Mobile Ministry Magazine

Here is a small demonstration of how I use my mobile at home, thoughts?

Labels: E71, frogpad, mobile accessories, mobility, N95, Video

The E71 is getting packed up and sent back to Nokia this weekend, but before I do so, I wanted to add some notes about it that might prove helpful to some of you who are interested in this smooth mobile.

• As a device to keep you connected, there really are few that are better. Yes, the interface might feel a lot dated compared to others, but its simple and very esily gets the job done.
• I found it pretty easy to manage contacts and calendar information with the built-in applciations; though their abilities can be extended with 3rd party software.
• For a Bible reader, I use S60 Bible Reader as that one is able to use the same Bibles that I had from the Palm OS application Bible+. It not as stout in terms of bookmarking and taking notes as other apps are, but its solid in terms of just reading while in service, study, or just when sitting and enjoying the day.
• Many people ask where you can purchase it, and your only options in the US at this point are from online retailers, or Nokia flagship stores in Chicago and NYC. You would be getting the benefit of purchasing it without a contract, which over the life of the device keeps things nice and inexpensive.
• The battery life, oh such nice battery life. Only BlackBerrys are better. But you win with much better software and hardware here in my opinion.

Feel free to ask any other questions that may come to mind about the E71. As I get other devices, look for them to be shared here as well.

Labels: Bible+, BlackBerry, E71, S60 Bible Reader, smartphone

This is a format that I'll try to stick to in respect to talking about devices. Basically where I'll talk about some device that I might be reviewing, along with some newly released ones. There'll be some links to more in depth articles for those, but the key with this kind of segment is to let you know what is out there, and do our best not to lead anyone into covetiousness. Let us know if this is something that works, or where it can be tweaked.

More Nokia E71 Thoughts

That being said, we can get into some chatting. A device that I've talked about before and is in my possession is the Nokia E71. I still find that this device is one of the most solid QWERTY smartphones to date. Between the battery life (aided by the fact that I don't have the North American 3G version) and the simple optimizations to the browser and Active Standby, its a really hard device to beat in terms of ability.

The only real downside, if you can call it that on a business-oriented device, is that the multimedia abilities are not top-notch. The issues range from difficulty in doing some simple tasks, to just the complexity of the menu structure. Sure, you can learn it and be fine, but you have to learn it to be fine. The camera is regarded by many as an aspect that needs improvement, but I've had success with it in all except night conditions.

From a software side its chock full of everything. QuickOffice, barcode scanner, world class browser, and can integrate easily with Microsoft Exchange. For those in larger churches looking for the best solution not sold by a carrier (but usable on any GSM carrier such as AT&T and TMobile), the E71 is tough to beat.

The TMobile G1

Google and TMobile have released the G1, a smartphone that uses Google's Android operating system. This is a touchscreen device similar to the iPhone and Palm Treo models, but also features a sliding keyboard. The appeal of this device is that it plugs into most of Google's services (Mail, Maps, etc.) pretty easily.

Developers will like that its pretty easy to build applications, and there's an Application Market, similar to Apple's AppStore, which will enable developers to sell their wares. So far, I've not heard any Bible-related software for Android, but as soon as we do, we'll note it.

Both Matt Miller and Brighthand have done some solid previews of the G1.

Verizon Adds A Month-to-Month Option

I am a strong advocate of choosing your own mobile phone, its like choosing a car: Exxon or Shell should not choose the phone for you because you use their gas. So it was a great thing to see that in addition to supporting phones from Sprint and Alltel networks on their network, Verizon Wireless has also added a month-to-month plan option. For those of you looking to try out the service or have needs that are not in line with needing a full contract, this will save you a ton. And even if you are not with Verizon Wireless, you might want to do a cost breakdown of pre-pay versus post-pay. Its eye opening.

Labels: E71, G1, Google, Noka, plans, smartphone, T-Mobile, Verizon

As stated before, the Nokia E71 Review has been published at Brighthand for your reading. In addition, I also reviewed the new Palm Treo Pro smartphone in the same week (yea, busy one there for me).

Some general thoughts:

• The E71 is one impressive piece of device. The metal body, the battery life, and the number of features is absoutely incredible. Its amazing where mobile devices have gotten to.
• The Treo Pro is probably Palm's best Windows Mobile device yet. While it does miss some of the Palm tweaks that other Palm Treo devices have, it feels and looks the part of something that iPhone users would be willing to move to in order to be more productive.
• Both devices are a distraction during church, the Treo Pro moreso because of the color and sheen.
• Neither device is available on contract (in the US), and this works to your advantage especially of you have contract terms that are in your favor right now.

Both devices have strengths and weaknesses, but only one of them really stole the show for me. Check out both reviews at Brighthand. Feel free to ask any additional questions and look forward to some other E71 impressions in the coming weeks.

Labels: Brighthand, E71, Nokia, Palm Treo, review, smartphone, Windows Moible

I thought that it would be good to give something of an update as to how I am getting along with the Nokia E71 smartphone from Nokia Blogger Relations. As I stated before, this is the European variant - E71-1 - and so any 3G action I'd not be able to do here in the US.

