Easy access with the E63

I’ve written two articles that spoke at length about Facebook and how it has become part of my daily routine, so you can pretty much say I am, um, into it. I am into Skype as well — it automatically opens as soon as I turn on my laptop. Just to set things straight, I am not on Facebook or Skype to stalk people (no, really!); not even to meet new people and make friends. You can say I am a social networker with boundaries. Most of my close friends are abroad and I’ve come to realize that, if I want to stay close friends, I have to be active on social networking sites. And I stay logged on pretty much the whole day — when my schedule permits — just so I can accommodate all time zones.

So this has made me quite inseparable from my MacBook. I try to bring it everywhere I go, especially if I know that the place I’m going to has free WiFi. But now, my laptop has some competition. Pretty tough competition.

I just recently got a Nokia E63. It’s a business phone, a QWERTY phone. One of those impressive-looking mobiles that promises to make your professional life so much easier, and, in my case anyway, your social life more productive. I’ve never had a QWERTY phone before. That mini keyboard can be really intimidating. And the thought of creating a text message with two thumbs just fazes me. But I like my E63. Actually, I’m very near to loving it.

I like it because it’s red, for one thing. A rich red the same color as those ripe, waxy apples you buy from the supermarket. A deep glossy red that doesn’t intimidate, but doesn’t look too frivolous either. I also like it because it’s lightweight and has a matte black paneling along the side that improves my grip on it (I can be very clumsy with my phones.) I like it because it looks sleek and nice.

I love it because it works amazingly well. Especially for my social networking habits. It logs on to the Internet fast, for one, whether via WLAN or through my mobile network’s Internet connection. Even faster than my laptop, in fact. One night, I tried logging onto the same website using both my E63 and my laptop. My mobile had me browsing within seconds. So now, when my DSL is being crotchety towards my laptop, I just log onto my Yahoo!Mail using my E63. Yahoo!Mobile and these business phones, apparently, get along well enough.

In other words, it is so easy to check e-mail. The best part is that no matter where I am, be it at work, by the beach or in the mall with friends, I never miss a deadline. Thank goodness for cell phones like these. And, logging on to Facebook, I’ve found, is also easily accessed on this business phone.

Best of all, I can Skype on my Nokia E63. Apparently, this phone has an OS Symbian S60 system, which, according to some site about everything incomprehensibly geeky, allows users to download third-party applications to customize their mobile device. The E63 also has a VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol, a technology that allows transmission of voice communications. Basically, in techno-fool terms, you combine both and you get a phone that makes messaging and on-the-go networking so much easier.You need a USB cable to download Skype Mobile into your E63. If you don’t have one, you can always turn to Fring, as I have done. Fring is a mobile VoIP-based internet telephony network that allows you access to chat sites such as Skype, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger, ICQ, Twitter and even Facebook. It was founded by the same guy who used to head ICQ, one of the granddaddies of the PC chat, and has been basically a hit since it started offering its internet and mobile services a couple of years ago.

Soon as you download Fring onto your E63 (it will lodge in the Installations folder), it will ask which other peer-to-peer Internet telephony sites you would want to subscribe to, providing a list of basically all the networking applications I have mentioned. I subscribed to Skype. As soon as everything was set, my Skype friends appeared in my Contacts list. It can be a bit confusing at first as you don’t have the Skype icons that indicate the status of your contacts. Instead, you get the little box logo of Fring in different colors sidling up beside the names of your Skype friends. It’s easy enough to figure out, though: a green Fring box means he’s online, red is for busy and gray means he’s offline. You can also access the free Skype-to-Skype calls on Fring (free calls to friends abroad as long as you’re in a WiFi zone), although sometimes the connection can be a bit choppy.

I tried subscribing to Facebook Chat on Fring but have been, so far, unsuccessful. I’ll work on it later on.

An alternative to Fring is eBuddy, a small application (also free) that can be installed on any Symbian phone. It also connects you to your favorite messenger software like Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk or AIM through GPRS-activated mobile phone. The installation is very simple and the interface is also very easy to use. Apparently, eBuddy also allows you to shoot and send photographs to your friends via your mobile. I have yet to try this feature.

I spent one whole night Skype-ing via Fring on my Nokia E63 and found myself getting used to chatting using just my two thumbs. It helps that the E63 keypads are soft. (Even my sister who uses another QWERTY phone envied the thumb-friendly qualities of my phone.) Texting has also become a two-thumb endeavor, although I sometimes miss the T9 feature on non-QWERTY phones. At least now, I am discouraged from sending SMS while driving — not that I did much of it on my previous phones.

I have developed an obsessive attachment to my laptop because of social networking sites. I reckon I’m also in for one of those long-lasting relationships with my new mobile phone. As I’ve always said, all I really want in a relationship is a good, solid connection. And, it seems, the E63 is able to give me that.

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Log on to www.nokia.com.ph for more information about the Nokia E63.

E-mail comments to ana_kalaw@pldtdsl.net.