CuteKeys review

CuteKeys review


This is sort of a joined post between the N81 8GB coverage and the Saturday Software Reviews posts.

So you got an N81 or an N82, you used to love NStarter and Tracker and all those shortcut applications that made your life an awful lot easier and simpler. A couple of seconds after you held your new device, you noticed the pen button was missing. Oh Shit was the first word that came to your head: no more shortcut lovin’, no more fast access to your beloved applications. Well, guess what? The team at SymbianGuru (yes the name is familiar and no there is no affiliation) have got a nifty surprise for you. It goes by the name CuteKeys and it is as cute as it gets for N81 and N82 owners.

Jump after the break for the full insight and a nice surprise!

CuteKeys, What?

CuteKeys by SymbianGuru is a nice shortcut application for S60 3rd Edition that runs in the background, without appearing in the task manager, and that can be autostarted on boot. It allows you to access any application (and other functions) on your device with a couple of button presses, no matter where you are or what you are doing on your mobile. Quite nifty, ‘ight?

How?

When you first launch CuteKeys, you see a list of your current shortcuts. You can add a new one, delete some of them or all, adjust the settings, get help and see information about the app.

1. Settings : You can set the application to be active or not, and to autostart when the phone boots.
2. New : when adding a new shortcut, you get to choose what type of content you would like to link to, as well as the shortcut key combination and the name of the shortcut you just created (so you can see it in the main viewer).
3. Shortcut types: you can link to applications, multimedia files, documents, websites, call or SMS or MMS or email to specific people, a certain contact’s details, as well as bluetooth settings.
4. Shortcut combinations: as the official cute key page states, they can be made of 2, 3 or 4 keys pressed together. I wonder how easy it would be to press 3 or 4 keys at the same time :s so I’m sticking to 2-key combinations. Combinations have to be made of a special key, associated with a number key or another special key. Special keys are the directional buttons on your joypad (up, down, right, left and ok), as well as the * and the backspace (c) button. These are the ones I found so far. That’s 7 specials, and with different number keys associated with them, you’ve got yourself more than 80 shortcuts! We’re not saying that you could memorize all of these, but if someone has an unbelievable memory, he’s served.

Pros

The best thing about CuteKeys is that it allows you to work with any key combination, without needing to have the pen key, which is the major limitation that other software have for the moment. What I also love about this software is that in the main view, there’s an icon next to each item that allows you to see the shortcut type as well as the name you picked for the shortcut and the key combination. Another notable thing is that you can call/sms/mms/email people who aren’t in your contacts (why, I wonder, but still someone could make use of it). One more nice thing is that if you pick “Application”, you get a list of all software on your device, the list is in alphabetical order and the 3rd-party apps are enlisted with the built-in ones. Why is that a big deal? Because if you ever tried to change your standby software shortcuts in Settings, you would’ve noticed the apps are listed in a weird way, with no order or easy logic what-so-ever. All other shortcut software so far use the same listing as the default one, so I applaud CuteKeys for getting around it.



Cons

The main problem lies in the way the shortcuts are handled. As you see in the screenshot below, I picked *+6 as a combination. You would think that I pressed * then I pressed the 6 button. No. I had to press 6 and then *, and on the contrary, I see *+6 on the screen. Weird. If I want to access this shortcut from anywhere on the phone, I’ll have to press 6 then *, unlike any other shortcut app where the special key (usually the pen button) has to be pressed first, followed by the number. One other problem is that if I’m on the standby screen and I press a certain shortcut combination, let’s take the 1+* for example, the item is launched right, but after I’m done, when I come back to the standby, the 1* are still on! I hope the SymbianGuru team works on this as it is the major issue so far.



In Real-Life

On my 3250, I used NStarter to toggle bluetooth and quick launch some software, and Tracker to access mobireader ebooks immediately in my daily life as a pharmacy student. Without Tracker, I have to launch Mobireader, then pick the ebook I want amongst a huge list, then open it. This normally adds 10-15 seconds to my research process, which is annoying. Ever since I got the N81, I missed this fast access possibility and CuteKeys gave it back to me.

