The front

The front is home to several items of note, the most significant one being the screen:

• A Samsung logo, in case you need to be reminded who made it
• A light sensor, which can automatically adjust screen brightness and contrast depending on the light levels indoors or outdoors
• The front-facing camera lens to take a selfie or a picture of yourself with someone else (an “ussie”?)
• The LCD color touchscreen
• Three keys at the bottom (shown in Figure 1-6) left to right:
  • Recent. Tap it to display apps you used recently, or hold it for a second to show Home screen options.
  • Home and Finger Scanner. Press this key to go to the Home screen. The same key can read your fingerprint (which you can use instead of a password to get into your tablet); you have to set up this option, and I show you how soon.
  • Back. Touch to return to the previous screen or option, or to close a dialog box, menu, or keyboard.

The left side

Move along. There’s nothing to see here, folks. Really. Nothing. The left side of the Galaxy Tab S2 NOOK serves no purpose other than to give you somewhere to place your fingers when you hold the tablet.

The right side

The right side is where you’ll find several essential keys, a pinhole, and a slot. From top to bottom on the right side, they are:

• Power. Press and hold it for a second or two to turn on your tablet. Press it briefly and release to lock the tablet or wake it from sleep. Press and hold it to turn the device off or restart it, or to put the tablet into Airplane Mode.
• Volume. When the Home screen is displayed, press one end or the other of this rocker key to adjust the volume. When you’re playing music, any adjustments you make here affect only music volume. Either way, you know how they work, I’m sure: + means louder and – means quieter, all the way down to mute.
• Memory card slot. This tiny opening can accept a little sliver of microSD or microSDHC card that holds information in addition to your tablet’s built-in memory. The card can be as large as 128GB, and if that huge amount of real estate isn’t enough, you can simply remove it and install a new card.

The advanced Tab S2 NOOK also works with USB On-The-Go devices, including flash memory sticks and other accessories. I expect to eventually expand my NOOK by using flash memory that I can also use as a quick means of transport between the tablet and a computer.

The top side

A handsome, shiny near-twin to the left side, the top side has just a tiny little pinhole. Despite what Samsung and Barnes & Noble show in their manuals, this little pinhole is the entryway to the microphone.

Hidden behind a tiny hole, it picks up sound for videos, video conferences, and your voice for Internet (not cellular) phone calls. If you plan to use the microphone, make sure neither the protective case you use, nor your hand, blocks the opening.

The bottom

Way down here is the place where your tablet gets its power and outputs a bit of sound.

• You’ll find not one but two tiny speakers on the bottom, producing something close to stereo sound (although you shouldn’t expect bone-rattling high fidelity). The speakers are used for music, voice, and system notifications. As with the microphone, make sure that the speakers aren’t covered, or else the sound will be muffled.

• The second opening from the left is the all-important USB charger/accessory port. Here’s where you attach the USB cable that comes with your tablet. That cable, in turn, attaches to the AC adapter, allowing you to recharge the internal battery. You can disconnect that same cable from the AC adapter, then connect the cable to a PC or laptop to transfer or sync music or files.

  Samsung promises that you can use this same port for accessories (not included in original purchase). What kind of accessories? Perhaps an external keyboard or an external memory storage device like a USB flash key.

• The third opening from the left is the headset jack, which works with a standard 3.5mm connector for earbuds or connects to an external sound system.

The headset jack works well with earbuds or headphones, but you can also output audio from your Tab S2 NOOK to stereo systems with advanced controls and large speakers. For example, my car has a 3.5mm input jack for its radio; I bought a cable with a 3.5mm plug on each end (called a male-to-male cable) to use my NOOK as a music player for files I loaded onto the tablet.

The back

The tablet’s back gives the tablet something to hold up the front. To see it, turn your tablet over so that the front is facing down. Although you don’t have to baby your device, for safety’s sake put a cloth or a magazine under the screen.

Figure 1-7 points out the two items of note are on the back (plus some more advertising). Here’s what you find:

• The rear-facing camera. The lens, above the advertising for Samsung, is part of your tablet’s main camera, for taking photos or videos while you watch the LCD on the other side.
• A pair of Simple Clickers. These little anchoring points are used to attach certain designs of (unincluded) protective or special-purpose covers for your tablet. One Samsung accessory adds a physical keyboard for attachment to a larger 9.7-inch LCD screen.

