact it feels like a limited "smart phone" it does bring something very fresh and original to the market.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play
When the Play was first rumoured it seemed likely to be the phone that revolutionised games on a mobile phone. At the time it was dogged with a price tag that simply didn't make sense and was frustratingly buggy for the price. Now a few months on from it's release and after scathing comments about the price it's now come down to a level that seems more realistic.
The phone is a gaming device/phone hybrid that combines what resembles a PSP with a high tech Android phone (running Gingerbread) and for gaming is the top phone by quite a margin thanks to what are effective proper games as opposed to the games that the Android system is known for.
Whilst we are still waiting for some really killer games on the phone and it's not a match for things like the 3DS it's by far the best gaming phone out there. If you want to play games and carry just a single device this is your best bet, if you however want a phone, I'd actually say avoid it and look at the Galaxy S2 and Sensation.

The secret tricks of Android live wallpapers

 In the past we've looked at setting different wallpapers on the Samsung Galaxy S2, with one of the options being "Live Wallpapers". Whilst some of the Live wallpapers are a bit...boring or have a technical function (think of the weather wallpapers) others have secret little things to do.



The "Galaxy" wallpaper (see the screen shot on the left) is one of the more boxing live wallpapers. Whilst it's normal effect is quite good the only "trick" here is that you can "tilt" the galaxy image by dragging your finger to a corner.

 The "Nexus" wallpaper creates lines where ever you touch the screen. Whilst this is almost the android version of a windows style screensaver it is fun to see that you do have an effect when your press on the screen.
The best of the secrets on the Live Wallpapers is on the "Microbes" screen (see left) in which pressing on the screen places some white dots. These dots act as "food" for the microbes who will run over them and then multiply so you can end up with a screen full of microbes like in the screenshot.





Whilst these are pointless little secrets it still just adds something, in fact the Microbes screen sort of gives you a mini game if your incredibly bored.

How to use the "Places" Android app

When it comes to the under-rated Android apps maybe "Places" is the most under-rated and most often forgotten app. It's icon is a small innocuous looking red marker (see the screen shot to the right) and it looks, kinda dull and boring to be frankly honest though it's one of the most useful applications on Android handsets.

After clicking on the icon you will see a screen like the screen capture on the left hand side with a a search icon and a number of preset icons. If you are wanting to find for example a "Pub" or an "ATM" you can simply click on one of the icons on display; alternatively if your looking for something not given an icon you can type what you want in to the search bar.

For this example we are going to be searching for "Shopping centres" which I've typed into the search bar and done a search for. As you can see on the screen shot to the right a list of all the local shopping centres is provided. The list includes the destination, the name of the place and the distance from where you've been located (your location is picked up from GPS or the Wireless networks).

Where the app really comes into it's own is the fact you can get a list of local hotels or whatever is it, but that the app can quickly gather other useful information for you.
The screen shot here shows just some of the details you can find using the "Places" app and includes a contact number, and similar places. What is more useful however is that you can then get directions to the place.

In a practical sense this app could help your book a restaurant whilst on holiday or find a campsite at the last minute. However maybe at it's best it'll help you locate a specific building, for example an office block where you have an interview or a local ATM when you've run out of cash.

As with many of the "locational" applications (including "Maps" and "Navigation") this will use mobile internet and may run down the battery of your device slightly quicker than normal so just be aware of this.

How to use the Navigation App on Android

Smartphones really do seem to have a never ending list of uses and whether you've got a band new Samsung Galaxy S2 or a or a really old HTC Wildfire you'll be able to use it to navigate your way around a town, city or even the country thanks to the Navigate app. Firstly you will need to find the app which resembles a blue triangle (see the screen shot to the right for an example of how it may look in an app draw).
After opening the app you will be asked to allow the use of GPS. The GPS will need to be turned on for the navigational purposes so turn it on when prompted.

After turning on GPS you will see a screen like the one to the left. What you need to do is click on either "Speak destination" or, as I've done in the screen shot "Type destination". Once you've got your destination in the search bar press on the magnifying glass and your phone will figure out (via GPS) the best route for you to get from where you are to the destination)

When your phone has worked out your route you will be be shown a map like the one to the right for you to follow and thanks to the GPS being enabled you can actually track your progress (with you being the blue "dot" and the checkered flag being the destination). If you wish to zoom in for a better accuracy you can use the magnifying the magnifying glass in the bottom corner to zoom in however a more useful function is the directions screen. To access the directions screen you need to click on the little "list" icon.

The directions screen is wonderfully simple telling you the road you need to go on, the direction and the distance. Though this isn't the end of the wonders of the Navigation app. If you click on one of the directions
you'll get a screen like the one on the right which shows your actual progress through that stage in a sort of "birds eye".