This may not be your case, but there’s got to be one type of document you process very often: quickword, quickexcel, zip, pdf, pictures, videos, music… Cutekeys will allow you to access those as fast as it can get, from anywhere. If it’s not the case, there’s also the quick call/sms/mms/email to specific contacts. Now tell me you don’t sms a couple of persons more often than others!

Wishlist

I am a picky person, and besides the real need to manage the shortcut handling problem stated above, there are a couple of improvements I would like to see:

1. Quick access to messaging: inbox, sent items, outbox, drafts,… Now don’t tell me that isn’t possible, SkyeQuiKey proved that it can be done.
2. Quick access directly to the Images & Videos part of the Gallery (not the gallery itself)
3. Bluetooth toggle: right now I have to have one shortcut to turn bluetooth on and another to turn bluetooth off. I would like to set one shortcut to change my bluetooth status, whatever it is.
4. Language toggle: I use the arabic language a lot when writing sms, and with Nstarter, I had the option to toggle between my main writing language (english) and arabic. How about adding that?
5. One odd thing is that right now you can’t set a shortcut to access CuteKeys itself. Weird. How about adding it, guys?

Talk Money & Availability
CuteKeys is available for the mere sum of 9.99$. You can also download a 10-day fully functional trial, which should give you an idea of the overall performance before you buy it.

But the SymbianGuru team has been kind enough to give 3 of our readers free licenses. If you would like to have a chance to win, just post a comment here saying what you like about the software or what features you would like to be added. Deadline is Wednesday February the 6th, at 8pm GMT. Winners will be announced in the comments here, in the following days.

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Nokia E90 vs Nokia N810: Part 2 - GPS, Apps, Web and Multimedia

Nokia E90 vs Nokia N810: Part 2 - GPS, Apps, Web and Multimedia

Nokia E90 vs

Nokia N810:


Part 2 - GPS,

Apps, Web


and Multimedia

The previous article in this series looked at the N810 and E90 hardware and their communications features. This time we look at GPS, applications, browsing the web and multimedia.
Just to recap, the E90 is of course a Symbian S60 3rd Edition smartphone, while the N810 is an internet tablet which runs Maemo, a Linux-based software platform. They're both made by Nokia and share some similar features like QWERTY keyboards, large screens and built-in GPS receivers, but there are also fundamental differences in the philosophies behind their design.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 663x305.

The E90 and N810 running their satellite navigation apps.

GPS & Satellite Navigation

The E90's GPS receiver finds satellites much much more quickly than the N810's. The E90's assisted GPS (which uses the phone network) probably helps, but even without a network connection the E90 is significantly faster. It could be that the N810's performance will improve as new firmware updates are issued, and to be fair this is the first-ever Maemo device with GPS, but at the moment the E90 is a more practical device for navigation purposes.
One thing perhaps mitigating this is the N810's touch-based navigation interface that has on-screen buttons, which some may find easier to operate while on the move. There's a dashboard holder included in the N810 sales package, so Nokia is clearly hoping people will fit this device in their cars.

If you're unhappy with the built-in GPS receivers, both the N810 and E90 can use external Bluetooth GPS units instead, including unofficial units made by third party companies.

The E90 features free maps through the Nokia Maps/Smart2Go service, which can be downloaded on the fly directly onto the E90 itself, or onto your PC and transferred. The N810 uses a different map service, Wayfinder, which also has free maps but distributed as separate chunks for each part of the world. You have to download the entire relevant map pack for your current area (for example Scandinavia) while you have a network connection, but you don't need a network connection while actually using the map.

As for the maps themselves, they both worked in that they tracked movement and displayed roads without a problem, but they also both had significant gaps and mistakes in their Points Of Interest data. To give a couple of glaring examples:

- The E90's Nokia Maps insists that there are no cash machines at all in Finland, and the ATM category only mentions those hundreds of kilometres away in Russia.

- The N810's Wayfinder software insists that the only kind of shops in Finland are Off-Licences (Liquor Stores). Does this perhaps say something about the people who compiled the map data? :-)

Both Nokia Maps and Wayfinder have similar route-planning and navigation features, with options for 2D and 3D views etc. Route-planning is free with Nokia Maps but you have to pay extra for navigation guidance (the voice that tells you where to turn next), whereas Wayfinder charges extra for both route-planning and navigation guidance.

