What is SonicHANDY?

SonicHANDY Mobile Phone Manager is a Windows application that enables you to manage and operate your mobile device (cell phone; handy) from the PC to make your life easier. Messaging capabilities are stressed out, so you can read and send SMS messages, as well as save, backup and make a base out of all your messages and contacts - no SMS or contact is lost ever again. SonicHANDY is ideal for a power SMS user, but easy to use and packed with features to help you get the most out of your mobile phone.

Which mobile phones does SonicHANDY support?

Short answer: Almost every GSM-conformant mobile phone. SonicHANDY was tested and proven to work with Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, and Siemens mobile phones. This list will be updated as more phone manufacturers are tested.

Why doesn't SonicHANDY work with my mobile phone?

Here's the thing. SonicHANDY is designed to follow certain standards in order to be able to work with many different brands of mobile devices. Unfortunately, there's a lot of buggy devices on the market which don't care much for standards, or even haven't got some crucial features implemented at all. If a device doesn't follow standards SonicHANDY can (and in many cases is) able to recognize that, and work around the problem. But SonicHANDY simply can't work with a device which lacks some crucial features. The only choice then is to upgrade devices' firmware and try again.

Can I send free messages with SonicHANDY?

SonicHANDY is a way to manage and operate your mobile device from the PC to make your life easier. All traffic between your device and your GSM operator (SMS messages in our case) is charged according to your operators' current charge rate. When you send a message with SonicHANDY, all charges of your GSM operator apply just as they would if you are to type and send the same message directly from your mobile. SonicHANDY does not present any additional charges in any way. To find out your current messaging rates, please consult instructions and data for your GSM operator.

Why should I register SonicHANDY?

Unregistered version can only be used for a 30-day trial period, after which it becomes unusable until registered. Also, a short signature like "/SonicHANDY" or "/SHY" is always appended to outgoing messages (only if there's some free space left at the end of the message).

How to pair your bluetooth device with the PC

In order to allow your computer to work with your mobile device over a bluetooth, they must become aware of each other. You must pair your device and the computer. You can do this by following these steps:

• Go to Windows Control Panel and open the Bluetooth Devices icon
  If Bluetooth Devices icon is not available from the Control Panel, then bluetooth hardware is not enabled or not available on your computer
• Under the Devices tab, click on the Add... button if your device is not already listed
• Add Bluetooth Device Wizard should appear - click Next
• If your device is available, it should appear on the presented list - select it and click Next
• Follow the on-screen instructions until you add your device to the Devices list

Step 1	Step 2
Step 3	Step 4
Step 5

If everything went OK, your device and computer are now linked and can be used together. On the last screen of the Add Bluetooth Device Wizard you are presented with COM ports assigned to your device. Use the presented Outgoing COM port with SonicHANDY in order to work with the device.

How to assign a COM port to your bluetooth device

To utilize a Bluetooth link between the device and the computer, a virtual COM port must be assigned to the device. If your bluetooth device does not already have a COM port assigned, follow these steps:

• Go to Windows Control Panel and open the Bluetooth Devices icon
  If Bluetooth Devices icon is not available from the Control Panel, then bluetooth hardware is not enabled or not available on your computer
• Under the COM Ports tab, click on the Add... button and select Outgoing COM port type
• Select your device from the drop-down list and then select a port to assign to this device
• Click OK

Step 1

Step 2

Use the assigned COM port with SonicHANDY to work with your device.

Can I operate my phone directly while SonicHANDY is connected?

Yes you can. Even more, you can send messages while being in a middle of a call. Just type a message and press Send - SonicHANDY doesn't mind if you are talking to your phone at the same moment!

What is the difference between various SMS types?

• Standard message allows a maximum of 160 characters per SMS, and is sent using GSM encoding.
• Unicode is sent using Unicode encoding, and allows a maximum of 70 characters per SMS, but without restrictions on characters you use.
• Flash message is like a Unicode message, but is intended to be displayed on recipient's screen immediately upon reception. Some devices will promptly flash the message on the screen, while others will provide you with a button to press to view the message.
• SonicHANDY message is a SonicHANDY-specific message type that allows you to send a maximum of 252 (4-bit) or 201 (5-bit) characters per SMS. There is one 4-bit SHY encoding, and two types of 5-bit SHY encoding (A and B) with two subtypes (1 and 2), so there's a total of four (4) SHY 5-bit encodings. They differ in a character set available; the character set in use is displayed on a Write message dialog screen. 4-bit SHY encoding is intended mainly for sending numerical information, so it's character set is very limited. When writing a message, program will automatically detect and switch SHY encoding to maximize number of characters per SMS.

What does "SHY" stand for?

"SHY" is short for SonicHANDY, abbreviation for program name. You'll find it in the names of SonicHANDY-specific SMS encodings (SHY-encodings), and at the begining of such SMS messages when viewed on the mobile device. Also part of some program's file extensions.