From the screen to the right you have 3 options. You can go back to the directions screen (press on the list icon), you can go to the next stage (press the arrow along the top) or you can go to street view (press the man at the right hand side).

 Street view gives you the most detailed image of where you are looking at and is a great way to check that you're in the right place, going in the right direction. From the Street View you can again scroll through the stages of your route by pressing the arrows along the top of the screen.

Although the app may be trying to help drivers (and it does with a number of it's more advanced functions) it can also help those lost in a new city who are looking for something like a landmark or a hotel (and using street view really makes that simple).

It needs to be noted that using navigation will use up data (whether it's mobile data or Wi-Fi you will need to be connected to one or the other) and as it's running GPS you may find that your battery will run down quicker than usual so don't use it for prolonged durations with out the ability to change the handset. Whilst you should be able to get a few hours out of a full charge, a car charger will be needed if you are trying to cover the country whilst using the app.

How to use "Auto-full stop" with the default Samsung Galaxy S2 keyboard

 One of the better hidden features of the Samsung Galaxy's default keyboard is it has an "Auto-full stop"   mode. When this is accessed it helps to speed the use of punctuation in texts and instead of needing to press "full stop" and "space" you instead double tap space and a full stop will be automatically entered for you. This may not seem like a big feature but it's a nice time saving technique that some may want to enable.

The method shown in this guide starts at the text screen (see right) as that is likely to be
where you'll be when you want to use this trick. Make sure you are using the "Samsung" keyboard as well as it seems to be the only one with this little secret. When on the keyboard click on the "settings" icon (it's the cog near the full stop) to open the keyboard settings menu (see left screen shot).

When in this menu you will need to scroll down until you see the option "Auto-full stop"
which comes with a small tick box. When you find this option make sure to tick the box (like in the screen capture to the right) and you'll have activated the function.

A similar thing can also be done on a number of Blackberry's by just pressing space so if you've come from a Blackberry and have been missing that feature you may just feel a little bit more at home now knowing how to use it on the Samsung.

Sadly for users of Swype and most other keyboards there doesn't appear to be a way to replicate this small but hand trick on your keyboards, though if someone can find a way feel free to let me know.

Is the Blackberry Bold 9900 something to worry the Android domination?

The new Blackberry Bold 9900 is literally around the corner and has a street release date of less than a week with pre-orders expected to be delivered as early as August the 14th there is no wonder the phone is getting some attention. The hand set promises the be the best, the fastest and the most complete Blackberry to date. Powered by the 7th version of the Blackberry Operating system and promising a variety of new Blackberry services, how will this phone compete with the top of the range Android handsets?

As it's the top of the range Blackberry RIM's handset will be compared to the Samsung Galaxy S2 in as many fields as we can generally compare the two. Whilst they aren't exactly competing handsets in the most direct of senses customers that want the best phone maybe looking at deciding between these two.

First the type of phone. The Bold 9900 is a Candybar smartphone made by RIM (Research In Motion) with a 4-row qwerty keyboard whilst the Galaxy S2 lacks a qwerty keyboard this seems to be something that sways personal choice. The pay off in not having a keyboard sees the Samsung Galaxy S2 having a substantially larger screen (4.2" to the 2.8" screen of the Blackberry). Whilst the Galaxy S2 is 1cm "taller" it managed to get over 3cm of extra screen size by not using a qwerty keyboard making it a better option for things like iPlayer, Youtube and the such. Of course if you prefer keyboards over watching videos on your phone the Bold is the better option.

Inside the body of the phone we have the memory, the storage and the processors. To some shoppers these words are daunting and almost scary though are simple to understand. The memory is effectively how easily things can open and how swiftly you can change from application to application, something that with modern smartphones you will find yourself doing a fair bit of. The Blackberry has a fairly impressive 768MB of RAM which makes it one of, if not the, best Blackberry Phone on the market in terms of RAM. The Galaxy S2 however is a step up it's self with 1GB of RAM making it significantly quicker to flip and flop between applications and other such processes.
The storage is even easier to explain. The storage is how much can the phone hold (in terms of music, videos, photographs, applications, documents). For this we are going to look at just the inbuilt storage as both phones use the same expandable memory card. The Blackberry again has pretty solid numbers and has around 9GB of total storage with 8GB or so being available for media and a further 768MB put aside for applications. Compared against most Androids the Blackberry would win the storage test comfortably however against the Galaxy S2 it looks a little paltry. The Galaxy S2 boasts a massive 16GB of storage with 11.5GB for your media storage and well over 1GB set aside for applications. Again the Galaxy S2 dwarfs what are genuinely impressive numbers.
The processor speed determines how quickly things run and how responsive things really are. A slow processor for example will limit your ability to play the newest games, will make your phone feel laggy and slow and just, at times feel cumbersome. The Bold again puts up an impressive figure with a single core 1.2Ghz processor when it comes to the Galaxy S2 things are more complicated though it's a dual core 1.2Ghz processor which is slightly faster due to sharing operations. What you'll see here is that both are capable of incredibly feats of processing power, the Galaxy S2 again just nicks it but it's not a one sided battle.

