One of Google’s latest experimental projects, Google Goggles, is a visual search application designed to help you perform better Web searches using photos. Simply launch Google Goggles, aim your Android smartphone’s camera lens at the object about which you want to learn more, and press the onscreen shutter button to photograph the item (such as a book, painting, CD, DVD, landmark, logo, barcode, or text). Google will perform a Web search based on the contents of the photo. For a book, you’ll find the title, author, and purchasing options. The utility can also determine who painted the renaissance masterpiece you snapped and where you might be able to buy prints. Landmarks and businesses also show up on the Google Goggles screen, letting you tap the name of the recognized place to learn more. Also handy is Google Goggles’ ability to photograph business cards and convert the text into contact information that you can add to your address book or call directly. Like other visual search technologies, Google Goggles is more successful with easily recognizable objects and products, but less successful at recognizing prepared food, animals, plants, cars, furniture, and clothing.

Google Goggles is currently available for devices running Android 1.6 and newer. If you're not sure which version your phone is running, tap Settings, About Phone, and Firmware Version. To install Google Goggles, launch the Android Market and search for Google Goggles. Once you find it, download it and follow the on-screen prompts to install it.

Find & Kill The Battery Hog

Avid smartphone users are never satisfied with their device battery life. But if your battery is draining unusually quickly, perhaps a phantom app running in the background is the source of the problem. Users running Android version 1.6 or newer can now quickly look at a list of the top battery-draining applications and components since the device’s last charge. To check, just tap Settings, About Phone, and then tap Battery Use. The top of the screen will report how long the phone has been unplugged, and the item at the top of the list is the one that has had the biggest impact on the battery. The percent number to the right shows how much power the given item has consumed. Phone Idle, Cell Standby, and Display are all common culprits, and there’s not much you can do to eliminate their power demands (though reducing the display brightness can help a little). If you see an application at the top of the list that you didn’t know was running, then that could well be your battery black hole.

If you press and hold the Home key, and the application appears in the list of your most recently run applications, then scroll to select and open it. Then press the Menu button and tap Exit Application. If this doesn’t improve things, you may need to restart your device to get the application out of memory.

A soft reset also ensures that any applications currently running are effectively closed. To perform a soft reset on your Android-based smartphone, start with the device powered off, hold the Home key and the End key for 20 seconds or until you see a triangle/exclamation point/G1 logo, and then press the Home and Back buttons simultaneously.

BLACKBERRY

Google Search By Voice

Hands-free isn’t just for Bluetooth headsets anymore. The Google Mobile App now features built-in voice recognition technology for searching the Web without typing. The Voice Search feature lets users simply speak aloud to initiate a Web search. To launch Google Voice Search, first make sure you installed the Google Mobile App by navigating to m.google.com, selecting the Download Google Mobile App link, and following the on-screen prompts (your device may need to reboot in order to complete the installation). Next, navigate to and select the Google Mobile App icon from the Applications folder. Or, if you followed the instructions above, just press the BlackBerry Convenience Key to instantly launch the Google Mobile App. Now just press and hold the call button, begin speaking your search term or terms when instructed (“Speak Now” will display), and then release the call button to perform the search. You should see the list of results just like you would if you had performed a text search. To search again using different terms, press and hold the call button, say the search terms, and then release the call button.

BlackBerrys running BlackBerry OS 4.2 or later can download and run the latest version of the Google Mobile App that supports the Voice Search feature, but as we went to press, the utility was not compatible with the BlackBerry Storm.

Because Google Search by voice is a feature of the Google Mobile App, you can’t uninstall it from the device unless you uninstall Google Mobile App, but you can disable it. To do this, make sure you’re at the main Google Mobile App screen and then press the Menu key, select Options, scroll to and highlight the Yes beside Enable Voice Search, and then press the trackball to change the setting to No. Press the Escape key and then Save to exit.

IPHONE

Put Music On Your iPhone

You probably know that iTunes is the software you use to sync music and more to your iPhone, but if you’re new to Apple’s smartphone and haven’t used an iPod before, then the particulars of getting music on your device might be hazy. First of all, you don’t need to repurchase all your favorite music from the iTunes Store to enjoy it on your iPhone; just add the music from your existing CD collection. Apple’s iTunes makes converting your CD collection into a digital format simple. Start by making sure you have the latest version of iTunes. Launch the software, click Edit, and then click the Import Settings button. By default, iTunes uses the AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) Encoder, which converts your CDs into AAC files. AAC is a format that sounds better than MP3s at similar bitrates but isn’t as widely supported. If you want to be able to play your music on a variety of devices, including your iPhone, but want a quality listening experience, then select the MP3 Encoder and then choose Higher Quality (192Kbps). Click OK to exit the Import Settings dialog box. Note that the Edit dialog box’s General tab has a checkbox that enables the software to automatically download track information from the Internet when you import CDs. Make sure this box is checked. The files you add to your iTunes library will be saved in the C:\Users\USERNAME\Music\iTunes\ iTunes Music folder, but if you want to change this location, click the Advanced tab, click the Change button, and then navigate to the location you want iTunes to store your music. Click OK to close the Edit dialog box. Next, just load a CD in your PC’s optical drive; iTunes will detect the CD and add tags automatically and display a dialog box asking if you want to import the CD into your iTunes library. Click Yes to begin the import. You can make short work of your CD collection by clicking Edit, Preferences, and then, on the General tab, selecting Import CD And Eject from the When You Import A CD drop-down menu.

