Nokia Email Application (beta) - Works Great But No N82 Love?

So what's going on here? Nokia recently released a new email application called Nokia Email which is supposed to rival competitors such as Blackberry. Using a different technology than the built-in email client, Nokia Email really is a great tool - when it works.

So far it has been working just fine on my Nokia N82, email arrives extremely fast - sometimes faster than my Gmail browser window in Firefox. Nokia Email works with just about any email server that allows IMAP or POP access, not including corporate email and hotmail.

There is one thing that is making me ticked off however. Where is the Nokia Email version for the N82?

When I go to the email.nokia.com website to download the application, here is the screen I see (minus the question mark)...



I wonder what's going on here? Why no N82 love? I'm using the N95 version and it seems to be working fine, but I'm sure it can be working even better with a N82 version. Maybe consume less RAM and battery. My guess is maybe, for some reason, Nokia just doesn't have a N82 in the building to test this new application on. Who knows?

Granted Nokia Email is still in beta so we can't complain THAT much since it's not a final release. At least Nokia allows us to test out their applications before they are final.

I wrote up a full review of the latest Nokia Email beta release over at Symbian-Addict. Click here to read it.

Go to email.nokia.com to try it yourself.

Have you already tried this new application? What are your thoughts compared to other email solutions on your Nokia N82.

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Review: iGo Stowaway Bluetooth Keyboard & The Nokia N82 - One Of The Best Accessories

The iGo Stowaway Bluetooth keyboard may look like an ultra geeky toy, especially to those who aren't really interested in mobile phones besides making calls. And it is in a way just a geek toy, but for travelers, bloggers, users on the go & business people this is one of the most useful accessories you can buy for the Nokia N82 - and any supported phone in fact.

I can use the iGo Bluetooth Keyboard for controlling any and every aspect of my Nokia N82. I have yet to find a function that won't work, leaving my hands completely off the N82 and 100% on the bluetooth keyboard. I won't lie to you, there is a learning curve that takes some "getting used to". But once you figure out all the shortcuts - and set your own, there is no reason why you shouldn't be more efficient while using the keyboard.

Shortcut Keys

One of the great things about the iGo keyboard is the amount of shortcut keys that can be applied. There are probably more variations than I need or care to remember. I counted 20 customizable shortcut keys - yes 20! As you can see in the screenshot, the left function key and "d" (LFn+d) will take me to the Messaging application. All of these shortcuts can be changed in the iGo Stowaway application that you must install to get this keyboard working as it should.

Thanks to this post at N95users.com, below are the default shortcuts of the iGo keyboard...

Green FN + backspace = Turn off keyboard for other BT apps to use BT without interference.

All the FN commandos below are the "BLUE FN"

FN + Right Space = Right soft button
FN + Left Space = Left soft button
FN + Enter = Joystick Center button
Shift + Enter = Joystick Center button

HOLD FN + cmd = "ALT + TAB" (Switch between applications)

To select text just hold SHIFT And use arrows to move cursor (just like on a pc, this works with allt arrows except up which is the key for ?)

Shift + FN + Right arrow = Select row until end of row.
Shift + FN + Left arrow = Select row until beginning of row.
Shift + FN + Right arrow = Select next row until.

CTRL + C = Copy
CTRL + V = Paste
CTRL + X = Cut


FN + L = Calculator
FN + : = Web browser
FN + K = Officesuite (on my phone)
FN + J = Notes
FN + F = Task manager
FN + D = Messaging
FN + S = Contacts
FN + A = Calendar
FN + Z = Standby screen (Today screen)
FN + X = application menu (sometimes this doesn´t work, But if I press FN + Z and then FN + X again it works, I dont know why)
FN + C = Standby screen (Today screen)
FN + V = Settings

For swedish users the funny letters ÅÄÖ use these commands:

Alt + E = Ä
Alt + T = Å
Alt + C = Ö

And don't forget the text formatting shortcuts that I showed you the other day...