If you're unhappy with the built-in map services you can install third party ones instead. N810 owners are strongly advised to try Maemo Mapper, a free open source map and navigation application, while E90 owners can choose from a range of commercial navigation products for the S60 3rd Edition platform including Navicore, Route 66 and Wayfinder, plus the free Google Maps for Mobile.


The maemo.org website's downloads page, where you can install free native apps and games on the N810.

Applications & Games

As far as bundled applications go, the E90 has far more PIM functionality, with a decent built-in calendar and appointments system which is integrated into the active standby screen. The N810 has no bundled calendar at all.

Moving on to apps you install yourself, the situation gets a bit more interesting as the two devices take completely different approaches to application development.

The E90 uses S60 3rd Edition applications, and S60 is generally based on the same model that all computing devices have traditionally used. The S60 platform has formed a commercial software ecosystem, where companies and individuals are encouraged to make and sell closed source software in the hope of profit. In short, people pay developers for S60 stuff, so the developers make more S60 stuff. There are some open source freeware S60 apps too, but the majority are closed source commercial releases.

The N810 uses Maemo OS 2008 applications, and generally follows the newer open source model for software development. Under open source, enthusiasts and companies develop software together and allow anyone free access to both the applications and their source code. The reason Maemo is so dominated by open source apps is largely because of Maemo's Linux-based nature, which means there are many existing open source software apps for desktop Linux which can very easily be ported to Maemo, and many Linux fans interested in supporting the tablets. However, Nokia is trying to encourage commercial Maemo development as well, and has opened a section on Forum Nokia for the platform, but at the moment open source dominates.

The practical upshot of all this is the following:

- The E90 has a wider variety of software, it tends to be in a more finished state, but you generally have to pay for it.

- The N810 has a narrower variety of software (no original games for example, and very few PIM applications), a lot of it is half-finished, but it tends to be free.

Installing applications on the N810 is very addictive because most applications are available for free, with one click, from a central site: you just go to maemo.org on the tablet's browser, click on "Downloads", click on the green install icon next to the app you want, and it installs.
The E90's "Download!" icon offers a similar service, with a mixture of free and commercial apps available as direct installations, but unfortunately the choice of software on Download! is extremely limited. A much better option for E90 owners is to use software retail sites such as the AAS Software Shop, which carries hundreds of S60 3rd Edition titles, and which can be accessed through your PC, your E90's browser, and possibly through the Catalogs section of Download.



The S60 Download! application which lets you install free and commercial apps and games on the E90.

Web Browsing

The E90 features the standard S60 web browser found on other S60 3rd Edition devices, which uses the same open source engine that Apple's Safari browser does. S60 renders most pages pretty much as they would appear on a PC, and this looks particularly brilliant on the E90 because of its large screen, which is much wider and with a far higher resolution than those found on other S60 devices.
Because there's no touchscreen or touchpad, you have to select links by steering the E90's pointer with the direction pad which is slightly awkward. The browser helps you though by making the pointer jump to nearby links, but it still takes time and concentration to navigate from one part of a page to another. The S60 browser sometimes gets automatically redirected to simplified mobile versions of web sites instead of PC versions, which is extremely annoying as the E90's huge screen and rendering ability is wasted on mobile sites. Some examples of sites that do this mobile redirect include Google (and all its services), the BBC and Amazon. It would be extremely helpful if Nokia provided S60 users with some way to opt out of these redirects.

Although the E90 is perfectly capable of displaying the full PC version of the BBC News web site, it is automatically redirected by the BBC to the cut-down mobile version. The N810 is not redirected, and can access the full version.

The web is definitely the N810's forte, it has possibly the best web browser of any pocket-sized device at the moment, and certainly better than any phone's. While previous tablet OS versions used Opera, OS 2008 uses a Mozilla-based browser called MicroB. Far more web sites are compatible with MicroB than Opera or S60, because sites treat MicroB as if it was Firefox (which it is, sort of). There are absolutely no redirects to mobile versions. The N810 includes Flash 9 so the browser will work with almost all Flash-based sites, and (if you get the latest firmware update) it can now display the full PC version of YouTube without stuttering or any need for external applications. Flash games will run too, though they may run slowly if they involve lots of fast-moving objects.