Powering on

I’ve already told you how to use the Power key to turn on your Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 NOOK: Press and hold the key for two seconds (one Mississippi, two Mississippi).

If this is the first time you’ve given life to your tablet, you’re can’t use it for reading or viewing or Internetting until you complete a few setup steps. The initial setup can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on how much detail you want to get into.

You should charge your tablet’s battery before your first use, both for the health of the battery and to avoid the possibility of running out of power while the setup process is under way.

On the other hand, if you’ve already set up the device, turning it on brings you to either of two places:

• The Home screen (for an unsecured tablet)
• The Lock screen (if you require all users to enter a protective pattern, password, or PIN, or a swipe of the Home button to scan your fingerprint)

I recommend using one or another form of security to protect your tablet. The fingerprint or a very complex password is your best line of defense. Studies have shown that the most common passwords on millions of computers are 123456 and password. Why even bother? Remember that you’ll likely be storing personal data, photos, and logins that may keep records of your credit card or banking information.

Use a password that’s difficult and illogical. How about 16Friskie66laserBeam? Don’t ask me what it means, but it does have meaning to me, and I can remember it. And no, I’ll never use that password again, but it is of the sort I like.

Powering off

Press the Power switch for about two seconds while the device is running. A message asks if you really, really want to do that; tap Power Off to confirm.

Off is off. No alarms will ring, no email will be collected, no music will play.

Why would you want to completely turn off the NOOK tablet?

• You’re on an airplane preparing for takeoff or landing and the flight attendant is glaring at you.
• You’re in a hospital room with sensitive medical equipment (and doctors).
• You want to put your tablet on the shelf for a month while you sit down with a yellow legal pad to write your own Great American (or Canadian) Novel.
• Your battery is very low and you want to fully recharge it as quickly as possible. Attach the microUSB connector to the tablet and the full-size USB connector to an AC adapter that’s plugged into the wall.

Going to sleep/Locking the tablet

The third option is to put your tablet to sleep, which in electronic terms is not the same thing we mean when Fido is headed to the vet for the last time. Putting a tablet to sleep means that the LCD screen and most of its internal circuitry are turned off, and just a small amount of power is provided to the system — enough to allow the device to return from the vet, I mean from sleep, at the push of a button. If you put a fully charged NOOK into Sleep Mode, it should hold its charge for several days.

The other way to look at Sleep Mode is as “Lock Mode,” which is a way to block access to the tablet to unauthorized fingers and eyes without fully turning it off.

By default, the tablet automatically goes to sleep after the inactivity period. You get to set that amount of time.

Here’s how to put the NOOK tablet to sleep: Briefly touch the Power/Lock key. Don’t hold it and count river names.

While the tablet’s asleep, the following functions are still awake:

• Email will still be received, if the Wi-Fi radio is turned on. You can turn off the Wi-Fi from Settings, or put the tablet into Airplane Mode to reduce power consumption.
• If your tablet is playing music, that will continue.
• Any alarms or timers you’ve set will remain active. (I discuss alarms in Chapter 14.)

To wake up a sleeping NOOK, briefly press the Power/Lock key. If you have to enter a pattern, password, fingerprint, or PIN, you’ll go to the Unlock screen; otherwise, you’ll go directly to the Home screen or the last page you were on.

Setting the sleep timeout

Your tablet goes to sleep all by itself if you don’t do anything for a while. Why would you want this to happen? It’ll save battery power and serve as some protection if someone lays paws on your NOOK without your permission.

Here’s how to customize the sleep control:

1. From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon, and then tap the Settings (gear) icon.
2. Choose Display.
3. Tap Screen Timeout.

4. Choose a timeout value from the list.

   I prefer 5 minutes; the standard value is 30 seconds. You can set the sleep timeout in a range from 15 seconds to 10 minutes.

5. Press the Home key to return to the Home screen.

   For most users, a safe amount of time is between 2 and 10 minutes.

   You can manually lock the screen by briefly pressing the Power/Lock key on the right side of the tablet.

Preparing the tablet for lockdown

The Galaxy Tab S2 NOOK, as delivered, uses the very basic one-finger left-to-right unlock pattern, which is essentially an open door. Anyone picking up your tablet can figure that one out.

