One of the biggest advantages of the latest generation of cell phones and hand-held devices is the ability to browse any websites, check your e-mail, follow your RSS feeds, etc. While there are mobile devices, such as the iPhone, that are pay particular attention to the user’s experience with the web, the huge majority leave you the option without encouraging you to fully exploit it. For that reason, I’ve put together a quick tutorial on how to take full advantage of the web-surfing capability on your mobile running, running Windows Mobile or Symbian. I am using the Nokia E71 (which I’ve reviewed many months after, as well as compared to lower-end counterparts), but the process is the same for most phones of the same category.

Connectivity

Although 3G Internet access has become significantly cheaper, it is still more economical, as well as rapid, to access the web via wifi whenever available. Therefore, if at a wifi hotspot, it is imperative that you take advantage of the connection and add it to your list of regulars. Aside from free wireless connections, the average telecommunications provider automatically detects the type of phone, and sends a configuration file in shape of an SMS to get your mobile phone on the net in no time. As a result, whenever you open the browser that comes built in, you are prompted to select the access point of choice. Having said that, it is a bit of an inconvenience to make the choice every time, and the process because repetitive and rather tedious.

Birdstep: Makers of SmartConnect

The solution is a free software available for most called SmartConnect from Birdstep. It carries out a simple task that could save you infinite time and energy. It allows you to create connection groups where you place your preferred access points, and then allows you to move them up and down the priority list. Logically, you would place all of the wifi networks of the places where you are frequently located, followed by the 3G connection from your provider. You can name the group any unique name, such as MyConnections.

After that, any program on your phone that accesses the internet can be configured to make the smart choice. Simply access the settings area of each, and make the default network of connection the group that you created (in this case, MyConnections – yes it appears as a network connection, even though it is merely a group of favorite connections, and that’s the beauty of SmartConnect).

As a result, whenever you access the Web, you will always be automatically on the free wifi if available, or your 3G network if not, without having to answer any questions or calculate the possibilities.

Browsing the web requires a good browser

Now that you’re on the right connection, you will notice that it is not very convenient to use your phone regularly for surfing, even if it’s via a free wifi connection. The reason being that with a small screen and limited functionality, you immediately realize that nothing’s worth so much sacrifice, and will consequently opt for a full browser on your computer. While the difference is too big to consider mobile browsing in any way a contender to the real deal, there are still measures that can be taken to ensure the most pleasant experience on the web.

The web browser that comes built in with the Nokia E71 and similar Symbian-based phones is not even good to be part of the past. Mainly due to the following:

• Below-par performance: takes ages to open simple text websites
• Not intuitive: no matter how much experience you have using it, you never get used to handling it
• Zoom: You can only zoom out at 50%, and you can only do so when the page is done loading. If you’re opening a large-sized website, it could take a solid few minutes before you are allowed to zoom out, when you still can’t see anything because the pages simply don’t fit
• Limited functionality: limited or no control over font size, image settings, RSS feeds, etc.

Opera Software logo

The Internet Explorer that comes with windows does not have much to brag about either (and let’s not get started on the problems of the desktop version). Needless to say, this needs to be taken care of. This is where Opera comes in. An experienced, open-source browser that has been specializing in mobile devices from the times of dial-up connections. The main advantages of the Opera browser on your mobile are the following:

• Performance: extremely fast and light-weight
• Usability: very easy to use, you become best friends at first sight
• View port: you initially get the entire website and can automatically zoom in to any section of the page. IT makes it very easy to spot info and get closer to fully view it
• Advanced options: you can control if you want to photos to be rendered at low quality (saves immense amounts of time, especially since you never notice the difference from a small display like that of your cell phone), default text size, and more

Above all, it’s free and open-source! To install Opera on your phone, simple open the default browser and go to http://www.opera.com/ and you will be automatically directed to the site optimized for mobile phones. Go to the download page and find your version (Windows or Symbian). If your phone is from a select few (the Nokia E71 included), then you can click on the corresponding link that allows you to download and install Opera Mini, which works like magic.

There you have it, the adequate connection automatically chosen and connected to on your behalf, combining with the best browser for mobile phones available, giving you the optimum solution for fully exploiting the web-surfing capability with the majority of cell phones offered through the market today.

