Nokia Ovi Suite 3.1 Now at Betalabs

You can catch the newest update of the Nokia Ovi Suite at Nokia Betalabs. Here are the exciting changes in the new beta which I will definitely download and check it out.

• Update both your phone and newest versions of your installed software in one go.
• Downloading apps, games, and more from Ovi Store is now even simpler. Now, the direct link to the app is sent to your phone. 
• Sync log view allows  you to see all the details that were added, updated or deleted and where each of these changes took place.
• Syncing with Microsoft Outlook has been improved with critical fixes.
• Connections Creating the connection between your device and computer is now more reliable.
• Sending text messages to groups is now possible. You can create contact groups in the Contacts view and easily send messages to all the members of a specific group in the Messaging view.
• Playing high-definition videos captured with your phone takes place in a more optimised and smooth way.
• Keeping track of your map downloads is easy. Click Downloads in the Maps view to view your download queue.

I am looking forward mostly to the improvements to the synchronising Nokia with Microsoft Outlook which should be an essential arrangement. Syncing usually scares people because of the potential to lose everything in one go. Hopefully this phobia has also been taken care of in this new update. 

Redefining Success E7 Competition

If you lined up 20 people from the street and asked them what they think success is, their answers will explain the colourful and fascinating world that we live in. Nokia's E7 that has recently been launched wants you to remember that "Success is what you make it", similar to the Nokia N8 promotion "Its not the technology, its what you do with it". Both approaches reflect the different people that use Nokias in very different ways to reach their goals and make it big in the way that only they know how.

So it is with great interest we will watch the development of the latest competition from Nokia which asks the world, how do you define success? E7 is not a measure of your success, it is the tool by which you reach success. Successful people don't rely on their phones to define success, but to achieve success. And with phones like the E7, you can see why we don't need 2 million apps. The E7 is for those looking to achieve success, not just pass time.

How do you define success? Leave a comment as I am personally very interested in how you all respond to this. However, don't forget to enter the competition which you can reach at www.youtube.com/nokia. There's a $10,000 carrot to keep you interested.

For a sample video, check out this video about a Nokia product designer in Hong Kong and see how he measures success in his life very differently to most of us.

 

Partial Web Browsing Experience on E7

There seems to be some issues with the Nokia E7 displaying some parts of websites. For example, below is a photo of the E7 displaying this blog. The Google Ads do not show up. Any ideas? Also, images on the blog have a black border around them and further down the blog, one of the images seemed to be blacked out. However, we understand that a new browser is on the way in a firmware appearing somewhere on the horizon.

I tried my page on the just released Opera Mobile 11 on the Nokia E7 and the blog appeared perfectly fine, no image borders, however the ads did not appear. Is this a Google hates Nokia for not joining Android thing? Anyway, enjoy the ad free viewing experience on the Opera Mobile browser. Another interesting thing about Opera Mobile is that "fast-forward scroll" button that appears when you scroll through a page with your finger. Pressing it takes you to the bottom of the page. Oh did I mention portrait QWERTY keyboard on Opera? Yes, it is possible and it works well.

7 More Reasons the E7 is Business Class

It arrived at the door signed off by CEO of Nokia Stephen Elop and a customised graphic with a quote from MyE72 printed on the screen of the E7. Before we got to the phone, credit certainly had to be given to Nokia Marketing team. The E7 was touted by a famous blogger as a business device that you can proudly place on the boardroom table and six months later, that view has only been futher reinforced with our extended play of the E7. 

In our previous write up, we mentioned the Top 7 reasons why the E7 means business. They reasons were (1) the Super sized AMOLED CBD screen, (2) Unnecesarily good hardware, (3) Business-level security, (4) Multiple-email support (5) Convenient USB connectivity, (6) Go anywhere GPS and navigation and (7) Touch screen+keyboard combination. 

But of course, you want more reasons! In this post, we'll cover some of the other features on the business end of the E7, seeing as you have probably already read about the E7's mass-market appeal and that's why you're here. Here's 7 reasons you can let your son keep your iPhone.

1. Microsoft Exchange on the E7

At work, we have campus wide wireless internet access which is free to use to access emails. I used the New New Mailbox widget to add my work email address which connects via a Microsoft Exchange server. I used the Mail for Exchange, entered the server and domain details and it was happily feeding me emails as they came in. Worked without a hitch. 

2. Anti-theft on the E7

It was the remote locking on the e series phones that really surprised me, a feature that often does not make it on the spec sheet. 

