10 Best & Useful Windows Phone 7 Tips & Tricks

Many of us are shifting from Java and Symbian operating systems to either Android or to Microsoft’s Windows platform devices. So, if you have recently bought a new Windows 7 phone then let’s check out the ten top most tips and tricks which will help you in getting accustomed to it faster.

Ten tips and tricks for Windows Phone 7:

How to Add apps to the Start screen?

In the world of long application list its evident that you may be having certain important applications which you use more often and which can be pulled on to the start screen itself so that instantly you can open the application. So when you press on the application icon a contextual menu will be popping up in which just select Pin to Start option and this is it that app will be shown in the Start screen.

How to Remove apps from the Start screen?

Now, if you have added any app in the start screen and if you wish to remove that app from the start screen then all you need to do is to just hold your finger on the tile till it highlights and then press the No Pin icon in the top right-hand corner.

How to change the theme?

Next up is changing the visual appearance of the device means if you wish to change the theme then just head over to the Menu list, select Settings option, and then select Theme. Now, from here you can choose the background colour of your choice and also you can choose the accent colour. Background options are “Black” or “White” while you get nine accent colours to pick from.

How to Turn off data Roaming?

Since Windows Phone 7 is more of a internet friendly phone data is must for your device and if you plan to go in roaming then definitely you would want to get away with the roaming data charges, so for that you will need to turn off the data roaming. Just head to Settings, Mobile Networks and there you go, you can turn off the data roaming.

How to Turn off 3G connectivity?

Since 3G eats up the battery like anything sometimes you would want to get back to 2G Network, so for this you need to turn off the 3G connectivity. Just go to Settings, Mobile networks and you will find an option to turn off the 3G connectivity.

How to Turn on Wi-Fi?

So, now when you have turn off the 3G, the best way to surf internet instantly and faster is with the help of Wi Fi. It even saves the battery if compared with 3G network. Just go to the Settings option from your device and that’s it you can find the Wi Fi option over there.

How to Set the screen time-out?



Your phone may get locked automatically so that accidentally you don’t end up calling your friends from your pocket by mistake. Just head to Settings, Lock & Wallpaper, and choose how long you want your Windows Phone 7 handset to go before locking down. You can choose from the time ranging from 30 seconds, 1 minute, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, or even you can choose to screen time out to never.



How to Setup an email account?

Your device will only be called a smart device when you converge more things into your device. One of those convergence is setting an email account on your Windows Phone 7, there’s a support for Windows Live, Outlook and also for Yahoo Mail and also other accounts. Just feed in some information like Login ID, password etc and you will be able to set up an email account within minutes.

How to Enable Google apps email?

What if you could not use an Android device, you can always power your device with the Google flavor in your device. Just Log in to your Google Apps dashboard, go to Service settings, choose Mobile and just Enable Google Sync option and you are done with powering your phone with Google.

How to Turn off Geo tagging?

By default the Geo tagging facility comes activated out of the box and sometimes when you are taking any image then it sometimes create nuisance, so to turn off, just go to Settings, Applications, Pictures and camera and just toggle the include location (GPS Information) in pictures you click to the Off position.

How to create a shortcut for locking the Computer Screen in Windows 7?

There are many ways in which you can lock the computer screen. The most popular as well as the fastest way to lock it is to use a keyboard shortcut. The keyboard shortcut used to lock the computer screen is Win+L. A few of us choose to utilize the mouse to lock it. And of course many people like to use both the options.

There is another method in which we can lock the computer screen. It is to create a shortcut for locking the computer screen in Windows 7. You can create a shortcut for locking the computer screen in Windows 7, XP and Vista too. Follow these steps in order to create a shortcut for locking the computer screen in Windows 7 as well as other editions:

Right-click on the desktop where you would like to create the shortcut.

Point to New.



Click on Shortcut from the menu.



Type in this text in the shortcut textbox. (This text will work for Windows XP as well even though the screen will be different)

rundll32.exe user32.dll, LockWorkStation



Click on the Next button.

Type in a name for your shortcut.

Click on the Finish button.

You have successfully created a shortcut to lock your workstation. Just click on the shortcut whenever you want to lock the computer screen.

How to clear all windows history files with a single click?

