How to squeeze the most from the T-Mobile G1

The world’s first Android phone is here! T-Mobile’s G1 is a true mobile powerhouse, but as well as the obvious stuff there are a few neat tricks to be learnt if you really want to squeeze the most from the Google phone.

Step 1: Don’t just stick with Gmail
When you first fire up the T-Mobile G1 you’ll be taken through a quick set-up process. It’ll insist on a Gmail account to begin with, so that you can send e-mail, download your address book and synchronise calendars. However, the G1 isn’t just great for Gmail, it’ll work with any of your existing Pop3 or IMAP accounts.

To set them up, dive into the email application and hit the menu button. Press “Add Account” and follow the instructions to type in your email address, password and server settings. When it comes to filling in the “port” settings, choose 110 for incoming mail and 25 for outgoing messages.

Be careful though, as the G1 will continue to send messages from your Gmail account by default. To change that, select “Send email from this account” while tapping in existing email settings.

Step 2: Customise your home screen
The G1’s home screen is completely customisable, but it’s not immediately obvious. You’ll have noticed there’s a T-Mobile Web’n’Walk icon already there, but you can also add your own. Just press and hold any application from the G1’s pull-up menu, then drag it to the home screen. Let go and it’ll stay there.

To remove icons, just reverse the process, pressing and holding, before dragging them off the bottom of the screen.

Step 3: Keep yourself notified
The G1 is a proper multi-tasking smartphone. That means it’ll do more than one thing at a time, including checking e-mail for you in the background. You don’t need to dive into the e-mail application each time there’s a new message though, you can use the G1’s simple ‘Notifications’ screen.

It’s accessible from within most applications. Just press and hold at the very top of the screen, then drag your finger downwards. The Notifications screen will roll down with your finger, showing new email details, missed calls and other tidbits. To get rid of it, just push it back up!

Get chatting about the latest mobile phones over at the PriceRunner forum

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