Nokia E63 Review Pt2: Software

Symbian Operating System

Below are a few screen shots of the main E63 screen and if you have seen my recent review on the E71 you will notice it looks pretty much…. well ok exactly the same.  That is because it’s running the same software under the hood

 

The beauty of Series 60 is there are thousands of applications out there  for you to personalise the phone to exactly how you want it to be as everyone is different.  I install instant message applications and web browsers where as someone else will want the tube map and the world weather.

Suite Of Applications

You should expect to see the normal Nokia apps on the E63 but here are another 3 you might like to try.

• Nokia Chat

Nokia Chat is a great tool from the Nokia Beta Labs department of the company as they make lots of interesting applications you can use on your Nokia device to get the most out of it.  Nokia Chat I think is along the lines of PIN Messaging which BlackBerry users have had for many a phone now.  Using an OVI username and password you can add friends to your friends list and send instant messages to them.  You can connect over GPRS/3G or over WiFi if you have a connection available.  For me personally I would love to see this application built into every new Nokia phone to allow many more people the chance to communicate in another way when on the move

• Nokia Friend View

Friend View was also very interesting bringing you a map service with status updates.  Again all using your OVI login details you can add your friends to your list but this time share with them what you are doing or comment on what they are doing.  If you are used to updating your Facebook status this is along the same idea but now you have a map to pinpoint your location.  This is handy because you can see if you are near anyone else you know (maybe even if your close enough meet up) but to also be able to comment on other people’s status.  A great tool from Nokia yet again and one of my favourite apps.  If you want to install for yourself why not do a search for ‘getti’ and add myself to your contacts

 

• SkyFire

SkyFire is what Firefox is to Internet Explorer…. it’s a great web browser that is very unique on mobile phone’s because it supports Flash video so that means you can watch YouTube videos right there in the browser even if its on a non YouTube website.  If that was not good enough how about watching the FULL version of BBC iPlayer right there in your browser, no need for anything extra or editing a widget like was known before.

To be honest there is not a lot to say about the software as it’s your typical ESeries software you have seen on the E51, E61i and the E71 which I recently reviewed.  Most of this review was based on hardware because that is what made the phone different over the E71.

So a quick summary,

+ Loved the speed dial from the main screen
+ Very fast to browse the menu’s and Internet
+ Typical ESeries so is easy to pick up and use

-  Download is still in desperate need of an update
-  Nokia Maps is poor due to no GPS (that’s more hardware though)

Filed Under: Reviews