Nokia NSeries

The End?

2009-08-14T21:17:00.003+01:00

Things have been pretty quiet around here. I did lose focus on the blog, and even closed it for a while, only to subsequently re-open the blog a while later to try and re stimulate my enthusiasm for the market.

And, whilst my interest in the industry picked up, my interest in blogging didn't, really. So, this is the last post on the NSeries blog. There is no point in keeping the blog active, but, there is life after Nseries.

A lot of my recent lack of interest is due to losing interest in solely the Nseries range of phones, as much as anything else. So, I've started a new blog, Mobile Choice, which will focus on a wider range of products from the Mobile industry. I don't even use an Nseries handset anymore, I'm currently running a HTC Hero. Fun, exciting, new, different. Lot's of things Nseries isn't. But, that is a post for the new blog.....

I've imported the content from here, to there. But, as well as that, I shall leave the Nseries blog floating around on its own in Cyberspace. Who knows, maybe one day....

You can check out my new blog here

Nokia Messaging

2009-07-08T16:30:00.001+01:00

Are you using Nokia Messaging yet? I ask, because I discovered over the last week that at least three friends who use S60 had not heard about Nokia Messaging. So, are *you* using Nokia Messaging? If not, why not?

Here's a little video clip for a taster:

Nokia E72 is Live

2009-06-15T07:56:00.002+01:00

Live in the sense that it is confirmed, and being talked about. AAS have detail on the successor to the E71, with an improved keypad layout, OS upgrade to S60 FP2 and the inclusion of a 5.0 Megapixel camera. The E71 proved to be one of the most popular of recent ESeries devices, and the E72 looks set to be just as popular, if not more. Nokia product pages are here, AAS info here

View a video clip below:

Nokia N97 - It's Gonna Knock You Out!

2009-06-12T12:54:00.001+01:00

Nokia N97 Available Now!

2009-06-02T19:36:00.007+01:00

The Nokia N97 is here! All the buzz and chat is around the net, the Nokia N97 is going to be released on the 15th June.

With the popularity of this phone, stock is going to be in high demand, so to beat the rush you can get your pre-order in, NOW!!

Mobiles.co.uk are one of the leading online mobile phone retailers in the UK, and have the N97 available to order, now, on O2 and Orange. For those who've been living in a cave these last few weeks, the Nokia N97 is the latest powerhouse device in the multimedia NSeries range. Features include:

- Vivid 3.5 inch Touchscreen display!
- Full QWERTY Keyboard - unique slide design!
- 32GB internal memory plus memory card slot!
- 5.0 Megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss Lens and auto focus!
- Full Support for Facebook - upload photos, message friends and update your status!
- HSDPA mobile broadband, Wi-Fi and built-in GPS SatNav!
- Symbian operating system - customise your N97 with downloadable apps from the Ovi Store!

There's no time to waste, so get your pre-order in now!

Buy on O2

Buy on Orange

Where Next for Nokia Nseries?

2009-05-09T22:31:00.002+01:00

The Nseries range is starting to look a bit tired, truth be told. There are many areas where Nokia are going to have to make improvements if Nseries can still be considered top of the class when it comes to multimedia, otherwise they risk falling far behind the competition and becoming just also rans.

First thing that needs to be addressed is the camera. For a long time now, the standard camera on an Nseries device is 5.0 megapixel with autofocus, and Carl Zeiss optics. Which, in itself, is ok I guess. But other manufacturers are offering so much more; why no face detection, smile detection, blink detection? No image stabilisation? Why not something like Best Pic which Sony Ericsson have been offering on their Cybershot phones for years! With other devices offering cameras with so much more in terms of features, the camera on NSeries is starting to look a bit tired in comparison.

Then consider video capture. Again, I guess you could say an Nseries device is adequate, but QVGA @ 30fps just isn't enough anymore. Nseries needs to start offering high definition video capture, higher frame rate, super slow motion, and so on.

Video playback also needs to be updated. I've never got on with the Real player, video streaming has never worked well, and the handset needs to support more popular video formats, without need for installing extra applications. Native support for DivX and XviD video files is a must, surely?

Memory is also somewhere where Nseries devices can be improved. More Nseries devices need high internal memory capacity as standard, as well as being expandable with Micro SD cards. The N96 and N97 have this, but more Nseries devices should, and I hope to see it when new devices are announced.

And whilst I'm having a bit of a rant, I find it incredible that a multimedia device has no option onboard for creating something as simple as a slideshow. On a Sony Ericsson C905, it is a simple matter to take captured images, link them together, add in some text, add in a soundtrack, play the video, email it off, upload it to the web, anything. Simple, easy. That I can't do this on an Nseries phone is just amazing, honestly.

These are just a few of the things Nokia need to look at updating on upcoming NSeries devices if they are going to keep pace with the competition. There's bound to be more that I've not thought of (at this late hour). If there's something you think Nokia need to update on the Nseries range, add your thoughts and wants and ideas in the combox.

Nokia 5800 Deal

2009-05-07T18:43:00.003+01:00

The Nokia 5800 is an ok phone, for what it is. A bit bland, a bit ugly, but it does run on S60, which means it hits our interest for that, alone.

Despite my misgivings about this phone, it has proven to be extremely popular, with many retail stores being out of stock of the phone for long periods, with stock only just starting to become freely available.

Because of the 5800's low price, it is avaialble with some amazing offers, especially with the online web retailers. One of the more established retailers, E2Save, have some particularly good offers available right now, and we all like a deal, no?

So, hit the link, take a look, and pick yourself up a bargain.

It All Started With a Vision

2009-05-07T17:40:00.003+01:00

Time to focus our minds on one of the most anticipated Nseries devices to be launched, probaby ever since the first NSeries phone. Of course, I'm talking about the Nokia N97. Ever since its announcement, I've had mixed feelings about this phone. What it offers is pretty much all I'd want in a phone, feature wise, but I have tried and am yet to be convinced by touchscreen phones, and the same goes for QWERTY. So, it doesn't look good. As it stands, it seems the N86 8MP may be the phone that takes the place of my N82. That said, there's a nagging doubt in my mind about the N97, and I can not be sure about it until I've had the chance to try one out.

Anyway, with the hype around the phone starting to build, follow the link to view a video about the N97, and the various stages surrounding its development, from concept to build.

Nokia Nseries

Mobile Jealousy

2009-05-06T11:11:00.003+01:00

This is an NSeries blog. My preferred devices, my preferred phones, are the multimedia focussed Nseries phones. Recently, though, all the interest seems to be around the business devices, the Eseries range. With the E71, E75, E55 and now the E52, the Eseries range is starting to look very good. So, all I can hope now is that we get some new Nseries handsets, with as much design innovation as the recent Eseries handsets have had.
After all, there's no reason why a handset with design innovation like the E71, or E75, or this new E52 couldn't fit right into the Nseries line-up. Eseries build quality would be nice, too! As it is right now, I'm starting to feel a bit of 'mobile jealousy'. Hey, Nokia, where's the Nseries love?

AAS have some spec info on the E52 here

Turn Your NSeries into a Tricorder

2009-05-02T20:20:00.003+01:00

A good one for the Trekkies out there, and for people who like silly, but fun, apps.

I spotted this over at AAS, who link through to CJ.

Basically point your phone's browser to nokia.mobi, and following the instructions given at CJ's site, you can download some Star Trek goodies, including a couple of tones, wallpaper, and a nifty little tricorder application.

Introduction to Ovi

2009-04-30T17:00:00.002+01:00

An introduction to Ovi on Nokia

One thing, I've always called it Oh-Vee, with the open O. Apparently, that's wrong!

