Have you ever wanted to take apart your Nokia E71 for whatever reason? Personally…I have not had the urge just yet. I hate opening up phones because I feel like they are never the same after, but some of you I know cannot resist the temptation. Maybe you have dust under your screen or want to change out the E71 housing – who knows? Before I go on I must say this. TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Mark from TheNokiaBlog.com recently posted up a handy tutorial for taking apart or disassembling the Nokia E71. The disassembly tutorial gives you step by step instructions along with pictures.
Mark says,
Want to change how your Nokia E71 looks? Why not try a different colored keypad or faceplate? Here are photos and instructions which show you how you can do it yourself. Even though it’s simple, I have to warn you to only try this if you are prepared to risk ending up with a broken phone.
He also mentions that you can buy spare & replacement parts for the E71 at CNN.CN. I have used them before A LONG TIME AGO and their service was great.
One of his readers changed out the keypad on his grey E71 and it now has a white keypad. Personally I think it takes away from the rest of the phone be see for yourself.
Click here to find disassembly instructions for the Nokia E71.
Have any of you tampered with your E71 or put it under the knife? Anyone change out the body and mix up some colors? Feel free to send me some images to share with the rest of the community. Email me at mike@e71fanatics.com or find me on twitter @e71fanatics.
I just wanted to let you guys know real quick that Nokia S60 theme master tehkSeven (you know who I’m talking about) is taking suggestions for custom 3rd party application ideas for his popular Seven icon set which features glass-like icons, as pictured to the left (screenshot may be a little blurry..sorry). If your weren’t around last week I posted an article about his latest Enteriprise theme. Be sure to check it out!
tehkSeven already got most of my bases covered including icons for Mobbler and Image Exchange, but I’m sure there are a lot more Symbian S60 applications out there that I’m not aware of. A few that I’d suggest are…
One of the most commonly asked questions that I find on twitter is “how can I use twitter from my E71?”. Hopefully this article can be a help to you. I’m sure you’ll be thanking me once you try this yourself.
The hugely popular up and coming social networking site is gaining membership by the millions and it’s becoming more crucial to be able to keep up with friends and colleagues while you’re on the go. Heck, you can even find @e71fanatics on Twitter, ready to answer questions about the Nokia E71 (follow me if you want :). A few months back I started using Twitter on a daily basis and realized I needed to not be chained to my PC to stay updated.
I’m not talking about simply sending tweets from my E71 via the messaging app. Nope, that is not enough. I wanted to get the full experience. Pictures, replies, links, followers, THE WORKS!
That’s when a certain application caught my attention...
Gravity Is The Solution
Gravity is a twitter application for the Nokia E71 and all Nokia smartphones that does a better job than many PC applications I’ve used – including Tweetdeck. That’s quite a bold statement but Gravity shows the power that Symbian S60 devices can have.
Overview of Gravity’s Features:
Compatible with Twitter and Laconica
All functions available on your S60 phone: tweet, reply, DM, follow & unfollow, create favourites, search, auto-update and many more
Tabbed view of your Timeline, Replies, Messages, Friends
Setup and use as many accounts as you want at the same time
Twitter-Search section with multiple search tabs and Twitter Trends
Post pictures via TwitPic
Open URLs from any Tweet
As you can see this application has everything you need. The developer is constantly updating Gravity and it now includes options for notification sounds and vibrations to let you know when someone tweets, replies, etc. And it’s very customizable.
Check out a few screenshots from my Nokia E71…
Video Review
Rita from Symbian-Guru.com actually made a video review of Gravity when it was still in it’s early stages. Keep in mind it was a beta version and many changes have been applied since this video…
Get Gravity
Gravity isn’t free, although it is the best $10 I’ve spent in a long time. Maybe even better than the $8 I spent at Five Guys Burgers this afternoon. And believe me that burger was damn good. Grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, ketchup & mustard, mayo, bacon, cheese. Yum.
Back on topic…
Gravity comes with a 10 day full trial. It really lets you get a feel for the application and actually become attached to it. Give it a try by visiting http://mobileways.de/products/gravity/ and get started.