Today while writing up the review for the iGo Stowaway Bluetooth Keyboard I realized that when I push Control+B on the keyboard it changes the text to bold characters while writing a text message. Typing Control+I makes italic and Control+U makes underline of course. For the life of me I can't figure out how to do it on my N82 without the bluetooth keyboard.

Usability & Build Quality Of The iGo Keyboard



I can't say how relieved I was when I first laid my fingers on the iGo keyboard. I was at first worried that the keyboard would be too small and not comfortable. To be honest with you, the actual keys and spacing is not much different than the laptop computer I use on a daily basis. I measured the distance between the A key - the ; key, where you first lay your hands on the keyboard when you are about to type. As you can see below they are both at about 7 inches. Pretty much no difference at all.

From BT Keyboard

The layout of the keys and the amount of Functions and alternate key shortcuts is what makes it so compact - not the actual size of the keys. For instance the Q key also acts as ! and 1 keys using a blue function key and green function key.

The tactile feedback from the keyboard is also like a real laptop keyboard, and the buttons protrude just enough so you don't make accidental keystrokes. Like I said, once you get accustomed to all the shortcuts this keyboard will be a breeze for you.

Another great surprise is the speed of the keyboard. From the time I press a key to me seeing it on the screen is almost instantaneous. I see no delay while typing or using any functions.

The build quality is great once you get the keyboard opened and closed. The actual keyboard feels solid. I wish the stand where you place the phone is a little stronger and durable, I sometimes feel as if I'm going to break it. Also while opening and closing the keyboard it feels somewhat brittle, you really need to be careful in this process. The keys are durable and strong and so far I've had no problems with keystrokes.

The iGo Bluetooth Keyboard Closed & The Case It Comes With



When the keyboard is closed up it's easy to grab and go or slip in a pocket. The measurements are around 5 1/2" inches by 4 1/2 inches, not much bigger than a standard sized photo. The thickness of the iGO keyboard measures at around 1/2 an inch.

The case that it comes with fits the iGo keyboard perfectly inside, keeping your accessory safe and secure. At first I thought the outside of the case was made of leather, but it's actually not. Regardless it feels strong enough to not get any tears unless you take a knife to it.



The inside of the case is made of a soft fabric to ensure the keyboard won't get scratched or scraped even if dropped. When the keyboard is inside it's case the thickness measures and just around 1 inch. Still not too big considering the functionality you get.

The Amount Of Use I've Gotten Out Of It

Needless to say this keyboard has already my made life so much easier. I've mentioned before I have 2 day jobs and one of them involves lots of down time. This means sitting in my car waiting for further instruction for sometimes hours at a time OFF the clock. I hate bringing my laptop in my car cuz it's just a pain to load it up and pull it out. Now that i have the iGo keyboard I can just bust it out and start responding to the 20-50 emails I get everyday and if I have time start writing drafts for blog articles. If I really wanted to I could have constructed this whole entire article in nearly the same amount of time it took me on my laptop. This accessory has made me 10x more efficient in my everyday life.

A Few Things I Would Change

There aren't many flaws, but like all products there is always something can be improved upon. For instance the power management. The iGo runs on 2 AA batteries. Don't get me wrong I love that I can just swap out the batteries when needed, but I would've also loved this to be a backup to a rechargeable battery using a Nokia charger. Overall I can say I'm impressed with the battery life. I've used this thing for about six to eight hours without having to change the batteries. I'll try and do if a better battery test if any of you request it.

I would have also liked to see an option to use a usb cable instead of only bluetooth. The wire cable would not need to be more than a foot long since your using the phone right next to the keyboard. This would have saved on battery life of both devices. I do love however than I can just close up the keyboard and throw my phone in my pocket without having to fumble with wires.

Better adjustments for the phone stand is another thing I would like to see. The N82 sits perfectly in the stand in portrait mode. But if you want to use the phone in landscape on its side your going to have to play with it a little. I haven't done it yet but I'm going to make some kind of modification to the stand so that my N82 sits perfectly on it's side without slipping.

More Photos of the iGo Stowaway Bluetooth Keyboard With The Nokia N82

Here is a full gallery slideshow of all the pictures I have taken. If you guys need anymore angles let me know. Check out the photos below...

