A secret trick for the Swype keyboard

 We've all made a mistake when using the swype keyboard and managed to spell the wrong word. On some phones using a trackball to navigate to the mistake and correcting it is simple, on other phones however you need to accurate press on the screen and move to the error, this can be rather fiddly.

A hidden feature on swype makes the accurate movement of the cursor much easier than using the trial error of pressing on the screen. In the image to the right hand side is an error (the "us" should read "is") so we have to correct this. To start we run a finger over the swype key (bottom left key) and the 123 SYM key. Just pretend these are two letters.
After doing that you will see the keyboard dramatically to resemble the image on the left here with a host of new and useful tools to allow you to accurately and swiftly navigate to the error and delete it (see the screen shot below).
By using the arrows and the delete key to delete the error and leave the cursor where the error was. If you then press on the ABC key at the bottom you will be returned to the keyboard to enter the correct text.


In the screen shot below you can see the corrected text as it was supposed to look when it was originally written.

Time saving tricks for the Samsung Wave

We all like to save time so now I'm going to show you a few quick tricks to save a few seconds whilst using the Samsung Wave, many of the tricks are also possible on other Samsung mobiles. None of these are particularly amazing though they will help you save a small amount of time which can add up if you use the phone a lot.

We start by looking at the quick method of opening the task manager. If you want to open the task manager the "normal" way you need to go through a number of menu screens which can take quite a while and is incredibly fiddly. If you just go to the home screen and hold the "menu key" for a few seconds you jump straight to the task managed saving yourself the time and effort of going through the settings screens. In fact this takes about 3 seconds and is very direct.

The other method of finding the task manager is following this small guide:
Menu>Setting>About Phone>System info>CPU>Task Manager
So as you can see this short cut is much better.

This is a trick most users should already be well aware of but if not it's worth sharing. This little menu you can see is just a drag down menu from the top of the screen and by dragging it down you can turn on, or off, the Wi-Fi, the Bluetooth and Silent mode. This is great for when you just need to turn off something like Wi-Fi to save the battery or turn the volumne off to go into a meeting. 

Each of these 3 settings can be turned on or off through the various menu's though the fact you can do them all here is much quicker and easier than fiddling with a host of multiple screens.



 This final time saving trick takes a little while to set up so I've broken it into the steps you need to use for it to work. It's a trick that some folks will find of more use than others, though if you use the phone for one thing a lot it will be a good trick to learn. Firstly you need to open the "Menu" then click settings and "General" which puts you on this screen here. The you need to select "Gestures" from this screen.



In "Gestures" you will see a screen like this. The option you want to set it "Double tapping" and make sure that a little light is showing next to it as this is what we are wanting to use. After you click on the dot to put the light on you need to click where it says "Double tapping" to open a long list of options.

 The options screen should look something like this (though it has a lot more options than were caught on this screen shot) you need to select the option you want to use. In the case of this example it's going to be "Music" as I like to use my phone to listen to music so it's a good short cut for myself. Others may want to use it to skip to the camera, or the games or soemthing else.

By double tapping the screen on the homepage I'm now zoomed straight to my music and ready to listen to all my tracks with out needing to go through the menu screens. This is a great little trick though one that you need to really use the phone a fair bit to make the most of.

Although this trick does take a little whilst to set up it's pay off in the long run is great and really is a trick you should be using if you want to use the phone for all it's worth.




Of course the phone will have more time saving tricks though these are some of the best ones and easiest ones so are worth using and knowing that they are all there to use.

Samsung Wave

It's been ages since I last posted on to this blog and I've since had a pretty fun play with a Samsung Wave GT-S723e. The things I've learnt from this phone have been put into a number of hubs for Hubpages which I'll link you to through out this piece.

The Samsung Wave I have is currently with Vodafone in the UK on some special 24 months offer with unlimited texts and 300 minutes for a nice price though the phone it's self isn't anything brilliant it's ok for what it is. The phone runs the "BADA" software which when compared to things like Android, Windows and iOS seems relatively limited. Despite this the handset is easy to use and the touchscreen is pretty accurate and works well. The battery can last a while and you can of course use a bunch of tricks to stretch out the phones battery life which aew pewtty simple and painless.