Are you on Twitter? Do you tweet from your E71 already? I know I’ve connected with a good handful of you in recent weeks. For E71 help & discussion follow @e71fanatics. If you’d just like to talk about anything mobile follow my personal account @MikeMacias.
Hope everyone has a great week. See you in the social interweb!
Not more than 3 weeks ago theme master tehkSeven took the Symbian S60 world by storm and gave it a swift kick in the rear. Remember the post I made about the N86 styled theme? It was obviously well received with over 50 comments praising tehk for his wonderful creation.
Since then my favorite them maker has been hard at work with his own icon set that he properly named Seven. Personally I like these icons even better than the “touch Ovi” icons that we’re seeing on the newer Nokia devices. Check out this exclusive sneak preview of his newest Enterprise theme with the Seven icon set…
All of these screenshots were taken from my Nokia E71. Even the Mobbler application and Image Exchange application icons are customized, as shown below…
And of course the Calendar and Contact applications are customized to match the theme.
The Enterprise theme is not yet released (as of April 22nd, 9:30pm). Like I said in the title this is a SNEAK PREVIEW! Keep checking http://themes.tehkseven.net and be sure to bookmark the page. He has a new layout that is of course very clean! Congrats to tehk for this slick creation.
If anybody wants a certain screenshot let me know and I’ll try and get one for you.
Stay tuned! I’ll post the link to the theme when it is officially released.
Nokia E71 and time. It's not always easy. What if you’re checking Google Maps, the Internet, or Nokia Messaging? If you need the time immediately you are – as my mom would say – shitouttaluck.
The beauty of the E71 and all Symbian S60 smartphones is the availability of 3rd party applications. They may be hard to find, but they are there if you look hard enough. A few weeks back I showed you all the E71x coming to AT&T here in the United States. I got a few emails from readers asking how to get the time in the bottom bar while navigating the menu and other applications so that we can easily see the time from any screen. Just like the picture of the E71x to the right. This is a small feature that comes with Symbian S60 Feature Pack 2 devices. Our unlocked E71s are Feature Pack 1. But I have found the solution…
I knew there was already an application called Timebar, but this app was unsigned. I hate dealing with unsigned apps so I’ve been on the lookout for one that you can install without any problems. This is where FreeTimeBox comes in to rescue us. I’ve had it installed on my E71 for about an hour now and so far so good.
Check out the images below. I have the time showing on the bottom right.Sorry there are no screenshots, for some reason the screenshots weren’t showing up with the time.
Say you don’t want the time to show up on a certain application. For instance it automatically shows on the homescreen. Obviously I don’t need that. Go into the settings and you can “blacklist” certain applications.
To find this setting go to Settings > Time Display > Black/White List Apps.
You can also configure the position of the clock (if you want it on the top that works too!), which pre-installed font is used, the font size, color, bold, italic, opacity, background color, seconds, time format, and a whole lot of sync settings. I’m unsure exactly what the sync settings do. Maybe sync the timezone of your E71 with the current location? I don’t use this feature.
FreeTimeBar is one of those “must-have” applications on your E71.
Here is the developers blog. It seems he has too much traffic and doesn’t work. So I’ve uploaded the file to my server. Let me know if the link below doesn’t work.
A few weeks ago Google Maps was updated to rid us of the nagging access point question every five minutes. Thanks Google for fixing the problem! It seems that the application also runs much smoother than before and maps are loading faster. But that isn't the big news. Below is something that was added a few months ago, that I failed to tell you about. Sorry!
Share Your Location With Friends
If you haven't updated Google Maps in a long while then you're missing out on the new Google Latitude feature which lets you share your position with authorized friends and family in real time. You can also see their position in Google Maps. Great thing about this is you don't need an E71 to have this feature. This is available for most java enabled phones and also from Maps on the PC web browser. So your friends and family can use this for their not-so-smart phones as well!
With Google Latitude, you can:
See where your friends are and what they are up to Quickly contact them with SMS, IM, or a phone call Maintain complete control over your privacy Enjoy Google Latitude on your phone, PC, or both.
