Skype for Symbian: COMING SOON

Good news: Skype for Symbian was the first thing that came to my mind when I purchased my Nokia E61 and discovered the Internet Tel. app (which has no use currently). I looked on Skype.com but found nothing about a version for Symbian, what at bummer … And now rumors are spreading that Skype is working on a version for Symbian S60v3!!! Yeah!
Read this article at Reuters carries the news now “officially”. A rumor no more, it’s true.
Helsingin Sanomat, the “New York Times of Finland”, talked to CEO of Skype who admitted that a Symbian version of Skype IS coming.I don’t know when this will be but I’m sure we will be Skyping our friends soon

IM+ vs. AgileMessenger

Because some of you readers suggested I do this I have written a comparison about different IM Clients
I know this comparison is not a very informative but it has the basics which (usually) determine what we choose

Here is a simple comparison of AgileMessenger to IM+ both the most popular IM Clients for E61:
AgileMessenger:

Good: It’s free right now in beta but will later get a price when it comes out of beta :/
Bad: Has some glitches, but they aren’t that bad (with the newest beta there is almost none however)

IM+:

Good: It looks somewhat better and… that’s pretty much it
Bad: It costs! It’s free for 5 days only, and then its $29.95. That’s crazy for a IM Client (at least I think so)!

Results: I use the Agile Messenger and I like it, I would never be willing to pay $30 for a small app!

PS: Keep in mind that this review has been written with price as the main factor.

Update: Some readers said that mig33 is Muuch better, try it out all you “chatters”.

Update #2: I might change to nimbuzz. The reasons:
-I need something cheap (I don’t use IM enough to pay for a IM client)
-I only use MSN and Google Talk (mig33 doesn’t have it Google Talk)

You can get Nimbuzz here: http://www.nimbuzz.com/en/

Active Standby – make it more useful

I didn’t write about this topic because I did this immediately after I got my E61 and found all the “corners” of it, everything that was possible with it. But this is really important, it makes using your E61 so much more enjoyable.So today going through AllAboutSymbian’s S60 3rd Edition section I noticed this Really nice article about Active Standby personalization

Mobile Search 2.08 – The File Search you want

I was told about the Mobile Search by SEPT Solutions. I have tried it out and this is what I think about it:

Pros: It’s the only File Searcher available for the S60 3rd Edition (or maybe I just don’t know about others)
and it’s a good one at that, it does its job really well!

Cons: It’s not free :/  but there is a Demo

The main difference between the Demo and actual version is that the Demo show a message that says Demonstration Version when you Search and when you open the program. This gets somewhat annoying over time.
That is the only difference that I noticed in my quick “test” but I’m pretty sure that as new versions become available there will be greater gap between free and real. Support&encourage the programmers! So that there would be More for E61 and S60 software in general (that works on E61)!PS: You can find Mobile Search 2.08 here as well as in my looong (and everexpanding) list of Software

Shortcuts and Secret Codes for E61

In an effort to organize all the contents of my blog I have moved this post to the Shortcuts page. I hope you don’t mind

Flash Lite Exchange – More “Engaging Experiences”

While I’ve been reading all the cool blogs (these link to some of them) I haven’t seen anything on any blog about Flash Lite which comes standard on the Nokia E61. I have some experience with Flash so I went online and found the Flash Lite Exchange, and tested some of the apps on my E61. All of them worked very well so I decided to write a post about the topic. As a sidenote, Nokia E61 (Nokia Europe’s E61 Site) has Flash Lite version 1.1. Flash is a very engaging experience as you can see from sites like WayFinder Earth’s Website  and now S60 phones are able to engage with Flash (Lite). You might be asking What is Flash Lite? Flash Lite is the Flash technology specifically developed for mobile phones… Just check this out

And there is a Ton of apps to be found for the E61 at the Flash Lite Exchange  it is well worth visiting: all of the Symbian 60 files are for S60 3rd Edition so ALL of the apps work on E61 (write in comments if one doesn’t). I’ve tried FloogleSMS and WhackAttack and they worked on my E61.