The phone has a solid 5MP camera which although not brilliant does take some pretty decent photos and are incredibly easy to transfer to a computer with out too much effort. Though admittedly I've not really played with the camera enough to work out how good it actually is. In all honesty it does seem slightly better than the HTC Wildfire's camera though not as good as the Sony Ericcson C902 one (the three phones I have for comparison at the moment).

As with all modern phones you can easily put your music on to the phone and of course select your own tracks as a ringtone. With out a memory card you are pretty limited to a handful of songs or photographs. The memory card you will be needing if you purchase the phone is a Micro SD card which can come in some hefty sizes and are afforable (though not "cheap" per se).

As with all modern phones there is a real depth to how far you can explore the phone but you will still be surprised by the depth of the handset and the fact there is a real wealth of secrets. I sadly didn't find some of them out until it was too late, though here is a heads up on some of them to allow you to do things like "Screenshots" and factory resetting the handset.

On the whole the phone is a "decent" handset but not a particularly great one. If you want to be up to date this isn't the phone for you though it's a steady handset for those who aren't too big on multi-tasking. It does all the basic things well such as making calls, playing music, allowing you to use the net (via either 3G or Wi-fi), texting, photography, being an alarm but it doesn't do the advance things. Don't look to this phone to be a mobile office or to be a replacement to your Nintendo DS as it's not that kind of device, it's a phone first and foremost with some bonus'.

HTC Wildfire Tips tricks and stuff

So with Christmas around the corner and phone stores everywhere trying to flog you a smart phone, you want to know as much as you can about them....right?

Well although I can't tell you everything you may want to know I can help you with the one I've got, the HTC Wildfire. A cheap and well rounded HTC that look as attractive as any other smart phone out there at the moment and although not the most versatile is one of the best introductory Android phones out there. Although the phone is a solid one and has a fully fledged review here. You'll probably want to know more than just want a review gives you, so lets look at some of those useful little things that every phone user wants to know.

So firstly something that the you'll find yourself using more often than you'd expect, using the phone as a torch isn't something most would think they will find as a bonus, but it actually is. To read how to use the phone as a torch, by using either it's inbuilt “Flashlight App” (which uses the Camera light) click here,  though of course that guide also teaches you how to use the a free App to use the screen as your torch light.

A common question regarding the phone is “how do I select my own ringtone?”A question that you will ask yourself unless you've been shown how to set it. Heck even the in built menu doesn't pose any help at all. If you're one of those that likes to set your own music for a ring tone then I must urge you to give this guide a click. Although it's not a pictorial guide it is easy to follow and talks you through all the steps you need to look at.

Of course you'll not want you're phone getting scratched and any tips to prevent damage to it are advisable. As well as remembering not to try and use a stylus (they don't work with the screen) you can read a variety of common sense tips in this guide of “How to prevent your screen being damaged”. It may not be anything ingenious but it is certainly useful. Although that's not a money saving tip, one that is is connecting your phone via Wi-Fi where ever possible. The reasons can be found here, though a description on hos it's done is actually very simple. On the home screen press “menu” then find wireless, click on Wi-Fi and find your normal connection (generally your home internet, though also things like “The Wi-Fi Zone- The Cloud”. For your home internet you will have to have the WPA key the first time.

Whilst on Wi-Fi why not make the best use of your phone and either listen to one of any number of digital radio stations from the amazing TuneIn Radio App (that's currently free from the Android market) or watch Youtube through the phone. Though of course if neither of those please you, you can generally find a way to watch live TV from a website like Tvcatchup.com (though it's limited to the UK sadly) totally legally (at time of publication it is legal).

When your sick of Apps or have just need to free some space on your phone there's 2 ways to delete them from your phone. Have a read of both of these techniques here. They are sadly not the most logical of ways but they both work brilliantly.

Of course there is much much more to the phone than just those tips and tricks above as well as the tricks that can be found in this “Tricks and Tips” article. Feel free to google around and share these tips, I'm sure any of your friends with, or getting this or similar phones will find them really useful.