Nokia E61 is my iPod
My iPod Nano recently bit the dust and went on to wherever gadgets go to rest when they brake down and die. Instead of buying a new 2 Gig iPod Nano for $199 I decided to pick up a 2 Gig Mini SD card for about $60 for my Nokia E61. Not only do I save some money but I also reduce the clutter in my bag by elminating the need for one extra device.
The challenge I faced was how to manage my music libraries and move the music to my Nokia E61. I found a great tool to help me do just that. The free application SyncTunes lets you syncronize part of your iTunes library to an SD card. This is the step-by-step guide.
What you need is your Nokia E61, a Mini SD card and a memory card reader that can be mounted by your Mac. I used a cheap SD card reader from Lexar.
Mount the Mini SD card using the reader on your Mac.
Start iTunes.
Create a playlist for your Nokia E61 and pick the music and podcast you want to include. The built in media player supports MP3/AAC/MPEG4 files.
Install and launch the free application SyncTunes.
Choose the playlist you created and your Mini SD card you mounted using the SD card reader and then initiate Sync. Your music will be copied to the Mini SD card. Then you just insert the Mini SD card in your Nokia E61 and your ready to go.
I will follow up this post later with more information about headphones, battery life etc.
June 19th, 2006 at 11:55 am
I discovered that you don’t need the card reader. Just plug the E61 into your Mac with the USB cable and select the middle option from the menu that pops up. Now your memory card is mounted, just as with a card reader.
June 19th, 2006 at 12:14 pm
Thanks for pointing this out. It just makes it easier
I will edit this post.
June 19th, 2006 at 1:17 pm
Sweet. I just ordered a 1.0GB card from Newegg, I really thing I’m going to see how well this can do for me as a music player; I never really did it on my N70, but let’s see. Good tool
June 19th, 2006 at 1:48 pm
Cool. Let us know how it works out Carlos. I like my set-up. It’s amazing how the price have come down on Memory Cards
June 19th, 2006 at 2:47 pm
One note on using the USB cable. I’ve connected my E61 to my PowerMac about 20 times today, testing different stuff, and I’ve managed to completely hang the computer twice. That’s no good.
June 22nd, 2006 at 7:11 pm
Odd, I’ve been using the USB cable to transfer music too and I haven’t experienced any lockup.
June 29th, 2006 at 8:26 am
I have lockups as well with the N80 by copying 20-30 files to the memory card. I have to pull out the USB from my PowerBook to reanimate the Finder and the phone…
June 29th, 2006 at 8:29 am
Btw it’s annoying that the Nokia Music Player doesn’t display album art from mp3s…
June 29th, 2006 at 11:25 am
So… you seem like the little things make you happy. I have one, but can’t quite figure it out. I know the Nokia browser can open multiple windows… open the browser and hit the 5 key to see the list of windows. I can’t figure out, though, how to open more than one window at a time! Any ideas?
June 29th, 2006 at 9:35 pm
Hi David,
I’m stuck as well. Can’t seem to open multiple windows. But yes, I do take pleasure in the quotidian. That’s what keeps me going.
July 1st, 2006 at 4:05 pm
I ordered 2G Sandisk SD from an online store and they sent me a no name brand!
And it wouldn’t take music over from itunes before I realized that I had to format the card.
And by the way, do you know how to get AOL Portal icon on the active standby screen? My husband was fiddling around with it and I don’t know how he got it on as one of the options to put on active standby…it’s driving me nuts. (we both got E61 yesterday)
July 2nd, 2006 at 10:09 am
Hi Aureate,
I would complain to the online store. Getting a no name brand or a Sandisk is a big difference.
To change anything in the Active Standby do the following:
Go to
Tools -> Settings -> Phone -> Standby Mode ->
(here you can change the default services that show up on the left and right side of the Active Standby screen)
if you go to “Active standby apps” you can switch the row of 7 icons/applications that show up on the screen.
Just scroll down until you find the right application.
Congratulations on getting a great device!
July 7th, 2006 at 5:14 pm
[...] I have previously described how I use my Nokia E61 as an iPod Nano replacement and how I sync my Nokia E61 to my iTunes library. Well, earlier this week my transformation of the Nokia E61 as an iPod replacement took an important step forward. [...]
July 10th, 2006 at 11:19 am
Hello!
I have a different situation, related to music files on my Nokia e61. I primarily use WMA and/or Ogg Vorbis files on all of my portable devices, just b/c MP3 is such a horrible compression format. Is there/ will there be a SINGLE player that supports these formats? I have searched and searched and SEARCHED but found nothing that runs on our Nokia e61’s. Should I continue to be patient or give up all hope?!
