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N95 user Question: Holding down the # key

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QuestionLast few days I have gotten some in depth questions on usage of the Nokia N95.

I am publishing the questions to see what N95 users have to respond and whether the questions can indeed be answered.

First question is from Nishant:

I got my N95 yesterday from the Flagship store in NYC and have enjoyed playing with it all day! However, I noticed that one of the cool features - holding down the # key to switch between general and silent modes - has been nixed from the US model. My phone wouldn’t do that and when I called the store, they said neither of the N95s they have there do it either. That feature was supposedly only available on the prototype. That doesn’t make any sense though. Even the N95 user manual lists that feature as a tip.

I’d really like this feature on my N95. Can you please investigate this issue with your readers, Nokia reps you might know, etc.?

So question is clear: Is there a difference what functionality is dedicated to the # key between US and other region N95s?

Please use the comments to share your findings!

Related to this post:

Comments 24

  1. Mark Guim wrote:

    I have an asian plum N95. # works fine here with changing modes.

    Posted 11 Apr 2007 at 9:27 pm
  2. jan wrote:

    DarlaMack has just posted the following:

    I received an email today regarding the # shortcode missing from the Nokia N95’s that were recently sold in the retail stores. Apparently, Nokia USA customer service is aware of the situation, but I’ll keep you posted on the result. At the moment this is only affecting those with the following firmware:

    V 10.0.018
    15-03-07
    RM-159
    Nokia N95 (C7.01)

    Posted 11 Apr 2007 at 10:17 pm
  3. James Butler wrote:

    On my N95 the # key works fine for switching between general and silent profiles, i’m in the UK by the way.

    Posted 11 Apr 2007 at 10:49 pm
  4. Nishant wrote:

    Hi,

    I sent Jan the email. Thanks Jan for posting it to investigate this issue. Nokia USA just called me an hour ago (they’ve been really good about following up on this issue with me) and said that they are going to investigate the issue further and try and get back to me in the next few days. They had me perform a soft reset on the phone (removing the battery for five minutes), restore the original phone settings (found under Tools, Settings, General) but nothing worked.

    This feature is a big deal to me - ask any Treo owner and they’ll tell you how convenient it is to have a button dedicated to switching between general and silent modes. I don’t understand why Nokia would remove this feature from the US version.

    Jan, again, many thanks to you for posting it on your blog.

    Nishant

    Posted 11 Apr 2007 at 11:18 pm
  5. Tom wrote:

    My # doesn’t switch between modes either!

    I’m in the UK and got my N95 from T-mobile

    V10.0.018
    15-3-07
    RM159
    Nokia N95(43.01)

    Anyone any ideas?

    Posted 11 Apr 2007 at 11:40 pm
  6. Philip Ferris wrote:

    I have V 10.0.018 on my N95 from T-Mobile in the UK and cannot use # to switch modes either.

    Posted 12 Apr 2007 at 10:08 pm
  7. Manolo Vidal wrote:

    I have a spanish N95 and when you press down #, pass to a slient mode. It works perfect!!.

    Posted 12 Apr 2007 at 10:29 pm
  8. Vansteffo wrote:

    Mine seems to work as well. I have the plum…I guess Asian version as well. I guess Asian because it came with 1GB card, case and screen protector. Other than that I have no way of knowing???

    Posted 12 Apr 2007 at 11:04 pm
  9. jan wrote:

    @ Vansteffo: Which version, or better said, which firmware you have, you can check by entering *#000#

    Posted 12 Apr 2007 at 11:23 pm
  10. Dan wrote:

    The # key on my UK model from o2 switches the profile between silent and general.

    Very handy I have to say. My firmware is

    V 10.0.018
    15-03-07
    RM-159
    Nokia N95(65.03)

    Posted 13 Apr 2007 at 3:31 pm
  11. adam wrote:

    UK T-Mobile and the # key doesn’t work.