Remote locating - However, the Nokia E7 has taken anti-theft even futher, including the ability to remotely locate where your phone is! Let's say you left it at work and you weren't sure if it was stolen. You ccan check where your phone is by sms your mobile number with a code and the phone will tell you where the phone is. 

Remote wiping - If you are a Nokia executive and you realised that your phone HAS been stolen, there is a good chance that much of the information on that phone is now compromised. To stop the thief from selling the prototype information to Engadget, you can send an SMS to your phone to wipe the phone of all its data... did you catch that? via SMS!

Now I understand that there are things a thief could do like take out the SIM card or whatever, but the idea with this built in app is a great move by nokia to win the executive and flying first-class market. 

3. VPN on the E7

The Nokia E7 allows you to connect to a Virtual Private Network, for example a secured workplace network. However... I haven't managed to do this yet as the VPN that I have access to, does not have a web URL from which devices can extract a 'policy'. Therefore I have not tried this out yet and leave it to you to make comments if you have. 

4. HDMI on the E7

We're clearly hitting the big time when we have a phone that carries the capacity to link up with any projector or TV that is HDMI enabled. As with all other E series phones, QuickOffice comes installed on the Nokia E7 so you don't need to be told again that this turns your E7 into a mobile office. What probably DOES need you to know is that you can run a simple powerpoint (emphasis simple enough to view well on the E7 itself) on a big screen using the E7 (no computer needed!). 

5. Camera on the E7 

First of all, my disappointment. One of the best features of the Nokia E72 has been dropped in the design of the E7 which was the Multiscanner and Business Card reader. The camera on the E7 is no longer an autofocus camera, but a fullfocus camera. In spite of my disappointment, I've listed this as a noteworthy feature for the E7 because of the speed at which the camera can capture images using fullfocus. In the end, it is, after all, an 8MP camera with HD video capabilities which is much more than business users were probably expecting anyway. 

Using the USB, HDMI and Bluetooth on the E7 at the same time!

If the presentation is on a thumb drive, plug it into your E7 (via the adapter) via the USB and pull up the presentation. Use a bluetooth keyboard to sync with your E7 so that you can control or make changes comfortably with a larger keyboard. Hook up the E7 via the HDMI to your projector/TV and you have yourself a projector and laptop in one device. 

6. Boardroom essentials on the E7

Hidden behind the Settings -> Phone, there hides a simple feature called Turning Control. If you left your phone on during a meeting, and someone important calls in, but the people in this meeting are also important.. what do you do? For some phones, the awkward shuffle trying to turn the phone off will leave one embarrassed, or if you choose to reject the call, you could leave the caller very unhappy on the other end. For the E7, all you need to do is turn the phone over and the phone will go silent and stop vibrating. The person on the other end keeps ringing but your meeting is fine to continue.. and no one is upset. 

7. And when you're finished with the E7... you unplug all the cables and fold down the keyboard, you have yourself an aesthetically appealing, solid device to tuck into your suit pocket. 

Photo taken with the Nokia N8

The Nokia E-Series Evolution

Well it is finally the time to have a good look at the Nokia E7 but first, let's have a rewind back through the development over the past few years in the Nokia E series. I'll only start at my first Nokia E-series which was the Nokia E65.

Back in 2007, I commenced my E series journey by upgrading from the ever stylish blue light 8250 to the Nokia E65. This opened up the world of syncing my mobile with the computer and accessing VOIP on your mobile. Also on the E65, we could wirelessly connect to a WLAN and surf the internet on the phone! The E65 also brough in the ability to bring your office with you by enabling us to edit Powerpoint, Excel and Word documents easily on a mobile phone  for free on QuickOffice.

Then after two years, I made the very difficult decision to choose the Nokia E63 over the E71 as my next phone. The financial decision was easy as the E63 only tied me down to a one year contract. I planned this because I felt that whilst the E71 was a good phone, there were some very simple but useful differences that convinced me not to lock myself into a 2 year contract with the Nokia E71 vs 1 year E63 contract.

The Nokia E63 had a really nice keypad. I even claimed it was the best Nokia has ever produced! One could really crank out SMSes at an unreal speed because of its unusual raised triangular keypad. It would be my first QWERTY keypad and initally I yearned for the T9 but the E63 keypad had me sold. The E63 allowed users to use the flash as a torch, unlike the E71. One more decisive factor was the 3.5mm headphone jack that came with the E63, unlike the E71 which for whatever reason, only allowed weird 2.5mm headphones to be used.

