1. I dont know about you guys but I notice recently if you go to http://touch.facebook.com using your Symbian Anna Web browser, you’ll experience a new Facebook Touch experience.

2. Previously, visiting the same URL will present the basic Facebook mobile website.

3. Now, there are more than just simple access to status updates, and inboxes. There are more functions and the user interface is also refined and more touch friendly.

4. I am not a heavy Facebook user. But it’s good to see Facebook implementing something as a standard accross all mobile smart platforms. The decision to use HTML5 as the framework is very welcomed. You can be read some mumbo-jumbos about it HERE.

5. Previously, iOS and Android devices receive the most advanced Facebook mobile experience while Symbian only have the option to use the most basic Facebook mobile interface.

6. I believe the current iteration is standard across all mobile smart platforms? No?

7. It’s true that at the moment, there are many ways to access Facebook using Symbian devices. Among them are :
- Gravity
- Facial
- fMobi
- Borg
- Nokia Social
- Kasvopus

8. And with this enhanced Facebook Touch also available for Symbian, it makes us Symbian users feel great again.

9. How about you? Have you experienced the new Facebook Touch at http://touch.facebook.com?

10. Enjoy these screenshots!

- Asri al-Baker
- for i-Symbian.Com
- October 12th 2011

1. Nokia Social app is an example of a very poor app design using technology that should have not been included in the first place. Say whateer you want but I really believe it is a bad app and Nokia could do better.

2. Nokia updated the Ovi Store app on Symbian^3 and Anna devices. It’s got the name changed to Nokia Store too. And it’s using Qt-Quick Components. Bringing in more user friendly UI and up-to-date functionalities.

3. I guess it’s a matter of time before Nokia announced a new Social app for all it’s Symbian^3, Anna, and Belle smartphones. I really believe Nokia is cooking something on that front because they did deliver a usable and better Social apps (Facebook and Twitter) on MeeGo Harmattan (Nokia N9).

4. On Nokia Conversations, there’s a new blogpost telling readers about the design story behind Symbian Belle. You can read the post here : http://conversations.nokia.com/2011/10/10/understanding-symbian-belle-exclusive-design-video-documentary/.

5. They showed a video, which is cool. And if you jump to minute 2.35 in the video, you can see it shows Symbian Belle homescreen with two rows of icons symbolising Twitter and Facebook. I never seen any Symbian Homescreen widgets that looked like that before. Could they be the new Homescreen widgets for the new Nokia Social app for Symbian? Written in QML?

6. Anyway, here is the video :

- Asri al-Baker
- For i-Symbian.Com
- October 11th 2011 (I wished I could fly….)

1. I waited eagerly for Symbian Anna. One of it’s promised of many enhancements is the improved Email app. Is it?

2. On all my Symbian^3 smartphones, I did not use the Email app at all. I hate to say that it never worked as good as what Nokia folks believe it is. I use Visiarc’s Mobile Documents. Waaaaaayyyy better than the built-in Nokia Email app.

3. I know. With Symbian Anna, the Email app has been redesigned, restructured, and streamlined. It has slicker interface with excellent inline HTML support and it performs faster than any of it’s previous versions.

4. But in terms of usability, I personally think that it has not been improved at all. Infact, I feel the Email app in Symbian Anna has become worst.

5. For the record, my main email address is using Google Apps. Hence, the configuration is similar to normal Gmail account.

6. The auto-configuration doesn’t work properly with Google Apps. It will set a POP3 email account. This is annoying.

7. Using Mail For Exchange, will set an email account that is very slow in getting emails and I need to pull email manually by using “Send and Receive” command from the menu.

8. Using another method to decline Nokia’s terms and condition, I can get an IMAP account setup inside Email app but similarly like the above, it doesn’t push my emails. I need to get them manually.

9. I have tweaked the settings by going to Advanced settings and change many parameters to my liking but emails are still not pushed.

10. The most annoying and stupid thing about Nokia Email app in my personal opinion is the fact that there is no way to subscribe to email folders (Gmail labels). For example, using Mail for Exchange, if I want to check the contents of the folders, I need to do a lot of clicking.

11. I use some filters in my Google Apps email. When emails arrive, they will be automatically labelled and moved to the defined labels, without going to the Inbox. Hence, I need this to work.

12. But Nokia Email app doesnt allow me to subscribe to any folders under Mail for Exchange. There’s no command to select which folders to be synchronised with my devices.

