Nokia 9500 Communicator

Details of the Nokia 9500, the communicator with a keyboard designed to be one of the first smartphones


Nokia 9500

The Nokia
9500 is powered by Symbian OS v7 (Series 80), and is a combined
mobile phone and PDA – one of the latest in Nokia’s Series 80
‘Communicator’ series. The 9500 is a major upgrade on the Nokia
9210/9210i and has the following features:

  • QWERTY keyboard
  • Tri-band
    for use in Europe& the US
  • Wi-fi, Bluetooth, USB and Infrared connectivity
  • Camera (640×480 resolution)
  • SMS, MMS and Email messaging
  • 80Meg
    of onboard RAM, plus slot for MMC cards
  • Hands-free speakerphone
  • Word
    processor, spreadsheet viewer and editor, presentation viewer
    and editor
  • Weight: 222 g
  • Dimensions: 148 x 57 x 24 mm
  • Screen: 640 x 200 pixels. 65,536 colours (not touchscreen)
  • Battery: 200-300 hours standby, 4-6 hours talk time

For full
details, take a look at Nokia’s
9500 page

Availability: Available from November 2004 – Replaced in 2007 by Nokia E90

More details:

9500 ClosedThe
Nokia 9500 Communicator became available in late 2004 and is a replacement
to the 9210i Communicator. It have a landscape
screen and keyboard, which makes it ideal for the business user, as well
as an up-to-date PDA familiar to anyone that’s owned a Psion handheld
PDA.

It’s a powerful device with the usual PDA features such as Contacts, Calendar,
cut-down office applications, email access and a built-in web browser.
One of its strongest selling points is the keyboard, ideally suited to
business users who can’t get the hang of PDAs with touchscreen and handwriting
recognition.

The Nokia 9500 weighs in just
over at 220 grams and measuring 148 x 57 x 24 mm, making it more compact
and around 10% lighter than the earlier 9210
communicator. If you’re looking for something slightly less chunky,
you could consider the Nokia 9300 – a slightly
less feature-packed, but smaller, member of Nokia’s Communicator family.

Connectivity is certainly one
of this phone’s strong points – as well as being a tri-band phone (for
use in Europe and the US), it supports dialup, GPRS
and EDGE data transfer, and comes with 802.11b Wi-fi
access as well as Bluetooth, making
it extremely good at communicating with other devices, PCs and even
networks. It also has USB and infrared (IR) connectivity as standard.

Tools screen

The 9500 runs the powerful Symbian
Series 80 operating system, and Nokia have worked with leading industry
partners to help design applications for the new Communicator and ease
integration into business environments. In addition, the Nokia 9500
integrates with industry standard messaging platforms.

Media screen

Email access is supported, and
web browsing is courtesy of the popular Opera web browser. To add to
the power of this device, there’s some extra software on the accompanying
CD, the device supports MP3 playback, has the RealPlayer (audio and
video), has a camera, and can be customised with special clip-on covers.
Memory-wise, it comes with 80Meg (the 9210 only had 20Meg), and supports
MMC memory cards for additional memory.

Web browser

All in all, there’s a lot packed
into this device – well worth looking at for anyone that wants a pocketable
keyboarded PDA with top-of-the range features and connectivity.

Useful Nokia 9500 links:



Nokia 9500 software?Please visit Handango

FAQ

Email
from your communicator		 If you’re
looking to use your communicator phone for sending and receiving
e-mail, consider taking out an account with free provider, BT Yahoo.
For details of connectivity, see our Series 80 connectivity page.
How
do I install software?

A SIS fileSoftware
for Symbian OS phones is normally supplied using a Symbian installation
file (with a .sis extension). This is a single file that contains
the components needed to get a piece of software installed and
ready to run. A SIS file can be run on a Symbian phone (e.g. from
the Inbox or via a file
manager. It can also be run via the PC connectivity solution
that was supplied on the CD with the handset.

