Enter Text with the Keyboard

Probably the most notable feature of the Treo family of devices is the full QWERTY keyboard it sports. Few smartphones include a full keyboard, and most of the handhelds that include keyboards are large and clunky. The Treo is one of the few devices to successfully merge a full keyboard into a mobile phone form-factor. Given that this keyboard is one of the highlights of the Treo device, it's worth taking a moment to learn a bit more about it.

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Note - The Treo keyboard includes a backlight that automatically turns on and off with the screen.

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Like a normal computer keyboard, the Treo keyboard allows you to enter lowercase letters by default. If you want to tinker with typing and using the keyboard, launch the Memos application and quickly create a new memo by following these steps:

1. If you aren't already viewing the main application screen, press the Application button to open it.
2. Press the M key to jump to the Memos application, or scroll to it by using the five-way navigator.
3. Press the Center button to launch the Memos application.
4. Press the Right button to highlight the New button on the screen, and press the Center button to create a new memo.
5. You can now type to create a new memo.

The main reason I'm having you create a memo is because it's a great place to explore using the keyboard to enter text. For example, to enter uppercase characters, press the Shift/Find or Right Shift key followed by the letter key. Unlike a desktop or notebook computer keyboard, you don't have to hold down the Shift/Find or Right Shift keys to enter an uppercase letter—just press the Shift key and then press the letter key. If you want to enter several uppercase letters, you can turn on Caps Lock by pressing the Shift/Find or Right Shift key twice. To turn Caps Lock off, just press either key again. A small arrow with a line through it appears in the lower-right corner to indicate when Caps Lock is turned on (see Figure 2.9).


Figure 2.9: When you turn on Caps Lock while editing
text, a small arrow with a line through it appears in the
lower-right corner.

I'm sure you've already noticed that just about every key on the Treo keyboard has an additional number, punctuation, or symbol printed above and to the right of the letter on the key. This additional character is entered by pressing the Option key before pressing the letter key. So to enter a dollar sign ($), press the Option key followed by the H key. Like the two Shift keys, the Option key doesn't have to be held down—just press it before pressing the letter key.

Also similar to the Shift key, the Option Lock feature locks in the Option key for entering numbers, punctuation, and symbols. To turn on Option Lock, press the Option key twice. When Option Lock is turned on, a small oval icon with a line under it appears in the lower-right corner of the screen (see Figure 2.10). To turn off Option Lock, press the Option key again.

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Note - Because typically you want to start a sentence with a capital letter, the Treo automatically enables the Shift key when you start a new sentence. This means you can type away without having to worry about capitalizing the beginning of each sentence.

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Figure 2.10: When you turn on Option Lock while editing
text, a small oval icon with a line under it appears in the
lower-right corner.

In addition to using the Shift keys and Option key to access different characters on the keyboard, one other technique offers access to more obscure characters and symbols. I'm referring to the Alt key, located just to the right of the Space key on the keyboard. The Alt key enables you to select from several different characters and symbols associated with each key. For example, type the letter c by pressing the C key, and then press the Alt key. Scroll through the selection list that appears with the Up and Down buttons to choose from several symbols related to the letter c, such as the copyright symbol (©) and the cent symbol (˘). Figure 2.11 shows the copyright symbol as it's selected from a list of characters associated with the letter c.

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Note - The Option Lock feature is sometimes turned on automatically in data entry fields that expect numbers. For example, the phone number entry fields for a new contact in the Contacts application automatically turn on Option Lock because the fields expect numeric input.

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Figure 2.11: You use the Alt key to select an alternate
character from a list of choices when entering text.

To accept a selection from the alternate character selection list, press the Center button or tap the character in the list. If you change your mind and decide not to choose an alternate character, press the Left or Right button.

It's important to understand that you can use the Alt key to access alternate characters for a particular key at any time, not just when you first type a character. For example, use the five-way navigator to position the text entry cursor just to the right of any character in a body of text, and press the Alt key. A selection list appears with alternate characters that correspond to the character next to the cursor.

Making Sense of the Indicator Light

The indicator light near the upper-left corner of your Treo (just beside the earpiece) is an important part of the Treo user interface because it conveys information about your network access and battery status. More specifically, the indicator light changes from off to flashing green to flashing amber to indicate the wireless network's availability. The light also comes into play when charging your device, except in this case the light glows solid instead of flashing. When charging your Treo, a solid red light indicates that the battery is charging, and a solid green light indicates that the battery has a full charge. If you're attempting to charge your device and the indicator light is off, there's likely a problem with the connection or the power source.

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Note - If you're moving to the Treo from an earlier Palm device that relied heavily on the Graffiti handwriting recognition feature, you've probably already realized that no Treo devices include Graffiti because they all have full QWERTY keyboards. Even so, third-party applications, such as Graffiti Anywhere (http://www.escande.org/palm/GrfAnywhere/) and Jot (http://www.shopcic.com/product_details/jot_details.asp), enable you to install Graffiti on your Treo as an add-on.

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To recap the exact meaning of the indicator light, take a look at the following list:

• Flashing green—Connected to wireless phone/data network.
• Flashing amber—Outside the wireless phone/data network coverage area.
• Solid red—Battery is charging.
• Flashing red rapidly—Battery is very low.