Latitude is a new feature of Google Maps for mobile, as well as an iGoogle gadget, that allows you to share your location with your friends and to see their approximate locations, if they choose to share them with you. You can use your Google account to sign in and easily invite friends to Latitude from your existing list of contacts or by entering their email addresses. Google Talk is integrated with Latitude, so you and your friends can update your status messages and profile photos on the go and see what everyone is up to. You can also call, SMS, IM, or email each other within the app.
Very cool. If you're still interested check out the video below...
To get Google Maps go to m.google.com from your E71.
Visit www.google.com/latitude to learn more about Latitude. Are any of you already using location sharing on your Nokia E71?
Perhaps the most common question I see from Nokia E71 owners is "How can I check my email?". Sure there is the default mailbox that came with the E71, but as many of you know it's extremely weak, slow, and inneffecient. Nokia's latest solution is Nokia Messaging, but I know first hand that many of you are not happy with what it has to offer. There are a handful of other applications that handle email, but one in particular has really stood out to me. Emoze offers a little more, allowing you to send/recieve Facebook messages directly from your E71 smartphone. Read more for the details...
Emoze is a big player in the push email business and they are currently making waves. They have pushed the biggest dog out of the way by beating Blackberry at it's own game, Emoze can deliver email faster then Blackberry. I have recently learned (even though it's old news) that Emoze can do more than just provide you access to email and sync your calendar/contacts, it also has Facebook messaging capabilities. This is a big deal for the millions of Facebook users. No longer are you chained to your PC browser for Facebook messaging, you can now get it in email format on your phone. This should help most of you cater to your "social" side.
Download the Emoze app by going to m.emoze.com from your Nokia E71. You will pick Facebook from a list and input your Facebook user name and password. At that point you are ready to start sending messages as if you were logged into Facebook at home on your computer. Within a couple minutes Emoze will have downloaded your current messages and you can read and reply to them as well. I haven't seen any other service that can pull this off.
The people behind Emoze worked quite hard so you can load it on dozens of handsets including Symbian, Windows Mobile and perhaps most importantly, nearly all handsets that support java applications. The java version will work on a variety of popular handsets from manufacturers like Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Nokia including S40. This way you can connect with your friends and family who aren't fortunate enough to own a Nokia Eseries device.
It's nice to see email companies bridging the gap between work and play. Emoze can also connect to the following email types:
- Outlook - Gmail - Hotmail - Facebook messaging - Your own home or ISP email account - OWA Corporate email
Nokia Beta Labs is at it again. Meeting, collaborating, and sharing is the focus of their latest shenanigans. Using your Nokia E71 to communicate and share documents, photos, etc. is obviously the main point of the device. Email, sms, mms, calling, bluetooth are the basics of communicating.
Nokia wants to take this to the next level with Nokia Easy Meet, using the internet, the E71 and even the PC to communicate and share in real time. It’s a little hard to explain so just check out the description and video…
Nokia Easy Meet is an intuitive mobile collaboration tool that allows for real-time sharing of content using mobile devices as well as PCs. The service is extremely easy to use. In fact, no software download is required for any device. All you need is access to an Internet browser. From either a PC or a mobile device, the user simply has to enter the Nokia Easy Meet URL and then create a meeting. The service supports regularly scheduled as well as ad hoc meetings.
Once you create a meeting, the service sends out an email and/or SMS to each participant. With just one click, each participant can join the meeting and view the content shared by the host. Content can come directly from the host’s device or from remote servers (via OVI Files).
Unlike many other web-based collaboration tools, Nokia Easy Meet allows mobile devices users to fully participate in the service. Mobile device users can see, interact with, and share content directly on or from the device. By providing complete functionality to mobile devices, mobile participants aren’t at a disadvantage in the meeting setting.
The following features are currently supported by Easy Meet:
File Sharing, supporting PPT, JPEG and PNG
Chat
Meeting Minutes
Whiteboard
Gesturing
File Downloads
Participant Awareness
Remote Content Access (OVI Files).
One click to join a conference, including voice conference
Looks cool huh? The idea seems cool, but how will this play in the real world? I haven’t tried it yet but I do know when people want to communicate from their mobiles it’s because they are out and about, on the go. Waiting for someone to login to the website might be a pain. I suppose this would be great if you have time to sit down and focus. I especially like the fact that you can do this from the PC as well.
