Nokia E71

Recently E71 and E71x’s firmware was updated. The latest version of the firmware is Vr 300.21.012 dated July 2, 2009. I could not get the full details of the changes made in the latest firmware.

Nokia states that Vr 300.21.012 update is a major feature release and also was intended to correct main complaints from Customers and Operators

I’m not going to list all the changes but those ones which I think are important. If you want details on all the changes you can go to the Nokia Addict website to see the whole change log and tweaker website. I have divided the changes into new functionalities (functionalities that were not there in the previous versions) and improvements

NEW FUNCTIONALITIES

• Myspace, Youtube and Facebook support (NA for HK and Taiwan variants) 
• Support for Rapido Yawe 1.15
• Gimlet 5.2 (v 9.5.2.66) – useful for developers as it allows a better environment.
• Mail for Exchange 2.9 (new version) with improved stability and performance.

IMPROVEMENTS

• Increased robustness of the Home Key functionality. This helps avoid the problem of Home key not opening the  menu. This was a problem many users complained about and therefore is a welcome update.
• Support for receiving more SMSs. Allows more than 4000 messages in inbox.
• Improved functionality and stability of Internet Radio
• WLAN functionality improvement.
• Improved Switch application functionality
• Internet Radio 1.14 – Increased Functionality and Stability
• VoIP upgrade – Improved functionality and stability. Now  better quality calls using VOIP on E71
• Download Client 3.2 – Greater stability and improved functionality
• Email Setup Wizard Update – Supports Gimlet 5
• Support for conference numbers longer than 24 digits
• Improvements in Browser for seamless YouTube support
• Bug fixes for the Nokia PC Internet Access Application
• Improved BT headset connectivity. This was a major complaint of E71 users.
• Increased robustness in handling SMS
• Security Updates and vulnerability fixes
• Phone not suspending packet data connection when receiving call – Fixed
• Minor audio related bugs fixed. I’m a little confused about this as I did not notice any change. I had hoped that the hiss in the media player tracks would not be there but alas it is still there.
• Fix to prevent Wifi Certification issues when Wifi alliance moves to Win 2008 as the test server
• Minor improvements in the UI and search facility of contacts

One this that is queer is that though people have reported improvements in the quality of the photos taken with the E71 after the firmware update there is no mention of that in the changelog. So is it that people are seeing things.?

Let me know if you know of any other major change or update included in the firmware update.