The N810 has dedicated hardware buttons for zooming in and out, and a dedicated full-screen button (which can all be used in non-browser apps too such as the photo gallery). In full-screen mode the N810's resolution is big enough to view sites such as BBC News without any sideways scrolling or zooming out, and the physical size and clarity of the screen means the text on full size sites is perfectly readable, at least to this writer. Those who do have trouble with the text though can zoom in and out with the dedicated buttons, and the browser remembers the zoom setting for each page so you don't have to repeat the process.

Perhaps the most significant thing about the N810 is what a browser of its quality means for portable devices in general. This review is being written on Google Documents through a desktop PC's browser, but it could equally well be written on Google Documents through the N810's browser, or a combination of both. Not only are the same documents on the same servers accessed by both devices, but they're also displayed and edited in exactly the same way too. In effect, the PC and the tablet are no longer individual devices but just two windows into a single internet world of applications and data. Though the PC and tablet differ greatly in physical size, they don't differ much in how you use their browsers or what you can access with them.




The E90 and N810 actually have comparable page-rendering abilities, as shown by Yahoo UK which does not redirect to a mobile version.

Multimedia

The N810 has a slightly larger screen with stereo speakers mounted either side of it, and a standard 3.5mm audio jack so you can plug normal audio headphones straight into it. The E90 has a more phone-centric 2.5mm jack that requires an adaptor for use with normal headphones, and its stereo speakers are in slightly stranger positions, but it can use wireless A2DP Bluetooth stereo headphones, something the N810 cannot do on current firmware.
For those who are worried about listening to music on these devices in your pocket, the E90 has an auto-keylock which activates shortly after you close it, while the N810 has a screen-locking flick switch very similar to the one on the N81 smartphone. To unlock the E90 you simply open it, and to unlock the N810 you just flick the same switch again.
Video
The E90 and N810 both have excellent screens and can play good quality video, and they can also both be stood on a table at a variety of comfortable viewing angles thanks to the N810's built-in stand and the E90's low centre of gravity. Various third party PC applications are available to convert and optimise video files for viewing on the devices, and there are also two official apps from Nokia: Nokia Video Manager for putting video onto S60 devices, and Nokia Internet Tablet Video Converter for putting video onto Maemo devices. Both of Nokia's official offerings are aimed at ordinary people rather than tech enthusiasts, and are generally very easy to use, though their options are deliberately limited in order to keep them simple. They're also only available for Windows at the moment. The Tablet Video Converter is probably the more intuitive and elegant as it simply requires you to drag and drop a file into its window to convert it, then click on an icon next to the converted file to transfer it.


The E90 and N810 also have similar music-playing abilities, though their interfaces are very different.



Music
The N810 and E90 support a wide variety of audio formats including AAC, MP3, MP4, RealAudio and WMA. You can use most popular CD-ripping applications such as Winamp, iTunes and Windows Media Player, and tracks can be transferred from all kinds of computers including Windows, Macintosh and Linux. Nokia themselves also provide Nokia Music Manager for the E90 as part of the Nokia PC Suite, but this does not work on the N810 as the N810 does not have a PC Suite-compatible mode. The devices' players themselves are reasonably easy to control, but as always it's worth repeating that the biggest effect on sound quality seems to come from which headphones you use. It's a really good idea to buy a high quality pair from a third party manufacturer instead of the ones that come bundled with a device, as bundled headphones tend to be cheap and nasty.

Camera
The N810's built-in camera was only ever intended as a webcam for video conferencing, and it doesn't even come with a still photo application. You can find and install a very simple camera app through the N810's application manager, but you can only really take self-portraits as the camera is fixed facing forwards.

The E90's camera by comparison is very impressive, with 3.2 megapixel stills and VGA resolution 30FPS video. It basically wipes the floor with the N810, there's absolutely no contest. The E90 is a completely plausible main camera and camcorder, and should easily suit the photo and video needs of the casual user. Because it's a connected device the photos and videos can be emailed or uploaded to web sites directly from the phone, so for example you could shoot a video and immediately post it straight onto YouTube through the web browser. The E90 also has a lower resolution second camera next to its internal screen for videophone calls.
FM Radio
The E90 has an FM radio, the N810 doesn't. The E90 wins. (Incidentally, the N800model does have an FM radio but you have to download a special application to activate it.)

