Three Australia offering more time to talk to other 3 customers

We're starting to wonder what's going on with Three Australia. They are now offering the Nokia E63 $29 cap with a bonus 150 minutes of talk time between you and your 3 friends and family for every month of the 12 month contract. Maybe its because of the missing = sign on the E63? Just kidding, but if you want to take advantage of this, you will need to get someone to refer you to Three. Details at our Nokia E63 blog here or read more about the Nokia E63 here.

Why blog about mobiles? Part 2

It was quite a while ago when I first wrote about why I write about Nokia tips. Another question is, how do readers keep bloggers sharing their thoughts and experiences? Well, one obvious way is to subscribe and read the blog in the first place.

Time poor benefits Many people who read this blog are from professional backgrounds who do not spend hours in one place exploring every facet of the phone. They like the convenience of just googling their problem and get the solution in seconds. If you are being paid $150 / hour in your usual profession, why waste money on find a solution to something when it has already been discovered?

Contribute! Blogs like this one also benefit a lot from your own contributions. Its a way of returning a little of what you got from the blog itself. That's why many people like myself started a blog. How much do we gain from the interconnected world of the internet just from the free contributions of others.

New programs / accessories Some people are so excited about the program that they have created or discovered that the only thing keeping them from becoming a millionaire is their ability to share it with the world. One thing we do allow here is for programmers and companies to offer NFR (not for resale) licenses to trial their application. Also, nothing gets the publicity ball rolling like giving away ten copies of your program to readers of the blog.

M.... What about financially? As you can see, a blog like this has not been paid for by a company (no, surprisingly its not paid for by Nokia). The only financial means is through advertising revenue if you click on the ads and donations. In the two and a half years this blog has been up, only one donation was received for an amount of $5. Do you have any idea how exciting that was for me? Anyway, hope that helps you get an insight on the blogger's perspective on blogs.

PS. a new blog has been started as I've just started using the Nokia E63. You can find it at www.mye63.blogspot.com and don't forget to follow me on twitter.

Get the most out of Nokia PC suite - update to 7.1.30.8

As always, we have just sensed a Nokia PC suite release and currently downloading and installing it. Follow this link to ensure that you don't end up downloading 7.1.26.0 instead.

New Nokia PC Suite 7.1.30.8 here.

All I can see is a Nokia Music Store icon added to the PC suite.
Did anyone else notice any new features of 7.1.30.8?

Best of all Worlds - Nokia E63

If you are a fan of the Nokia E71 but you want to get it on a budget, the Nokia E63 is looking right at you and saying, I'm yours.

The Nokia E63 is almost exactly the same dimensions as the Nokia E71 except its more like an E71 after a buffet dinner, with an extra thickness to it - probably to accommodate the 3.5mm headphone jack which now allows mp3 users to bring one set of earphones for their ipod and their E63.

Form factor One thing I liked about the E63 is the feel of it. The matted finish is much preferred over the stainless steel backing that comes on the E71 which collects fingerprints like an ex-FBI agent. One great annoyance of the E63 is that they've moved the power button from the top to live with the hang up button. Now, if you are like me, this may cause you to turn off your phone accidentally because one press of the hangup button brings up the menu to turn off the phone etc and the nokia thumb quite often then moves to the OPTIONS key which quickly

sends the phone into shut down mode. Dont worry if you don't get it now, you will when you play with this phone. The keypad has a rubbery feel but it is surprisingly easy to type messages and dial numbers using one hand, despite the closeness of each key to each other.

Surprises One thing MyE65 users love are keypad shortcuts. Like the E71 and E66, the E63 introduces the LONG PRESS selection which allows you to hold down a button and get to one thing, whereas a short press of the button takes you to another. Let's call them double function keys.

Also the phone has a breathing light which starts pulsing like crazy when you have a missed call or message. One thing it doesnt have is the ability to hold down the navi key and see an illuminated clock when you are groping in the dark. All these are discussed in the review on the E66 and the Nokia E71.

Another nice surprise which the E71 does not have is the torch which is activated by pressing and holding the spacebar on the bottom of the QWERTY keypad. It uses the LED for the flash on the camera as a torch and needless to say, photos taken turn out very well.

Another useful feature is being able to access the address book from the standby screen just by starting to type a contact's name on the keypad. That is more useful than you realise.

E63 with PC Suite - There are no incoming call notifications when connected with PC suite (unlike the E71) but the PC Suite can show the length of the call while you are on the phone.

Overall - The only main thing that is lacking in this phone is a GPS and like many people who are faced with this decision, I would say that this phone is worth getting and with its idiosyncracies, some people may find it a better choice than the E71 as an upgrade from their E65. For those looking for an easy to use phone that will last them two years, this is a good choice.

Update: Three now giving away the Nokia E63 on a $29 cap 12 month contract! It is now cheaper to buy the Nokia E63 from 3 than to buy it outright... plus you can get $64 cashback. After 12 months, even if you spent nothing on calls, you would have "bought" your E63 for only $284!!!

