Maximum size for MMS on 3

I have always wondered what the maximum size for a MMS is. When you exceed the limit, does it mean that the MMS is sent in two MMS messagess and you get charged 2x? I found part of the answer at the Three website's FAQ:

What is the maximum size of MMS I can send?

· The maximum size of an MMS you can send is 300kb, however some handsets have a limit of 100kb. To see if your handset has any limitation to the size of MMS being sent or received, click on the link below.


Well there you go... in case you were wondering.

Getting Special Characters like Umlauts on E63

One user recently asked about how to get the umlauts and other special character letters that you find in Swedish and other European languages. So if you are looking for characters such as the following or maybe you want a hyphen on top of your E. Don't despair, just hold down CHR + LETTER and keep pressing the letter until you find the modified E or modified A that you are looking for. Hope that helps...

FIXED: Nokia N97 Google Maps Network Connection Error

I know this is not a Nokia E63 tip but since I have been playing around with the Nokia N97, here is a freebie for those N97 users out there since I just managed to work it out.


There is a Google Map error I mentioned in a previous post which was stopping Google Maps from running properly on the Nokia N97. It would say:

Network Unavailable.

This application requires a data connection

(Error: Connection failed: System error -30180)

Change Connection

Retry

Exit

To get the internet connection working, you will need to change the default Internet connection that the phone uses. You can do this by going to 

Menu => Settings => Connectivity => Destinations => Internet => Make sure that the internet connections in here work. Best thing is to go back one, go into WAP Services => Planet 3 (if you are using 3) => Options => Organise => Copy to other Dest. => Internet then go to Internet, and under Planet 3 => Organise => Change priority => Move cursor to the top and press enter. The priority should be at the top. 

If you try Google Maps now, it should work. 

The Best Apps on Nokia N97

So we've looked at the Nokia N97 as a phone but of course nowadays phones need to do more than just make a call.

Nokia Maps on N97 The distinguishing feature of the new Nokia N97 when it comes to Nokia Maps is the practicality of having a touch screen to drag the map around with your finger or stylus. You can zoom in and out using the + and - on screen button. The GPS behaves about as well as the previous GPS-enabled Nokias.

Google Maps on N97 The program was working ok but recently, there was an issue where Google Maps couldn't find a network connection (Error: Connection failed: System error -1) and kept coming up with that prompt, not even allowing an alternative "network connection" to be selected. May need to reinstall it but apart from that, the program worked fine with the Nokia N97. My Maps and Layers as well as even Traffic details are now available on Google Maps with your mobile so if you have not upgraded to 3.02(1), go for it.

Sports Tracker on N97 Went for a walk using Nokia Sports Tracker and the N97 with a mixed experience. The GPS dropped out a few times but using a touch screen with Sports Tracker but otherwise the program worked very well. As expected, only difference is the ability to toggle through the results of the workout using the touch screen. The heart rate monitor seems to be available but because I do not have the adaptor for that, I could not test it.

Gmail on N97 Typing emails and messages using the touch screen must take some getting used to. I still have not mastered this and usually would end up using the qwerty keyboard. One small annoyance is the auto-keylock which also dims the screen so that you cannot see anything unless you unlock the keypad. For Gmail, nothing much changes with the Nokia N97. The touch screen interface does make scrolling through a little different but nothing too exciting. Then again, what else can you do with an email application? When I first installed Gmail, I did have a problem where, once the program is opened, I could not 'switch' back to the application but this problem seemed to disappear without me working out why it was there and also why it left (yes I do know how to swtich between applications, thanks).

and the question all Generation Y are asking.. what about

Facebook on N97 The Nokia N97 does make some good improvements integrating Facebook with the phone's features. With one tap of the screen, you can take a photo and then immediately upload it to your Facebook account. This is what many iphone users love and you will see more photos "posted on my N97" appearing. You can poke quite literally at your friends on facebook and view photos and status updates with relative ease. However, with so many options to click on, the facebook application is best operated with a stylus or the back of your pen rather than your fingers.

Looking through the OVI Apps Store... found some interesting free programs.

1. Compass allows you to figure out which way is North using your mobile phone. 
2. Timer Lite is just a simple touch screen timer that works well with the Nokia N97. If you don't forget the lyrics but totally can't get the name of a song, try the famous 
3. Shazam for free on the Nokia N97 thanks to Ovi which listens to a song being played and tells you the name and artist of the song (then offers you the "opportunity" to buy the song). 

Maybe you came across this post but have other N97 applications you want to share.. leave a comment otherwise, explore the rest of this website for more tips and tricks for your Nokia phone.

Nokia E63 Address Book slowing down?

We've talked in the past about how the Nokia E63 is a much faster phone than the Nokia E65 but recently I have found the address book to be quite slow to open up individual entries. I am not sure whether anyone out there is able to shed some light on this but I am wondering if it is only caused by an increased number of contacts in the address book. I have 515 contacts in the phone using 108kB. 

The lag occurs when you open up an individual entry to reveal their mobile phone. This happens often when I need to pass a contact to someone else. I just tried opening up a contact and it took 17 seconds to open it! Granted, after that, every entry I tried, opened up immediately. I cannot work out why this is the case so over to you...