13. I have used many mobile Email app on many platforms, they allow folder subscription. This is one feature that I think needs to be addressed by Nokia.

14. Another feature that needs to be fixed, in my opinion, is the push function. During my experience with Nokia Email app on Symbian Anna, the push function doesn’t work properly. I always receive my emails on my desktop but they NEVER gets pushed to Email app.

15. Please Nokia, improve the Email app more. It’s 2011 not 1911 you know. An email client that doesnt work properly in your devices doesnt give you a good impression you know…

- For i-Symbian.Com
- September 6th 2011
- Asri al-Baker

2. Option 1 : Using the stock Symbian Web or Opera Mobile, or Opera Mini, you can access your Google Plus account using http://m.google.com/+. BUT, this URL will open the basic version. And sometimes the pages are not displayed very well.

3. True. You can use the basic version of mobile Google Plus but the basic page is too… well… Like the name suggests, basic…

4. Option 2 : is using Opera Mobile or Opera Mini to visit the HTML5 mobile version of Google Plus but the layout is effed up.

5. Option 3 : is to use the latest Opera Mobile 11, change the user agent to Desktop, go to http://plus.google.com. This opens the full desktop website of Google Plus with all bells and whistles. It’s very heavy on RAM and clunky to navigate on mobile.

6. Option 4 : designed for HTML5 enabled advanced mobile web browsers. It offers a better Google Plus mobile experience because it offers more than just basic html.

7. The full URL for this HTML5 version of Google Plus for mobile is https://m.google.com/app/plus/?force=1

8. Try typing that URL on your Symbian touch smartphone on the alphanumeric virtual keypad. Your brain wil pull a stunt and synchronising your thumb is painful.

9. Therefore, for all Symbian touch users all over the world, I developed this Widget launcher. Go download this Zip file, extract the “sweetgplus.wgz” file inside it and install. There will be an icon called sweetGplus in your Application folder.

Here is how it looked like :

10. Do take note that Google Plus is a new service and it requires registration before you can use it.

11. If you like what I do, and want to see more cool WebApps for Symbian, send me some PayPal love will ya!

Download the file HERE!

- Asri al-Baker
- For i-Symbian.Com
- July 21st 2011

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If you like what we do, please help us to maintain the Independent Symbian Blog.

2. According to the official website, Opera included a number of updates in this version. Which makes Opera Mobile 11.1 the closest thing to a desktop class internet browser for supported mobile devices such as Symbian smartphones.

- An easier way to select texts on any webpage and copying them (also searching the texts on Google). Honestly, it is very intuitive and easy to use.

- Viewing webpages in a single column. Eliminating the need to scroll left and right. This is just a rebranding / rewrite of Opera Mobile’s mobile view which is good. Great and very useful in portrait mode using one hand.

- Browse websites in mobile version or in full desktop glory. There’s a new item in the advanced setting that enables users to select between “Desktop” or “Mobile” user agent. And this does wonders. More on that later.

- More HTML5 compliant than any other web browser for Symbian. For example, using http://www.html5test.com as a benchmark place, Opera Mobile 11.1 Symbian scores 269. Waaaaayyyyy higher than the stock Symbian Web browser who only scores a disappointing 36…

4. I really like the new version especially the User Agent changer. Which enables full scale desktop web browsing on my Nokia E7.

5. True, there are some issues, particularly the following.
- Unable to post to Disqus comments
- No Flash support for Symbian
- RAM usage is still high.

6. Get it from :

http://www.opera.com/mobile

or

http://m.opera.com

7. More information from :

http://my.opera.com/operamobile/blog/2011/06/30/opera-mobile-11-1-has-arrived

http://my.opera.com/operamini/blog/2011/06/30/opera-mini-6-1-launched-today-for-java-blackberry-android-and-s60

2. It’s the User Agent changer. Though limited to Desktop and Mobile only, it opens a lot of possibilities to Opera Mobile 11.1 users because when the Desktop User Agent is selected, Opera Mobile turns almost to Opera Desktop.

3. For bloggers who use self-hosted WordPress, and happen to be a Symbian user at the same time, this is a great option to blog using Symbian devices. Why? Because it’s better than anything else on Symbian currently.

4. There’s an official WordPress client but I hate to say that it’s almost useless. It’s buggy, always crashes and doesn’t have copy & paste function (a bug in Qt text implementation).

