Anggun

WOW! After so many years of being aware of her music, I fell out of touch with her recent career activity. I came across this by chance and had to post it. If there was ever a woman that I would consider absolutely perfect, she is a great start.

I'M A PC - Creators

IT HAS FINALLY HAPPENED AND I AM SO EXCITED!!! This is definitely one moment I will never forget.

Black Nokia E90 arrives!

Words simply cannot describe how it feels to be reunited with the Communicator...let alone a BLACK one! After seeing so many pictures on blogsites but hardly hearing anything from the tech sites, I began to wonder if it was only a user modification and not a manufactured version. This rarity of the black E90 of course caused me to want one even more to at least be able to see it in person, and that's what makes today so special for me. To be in the presence of a device that I had long thought was hard to come by is truly amazing. The black exterior of this version is definitely much more glossy than its red and mocca counterpart and has a tendency to attract smudges and fingerprints galore. This is quite apparent when I notice that the previous owner didn't even bother to polish the outside of this E90 before returning it to WomWorld. Even though I would normally not prefer a glossy black surface after dealing with the Treo Pro, HTC Touch Pro and Toshiba P305 laptop, I am willing to make an exception for the E90. I don't know whether it's because I believe that the black suits it or that I am just so excited to be reunited with it. Honestly, I do happen to like the cleaner and more unified appearance of an all black and glossy exterior for this well-rounded model. After polishing the surfaces I am even more amazed by how it looks in any light...almost as if it had been carved from an onyx jewel! My first impressions of this device are very good so far and I shall post photos of this device on this blog post.

TRENT
Sent from my Nokia E90 Black

Treo Trials and Tribulations

At this point I am still awaiting the arrival of the Nokia E90 Communicator device from WomWorld since FedEx has called to inform me of some shipping difficulties. There is a discrepancy due to an absence of the FCC documents which are needed by FedEx for continued shipment to my home, but I am sure it will all be worked out in time.

I am not exactly in much of a rush to receive it anyway, but I know that I am expecting a lot of great feelings to come back as I unbox such an anticipated review unit. As much as I try to think that this would be my last hurrah with the E90, I really don't know that for certain and wouldn't want to jump to any conclusions. The Communicator has and always will be the epitome of mobile convergence between the home and office in one solid model, and aside from the N97 I haven't seen one thing with the potential to take its place.

Being with this Treo 750 has not been a detriment to my health even though it has challenging at certain times. The other night I had taken a 6GB microSD card and paired it with a miniSD card adapter to insert into the Treo for formatting. Once the Treo acknowledged the card there was a prompt asking if I wanted to format the card and make it readable. I of course selected the "Yes" command and allowed the handset to do what it had to do. Assuming that I was in the clear to add about 4GB of music onto the card, I used a card reader and connected it to my laptop. Dragging and dropping numerous files from various artists took a little while and then I inserted the card back in the Treo slot. To my surprise the formatting prompt appeared onscreen and I definitely chose "No" since I had already done this previously. Being somewhat sure that all was going well, I opened the Windows Media Player application and activated the "Update Library" command. This was going to take a while since over 4GB of music had to be scanned and sorted into the WMP archives, so I started to place my Treo on the coffee table for the duration. Again, I was caught off guard to see that the scanning had been completed within one minute and I knew something was not right! I rushed over to the Settings menu via frantic taps on the touchscreen with the stylus...and that haunting Treo snickering could be heard again as I panicked. My hope for a solution was dashed when I accessed the Memory window and did not see that the SD card had been acknowledged. I thought all would be well if I just popped the card out of the slot and then inserted it back in again. The usual single beep emanated from the back speaker as the card proceeded to slide out of its slot, and a double beep when it was clicked back in place. The prompt for storage card formatting appeared again and I selected no. I go to the Memory window only to find the same thing, "No card insterted". WHAT?! At this point I am shocked, but not really shocked being that this is a Windows Mobile device. Nonetheless, I am not enthused about encountering this situation so late at night. By this time the memory of my Nokia E71 began to populate the space of my own awareness, and it was at this instance I realized I was being dealt a bad deck of cards...SIGH. After about 10 minutes of repeatedly taking out the card and sliding it back in and refusing the formatting prompts, I agreed to format the card again. Maybe this could be my saving grace for the night and I could finally go to bed after loading music again via the card reader. Something worse happened when I inserted the card reader to my laptop. An error message with a STOP sign symbol appeared onscreen stating that the installed memory could not be read!!! After minutes of ejecting the card reader and plugging it back into the USB repeatedly, the STOP sign wouldn't go away!!! Had I done permanent damage to my 6GB microSD card? Should I try another card and see what happens?

