• In the main menu, select Messages.
• Then select Templates, followed by Text Templates.
• Now you want to choose Create and a new text template window will open.
• Add your text into the message box as normal.  Be creative!  You don’t just have to write ‘I’m on my way’ or something similar, you can write a whole message but leave out key pieces of information, like times or names, ready to be filled in quickly later.
• Press Done and select Save, giving it a recognisable name.

That’s it, your template has been created.  Now to send a message using a template:

• As before, select Messages from the main menu.
• Select Create Message, then your desired message type, in this case it will be an SMS.
• Then press More, Insert and finally Text Template.
• Choose the template which fits your needs!

Congratulations, you’re on your way to becoming an even more efficient SMS user!

Along with several others, Toshiba were on the list of early partners at the Microsoft press conference, so we know they are behind the new operating system, plus they unveiled the TG02 at Mobile World Congress, showing they are back on track with new releases.

The source of the rumour, MSmobiles.com, says that the TG03 will share the 4.1″ capacitive touchscreen with the TG02, but will also come equipped with a 5 megapixel autofocus camera and a 3-channel speaker setup with virtual surround sound.

According to a conversation with an Australian news network, Toshiba have told them that the TG03 will have applications designed to work on Toshiba computers too, spurring customers to select one manufacturer for all their device needs.

The estimated release is said to be around November this year, which would put it behind the LG Panther, currently rumoured to be the first Windows Phone 7 handset, and potentially out in September.

Editing your LG Pop Profile

In order to change the settings on your LG Pop, you need to become familiar with your profiles on this phone. To take a look at these profiles, you want to unlock the phone and then tap the top of the screen that appears. This will show your status summary. From this screen, you can tap to select the “profile” section of your summary. Unless you have changed your profile setting, this will probably read “normal”. When you tap on it, all of your different profile options will appear. Your options include:

• Normal profile.
• Silent profile.
• Outdoor profile.
• Flight mode.
• Personal profiles. There are options to personalize different profiles. They are labelled My Profile 1, My Profile 2, etc. For example, you might have a different profile for when you are at work or school.

Select the profile from the list that you want to be active. A screen will appear that says that it has been activated.

Changing your Active Profile

Now you are ready to change the sounds on your active profile. To get into your active profile, go to the menu and then select settings and profile. This can be found at the bottom left hand corner of your menu screen. You will once again see all of the different profiles that are available to you (normal, outdoor, etc.). Select the one that is active. If you don’t remember which one it is, it’s the one that has a red checkmark located next to it. This is where you will edit the sounds of your phone.

The Sounds You Can Edit

There are many different sounds that you can turn on and off from this section of your LG Pop. This is also where you can choose different mp3 tracks to be used for your ringtone, message tones, shut down sound and start up sound. These options appear in order as follows:

• Sound Alert. This determines whether or not your LG Pop will play sounds. You will see an on and off option here. If you do want your phones to play sounds then you will select this option to be on.
• Vibration Alert. Again, this is an on/off option. If you want your phone to vibrate, turn it on. Otherwise, keep it off. Note that you can have both the sound and the vibration on or you can turn on just one or just the other.
• Ringtone. Now you are ready to change your ringtone. Tap the “ringtone” button on your active profile. A new screen will open up. You will see “no sound” or “go to sound” as your two choices. Select “go to sound”. You will be taken to all of the mp3 ringtone options that are available on your phone. This includes all mp3 ringtones that are stored on your phone itself as well as those that are stored on the memory card of the phone. They will appear in a new screen on a list. You will see the name of the mp3 as it has been stored in your phone. Next to each name, you will see a play button. From this screen, you can play a preview of each ringtone so that you know what each one sounds like. Go through and listen to the mp3 ringtones that you have in order to find the one that you want for this profile. Tap the track that you want to select it. You have successfully changed the ringtone for this profile. You will be returned to the profile settings screen.
• Volume. Your next option to choose is the volume of your sound. Tap this button to select the volume that you desire. A new screen will open up. It shows a ringtone image with seven different volume options. Select the volume level that you want (seven being the loudest). Press “ok” and you will be returned to the profile settings screen.
• Message tone. The next option on your list is your message tone. Do you want an mp3 to play for your message tone? If so then you will go through the same process that you went through for setting up the ringtone. To review, you will:
  • Press message tone.
  • Choose “go to sound”
  • Select the mp3 you want for your message tone by tapping the track.
  • Remind Message Alert. When you receive a message on your LG Pop do you want the phone to tell you? How many times would you like it to tell you? You can have it tell you only once. Alternatively, you can have it tell you every 2 minutes, 5 minutes, etc. You can also choose “no sound” if you don’t want to be alerted to receiving messages.
  • Confirmation tone. There is an on and off switch here for you to select from. If you want a sound to play to confirm that you have taken an action with your LG Pop, select “on”. Otherwise, turn this option off.
  • Start up sound and shut down sound. The final two options on your screen are for the sounds that will play when you start your LG Pop and when you turn off your LG Pop. You can use mp3 tracks for these sounds. You will go through the exact same process as you did for selecting the mp3s that you used for your ringtone and message tone. Note that you can have all four of these (ringtone, message tone, start up and shut down sounds) be the same mp3s or they can all be different.

