Well I just got tired of waiting for official US v20 firmware for my Nokia N95, so I hacked the product code from 0548763 to 0536062 (“EURO1 – Plum”) and was able to upgrade using the normal Nokia software upgrade application. The hack is pretty easy and you basically just write over the product code. All of the instructions are at Force Flashing Vodafone-Branded Nokia E61. You must use this little utility called the Nemesis Service Suite. (On a side note, after you install NSS it asks you about installing a USB driver. You can just ignore this step.)
The benefits are well covered on the various N95 forums/blogs, but here are a couple improvements that really interested me. First, I've got about 28MB of free ram which is about 10MB more than I had before. That is a freaking 56% increase!!!
The other huge improvement is podcast playing. The Podcasting app seems to be integrated into the music player now or at least the UI is. It will actually REMEMBER where you left off playing a podcast!!! Woo hoo!!!
I'm sure there are many other things that I'll discover, but these two improvements are a godsend.
Tips on upgrading
I wouldn't worry about using the Nokia backup application. It wouldn't finishsuccessfully for me and besides its always better to start fresh. Here are some tips before you upgrade:
- Write down all of the apps you have installed and make sure you have the files to re-install. Some may be web installed.
- Export/save any databases that these apps may use.
- Write down any special configurations, settings, etc.
- Write down the shortcut apps you may have customized on the main screen.
- Had a couple issues entering application reg codes and passwords, but a reboot seemed to fix.