I have owned several Nokia mobile phones the last 4 being speech enabled with 
Nuance talks.  On this page you will find odds & ends I gathered together over 
the years that you might find useful whether you are a speech user or not.

In February 2013 I moved away from Nokia phones & started using Samsung's
galaxy s3 which uses the Android operating system.  The reasons for this change 
were that the latest Nokia phones just did not seem up to scratch & they were 
running Windows mobile 8, I did'nt fancy an Iphone & Android seemed to have 
many features not supported by Symbian.

A sign of things to come might be shown by a recent email from Skype that
they are dropping support for the Symbian operating system, I would think this
indicates the end of the Symbian platform.

I've tried to keep the comments on this page as general as possible but the more 
technical stuff wil largely relate to the last phone (Nokia n8) unless otherwise stated.

Before doing anything with your new device do check that your phone has the
latest version of the firmware on it, both my N70 & N95 which came from the 
Orange shop in Eastbourne were six months out of date, luckily there are 
several ways round this problem - any Nokia service centre will flash update 
your device for free (but not all shops that sell Nokia are service centres),
or the latest version of the Nokia PC suite has a phone update facility which 
applies to many of the latest models & some phones can update themselves over
the internet so you might be able to do the job yourself at home.  

Buying an unlocked phone can be an advantage as many service providers put
their own branded version of the firmware on devices, this can often lag behind
the manufacturers latest release by several months or years in some cases.

Note:-

To check the firmware version on your handset switch on your phone & when the
welcome screen appears enter "*#0000#".  On some models you will find a check 
for updates option on the screen that displays the firmware information,
otherwise search the internet for the date & version number for your model.

Now fire up your computer & install Nokia PC suite which will establish the 
link between your PC & mobile phone, A copy of the software should be supplied 
on CD with your phone but once installed do check to see if you have the latest
version of the PC software.  The PC suite software is not very speech
friendly so those using access technology may need help to install it - come
on Nokia sort it out!

For blind users - Once you have sorted out the firmware now download &
install Nuance or Mobile speak (All comments on this page relate to Nuance 
version 3.5 to 5.31.4 but many may well be applicable to Mobile speak).

Note:- Installing on touch screen devices will require sighted assistance.



Once you have your phone up to date the installation of Nuance is really

quite easy, there are just a few simple steps:-



The date & time must be set correctly before Nuance can be loaded & the demo's

started.


Download the software for your phone from the Nuance site.  Take time to select
the right version for your phone - also note that there are several versions
for each language & in many cases several different voices.  
I have now tried all of the english voices, both male & female, not sure which I
prefer, the female is nicer to the ear but sometimes not so clear when reading
text messages & does not do such a good job on some names - load them & play.


Before you can start the installation of Nuance you need to connect your 

device to the computer, this is usually via a USB cable, other connections can

be used but USB is the most stable.  You can verify the connection by going

into "my computer" & look for "nokia phone browser", clicking on this will show

you your phone, clicking on the phone will show it's contentss set out like 

another disk drive on your computer.



Now click on the nuance software you downloaded & follow the prompts,  you

will see 3 items, "Diasy 2 go", "talks" & a voice file - click on the voice 

file to start installing it - the phone will beep during the installation a few

times - just press the OK button on the phone when you hear the beep to accept

the defaults (about 6 presses of OK should do the trick your PC should say

that the installation is complete) now repeat the process for the Talks

file, after pressing the OK button several times your phone should start 

talking.



maybe not an ideal approach to software installation but it will get you up &

running.



I would suggest that rather than going for a full licence of Nuance

try using either:-


I would strongly suggest the 10 day trial as it will give you plenty
of time to try the phone & its features, once licenced to a phone there is a 
£50 charge to get another licence key for a new phone (not 
found out yet how this works if your phone has to be sent back for any 
reason).

Another thing you could consider before you start is the purchase of
a larger memory card, some phones come with one but in many cases you will
need to purchase it separately - ebay is a good place to look with prices a
fraction of what they are on the highstreet.  Do check your manual to see
what style & capacity of card your phone will take, as a rule the bigger the
better! talking books etc do take up room & its nice to be able to carry a few
round with you.