The swipe (or the choice of None for the Lock screen) offers no security for your tablet contents. You do have other options:

• Pattern. A gesture you create by drawing on your screen. This option gives you a medium level of security, which is better than a mere swipe.

  The screen displays nine dots in a three-by-three pattern. Set a pattern by tapping any one dot; keep your finger on the screen as you move to other dots on the screen. Don’t use an obvious pattern like a box or a line. The pattern lock can start at any dot. See Figure 1-8.

  My favorite type of password is a phone number or address that has no direct connection to you but that you can recall from memory. An old phone number of a distant relative? The street address of the post office in the town you lived in three jobs ago? Oh, and don’t write it down on a sticky note and slap it to the bottom of the tablet.

• PIN. Enter a code number to unlock the tablet, with as many as 16 digits. A four-digit PIN offers 10,000 possible combinations, which makes this a medium- to high-security option … unless you choose something simplistic like 1234 or 0000. I often use all ten digits of a phone number that I know well but that isn’t in any way directly connected to me. Got a favorite pizza place?
• Password. Use a complex word, preferably with a mixture of upper- and lowercase letters and a number or two, of as many as 16 characters. Something like 23aArdvarK for a high level of security.

• Fingerprint. Require the device to recognize your fingerprint for a high level of security. On the Tab S2 NOOK, the Home key has a fingerprint reader.

Registering a fingerprint

The electronic fingerprint reader in the Home key can identify certain unique — or at least rare — characteristics of the markings on the end of one of your fingers. It’s not a perfect system, but you can experiment with friends and family, especially siblings. Here’s your chance to blame everything on your brother or sister if their fingerprints prove similar enough to fool the reading device.

You can register as many as four fingerprints, and a password will also be recorded as an alternative means of entry to the tablet.

1. From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon and then the Settings (gear) icon.
2. Tap Lock Screen and Security, and then tap Fingerprints.
3. Choose an option:
   • To add a fingerprint, tap Add Fingerprint and follow the instructions. You have to apply and reapply your finger (I use my thumb) about ten times so that the system has a number of samples.
   • To rename a fingerprint, touch and hold the fingerprint and then tap Rename.
   • To delete a fingerprint, touch and hold the fingerprint on the screen and then tap Remove.

To change the backup password for your fingerprints, do this:

1. From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon, and then tap the Settings (gear) icon.
2. Tap Lock screen and Security, and then tap Fingerprints.
3. Tap Change Backup Password.
4. Enter a new password.

Fingerprints can also give you access to your Samsung account and certain online accounts. You’ll find an option for those settings in the same Lock Screen and Security section.

Customizing your unlock scheme

While you’re choosing a pattern, password, or PIN unlocking scheme, you’re offered other ways to customize how your tablet greets you. Here are the options:

• Clock Widget. You can choose a clock size for your Home screens and decide whether you want to see the current date.
• Personal Message. You can put in, “Greetings, earthlings. I come in peace.” Or anything else. Keep it clean, people.

• Owner Information. You can list your name and other information on the Lock screen, in hopes that a good Samaritan would return it. Tap Owner Information; then tap Show Owner Info on Lock Screen to enable or disable the option. Touch in the text field and type.

  My owner information message has my name, email address, and REWARD FOR RETURN. I’ve never had to test whether the promise of a reward will entice someone to return my tablet, because I’m a pretty careful guy. I figure it can’t hurt.

• Lock Automatically. Say how quickly to lock the screen after the screen automatically turns off.
• Lock Instantly with Power/Lock Key. Use this option to enable the Lock screen when the Power/Lock key is pressed. If you don’t enable this option, the screen dims or brightens when the Power/Lock key is briefly pressed, but won’t lock.

Depending on which lockdown method you select, you’ll see one of these options:

• Make Pattern Visible. If you choose the pattern, this option lets you see the traces of your pattern as you draw it.
• Make Passwords Visible. If you choose to use the password, this option lets you see the characters as you type; they appear onscreen briefly and then disappear.
• Make PIN Visible. If you choose the PIN, this option lets you see the numbers as you enter them; they appear onscreen briefly and then disappear.

Making the pattern, password, or PIN visible may help you make sure you’ve put it in correctly, but I don’t recommend displaying the unlock information if you use your tablet in a public place. Prying eyes are all around us.