All I knew was that nearly an hour had passed in the midst of my madness, and I simply gave up and waved the white flag. This experienced smartphone user had gotten his tail handed to him by a measly, refurbished Treo device and he was LIVID! After coming to terms with the defeat, I thought it best to not do anything extra with this older model and just use it for the basics. This was indeed a hard choice to make since I am so accustomed to advanced functionality, but maybe it's time for me to rough it a little bit.

As much as I would love to take that extra money from savings and buy myself another E71, something inside of me wants to hold out. Even though this Treo 750 may as well be the RAZR of my smartphone functionality, it is managing just fine in regards to SMS, email and voice calls. At the end of the day that is all a smartphone user really needs, but I honestly am finding it hard to be so understanding and accepting of this situation. Maybe it's tough love and this Treo 750 is letting me know that life doesn't always bow to my wishes. Hmmmm. I guess that's food for thought.

TRENT
Sent from my Treo 750

A Season for Giving

I am right now sitting with my backup Treo 750 once again and without the presence of my grey Nokia E71, and this is for good reason. I felt the impulse to give freely and within a matter of moments answered to it willingly.

A very close family member happened to be getting by with a Treo 750 of his own, but never really got the hang of it in his daily usage. He isn't the kind of smartphone user who takes the initiative to find a device's full potential, but instead he relies only on the PDA aspect and QWERTY keypad. Once I found out that he had been using the Treo, I knew immediately that he was in over his head with such a complicated gadget. After over a year of treating the phone like it was a flip model, all access to the touchscreen interface had been lost permanently and no kind of resetting could help. After being unsuccessful in my attempt to provide assistance, it appeared that getting a replacement Treo via the warranty was the only solution. This didn't make sense to me when it was quite obvious that a better handset with a non-touchscreen interface was the best way to solve this problem. For a few months I have been singing the praises of the Nokia E71, and nothing makes me feel better than to talk about the benefits of worthwhile tech toys. However, what made this situation strange was my sudden desire to be giving in the most meaningful way.

I had remembered that my E71 had been gazed upon by friends and family in comparison to their network locked BlackBerries and Treos, so I then offered it. Taken aback by my decision, this family member had of course accepted the E71 with much gratitude. I figured that if anyone could really benefit from the stability of the Symbian OS, it would be him. This was partly inspired by teachings that had been bestowed upon me by my mother in my early years that were primarily based in the Christian faith. Although I am not a church-going citizen and don't necessarily claim to be Christian, I do have beliefs that are rooted in this background. I guess I simply wanted to atone for past sins of wreckless indulgence via careless spending in addition to being a helping hand to someone in need. While this giving moment may not be the same as feeding the homeless, I believe that it at least puts me in the right direction of living selflessly in this one lifetime that I have.

Left without my E71 right now, I am using my Treo 750 full time. As much as I honestly go through withdrawal for the Nokia, I am happy to hear that it is being enjoyed thoroughly by someone who was in need of it. Deep in my heart I suddenly felt a yearning to free myself of my materialistic nature and do what was ultimately right in regards to being a blessing to someone else. It certainly makes me feel good inside to share the pros of the Symbian OS with someone else who will eventually become another Nokia fan! The Treo is actually not that bad in regards to providing the absolute BARE minimum for smartphone tasks like email and texting, so all is not lost. The extra luxuries of a camera, wifi, good speaker quality, slim dimensions and multimedia playback are not necessary for me on a daily even though they are definitely nice to have. I am glad that those amenities can be discovered by someone else for a change. Who knows, my friend may never unlock the potential of the E71 to the extent that I have, but what counts is that there is a reliable user experience for him. I believe the E71 is more than capable of granting him that and much more.

