My-Symbian & My-Maemo / My-MeeGo

[Michal Jerz]

I was finally able to test a stable version of the new E61. It was a short test but it was long enough to finally review it.

Here's the E61 review:

http://my-symbian.com/s60v3/review_e61.php

I hope you'll find it useful.

[My-Symbian]

[FastLaneJB]

Very good review Michal. I have a couple of questions.

Does the E61 automatically detect WiFi connections that you've previously setup and switch to them when your in range?

I thought the Voice over IP would work with any SIP service so something like Vondage would work for instance. Is this not the case and it runs on some Nokia only system which they will sell to service providers if they want to allow customers to use it? If it's the latter then that is a real shame.

Finally did your firmware have any ActiveSync included or not? Or maybe like the P990 the messaging side is still under wraps. After all according to Nokia it's the one part that isn't finished yet.

Good to hear the device is fast and stable. I'm still temped to pick up an E70 while I wait for my P990.

[Michal Jerz]

Quote:

Does the E61 automatically detect WiFi connections that you've previously setup and switch to them when your in range?

It does detect networks automatically - you can set the scan interval. If you create an access point then it can connect automatically when needed next time, without asking you to enter any login data.

In connection settings, you can create connection groups, choose preferred access points and set their priority. If you enter a range of network with higher priority than the one currently used, they'll *probably* switch.

I wrote "probably" as I had no time to test it but I believe that's how it works. I hope I will get a final unit for review for a longer period of time so that I am able to thoroughly test every function and update the review with further details.

Quote:

I thought the Voice over IP would work with any SIP service so something like Vondage would work for instance. Is this not the case and it runs on some Nokia only system which they will sell to service providers if they want to allow customers to use it? If it's the latter then that is a real shame.

You are right. I initially thought the service was limited to Nokia 3GPP and it gave me an (incorrect) impression that it'll be restricted to use operator service only. But I was probably wrong. You can actually configure your own SIP service settings (profile, access point, user name, proxy server, registrar server, etc) so it seems that it should work with any SIP service. Sorry for the confusion, I already corrected this in the review. Unfortunately, I can't further check it at the moment as I only got access to the phone for a short while but hopefully i'll be able to review the VoIP feature in detail if I get a final unit for review.

Quote:

Finally did your firmware have any ActiveSync included or not?

Couldn't find any trace of it. I could only find the usual PC Suite SyncML sync, but I didn't test it.

Quote:

I'm still temped to pick up an E70 while I wait for my P990.

Well, I had E70 proto in my hands some time ago and I *definetely* like the E61 much more than the E70. The huge screen really makes a difference.

BTW. I remember someone asking about this feature in P990: E61 allows you to override SMTP settings depending on connection/access point.

[ivansergei]

Excellent work Michal!
One question: I want to know if E61 supports FOTA?
Thank you.

[My-Symbian]

[yatbond]

Thanks Michal!

A2DP and in fact AVRCP is important to me. Does anyone know if Nokia is going to release this function for the E series. Since N91 can use the nokia wireless stereo headsets, I don't think implementation is a problem.

thanks

[sx1_lover]

great review michal
can't wait until you get hands on final n-series devices...


and one thing i particularly like about the new nokia devices is the support of the bluetooth sim access profile. it is simply the best way to connect a phone to a car and already car manufacturers are beginning to support this profile (e.g. vw passat). great development!

[FastLaneJB]

Well the main reason I'd be more interested in the E70 is because it has a camera. I know it's a poor quality 2 megapixel but I'd still prefer that to no camera at all.

I do think it would take some getting used to the E70's qwerty though with it being split into 2 halves.

Good news on the voice over IP

[celios]

FastLaneJB wrote:

Well the main reason I'd be more interested in the E70 is because it has a camera. I know it's a poor quality 2 megapixel but I'd still prefer that to no camera at all. I do think it would take some getting used to the E70's qwerty though with it being split into 2 halves. Good news on the voice over IP

I am looking at the E70 for the same reason. I have Nokia Lifeblog and it loses quite a lot when your phone does not have a camera. I originally thought the N80 would be best for me, but teh E70 is thinner, looks like it will have better battery life and will be cheaper into the bargain! The benefits of the E70 form-factor over the E61 are (a) you don't look like some kind of saddo who is under the corporate thumb and having to carry a Blackberry everywhere! (b) phone holders in cars, etc will be able to accomodate it more easily as the dimensions of the E70 are more usual and (c) the fold-out keyboard is a cool trick to impress your friends with

[ivansergei]

Michal,
can you confirm this (according to nokia.com: "Instant Messaging client (Yahool, AOL, OMA) "?
10x again

[ericplan]

Great review michal,

One question remains. I allready asked this in the 9300 forum.

