What do screen resolutions mean?

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1 year ago
by admin in 154 views
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Now that smartphones have evolved largely into touchscreen-centric multimedia devices, screen resolution and size have become some of the most important features. If the screen is too small or the resolution is too low, it can make the phone itself a hassle to use. Having a big screen is great, but it will look terrible if the resolution isn’t high enough.

Various resolutions have been created to help distinguish between each other, and here is a list of the most common ones you will find on Android powered devices:

  • QVGA (320×240) Used in small phones like the Motorola Charm
  • HVGA (480×320) Common in older devices like the HTC Hero
  • WVGA (800×480) The most common these days for phones like the Evo 4G
  • qHD (960×540) Used on high-end phones like the Atrix 4G
  • WSVGA (1024×600) Common for tablets like the OG Samsung Galaxy Tab
  • WXGA (1280×800) Used for the high-end tablets of today like the Motorola Xoom

How much memory is left?

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1 year ago
by admin in 260 views
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Ever wonder how much storage space is left on your phone or memory card for applications, pictures, music and video? It’s pretty easy to check, actually. From the home screen, press the menu button, Then choose Settings, then Storage. (It might be called SD Card & Phone Storage, or something along those lines.) There you’ll see the amount of space remaining on your microSD card (if the phone has one) and internal (or program) storage. You can also format the microSD card from here, but make sure you’ve saved all your pics and music first.

Find and share an Android app

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1 year ago
by admin in 208 views
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Find a cool app in the Android Market and want to share it with your friends? You can do it right from the Android Market app. Just scroll down a bit until you find the “Sharing” section and tap on “Share this application.” You’ll then get an option to share it over Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, gmail, text message, Bluetooth, carrier pigeon, Pony Express … you get the idea. You’re not actually sharing the app itself, but the Market address for it. Give it a shot.

Clearing application defaults

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1 year ago
by admin in 242 views
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A great feature of Android is the ability to override many of the default applications for core features of the phones. You are free to pick Skyfire for browsing, DoubleTwist for music playing, and Handcent for text message sending. You can even use completely new launchers like LauncherPro or ADWLauncher. Doing this can leave you puzzled if you want to go back to using the “stock” services and we are here to help.

A built-in feature of Android is there for you in situations just like this. Go into Menu > Settings > Applications > Manage Applications and find the application whose defaults you want to remove. For instance: If you want to go back to your stock launcher after using LancherPro, find the LauncherPro app on the list and click on it. Scroll down a bit and click the “clear defaults” button and you will be set. Next time you do an action that you had set that app as the default for, Android will pop up a notification offering a list of apps that can be set as the default for that action. Select the “Use by default” check box, make your choice, and you are done.

What version of Android do I have?

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1 year ago
by admin in 478 views
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Android 2.3 Gingerbread is out of the bag and eventually will make its way to phones. But many of you are still waiting on Froyo. And in the meantime, there can be a bit of confusion over which version of Android you’re actually running. The easy way to check is to press the menu button, then go to settings. The scroll down (it’s usually at the bottom) and choose “About phone.” You should see a screen like the ones above. (Note that HTC phones may make you go deeper, into “Software Information.”

What you’re looking for is “Android version.” You should have Android 2.1-update 1, or Android 2.2, or Android 2.2.1. What you’re not looking for is “Software version.” On the Droid X (which you see above on the left), it may be a bit confusing, because the software version is 2.3.xxx. But that doesn’t mean you’re running Android 2.3. (Sorry.) No, just look for the Android Version line and you’ll be all set.

Change your screen’s brightness level

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1 year ago
by admin in 486 views
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So you’ve got this snazzy new phone, with some snazzy “Super AMOLED” or “SLCD” or ”AMOLED” or “LCD” screen — or whatever the tech buzzword of the week happens to be.

Your phone has a sensor (also called an ambient light sensor) that automatically adjusts the brightness on the screen depending on how bright it is where you happen to be. (That’s the “ambient light” part.) You’ll likely notice your phone’s screen doing dim or brightening throughout the day. The idea is to keep it low, but not too low, to save on battery life.

But what if it’s just not bright enough for you? Go to Menu>Settings>Display>Brightness and uncheck the “Automatic brightness” box. You’ll now have a slider with which you can adjust your screen.

Most phones (especially those on Froyo) also have widgets that let you adjust to low, medium and high brightness.

We don’t recommend running around with your phone’s screen turned up all the way, but you’re free to do so if you want. Just don’t come complaining to us about how quickly your battery drains.

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