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This page is for anyone thinking of migrating to the Nokia
E61 with a view to using it as their main communicator and entertainment
device. (Page updated 20 June 2006)
The E61 has lots to recommend it, from the quite useable
QWERTY thumb keyboard and landscape screen to the very latest Symbian OS and
Series 60 versions, and with multimedia and Office functionality thrown in by
the bucketload.
- Open up your device
By default, the E61 and
other modern Series 60 smartphones come 'locked down' in terms of the
applications they'll accept, installing only those that have large companies
behind them, able to afford the expensive 'signing' process. But there are
hundreds of other great applications, many of them free, that are 'unsigned'
(although under S60 3rd Edition, totally unsigned applications are slightly
restricted in what they can do). Don't worry about this (see my
malware article to put your mind at rest). Just go to
'Tools | App manager | Options | Settings' and set 'Software installation' to
"All". and 'Online certif check' to "Off". You can now install any compatible
program without being blocked by spurious security warnings!
- Use those shortcuts!
As befits a communicator
with a proper keyboard, Nokia have outfitted the E61 with lots of shortcuts,
although it still falls far short of those in the full 9500 clamshell. Here are
a few of my favourites, some obvious (as they're similar to those in
non-keyboard S60 devices) and some not so obvious:
In any text-entry
application, Ctrl-C copies highlighted text, Ctrl-X cuts it and Ctrl-V pastes
it, just as in any desktop application.
In Web, the '#' key zooms out to
show more of a web page, up to a zoom level of 50%, while '*' zooms back in
again. '8' brings up the mini-Map, of course. '1' gives you bookmarks, while
'5' switches windows.
In Gallery/Images, '3' rotates images, '*' toggles full-screen
on/off, while '5' zooms in and '0' zooms out.
In Gallery/Video clips, '2'
toggles full-screen playback and navigator-up fast forwards within a clip.
- Pump up the brightness
Make sure you increase
the screen from the default brightness to its maximum. Yes, there's a tiny hit
on the time between battery recharges, but in the meantime you'll see some
glorious colours. Go to 'Tools | Settings | Phone | Display | Light sensor' and
adjust away. Of course, for night-time use, your smartphone can double as an
emergency torch or, if you're actually reading from the screen, you can use the
same setting to turn the brightness right down to save being dazzled.
- A cleaner, brighter standby screen
You can do
a lot to make your active standby screen brighter, cleaner and more useful. See
my
tutorial
over on AllAboutSymbian.
- Clearing up the trash
It seems that in S60
3rd Edition, the entire install SIS files from third party applications get
stored on your internal flash disk (C:), completely unnecessarily. If you've
installed several meaty games or applications, you can easily lose 10 to 20MB
in this way. Use the built-in File manager to navigate into 'Installed files'
and delete the SIS files, to reclaim the space. (It won't hamper removal of the
applications later, don't worry)
- Ignore those 'Exit' buttons!
Because the E61
has oodles of execution memory (i.e. RAM), but you can still have most of your
Series 60 apps running at the same time, which means no delays while
applications are launched. The trick is to ignore those 'Exit' buttons. When
you need to switch to a different application, press the Menu ('Applications')
button and select it from there, leaving the current app running. Or use the
tip below to switch between running programs directly.
[Caveat: watch out
for intensive apps like navigation programs, games or music players, which can
eventually drain your battery if left running all the time. For these, you
definitely should press Exit!]
- The latest and best
Make sure you keep up to
date with PC Suite. Yes, there's a version on the CD that came with your
smartphone, but Nokia are fixing bugs and adding bits and pieces all the time.
Most useful is the way you can explore your smartphone's folders (including
your text Inbox) from within Windows Explorer. Very cool. Keep an eye on the
PC Suite home page
and stay current!
- The ones you love the most (1)
With the Nokia
E61, there's S60's usual 'active' standby screen. Don't just take the shortcuts
given, I'm sure you have ideas of your own as to your most used applications.
You can change any of the seven shortcuts in the rather-hidden-away 'Tools |
Settings | Phone | Standby mode | Active standby apps' (Phew, you really have
to get to know the settings hierarchy on these devices!)
 Go Stereo!
For some
penny-pinching reason, Nokia only supply the E61 with a mono headset. Run,
don't walk, to your nearest accessory online store and get one of
Nokia's Pop Port
stereo headsets and you'll soon be rocking to music from your miniSD
card.- Hangup = Exit
Don't keep switching back to
the Standby screen using the Hangup button. This was OK on old versions of S60,
but in almost every instance it closes the current application on the E61 - in
other words, it acts as 'Exit'. If you want to keep the current program running
in the background, press Menu/Apps instead, twice if you want to get to Standby
screen.
- What's running?
The one utility every
computer user needs is a system task manager (i.e. what's running). Luckily,
the basics are built-in. Just press and hold the 'Menu/Applications' button.
For more control, grab Best
TaskMan.
- Messages overview
There's a handy (though
inflexible) view of your top two SMS or emails available on the active standby
screen. The trick is to go into 'Messages | Settings | Other | Active standby
mode' and make your choice.
- The ones you love the most (2)
If you get fed
up scrolling down the Menu screen lookng for your favourite applications
again, why not shuffle things round so that the apps you use the most
are clustered right at the top? Highlight an icon and use 'Move', and you'll
find you can re-insert it anywhere in the list. If you have lots of favourites,
make the most of the folder system (e.g. 'Games') and then put these folders
near the top of the list, for speedy access.
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