Change your Other Profiles

Note that the changes that you have made apply only to your active profile. You will need to repeat the process to change the sound options on all of your other profiles. For example, if you want to play different mp3 tones for your ringtone and message tone on your school or work profile then you will make that the active profile and go through the process again.

Another Option for Changing your MP3 Tones

The method described above is the best way to change all of the sound settings on your LG Pop. However, you do have another option for setting the mp3 tracks to be played as your ringtone, message tones, start up sound and shut down sound. Here it is:

• Go back to the main menu screen.
• Select “my stuff” which is located in the middle of the menu page.
• You will see a list of options that includes images, sounds, videos, etc. Select sounds.
• A list of your mp3 tracks will open up. Select the one that you wish to use.
• Your mp3 music player will pop up.
• Press the “options” button. It is located on the top left hand corner of the screen.
• A screen will open up that provides options including “minimize, equalizer, send … Choose the one that says “use as”.
• A new set of options will open up including ringtone, message tone, shut down sound, etc. Choose the one that you wish the mp3 track to play for. You’ve changed the settings for that particular option.

As I explained in last week's column, I'm using the HTC Droid Eris utilizing HTC's Sense UI with the Android operating system (currently Android version 1.5).  This week, I'll focus on customization options with Android vs. other operating systems that I've used, as well as the apps and widgets that I use most with my HTC Droid Eris.

Android is the most user friendly mainstream operating system available right now in terms of its ability to customize the homescreen, especially because it allows widgets.  The Blackberry OS is probably the least customizable on the market, and in my opinion lacks the ability to capture the imagination of ordinary non-business oriented consumers.  Blackberry does not support widgets, and in fact limits the number of app shortcuts available on the default homescreen. Blackberry's only advantages over other operating systems are the speed with which apps open and its mastery of email, which is no small feat.  Similarly, the Windows Mobile phones I've used offered no widget support (except for Samsung's Touchwiz UI, which was excruciating to use on the Omnia), and default homescreen customization options were very limited.  I am very much looking forward to Microsoft's next generation Windows Phone 7 Series in the second half of this year, however.  I really think Microsoft will be back with a vengeance to challenge Android and Apple. Palm's webOS is very good looking, but also lacks customization options. If Palm can make some improvements in this regard and with respect to webOS' overall speed, they could really gain respect as a viable competitor to Apple and Android.  

For the unfamiliar, here's a brief explanation of the difference between apps and widgets. Android supports the ability to place application shortcuts on the homescreen panels so that you don't have to search through all of your apps each time to find the one you want.  This is very similar in concept to shortcuts on a PC desktop.  When you tap an shortcut icon, the application it's linked to opens for use.  Widgets, on the other hand, are active application interfaces that live on your homescreen panel.  They can be designed to pull data from an app, or they may be "freestanding," without the need for any other software installed on the phone.  I love widgets because they make data available at a glance without the need to dig into full apps.  Not all apps in the Marketplace come with widgets, but many do.  

A few examples of great apps and widgets that I've found in the Marketplace: First, the Radiotime app is the single most exciting app that I have to tell you about. I will definitely be writing more about Radiotime in a subsequent column, but here's a preview.  Radiotime gives me access to literally thousands of streaming radio stations throughout the country (ClearChannel Stations are available only through the iheartradio app, however) and I can easily find most any genre of music, or classification of talk radio programming, including  syndicated radio programs, at any time of the day.  I actually use the auxiliary jack in my car to listen to radio programming using my Droid Eris and Radiotime on the way to and from work.  This works so well, I plan to cancel my XM Radio subscription and use this exclusively going forward. I'm a talk radio junkie and commute at least an hour per day to and from work and am able to listen to most all of the same programming that I've been used to with XM Radio.  (Note: My car's factory radio did not include an auxiliary jack or iPod adapter, but I found a great aftermarket module that gave me both, which I'd be happy to share about as well in a future column if there is interest.)

One of the most useful widgets I use is Android Agenda Widget, which places a list of my calendar entries for the current day and upcoming several days, as many as will fit within the customizable widget size option that I have chosen. It updates itself at a user-defined interval by pulling data from the calendar app.  