The Must Have Nokia N97 and Have Nots

Finally had the opportunity to review the Nokia N97, the flag bearer for Nokia in 2009. First of all, what a phone!! With the introduction of a touch screen, Nokia has shown why they are still the leading mobile phone manufacturer in the world. The "mobile computer" as it is also called, lives up to its name but still seems to give a future for E series phones by leaving out some things. With 32GB of space and a 5MP camera, meet the phone that attempts to tick all the boxes and still has some surprises up its sleeve. 


We'll look at the practical aspects of the Nokia N97, your daily experience once the glamour of showing off your new phone to friends wears off.. 


Look and feel The phone is quite a big phone, but then again, so is the iphone and the similar devices that the N97 is competing with. That's the point really, having a large screen which allows you to read a website easily. The slide out keyboard is actually quite good, making the screen stand up in a way that can be quite useful for word processing. 


NEW Standby screen As you look around at the marketing of the Nokia N97, you will notice that it is the standby screen which is being pushed the most. The option of having data continuously streamed to your front page seems like a great idea, however the battery is still a smartphone battery begging to be a laptop battery. With continual use and streaming data, the battery hardly lasts one day. However, you can always turn the streaming off for the standby screen. 


The touch screen gives one-tap access to virtually anything you want in your phone from your stand by screen. Apart from tapping the shortcuts which you can customise to display on  the stand by screen, 

• Tapping the clock will get you into the alarms and clock settings. 
• Tapping the current profile will give you the profile options (eg Silent, General, Meeting etc)
• Tapping the date will take you to the calendar
• Tapping the top right corner of the screen will give you the available networks and also show you whether a GPS connection is available.
• Sliding your finger across will hide all your "widgets"

Touch screen I never really thought that a touch screen was all that big a deal, content with the Nokia four-direction navi-key which has served me well. However, applications such as Google Maps and Nokia Maps and even navigating through a website was so much easier with the stylus or the back end of a pen. Whilst the touch screen offers an alternative to using the fold out keyboard, I found messaging and finding contacts quite tedious with the touch screen and usually defaulted back to the keyboard.


Many iphone people would be familiar with the slide-across motion to unlock the phone. This is unavailable for the N97, which uses a toggle key on the side to unlock the phone. However, people on Ovi have already uploaded a program that deals with this issue. 


Snoozing We talked about the problem of the 6 minute snooze recently and this has been dealt with by the N97. Whilst you wouldn't pay $400 extra for a phone that allows you to choose how long you snooze, this is a very welcome new feature for the Nokia N97. 


Turn-over-to-snooze The phone can also enter snooze mode if you turn the phone over when the alarm goes off. Turning the phone upside down can also be used to silence the phone in the middle of a meeting when someone calls. 


Vibrate on touch One common issue with touch screens is that people are concerned that you do not get any "feedback" from the phone as you would when you press a keypad. However, this has been addressed in the N97 with a tiny vibrate every time the screen is tapped. This can also be turned off. 


The disappointments 

1. I guess you can't have everything but what good is a Mobile Computer if you cannot use the Powerpoint, Excel and Word without paying more? Unlike the business Nokia E series phones, the Nokia N97 still requires that you buy QuickOffice. 
2. Also the default Nokia email application does not allow you to open or even see attachments such as DOC files. Instead, it shows a "winmail.dat" attachment which cannot be opened. 
3. As mentioned earlier, the battery life of the Nokia N97 must be improved. At the end of the day, the stand by screen "live-feeds" are just too battery intensive and the lack of customisability of the stand by screen is a little disappointing (eg been trying to work out how to add a twitter or rss feed to the front screen).

In the next post when I get around to it, we'll look at how the Nokia N97 handles some of the various "must have" software applications such as Gmail, Google Maps, Nokia Maps and Nokia Sports Tracker. 

Dangers of Firmware Nokia E63 upgrades? Two Months on

As we all know, not all upgrades are good news so we would like to know what everyone is experiencing with their new E63 firmware? Some mentioned that the battery drained faster and some other issues but it seems we have not heard much from recent upgraders. 


There are some users on certain networks who are still unable to upgrade their phones to the new firmware because of the product code. There have been some suggestions as to how users can get around this Nokia E63 issue by following the instructions below.  


- Google for E63 Product code, for example i used a UK product code
- install a software called "Nemesis Service Suite" (NSS)
- plugin your phone, run the program and click the Scan button there
- click the "Phone info" icon
- Click read icon to read current phone info
- notice the product code field, tick the enable box and now just copy and paste a new product code you found from google in there (write down the current one somewhere )
- click write and all should be done
- run Nokia Software Updater and it'll find the new firmware for E63.


Has anyone tried this yet?

Updates from the Nokia Family @ Nokia World

In Stuttgart, Germany, the annual Nokia World is currently playing host to thousands in the mobile industry hearing what innovations and ideas Nokia is currently working on. If you are lucky you may be able to catch a live webcast as well. Go to Nokia World here.

Nokia E63 back on 12 month $29 plan

Just a quick mention to anyone looking to buy the Nokia E63, it is available again on the Three $29 plan which only requires a 12 month commitment. This means you get up to $3,720 worth of calls for 12 months (up to $310 per month no rollover) and a free Nokia E63 for a total spend of $348 over 12 months. Follow this link to check this out. Also remember the $64 cashback offer if you follow this link and sign up to Moneybackco before you sign up to 3.