Is there a EAP-TTLS client for this phone? (WiFi)
This client is used by Eduroam for roaming users on educational institutes over Europe.
Until now I didn't find any (positive) information.
Support for this client is native in Apple OSX, third party clients are available for Palm, windows mobile, windows XP, Linux.

Thanks,

Eric

EAP-TLS
EAP-TLS (Extensible Authentication Protocol - Transport Layer Security) was created by Microsoft and accepted by the IETF as RFC 2716: PPP EAP TLS Authentication Protocol..

EAP-TTLS
Tunneled Transport Layer Security (EAP-TTLS) is a proprietary protocol which was developed by Funk Software and Certicom, and is supported by Agere Systems, Proxim, and Avaya.

EAP-TTLS is being considered by the IETF as a new standard.

For more information on EAP-TTLS, read the draft RFC EAP Tunneled TLS Authentication Protocol (EAP-TTLS).

http://www.tech-faq.com/eap-leap-peap-eap-tls-ttls.shtml

[JuhaN]

This is THE PHONE i've been waiting for... Series 60 meets Treo/Blackberry!!

I had to get N6630 to replace my broken N-Gage just about month ago and yesterday a Nokia Service Center killed my N6630 while flashing new software in it. So I payed 280 euros for a phone to use a couple of months and now I can't use that either...

The wait is almost over but I just want my E61 now!!

=)juha

[Mishary]

Michal Jerz, Is is a final stage proto "Nearly retail unit" ?

[Michal Jerz]

Quote:

I want to know if E61 supports FOTA?

I have no idea. I got the phone without any documentation and it's impossible to check it myself until the phone is commercially available and such services are made available for it.

Quote:

Well the main reason I'd be more interested in the E70 is because it has a camera. I know it's a poor quality 2 megapixel but I'd still prefer that to no camera at all.

Indeed. If the E61 had a camera, it would be a PERFECT device.

Quote:

The benefits of the E70 form-factor over the E61 are

But there's also one serious disadvantage: it's impossible to type on the E70' QWERTY keyboard using one hand, you always need to use both hands...

Quote:

can you confirm this (according to nokia.com: "Instant Messaging client (Yahool, AOL, OMA) "?

E61 has an IM client which lets you configure server name and address, user ID, password, etc. so it should work with the above mentioned IMs (I had no time to try it). One strange thing I noticed was that you couldn't use WLAN access point, only GPRS access points...

Quote:

Is there a EAP-TTLS client for this phone? (WiFi)

EAP-TTLS protocol is supported by the E61 but I'm not sure what do you mean by the 'client'. A separate application using the protocol?

http://download.my-symbian.com/Forum_pics/ttls1.jpg http://download.my-symbian.com/Forum_pics/ttls2.jpg

Quote:

Michal Jerz, Is is a final stage proto "Nearly retail unit" ?

It's not a proto, it's a final hardware with pre-release firmware.

[ericplan]

Quote:

Quote: Is there a EAP-TTLS client for this phone? (WiFi) EAP-TTLS protocol is supported by the E61 but I'm not sure what do you mean by the 'client'. A separate application using the protocol?

Thanks Michal,

This will do for me, the E61 is my next phone! The EAP-TTLS is an application allowing the use of EAP-TLS, in this case as native support. Visit www.securew2.com for more info on EAP-TTLS.

Eric Plankeel

[celios]

Quote:

ut there's also one serious disadvantage: it's impossible to type on the E70' QWERTY keyboard using one hand, you always need to use both hands...

That is true, but you could use the E70 'closed' and type with one hand on the numeric keypad. Holding with one hand and typing across a large keyboard will not be as easy as using predictive text on a small keypad?