Android Assault

Android has pretty much won the smartphone operating system wars. Not that Apple or Blackberry will be going away anytime. In fact, given the historic resilience of Apple, it will probably remain as a major player catering to a specific market. Now, with the release of Android 3.1 Honeycomb Google encroaches more and more into tablets and netbooks operating systems. Soon it will be notebooks and desktops. I wouldn’t be surprised if they eventually go to server operating systems.

Why I Hate Windows No. 35707

My Windows password (on my work laptop, I no longer have a personal Windows computer) expired and I had to change my password otherwise I wouldn’t be able to login or even send out my daily status reports. Unfortunately, it turns out that the task is more difficult than I imagined. Every time I try to change my password, I get the message: Your password must be at least 8 characters, cannot repeat any of your previous 13 passwords and must be at least 7 days old. My new password satisfied the first two requirements but I couldn’t figure out how a new password must be at least 7 days old. And my old password is definitely more than 7 days old. A frustrated call the the help desk didn’t answer the puzzle. Instead they just gave me a pattern for the password: 8 characters and a numeric character must be in the middle. Totally unrelated to the error message.

Top S60 Applications: My Updated List

I’ve updated my top S60 applications from its previous incarnation.

  1. Walking Hotspot – Turns your phone into a wireless router and share your HSDPA signal (if you get one).  I found it easier to use than Joikuspot
  2. Opera Mobile – A niftier mobile browser than even Opera Mini. It is standalone so it requires more memory and processing power. Can match any desktop browser in handling complex websites.
  3. Fring – reach out and talk to your friend via you can interact with friends on all your favourite social networks Skype, MSN Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ, SIP, Twitter, Yahoo!, AIM, and more!
  4. YouTube – Watch YouTube videos on your mobile phone. You need a fast network connection though.
  5. Google Maps – Turns your phone into a navigation device complete with map. It even shows your location with GPS or without (via cell site)! How cool is that?
  6. Nokia Messaging for Email – You can configure your email to check Ovi Mail, Yahoo Mail, GMail, HotMail, and  POP, and IMAP. And you can view your email in HTML glory!
  7. Google Sync plus Mail for Exchange – allows you to sync your Google contacts and calendar with your phone contacts and calendar. No tasks syncing, unfortunately.

Nokia Messaging On The E51

One gripe I have with the Nokia E51’s built-in email client is that it doesn’t display HTML. Nor does the GMail mobile client. I’ve heard about the downloadable Nokia Messaging app which is already built-in to newer Nokia handsets but I’ve put off downloading it until now.

To get it, you’ll need to go to the Nokia Messaging website and create an account. You can use your GMail account to jump start account creation. Once you have an account, you provide your phone number, select your phone model, and a download link to the Nokia Messaging app for your phone is sent via SMS. Click the link, download, and install.

There are a few more things that you might have to configure:

  1. Go to Tools->Settings->General->E-mail key setting. Set E-mail key to Nokia Messaging email.
  2. Go toTools->Settings->General->Personalisation->Standby mode->Active standby plug-ins. Uncheck the Default e-mail notif. and Act. standby mailbox plug-ins.
  3. Set Tools->Settings->General->Personalisation->Standby mode->One-touch keys->Messaging key. Set both short press and Long press to “Default setting”

New email will now appear on the standby screen. A short press on the messaging key will get you to the Inbox and a long press take you to Compose screen. And you can view your email in HTML glory!