User Profiles on your Mobile

User profiles define how your phone reacts when you receive a call or a message, how your keypad sounds when you press a key, the alerts you do or do not get, the light effects you see on your mobile and much more.

User profiles are a great way of increasing the productivity and efficiency of your phone. Your Accord Mobile comes with certain preset profiles for your convenience. Once you get familiar with these, you will be able to use them in specific circumstances or events without having to change your mobile’s settings (ringtones, themes, light effects etc) again and again. Each of the available profiles can be left at their default setting or customized to suit your needs. So you can select and customize the most suitable profile for your situation.

Accord Mobiles provide you with the following preset profiles:

· General: The general mode is the default mode for your mobile phone. When you get your phone for the first time, it will be in the general mode. As the name suggests, the mode has all the general features. No added effects or quirks.

· Meeting: This is generally the silent mode for your phone. Every mobile needs a easy to set silent mode for when you enter areas where cell phones are not allowed or need to be kept on silent. The Meeting mode can be kept such that it is perfect for when you are in such areas. You can customize it by keeping the vibrating mode on, if it suits you. Further, you can add or remove the light effects depending on the event. I usually keep the light effects on so that in a dark movie hall I know when my phone rings even though it’s on silent.

· Indoors: Simply a profile suitable for Indoors. The ringing volume is kept low as noise levels are also very low indoors. Shrill or loud ringtones can be jarring as such.

· Outdoors: As the name suggests a profile for the outdoor environment. We are surrounded with a lot of buzz around us in malls, on the roads etc. Keeping that in mind, this profile normally has the highest volume set for ringtone. Sometimes its set on vibrator too as that is the best way to get aware of your phone ringing in a loud or noisy area.

· Headset: This is a specialised Accord Mobile profile which gets activated whenever you connect a headset to your phone. There is no option of activating it manually. It will automatically get activated only when an earphone is connected. You can customize this profile in many unique ways. For example, if you got to Customize and set Answer Mode to Auto, incoming calls will automatically get answered whenever you are on headset.

· Bluetooth: This profile is specifically designed to suit your needs while using the Bluetooth feature of your mobile (for more on Bluetooth check out our previous post "All About Bluetooth")

How to activate a User Profile

All your User Profiles are stored within the settings of your phone. When you open user profiles, the entire list is presented and you can choose which to activate. Alternatively, there are often shortcuts to change the profile. In standby state, you can hold the hash (#) key to switch to the mute mode. To switch back to the original mode, hold the hash (#) key again. Check your Accord Mobile User Manual for more specific instructions.

How to Customize a User Profile

Through the same list, you can choose to customize individual profiles. The features you can usually customize are:

· Tone setup: You can set the incoming call tone, power-on prompt tone, power-off prompt tone, message tone, and keypad tone.

· Volume: Set the volume of the conversation tone, the ring tone, the keypad tone. This is the most handy feature. You can keep the volume high for crowded places, low for when you are asleep and on mute during meetings or lectures.

· Alert type: You can select from ring, vibrate, ring and vibrate, or ring after vibrate. A vibrating alert can be very helpful but keep in mind that it uses up battery.

· Ring type: Set the ring type to Single, Repeat or Ascending.

· Extra tones: You can also activate or deactivate the warning tone, error tone, network connection tone, and conversation start tone.

· Answer mode: Set whether to answer incoming calls by pressing any key or only by the green key.

Select your preferences for each and you have your very own specialised profile for special occasions.

Interesting Facts about Cell Phones

We’ve got some interesting cell phone facts for you:

Did you know that a cell-phone is actually a complicated radio? Interesting right?

Cell phone (telefone celular) is a wireless, portable, long-range, electronic telephone, which during travel can seamlessly change antenna connections, from one radio reception cell to another radio reception cell, without dropping or losing the ongoing call.

Besides the standard voice function of a telephone, latest cell phones (telefone celular) as all of us know have features such as SMS for text messages, MMS for multimedia messages, radio, games, internet connectivity for email, browsing, blogging, music (MP3) playback, memo recording, built-in cameras and camcorders, ringtones, personal organizers, Push-to-Talk (PTT), Bluetooth and infrared connectivity, call registers, streaming video, downloading video, video call, and also serve as wireless modems for PCs that can be connected to the Internet.