Free Internet Access on Vodafone UK

2009-04-30T16:46:00.004+01:00

Vodafone UK are cutting their PAYG prices for accessing the 'net from a mobile on 1 May, and to celebrate are offering free access from your mobile for the whole day on Friday 1st. From 0:01 Friday morning to 23:59 Friday night, any web access from your handset to either wap.vodafone.co.uk or pp.vodafone.co.uk will be totally free of charge. Seems tomorrow will be an ideal day to whack my Vodafone PAYG SIM into the E75 and give it a real going over on the web.

As for the price changes, daily usage charges are now capped at 50p per day, down from £1, and the allowance is up from 15MB to 25MB. This is a welcome move, and a significant price cut, but is still twice the price of O2 for daily users. A standard monthly charge will still be £15 if web is accessed daily, which whilst better than £30, is still double the O2 data bolt on for PAYG users which is only £7.50 per month.

More information here

Nokia E75

2009-04-29T17:14:00.002+01:00

I have been given the opportunity to trial a Nokia E75 for the next week, thanks to the guys at mobiles.co.uk. As I use it I will add some thoughts here; initial impressions are positive, but certain annoyances are already starting to be revealed. I certainly don't think there is enough to tempt me away from my N82, that's for sure.

The phone is solid enough, feels well built, and is pretty hefty. I like the fact that there is a separate charging point, even though the E75 can also be charged by USB. This was one of the things that started to bug me with the N85. The QWERTY keyboard is usable, but redundant to me (anyone who has read posts here before will know, I can't stand QWERTY keyboards or touchscreens.)

I've put a few applications on it, will load some Maps later on, and see how the phone performs over the next few days. If anyone has anything they'd like to know about the handset, drop me a note in the combox and I'll check it out.

Nothing Better

2009-04-15T09:47:00.002+01:00

It should come as no surprise, but sometimes the obvious needs to be stated - There's nothing better than the Nseries. Now, to qualify that.

A while back, as I posted about occasionally, I've been trying to look at other handsets, to see if there is anything else that can offer what I want from a phone. I've looked at Eseries devices, I've used phones from other manufacturers, I've probably changed handsets more in the last few months than I have in the last few years.

Most recently, I've used the Samsung Tocco, the LG Renoir. I've got a Motorola Z10, I've had the Sony Ericsson C905, a Nokia E51, E66, E71, a Nokia 5800, an N85, an N95 8GB, and the N82. They are all in their own right good handsets, but there's not one there that is better than the NSeries, for all round power, features, usability and durability.

The Tocco has to be the worst device I've ever used for web browsing, the Renoir is just a mess. The Z10 is a good imaging device, with some nice editing features (Something the Nseries lack, strangely) but isn't the most user friendly device, and there is little in the way of additional software available. The C905 has a great camera, but is slow, buggy, and has real hardware issues; The E51 is a great device, if I had to be ultra picky, the screen is too small which really effects web browsing and the camera shouldn't even be included, it's not worth having. The E66 and E71 are great devices, with excellent build quality, I really like them. The E66 is let down with a really poor battery, and I found I didn't get on with the keys on the E71. Moving on to the 5800, it's a nice enough device for what it is, but a lesson I still need to heed is I don't like touchscreen. I battled with it, to try and get on with the phone, but when I want to scroll down a page, I just want it to happen. Sometimes trying to get a response from a touchscreen phone is just a major pain in the ass, it really is. Web browsing generally is difficult, as not all sites are optimised, and this means selecting links isn't always easy. At least with a keypad phone, I can navigate the browser simple and easy, and highlight any link I want, quickly and easy.

As for the three Nseries phones, the N85 is nice enough, and would replace an N95 8GB for most people, but there are some points that I didn't like. Like having to turn all warning sounds off just to not have to listen to that awful noise every time I selected something in the menu! How could anyone ever think that was acceptable? The slightly different menu layout was a bit cumbersome, too, making extra button pushes for some features that became annoying. I did like the new way to customise the Homescreen though, at least I was able to get rid of all the ugly writing that is otherwise on the screen when calendar appointments are saved. It would have been nice to be able to choose my own icons on the screen when lining the screen up with a side view active standby though, I couldn't find how to do that.

So, after much cash spent, and many handsets come and gone, I have (eventually) come to the conclusion, there is nothing better than Nseries, and to top that, there is nothing better than the N95 8GB or the N82. Both look great, packed with features, stable OS, excellent all round imaging, web browsing, music playback, video capture, and so on. The GPS is probably quicker on the N82, the keypad on the N95 8GB is better though.

Until the speaker went, I was using an N95 8GB, now using an N82. I hope I've learnt my lesson; when it comes to phones, there is nothing better than these.

Holy Week

2009-04-05T15:31:00.003+01:00

This blog is an occasional thing for me, these days, rather than something I regularly update. To be honest, other than the upcoming N97, all things Nseries are rather quiet, and if there's nothing new to see or say, why post for the sake of it?

Aside from that, today is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. My time online during this week is going to be absolutely minimal, no more than checking for emails, so there certainly won't be any updates this week, either.

This week is time for contemplation on the things in life that are really important. After Easter, hobby time can recommence.

Why I'm using the Nokia N85

2009-02-23T18:01:00.004Z

Recently I've been changing my handset on a fairly frequent basis, ever since I decided to change from the E51 I had been using for a while. I faffed about choosing between the N82, E66 or E71. I considered a few retro ideas (N73 or N80) but quickly decided against that, thought the N95/N95 8GB would be too much like going back, and eventually settled on the N82. Except, I didn't settle for long.

After choosing the N82, (which has made it's way onto my all time favourite list*), I made the change to the E71. I had been considering it, the E71 was getting rave reviews online, and I had the chance for a good deal, so I took it. I learnt my lesson, with that one. Whilst I cannot fault the performance of the handset during my time with it, I came to the conclusion that QWERTY is not for me. A real shame, because the E71 is an excellent product, and works really well. However, I found myself constantly getting the wrong key, always pressing the next to the one I wanted. During a text conversation with a friend, I got really frustrated and after feeling like throwing the damn phone against the wall, I removed my SIM back to the N82 and sanity was restored. For a while.

Shortly after having returned to the N82, I took the chance to pick up a 5800. This wasn't even in my list of options initially, but with a positive launch and an enjoyable day out in London with the 5800, I was sold. For just under a week. I think that the 5800 is also a perfectly adequate handset, feature rich at a very competitive price. Usability is easy, simple with S60 doing all it does best. I quickly customised the menu layout to how I wanted it and the phone was working well. Excellent music playback, good features; I was set. Almost. There are two things I do most on my phone, message and web. Email, IM, Text, MMS, and web browsing account for easily 85% of my phone usage. I rarely make calls, my other usage is made up with things like taking pics/videos, listening to music, and a few other miscellaneous options. Web browsing on the 5800 soon started to wear me down, even using the stylus I found selecting links on certain sites awkward, and quickly tired of the hassle. I needed something else.

I found my solace in the N95 8GB. Like putting on a pair of comfortable old slippers, the N95 8GB was a dream to be using again. Fantastic in every way, *this* phone gave me what I want. Easy web browsing with the D-Pad controlling things, huge memory, and a keypad of which I hadn't enjoyed such comfort for many a day, since selling on the E51. Messaging became a joy again, and no longer an arduous task, and man, that screen is something else. I started to regret ever selling on my N95 first time round. I've hunted the market for a phone that gives me what I have found in the N95; simple usability aligned with top of the range functionality. No damn touchscreen, no damn QWERTY keyboard, just ease of use and mighty fine looking, too.