N.B. don't get the 6630 confused with the more recent 6630 slide or flip, the

flip & slide models do not work with talking software.



The 6630 was my first talking phone, I managed to get most of the features going 

quite nicely, surprised myself by using the video camera quite a bit - for 

example I was able to show my friends pictures of my railway etc and as the 

video has a good sound track was able to chat along with what was going on on 

the screen, likewise it is quite handy when purchasing things like furniture to 

be able to video your room so the sales person can (hopefully) point you in 

the direction of things that might match.



Did not physically own this phone but have seen it working.



Very compact, slim, & strong phone having a metal body.  Has a very flat

keyboard which some might find tricky.



This was my second phone which has even more features packed into an even 

smaller device, you won't discover it all - it's really packed with 

potential!  



The only downside to this device is the small keypad, it's OK most of the time

but when hands get cold & wet it will be tricky to use.



The Nokia N73 which is the later but very similar phone to the N70 has an

even smaller keypad than the N70 so only for people with nimble fingers.



Comments for this phone supplied by Eamonn MacNeill - any questions about it

please drop him an email at the following address:-



VERY small keyboard only for those with very nimble fingers!



Firmware version - 30.009 (released 15 April 2010)

Nuance version   - 5.31.4



NB> There have been some problems with updating the firmware on these phones

when they are branded to a specific supplier such as Orange or Virgin, I have

now had mine unlocked & debranded - well worth the £20 when the phone

is out of the 2 year Nokia guarantee.



This is by far my best phone yet having just so many features that I actually 

use rather than just play with.



* Camera - the 8mp camera produces quality photographs & video clips,

* MP3 player, sounds good & easy to use,

* FM transmittor, works well, played some mp3's stored on my phone on my

  radio in the kitchen with no problems - very clear

* SMS - works - what more can I say.

* GPS - tried various applications including Noka maps 3.3 using the walk to

  mode,

* Use Daisy to go (Nuance) as my main talking book reader all the time,



Do be aware that this phone is sensative to the way you hold it, i.e. in

portrait or landscape so when navigating menus you can get a brief unexpected

result until the software aligns itself with the phone.



Firmware version - 30.0.015 

Nuance version   - 4.10.3



The N95 uses the 3rd generation symbian operating system & as such has extra

facilities such as the ability to support the latest Text to Speech engines 

(TTS) such as Vocalizer, these voices offer a more natural sounding voice but 

there are some drawbacks, I have both the original Eloquence & the latest 

vocalizer voices available on my phone - the original voice can sometimes make

a better job of reading some text as it is crisp (also better for use in noisy

environments) but the latest vocalizer voices are easier on the ear if there

is a lot of text to listen to - try them during your free trial period

of the Nuance talks products.



Very tiny keypad, when I was looking for my new phone considered it but

the N86 took me.



The basic features such as contacts, address book & text messaging are fine 

& work without obvious problems on all the devices mentioned on this page.

The specific items below may vary per device the comments largely being 

relavent to my latest phone which is currently a Nokia N86.



All phones mentioned on this page have had at least 1 camera in them, those

with 2 have a low quality camera for video calls & a higher quality camera

for stills & video.



On some devices the video camera works best if you mute talks before pressing 

the record button, sound quality is good & the video is supposed to be up to 

low end camcorder quality.  If you set the recording quality to high the files 

seem to be saved in MP4 format.  Before playback remember to mute Nuance again 

otherwise the playback in some cases will stutter.



In the settings for video I would also suggest that you set 'Show captured 

video' to No, this stops the playback of your pictures straight after recording

them.



The photographs taken with the higher quality camera have produced some very 

acceptable results, we have printed A4 sized & obviously they are not top 

quality but they are as good - many of the images in my gallery page have been taken on my mobile

phones.



It does not seem possible to tune the radio while listening with Nuance

working, the way round this is to get a list of frequencies and enter

these while the headphones are not connected.  Once these have been saved

you can insert the headphone and start the radio, the number keys allow

you to jump round the presets you have saved.



