A major concern for many when choosing a smartphone is the availability of a synchronization of contacts and backups of information, then the inheritance of Palms and Pocket PCs

For devices with the S60 you can use Nokia PC Suite, which offers options to edit your contacts, transfer files, modify the commitments included in the agenda and so on. One of the strengths is that you can edit contacts directly through the PC without the need to synchronize as the Palms. All changes are applied directly on the smartphone, you need not bother to activate the synchronization.

You can even use it to manage multiple devices, even when connected to different interfaces. In recent versions, there is even the possibility of connecting two or more devices simultaneously.

The main trick is that, in addition to using good old USB, connect the smartphone to PC Suite mode, you can buy a Bluetooth transmitter and release the wires. When you use Bluetooth you will access the service simply leaving the smartphone near the micro (the connection is established automatically) without having to get together and undocked cables. It is a detail that seems simple at first sight, but just making a big difference during use, so you end up using the functions in many situations where it is needed first use the cable snaps.

After making the pairing, do not forget to access the "Settings> Connectivism.> Bluetooth" on the smartphone and make your PC as authorized device, so that the connection to the PC Suite can be established automatically. Even using Bluetooth, you can use the USB at the time of transferring large files, therefore, to connect the smartphone, it automatically switches to USB mode.

As seen in the screenshot, PC Suite is actually composed of various specialized applications, which are triggered as you click on Options. The main functions are:

Backup: Traditional backup of internal memory, including all settings and installed applications. It creates a compressed file that is saved on your PC and can be restored if desired. It is also used when you want to transfer your data from one device to another.

Sync: Synchronize your calendar and contacts with Outlook, Outlook Express, Lotus Organizer and Lotus Notes.

Connect to the Internet: Access the web using the smartphone as a modem via USB or Bluetooth, by automating the configuration of the connection (we will study in detail in Chapter 5). Naturally, it is only usable for those of USA an unlimited data plan (or a generous share of traffic). Do not try to use it if you subscribe to any post-paid plan without traffic data, otherwise, have a traumatic surprise at the end of the month. : #

File Manager: Access to basic smartphone files. He is a bit limited, because most of the hidden folders in the internal memory and does not allow you to access the files on the memory card if another application is accessing files on card (if you're listening to music or watching video on a smartphone, for example).

Contacts and Messages: Access to contacts and messaging (both SMS and email as if you are using e-mail client of Nokia) in the smartphone. Read the SMS using the PC is a great advantage (as they are short messages, after all), but you can copy and save the numbers responding in the browser using the free SMS service operators (or any application for sending SMS for free the PC such as jSMS).

Download music, store images and transfer videos: These are the basic functions of transfer of media, which convert the files (especially the videos) for the appropriate forms, before transferring. There is also a feature to rip CDs

Installing applications: This is more a function of time of the Palms, where the only way to install applications was transferring them from the PC. Instead of using this function, you can simply download the installation files directly to the card and install them using the file manager.

Download the map: This feature is available to install Nokia Map Loader, a companion of Nokia Maps, which is used to transfer the maps to the smartphone, to use Nokia Maps in offline mode. We will see more details about it in the chapter on GPS.

For firmware updates, we have the Nokia Software Updater, accessible through the "Update phone software". To use it, you need only connect the device via the USB port on the "PC Suite" and let him identify the model and check the availability of updates.

When you update it first downloads the files, leaving to do the updates themselves only after the download. The process is simple and safe, but as usual, there is the possibility to leave the device inoperable (forcing you to use a service center of Nokia) if the update is interrupted in the process, so it is always advisable do it using a laptop or a PC with nobreak.

The updates must be approved by the carriers, which means that in many cases they are pending for several months or even years, before being made available through the software updater. This means that you still get a message "No software updates available, but updates are already available:

In such cases, it is possible to trick the updater changing the identification code of the unit, as we shall see in detail in Chapter 8.

Many of the recent devices (like the N79) offer support Fota (firmware over the air), where the updates can be made to the device through a data connection available, without the PC. To access the function (on compatible devices), simply type * # 0000 # on the splash screen and use the "Check for updates". At first glance, this may seem quite risky (since the transfers do not always using the cellular network are stable), but the process is very secure, with checks being made at each step and the update is initiated only when all data are available.

