E71Blog.com

Matthew Miller at NokiaExperts has been putting his Nokia E71x through the ringer, seeing what things it can and cannot do. He says that he’s preparing a whole set of posts designed to help new users out, but in the meantime, he’s assembled somewhat of an FAQ to answer most of the questions that he’s been asked repeatedly.

If you don’t already know, there are some pretty significant software differences between the E71x and the unbranded E71, aside from the upgraded version of S60 3rd Edition. Most notably, the hardware keys have been locked down, so you cannot reprogram them like you can on the E71. Also, it appears that the FM radio has been removed, and we know that Share Online is not integrated, either.

However, as Matthew discovers, you can still install Nokia Maps, if you wish, and also Nokia Messaging (just use the website to send the installation SMS, and select the E75 as your phone). Head on over to check out the other questions.

Share This:

One of the big questions with the AT&T branded firmware on the Nokia E71x is, what’d they change, and how tight did they lock it down? I had a chance to play with an E71 this morning, and took a few screenshots to show you some differences that I noticed. For me, most of these are dealbreakers, though there is some light at the end of the tunnel, as well.

Share Online is gone - there’s no app in any of the menus, and as you can see below, while the ’send’ link is still there, the option to upload is gone. This is really silly of AT&T, as it only discourages users from getting a bigger data plan, which typically costs more money. Absurd.

No Network Selection – while you can manually choose a network (usually this is removed with AT&T), you cannot specify whether the phone should connect to EDGE-only, 3G-only, or dual-mode. This can be a big battery drain if you know you have a weak 3G signal, or aren’t even in a 3G area. Bad move, AT&T.

Still No Native Geo-tagging - I believe this is officially Nokia’s only S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 device to not support native geotagging of photos. However, given that Share Online was removed, it’s not really a surprise, unfortunately.

Can’t change the shortcut keys - this is a HUGE one. I was unable to find, anywhere, the ability to change the Calendar, Contacts, and Email keys, to set them to whatever I want. It appears as though they’re hard-coded to the various tasks, which is a darn shame, really. I don’t know why AT&T would have removed this feature, other than cause they’re idiots.

Can Rearrange The Menu -  including moving most of the various icons into folders or subfolders. For instance, in this screenshot, I had highlighted the MediaMall icon, pressed Options, and you can see I was able to move it to a different folder. As least I can hide most of the junk from sight.

That’s all I was able to check out for now. The phone was offline, so I was unable to check reception or any 3rd party applications, unfortunately. I hope to have a better chance to play soon.

Share This:

The gang over at PhoneScoop had a chance to do a 4-minute side-by-side comparison of the Nokia E71 vs the E71x, looking to see what exactly AT&T changed in its special branded version of the awesome smartphone.

Share This:

Andrew Boxall, over at Dial-A-Phone, has reviewed the Nokia E71, looking at every feature and even how it fits in with Nokia’s lineup. Most of the review is also spent comparing the Nokia E71 to the recently launched Apple iPhone 3G, against which it actually fares rather well.

Despite the smaller screen and less intuitive web browsing, Andrew decides that the E71 bests the iPhone 3G in several areas, including the awesome QWERTY keyboard and GPS implementation. What do you think? Have you had a chance to compare directly with the iPhone 3G?

Share This:

Yes, that’s right, Joel Spolsky is in love with his Nokia E71. Who’s Joel Spolsky? Well, he’s the author of ‘Joel on Software’, and he’s been playing with his Nokia E71 now for a while. Joel’s favorite features by far are the keyboard and overall build quality, which I would have to agree with.

To start out, Joel only had a shortlist of things he wanted in his next phone:

1. He wanted a phone with a decent MP3 player, so as not to have to carry two devices.
2. He wanted to be able to use the phone’s internet connection to get online with his laptop on the train out to the Hamptons (there’s tolerable 3G coverage on AT&T for the first two hours of the trip).
3. He needed great Exchange synchronization, not just an IMAP client. For the last few weeks he’s been desperately trying to get Merlin Mann’s Inbox Zero concept working and you need a great Exchange client, not a 1.0 Exchange client.