Quality is good to my ears, using the central navigation key you can adjust 

volume by pressing it left or right, jump tracks bye pressing up or down

and fast forward or rewind through a track by pressing up or down and

keeping the key pressed.



If the MP3 files have the correct tags in them the gallery presents you

with either a list of artists or albums and within that a list of tracks.



The only snag I have found is that sometimes when playing a track the

phone locks so you have to take the battery out and start the phone again,

this may be corrected in later versions of firmware but I have not had the 

chance to update this yet.



It works, I have put mine on the multi media key so pressing just 1

key will take you to the start point.  The microphone seemsvery good

for such a small device.



Take a look at these few bits copied from the Mobiluck site and browse

the articles on the following site:-
3lib online for nokia N70 

How to remove Caribe, ComWarrior or Skulls viruses? 

Download, install and launch              MobiLuck; if you are "infected",

MobiLuck will warn you and remove              the virus!



How to easily switch to Silent mode? 

Just press the "#" key for a second :) You can come back to the General mode 

with a new press on "#".



How to send a ringtone to a friend?

Just launch MobiLuck, spot him in Who's in and browse your Sounds to send him 

the ringtone!



How to spare space on the mobile's memory? 

You can store your messages on the storage card this way:    Go to Messages 

Settings Other Memory in use and choose your storage card instead of Phone

memory.



Some Symbian S60 secret codes: 



You can soft reset your device with the code *#7780# + security code 

(12345 if you didn't change it) so your device will be back to factory

setttings. Your personal data will not be erased.



You can hard reset your device with the code *#7370# + security

code (12345) if you didn't change it) so your device will be as the first

day - all data is deleted because the phone is formatted! 



If your phone is seriously crashed and won't boot, you can perform the same

hard reset this way:-
  1. Make sure your battery is fully charged.
  2. Backup your personal data to your computer or an MMC storage card.
  3. Switch-off your Nokia N70.
  4. Press & hold 3 keys; Green dial key, * Star key, no. 3 key on keypad & then press the power on/off to switch on the Nokia N70. Remember, do not let go the 3 press and hold keys until you see the formatting screen.
  5. After a few minutes when the process is over, your Nokia N70 will be back to the original delivered system. 

Some of the latest models of mobile phones come already fitted with a GPS

module where others will require an additonal external bluetooth module, 

currently I am trying various software with the internal GPS unit in my

Nokia N95 but have also used a Holux GPSLIM 236, its very similar to many 

others & it was selected because of the Holux name and price.



Now for the minefield! - well where do I start with this? there are several 

systems which work but only a few applications that might be useable for those 

using the Nuance or similar screen reader.  So far I have had a dabble with 

route 66 with some success but only in my home area & a further play with

Loadstone GPS.



There are some new freeware or donation ware programs appearing on various 

symbian sites which are worth taking a look at over time, I would strongly 

recommend taking a look at



Google for download sites for these 2 utilities:-



Nokia Magnifier



Works on both my Nokia N86 & N95



Allows the use of your phone as a hand held magnifying glass with the 

benefits of image stablisation & negative image display.



Nokia Multiscanner



Works on N95



Only just works for me but the potential is huge! take a picture of a 

document & the phone will read it to you, I've got it to spot a few words

using my N95 & hope for better on my N86 when it is supported. 



I have purchased a few extras for my phones along the lines, I've found one

of the best places to start looking is ebay.  So far I have added 

extra memory, external speakers and various spare cables.



The speakers are really nifty, they form a cube when folded away

& come with several methods of powering and the necessary plugs.  The

supplier has a direct web site which I suggest you take a look at
All Mobile Stuff 

As I find bits of software that might be handy I will add the necessary links,

currently I am looking to try a Daisy book reader for Symbian phones

and am looking for another MP3 player that will allow fast forward and reverse 

through tracks - I've tried the MP3 player produced by Viking TM but I

was not that impressed, well not impressed enough to even think about 

parting with the money to register it there was just not enough difference

between it and the latest Nokia media players.