If you don’t trust me, or just want to see that it will for sure work with the E61 check this out

Yeah so if 200 apps isn’t enough for you then get some more  

Software for the E61 (that I use and/or like)

Here are (almost) All of the apps that I know of, (or use, have, plan to get,)or think might be good for you: (almost in alphabetical order)

* means apps related to E61 but not necessarily for the E61 itself
i means requires internet access
? means the app has competitors (which in my opinion are better)
b means the app doesn’t work well (or not at all) though made for S60 3rd Edition
d mean the app is a demo/trial (and full version is for purchase)

• AgileMessenger (I think it’s the Best IM Client for E61)
• Adobe PDF (Reader)
• Autolock (v1.1)
• ? AquaCalendar 5 (stable version: a Calendar)
• Brain Age (brain game found on Techmundo)
• Bantumi Open GL (the classical board game for S60 3rd)
• Calcium (A better Calculator)
• Contacts Transfer (just incase)
• Chords for S60 (an interesting app)
• DivX Mobile (thanks to e61life)
• Dreamway (a game found at StmcGill.wordpress.com)
• DROS (DOS like shell with BASIC interpreter, I don’t use it but you might want it)
• *Firmware Update (done thru PC, not really software)
• ? FExplorer (another File Manager)
• * Flash Lite Exchange (read my article about this)
• Google Maps (go to this address on your E61)
• *i Google Mobile (a website)
• b GCalSync (sync of Google Calendar and E61 Calendar: doesn’t work well)
• b Golf Pro Contest (doesn’t always start on my E61)
• HandyTaskman (here is a Demo)
• HandyExpense (also Demo)
• Handy Weather (demo and real are here)
• Internet Radio for S60 (Nokia Opensource)
• iSkoot (Skype for your Nokia: not sure if it will work on E61)
• Mobile Search (from Nokia)
• Mobile “Desktop/File” Search (from SEPT Solutions)
• Mobile Office (from SEPT Solutions as well)
• Map24 (similar to Google Maps and WayFinder Earth)
• MobiPocket Reader (probably best ebook reader)
• ?i mig33 (another FREE IM client)
• Mobile Weather (not from Nokia, not too good)
• Metro (subway info for big towns)
• ?i Nimbuzz (perhaps best FREE IM Client)
• OggPlayer (a substitute for the regular Music Player)
• Opera Mini (a better/worse browser)
• Psiloc Hotspot Finder (pretty much free)
• Psiloc Wireless Presenter
• Podcasting (from Nokia)
• Park Suite (the N91 version): Wifi Detector, Cast, and Channels (just for fun)
• ? Pdf+ (beta: for now Adobe is better)
• ? Papyrus (coming soon: Calendar)
• Reuters Mobile (the wapsite)
• Resco Photo Viewer (free trial)
• Satellite (weather info from Satellite)
• S60 SpotOn (a flashlite app – keeps light on)
• *i Skweezer (nice little thing to reduce data usage)
• * SUPER (covert your movies to format that you can watch on E61) see this for help
• SysExplorer (similar to File Manager but somewhat better/worse)
• SExplorer (from Simon Judge: I think this one is not too good, but it’s simple)
• Screenshot (from Antony Pranata)
• Snake (3D Snake – This is Awesome)
• S-Tris (Tetris game)
• b SkyForce or d Free (another game, but it has some bugs)
• *i SoonR (Awesome website for syncing over internet from virtually anywhere, it has a simple site for phones)
• StopWatch (I found it at Sanyci’s)
• *SMS Accelerator (from Nokia, not really software)
• *?d TMPGEnc 4.0 (another video converter)
• ?i TiVi VoIP Phone (Another VoIP/IM client – plus this one seems to have free calling read this about it)
• ? Tasky (a free Task manager)
• WidSets (I LOVE it)
• *i Wikipedia mobile (encycylopedia)
• WorldMate (from MobiMate)
• ?b Wayfinder Earth Beta (much like Google Maps)
• *Wireless Keyboard application (application to make Nokia Wireless Keyboard SU-8W work with E61)
• Xedious (a cool game)
• ib Yahoo Go! for Nokia S60 (Yahoo for your Nokia – N90 version should work on E61)
• Y-Browser (similar to File Manager but somewhat better/worse)
• b Zelda (the Nintendo game – available as Java app:  might not work very well)
• Zip Manager (the original from Nokia)
• And MORE coming…

