It has revolutionized the world of smart phones. If you have a Gmail account then you can enjoy the OS better with your Google id and get access to features like video chat on android. You can even open Gmail accounts as many as you want on your phone.

The total Google service is entirely free so you can have as many accounts as you need. Google allows you to use all their services with one Google id but it’s always better to have different ids for different services like Gmail, YouTube and Orkut.

The Android phone you use is capable to open Gmail accounts any number of times. It is a great feature that will help you for sure. Let me tell you how to use multiple Gmail accounts on your phone.

Opening New Google/ Gmail Account Using Android

1. Go to Android Marketplace from your phone. Find the latest version of Gmail from there as you need it to have multiple accounts. Install Gmail in your Android phone from there and go to the next step.

2. To open a new Gmail account, which is new, on your phone, tap the Menu key and then select Settings option.

3. You will find a list of actions that you can perform from there. Choose Account & Sync option from that given list.

4. You will find many options here including the account management options. You will see the Gmail id here which is associated with that Android phone. Select the Add Account button.

5. You will find different apps to open an account for. Select the Google icon to open Gmail account and click Next button.

If you want to open Gmail account in the Android phone, then select the Create button from the options that you have in the menu.

6. Enter the new Gmail id with password that you want to add in this phone and select Sign In button.

Your Android phone will communicate with the server and you will receive a confirmation option on the phone. Select Finish Setup button and the account will be added.

You can also refer to this video tutorial to get some idea on the Google account creation process on the android phone.

Guest Post by Dimple Julyani who writes for a fast growing site on Android Tips – AndroidExpert.com.

Also Read : Turn Off or Disable GPRS, Mobile Internet on your Android Phone

Surfing the internet using your home wi-fi from your android phone may be a trouble-free experience, but when it comes to using your mobile network for your internet usage it can get quite expensive.

There are 2 ways you can be connected to a mobile network to use the internet on your android device, either 2G/EDGE/GPRS or via the new 3G services. GPRS came to India way back in 2002 but it became popular recently with the rise of social networking sites like twitter and facebook.

Popularity of mobile internet sky rocketed after smartphones running android, symbian or the iOS had support for location based services including Maps, Places, Navigator etc which helped users a lot to find places and never get lost on a journey and also for sharing files, uploading photos to facebook, use Google and to sync backup documents directly from their mobile phones on the go.

But mobile internet is expensive in most countries. Previously when I was using my Nokia 5233 mobile with Vodafone, there wasn’t much expense on mobile internet because you could only connect to the internet via Vodafone Live through your browser. So you had control over how much bandwidth was consumed from your phone.

In case of Android smartphones you are automatically connected constantly with VMC (Vodafone mobile connect) or your mobile carrier and android devices work in a different manner. It constantly checks for updates for software installed, new emails on your Google account, social networking profiles, weather reports and other information which require an internet connection. That’s a waste of precious bandwidth and for VMC at 10p/10KB that’s quite expensive.

So the best was to reduce your expenses is you turn off and disable GPRS on your android temporarily and enable it only when needed.

Disable GPRS, EDGE (2G, 3G Mobile Internet) on Android Phones

For most android 2.2 devices like my Motorola Defy, Go to Settings > Data Manager > Data Delivery > Data Enabled (Uncheck).

This will disable mobile internet on your android phone. You will see that the E icon has disappeared beside the network signal icon on the top. You can turn it back in the same way.

If you have a HTC android phone you can add the Mobile network widget to your Home screen. This toggle widget is an on/off switch that you can tap to easily turn the mobile network data connection on or off.

If you want to avoid making settings, use this very useful app called Quick Settings. This app lets you quickly switch some of the most important android settings with just one tap and lets you control battery consumption by disabling unused services.

Hope this helps. If you already have wi-fi at your home then there is no use keeping the mobile network internet activated even if it not used. Also, if you are not using it outside, since it drains the battery and makes unnecessary checks for updates etc.

Guide : How to Root your Android Phone in Easy Steps

**Warning : Rooting an Android phone will break the phone’s warranty. In some countries it will break the TOS with your mobile carrier, operator. So proceed only if you are 100% sure you want to root your android device.

What Does Rooting Android Mean ?

When you buy your android phone it comes shipped with the factory loaded android operating system where the admin access is limited and often restricted. This stops you from using lots of cool apps and features in an android phone as they require admin, root access permissions which an un-rooted phone won’t allow. Rooting an android phone breaks this lock and restriction and lets you modify your phone and many aspects of it according to your needs.

Advantages of Rooting an Android Phone, Tablet

There are several reasons for why you might want to consider rooting your android phone or tablet. Some of the important reasons for deciding to root your android device are :

1. Total Control : You become the boss of your phone, not the manufacturer. You get full access to alter system files, apply your own themes and mods, remove those useless stock apps which you don’t need and most importantly install the cool apps supported by rooted android phone and tablets only. It gives you the ability to add new themes, edit the core apps (maps, calendar, clock, etc), change the recovery & boot images, add linux binaries etc.
2. Improved Performance : Once you root your android phone, you can install custom ROMs on your android device like the CyanogenMOD ROM which is a community based aftermarket firmware for the Android based smart-phones. This ROM is quite popular and it might improve your phone overall performance and battery life significantly. Users can also over-clock to the CPU to get enhanced performance from the apps.
3. Better UI, Keyboard : Rooted Android phones allows the use of many community custom themes and widgets which can optimize the way you used your android device earlier. The keyboard on the CyanogenMOD which resembles the HTC Hero’s own custom keyboard, is loaded which makes it quite easier to type text than on the default android 2.2 keyboard. (also try the 2.3 keyboard)
4. Wi-Fi Tethering: After rooting your android device, you can use WiFi or Bluetooth tether to share mobile network data connection like 2G or 3G with your laptop, PC. You can do this over an ad-hoc network between your computer and android device. Same with Bluetooth.
5. Install Applications on SD Card : Apps are great, but some apps like the GPS navigator Sygic downloads maps of sizes over 1GB. Not all android smart phones and devices have huge internal memory. Rooting android lets you install the Apps2SD application which moves selected apps from phone memory to SD Card saving you space and letting you use more apps on your android device.