(this flash slideshow may not be viewable in all RSS readers)



If you want to see the bigger sized photos click the icon in the bottom right corner of the slideshow.

The Drivers To Use For The Nokia N82

The driver made by iGo is the best one to use. On their page they don't have one specifically for the Nokia N82, but the N73 version works just fine. Click here to get it. I haven't tried the Nokia application that I've seen floating around my phone and in the Dowload! application. I've heard that you don't get all the shortcuts that comes with the iGo application.


Where To Buy The iGo Stowaway Bluetooth Keyboard

You can pick up this great N82 accessory from Amazon.com for about $70 bucks. Not bad considering how it takes your N82 to a whole new level.



Click here to see the deal.

I know a few of you mentioned you already have this keyboard and love it. Are there anymore tips I can get for using the iGo keyboard with my N82?

Do you have anymore questions about this product? Are any of you interested in picking one up?

Continue Reading...

Introducing NuevaSync: The Absolute Best Way To Sync Your N82 And Google Calendar Over The Air

First off I'd like to say I've been a huge fan of CalSyncS60 for awhile now. It's still in the beta phase and still has minor glitches. You can't really schedule your updates or always have it synced 24/7. I've also noticed sometimes dates are off between my N82 and Google Calendar. So what else are we to do?

Warning: your gonna hit a roadblock if your already using Mail For Exchange for your email solution. I don't think there is a way to add more than one account in Mail For Exchange. If I am wrong, please someone correct me. If you aren't using Mail For Exchange already then you have no problem. Keep reading...

I am happy to bring you news of NuevaSync. I just discovered this service the other day when I spent hours trying to find a way to use Mail For Exchange as a direct solution for my Gmail account. I'm not happy with the built in email client on my N82 or any of the 3rd party applications available. Low and behold I came across NuevaSync...


NuevaSync right now is only a solution for your Google Calendar. Using the Exchange Sync Protocol, NuevaSync allows direct, over-the-air, native synchronization of certain smart phones and PDA devices with public PIM, and calendaring services including Google Calendar. For this to work on the Nokia N82 you obviously need to have the Mail For Exchange installed and running in the background.

I've been using this new service for a few days just to ensure that it works smoothly. So far it is working like a dream. All my N82's calendar entries are syncing perfectly with my Google Calendar in the background without me even noticing. The Mail For Exchange application has many options of when to sync and how often. I can add or delete calendar entries from my Google Calendar page or my Nokia N82 and the changes will show up on both ends.

Warning Again: If you want to readon you might want to make a sandwich and put on some tunes because this might take awhile. There are a handful of steps to take if you don't already use Mail For Exchange. Oh and make sure you first backup both of your calendars just in case something goes wrong.

Setting Up NuevaSync On Your Nokia Device

Follow these steps to setup NuevaSync on your Nokia N82 or any S60 3rd Edition smartphone that can use the Mail For Exchange application. This includes the Nokia N96, N95, N82, N81, N78, N77, N76, N75, N73, E90, E71, E71, E66, E65, E62, E61, E60, E51, E50, 6620, 6124.

1. Sign Up. Point your browser to https://www.nuevasync.com/. Go to the Signup page and make your account. Here you will make your own username and password, do not your Google account's information (yet). Wait for your confirmation email and then login to NuevaSync.

2. Grand Access. After logging in you will see the Status & Setup page. Here you will notice four different options to sync (Calendar, Contacts, Email, & Tasks). Right now only Calendar and Contacts are possible. I haven't yet tried out Contacts. Under actions click the "setup" link. The next page is where you'll type in your Google account email address and ask Google to give account access to NuevaSync. Make sure you click "Grant Access". Note: You can deny access anytime after granting access if you no longer want to use NuevaSync.

3. Verify A Connection. After granting access you will be taken back to the Status & Setup page. You should see a green light next to the Calendar row. Click that to verify your Google Calendar is able to sync with NuevaSync servers. Note: Only the calendars you create will sync because they are writeable. Other Calendars like Holidays and Weather will not sync.