I’ll make the list more precise (and lenghty) as I find/get notice of more applications if you know of any app that works on E61 post a comment about it under this article or send email with Subject: E61 Software To: jpoysti(at)gmail.com (replace (at) with @). Thanks!

Notice: Most of these are Nokia E61 Freeware, but some are apps that cost and some are for another S60 3rd Edition phone (or S60 in general) so they should work with E61 but if you have any problems with any of these apps report this in the comments. This is just a portion of all available apps: there are about/over 200 apps for the E61 so there are lots of choices (and lots of work on finding all of them)!

Sooner or later you’ll get SoonR

SoonR is a program for the computer that, when the program’s running you can have access to your files (and Skype etc as well) wirelessly over an internet connection.

Yeah it’s really nice! I personally found out about it through nokme.com a blog about the E61 run by a owner from Russia, Pasha. Definitely see his site if you haven’t done so yet! Anyway, through SoonR you can sync your email etc that you have in MS Outlook on your computer…

It looks like this on the E61

So head on to SoonR and get the thing going

PS: there is no app to install on your phone, it works through the Web (just go to soonr.com on your phone and login to sync)

Update: Now there is a competitor Rocketalk, haven’t tired it but it sounds&seems good. (It works on S60, supposedly E61 as well)

E61 Firmware Update NOW ONLINE

The Nokia E61 Firmware update that all of us have been waiting for is NOW available ONLINE
That’s right, just click here to start the process (you can do it through your computer)

Just remember to save your data First because it deletes it all when you do this
More about the update can be found here:
Nokme.com and All things fony have articles about this worth checking if you’ve got the time

The Good (and Bad) of the E61

The Nokia E61 is a really good smartphone, but I must admit that it does have some glitches. Hey! No one or nothing is perfect.Just a side not that some of the glitches have been fixed with the coming of the new firmware update available at a Nokia Service Center near you. Ok lets get to it, 

The Good:

In Calendar when you make a new entry and cursor is on an e. g. 11am entry the new entry’s time will be 11am too! Also, I found out recently (after I purchased my E61) that the E61 has two (internal) antennas, one for GSM, the other for 3G. (http://david.kabal.org/nokia-e61-review.html)

What I also love is the design and materials used for the E61. I accidentally dropped the phone a week after purchase and I thought that it was done; maybe not totally broken but at least severely scratched. But what a surprise when I cleaned the dirt off the part that had hit the ground (concrete to be precise) I saw not a single scratch! I was SO happy because I thought that I had destroyed my brand new gadget. And last and (perhaps) the most important feature that we all appreciate is the Wi-Fi that this little (read compared to laptops) gadget has. Here are some screenshots of things that are good:

 

Now the Bad:-There are many bugs, you can read about them around the internet… One of many is that in the Web Browser, which itself is really awesome, sometimes when trying to Go to a web address it doesn’t show the Go to-button

what I do in this case is hold menu button untile it shows open apps then click back on Web. Here is some more that is from the Browser:

Some other ones are the Standby screen not showing the selection key options as pictured below:

Also the Alarm show time one minute off when you set alarm (not the clock itself):

There are lots of other things too… Look at these:

Also You can contribute by submitting your (positive and negative) findings in the Comments of this post!