However, as you can see from the title of this post, I am not using the N95 8GB right now (well, kind of sorta, but not really). After a week or so of returning to the N95 I had the chance to purchase an E66. Here, I thought, was something worth having. After all, as much as the N95 is great, the E66 was new, would carry warranty for any future issues, but also matched what I'd been looking for - build quality and functionality of the Eseries devices, but it still looks like a phone! Proper keypad, and all. And the E66 is all that, but suspect battery it is rumoured to have, and that's what I found. In the end I only had it two days, yet I had to charge it four times! Amazing. The obvious course of choice, it seemed, would be to go back to the N95, but instead I find myself using an N85. Walking down the high st I saw one in a shop, for sale, SIM free. It was second hand, in a sense, but really almost brand new. A customer had bought one on contract, took it back the next day, didn't want it. Phone still has the screen covers on and all sorts. There wasn't even a call made on it! I just happened to be passing at the right time and picked it up for a good price.

So that's it, really. A couple of months of phone changes, from Eseries to Nseries and back and forth, nightmare experiences with Touchscreen and QWERTY devices, I find myself using a handset that two months ago, I hadn't even considered. First impressions are good, this is one solid phone. I've seen much feedback on various forums, slating a wobbly slider, and other build problems, but this device has none of that. Feels solid, well built, has good weight in the hand, pretty much matches the N95 for what I want in a phone, with a slimmer, better looking design. The screen on this thing is amazing, such clarity. Looking back over the last couple of months, I've changed my phone a lot, really. The Switch application on S60 devices has been invaluable, so easy to keep my calendar, messages, bookmarks, contacts and others up to date on which ever phone I had at the time.

That's a good overview of how I've tried various options out recently; now I just need to see if the N85 can keep me happy, for the next few months at least. If not, there is still the N95 lying around, I currently use it for music. Nice to have a quality music player from which I can take high quality pictures, browse the web and send/receive emails. One thing my recent experience has taught me is that the N97 is NOT going to be for me, seeing how it combines the two main options, Touchscreen and QWERTY, that I dislike the most!

*My all time favourite list in no particular order is 6310i, N73, N82, N95 8GB.

Nokia N86 8MP

2009-02-18T19:29:00.003Z

For the first time in a long time, I've spied a soon to be released handset that has me saving my pennies in anticipation of its release. The Nokia N86 probably over delivers on what I'm looking for in a phone, but boy it looks sweet (unless you look at the white one - how naff is that?) Sporting an 8.0 Megapixel camera that Nokia promise will be the best in its class, the N86 8MP is loaded with features. Take a look at the page on GSM Arena for the full rundown. In the meantime, here's a little video to whet the appetite:

N97 Demo Video

2009-02-05T22:44:00.002Z

Last week I went on a training course for work, for the Nokia 5800 Xpress Music. I was interested because it was an opportunity to play around with the new touch UI, and I was actually quite impressed. So much, I actually purchased a handset two days ago. Give me a few days, and I'll post up a few thoughts. Overall I'm impressed (I wouldn't have bought one otherwise) but there are a few things I don't like. It may just be a case of having to get used to something different, rather than it being wrong or a fault, which is why I'm going to give it a few days. For example setting up the menu folders and moving apps seems to be overly laborious and complicated.

What is interesting me now, though, is the N97. To be honest, I wasn't paying much attention to this phone, what with the diabolical N96. Yeah, I thought it was that bad. With the new touch UI and a touch of NSeries goodness, it may just turn out to be a phone worth having. I like the look of the on-screen widgets, seen in the video, below. The 5800 could do with these, but I guess they'll be saved for the NSeries range:

N79 Active Advert

2009-01-30T15:41:00.001Z

An advert on YouTube for the N79 Active handset. Looks great fun, but come on, do people really run around like this?

N82 Firmware Update 31.0.016

2009-01-29T09:41:00.003Z

So, a couple of days after the firmware update was announced, I decided to update my N82 last night. Steve at AAS had suggested the update had interfered with the Maps functionality on his phone, but on the whole most users were reporting a successful update, with suggestions that the phone operates faster and smoother, that the Auto Screen Rotation had been improved, the call ending bug had been fixed, a faster GPS lock, better battery life and improvement in the loud speakers.

I've never experienced the call end bug - apparently some users have seen the phone 'hang' for a few seconds after ending a call. As for the ASR, I have that turned off, the only time it is useful to me is in the gallery, or sometimes web browsing. Most often it is just bloody annoying. Just to see what it is like, I re-enabled this feature last night. My impression is, if this is now 'fast' then before it must have been excruciatingly slow! So, I've turned it off again. GPS in my experience on the N82 has always been fast, what I did notice is the positioning is slightly more accurate. When I've loaded Maps in the past at home, I was always located at the property next door, but last night it accurately positioned me at home. I only activated the Maps to try the log on, it seemed no quicker, but also no slower, just more accurate. Battery life remains to be seen, but the speakers are a definite improvement, even for someone like me who rarely notices these things. Play music on loud speaker now, then turn on stereo widening, and you can clearly hear the difference.

So all well with the phone, but I did wonder half way through the update if I would even have a working phone at all! The firmware downloaded ok, the update started, after a few minutes I got a message on screen saying the connection to my N82 had been lost! I started to think I may have bricked my phone somehow. I followed the message on the screen which said to remove battery, charger and USB cable from the device, then re-insert the USB cable, battery and charger, press the power button for one second and see click the retry button on screen. I did all that except plug in the charger, as I wasn't using the charger to begin with.

After about a 7 minute wait, I got the error message again! I wasn't quite panicking just yet, but was starting to get concerned. I followed the instructions on screen again, but this time did plug in my charger. That somehow seems to have done the trick as the phone kicked back into life and the firmware install started again and everything, thankfully, went through fine with no further issues.

As you can see from the screenshot, I now have version 31.0.016 running on the phone. For now all seems to be ok; I'll post up if I come across any issues.

Audio Smileys

2009-01-28T19:42:00.002Z

A new application of absolutely no relevance from Nokia Beta Labs, Audio Smileys. Whilst the app has no general relevance it *is* good fun, and can create a laugh around unsuspecting friends. See the video clip below for more. In the clip the question is asked, do we want to see more apps like this or not? I think that it is good to see fun apps being thrown out for phones every once in a while, and think it should be encouraged. Click the link to download the application.

Nokia N82 Software Update

2009-01-26T15:26:00.002Z

Steve at AAS got the scoop on a new update for the Nokia N82, but since updating has been having issues with Nokia Maps.

If you've done the update and have feedback, or if you are having issues with Maps to, pop over and join in the chat. Personally I think I'll wait and see how things go before I update my phone.

Nokia N82 - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!

2009-01-26T14:04:00.006Z

So, after a long time deciding, I now have a sure idea in my mind what I want in my mobile phone. I still say phone, when in reality it is so much more. But Mobile Communication device just sounds naff!

Candy bar is my preference, followed by flip, then slide. I want a proper alphanumeric keypad on my phone. No QWERTY, no touchscreen. It must be S60.

At the moment, the Nokia N82 fulfills my requirements for the above. But the N82 is not perfect. Here's my take on what is good, what is bad, and what is downright ugly!

The Good.
5mp Camera - With the N82 you've got to start with the standout feature, the camera. Excellent high quality pics, proper Xenon flash, quick processing. Video clip quality is very good too, more than acceptable.
Connectivity - Everything you need, from WiFi to HSDPA, Bluetooth, backed up by HSCSD, GPRS and EDGE.
Messaging - Everything covered here, too. Email is the main one I use, so much cheaper with a good data plan to email than use text or SMS. Also being S60 there are so many options for connecting to IM services, too.
GPS - If you are going to have a feature like GPS on your phone, it is good to know it will work when needed. The GPS on the N82 is damn fast, I rarely have to wait too long to get a log to the network, and with aGPS as a back up location finding is almost instant. I rarely use maps, but on the occasions I have the software has never let me down, and t hat applies to either Nokia Maps or Google Maps.
3.5mm Connector - Having a music player on a mobile phone is pretty much standard these days, but a 3.5mm connector is not. Even some handsets that are heavily branded as music phones, like the Walkman range from Sony Ericsson, lack such an obvious option.

