FW 200.21.118 For E71 and E66 an Overview

Posted by Farhan on January 15, 2009 · 23 Comments

So I got the Nokia E71 latest Firmware 200.21.118 last night and had the whole day to play with it here’e my review how I found it and how it matches the change log , I even had to change the Product Code of Phone via NSS as the Pakistani product code 0559577, messed up the whole Keyboard character map , even Middle East 0559571 is not good although I get Arabic / Urdu back , the only key which works ok in characters is the “.” Others are still messed up so I’ve resorted to use CHR key to enter them .

I’ve color coded my observations,

Green the additions are present
Red additions are not present for my Code or totally messed up
Blue I haven’t got the chance to check them or not applicable to me .

New functionality in MCU SW version 200.21.118:

My Nokia application – Oops , Not Present on my Middle East Product Code
Internet Radio application – Present and I can also add my favorite station beside presets
3G power reduction for applications using keep alive style messaging – Can’t say don’t have 3G in Pakistan

User experience improvements:

Easy Dialing support for Simplified Chinese language – Again Not For Me
Device Lock improvement: Open device lock with Left Soft Key + Fnkeys ( the left hand bottom most) – Nothing New already present in all phones
One key input method switch for China language- Not For Me
‘Mute’ option in Right Soft Key when wired headset / hands free is connected – Not Working
‘Loudspeaker’ option in Right Soft Key immediately when phone call is started – Works before it used to come when call was connected
Enlarge characters in Chr table- When selection bar is over a certain character it enlarges a little
NTLM v1 and v2 support for Intranet Browsing Don’t know anything about it
New black and red themes – Four New themes actually , Business Red and Black and Personal Red and Black.
Themes Shown as above Personal Red , Business Black , Business Red , Personal Black in order

Changes/improvements made to MCU SW version 200.21.118:

General

Time zones updated – Mine always worked
Improvements to localization – Yup messed up Pakistani and Middle East Character Map made my Pakistani Phone European.
Localization fixes – Total Mess
Missing localizations added - Yup Made Pakistani model into European
Operator name database updated – Haven’t check mine is always present
Startup Settings updated – Found them as usual for me
Certificates updated – Don’t Know
Security update - Unhackable ;(

Stability and functionality improvements

Barcode reader icon changed from 1D icon to 2D icon – What’s the use , functionality is the same
Windows DRM keys are not lost during NSU update from 110.07.127 – Don’t Know

QWERTY keyboard

Stability and functionality improvements – a MESS
Keyboard mapping corrections – Yeah Right , Nokia Fix my firmware

Browser

Stability and functionality improvements – still get Memory Card in Use Error when connected via cable.
Flash Lite improvements – Don’t Know

Connectivity

WLAN stability improvements – Works Fine
EAPFAST/TLS stability improved – What are they
WLAN roaming functionality improved – Works Fine
BT IOP and Dial up stability improvements – BT still sucks constantly loosing connection with my Dell

Maps

Several stability and functionality improvement – Haven’t used yet , Map version is v2.0 wk39 b04

VOIP / SIP

Many stability and functionality improvements – Never used it

Messaging

Stability and functionality improvements - It’s Fine
Performance improvement – In what way , seems a little faster

Quick office

Several stability and functionality improvements – Still old 4.1.37.3 Why not version 5 ?

Email

Mail for Exchange upgraded from version 2.5.5 to 2.7.22 – I only use Nokia Email
Improved functionality when sending email via SSL/TLS SMTP server – Can’t Say

Mobile dictionary

Stability improvements - It seems alright
Improvement for installed languages. Installed language can be removed. – Didn’t Check

Camera

Camera image improvements & slow capture correction with certain HW’s – Still sucks – It used to be purple hue , now is way too bright
Stability improvements – Still Sucks

Music player

General functionality and stability improvements – Music Store not available in Pakistan , Music Player Icons changed , Library was found corrupted on first use , rest is same

Java

Update for CLDCHI (Sun 1.1.1s Java VM) - Don’t Know

Device encryption

Device encryption functionality and stability improvements – I’ll try encrypting my card again for Card In Use error