About the Design
Litereally anyone who has seen this mobile as said that its the best looking BlackBerry that they have ever seen. Of course, after correcting them that it is not a BB but a Nokia, they got more impressed.

The device is smaller than just about any mobile phone out there with this much power and ability. Its just over a centimeter in thickness and not much more than that wider than the Palm Centro.

Made of metal, its heavy. But not ungainly so. I am starting to forget that its in my pocket and having to adjust my pat-down routing to account for the weight of the device.

The keys are taking me a bit longer to get used to than I expected. I had various Treos for nearly a year and a half and so I expected similar in respect to the keyboard, but I am doing more aiming to get to the letters. There's also an issue with one of my application buttons where it seems depressed and so I have to press extra hard for it to register the button press to the contacts application.

Overall though, this is a heck of a well designed device. Despite having a metal body, wireless of all kinds, and a battery of the same size as the one in my Internet Tablet, this baby s slick. Its a nicely made device.

Something About Use
In terms of software, the E71 uses the Symbian S60 operating system; the same one that was in the N95 that we had last year, albeit with several tweaks and enhancements, its solid and just gets the job done. Here are a few highlights of things I've noticed.

- This is the first Nokia mobile that I've reviewed that does a contact lookup just by dialing from the Active Standby (Today) screen without 3rd party software. Thank you!

- The browser is F-A-S-T. Whether on EDGE (cellular) or Wi-Fi (via coffeeshops and the like), pages load fast and cleanly with the Nokia Web browser. This browser, based on the same Webkit engine as Safari, also shows the Flash content of many websites. For that I was impressed as well. There's also an auto-complete option that makes it easier to revisit sites that require logging in.

- I downloaded the Mobile Web Server, Nokia Email, and Nokia Chat applications and there is still over 85MB of memory left to install more stuff. Yea!

- I've crashed it one time, and that was due to software, other than that, its been as rock solid in the software as it is in the design.

- Battery life is absoutely incredible. I get more than one day's use with it. That's crazy impressive.

Initial Conclusions
Only initial conclusions as this is just a piece until the full review gets to Brighthand. The Nokia E71 is a very impressive mobile device. The design, the battery life, and the software make it easily the best device Nokia could offer to those who wish to remain communicative to their audiences. The design will take knocks and drops, and the software is mature enough to do more because its seen some time in the oven.

At this point, I have very few reservations in recommending this device. You can also find it well under $500, making it a very smart choice as a purchase when you are not in a contract, or ending a contract, and want to keep the rates but update the mobile device. And its really one of the smallest, thinnest, most powerful devices of its kind.

Stay tuned for more about the E71 later on. If you have any questions, do ask and I will answer what I can.

Labels: E71, Nokia, review, smartphone

Now, I know that I said a few days ago that I've got a review of the E71 coming, but I wanted to prep things along with a review that I did a few weeks ago that was recently posted at Mobile Burn.

The Nokia N78 is a pretty slick little handset. Like the E71, its has Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, and a memory card slot. Frankly speaking, its an amazing little device with a ton of battery life to spare.

In addition, this is one of the first models from Nokia which feature their latest operating system. Think like an update from Windows 95 to Windows 98, this is major and minor. The biggest aspect of this update is that you don't have to always connect to a host PC in order to download software updates. Other things like screen transistions and performance tweaks really tack on the value for it.

So in preparing you for the E71 review, check out the N78 review at Mobile Burn. And I'll have to try to remember to highlight more of these devices as I am writing about them on the internet. There's a lot out there to choose from.

Labels: E71, mobiles, N78, Nokia, review

Pardon the lack of pictures, but I'm litereally between phones of all kinds right now.

Last night, I received the Nokia E71 (European Version) from Nokia Blogger Relations and have some initial thoughts that some of you who might be in the market for a QWERTY smartphone might find very interesting.

First of all, this device is small. The E71 is all of 10 mm (that's 1cm) thick. Compared to the MWg Zinc II that I am in the process of reviewing its small, just really, really small.

Add in the fact that it has a battery that is as large as my N800 Internet Tablet and you have the makings of a device that can pretty much last a few days being used hard.

What I mean by using hard is this: there is built-in GPS, Wi-FI, Bluetooth 2.0 (with the ability to use Bluetooth stereo headphones, called A2DP), 110MB of internal storage space, a microSD card slot for adding more space, and tons of software at your displosal. In other words, this thing is loaded.

I gave it to a friend of mine who likes Nokias but currently has a BlackBerry Curve (ironically, I just reviewed that too) and she remarked that it was really small yet powerful. It was a bit too powerful. The metal casing and all of those features makes it kinda hard to assume that you will take advantage of it fully.

But that's why I get these devices. I'm given the task to living with the E71 and figuring out its abilities and whether this can be something that would work for those of you who would like to keep connected, or extend your ability to connect with those you minister with.

I look forward to sharing my experiences with you here, Jaiku, and other places online. Frankly speaking, I've got a new phone in the house, so you know its time to kick the usage up a good bit. :)

Labels: BlackBerry, E71, internet tablet, N800, Nokia, smartphone