I had no idea that my stuffy Eseries business handset could also be a kick-ass music player, but thanks to Salling Software’s new Media Sync, it is!

Media Sync's Drop-down Menu

Install Media Sync on your Mac (it’s also available for Windows) and you’ll find a little icon in your title bar for it — this is important, because the app doesn’t show up on the OS X dock when active for some reason…

Media Sync's Main Interface

But once you launch Media Player things get better real quick — as you can see above, each and every one of my iTunes playlists is available to be copied over to my E71. My previous issue with non-protected iTunes Plus tracks on Nokia handsets has magically disappeared; I’m not sure if it’s Media Sync or the improved music player on my phone that’s responsible for that, but no complaints here either way!

In fact, the one audio file type that Media Sync can’t handle is the protected AAC files for sale on the iTunes Music Store, so I made a Smart Playlist containing my top-rated music without DRM. DRM sucks.

Nokia Music Player

And here’s a random track (honest!) playing on my E71. I should note that album artwork is also copied over where available.

Media Sync comes in two flavours: a free download which can be upgraded anytime to a full version with “smart copying” — meaning that your entire music library doesn’t have to be wiped and replaced on your handset every time you connect it.

Given the relatively slow speeds of today’s microSD cards I’ll definitely ante up for the full version of Media Sync, but I’m going to have to get myself a stereo Bluetooth headset first. What’s that? Your iPod doesn’t support stereo Bluetooth? Well, boo-hoo for you…

Congrats to fellow Mood Swing member Kevin Hilditch for scoring his very first S60 handset, an unlocked and gently-used E61 courtesy of his missus.

He’s been asking me about apps and such, and since there are undoubtedly other Eseries newbies out there I’d thought I’d present a beginners guide here for all to enjoy!

Note that while some of the stuff I talk about here pertains to the E61 specifically, most of it can be applied to any Eseries (and indeed any S60) handset…

So then, one of the best things about the Eseries line of enterprise-minded handsets is that they come with what’s widely-considered the best battery that Nokia makes — the mighty BP-4L, which will literally go on for days before it needs to be recharged.

Still, the first thing I’d recommend for any new E61 user is to switch their 3G-enabled phone to GSM-only mode, since the 2100 MHz 3G bands in this particular device isn’t compatible with North American carriers:

GSM Mode

The path to get to this setting is (I think) “Menu > Settings > Network > Network Mode”. Turning off UMTS (3G) will prevent your handset from looking for a 3G signal where there is no GSM service — like underground on the TTC, for example — and make that battery last even longer!

Since Kevin’s lucky enough to have the E61 and not the blasphemous E62 with the WiFi stripped out he doesn’t really need a data plan from his carrier. But without one he’ll be charged 5¢ per kilobyte for using Google Maps — therefore I’d recommend Nokia’s own mapping app instead, if for no other reason than the ability to pre-load local map info onto his handset.

It should be noted here that Kevin, like myself, uses a Mac for his desktop computer; fortunately for both of us, Nokia has just today released a Map Loader for OS X!

To connect to Skype I would recommend the excellent fring, and cross my fingers that it’ll work on Kevin’s E61 (I was never actually able to make a Skype call with fring on my E61i). Failing that, the next best thing would probably be iSkoot, which uses the caller’s local GSM network to connect to Skype — so they save on long distance charges at the very least.

As most Nokia fans know the E61 doesn’t have a camera. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any available media options for this phone. Quite the contrary, in fact! emTube is so good that it easily trumps the iPhone’s YouTube app. The last known version is 1.0.10 and can be downloaded here. While you’re at it, Kevin (and everyone else), you might as well go ahead and sign up for a MOSH account — it’s no iPhone Apps Store but at least everything can be downloaded for free!

For music I can recommend the latest version of Mobbler, a Last.fm client for S60 handsets. Of course, to get the most out it of you also need the iTunes plug-in — You know what? I’ll just let the Last.fm folks explain it themselves.

