Nokia thinks Ovi Suite 2.0 is almost ready for release, but they're wrong

Nokia Ovi Suite 2.0 is still in beta testing, but the people at Nokia Beta Labs believe it's almost ready to turn loose.

Nokia Ovi Suite combines the functions of Nokia PC Suite, Map Loader, and Nokia Software Updater. Unfortunately the program still runs like quicksand, and Nokia apparently has no plans to release lightweight standalone programs for simple tasks like using your phone as a modem or moving files from your PC to your phone and vice versa. If you use a netbook or other mini computer without the system resources of a fully equipped desktop machine you'll find Nokia Ovi Suite close to useless.

It's unlikely that Nokia will make a Linux version of Ovi Suite, and it doesn't work under WINE either. Nobody knows if and when Mac support will be added. Nokia believes that everybody mails with Outlook, and keeps ignoring you if you use programs like Lotus Notes or Mozilla Thunderbird.

• the new Nokia Ovi Suite

• the old Nokia PC Suite
• trick to make Nokia PC Suite let you into the system folders of your phone memory

Alternatives for Ovi Suite or PC Suite:

• Linux programs with a little bit of PC Suite functionality
• DAO4Sync, a lightweight computer-to-phone-and-back synchronisation tool
• download maps for Nokia Maps with just a web browser
• backup options for hacked phones: access points, bluetooth devices, bookmarks, calendar, cookies, messages, notes, profiles, and T9 dictionary
• ActiveFile backs up and restores SMS messages much better than PC Suite
• Contacts Transfer backs up, restores, and transfers contacts including pictures and caller groups

Opera Mini 5 beta test: some things got better, some things did not

Proxy-based data compressing mobile phone web browser Opera Mini received a major overhaul.

The start page now shows nine bookmarks ("speed dials") as big squares with page previews. "My Opera," "BBC News," and "Wikipedia" came out of the box and I couldn't find a way to delete or edit them, which leaves only 6 bookmarks on the start screen to play with.

When you select "menu" you don't get the normal menu that every other mobile phone program displays, but a horizontal menu bar with a shortcut to the home screen, back/forward/reload buttons, an exit key, and a dropdown menu to go to your bookmarks, settings, etc. This may work on a computer screen with a mouse, but it gets annoying real quick on phones with a classic keypad.

Opera Mini 5 comes with tabbed browsing, but changing tabs requires a trip to the menu, because in normal page view the cursor gets stuck just below the tab bar.

There's no T9 predictive text in Opera Mini 5. Copy/paste works, but to make it work in the URL entry and search box you have to dig deep down into the settings menu and switch "inline editing" off.

Google comes as the default search engine. I couldn't find a way to change it, but maybe custom search engines come in a later version? Opera Mini 5 has a password manager, and if you click into the settings screen you'll find a submenu called "privacy" to delete passwords, cookies, and other information that you don't want to fall into the wrong hands.

You can select and copy text from web pages in Opera Mini and feed it into a Google or Wikipedia search. You can't paste copied text into other appications (Notes, text editors, etc.) directly, but there's a workaround for that: if you paste the text into an Opera Mini Google or Wikipedia search box and copy it again (this time from the search box), you can paste it into other programs.

Opera Mini 5 crashed occasionally on my phones, but maybe the program gets more stable as testing continues. Bookmark synchronisation and file download should be added later as well.

The beta test version of Opera Mini 5 installs separately from the old version, so you can test the beta edition without overwriting your old version of Opera Mini. That's a good thing, because version 5 is not ready to replace Opera Mini 4 yet.

• Opera Mini 5 beta test version
• the old Opera Mini

Counting up and down: EggClock and Timers

Every mobile phone has a built-in stopwatch and a countdown timer. Well, almost every mobile phone. If your phone runs on Symbian, there's no stopwatch and no countdown timer. You can download timer and stopwatch programs, but these usually cost more than a hardware egg timer from the supermarket.

Freeware timers and stopwatches for Symbian are in short supply. Buzzer is a free countdown timer, but this is a mobile Java program that requires a profile with warning tones switched on to sound alarms. Things look better if you want to count up, because QuickStopwatch is a pretty good mobile Java application.

EggClock is a free Symbian countdown timer. It works without warning tones, and you can set any sound file on your phone as alarm tone. Drawbacks: it won't store multiple timers, and the maximum timer duration is 100 minutes. EggClock is available for Symbian S60 3rd ed., and also for S60 5th ed., which runs on touchscreen Nokia phones.

Timers has a countdown timer and a very simple stopwatch. Unfortunately Timer is a mobile Java program that requires a profile with warning tones to make sound. It can run multiple timers, but it won't store them: when you exit the program all your timers are gone. Timers won't let you set seconds (only hours and minutes), and it won't let you choose your own alarm tone but only uses its own built-in beep.

• EggClock 1.5 (for Symbian S60 3th ed.) from Ziddu
• EggClock 1.6 (for Symbian S60 5th ed.) from Ziddu
• Timers (at GetJar)

Nokia Messaging: instant messaging beta test from Nokia adds Google Talk

If you want to have text chats on your mobile phone, there are plenty of free Symbian instant messaging programs to choose from. Nimbuzz, fring, Palringo, Slick, and more.

Nokia Messaging is an email client, Facebook application, and instant messenger combined. For more about its email features, check this review.

The instant messenger part of Nokia Messaging is no match for the competition. Nokia Messaging only connects to Yahoo and Nokia's Ovi chat network, and since the latest update it does Google Talk too.

Since Nokia likes to make things as confusing as possible, Nokia Messaging comes in two flavors. There's Nokia Messaging IM Beta, which only works on the Nokia E63, E71, and E75. Nokia Messaging Social Messaging Beta works on the Nokia 6700 Classic and the N97. And then there's a third program which does what Nokia Messaging IM Beta finally learned to do: Ovi Contacts is an instant messenger that connects to Google Talk and other Jabber-based networks.

It looks like there are a couple of teams at Nokia Beta Labs who're programming similar applications with overlapping functions, and who don't have any idea what their colleagues are doing.

All these chat and mail programs will probably be merged into a single product. Maybe Nokia Messaging will turn into something useful, but in their present state Ovi Contacts and both flavors of Nokia Messaging are so close to useless that you better stick with the competition for the time being.

• Nokia Messaging IM Beta from Nokia Beta Labs