It is amazing that in the year 2009 (not 1989) some of our local GSM service providers still ask customers to come to their offices or to place telephone calls to request for their lines to be provisioned in order to have access to the network’s data (or value added) services.

While deploying a data service is well appreciated, the networks should go a step further to make it convenient for subscribers to have access to these services.

For example, there’s no valid reason why the networks cannot provide their SIMs already provisioned for internet. It is a fact that at least MTN and Etisalat are doing it right in this regard. Etisalat especially is to be commended, for though being a new player in the Nigerian telecoms ecosystem, they are more forward looking in terms of user-friendly data provisioning than the older boys like Zain and GloMobile.

Surely, it cannot be so difficult for network operators to deploy over-the-air (OTA) configuration such that soon after inserting your SIM into a GPRS or 3G-enabled phone, the data settings are pushed automatically to the phone and the subscriber can simply launch his phone browser and start surfing the web away.

Both MTN and Etisalat are again the leaders in this department. And once again, Etisalat are getting two thumbs up from me for implementing this from the word go.

My experience with Etisalat is one I remember with fondness. I popped in my SIM into a phone, the settings were pushed to me via SMS, and within minutes I was browsing without having to go to their office, call for my line to be provisioned, or manually input any settings. I said to myself, “This is the way it should be“.

Network operators need to remember that the average phone user is not a geek, does not care to go beyond the basic menu of his phone, and would rather not be bothered with the extra hassles of getting value added services setup.

The average subscriber wants these services to work out-fo-the-box, and the networks that respond appropriately to this fact will have subscribers eating out of their hands. Mobile Data will become more mainstream when the hassles of data configuration are eliminated.

This article will guide you to use your GloMobile line with your phone as a modem for internet access on your PC.

Make Sure That You Have Been Activated for Internet

There are different data settings on the GloMobile network. What you need is the settings for “Glodirect”. Speak with a representative. Emphasise that you want to be activated for “Glodirect” on their 3G network.

If you have been activated for the much older Glo WAP settings, that won’t do. You need Glodirect settings. Glo now has new bundle data plans that you need to subscribe to. Once you have this, you will be able to browse on both Glo’s GPRS and 3G networks. This is really the most important step in the process.

See Official configuration settings for the new Glo prepaid internet bundle plans.

You may also need Essential tips for using Glo prepaid internet bundle plans.

Or better yet, download a copy of my ebook, Guide to Mobile Internet Usage in Nigeria.

Install Your Phone’s PC Suite on the PC

This usually comes in an installation CD in the phone sales package. Slot the CD in the CD drive and complete the installation.

Connect Your Phone to the PC

I’m assuming that you are using a USB cable here. Connect the cable to your phone and then to the PC. Your PC should indicate that your phone has been connected, and tell you your phone is ready to be used.

Launch the PC Suite on PC

Under the “Programmes” menu, launch the PC Suite application. Select the “Internet Connection” menu. The title may vary a bit, so don’t panic if that’s not exactly what you see. In Sony Ericsson PC Suite, for example, it is called “Mobile Networking”.

Some PC Suite applications automatically setup the connection. Others may require you to manually do so. If you can’t get the PC to establish an internet connection, select the manual setup option, and use the following parametres wherever a request for any of them is made by the application:

GloMobile
- APN: gloflat
- Username: flat
- Password: flat

Complete the setup by clicking the relevant button, and now you have just one more step to go. Yes; just one more.

That’s It

You should be able to browse now on your PC using a GloMobile line on your phone. You have no need for a proxy of any sort.

Here’s a stunning theme for your s60 3rd edition smartphone from TehkSeven.

Download N86 (Solace)

The Nokia E71 and E63 are both business-centric smartphones from the stables of Nokia. They are both candy-bar, QWERTY-keyboard devices. They are both powered by Symbian OS 3rd Edition. At the core, they are one and the same device. I had already laid a basic foundation in my article on my first impressions of the E63. Simply put, the E63 is a cut-down version of the E71.

Here is a concise comparative review of the two devices.