Sometimes
SIS files are distributed inside a ZIP file (for compression).
See the ZIP section of this FAQ
for details of how to extract a SIS file from a ZIP file

Assuming
you have a SIS file on your PC/Mac (either downloaded from the
Internet or on a CD), the ways to install a SIS file onto your
handset are as follows:

  • Beaming
    – Beam the file to your handset from your PC using Bluetooth
    or IR.     If
    you don’t currently have the ability to beam files to the handset
    via Bluetooth or infrared
    (either from another handheld device or from a PC), then you
    may wish to purchase an IRDA adapter for your PC (this means
    you’ll be able to install software, backup and synchronise data
    between phone and PC).
    Beamed files can be found in the Messaging application, in the
    Inbox folder

    Beamed file
  • Install
    via PC     – Assuming you’ve installed the PC connectivity suite
    that was supplied with your phone, look for the "Install
    software" option. You’ll need to have the handset connected
    to the PC via serial, Bluetooth or infrared for this to work.
  • By
    email     – The alternative, is to email the file that you’re
    trying to install, typically a SIS (Symbian installation file)
    to your own email account, and then use your phone to logon
    to your email (details) and download
    the SIS file as an attachment into your phone’s Messaging Inbox.
  • Via
    memory card     – You can transfer the SIS file to the handset
    via the card slot and a PC MMC Memory
    card reader    . Copy files onto an MMC from your PC, and then
    insert the MMC card into your handset. You’ll can then use the
    file manager to access the file.
Compressed
ZIP files		 If you’ve downloaded an
application and find you can’t install it – make sure the file you’re
trying to install is a SIS (Symbian Installation) file. Many files
are distributed in a compressed form (using the ZIP file format).
If the file has a .ZIP extension, you’ll need to unzip it first.
You can do this with a PC application such as WinZip, or on the phone itself using the ZipMan
application.
Accessories?

There’s
a wide range of accessories, including spare batteries, cases, chargers,
in-car kits, hands-free units, data cables and fascias, available at Carphone
Warehouse and MobileShop.
Operating
system		 Series
80 phones use the Symbian Operating System.
To check the version number, from the front panel, type *#0000#.

The handset
can be upgraded to the latest version of the operating system at
approved Nokia
Service Centres – If the phone is still under warranty, this
will be done free-of-charge. The process takes up to an hour, but
service centre policies vary depending on how busy they are, and
whether they have the reprogramming equipment onsite. Note that
all data is lost when you upgrade, so it’s vital to do your own
backup first. Online upgrades are not available.
How
do I connect my Series 80 phone to my PC?

The Communicator
is supplied with Nokia’s connectivity suite on CD – it’s also
available from the support area at www.nokia.com.

  • Belkin Bluetooth adapter
    Bluetooth
    connection    . From the phone, select ‘Desk > Tools >
    Control panel > Connections > Bluetooth’. Set ‘Bluetooth
    active’ to "Yes", then move to the ‘Paired devices’
    tab. You should now be able to search for all Bluetooth devices
    in range. When you’ve found your PC, pair with it, and then you
    should be able to use the Nokia Connectivity package to select
    the file you want to send to the phone.

    Bluetooth


    If your PC doesn’t support Bluetooth, then you can add it cheaply and easily using a USB
    Bluetooth adapter. We recommend the Belkin
    USB Bluetooth adapter     available for around £15 from amazon.co.uk.
    For details
    of Bluetooth, see our Bluetooth
    page    .
  • USB infrared from Maplin
    IR connection. From
    the keyboard, hold down the ‘Chr’ key and press the right arrow
    to turn the phone’s IR on. Line up the phone with the PC infrared port, and Windows should
    detect the phone. Then, use the Nokia Connectivity package to
    select the file you want to send to the phone. For
    more on IR, see our PC
    connectivity page
    There are several IR adapters available, including the pictured
    ‘USB-IRDA Adaptor’ from Maplin Electronics (Cat no: RV88V).

  • Memory card drive
    Memory card reader.
    If you don’t want to beam files from your PC to the phone, another
    option is to make use of the MMC card slot in the phone. Get
    hold of a Memory card reader for around £20 and copy files onto an MMC card plugged into
    your PC. Find out more on our Memory
    card     page.
Alternative connectivity software

Rather than the software that came as standard with the phone, there’s a rather useful third-party application called Oxygen II– This application supports Contacts, Calendar, Messaging and file management.
For details of how this works, take a look at our Oxygen page
Extra
memory		 MMC card
The communicators
support MMC cards for memory expansion. Nokia can sell you their
own MMC cards, but their prices for Nokia-branded cards are higher
than for standard cards. We’ve not heard of any incompatibility
with non-Nokia cards, so it’s worth shopping around to get a third-party
card. Here are a few online options:

  • Amazon
    – Always a good choice for reliable delivery at good prices
  • eBay.co.uk
    – bid for
    new cards at low prices!