Switch application

Application updates and stability improvements – Still works like old , but it’s smoother

So that’s a brief overview of the new firmware when compared to the Change log available on the net , some applications are country Dependent like My Phone and some are still a Mess like Camera and Character Mapping for me . I hope Nokia will realize their follies and will issue a new 105 mb update soon

UPDATE : I’ve found a way to install unsigned applications on E71 / e66 and N958gb unhackable firmwares read more at

http://senseapplied.com/index.php/bypassing-unhackable-firmware/

Making Sense of the new Firmware 200.21.118 For Nokia E71 and E66

Farhan

Filed under Nokia · Tagged with E66, E71, Firmware, Nokia

Comments

23 Responses to “FW 200.21.118 For E71 and E66 an Overview”

Patrick rice says:

January 15, 2009 at 11:32 am

Couple of things missed, or even wrong in your article, though you likely didn’t know…

Keylock behaviour – this IS a change, and for the worse, for those who actually use a PIN lock – because now instead of a simple “left Soft Key”, then enter the pin, now we have to “Left Soft Key”, then “Left Function Key”, as if it was just key-locked, before you can then enter the PIN.

And beleive me, this one tiny key addition (since when was an additional step an IMPROVEMENT Nokia, as you describe this), makes so much difference for the worse, you won’t beleive it. Even after two full days, I am still not one single bit closer to doing the new routine automatcally. And why should I be – all my other Nokias work the correct same way they have always done. Nokia should be deplored for changing years of convention like this, as small as it might seem – it makes for massive troubles.

Additional negative changes not mentioned are that camera sounds now are forced on you, even in silent mode, and the contacts list screen does crazy things (most often a plain white screen), now, instead of the correct screen as set by the theme.

Hope this info is useful. Good article you have done!
Farhan says:

January 15, 2009 at 11:41 am

@ Patrick Rice , Thank you for the comment and poinitng out the shortcomings , I’m was not familiar with PIn Lock as I only use keyboard lock without PIN , I’ll look into it .
You are right about Camera sounds I’ve made Camera Sound No 4 , a slight ping as the sound

I like the White Screen in contacts , as most of my themes are dark in color to complement the Grey Steel body and in the previous update I was unable to use the contacts correctly so it’s a welcome improvement for me
Once again thanks for liking the article
Farhan
Sully says:

January 15, 2009 at 7:14 pm

Is it not EU law that cameras are required to make noise?

Currently waiting for my phone to return from Nokia. Sent it of to fix keyboard mapping from the November FW release I upgraded to in December. They sent the phone away today (the local Nokia repair store) so should have a phone back mid-week next week.

Was told this will be the latest version I will be using. Shall test it out and see when I get it back.
Farhan says:

January 15, 2009 at 7:38 pm

@ Sully , I’ve heard that in Pakistan too Nokia Care is taking care of the problem , will visit them tomorrow to confirm
Saad says:

January 16, 2009 at 12:20 am

Farhan, Nokia Care is filled with a bunch of ‘idiots’ and not they’re not taking care of the problem. They’re suggesting that somehow replacing the ‘plastic’ keyboard on top, it’ll automatically rectify all keyboard mapping problems. They consider it a ‘hardware’ issue.

They’re are in serious need of some basic education, when it comes to dealing with firmwares and language packs.
Symbian Underground says:

January 16, 2009 at 12:29 am

>>Sully wrote: Is it not EU law that cameras are required to make noise?<<

Nope, it’s not.