For me, the above are the highlights of an excellent product. There is much more that the phone offers, but those are the standout features I appreciate having. But, it isn't all rosy....

The Bad
I don't like the Micro USB cable - I have so many standard mini USB cables lying around, but for that one phone I have to have a Micro USB cable. Annoying. I don't understand why Nokia couldn't stick with the standard mini USB here?
Multimedia key - Unlike some other bloggers, the multimedia menu on the Nseries range doesn't bother me so much, as I rarely use it. But that silly key does bother me, a lot. It just gets in the way, and it looks naff.
And if that key is bad, then the actual keypad is a nightmare. Although recent experience has shown me it is preferable to a QWERTY set up, it is still uncomfortable for long term usage.

The Ugly
This is ugly! Just look at that Homescreen, writing all over the place! I actually like having the shortcut icons on my screen, at the top, but I do not like in any way the whole list of writing that comes with it. Search content, share online, calendar entries, etc, it just looks so messy. I'm not really bothered about themes, as you can see I tend to stick with plain looking ones, so it is not having the wallpaper covered that bothers me but the mess. What makes the whole thing worse is knowing that Nokia could very easily implement the excellent homescreen plugins used on the Eseries. The all or nothing approach with the Nseries handsets is just not on, not with a perfectly acceptable solution just begging to be used.
So currently my screen looks like this. It just looks wrong without the six icons across the top. It's a good thing that I can create shortcuts around the Navi-Key, but it isn't the same.

So, that's my thoughts on the N82 for now. By no means an exhaustive list, but just a highlight of what I like and dislike about the phone. Until a proper replacement comes along, it is the phone I choose to use.

Stick With What You Know

2009-01-25T20:12:00.002Z

I have always been of the mind that I don't like touch screen phones, and I have always been of the mind that I don't like QWERTY keyboard phones. You would have thought that by now, I would accept this and just deal with it. I guess wisdom doesn't always come with age!

The main thing I use my phone for is messaging, text and email. I rarely call. I web browse frequently, and I like the added extras available on most modern smartphones, such as camera, GPS, MP3 player, etc. I've tried all platforms, from Windows Mobile to UIQ to S40 to your bog standard phone interface, and nothing performs to the level of S60.

Knowing this, I still like to try out new phones, new features, new services and new products. But, every time, I go back to what I know. Of all the phones I have owned, only a few have really stood the test. Amongst those are the Nokia 6310i, Nokia 7650, Nokia 6600, Nokia N73, Nokia N95 (inc 8GB version), and Nokia N82. I wouldn't suggest I am a Nokia addict, but the phones that pass the test are for me the phones that I keep going back to, after trying something new. Before owning a 6310i, there was never a phone I was particularly bothered about, although the 2110 was ok, as was the 8110, but the 6310i was in a class of it's own. I'd buy a new phone, but nothing came up to standard, so I would go back to it. Until the 7650 came along. And the same with that, I must have bought the 7650 at least 5 times, as I would sell for a new phone, only for it not to come up to scratch, so I would buy the 7650 again! Same with the 6600, N73 and N95. Sure there would be a period in between whilst I was using other phones, but none ever passed the test the way these phones did.

And now, the latest phone to pass the 'test', is another Nokia, another S60 phone, another NSeries phone. Over the last few months, I've been using the E51, then the Samsung F480 Tocco, followed by a Sony Ericsson C905. The Tocco, whilst a nice enough phone for a touchscreen affair, just didn't cut it, especially web browsing, and text entry was a pain. The C905 is a great imaging phone, with some nice features, but the keypad was hard and lacked any decent feedback, and it just looks like an old phone. Kinda plain and normal.

So, I took the opportunity to take a look at the market, and see if there was anything new out there for me. And, rather than make an impulse buy like I usually do, I took my time and compared phones. As mentioned in previous posts, I took my choice down to mainly the E71 or E66 with the E51 as an outside option, or the N95 8GB or the N82. I nearly went for the E71, I truly did, but that blasted QWERTY keyboard, it sucks! Surprisingly usable it may be, but not usable enough. For a quick message it was fine, but once I got into a long text conversation, it wasn't long before the phone and I became bitter enemies! I did try to persist, but I can't begin to tell you the relief of putting my SIM back into the N82. No more typos! Simple, easy, T9 assisted text entry. Just what I need.

So, after all the fannying about of the last few months, I hope I will remember the lesson learned. I actually do not like touchscreen phones; I actually do not like QWERTY keypad phones; nothing compares to S60 for usability, 'customisability' and functionality.

Basically, I should stick with what I know, and right now the current hero handset that I know, the latest to pass 'the test', is the Nokia N82.

Smart phones are Too Smart for the Average User

2009-01-19T09:25:00.002Z

I saw a story over at AllAboutSymbian, referencing a survey from the BBC, claiming that many people are 'baffled' by new features on their phone.

I work in mobile retail, and the results of that survey don't surprise me in the least, in fact I'm surprised the percentages are not even higher. I get to see the 'average majority' of mobile phone users, and without exaggeration I regularly have to deal with people who cannot:

Turn their phone on!!
Do not know how to answer a call
Or read a text
Or compose a text
Or listen to voicemail
Or turn up the volume in call
Or change their ring tone (You know the people who have that damn annoying standard Nokia tone? It's just because they don't know how to change the bloody thing!)
Or lock the keypad

And so on. And those things are just the basics. So many times I have to hear people tell me how awful T9 is, that they cannot compose a message using it, when in fact little is as simple and easy! Maybe they just can't spell?

As most people I deal with struggle with the above, I am not surprised that things such as email and the like confuse people so much. I can accept that occasionally certain applications do not operate as expected, and occasionally things just 'go wrong', but that does not account for a lot of the problems. Generally, when it comes to technology, most people are ignorant, and they revel in it! They come in store, proud as anything, that even though they have given in to the evil advances of modern technology, there's no way they are going to use that as an opportunity to actually learn something! Oh no, better to be ignorant and one of the crowd than actually know something, because that might mean you are not normal! Because normal people are ignorant, only smart ass geeks understand technology. And if you are a geek, you are different, and different is bad. It's like being at school; no one wants to be the class swot, better to sit at the back of the classroom and muck about instead of actually learning something.

Of course, there is a lot I don't know; the way to learn is to ask from those who do, read, study, research. Then learn, remember, apply your learning and use that to understand the next step. Wallowing in ignorance is nothing to be proud of.

For as long as the general population remains generally thick, smartphones will always remain smarter than those who use them.

Steve's Smartphone Grid

2009-01-15T17:11:00.002Z

Steve Lichfield, from AllAboutSymbian fame, has for a long while had a 'smartphone grid' on his 3Lib website. It basically lists a selection of smartphones and grades them based on their usability for a set list of functions. All grades are Steve's own opinion, but seeing he has been around for quite a while, I think he knows what he is talking about. I remember talking with him via email years ago as I made my first venture into the world of Psion, and looking over the scores he has given, there's little if any I would dispute. I'm also pleased to say I have no experience at all with over hyped rubbish like the iPhone, other than playing around with one in the shop, and am not too well versed in recent Windows Mobile phones either.

Anyhow, enough of the waffling. I've played around with this smartphone grid a few times, and it always used to tell me, based on the criteria I selected, that the E90 was the phone for me. I could see why this handset was recommended, based on my selections, but I just didn't like that phone. Too big, see.

