8. Special Tools and Troubleshooting

This chapter examines a few special tools that the Xoom has to offer, including speech recognition, Bluetooth connections, mobile hotspots, and airplane mode. All these tools allow you to access or use the Xoom in ways or places that otherwise wouldn’t be feasible. The chapter also examines a couple of troubleshooting issues.

Flying in Airplane Mode

Although the Xoom is designed to be accessible to wireless networks, sometimes you want to use the Xoom without connecting to a network. The most obvious case is during flight on a commercial airplane, when passengers are forbidden to use any wireless communication technology. At such a time, you can put the Xoom in airplane mode, which turns off access to networks, including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and cell phone.

To turn on airplane mode (method 1)

1. On the home screen, touch the Apps icon .

   

   Touch Apps.

2. In the resulting Apps screen, touch the Settings icon .

   

   Touch Settings.

   The Settings screen opens . The first category in the list on the left side of the screen—Wireless & Networks—is already selected.

   

   The Wireless & Networks category is preselected.

3. Touch Airplane Mode on the right side of the screen .

   

   Touch Airplane Mode to activate the feature.

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   Tip

   When you activate airplane mode, all wireless connections automatically turn off.

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4. Touch the Home icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen to return to the home screen .

   

   Touch Home to exit Settings.

To turn on airplane mode (method 2)

1. Touch the Quick Settings icon in the bottom-right corner of the home screen .

   

   Touch Quick Settings.

   The Quick Settings menu and notifications panel pop up .

   

   Quick Settings menu.

2. Touch the Settings icon .

   The Settings menu opens .

3. Touch the Airplane Mode slider at the top of the menu to set it to on.

   

   Settings menu.

4. Touch anywhere on the home screen outside the Settings menu to go back to the home screen.

Using Speech Recognition

Speech recognition on the Xoom has two built-in functions:

• It can recognize spoken search requests. You don’t have to type a search string; instead, you can just say a search word to the Xoom and have the device look for it on Google.

• It can reverse the process and read onscreen text to you.

In this section, I discuss both functions.

To search with speech recognition

1. On the home screen, touch the microphone icon .

   

   Touch the microphone.

   The Speak Now box opens .

   

   Say the word or phrase you want to search for.

2. Say what you want to search for.

   The Xoom tells you that it’s working on finding that phrase or word .

   

   The Xoom starts searching.

   When the search is complete, the Xoom opens a Google search-results page for your search term .

   

   Your search results are presented.

To use text to speech

1. Download a text-to-speech engine from the Android Market, and install it on your Xoom.

   For this example, I’m using the free app Classic Text To Speech Engine .

   

   Install the app Classic Text To Speech Engine on your Xoom. It’s free.

2. Touch the app’s icon to launch the app .

   

   Touch this icon...

   

   ...to launch Classic Text To Speech Engine.

3. Touch the icon representing the voice you want to use .

   In this case, you must buy a voice, so you’re taken to the Android Market (see Chapter 2).

4. Follow the onscreen instructions to purchase the voice; then touch the Open button to install the voice on the Xoom.

   

   Touch Open to download the voice.

5. Complete steps 1 and 2 of “To turn on airplane mode (method 1)” to open the Settings screen.
6. Select Language & Input .

   

   Touch Language & Input.

7. On the right side of the screen, select SVOX Classic TTS .

   

   Touch SVOX Classic TTS.

8. In the resulting screen, select Default Engine .

   

   Touch Default Engine.

   The Default Engine panel pops up.

9. Select SVOX Classic TTS to make it the default engine .

   

   Touch SVOX Classic TTS.

10. Back in the Language & Input screen, select Install Voice Data .

    

    Touch Install Voice Data.

    You return to the Classic Text To Speech Engine app, which displays the voice you purchased in steps 3 and 4.

11. Touch the icon that represents the voice you want to use G.
12. Return to the Android Market, and download the free app Talk to Me Classic.
13. Back in Classic Text To Speech Engine, enter some sample text in the text field .

    

    Enter sample text to test the chosen voice.

    The app reads the text back.

Pairing Bluetooth Devices

Bluetooth is a wireless technology that connects devices without the bother of cables and wires (obviously). Bluetooth devices come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from telephone earpieces to remote-control boxes. Pairing these devices with your Xoom can be a problem if you don’t know how. This section shows you how.

To turn on Bluetooth

1. Complete steps 1 and 2 of “To turn on airplane mode (method 1)” earlier in this chapter.
2. In the Wireless & Networks screen, touch the Bluetooth option .

