Symbian in Motion

If you’re like me, then you’re not too happy with the fact that S60 3rd devices only display a tiny thumbnail image associated with your contacts. I, like many people, like the functionality of photo caller ID as it enables the user to quickly and easily identify callers at a glance. The thumbnail images that S60 3rd allows you to attach to your contacts do not help in this area at all - in fact I probably have a harder time identifying callers because the tiny thumbnail draws my eye away from the name/number of the caller ID display as I squint to try to determine exactly whose face it is in the microscopic image shoved into the bottom corner of my display.

There are currently two solutions when it comes to remedying this oversight and they both do the job well. My preference goes to Skyecaller by Skyestream. To be perfectly honest, it’s the simplicity and minimal visual style of Skyecaller that sold me almost immediately. More importantly, Skyecaller is the only option that currently autostarts with your device and this is probably the second most important function of this type of app next to (of course) displaying full screen caller images.

I don’t want a complex setup and too many bells and whistles when it comes to this sort of app. I just want my N80IE to do what any modern mobile phone should do - display a nice big image when I get an incoming call/sms from one of my contacts. Setting up Skyecaller literally could not be easier. The user interface has only two tabs. The first displays your contacts list and the second is home to five simple settings that determine the situations where Skyecaller will display a full screen caller image (Incoming call, Outgoing call, Incoming text, Outgoing text) and how your contacts are displayed (First name, Last name or Last name, First name).

The simplicity continues when is comes to assigning images to your contacts. Simply scroll to a contact in your list (or just start typing to use the integrated search function) and either press your center joystick key or Options -> Set image. Images are automatically resized by Skyecaller to fit your display.

A list of the images on your phone is now displayed complete with thumbnail previews. Just scroll through until you find the image you’re looking for and press the center joystick key to preview it or Options -> Set to assign it to your selected contact.

Each contact with an associated image is also clearly marked in the contact list and a thumbnail is displayed at the top of the screen.

Now every time Gary calls or texts me I’ll see a great big image of him and there’s no mistaking that famous smirk - I’ll definitely know it’s him right away!

Beneath the caller image during an incoming call, Skyecaller displays the name and phone number along with two options: ‘Answer’ and ‘Silence’. If you choose silence, you will then have the option to reject the call as well. If your phone is on a vibrate-only setting the silence option is omitted and you can reject the call right away (very smart!).

Skyestream offers users a free one-day trial to get a feel for this app but I hardly needed that long to know it was a winner. Also, despite the fact that Skyecaller is already slightly less expensive than its competition, Skyestream is offering a 15% discount right now if you purchase through their online shop!

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I’m sure that there are few readers of this blog who don’t already know about Y-Browser but I wanted to make sure everyone knew about the latest release version - 0.80.

Version 0.77 brought add-on support along with three add-ons: Zip, Text Viewer, and Mail folder support. Now version 0.80 has tweaked the appearance of Y-Browser and added some great new features. Upon upgrading, the first thing you’ll notice is that the app finally has an SVG icon. Granted it’s nothing breathtaking, but I’m happy to be rid of the pixilated icon in versions past…

While on the subject of icons, Y-Browser version 0.80 is the version file manager to support the ability to change the internal display icon set. A new ‘Extra icons’ add-on provides users with four new SVG icon sets to choose from on top of the old bitmap set.

Beyond that, the app now calls to external icons for certain known file types that display as you browse. The image below shows the folder and document icons from the internal ‘Tango’ icon set along with the external SIS icon and the DOC/TXT and XLS icons from Office Suite 3.

Another new feature in this build is the ability to toggle portrait and landscape display modes with the ‘Switch layout’ option. Don’t get too excited though, as your display will be returned to the default perspective when you exit the app.

Y-Browser allows for fast and easy file transfers. With one or multiple files selected, simply choose File -> Send and Y-Browser gives you the option to send the file(s) via MMS, email, Bluetooth, infrared, or web upload.