A few weeks ago, toward the end of December Steve posted about some tweaks he'd made to the smartphone grid, so I thought I'd pop on over and give it a go. After all, I'm still not totally decided on my next phone purchase, what with the E71 I purchased yesterday throwing a spanner in the works! (See post below)

After entering in all my choices, the top three phones recommended for me, are, in reverse order:

3rd Place: Nokia N95 Classic/N82 tied with 246 points
2nd Place: Nokia N95 8GB with 250 points

and the clear winner:

1st place: Nokia E71 with 267 points!

The E90 which was regularly my number one recommended handset is now in fourth, with 244 points.

So, is it to be the E71 that I roll with? Well, I've spent most of the day getting the phone set up with the configuration I like, installing maps, changing layout, setting email, installing my usual applications, and so far I like what I see. It may just be possible that if I don't stick with the N82, then this is the phone I will go for. The main issue for me, the QWERTY keyboard, is surprisingly usable, so this no longer counts as a negative mark against the phone. What I really need to do is get it unlocked and use it with my main T-Mobile SIM. Currently it is locked to Three, so I either risk dealing with the notoriously poor Three customer services, or try my luck with one of the local market stalls. Thing is, they would need to send the phone away for a few days, which isn't my preferred choice.

I'll give it a few days, and see how it goes. One thing I've noticed, as an aside, is how much better HSDPA is than 3G. Yeah, I know that's an obvious thing to say, but seriously, 3G is just so slow! Where I live I get HSDPA on T-Mobile, but only 3G on Three, and downloading some apps to the phone, was just painful. I realise that I'm spoilt with choice, but 'stepping back' to 3G is not something I'm enjoying!

Changing my mind?

2009-01-14T20:38:00.002Z

It's like I'll never decide what I want!

When it comes to phones, I never normally have to make up my mind, as I regularly change handset. New phone released, get a new deal, new number or upgrade, sorted for a few weeks til the next one comes out. With a few recent changes I no longer have the option to change as often as I used to, basically I'm cutting down on the number of commitments I have with the networks. They get too much of my money as it is!

Recently I've been posting about my decision on choosing a new handset, and I had it down to basically three Eseries, the E51, E66 or E71, or the N82. There were other choices but I discounted those. Now, it is probably obvious that my bias lies with the Nseries range, after all that is what this blog mainly focuses on. I picked up an N82 recently, and I was reminded just how good a phone that really is, til the camera stopped working, that is. (Still not fixed either!) But all round the N82 is hard to beat, quick GPS, email, web, looks good, nice size, etc.

I was in town today though, and found an opportunity to pick up an E71 for a really good price, which I covered through some sales on Ebay recently. I've played around with the E71 in the shop a few times, and every time someone comes in looking for a Blackberry or similar device, I always recommend the E71. Once you start listing 3G, HSDPA, WiFi, Email, Web, GPS, etc, then looking at it, the build quality, the look, an excellent QWERTY keyboard, fantastic battery life and more, I think I've sold myself the device too. I've downloaded the latest firmware to the device this evening, and copied my back up from PC Suite. This is a real nice product.

Thing is, there's no point in keeping both phones. I can only use one at a time after all, apart from my contract SIM all others are PAYG and I only keep them around for who knows what, I make no regular usage of them. So, I'm back to square one.

N82? Or E71? Decisions, decisions....

Still No N82

2009-01-05T18:08:00.002Z

My phone didn't get back from the repair centre in time for the weekend, and the earliest I can pick up now is tomorrow. So I am still using the 6600. The lack of HSDPA, good music player, and decent web browser is very frustrating. It has been hard to get used to not using the features I am so used to on a phone. There is one positive on the phone though; it has an excellent keypad!

I just hope my N82 is back tomorrow.

The Curse of Silence

2008-12-31T13:40:00.002Z

I've just heard about a potential virus effecting S60 phones, dubbed 'The Curse of Silence' This is sent in the form of an SMS and it stops further functionality of SMS and MMS on the infected phone.

Has anyone received this? Apparently the only way to restore the phone is a factory reset.

I Broke My Phone!

2008-12-30T20:20:00.003Z

Unbelievable, after all that time deciding and finally choosing the Nokia N82, I've broken the camera! The lens cover does not activate the camera when opened; I cannot activate it through the menu either, as the sensors think the cover is still closed. All that opens is the front facing camera.

I've had to send my phone away for repair, and if I'm lucky it will be back by the weekend. Having just recently sold a few old phones on Ebay, all I have left now is the Nokia 6600!! Now, when this phone launched (Four years ago? Five?) I loved it, an excellent handset for its time. Problem is, that time isn't now. Oh, how spoiled we have become with mobile technology.

So, the 6600. No WiFi, no HSDPA, poor quality screen, no decent music playback, poor camera (but at least it works!) and so on.

How will I cope?

A Christmas Gift from Nokia

2008-12-25T10:42:00.001Z

One weeks free navigation for Nokia Maps is on offer from Nokia, just click on this page and enter your mobile number. Could be useful for that long trip to grannies for lunch, if the motorway gets closed, I suppose? Or finding your way home on New Years Eve?

Merry Christmas, all.

I Choose The N82

2008-12-24T19:58:00.005Z

I've been giving some serious thought to which phone I should buy next. I've not been using Nseries for a while, I've been off using handsets from Sony Ericsson and Samsung, fine handsets in their own right, I guess, but not for me.

Recently I've been using an E51, which is a great handset, but I was getting itchy for something new. As it turns out, my choice is anything but. I was thinking of going retro, with either the N80 or the N73, but although the appeal was there, I decided it wasn't worth it. I left myself with a choice between the N82, or getting one of the really nice Eseries phones, either the E66 or E71.

The E71 is a fantastic handset, a friend recently nominated it his 'handset of the year'. One of the major pluses of the E71 is the reported battery times. It has always been one of the important points for me, on any phone, is the quality of the battery. But finally, with this phone, I am just not sure the QWERTY keypad is for me. Very fickle I know, but sometimes it comes down to the minor points when choosing a phone.

The E66 is a good alternative to the E71, with a more standard form factor. Reviews are quite harsh when commenting on the battery life with this phone, but it is still overall a fine looking handset, with plenty to offer. The build quality on the E66 and E71 also feels top drawer, really solid and feel like they are built to last.

Thing is, after a lot of thought and some useful suggestions in the comments a few posts back, I decided the phone I'm gonna stick with is the N82. I picked one up the other day to use whilst deciding what phone to get, and I guess that has influenced me. Ever since the first day I used the N82 I have been impressed with its all-round feature set. Quality in all areas, camera, GPS, Web, Email, acceptable size, with an acceptable battery life too. The keypad can become frustrating, especially when composing long emails, but that is not enough to detract from the quality of the phone.

I had looked at newer Nseries phones, like the N96, but I am not liking that phone. Too buggy, (Yeah, I know I can update when new firmware releases, but still, poor showing from Nokia with that phone) and the build quality is just so cheap and plastic. The Eseries phones are streets ahead in this regard.

So, N82 it is. But I honestly feel with the better media features now on Eseries phones, and a superior build quality, active standby screen plugins, etc, my next purchase may be Eseries.

Nokia, what HAVE you done?

2008-12-20T19:36:00.002Z

Ok, so I've been away from the Nseries market for a while, so there are lots of updates that are old news to some that I'm only just finding out for myself. A lot changes in a few months, it would seem. In my deliberations on a new phone and checking for a good deal, I managed to pick up an N82 cheap, second hand but in excellent condition. Just needed a new screen cover. At least whilst deciding where I'm going to go long term, either E or N, I can remind myself just how good the N82 really is.

However, after updating the phone to the latest firmware, I am not sure I can deal with that Homescreen! What a mess!

It is a long term bugbear of mine, the fact that Eseries phones have the option to add or remove items on the Homescreen with the plugins, and Nseries cannot. It is so silly. I like the active standby shortcuts, I don't like lines and lines and lines of text all over the place.

