Mac.sis making macs and S60 handsets talk

Just in case you are not intimately familiar with the OS and middleware foundation of your mobile, have a look at

http://www.s60.com/life/s60phones/browseDevices.do

for a listing of S60 based products from different manufacturers. For each phone, the Technical specifications section also tells you the version of the S60 platform (edition and feature pack) the device is running.

The Mac.sis site has now been opened for business, with some rudimentary content in the HOWTO section. More content is to come, and I hope the information provided here is useful to anyone with a Mac and an S60 handset. Just in case you do not know what S60 (or its maiden name Series 60) refer to, let it be known that S60 is a smartphone platform developed by Nokia on top of the Symbian operating system. You can find more information straight from the horse's mouth at http://www.s60.com/.

While the wireless convenience of Bluetooth is all the rage, there are still perfectly valid reasons for plugging in your mobile via an USB cable, for instance if you are transferring large amounts of data (such as music or photos). The USB connection still has a clear speed advantage. Read on more for oldskool USB tips.

If you find your S60 handset (well, a Nokia one anyhow) not supported by Mac OS X directly, do not fret: Nokia is providing a set of iSync plugins of their own making for Mac users. Simply visit the Nokia iSync Software section, select your phone model and download the plugin. The plugins come with a simple enough installer that should take care of installing the plugin for you. Run the installer and you should be good to go. You may need to run the Bluetooth setup assistant to re-pair your phone and make it available via iSync.

NOTE: These instructions apply to Tiger and earlier. With Leopard, there is generally no need to fiddle with modem scripts. Instructions for Leopard will be updated shortly.

For most day-to-day use (calendar and contact synchronisation, exchanging the odd photo or song), Bluetooth is probably the most convenient option to connect your Mac to a bluetooth-enabled device. If your Mac has a Bluetooth adapter installed, you will find the BT icon in your menubar.

In order to use Bluetooth connectivity between your Mac and your handset, you need to execute the normal Bluetooth pairing process. However, generally it is a good idea to perform the following steps first: