Eseries

Mail for Exchange, Nokia's enterprise. push email solution based on Microsoft's Exchange ActiveSync protocol, has yet again received an upgrade. The most recent version is Mail for Exchange 2.3.

I'm really impressed by the frequency Nokia updates Mail for Exchange. It seems as if a new version is available every other month or so. Considering the fact that the solution is free I am amazed by the constant updates. Sure, not all the updates are major but I rather have many, incremental updates and tweaks rather than wait a year for some big, bundled update.

Anyway, the new version includes one fix/new feature: 

When trying to synchronize with a server that has an expired certificate, the user is now given the choice of continuing the synchronization. Previously, the scenario resulted in an error and the synchronization was stopped. (From the Release Notes)

If you don't have a Microsoft Exchange acccount but still want to try out the Mail for Exchange and a push email based solution I suggest you sign up for a free Exchange account with Mail2Web. They offer a great, free service.

Still can't get enough about the Nokia E51? Fear not, there are a number of good reviews: 

All About Symbian posted a well written and extensive overview. Equally thorough is the review by Smape, well worth reading. Eugenia has written another great piece about the Nokia E51 at OSNews. Mobile-review is as always also very detailed and complete in their coverage of the Nokia E51. PC Pro posted a preview/review and so did CNet and ZDNet.

I recently received my Nokia E65 Desktop Cradle which I ordered from Boxwave. I opted for the slightly cheaper of the two versions of the cradle - the one without the spare battery charger.

The cradle comes with a USB cable, AC unit and the cradle itself. As with all Boxwave's products it feels solid and works as promised.

If you are a neat freak like me, or just want a place to put and charge your device while at your desk this product is for you. Boxwave also has similar products for the Nokia E90, Nokia E61i, Nokia E61 and the Nokia E62.

Here is the last of 4 blog posts focused on new, interesting features of of Nokia E51. The previous posts are here, here and here.

One touch Bluetooth activation.

The Nokia E51 is equipped with a new, dedicated Bluetooth key. Pressing this key will activate or deactivate Bluetooth.

Sure, there is a convenient shortcut to turn on Bluetooth on other Eseries devices ("Blue Function" Key + "Ctrl" key) but this new function/key is one tad bit better.

Read the rest of this entry »

OK, I'm not a big fan of Yahoo! but I'm still interested in what they are doing on the mobile front. When I read about the announcement of Yahoo! Go 3.0 (Beta) with support for Widgets I naturally wanted to take it for a spin.

I logged on to get.go.yahoo.com from my mobile browser on my Nokia E61i only to find out that Nokia E61i is not one of the supported devices for Yahoo! Go 3.0

Well, well. Perhaps other Eseries devices are supported. I tried my Nokia E51 and to my pleasant surprise there was no message about E51 not being supported. On the other hand, there was no message about Yahoo! Go 3.0. Read the rest of this entry »

There is a new version of Mail for Exchange available. It is not a major upgrade which introduces new features but a minor update.  The new version, Mail for Exchange 2.2, introduces support for two new devices; Nokia N77 and Nokia N82 but according to the release notes there are no other new features or changes.

My favourite online retailer for Nokia Eseries accessories - Boxwave, has done it again. This time they have released a USB desktop cradle for Nokia E65.

Boxwave has actually made two different Nokia E65 desktop cradles. One version of the desktop cradle is designed with a spare battery charger behind the slot for the device, see photo below. The other version of the Nokia E65 desktop cradle is not equipped with a spare battery charger.

Read the rest of this entry »

It's been a while since I posted some good themes for Nokia Eseries devices. I hope this post of themes from three different theme designers makes up for the lack of theme posts. The common thread of these designers is that their themes have frequently appeared on this blog.

If you are having problems with themes please read the following posts before asking questions: "certificate error" and "expired certificate"

First up is legendary Roman Keller. 

Blue Sphere By Roman Keller

Next in line is the talented ICEman 

Wind (default icons) by ICEman

(also available with customized icons)

Nseries 4 by ICEman

Read the rest of this entry »

Volker over at Vowe.net has an interesting poll about mobile email and the different ways to access mobile email. Being a big fan of Mail For Exchange and RoadSsync, both implementations of Microsoft's Exchange ActiveSync protocol I was expecting more people using it. Anyways, head over to Volker's poll.

Speaking about RoadSync - Dataviz is having a 40% year end sale of RoadSync. The price for one license is $29.99 until the end of the year.

More about RoadSync over here.

An absolutely brilliant new product, added to my personal list of "must have accessories" is Chargepod.

Many of you readers probably have multiple phones, iPods, bluetooth headsets etc. If you are anything like me your desk is probably cluttered with cables and chargers.

Chargepod can cut down on the clutter, weight and size of alternative mulitple chargers by charging up to six devices at the same time. Read the rest of this entry »

Not sure exactly when Google Maps for Mobile hit the big Two Dot Oh but the most recent version of Google Maps for Mobile for Symbian S60 3rd edition devices, such as the Nokia Eseries, is version 2.03 2.05.

If you haven't tried the new version of Google Maps you should! (just go to www.google.com/gmm on your browser to download the new version)

One new features of 2.0 is the "My Location" feature.

The "My Location" uses information from mobile towers near you to approximate your location on the map. Naturally, it's not as accurate as GPS but if you don't have GPS and want to know your location it is very handy.

Read the rest of this entry »

UPDATED below the fold 

Wow - I am very, very impressed! I have just taken Nokia Sports Tracker Beta for a quick spin and this new service, functionality and strategic direction has left me speechless.