Despite my missing my Nokia E71, the E90 from WomWorld will be here at any moment for a 2 week trial and I am very excited. However, at the end of the 2 weeks when I must return the E90 I will have to return to the Treo 750 full time. Only time will tell if can hold on to the Treo 750 until the release of the N97 or whatever else Nokia may have in store for future models.

I guess this year's Christmas really was a season for giving. On that note, I would like to wish everyone out there a happy and fulfilled holiday time with friends and family, and may all of you be blessed as well when you least expect it.

TRENT
Sent from my Treo 750

Nokia E71 Finally Fixed

It is official!! My Nokia E71 is finally fixed via formatting of the 16GB microSD card and all operations have returned to normal!! However, I am sad to say that Google Maps Mobile is no longer a reliable application for right now. For some strange reason, the new 2.03 version for Symbian is not working properly in getting the correct positioning for my own location and keeps centering onto Boston! Even though this is enough to get me angry, I would rather deal with this than a malfunctioning E71. For the time being I have decided to completely remove the Google Maps app from my E71 and try to rely on the Nokia Maps app instead.

Either way, I guess this is good to get me closer to Nokia and grow out of my Google dependency. And as much as I didn't mind using the Treo 750 as my back up, I am so relieved to be back with my Nokia S60 device! Listen to the snickering of the Treo I will do no more, for my E71 has the last laugh!!!

TRENT
Sent from my Nokia E71

I FIXED THE NOKIA E71!!!! so far

It looks like I have fixed the Nokia E71!!!

After a hard reset I inserted my SIM card, extracted the 16GB card and did not do anything to interface it with the phone. I needed to receive a SMS message to start things off and see if I could open it first. I receive one and I WAS ABLE TO OPEN IT!! I am so elated right now!!

I am wondering if it was a situation with a corrupted file on the 16GB microSD card that caused the trouble. Either way, I am going to reformat the entire SDcard, install my 10GB of music and go on my merry way in setting up my user profile from scratch on the device.

I am holding my breath.

TRENT

Is Touch for Me?

Until the E90 arrives for its 2 week trial, I am doing my best to get by with my backup Treo 750. The funny thing is that the more I operate with this non-iPhone touchscreen device, I can't help but wonder if my preference is best suited for non-touchscreen S60 devices. A part of me is honestly becoming more resistive to ANY touchscreen interface that is not like the iPhone. Upon listening to Kevin C. Tofel on the MobileTechRoundup podcast, there was a mentioning of how the iPhone just seemed to be optimzed for intuitive navigation from the group up. I believe that James Kendrick on this podcast then spoke of how other models appeared to include touch as an overlay for an OS not meant for touch navigation at all. I agreed with both of these points and do feel that I may not be a fan of the touchscreen interface like I used to be. I understand completely that the iPhone is not for me, but I am realizing this may be applied to Windows Mobile Professional as well. My experience with the Samsung Epix and my current experience with this Treo 750 is gradually turning me off to the touch interface altogether. After seeing what was in store for the S60 touch platform from the 5800 XpressMusic model, I am truly skeptical.

Right now I may be turning into a full fledged supporter of the non-touchscreen S60 platform, because it feels much more efficient for me in being able to navigate different features with the press of a dpad.

The E71 has been so great for me despite its recent mishap currently going on, and not one Windows Mobile Professional device has caused me to even blink. The upcoming N97 release will surely be interesting for me, for one false impression gained could ruin my faith in Nokia's potential in the touchscreen market.

TRENT
Sent from my Treo 750

Nokia E71 Malfunctioning / E90 Reunion

Yesterday was a time when mercury was in retrograde with my Nokia E71, because I had the worst of luck with its functions. It all started when I had loaded the new Google Maps version 2.3 to my phone for the new Street View feature. No matter how often I activated the My Location feature with even GPS, it would always bring me centered to Boston, MA even though I am in VA!! I tried a couple times to delete and reload and reset the app, but this was done to no avail and the blinking blue dot was constantly brought to Boston! I had become frustrated enough to remove the Google Maps app from the phone entirely and consider using Nokia Maps from that moment on, and so I did.

