Sync Your E71 Calender & Contacts With Ovi's New Web Based Service

homescreen - Share on Ovi

I'm extremely excited to tell you guys that Nokia's Ovi service has finally been expanded beyond Share On Ovi (Photos). This service has been available for about a month now, but Ovi has sent out an email today to make everything official. You can now sync your Nokia E71's Calendar entries and Contacts with Ovi Sync and view and modify your information from any computer with a internet connection.

Sync Your E71 Calendar

I'm really liking the look of the web-based calendar. Ovi has done a great job of making it useable and easy to manage. I can add or delete entries, modify meetings or tasks, and add details. It's going to be so much easier to work with a real online to-do list and make sure that it properly syncs with my E71. I really think it rivals Google Calendar's functionality especially since it's so easy to use. It's almost completely eliminated my need for Google Calendar. You really need to try it yourself to understand how good it works. Check out the screenshot below.

calendar - Share on Ovi

Sync Your E71 Contacts

Also new is the Ovi Contacts service. Here you can add, delete, modify all your E71contacts as well as create groups and modify those. It's ten times easier to do this on a real computer instead of spending time inputting contact details from your phone. I don't have a screenshot to provide because I don't feel like blanking out all my contact details.

You can also show your Flickr friend's photo streams on your Ovi dashboard. This is great to keep track of your buddies or family who refuse to transfer from Flickr to Ovi.

The Bad?

The only downfall right now is you have to sync manually. It would be awesome if you can schedule a sync but I'm sure this functionality will be here in the near future. Other than that I haven't seen anything that I don't like so far.

More Screenshots

Rafe from All About Symbian has put up a more detailed review of the new Ovi service. Click here to check it out.

See An Intro Video & Try It Out
Go to www.ovi.com right now and sign up for an account. If you already have a Nokia Account you must use this to login. If you've used Nokia Email beta or Files On Ovi then use that login. It's not the same as your Share On Ovi login, but they will be combining the two in the near future. Once your all signed up you will get a text message that will setup your E71 so that everything can sync.

Have any of you already tried this out? If not, let me know how you like it. Since I'm running on Linux Ubuntu instead of Windows (which I have to talk about again), this new Ovi service has really made life much easier without PC Suite. What are your thoughts?

I'll be doing an article soon comparing Ovi Calendar to Google Maps. Should be interesting indeed.

E71 Battery Tips: Get The Most Out Of Your Day

The Nokia E71 has one of the strongest batteries of all high end Nokia devices. The 1500mah battery should last you all day - plus more - even with push email on and the music player running for hours. But sometimes you just use the living crap out of your mp3 playing, email downloading, picture taking, web browsing, message sending, dictionary checking, map navigating, - cell phone. And I'm sure I left out a ton of uses that many of you put your beloved E71 through.

Using these simple tips, you can get the most out of your E71 battery. I'm sure many of you already know these steps, but sometimes it's nice to get a little reminder.

1. Set your Network Mode to GSM Mode when not using 3g.
When your running low on battery life, or you don't get a 3g connection in your area, improve your battery life by changing your network mode to GSM only. 3g is best for internet use and is the best way to go for voice as well, but GSM ain't that bad for voice. If I'm not planning on using the internet and I'm running low on battery, I'd shut 3g off. This will stop your phone from searching constantly for a 3g signal that might not even exist in your area or be spotty.

2. Change Your Screen Display Settings.
These Nokia handsets already have bright and beautiful screens. There's no need to keep the light set to the brightest possible setting when your trying to be battery consious. That will drain your battery fast! Then again, I don't like my screen dim and dull either. I set mine to the setting right below the highest. It keeps the screen bright and sharp, and does a lot to save on battery life.

Also, set your light time-out to something lower like 30 seconds. You'd be surprised at how much an extra 20 seconds at a time can drain your battery. Say you touch your phone 200 times throughout the day. Thats an extra 40 minutes your backlight is on if you keep at 60 seconds, as apposed to 40 seconds.

And when your on that very last bar, just suck it up and turn your brightness all the way down. It should add a good deal of time to the small amound of life you have left.

3. Don't Leave Applications Running When Unused.
Keeping applications open in the background when your not using them can be costly to your battery. A lot of times, new S60 owners don't know that if you don't properly close out of the application, it will just get minimized to the background. Hold down the Home/Menu button for 3 seconds to pull up your task manager.

4. Turn Off WLAN Scanning if your not using it.
If you don't turn this off, your phone will always be searching for a hotspot and waste battery life. It's just not necessary unless your near a known hotspot browsing the web.

5. Don't use your bluetooth headset if you absolutely don't have to.
Alot of people use bluetooth constantly, but this will really get your battery working. After the work day is over and you end up hitting the bars, leave your bluetooth in the car and do your best to conserve your E71 battery. It really sucks when you don't have a car charger.

