Notices

With the N900 there appears to be confusion given the multiple options.

I don't have a N900, but here is my understanding based on my experience with Nokia devices and watching all the various videos.

Please post corrections. I will update this first message as input comes in. Then I will put all of this into the Wiki when I feel we have a complete set of words.

Push Email
The N900 comes with two options for people looking for a push type e-mail service like Blackberry or Microsoft over the air ActiveSync.

1. Mail for Exchange (MfE).
This is an implementation of the Microsoft ActiveSync protocol that connects an over the air Exchange server to the N900 e-mail client and calendar. It is a very good implementation and includes support for device wipe and device lock which are typically mandated by corporate mail servers. Google mail also supports ActiveSync these days, so MfE can be used to sync with Gmail as well. MfE will also sync up Outlook Calendar, Contacts, Tasks. There is no category support as yet.

Mail for Exchange http://www.businesssoftware.nokia.co..._downloads.php

2. Nokia Messaging.
If you already have a favorite webmail service, but would like your email "pushed" to you then this is what this option was designed for. Nokia messaging can connect upto 10 email accounts at one time, and you can choose which account you send from. Nokia also provide their own webmail service (Ovi Mail) that can be linked to this. Nokia messaging provides for easy setup as it already knows the server settings for a large number of the email services out there. Nokia Messaging only handles email and not Contacts and Calendar or Tasks.

Nokia Messaging http://email.nokia.com/account/home.action


Desktop style e-mail using the Modest e-mail client
Some people want to be able to have a copy of all their e-mails local to their device, just like Outlook or Lotus notes. If your e-mail service provider provides POP or IMAP support (which they all should) then the N900 has a very good email client called Modest.
Modest currently seems to have problems dealing with very large inboxes such is typical with Gmail accounts, as it will try and copy all of your mails to the device.

Modest e-mail http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modest_(e-mail_client)


Webmail
The Browser in the N900 is very powerful and supports most webmail services including GMail and Hotmail. Google wave has also been tried, and appears to work to some degree. You may need to use the Onscreen Cursor to get to some of the UI elements.

Please send me services you have tried

[B]Third Party email options[/B]
Please send me what apps you have tried here

Good post Mike,

I too seem a little confused with regard to mail, contacts etc. Can you sync contacts and calendar with Nokia messaging or do you need to use MFE for this?

Any advice on this would be much appreciated.

No Nokia messaging is just for e-mail. Use MfE for full sync or use the PC Connectivity Suit (also known as Ovi Suit) This appears to work for Windows users, Mac version in the works. Linux PC suit is being worked on also.

ps have updated the post to reflect your question.

Mike C

Personally I don't really understand the difference between Nokia Messaging and Modest... o.o
The first one pushes the email to the device automatically with some kind of always-on connection and the second one retrieves the messages on certain time lapses/on your demand?
Apart from that? any interface differences? Does only the second one permit to save emails while Nokia Messaging is only a viewer without "reply" option?

Please make it a bit clearer if possible, thanks :-)

I currently use a webmail with free pop3/imap, gmx.com, does it automatically support push email or does it have to be some special mail provider?

Hi thecursedfly
I cant comment on the UI as I dont have a N900 :-) but the answer to your webmail question is , no your webmail provider does not provided push email. This is the magic that Nokia Messaging does. It effectively proxies your webmail service and maintains a "permanent connection" to your webmail service, and then pushes mail to your device. Perhaps others in the forum can explain the magic and how it works exactly, but I believe that it might make use of SMS channel to tell your email client that mail has arrived, and then your client pulls it down. I believe that the N900 uses modest as its client for both Mail for exchange and Nokia Messaging. Anyone with a N900 care to confirm?

Mike C

So, tell me if the following statement is correct please.
- Nokia Messaging is a service by Nokia that keeps a connection open with a imap mail server (also gmx), and in case of new emails, sends a notification to my N900 that retrieves the emails using Modest (so, basically Nokia Messaging isn't a mail program on the N900, but more a service provided by some Nokia servers).
Wrong?

What I meant in my previous message isn't that gmx provides push email, but that it's possible to use it through Nokia Messaging, since it has free imap (if Nokia Messaging permits to configure not-famous mail providers).

In the mean time I informed myself about what "push email" means.

Yes you are nearly there. I will copy and paste to the original post with some wordsmithing :-) Except that Nokia Messaging provides some additional things that help set up and configuration to link the client (Modest) to your email provider gmx (in Germany right?)

Mike C

nope, english ->@<- , but based on the german service probably

Hi Mike me again!!

Please feel free to tell me if i am being too forward in bombarding you with questions regarding mail, but i was interested to know if you could shed some light on the following;

If i sync my calelndar and contacts from Gmail (which include my Msn IM contacts) and then i set up my IM on the N900, will the Msn contacts be duplicated on the device as i have already sync'd them via Gmail using MFE?


Thanks in advance

Nitchers

MfE normally recommends that you don't have other sync options enabled, otherwise you can get in a real mess. This includes not syncing with your PC via PC Suite.

Sadly until we get everyone using a common standard like SyncML there is no way to tell if one contact in one system is the same as the other as they all contain different fields.

If you really want to mess around with multiple sources of contacts then suggest that you look at a sync service like Schedule World. Sync all your source data with Schedule World then sync your device with Schedule world using MfE. You can sync multiple devices, and the last time I looked at Schedule world it had lots of options to sort out what was what, but you mind find otherwise.


http://www.scheduleworld.com/sw2/index.html

The N900 has the ability to merge IM and and mail Contacts, but I'm not clear yet how this is done with respect to MfE, as I dont have N900

Looks like I might have to do a similar thread on Contacts and Calendars........once I get my N900.

Mike C