Like I said, this may not be news to some, but I am left with a real dilemma now. Do I hate the Homescreen that much I would buy a different handset because of it? As much as it seems petty, I just might.

Decisions, decisions.

2008-12-19T17:49:00.003Z

So, I've been looking into getting another phone, after my foray into the world of the non smartphone, as I mentioned in the post below.

I had been tempted to go retro.The idea of reliving 'the good old days' with an N80 or an N73 was very tempting. The N73 was always my favourite phone, the all round balance of features and performance was spot on, for a phone of it's time. However, I'm spoiled with phones these days that include WiFi, GPS and HSDPA. It's also a contributing reason to why I decided not to go for the N80, as tempting as it was. Poor camera, no GPS, no HSDPA, and I think the mists of time are clouding memories of a really poor battery, too.

So, I'm left with four options, either I stick with my Nokia E51, look for an E71, E66 or go for the N82. The Eseries are strong contenders, and apart from the N82 I can't see any Nseries worth having. Maybe the N95 8GB could slip in as a contender, giving me 5 to choose from.

Decisions, decisions.

We're back..... Sort of.

2008-12-16T21:30:00.002Z

It's been a long while since I had anything to add to this blog. In the time I've 'been away' I have tried many phones. (Such is the life of a mobile geek, just when you think you are happy with a handset, another comes along to entice you away!) Chiefly among the handsets I've used has been the Sony Ericsson C905 and the Samsung Tocco. Nice phone in their own right, but it takes a lot to please me, and they just didn't make the grade. So, I find myself right now at a bit of a loose end. I want a new phone, but what should I get? I've narrowed my choice down to 6.

I could go retro, and pick up a Nokia N80. It's not something I've been hankering for, I was just in a shop the other day that sells second hand phones, and I saw an N80 on display. Amongst the memories of dire battery life, I also recalled the quality of that handset. Seriously. Poor camera apart, the N80 could hold its own against many of the phones on the market today, despite being around two years old.

If I'm going to go retro, why not go back to the phone I had when I started this blog? The Nokia N73 has lawys been a favourite of mine, one of the best handsets for balance of features ever. Quality camera, NSeries functionality, and an excellent battery life. Again for slightly nostalgic reasons, the N73 is a consideration.

Alternatively, I could go for a Nokia N82. There's nothing nostalgic in this option, the N82 simply remains my favourite phone of all time, I'm still not 100% sure why I traded it in. I guess I just wanted to see what else was out there, but there's nothing I've used that comes close to the near perfection, in my opinion, of the N82. At the moment, despite my nostalgic dreaming, the N82 remains favourite.

Unless...

I go to the dark side! Actually, I'm kind of already there, and it isn't that dark, to be honest. I'm referring to the Eseries, so nothing too drastic. But, I'm supposed to be an Nseries fan, I shouldn't be harping on about Eseries phones, surely? Well, it's not really the multimedia things that get me going, it's the functionality of S60. And there are some options on the Eseries, namely homescreen plugins (yup, I'm still banging that drum!) that you just don't get with Nseries phones.

I've looked at the E71. Functionality wise, this phone is top drawer. It has all the connection options covered, isn't as ugly as the E61 was, feels well made, looks good, and apparently has a battery that like, goes forever! This phone is a strong contender for my next purchase, but there is one drawback. That QWERTY keypad, I'm just not sure that is for me.

So, I could consider the E66. Now this is a smart looking phone, and it actually looks like a phone, too! Nice slide design, all the features of the E71, still feels well built, I could see myself using this phone and being happy to do so. I'm unsure about the battery with this one though, some reports have been less than promising. But I'm still tempted.

My last option is just to stay with what I've got. Kinda boring, really, it's so much nicer to be choosing something new, when quite honestly I have a perfectly adequate phone already. Currently I use the E51. Nice slim phone, with HSDPA, WiFi, excellent S60 functionality, good battery life, fits nicely in the pocket and it just works. No claims are made about anything spectacular, but it just gets the job done.

Although Nseries has always been 'my thing' none of the new stuff appeals. I think the fact I'm even reminiscing of the old stuff is indicative of the recent releases. The N78 is not particularly nice, and the N79 seems to be an N78 rehash with a better keypad. As for the N96, it's a right dogs dinner, it just feels nasty in the hand, cheap plastic rubbish. And I don't do touchscreen phones. I always felt I didn't, my experience with the Tocco (nice enough phone for what it is, just not for me) proved as much.

So, decisions, decisions.

Early Thoughts on the N96

2008-10-03T21:32:00.002+01:00

There are a few N96 reviews kicking around the net, which are all worth a read. I have had some time using one, a Vodafone branded device. And I do like it, the feature set is top of the tree and it just feels good in the hand. But, if I had to buy one, right now I would not. This phone is slow, slow, slow. Horribly so. I cannot emphasise how annoying it is. The time it takes the camera to load is frustrating, menu navigation is awkward, you press a button and the reaction is virtually non existant. It is not a product I would easily recommend.

In its current state, I won't be looking to purchase this phone just yet.

The N96 is Here!

2008-09-28T13:16:00.004+01:00

I was in the Vodafone store in St Albans yesterday, and they had the Nokia N96 in stock! It is likely that most UK Vodafone stores will have some stock, but it is likely to be limited for the next few weeks.

Check out with your local Vodafone store, and see what is available.

Pre-Order The Nokia N96

2008-09-16T13:50:00.006+01:00

Nokia have a habit of making the next best thing, and it's usually the NSeries handsets that catch the interest. This time the phone we are all waiting for is the Nokia N96. The N96 takes mobile communications to a new level and offers some amazing features, including:

The Nokia N96 is due to be released imminently in the UK, and it is available to Pre Order with Mobiles.co.uk, one of the leading online retailers of mobile handsets in the UK. Mobiles are offering the Nokia N96 for FREE, on either O2 600 at £35 a month, or O2 1200 at £45 a month. On O2 12000, the offer includes 8 months half price line rental!

To Pre Order the Nokia N96 click here

FIFA 08

2008-08-11T17:20:00.002+01:00

Although I don't go in for much gaming on my phone, there are many who do. I have a friend who behaves pretty much like the guy in the video below, too engrossed in his phone, playing games!

Nokia have 120,000 licenses for FIFA08, to give away until the end of August 08, details of which you can find here.

What I Want in a Mobile Phone

2008-08-09T18:14:00.002+01:00

Currently I use the Nokia N82. Although I don't change my phone as often as I used to, I still get the occasional impulse to try something different. I bought a Sony Ericsson W890i just the other day, using an upgrade I had available, but it only lasted two days - the speaker is just awful! Ringtones and text alerts sound distorted.

So, for the next phone I get this is going to be what I look for:

3G - As a minimum, the phone must be 3G
Bluetooth - Almost a default feature these days, but I expect my phone to be Bluetooth 2.0 compatible, for stereo connectivity
Form factor - I like candybar phones, I do not like slide, nor clamshell.
Keypad - My phone has to have a usable keypad. Messaging on my phone is by far the biggest usage, text, email and IM.
Battery - My phone *must* have a decent battery. All the features in the world mean nothing if the phone cannot survive at least one day of solid usage as an absolute minimum.
Size - I don't want a bulky phone. Not too long, and not too thick.
Java support - My phone has to have good java support, to at least run the java GMail app and Opera Mini. Opera Mini is especially necessary if my phone has a poor native browser.
Email support - I wasn't sure if this would be an required option or not, as I use GMail, I mainly login via a bookmark on my phone's browser. But for sending email direct from the phone, it is easier to compose in the phone's email client, so decent email support gets on the must have list.
Alarm Clock - The most used feature on all my phones. If I can manually adjust the snooze time, so much the better.

