Learning

Press number associated with a menu option to access it quickly

The menus on non-touch screen smartphones have numbers associated with each menu option. Instead of scrolling through the menu to select your preferred option, you can press the number associated with it on the device’s keypad. This can save time, especially if you find that you are continually using the same option from a menu—once you commit that option’s number to memory, simply activate Menu and press the option number on the keypad.

Instead of scrolling down to a menu option, press the number associated with it on your phone’s keypad. In the case of truncated menus, this works with the options that cannot be seen until you press the scroll arrow.

Some menus on newer smartphones are truncated (see image). If there are more options than can be displayed on a single menu screen, you will see a down arrow at the bottom of the screen, indicating that you have to scroll down to see the rest of the options. If you already know the number associated with one of these unseen options, all you have to do is hit the number on the keypad to open it.

Based on a tip by Todd Ogasawara from mobileviews.com

VIP site, tip #1233

Press letter keys for fast access to menu options

On touch screen devices that have QWERTY keyboards, you can use the letter keys to access menu options. For example, in the Calendar menu, the different options all have a letter underlined (such as “E” for “Edit”); simply press E on the keyboard to access the option.

VIP site, tip #1234

Save power while playing music: Turn off the screen

If you are listening to music on your device for a long period of time, you can save power by turning the screen off. This can be done by assigning a button to toggle the screen on and off in Windows Media Player. Follow these steps:

Media Player 10 Mobile (WM 6, WM 5, and some WM 2003 Second Edition devices)

1. Open Media Player to the main screen and go to Menu >Options >Buttons.
2. Scroll down to the bottom of the list and select (highlight) the Toggle Screen option.
3. Tap on the Assign button (non-touch screen smartphones: Select Menu >Assign).
4. Press the button that you want to assign to the toggle screen function.
5. Press OK when you are finished assigning Media Player functions to buttons.

Media Player 9 for Pocket PC (Some WM 2003 Second Edition and devices running earlier versions of the OS)

1. Open Media Player to the main screen and go to Tools >Settings >Buttons.
2. Select a Media Player function from the Select Function drop-down menu by tapping on it.
3. Press the button you want to assign to the function.
4. Tap OK.