4. Download & Install Mail For Exchange. Click the link "need help configuring your phone". You'll notice there is no help for Symbian S60 users. This is why I have made these instructions for you.



Now is where Mail For Exchange comes in. Go to this link to download Mail For Exchange for the Nokia N82 if you don't already have it.

5. Mail For Exchange and NuevaSync settings.

Connection Tab
Exchange Server: www.nuevasync.com
Secure Connection: Yes
Default Port: Yes

Credentials Tab
Username: your NuevaSync username
Password: your NuevaSync password
Domain: nuevasync.com

Sync Content Tab
Synchronise Calendar: Yes
Everything else: No
In Case Of Conflict: I put "Server Wins"

Sync Schedule
Set these options to whatever you want. You can create a Peak Time and an Off-Peak Time, including days and hours. My Peak Schedule is "Every 4 hours", Monday-Friday 8am-5pm. My Off Peak Schedule is the other two days "Every 12 hours". If you want you can leave these settings to "Always On" or "Manual".

Any other settings can be tweaked to your liking. After you save your Profile you should see "Connecting" and "Syncing Calendar" under Current Status. If you see an error message than you have done something wrong and you must go back and look closely at your settings.

When your finished you can close Mail For Exchange and it will work in the background. I don't even think you will see the application in your task list, but I assure you that it is still there and working.

If I left anything out please let me know. It takes a bit of work to set this up but once you get it, it works flawlessly.

Troubleshooting

Right now there is not much support from NuevaSync for Nokia S60 phones. You can check out this page to see what they can do. If anything you can email them directly and they will help you out. They also have a blog where you can stay up to date on all the latest information about NuevaSync.

What About Email?

Oh me oh my. Being able to sync my Nokia N82 and Gmail via Mail For Exchange is my ultimate dream, and NuevaSync is working hard to make it come true. I hope they come up with something soon because I'm getting really ancy for this functionality. In my opinion this will be the best email solution available for Gmail and Nokia S60 handsets if they get it to work. I will be keeping a close eye on this to let you know when they enable this feature.

Problems & Other Information

One huge problem is that your gonna hit a roadblock if your already using Mail For Exchange for your email solution. I don't think there is a way to add more than one account in Mail For Exchange. If I am wrong, please someone correct me. If you are not using Mail For Exchange already then you have no problem.

Be sure to remember that this uses a data connection or Wifi. I'm not sure how much data is being transferred when you sync your two calendars so you might want to try and keep track of that if you don't have unlimited data. I'm sure it can't use that much if you only do a manual sync once per day.

Let me know if you guys have any questions or comments about NuevaSync and your Nokia device. Does this make a good solution for you or is this too complicated.

Continue Reading...

Gmail & The N82: Get Your Labels To Show As Folders In The Built-In Email Application

I've already showed you how to setup Gmail on your N82 using the built-in email application. There are various settings to play around with to keep your Gmail inbox in sync with your N82. But what about Gmail labels? If you get tons of emails on a daily basis Gmail helps you stay organized with Labels, which can also be viewed as folders or tags. You can setup filters that allow you to manage certain emails.

First, A Little About Gmail Filters
For instance all the comments that you guys and gals leave here at the blog get sent to my email as a notification. The subject line always says something like "N82 Blog Comments". So I set up a filter than automatically sets everything with that subject line to my Comments Label and it bypasses my inbox so that I don't get it cluttered. Whenever I want to see those comments I just click on the "Comments" link under my Labels column in Gmail. You can also setup filteres to STAR emails with certain keywords that might be important to you like "bank statement" or anything you want. Click here to read more about filters and labels.

How To See Gmail Labels On Your N82
Now here's the part that I enjoy on the N82. I can subscribe to my Gmail Labels on my N82 and they will be shown as folders. I get an alert whenever a new email comes to one of those Labels (or folders) just like I normally would with my normal inbox.

Check out these screenshots and instructions to see how it works...