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Note - If the battery is completely drained, the indicator light might not come on for a few moments when you begin charging it.

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• Solid green—Battery is fully charged.
• Solid amber—Active application is running, but the screen is off.
• Off—Disconnected from wireless phone/data network, or battery is not charging.

Some users have noted that the flashing green indicator light sometimes flashes at different rates. Unfortunately, there isn't currently any consensus among users on what this flashing rate change indicates, and Palm has offered no answers on the matter. Possibilities range from the flashing rate indicating how much charge is left on the battery to perhaps indicating that you have new voicemail messages or missed calls. The problem is that a soft reset of the device typically does away with the rapid flashing, which leads you to believe that maybe it isn't indicative of anything. Even without the mystery flashing rate, the indicator light is useful in quickly diagnosing your wireless network availability and battery charge status.

Make a Phone Call

Making a call on your Treo device is easy and can actually be carried out in a variety of ways. Because I don't want to assume that you've synchronized contacts from a desktop PIM application, such as Microsoft Outlook, I'm going to focus on showing you how to dial a number as opposed to dialing via a contact. Follow these steps to make a phone call on your Treo:

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Note - If you'd like to exert some control over the indicator light on your Treo, you might want to consider using a third-party application, such as LEDOff or Butler. Some people get annoyed by the indicator light at night, and these applications allow you to turn it off. Butler is actually capable of doing much more than just providing control over the indicator light. To find out more, check out Butler at Hobbyist Software (http://www.hobbyistsoftware.com/) or LEDOff at FreewarePalm (http://www.freewarepalm.com/utilities/ledoff.shtml).

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1. If the mobile radio isn't turned on, hold down the Power/End button until you hear a tone and a screen appears that indicates you're being connected to the wireless network.
2. After you are connected to the network, press the Phone/Send button to launch the Phone application.
3. Dial the phone number by pressing number keys on the keyboard (Option Lock is on by default) or by tapping numbers on the onscreen Dial Pad with the stylus (see Figure 2.12).
4. Press the Phone/Send button again to dial the number. The number is dialed and you are connected on the call (see Figure 2.13).
5. To end the call, press the Power/End button or tap the Hang Up All button on the screen.

Figure 2.12: You dial a number in the Phone application
by pressing number keys on the keyboard or tapping the
numbers on the onscreen Dial Pad.


Figure 2.13: After you're connected on a call, you can
switch to the speakerphone, put the call on hold, access
the Dial Pad, or mute the microphone.

Notice in Figure 2.13 that several options are available when you're on a call. You can easily tap a button on the screen to switch to the speakerphone, put the call on hold, access the Dial Pad, or mute the microphone. You can just as easily use the five-way navigator to navigate between these buttons and issue phone commands. You can also originate another phone call and conference the calls together, but that's a more advanced topic for Chapter 7, "Using Your Treo as a Mobile Phone."

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Note - A soft reset is the Treo equivalent of a system reboot on a desktop computer when you shut down the computer and restart it. This is in contrast to a system reset and a hard reset, which are increasingly serious in terms of how they affect your device. All three types of resets are covered later in the chapter in the section "Reset Your Treo."

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In addition to making a call, if you're new to your mobile phone service, you might need to access phone information on your device to help remember your mobile phone number. Follow these steps to look up the phone number for your Treo:

1. If the mobile radio isn't turned on, hold down the Power/End button until you hear a tone and a screen appears that indicates you're being connected to the wireless network.
2. After you are connected to the network, press the Phone/Send button to launch the Phone application.

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Note - You might find that you need to adjust the phone's volume while you're on a call. Just press up or down on the Volume button on the left side of your Treo to adjust the call volume.

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3. Press the Menu button to open the menus for the Phone application.
4. Press the Right button twice to activate the Options menu, and then scroll down and select Phone Info. The Phone Info screen that appears displays a variety of information about your device, including its phone number (see Figure 2.14).

Figure 2.14: The Phone Info screen includes a lot of
information you probably don't care to know, but it
also happens to show your mobile phone number.

I explained how to dial a phone number, but I didn't clarify what to do to answer an incoming call. I'm sure you've already guessed, but the Phone/Send button is all you have to press to answer an incoming call.

Now that you have a phone call under your belt, you can move on to sending a text message.

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Note - No one appreciates a noisy mobile phone ringing in a theater or some other place where noise is undesirable. Treo devices are one of the only mobile phones that include a hardware ringer switch to instantly turn off the phone's ringer. The switch is on the top of the phone near the expansion card slot. Just slide it over to the right, and your phone's ringer won't bother you during a movie. Chapter 7, "Using Your Treo as a Mobile Phone," explores different settings for how your phone vibrates (or not) in lieu of the muted ringer.

Go on to Part II

About the Author
Michael Morrison is a writer, developer, toy inventor, and author of a variety of computer technology books and interactive Web-based courses. He has been using wireless handheld devices for over a decade, dating back to early HP handheld calculators. His previous books include Special Edition Using Pocket PC 2002, The Unauthorized Guide to Pocket PC, Beginning Mobile Phone Game Programming, and Sams Teach Yourself Wireless Java in 21 Days.



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