Today tip will help you to manage the all types of user history in windows operating system. This is a built-in feature of all windows keeps track the user's history, for example the websites you have visited, the documents you have opened and the keywords or files for which you've searched. However this tip is very useful for you, if you are sharing your computer with others or you do not want that the other persons know about your last visited documents history. You can clear these kinds of user's history with a single click on desktop icon named Cleanmru.reg. There is no need to clear each history file one by one. This trick will work in nearly all of the windows versions like windows 2000, XP and 2003.

Follow the given steps for configuration to clear recently opened documents automatically:

To edit the computer registry, first you should log onto your computer with administrative rights.

Here copy the following 6 lines and paste in notepad then save with the name Cleanmru.reg on your desktop.





REGEDIT4

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\TypedURLs]

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU]

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RecentDocs]

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ComDlg32\

LastVisitedMRU]

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Search Assistant\ACMru]

When you double-click Cleanmru.reg icon to remove the windows history, a small dialog box will appear with the information "Are you sure you want to add the information in C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\desktop\Clearmru.reg to the registry?"



At the end, you will get the message "Information in C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\desktop\Clearmru.reg has been successfully entered into the registry." Click on Ok button and verify that your all history will have been clear.

Sony Ericsson Useful Tips

Tips Trick for Sony Ericsson K750, W800 ,K500, K700, S700 ,K600, Z800 and W550

Expand SMS Memory

1. Browse to the folder /ifs/settings/messaging/ with FAR Manager
2. select pref_store.txt an hit F4
3. Just change "/smsdata" in "/tpa"
4. Save the changes
5. go back to "root" like mb-new description and shutdown the loader
6. Now restart your Phone and be happy

Set ring volume as player volume

Copy file farfield_play.apf to any folder of PC, rename it to farfield_ring.apf and copy back. So file farfield_ring.apf in phone is replaced by file with settings of farfield_play.apf. Now we have 2 same files but different names.

Killing camera sound

Go to FS/tpa/preset/system/sound and delete file camerashutter.3gp and for killing autofocus sound delete file camerafocus.3gp.

Killing MobilePrint

Go to FS/tpa/preset/system/ams and delete MOBILEPRINT.jad and MOBILEPRINT.jar and have additional 361kb free memory. Unnecessary standard games & midlets are in FS/tpa/preset/default/java and to be deleted if you wish. In FS/tpa/preset/wizard you can delete 5 biggest by size GIF files.

Change sms sounds

FS/tpa/preset/system/sound delete message alert and put new one but with same name (messagealert1, messagealert2....)

Get rid of discharge battery sound

Go to FStpapresetsystemsoundlowbattery.mid and replace it the same name file with zero size.

Shutdown Sound

Navigate to /fs/tpa/preset/system/settings
Place any mp3 in there and rename to SHUTDOWN_SOUND_SEMC.mp3 and it will play it when you shut down the phone.

Change video recording quality

Go here using FAR. FS/ifs/settings/camera
Edit the driver.
Change the video recording to:

VR_NORMAL_MODE_FR=44;
VR_NIGHT_MODE_FR=28;

Get Rid of Hissing in Music Playback (Thanks to aksd)

With the FAR plugin replace these files located at: ifs/settings/acoustic
with: Nohissing
( SEE ATTACHED FILE NO HISSING.zip ) :

Backup your jar files

Go to tpa/perset/system/ams/And copy the files in there to your computer.

Removing the SE Links in folders

Go here tpapresetsystemcustmenu, and tpapresetcustom
Removing all the files from the custmenu folder, and all the .itm files from the second custom folder success****y removed the content hooks, as well as resetting my Play Now icon to the default SE one.
itm's are tar files with images and xml files inside. The itm sits in presetcustom and get's unpacked to presetsystemcustmenu on master reset. So DESKTOP_HOOK_1.itm contents get unpacked to presetsystemcustmenuDESKTOP_HOOK_1 when the phone is reset.

Increasing the size of the mms that you can send

FS/system/settings/messaging/mms
edit this.
<>100
change to.
<>300

To backup & restore contact voice comands

tpa/system/voicecontrol/stby
(Voice comands still need to be manually enabled after master reset, but this is no great problem - just a reminder!)

To backup & restore contact image associations

tpa/system/pbook/image
(Theseare not the actual images, just links to the files, so make sure you don't change the location of the files between resets!)