5. With Opera Mobile 11.1, you can do almost everything to your WordPress blog that you normally do on desktop web browser. Things like creating new posts, managing plugins, approving comments, uploading and embedding photos to your posts and more.

6. Opera Mobile 11.1 has an extensive support for Javascript and it’s the only web browser on Symbian currently that can comfortably load WordPress Admin Panel without a choke. Try that with the stock Symbian Web browser.

7. For me, I’ve been waiting for this day to come for years. Mobile blogging is something I do very often.

8. Here’s how :

- I write the text using the stock Notes app on my Nokia E7.

- The hardware qwerty on Nokia E7 is really good. Making typing texts so easy. For example, this post is written entirely using Notes on Nokia E7.
- I copy the texts using Ctrl + A (Select All) and Ctrl + C (Copy)

- I log in to my WordPress Admin using Opera Mobile 11.1

- Create a New post

- I paste the texts into the text field using Ctrl + V (Paste)

- If I want to add screenshots or photos, I can use WordPress’ upload function.

- Screenshots were taken using Smartphoneware’s Best Screensnap.
- All posting options like Categories, Tags etc can be configured using Opera Mobile 1.11

- Publish!
- It’s just like using a desktop web browser!

9. I cant say enough on how I love Opera Mobile 11.1!

10. Get it if you havent tried it!

http://m.opera.com

1. It’s been a while since Symbian apps looked beautiful and function well, making using them a joyful ride. If I remember correctly, Jan Ole’s Gravity is one of those apps which brings some fresh ideas to the world of Symbian apps. But that was like 2 years ago…

2. With the full release of Nokia Qt SDK 1.1 last week, developers can publish their Qt Symbian apps (developed utilising Qt 4.7) in Ovi Store. This include apps that are developed using latest Qt (including QML). Lets leave the technical jargons and see what Qt and QML can do :

Flowd

In my opinion, flowd is the best-looking Qt app for Symbian at the moment. Developed by a Digia, it is a social networking client of http://www.flowd.com that connects to your Facebook and Twitter accounts to follow favourite artistes and celebrities, as well as to check-ins and create locations.

The UI for Flowd for Symbian, is very iPhone-ish but there’s some twists and enhancements done by the team. Makes you feel very easy using it.

For some people, who couldn’t get what Flowd is, you can use this app to create favourite locations that you can visit, add details, add photos and so on.

Flowd for Symbian requires latest Qt and Qtmobility to work. Get it from Ovi Store : http://store.ovi.com/content/118220

Linkedin

For professionals, business and corporate users, Linkedin is their preferred social networking platform and for years, Symbian users have been left behind.

Finally, us Symbian users can experience Linkedin in our Symbian smartphones using a dedicated Linkedin app. It is available for FREE in Ovi Store : http://store.ovi.com/content/121603.

Although it is not as extensive as the Linkedin Web or the mobile client on other platforms, it performs very well, smooth and connects without problem.

If you are a Linkedin user and carry a Symbian^3 smartphone, this is a must.

TwimGo

A Twitter client, developed by Tommi Laukkanen. It’s not as feature rich as Gravity but for a free client, it does offer some great functions.

You can visit the developer’s website to follow the development, because it is being heavily developed and new versions are released.

Get it for free from Ovi Store : http://store.ovi.com/content/103956

Kasvopus

A Facebook client, also developed by Tommi Laukkanen.

If you hate the built-in Social app inside your Symbian^3 smartphones, you must try Kasvopus.

It is not yet feature complete but the basic Facebook functions are there. Heck, it’s so smooth and a joy to use compared to the crap Social app.

Get it for FREE from Ovi Store : http://store.ovi.com/content/120928 or from it’s official website : http://kasvopus.substanceofcode.com/

- @asrialbaker
- May 8th 2011
- For i-Symbian.Com

2. Of course there’s a built-in method to sync Google Calendar to Symbian^3 smartphones, it’s called Mail for Exchange, an implementation of Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync protocol by Nokia. But in my experience, it drains battery faster, not in a significant amount but my experience taught me that leaving Mail for Exchange in the background to sync data, does have an impact on battery life.

3. So, if Google Calendar is very important to you, and you dont want to use Mail for Exchange (for whatever reasons), what will be the options? To sync Google Calendar to your Symbian smartphones?

