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Web 7.1 On The N86 Brings Speed And Personalized Shortcuts

By Dotsisx on August 12, 2009

As I have been exploring the Nokia N86 8MP for the past week, I noticed the new version of the webkit browser that comes preinstalled. At first glance, it might pass unnoticed, but look deeper and you will find important improvements that make the browsing experience more enjoyable.

The first one is speed. AllAboutSymbian has already done a deep comparison showing how the N86 8MP handles web pages a lot faster than any of its predecessors, even trumping the N97 with a slight advantage. For the everyday user, this means that pages load faster, even to the naked eye, and that content is displayed more efficiently without a lot of waiting periods.

The second one, which is easier to notice if you always like fiddling with settings, are the new shortcuts and toolbar. Tucked under Settings, there are two new tabs that open the Toolbar Shortcuts and the Keypad Shortcuts. The toolbar setting allows you to choose whether or not to display the toolbar and specify the 7 different shortcuts that it shows. The keypad setting lets you pick 12 different shortcuts for all of the T9 keypad.


There’s a total of 19 different items that you can pick for each of these shortcuts, and given that you have 19 slots between the toolbar (7) and the keypad (12), it’s pretty fair to say that you can now do almost everything in the web browser without having to pass by the Options menu. Here’s a list of all the actions that you can set as shortcuts:

  • Full Screen, Page overview, Switch window, View images
  • Settings, History, Help
  • Keypad Shortcuts, Toolbar Shortcuts: the first one shows a pop-up table reminding you of all the keypad shortcuts if you forgot them, the second displays the toolbar, and both of them give an easy option to edit the corresponding settings. Unfortunately I can’t seem to be able to take a screenshot of either of these.
  • Save as bookmark, Bookmark manager
  • Reload page, Back one page
  • Go to homepage, Go to web address
  • Zoom in, Zoom out
  • Subscribe to feeds, Search by keyword.

If you take your time to organize how you want your shortcuts to be, the N86′s browsing experience will be easily improved a lot. I really love that I can now set them up like I want, and I’m a big fan of the new Shortcuts table display, as well as the new easy option to reload pages, go back a page, open the History… but I am a bit annoyed that the two options that I use the most, namely showing the Page Info, and Sending the page, aren’t included in the available set of shortcuts.

What do you think of this new Webkit browser version? Do you believe it’s an important evolution from the old one, or do you think that these are mainly gimmicky improvements when Nokia should be implementing an easy way to open multiple tabs and switch between them, as well as copy/paste content from web pages or save images and such?

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Dotsisx

Dotsisx, aka Rita El Khoury, joined Symbian-Guru.com in September of 2007, and has been writing awesome content ever since. Rita often explores the normal user aspect of Symbian-powered devices, and offers in-depth thoughts on various topics. You can follow Dotsisx on Twitter at @Khouryrt

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  • JP

    Can you open a new browser page yet?

  • JP

    Can you open a new browser page yet?

  • Rohan

    ‘Nokia should be implementing an easy way to open multiple tabs’

    Do you mean there is a way (albeit difficult) to open tabs ?
    Also, as for copy-paste in browsers, dont you think there seems to be some unavoidable shortcoming in the browser code, since not a single mobile device seems to support it (including iphones, winmo and maemo) ?

  • Rohan

    ‘Nokia should be implementing an easy way to open multiple tabs’

    Do you mean there is a way (albeit difficult) to open tabs ?
    Also, as for copy-paste in browsers, dont you think there seems to be some unavoidable shortcoming in the browser code, since not a single mobile device seems to support it (including iphones, winmo and maemo) ?

  • http://www.symbian-guru.com/ Dotsisx
  • http://www.symbian-guru.com Dotsisx
  • 95%

    I’m disappointed that there’s still no shortcut for “Go to Bottom/Top of Page”.

  • 95%

    I’m disappointed that there’s still no shortcut for “Go to Bottom/Top of Page”.

  • kiyo21

    Providing user definable browser shortcuts & toolbar is a great addition. It increases usability and allows everything to be done at a quicker pace with less keypresses. No need to open menu all the time anymore. One reason I prefer other browsers like ucweb or opera mini were due to their abundance of keypad shortcuts. it makes all the difference in the world in a mobile browser. though i wish they included shortcuts for page up and down.

  • kiyo21

    Providing user definable browser shortcuts & toolbar is a great addition. It increases usability and allows everything to be done at a quicker pace with less keypresses. No need to open menu all the time anymore. One reason I prefer other browsers like ucweb or opera mini were due to their abundance of keypad shortcuts. it makes all the difference in the world in a mobile browser. though i wish they included shortcuts for page up and down.

  • seaotter02

    Stupid question, but did they finally get rid of the obnoxious address bar default you have to manually delete for any web address with a subdomain? That ‘http://www.‘ is incredibly annoying on the E71.

  • seaotter02

    Stupid question, but did they finally get rid of the obnoxious address bar default you have to manually delete for any web address with a subdomain? That ‘http://www.‘ is incredibly annoying on the E71.

  • Croog

    I want upgrade to this browser for my old Nokia E70. :-/ I am using newer webkit with ozone browser, but it seems that development of this software was already discontinued. :(

  • Croog

    I want upgrade to this browser for my old Nokia E70. :-/ I am using newer webkit with ozone browser, but it seems that development of this software was already discontinued. :(

  • RogerPodacter

    I find that the new updated webkit browser is now fast enough, at least on wifi, where i rather use it exclusively rather than opera mini. its that enjoyable of an experience.

    i have a bookmark called “new window” that i click and it opens a new window tab in the browser. its not as elegant as a built in solution. but its an option nonetheless. and its easy, one click.

  • RogerPodacter

    I find that the new updated webkit browser is now fast enough, at least on wifi, where i rather use it exclusively rather than opera mini. its that enjoyable of an experience.

    i have a bookmark called “new window” that i click and it opens a new window tab in the browser. its not as elegant as a built in solution. but its an option nonetheless. and its easy, one click.

  • Merlin

    Now that you’ve come to this, I have something to ask: how faster is it REALLY from the E71 browser Dotsisx ?
    I mean, now that I have a “not too expensive” postpaid plan with unlimited data I’m finally using my E71 web browser on Edge/3G, and, boy I have to say it, IT SUCKS BIG TIME ! The browser loads pages so slow on Egde and even 3G that I had to resort to Opera Mini (and God knows how much I hate “Java on my phone”) to make things load at a “real world” speed (having to wait over a couple of seconds for a page to load when you’re in need for some information is not a “real world” use case, and excuse me boys and girls, but Wifi on a phone is nothing more than a fallback solution: if you’e somewhere with Wifi then you should just use a laptop IMHO, unless you’re downloading apps for the phone).
    So, is it so fast that you will skip Opera Mini on the N86 and go “Nokia Web Browser” for all and every needs ?

  • Merlin

    Now that you’ve come to this, I have something to ask: how faster is it REALLY from the E71 browser Dotsisx ?
    I mean, now that I have a “not too expensive” postpaid plan with unlimited data I’m finally using my E71 web browser on Edge/3G, and, boy I have to say it, IT SUCKS BIG TIME ! The browser loads pages so slow on Egde and even 3G that I had to resort to Opera Mini (and God knows how much I hate “Java on my phone”) to make things load at a “real world” speed (having to wait over a couple of seconds for a page to load when you’re in need for some information is not a “real world” use case, and excuse me boys and girls, but Wifi on a phone is nothing more than a fallback solution: if you’e somewhere with Wifi then you should just use a laptop IMHO, unless you’re downloading apps for the phone).
    So, is it so fast that you will skip Opera Mini on the N86 and go “Nokia Web Browser” for all and every needs ?

  • Merlin

    Just to make things clear: I live in France, and so, Dotsisx, you know now how crippled the Edge/3G network can be here when it comes to speed…

  • Merlin

    Just to make things clear: I live in France, and so, Dotsisx, you know now how crippled the Edge/3G network can be here when it comes to speed…

  • Drew Freyman

    The configurable keypad shortcuts is a nice addition to the N86 browser. I’ve been playing around with it for two weeks now and my surfing is faster. But, there is one thing absent from the browser that has been there: The option to change your connection while browsing. This was quite convenient if your connection was slow (and you had an alternate choice). Now I’m stuck until the connection stops and then I’m automatically given choices. Or, I can change the settings and start over–not a good choice. Have you noticed this?

  • Drew Freyman

    The configurable keypad shortcuts is a nice addition to the N86 browser. I’ve been playing around with it for two weeks now and my surfing is faster. But, there is one thing absent from the browser that has been there: The option to change your connection while browsing. This was quite convenient if your connection was slow (and you had an alternate choice). Now I’m stuck until the connection stops and then I’m automatically given choices. Or, I can change the settings and start over–not a good choice. Have you noticed this?

  • atmozphere

    I just hope the older models get this upgraded version of the browser (desperately want that v7.1 browser on my N96 and N78). For me the browser is the most important application since I do a lot of web browsing on the phone. The increase in the rendering speed is awesome and the increased number of shortcuts is real good news too. What I would like to see though is a possibility to map some hardware keys, especially on the double-slider phones (i.e. N96, N85, N86..). I am just thinking it would be nice to have for example page overview (8), tab toggle (5), zoom in/out (*/#) and so on (based on the user’s individual needs) mapped to those gaming keys or eventually to the volume rocker on the candybar form factor devices or even the music player control on the N96. This is particularly handy when the pages are viewed in landscape mode on the double-sliders. I know that magic key or some other apps can do that but still think that that possibility should be coming by default.

    I wonder if this 7.1 version has made it to the E55. I have so high expectations for that phone, given the CPU speed (600 MHz) and that half-qwerty keypad. The screen unfortunately is still 2.4″, which is not all that bad. I still use my N78 for a lot of browsing, though it is a much better experience on the N96.

    One more thing I would really love to see on the Nokia browser is the possibility to set up zoomed out view as a default view for the page once it is downloaded instead of having to press 8 each time.

  • atmozphere

    I just hope the older models get this upgraded version of the browser (desperately want that v7.1 browser on my N96 and N78). For me the browser is the most important application since I do a lot of web browsing on the phone. The increase in the rendering speed is awesome and the increased number of shortcuts is real good news too. What I would like to see though is a possibility to map some hardware keys, especially on the double-slider phones (i.e. N96, N85, N86..). I am just thinking it would be nice to have for example page overview (8), tab toggle (5), zoom in/out (*/#) and so on (based on the user’s individual needs) mapped to those gaming keys or eventually to the volume rocker on the candybar form factor devices or even the music player control on the N96. This is particularly handy when the pages are viewed in landscape mode on the double-sliders. I know that magic key or some other apps can do that but still think that that possibility should be coming by default.

    I wonder if this 7.1 version has made it to the E55. I have so high expectations for that phone, given the CPU speed (600 MHz) and that half-qwerty keypad. The screen unfortunately is still 2.4″, which is not all that bad. I still use my N78 for a lot of browsing, though it is a much better experience on the N96.

    One more thing I would really love to see on the Nokia browser is the possibility to set up zoomed out view as a default view for the page once it is downloaded instead of having to press 8 each time.

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