1. Go into your Email Settings > Retrieval Settings. Scroll down to Fold Subscriptions.



2. You will be asked to connect to the mailbox to update the folders (aka Labels). Once that's updated you will see a list of all your Gmail Labels. The Inbox will already be checked. If you want to be able to see your Gmail Archive make sure to check the [Gmail] folder. Add a checkmark to any other Labels that you want shown on your Nokia N82.



3. And there you go. You will now see your Gmail Labels on your S60 handset.



If you see a red plus sign above the folder (Label) that means there are new messages. As you can see above I have new messages waiting for me in my Inbox and not the Comments label.

A Few Shortcomings
Of course there is always a negative. New emails that come to my inbox cannot be moved to a Label folder from the N82. Your just going to have to mark it as read and wait till you get to a computer. Another bummer is I can't move the Inbox above my Comments folder in that last screenshot. I think it lists the Labels in alphabetical order. It's not too bad for me to only have to scroll down once, but for others who have lots of labels shown on their N82 it can be a pain to scroll all the way down to see your Inbox.

How To Archive A Gmail Message On Your N82
If you want to archive a Gmail message on your N82 you simply have to delete it. When asked select the "delete from phone and server" option. This will take the header off your phone and in Gmail will archive the message, not delete it. Which is really handy. I hardly ever need to delete emails anyways since we enjoy so much storage.

Do you have any other tips for making our experience better using Gmail and the N82 email application? If so please share.

note: These instructions work on any S60 powered phone including the Nokia N95, N78, E71, & E66.

Continue Reading...

My N82 Now Shows Email & Text Message Details On My Standby Screen

Well this may not be the solution everyone is looking for, but it does the trick for me. After playing with an Eseries phone for awhile I've been wanting so bad to have email and text message details show on my N82's active standby screen. I would save me so much time to glance at the screen then put the phone back in my pocket if I see it's not important. The other day I was searching every corner of the net for a solution. After all, Nokia is "Open To Anything" right? So they say. I'm glad to say that a 3rd party developer has finally came up with a solution to one of the most wanted features on Nseries phones.

I finally came across an application called S60Ticker. This application allows me to have my latest unread emails and text messages show up on just my standby screen or any screen. It can show snippets of a text or the full message in a scrolling ticker, and can show the sender and subject of new emails from the default messaging application. It works well with with the theme I'm using or you can specify the colors you want to be used.

This application isn't the perfect solution to what we want but so far it's a damn good one. I know a few people that have tried S60Ticker in the past and didn't like it. So far I haven't ran into any problems.

S60Ticker is freeware unless you want to unlock some other features, you must pay around $9 which I gladly did. Getting the full version really makes the experience much nicer. Oh and it's already Symbian Signed so you don't have to worry about certificate errors or anything like that.

Read My Full Review...
Last night I posted a review of the application over at Symbian-Addict. Click here to check out the full review with more screenshots and details.

Or Just Download The App...
If you don't feel like reading my review and want to dive straight in click here to go to the developer page where you can find the application. There's lots to read so get comfly before you start disecting this application.

Continue Reading...

IMAP Email Auto Retrievel Problem With Latest Firmware, Am I The Only One?

This problem has been driving me nuts for about a week, which is how long I've had my auto-retrieval enabled in my Nokia N82's email application. I'm using the latest firmware, and keep in mind this never happened in previous firmware. I've been trying to get help with this problem over at Howard Forums and it turns out a few others have noticed the same thing. So far no solution.

So...



I'm looking to my readers that use the Email Application with IMAP. Do you have auto-retrieval enabled? If so are you able to specify the amount of headers you want downloaded to your phone's inbox? With the last firmware I was able to select 30 headers to retrieve AND have auto retrieval enabled, everything worked fine and dandy.

Now I can't have it both ways. If I want to have auto retrieval on, all headers are downloaded to my inbox. With Gmail I get tons of emails everyday and they just pile up in my inbox unless I archive them. I have over 5,000 emails in my inbox alone. Of course this is unnecessary, but with Gmail theres no reason to get rid of them. So what happens when I turn on auto retreival on my phone? Literally thousands of headers are downloaded to my N82, which of course brings it to a halt. My email application now becomes unusable and takes like 5 minutes just to bring up the application. This is a joke. I should be able to tell the phone to download the last X amount of headers from my inbox, just like before.