There are a couple of messaging apps that I use all the time.  First, the Hancent SMS app. HTC's messaging app (which comes pre-installed on Droid Eris) is great, but not quite as good as the Handcent SMS app.  Handcent is infinitely customizable, from the ability to change the look of the app through different themes and conversation styles to the ability to enable popup notifications of new SMS and MMS messages.  The main reason I use Handcent is the popup feature.  With popups enabled, upon arrival of a new SMS text message a popup will appear that allows me to read and quickly reply to the message without having to open the app itsef (the app may be used to view older messages and threaded conversations).  I've disabled notifications in HTC's messaging app and have removed its shortcut from the homescreen panel in favor of Handcent and the experience is now seamless.  Its as if Handcent came with the Eris instead of HTC's app.

The other great messaging app is Google Talk, which is an instant messaging app that allows you to send messages to other Google Talk users without using your wireless carrier's SMS data.  I communicate with my wife via Google Talk to avoid using up our pre-paid SMS allowance each month.  Verizon has a crappy way of charging users for sending and recieving SMS and MMS messages to other Verizon users - even to other phones on the same family share plan.  I know, you can pay $10 extra per line for unlimited SMS and MMS messages between Verizon phones, but I don't want to have to pay that extra money if I can avoid it.  My wife and I use the $5 SMS and MMS add-on which allows 250 messages before you a $0.20 charge for every subsequent message sent or received.  My wife and I used to send and receive lots of texts, but now with Google Talk we can communicate without message length being an issue and without worrying about going over our monthly messaging allowance.

About two weeks ago, I discovered the Touiteur Twitter app and it has quickly become one of my favorite new apps.  I don't have room to go into it now, but suffice it to say Touiteur is the best Twitter experience I've had on the Droid Eris to date. Maybe next time I'll get into Touiteur and some more killer Android apps.  Let me know in the comments what your favorite apps are, and also some suggestions on what you'd like to see in future columns. 

Sound familiar? If so, you might want to stop eyeing your pet as an allergy instigator — and start looking at the gizmo you’ve been pressing close to your face. That’s right, you might be allergic to your cell phone.

There’s a new report that has unearthed a fairly stunning number: As many as 250,000 people in Sweden have been found to be allergic to the radio waves that come off mobile phones when calls are placed or received.

It’s called electro-hypersensitivity (or EHS), and it causes all sorts of weird, ill-feeling reactions like nausea, dizziness, headaches and even breathing difficulty, heartbeat irregularities and fainting. (If you’re a “Ghost Hunters” fan, you’ve probably seen Grant and Jay explain how electro-magnetic fields can cause similar reactions in people, and this is basically the same thing.)

It’s tough to know how far away is a prudent distance to keep a phone (even using a headset or hands-free kit). This is because different handsets put out different levels of radiation, so there isn’t a single guideline for this. To complicate things even more, it’s not just your cellie. Other gadgets create electro-magnetic radiation, like computers and televisions. (I’m usually surrounded by all three — and often using them simultaneously. At this rate, it’s a wonder I’m not constantly fainting.)

According to Popular Science, close to three percent of the Swedish population battles EHS. That’s actually a big percentage, and has lead to the country being the only one to categorize the affliction as a functional impairment. In fact, Sweden entitles EHS sufferers with similar rights and services it affords the blind and deaf communities. (People documented with EHS can even install metal shielding at home on the local government’s dime.)

As an example, the magazine delves into the plight of Per Segerbäck, a former telecommunications engineer at Ellemtel, a division of Ericsson. For 20 years, Segerbäck took a “non-ionizing radiation bath, from computers, fluorescent lights and the telecom antenna located right outside his window.”


Segerbäck lives on a nature reserve, practically free from electricity. This image was shot on film in broad daylight, to avoid triggering Segerbäck’s hypersensitivity.
(Image courtesy of Popular Science)

How electro-hypersensitive is Segerbäck? Very. Whenever he is anywhere near a mobile phone in use, he feels like there is “not enough room in my skull for my brain.” One time, he was on a sailboat when someone below decks placed a call on his cell. The result was headache, nausea, and unconsciousness. Today, he lives on a nature reserve 75 miles away from Stockholm.

The debate over the physical affects of electronics in our lives has been ongoing. And the case made about cell phones causing cancer has been nowhere near proven, at least conclusively. (There have been multiple studies published on both sides.) Even so, we live in a modern era, and en masse, we are likely exposed to higher radiation levels on a regular basis than any previous generation in recorded history. It’s not hard to imagine that this could affect us on a very physical level. But how many of us could take ourselves off the grid, like Segerbäck?

