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Is the N80ie upgrade worth it if you dont use VoIP?

16 replies · 6,503 views · Started 24 January 2007

al18ex 24 Jan 2007, 19:53

Hello,

I am just curious to know whether anyone has noticed any benefits after upgrading their N80 from the bog-standard N80 to N80ie firmware?

From what I've read (and im most likely wrong) the only big change seems to be just allowing VoIP calls?

Does anyone notice the phone running smoother? Or any other benefits?

Its just that I dont think i'll use the VoIP much as i only have the WLAN in my flat and spend most of my time at work or in the pub etc..

Is the VoIP good? Do you find yourself using it much?

At the moment i have the following firmware for my Orange N80 (It says its the latest on NSU):
4.0623.0.41
26-01-2006
N80 (31.04)

I found the following changelog on the net and it seems like theres a possible good upgrade to the camera but not much else:

Additional applications (market dependent)
* Adobe PDF reader (Already in N80 standard)
* QuickOffice (Already in N80 standard)
* Lifeblog (Already in N80 standard)
* Kodak (Already in N80 standard)
* Search (Already in N80 standard)
* Catalogs (Replaced with Download!)
* Anti-Virus (Already in N80 standard but moved to Download! server)
* Download! (New for Internet Edition)
* Internet Telephone (New for Internet Edition)
* Yahoo GO! (New for Internet Edition)

Additional Services
* Online Album (market dependent)

Menu structure
* New "internet" folder created and the following applications are moved/added to "Internet" folder.

WEB
* Internet Telephone
* Download!
* Search

New Support
* HS-69 enhancement is now supported
* Important changes in Video Sharing
* The addition of SIP VoIP means some changes in the SIP provisioning. The following provisioning information is needed in the OTA message otherwise Video Sharing will not work:
* Important information when using Backup and restore when moving to the new Software.
* When restoring a backup image from a previous release of software the 'Internet' Folder is lost and the applications are moved to the 'My Own' folder.

FOTA
* (Pull) is now enabled in most variants

Audio
* Music Player fails to play .M4A HE-AAC file
* bass boost in equaliser

Bluetooth
* Improved sniff mode
* fixes audio problems with BT headsets and carkits

Browser
* Update UA Header for PR2.1
* Browser rendering and wrapping correction for Chinese characters

Calendar
* Symbian Calendar Interim API does not accept Microsoft's Recurrence IDs

Camera
* Improvements in mains frequency compensation in video mode
* Burst mode can take different jpeg quality
* Audio/video missync in recorded video
* Update Noise filter to improve low light handling in still images

Contacts
* Voice tag issue with phonebook when adding new contacts

Data
* Phone cannot find other network if you have actived PDP context

Display
* Correction for miss-read of ASIC version causing pink display

FOTA
* Camera forward compatibility fix for FOTA update
* Sync agent forward compatibility fix for FOTA update
* UI notifications updated for APAC region

Gallery
* Change low disk warning to 2.6mb and critical threshold to 600k.
* Gallery crash with slide show and invalid objects

Icons
* Add new Internet folder icons

Localisation
* Character conversion methods work incorrectly with some Chinese characters.

Memory card
* Error when encountering an unknown media with a password
* Cannot boot up with 2GB miniSD which formatted FAT 16 by PC

Messaging
* Potential crash when re-connecting to POP3 mailbox
* SMS sending delay
* Potential crash when using always online with IMAP mailbox

Operator
* Indication of the length of the MNC on a SIM Requirement based on EarlyIMS with a SIM reads IMSI from SIM but builds the private identity with wrong domain
* Refresh notification is not received when EF-subscribed-LAC/CI is updated on the SIM
* Homezone indication must not be shown during 3G PS connection/download is active
* Operator naming list updated to version 89
* Call diverts not correctly shown for line1 line2 subscription

RealPlayer
* Audio Streaming problem in UAE

SIM
* The SIM Server's fetch control is reset when a refresh is executed

Startup
* Change default date to 1st Sept 06

Video Sharing
* Change Video Sharing SIP profile default setting. (See important notes on Video Sharing at the start of this document)

UPnP
* Fixes Turning Home network content sharing off forces WLAN disconnect.
* Fix for UPnP localisation missing strings

WLAN
* Offline WLAN notification fix
* Registration attempt in weak WLAN fails but WLAN stays up

Sorry for all the questions im just interested to know if its worth me having a go at this and getting the generic firmware on there. Is anyone in or been in the same position as me with the Orange branded firmware?

Cheers,
Alex

Cash 24 Jan 2007, 19:56

main difference as you say and the main reason to upgrade is the VOIP, if you are not bothered about this then dont upgrade to N80ie, if you want this then you have no choice than to upgrade because the N80 wont allow this to work.

the phone is neither quicker or slower in the way it works, the camera takes slightly better photo's (but not by much), and you have the wireless lan wizard on the standby screen.

thats about all the noticeable things you will get.

Cash 24 Jan 2007, 20:12

al18ex wrote:Cheers for the info Cash.

