Nokia Software Checker Is Almost There

By TheGuru on January 11th, 2009

Nokia Software Checker Is Almost There

One of the cool features of the Nokia N79 and the N85 is a new feature that will automatically poll Nokia’s servers to check for a new firmware update. You can schedule this application to check for a new firmware over any access point, and using different intervals – every week, every other week, or once a month. This is handy, and with the N79 NAM expecting a firmware update, I was happy to test it.

While the application works, it only worked halfway, really. Due to my impatience, I actually opened the application and told it to manually check for a firmware update now, so I can’t really say how well it automatically polls. After a few moments, the application happily alerted me that, indeed, a new firmware update was available. Sweet, and I started looking for the ‘Would you like to download and apply this update now?’ prompt. Unfortunately, it was nowhere to be found. The phone merely suggested that I hook it up to my computer and run Nokia’s NSU application. What?

What good is it if the software update doesn’t give me the option to download and apply the new firmware right from the phone? Seems like yet another wasted opportunity to create a really cool user experience, to me. I also find it rather limiting that I can only set this thing to automatically check – there’s no push option. I’m not sure of what the technical possibilities are, but it would be far better if Nokia could somehow push a small message to devices when a firmware update is available. This goes back to the possibilities that would be opened up if I could tell my device that I have an unlimited data package.

In any case, I’ve successfully updated the firmware on my Nokia N79, and was relieved to see that, thanks to UDP (User Data Preservation), it was a smooth experience. Nokia’s learning, that’s for sure.

Categories: Editorials
Tags: , , , , ,

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to subscribe to Symbian-Guru.com's RSS feed to stay up to date on future articles.

Comments

  1. F.O.T.I. (firmware over the internet) is not ready for the masses yet so their option is to appease the guru and brick hundreds of other users or appease the customers and annoy the guru. I'd pick the latter.

    Also, push services aren't an option unless you want your phone connected to the internet 24/7 (and consequently drain battery) or you sign up to my Nokia for sms alerts. Think about it, if it was available, you'd see push email by now and we all know how that's going...
    Mozilla/5.0 (SymbianOS/9.3; U; Series60/3.2 NokiaN85-3/11.047; Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 ) AppleWebKit/413 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/413   by JP
  2. Since I moved from S80 to S60v3 I sadly noticed that it's way too big job to update phone's firmware. No matter if I back up my phone to memory card or pc or both, still 75% of programs I had installed will not be available after FW update. And because certificates went old already some time 2007 I need to turn back the time in the phone while installing the programs again. My first FW update lost also all my calendar markings. Now, after making back up, I still sync my calendar with Outlook. But returning all the data is so big job that I try to avoid FW updating for as long as possible. My E90 lost also all the bluetooth pairings during the FW update and that was one more annoying thing to notice that when I was driving the hands free kit didn't work. So I had to park the car on the side of the road and start pairing again my phone and car's HF. The good old Nokia 9500's back up was much better but on the other hand, I had to update the phone in Nokia service.

    BTW, after turning the calendar to year 2007 while installing old programs and turning it back to present time, every time I open the calendar it prompts that I missed one or more alerts because the time change.

    Hopefully Nokia can make better back up system and some kind FW update polling which makes it possible to update the phone where ever I am without loosing any data or settings.

    Olvi   by Unregistered
  3. Quote:
    Originally Posted by JP View Post
    F.O.T.I. (firmware over the internet) is not ready for the masses yet so their option is to appease the guru and brick hundreds of other users or appease the customers and annoy the guru. I'd pick the latter.

    Also, push services aren't an option unless you want your phone connected to the internet 24/7 (and consequently drain battery) or you sign up to my Nokia for sms alerts. Think about it, if it was available, you'd see push email by now and we all know how that's going...
    Mozilla/5.0 (SymbianOS/9.3; U; Series60/3.2 NokiaN85-3/11.047; Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 ) AppleWebKit/413 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/413
    I actually *do* have my phone connected to the internet 24-7, both with Nokia Email and Jaiku Mobile. That's why I didn't call this a complete fail - just another instance where the experience could be increased with a few tweaks. I've done FOTA 2x now (N96 and N79) and both times it worked beautifully. Also, the Samsung Instinct from Sprint has received several FOTA updates, and that's an extremely consumer-level device.

    I think the technology is ready, the only limitation that Nokia is running into is the aforementioned connectivity. The Instinct is tied directly with Sprint, so Sprint can either whitelist the data traffic needed to update the firmware, or assure that every Instinct has a data package.

    With so many carriers around the world, I realize that Nokia doesn't have that luxury. This post was merely thinking about how cool it would be if they could.    by TheGuru
  4. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Unregistered View Post
    Since I moved from S80 to S60v3 I sadly noticed that it's way too big job to update phone's firmware. No matter if I back up my phone to memory card or pc or both, still 75% of programs I had installed will not be available after FW update. And because certificates went old already some time 2007 I need to turn back the time in the phone while installing the programs again. My first FW update lost also all my calendar markings. Now, after making back up, I still sync my calendar with Outlook. But returning all the data is so big job that I try to avoid FW updating for as long as possible. My E90 lost also all the bluetooth pairings during the FW update and that was one more annoying thing to notice that when I was driving the hands free kit didn't work. So I had to park the car on the side of the road and start pairing again my phone and car's HF. The good old Nokia 9500's back up was much better but on the other hand, I had to update the phone in Nokia service.

    BTW, after turning the calendar to year 2007 while installing old programs and turning it back to present time, every time I open the calendar it prompts that I missed one or more alerts because the time change.

    Hopefully Nokia can make better back up system and some kind FW update polling which makes it possible to update the phone where ever I am without loosing any data or settings.

    Olvi
    On older phones such as your E90, the firmware update indeed is a poor experience. However, updating newer devices, such as the N85, N79, or even the N96, I didn't even need to back anything up - all of my applications, settings, customisations (menu organization, etc), and everything else was just as I'd left it. Nokia is making sure this is present in all new phones, and has ported it to some older ones, such as the N81. As I said, they're definitely taking notes and learning, and making improvements along the way, specifically with firmware updates.

    I remember the first few firmware updates I performed on my N80/N73 were with a cracked version of Phoenix and some firmware files I found on a Russian forum. That was only 2 years ago. I'm now able to update my firmware right from the phone, without any hiccup in actual phone use. That's rather impressive, imo.   by TheGuru
  5. It's good to hear FW updating is easier for newer models. I'm waiting new Communicator to come because I want qwerty keyboard and "big" screen on my phone, like E90 has.

    I'm connected to internet 24/7 in 3G network (Elisa Finland) and my my E90's battery life is very short. It will not make 24 hours without charging. I never go anywhere without charger. I guess occasional FW updating wouldn't make battery life much shorter than it's now.

    Olvi   by Unregistered
(5) Comments |Add your comments
« MyPhone Turns Your S60 Into An iPhone Interview With Anssi Vanjoki »