Another one of my favorite features of this app is the shortcuts. Y-Browser allows you to assign a wide variety of operations to your keypad keys 0-9 for the fastest possible access to most of the app’s functions.

Just when all of the buzz is focused on FExplorer and X-plore, PushL’s new build reminds us why Y-Browser is certainly the best available file management option for s60 3rd devices. Of course FExplorer and X-plore are still in beta so who knows what future releases will bring…

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Despite the excellent guide created by DZed over on the Go Symbian forum, I still see many people having problems with signing SIS files on just about every s60 3rd-related forum that i visit. There are a few key steps that can be added to DZed’s guide that will help ensure your success when attempting to sign a SIS file.

As such, I’ve created my own guide that incorporates a few additional steps that should take care of all of the common problems that people run into. I’ve also added instructions to create your own key file (which is very easy) as many people seem to have problems with key files found elsewhere. So if you’ve been having signing problems, be sure to check out the following link:

http://www.mobile9.com/invboard/index.php?showtopic=37281

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I figured I would take a break from moderating all of the spam comments I’ve been getting lately since I’ll have a WP spam plugin that should be up and running soon. Does anyone really think that my readers will see a spam link under a post and go buy some v|agra? Anyway, I’ve decided to make a post dedicated to some useful stuff that I’ve found over time. I’ll hold a few things back in case I decide to do a follow up post at some point.

These links may or may not have to do directly with s60 3rd but I think that you may find at least some of them to be very useful. If you have anything to add to the list feel free to post a comment (no w@rez sites please)! So here goes…

WAP Links

Even though the s60 3rd browser is capable of much more, it’s nice to have some good old mobile-friendly links that load quickly and work on any phone. Here are a few that always stay near the top of my bookmarks.

• Google Reader - www.google.com/reader/m/: We all know about this one. I use it (and love it) because it’s great to be able to view feed items on either your PC or mobile and have them removed from your reading list.

• Google Local - www.google.com/m/: Tried and true - use google to search the web, images, local listings, or the mobile web.

• Froogle - wml.froogle.com OR wml.froogle.co.uk: Froogle search on your mobile.

• TV Guide - wireless.tvguide.com: Local TV listings quickly and easily on your mobile.

• Tiny Tube - tinytube.net: I never really got into the whole mobile video thing but with all the buzz that You Tube’s mobile site is causing I figured I’d add this one to the list. Search and download video from many online sources.

• srobbin - srobbin.com/mobilevideo/: Another mobile video search portal. Searches Google Video only but provides download links to each video in AVI and MP4 format.

• YesWAP - yeswap.com: Great mobile portal - links to news, weather, sports, entertainment and more.

• news4mobile - www.news4mobile.com: A ranking of the 120 most popular wap sites accessed through their portal. Always good for some new finds.

• Mobitopia - mobitopia.com: One of my favorite wap portals with a great search.

• Fandango - mobile.fandango.com: US-only I believe. Find movies playing in theaters near you, read reviews, and purchase tickets right from your mobile.

• eBay - wap.ebay.com: eBay - on your mobile.

• IMDb - 206.130.125.89: Everyone’s favorite resource for anything and everything having to do with movies.

• MyStrands - mobile.musicstrands.com - MyStrands’ mobile site.

PC Links

• Media Convert: One of my favorite resources, and I’m surprised I don’t see them mentioned more often. This is a free online media conversion tool that allows you to convert between TONS of video, audio, image, and archive file types.

• Mobile9 S60 3rd Themes Gallery: Many, many great member-created themes.

• Nokia Firmware Versions: Enter your model number and see the firmware history for your device - including the latest available firmware.

• How to sign an S60 3rd SIS: With more and more developers making unsigned betas available to the public, everyone should use this guide to learn how to dev-sign an unsigned s60 3rd sis file.

• Forum Nokia: Tons of resources and home to all the dev kits your heart desires.

• Mail2web: Free MS Exchange-based email account. If you don’t use exchange mail you can forward your business or personal email to a mail2web account and use it with Nokia Mail for Exchange.

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