Google Talk

This phone is all about communication,which seems funny to say about a phone.Of course it’s all about communication.You can call and email friends and send them text or picture messages.

You can also send them an instant message (IM).Instant messaging is great for quick interaction with your contacts.

First,tap the Application tab,and then tap IM.

You probably notice that more than Google Talk is listed here.AIM (AOL Instant Messenger), Windows Live Messenger,and Yahoo! Messenger all are available from your phone.

Tap Google Talk and you see a list of your friends.

Users with a green dot next to their name are online,ones with an orange dot are away,a red dot means busy,and gray means offline.

Here are some things you can do right away:

• To change your status,tap the green dot next to your name.

• To change your picture,tap the gray picture next to the dot,and pick a new picture.

• To add text,such as a witty saying or what you ate for lunch,so that people see something next to your name,you can type it in the gray area next to the dot.

Adding Friends

Yes,I have only one friend—me.You might not have any yet.If you don’t,feel free to add me, googonthego@gmail.com.

But I bet you want to know how to do that,right? Just follow these steps:

1. Press the Menu button.

2. Tap Add friend.

3. Type in the address of the person you’d like to invite to chat.

Chatting with a Friend

Starting a chat is easy.Tap the friend you’d like to chat with,or tap and hold and select Start chat.You end up with a chat window.You type what you want to say at the bottom and read what gets said in the upper window.

More IM Fun

Press the Menu button to find out what else you can do:

• Friends list: This brings you back to your chat list.

• Switch chats: When you have multiple chats going,you can look through this list to choose one.

• Add to chat: A nice thing about Google Talk is that it’s a party line.You can add anyone else on your friends list to the chat so that you can all discuss where to get dinner before catching a movie tonight.

• Close chat: This ends the chat.Surprised?

• Insert smiley: Smileys are a way to show emotions using colons,dashes,parentheses, and other characters.As soon as you get to know them well enough,you’ll remember that you can put in a smile with :-) or a frown with :-(,and you won’t need to use this option anymore.When you’re adding smilies on the phone,they’ll actually be the little Android alien smiling or frowning.Note that if the person you’re chatting with isn’t using Android,she won’t see the little green alien.She might see just the :-),or her client might show her something different.For now,go back to the Friends list,either by closing this chat or by putting it in the back- ground by tapping Friends list.

Friends List Options

Press the Menu button and take a look at the options you have here:

• Most popular: This filters your list to the people you talk to the most.

• Switch chats: Just like in the chat,this option lets you pick from all your open chats to find one you want.

• Add friend: This allows you to add a friend,as mentioned earlier.

• Blocked: This shows only blocked contacts.Don’t know how to block someone? Keep reading.

• Invites: This allows you to see all the invitations you’ve sent to people,inviting them to be your friend.

• More: This option gives you access to three additional options.

You also can tap and hold a contact to get even more options:

• Start chat: If you’re already in a chat,this says Join chat.

• Friend info: This shows you your friend’s profile.

• Go to (website): If the contact has a website listed on her profile,you can open the website right here.

• Block friend: Someone bugging you,but he’s still your friend,so you don’t want him permanently gone? Just tap Block friend.You can unblock him by pulling up your blocked friends.

• Remove friend: This pulls the person off your list—until you add him again.

• Add to Contacts: Just because you’ve set up your friend in Google Talk,it doesn’t mean he’s actually in your contacts.

• Pin/Unpin friend: This adds him to/removes him from your Most Popular list.

• Hide friend: When you hide a friend,it’s not quite as fun as putting him in a car trunk or under a blanket.It simply means that he will never show up on the Most Popular list.

Instant Messaging Settings

We mentioned Settings earlier,so let’s cover them now.To access the IM Settings,press the Menu button with the IM application on-screen,and then tap Settings.

The settings you can configure are as follows:

• Automatically sign in: This option,which is checked by default,signs you into the Instant Messaging application whenever you open it.If you want to be able to open the application without signing in,tap to uncheck this option.

• Mobile indicator: This option,also checked by default,puts a little indicator next to your name in your friends’chat lists.Keeping this option enabled lets your friends know that you’re chatting on a mobile phone and,therefore,your typing might be a little slow and error-prone.

• IM notifications: This option places a notification icon in the status bar whenever you get an instant message.

• Select ringtone: This option allows you to pick a ringtone to use whenever you receive an instant message.Tap this option to choose a ringtone.

• Vibrate: This option causes the phone to vibrate whenever you receive an instant message.