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Five Windows Phone 7 tips

If you recently picked up a Windows Phone 7 device, it's probably your first time using the operating system. It's new to us, and with a new OS comes a host of fresh tricks, features and tips to uncover.
Written by Sharon Vaknin, Contributor

If you recently picked up a Windows Phone 7 device, it's probably your first time using the operating system. It's new to us, and with a new OS comes a host of fresh tricks, features and tips to uncover.

We did some digging for you, and discovered five essential tips that every WP7 owner should master. Watch the video above to get the tips.

  1. Three-in-one calculator: On the face of it, the built-in calculator is one for basic computing. However, you can rotate your device left and right to get access to a scientific calculator.
  2. Launch camera while locked: If your phone is ever locked when you need to capture a photo-worthy moment, now you're in luck: hold and press the camera button for three seconds while the device is locked to take a quick snapshot.
  3. Remove, rearrange apps: To remove an app from the start screen, press and hold it, then tap the icon at the top-right corner. To rearrange an icon, tap and drag it to the desired location.
  4. Add a contact, website to the start screen: If you have a website that you visit often (like Facebook, of course), or a contact that you want to put on speed dial, you can pin them to the start screen.

    Head to the website you want to add, and zoom in on the area of the page you'd like to display as the icon. Then tap the three dots at the bottom, and select "Pin to start".

    To add a contact to the start screen, go to "People", tap and hold the contact you'd like to add and select "Pin to start".

  5. Learn the settings: Windows Phone 7 has two ubiquitous features: three dots and long pressing. You'll find the three dots in nearly every app, as they give you access to a menu full of settings.

    Long pressing is akin to right clicking. If you ever want to access more options for a specific element (like a calendar item) long press it to discover a menu of options.

Know of any tips we missed? Let us know in the comments below.

Via CNET

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