Several questions from total smartphone newbie

[halesowenmum]

Hi, I've just this morning taken delivery of my sexy new HTC Desire! First smartphone ever, never had an Apple before either so very excited! Can you unravel some jargon and answer a few questions oh Android gurus (and be gentle with me, I haven't got a clue what I'm doing yet!!):

1. What is froyo (sounds like something from Lord of the Rings!)

2. What is the difference between a widget and an app (and what is a widget)?

3. The main reason I bought this phone is because I have so many dates, tasks and appointments to remember for me, my two kids (at two separate schools), my work, healthcare appointments for all three of us, visiting family in the UK, contact dates for my two children with their dad - the list goes on and on. My headache in life is trying to remember all that I have going on so I am interested in calendar apps that would od the following: Ideally colour coding to show the nature of the appointment that's been scheduled and the ability to have one or maybe several reminders for appointments and tasks so that I can't possibly forget them. Recurring appointments would be a good wheeze as well. I do not need it to link with Google or Outlook - I just need it on my mobile so that I have that info with me in one place (since my ph is always gonna be with me).

4. Using the Desire and an app like Gmote (I think that's it) would I be able to download movies (if so, from where and at what cost) and then play them through my Samsung tv and surround sound system? Can someone give me some info on how I could do that (thru my laptop, whatever) and what additional cables I might need (if this is even possible - it's just something that would be cool if I could do it!!).

Many thanks, can't wait to really start getting to grips with this phone and hopefully being a lot more organised (well, you can only hope!). Thanks everyone!

 

[felixor]

1) All Android OS (operating system) updates are named from sweets: cupcake, gingerbread, frozen yogurt (froyo for short). Cute, I know.

2) An app shows up on the home page as a shortcut. You click it and it opens up the app. A widget is like an app ON the home page. For example, if you have the youtube app on your home page and click on it, it will open up the app for you to watch videos. If you have the youtube widget on your page, you can look at videos right on your home page without having to go to the app itself.

3) There are plenty of paid and free calendar apps in the android market. You can go to the application reviews on this site to find one that people really like.

4) Can't answer this one since I haven't used this.

 

[Roze]

Hi halesowenmum, Congrats on getting your first Android phone The Desire is a great phone to have, it's one sweet babe! Hope you're enjoying it. Check the Desire Forum to learn more about your phone, also these threads have some good info on your Desire:http://androidforums.com/htc-desire/125084-desire-faq.html
http://androidforums.com/htc-desire/59664-htc-desire-tips-tricks-read-me.html

To answer some of your questions:

1. What is froyo (sounds like something from Lord of the Rings!)
-Froyo is a codename for the latest version of the Android OS 2.2 so there are features with Froyo that is not included in Eclair (2.1)
-The Desire has Froyo now, so you can check your phone to see if you have it

2. What is the difference between a widget and an app (and what is a widget)?
- An app is what you use to run a third party software. Some apps have widget features which allow you to put a 'widget' on your homescreen for easy access and/or viewing of the app directly on your homescreen. There are some programs that are simply widget and have no direct app.

3. The main reason I bought this phone is because I have so many dates, tasks and appointments to remember for me, my two kids (at two separate schools), my work, healthcare appointments for all three of us, visiting family in the UK, contact dates for my two children with their dad - the list goes on and on. My headache in life is trying to remember all that I have going on so I am interested in calendar apps that would od the following: Ideally colour coding to show the nature of the appointment that's been scheduled and the ability to have one or maybe several reminders for appointments and tasks so that I can't possibly forget them. Recurring appointments would be a good wheeze as well. I do not need it to link with Google or Outlook - I just need it on my mobile so that I have that info with me in one place (since my ph is always gonna be with me).

I use Jorte, you can check it out to see if it gives you all of your features. I think it does. Only thing is that it doesn't sync with Outlook.
Jorte v1.2.5 Application for Android | Productivity

4. Using the Desire and an app like Gmote (I think that's it) would I be able to download movies (if so, from where and at what cost) and then play them through my Samsung tv and surround sound system? Can someone give me some info on how I could do that (thru my laptop, whatever) and what additional cables I might need (if this is even possible - it's just something that would be cool if I could do it!!).

-Someone else can answer this as I don't own a Desire.

 

[MrCave]

3) Your googlemail account also has a calendar which will sync with your phone and vice-versa, I use gemini calendar mainly because its free and has repeating entries (like every 4 weeks) which the stock calendar does not have.

It is possible to have multiple calendars set up, but i haven't played with this feature yet because I dont need more than one calendar.

 

[Eris Ed]

You should link your phone with a Gmail account! All your contacts, Google emails, and calender entries will sync both ways between the phone and your PC, so you can enter/edit/view all your information on both devices and they will always be up to date. Plus, if anything happens to your phone (lost/stolen/eaten by your neighbours dog) you simply sign in to your Google account on your new phone and all your data is pulled down off the web, you lose nothing.

I use my Google calender with an app called CalWidget and it works very well.

 

[nacatomi]

You should link your phone with a Gmail account! All your contacts, Google emails, and calender entries will sync both ways between the phone and your PC, so you can enter/edit/view all your information on both devices and they will always be up to date. Plus, if anything happens to your phone (lost/stolen/eaten by your neighbours dog) you simply sign in to your Google account on your new phone and all your data is pulled down off the web, you lose nothing.

I use my Google calender with an app called CalWidget and it works very well.

+1 for this

Its how Android is really designed to work.

I use "Agenda Widget" in combination with the the Google Calendar with Googles own reminders. I also have "Google Calendar Sync" on my work PC to sync my Google and Outlook Calendars so can add and update from anywhere . As an extra bonus I have also set up my Calender on my GF's iPod Touch so she can also add\update to the Calender so we both know whats going on and when.