Nokia Smartphone Hacks: Tips & Tools for Your Smallest Computer (Paperback)

by Michael Yuan (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
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.

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: 406 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.; illustrated edition edition (July 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596009615
• ISBN-13: 978-0596009618
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #859,476 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This item is part of The O'Reilly Hacks Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 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)

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.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you DON'T have a Nokia, you may want to read this book!, September 17, 2005

By	R. Dlugy-Hegwer (Northern California, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

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)

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.