We’re always looking for ways to be faster and more efficient in everything we do in life. The Nokia E71 essentially does this - makes my life easier. Besides all the major things it does for me, there are a ton of very minor features that we often overlook. I hate hassling with the small things that waste time and distract you from your overall goal. If you take some time to look for shortcuts and use them constantly they become second nature. I'm sure many of you already know these tips exist. But for new E71 users these shortcuts shortcuts should be very helpful.
Keep reading to see if these suggestions can help you out...
Creating & Sending A Message
First off I'll show you a faster way to select a contact. Instead of searching your address book you can simply start typing the contact's name in the "To:" field. After a few letters push the center d-pad button and a list of matches will pop up. If there is only one match the name will be entered automatically. As you can see below I started typing “Mario” to find my contact. All it took was two or three letters to narrow it down.
When you are done typing out your entire message and your contact has been added, simply push the Green Call Button to send the message. No need to push options>send.
Finding Music Faster With Typing & Scrolling
Another tip is with the E71 Music Player application. To find an artist or song just type the first few letters of what you’re looking for and the list will begin filtering, just like the contacts trick I showed you earlier.
This next trick I want to show you is usually new to most people. When scrolling down the list of songs or artists you’re already holding down (or up) the navigation button. Now let go and quickly push and hold it again and it will scroll even faster. You should see a “fast” label pop up in the top right.
Type To Start A Calendar Or Alarm Entry
Lastly, when you launch the Calendar or Clock application don’t fiddle with options to start what you need to add. If you’re adding a calendar entry start typing the subject and it will begin your entry. When setting your alarm just start typing the time you want and push OK. Done!
Maybe you’ve heard of these… maybe you haven’t. I know there’s more but right now I can’t think of them.
If you know any others let us know! For more check out this article I wrote awhile back ago.
Nokia has never been known to create nice themes that come shipped with a new device until recently. I’ve always thought the default theme that come build into S60 devices were very dull and plain. Starting a few months back – about 2 firmware updates ago the E71 got a few new themes. You guys know the ones I’m talking about. Red Personal/Black Personal, same goes for Business. They are not the greatest but I am pretty satisfied with them.
Nokia’s New N86 Theme
Recently the Nokia N86 was announced. If you haven’t seen it yet then you’re missing out, especially if you love taking pictures. The N86 will be the new flagship cameraphone device in Nokia’s smartphone lineup. Besides the 8mp camera you also get a large screen and stellar music capabilities. I really can’t wait to get my hands on this and test out the camera features. Nice to hear that it’s going to have North American 3g as well.
Besides all of the features, something else stood out to me and many others who are interested in this device. The new theme shown in the press release photos looks absolutely gorgeous. The new Ovi icons really stand out over the soft greyish/blue background. These same icons are found on the Nokia E75, which I showed you recently. From here on out these are the icons that we’ll be seeing on every Nokia S60 device released.
Props to whoever inside Nokia created these fresh new icons. Don’t forget to include them in the next E71 firmware update ;)
Ok. Enough babbling about the N86 itself. How about this theme that I want to show all of you…
N86 Theme For The Masses
This is where theme master tehkseven enters the picture. He decided to recreate the highly demanded S60 theme on his own and made sure to perfect it for all S60 3rd Edition devices. For the past few months or so he’s been releasing updated versions of his masterpiece for people willing to test it and give feedback. Thanks to an email from E71fanatics reader Khairul for informing me that the final version of N86 Solace by tehkseven is finally ready!
And look… the Calendar AND Contacts are changed…
Email notifications on the homescreen are left intact. Even the pop-ups are changed…
Huge thumbs up to tehk for this beautiful E71 theme. DOWNLOAD HERE
Check Out What Else tehkseven Is Working On
No comment on that. All I can say is I can’t wait for it.
Have you tried out N86 Solace yet? Install this on your E71 and let us know what you think!
A few days ago the Nokia E71x became official. What is the Nokia E71x you might ask? Nokia and AT&T have finally decided to team up and bring the E71 to the largest carrier in the United States. The price point is something that will catch many eye when they walk into a store, especially after they see that the E71x is in sexy black. For most Americans a smartphone this slick with a $99.99 price tag is a deal, especially considering what the E71 is capable of.