In the midst of multitasking with a few applications open simultaneously, I had accepted phone calls while a number of incoming SMS messages were being received. The Music Player was active as I had been typing a new blog entry email via Messaging and the S60 web browser was on as well. After switching from one call to another and eventually ending these conversations, I had resumed writing my blog entry and the music resumed playback. I then received incoming messages for both SMS and email, but that was when all of the fun began to really unfold. Upon trying to access a new SMS I was shocked to find that I couldn't open it via a dpad click or an option selection, and the most I could do was listen to the SMS via the Nokia Voice feature. This same occurrence took place on my incoming emails as well! I figured it was only a matter of time until I solved this with a soft reset, but that didn't work. A hard reset seemed to be the next best thing, so I backed up the phone memory to the installed 16GB microSD card and proceeded with the *#7370# combination on the keypad. THIS DIDN'T WORK EITHER!! I was stuck! I was desperate! I tried the hard reset FOUR more times and ended up with the same outcome as before, and it took much willpower to not throw the E71 against the wall. In order to remain in touch via mobile I had no choice but to switch my SIM card to my backup Treo 750...a necessary evil. I swear I could hear a faint snickering from the Treo as I updated contacts and calendar entries.

While my impulse would have been to run out and purchase that white E71 again from Best Boy, that would have been a bad financial idea since I am saving for the N97. So I did something better just to satisfy my need for a Nokia S60 device: I contacted WomWorld for a review unit. In the midst of making a choice, I had to consider the lack of American 3G and did not want to go with an E71-1 that couldn't measure up to my own E71-2 on the AT&T network. I suddenly had the idea to make this a perfect opportunity for a Nokia E90 reunion!

I know that this may turn off some readers out there who are tired of me gushing over this full QWERTY model, but greatness is greatness...plain and simple. Until the N97 can prove to be worthy enough to join the ranks of the E71 and E90 once it is released, I shall continue to have utmost reverence for the Communicator. Considering the available feature sets, I think this was the best choice in the midst of trying to fix my E71 device.

TRENT
Sent from my Treo 750

Nokia N97: Will it Have NAM 3G?

In yet another moment of pondering over the N97 there is the concern of compatibility with the AT&T 3G network in the US. As far as I have read from online previews, only the UMTS frequencies of 900, 1900 and 2100 are to be supported, so where does that leave the NAM Nokia customers? I believe I read somewhere that AT&T uses the 850 and 1900 bands, but I am not 100% certain of this. If this is the case, there may be a partial chance that the N97 will have 3G access to the network. In my opinion, a partial chance is not worth paying top dollar when purchasing ANY kind of recent mobile device. If there is a variant of the N97 made for the NAM UMTS frequencies I would not hesitate to give the N97 a fair chance as my permanent phone, otherwise I most likely will have to settle for a review unit from WomWorld if at all possible.

TRENT
Sent from my Nokia E71

Blog Title change

Just so that people aren't alarmed, I have taken off the apostrophe and the letter S in the title of my blog and shall be doing the same on my YouTube channel under the name absolon3. Just a moment ago after listening to the TWiT podcast I have decided to open a Twitter account and figured that TRENT SENSE just seems better and much more simple.

TRENT
Sent from my Nokia E71

Nokia N97 Anticipation

I am right now in the middle of my Networking class and finding it difficult to get my mind off of the Nokia N97. After seeing footage of it on YouTube just a moment ago with my E71, I am thoroughly excited that this device has finally been brought to light! I guess afterwhile the euphoria of eventually witnessing the release of this product has come to really set in for me.
The last time I felt this excited for a product release was a good while ago when the first generation iPhone was announced. I can still recall the plethora of swear words that escaped my lips as I jumped all over my workplace cubicle in sheer joy, but I was much younger and immature then... :-)

As of now I have come to conjure these exact same sensations of happiness, but at the same time I still have some reservations. As I've mentioned before in previous entries, I do have a strong preference for the qwerty bar form factor for efficient one hand usage and quick keypad access.