Get around $64 cashback for your purchase from THREE Australia by signing up to Moneybackco BEFORE you sign up to 3. See this post for more details. Get an extra $25 credit if a three customer like me refers you first (ie email mye65blog[at]gmail.com).

Nokia E63 blog has begun here.

Secret tips and hints for the Nokia E63. Users of E63 will love it :)

First Look: Nokia E72 adds iphone-esque revisions to Nokia E71

Its so new, the only pic we have is from the Nokia page. :)

The Nokia E72 has just recently been announced by Nokia. According to the Nokia Europe website, the Nokia E72 adds very little to the Nokia E71 but these could be what Nokia fans have been waiting for.

Just like the iPhone S comparisons to the iPhone, the E72 will look very much the same as the Nokia E71, but boasts a more longer lasting battery adding roughly 60 extra hours standby time and 1.5 hrs talk time over the E71.

The other major change is the resolution, going from a 3.2MP on the E71 to a 5MP on the Nokia E72. Internal memory on the phone is up 140MB which is not much in today's world but still much better than the 110MB limit on the E71 (of course, you can always add micro-SD cards to increase capacity - up to 16GB now with the E72). Active noise cancellation has been included in the E72 as well as a 3.5mm headphones jack like the Nokia E63. More on the E72 can be found here.

Included with the phone is a 4GB micro-SDHC card, which didn't come with the E71. One of the fun things about Nokia phones are that they often pack features that are not advertised so we're eagerly awaiting an opportunity to get a closer look at the E72 and discovering the features for the more discerning Nokia user.

Application won't load up, what's wrong?

We all understand that phones trying to be computers can sometimes run into their limitations. Sometimes you may install a program and when you try to run it, you are rejected back to the applications menu. "Great, the program doesn't work... I'll blog about how Nokia Email is a fail". Before you do that, try closing some applications. Some programs are polite to report that the reason why they are not opening is because of a lack of memory. Some just act as nothing happened. You may be surprised how much memory even just the Web browser can take up. Once you have closed some other applications, try opening the program again.

This may seem to be an obvious tip but for many of you out there, this may explain why your favourite app is working for other people and not for you.

To see a list of pretty good applications for your nokia E65, go to this post. Its an old list so feel free to add more applications in the comments.

Getting online quickly on the Nokia E65

Wiki how to do CPR

You are in a rush to look up something online via your phone. Here are some tips to get you online in the quickest possible way with the Nokia E65.

Go directly to 0 (zero). As many of you may already know, there is the shortcut key to get from your standby screen to your internet browser on the Nokia E65 and most other Nokias. Press and hold down zero on the keypad to load up the internet browser.

One strange anomoly which after two years I still haven't figure out is why doing this will give you a different set of bookmarks than when you go through the Menu --> Web option. Any ideas?

Go to address. Strange thing about opera on the Nokia E65 is that it won't let you select Options and Go To Address until your home page is completely loaded (if you have one). To hurry this along, press the right selection key which cancels the download of the page. Now you can press the right selection key and type in the web address that you are dying to get to.

Turn off images. If you are using a WIFI point or you have a very stingy data plan, one way to save money is to turn off images in Settings. This will also make surfing much faster and also much less interesting.

Shortcuts for web browsing on your phone

Press 1 for bookmarks.
Press 2 to search for keywords in the current page.
Press 3 to go to the previous page.
Press 5 to show all open windows.
Press 9 to enter a new web address.
Press 0 to go to your homepage.

Here are more tips about browsing online on your Nokia E65.

If you are looking for some must-bookmark websites for your mobile, have a look at this post.

Using a GPS bluetooth adaptor for your E65 or E63

Recently, Gamma asked about my experience using the GPS bluetooth receiver with my E65. I have found it to be extremely convenient, particularly because the GPS receiver I am using is so small it fits well on a key chain. I have it mostly in my car which is where i usually need to use the GPS features. One flick of the switch, open Google Maps and in minutes I can see where I am and find out how to get to where i need to be. 

The GPS is also a useful way of finding out random things like which direction you are facing (of course you could rely on the sun but who does that?) and what the nearest pizza place is. With Google maps packing street view, and the ability to broadcast your location to a group of close friends, I believe having a GPS feature is essential to the enjoyment of a smart phone. 

If you are budget conscious and went for the non-GPS Nokia E63, you can buy the freedom keychain GPS for much less than is required to get a Nokia E71.  Some other GPS applications available from Nokia for free include Nokia Sports Tracker, Nokia Maps and these are discussed here.

If you are interested in getting a brand new Freedom Keychain for less than this, email me. I have  two available because I got them pretty cheap recently.

Do you need internet to use the GPS? 

No, not if you are using Nokia Maps and you have your local map installed on your phone. You will not need internet for Nokia Sports Tracker either. 

Yes, You will need internet connection on your phone (even if its wireless) if you want to use:

- Google Maps for Mobile

- Google Latitude (broadcasts your location to friends) 

- Amaze maps and voice navigation mobile software.