The power in a cell phone (telefone celular) is obtained from rechargeable batteries, which can be recharged from the mains, a USB port or a cigarette lighter port in an automobile. Nickel Metal Hydride were the most common types of batteries, which due to the "memory effect" (the user can recharge only when the entire battery is drained off) were replaced by Lithium-Ion batteries, which did not suffer from any memory effect.

Cell phones (telefone celular) came into existence because of the invention of hexagonal cells in 1947, for the base stations by Bell Labs engineers. This was further developed during the 1960s by Bell Labs. During a call, the channel frequency could not be changed automatically from one cell (base station coverage area) to another cell (base station coverage area) as the person traveled from the area of one cell to the area of another cell. Amos Joel of Bell Labs invented a breakthrough invention and called it as the `call handoff` by which the channel frequency could be changed automatically from one cell to another cell, during the same call, as the mobile user traveled from one cell to another cell. Due to their heavy construction, these phones were used mainly in automobiles.

The first practical cell phone in a non-vehicle setting, and which could be handheld, was invented by Martin Cooper, who made the world`s first handheld cell phone (telefone celular) call on April 3, 1973.

The technology by which the cell phone (telefone celular) works depends on the mobile phone operator; however, all of them use electromagnetic radio waves, which are in touch with a cell site (base station). The base station is composed of several antennas which are mounted on a pole, tower, or building. Cell sites are spread at a distance of 5 to 8 miles (approx. 8 to 13 km) from each other. The low power transceiver from the cell phone transmits the voice and data to the nearest cell site. During movement, the cell phone will "handoff" the information to other cell site. Mobile phone operators use many technologies to maintain the smooth stream of digitized data from the cell phone to the cell site and vice versa.

The wireless telephone technologies are grouped under heads known as generations, starting from zero generation or 0G. The current generation going on is 4G; however, there are old cell phones (telefone celular) that still operate on 1G, 2G, and 3G technologies.

The difference between a walkie talkie and a cell phone is that walkie talkies can communicate as far as 1000 ft. and cell phones can transmit several miles away from the cell tower.

The first truly mobile phone (one that didn’t require its own case for transportation) went on sale in 1985.

There are half as many active cell phones on the planet as there are people

Korean teenagers can be called text messaging fans. They send over 200,000 text messages a year, that’s about 60 texts per day.

Mobile phones are being used around the world to notify people of upcoming disaster and emergencies. Phone companies in countries like Finland and Japan, where earthquakes are very common, are already integrating such feature. What’s more, the service would be absolutely free of charge!

As a convenient method of vote delivery, the Estonians now using their mobile phones. It also serves as a very convenient means to show their personal identification.

In many cafes and pubs around the country, you will find waiters taking your order on their cell phones. Apple showrooms across the World are adopting this method to eliminate the use of paper entirely. So buy an Accord Mobile and you can contribute towards saving the trees!

All About Bluetooth

“Bluetooth is an open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances (using short length radio waves) from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks (PANs) with high levels of security.”

That’s wiki and here’s the simple version.

The Bluetooth feature on your Accord mobile helps you do everything that you normally use data cables for, except without the added mess and bother of the wires. That means transferring files, photos, videos etc in and out of your phone, talking hands-free, connecting to the internet and much more. A Bluetooth connection is wireless and automatic, and it has a number of interesting features that can simplify our daily lives.

It is necessary to know and understand how to use your mobile’s Bluetooth efficiently and safely.

So here goes.

What can it do?

With the Bluetooth feature of your mobile, you can:

· Transfer files (such as mp3s and photos) to and from your mobile

· Backup your Accord mobile to your PC

· Use a Bluetooth GPS device for satellite navigation on your mobile phone, PDA or laptop.

· Exchange business cards, calendar entries and photos with other users

· Use a Bluetooth headset for hands-free calling

· Use the phone as a wireless modem from your Bluetooth-enabled laptop or PDA

The variety of things you can do with the Bluetooth technology are mostly only limited by imagination. As you read on, you will get a better idea of the capabilities of this feature and how to use it resourcefully.

The Advantage

Bluetooth is designed to be a secure and inexpensive way of connecting and exchanging information between devices without wires. Within this simple definition are a horde of benefits:

· Its wireless! You can eliminate all the dangers and inconvenience that accompany cables and wires.

· It’s efficient! Bluetooth can instantly transfer information between various devices as long as they are all compatible. Driving directions can be sent from your car’s GPS system to your phone and all your friend’s handsets as well as to your PC, all within the same minute.

· The technology itself is cheap which means its pocket friendly. There are hardly any additional costs, if ever.