Nothing pleases me more than having the slim and portable E71 in my pocket on any given day to provide constant 3G connectivity via a variety of resources. I can admit that the multimedia features may not measure up to the NSeries devices or adequately replace a cheap digital point-and-shoot, but they are nonetheless suitable. Even though I can be honest about the E71's shortcomings in this regard, I still consider it to be the absolute best device that grants the most functionality of any smartphone I've ever owned through the years. After all of the many uses I have put this phone through it is certainly justified to stake its claim as a jack of all trades for me. It has been my music player, my word processor, my spreadsheet editor, my PDA, my phone, my video player, my camera, my camcorder, my GPS tracker, my email organizer, my gaming device, my tethered modem, my alarm clock, picture album and my Internet browser. I am completely aware that there are plenty of competing devices out there more than capable of the same capabilities as the E71, but its the way in which it executes its features with the Symbian operating system that makes me so fond of it. I firmly believe that the Symbian OS on non-touchscreen devices is by far one of the most stable in the mobile industry, and the Apple iPhone is definitely comparable if not better. Relying on flawless sound quality and steady 3G reception, I have been a very satisfied Nokia customer and plan to remain as such even if I forsake the N97 and keep my beloved E71!

With all of that said, I am now brought back to my insecurities about the N97. There is certainly a tug-of-war playing out between logic and impulse, much like a cat and a ball of yarn in front of a dog pound. One huge concern is for this new and largely untested touchscreen OS for the Symbian S60 (or whatever version it's going to be), for there have already been one too many hyped unveilings in the past. One moment the public could be introduced to what is supposedly the next best thing, and suddenly this introduction could result in a device that is only average and lackluster or just a plain waste of time and money. While I do hope the best for this N97, I don't think I've seen anything more than demo videos in recent days. Whose to say that this new touch interface will really garner much media attention for Nokia, especially since the iPhone and WM Professional models are so prevalent? I tend to be a bit cautious of touchscreens because of what I believe is a more vulnerable platform where mishap occurrences may have a higher likelihood. Having touch entry on a device could potentially makes it more fragile that a typical non-touchscreen. This makes a perfect lead into another likely achilles heel for certain models: moving parts. Though I stand behind the quality testing of any Nokia device, there is always a chance that prolonged usage of the slider qwerty could introduce malfunctions. Not to mention that a bad batch of handsets could be released to the dismay of the customers. Aside from this it is still that darn touch screen that worries me. I guess that I am worried about all the iPhone enthusiasts who will of course dismiss the N97 as nothing more than a wannabe once it arrives. As much as I would like to be first in line to get one when possible, I would hate to find myself uninspired and having second thoughts about the purchase. I would hate to also be an early adopter who is only fortunate enough to go through growing pains and much needed updates of virgin touch interface. Another concern is size. Will it be as big as the E90? If so, will it be worth that much for me to give up the pros of the qwerty bar design? We will have to wait and see. Will the qwerty pad be as intuitive as the E71 and provide good feedback?

Despite all of these concerns, I only wish for Nokia to do well in the future with all of its innovative efforts. A part of me just wants Nokia to come out of the woodwork and blast every other manufacturer out of the water with its uncanny ability to balance the pros of enterprise and multimedia functions in one handset. At this point I shall continue waiting on pins and needles in anticipation for this to arrive soon, and I hope that online reviews are filled with much praise for it.

TRENT
Sent from my Nokia E71

Accepting the N97

I recently went through a silly predicament involving another Nokia E71. I used money from a refund of the Samsung Epix and purchased an unlocked white E71 from Best Buy. Even though I had only been curious about the white model and really had no intention of keeping it as a back up to my grey one, I was tempted. After novelty of having the white model had worn off from a couple days I returned it for a full refund. At this point I think that the best move would be to apply this extra money to my debt, but I have also thought about saving it for something else in the future: the newly unveiled Nokia N97.