Below are the screenshots to prove it...

under the Retrieval Settings...



then this warning when I go to Automatic Retrieval and try to enable it!



And now when I go back into my retrieval settings, it won't allow me to specify the amount of headers, like I told you before. It gives me another warning that I must disable auto retrievals?

Now I don't know if Nokia & Symbian have done this on purpose, or maybe it's an accident when they were creating the latest firmware on the N82. All I know is the Nokia N82, besides being a multimedia powerhouse also is meant to serve the business side of customers. This really is killing it for me, now I have to worry about keeping my Gmail inbox cleaned out so my phone doesn't freeze up. I'm seeing people with the Nokia E90 having this same exact problem with their latest firmware.

Let me know if your having this problem. If so speak up so hopefully Nokia will fix it with a firmware update. If you have IMAP setup but don't use auto-retrieval, please try to replicate my problem and tell me if you get that same warning shown in the last screenshot.

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Get Hotmail On Your N82 With Windows Live For S60

One of the most popular questions I get is "How do I get my Hotmail with my N82". Normally the only way to do this would be to login to Hotmail's mobile site via the Web Browser. Thanks to this find by Boy Genius Report, now you Microsoft people can get your email directly to your handset with the built in email client using Windows Live for S60.

This application includes Contacts, Hotmail, Spaces, & Search.

Here are the specifics, coming directly from Phil from Microsoft Live's Blog, where you can find a ton of screenshots:

Live Contacts. Once you sign in for the first time your Live Contacts is auto-magically synchronized within the address book of the Nokia device. As well as names, address's, email and the other usual stuff what's nice about this, and I think pretty unique is that the online presence and status of your contacts show up within the phone list. So now from within the device address book you can find whoever you want to communicate with and leverage the presence/status to determine the best way to reach them.

Messenger. At sign-in you can change your online picture and your status. Once online you obviously can browse your messenger contacts and take part in multiple conversations as you would expect. What I love is that the services integrate features from within the phone, so when you are within a conversation you can send a voice clip, file or picture - either from the gallery or snap one with the camera. When I think about how powerful voice and pictures are this enables a great scenario for traveling: sign-in, find your friend and start conversation, then speak "hey honey, I just got into the hotel in Sydney, look at my amazing view" and then take a picture out of your hotel room of the Opera House.

Hotmail. So here there is good integration with the Nokia email client and your Hotmail gets loaded into a separate folder within the client. Because the emails are downloaded they are available when you are offline. Right now your email isn't synchronized auto-magically, but its a simple process to goto options, select sync etc. When you are composing an email, just like messenger the phone features are integrated so that you can insert a picture, voice clip, video or other phone right into the email message.

Spaces. Not surprisingly there is good Spaces support. On Nokia devices there is an application called 'online share' which comes with plug-in's for Flickr and Vox and now we added Spaces support. There is a simple process to activate the service by adding your Live ID and once that is done the Gallery is now Live enabled. It's super easy, select the photo you want, goto options, open online service and it will promote you to add a title and text and the the image is load up to your blog.

I personally don't use hotmail or have an account so I can't try out this application. Maybe some of you who do can come back and let us know how it works. Or maybe you have a better way of retreiving your hotmail?

Click here to download Windows Live for S60 from your computer or check your Download! application where this application was found and successfully installed on my Nokia N82.

For more support, check out this page.

[source]

Continue Reading...

Get Full HTML Emails On Your Nokia N82

The other day I posted at Symbian Addict about viewing full html emails on S60 powered phones. It's actually quite simple and was right under my nose. This may be obvious to some and helpful to others. Viwing full html emails is done with the built in email application on the N82 and works flawlessly.