Let's start with a recap. Nokia Sports Tracker was released in March this year. It was released as stand alone application to be used with a Nokia device with built in GPS or with an external GPS receiver. I covered this excellent application many times on the blog. 

The application tracks a variety of sports activities and measures the distance, speed, time etc and present the data in form of a workout sunnary. The data could be exported and used with a map application to track your activities. From the very start I was impressed by the application and the passion and dedication displayed by the team of people behind the application.

They were quick to listen to feedback and released new versions and new features with an impressive speed. However, for the past few months it's been rather quiet from the Nokia Sports Tracker team.

Now I understand. They have been hard at work perfecting the next logical step - exactly aligned with Nokia's Ovi annoucement - services!

Nokia Sports Tracker Beta is the name of the online service (graciously free of charge- thanks for that Nokia) for the Nokia Sports Tracker application.

Some of the highlights of the service:

• Store and display your activities online
• View detailed data such as speed, distance etc
• Integrated with Google Maps: "satellite" or "map" view.
• Upload geotagged photos of your activities
• "Live Sharing" of activities
• BEAUTIFUL web design UI & functionality
• Absolutely free (no subscription)

You start with creating a free user account either from Nokia Sports Tracker Beta or directly from the application which can be dowloaded from here.

Read the rest of this entry »

UPDATED WITH LIST OF CHANGES BELOW THE FOLD: 

There is a new firmware available for Nokia E61i. There is nothing about the firmware on Nokia's device software update page yet, but the software is available when using Nokia Software Updater. The new firwmare version is 2.0633.65.01  

It is important to note that availability of new device firmware depends on a number of factors. Region, language and of course carrier version are variables that influence when new firmware is available.

My Nokia E61i is a non-carrier branded version, the unlocked plain version, and when I tried NSU there was new software available.

Here are a few changes that I have noticed. Please feel free to point out more changes that you have come across:

Predictive text input:

This one is strange. This feature shows up but I couldn't get it to work. Has anyone been able to enable this? I really like the idea of having predictive text as a feature even on a QWERTY device.

Improvements to calendar layout:

The calendar can now display the week number or the week dates in the month view.

Read the rest of this entry »

Rack this one up under "I didn't need it but I just wanted to have it" category. Blame it on the great design, the moment I laid my eyes on the Nokia LD-4W, Bluetooth GPS Module I knew I just had to have it!

Given that I already have the the predecessor Nokia LD-3W, which is working great, buying the LD-4W was a bit of stretch.

But I caved in and bought it - great industrial design pushed me over the edge.

The Nokia LD-4W is significantly thinner and lighter than the previous model. The LD-3W was by no mean large or heavy but the LD-4W is tiny in comparison. It weighs less than half of the LD-3W and is half as thin.

Functionality wise, the LD-4W matches or surpass that of its predecessor.

Read the rest of this entry »

This week it is time to exclusively highlight ICEman - another accomplished theme designer with many great theme designs under his name.

Wind (default icons) by ICEman

(also available with customized icons)

Nseries4 by ICEman

Read the rest of this entry »

As first reported by Symbian-Guru a while back ago, Nokia launched a pink and a purple Nokia E65. Matching these colors, the recently released firmware upgrade for Nokia E65 includes two unique themes for the Nokia E65, Dots Pink and Dots Purple.

As far as I know, the themes are currently not available for download. They are only available on the new Nokia E65 firmware. Read the rest of this entry »

As many of you already know - I am absolutely addicted to push email. Although I tend to try out various push email solutions on my Nokia Eseries devices I always come back to Mail For Exchange.

The first thing I did on my brand new Nokia E51 was to set up my email. I was really impressed with the new email wizard. The set up was a breeze. Here are the screen shots to set up Mail For Exchange on Nokia E51.

For those of you who would like to try free push email I can gladly recommend Mail2Web who provides FREE Microsoft Exchange based email accounts which you of course can use with Mail For Exchange. Read my previous write-up of Mail2Web HERE.

The new email set up wizard has premier placement on the main screen.

Read the rest of this entry »

As many of you know, I am a big fan of a personalized, unique look and feel of your Nokia Eseries device. I have several times written about Gmask, the company that will wrap your device in few microns thick plastic film to give it a brand new look.

Mitch had his Nokia E61i Gmasked and writes about it here. Nice looking device Mitch!

The more I use the Nokia E51 the more I like the device~! Here is today's list of features I really appreciate.

A dedicated Voice Key for Mute/Unmute

Sure, this feature was introduced in Nokia E65 but the positioning on the Nokia E51 is better - on the side of the device. Having a dedicated key for Mute/Unmute is big. No more fumbling around when you are on a conference call and quickly need to mute or unmute your device.

Better display of contacts

This is another great improvement. Compare the display of the contacts application to the left (screen shot from a Nokia E60) to the one to the right (Nokia E51). Notice the difference? 

Read the rest of this entry »

Those of you tracking the availability of Nokia E51 have probably already seen the reports that the device now is available on eBay. Buy.com and other various outlets.

I received my own device, imported from Europe, yesterday. Rather to post one full review I will post about the device as I use it and discover what I like/dislike.

First up, the main keys. 

It might seem trivial but I think the the redesign icons for the main one touch keys is huge! Replacing the application key with a "home" key makes the end user experience much better. Especially for new users. The new icons are also much cleaner and crisper than the previous icons but there is more to the new icons than meets the eye.

Behind the new icons is a new level of functionality - a distinction between short and long press of all of the four main keys.

Short Press:Takes you to Home Screen or Main Menu

Long Press: Displays list of open applications

Short Press: Takes you to the Contacts application

Long Press: Creates a new contact

Read the rest of this entry »