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 S7 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 S7 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 S7 phone to its full potential. (It would almost make sense to call the Samsung Galaxy S7 a smartcamera with a built-in phone!)
Studies have found that cellphone 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 S7 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 email
On your Galaxy S7 smartphone, you can access your business and personal email accounts, reading and sending email messages on the go. Depending on your email system, you might be able to sync so that when you delete an email on your phone, the email is deleted on your computer at the same time so that you don’t have to read the same messages on your phone and your computer.
Chapter 5 covers setting up your business and personal email 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 S7, 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 S7 phone.
Business applications
Whether your company gives you a Galaxy S7 phone for work or you buy your Galaxy S7 phone yourself, you can use the Galaxy S7 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.
Customizing Your Phone with Games and Applications
Application developers – large and small – are working on the Android platform to offer a variety of applications and games for the Galaxy S7 phone. Compared to most of the other smartphone platforms, Google imposes fewer restrictions on application developers regarding what’s allowable. This freedom to develop resonates with many developers – resulting in a bonanza of application development on this platform.
As of this writing, more than one million applications are available from Google’s Play Store. For more information about downloading games and applications, turn to Chapter 8.
Downloading games
Chapter 10 of this book is for gamers. Although your phone comes with a few general-interest games, you can find a whole wide world of games for every skill and taste. In Chapter 10, I give you all the information you need to set up different gaming experiences. Whether you prefer stand-alone games or multiplayer games, you can set up your Galaxy S7 phone to get what you need.
Downloading applications
Your phone comes with some very nice applications, but these might not take you as far as you want to go. You might also have some special interests, such as philately or stargazing, that neither Samsung nor your carrier felt would be of sufficient general interest to include on the phone. (Can you imagine?)
Your phone also comes with preloaded widgets, which are smaller applications that serve particular purposes, such as retrieving particular stock quotes or telling you how your phone’s battery is feeling today. Widgets reside on the extended Home screen and are instantly available.
Buying applications allows you to get additional capabilities quickly, easily, and inexpensively. Ultimately, these make your phone, which is already a reflection of who you are, even more personal as you add more capabilities.
What’s cool about the Android platform
The Samsung Galaxy S7 is the top-of-the-line Android phone. That means you can run any application developed for an Android phone to its full capability. This is significant because one of the founding principles behind the Android platform is to create an environment where application developers can be as creative as possible without an oppressive organization dictating what can and cannot be sold (as long as it’s within the law, of course). This creative elbow room has inspired many of the best application developers to go with Android first.
In addition, Android is designed to run multiple applications at once. Other smartphone platforms have added this capability, but Android is designed to let you to jump quickly among the multiple apps that you’re running – which makes your smartphone experience that much smoother.
TAKE A DEEP BREATH
You don’t have to rush to implement every feature of your Galaxy S7 phone the very first day you get it. Instead, pick one capability at a time. Digest it, enjoy it, and then tackle the next one.
I recommend starting with setting up your email and social accounts, but that’s just me.
No matter how you tackle the process of setting up your Galaxy S7 phone, it’ll take some time. If you try to cram it all in on the first day, you’ll turn what should be fun into drudgery.
The good news is that you own the book that takes you through the process. You can do a chapter or two at a time.
WHAT IF I DIDN’T GET MY PHONE FROM A CELLULAR COMPANY?
With a few exceptions, such as an “unlocked” GSM phone, each phone is associated with
