[…] The Vertu Ascent Ferrari 1947 Limited Edition is inspired by the dynamic and stylish Ferrari cars. Echoing this latest edition to the Ferrari GT stable, the phone is encased in red and black Ferrari leather with black lacquer stripes running at the sides. Carefully crafted with the same precision and attention to detail given […]

Nice looking phone - take a look over at ringnokia.com - guess you have to bring some money on the table recognizing the price of the current Vertus. Adding the Ferrari logo will not reduce the price.

read more | digg story

So far the only Skype solutions I have tried require that simultaneously you have to run your laptop / PC to enable your Nokia e61 connecting to the Skype servers. Obviously not a very attractive service. Already some time ago I went over to fring.com and concluded (without trying) that their solution had the same problem. This time I actually tried it as with version v3.0 fring claims it provides (other) VoIP services being integrated in their solution.

Installing fring was a nice and unique experience. Really thought through. You have to provide your mobile pone number wherever you live and fring will provide you with a download link. Keep your fring internet site running as you are taken step by step through installation as the site keeps track of where you are in the installation process. This is the way I guess it should always be done.

Continue reading [fringe a skype solution and more for the Nokia e61 and Nokia e62 where you do not have to leave your laptop running]

PC suite has been upgraded already for some time. Noticeable changes are esp the integrated Nokia’s phone software updater, increased stability of the whole application, and (at least that is my experience) a better connectivity in terms of Blue Tooth(”BT”). Where often in the past I had to go into PC suite and start connecting again to phone just to enable the BT connection and now almost immediately connects when PC suite is started. To me this in itself is quite an improvement.

Morange has been upgraded to version 2.7.0. Mainly the email application in Morange got a thorough facelift this next to some cosmetics in terms of navigation. As such the email application matured especially in having a better overview of the email itself when you are composing a new one. Try it out. Please also refer to earlier posts.

In follow-up of the earlier post on Morange - FREE push mail I like to come back on some issues raised by some users.

First of all when you are logged in on the Morange portal you can customize the download of the client application. Eg like me I am not using the web cam application or the PIM synchronization application. If you exclude them on the download page then the Morange client download will also exclude these. The advantage is that it will save you navigation in the application on the phone itself.

Continue reading [Morange push mail for the e61 - continued]

As mentioned before one of the first things I started doing after becoming a new proud owner of a Nokia e61, was looking for an application which would allow me to use Skype on my mobile (not only chatting but also making phone calls). Clearly Skype did not develop a solution for the Symbian platform yet. The only applications I found available were kind of hybrid solutions, eg using a combination of client and desktop software with the desktop software “hacking into Skype”, moreover, with most of these solutions still a decent phone call could not be made.

Only in a later stage I realized that Nokia decided already to make the e61 VoIP (“Voice over Internet Protocol”) enabled. Wow, great news, but no clue on how to set it up. That brings me to this post as (based upon several emails I received) for a lot of Nokia e61 enthusiasts it is still unclear on how it works, and especially on how to set the “thing” up.

And … “I can understand why”. I do believe that Nokia’s target for the design team must have been : “make VoIP as difficult as possible to set-up, then at least we can explain to Vodafone they do not have to worry”. BTW. Vodafone or any other of the big operators should be worried.

Ok here it goes …

  Continue reading [VoIP with the Nokia e61 and Nokia e62 - making cheap calls]

Push Mail (maybe I am wrong, but probably) started off with BlackBerry handheld and BlackBerry mail. Besides the fact that especially for corporate solutions BlackBerry is much too expensive, now having the Nokia e61 I cannot imagine BlackBerry RIM still being there in a few years from now …

Thus when I acquired my e61 I went out to look for a different and foremost cheaper solution. And I found. The solution is called Morange which also happens to be the company name of the young Singapore based enterprise.

What is Morange? Morange is a Java based application which works with most Java enabled phones, thus for sure with the e61. Although the primary function is push email, Morange offers a lot more :

Continue reading [Push email on your e61 - Morange for FREE]

Over time and reading several articles about using a RSS news reader on the e61 I have noticed that there are not many familiar RSS readers out there which allow for offline reading of news and articles. Obviously being a disadvantage especially for those travelling regularly by plane.

Although … as we all know mobile phones already allow for many years to be turned on without the attena being on. For some this is called “flight-mode” and for the e61 one it is called “offline”. Once travelling from China to Europe the plane lifted off the ground already for quite some time, I decided to use my phone in offline mode and turned it on. Immediately I was approached by a (not so good looking) stewardess who aggressively asked me to turn off my phone. Failing to explain to her that actually the phone was not “turned on” and that basically the state of my mobile was no different than the LCDTV mounted in the headrest in front of me, I suggested her to try and make a call using my mobile. Only this suggestion got her so excited that she decided to get the captain … I gave up. Do not fly Air France.

Assuming you do not run into a stewardess with the intellect of a head of lettuce, and you still like to read your RSS messages offline, you might try the solution NewsTouch is offering. The main advantages as I see them from this solution are : 1) offline reading, and 2) the simplicity the way the information is offered. Although I do like Widgets the disadvantages I see is that you loose the overview especially when you start adding more and more feeds. NewsTouch in itself is a very basic and simple application which is java based and extremely easy to use. Because it is java based its usage is not limited to the e61. Disadvantage : it is not free and an annual subscription is required. However, trying it is free and you can download the application (*.jar) here (the application just recently has been optimized for s60 3rd edition). A listing of some standard feeds is offered both in the trial as well as the normal version. Additional feeds can be entered into the phone directly but then obviously you need to know the URL. With a registration you get access to the NewsTouch portal where you can very easily maintain your folders and feeds.

Steps to take are as follows :

1. First try it and see if you like it
2. If you like it get a registration with NewsTouch by registering on their site - this will give you a username and a password
3. If you already have the “trial version installed” select “change user” and enter your personal details as requested
4. NewsTouch checks if the user exists and if so you will get a positive confirmation - you are ready to go
5. Create the folders / list you like (firs probably on the internet) and select “update all”
6. You can change display settings and the number of messages / articles you like to track and download each time

BTW. the application will allow you (if you are online) to download the full story, and will allow you to open the article directly in the phone’s browser.

Let me know what you think.