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Symbian ^3: Top 10 Ways To Get The Most Out Of The Nokia N8 OS
By Phil Barker on January 17,
 2011 at 00:00,

Symbian ^3 is a big step forward for Nokia, offering a fast and smooth user experience that makes devices like the Nokia N8 a pleasure to use. It's possible to get a lot more out of Symbian ^3, however. Join us after the cut to find out how...

Change the Themes

There are loads of themes available for your Nokia N8 – and you'll find a decent amount already pre-installed on the handset itself. Check out our Nokia N8: How to change themes guide to find out more.  By changing the theme, you can change the way your Nokia N8 looks - from menu colours, to icon styles, to backgrounds. There are also lots of other themes available for download, completely changing the look of Symbian ^3 and your new Nokia.

Opera Mobile

Tech website Mobile RnR have also published ten top tips for improving the Symbian ^3 experience, and we agree with lots of their suggestions. Opera Mobile is one of the better suggestions, and is the first download we made on our Nokia N8 – offering an excellent web browsing experience. From multiple homescreens, to tabbed browsing, all in a fast and stable web browser.

Update the firmware

Firmware updates are the key to getting the best experience when using Symbian^3. There are fixes for bugs, performance increases and extra features all offered through firmware updates. Type *#0000# and click on Options, then press Search for Updates to check for the latest firmware updates. Check out our firmware guide to find out more.

Swype

Swype is another area where we can't help but agree with Mobile RnR. This keyboard has the potential to change the way you enter text into your smartphone, letting you slide your finger across letters without lifting, and speeding up the process dramatically. It also lets you hold down a key to hit secondary functions – such as numbers or characters – which works a lot better than going into sub menus. Want to know more? Check out our Swype review.

Organise the menu

Versatility is one of the best bits about Symbian ^3, and it's easy to set up the menu in a way that suits your needs. You can fully utilise different folders, or move all your apps onto the main page. Check out our Nokia N8 Ultimate User Guide to find out how.

Nokia Situations or Nokia Bots

We're been particularly impressed with Nokia Situations and Nokia Bots in the past, with both of these apps letting your Nokia N8 control itself. From changing profiles at particular times, to opening certain web pages on different days, context aware apps can really change the way you use your Nokia N8.

Latest games

The Nokia N8 really does come into its own when it comes to gaming, with a load of outstanding titles currently available from the Ovi Store. From Angry Birds, to James Cameron's Avatar HD, to Real Golf 2011 HD, the graphics and gameplay on these games are out of this world, and we've been unable to put our Nokia N8 down. If you have a Nokia N8, it really is worth checking out the latest titles - you'll never be bored again.

Ovi Maps 3.06

We love Ovi Maps. Nokia's premium satellite navigation service has it all, and yet it's completely free. Ovi Maps 3.06 is the latest version, and it's worth downloading for your Nokia N8. The menus have received an overhaul, everything looks nicer, and there are new features that add to usability, such as pinch to zoom. Find out more in our Ovi Maps 3.06 review.

Webpage shortcuts

Check the same webpage a lot? Webmail, for instance, or your favourite news site? Rather than opening a browser - be it Nokia's own or Opera Mobile - it's also possible to add a shortcut to your favourite site, straight onto your Nokia N8's home page. Simply tap Options, Edit Home Screen and pick a Shortcuts bar for one of the empty spaces. Tap and hold the bar until Settings pops up, but instead of choosing an app as a shortcut, you can choose one of your internet book marks. That way, every time you tap the icon, your fave page will load straight up - it's perfect for checking the latest football scores!

Nokia Messaging.

Take advantage of Nokia's messaging service, and get your emails on the move wherever you go. From the homescreen, again tap Options and Edit Homescreen, and pick an empty space. Tap it, scroll down and click the Email widget. You'll then be taken to Nokia's email wizard - letting you easily set up your account for use on your Nokia N8. Once you've followed the guide - which basically involves you putting in your username and password - you'll get notifications of future emails on the homescreen of your Nokia N8.

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Tags: Angry Birds Avatar HD N8 Nokia Nokia messaging Nokia N8 Nokia N8 Firmware Update Opera Mobile Ovi Maps 3.06 Real Golf 2011 HD Swype Symbian ^3
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  • Stylinred

    Operas browser certainly looks great, but it’s crashed on my N8 more than a few times and many flash sites/videos do not work when using Opera yet they work on Nokias own browser also i dont like the zoom on Opera too much take with Opera compared to the Give; Nokias Browser ftw

  • RVM

    I got my N8 in the middle of december and immediatelly downloaded Opera Mobile from Ovi Store. And it wasn’t stable at all. However, the next day, i read somewhere, that there’s new version of Opera Mobile on Opera’s site which has fixed several issues with Symbian^3 compatibility. So i downladed that new version, and since then my Opera Mobile is stable as rock, didn’t crash not even once. Im actually using it all the time, except Youtube. Multitouch would be great though.

  • http://facebook david atkinson

    does this mean the glitch with the software is fixed

  • Yvonne

    Hi all,
    just a brief comment regarding the software update part:
    Instead of using *#0000#, which only leads to the device manager and is checking only for available core software updates, better use Menu > Applications > SW Update, which will give you both core as well as applications/service updates! If you then also activate the autocheck under Options > Settings > Autocheck for Updates to “On in home network” your N8 will automatically check in a 28 days cycle for available updates and prompt you if there’s something available. That’s the best and easiest way to always keep your phone up to date!

  • Mark

    Just to agree with RVM – Opera is now 10.1 which is way better than 10.0. Make sure you have the latest version onboard.

  • janet loosley

    Unless I lock the phone during a phone call, the N8 cuts off every call just from the screen touching my cheek… Gggggrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

  • Unnikrishnan Narayanaswamy

    Rita El Khoury had done this exact article about a week before you. So did u copy hers or she took your?

    You could at least have added an acknowledgment at the bottom…….

  • Phil B

    @ Unnikrishnan Narayanaswamy – look further up in the copy, Mobile RnR has actually been credited and linked to with several of the suggestions.

    Also, while the majority of the ways of improving Symbian are inevitably the same – upgrading firmware, changing themes, taking advantage of the latest Nokia Beta Labs apps – all of which we’ve mentioned and reviewed on different occasions – we haven’t opted for the same ten ways.

    We’ve avoided suggestions of using Gravity, in this case, are more than happy to stick to Nokia Messaging, and have also avoided 80 per cent of the apps mentioned on Mobile RnR – aside from those which we’ve already rated highly here on NokNok.

    Again, we’re more than happy to use Ovi Sync, rather than recommend a method – Google – that we haven’t yet tried. We’ve also avoided Mobile Documents – so 4/10 are completely different.

    Still, we were more than happy to link through to Rita El Khoury’s article – the more options our readers have for tweaking their Nokias, the better.

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