July 10th, 2006 at 9:00 pm
Hi Corey,
I am pretty sure I came across a player supporting at least Ogg Vorbis the other day. Not sure where though… I will keep it in my mind and post the link the next time I come across it. Please do the same. Also if anyone else has the link/know more please let us know.
July 11th, 2006 at 1:01 am
[...] Nei giorni scorsi e-series aveva avuto l’idea di ‘far diventare’ il proprio Nokia E61 un ‘iPod Nano. [...]
July 12th, 2006 at 12:06 am
I appreicate the advice here and just tried this combination. My conclusion is that the sound quality is not only ‘not loud enough’, but at a much lower quality than what can be produced with the Ipod with same headphones. Highly NOT recommended. Oh well, can’t sell the Ipod now…
July 12th, 2006 at 3:35 am
Corey,
Symbian OggPlay is what you need. The bad news is that it’s not ready yet for S60 3rd edition devices, and all Eseries devices are such. But stay tuned for http://symbianoggplay.sourceforge.net/ .
July 16th, 2006 at 12:47 am
Has anyone tried mounting the memory card using Bluetooth instead of using a USB cable
July 16th, 2006 at 8:10 am
Hi Gordon,
If you use the “browse device” function under Apple’s Bluetooth application you can access the memory card, and the internal storage of the Nokia E61. Works really, really well.
July 17th, 2006 at 12:23 am
Hi All
Is there an application that will search on E61’s local memory (native as well as SD card) for a string.
July 17th, 2006 at 4:24 pm
Need help.
Please email me. inthebiz@mac.com
Need to sync my e61 with my mac… address book, mail program, sticky notes etc… can i do it????
THanks Marc
July 18th, 2006 at 1:54 pm
Hi Marc,
I don’t know of any way to syncronize your notes and your (offline) mail on a Mac. But since the device is made for mobile email perhaps you can get it wirelessly instead.
Cheers
July 25th, 2006 at 4:08 am
Has anyone found a descent music player for the e61? The Symbian standard is quite sub-par, especially when you compare it to the elegant interface of an iPod. Why doesn’t somebody just make an iPod-like music player for Symbian using Flash or something? Flash light would be a compatible and flexible software for just about any application. I’d do it myself if I was a better programmer!
Are there any descent Symbian music players that will work on the e61???
July 25th, 2006 at 4:30 am
BTW… have you seen the MP3 player they’re putting on the N91? Is there a way to get that player on the e61? http://darlamack.blogs.com/darlamack/2006/07/nokia_n91_addin.html
August 3rd, 2006 at 1:20 am
Thanks for the tips. I followed all and it worked. However when not using the Nokia music manager the tunes do not seem to be recognised by the Music Player on the phone.
You can play one track by going via the file browser but you have to select each track in turn. Plus the info from the MP3 is not picked up.
Are people seeing the same as me or am I doing something wrong?
Whibble…
August 20th, 2006 at 9:02 pm
I am a windows user and synctunes is only for macs…do u have knowledge of some similar software for windows?
August 24th, 2006 at 11:14 am
Hi guys,
do you know a way to keep album or artist info after importing to E61. Synctunes works fine.. but it does transfer the album/artist info so you end up with a massive tracklist. That’s a bit of a problem when you have 2Gb worth of music on ur phone.
regards,
sidirops
August 29th, 2006 at 7:58 pm
So, I do all these steps, and the playlist format is wrong! I’ve been using the standard SyncTunes settings, nothing crazy.
The specific error is “Invalid Track List”
What do I need to do?
Is anyone else getting these errors?
August 29th, 2006 at 8:16 pm
Ok, I figured out that it creates the wrong filepath in the playlist… I have to physically move the playlists once they’re on the device.
September 18th, 2006 at 4:22 am
Hey Paul, what you can do is in Music Library hit options -> Update Music library. That will scan your phone’s memory and update the music list. Then you can create a playlist etc and play them all at once.
October 6th, 2006 at 8:34 pm
Actually I have a question. When I use the media player in my E61
the sound goes to my connected Bluetooth headset. I have to put off the
bluetooth headset to listen to music through the phone’s loudspeaker, is there a way around that. I mean the sound from the media players goes to the loudspeaker ??
October 22nd, 2006 at 6:58 am
I’m new to using an E61.
Is it just me, or is it dificult to use the built-in music player?
By that I mean, when you are listening to a track, you can’t always go back to the main screen without your music cutting out - and if you do manage to get to your main screen, then you can’t navigate between tracks in the music player.
One or the other.
is there 3rd party software that helps with this, or do you have any advice on how to play my music, and nagivate around the phone.