A couple of weeks back, I made a post about Nokia’s shocking decision to enter the Netbook battle with one of its own: the Nokia Booklet 3G. It was great news for the regular users, as it allows for more competition, and hence, better services and more reasonable prices. While the former seemed to be on par, the latter has disappointed the large crowd who have been anxiously awaiting the Finnish’s debut in the netbook market.

Nokia has released the pricing of it’s inaugurational netbook, slashing an over-whelming $820 tag. In a marketplace where even the standard, powerful notebooks can be easily picked up at a much more humble price, it is indeed completely illogical how the Mobile-phone makers expect to have a piece of the netbook money pie with such a disproportionate value. It is clear that Nokia have raised their white flag even before entering the battlefield, and it is up to the consumers to demonstrate that in order to succeed, it is imperative to satisfy the customers. That means services, and pricing. Nokia will just have to learn it the hard way, and I personally see no possibility of success with their debut.

Nokia Booklet 3G colors

In a market where the average netbook is offered for $300 dollars, there must be an edge that almost triples the price. The following are the main features that separate the soon-available Nokia Booklet 3g from its counterparts such as the Acer Aspire One and the Asus Eee PC:

1. Runs Windows 7
2. 16-cell battery, arguably lasting up to 12 hours
3. Sim card slot, allowing you to connect to 3G networks without a cell phone
4. HDMI out for high definition videos on external HD displays

If we were to bend over backwards and add $100 for each one of the four features, it would still add-up to $700, quite distant from the original $820. I haven’t been as confused since Apple forced their customers to pay for patches and fixes. The only way Nokia can come out of this alive is via iPhone-style monopoly deals with carriers such as AT&T and Verizon Wireless, but even then, the netbook would still require an unprecedented $400 investment. Given the choice of tying yourself in a two-year’s contract and paying $400 for an average netbook, or the full $300 for a regular counterpart, no strings attached, how much “under the influence” would you have to be to make the wrong choice and aid the mobile-making Scandinavians?

We are left with no choice but to get over the bubble-burst and move on with our lives, there will soon be real contenders that provide us with the services that we deserve, for the prices that they have earned.

Nokia Booklet 3G

To the surprise of many in the tech world, cellular telephony giants Nokia have announced that they will be introducing a “mini-laptop” by the name of Booklet 3G by next month. The Finnish company has come through the ranks over the years and has established itself as the king of the domain as far as cell phones and portable devices are concerned. Now they have taken it a step further with a small laptop that seems dubiously similar to the netbooks available in the market today:

• Intel Atom processor
• Ships with the new Windows 7
• 10.1″ screen
• Bluetooth, Wifi and GPS
• Card reader

Until this point, it does not seem significantly different than its counterparts produced by the likes of Acer and Asus. However, there are a couple of features that could just excite the crowd into rushing for it:

1. HDMI out means you can watch the high definition videos from your laptop on a large external HD screen
2. 3G sim slot brings the long-awaited possibility of inserting a sim card with a 3G connection and use your laptop to browse the web

In fact, there seems to be such hype on the new notebook, that the official website has been down ever since the announcement. If it does come back up, you’d be able to view it here.

It’s always good news when there’s new competition entering the market. The ability to access the internet via an integrated sim card slot is a right consumers should’ve been granted ages ago, but was not available due to the monopolies of the telecommunications companies forcing users to sign two-year contracts. However, judging by the quality of the high-end phones and portable devices produces by the Finns, it is difficult to be optimistic about the very first netbook they come up with. Yet another case of how time will tell.

It is a shocking fact of life that the telecommunications industry behaves quite differently to similar markets in terms of what is offered to the consumers. It seems like investing in a cell phone immediately places you in an awkward situation where it is not always best to throw in huge sums of money. Sometimes it is wiser to buy the cheaper product, even when you have the resources available for its top-of-the-line counterpart.

When purchasing a digital camera, the more expensive models tends to offer the stability of a few years with exceeding performance. A $400 camera will always be around five years after purchase, while a $200 model could last just half of that period, and never offer the features and functionality brought forward by the former. The same applies to notebooks. While Acers (a personal favorite) offer advanced characteristics at very reasonable prices, you cannot expect a lifetime that competes with a Sony Vaio that has cost more than double. It is generally best to invest the maximum amount possible to guarantee that you will be profiting from a significantly long lifetime, while enjoying advanced functionality.

As water-tight as the plan may seem, it is not always possible to buy the high-end products. If you can only pitch in with 700 dollars for a notebook, than you simply cannot afford the Vaio that boasts the specs that you are requiring, while brands like Acer, Dell and Toshiba satisfy your needs. Therefore, when making a purchase, you automatically place a budget depending on the maximum amount that you can pay, before you search for the best available option in that price range.

Having said that, it becomes evident that mobile phones do not follow that trend: Investing in a high end phone, means that the phone is a lot more fragile and susceptible to damage, more likely to have software failures, and will most probably disappoint you with a sorry lifetime. A cheap Nokia 1112 may not be fancy, nor will it offer any sort of eye candy, but it certainly boasts the following:

1. Very low price
2. Virtually unbreakable, survives swimming pool accidents no problem
3. Battery lasts up to a week or more
4. Never freezes, very quick software response time
5. Generally allows you to use its limited features very efficiently

Nokia 1112, your basic needs

You might not be able to browse the web or check our email, but you’ve got all of the basic functionality you would need from a cell phone. If we were to compare the Nokia 1112 with the Nokia E71 (which I had discussed in an earlier post), you would immediately notice the following:

1. Extremely expensive
2. The sound of the sea waves means it instantaneously starts falling apart
3. The battery will last up to 3 days, which is considered to be a revolution amongst similar-category phones
4. Inevitably causes software freezes and issues over time
5. It can take you ages to change settings like a ring tone, and SMSs are anything but a swift experience

Nokia E71 - bit off more than you can chew?

But it looks cooler, and gives you the possibility of doing things you never thought were possible with a small device that you keep in your pocket. To top it all off, a low-end cell phone like the Nokia 1112 will easily give you a handful of years without any problems whatsoever (and even if anything arises, it’s fixed at no cost, and on the go). On the other hand, you can consider yourself lucky to carry a high-end mobile device such as the E71 for two years, and you will have seen the best of it merely six months after purchase.

Thus, when you buy a car, bet on the best one within your desired budget. When investing in a laptop, make the most out of the money available. But when you are about to buy a cell phone, you might want to use only a small percentage of what you have available, as it could be the wiser choice.

Nokia E71

Whenever a cell phone is introduced to the market (and sometimes before it’s even out), the web gets swamped with reviews of all sorts. There is a constant competition to bring out the informative, comprehensive review that helps the consumer decide if he or she is willing to invest or not. Analysts who beat the crowd in offering a quality review consequently drive immense traffic to their website or blog, and their visitors exponentially boom as they show up in high positions in search-engine results. I was interested in analyzing the performance and reliability months after purchasing Nokia’s E71, because that is the real measurement of how successful the product is.

I purchased the Nokia E71 around New Year’s, and have been heavily relying on it ever since. Looking back, things seem very different than when I first chose to make the investment. To start off, let’s look back at what was said or reviewed when the iPhone 3G competitor hit the shelves:

• Nokia’s official webste (for reference, not opinion)
• The Boy Genius Report review
• The Engadget Mobile review
• The All About Symbian review

To summarize what everyone agreed on at the time:

1. Design: Sexy as hell
2. Size/Weight: Small, slim, sleek
3. Screen: Good quality, OK size
4. Keyboard: After getting used to it, very efficient
5. Connectivity: Offers everything you need (wifi, bluetooth, etc.)
6. Sound: Crisp and clear
7. Battery: Outstanding
8. Camera: Not great, but gets the job done

Nokia E71 White

Mainly, it was the phone that meets all of your needs. You can use it to organize your appointments, place reminders, use the office applications to open and edit documents, install software and further functionality and much more.