Change the delivery report sound

Create a midi file named notification.mid and copy it into FS/tpa/preset/system/sound

5 Logical Tips about Credit Cards

Credit cards are becoming increasingly common in India, and while they come with a lot of convenience, the high interest rates and other charges mean that you have to be careful about how you use them.
In this post, we look at 5 tips on wise credit card usage, and how following them, can save you a whole lot of financial heartache. These 5 tips are pretty logical & self-evident; we have to understand that the free credit we get from a credit card is not really free. It’s actually a business for Credit card companies and hence somewhere in the whole process, they have to have a way to make money .
1. Pay your balance in full: This one is so basic, I was not going to point it out at all, but on second thought – I realized that this should really be the first point. Of all the loans you take, credit cards come with the highest interest rates. If you run a credit card balance every month, then the interest charges add up really quickly. If you have a balance on your credit card, pay it off in full before the next due date. This ensures that you don’t pay interest on your balance, which really is extra money you can keep to invest and build savings for yourself.
Curiously enough, I know of people who don’t pay off their credit card balance in full, but at the same time, put their money in low yield investments. This is really bad math. If you have a credit card balance that is charged at about 30% per annum and an investment that gives you just an 8% return – you are much better off paying the entire credit card balance before you even think of investing your money. The extra interest you pay on your outstanding balance offsets any interest income you receive from your investment. If you run a balance, realize, it normally is a strong indication that you are spending beyond your means.  This is a bad financial habit that you should get rid of as soon as possible.

2. Avoid credit cards with annual fee: Unless you have a specific benefit in mind, from the credit card, don’t get a card that has an annual fee. It is always good, to get a credit card with no annual fee, because then the only expense you have on it, is the interest payment; and if you pay off your balance in full every month – you don’t pay any interest and your credit card will, in effect, be free! Add to that, the fact, that even most free credit cards have some sort of a reward program, you can benefit from. Why pay for something when you can get it free?
The other thing to keep in mind, while evaluating the fee, is how likely you are to benefit on it, based on your usage. I reviewed the HDFC Value Plus Cash Back credit card a few months ago, which had an annual fee of Rs. 700 and up to 5% cash back. At a cursory glance, it seemed to me that Rs.700 may not be very high due to the cash back, but a deeper look at the terms and conditions told me, that the cash back will only be credited to your account if the monthly balance is over Rs.10,000. I realized the card was not meant for people like me, who aren’t likely to run up such a balance on their credit card every month.

Bottom-line: If you are going for a credit card that has an annual fee – make sure you go through the fine print and are certain it will be worth the cost to you.

3. Get a credit card that is easy to pay off: I used to have an ICICI credit card and a SBI credit card. Both of them had similar features, but the ICICI card was really easy for me to pay off, as I had an existing ICICI Bank account, and the credit card was linked to it online. All I had to do, was go online, and pay off the credit card balance, through my ICICI login. As a result, I ended up using the ICICI credit card a lot more than the SBI one. Ease of payment, means that I can pay off the balance very often, very easily, and rarely run the risk of late fees or interest charges. While thinking of which credit card to apply for – consider just how easy it is, to make a payment on it.
This might sound like a trivial thing now, but you’d kick yourself later, if you had to pay late fees just because you lost your cheque book, or were too busy with your work to go to the bank and deposit the cheque. In fact, I’d go on to suggest that you add payment reminders on your email, phone or even a little post it on your refrigerator. Life gets busy sometimes, and a little help can go a long way in saving you late fee and interest payments.

4. Keep a track of your statement: A few years ago I went through my credit card statement online and saw that there were some charges from an unknown merchant. I was pretty sure, I had not bought anything from them, and I called up customer care to know what the charges were all about. I was put on hold for a long time, and couldn’t get through. However, the next day, I noticed that the merchant had reversed the transaction, and I even had a small credit from them.
While I was lucky in this case, there is no guarantee that credit cards won’t get abused. Always keep track of your monthly statement. If you can go online and check your transactions – that is even better, because you don’t have to wait until the end of the billing period. I go online every week or so and check up on my credit card statement to make sure no unauthorized use is happening.

5. Don’t use your credit card as an ATM: By this, I don’t mean that you shouldn’t use your credit card at the ATM, (although you should really, really avoid it as far as possible). What I mean is, there’s a tendency to withdraw cash from your credit card (since it’s so convenient) and that’s pretty addictive. Treating your credit card as an easy, reliable, access to cash will not help you in the long run. For one, the interest rates on cash withdrawals are generally much higher, and if you get into this habit, – you will run up high outstanding balances pretty quickly.
The cash advance limit, is also generally, a lot less, than the overall credit limit, so it won’t get you very far, anyway. The interest will keep adding up and grow very quickly. Withdrawing cash from your credit card should really be the last option. Usually, cash withdrawals come with some sort of cash advance charges, and more than that if you regularly withdraw cash from your credit card – again, it indicates a tendency to overspend and go beyond your means. This really means, that your personal finances are going down-hill.