One year was soon up and it was now time to look for a new phone. It wasn't hard because part of my planning was to get the E63 for one year and use the time to wait for the E72 to drop in price. And the timing was perfect, because when the E63 contract was over, the E72 dropped to being on a $29 plan (from $49)

In terms of advancing the corporate smartphone user, Nokia hit the nail on the head with the Nokia E72, combining the best features of the E71 and the E63 to come up with a phone that has style which no phone has beaten since. What was new was the ability to import business cards by "scanning" them with the E72 camera! All the details - address, phone number, email address will all be imported into a contact record on your phone in the right categories! You could also scan a page from a book and the phone will use its 5MP auto-focus camera, to OCR the whole page and you can edit it on your phone! The GPS was vastly improved on the Nokia E72 as well compared to the E71 and well, the E63 didn't have a GPS but we did manage to find a way :) A summary of why I chose the E72 is here but in the end, this was a phone that did it all. The show-off drawcard of the E72 was that you could even turn the phone over or tap it to snooze an alarm or silence an incoming call! It was such a good phone that although I now also own a Nokia N8, I am still predominantly using the E72. However, we always want more...

So now we have  come to the next step in the Nokia E-volution and that is the "giant leap" to the AMOLED and CBD display, gorilla-glass enabled, Symbian^3 empowered, N8 channeling, Nokia E7! Now business users can get secured email, VPN connections to their Microsoft Exchange servers, a massive screen to surf the web and more little features that we are going to dig out of it! That's for tomorrow.

But to end this post, after around two hours of writing, maybe its your turn to talk. What were your thoughts on the E-series journey and if you have been along for the ride, at what stage did you join us?

Nokia C7 "Astound" Press Release - Free Apps on Vodafone

Sydney, Australia – 22 March 2011. Stylish and social, the Nokia C7 is now available in Australia through Vodafone and 3 mobile.

Nokia’s latest smartphone, the C7, is a beautifully designed, feature-rich touchscreen wrapped in polished stainless steel and glass with a vivid 3.5 inch AMOLED high-resolution capacitive display.

Vodafone users have access to thousands of useful apps from the Ovi Store and from the 4^th April 2011 until the 31^st May 2011, all apps in the Store will be on us^[1].

For those who want to stay close to their social networks, the Nokia C7 provides live updates from Facebook® and Twitter directly to the homescreen.  Users can post simultaneous status updates across all their social networks.

Other features of the Nokia C7 include:

 - Access to consumer and business email through Nokia’s range of messaging services
 - An 8MP camera, HD video and 8GB internal memory to capture, store and re-live precious moments
 - Sharp videos and images on the vivid 3.5″ high-resolution capacitive display
 - Great usability with three homescreens which can be customised, easy viewing and switching between multiple apps, pinch to zoom, flick to scroll and tap to select finger gestures
 -  Access to Ovi Maps with free, lifetime navigation and turn-by-turn voice guidance²

The Nokia C7 is available in two colours, Charcoal Black and Frosty Metal, from Vodafone for $0 upfront on a $29 CAP over 24 months (total min cost $696)² or $0 upfront on a $45 Vodafone Infinite plan over 24 months (total min cost $1080) ³. All Vodafone Infinite plans are available on both 12 and 24 month contracts and feature infinite standard national calls made in Australia⁴, infinite text to personal mobile numbers here and to overseas from Australia⁵, and infinite social networking on Facebook®, Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare and MySpace within Australia⁶.