Indeed, the PC Suite (and other software for synchronization) is slowly becoming obsolete, due to the development of smartphones, which, to earn and spend more resources to access the web through 3G connection or Wi-Fi, are becoming increasingly independent of PCs This is also one of the reasons there is a lot of noise around a version of Nokia PC Suite for Linux, as most simply access the functions directly, without him. Look:

E-mail: If you USA Gmail or an Exchange server, you can use, respectively, the Gmail mobile client or the Mail for Exchange to access email in real time without the need to be synchronized manually (see more details the topic of mobile e-mail). Even if you are a USA e-mail account regularly, you can use your own application messages, configuring it to access email via IMAP.

Calendar and contacts: While accessing the contacts from smartphone using PC Suite is practical, not a really important feature. You can simply focus your agenda of contacts in the smartphone, without the PC.

If you use an Exchange server, you can use the Mail for Exchange to sync contacts and calendar directly, also without the need to synchronize from the PC. USA If you Gmail, you can also access the contacts via the "Menu> Go To> Contacts" from the mobile client. You can even synchronize your calendar with your Google Calendar using Calsync, available at: http://s60addons.com/calsync/

Photos and videos: Configure the application of the camera to save images and videos directly to microSD card (instead of using the internal memory). Thus, you can simply connect the smartphone in mode of data transfer and access the files in the folders "Images" and "Videos" of the card.

If your goal is to publish the photos on the web, you can use the Share on OVI (http://share.ovi.com/), offered by the Nokia, which can be accessed directly through the S60 Browser. For Flickr you can use the Share Online(http://www.flickr.com/nokia/), a small application that adds the option to upload the photos from the gallery.The observation is that it is not yet available for all models. Another option is the Shozu, availablehttp://www.shozu.com.

Music and movies: Unless you use any obscene bitrate to rip your CDs, you can simply transfer your music directly to the card, no need any conversion. For videos, use the tips on the topic of video players, so the follow.

Backup: You can create and restore backups directly on the smartphone using the "Tools> Memory." Using the "Options> Backup mem card." compressed backup is created, except the folder "Backup" of the card. From there, you can use the same option if you want to update the backup, or use the "Restore from card 'to restore the saved backup. You can make additional copies of the backup simply copying the contents of the folder to somewhere safe.

Exchange of equipment: The major limitation of these local backups is that they will not allow you to migrate data to another device, as (perhaps for reasons of safety), each recognizes only its own backups.

To transfer data directly between two devices, you can use the "Tools> Exchange, other small utility that is available on any device with the S60. Although the option to download via infrared is still available in most cases you will use the sync via Bluetooth (which in addition to being present in most models, is faster). Just turn the Bluetooth on both devices and follow the instructions of the utility to do the pairing between them and make the connection. With everything ready, is missing only select items to synchronize and wait the end of the transfer:

Another option for transferring data and files directly between two devices (within the idea of not need the PC) would use the Files on OVI, service backup and share files of Nokia (https: / / files.ovi.com) . If you have an unlimited 3G or fast access via Wi-Fi, you can even use it as a virtual disk, complementing the capacity of the card.

Installation Program: If you have access to the web smartphone, either via 3G, EDGE or Wi-Fi, install programs directly is actually simpler than doing so through the PC because you need only access the site and click on link to download using the S60 Browser. The system recognizes the file extension and offers to install it. In most cases, a script on the page will detect the device and offer the correct version for download (as in thehttp://m.google.com) , so you need not even take the time to find it.

Finally, another noteworthy application related to the independence of PC Suite is the Mobile Web Server (a project within the Betalabs). It allows transform your smartphone into a small web server that can be used either via local network (where you connect via Wi-Fi and access via IP address) and via web, accessible through a link in style "https: / / fulano.mymobilesite.net "that you set to enable the service.

Within the local network, the more interesting possibility is to use it to access the contacts and calendar, as a replacement for the PC Suite. It works well in Firefox, which makes it a good choice for use in Linux:

The access is controlled through the accounts defined in the configuration and the pages are accessed via https, so the security is satisfactory. You may notice that it even includes a function of blog (whose usefulness is debatable, since you could simply create a private blog on WordPress), which in theory could be used as an additional option of communication.

USA If you plan to access with a traffic limit, you can also access it via web, via the address in mobileserver.net, which acts as a dynamic DNS service. Two interesting features in this case are a function of location and use the remote camera.

The use of location can see (in the devices with integrated GPS) the current position of the unit, which can be a relief to worried parents. The use of remote camera could be used eg to transform a relatively old machine (as an E61i) on a security camera, where you leave the unit permanently connected into the outlet and connected to Wi-Fi network, so as to access it at any time and see what is happening. In addition, the resources are also available for access to contacts, blog and all others that are available to access the server via LAN.