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