And finally, what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t provide a link to possibly the best game for S60 mobiles EVAR?!1! And no, it’s not Snake…

Unimpressed

You’re looking at the very first photo snapped with the Nokia E71 that WOM World loaned me. Yeah, I’m not too impressed either…

Despite the obvious improvement over my E61i (3.2-megapixel auto-focus with LED flash vs. 2.0-megapixel fixed-focus without), the E71’s camera has definitely got some issues.

It’s entirely possible to coax some good results from it under the right conditions — it seems to work best with lots of available light in “auto mode”, where the LED sometimes fires as a fill-flash. This photo of a recent Sunday Brunch was taken at a window-side table in one of my favourite neighbourhood restaurants. And it turned out pretty well, I think.

Try to challenge the camera, though, and you’ll be quickly disappointed. That first photo at the top of this post (the one with the reluctant feline subject) shows some definite issues with white balance in a room lit by a halogen lamp. And this “night mode” portrait of Toronto’s Old City Hall has way too much noise — though to be fair the night mode setting on my E61i isn’t much better.

I myself would be perfectly happy with a better lens capturing to a more sensitive 2-megapixel chip. I’ve yet to print anything bigger than 4 x 6 inches, and even high-end camera phones have noise issues when you blow them up to full resolution. However, I think it’s safe to say that you won’t mistake an E71 photo for one shot with an NSeries camera — have a look at my E71 Flickr Set and see if you agree…

Of course, it’s not all bad news with imaging and the E71. The skinnier form factor means that it, unlike the wider E61i, can be securely gripped by Nokia’s DT-22 mini-tripod. And as far as I know, this is the first Eseries handset with Nokia’s Share Online pre-installed. So you can not only upload to Flickr (or Vox or Ovi) directly from the handset, but you can browse Flickr photos through the same app as well. For me this makes Share Online far more useful than other apps — like the popular ShoZu, for example.

Unfortunately this particular version of Share Online cannot upload to YouTube, and with good reason — just like the E61i the E71 captures video at a paltry 320 x 240 pixels, which means that it gets up-res’d to 640 x 480 for display by pretty much every video-sharing site out there.

Have a look at the video I shot on the E71 below, and note both the motion artifacts and the general softness of static images. For a graduate of a prestigious Canadian Film School this really stings, and in my mind it’s the biggest overall shortcoming of this otherwise excellent handset.

BTW, this is my first-ever attempt at an unboxing video, so you’ll hopefully forgive that I completely forgot about the included battery and botched the location of the guys who sold it to me. Import GSM is actually based out of Philadelphia and shipped me my white E71-2 (with North American 3G) super-quick!

Okay, so I’ve been having some trouble grabbing screens from my E71, but thanks to a helpful tip from this forum thread I’ve figured it out (hint: use the backspace trigger on Anthony Pranata’s excellent Screenshot app).

So without further ado here’s a quick visual tour of what’s new and improved on Nokia’s latest Eseries handset…

Quick Look-up

You can now quickly find contacts directly from the home screen — just start keying in letters and a list of matching entries will instantly show up!

Mode 1

The E71’s narrower display means that there’s less room for application shortcuts on the home screen. Nokia has included a “Modes” function that gives you two home screens for the price of one, plus the option to switch easily between them.

Mode 2

Unfortunately there are only two modes available, although you can call them whatever you want. The defaults are “Business” and “Personal” — instead of the uninspired choices in the screens above might I suggest “Home” and “Away”? “Good” and “Evil”?

Remote Lock

Since the E71 is primarily a business device, it comes chock full of handy security features, like the ability to lock down your handset via text message. My remote lock code is “evasive manoeuvres” and my phone number is — hey, waitaminnit…

Data Encryption

You can even encrypt files on your memory card, handset, or both! You also have the option of using an encryption key — which is saved to the handset but should probably be archived somewhere else just in case.

Media Folder

Thankfully the E71 loosens up its tie a bit with more media options, including an on-board FM radio, music store (which isn’t yet licensed for Canada) and Podcast directory.

Oh and look at that, iPhone users… It’s got a Flash Video Player too!

Barcode Reader

No longer will this barcode evangelist have to choose between Kaywa Reader and QuickMark — Nokia now includes its own Barcode reader on the E71.