Thanks,
Wayne
October 26th, 2006 at 6:46 pm
How do I filter unwanted spam email on my e61?
October 29th, 2006 at 6:41 pm
originally I was just having itunes save all the files as mp3 and drag and dropping the files to the card. That works well but this is in some way better since it allows aac files to be converted and played on the e61.
Very excited to use it and see how it works
November 8th, 2006 at 8:56 am
I have a question, I personally like the music player on E-61 and the fact that you can use shortcut keys to control (5-play, 6-skip forward, 4-skip backward, 8-stop). I use the HS-23 headset that came with my 6270 (E-61 box came with a single ear headset) and have been used to skipping songs by pressing the button next to the mic. This works on 6270, but isn’t working in E-61! Any clue as to how I can skip songs using the button, or any third party player that would let me do that? Having the phone in your pocket and controlling the tracks and volume from the headset itself is very convinient. Thanks!
November 10th, 2006 at 1:27 pm
Since I asked a question and found the answer myself, i wanted to update the group so that if anyone else faces the same issue they know what to do. To support track control from headset you need to get HS-6 or HS-20 headsets that allow you to control tracks. HS-23 does not support that in every phone, but was working with 6270 out of luck
November 14th, 2006 at 1:05 am
To re-iterate an earlier question, any similar apps for those of us who have to use Windows?
November 28th, 2006 at 7:31 am
Same question once again… is there a music player for the e61 that displays covers???
That would be great.
Daniel
December 13th, 2006 at 1:44 am
Hi,
Any feed back on how the sound quality of this phone is? In terms of MP3 played thru the headset.
I recently tried the 6280 and it was really good.
cheers,
rishu
December 13th, 2006 at 11:32 am
Two questions:
1) I am a PC user..Any software to help me sync with iTunes?
2) I’ve read at many places that RealPlayer on E61 can be used for music. Has anyone tried it? If so, how do you confugre it?
Thanks in advance.
Sonal
December 13th, 2006 at 11:33 am
I’ve read at many places that RealPlayer on E61 can be used for music. Has anyone tried it? If so, how do you confugre it?
Thanks in advance.
Sonal
December 26th, 2006 at 10:20 am
Hi, I have the e61 with the HS23 headset, only problem is that the headset plays in mono when using music player, but all the beeps and hands free is in stereo, so I know both earpieces work, but not with music. Have tried to configure win enhancements, but all it says is theat it recognises a mono headset. HELP!! Cheers, Firemat
January 3rd, 2007 at 6:40 pm
hi guys,
i have just been able to convert my iturns music onto my nokia E61, through the bluetooth, it is great, takes about 10 mins for a album, but thats ok!.. thanx 4 ur help! tiffany x
January 28th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
“1) I am a PC user..Any software to help me sync with iTunes?”
Just create a folder on the card that you use for music
drag and drop directly from itunes
February 15th, 2007 at 10:21 am
Hey Man…
This is a interesting application of E61.
For me too; my Nokia 6630+1GB Card and my Nokia 6681 are my iPods; whether I’m driving or lying in my bed at night listening to my fave songs.
These things pack a hell of a punch– and the way you discovered syncTunes and then exposed us to this great app is commendable.
Look forward to more such informative and useful posts in your blog.
Keep Posting and God Bless You!!!
Gizmo Buddy
February 15th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Hey Man…
That’s a nice post; keep postin stuff like this.
I put down some of my thoughts in my blog… drop by and comment when you get a chance…
http://gizmo-buddy.blogspot.com/2007/02/my-nokia-is-my-ipod-is-my-psp-my.html
Tk Care & God Bless ya…
-GB
March 2nd, 2007 at 7:25 pm
Generate instant playlists on your Nokia mobile phone! Just found this FREE app to generate playlists for you just by selecting a few songs/artist/genre. Nokia E61 is supported!
http://www.thefilter.com/mobile.aspx
March 5th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
For Windows you can use a similar utility called iTunes Agent. alternately, you can use MediaMonkey which has capability to sync to any USB device.
March 20th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
I have an e62 and put 450 songs on a 2GB card, but the phone’s music player is only saying I have 350. Is it capped?? The card has them all stored on it and I used update music library, but no luck. Anyone else have this problem?
March 26th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
Like others I was getting “unknown” for all the meta data for tracks converted and copied from iTunes via Nokia Music Manager.
I found that if I change the conversion method to AAC (rather than m4a) then the meta data is recognised.