How to Root Android Phone, Tablet in Simple Steps

Step 1 : Plug in and connect your android device to your computer via USB and it will initiate driver installation for the device. Install them. Skip this if you have done this already before.

Step 2 : Unplug and re-connect, but this time select "Charge only" to sure that your phone’s SD Card in not mounted to your PC during the rooting process.

Step 3 : Put your android into USB Debugging mode. Go to Settings > Applications > Development and enable USB Debugging. This will enable SuperOneClick to root your android device by running the exploit from your PC while connected via USB.

Check all the steps. All drivers should be installed. You SD card must be un-mounted and USB Debugging must be enabled. Now get ready.

Step 4 : Open the superoneclick folder you’ve downloaded and run SuperOneClick.exe file. You will see the window (below). Click on the "Root" button. You will get messages like shown below and if everything goes well you will get OK messages a lot.

Step 5 : It takes just a minute. And after its done you will see a "Running a Su test Success!" which means the rooting process is completed. Go to your phone app drawer and you will see Superuser icon which means you now have root access. (reboot the phone if you don’t see it)

► Download Links : SuperOneClick (go to the page and scroll down to end of the post for the latest links in the attachments, download and extract) 2) You also need Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0+ or Mono if your run mac or XP. Linux users refer to the guide here by XDA developers.

Rooting Android Using SuperOneClick [Video Guide]

The steps for rooting android mentioned above is explained visually in the rooting tutorial video below by TheUnlockr.com

Note : For phone specific intructions and tips for rooting your android phone go to this page at theunlockr.com. Hope it helps !!!

Also See : Use Voice Chat for Android Phones and Tablets

The user on the other end can be using Google video and voice chat from his/her Android device or a computer, mac which supports Google’s video chat.

How to Video Chat with Google Talk on Android

Follow the step below to use Google voice and video chat on your android phone, tablet…

Step 1 : Tap the Google Talk icon on the Home screen or from the Launcher menu.

Step 2 : If you’re not signed in, and after you login at first your Friends list is displayed. (this friend list shows all friends you’ve added by using Google Talk online, or previously on your phone, or with any similar desktop application).

Step 3 : A video or voice chat button icon will be shown next to the contact who is online on a supporting device for Google video and voice chat. Simply touch this button icon to start video chatting with them.

If the user doesn’t have a webcam and has an audio device only you will still be able to voice chat with them like you do on Google talk on the web through your PC microphone.

Step 4 : During a video chat :

• Touch the screen to reveal the video chat buttons.
• Touch the Microphone video chat button to mute or unmute your microphone.
• Use your phone’s Volume buttons to control the volume of the speakers during your video chat.
• Touch the Text video chat button to switch to text chatting: you can chat by voice at the same time but video is paused.
• Touch the Camera video chat button to switch between your phone’s front and back cameras (on supported devices, just like facetime in iphone 4, ipad 2).

Step 5 : Press Menu key and tap Friends list to return to the screen in step 2 showing you the list of friends online on Google talk. You can add a friend to the current discussion or chat with another friend.

Step 6 : Once you are finished with voice, video chat, tap the X button on the top right to close and go back to your friend list.

You can also invite your friends for Google video chat from your android phone. Just tap the microphone button to the right of a friend’s name to invite him/her to video chat with you. Once they accept it the video chat icon will appear and follow step 3.

During a video chat, any text entry from the person you’re voice or video chatting with will be overlaid on your android phone’s display screen so that you won’t have to leave the video to read them.

Also, if you want to check other stuff on your android phone, apps etc the video pauses automatically. Go back to the android home screen or app. The audio will keep going so that you can continue with voice chat. So that you can talk and do stuff momentarily at the same time.

Google Talk for android with video and voice chat will roll out to Nexus S devices and very soon on Android 2.3+ devices very soon. Check out FAQ’s Center for Google Talk Video and voice for Android. Watch the demo video below…

Tip : Connect Android Phone to PC Laptop Computer Mac Using USB Cable

Connect Android Phone to Computer via USB

Plug-in one end of the usb cable to the phone end and insert the usb 2.0 jack into your PC computer or mac. As soon as you connect your android phone to your computer via USB cable, the Connect to PC screen appears where you have to choose one of the type of USB connection available. Select one of the choices as per your need, and then tap Done to proceed.

Disk Drive Mode :  If you have your microSD card inserted in your android phone then this option will come to use your android phone like storage device. Select the disk drive mode if you want to copy and share data, files, music, videos, mp3 between the microSD card and your computer.

Note : When your phone is connected to pc computer in the Disk Drive mode, you won’t be able to run applications that use that storage microSD card, such Music, Gallery etc.

Charge Only : If you only want to charge the battery while your android phone is connected to your pc computer, then select this option. The phone will remain inactive mode while charging which means you’ll be able to receive calls, messages etc.

Mobile Network Sharing: Don’t have Internet connection on your computer. Connect your android mobile and select this mode to share your phone’s mobile modem router and access the internet through the device on your pc.

If you need to change the mode of USB connection, you can do so on-the-fly, without disconnecting and reconnecting your mobile usb. Just slide down the Notifications panel, and then click notification that mentions "Select to change USB connection type" to access the "Connect to PC" options once again.

You can also choose among showing or hiding the Connect to PC screen or the default connection type by pressing Menu from Home screen, and going thru Settings > Connect to PC.

Hope this helps…