No probs,

But seriously the only thing worth thinking about is the VOIP, I use it alot at the moment because I can make free phone calls to land lines in the UK and France where my family are, and they dont have broadband, but I will still use it when they have broadband because I will be able to call them free on Gizmo or truphone.

kontraband 24 Jan 2007, 20:13

yeah, I agree with Cash and your comment... if your not gonna use the VOIP then dont waste your time... just stay with what you have.

Unless the pub gets a free hotspot... no point! ;p)

llolslim 26 Jan 2007, 22:31

what about the fact it can download files? I would like to use to to be able to download stuff. I cannot do that with the n80 can i? Or is there a third party piece of software other than opera. and im not paying for opera.
Thanks

kontraband 26 Jan 2007, 22:33

llolslim wrote:what about the fact it can download files? I would like to use to to be able to download stuff. I cannot do that with the n80 can i? Or is there a third party piece of software other than opera. and im not paying for opera.
Thanks

not sure if I know entirely what your meaning of 'downloading' files is, but you can with then N80.

plus you can get opera for free from miniopera.com via your handset

llolslim 26 Jan 2007, 22:35

for instance if i want to download a .zip file fro ma website ,then I thought you cannot do that via the browser.
i will try miniopera thanks
off topic : How can I connect to my wireless connection if i have a hidden ssid?!

kontraband 26 Jan 2007, 22:40

yeah, you can download the zips with opera. tho sometimes it will say it needs to close to download.

hidden SSID's I think just need to be manually set as an access point. Hidden SSID dont really give you any security benefit so if you manually specify your settings it should pick it up fine.

Super Chimp 26 Jan 2007, 23:24

Cash wrote:main difference as you say and the main reason to upgrade is the VOIP, if you are not bothered about this then dont upgrade to N80ie, if you want this then you have no choice than to upgrade because the N80 wont allow this to work.

the phone is neither quicker or slower in the way it works, the camera takes slightly better photo's (but not by much), and you have the wireless lan wizard on the standby screen.

thats about all the noticeable things you will get.

I disagree as I my N80 certainly seems a bit quicker since being upgraded to IE firmware & that is coming from the 42 firmware on the normal N80. it also got rid of the O2 branding which was a handy side benefit.

Cash 27 Jan 2007, 07:50

Super Chimp wrote:I disagree as I my N80 certainly seems a bit quicker since being upgraded to IE firmware & that is coming from the 42 firmware on the normal N80. it also got rid of the O2 branding which was a handy side benefit.

Yea, I think that getting rid or the Network stuff is a huge benefit, but I didn't notice a speed difference myself, especially after I re-installed all of the apps I had on before, maybe it works quicker (as a PC would for example) immediately after a re-install, then as the apps are added it naturally slows back down or reverts to the noticed speed before the upgrade.

All my apps and more were immediately re-installed as soon as the flash was completed.

Super Chimp 27 Jan 2007, 08:46

Cash wrote:Yea, I think that getting rid or the Network stuff is a huge benefit, but I didn't notice a speed difference myself, especially after I re-installed all of the apps I had on before, maybe it works quicker (as a PC would for example) immediately after a re-install, then as the apps are added it naturally slows back down or reverts to the noticed speed before the upgrade.

All my apps and more were immediately re-installed as soon as the flash was completed.

I always run my N80 in the 'basic' mode with no extra apps installed, so perhaps you can only see the difference if you have no extra apps installed. I wanted to remove the branding from my phone so I thought if I am going to do this I might as well install the IE firmware.

kontraband 27 Jan 2007, 09:07

Super Chimp wrote:I always run my N80 in the 'basic' mode with no extra apps installed, so perhaps you can only see the difference if you have no extra apps installed. I wanted to remove the branding from my phone so I thought if I am going to do this I might as well install the IE firmware.

yeah, I have a load of apps and both my N80 and IE were a bit laggy, so I can safely say there was no difference after upgrade. The main areas are after first boot going into menu / my own or / tools. theres a good 5 seconds delay before anything happens. Once its been in tho its instant access all day till the phone is /(if it is) rebooted.

al18ex 31 Jan 2007, 08:24

kontraband wrote:yeah, I have a load of apps and both my N80 and IE were a bit laggy, so I can safely say there was no difference after upgrade. The main areas are after first boot going into menu / my own or / tools. theres a good 5 seconds delay before anything happens. Once its been in tho its instant access all day till the phone is /(if it is) rebooted.

It definitely did seem like an improvement before I started installing all the applications I have.

No it does seem a bit slower. The most annoying thing is that its a bit slow getting into the text screen when reading a new message, but it was slow before so thats that.

I do think it takes better pictures (ie. not having to hold it perfectly still for 5 seconds)

kontraband 31 Jan 2007, 09:03

I was so miffed with the blurry photos from pre upgrade I havent tried it with the IE version yet! 😮

But, I dont have any probs with the SMS. I found they worked quicker if the memory in use was PHONE and not MMC. (when I had an orignal nokia MMC) 😊