1: Offer ends 31 May 2011 (Unless Extended) and available to Vodafone customers using a Nokia C7 handset only. Offer applies only to applications purchased on the Nokia Ovi Store. Standard prices will apply for any application purchased outside of the Nokia Ovi Store – Prices vary and are in addition to your plan access fees. Applications for use only on a Nokia C7 handset. Accessing the Ovi Store, any application downloads, any external links accessed from the Ovi store, and the use of selected applications will incur standard data charges – check your plan for rates. Quality of some services may vary depending on location, device capabilities and network limitations. See www.vodafone.com.au/coverage for details. Applies to usage in Australia only. International roaming is charged separately. Offer not available on all handsets and is subject to handset capabilities and compatibility. Services subject to network limitations, availability and customer locations. See http://maps.nokia.com for full details. 2: Approved customers only. Minimum monthly spend is $29. Early exit fee: $29 x months left on contract. Unlocking fee applies. 3: Approved customers only. Approved customers only. Minimum monthly spend is $45. Early exit fee: $45 x months left on contract. 4: Infinite excludes international calls, Voicemail, 13 / 1800 numbers, Re-routed calls and calls to National (1223) and International (1225) Directory Assistance and some other call types. 5: Offer applies to standard personal TXT/PXT® sent to individuals from within Australia. Excludes premium and re-routed TXT/PXT®. TXT to Pivotel network not available.6: Unlimited access applies if accessed via the mobile web sites (m.facebook.com), (m.foursquare.com), (m.twitter.com), (m.linkedin.com) or (m.myspace.com), Vodafone Central or official applications for compatible handsets from those sites using the Vodafone Live access point (APN). Standard data charges will apply for any external links accessed via the Sites. Subject to handset capability. Facebook is a trademark of Facebook Inc.

Vodafone Nokia C7 Comes with Unlimited Apps!!

Just received a press release from Nokia. Nokia Australia and Vodafone are offering one of the most generous giveaways - unlimited apps downloads from Nokia's Ovi store!

The Nokia C7 is housed in a polished stainless steel frame and a 3.5 inch AMOLED screen. Photos taken on the C7 are up to 8MP with the capacity to film HD videos, comparable to the latest E series phone the Nokia E7. Free voice navigation and unlimited map updates also comes with the C7. Users can get unlimited apps only from the 4th April 2011 to 31st May 2011 and will need to sign up to a 24 month Vodafone $29 cap plan where the C7 comes free.So if you were thinking about a new phone and the Nokia N8 and E7 seem a little to out of your league, this is the deal to go for if you like apps.

Welcome to E7 Week @My_E72

We're heading into an exciting week as we take an extensive look at one of the most anticipated devices - the Nokia E7. This week, we will dedicate ourselves to explore everything about the Nokia E7 without repeating the photos and review points that you probably have already read on other Nokia websites. Keep an eye on Twitter for updates and be ready to get the complete analysis of the E7 from a business perspective and find out how the E7 will change the way you deal.

How can you convince your boss and the tax man that it is a legitimate business expense? Should you upgrade from your current phone to the Nokia E7? Leave questions and comments below or via our Twitter account.

You'll Wish You Never Saw This Video

For those that know me, I love a great marketing promotion. Nokia Australia has hosted one of the best events that I've seen for a Nokia phone. Imagine being able to keep a high performance car for a week, fitted out with the latest in Nokia car navigation technology? How much would your heart be pounding the moment you realised where one of the cars were hidden around Sydney? Could you overcome the angst you'd feel wondering whether you will get there in time before anyone else? I've been reading about the NokiaNav promotion during the past week but it was only after I saw this video, that I realised how much I wish I was there to participate (or even help!) in this promotion, one of the best that 1000Heads has come up with and certainly one of the best in Australia. When will such a promotion come to Perth?

Be the First to See the E7 in Australia!

If you would like to check out the Nokia E7 before it launches in Australia, head over to one of the Nokia E7 preview parties happening tonight!

Location Date Time

Brisbane Nokia Care Centre Level 1, Spring Hill Market Place, Turbot St, Spring Hill 9 March 6.30pm     Perth Nokia Care Centre Shop 4, 2-16 Bishop St, Morley 9 March 6.30pm     Melbourne Nokia Care Centre Unit 2, 440 Elizabeth St, Melbourne 9 March 6.30pm     Sydney Nokia Care Centre 144 Marsden St, Parramatta 9 March 6.30pm

Publicity about this event has been pretty poor so chances are, if there are any giveaways, you just might get lucky! The official website about the preview party is here.

Top 7 Reasons Why E7 means Business

The Nokia E7 is finally about to be launched in Australia so we are bringing forward a review of the E7 we did in September for those that missed it. A Nokia E7 is currently on its way to Australia to be reviewed so we'll an even closer look at it when it arrives. For now, here are the top seven reasons why business users should upgrade to the Nokia E7. 


You can put your toys away now, Nokia finally has a business device that you can proudly place on the boardroom table. You've probably seen this around in the past week on various blogs and review sites but as we all know, it's not all about the number of megapixels or the speed of the processor, so what is the E7 like for a business user?

1. Screen Size First of all, and most importantly, the screen size is very big, much bigger than an Iphone 4 and with the ClearBlack Design, the display is crisper and also saves more battery life. The screen size makes viewing websites much easier. Bloggers also checked the Adobe Flash version which is supported by E7 and yes, it supports 10.1, which means flash websites willl load up fine.

2. Hardware Much of the hardware specs match the Nokia N8, however the camera is an excellent 8 megapixels which is more than enough for a business user but not the crazy 12.1 megapixels squeezed into the N8. Neither is there a mechanical shutter in the E7 or a carl zeiss lens. However, HD quality video @ 720p is possible with a phone that is meant to be for business users - so you CAN have some fun on your business trip. 

3. Security The Nokia E7 comes with business-level security such as the ability to remotely lock your phone (not new), wipe confidential data easily, memory card encryption and map-tracking for stolen phones.

4. Emails Microsoft Exchange servers and Lotus Notes users will rejoice at the ease of connecting the E7 to your company's systems and free access to QuickOffice, the mobile equivalent of Microsoft Office will enable you to edit documents, presentations and excel spreadsheets on the go. The built in email application will allow you to check multiple (I heard 10?) email addresses at all times, with push email supported (move over Blackberry).

5. USB connectivity One major feature is USB on the go which will enable you to transfer someone's documents from USB to your phone or view photos/documents from a USB thumb drive. Hey, you could even play a movie stored on your thumb drive!

6. Big screen GPS Well we finally have it. A big screen GPS receiver that will also come with free updates of NAVTEQ powered maps, which can be downloaded to your phone before heading overseas.

7. Touch screen E7 does bring Nokia business phones into the touch screen era which admittedly took a while but its great they didn't leave the QWERTY keyboard at the design labs! You can now flick through your emails, swipe through a city you are visiting, pinch and zoom on a website and still text on a real keyboard.

There is so much more but I did say seven, so read up more about the E7 here and share your favourites in the comments below. If you are a serious business user, leave a comment about where you are coming from, your position and whether the E7 does it for you. 


See the N8 side by side with E7

Where in the World is the Nokia E7?

Last week, the world embarked on a global search for 7 Nokia E7 devices given away in the "Search for 7" promotion. Clues were provided on www.nokia.com/e7/searchfor7 which sent people scurrying in five cities around the world and setting Twitter ablaze with discussion. It was a very well run promotion by Womworld Nokia not only encouraging people to check out the Nokia E7 but also embrace the use of Ovi Maps more. Take a look at the highlights from the Search for 7.

OnePartners handling Nokia E7 marketing in South East Asia

A Sydney advertising company, OnePartners, has been appointed to lead the Nokia E7 campaign in South East Asia to drive customers to the Nokia Catalyst program which links entrepreneurs together via a social networking framework. This follows OnePartners' successful launch of the Nokia N8. Keep an eye out for an E7 near you.

E72 pros vs N8 cons

I've been using the Nokia E72 and the Nokia N8 side by side and every time I thought about giving up my E72 to solely use my Nokia N8, certain advantages that the E72 has over the N8 come to mind. 

E72 pros vs N8 cons

• Chatting - I've given the N8 a good few months but I still find it quite tedious compared to my Nokia E72 to send a text or chat with someone or update gravity. When using Fring, for example, you cannot see the chat screen while you are typing a response. Swype is good and makes the experience of texting / chatting much easier but it is also a little difficult compared to a QWERTY keyboard on the Nokia E72. 
• From 0 to Search Using Voice Search Google voice search does not work on the Nokia N8 as it is a touch screen with no keyboard. For now, the fastest way to do a google search with one hand is to (first, have Google application installed, then) hold down the Call key on the Nokia E72 and speak out your search. Before you know it, your phone is searching the net. Works very well with Google Maps as well, making it much easier to operate with one hand. I use this most for looking up business phone numbers while I am on the go (eg to do a price or availability check or something). 
• Calendar I have to admit that I have not really used the N8 calendar all that much but my initial impressions were enough to put me off syncing my E72 calendar entries to my N8. Perhaps a little underwhelmed so I decided to keep using my E72 for appointments 
• The Torch Once again we are making a very big fuss about what many will think is trivial but if you look at the power of the E72 torch which is brighter than maybe three LEDs put together (I think), you will understand why this is mentioned. The E72 torch feature continues in the next E series phone with the Nokia E7 but the N8 will have to settle with wandering in the dark. 

Have a look at what the N8 has over the E72 here.