4. There are a couple of methods, free and paid. You can use GoogaSync, an app that syncs multiple Google Calendar to Symbian smartphones. Or you can use GooSync, a paid service that utilises SyncML capabilities. Or you can choose Memotoo, another powerful commercial solution which also uses SyncML.

5. But they are all commercial, either one-off payment or annual fees.

6. So, how? Isn’t there any free solution to sync Google Calendar to Symbian smartphones without using Mail for Exchange?

7. Before I proceed, please take note that I am not a Windows person. Yes. I’m aware that there are methods to sync calendar to PC or Mac (which syncs to Google Calendar) via Bluetooth or USB cable but I’m not going to write about that. I want to sync Google Calendar to my Symbian smartphones without using any intermediary local agent or PC. In a nutshell, cloud-synching without PC.

8. After digging, and googling, not to mention testing one after another, I came accross a free service offered by Lorenc Consulting Inc. It is called SyncMe.

9. You can visit the website http://www.syncme.se to find more information.

10. This is the method that I use to sync my main Google Calendar (I use Google Apps For Domain) and it works without problem. I dont have multiple calendars, nor using complicated calendar functions such as invitation, or adding recipients. I also dont use Tasks (todos). My calendar is simple. It’s a place for my appointments and meetings, reminders and some important notes.

11. This method has been tested to work on Symbian^3 smartphones namely the N8 and the E7. It might or might not work with older Symbian smartphones.

***DISCLAIMER***

If you are worried about submitting information to 3rd party service provider who lives 3 million miles from you, then DONT use this service. We at i-Symbian.Com are not responsible for any data loss or any other bad consequences if you use this method.

Step 1

Go to Settings – Connectivity – Data Transfer – Sync

Step 2

Options – New Sync Profile

Step 3

Write the name of this sync profile. I use Google Calendar. You can use whatever name you want.

Step 4

In Server Version, select 1.2

Step 5

In Applications in Sync, select “Calendar” only.

Step 6

In Calendar database, write Calendar with Capital C.

Step 7

In Data bearer, choose Internet

Step 8

In Host address, write https://syncme.se (Note the https)

Step 9

For Server ID, write syncme.se

Step 10

In the Username field, write your Google username. It’s your full Gmail address. Something like yourname@gmail.com. If you are a Google Apps For Domain user like me, write your full email address . After that, click Next.

Step 11

Write the password for your email address that you use in Step 10.

Step 12

Click Next. It will notify you to Activate the profile you just created. Select Yes if you want to. Otherwise, select No.

You are almost done. If you want to activate automatic synching, you need to configure the auto-synching parameters. Please refer to my previous article, jump to number 16 to set auto-synching.

Done!

Remember, only one Sync Profile is allowed to use auto-synching. For me, I set my Google Calendar to sync automatically using this method because I am more comfortable to check and enter my appointments and calendar entries using my trusty Symbian smartphones. I move around a lot. I sync my contacts manually once in a while if there are changes I made to my contacts database.

There you go. A free method to sync Google Calendar using SyncML to your Symbian smartphones. If you have tried this, share with us your experience.

Cheers!

@asrialbaker

1. Nokia just rolled out new firmware OTA (Over The Air) update for the Nokia N8. The size of the update is just around 900 kb and it should be available to Nokia N8 users globally anytime from now.

2. I installed the update on Tuesday March 22nd 2011 at around 7 pm and to be honest, there’s no major changes that are visible. I believe the update is to fix bugs and also acording to Nokia Discussion Board, this PR1.2 is a voluntary update, which also brings improvements to Mail For Exchange and Ovi Maps, as well as Ovi Store.

We have released a voluntary software update for Nokia Symbian^3 smartphones primarily to address a synchronization issue identified in a limited number of Nokia smartphones using Mail for Exchange on Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Service Pack 1.

We listen to people’s feedback and continue to constantly improve the user experience of our smartphones with software updates. While we are working to make available the next software version, which will provide a renewed user experience, including new browser, refreshed widgets and home screen as well as many other performance enhancements, we released this software to quickly resolve a potential issue affecting our business users.

The software update will be available through the on-the-device Software Update or using Ovi Suite. The roll-out schedule will be determined operator by operator, market by market.

3. The OTA update process went very smooth over WiFi connection. Honestly, this OTA technology is very welcomed. Gone are the days where I need to hook my Symbian smartphones to a Windows PC to update the firmware. OTA is verey useful for people who dont use Windows PC like me

4. Please ensure the Nokia N8 battery is fully charged before doing the OTA update or else your Nokia N8 will go bonkers.