Are you happy with your E71 battery? What does your battery life look like? Are there any other tips that you guys and gals use to save battery life on your E71? I'm all ears to learning new tricks so I don't get caught offline.

Exciting Announcement: I Got A New Job As A Point Of Contact For Symbian S60 Ambassadors


If you haven't already heard, I'm so happy to tell all of you that today is my first day at a new job. There was a position posted at the S60 Ambassadors site a few months back, I decided to go for it and this is where I'm at today. I'm now an external contractor for Nokia and work on the S60 Marketing Team. I will be the one of the main points of contact for everyone who signs up for the S60 Ambassadors Program.

What Is S60 Ambassadors?

If you haven't already signed up, S60 Ambassadors is a program that anyone can join. Basically you go out and show friends, family, co-workers, etc. your awesome device and the cool things it can do, then report back to the S60 Ambassador site that persons feedback and your experience. Depending on the rules of the campaign you entered, there are certain rewards for being a S60 Ambassador and contributing your reports. Click here to learn more about Ambassadors.

This is where my job comes in. I, along with a few others on my team, will be reading and moderating those reports and interacting with the Ambassadors. I can't explain to you how excited I am to start my job. There are some great campaigns coming up for S60 Ambassadors so go get signed up and become an Ambassador.

What Does Mike's New Job Mean For This Blog?

Not much. I will still have time to write articles and keep you all up to date with the ongoings of the Nokia community and everything about the Nokia E71.

Keep checking back for some upcoming new articles about a few applications I've been meaning to show you guys and even more tips for the Nokia E71.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Last.fm & The E71 = Bliss, Thanks To A 3rd Party Application Called Mobbler

Dexter from E71 Blog has just posted a great rundown of how to get last.fm on your Nokia E71. Last.fm is a great music streaming website that lets you pick what type of music you want to hear then it delivers the tracks.

I've been using Mobbler on my E71 for a few weeks now and so far it works pretty good. You can leave this application running for hours and not have to worry about the battery, since of course the E71 has remarkable battery life. On my N82 the phone would die after like 2 hours. I've left Mobbler running on my E71 for 5 hours the other day and only lost a few bars.

For a review about Mobbler click here and read Dexter's article (with screenshots).

Click here to download Mobbler for your E71 and start streaming your Last.fm music.

Have any of you already tried this application? Let me know your thoughts on it.

I Found Some E71 Themes That Are Meant For.... The Nokia E71

Since the E71 is so new and features slightly different icons and UI's compared to older S60 devices, it's been hard to find themes that are created with the Nokia E71 in mind, but after much searching I have found a few that are near perfect.

Theme maker Gabb makes themes for his E71 and recently came out with a few that I actually like alot. He has the most complete set of custom icons I've seen for the E71.

Check out the screenshots...





You might notice a few things are still missing however in these custom themes. Nokia really made it hard for theme makers to get it right on the E71.

Click here
to view and download these free E71 themes.


Who is your favorite theme maker for the E71?

E71 & Nokia Email Service: Nokia's Solution To Our Email Woes?

I know I may be a little late on this, but in case you haven't heard Nokia is currently working on a new application that is supposed to be their ultimate email solution. As you have probably already realized, the built in email application that comes with the E71 may not be good enough for the heavy email user. I've had to rely on other 3rd party applications to handle my email needs, until Nokia's new solution came along.

Nokia Email Service is still in beta and in the testing phase, but like always Nokia allows it's customers to try out applications they are working on to get feedback. As of right now corporate email addresses and hotmail accounts are not supported (probably because it's in testing mode), but I'm using my Gmail account with it and it's working beautifully. If your provider uses POP or IMAP the setup is as simple as entering your username and password.

So far my email comes to my E71 faster than it does the Gmail inbox on my computer. Both inbox's are perfectly in sync and the application is extremely reliable. It's replaced all my other email solutions on my E71. I can type out an email when I'm offline and have it send next time I want to go online. Switching on/off email retrieval is only a few clicks.

Nokia Email Video Review

I just found this on youtube and it's a great overview of the application on the E71. It's 8 minutes long so grab a bag of popcorn and sit back...



Want To Read A Good Text Review Of Nokia Email? Click here to read a more detailed review of the new email application where you can learn about the number shortcuts, local folders, etc. A real good write-up with all the pros and cons.

What's the cost? Right now this application is free. However, I'm not sure what Nokia's plans are once the beta phase is over.

Can I Add It To My Homescreen? Yes. It works perfectly.

To follow the beta testing phase and leave feedback go to Nokia Beta Labs. It's highly recommended that you voice your opinion to Nokia so they can work out all the bugs and add features.

Go to email.nokia.com to get started.

Have you already tried it out? I'd love to hear all over your comments about Nokia's new attempt to rival it's competitors with a better email solution.

