Nokia Smartphone Hacks: Tips & Tools for Your Smallest Computer [Paperback]

Michael Juntao Yuan (Author)

Book Description

Series: Hacks | Publication Date: August 1, 2005

Nokia's smartphones pack a powerful computer into a very small space. Unlike your desktop or laptop, your smallest computer can be connected to the Internet all the time, and can interact with the world around it through its camera, voice recognition, and its traditional phone keypad. Nokia smartphones combine these features with impressive storage options and a host of networking protocols that make this smallest computer the only thing a road warrior truly needs.

If you're still cracking open your laptop or pining for your desktop while you're on the road, you haven't begun to unlock your Nokia's full potential. Nokia Smartphone Hacks is dedicated to tricking out your smartphone and finding all the capabilities lurking under the surface. Learn how to:

• Unlock your phone so that you can use it with any carrier
• Avoid and recover from malicious mobile software
• Watch DVD movies on the phone
• Use the phone as a remote control
• Use the phone as a data modem for your notebook
• Check your email and browse the web
• Post to your weblog from your phone
• Record phone conversations
• Choose mobile service plans
• Transfer files between the phone and your computer

Whether you want to use your smartphone as your lifeline while you're on the road, or you're just looking for a way to make the most of the time you spend waiting in lines, you'll find all the user-friendly tips, tools, and tricks you need to become massively productive with your Nokia smartphone. With Nokia Smartphone Hacks, you'll unleash the full power of that computer that's sitting in your pocket, purse, or backpack.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael Yuan is an author, developer, and software architect for end-to-end mobile software. He works with all major mobile technology platforms including J2ME, .NET Compact Framework, Symbian, WAP and MMS. Michael is the author of Enterprise J2ME (Prentice Hall PTR) and co-author of Developing Scalable Series 40 Applications (Addison-Wesley). His blog on J2ME can be found at enterprisej2me.com/blog/java and his .NET blog is at enterprisej2me.com/blog/ms. Michael earned a Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin.

Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; First Edition edition (August 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596009615
• ISBN-13: 978-0596009618
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,158,358 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > Computers & Technology > Mobile & Wireless Computing > PDA & Smartphone Guides

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for any Nokia phone user, September 2, 2005

By 

Norman Richards "..." (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nokia Smartphone Hacks: Tips & Tools for Your Smallest Computer (Paperback)

When I first heard about the book, I honestly wasn't excited. I've been very disappointed by my Nokia 3650 dumbphone. (the os is slow, ugly and hard to use and the bluetooth is nearly unusable, etc...) I haven't yet gotten to the point of replacing it, but when I do I planned to get anything but a Nokia. Naturally, I really saw no point in having a book about such the wretched Nokia 60 series phones.

As I was flipping through the book, I was quite surprised by how much the phone could do that I didn't know about. I read through some of the hacks and was so intrigued that I took the book with me to lunch and played with it a while. Since then, I've been trying to download some of the applications mentioned and have been playing with the phone non-stop. The book has definitely brought new life to my 3650.

The book is a mixture of advanced usage tips and cool applications that can make a Nokia phone much more useful. Normally I wouldn't want to see general tips in a Hacks book, but Nokia does such a poor job at providing information about how to use their phones, that most of the coverage of the standard stuff was brand new to me. I had no idea how to store numbers on my sim card or quick dial from it, for example. Maybe I'm slow, but I was happy for that coverage.

Despite only having 75 hacks, I got a lot of value out the book. I would recommend it to anyone with a Nokia phone that wants to get the most out of their phone. If this were a $40 book, I don't know that I could recommend it. But for a $16 book, it's an easy buy for any Nokia user. I think I've seen faceplates cost more than that. If you aren't sure, go browse through it at a local store. Like most hacks books, the value (or lack thereof) will be quickly evident.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Real Nokia User's Guide, August 24, 2005

By 

Mark Spritzler (Long Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nokia Smartphone Hacks: Tips & Tools for Your Smallest Computer (Paperback)

First let me say that it is difficult to stay objective when reviewing a friend's book. But luckily for me this book deserves 5 stars objectively and 10 stars subjectively.

Nokia Smartphone Hacks by Michael Yuan is the user's manual that should have been given out with each Nokia Series 40 and Series 60 cell phone. How many books are like this out in the market? None. You can go out and spend hundreds of dollars on that cool new cell phone with the great camera and all those bells and whistles, but most of us just use a small percentage of those features. And for those features that aren't even advertised, forget about it. But with this book you will become the power user of all power users. I even went around my office asking who owned Nokia phones and showed off the book to them, and they were
jealous.

You will learn how to protect your phone from viruses, unlock your phone, create your own mobile portal for an actual enjoyable web experience on a cell phone, control your Powerpoint slide presentation on your laptop, play DVDs on your phone, create your own themes, rss feeds, reading blogs, posting to your blog. And that isn't even scratching the surface. Do you know how many Google searches you would have to do just to get half of this information?

If you own a Nokia Series 40 or Series 60 phone, just buy this book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 75 fun and handy hacks, September 29, 2005

By 

Jack D. Herrington "engineer and author" (Silicon Valley, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nokia Smartphone Hacks: Tips & Tools for Your Smallest Computer (Paperback)

Who knew there was so much to do with a smartphone? This book presents 75 hacks on a wide variety of topics around the cellphone. You can find out how to use your phone as a remote control for presentations. Running your own scripts, creating your own themes, reading blogs, sendmail mail through gmail and much more. Definitely a must have for Nokia Smartphone owners.