Nokia E90 Communicator Blog

Recently Skype has released a beta version of an official Skype client for Java phones. The application is available for different mobile phones from Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Samsung. By the way, Nick has already written about using Skype on Sony Ericsson in his SE Blog. So if you happen to be a Sony Ericsson user, make sure to check out his post.

When you go to the download section, you won't see Nokia E90 listed there. However, let's not forget that any application that can run on say Nokia N95, can be used on E90 Communicator as well. So, I gave it a try and it worked fine.

There is one caveat though and it is associated with using the internal QWERTY keyboard. In the chatting window you cannot directly type text with the internal QWERTY keyboard. Rather, it opens in a new Java windows. This is a bit frustrating but in all other aspects the software works fine.

I have tried all applications for using with Skype. I had purchased IM For Skype from Shapeservices and have been using it for a couple of months and I must say the application works fine. Also, the application from Shapeservices is a native Symbian application, which is a big plus. However, having an application from Skype is a totally different thing. So, I highly recommend to download the N95 version and use it on your E90 Communicator.

I will be making some screen-shots on my E90 and will do a follow-up post shortly.

Please follow this link to download the application: http://www.skype.com/intl/en/download/skype/mobile/

Many laptops come with built-in webcams nowadays. My old Sony Vaio had one and I was pretty happy with it. However, I have recently changed to a more powerful HP 8710w mobile workstation laptop. Unfortunately, this laptop does not have a built-in webcam.

I use the webcam occasionally and carrying a separate webcam is not very practical. Because of this, I decided to find a solution that would turn my mobile phone into a webcam. Luckily, there are at least two solutions that will get the job done. The first one is Mobiola Webcam and the other is WWIGO. The former is a commercial application and the later is a free application (WWIGO is at a beta stage for now, but works just fine).

Those applications install a webcam driver in Windows and as a result you can use both solutions in instant messaging software like Skype, MSN or Yahoo Messenger.

If you are up to spending $20 on this type of software, you may wish to go for Mobiola Webcam. If you'd rather use a freeware product, then WWIGO is the way to go.

AllAboutSymbian.com is reporting that a new firmware update for Nokia E90 Communicator is available. Further, according to the web site, the update is available for non-branded devices only.

Mine is non-branded E90 and when I ran the NSU, it just said that my firmware was up-to-date. I did update to 7.40.1.2 just two days ago and I thought I already had this new firmware but had not noticed it. But oops, when I ran the Flash player it's the same old 2.0.

Updates speculated by AAS are very nice and interesting. It seems that this is just a beta version of the update and not a public release. Anyway, I hope to see Nokia releasing this update soon.