This is great news for Nokia, this website, and consumers. The E71x will bring S60 3rd Edition to the masses, making a new rival to the Blackberry on AT&T. It won’t compete (I don’t think) with hardcore Blackberry users, but many people buy the Blackberry from AT&T just because of the full keyboard. Most of them are not considered power users. These are the people I think the E71x will attract the most.
But is it really a deal? Should I sell my E71-2 unlocked and get the E71x?
That’s a good question. Seeing how many emails I’ve gotten, I know it's on people’s minds.
Data Costs
I’m sure many of you have already done the math and I’d love to see that math in the comments section. If you want a data plan for the E71x you’re going to be required to buy smartphone plan (or whatever it’s called) that costs upwards of $30 a month. I don’t have the exact numbers offhand.
Right now I pay $15 a month for unlimited data on my unlocked E71. I’m saving myself $180 a year.
Hardware
So far it looks like the E71x hardware is exactly the same as the E71 unlocked. Of course the E71x is in sexy black and has an AT&T logo, but that’s about it. Nokia Experts got their hands on the E71x and say the back cover is indeed metal. Many claimed it looked like plastic but that’s not the case. It still has a 2.5mm headset jack (stupid).
Under The Hood
The E71x will have S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2. The unlocked E71 versions have Feature Pack 1. What’s the difference? Read this article since I don’t feel like explaining it. For most people including myself, it’s minor.
The time on the homescreen has been moved to the bottom bar, making more room for calendar entries and emails. Personally I love this feature and wish my chrome E71 can do this.
The time also stays there when navigating through the menus. Very cool!
I’m sure most of you have owned a carrier branded phone. Usually the menus are packed with icons and apps that are useless and cost money. Most often you can’t move the applications or delete them. THEY DID THIS TO THE E71x. I’m really surprised that AT&T managed to get away with this. Check out this hands on E71x vs. E71 unlocked video preview by PhoneScoop…
You can’t even move that junk into another folder. Your main menu will be cluttered. Personally I can’t deal with this. At least they left the multitasking capabilities on the E71x. Whew.
I’m not sure if applications such as Nokia Maps, Share on Ovi, Podcasting, etc. are loaded up on the device or even compatible with the E71x. Hopefully someone can verify this. Same goes for 3rd party S60 applications. I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to install these applications, but you might have to make some tweaks. This topic will eventually be covered here at E71fanatics if I or someone else I know gets their hands on this device.
A Few Words From Nokia & AT&T
Here is some text from the official press release…
"The E71x is a lean, mean multimedia machine for busy people who want Internet-on-the-go capabilities in the palm of their hands," said Mark Louison, President, Nokia Inc. "Together with our carrier and industry partners in North America, Nokia continues to enhance the consumer mobile experience through a growing range of QWERTY music, messaging and feature rich devices."
Sleek, stylish and smart - the Nokia E71x with AT&T
The black steel colored Nokia E71x, exclusive to AT&T, houses all the multimedia and messaging capabilities people have come to crave in a world-class smartphone, made even more enjoyable with a large, high-resolution screen and full QWERTY keyboard. The Nokia E71x makes it easier to stay in touch with friends, family and business contacts via social networking sites and corporate or personal emails, using Mail for Exchange or any of thousands of Internet service providers such as Gmail, Yahoo! mail and Hotmail.
Good to hear Mail for Exchange will be there.
Words from AT&T…
"We are excited to introduce the sleek Nokia E71x into the hands of messaging, social networking and email fans across the United States," said David Petts, Vice President and GM, AT&T Account for Nokia. "The Nokia E71x is building on the success of an award-winning smartphone design, which we are thrilled to bring to an even broader audience across the United States with AT&T."
One More Look At The Price Point
Once again the E71x will be available soon for $99.99 after a mail in rebate and a 2 year contract. If you are a prospective buyer, be sure to check out the E71-2 unlocked at sold at Amazon.com for $319.99.
There you have it folks. The Nokia E71x is official, and all owners are welcome here at E71fanatics.com. If you pick up the E71x shoot me an email so I can get more info from you.