Upon first glance I was only mildly impressed with the Nokia N97 due to my preference for the qwerty bar form factor, and I came close to dismissing it. But the more I thought about it I became a little bit more interested. This is a first generation touchscreen device that's worthwhile in comparison to that 5800 XpressMusic, and it truly appears to be a suitable iPhone competitor (sans the seamless iTunes integration). When I had first seen that preview movie of a Nokia Touch prototype about a year or so ago, this N97 is exactly what I imagined it to be! With 32GB of storage on this machine and a 3.5mm jack, there is no doubt in my mind that this may rival the 32GB iPod Touch in offered features. The touch interface reminds me of the N810 Tablet which wasn't bad to work with at all, just not as fluid as the iPhone. I think that this N97 potentially has the ability to combine the pros of the N and E Series, but for me this does come at a compromise in regards to the design. I had written on previous blog entries about my affinity for qwerty bars because of quick access to the keypad and a more portable and pocketable size, but I may have to forego this notion in order to accept the N97. This new model offers a grand screen with touch and stereo speakers for the best portrayal of media content like the NSeries, and one can only assume that Nokia's high standard of messaging used in ESeries devices will be included as well. It is for this reason that I am excited about the N97, for it could possibly take Nokia into a whole new realm of usability that I had mistakenly thought was reached by the E90 Communicator. I am certain that this N97 will be at least the same price that is currently being asked for the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 ($800-900), so I will have to start saving now in order to have a chance at affording this in 2009.

Until then, I am happy to keep this E71 Grey and continue to type endlessly upon its qwerty to express my opinions about life and tech in general. With the Nokia headset on and listening to the Music Player while writing these words, I am for sure indebted to Nokia for granting me a near perfect and well-balanced mobile user experience in most of their devices that I have had the privilege to own over the years. From my first foray into Nokia devices with the CDMA 6255i flip model to my E71, I have always been taken aback by how Symbian S60 software could seamlessly coexist in harmony with high quality Nokia hardware. I have no doubt in my mind that for many years I shall remain devoted to Nokia and always have an interest in its future endeavors.

TRENT
Sent from my Nokia E71

Nokia Email beta

As of now I do offer my sincere apologies to Nokia. I had previously brought critiques against the Nokia Email beta app due to the Sent folder not updating properly. It turns out that the Sent folder must be enabled in the settings to start syncing with the server, and once I did all has been working perfectly!

I must admit that so far the Nokia Email application has been a great addition to my E71 in managing incoming emails. The interface is quite vivid and professional looking and provides a much welcomed departure from the plain aesthetics in the old Messaging app, which still handles my SMS and MMS messages. As a huge fan of the Outlook Mobile on Windows Mobile devices, I am pleased to say that for the first time on my Nokia I am starting not to miss it.

There are a couple of features that I do enjoy about the Email beta which have made my transition from the original S60 Messaging app most comfortable. The auto completion of potential email contacts while typing in the recipients fields and the organized layout of the Inbox folder really give me the impression that Nokia knows what its doing. I am certain that further accomplishments in software development from the Symbian Beta teams will continue to take place, and I am excited to see them all come to fruition.

TRENT
Sent from my Nokia E71

Nokia E71 duo: Black and White

Just recently I took a test run with a white E71 purchased from Best Buy with the money that I had previously used to get Samsung Epix. In the action of getting a 16GB microSD card I was immediately drawn to the white model and figured why not give it a try just for kicks. As much as I would have liked to keep it as a backup to my grey E71, I knew that it was a prospect that didn't make much sense. In lieu of this I had returned the white E71 after a couple of days and am currently still owning the grey model.

Three main differences I had noticed between the grey and white models were the etched designs pattern on the metal back, preinstalled games for the white as well as a little extra thickness. The grey displayed a dotted design on its back while the white sported a series of curved lines along the length of its back. Tiger Woods PGA Tour and Tetris were Java app games already installed to the white, and I admit to spending much time playing with that addictive Tetris. I was a bit surprised to notice some additional girth on the white model and I spoke about this in detail on a recent YouTube video. I couldn't return this E71 White without taking comparison pictures, those shall be included with this blog post as well.

TRENT
Sent from my Nokia E71