Google Maps 4.11 for Nokia E71

Google Maps for Mobile for Nokia E71 has been updated to 4.11. While new features to Google Maps were added for Andriod, Blackberry and IPhone the update for the Symbian phones was long overdue.

Features of Google Maps for E71

Some of the features that have been added to Nokia E71 are

• Voice search ability which works like a charm. Sitting here in Chandigarh, India I could locate restaurants, local taxi and movie theaters. Isn’t that cool. I gave the commands in normal English (which means with Indian accent) and still Google Maps got it right! It is amazing. Further I could use the feature over a normal mobile connection. To know what kind of searches work on Google Maps for Mobile search refer to the page here.
• There is a redesigned settings page with Search by voice language choices. Various options are available and you can choose any one. There are quite a few foreign languages.
• There are some additional layers that have been added to the Maps.

How to install Google Maps on Nokia E71

The following steps need to be taken

• Using the inbuilt mobile browser (shortcut press and hold the’0’ key) browse to m.google.com/maps
• You will get a link to install Google Maps. Click the link
• A popup will inform you about starting the download. Save the file on either your memory card (proffered) or your phone memory.
• Run the installation. You are done njoy!

Go ahead and flaunt the voice search which will surely surprise some of your friends and family. Nokia E71 is still cool in this day and age – thanks Nokia and Google!

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Future on E71byNokia blog

I have not been blogging about Nokia E71 since a long time. I did add a new post today. I believe the interest in Nokia E71 has waned over the years with the introduction of other smartphones. However, the phone has served me well.

I wanted to know from the blog readers whether I should continue posting on this blog or should I retire the blog. Please take out the time and let me know what do you think.

Thanks in advance.

del.icio.us Tags: nokia,e71

Nokia E71 photo group on Flickr

Flickr is one of the favorite destination for photography enthusiasts. Groups can be created in Flickr and there is a Nokia E71 group. The group has photographs clicked with a Nokia E7. There are some amazing photographs there. It is also a nice place to share photographs taken using your Nokia E71.

Nokia E71 photo quality

What is surprising is that I remember initially the photographs taken with a Nokia E71 had a purple tint but the photos in the Nokia E71 group on Flickr seem to be fine and do not have the purple tinge. That means Nokia has improved its firmware over the years.
I was amazed at the quality of this picture on the group. . Browse the images in the group and some of them will impress you. Another thing I noticed was that the 'purple effect' that was there with earlier images taken with Nokia E71 is not there anymore. Do other users also find that to be the case?
If you have a Nokia E71 please click a photo using your phone as a picture is worth more than 1000 words.

del.icio.us Tags: Nokia,e71,photos,camera

Browser shortcuts for your Nokia E71

Use these nifty shortcut keys when using the default browser for your Nokia E71. If you use your Nokia E71 a lot for browsing the Internet then these shortcuts are handy.

Use the number keys for the keyboard shortcuts which are
1 for bookmarks.
2 to find something on a page.
3 to return to the previous page.
5 to tab open windows.
* to zoom in.
# to zoom out.
8 for page overview.
9 to go to a different web page.
0 to got to the homepage.
Hit the Backspace key to close the current window.

If you happen to know any keyboard shortcuts please share them in comments and it would be greatly appreciated.

Hacking your E71

via e71fanatics.com

E71 Fanatics has a post by Rahul Banker who runs the website at copyandpasteblog.com (Rahul is the coblogger on E71 fanatics) about how you can hack your E71 and then install unsigned applications and games. Most of the people would hack the phone to install illegal software but I want to use this hack to install softwares like no click sound app and JBtaskman which are unsigned applications for the Nokia E71 but they are not signed.

Since it is a recent tutorial and I'm going to try and hack the phone. I will post the updates about whether the hack worked or not. Please try this at your own risk as this can screwup your phone. If you are not tech savvy I would recommend staying away from it.

Mob4Hire | Mobile Crowd Testing and Market Research

Mob4hire is an interesting concept. Mob4Hire is an online community where mobile users help mobile application developers, mobile market researchers and mobile advertisers with mobile market research and in-market functional and usability testing of mobile applications, mobile websites and mobile ad / app campaigns (which is also called appvertising).

The company is based in Alberta and has testers in more than 150 countries worldwide and as of April 2010 they have about 42,000 testers using the version 4 testing platform. Mob4hire has 1,000 mobile developers and market researchers from 84 countries Mob4hire has been declared one of Canada's top 25 ICT "Up and Comers. Mobsters (testers) submit reports regularly using the platform developed by Mob4hire. The company boasts of assisted mobile content developers by doing testing worth thousands of dollars at 90% of the traditional costs.

Testing services available

The new platform offers developers the following

• MobTest: "Real World Mobile Testing"; Functional and Usability testing for mobile apps on thousands of handsets worldwide.
• MobSurvey: "Mobile Surveys. Global Panels."; The easiest way to ask mobile enthusiasts around the world just about anything.
• MobExperience: "Make Better Apps. Get 5 Star Reviews."; Customer Loyalty Research and Usability Testing BEFORE developers release their mobile apps
• MobAccelerator: "Get Discovered. Hit The Top 10 lists. Go Big."; Customer Loyalty Research coupled with instore user experience, discoverability and marketing research.

The strategy that has been followed for Mob4hire is also known as crowdsourcing.

E71 owners make some money

If you are interested in assisting in testing mobile content then you can sign up to be a mobster by filling in the form. What is great is, if you are selected, that you get paid for testing and also get a peek into the future of mobile content. The payment system works where the testers are paid after Mob4Hire takes a 15 percent cut, PayPal takes its customary 2.9 percent service fee plus 30 cents per transaction. The testers get paid to run the app on their phones and report what they find. With all the fees, testing this way will still cost much less than deploying a company's ranks to set up testing in other locales.

Right now there is no testing certification that is in existence but that might happen soon. So what are you waiting for get signed up now.

del.icio.us Tags: crowdsourcing,mobile,app,testing

Tweet pictures, video and voice files from your Nokia E71 using Tvider

If you are looking to share multimedia via Twitter using your Nokia E71 or E71x then Tvider is for you. Tvider is a free service that is built around a popular social service called Twitter. The big difference is that you unlike normal tweets of 140 characters Tvider allows you to post pictures, video and sound files as well making the experience of sharing more delightful.

The software has been developed by Umundo which is Freemont based company in USA. Tvider can be used on different devices. You can use it on your Desktop, Java enabled phones, Blackberry, Andriod based phones and I-Phone.

Versions of Tvider

There are two versions of the application. The premium version is available through the app stores of respective ISP and the Tvider lite version can be downloaded for free. The app is pretty easy to use and can be downloaded by visiting http://tvider.com/mobile on your mobile phone. You can also download the Symbian version of Tvider here as well. There is an option to buy the app from your ISP or download the Tvider lite app. I would recommend trying out the free app. before buying it.

Features of the Tvider Lite

• Text & Multimedia Tweeting
• View/Play multimedia tweets.
• Tools to instantly generate media using mobile camera
• Option to publish a pre-recorded media from your phone memory or SD card memory
• Reply and Re-Tweet the media Tweets in your timeline
• Ability to add status messages to the multimedia uploaded

Conclusion

On the whole using Tvider was a new and nice experience. I have found one more thing that my Nokia E71 can do. There is a desktop application of Tvider available as well which has the same functionality as that of the mobile application. If you like try out new things on your Nokia E71 then I would recommend installing Tvider on your Nokia E71. If you do install it please share your thoughts on the application.

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