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I undertook the recent forced reset of my E90 without too much worry about data loss. After all, all my contacts, diary and email details would be synchronized once RoadSync got going again. I performed a backup using the PC Suite of all device content just before the reset and complete a backup like that every other week in any case. Once the device was back up and running, a quick glance at all the information I needed confirmed that everything seemed in order.

One of the applications I constantly use on the E90 is ActiveNotes. Anything of interest, lists and other notes find their way into an ActiveNote. When I tried to add something to my ever-growing list titled Research, I discovered that the notes had obviously been cleared due to the device reset. No problem: the PC Suite features a restore from a backup file. In fact, the restore and backup functionality is flexible enough to enable the user to select what content should be restored or backed up. The only problem is this: the ActiveNote data is combined with the Calendar data…

Okay if the calendar hasn’t changed, but of little use if a recent sync has updated and modified many entries. Obviously I was not willing to sacrifice my calendar’s known-good state for the sake of restoring my notes. On the other hand, I really wanted the notes back.

Thankfully the Interweb always offers a solution. Noki is an application that is able to read and interpret the contents of the Nokia backup files. These files generally have the NBU extension and contain all the data selected for backup during the backup process.Use of the application is very easy and there is little that can go wrong.

Using Noki, it’s a simple matter of selecting the desired backup file. The content is displayed in a neat tree view.

The ActiveNotes are basic HTML files. Using Noki I was able to extract them to the desktop and then copy them back to the phone’s ActiveNotes directory. Simple as that!

Over and above that, Noki is a means of integrating your phone’s data to a variety of other applications and using it in a number of other ways. The homepage provides a download link to the latest version and a list of capabilities. The price for Noki is pegged at USD 22 – I managed to get my notes out of the NBU file without being bothered by any request for serial numbers or a payment, and I can’t identify a place where the software is locked. Maybe that’s a special feature of the version I downloaded?

If you’re stuck with Nokia phone backups and need to manipulate or restore the data, Noki may be a lifesaver for you too.

I rely on RoadSync to constantly synchronize my E90‘s contacts, schedule and mail with an Exchange Server. The product has never let me down and has performed flawlessly. Hence my consternation when I attempted a sync whilst overseas. Obviously I’d switched to a wireless network and was attempting the sync manually, yet try as I might I could not resolve an error RoadSync and the E90‘s S60 3rd Edition had never shown before: Application closed – ucmp 0.

I tried the usual error resolution: reset mail data and try to synchronize again. That worked, but only for the first sync. Every subsequent sync would cause the ucmp 0 error to pop up. The more drastic measure of resetting all data and synchronizing again had a similar effect. Since I was on holiday, I ignored the error until I got back home and started googling for a possible resolution. There was nothing similar, though I found a few developers mentioning the ucmp issue with regard to memory overflows and possible persistent storage issues. The next step: re-install RoadSync. Same result: first sync works, subsequent synchronization attempts fail.

Switching off mail synchronization indicated that mail was indeed the problem, so I cleaned out my inbox and tested again. No joy: even with an empty inbox or a simple, single message in the inbox, no second or subsequent synchronization had any intention of working. I was at my wits end and turned to DataViz‘ support desk, mailing them details of the error and how to possibly reproduce it. Their turnaround time in getting back to me was quite something, taking less than a few hours each time. Finally, this morning the issue was resolved. Seems my E90 must have been corrupted even though I hadn’t installed any additional software on the device for some time. The suggestion to master reset my device by dialling *#7370# paid off. A brief re-installation of some software later, all is well.

This is another example of how valuable it is to consider purchasing mission-critical software. With the quality of support I received from DataViz, I consider the USD 49.99 pricetag well worth it.

Nokia is the world’s mobile phone manufacturer and is showing no signs of letting up on producing new models. A recent purchase of a pre-paid Classic model in the 6000 range disappointed me no end: if you’re buying a Nokia, don’t bother getting any model whose number is not prefixed with a letter.

In particular, the E and N range. These are generally high quality devices that provide a decent user experience and contain all necessary bells and whistles to make mobile connecting fun. Early in 2009, Nokia is set to launch the latest flagship in the N series, following on the N95 and its successor, the N96. The Nokia N97 is to challenge the iPhone by sporting a touchscreen and an updated release of the Symbian operating system.

The N97 is a slider, featuring a concealed keyboard beneath the large colour display. A feature of Symbian 5th Edition is the ability to customize the home screen with a wide variety of widgets, such as RSS readers, weather reports and similar. The widgets can be dragged and placed as required. The touchscreen is similar to the Blackberry Storm‘s, though it doesn’t operate in exactly the same way. On the Storm, pressing an item on the display causes the entire touchscreen to rock. On the N97, only the activated area pulses briefly to provide feedback to the user.