Internet Radio
Both the N810 and E90 support playback of internet radio streams, and both let you access these streams either by clicking on compatible links on web sites, or by entering the stream's RTSP address manually. The web site option is very handy if your favourite station's web site uses a compatible stream, and can be used to browse things like the BBC's Listen Again sections, but not all sites have compatible streams. A manually entered address is very convenient to access on the E90's Gallery app or the N810's Media Player app, but it may stop working because many stations regularly change their stream URLs.

The N810 gets round this problem by including a built-in constantly updated internet radio station directory, which can be accessed through the tablet's Media Player. The directory is organised by country, language and genre, and contains hundreds of stations around the world. It's definitely not comprehensive, there are no BBC stations for example, but it is a vast improvement on the previous manual system as it lets you browse stations just like you would on a non-internet radio, and you know the stations will all work. If stations have streams at a variety of bitrates then you can choose the one that suits the speed of your current connection, and even a 2G Bluetooth phone connection is enough to listen to lower bitrate radio streams.

The E90 does not have an internet radio directory, though Nokia does seem to have a beta app currently available for selected S60 devices which apparently gives them access to the same station database that the N810 uses. It isn't available for the E90 at the moment, but it seems likely that the app will become available when it leaves beta testing. To get an idea of what it's like, read AAS's review of the beta app.

On a personal note, the internet radio directory is the N810 feature that this writer uses the most, as the tablet is the same size and weight as a normal radio and can be used in all the situations a normal radio might face. It's also a viable alternative to digital radios such as DAB as it provides generally better sound quality and a much wider choice of stations.

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JoikuSpot reviewed - Wi-Fi anywhere on the planet

JoikuSpot reviewed - Wi-Fi anywhere on the planet

JoikuSoft (a Finnish privately owned company) released a beta application this week that could be very useful for users of Nokia S60 smartphones on their travels. It could even create a blossoming relationship between the likes of the Apple iPod Touch/iPhone and (e.g.) the Nokia N95. Basically, JoikuSpot facilitates the sharing of your 3G or 3.5G Internet connection wirelessly over Wi-Fi with any compatible WLAN device such as a laptop or iPhone. Multiple devices can connect to JoikuSpot in parallel and can seamlessly share the same 3G internet connection, acting as an internet gateway to external WLAN devices.

The installation process is very simple and the list of compatible handsets on the site range from the Nokia N95 8GB down to the Nokia E51.

The .sis file is free to receive and can either be downloaded from joikusoft.com and installed with PC Suite or you can insert your mobile number on the Joiku web site and receive an almost instant SMS’d link to download. There's no need to register, it's all very straightforward.

The 100k install runs as expected on my N95-1 and, accepting the normal privacy and legal notices, it drops the application icon into the usual folder.



On first run, JoikuSpot confirms you wish to ‘share your internet connection with external devices’ and then asks which access point you wish to use. (NOTE: You can only use a 3G access point, not a WiFi access point in this software, for reasons which should be obvious 8-) ) Once the access point is selected, JoikuSpot creates a new access point setting on the handset called 'JoikuSpot'. Now you are ready to use your other device to connect to your new JoikuSpot hotspot.





When you scan for wireless networks on your external device you should expect to see an access point called JoikuSpot_xxxxxxxxxx - it's simply a case of a double click and you're connected (unencrypted) and free to browse away at 3G/3.5G speeds on HTTP and HTTPS connections. Even on the edge of the Peak District, I was getting a decent connection through T-Mobile and a full strength Wi-Fi connection delivered to my laptop.



Browsing the web was as expected over a 3G connection, although there was no Messenger connection for me or Outlook access. The first page you come to on connection is the Joiku home page with a built in Google search so there is no intensive homepage graphic download, etc., and data is kept to a minimum. As a side note to connecting, Joiku advise that some laptops need to connect as an 'AdHoc' network, should the first try at connecting fail, though most laptops seem to connect just fine, as it was in this case.

There is a clear ‘status’ tab within the Joiku application that shows relevant information to your connection, including the amount of bytes and packets sent in/out and the duration of the connection (i.e. the time from when the access point was made available to WiFi devices). The other viewable tab is the ‘Clients’ tabs and this indicates the status of connection requests from external devices and whether the internet connection is successfully established with them.




