Читать книгу Samsung Galaxy S6 for Dummies - Bill Hughes - Страница 6

In addition to the basic capabilities of any entry-level phone, the Galaxy S6, which is based on the popular Android platform for mobile devices, has capabilities associated with other smartphones, such as the Apple iPhone and the phones based on the Windows Phone 8 operating system:

✔ Internet access: Access websites through a web browser on your phone.

✔ Photos: The Galaxy S6 comes with a very intelligent camera that has millions of combinations of settings, filters, and resolutions, and also has the capability to manage photos.

✔ Wireless e-mail: Send and receive e-mail from your phone.

✔ Multimedia: Play music and videos on your phone.

✔ Contact Manager: The Galaxy S6 lets you take shortcuts that save you from having to enter someone’s ten-digit number each time you want to call or text a friend. In fact, the Contact Manager can track all the numbers that an individual might have, store an e-mail address and photo for the person, and synchronize with the program you use for managing contacts on both your personal and work PCs!

✔ Digital camcorder: The Galaxy S6 comes with a built-in digital camcorder that records live video at a resolution that you can set, including UHD (ultra-high definition, which is just now becoming available on the newest televisions).

✔ Mapping and directions: The Galaxy S6 uses GPS (Global Positioning System) in your phone to tell you where you are, find local services that you need, and give you directions to where you want to go.

✔ Fitness information: The Galaxy S6 automatically tracks important health information within the phone and with external sensors.

✔ Business applications: The Galaxy S6 can keep you productive while you’re away from the office.

I go into each of these capabilities in greater detail in the following sections.

Internet access

Until a few years ago, the only way to access the Internet when you were away from a desk was with a laptop. Smartphones are a great alternative to laptops because they’re small, convenient, and ready to launch their web browsers right away. Even more important, when you have a smartphone, you can access the Internet wherever you are – whether Wi-Fi is available or not.

The drawback to smartphones, however, is that their screen size is smaller than that of even the most basic laptop. On the Galaxy S6 phone, you can use the standard version of a website if you want. You can pinch and stretch your way to get the information you want. (See Chapter 2 for more information on pinching and stretching. For more information on accessing the Internet from your Galaxy S6 phone, turn to Chapter 7.)

To make things a bit easier, many popular websites offer an easier-to-use app that you can download and install on your phone. This is discussed in detail in Chapter 8. Essentially the website reformats the information from the site so that it’s easier to read and navigate in the mobile environment. Figure 1-1 compares a regular website with the app version of that website.

Figure 1-1: A website and the app version of the main site.

Photos

The image application on your phone helps you use the digital camera on your Galaxy S6 phone to its full potential. (It would almost make sense to call the Samsung Galaxy S6 a smartcamera with a built-in phone!)

Studies have found that mobile phone users tend to snap a bunch of pictures within the first month of phone usage. After that, the photos sit on the phone (instead of being downloaded to a computer), and the picture-taking rate drops dramatically.

The Galaxy S6 image management application is different. You can integrate your camera images into your home photo library, as well as photo-sharing sites such as Picasa and Flickr, with minimal effort.

For more on how to use the Photo applications, turn to Chapter 9.

Wireless e-mail

On your Galaxy S6 smartphone, you can access your business and personal e-mail accounts, reading and sending e-mail messages on the go. Depending on your e-mail system, you might be able to sync so that when you delete an e-mail on your phone, the e-mail is deleted on your computer at the same time so you don’t have to read the same messages on your phone and your computer.

Chapter 5 covers setting up your business and personal e-mail accounts.

Multimedia

Some smartphones allow you to play music and videos on your phone in place of a dedicated MP3 or video player. On the Galaxy S6, you can use the applications that come with the phone, or you can download applications that offer these capabilities from the Play Store.

Chapter 12 covers how to use the multimedia services with your Galaxy S6 phone.

Business applications

Whether your company gives you a Galaxy S6 phone for work or you buy your Galaxy S6 phone yourself, you can use the Galaxy S6 to work with Microsoft Office applications.

Chapter 14 explores how to set up your phone to work with Microsoft Office applications. After you set it up, you’ll have unprecedented access to your calendar.