Areas where the E71 trumps the E63

1. Camera: the E71 is equipped with a 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera, while the E63 comes with a meagre 2.0 megapixel fixed-focus camera. Naturally, the E71 takes better photos than its younger cousin. As if to spoil things further for the E63, the highly intuitive N-series-like camera interface implemented on the E71 was dropped in the E63, and in its place Nokia decided to take us back to the days of the Nokia E61i.

2. Connectivity: the E71 has full connectivity options: Bluetooth, Infrared, USB, GPS, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS (3G), HSDPA (3.5G). On the E63, infrared, GPS and HSDPA are both missing.

3. Audio Quality: the E71 beats the E63 hands down in this department. While both devices have their speaker grill in the same position at the top, the E71′s speaker is physically bigger and produces louder and better sound than the E63.

Areas where the E63 trumps the E71

1. Price: this is a very important win for the E63 as the price difference between the two phones is between N15, 000 and N20, 000. Honestly, this difference is much considering that the E63 is an E71 with a few compromises.

2. Typing: both devices have full QWERTY keyboard, but the letter buttons of the E63 are slightly bigger than on the E71 and I find them more comfortable to use. Also, some characters like ( ) can now be typed directly from the keypad, while you will have to open a character menu to type them on the E71.

3. Flash Light: this is a first for Nokia smartphones and a very welcomed one at that, especially for those of us in this part of the world. The LED flash which works in camera mode only on the E71, works both as a camera flash and also as flash light (outside the camera mode) on the E63.

So is there a clear winner between the two devices? I think each device will win depending on what individuals are looking for.

If you’re not one of those who care about owning a good looking mobile phone, you don’t care much about taking stunning photos with your phone, and certainly don’t need top-end entertainment features on your mobile device, the E63 is your baby.

If what you’re looking for is a robust, stable, functional and inexpensive device that gets the job done, then the E63 fits that bill perfectly.

I am not sure why, but articles on Zain Mobile Internet are extremely popular on Mobility Nigeria. As a matter of fact, the top two items in terms of page views on this site are about Zain Mobile Internet.

Perhaps, part of the reason for their popularity can be attributed to the elusiveness of full internet service on prepaid lines. For quite a while, Zain Nigeria’s official policy is that only WAP is available to prepaid subscribers. This means POP3/IMAP mail cannot be used, and instant messaging apps won’t work, among others. See: From Celtel to Zain; GPRS further restricted, published in August last year.

Earlier this year, I demonstrated that with minimal tweaking, email (POP/IMAP) indeed works on the Zain network (Zain Data works on Phones for Web and Email). But IM apps didn’t.

Last Saturday, however, I receeived an SMS from Zain stating in part:

New from Zain! Internet Browsing, MMS & downloads now possible on your handset!

That sounded to me like Zain had done a rethink of their rather backward policy of limiting prepaid lines to WAP access only. I had some spare time yesterday and dashed over to the nearest Zain outlet, where I requested for full internet provisioning.

I was told that the system was problematic, but the guy I spoke with took down my details anyway. I got home around 5p.m. today and a few minutes later, I received an SMS configuration on my device. I saved it, took a peek and saw full internet settings.

In a few minutes, I was chatting on Yahoo Messenger via Slick, checking my mails, and doing all sorts of stuff. No tweaks. Just straight out-of-the-box.

There’s still neither EDGE nor 3G at my location. Yes; its gross. This is Lagos, where every other 3G-enabled network has almost seamless coverage.

So, it is official. Full internet is now available for prepaid subscribers on the Zain network. By the way, I got another SMS announcing that Blackberry service is also now available for prepaid subscribers.

Hop over to a Zain centre and specify that you want full internet service activated on your line. Then you can forget about using proxies in order to be able to browse on your PC. Alternatively, send SMS in the format, “internet sonyericsson P910i”, to 232 to get activated. If it doesn’t work, keep trying.

For those who may find the Zain internet configuration settings useful, here they are:

APN: internet.ng.zain.com
Username: internet
Password: internet
IP/Proxy: None

Well done, Zain. You are late, but hey, we’ll still throw a welcome party! And while we are at it, please extend EDGE and 3G coverage some more please.

Update: Official Zain Internet Provisioning: An Update

Mobile banking is big news in Africa – and more especially in Nigeria. The advent of GSM threw up a slew of mobile banking services, most of which ran basically on simple SMS. Send this code to a certain number to check your account balance. Send another to check last 5 transactions, and so on and so forth.

