Using speed dial widgets on the LG KP500 Cookie

The touchscreen user interface used on the LG KP500 Cookie provides user-friendly ways of navigating menus and using certain features that would be more difficult to operate on a conventional non-touch handset.

One of the useful features implemented on the Cookie is the facility to place several contacts as Speed dial options on the standby screen. That means that with a couple of quick finger taps you can call the number or compose a text message to send to the contact. It's an easy system to set up and use, with contact names and images you've assigned to them appearing onscreen in small thumbnail buttons. A quick press pulls up all the Speed dial options available in a simple icon based format.

In a similar way to using widgets (see our article Using widgets on the LG KP500 Cookie), you can drag and drop Speed dial boxes on to the standby screen from a tabbed pop out panel towards the bottom of the standby screen.

You can set up Speed dialing for your favourite contacts from the standby screen Speed dials application, or you can assign contacts to Speed dial slots from an option in the phone's Contacts list, or by using a Speed dials option in the main menu. All methods are simple and straightforward.

Here we show you how easy it is to set up and use the Speed dial function on the standby screen... 

Getting Speed dial options on the standby screen

1. From the standby screen, swipe your finger across the display to 'turn' the page, so that you see an orange-coloured tab towards the bottom right of the screen. This should have a small 'head and shoulders' icon on it (Figure 1).
2. Press the orange tab. The speed dial panel opens up (Figure 2). Eight numbered squares with 'head and shoulders' icons appear in the panel. These represent unassigned speed dial options. Once contacts are assigned to speed dial options, these boxes will show names of those contacts (and images, if pics have been assigned to contacts). Any or all of these Speed dial boxes can be added to your standby screen, so that you can make calls or send messages to most-used numbers quickly and easily.
3. To get the Speed dial boxes onscreen, tap the box you want to put on the main display with your finger or stylus. It will appear, larger, on the main portion of the display (Figure 3). Alternatively, you can drag and drop the box wherever you want to place it onscreen, by holding your finger or stylus on the screen while you drag the box to the position you want. Release your finger or stylus to drop it in place (Figure 4).
4. You can repeat this process for as many of the Speed dial options as you'd like to place onscreen. To order them neatly in a grid pattern, give the phone a quick shake. Press the orange tab to close the Speed dial panel, leaving the Speed dial widget-style boxes onscreen (Figure 5).

Setting up Speed dial numbers
There are several ways to assign contacts to Speed dial options; you can set them from an option in the phone's Contacts list, or by using the Speed dials option in the main menu. Both options are easy. Here, though, we show you how to set them quickly from the Speed dial box options.

1. Press one of the unassigned Speed dial boxes you've dropped onto your standby screen using the method outlined above. You will be taken directly into your Contacts list (Figure 6).
2. Scroll down to the contact you want to assign to your Speed dial box (Figure 7). Press it with your finger or stylus. A message appears confirming that it has been saved. You are now taken back to the standby screen, with your contact name appearing on the Speed dial box (Figure 8). If an image has been assigned to the contact, a thumbnail of that image will also appear in the box.
3. Repeat this procedure for the other Speed dial boxes you want onscreen (Figure 9).

Using Speed dial on the standby screen
You can use the Speed dial boxes for quickly making calls or sending messages. It's easy, too, to edit contacts from here, and you can also remove Speed dial options and change them around as and when you need to.

• Get to the standby screen showing the Speed dial options (you may need to swipe across the screen if you're starting from the display showing your widgets). Press the Speed dial box you want to use. It expands, with four icons around the sides illustrating options you can choose - call, message, edit, and delete (Figure 10).
• Press the phone icon on the left to make a call to that contact, the envelope icon on the top to get into the SMS message writing function, or the pen and paper icon on the right to edit that contact's details. If you want to remove the contact from this Speed dial slot, press the trash bin icon at the bottom, and confirm you want to delete it.

Removing Speed dial boxes from the standby screen
You may not want all your Speed dial options showing on the standby screen all the time. You can change them around any tie you want. Removing Speed dial boxes from the screen is as simple as adding them.

• Press the orange tab at the bottom right hand side of the display. The Speed dial panel opens (Figure 11). Holding your finger on the Speed dial box you want to remove, drag it from the main part of the display into the panel, releasing it to drop it in place (Figure 12).
• Press the orange tab again to close the Speed dial panel (Figure 13).