Customer Reviews

Nokia Smartphone Hacks: Tips & Tools for Your Smallest Computer

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

If you're a Nokia smartphone user, then you know by now that hacks are especially useful. Author Michael Yuan, has done an outstanding job of writing a great book that brings all of those powerful hacks to all Nokia smartphone users.

Yuan begins by showing you how to use hacks to understand the basic characteristics of your smartphone and its related mobile network services. Next, the author shows you how to connect your smartphone to the Internet and to nearby computers. Then, he covers how to use , manage, and even develop smartphone software. The author continues by dealing with how to prevent malicious programs from infecting your phone, and how to recover from them if they do. In addition, the author next covers interesting hacks such as speed dialing, recording phone conversations to digital files, and using calling cards. He also discusses everything you'd want to know about data exchange and synchronization between smartphones and PCs. Next, the author covers how to use a smartphone as a data modem to provide Internet access to computers anytime, anywhere. Then, you will learn innovative hacks to use the profile, ring tones, and graphics and fonts on the phone display. The author continues by showing you how to develop your own mobile web site, use mobile portals and search engines, and post to mobile photo blogs from your smartphone. In addition, the author covers various ways to set up e-mail and instant messaging on your smartphone. Finally, you will learn how to take good photos and video clips with your phone camera, and share them with friends across the world.

So, if you do not have a Nokia smartphone already, the author of this excellent book will show you how to use some of the hacks as a nice buyers guide to help you choose from hundreds of combinations of devices and service plans. With that in mind, read on "dude" and start this most excellent adventure!

I don't own a Nokia, but I've been brainstorming/daydreaming about "the next killer app" for cell phones. I picked up this book to gain some insight into the workings and capabilities of what is basically a portable always-on computer/communicator. I was particularly excited by the section on blogs, RSS feeds, and - best of all - the "mobile photo blog". I may end up getting a Nokia just to try out some of the features described here! Well written and illustrated. Certainly worth the price.

The book calls them hacks but they are nothing more than excerpts from the manual. Most tips are about the data packages you can buy. Nothing about accessing programming codes, creating your own applications, using alternate gateways, toothing, etc. Skimmed it and straight to the garage sale. I usually expect better from O'Reilly.

If you have a Nokia series 40 or series 60 phone, this book is indispensable. Every chapter has something even a old hand with Nokia phones will not know. Codes to find the phones version and address information, ways to customize the menus, and alternative programming and settings. In all, this book is "the manual that didn't come in the box."

It may be a good book for some but I felt it too general in scope to help me with my new Nokia E71x. The hand book for my phone offers more specific information but not enough. It's like buying one of those Idiots Guide to 30 different but similar computers and expecting to squeeze every nuance out of the one you bought. Maybe for academics but too general to be serious help.