· It’s Automatic! It can be set so that you don’t have to start up or establish any connections or give any commands. Transfers will take place automatically when you come within range of 30 feet. Just keep it on the right mode and forget about it!

· It works on a standard protocol. This means that its standard wireless specification assure a high level of compatibility amidst other devices.

· It consumes lesser energy. As it uses low power signals, the Bluetooth needs only little energy which means that it utilizes less electrical power or battery. But this is as compared to other wireless technologies. Don’t use up battery power by keeping Bluetooth on when not being used. (Check How to Extend Your Battery Life)

· It offers great flexibility and mobility. With the Bluetooth standard, compatible gadgets share both voice and data communication. A Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone can share voice conversations with a compatible Bluetooth headset. The same cell phone can also create a GPRS connection to the internet. Also with the Bluetooth, the same phone can connect to a laptop and the latter can surf the web and even send and receive emails.

Connecting to the internet

If there is no source of internet connection available, you can use your mobile phone’s Bluetooth to connect your PC to the internet, provided the PC has a Bluetooth Feature.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Turn on the Bluetooth enabled cell phone and turn on the Bluetooth connection software.

2. Make the phone discoverable.

3. In Windows XP on the laptop go to My Bluetooth Places.

4. Select View Devices in Range.

5. After the discovery process is complete, you should see the icon for the cell phone.

6. Right-click on the icon and select Discover Available Services.

7. To connect to your cell phone right-click on the Dial-Up Networking.

8. Select Connect Dial-up networking.

9. The phone will ask if you want to accept the connection request, decline or add to paired.

10. The last step pairs the phone and laptop and performs the connection request.

11. You will be prompted to enter a PIN code to pair up the devices, the PIN is entered in the cell phone.

12. A dialogue box appears asking for user name, password and the phone number of your ISP.

13. Click on the dial button to complete the connection.

An advantage of using Bluetooth is that your phone can remain in your laptop carrying case or pocket and Bluetooth does not require direct line of sight connection.

Bluetooth Security

Know The Problem

Bluejacking involves Bluetooth users sending a business card (just a text message, really) to other Bluetooth users within a 10-meter (32-foot) radius. If the user doesn't realize what the message is, he might allow the contact to be added to his address book, and the contact can send him messages that might be automatically opened because they're coming from a known contact.

Bluebugging is more of a problem, because it allows hackers to remotely access a user's phone and use its features, including placing calls and sending text messages, and the user doesn't realize it's happening.

The Car Whisperer is a piece of software that allows hackers to send audio to and receive audio from a Bluetooth-enabled car stereo. Like a computer security hole, these vulnerabilities are an inevitable result of technological innovation, and device manufacturers are releasing firmware upgrades that address new problems as they arise.

Devices can easily grab radio waves out of the air, so people who send sensitive information over a wireless connection need to take precautions to make sure those signals aren't intercepted.

Eliminate the problem

1. You can also simply switch the Bluetooth mode to "non-discoverable" and avoid connecting with other Bluetooth devices entirely. This especially makes sense if you use Bluetooth network primarily for synching devices at home,

2. Bluetooth users can establish "trusted devices" that can exchange data without asking permission. When any other device tries to establish a connection to the user's gadget, the user has to decide to allow it.

3. Don't "pair" with unknown devices. Just like you would not open your door to a stranger, do not accept content or pair with devices from unknown users.

4. Pair your device in private to make the permanent connection. And if your device comes with a default Personal Identification Number (PIN), change it to one that only you know.

5. If you are not using Bluetooth, simply turn it off. This the best thing you can do as it is good for your battery and for your safety.

For Your Information

Bluetooth and Wi-Fi

It’s a common question. Both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are wireless technologies. So what’s the difference and why choose one over the other?

· Bluetooth runs at a lower speed and power than Wi-Fi. This means that Bluetooth consumes much less power, an asset for your mobile phone.

· Since it covers shorter distances and has a 2 level password protection, it is more secure than Wi-Fi.

· All you need is a Bluetooth adaptor on all the devices connecting with each other. On the other hand, a Wi-Fi connection requires much more hardware.

· Bluetooth is fairly simple to use. It can be used to connect up to seven devices at a time and it is easy to switch between devices or find and connect to any device. With Wi-Fi, one needs to configure the hardware and software.

Remember, the two don't interfere with each other, but the two don't talk to each other either - in other words you can't get a device with Bluetooth to communicate to a device that only supports Wi-Fi.