New user with a couple of questions.

[anon(516601)]

Hi, my name is Mark and I'm new to Windows Phone OS7 and have a HTC Trophy. Firstly I'd like to say that this is the best touch screen OS that I've ever used, also being a slightly older cell phone user I really appreciate the big icons and super easy and efficient usage.

I have a couple of questions about the operating system:

1. In my Live mail and Google mail accounts there is an "as items arrive" option. Is this a "Push" option or does it constantly connect to the account using battery life and data?

2. Is there a way to search the applications that I've downloaded to my phone?

3. Are there any tips for minimizing battery and data usage while out and about?

Many thanks, Mark.

 

[Rich Edmonds]

Hi Mark! Welcome to wpcentral, glad to have you here.

1. You are correct, "as items arrive" is indeed push synchronisation and it will eat up your battery (but not by much if you're a light user and only use push for one account).

2. Not as of yet, coming in Mango (update later this year) Check out our MIX'11 coverage for more info.

3. We have a post on this for you to read

Hope that helps!

 

[anon(516601)]

Thanks very much for the quick reply and for answering my questions! Going to have a good read of that article now.

Thanks, Mark.

 

[jimski]

You are correct, "as items arrive" is indeed push synchronisation and it will eat up your battery (but not by much if you're a light user and only use push for one account).

Wondering about this. As Microsoft tries to maintain a constant connection to your phone to support push notifications/live tiles anyway, how much more energy is being expended to push one, or two email accounts. Probably less than if you did a force sync every 15, 30 or 60 minutes. Now, if you are getting 100+ messages a day per account, doesn't really matter what you are using, its going to burn battery. But if you only receive 5-10 messages I believe push may be more efficient. No proof to back it up. Just using some logic. Now WM was a different story.


Sent from my HTC Surround using Board Express

 

[jimski]

3. Are there any tips for minimizing battery and data usage while out and about?



Many thanks, Mark.

While many of the tips are valid, remember that this is your phone and you should enjoy using it. I started out trying to be more energy efficient but it took away from my experience so I instead got a couple DigiPower USB Chargers (Amazon) along with a 12" USB cable, so now I can walk around tethered to a power supply, when the battery dips down around 40%. I would much prefer a 2000mAh battery onboard, but this is a god alternative.

Tried the brightness adjustment on my Surround, but Low was too dark and Med was too bright. WM had a scale and I usually used a setting of 4. Also, if you have access to WiFi, and your Data signal is not that great (1-3 bars) using I will actually save you battery power. I have WiFi turned on 24/7 and it uses less power than just keeping data only turned on.


Sent from my HTC Surround using Board Express

 

[Winterfang]

Turn off Bluetooth will help also, I have my phone on low and I'm able to see everything clearly even bellow the sun.

I have a couple of questions of mine.

1-Can I transfer pictures and music via Bluetooth? I do have DRM free songs that I bought on Zune and had them on my computer but couldn't send them to my sister.

2-How do I stop Zune from running on the background? When I pause the song it still running and I don't want it to eat my battery.

 

[wheelerk]

Turn off Bluetooth will help also, I have my phone on low and I'm able to see everything clearly even bellow the sun.

I have a couple of questions of mine.

1-Can I transfer pictures and music via Bluetooth? I do have DRM free songs that I bought on Zune and had them on my computer but couldn't send them to my sister.

2-How do I stop Zune from running on the background? When I pause the song it still running and I don't want it to eat my battery.

Winterfang...You can't stop Zund from running in the background. I believe it only pulls on the battery when you are actually playing music. And Bluetooth can be used for data transfers.

Does your sister have a WP7? If so, she can log into Zune and sync the music thats on your workstation to her phone.

 

[HeyCori]

I'm not sure where you work, but if you're usually close to a computer then just buy a micro USB cable from monoprice.com then proceed to charge your phone like a boss.

 

[anon(516601)]

Wow! I implemented most of those tips for battery life, and with the same usage (some calls/texts/emails, a few apps and some web browsing over WiFi and EDGE) and my battery has reduced by about 1 quarter in 5.5 hours. It would have been twice that before. I can definitely live with that, as that would easily get me through a 15 hour day with a quarter left when it gets plugged in again at night.

(Should add that that is with my 2 email accounts set to "push", also.)

Cheers, Mark.

 

[Winterfang]

Winterfang...You can't stop Zund from running in the background. I believe it only pulls on the battery when you are actually playing music. And Bluetooth can be used for data transfers.

Does your sister have a WP7? If so, she can log into Zune and sync the music thats on your workstation to her phone.

She has an Optimus too but the Android one. I'm glad I'm able to transfer data, I'll learn how.

Also Bluetooth Synching is really fast, I was testing a bluetooth with my boss and she used a BB Torch and she was in shocked at how fast and smooth WP7 was.

 

[Winterfang]

Another question.

Where's the option to "delete all" on my emails? I don't delete my emails after I read them so I end up with a very long list.

 

[Stig]

I have a question, so I thought I might as well post it here.

I'm on Mango, but I'm a new WP7 user. How do you mark all emails as read? Do you have to select them all manually or what?