Once you have finished browsing, you can use the menu to 'Stop' the service. The JoikuSpot access point then disappears from your access point list, to be recreated the next time you start JoikuSpot.

All in all, a useful option to have when there is no sign of a Wi-Fi hotspot and you just have to connect an iPhone/PSP/laptop in a hurry [note that for Windows laptops, Nokia's PC Suite's Bluetooth-based Internet function provides fuller connectivity through a paired smartphone - Ed]. Through JoikuSpot, you can only view http:// and https:// sites at present and it is unencrypted data flow. There's no way to allow IM, no Outlook email access in my test but perhaps this could be added in the future?

I do have a reservation about using it too long in a busy area (hotel lobby, motorway services, etc) as just about anyone could connect to it and run up my data bill or even eavedrop on my activities. Anyhow, a product to watch for the future!

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Nokia E51 review

Nokia E51 review


First impressions of the Nokia E51 are of its diminutive size. Although slightly heavier than the 6120 Classic, it's quite a bit thinner, at only 12mm and seems perfectly formed for its target market, businessmen and women and the companies they work for. Putting it side by side with the E90, the other extreme in Nokia's 'Enterprise' range shows the E51's dimensions vividly:

And yet within the case lies an almost identical device, at least in terms of OS, memory and software. S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1 (this is the second Eseries device to feature it, after the E90) is now pretty mature and most of the applications and interface will be well known to you:

I'll come to any additions and differences later, but for now let's return to the hardware, finished in black and silver and styled very much like the E90. And like the E90, the E51's case is mainly made of metal, with the front surround and battery cover chromed - a fingerprint magnet it's true, but if you're going to have a fingerprint magnet then it might as well be a quality metal one rather than a cheap plastic version. The E51 feels like it could take a lot of knocks without damage, important if it's to survive the life of a busy road warrior.

The screen dimensions, contrast and reflectivity seem identical to that on the outer screen of the E90, by the way, should you need a comparison, and I want to publically congratulate Nokia's Eseries team for using transflective screens which work well outside in bright natural light - while your Nokia N81 and N76-using friends are squinting at their displays trying to see what they're doing, your E51 (or E90 or E70 or E61 etc) will remain extremely readable, even in the very brightest sunlight.

The side buttons (voice recording, voice tag, volume) are rubberised and easy to find, although they're each quite hard to press - I'm hoping that this firmness is unique to the prototype that we were sent for review and that production hardware has buttons which are easier on the fingers. Ditto for the power button on the E51's top, which was even firmer.

It's better news for the d-pad key cluster and main keypad, all of which is a joy to use. The d-pad's clicky and positive to use, while the presence of no less than three application shortcut ('one touch') keys mean that PIM use (by default) is even easier to access than usual. There are buttons for Contacts, Calendar and Messaging, with extra launch options for a long press on each. The defaults are sensible (e.g. 'Create new contact'), but you can configure any button or long press to launch or kick off any app or common action.

Which brings me to the fourth button in the main cluster and one of the KEY improvements made for the E51. Changing the old, confusing 'S60' key with the 'swirly thing' logo to a simple 'Home' icon is a masterstroke and instantly simplifies the interface and makes things obvious for new users, especially in an iPhone world where the idea of a prominent home button to bring up the main app menu is familiar. Well done, Nokia - now make this the standard on all future devices!
The main 12-key pad is superb in feel, again similar to that on the E90, with separate physical keys and positive 'clicky' feel - despite the size, texting should be pretty quick on the E51. Ten out of ten. Or should that be twelve out of twelve?
The rear mounted camera's a standard Nokia 2 megapixel affair with QVGA video recording, nothing special to see here. Good to have, but not a main focus of the device.
Switching the E51 on for the first time reveals the first of several tweaks to the standard Eseries package. Extending what they did for the E90, Nokia has put direct shortcuts to 'Set up Voice mail', 'Set up Email' and 'Set up Internet telephony' on the standby screen, leading users to the appropriate dialog, wizards, or downloads respectively. After set up is complete, the shortcuts (actually temporary standby plugins) disappear. The standard set of Eseries plugins is available of course. Once you get set up, it's easy to add missed call notifiers, voice message notifiers, email notifiers, to-do items and half a dozen other optional plugins, all configurable in 'Settings'. Flexible and powerful.