There’s an integrated GPS, 5MP camera and 32GB of storage for media files, the kind of stuff you expect to find in a high-end mobile phone nowadays. Nokia is promising a fairly lengthy runtime and standby time for the battery, though there is no real-world data to prove their word on the claim of 400 hours of standby. Shifting the screen back reveals a keyboard with the screen tilted at a comfortable angle for typing.

The usual connectivity options are available, including Bluetooth, HSDPA, WiFi and USB.

If the pictures above are to be believed, Symbian has outgrown its staid look and feel – this could be a very worthy successor to my E90…

RoadSync keeps my E90‘s contacts and calendar data updated using Microsoft ActiveSync technology. Having push notification of email is really convenient and obviates the need to constantly run Mail for Exchange at certain time intervals. Of course, RoadSync is not free, unlike Mail for Exchange.

The updated version of RoadSync does not introduce radical features. Instead, this is an incremental update, with some very useful features added and a couple of speed enhancements included. The well-known, fuss-free interface to the programs features remains basically unchanged. A new addition is the synchronization of tasks.

The most radical improvement is the ability to select the incoming email format. Text or HTML formats are available, with HTML providing a far more content-rich experience. RoadSync 4 features a notification to indicate the arrival of new mail and has a number of pre-defined keyboard shortcuts to allow faster access to commonly used functions. And it’s able to synchronize contact photographs if you’ve bothered with that feature in Outlook…

But the HTML format support is the main reason I upgraded.

With HTML mail, reading those early morning comics is now possible,

as is the at-a-glance view of my mailbox status

Previously, mails as shown in the two examples above would consist entirely of ASCII text and URL‘s. Being able to read the mail content as it was intended is fantastic and a real time saver. No more having to hop into a browser or PC mail client. The only prerequisite for HTML formatted mail to be enabled on the device is a backend Exchange 2007 server. HTML mail does push up data usage to some extent, but I would consider that absolutely negligible considering the advantages one gains.

Yesterday, I wrote about my impressions of the new Handy Weather release for the E90. A rather annoying bug wouldn’t let me add more locations and the upgrade to version 6.0 had killed a couple of my preset locations.

A quick mail to the Paragon Software Support Team provided me with a very quick fix: seems the bug was well known and an updated installation file is already available. I downloaded Handy Weather 6.0 (1) and can say that the issue with adding more locations seems to have been fixed.

Rain forecast for the Gold Coast tomorrow. Why do I really need to know that…

The Handy Weather application is always available in my E90‘s active applications. This weekend, the software stubbornly refused to provide up-to-date weather forecasts: my one year subscription to the Intellicast weather information service had expired and it was time to renew or face daily uncertainty.

For USD 15, I was permitted to download the very latest Handy Weather version and added the ability to gain the all-important weather information for another year. Handy Weather 6.0 has been spruced up a bit, but is essentially the same application with a few new features added.

Weather information is still displayed in the chosen format for a selected location – I prefer the week view. Now, maps have been added to display regional information. The addition of this option is the most significant feature of release 6.0.

Three maps are available: temperature, pressure and satellite.

In the default view, the map image is displayed in a size that is appropriate within the applications main window. It is possible to zoom into the image and make it appear full-screen. It’s important to note that the quality of the image does not improve: this is literally a bitmap being manipulated and the quality decreases as the image expands.

The addition of the maps is a nice touch. Hopefully future versions will strive to provide more dynamic map generation and include navigation features similar to those found in Google Earth. Overall, Handy Weather 6.0 is a worthwhile upgrade with one glaring exception:

Any attempt at adding a new location results in the above error. I had about seven locations in the application prior to the upgrade. After the new version installed, four of those had mysteriously disappeared. I cannot add them back. Not good.

I’ve mailed the support desk at epocware and described the issue. Let’s see whether they have a fix…

Finding a decent Twitter client for a Symbian device is easy, but decent ones are hard to come by. It is also necessary to adjust expectations – you won’t find anything with the glitz and glam of the iPhone‘s Twitterific, for example… Jitter is the one I presently use, and even though it is extremely basic, it works very well and isn’t burdened by useless and unneeded features. Calling it a Twitter telnet client wouldn’t be far off the mark. It’s text only with no fancy graphics…

Setup is very easy: simply enter all the relevant Twitter account details and you’re off. For the download, a handy WAP link is available. Jitter works on a wide range of devices. Any mobile phone with MIDP support is capable of running Jitter.

Viewing updates from various timelines is possible, as is the sending of direct messages.

On the E90, Jitter is also quite happy to run on the front screen in portrait mode.

If you’re looking for a no-frills, free application to flitter away your Twitter-jitters, Abiro‘s Jitter may be just the application.

It’s been quite a while since I last installed any software on the E90. It’s always useful to have direct access to a currency converter. I don’t know how often I’ve googled the URL for XE (must remember to bookmark that!).

The built-in converter shipped as a standard application on the E90 caters for measurements and the like but not for currencies.

With Handy Converter, up to four currencies may be displayed simultaneously. Entering a value for any one of them automatically indicates the corresponding value for the other three. A great way to depress yourself: enter anything for the currency ZAR and compare to the others.

A subsequent screen lists all currencies with their relevant exchange rate to the base currency selected. It’s little more than list, but is a good reference to have access to.

And, what would a conversion program be if it didn’t include the normal conversions for weight, area, volume and the like? These are included too. I have yet to find a means of figuring out what size T-shirt fits Alexander – he normally ends up getting them two sizes too large regardless what size I buy…

I use Handy Weather constantly and rely on Handy Safe to keep a secure copy of all my passwords with me at all times. At USD 14.95, Handy Converter is expensive for the functions and features it provides. My primary gripe is the fact that the currency update is manual instead of the developer offering an automated or scheduled update. That would make sense, even if the rates were updated only once every few days. I’m buying this one purely due to the fact that the Handy brand applications are of a good quality, look good and are easy to use. I’ll live with the manual currency update, but do hope a scheduled update will be provided in a future release.

If you’re looking for a standard conversion utility that does not include any currency conversions, the standard Nokia application already on your device is more than adequate. If you are able to remember the URL for XE, you may consider a browser launch to that site far better value than Handy Converter.

A new firmware update is available for my Nokia E90. Incredibly, the version change seems quite dramatic: from the existing 7.40.1.2 to 210.34.75! That’s quite a jump. It looks as though this update has been available for some time, but has either only now been picked up by my Nokia PC Suite or has only just been made available to devices in this region. I’m assuming the latter, as I do run the PC Suite quite regularly.

The update is billed as a major software change, but mainly introduces  improvements to the overall stability of the device. Here are some of the highlights:

• backup and restore improvements
• general stability improvements to the barcode reader
• improvements to the Bluetooth stack
• the web browser is now more stable, benefits from Flash Lite (YouTube) support and supports widgets
• better operation of the calendar application
• overall stability improvements to the camera, connections, FM radio, JAVA stack, maps, QuickOffice and WLAN

A useful upgrade to go through. I’ll need to back up my data, then charge the E90 as the updater is presently complaining that my battery levels are too low.

The Nokia Software Updater is available here and will determine the necessary updates for your Nokia phone.

It’s not that easy to find a printer for home use that is network-ready. For some or other reason, most printers still cater for only a USB connection. That means a single workstation is the master and has to be on all the time or have a share. It’s not the ideal solution. By the way: the printer cable is never included! Remember to buy the cheapest one you can and don’t be fooled by the salesperson bundling a cable at a special price. Computer resellers make more margin on the cable and are only too happy to get an eager customer to pay an astronomical price for a simple USB cable…

In any case, I wanted a slim colour laser printer with network connectivity. I had my eye on a particular Samsung model, but alas: Samsung is very picky when it comes to importing variants of one model. You’d think it would simplify matters if all had both USB and network instead of the xxx model having only USB and the xxxN model having USB and Ethernet ports. Obviously, my misunderstanding of this principle is one reason I’m not in the printer business! I finally settled on the CLP350N.

Again, I’ve chosen Samsung. Primarily, I settled on this unit because it seems to enjoy a lot of support on various platforms. I now run three operating systems: Linux, Mac OS X and Windows. So, I need a device that is capable of performing properly on all three. I trust I’ve done my homework diligently! Time and a few messed-up printouts will tell.

The CLP350 is a cinch to install and setup: un-paste some sticky tape that keeps the primary flaps stuck down, then pull out four orange tabs that protect the toner cartridge entry to the drum. There are four toner cartridges: cyan, magenta and yellow in smaller cases and one larger black cartridge. These easily slot into place at the front of the printer and are turned a slight bit to the right to lock them in place. The only other thing to do is load paper into the tray and connect power and Ethernet cables. The initial startup takes a few minutes during which time a page is printed to indicate that all toner cartridges have been correctly installed. The control panel is simplistic: one button and a few status LED‘s. The unit is reasonably unobtrusive and looks good.

Even though there is support for multiple operating systems, the IP address of the printer has to be set by running a Windows program. I set a static IP address for my network, then proceeded to load the driver onto G2S running Vista. The driver installation is easy: click and go. With the printer available on the network, there’s no issue in finding and selecting it. The first test page in full colour looks good: the CLP350N does roughly 5ppm when printing colour and about 19ppm when printing black and white. The maximum resolution is 2400×600 dpi.

The real test came when I installed the Linux driver for the printer on katana. Thankfully, no nasty surprises! A slight modification to the overall wizard – I had to exit and run the driver configuration tool manually. The automated installer couldn’t detect the printer. Most importantly, the printer quality and control from Mandriva is excellent from what I can see, having printed a few pages from different applications. Last installation: get the driver onto MacBook. That’ll have to wait until tomorrow.

I am pleased with my choice. I’ll give the printer a bit of a workout over the next week or so. Since it’s on the network and available wirelessly, I’m hoping that getting printed output from any device and application will be seamless and hassle-free.