The sad but true story is that after owning the phone for a while, even if it was as revolutionary as Che Guevara when it came out, your appreciation towards what used to be strong points inevitably deflates. That is only normal. Subjectively, the following are the initial advantages that turned sour with time:

• Screen: After a while, you came to realize that the display is simply way too small. It is difficult to view any sort of image or video effectively. Besides, going through numbers or writing an email is quite the challenge, let alone editing an office document
• Keyboard: I’ll admit I don’t treat my cell phone like a girlfriend, but I still keep it relatively protected. However, the letter “z” fell off, and I keep relying on using a key to door push the button when it’s absolutely necessary (I’d change it, but I’m currently in Paris and they still believe that they have the right to stick to the AZERTY keyboards. Even if they had QWERTY keyboards, they wouldn’t have the Arabic alphabet, thus I’ll have to wait until I’m back in Cairo). It’s relatively easy to type, but I still cannot get the grip on using “shift” and the “function” button (the one that allows you to type numbers or punctuations). You’d think I would get comfortable with that by now
• Connectivity: It is very easy to fool yourself into thinking that you will be connecting with Bluetooth regularly. The fact of the matter is that it’s a number of buttons away, and eats up the battery. Added to the fact that the screen isn’t ideal for viewing images or documents anyway, it’s become somewhat impractical. The wifi is slow, just like with any portable device. Only whenever there’s a long wifi key (the typical default password that comes with new routers) it repeatedly fails to connect
• Sound: After one trip to the beach, and for a period of at least a month, the sound would randomly become bizarre. It would become distorted and very distanced. A couple of months later, however, it went back to normal
• Camera: Honestly, I would’ve rather payed $100 less and not had a camera at all. It has been completely useless. Between the horrible quality, the small screen, and the limited storage (no one’s willing to keep changing Micro SD cards), it has become a waste of space
• Calendar & ToDos: After the first week, I did not use it once. It is not intuitive and seems like a bit of a hassle. Perhaps there are people who would argue that they rely on it, but personally, I don’t use the E71 for the organization of any appointments or tasks
• GPS: The map that ships in is somewhat sluggish. But then again, that also depends on the network you are on. Either way, the screen is too small to be able to comfortably navigate with maps (no to mention that in a place like Egypt, the maps are far from complete or accurate)

Moreover, I rarely use it to listen to music (needs special earphones, the protective sponge around the ear plug’s very sharp edges have fallen off, making it a painful experience to listen to music!). The worst of all is that, after that one trip to the sandy beach, the keyboard gets stuck sometimes typing away random letters and numbers, making it impossible to send any SMS. This problem comes and goes, but thankfully, hasn’t popped up in a while. The issue should completely cease to exist upon changing the keyboard for a new one.

There are a couple of advantages that have held strong, standing out even more:

• Battery: Surprisingly enough, the battery still lasts for up to four days! With constant phone calls and internet usage, it still lives for up to 2.5 days. Something that has saved a lot of hassle
• Email: It remains an easy and efficient way to view and reply to emails. This also relies on the rates by the telecommunication providers, but that aside, communication is generally easy
• Fring: Depending on the speed and quality of the 3G network you are using, the E71 allows you to make VOIP calls using your skype account and credit. This can be achieved via Fring, a free software that runs natively on Symbian and is (generally) easy to use

Fring adds some powerful functionality

It is easy to overestimate the value of a given product, and it is even easier to overlook the negative possibilities that lie ahead. Looking back, albeit with hindsight, I would say that the Nokia E71 has somewhat disappointed, but continues to be a successful investment. However, I would not recommend purchasing the E71 if any of the following apply:

• You do not have access to accessories and parts: Some things are bound to fail, and it is easy and cheap to replace them. However, without access to a store that could do that for you, the value of the mobile phone somewhat deteriorates
• You would like to constantly listen to music: The media player is not intuitive, and the headphones that come with it do not last very long. You are better off with an iPhone 3G or something more media-oriented
• Office documents are vital: Not the most efficient of phones when it comes to dealing with Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents.

If none of the previous points apply to you, baring in mind that over time, some advantages deteriorate, the E71 might be a wise choice. All in all, it is important to note that a good 40% of the features that ship with the cell phone will not be used at any point in time. While they do not consume much space, and do not interfere, they inevitably pressure you into thinking that the E71 is the appropriate choice thanks to the increased functionality. If you are looking for a cell phone that is small and light, relatively cheap, displays email and web pages, and has a very respectable battery, the Nokia E71 becomes an evident choice. Otherwise, the market does not stop bringing forward competitors of all sorts, you’ll certainly find your match.