Geeky Me–Transferring Messages from Nokia to Android

I guess those who had read on my FB/ Twitter timeline or even on the blog itself knows that I am totally displeased with Sammy’s customer service. You can read all about it on my previous entry. Probably I should just summarised it as defective screen, defective software and defective customer service.

So I was on my trusty Nokia E71 (son of the 3310). It has dropped multiple times, and defaced, unable to read any micro SD cards. However, it IS STILL WORKING.

Okay, enough of how good Nokia is. Let’s get back to my story. So I was on E71 for a while, and around 200 over messages accumulated on the phone. Tried many methods including some 3rd party software to extract and parse into an XML file. It still doesn’t work.

So I found out the following method, to manually convert it into CSV and then get an app to update it into Android.

Tools you need:
Nokia PC Suite
MS Excel (or spreadsheets program capable of manupulating csv)
SMS Importer (From Android Market, Lite version only supports 100 messages)
Notepad

1. First, install the Nokia PC Suite. Check if your phone supports sync with the PC Suite, and sync all your messages to your computer. After which, export it into CSV format.
2. Here, separate the Sent and Inbox messages in the CSV into two files. If you have more than 100 messages in Sent or Inbox, separate them so you can use SMS Importer Lite.
3. Note that you might not have your messages opened properly if they contain non-latin characters. In this case, try to copy and paste the csv file contents from the notepad to excel instead. Use MS Excel or any spreadsheet tool to make it easier to separate the messages.
4. If you are using non latin characters, please reopen the file in notepad after you use the spreadsheet and re save in UTF-8.
5. Copy all the files to your Android phone, run SMS Importer with customised settings accordingly and it should be imported. (:

However, if you try to “copy and send” any of these messages, it will not work. I believe that during the extraction process, the “+” sign is omitted, Haven’t get down to find the real reason, and I doubt so as I know who send which message which is enough. (:

So, if you ever need to do something like this, this little post hopefully can help you solve some problems. (:

Thanks for reading my wordy post!