What cool things could I do with a WiFi capable Nokia phone?

December 30, 2008 7:20 PM

What cool things could I do with a WiFi capable Nokia phone?

I've recently got a new smartphone, the Nokia E51, as an insurance replacement for my old phone. I was excited when I found out it's wifi capable, but so far I've only really managed to browse the web. I'm sure there are many more interesting things I can do, but lacking imagination and/or experience I turn to you metafilter :)

It's a Symbian based phone, S60, can take microSD cards and has a headphone output. Full HTML browser and can do WEP/WPA(2) wireless security et etc.

There are many wireless hotspots about in my hometown, not just in my house.

Many thanks in advance!

(also I hope this helps anyone else who might be interested)

posted by ilumos to technology (11 answers total)

Put Python on it. From here, you can explore all kinds of interesting applications.
posted by Nelsormensch at 7:32 PM on December 30, 2008

Putty is available for it.
posted by pompomtom at 7:39 PM on December 30, 2008

(oh, and as to web browsing, I've found Opera mini far more pleasant than the default one on my N95)
posted by pompomtom at 8:10 PM on December 30, 2008

Buy and run JoikuSpot, which lets you use the phone's WiFi capability to share its cellular data connection with any WiFi-enabled computers in your general area. A thousand times easier than screwing around with USB cables or Bluetooth "DUN" tethering, and guaranteed to make you lots of friends if you're ever stuck somewhere with people who don't have cell data but have laptops.

IMO it's worth buying the "Premium" edition because the others limit you to HTTP only via some sort of proxy server, which sucks. The Premium edition forwards IP packets, letting you do whatever you want (including VOIP and accessing a VPN).

Just be careful; running it continuously can drain your battery in a few hours. (I recommend dialing back your WiFi power to the lowest setting rather than the default 300mW or so, if you can.) At the low power setting it will run the better part of a day.
posted by Kadin2048 at 8:33 PM on December 30, 2008 [1 favorite]

When I'm not sitting right at my computer and I'm feeling lazy, I use my phone to skip tracks on my media player. I know the particulars of how to do this with Foobar2000, but I'd imagine there are similar solutions available for any reasonably popular media player.
posted by sinfony at 8:47 PM on December 30, 2008

I use GooSync to keep my E51's calendar synchronized with my Google Calendar.

Use Fring to chat and talk over voip with gtalk/yahoo/skype/msn contacts.

I love its multi alarm feature.

Use MSoffice Word/Excel files.

The home key when pressed for a few seconds shows a list of all active applications. Its important to close applications you are not using to keep battery utilization low.

You could subscribe to RSS feeds? I don't use the phone's rss reader but rather Google Reader via thw web browser.

If you don't have a data plan, make sure you don't select your cell phone provider's Hotspots (ATT Wireless etc) for browsing else you'll want to throw away your phone cos of the bills...


I love my E51. Get creative :P :)
posted by bbyboi at 9:56 PM on December 30, 2008 [1 favorite]

Use it as a wireless webcam. I think the software is called mobiola something.
posted by GleepGlop at 10:29 PM on December 30, 2008

And here are some cool uses for the camera of your Nokia phone. You can even use the phone as a whiteboard scanner.
posted by labnol at 2:42 AM on December 31, 2008 [1 favorite]

I'm on the verge of buying one of these (E51). Does anyone know if the onboard wifi is compatible with T-Mobile's WiFi at Home service? Because that would really rock.
posted by fourcheesemac at 8:59 AM on December 31, 2008

@Fourcheesemac:

Does T-Mobile's Wifi Service require a software to be installed on your computer or it works like an access point to which you connect to (home router)?

My E51 works with all home routers and my university's free wifi.
posted by bbyboi at 4:34 PM on December 31, 2008

Thanks loads guys, you mefites never fail to impress :)


Take care, and happy new year!
posted by ilumos at 11:10 AM on January 1, 2009