    Has anyone talked to Nokia about this with the UK version?

    Posted 15 Apr 2007 at 12:36 pm
  12. Phil wrote:

    UK T-Mobile too, and can also confirm that the # doesn’t switch between profiles.

    V 10.0.018
    15-03-07
    RM-159
    Nokia N95 (43.02)

    Posted 15 Apr 2007 at 2:23 pm
  13. swo00p wrote:

    That’s a neat trick. I didn’t know it does that but thanks for the tip….mine works fine and I’m in Australia. Another neat trick is hold down the top right button on the control (the button that activate the clock) and you will activate the voice recognition function…say a contact name and it will search for the nearest match before dialing. No need to voice tag each contact since the voice recognition is digital.

    Posted 15 Apr 2007 at 4:30 pm
  14. alphaod wrote:

    swo00p, thanks for that voice rec tip. I normally dont use the feature ’cause its annoying, but thanks for the tip. Now its so much easier.

    Posted 15 Apr 2007 at 7:59 pm
  15. andykn wrote:

    I have an N95 on O2 from the Carphone Warehouse in the UK, but it has a different Operator Variant to Dan;

    V 10.0.018
    15-03-07
    RM-159
    Nokia N95 (66.01)

    The # key doesn’t switch between profiles on mine. Do you press it once or hold it down?

    Posted 16 Apr 2007 at 2:32 pm
  16. jan wrote:

    Hi andykn,

    This functionality should work by holding down the # key.

    Posted 16 Apr 2007 at 2:38 pm
  17. Scott wrote:

    It sounds like those of us in the UK (self-included) have had mixed results. T-Mobile owners find it doesn’t work, O2 (possibly others) find it does work.

    Sounds like an operator-created bug. That is, when T-Mobile put their customised software on the phone (i.e. “web n walk” links), they must have turned off the mode switching. Whether this will be fixed in a future firmware upgrade remains to be seen…

    Posted 16 Apr 2007 at 6:10 pm
  18. andykn wrote:

    I’m on O2 and it doesn’t work, even when held down. I have created an addition al profile though, perhaps that’s the difference.

    Posted 16 Apr 2007 at 6:18 pm
  19. Geoff wrote:

    I have an issue getting the maps/gps to work. When I first tried I had wrongly put in the 2G card, rectified that next day. I see the world map spin around and then progressive descend thro country to state to roughly where my city is and keep going to yellow screen and no map detail. Have tried to vary scale but I can’t get to see map detail. I have the data transfer sign. I have satellite reception. Can anyone help as I an anxious to get to the map part..tks in advance

    Posted 17 Apr 2007 at 11:28 am
  20. jan wrote:

    Geoff, good question, I will put it in a post in order to have it separated from this post, as it is another topic.

    Posted 17 Apr 2007 at 12:40 pm
  21. Ahmed wrote:

    UK T-Mobile user. My # key doesn’t switch between the first 2 profiles either.

    BUT, I read the quick start guide (noob) and it says that the # key will switch between lines if you have 2 phone lines on your sim. I don’t but maybe the sim causing this issue. Seems like all T-Mobile users don’t have this function. My friends with Vodafone contracts can switch profiles fine with the # key.

    Posted 22 Apr 2007 at 10:39 am
  22. Ahmed wrote:

    To summarise then. Maybe if the sim card can handle 2 lines the # key gets used for this function - even if you don’t have 2 lines enabled.

    Posted 22 Apr 2007 at 10:43 am
  23. jan wrote:

    Interesting… will have to test this…

    Will revert later.

    Posted 22 Apr 2007 at 11:07 am
  24. jan wrote:

    Ok, I tested this, but you do not need to use # to switch. As soon as you have 2 lines incoming (one active and one on hold), the right softkey gets the label “swap”. 1 keypress to swap…

    Oh and for the original topic: my phone DOES switch between the profiles!

    Posted 22 Apr 2007 at 3:03 pm