Thoughts on S60

I can not tell you how many people I’ve talked to or articles I’ve read regarding S60 devices not supporting HTML email out of the box. It seems that every time someone mentions the built-in email application, everyone cringes thinking about their HTML document getting dumped into a text only format. Well, I have a secret to share with you…

Open an email. Here’s the initial view. Highlight the attachment underneath the subject line.

You’ll be brought to this screen instantly. Click on the Attachment.html file.

Here’s what opens.

Press 8 on the keypad to view the page overview.

From here, all of the links from the HTML document work just like they would if you were to pull them up in any other HTML email client. This is basically as simple as opening the HTML file in a browser window.

Now stop crying about Profimail!

I’ve been using Handy Profiles for a long time now, but only recently has it made it into my list of “must-have applications” for some needs it has been able to fill for me. Once installed, there really is no need to ever open the default Profiles application again. Handy Profiles handles every standard profile setting as well as everything else it does.

If you’re not familiar with Handy Profiles, it’s an application that adds the timed profile functionality from S40 to S60 and adds a ton of bonus features as well. Continue reading for a brief write up of what this software can do for you and why it’s on my list.

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I wasn’t planning on doing it, but I caught a deal for a refurbished 16gb iPhone for $349.99 and I couldn’t resist. Now that I’ve switched to AT&T, I thought I would give it another chance to see if the call quality and reception was at least bearable and if not, I can always turn around and sell it.

I ordered on Wednesday, had to call customer service three or four times to get my tracking number, and the package came today. Here’s what was inside.

I called AT&T and was told that the phones were back ordered and they should be shipped off within the next week.

This event coupled with the release of the N95-4 firmware strikes me as a sign. I’ll be selling this one as soon as I receive it also.

As a side note, who thought it was a good idea to send packages with plastic bags in them in the first place?!

Updating right now. Will post more with an update on what’s changed.

Update: New firmware finished installing and I just got finished playing around with it. Some notes…

Click through to see the full list of changes.

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Taking a look at my favorite themes that I use on a regular basis, I happened to notice that a majority of them were from one particular theme designer. After doing a bit more research, I found out that said theme designer has his own website. That theme designer’s name is Niimai, and he is my current favorite theme designer for S60 devices.

I’m a huge fan of themes that are more simplistic and ease on the eyes. Other theme designers like P@sco and more recently PiZero focus on customized icons, flashier backgrounds, and menu effects which really don’t do it for me. I like themes that make my phone look and feel like it’s easy to use and to reflect how easy S60 really is to use. Niimai’s themes do just that and they still manage to make the device look really good in the process.

Click on the image to be taken to Niimai’s website to see the excellent themes he’s been designing for over half a year now.

There are a great many perks to using your mobile phone as your MP3 player, and my recent addition of an network that supports HSDPA has just brought the experience to the next level. I’ve been using Symella and SymTorrent off and on with various S60 devices since it was released a very long time ago, but using them on the $5.99 t-zones unlimited plan was not only painfully slow, but it also prevented me from using some of the features of each application. For those who don’t know, Symella is a peer-to-peer downloading client (much like Limewire, but without the viruses) and SymTorrent is torrent downloading application both developed to work specifically with S60 devices. With HSDPA (and Opera Mini to download the torrent files), I’ve effectively cut my computer out of the equation for getting music on my device altogether. I can now download, manage, and listen to music anywhere I am. I was able to download a full album in about 30 minutes over HSDPA with an average speed of 60 kbps.

Follow these links to download Symella and SymTorrent for your S60 3rd Edition smartphone. They’re both free, and there’s no reason not to use them if you’re into torrents and P2P clients.

I finally made the decision to switch my service from T-Mobile to AT&T. After being left with no signal from T-Mobile whatsoever and very slow EDGE speeds (roaming on AT&T) in Wisconsin for the wedding, I decided it was time to make use of my 3G-capable smartphone. I was hesitant for a long time because A) nobody wants to pay $400 in ETF’s and B) something about the company as a whole makes me feel like I’m assimilating into the collective.

I spoke with my guy who works for AT&T and after an ordeal (not an unpleasant ordeal, but an ordeal nonetheless), I was signed up for a family plan with 0-month commitment
and a new number with 20% off my bill.

Click through for my thoughts on the change of coverage and the reason why T-Mobile is still number one in my book.

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Rachel and I went to see RENT tonight at the Fox Theater, something she has been looking forward to seeing for a long time (okay, I was looking forward to it too). I managed to take a couple decent pictures despite security being pretty tight around the area. Click image if you want to take a look.

Look what came in the mail today! I got a care package from Nokia with a bunch of S60 branded goodies including a mousepad, two pens, lanyard, notepad, and the best/worst part, a large T-shirt. I’m really excited about the lanyard because I can finally replace the beat up Microsoft Office lanyard I was using with my set of work keys, but as you can tell from the picture, the T-shirt doesn’t quite fit. :\ That’s not going to stop me from wearing it! Thanks Ricky!

If you’re interested in following the S60 Ambassadors or signing up to become one, take a look at this site.

I just got back from a Circuit City sponsored event, Connect ‘08, in Louisville, KY. Everything was paid for in full by both Circuit City and the vendors that were present at the event, including airfare, accommodations, food, and I was paid for any time not spent in the hotel. On top of all of that, everyone that attended received one of four DSLR’s randomly selected. The DSLR’s given away were the Olympus E-420, Nikon D60, Sony A350, and the Canon Rebel XTi, complete with an additional charged battery, camera bag, Sandisk 4gb Ultra II CF card, and a DSLR for Dummies book. As cool as this was, I randomly received what I considered to be the worst of them, the E420, so I ended up not opening it whatsoever. Instead, I used my new N95-4 for taking pictures instead. I know there’s a noticeable difference in image quality, but having the ability to record video and not having to carry such a large camera around with me was more important than using it. I’m probably going to either sell it, raffle it off to my guys at work, or try to find a use for it. I’m leaning towards selling it altogether.

Of the vendors there, Sony, Olympus, Fujifilm, Samsung, and Panasonic stood out the most to me for some innovative features coming to their newer cameras, but Canon and JVC were too busy trying to entertain all of us to keep us from realizing they didn’t have anything new for this imaging season.

Thank you to Circuit City and all of the vendors for inviting me to such an excellent event!

I took tons of pictures and a couple videos which are being uploaded to Ovi right now. Click on the image to be redirected to my Ovi channel with all of the pictures I took during the event.