   

   Touch Bluetooth.

   It can take a few seconds for Bluetooth to activate, so you may see a Turning on message during the process. When you see the green check next to the Bluetooth option’s name, as shown in , Bluetooth is activated on your Xoom.

   

   Bluetooth is on.

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   Tip

   The Bluetooth option is a toggle. To turn it off, repeat these steps.

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To find and connect a Bluetooth device

1. Complete the steps in “To turn on Bluetooth” earlier in this chapter.
2. In the Wireless & Networks screen, select Bluetooth Settings .

   

   Touch Bluetooth Settings.

   The Bluetooth Settings screen opens.

3. Select the Find Nearby Devices option .

   

   Touch Find Nearby Devices.

   The Xoom scans the area for Bluetooth devices (which can take a minute) and then displays available devices below the Found Devices heading .

   

   A list of available Bluetooth devices.

4. Touch the name of the device that you want to pair with your Xoom.

   The Xoom asks you to confirm your choice.

5. To confirm, touch the Pair button .

   

   Touch Pair.

   The device you’re trying to pair with also requests confirmation .

   

   Pairing request.

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   Tip

   The numbers that Bluetooth devices use to confirm pairing are arbitrary security numbers produced by those devices.

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6. Touch Yes.

   When pairing is complete, the device appears in the Paired Devices section of the Wireless & Networks screen .

   

   Pairing is complete.

Making Your Xoom a Mobile Hotspot

A mobile hotspot is a Wi-Fi network that broadcasts from a mobile device and allows other people to connect to the Internet through that device as though they were connecting to a regular Wi-Fi network.

Sometimes, it’s advantageous to create a mobile hotspot so that your friends or co-workers can connect to the Internet through your Xoom. Suppose that you’re in a car on the highway. You have 3G cellular Internet access on your Xoom, but your partner has an iPod with Wi-Fi access and nothing else. If no Wi-Fi networks are available, you can set up a mobile hotspot on your Xoom and allow your partner to attach to the Internet through it.

To create a mobile hotspot

1. Complete steps 1 and 2 of “To turn on airplane mode (method 1)” earlier in this chapter.
2. In the Wireless & Networks screen, select Tethering & Portable Hotspot .

   

   Touch Tethering & Portable Hotspot.

3. In the resulting screen, select the Configure Wi-Fi Hotspot option .

   

   Touch Configure Wi-Fi Hotspot.

   The Configure Wi-Fi Hotspot panel opens, along with an onscreen keyboard.

4. Type a name for your hotspot in the Network SSID field.
5. Touch Security to drop down the Security menu .

   

   Make a choice from the Security menu.

   The three security options are Open (no security), WPA PSK, and WPA2 PSK.

6. Choose WPA PSK.
7. Enter the password you want to use, and touch Save .

   

   Touch Save to complete the setup process.

To connect through a mobile hotspot

1. Complete steps 1 and 2 of “To turn on airplane mode (method 1)” earlier in this chapter.
2. In the Wireless & Networks screen, select Wi-Fi Settings to see a list of available Wi-Fi hotspots.

   

   Touch Wi-Fi Settings.

3. Select the hotspot you want and then touch Connect to Network .

   

   Touch Connect to Network.

4. If the hotspot has a password, and a security panel pops up, enter the password and then touch the Connect button .

   

   If a password is required, enter it, and touch Connect.

Troubleshooting

Although the Xoom, being a computer, is capable of having computer problems, the only real troubleshooting solutions available are a forced reboot or a reset. Resetting a device is a drastic step, so you’re far more likely to employ a forced reboot when software problems cause the Xoom to lock up or behave strangely. You usually do a factory reset only before you sell or give your Xoom to someone else.

This section shows you how to do a forced reboot of the Xoom as well as a complete reset of the Xoom to return it to factory condition.

To force a reboot

• Hold down the power button, the up volume button, and the down volume button simultaneously for 3 seconds.

To reset the Xoom

1. Complete steps 1 and 2 of “To turn on airplane mode (method 1)” earlier in this chapter.
2. In the Settings screen, select Privacy .

   

   Touch Privacy.

3. In the resulting screen, select Factory Data Reset .

   

   Touch Factory Data Reset.

   A screen of dire warnings appears .

   

   Heed these warnings.

4. Touch Reset Tablet.

   That’s it. Your tablet is erased and set back to its factory condition .

   

   When the reset is complete, your Xoom is brand-new again (in terms of software).