For many people today, our very livelihoods depend on technology, whether that’s sitting at a computer all day in a cubicle or reviewing cell phones. Luckily, it seems that the vast majority of people aren’t susceptible to this condition, but for those of us who are — take special care. And make a note: Is that undeniable queasiness occurring when you’re around electronics?


Via: SmartPlanet, ZDNet, PopSci

Let's see ... CLIQ, Droid, Devour, Backflip, and now CLIQ XT. I've been seeing A LOT of the Motorola PR people over the past few months. In the past few weeks, even, Devour, Backflip and CLIQ XT have dropped in rapid sequence, establishing Motorola and Motoblur as the first on the block to get messaging phone-style Android devices out to the major US carriers (Sprint notwithstanding).

Just because you're first to the game doesn't mean you're going to win it, however. So how does CLIQ XT, the latest in the MotoBlur assault on America, stack up? After precisely one minute less than one full day with it, this is what I can tell you:

- The phone ships with Android 1.5 installed, just like Backflip, instead of 1.6 like Devour. Not really sure why. Kind of a drag. But a 2.x upgrade is forthcoming, at least.

- Performance-wise, CLIQ XT is roughly on par with CLIQ and the original Devour, though it seems to have been spared the lag that marred my Backflip loaner. This ain't no Nexus One, but the device isn't maddeningly slow, either.

- The phone feels good in the hand. CLIQ XT is lightweight but not flimsy, plastic but not super cheap feeling, and its rounded corners and relatively slim profile should render it easily pocketable. 

- You get two back covers in the box: One dark grey/black and textured, the other purple and smooth. Too bad I had so much trouble taking them on and off.

- Multitouch is good. Out of the box CLIQ XT offers pinch-and-zoom in both the Web Browser and Photo Gallery, and despite my not being entirely sure when I'm supposed to zoom in on a photo and when I'm instead rotating it, the system works well. The capacitive touch display is pretty responsive, all in all. So far. After less than a full day. I mean, barely less, but still less.

- CLIQ XT's trackpad is so much more useful than Devour's optical D-Pad I don't even know what to say. Except that it's bigger, centered instead of offset to the left (great when Devour's keyboard is open, lousy when it's shut), and bigger. Did I mention that it's bigger? It's true. And so it's more usable, even if it's not quite perfect.

- A 3.1" display isn't really all that small, but Motorola managed to make it look small by surrounding it with a lot of plastic on the CLIQ XT. There's just too much bezel here. I'm not sure how you get around that, given the phone's proportions, but as with the other recent Motoblur phones, I found myself wanting less plastic and more display on XT.  The MotoPeople hinted that more Droid-style devices (larger displays, less bezel) are headed to the US later this year.

- XT gets two new apps (well, more than two, but two of note, anyway): Swype and Connected Music Player.

Swype is that new dance craze that's sweeping the land. First you stick your finger out, then you trace a line through the letters in whatever word your spelling (as opposed to tapping them one by one). Swype works well, and works well on CLIQ XT, too. The first time I tried Swype I didn't like it, but the MotoPeople helped me to understand that because I'm a "two thumb typist," I probably won't like Swype as much as the single finger typists for whom Swype was made. That makes sense. And, it turns out, most of you are single finger pointers when it comes to using touchscreen phones. So there you go. Meanwhile, I can turn Swype off and use the standard Android keyboard instead. Or replace it with something else after I ask John Walton what Android keyboard I should use. I can't keep up.

Connected Music Player is a music player app with integrated streaming radio, music video search & playback, TuneWiki integration, and a Shazam-style song ID tool. You can listen to me try to trick the song ID tool into thinking I'm even remotely on key in my unboxing video.

- The rest is pretty standard smartphone fare: 5 MP camera, 3.5mm audio jack, 2GB microSD card slot, microUSB port, GPS, 3G & WiFI, Bluetooth, and so on. How cool is it that that spec list consitutes "standard fare" these days? Remember when I used to complain about phones that had weird non-standard headphone jacks? That used to be EVERY phone. Hooray for progress!

More on XT as I use it more. I think I might have to come up with some suitably entertaining way to compare the new Motoblurs. Like a Dogfight video or something.  Hmm ... 

Like games?  Then webOS might be the place to be (assuming you're not an Apple fan).  Palm today announced the Plug-In Development Kit (PDK) for webOS.  According to the "Overview" section of the PDK, "the Plug-In Development Kit (PDK) is a new component of the webOS SDK that lets developers use C and C++ alongside the web technologies that power the SDK, and even mix them seamlessly within a single application."

The press release is below, and the beta is available today.  Gamers, excited about the news?  Let the programming begin!

Palm webOS PDK Public Beta Now Available
Palm Demonstrates New Games at Game Developers Conference

March 09, 2010 09:00 AM Eastern Time
Game Developers Conference 2010

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Game Developers Conference (GDC) – Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ:PALM) today announced that a public beta version of the Palm® webOS™ Plug-in Development Kit (PDK) is now available at the Palm Developer Center (developer.palm.com). Palm is demonstrating new games from early PDK developers in its booth at GDC (No. 2016).

The PDK complements the Palm webOS Software Development Kit (SDK), letting developers use C and C++ alongside the web technologies that power the SDK and mix them seamlessly within a single app. The PDK enables new functionality, including immersive 3D graphics, and gives developers who have built games for other platforms an easy way to bring their titles to the webOS platform. Developers can download the beta PDK and start developing today, but distribution of games built with the beta PDK will require functionality provided in an upcoming Palm webOS update.

"Palm webOS is the go-to platform for great games on two of the three leading carrier networks," said Katie Mitic, senior vice president, Product Marketing, Palm, Inc. "We have both the developer tools and the hardware necessary for a world-class gaming experience, and an impressive portfolio of webOS game titles from top-notch developers to show for it."

At CES in January, Palm introduced 12 games built by four leading developers with early access to the PDK:

* "Asphalt 5" (Gameloft)
* "Brain Challenge®" (Gameloft)
* "Glyder 2" (Glu Mobile)
* "Let's Golf!" (Gameloft)
* "MONOPOLY" (EA Mobile™)
* "Need for Speed™ Undercover" (EA Mobile)
* "SCRABBLE" (EA Mobile)
* "Sudoku" (EA Mobile)
* "Tetris®" (EA Mobile)
* "The Oregon Trail" (Gameloft)
* "The Sims™ 3" (EA Mobile)
* "X-Plane" (Laminar Research)

Since then, more than 20 exciting webOS titles have been launched by these early-access developers:

* "Apollo" (Laminar Research)
* "Assassin's Creed™ – Altair's Chronicles" (Gameloft)
* "Brothers In Arms®: Hour of Heroes" (Gameloft)
* "Castle of Magic" (Gameloft)
* "Deer Hunter 3D" (Glu Mobile)
* "Dungeon Hunter" (Gameloft)
* "Earthworm Jim" (Gameloft)
* "Gangstar: West Coast Hustle" (Gameloft)
* "Giant Fighting Robots" (Laminar Research)
* "Guitar Hero 5 Mobile" (Glu Mobile)
* "Hero of Sparta" (Gameloft)
* "Real Soccer 2010" (Gameloft)
* "Real Tennis" (Gameloft)
* "World Series of Poker: Hold'em Legend" (Glu Mobile)
* "X-Plane Airliner" (Laminar Research)
* "X-Plane Carrier" (Laminar Research)
* "X-Plane Extreme" (Laminar Research)
* "X-Plane Glider" (Laminar Research)
* "X-Plane Helicopter" (Laminar Research)
* "X-Plane Racing" (Laminar Research)
* "X-Plane Space Shuttle" (Laminar Research)

"The Palm webOS PDK is extremely powerful and far-reaching, as evidenced by the number of titles we've been able to bring to the webOS platform in a very short time," said Baudouin Corman, vice president of publishing, Americas, Gameloft. "It's quite difficult to make a great phone that's also an outstanding gaming platform; Palm has been successful delivering both."

More information about the beta PDK is available at the Palm Developer Center (developer.palm.com). More information about games for Palm webOS is available at www.palm.com/applications.

About Palm, Inc.

Palm, Inc. creates intuitive and powerful mobile experiences that enable consumers and businesses to connect to their information in more useful and usable ways. The company's groundbreaking Palm® webOS™ platform, designed exclusively for mobile application, introduces true multitasking and Palm Synergy™, which brings your information from the many places it resides into a single, more comprehensive view of your life.

Palm products are sold through select Internet, retail, reseller and wireless operator channels, and at the Palm online store (www.palm.com/store).

More information about Palm, Inc. is available at www.palm.com.

Palm, Synergy, and webOS are trademarks of Palm, Inc. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners.

Via Engadget, image via SlashGear
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Thanks to the internet (and/or tipsters), unboxing shots of T-Mobile's HTC HD2 have surfaced on the internet.  Looking good with the T-Mobile branding and stylish box, there's not a great deal of new information here.  But hey, pictures are worth a thousand words!  On that note, check out the pictures below, and click through to BGR for all of the unboxing shots!

Via BGR
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