Also new, as far as I can tell, are 'audio themes', sets of sound effects for common events (think of these as a superset of the standard profile-based tone settings). So for example the default is an authentic rimshot when you switch back to the standby screen and a simple popping sample for the main app menu. As someone who perpertually turns such audio feedback off on every device, I found audio themes a bit pointless, but they may appeal to some. The fact that the digital samples don't actually play until a second or so after the event itself doesn't help the overall sense of pointlessness.

Also configurable, as on most other Eseries models, is a 'notification LED', which can be set to flash on a variety of common occurences, from missed calls to incoming emails.
There are few surprises in the Eseries software suite. Newcomers like Active notes, Search and Teams are all present and correct, though I was slightly surprised to see that the version of Quickoffice in the firmware was the viewer only - editing is a pay-for upgrade. Mind you, trying to edit documents on such a small screen wouldn't be much fun, even if you did use a Bluetooth keyboard for input. Those wanting to do serious Office work will go for the much bigger E90, with its keyboard and 800 pixel wide screen.

Media is well catered for, including an FM radio, again just as on the E90, and with RealPlayer having access to H.264 codecs - as with the E90, video playback isn't perfect - there can be the odd stutter - but at least most MP4 content can be consumed without difficulty. Gallery is the usual plain Eseries version, adequate but a pain for large image collections. Note the WLAN wizard - as an Eseries device, the E51 has got Wi-Fi, not always a given in a device so small, and a real boon if you're planning to use one of the many VoIP solutions now on offer for S60.
It's good too, to see Nokia Maps in the firmware, this seems to be part of the S60 furniture now, with the usual Bluetooth connectivity to a GPS to stop you getting lost.
The E51, like the rest of the Eseries range, has fabulous battery life, in this case a 1050mAh BP-6MT. With no auto-focus, power hungry camera to supply and (presumably) with limited music and media use, this battery is fine for keeping the E51 up and running for days on end - with light use, it'll last a full week without recharge, which is impressive. There's 48MB free RAM after booting, enough for browsing the largest web pages over the fast Wi-Fi or 3.5G (HSDPA) connections, plus 137MB free flash memory (disk C, in addition to whatever microSD card you use) for installing extra applications and documents.
One can't help returning to the E90 comparison when handling the E51, though. Not only is the styling so similar, it's striking how much of the E90's power is contained within the incredibly, astoundingly small body of the E51. We all know that Nokia likes to refer to is smartphones as 'computers' and as such we're used to a little thickness and general bulk, excusing it because we know there's a lot of computing grunt under the good. But Nokia's 6120 Classic and now this, the E51, both prove how diminutive S60 smartphones can be, including a decent keypad and a decent battery. Very impressive.
The E50 and E60 (last year) were competent devices without really excelling in any way. The E51 rolls in kick-ass styling, a metal chassis, a thinner form factor, S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1, latest media codecs, 3.5G, a better and tweaked key layout and a decent (if not great) camera. It's quite a list, and should be one of Nokia's mainstays, certainly in the business world, going into the period when all Nokia's phone divisions are being merged. I don't think the E51's in any danger of being axed!
Steve Litchfield, AllAboutSymbian, 12th November 2007

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GOLDEN SHIMMER by babi

GOLDEN SHIMMER by babi

download

GoldenShimmer (2022)

(Only for 5th edition)

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Oil Green 2.0 by IND190

Oil Green 2.0 by IND190





Thanks to all peoples with your support so I can be a theme maker
Thanks to all peoples who used and likes my themes.

Themes for Pre-FP1 (Including default icons)
Oil Green 2.0_PreFP1_IND190

Themes for FP1, FP2, 5th Edition (Including default Icons)
Oil Green 2.0_FP125_IND190

Themes for ES (Including default Icons
Oil Green 2.0_ES_IND190


Some Walls for Oil Green (Actually only for my personal used)

Shilouette Walls for 240x320

Shilouette Walls for 360x640 (with and without Shadowfax frame)

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