Droid 2: The Missing Manual

Introduction

What gives you high-speed Internet access, runs thousands of apps, lets you take high-resolution photos and videos, gives you immediate access to information about all your friends, family, and contacts, handles any email you can throw at it, is a wizard at Facebook and other social networking services…and lets you make and receive phone calls as well?

It’s the Droid 2—the smartphone with a built-in keyboard and enough tech specs to make any smartphone lover’s heart skip a beat.

The Droid 2 brings together superb hardware from Motorola with Google’s powerful, flexible Android operating system. Many people consider the Droid 2 to be the best smartphone on the planet. If you’re holding this book in your hand, you’re probably among them—or soon will be.

This book will help you get the most out of your Droid 2, and there’s a lot you can get out of it, as you’ll see. Whether you’re looking just to get started, or want to dig deep into the phone’s capabilities, this book’s got you covered.

About the Droid 2

The Droid 2 is more than just a cellphone. It’s a technological powerhouse, packed with a built-in keyboard, an 5-megapixel camera, a camcorder, antennas for WiFi and Bluetooth, a 3-axis accelerometer, and more.

The Droid 2 lets you browse the Web just as you do on a larger computer and get fully formatted email with fonts, colors, and pictures. It has a GPS locator and even gives you turn-by-turn directions. It’s got a calendar and contact app that syncs with Google. It’s a calculator, an alarm clock, a stopwatch, a traffic reporter, a text-message maven—and that’s just a start. Using apps you can download via the Android Market, you can make it do just about anything, including pointing it at a landmark and having it identify it for you. It even works as a portable Wi-Fi hotspot for letting up to five laptops and computers access the Internet.

It’s also a great phone that makes it a breeze to call not only people on your contact list, but also people you’re connected to via social networking sites such as Facebook.

About This Book

There’s an entire world to explore in the Droid 2, and the little leaflet that comes in the box doesn’t begin to give you all the help, advice, and guidance you need. So this book is the manual that should have accompanied the Droid 2.

The brain running the Droid 2 is a piece of software from Google called Android, which Motorola then tweaked so it gets the most out of the Droid 2. Both Google and Motorola regularly issue updates that improve the way the Droid 2 works. So there’s a chance that since this book was written, there have been some changes to the Droid 2. To help keep yourself up to date about them, head to this book’s Errata/Changes page. (Go to http://tinyurl.com/droid2-mm.)

About the Outline

Droid 2: The Missing Manual is divided into six parts, each of which has several chapters:

• Part 1, Android Basics, covers everything you need to know about using the Android as a phone, as well as how to type on it, send text messages, and use a nifty feature called Visual Voice Mail. You’ll get a guided tour of the phone, and learn how to dial, manage your contacts, use caller ID and similar features, make conference calls, and more, including fancy phone tricks.

• Part 2, Camera, Pix, Music, and Video, gives you the rundown on using the Droid 2 for taking pictures, recording videos, viewing pictures, playing videos, and playing and managing your music.

• Part 3, Maps, Apps, and Calendar, shows you the many ways in which the Droid 2 connects you to the outside world—and it includes plenty of what appears to be magic as well. You’ll learn how to navigate using a GPS, find any location in the world with maps, find your own location on a map, get weather and news, use a great calendar app, and synchronize that calendar with your Google calendar, or even an Outlook calendar.

• Part 4, Android Online, tells you everything you need to know about the Droid 2’s remarkable online talents. You’ll find out how to get online, either over Verizon’s network or a Wi-Fi hotspot, see how you can turn your Droid 2 into a portable 3G hotspot, master email, browse the Web, and download and use countless apps from the Android Market.

• Part 5, Advanced Topics, covers a wide variety of subjects, including how to sync and transfer files between the Droid 2 and your PC and Mac, to use the Droid 2 at your workplace, and control the Droid 2 by talking to it. And you’ll find a comprehensive listing of the Droid 2’s settings.

• Part 6, Appendixes, has three reference chapters. Appendix A shows you how to activate your Droid 2. Appendix B shows what kind of accessories you can get for your Droid 2, such as cases, chargers, and screen protectors. Appendix C offers plenty of help troubleshooting issues with the phone’s operation.

About→These→Arrows

In this book and the entire Missing Manual series, you’ll find instructions like this one: Tap Settings→Call Settings→“Voicemail settings”. That’s a shorthand way of giving longer instructions like this: “Tap the Settings button. From the screen that opens, tap Call Settings. And from the screen that opens after that, tap ‘Voicemail settings’.”

It’s also used to make it easier to understand instructions you’ll need to follow on your PC or Mac, such as File→Print.

About the Online Resources

As the owner of a Missing Manual, you’ve got more than just a book to read. Online, you’ll find example files so you can get some hands-on experience, as well as tips, articles, and maybe even a video or two. You can also communicate with the Missing Manual team and tell us what you love (or hate) about the book. Head over to www.missingmanuals.com, or go directly to one of the following sections.

Missing CD

So you don’t wear down your fingers typing long web addresses, the Missing CD page offers a list of clickable links to the websites mentioned in this book. Go to www.missingmanuals.com/cds/droid2mm to see them all neatly listed in one place.

Registration

If you register this book at www.oreilly.com, you’ll be eligible for special offers—like discounts on future editions of Droid 2: The Missing Manual. Registering takes only a few clicks. To get started, type http://tinyurl.com/registerbook into your browser to hop directly to the Registration page.

Feedback

Got questions? Need more information? Fancy yourself a book reviewer? On our Feedback page, you can get expert answers to questions that come to you while reading, share your thoughts on this Missing Manual, and find groups for folks who share your interest in the Droid 2. To have your say, go to www.missingmanuals.com/feedback.

Errata

In an effort to keep this book as up-to-date and accurate as possible, each time we print more copies, we’ll make any confirmed corrections you’ve suggested. We also note such changes on the book’s website, so you can mark important corrections into your own copy of the book, if you like. Go to http://tinyurl.com/droid2-mm to report an error and to view existing corrections.

Newsletter

Our free email newsletter keeps you up-to-date on what’s happening in Missing Manual land. You can meet the authors and editors, see bonus video and book excerpts, and more. Go to http://tinyurl.com/MMnewsletter to sign up.

Safari® Books Online

Safari® Books Online is an on-demand digital library that lets you easily search over 7,500 technology and creative reference books and videos to find the answers you need quickly.

With a subscription, you can read any page and watch any video from our library online. Read books on your cellphone and mobile devices. Access new titles before they’re available for print, and get exclusive access to manuscripts in development and post feedback for the authors. Copy and paste code samples, organize your favorites, download chapters, bookmark key sections, create notes, print out pages, and benefit from tons of other time-saving features.

O’Reilly Media has uploaded this book to the Safari Books Online service. To have full digital access to this book and others on similar topics from O’Reilly and other publishers, sign up for free at http://my.safaribooksonline.com.