It seems that the E71 was an excellent choice for Joel. Have you gotten your mitts on the Nokia E71 yet? What things do you love about it, and what drives you nuts? Don’t forget to click over to read Joel’s full thoughts, as he compares it directly to the iPhone 3G in a pretty honest little list.

Share This:

One of the biggest ‘wow’ factors of the E71 is the new predictive text feature, the first of its kind on a QWERTY Nokia. I’ve been trying it out on my Nokia E71, and while I was first tempted to disable it, I’ve definitely gotten used to it, and now see it as a very valuable feature. Vaibhav over at The Symbian Blog has put together a great little walkthrough – with screenshots – showing the various aspects of this new feature, to give you an idea.

Also, he’s pitted the E71, with its predictive text, against the Nokia E90, former QWERTY Nokia champion, and the Nokia N78, with its standard numeric keypad and T9 predictive text. He’s done well in documenting the findings scientifically, and I was surprised to see the end results, that’s for sure.

Personally, I think that I’m able to type much faster on the E71 with its predictive text entry, what about you?

Share This:

The MobileMinistryMagazine.com has gotten ahold of the E71 now, though unfortunately for them, it’s the Euro version, so no 3G goodness. The initial reactions post covers how small the device really is, while noting that the battery is a monstrous 1500mAh powerhouse.

Antoine handed his E71 over to a friend who’s used to the BlackBerry Curve, and the gut reaction from her was ’small yet powerful.’

Following up is his 2nd post, where he looks at the design, usage, and initial conclusions, after several days of usage. I couldn’t help but notice that Antoine used the term ‘impressive’ repeatedly, showing that Nokia has come from left field to hit the enterprise market head-on with the Nokia E71.

What do you think? Is the E71 just another Nokia, or could it do some real damage to the BlackBerry market share in the U.S. specifically?

Share This:

The gang over at BoyGeniusReport.com have been reviewing the E71 since before most of us knew we loved it, and the latest installment offers quite a telling comparison. The Nokia E71 is quite possibly one of the hottest QWERTY smartphones to hit the market this year, right there next to the upcoming BlackBerry Bold. Of course, then, it only makes sense to pitch them against each other, to see who the best QWERTY smartphone really is.

Covering every aspect from the screen to the battery life to the keyboard to email, this is definitely one thorough head-to-head comparison. I won’t ruin the results for you, but I will say that the E71 is always the winner in my heart. You can find out the end result for yourself here.

Share This:

Wow, I’ve seen a ton of E71 reviews thus far, but one thing I haven’t seen is a negative review. You can imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon this review on SymbianInMotion.com titled ‘Nokia E71 – The Letdown’. Abul points out a few things that irk me on the E71, as well, such as the camera implementation and the 2.5mm audio jack.

The camera button….oh wait, there’s not one, strike one. Strike two comes when you want to use the autofocus, for which the ‘T’ button is used. Rather odd, since, other than physical location (and without any indicator on the button itself), this makes zero logical sense.

The 2.5mm headset port is less annoying, since you *are* supplied with a stereo headset courtesy of Nokia, but as Abul points out, these are seldom suitable for real music enjoyment. You could always swing down to your nearest Radio Shack to rummage for a 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter, but why should you need to?

You’ll want to click through to read the rest of Abul’s complaints against this smartphone beauty. What other letdowns can you think of?

Share This:

Jonathan Greene, over at the Atmaspheric Endeavors blog, has finally put together his thoughts on the Nokia E71 after a few weeks of usage. Jonathan seems to be a power user, with Mail for Exchange running constantly and a host of other battery-sucking activities rocking constantly.

Jonathan also has a BlackBerry Curve that he uses for work, and an iPhone that apparently sits dormant until called upon to be compared to something else. As a previous E61 and E61i user, Jonathan brings a new perspective to the E71 reviews we’ve covered here, and he’s even put together a nice little video for us.

Share This: