Droid X2: The Missing Manual, 2nd Edition

Introduction

What gives you high-speed Internet access, runs thousands of apps, lets you take high-resolution photos and HD videos (and play them on a TV as well), 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 X2—the smartphone with a big 4.3-inch screen and enough tech specs to make any smartphone lover’s heart skip a beat.

The Droid X2 brings together superb hardware from Motorola with Google’s powerful, flexible Android operating system. Many people consider the Droid X2 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 X2, 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 X2

The Droid X2 is arguably the hottest smartphone on the market, with good reason. First, there’s the hardware. Motorola gave it a 4.3-inch, high-resolution screen; an 8-megapixel camera; and an HD camcorder. Its brain is a superfast dual-core processor (a Nvidia Tegra 2, for the techies out there). For keeping you connected, the Droid X2 has antennas for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and GPS.

Note

This book covers the Droid X as well as the Droid X2. In cases where the Droid X differs from the Droid X2, this book will let you know. So here’s a start: The Droid X doesn’t have a dual-core processor, and it has a higher resolution camera—8 megapixels instead of 5.

For its part, Verizon threw in its speedy 3G network, which lets you talk, text, and surf the Web almost anywhere in the U.S. (Anywhere important, anyway.)

Google contributed its Android operating system, with seamless access to Gmail, YouTube, and other Google services. The worldwide developer community created thousands of apps—programs for your Droid X2—in the Android Market (with more coming every day).

Put it all together, and you can do just about anything. You can get turn-by-turn directions, check weather and traffic, and identify landmarks. You can work with word processing and spreadsheet files and manage your email and calendar. You can take pictures and share them on Facebook, or shoot videos and upload them to YouTube. You can even turn the Droid X2 into a Wi-Fi hotspot for getting up to five computers online.

Oh, and it’s also a darn good phone with great sound quality and all the calling features you could ask for.

You could figure out how to make the most of all these features on your own, but by that time there’d be a whole other generation of smartphones to learn. This book will put you on the fast track to all of the Droid X2’s magic.

About This Book

There’s an entire world to explore in the Droid X2, 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 X2.

The brain running the Droid X2 is a piece of software from Google called Android. Motorola then tweaked Android so it gets the most out of the Droid X2. Both Google and Motorola regularly issue updates that improve the way the Droid X2 works. So there’s a chance that since this book was written, there have been some changes to the Droid X2. To help keep yourself up to date about them, head to this book’s Errata/Changes page, at http://tinyurl.com/droidx2-mm.

About the Outline

Droid X2: 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. So you’ll get a guided tour of the phone, learn how to dial, to manage your contacts, to use caller ID and similar features, to make conference calls, and more, including fancy phone tricks.

• Part 2, Camera, Pix, Music, and Video, gives you the rundown on using the Droid X2 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 X2 connects you to the outside world—and it includes plenty of things that appear to be magic as well. You’ll learn how to navigate using a GPS, to find any location in the world with maps, to find your own location on a map, to get weather and news, to use a great calendar app, and to 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 X2’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 X2 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 X2 and your PC or Mac, how to use the Droid X2 at your workplace, and how to control the Droid X2 by talking to it. You’ll also find a comprehensive listing of the Droid X2’s settings.

• Part 6, Appendixes, has three reference chapters. Appendix A shows you how to activate your Droid X2. Appendix B shows what kind of accessories you can get for your Droid X2, 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 http://missingmanuals.com/cds/droidxmm/ 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 X2: 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 X2. 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/droidx2-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.

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