Free cell phone tracking software -Cell phone locator-GPS tracker

Cell phone tracking softwares are now widely for funny or track lost/stole mobile phones either via GPS or GSM, especially giving iPhone and Android cell phones are so popular around the world, the demand for cell phone locator softwares reached a record high. In order to help our readers to choose the best cell phone trackers, we compared the cell phone GPS tracking softwares available and recommend the five best to smartphone users.

MobiWee

MobiWee currently supports Windows Mobile, Android, iPhone, and BlackBerry cell phones. Users can remotely Locate and track their device, retrieve their information, then lock, wipe, encrypt, delete certificates (for the corporate user), and shutdown their device from any web browser- even if the SIM card has been removed.
Find more about MobiWee

Find My iPhone

Once you enabled Find My iPhone on your iPhone, you can:
1. Locate your iPhone on a map.
2. Set a passcode lock remotely.
3. Display a message or play a sound on your lost iPhone.
4. Protect your privacy with Remote Wipe.
Find more about Find My iPhone

InstaMapper

InstaMapper is a free service that allows you to track a GPS-enabled cell phone online in real time.
1. Lots of storage.
2. Access to raw data.
3. Location sharing.
Find more about InstaMapper

Buddyway

Buddy is a free GPS track maker for mobile devices that allows you to track any mobile phone or PDA with built-in GPS (or with Bluetooth GPS receiver) in real time.
1. Track any GPS-enabled phone in real-time online.
2. Save trips for later reference.
3. Share the trips with desired people or keep them private.
4. Capture and comment on particular locations of your trip (in real-time) directly from your phone.
5. Import and save trips to Google Earth to visualize them in 3D-mode and more.
6. View route statistics and charts: route length, route duration, avg. & max. speed, altitude changes, etc.
7. Setup alerts on desired regions and get alerted when nearby.
8. See the list of supported devices on the website.
Find more about Buddyway

Mobile tracking system

Mobile Tracking System 1.51 is a free mobile phone tracker, it allows you tracing a mobile phone location via Gps.
1. Tracking a mobile phone location from a GSM mobile phone or GPS receiver.
2. Tracing your current location from a GSM cell phone or GPS receiver.
3. Add or edit a cellid directly from the mobile client.
4. Realtime any user tracking (if allowed by user).
5. Send and receive e-mail messages directly to and from the MTS client.
6. Send and receive MTS chat messages.
7. Send and receive files.
Find more about Mobile tracking system

9 easy tricks about Android 2.2

Since the release of Android 2.1, Google has been working on Version 2.2 and have made lots of improvement to challenge iPhone OS. Here are 10 tips to help you with your Androi 2.2 cell phone.

1. Excellent search functionality

Android 2.2 not only support voice search, but you also can search weather bus, contacts, webs, apps, calendar, drop boxes and footprints. In the meantime, you can switch on/off search history and suggestion.

2. Use search widgets on the screen

If you search a lot, and have enough space on your main screen, you can add a few search widgets, search for web, apps and contact respectively.

3. User-friendly keyboard

Android 2.2 has much improvements in typing. When typing with earlier version, you need to enter a new screen to input numbers and etc, but now you can see number 1 with the letter Q, and @ share the same key with letter S. This way you only have to press the S key longer than usual to input @ when type an Email address.

4. Hang up a phone call with power button

You can hang up a call by hitting the power button with Android 2.2 if you enable it in settings, but not all Android cell phone has this feature.

5. Enable Flash in Android 2.2

Android 2.2 cell phone has built in Adobe Flash 10.1 player, if your cell phone is Nexus One, you need to download it from Android Market before installing.

6. Turn off Flash

Although Flash provide you with more games and funny, but it slows you down while browse the internet, you can disable it in Android browser->settings->add on.

7. Use a PIN to protect your privacy.

Android 2.2 allows you to lock/unlock your cell phone with PIN.

8. Upgrade all your apps with a simple button

Well this is for those lazy people, you can upgrade all your apps by hitting only one button, or if you do not have time, this may turn out usefull to you.

9. Move stuff to your SD card.

We wrote this also before, please go to my previous post.