Once your music is in your iTunes library, getting it onto your iPhone is a simple matter of connecting your iPhone if you configured your iPhone to sync automatically. If you configured iTunes to manually sync (useful if you have more music than will fit onto your iPhone), simply drag the music from your library to your device as it appears on the left side of iTunes. Click View and As Grid to view thumbnails of your album covers, which makes it easy to add entire albums to your iPhone.

Change Audio Book & Podcast Playback Speed

Want to breeze through the audio book version of Leo Tolstoy’s “War And Peace” in 48 hours or take notes while listening to a cooking podcast at half speed? You can do it on your iPhone by speeding up or slowing down the audio book playback speed. Prior to iPhone OS 3.0, you could change this setting by tapping Settings, Music, and Audiobook Speed. But if you’re using iPhone OS 3.0 or later, then you’ll get access to playback speed controls from within the playback screen. Just cue up a podcast or audio book and then press and drag your finger horizontally across the scrubber bar at the top of the display.

SYMBIAN

Ovi Maps

Longtime Nokia users will recall the S60 platform’s excellent Nokia Maps application, which turns a GPS-enabled handset into a personal navigation device. The latest incarnation of Nokia’s mapping utility, Ovi Maps, is a feature-rich application that provides free driving navigation, walking navigation, maps and map updates, event guides, Lonely Planet guides, and Michelin guides. As we went to press, a limited list of devices supported Ovi Maps: the Nokia E52, E55, E72, N97, N97 mini, X6, 5230, 5800 Navigation Edition, 5800 XpressMusic, 6710 Navigator, and 6730 classic.

To install Ovi Maps, you’ll need to have a registered Nokia Account. To get started, launch your mobile browser, select Options and Go To Web Address, type ovi.com, and then press the Navi scroll key. Create your Nokia Account by selecting Register and following the on-screen prompts. Make sure to enter your Nokia phone number or a valid email address. If you entered your phone number, Ovi will confirm your account with a text message; if you entered your email address, you’ll receive your confirmation via email. Just click or select the link to confirm your account details. Next, visit ovi.com and sign in. Once logged in, you’ll find yourself at the Ovi Services page, where you can access links for the Ovi Store, Ovi Mail, Ovi Share, and more. It’s a good idea to add your device to your account, which ensures you only see applications that are compatible with your phone. Now, using your desktop PC, launch your browser, navigate to maps.ovi.com, click the Sign In link, and enter your username and password. Now you can add places to your maps by right-clicking the map and clicking Add To Favorites.

To get Ovi Maps onto your smartphone, click the Download Ovi Maps For Your Device link from the left side of the page and then click Download Ovi Maps With Free Navigation from the following page. When prompted, select your device in the Start box, click the Download Without Data Charges Using PC Or Mac link in the adjacent box (downloading via SMS is not currently available in the U.S.), click the Download button, choose a location for the file, and then click Save. Next, connect your Nokia to your PC using the data cable and select PC Suite when prompted to choose a mode. Launch Nokia PC Suite, click the Install Applications icon, select the Maps_Installer file from the list on the left side of the Nokia Application Installer, click the Install icon (a right-facing arrow), and continue the installation on your phone by following the on-screen prompts.

WEBOS

Add Icons To The Quick Launch

To tap into your most-used applications quickly, add them to your Quick Launch bar. This is the series of five icons located at the bottom of Card View and the Launcher screens. You can also display the Quick Launch bar when it isn’t already in view by swiping upward and holding your finger near the top of the screen. By default, this menu displays icons for Phone, Contacts, Email, Calendar, and Launcher, but you can change these icons if you want. To do this, place your finger on the Quick Launch application icon that you want to replace (only five icons can appear here at once) and hold it. When the icon detaches from the Quick Launch bar, just drag it upward. Now, tap the Launcher and navigate to the application you want to add to Quick Launch, press and hold your finger over the icon until it detaches from the menu, and then drag it onto the Quick Launch bar.

Add Contacts From Google, Facebook, Microsoft Exchange & LinkedIn

To add contacts from various social and business networks to your webOS-based device, start by clicking the Contacts icon from the Quick Launch bar on the Home screen. Select Google, Facebook, Microsoft Exchange, or LinkedIn; enter your username and password for the service; and then tap Sign In. To sync contacts from another service, just return to the Contacts application, tap Contacts on the top-left corner of the screen, tap Preferences And Accounts, tap Add An Account, select the service, input the required information, and tap Sign In. If it seems to be taking a while, that’s probably because you have a large address book, so just be patient.

WINDOWS MOBILE

Custom Theme Creator

In an effort to show off the customizability of Windows Mobile 6.5 touchscreen phones, Microsoft released the Custom Theme Creator, which is a Web-based utility that lets you jazz up your phone with a personalized theme. To get started, visit www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/en-us/downloads/theme-generator.mspx and click the Start The Custom Theme Creator button. The site is powered by Silverlight, so you may need to download and install a browser plug-in to access the Custom Theme Creator. Select your phone from those listed; if you don’t see your phone, then it probably isn’t supported. Tweak colors and menu bar styles, add your own wallpapers, resize the photo, add effects, and then click the Generate Your Theme button to send a download link to your phone via SMS or download it to your PC for manually installing on your phone.

by Andrew Leibman