Deal Alert: SanDisk 8gb MicroSD Card Down To $22.30, Upgrade Your E71


Right now Amazon.com is selling the 8gb microSD card that works with the Nokia E71 for only $22.30. Helluva a deal considering your getting so much space to load up all your media, just like you would an 8gb iPhone. I have this memory card in use for both my E71 and N82 and I gotta say it's really worth it.


The prices at Amazon shift often so the link below might show a slightly different price, but I'm sure it won't be too far off.



Click here to get the 8gb microSD for the E71 for only $22.30. And here is the rest of it.

E71 Tip: Hold Down Home/Menu Key To View Open Applications & Multitask

This one is for the beginners. I've had a few emails over the recent days asking me how to see open applications and tasks. It's really one of the most simple shortcuts on the Nokia E71.

To multitask and switch through open applications simply hold down the Home key aka the Menu key on your E71 for a few seconds. This will bring up a list of all the running applications. You'll sometimes notice that the Contacts, Log, or Gallery is open all the time. This really isn't a big deal as those system tasks hardly use any RAM, but you can also close them completely if you'd like to.

To close an application in the task viewer just push the "C" or "delete" button and the application or task will close.

Nokia has made a short tutorial video covering this on the Nokia N95. It works exactly the same on the E71...



I know that I have covered this and other various shortcuts for the Nokia E71 in the past but sometimes people need a refresher and also there are a ton of new readers here at the blog. Stay tuned for more application reviews and tips for the Nokia E71 in the coming days.

If you have any tips or shortcuts that you know for the E71 feel free to share them in the comments below.

Next E71 Firmware: What Bugs Or Problems Can Be Fixed? Any Missing Features?

The release of the Nokia E71 has brought an onslaught of brand new Nokia users that are looking for certain features they had in previous phone brands. Not to mention a handful of bugs and annoyances that have been reported since the latest Eseries smartphone made it's debut. Of course this is expected when a device first comes out and I'm confident that Nokia will work hard to address some of the issues.

A few E71 (hopefuly) firmware fixes off the top of my head...

- Camera Fix: photos show a purple haze.
- Make real auto-focus instead of having to use a shortcut button for every picture.
- Some incoming calls aren't identified as contacts in the phonebook when they really are.
- Make the built in Email application work how it should instead of constantly dropping the connection.
- Make Contacts & Calendar fit in better with themes.

No word yet when the next E71 firmware update will be, hopefully soon since the phone has been available for a few months already.

I know there are a handful more and I'll leave it up to all of you voice your thoughts.

Free E71 Theme: Red Black By Taieb With Custom Icons

Theme maker Taieb really has some of the best custom icons I've seen. They are colorful and easy to distinct between applications. This blood red theme gives a very bold and crisp look to the Nokia E71.



It may be hard to find themes that work 100% properly on the Nokia E71 because many theme makers have yet to use or own one. Most of them own the N82 or N95. If you know of any themes that look absolutely perfect on the E71 let us know in the comments below.

Click here to download this free E71 theme.

Get The Official E71 Version Of Nokia Internet Radio

About a month ago I posted that there was no version of Nokia Internet Radio specifically meant for the Nokia E71. Thanks to a comment by Aditya.H here at Fanatics I can inform you guys and gals that there is now a Nokia Internet Radio version for the E71.

Before this people were using the N95 or another version but I was getting random crashes and sometimes stations would not load properly. So far this new version solves that I've noticed.

If you haven't tried Nokia Internet Radio I highly recommend it. It's one of the best free solutions for streaming radio over the internet to your E71. What does this application do?
More than just music
Choose from a large variety of stations and shows, including news, sporting events and music.

Discover and enjoy
Browse for your favorite radio programs by genre, language, or country, or search by station name.

Top stations
Explore the most popular stations and stay in touch with the mobile internet radio community.

Always with you
Nokia Internet Radio service is supported by both packet data and WLAN connections.


Click here to download Nokia Internet Radio for the E71.

E71 Freeware: JoikuSpot Light - Turn Your E71 Into A WLAN Hotspot

Have you ever been away from home and wished that your PSP, iPod Touch, or Laptop had a internet connection but couldn't find a WLAN hotspot nearby? Why not tap into your Nokia E71's high speed 3g connection? Meed JoikuSpot Light.

Nokia Conversations recently covered this creative and useful application. Here's what they said..
Despite the broadening reach of the Wi-Fi cloud across cities, there remain large holes that need plugging, urban as well as rural. So with 3G and faster HSDPA networks plugging many of those holes, JoikuSoft lets us and our friends tap into this by transforming your 3G signal into a secure Wi-Fi hotspot.


Mark Guim from The Nokia Blog has posted a great demo video of JoikuSpot working on Nokia N95 8gb. He shows off how his Mac computer is using the N95's 3g connection and sees it as a Wlan connection. Check out the video...



The video below is of Jouni Salmi, Founder and Partner at JoikuSoft. He talks about the capabilities of JoikuSoft and shows off his product.



Click here to learn more and download JoikuSpot Light for your Nokia E71.

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