The Samsung Galaxy S series of phones that includes the Samsung Epic 4G, Samsung Fascinate, Samsung Captivate and Samsung Vibrant all come with the TouchWiz interface, seven home screens, and various social hub features.
Each of Samsung's Galaxy S smartphones have a 4" Super AMOLED screen, Samsung's 1GHz Hummingbird processor and will soon add Media Hub, Samsung's upcoming content store featuring movie and TV programming. The differences among the Samsung Galaxy S phones, such as which ones offer mobile hotspots, camera flash or front facing camera, were detailed in the Samsung Galaxy S Compared article, published earlier.
After you get your Samsung Galaxy S phone, you will realize that there is a lot under the Android hood to do. Here are some tips and tricks Samsung gave us to help you navigate the Samsung S universe.
The Multitasking Switcheroo
Samsung Galaxy S phones enable users to multitask and switch between applications without closing them. To switch between applications, touch and hold the Home key. A box showing all of the recent applications appears. Touch the desired app you want to switch to.
What's Up Doc? See Status Notifiers (aka Quick Panel)
To access the Status Bar, place your finger on the top of the phone's screen and sweep down the screen. The screen will show notifications, such as new emails and messages, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth status. To close the screen, swipe back up the screen. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 4G and GPS can be turned on/off from the status bar. Note: Wi-Fi and 4G cannot be enabled at the same time.
Home Sweet Home Screens
Part of the
TouchWiz interface are seven home screens. To see the different home
screens, touch and slide your finger to the left or right to view any of
the seven panels. Each screen can be customized with widgets,
shortcuts to your favorite apps, or folders that contain shortcuts and
files.
Decorating You Home Screens with Widgets, Shortcuts and Folders
To
add a widget on the home screen, touch and hold an empty space until
you see the Add to Home screen. Then tap to choose Samsung widgets,
Android widgets, shortcuts, folders, or wallpapers. To re-arrange your
widget furniture, touch and hold the widget, folder or shortcut you want
to move. Then drag it to where you want it, and lift your finger off the
screen. To delete the widget/folder/shortcut, touch and hold the widget until a trash can appears. Then drop it into the trash can.
How to Socialize in Your Social Hub
Samsung's Social Hub is an app built for messaging and contacts for sending and receiving information. Information can include e-mail, social network updates or SMS messages. Calendar information from portal calendars (such as Google Calendar) and social networking services are displayed together in one calendar with two-way synchronization. All email accounts and social media feeds are then flowing in one stream.
Social Hub lets users sync Facebook,Twitter, MySpace, corporate email accounts and Gmail. To set up a Social Hub Account from the applications menu, scroll to and tap Settings. In the settings application, tap Accounts & Sync and select Add Account at the bottom of the screen. Select which account you would like to sync and follow the prompts for each.
The Feeds & Updates app syncs multiple social networking site accounts together. This is a default application on one of the home screens. Touch the Feeds & Updates app to select the social networking application of your choice among Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. After signing into the social networking application, go to the Feeds & Updates app, where you'll be able to see the latest updates from your friends, comment on their status or create your own status -- all in one spot.
Swype Finger Tips
Swype helps users to enter text more quickly. Instead of tapping each key, users trace a path through the letters of a word - basically connecting the dots - but the dots are the letters of the word.
To change Swype settings, go to Settings > Language & Keyboard > Swype settings. The Swype settings menu appears. Scroll down the menu and place a checkmark beside each of the preferred options: auto-spacing, auto-capitalization, word prediction, enable tip indicator, audio feedback, and vibrate on keypress.
In Swype, you can choose operational preferences and then use the corresponding sliding bar to set -- display trace (how long the trace should remain visible), word choice window (how often the user wants word choice windows displayed), speed vs. accuracy (how quickly Swype responds to input), auto-select word after (timeout period before automatic selection of the first word).
Write and then Go Decide Messaging Type
With Write and Go on the Samsung Galaxy S phones, you can create a message and send it to multiple destinations simultaneously -- including contacts and social networks, including Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and more. To use it, go to Applications > Write and Go. Type a message, then choose -- Send to send via text message or email; Update Status to update your status on your social networking site(s); or Save, to save this as a Calendar or Memo.
Video Out HDMI and DLNA
The Samsung Captivate and Samsung Vibrant have HDMI video out ports, for which you can buy a special cable to connect to an external device (such as TV). You can also connect to an external device through DLNA on all Samsung Galaxy S phones.
To use DLNA, you must be connected to a Wi-Fi network. Go to Applications > AllShare, or access it from the Share option in the Photo menu. Select from the choices available -- you can play the file from your phone on another player, play a file from the server on the phone, or play the file from the server onto another player, using the phone as a remote.
Touch the type of file to be played -- Videos, Sounds, or Images. If you choose Videos, a list of videos stored on the phone will appear on the screen. Touch the video or videos you want to play to place a checkmark beside them, and select Add to Playlist. Now, select a media device on which to play the clip, and follow the prompts. Note you can only display content you produced from your Samsung Galaxy S phone, not commercial or copy-protected videos.
- Samsung Glaxy S News and Reviews Page.
- Samsung Galaxy S Hits 1 Million Mark - Epic 4G Besteller
- Samsung Galaxy S Phones Compared: Epic 4G, Fascinate, Captivate, Vibrant, Tab
- Samsung Galaxy S News:Samsung Fascinate Will Google with Android 2.2 - How to Google Now.
- Glaxay S: Samsung Fascinate (Verizon) Review.
- Galaxy S: Samsung Epic 4G (Sprint) Review.
- Review of Reviews Samsung Captivate "Galaxy S" (AT&T.)
Looking at the Samsung Vibrant specs, really impressive.