Steps followed:
1. Set up conversion method in Options | Settings | Conversion to AAC (I use auto conversion)
2. Copy from All Music to My Collection
3. Select All in My Collection then File | Convert to Mobile Optimised Format
4. Select All in My Collection then File | Copy to Phone
5. On the phone Options | Music Library | Update Library
Cheers, –Kip
March 26th, 2007 at 11:52 pm
Er, in my description above ignore step 3 - Step 2 will convert the music files as it copies to My Collection. I do note that converting mp3 to aac appears to take a very long time….
Cheers, –Kip
April 24th, 2007 at 11:03 pm
k never mind found the answer myself.
Will there be a Windows version of SyncTunes?
| Permalink
Short answer: No.
Longer answer: No because SyncTunes is written in Applescript using Apple’s Xcode development tools, and uses the iTunes’s built-in Applescript interface commands, it also uses UNIX system commands. If it wasn’t for this easy-ish to use environment I wouldn’t have created SyncTunes.
I don’t have a PC nor any experience in developing on Windows so there will not be a Windows version.
April 25th, 2007 at 12:29 am
synctunes looks great
just what i was looking for
i am gona put it on my blog so spanish readers can learn about it
thx
May 9th, 2007 at 8:44 am
Can anyone please help me with an SD card issue. I also just bought a 2gb mini SD for my Nokia E61. Everything transferred over from the original 64mb card to the new one fine, except for the folder called “RESOURCE”, which has some apps like Adobe Reader, some plugins, and help files. Now matter which way I try, I cannot move this folder on to the new card. I get responses like “mobile phone blocked the operation” (when doing it on my PC), or prevented for “security reasons ” when trying to switch it from card to card via my phone memory.
Obviously there is some sort of protection in place, but how can I get around this to be able to use Adobe and other apps on my new card?
Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks.
May 12th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
An aside, since I just took delivery on my E62 this week and am setting it up for various applications: your screen shot showing Frazier Chorus gave me a huge smile and total earned my respect for your tastes in music. All the best.
May 12th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Uh, whoa, and The Gunman and Other Stories. Uncanny tastes! Paddy and Tim on the same page makes me think I co-authored this. Even Terry Hall/Colourfield stuff is on there.
Uhm, ok. This is about the E62/E61 music player and SyncTunes, not a page to pick out sample artists. Sorry about hijacking the thread.
May 12th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
Thank you for the kind words Miriam. I have been waiting for someone to comment on music displayed. (I was really hoping someone would do that)
Thanks
Ed
May 14th, 2007 at 5:53 am
Wow, I had that Frazier Chorus CD single. That guy had an amazing voice. Thanks for reminding me, I’m going straight to bittorrent (I mean the record shop) right now.
K
May 14th, 2007 at 8:11 am
Hey Guys, I have tried the Itunes Agent over PC and works like a charm.
Follow this guide from S60tips
http://www.s60tips.com/2006/07/22/synchronizing-music-files-and-podcasts-from-itunes-to-s60-phones/
The only thing I could not achieve was getting a “data transfer” over BT. I had to use USB. Anyone?
Excellent Blog BTW. Keep the good work.
May 14th, 2007 at 8:17 am
Forgot to mention. Itunes agent resolves the issue of recognizing tags, but I only could work it out for MP3 tracks. AAC´s were not recognized and always displayed the track number in front of the track name, even when this option is ticked off in Itunes.
Cheers
June 12th, 2007 at 11:57 am
i love the new device, and i am getting the new nokia e62, and i was just wondering, where the hell is the camera located on this blasted phone.
June 16th, 2007 at 2:43 am
Hello kflagg! Well the e61 & e62 does not have a camera while the e61i has it.
June 28th, 2007 at 9:48 am
I use SyncMyMobile to sync iTunes to my Nokia N80. Presume it would work with this phone too. It even creates playlists on the card (Just change the drive to drive E: … well on the N80 the MMC is drive E: anyway. It will even squash the files down to whatever size your want like 64 instead of 128 so I have over 800 songs on my 2GB card now….. Think i’ll upgrade to an E or N95 though when 4 or 8 GB cards com eon board…
November 21st, 2007 at 3:57 pm
I know this is an old thread now.. but if you’re not using iTunes I can recommend Winamp for syncing/transcoding music to an E61. Just make sure ‘aac’ is added to the supported formats and use aacPlus as the preferred transcoding format.
This works great over USB.
January 10th, 2008 at 9:28 am
Hi, frnds there,
I recently purchased one E-61i mobile and it is working properly.
I wud like to know more about use of the Real player.
I usedto receive e-mails directly from the net.unfortunately, iam not
receiving uptodate e-mail, instead 6 - 7 moths old. can any body help
me?