But a one size fits all solution works out cheaper for Nokia than tailoring their shutter sound settings to suit the different laws of every individual country.
Farhan says:

January 16, 2009 at 1:06 am

@ Symbian Underground – In some countries like Korea and Japan shutter sounds are mandatory , don’t have to tell the reason why , but still only a handful wants it while the rest of the world is busy making noise . There are software to bypass it , I’ll find some and write about them later
Farhan says:

January 16, 2009 at 1:07 am

@ Saad , Thanks for the Headsup , still I want to go there , a lot of phones to play with also they have a Recycle Bin by Nokia I want to see
Hans says:

January 16, 2009 at 1:58 am

are the reception any better now ? It´s full when the phone leave on the table, but when i hold the E71 in my hand the signal going down
Farhan says:

January 16, 2009 at 3:25 am

@ Hans , never had a problem like that , check your service providers ’s signal strength as when you hold the phone you could be covering the anteena and in weak signal areas the bar could go down
Hans says:

January 16, 2009 at 5:18 am

look at this: http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=gi1gHDa7-X0
Farhan says:

January 16, 2009 at 5:35 am

@ Hans , I saw the video and it was very strange , as I said earlier , you could be covering the anteena like the video also demonstrated , nothing like that every happened to me could be becasue I live very near to the Cell Phone Tower .
Martain says:

January 20, 2009 at 6:12 am

Hello Farhan,

I use the E71 in combination with my built-in Bluetooth car installation. Thanks to RSAP (External SIM Mode), my contacts get displayed on the dashboard screen.

Since you had a good look at the new version, do you know if RSAP is still available and working in it?

Best regards,
Martain Spierings
Farhan says:

January 20, 2009 at 6:49 am

Hi Martin , unfortunately I don’t have a bluetooth car installation so I cannot check it , with my further reading on RSAP as it’s a Bluetooth profile service , it should work with the new firmware too . If you try it , please do inform , it will add to my knowledge
Regards
Farhan
iceburg says:

January 20, 2009 at 11:41 am

Farhan

Did you use Pakistani product code while updating or use the Middle eastern one?
Did you try update with Pakistani code, and what was the result regarding character key?

Also, Farhan, on a couple sites you gave link to this this i.e. “I’ve written a detailed overview of the new firmware , it’s shortcomings and also how to correct the character keymap problem at …” but I cannot find in this article regarding keymap resolution, sorry If I missed

The first firmware upgrade that came in November, I gave phone to Nokia ISB folks and after a month they told me its a firmware issue (key problems), pretty informative ha! they are idiots
Martain says:

January 20, 2009 at 12:54 pm

Thank you for your answer, Farhan.
Looking at all improvements on this firmware, I tend to install it.
It is very enjoyable to have RSAP on the E71 combined with the Bluetooth car installation; you can imagine
When done, I will tell you the result

Regards,
Martain
Farhan says:

January 20, 2009 at 7:13 pm

Dear Iceberg ,

With reference to your comment posted here and at technology personalized ( my previous blog which links here )

when I used the Pakistani Firmcode I lost the all the punctuation character map , the numbers and letters worked fine , I didn’t get to check the language option but with FW 110 they were Italian and German and Urdu was not supported so I’ve used the ME firmware code 0559571

http://senseapplied.com/index.php/nokia-e71-product-code-0559577-problem/

via NSS
On how to use NSS read here

http://senseapplied.com/index.php/how-to-use-nss/

Now I’ve got my “.” Full Stop / Period key back the keys on the left side like parenthesis are still a mess for them I use CHR key , I also took my phone to Nokia Care this Sat , they didn’t even knew that F/W 200.21.118 is out let alone the keymap problem , one sensible guy did asked me if I updated with NSU and told me they are still sorting the problem and will take time . Anyhow ME is the best bet atleast for me , you can try it too . just a word of caution changing Product Code voids the warranty so please follow the steps correctly
Farhan says:

January 20, 2009 at 7:40 pm

Dear Martain , it’s good to hear it worked and it worked wondefully well , if you can do send me some pics of the car kit working with E71 , I’ll post them with all credit to you
Farhan says:

March 4, 2009 at 10:04 pm

Thanks Infotech , i’m working on a blog roll will add you there too
Farhan
gerard.saade says:

November 2, 2009 at 5:54 am

i can update mine
i just need
a link other than the nokia updater
Saif says:

November 26, 2009 at 12:00 pm

Hey bro, good job.

Well done..

Proud to be Pakistani!