Mac.sis making macs and S60 handsets talk

My significant other suddenly has found herself in a situation where she needs to receive faxes. Like most Finns today, we do not have a landline anymore.

Has anyone succeeded in using a mobile handset as a fax modem (even just for receiving) with a Mac? If not, do you have experience of online fax reception services with international coverage?

Thanks in advance for any tips!

After being tipped off by Sälli, I managed to take his iTuneMyWalkman application for a spin, and I have to admit that I am completely sold. Basically, iTMW can be used quite similarly to SyncTunes, but I particularly appreciate the clean user interface (slightly ahead of SyncTunes there), the supplied scripts for syncing automatically upon USB connection as well as the scripts installed directly to iTunes.

A reader in my Finnish Omenamehu.org discussion forum (thanks Sälli) brought to my attention his open source alternative to SyncTunes: iTuneMyWalkman.

From the feature list:

• Synchronizes the contents of specific iTunes playlists to your mobile phone.
• Detects automatically when the device is connected.
• Creates directory structure according to artists/albums, playlists, or genres.
• User can define how much space is left on the memory card.

Since the weather took a change towards the tolerable (by Finnish standards anyway), I took a stroll outside playing with the Nokia Research Center SportsTracker application. I performed a "Workout" (a walk around the house, really) with route tracking active, sent the recording to my MacBook in the Google Earth KML format and doubled-clicked it open. Lo and behold, Google Earth fired up and displayed my "Workout" overlaid on the Earth satellite imagery:

When Mac.sis got a mention at Tommi's blog earlier this week, I must admit that I was rather surprised by the traffic on the site as well as the friendly messages sent by many visitors. Thanks to everyone who sent words of encouragement – they were truly appreciated.

Over at Tommi's S60 applications, Derek highlighted a rather comprehensive page on N95 & Mac interoperability:
Nokia (N95) mobile phones play nicely with Apple OS X. The page contains lots of information (and not all of it is restricted to N95 only), and is definitely worth a read.

I am off to my band training, but when I have a moment to spare, I will see how much of Derek's content I can steal for Mac.sis HOWTOs :-)

While the built-in Send File... and Browse Device items on the Mac Bluetooth menu are quite OK for occasional BT file shuffling, a hardcore BT addict might require a bit more. When browsing files with Finder, for instance, it would be rather convenient to quickly select a file and to push it over to a BT device (such as an S60 handset) with minimal hassle.

Most S60 devices have built-in music playback capabilities and double as a portable music player for MP3 and AAC tracks. The music player speaks ID3 and allows you to navigate your music library by artist, album, genre etc.:

If the barebones On the road tutorial does not satisfy your need of cellular connectivity information, have a look at a very in-depth article on the topic at Tao of Mac: HOWTO Setup GPRS/UMTS Access On a Mac.

Most modern-day smartphones are also rather capable video players. Combined with a stereo headset, a portable movie player is a good alternative to a Pratchett paperback during a commute or an otherwise nonstimulant occasion, such as a distant cousin's wedding or an all-hands meeting with Tommy the Powerpoint Wizard. While the experience does fall slightly short of visiting a THX theater near you, a recent device such as the N95 can provide passable audiovisual pastime when really needed.