S603rd Edition Freeware

Update Latest version (supports S60 3rd edition until the latest Symbian Belle) is available in Ovi Store, it has been renamed to SMS To File (1 USD).

Update: 28 June 2010. Certificate have been updated. Now MsgExport can export in UTC and Local Time. SMSLog directory will be created if it doesn’t exist yet. MsgExport can export user folders. Application is compatible with s60 5th edition (just hit continue when you get the warnings about app is not compatible when installing).

Nokia PC Suite can backup/archive your SMS messages to PC, but it’s a Windows only application. I am using Linux, and my wife is using Mac OS X, so we need an application to archive our SMS. There are some commercial applications (such as SMS Diary or MessageStorer), but I don’t want to buy that kind of application. As a developer, I have many Symbian Series (Series 60 2nd edition, Series 60 3rd edition, Series 80, UIQ 2, and UIQ 3 device) buying $10 application for each of my device will cost me $50.

I also found a freeware called SMSExport (which is produced by http://m-internet.com) from some Russian site. The software is no longer listed in the official website mentioned in the about page of the application, so I don’t know the latest status (whether it is still free, and will it be supported in the future). SMSExport can only export SMS to many individual text files.

So after thinking about it, I decided to write my own program to export my SMS and release it as a freeware. I called this application MsgExport. For now this application can only export SMS (not yet MMS). It can export to HTML (UTF-8 Encoding, so it should support any characters), and Text. When exporting, it will create 2 files, one is ordered by contact name, and the other is ordered by date. If you have memory card in your phone, it will export to E:\SMSLOG, and if not, it will create the file in C:\DATA\SMSLOG\. The filename contains current date and time. If you cancel the application, it will stop at the point when you press cancel (the messages that are already exported will not be deleted).

In the future, I am planning to port this application to all of my my Symbian phones.

You can download MsgExport here.

Your comment and suggestions are welcome.

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Conversation is one of the software from Nokia Beta Labs. This simple application lets you view the SMS messages that you have sent and received in a chat-like form. When you run this application, you can select a contact, and it will display the messages that you have sent to that contact and the messages that you have received from that contact. Actually, you don’t even need to run the application as it will be integrated to the contacts menu when you install this application. From the contact list, just press right to activate Conversation.

You can also quickly delete messages sent to or received from a contact (a rather dangerous feature if you are not careful). This application is very useful, and I hope it will be included by default on future Symbian phones. You can download this application from: Here

One important thing that prevents viruses from spreading in the Symbian 9 platform is that an unsigned program can not be autoexecuted during boot. That is why you wont find an unsigned program that can auto start on boot. If you found an unsigned program that you want to start during startup, you can use PowerBoot. For example you might want to auto start your Torrent download, or autostart your messenger program. You can also use PowerBoot to start a signed program that doesn’t have autostart feature.

In my opinion the user interface is horrible, but it does allow you to startup almost anything present in your system. You will find a list of EXEs (instead of their friendly names), and there is no search box to quickly find an application. The easiest way to use PowerBoot is to start the application you want to auto start, close all other applications, and look under the “Running Apps” tab to find EXEs from C: or E: drive (Z: is ROM, contains system applications). You should be able to guess from the name.

PowerBoot can be downloaded from this URL:

http://www.wireless-labs.com/powerboot/

Sometimes typing something is faster than point and click, and this has been proven by the popularity of QuickSilver in Mac, an application that can be used to launch applications (and do some actions) quickly by typing. I always wished that I can do the same in my Nokia E61 (update: with freeware app).

For every application that I often use, I have put the shortcut in the standby screen, and for application that I use but not too often, I put them in the top level menu. The standby screen is always fast, but the menu is always very slow even with the latest firmware version. Things gets worse when I tried to open “Installat.” (which contains all installed applications, and all new applications that I haven’t decide whether to use them often or not). The “Installat.” folder is very slow to open.

I thought it will be very easy to write an application to do what I want: type in some program name, click, and it will be launched. So I decided write such application, and named it AppQLaunch. It won’t help when the application is very slow to start (such as Nokia Maps), but it really helps me launching small applications quickly. This program is not polished (it even uses default icon), but I hope it will be useful for someone. Ideas are welcomed to improve this application.

You can download it here: AppQLaunch

Thanks to LTH for the bug report about the numeric keys on E65 (and all phones that doesn’t have QWERTY keyboard like E61). I have fixed it now, just forgot to set the focus on the search box.

Update (23 January 2008): New version of AppQLaunch is available. Download it here: AppQLaunch 1.1

New features are:
– faster startup
– textfield is cleared after an application is launched

Bug fix:
– “refresh list” now removes uninstalled applications

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This is not a new software, but I have only tested it after I have my GPS. This application can help you track many things that are related to your outdoor activities that involves movement (such as walking, running, cycling, etc). Start this application before doing your outdoor activities, and it will show you the routes you have taken, your speed, time, how many laps you have taken, and also your path. The last part is also useful when you are traveling using taxi, you can see whether the driver has taken you through a straight path, or circling around (that thing happens in many developed countries). I wished that Nokia would merge this functionality to its Nokia Maps, because now you can only a black background for your path.

The data for your activities can be saved, and it can be exported as GPX, XML, CSV, and even Google Earth Data. Everything is displayed beautifully, with many graphs. It seems that they have added as many features as possible, but I don’t know if there is something important missing there because I don’t do many outdoor activities.

You can download this application from Nokia: http://www.nokia.com/A4388200