My Samsung Galaxy S III Book

1 Galaxy S III Essentials 3

The Galaxy S III Hardware 3

The Android Operating System and TouchWiz 6

The Galaxy S III Interface 7

Customization 8

Charging the Battery 10

Powering On/Off 10

Darkening and Restoring the Display 13

Restoring a Dark Display 13

Setting the Screen Timeout Interval 14

Adjusting the Volume 15

Using a Headset or Headphones 17

Wired Headset or Headphones 17

Bluetooth Headset 17

Setting Up Voicemail 21

Gmail and Your Phone 22

Creating a Gmail Account 22

Registering Your Gmail Account 23

Creating a Samsung Account 25

Working with Data 29

Manually Setting a Connection Method 30

Connecting to a New Wireless Network 31

2 Understanding the Android/TouchWiz Interface 35

The Home Screen 36

The Status Bar 36

Main Area 37

Extended Home Screen 37

Primary and Other App Shortcuts 38

Using the Hardware Keys 39

Menu Key 39

Home Key 40

Back Key 41

The Notifications Panel 41

Interacting with the Touchscreen 42

Using Your Fingers 42

Rotating the Screen 45

Entering Text 47

Using the Keyboard: Tapping 48

Using the Keyboard: T9 Trace 50

Using Voice Input 53

Editing Text 55

3 Managing Contacts 59

The Contacts Interface 60

Creating a Contact Record 62

Adding a Photo to a Contact Record 67

Viewing Contacts 71

Editing Contact Records 72

Editing Contacts 72

Setting Defaults for a Contact 74

Joining and Separating Contacts 75

Marking Contacts as Favorites 77

Deleting Contacts 78

Working with Contact Groups 80

Creating a Group 80

Changing a Group’s Definition 82

Adding or Removing a Person from Group Membership 82

Emailing or Texting a Group 84

Reordering the Groups 86

Deleting a Group 86

Backing Up/Restoring and Exporting/Importing Contact Records 87

Backing Up Contact Data 88

Restoring Backups 95

Importing Contact Data from Other Sources into Google Contacts 102

Odds and Ends 109

The Send Email and Send Message Commands 109

Setting Display Options 109

4 Using the Calendar 113

Adding Calendar Accounts 113

Working in Calendar 115

Creating Events and Tasks 115

Viewing the Calendar 122

Managing Events and Tasks 127

Responding to Reminders 128

Setting Calendar Preferences 131

5 Synchronizing Data 137

Developing a Sync Strategy 137

Microsoft Exchange Server 138

Google/Gmail 138

Alternative Software 141

The Sneakernet (Manual) Approach 142

Enabling Autosync 143

Performing Manual Syncs 145

6 Placing and Receiving Calls 149

Placing Calls 150

Manual Dialing 150

Dialing from a Contact Record 153

Dialing and Texting from the Call Log 154

Dialing a Number in a Text or Email Message 157

Emergency Calling 159

Other Outgoing Call Options 161

Speed Dialing 161

Temporarily Blocking Your Caller ID 167

Three-Way Calling 167

Pause and Wait Commands 169

Receiving Calls 171

Responding to an Incoming Call 171

Call Waiting 173

Call Forwarding 174

In-Call Options 175

Icon Options 176

Other In-Call Options 177

Using Voicemail 178

Enabling Silent and Airplane Mode 180

Silent Mode 180

Airplane Mode 182

Configuring Call Settings 183

7 Text and Multimedia Messaging 187

Creating Messages 188

Composing a Text Message (SMS) 188

Composing a Multimedia Message (MMS) 192

Managing Conversations 196

Responding to a New Message Notification 196

Continuing a Conversation 198

Reviewing a Conversation 199

Deleting Conversations 200

Deleting Messages 201

Other Options for Individual Messages 202

Searching for Messages 204

Configuring Messaging Settings 205

8 Browsing the Web 213

Launching the Browser 214

Visiting Web Pages 215

Typing the Address 216

Following a Link 217

Visiting a Bookmarked, Recent, or Saved Page 218

Searching for a Site or Page 220

Viewing Pages 220

Portrait Versus Landscape View 221

Magnification (Zoom) 221

Refreshing the Page 222

Working with Windows 223

Page Navigation 224

Adjusting the Browser’s Brightness and Colors 225

Incognito Browsing 225

Working with Bookmarks 227

Creating a Bookmark from the Current Page 227

Creating a Bookmark from the History List 228

Editing Bookmarks 229

Organizing Bookmarks in Folders 231

Deleting Bookmarks 233

More Menu Commands 234

Configuring the Browser 237

9 Sending and Receiving Email 239

Adding Email Accounts 240

Automatically Adding an Account 240