When it comes to other features both phones boast impressive resumés. The Blackberry comes with an industry standard 5MP still camera and the ability to record in 720p as well as having access to the exclusive and swift (if somewhat over-rated) BBM (BlackBerry Messenger). It also comes with a document editor, the ability to download a number of apps and all the familiar things you get with modern smartphones such as maps internet browsing and Wi-Fi connectivity. Whilst the camera on the Blackberry is good, it doesn't challenge the 8MP camera on the back of the Galaxy S2, it also doesn't have a front facing camera for video calls, or the ability to record in ultra clear 1080p HD. Again the Samsung wins the battle of extras despite not having BBM (though plenty of apps do offer similar experiences).

Whilst the battle is a little bit one side on the technical front RIM and their Blackberry brand do have a strong brand image and a good level of customer loyalty. To be totally honest the Bold 9900 is genuinely the best qwerty phone on the market in a technical sense. Whilst it doesn't compare well with the Galaxy S2 in a head to head manner, no phone really does at the moment, it's a fantastic stand alone handset. Which leads us to what could be a big issue, Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) v Blackberry 7.0. I don't imagine the system will compete favourably with Android but if it is optimised for the phone I don't think customers who are loyal to the Blackberry brand will be disappointed.

Whilst Android and Samsung have little to worry about, I kept help but think that Blackberry users are getting their chance to get their mitts on a very good qwerty handset.

How to use your Samsung Galaxy S2 as a portable Wi-Fi Hotspot

The technology of today is simply amazing, I think we'll all agree that what we can do now with phones is amazing and it doesn't seem like we'll be finding a limit on what they will do any time soon. One of the great features of the current Android is their ability to act as a portable Wi-Fi hotspot, something that was completely unimaginable 10 years ago. This guide will walk you through the task of setting up such a connection and also look at some of the issues of doing it.



Firstly you need to open Settings screen (see right) and click on the Wireless and Network option at the very top of the list which will open an options screen like the one to the left. As you can see in the screen shot there is an option for "Tethering and portable hotspot", you need to click on this option at this point to open yet another menu. This will open up a menu with 3 options. "USB Tethering" (only available if you've got your laptop or PC connected to your phone), "Portable Wi-Fi hotspot settings" and "Help". The one you need to click is "Portable Wi-Fi hotspot settings" (see the screen shot to the right as a guide).

After clicking on "Portable Wi-Fi hotspot settings"you'll see a screen like the one on the left called "Introduction to portable Wi-Fi hotspot".This screen will explain the basics of what a Portable Wi-Fi hotspot is though really doesn't act so much as an introduction but more as a chance to go back. If you are still wishing to set up the hotspot click "OK" at this screen.

After clicking OK on the previous screen you will see the screen to the right. Now I would advise, if you live in a city mainly (thankfully I don't) that you click on "Configure portable Wi-Fi hot" and put on some security (using a password with the WPA2 PSK option) though if you don't you'll find it as an open connection. When you've decided on your security you need to tick the check box.

 After ticking the check box neck to "Portable Wi-Fi hotspot" a warning will appear on the screen (see the screen shot to the left). If you click OK you're ready to go and you will notice a new blue icon along the top that sits on the notification bar. In regards to the phone that's everything you need to do before going back to your laptop or computer.

On your laptop/computer you will need to see what Wi-Fi connections are available. If you didn't change the name of the connection it should appear as "AndroidHotspot" then some numbers. If you went into the configuration screen you can re-name them and things to whatever you want such as "Dave's hotspot" or "Jenny's phone".
 On this screen you need to click on the Android connection (or whatever you re-named it to) and connect as you would usually do so. When you first use the
  connection you may come across a screen shot like the one on, quick whichever best applies to you and within seconds you'll be connected and using your phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot.



Now we get to the problems, and there is a fair few of them. Firstly as one screen shot said using a phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot consumes the battery, and quickly (so I'd advise plugging it into an electric socket if you can) and it will swiftly eat into your data allowance. Remember desktop browsers aren't made with 500MB allowances in mind and you can easily go over your limit with out even realising. Also from the browsing point of view your speed is limit to what mobile internet you can get so trying to use a "G" connection for anything other than checking E-mails will be a pain.

Although it's a very handy tool, it's one that you're unlikely to be using outside of emergencies and maybe train rides. Where possible I'd advising using your home internet, public Wi-Fi (Cloud, BT Openzone and similar) or just using your phone (which compresses webpages for mobiles) for anything online.