Optional features on my phone are:
HSDPA - Ideally, the phone I buy should support HSDPA
WiFi - This is an optional extra. I rarely use WiFi, but it's a nice feature to have if possible
Operating system - S60 is by far the best I've ever used on any phone, and it has just got better and better over the years. But I'm not so blind to S60 as to not consider other phones. I like Nokia S40, UIQ, and standard SE phones too. But if a phone carries S60 it is a definite plus
Customisability - What I mean is I want control over the shortcuts on my phone, on how the display looks, on what appears on the standby screen and what doesn't.
MP3 Player - I like to listen to music on my phone, but it isn't essential.
Radio - As above. A radio is a useful option to have, but not essential.
Camera - So far down the list. I really am not bothered about a camera on my phone. If there is one, I'd like it to be worthwhile, to take decent pics, but I am not fussed too much.
GPS - Including GPS support is a nice touch, but overall I think I've used Nokia Maps three times in the last six months, and two of those occasions was because I could, not because I needed to. An application like Sports Tracker is useful, but not enough to make GPS vital.
Profiles - I like to be able to adjust the tone settings on my phone to my own comfort, that means being able to set different ring tones and text alerts for each separate profile.

I think I've covered the essentials and desirables. There's nothing extreme in my list, I think my requirements are quite conservative really. My N82 covers all of this (apart from maybe a decent keypad and size), I would want my next phone to cover all the essentials and as many desirables as possible.

Nokia N78 Review

2008-08-07T17:45:00.002+01:00

I haven't had much hands on time with the N78. I recall seeing an early prototype at a testing session, and I was less than impressed. When the handset was officially announced, I was at a press event at the Nokia store in London. Seeing the handset there, I changed my mind and thought it could be a worthy successor to the almost mythical N73.
As I said, my hands on time with the phone is severely limited, however Rafe over at All About Symbian has an excellent in depth review, in three parts. Click here for part one, here for part two, and here for part three.

N-Gage

2008-08-05T18:12:00.003+01:00

I don't play games on my phone. I just have no interest in it. The only reason for installing the full NGage app on my phone is it allows me to move the icon from the main menu screen and hide it away in a folder where I store all unused apps.

However, there are some who like to play a game or two. I've been reading about a game called Reset Generation over at All About Symbian. And I found that there is an option to put a full version of Reset Generation right here on the blog. So, here it is:

2008-08-05T16:18:00.004+01:00

Nokia N95 8GB
It's hard to believe the N95 8GB version has been available for a year now. Despite this, it is still one of the best featured handsets on the market, and there are some cracking deals around. Such as that at E2Save, you can buy the N95 8GB right now with 7 months half price line rental

Just in case you haven't been following the phone market in too much detail, the stand-out features of the N95 8GB include:

8GB Internal Memory
2.8 Inch QVGA 16 million colour screen
HSDPA Mobile Broadband
5.0 Megapixel Camera
Built in GPS
3.5mm Audio Output Jack
TV Out option
MP3 Player
Stereo FM Radio

And that's just for starters, there is so much more. I would expect most people reading this blog have purchased the N95, but if you're anything like me you have more than one contract on the go, and this is a very good deal.
This deal is available to UK residents only.

Mobile Networks

2008-07-28T10:35:00.000+01:00

This is going to be a bit of a rant.

In the UK there are 5 networks to choose from, with most these days offering a decent data package. Although data is the main use for me, there are occasions when it's necessary to make a call. And here's the rant:

If anyone has yet to try the Three network, don't. It is an absolute waste of space. Rarely did I get 3.5G coverage, so many times I dropped calls, and even on occasions when the phone showed full signal, call quality was atrocious.
I'm so glad to be back on Vodafone.

Music Maestro

2008-07-20T15:01:00.004+01:00

One of the features on my phone I use regularly is the music player. The N82 is a more than capable in this regard. Normally I listen to the music via my car stereo, linking the N82 to the stereo with a simple 3.5mm to 3.5mm lead. Recently I changed jobs and sold my car, I no longer need a vehicle and I've made the lifestyle choice to use public transport more. Traveling to work on the train, I find I now use headphones to listen to the music. (I wish more people would, I don't need to hear the latest noise that the youngsters are listening to, being distorted at full volume from the tiny speakers on the latest mid-range prepay phone!)

I am not an audiophile, so I am usually satisfied with the supplied headphones that come with the phone, and that is the case with the N82. I like the convenience they offer, what with the built in controls and microphone, makes taking calls so much easier. I also take advantage of the multiple formats the N82 supports. By compressing the music files, I have much more space to store more songs. I have an 8GB card in my phone, I have more than 300 songs stored and the space used is still less than 800MB. As I said, I am not an audiophile, and the converted tracks sound fine to me. Conversion is easily done using the Nokia Music uploader found in the PC suite. It's worth keeping in mind that it can take a while to convert and transfer songs when they are done in large number.

Another music feature I've started to use more often these days is the radio. I like to listen to the radio on the way to work, to keep up to date with the latest news. The radio feature works well, and it is easy to cycle through the selected radio stations using the remote commands on the Nokia headset. Reception is usually very good with just occasional signal loss.

The N82 performs very well as a music player, and I certainly don't miss an iPod. The memory capacity is used to maximum effect when the songs have been converted and the battery life easily lasts a day on heavy usage (calls, text, web, GPS and music) and two on lighter usage.

A New Beginning

2008-07-15T18:24:00.002+01:00

It's been a while since I had something to write on this blog. For a while, I have considered not posting anymore. I am no longer working in the mobile industry, after 12 years I felt it was time for a break.

So, I've been thinking, if I were to resume with this blog, what shape would it take? My focus will now be on how I use my S60 device day by day. The uses I find for it, over and above the normal calls and text messages. As I use different applications I will write my opinion on them, as I find interesting snippets of news I will write about it.

Right now, I'm using a black Nokia N82, I've been a huge fan of the N82 since the first time I saw it.

Let's see how it goes.

Back in Business

2008-04-12T12:47:00.002+01:00

After a frustrating time in search of the N82 through retail shops, (See post below) I have finally managed to acquire an N82!

We're back in business.

N82, N82, Where for Art Thou, N82?

2008-04-08T19:57:00.002+01:00

I want to buy a Nokia N82. It shouldn't be that hard, should it? You wouldn't have thought so.

I used an N82 for nigh on three months, following the trip to Nokia last year, thanks to the good people at Womworld. In that time, it became abundantly clear that the N82 is simply the best phone I've owned. It took the place of the N73 as my favourite all time NSeries phone. For my style of usage, the N82 was perfect, covered all the bases and performed in every department.

After the N82 had to be returned, I purchased the N95 8GB. This handset is widely used among NSeries fans, and I've not heard a bad word said by those who use it. It also does all I could want in a phone, the reason in the end I moved the phone on was simply I didn't like the form factor. Nothing more, I don't think.

So, I want to buy a Nokia N82. It shouldn't be so hard, should it? After all, this is the latest NSeries phone, top of the range features, sure to be popular. Why, oh why, is it so hard to find? I use Vodafone for my main network, and my number has become due an upgrade. Now, working in the industry, I know subsidies on upgrades aren't the same as new connections (although why networks pay so much to gain customers only to lose them to cheaper new connection deals on rival networks when the minimum term contract ends, I'll never understand) so I am prepared to pay towards the cost of the phone, as you usually do on upgrades.