You'll see it right below the subject line in your email. Look for "Attachment.html" with a little paperclip next to it. It's where all your normal email attachements are at. Click on it and you'll get the html version of the email opened up in web browser. Simple as that. View the article at Symbian Addict if you want to see screenshots.

I use the email application to connect to my Gmail account. If you haven't already learned how you can click here for the instructions.

Do you find this helpful or have any other methods for viewing email on your N82?

Continue Reading...

A Look At Push Email Features For S60 Handsets

I posted this article yesterday at Symbian Addict, and thought I'd share it with N82 readers here. In this article, I link to another post by Steve from AllAboutSymbian.com. He used a Nokia N95 to explain things, but everything still applies for the N82. If you haven't yet setup Gmail on your phone, do a search or look back in the archives of February, I posted a small tutorial.

A while back ago Google announced that IMAP email support is now available, making it possible to keep your Symbian powered smartphone and Gmail inbox perfectly in sync. I posted the instructions to setup Gmail IMAP back when we first got the news, but Steve from AllAboutSymbian.com has taken a more in depth look at how this works.

I personally think the built-in email application is the best solution as well, but there are a few things on Nokia's side that can be improved. For instance, there should be an option to download all text in the emails, not just the headers. This will give a much better user experience, especially for those that need effeciency. The newer phones like the N82 and N95 have plenty of memory for this. Another problem that I've seen on both phones is once the email program connects to check for new mail it doesn't disconnect on its own, leaving the data connection constantly connect and draining your battery. Viewing full html in emails might be a lot to ask for, but that would be awesome to have.

One more thing I want. Shortcuts. While viewing the inbox, push 1 to retrieve new. Push 2 to retrieve all. Push 3 to mark highlighted emails as "read" or "unread". Push 5 to reply, etc etc. Instead of having to go into the options and selecting what you want. The UI of your phone should be all about simpicity and efficiency. I know this can't be that hard to implement, but I doubt Nokia would ever do this.

And the last little thing that bothers me. When my phone checks my mail, it still alerts me if I have new email even if it's marked as read on the Gmail server. When I go to the inbox it shows as read, therefore it's not new. Not a big deal but a little annoying.

Click here to check out Steve's article over at AllAboutSymbian.com.

What would you want changed or improved in the built-in email application?

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How To Set Up Gmail On Your Nokia N82

There are a few ways to check your Gmail on your Nokia N82, I mentioned one way a few weeks ago. Lately I've been using the built-in email application on the N82, and I'm loving it once again. If you set up your Gmail using this method, it will keep your real Gmail inbox in your browser and your phone's inbox in sync. If you dig deep enough into the settings you can even set up your labels as folders. I just use my normal inbox on my N82, and deal with the Gmail labels in Firefox.

Here is how to set up your Gmail for your Nokia N82:

How To Setup Gmail On Your S60 Device:

1. Enable IMAP in your Gmail account settings.
2. Select 'Messaging' > 'Options' > 'Settings' > 'E-mail' > 'Mailboxes.'
3. If you have never set up email on your phone before, select 'Yes' to define a new mailbox. If you already have other mailboxes, select 'Options' and then 'New mailbox.'
4. Select 'Start' to begin the setup wizard.
5. Select 'IMAP4' and then 'Next.'
6. Enter your Gmail username (including '@gmail.com') as the email address and select 'Next.'
   
7. Enter 'imap.gmail.com' as the incoming mail server and select 'Next.'
8. Enter 'smtp.gmail.com' as the outgoing mail server and select 'Next.'
9. Select the appropriate access point and then 'Next.'
10. Enter a descriptive name for the email account mailbox name.
11. Once your mailbox is set up, select it from the email mailbox settings screen.
12. Select 'Connection settings' > 'Incoming e-mail.'
13. Enter your Gmail username (including '@gmail.com') and password.
14. Select 'SSL/TLS' for your security (ports) and define your port as '993.'
15. Select 'Back.'
16. Select 'Outgoing e-mail.'
17. Enter your Gmail username (including '@gmail.com') and password.
18. Select 'StartTLS' for your security (ports) and define your port as '587.'
19. Select 'Back' and change any other settings according to your preferences.