5. It’s already fourty hours after installing the update, and during that time, I use my Nokia N8 as my main phone for calls, texts, Gravity-ing, lots of web-surfing using the spanking new Opera Mobile 11 and sometimes Opera Mini 6, emailing via Mobile Documents, reading documents via Picsel Smart Office etc, etc. Internet connectivity via WiFi, sometimes 3.5G and when out at places without those two, I use plain ol EDGE.

6. With all the above, I am very-very surprised to see that the battery in my Nokia N8 has not died! This is unbelievable! Previously, on PR1.0 and PR1.1, I can only squeeze around eighteen to twenty hours before the battery juice dried.

7. I mean, I dont know how, or what did the engineers do to the firmware but it seems my Nokia N8 battery life lasts longer. More than one hundred percent increase! I have not charge it yet, it was switched on last two nights when I went to bed and picked it up in the morning as usual. The battery just wont die!

8. I think there’s something wrong with my Nokia N8 battery. It might be broken after the update to PR1.2

9. I believe the update will be rolled gradually to all parts of the world, especially SIM free units.

10. Have you updated your Nokia N8 firmware (also C7 and C6-01) to PR1.2? Share your experience with us here yeah!

- Asri al-Baker
- For i-Symbian.Com
- March 24th 2011

Disclaimer : I am not responsible if during using this method, your Symbian devices acted weirdly, or even explode. I use this method safely and did not experience any problem.

1. Google Documents is heavenly once you have a lot of documents hosted in it. In my case, it is my saviour after my laptop was stolen. I keep many important work-related documents in it for easy accessibility anytime anywhere with internet enabled devices. No need to carry thumbdrive everywhere I go.

2. There is no Google Documents (GDocs) app for Symbian. Contrary to what is available on iOS and Android. For example, there are many ways to connect to GDocs using iPad e.g. using Dataviz’s Documents To Go or Quickoffice or GoodReader.

3. When using GDocs on mobile devices, it is not about to edit or to do anything that we normally do using our desktops or laptops. But it is about enabling access to our file archives on GDocs. We can access information, vital information that we need to make decisions, anytime anywhere. In short, we can view them, at least.

4. I spent some time trying to figure out how to access my GDocs files on my Symbian smartphones. I want to be able to download, as well as upload some files on the move.

5. Using the built-in Symbian Web browser is a no go. This is because the UI is not optimised for Symbian. The fonts are small, the navigation is clunky and all the bad ingredients, made viewing GDocs files on my Symbian^3 smartphones a pain in the arse.

6. Just take a look at these screenshots of GDocs in action on Symbian^3 Web browser. It’s a pain to behold and more painful to use. Fail!

7. Symbian supports WebDAV, a series of extensions to the HTTP protocol and defines how basic file functions, such as copy, move, delete, and create folder, are performed across HTTP.

8. And I found this website : http://dav-pocket.appspot.com/ which offers WebDAV access to Google Docs for free. Yep. Gratis! Not even need to register.

9. Those who are concerned about security and so on, please read the disclaimer carefully. This service is brought to us by third party. They took the step because Google has yet to release WebDAV support for Google Documents.

10. For daredevils, follow the instruction below to access your GDocs using your Symbian^3 smartphones WITHOUT any third party apps!

Step One : Open/Launch Filemanager

Step Two : Options – Map New Drive

Step Three : Fill the informations :
Name : Any name you want. e.g. Google Docs 1
Address : https://dav-pocket.appspot.com/docs (***note the https ***)
Access Points : Select your preferred Access Point
Username : Your Google Documents username aka your full Gmail address
Password : Your Google Documents password

Step Four : Connect

Voila!

Once you are connected, you can do many operations. You can manage files and folders as if it is a local connected drive like what you can do with microSD or USB-On-The-Go.

You can set more than one GDocs account and connect them at the same time to move/copy file around easily between accounts without downloading them to your Symbian^3 smartphones first. Direct move/copy from Google Docs 2 to Google Docs 1!

Well… You get the point!

11. Please let me know how this method works on your Symbian^3 devices (N8, C7, C6-01 & E7).

12. If you want Dropbox, we have covered this as well at http://www.i-symbian.com/the-easiest-way-to-use-dropbox-on-symbian-smartphones/

- Asri al-Baker, March 12th 2011.