N95 tools and applications

[crossy]

Best things I got for my N95, (apart from a big memory card):

1. Nokia GPS receiver - actually I got this as part of a N770 Navigation Kit - but it's a really good receiver. Think it's something like CDW-3W or similar name, (memory fade). It's quite small (about the size of a big pack of gum) with good battery life and SirfStarIII so it locks on quite quickly.
2. CoPilot - it suits me better than Nokia Maps - although (imho) the navigation option for the latter is actually quite good value for money.
3. Good crystal case - tried a "cheap" one from a moby shop and that cracked within a couple of hours. The replacement - from the local O2 shop - was 1/2 the price and is still going strong three months later (although it's good and scuffed).

Maybe one of these days I'll be allowed to upgrade to the latest firmware. I'm with 3 (stop laughing please!) and when I checked last week they were still pushing v12 as the latest one.

Good phone though, shame that 3's customer service is laughably awful..

[Lee H]

There is a way to debrand the phone and remove all the network providers menu's and this then allows the upgrade to the latest firmware.

I have a link to a very easy guide here - hell... even I did 3 phones on the first night, it's that simple.

However, if you follow this guide please note you do so under your own risk. Neither myself, the author are liable for the damage that can result from doing it wrong. Therefore READ and digest before playing with your phone!

The link is Here

[Templar87]

That's a great link Lee. Other than getting rid of the annoying vodaphone pap (which would be nice) is there any performance/other benefit?

Do you also lose settings like default voicemail, text centre etc?

Cheers,
Temp

[Lee H]

When I did my mates 'orange' phone it removed all the branding and allowed him to install the latest firmware. It never affected his SMS, voicemail and other settings.

So far he's commented on the fact it now responds quicker to key presses and also his battery life seems to be longer now.

[Templar87]

Sounds good to me :-) Definitely going to give it a try.

[Blitzen]

I didnt bother taking off the branding.
I just flashed it and it all works ok.

[Templar87]

I didnt bother taking off the branding.
I just flashed it and it all works ok.

and it still removes the phone-company's stuff?

[Templar87]

Ach, it hasn't worked with my 8GB as the branded firmware is the same version as the latest one - will just have to wait a while I guess...

[Lee H]

If you want to debrand the phone you need the Nemesis Service Suite and then you need to change the product code on the N95 to 0534841 in order to use the European 1 generic settings ( english, french, german etc ), well thats all I did to my mates, whacked in the USB and voila - new updated firmware installed.

You can see this on the screendump I've created

[Templar87]

Ah I've realised my mistake - I was using the same code as the guide used which doesn't work on the 8GB. Bit silly in hindsight :-) It's 0549487 for anyone who can use it btw.

[Monks]

Damn T-Mobile still on v12

only just got it so dont want to risk bricking it and having nothing

[Templar87]

Damn T-Mobile still on v12

only just got it so dont want to risk bricking it and having nothing

The risks are pretty minimal - short of your computer dying there's not much to go wrong. Nothing wrong with being safe though, I take your point.

[crossy]

Maybe one of these days I'll be allowed to upgrade to the latest firmware. I'm with 3 (stop laughing please!) and when I checked last week they were still pushing v12 as the latest one.

Good phone though, shame that 3's customer service is laughably awful..

They must of heard me - sometime last week 3's version of the v20 firmware escaped, and that's what I've got on the moby now.

Nice - it's quicker. Not so happy that it canned all my settings and PC Suite doesn't recover them. Oh and all my games, texts etc also got missed by PC Suite.

Memo to self - find a decent way of backing this up!

[Sinizter]

I recently downloaded a beta copy of JoikuSpot. It is a bit of software that turns any WiFi enabled Nokia smart phone into a WiFi access point, allowing you to surf the internet on a laptop when you don't have another internet connection (The internet back haul goes over your 3G subscription so it is best to be on an 'all you can eat' tariff)..

Useful little utility. But I cant even bear to think what it would do to the already miserable battery life. I cant go through two days without charging - and I dont even do much - few calls, maybe 40 mins max per day, usually ten-twenty and maybe 5 texts max, most days with one text and it still needs charging every night.