What’s on my E61i: August, 2007

Apps on my E61i

A week from today I’ll be wandering around Auckland, New Zealand with my Nokia E61i. And what manner of software does an experienced world traveller load up his smartphone with before such a trip? Read on and find out!

The built-in App Manager is installed by default, providing a bit more information about the installed applications and a link to download more from one of Nokia’s many worldwide sites.

fring is something I probably won’t get to test until my 6-hour layover at LAX — I’ll have a pass to NZ’s Koru Lounge so I hopefully won’t be suffering too much! Possibly short for “free ring”, fring is advertised as a mobile front-end for Skype calling over WiFi networks, with an MSN Messenger client thrown in for good measure!

Frozen Bubble is the awesome free S60 game I wrote about previously.

Golf Pro 2 is a somewhat less awesome free game that came bundled with my E61i. When I get back from my trip I’ll probably ditch it for this…

Google Maps is a java app that feature-wise is pretty much identical to BlackBerry Maps — actually better, since the BlackBerry map app never gave me squat for anything outside of North America. But unless Auckland and/or Wellington has free city-wide WiFi I probably won’t be using it much, as it needs a constant connection to the internet to tell me where the hell I am. Nokia’s own mapping software would be the cheaper solution here, as you can transfer to your handset as many maps as your memory card will hold. But it won’t work with Macs or on my phone. Boo.

Far more practical would be something to help with local public transportation, and MetrO is an old gem from my days with the first colour Treo. It still works great, and has a thoughtful WAP counterpart should I ever find myself without the appropriate city database.

I gave up Antony Pranata’s highly regarded Screenshot for ScrnSnapS60, another free screen grab utility with a slightly more polished start-up logo. Either one is a must-have on any Symbian blogger’s device.

ShoZu provides a means to quickly upload your photos and videos directly to Facebook, Flickr, YouTube or even a WordPress.com blog! As with fring, I’ll be making use of this app should I find a free WiFi connection somewhere abroad, or if the opportunity for citizen journalism arise.

SMS Export is a free utility that will export every text message in my inbox to a separate file, to be treasured as memories and/or used as evidence in a court of law.

SplashID also makes a return appearance from my Treo and TyTN days, and will prove invaluable if I lose my passport or need to make use of some other unmemorable series of digits. But would-be handset thieves should be warned — this app, my handset and SIM card are all locked down with three separate, industrial-grade passwords, so suck it.

Priced at a mere ten bucks, vBoy makes for a very affordable Nintendo Gameboy emulator. Hey, why the long face? Can’t you play Super Mario Bros. Deluxe on your phone?

And finally, WorldMate (standard edition) is a free utility for the world traveller, featuring a world clock, currency converters and weather forecasts for multiple destinations. Those who upgrade to the paid Pro version also get flight information and satellite imagery, in case one needs to corroborate their terrain with Google Maps, I guess…