Nokia Maps 2.0

And last but not least, Nokia Maps 2.0 is finally available for Eseries candybar phones — though they might want to double-check their co-ordinates for Toronto’s CN Tower…

Having used an E71 on loan from Nokia’s WOM World for about a week now, I can say without reservation that it’s got the best QWERTY keypad yet in this particular variant of Eseries handsets. But why just tell you when I can show you as well?

Note that I’m using my dummy white E71 as a model here, not the actual black unit that Nokia sent me, only because it photographed better on this rainy fall day…

You may remember that Nokia’s first BlackBerry killer, the E61, won my inaugural QWERTY Smartphone Smackdown last year, narrowly edging out the Danger hiptop/Sidekick because it could be used with one hand.

As you can see the keys were nice and big, but compared with what was to come were a little too squishy in practice — that is, they had lots of travel without much tactile feedback.

The E61i addressed this with stiffer keys that gave a satisfying click when pressed. Squaring them off and separating them a bit also helped, as did adding more application shortcuts around the D-pad (and putting the D-pad on there in first place) but I actually found typing on my E61i a bit tiring after thumbing out a long document or email — especially in comparison to the much bigger E90 and even Nokia’s N95 8GB.

The diminutive E71 looked like it was set for disaster, with impossibly small keys jammed up right next to each other. But I’m happy to report that this just isn’t the case. With both longer travel and tactile feedback — that’s “squishy and clickety” in English — this is definitely the best keypad of the bunch. And despite being so close together the keys are curved vertically so accuracy is barely an issue. I’ve hit ‘w’ instead of ‘e’ a couple of times but I can be a pretty sloppy typist when I get excited. And given that you can hold and use an E71 in one hand much more easily than its forebears I don’t think anyone will mind the smaller keys.

The E71 has reminded me how much I depend on text entry, and I honestly don’t I could go back to a T9 device. Or in other words, I’m buying one.

My Ninja is back!

Yes yes, Nokia’s E71 has just been crowned smartphone and handset of the year by Mobile Choice Magazine in the UK. It’s an improvement over my own E61i in almost every way, with built-in GPS, a better autofocus camera, etc. etc.

That’s all fine and well, but that’s not the reason you should buy one. The reason you should be very interested in this latest Eseries device is because of a single killer feature that leaves Apple’s precious iPhone in the dust and puts this new Nokia on the same playing field as the best bleeding-edge handsets from Korea and Japan.

I’m talking of course, about the built-in loop for a cell phone charm.

Whether you’re superstitious and seek to ward off excess radiation, have clumsy hands and need a wrist strap or just want to pimp out your mobile a bit, the E71 has got you covered. Nokia engineers clearly had a tough choice of where exactly to position the loop; while the top left or right corner of the handset would have been the best choice for charm-mounting, the bottom left is probably the best compromise between the market needs of teenage girls (and me) and those who want a full-on wrist strap or lanyard.

I contacted Nokia in Espoo, Finland, asking to speak with the E71’s lead lanyard loop designer, but they still haven’t gotten back to me for some reason. Hopefully I’ll have that exclusive review for you soon; in the meantime, I give the E71’s lanyard/wrist strap/keitai charm loop a 9 out of 10.

What a difference a single digit can make…

With much fanfare Rogers Wireless (along with Cingular in the States) recently introduced the Nokia E62, featuring a full QWERTY keyboard, memory card and push email support.

But what Rogers (and Cingular) won’t tell you is that this spiffy device is missing two additional features available on the E61—a built-in WiFi radio and support for 3G networks in Europe and Japan.

With the currently free trial of the new downtown WiFi network in Toronto the E61 can bypass Rogers exorbitant data charges and surf the web at breakneck speed. I can certainly see why Rogers would want none of that, but why nix the 3G when they could make all kinds of money from the international data roaming of their overseas business customers?

That I can’t answer, but I can tell you this: If you’re in the market for a smartphone pass on E62 and head straight for an unlocked E61, because one single digit can make all the difference in the world!