The new firmware comes with a wide range of improvements

Jan 13, 2009 12:58 GMT  ·  By

Nokia has released a major firmware update for its E71 handset. The new version, namely 200.21.188, brings Internet Radio and My Nokia application to the device, and it also includes two new themes. Furthermore, it comes with a number of different improvements, among which some stability and functionality updates, like WLAN support, power efficiency on 3G, and leveraged performance for the phone camera.

The change log of the new firmware 200.21.188 shows that functionalities like Easy Dialing support for Simplified Chinese language, One key input method switch for China language, Device Lock improvement: Open device lock with LSK + Fn-keys, ‘Mute’ option in Right Soft Key when wired headset / handsfree is connected, ‘Loudspeaker’ option in Right Soft Key immediately when a phone call is started, Enlarge characters in Chr-table and NTLM v1 and v2 support for Intranet Browsing have been added.

In addition, the time zones have been updated, the localization has also seen some improvements, with missing localizations being added to the device, and the operator name database has been updated, as well as the startup settings, certificates and security. The phone was added Stability and functionality improvements and Keyboard mapping corrections for the Qwerty keyboard, while its browser has also been slightly improved.

All data from the internal memory of the Nokia E71 will be lost as soon as the upgrade is performed, so users willing to install the new firmware should make a backup prior to proceeding. It has been suggested that there would be performance improvements seen if data was added back manually rather than by restoring a previously made backup.

Depending on the region, the previously available firmware for the Nokia E71 was v100 or v115. The new release is stated to be available at the moment for the EURO regions, but it should become more widely available in the near future. Some of the improvements brought by the new update can also be downloaded and installed individually.

A full change log of the update can be seen here. More information on how to install the firmware are available on Nokia's official site.