Link to the official instructions.

Gmail's IMAP vs. POP
The reason why I use Gmail's IMAP service is because it keeps your mail in sync between both devices, unlike POP setup. If I read an email on my phone, it shows as "read" on both my computer and phone. Same goes for the other way around. Check it on my computer, and it shows as "read" on my phone as well. You can set it to check your mail at different intervals, mine is set to 2 hours, unless I'm expecting an important email.

If you have any questions feel free to ask. It can be tricky, you gotta follow the steps exactly and make sure you type everything right.

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How Do You Gmail On Your Nokia N82

There are a few different ways to get your Gmail inbox on your N82. I've been dying to see a .sis version of a Gmail application, similar to what Google did for us with Google Maps. The difference between a native Symbian .sis application and a java application is astonishing. The speed, response, scrolling, load time, is all so much better as a native S60 application. But I have heard nothing of Google creating a Symbian Gmail application for us. So for now we only have a few options.

Option 1 is to use Gmail's java application. This application is great for non s60 smartphones, but can't take full advantage of a Symbian platform. From the time I launch the application to the time the application loads, it takes about 23 seconds to get itself fully loaded and retrieve my mail. That's just ridiculous. Once it's loaded however, you get almost all the options you have while using Gmail in a real browser. The application runs smooth and fast, although just doesn't seem as good as a native Symbian application. I have to give it to Google though, they created a great application for basic phones.

The next option is to setup your built in email application to be used with Gmail and IMAP, just like I talked about in this old post. Setting up Gmail isn't that hard using the email wizard that comes with your N82 phone. Once it's all set up, you can tell your email application to check for new mail anywhere from always on to every 6 hours. This can really come in handy. When you have new mail, the phone alerts you like it would a text message. You can then view your subject line and have the option to read it. If you decide to read your mail, your phone will then have to re-connect to Gmail. Doing this takes anywhere from 15-60 seconds depending on how updated your mailbox is. If you haven't check your mail for awhile, this process can take up to a minute or more to match your phone's email application with your Gmail account. I started to get really annoyed with this method.

The last option is one that I just started using. You can access your Gmail account via the Web Browser. Gmail's mobile email interface used to look ugly and was too simple. I noticed recently that they've updated the interface and give you more options to work with. On the newer S60 phones like the N95 and N82 you can assign one of your bookmarks as an active standby shortcut. I decided to give this a shot and made this my left softkey. If your using an older model Nokia you can make Gmail your homepage and this will load when you first click the Web Browser application. From the time I launch this shortcut the Gmail page loads in under 10 seconds. And that's on an Edge connection, not 3g. You are then presented with a simple interface, similar to the desktop version. Each email has a check box that you can mark. Afterwards you scroll to the bottom of the page and have the "more actions" box. You can move to inbox, mark as read, mark as unread, and add or remove stars. You can also report spam, archive, and delete. Pretty much everything you can do with the desktop version. Below that you get compose mail, inbox, sent mail, all mail, spam, contacts. You can click "more" and choose labels to show as well. You can also search all your contacts, something that is lacking when using the built in email application. This method I think so far is the best to use with Gmail, as long as you have a good, fast, internet connection. Like I said, running this option on an Edge connection is fast enough for me, and still keeps your Gmail perfectly in sync across your phone and computer.

Hopefully Google keeps updating there mobile Gmail interface like they have for the iPhone. I would really like them to tie in all there applications into one nice mobile page including Google Reader, Calendar, and Picasa. I think they will keep giving us updates and new features. Just make sure if you use any of these methods you have an unlimited data plan or be prepared to get a lot of charges. The first option I gave is probably the best for data consumption, but don't quote me on that.

Of course there are other 3rd party applications you can use to get your Gmail, one of my favorites is Emoze. I just don't like the amount of RAM that it takes up, especially if you leave these applications open.

Are there any other options that I'm missing? I'll be posting some screenshots of these methods tonight when I have some extra time.

For now, if you haven't already, check out this link to see Google's Mobile Gmail page.

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