Installing a microSDHC card

The kind designers at Samsung have made sure you don’t need a post-graduate degree in engineering to install a memory card. You can get to the card slot without removing the back cover, although with the ultra-thin and lightweight Tab S2 NOOK model you do need to make use of a tiny little tool to open the tray on the side of the tablet that holds the memory card. The tool is basically a little pin that fits into a pinhole on the side of the tablet to release the tray. (If you misplace the tool — easy to do — you can do it yourself with a sturdy pin or a thin paper clip.)

Just take your time, be careful, and follow these instructions to install a memory card:

1. Turn off the device.

   Technically this isn’t required, but it is a good practice anytime you’re working with electrical devices.

2. Place your NOOK face up on a well-lit, clean, level surface.

   The Samsung logo should be at the top of the device.

   Make sure no cups of coffee, soda, water, molten iron, or anything else can spill onto your tablet.

3. Find the small, soft, plastic memory tray about two-thirds of the way down the right side of the tablet.

4. Carefully insert the removal tool into the pinhole beside the tray and push gently until the tray extends from the tablet.

   The tray doesn’t completely detach; a flexible band attaches to the internals of the tablet.

5. Hold the memory card with the printed logo facing up toward you. Carefully place it in the tray.

   The gold electrical contacts face down, toward the back of the device. The small triangle faces toward the Galaxy Tab S2 NOOK.

   Place the card carefully; it only fits in the correct orientation with its gold electrical contacts facing the tablet. If the memory card looks about twice as large as the opening, you’ve got the wrong card. Only micros need apply.

6. Gently push the tray into place.

   When a memory card’s installed in the tablet, it’s automatically mounted and ready for use. Mounting means the tablet has electronically recognized the card and it’s ready for use.

Mounting or unmounting the memory card

When you install an optional memory card, it is automatically mounted (electronically recognized by the device) and prepared for use. However, if you choose to remove the card from the tablet, you should unmount the card using the operating system.

Unmounting the card helps prevent damage to the data stored on the card, especially if you remove the memory while the system is powered on.

If you unmount a card but do not physically remove it from the tablet, you will need to instruct the system to mount it again in order for it to be available to you for use.

Here’s how to unmount a card:

1. From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon, and then tap the Settings (gear) icon.
2. Tap Storage, and then tap Unmount SD Card.
3. Use the tiny removal tool and press the pin into the pinhole on the side of the tablet to release the tray and offer access to the card.

If you need to manually mount a card, do this:

1. From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon, and then tap the Settings (gear) icon.
2. Tap Storage, and then tap Mount SD Card.

When you install an optional memory card in your device, the card memory displays as Total Space and Available Space.

Formatting a microSDHC card

When you buy a new microSDHC, it should come formatted (a process that electronically indexes its memory so that the computer inside your tablet knows where to store or retrieve information). In that case, it’s ready to use.

If you insert an unformatted microSDHC card, the Galaxy Tab S2 NOOK will alert you. No biggie. To format a microSD memory card when the system asks, follow these steps:

1. Tap the Format Now icon.

   You’re asked if you are sure. Sure you’re sure!

2. Tap Format Now.

You can manually reformat a memory card, which is a way to clear its contents. Stop and check: Is there anything on the card that you want to keep? If so, make copies of that data in the internal memory of the tablet, or drag and drop the files onto a personal computer or other device connected to your Tab S2 NOOK. Formatting a microSDHC card permanently deletes all data and apps on it.

Here’s how to manually format (or reformat) a memory card:

1. From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon, and then tap the Settings (gear) icon.
2. Tap Storage and then tap Format SD Card.
3. Follow the onscreen instructions.

If you want to completely wipe the contents of the card, manually format it. You might be clearing the card to give it to someone else, or perhaps installing a used card from another device or another person. Or perhaps you want to remove all traces of the actual plans for Doc Brown’s flux capacitor for the Back to the Future time machine. I’ve had to do that many times. Each time I return from a trip to revisit some of the scenes of my childhood.

Formatting a microSDHC card permanently deletes all data and any apps that are stored on it. Yes, I’m aware that there are some service bureaus that may be able to recover data from a formatted or erased card, but I would hate to see you have to rely on that less-than-certain option.