Centro Intro - pt 4: What is so hot about HotSync - by Jay Gross

Your Centro, as you probably already know, isn’t the only cell phone that stores data, particularly phone numbers and other information about your contacts. Its strength is not what it stores, or how, but the powerful way it merges with your computer. In this part of our continuing Centro Intro series - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 - we’ll take a closer look at that electronic wonder, synchronization.

If you’ve charged up your Centro from a USB port on your computer, you’re already savvy on how it connects. The kit of stuff you get with the product includes a wall charger, for sure, but it also includes a USB cable. This hooks into the bottom port of your Centro, leaving room beside it for the power connector (we’ll talk about why later in this article). The earphone plug remains open for use, too.

With the USB cable connected, you don’t need the separate power cable, as long as the computer you’re hooking up to is itself powered. The Centro will charge happily, just as fast and just as thoroughly as with the power cord connected.

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Centro Intro: pt 3: Dealing with Dialing - by Jay Gross

In this on-going series, we’ve talked about ways of operating your Centro, including simply pressing the first letter of what you want in the Apps screen to navigate quickly. We’ll take this up in more detail, ‘cause the first thing you need in your Centro is a bunch of people to call or text. And gloat.

Let’s start at the beginning. The Contacts app keeps track of phone numbers, addresses, and other information about the people you call - including reminding you of their birthdays if you like. You can bring it up in either of two ways:

• From the Phone app (press the Phone button), and tap the “Contacts” icon or press the center key. OR
• Tap the icon named “Contacts” on the Home (“apps”) screen.

Either way, you’ll see a list of phone numbers you can call. If the list goes past one screen, you can jump to the w’s, say, by pressing the w key. Simple! Press another letter, and the Centro finds contacts whose first name starts with w and last name with whatever your second keypress was. This is how I find contacts. I almost never use the scroll bar (far right side of the screen, tiny!). Within the list that appears, use the up and down buttons on the 5-way control to move the highlight to the phone number or person you want. For simplicity, highlight the name to edit an entry. Highlight the number to make a call. To place the call, you can press the center button or the green button with the icon that looks like an antiquated telephone handset. I shot the picture of the keyboard to show off all these features.

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