As a matter of fact, when First Atlantic Bank (now First Inland) introduced the SMS banking service years ago, I hopped on immediately, using it to power former DomainStandard hosting services (now Alireta).

First Atlantic was also revolutionary with its FlashMe Cash product, a purely SMS/mobile banking application that was a step above the regular SMS banking service. Funds transfer had never been so easy, and both account holders and non-account holders with First Atlantic could use it. All a user needed was a GSM line.

FlashMe Cash also served as a beautiful and effective payment system. DomainStandard Networks used it to full effect back then to receive payments from customers. I also remember that a java-based FlashMe Cash application was also introduced at one point in time.

A number of years down the road, Interswitch deployed its java-based mobile banking application that allows users check balance, transfer funds, purchase GSM airtime, issue instructions, etc over GPRS or SMS.

What more, Interswitch took this a step further, allowing each individual bank on its platform to brand the application. Thus, today we have the same java-based mobile application branded as SkyeMobile, Umobile, et al.

eTranzact, another payment processor has a similar application with similar functions.

Besides the above-listed mobile banking applications, are you aware of any other? For example, none of the banks with internet banking facilities that I have used have a mobile version of their online banking service. Do you know of any?

Yesterday evening, a gang of nasty gremlins launched an attack on MTN Nigeria’s packet data service, rendering it unusable. Till this moment, trying to get a connection on the MTN 3G and GPRS networks has been more difficult than pushing a camel through the eye of a needle.

We are talking over 24 hours of unusable service to data subscribers. Hopefully, this nightmare will be over when the sun rises tomorrow.

Here is my list of applications that are absolutely important that I install on any s60 device I purchase. The rather interesting thing about my list is that it features apps that are absolutely free.

Here is my list in no particular order of their importance to me, along with my commentary on each application.

1. Shozu: Shozu is an application that allows you to upload pictures and videos to some of the most popular social networking sites like Facebook and Flickr. The majority of my pictures on Facebook were uploaded directly from my phone using Shozu.

2. Slick: Slick is an instant messaging (IM) application that allows you stay in touch with friends and families via very well known IM services like Yahoo, Gtalk etc.

I’d like to say that it was Yomi who recently introduced me to Slick, and it has become my preferred IM application amongst the others I have used.

3. Opera Mini: Opera Mini has proved to be an indispensable browser application for me. Its compression technology, fit to screen feature, and the good page-loading speed are part of the many reasons I consider Opera Mini a must-have app on my phones.

4. Bible Reader: As the name suggests, this application allows me read the Bible on my phone. The beauty of Bible Reader (from OliveTree) is that I can have more than one translation of the Bible installed. This is another application that’s indispensable for me as I don’t even have a hard copy bible anymore.

5. Active File: This is a file manager I use as an alternative to the built-in one. Actually, I use about three of them, but this is on top of the list because it has a feature that lets users keep the back light of their phones on for as long as the battery lasts. This is a useful feature for when you need to do a considerable amount of reading on your phone.

6. Screenshot: This application takes screenshots of whatever is on your phone’s display. All the screenshots in our reviews are produced using this application.

There you have it, applications that make s60 phones worth owning for me. In case you’re wondering where to get these apps, I suggest you do a Google search of each of them. They are readily available on a number of websites.

Do you have any must-have mobile apps?

I was discussing with Dayo yesterday, and he mentioned that he had come to realise that a phone without a QWERTY keyboard is not one he would consider as a primary device. He had used the Nokia 5800 for some time now (after a long romance with the E71), and despite finding excellent points about the phone, he just still could not get comfortable with the lack of a hardware QWERTY keyboard.

In other words, the lack of a hardware QWERTY keyboard is a deal breaker for him. He has since replaced the 5800 with the more humble Nokia E63, which meets his requirements more.

Deal breaker: any issue or factor that is significant enough to terminate a negotiation, esp. in business or politics

Dayo and I are clearly in the same class: text input on a mobile device is important to us. Late last year, I purchased a Samsung i900 Omnia in a moment of a streak of daring. Within 5 minutes of unboxing the device, I knew I had made a mistake. I needed QWERTY! I replaced the Omnia with the E90 and lived happily ever after.

What’s your deal breaker? Poor video playback? Lack of a good camera? Lack of a touchscreen?

You tell me.

Okay, it hasn’t happened yet, but if the feature list of the new iPhone OS 3.0 is anything to go by, things don’t look too good for Nokia/Symbian.

The newly announced iPhone firmware (version 3.0) has a list of – wait for it – 100 new features. Many of those features are things that smartphone power users had lamented were absent on the iPhone and thus kept them away from the allure of the apple (pun intended).

Now, with things like system-wide cut-and-paste, SMS forwarding, MMS, Stereo A2DP Bluetooth streaming, System-wide landscape keyboard, WiFi auto-login for hotspots, live video and audio streaming, tethering, and voice recording, now available on the iPhone OS, the picture has suddenly changed.

The iPhone has gone from an expensive toy to a very functional, expensive tool – and Nokia/Symbian needs to watch it. Why?

Here’s Why

That stunning, user-friendly interface on the iPhone still has no competitor. Forget s60 5th edition Touch. Forget TouchWiz, and all the other slap-on layers individual manufacturers have come up with.

iPhone 3.0 screams a balance in uber-cool and functionality.

I have used Symbian devices most of my smartphone history, but consider for example that Nokia/Symbian is yet to implement cut-and-paste in the built-in web browser (which is insane; the elder statesman Nokia 9500 had this simple feature), and now the iPhone has beaten s60 to it – plus that user interface, and I won’t be surprised to see many erstwhile Symbian users take a bite of the apple. No kidding.

Will I be picking an iPhone? I don’t know. I am a physical QWERTY keyboard person. No; those on-screen QWERTY keyboards just don’t offer the same ease of use as their hardware counterparts.

If Apple releases a QWERTY version of the iPhone running v3.0 tomorrow, I have no doubts that I will pick one up. Till then…

Heads-up from: GSMarena.com

The Nokia E63 is the more affordable cousin of the E71. I picked up a unit today and decided to present my first impressions of this budget smartphone.

Unboxing the device quickly revealed why the phone is relatively inexpensive. In order to make it affordable, several essentials that we have come to expect in the sales package of Nokia’s smartphones – especially their enterprise devices – are conspicuously missing.

Missing in Action

First on the list is the software CD usually included in the sales package of Nokia’s smartphones. Now this came as a shock to me. Because this was the last thing I expected would be thrown out of the sales package. In case you don’t already have Nokia PC suite installed on your PC and you are considering buying the E63, you might need to borrow from someone else who has a copy.

Secondly, the USB data cable is also missing. In 2009, this is unforgivable, but then what do you expect from a smartphone in that price bracket? Something definitely got to give. Sigh!

Everything about the E63 is geared towards cost reduction. Everything. The top grade material used for the E71 was abandoned for a cheaper plasticky material. The E63′s casing is all plastic.

Continuing this cheap theme, there’s no volume key and no dedicated camera key.

Okay. Okay. This is not supposed to be a full fledged review of the phone. That will come after I have had enough time to playing with it.

Watch this space for the full review and possibly a comparative review between it and the E71.

Quote from InformationWeek:

According to a German technology magazine, Ericsson is seeking ways to end its part in the Sony (NYSE: SNE) Ericsson joint venture. Ericsson and Sony are in talks to work out a plan, but apparently financing the deal is a big problem.

German publication Manager-Magazin.de is reporting that Ericsson recently approached Sony to talk about the two companies’ mobile phone joint venture Sony Ericsson.

Ericsson wants out.

Read full news item: Ericsson Wants Out Of Sony Ericsson Joint Venture

Ericsson phones used to be a favourite of mine, for the simple reason that they offered more features and functionality than phones from other manufaturers in the same price bracket. Translated, that means Ericsson phones offered more value for money. We are talking about devices like the R320s and R380s. Then Ericsson went into the joint venture with Sony, and things sort of changed.

Meanwhile, Sony phones (back then) stood in a class of their own too. Sony is to be credited with the innovative jog dial seen on the earlier Sony Ericsson phones. I remember owning a Sony J5, and it was a fine device in its day.

Why does Ericsson want out? Will this divorce actually happen? Can Sony hold the fort in the absence of Ericsson?