For more
details, see our Memory Card
page
What
about wi-fi?

The Nokia 9500 supports
802.11 wi-fi wireless networking. For more details on wi-fi, see
our dedicated Wi-fi page

Wireless LAN
Hotmail
and AOL access?

Hotmail and AOL use proprietary email systems,
as opposed to the more common POP email systems – this makes it tricky to access mail on a mobile device. For email on the move,
consider using a standard POP3 provider such as BT Yahoo (see setup details) that offers free email accounts that can be configured on mobile phone email programs.

If you
want to access your Hotmail or AOL email, there are several options:

  • General: Try using a web browser on your phone (such as the Opera browser) to access Hotmail / AOL’s service via their webmail
    interface.
  • Hotmail: Use
    the built-in WAP browser and from ‘Services’, enter the URL http://mobile.msn.com , and you’ll be able to access
    your Hotmail mail via WAP. There are some complications with
    this option, which we’ve detailed on our WAP
    page
  • AOL:
    We’ve also been directed to
    an AOL
    Mail FAQ     that suggests that a suitable email program     can be configured to get email access via
    IMAP (as opposed to POP3). Many smartphones and PDAs support IMAP (check in the email section). For devices that don’t support IMAP, you can download one from Handango
  • AOL: A posting
    in our forum     suggests another option: Open AOL. Go to AOL
    Keyword. Type ‘AOL Mobile’ . Open AOL on your Mobile. Under
    Get Started, Open ‘Sign up now’.

For
more help, see our Connected? page
Receive & send
faxes on your mobile		 If you
need to receive faxes, but don’t have access to a fax machine, take
a look at efax.com. They’ll give you a fax number, and forward faxes direct to your email account as an attachment. You can then use the messaging application to retrieve
your faxes on the move. You can also use this service to send faxes.
FM
radio?		 Some mobiles
come with a built-in FM radio. We’re often asked whether software
is available to add a radio to a phone that doesn’t have a built-in
FM radio. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple, as it’s not just
a software issue. Phones that have built-in radios contain dedicated
hardware in the phone to do this (an FM RF tuner)… and if your
phone doesn’t have this software, then you’re out of luck. If you’re
really desperate to listen to radio from your handset, note that
it is possible to listen to streaming audio over the Internet via
GPRS, although don’t expect the results to be up to much!
Can
I use it as a modem?		 Yes, using
Infrared or Bluetooth.

  • ModemInfrared
    – The handset has a ‘Modem’ option under ‘Connectivity’. Selecting
    this option allows another device (such as a Pocket PC or Laptop)
    to connect to the Internet using infrared. If the equipment
    you wish to connect to doesn’t have infrared, consider a ‘USB-IRDA
    Adaptor’ from Maplin Electronics (Cat no: RV88V).
  • Bluetooth –
    You can also use the communicator as a modem from a Bluetooth
    PDA, or a PC with Bluetooth connectivity (such as a Belkin USB Bluetooth adapter). For more, see our Bluetooth
    page.
What’s
my phone’s serial number?
 From
the front cover, enter ‘*#06#‘ as if it were a phone number, to
get your handset’s serial number (known as the IMEI) – useful to keep
a note of in case your phone is stolen. You may also need this number
when registering certain types of software.
Where’s
WAP?		 On the Nokia 9210, a separate
WAP browser was available on the Nokia CD. With the new communicators,
the wap browsing is done using the supplied Opera Web Browser. For
help on accessing WAP, see our Series
80 WAP page
SMS to PC?

If you’re looking to copy your SMS text messages to a PC, you’ll find that the Nokia PC Suite software doesn’t support this. The best option is to try Oxygen II– This is an alternative PC Suite and supports copying of SMS, MMS and other message types, as well as a few other things that Nokia suite can’t do. Take a look at our Oxygen page
Data
conversion		 For help with information
on converting your Contacts, Calendar and documents for viewing
on your phone, see our Conversion page
for some general guidance.

Need
help? Please ask in our Series
80 forum

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