Manually Adding an Account 243

Configuring Email Accounts 247

Editing Account Settings 248

Deleting an Account 254

Retrieving Mail 255

Reading Mail 256

Viewing and Saving Attachments 260

Composing and Sending Mail 262

Creating a New Email Message 263

Replying to Mail 266

Forwarding Mail 267

Adding Attachments and Inserts 268

Managing the Mail 271

Deleting Messages 271

Moving Messages 274

Changing the Message Read Status 275

Marking Important Messages 277

10 Social Networking and Socializing 279

Using Flipboard 279

Adding Social Networking Accounts 280

Adding Content Feeds 283

Viewing and Interacting with Content and Feeds 284

Chatting with imo 287

About imo Instant Messenger 289

Setting Up imo: First Launch 289

Starting a Chat 293

Responding to a New Message 294

11 Installing and Using Applications 299

Running an App 299

Launching an App 300

Using the Hardware Keys 304

Switching Among Running Apps 307

Exiting an App 308

Downloading and Installing Apps from Google Play 308

Customizing Google Play 312

Enabling App Downloads from Other Sources 315

Using the Amazon Appstore for Android 317

Installing the Amazon Appstore App 317

Downloading Apps from the Amazon Appstore 319

Customizing the Amazon Appstore 323

Managing Apps 327

Creating Shortcuts 327

Uninstalling Apps 328

Updating Apps 332

12 Using GPS Apps 335

Enabling/Disabling GPS 335

Driving Directions 337

Google Navigation 337

Google Maps 341

Google Local (Places) 343

13 Transferring and Sharing Files 349

Using Kies Air 350

Transferring Files from Phone to Computer 352

Transferring Files from Computer to Phone 355

Transferring Files over USB 358

Transferring Files Using Bluetooth 362

Pairing the Phone with the Computer 362

Sending Files from Computer to Phone 367

Sending Files from Phone to Computer 368

Emailing Files 371

Emailing Photos 371

Emailing Songs 373

Transferring Files Between Phones 374

Using Wi-Fi Direct 375

Using S Beam 377

Using Share Shot 380

Broadcasting with Group Cast 383

14 Playing and Managing Music 389

Playing Stored Music with Music Player 389

Working with Playlists 394

Creating a Playlist 394

Playing Songs from a Playlist 397

Managing Playlists 398

15 Shooting, Editing, and Sharing Photos 405

Shooting Photos 405

Shooting Self-Portraits with the Front Camera 406

Shooting Photos with the Rear Camera 408

Changing the Camera Settings 410

Reviewing Photos 415

Viewing Photos in the Gallery 419

Running a Slideshow 425

Using Photo Editor 428

16 Videos from Movies, TV, and Other Sources 435

Streaming Video to the Phone 435

Streaming with a Dedicated App 435

Streaming from Web Pages 438

Playing Videos with the Video Player App 438

Using the Video Player Menu 442

Converting DVD Videos for Playback on the Phone 444

Recording Videos with the Phone 450

Video Chats 453

17 Customizing Your Phone 455

Customizing the Home Screen 455

Selecting Wallpaper 456

Rearranging, Removing, and Adding Home Screen Pages 459

Adding Shortcuts 460

Adding Widgets 463

Creating Folders 465

Repositioning and Removing Home Screen Items 466

Setting the Apps View 468

Changing System Settings 471

Date and Time 472

Ringtones 472

Enabling Motion Settings 479

Securing the Phone 481

Securing the Lock Screen 481

Unlocking the Screen 490

Setting Lock Screen Options 492

Showing/Hiding Passwords and PINs 493

Using Voice Services 494

S Voice 494

Voice Command for Apps 495

Google Search 497

Accessorize! 498

18 Powering Other Devices 501

Creating a Mobile HotSpot for Wi-Fi Devices 501

Tethering the Phone and a PC 506

Mirroring the Phone on an HDTV 510

19 Optimizing and Troubleshooting 513

Managing Memory with the Task Manager 513

Conserving the Battery 515

Configuring and Enabling Power Saving Mode 516

Tips for Manually Conserving the Remaining Charge 517

Viewing Battery Usage by Features and Apps 519

Managing Talk Time and Data Usage 521

Checking Current Usage 521

Managing Data Usage 522

What’s Cheaper? 524

Can This Call Be Made Later? 524

Viewing and Expanding Storage 525

Viewing Used and Available Space 525

Adding a Memory Card 526

Checking for System Updates 531

Troubleshooting 532

General Troubleshooting 532

Fixing a “Lockup” 533

Performing a Factory Data Reset 533