But, even being prepared to pay for the phone doesn't help! First of all, Vodafone do not sell the N82. They sell the N81 8GB, the N95 8GB (both good phones, both slide phones) but no N82. Phones4U are part owned by Vodafone, can do Vodafone upgrades but do not sell the N82! Carphone Warehouse, the largest retailer of mobile phones in the UK, do not sell new Vodafone connections, but *do* sell Vodafone upgrades *and* they sell the N82. But they can't sell the N82 on Vodafone, apparently it is not on the Vodafone approved handset list! And that's it, choice ends here. On the high st the other mobile phone retailers are network stores, Orange, O2, T-Mobile, Three. The independent mobile phone shop appears to have disappeared, so the option of getting a Vodafone upgrade indirectly and getting the phone I want isn't, really.

Moving networks is not an option, Orange I've used before, they rival Vodafone on network coverage but don't even come close on customer service. O2 suck, their 3G coverage is virtually non existant, let's not even mention HSDPA! Three and T-Mobile offer poor network coverage, so don't enter the equation.

The N82 has been available for less than 6 months, and has already disappeared!

Wot, No NSeries?

2008-03-28T14:21:00.002Z

It’s been quite a while since I last posted here. With Lent, Easter and some other things going on, my attention has been taken away from the mobile phone market and from the latest happenings in the NSeries range.

Also, for the first time in a very long time, I actually currently do not own a Nokia NSeries handset. Nothing much has changed, I still consider the NSeries range to be the finest set of handsets produced by any handset manufacturer, combining great looking handsets with such a wide variety of media options, I just find myself in a ‘transition’ moment.

Very recently, I was using the Nokia N95 8GB. This is a top class handset, it looks good, is easy to use with the excellent S60 UI and is packed full of all the latest handset features and options. The N95 8GB and N95 Classic deserve their place at the top of the tree. But in the back of my mind, I had a nagging doubt, and it is nothing to do with functionality or usability, it is a simple design issue. I do not like slide phones. My favoured design choice is standard candybar; that is a main reason why the N73 always rated as my all-time favourite handset, and why my all-time favourite now is the N82. It matches the N95 pair feature for feature, but the design is just right. Having recently spent a good three months using the N82, it is easily my favourite handset, I have finally made up my mind, no more chasing the ultimate phone, the N82 does it for me. If I were to look at something to improve the phone, it would be maybe making the phone a bit thinner, and a bit lighter.

So, I found myself without phone, after passing the N95 8GB on. I needed something that will fulfil my current usage requirements, fast data transfer, preferably smartphone, even more preferably S60. I wanted something slim, with a good battery. A decent keypad would help, as would expandable memory (although it is hard to buy a phone these days that doesn’t offer that option)

I looked around the market, and settled on a straight out choice between the Nokia 6120 and the Nokia E51. And the E51 took it for me, for one (personally) important reason. It is something I have bleated on about for ages now. The Active Standby plugins. Yup, that old chestnut, again. Ever since I used the E65 a year or so ago, and found this feature when browsing through the menu, I have loved it. I adore the fact that I can simply remove the calendar from the main screen! I use the calendar to remind me what I have to do, so I don’t double commit to things. I don’t need reminders two weeks in advance that an upcoming appointment is pending, I also don’t need to be showing to anyone who looks at the screen of my phone what my upcoming appointments are. I’m sure this could be done better, by setting appointments to private or public, and setting the notification required, but as it stands the calendar on S60 phones can’t handle it. So, next best option is to remove it from the screen altogether. With the plugins option on ESeries phones that is so simple, so straight forward, and so effective! I also like the way ESeries phones handle message notification and the different way messages can be shown. This whole side of S60 operability is so much better on ESeries phones than on NSeries, and I still fail to be convinced why this should be. Maybe one day I will be offered an adequate explanation, but I don’t hold much hope.

Aside from this, the Nokia E51 also covers the basic requirements I have from my phone. Size? Check. Battery? Check. Data transfer? Check. Here, also, the E51 outscores the 6120 with the option of WiFi as well as HSDPA.

The keypad layout on the E51 is also well thought out and well designed. The 12 main keys are very well sized, and offer great feedback, texting and emailing and the four shortcut keys are a great bonus. As well as having the 6 on-screen shortcuts, two soft key shortcuts you also have four shortcut keys around the centre D-Pad. The first has a house on it, the one under it has a calendar icon, the third has a contacts icon and the one underneath that has a messaging envelope icon.

The house key takes you to the menu. A long press of the key takes you to any open applications; if you have installed Handy Taskman (pretty much a must have app, in my mind) then the long press will bring that up. A quick press on the calendar key brings up the main calendar, which opens up in month view, a long press takes you to the add new meeting screen. A quick press of the contact key takes you to the address book, a long press takes you to the add new contact page. With the messaging icon, I have set mine to a quick press taking you to the main messaging menu; a long press takes me to the write new email screen. All of the keys can be changed, so if you want something else to be associated with those keys you can set it in the main settings menu

Other shortcuts from the keypad include holding down # to enter silent profile, and holding down 0 to launch the web browser which is standard on most Nokia’s. A useful shortcut addition is a long press of the * key activates Bluetooth. Perfect. The pencil key is no longer part of the keypad layout, but the functionality of the pencil key is now dealt with by the # key. This is ok, but it makes use of Screenshot programs very hard, in fact nigh on impossible. I found this on the N82, now the pencil (edit) key is part of the # key; I found the only setting that worked was to use the C key for screenshots. Which is fine until you forget the app is still open, go to use the C key for its natural purpose and you end up taking a screenshot! Screenshot is the only app I can get to work with the new setup, using the C key (on the E51 the C key is the backspace key, with what looks similar to a pencil design icon on it just to confuse things a little more)

How do others deal with this issue? I like to take screenshots for use on the blog, and also it can be fun to take screenshots of something you see on the web and email them or MMS them to a friend, and losing the pencil key makes it more hassle than it needs to be.

Apart from that little gripe, I’m loving the E51, it is a quality handset, well built and put together, with a solid feature set and easy to use. I expect it will easily cover my mobile needs until I either get a black N82, or maybe I will hold on for the next generation NSeries phones that are going to be released in the coming months.

Quiet Time

2008-03-17T11:06:00.002Z

Things have been a bit quiet on the blog recently, what with Lent and other commitments I've not had much time to think about posting here.

Now we enter Holy Week, with Easter in sight. I'm hoping things will get back to normal after then.

Have a great Easter, all.

How Good is the Nokia N95 8GB?

2008-03-07T10:26:00.002Z

For the past few weeks I’ve been considering what is going to be the best phone for me, long term. Personally I feel I have reached the level of where I want my communication device to be. I’ve been a regular mobile user for many years, and have used a high number of handsets. Living in the UK, it is so easy to get a contract phone making ownership, initially at least, very low cost. I’ve been at a period where I’ve had over 17 mobile contracts running, allowing me to upgrade more than once a month, to get the latest mobile handset. These days I’m running around 6 contracts, allowing me to get a new phone every two months or so, but I find that I no longer need that, and slowly those contract options are disappearing. The reason is, there isn’t the ‘next best thing’ in handsets anymore. The next handset tends more often than not to be a redesign, or a new colour variant, rather than a complete overhaul of features, and that isn’t always a compelling reason to change. And I'm finding the handsets around now, offer me all I want in a phone, I no longer desire to chase the next best thing.

I have had a few favourite handsets over the years, and when the NSeries range initially launched, I was a happy user of the N70, then a very happy N73 owner. More recently, I’ve used the N82 and now the N95 8GB. It is specifically my experience with these handsets that make me think I’ve reached the level I want from my device.

The device I want to use these days needs to have a good battery. There’s no point otherwise. The three best NSeries handsets to date have also had the best battery life.

The phone needs to be simple to use, and well laid out. The benefit of the S60 UI is the high level of customisation available. You can pretty much make the menu layout your own, by creating new folders, hiding icons of less used applications, moving shortcuts from folder to folder, and so on.

I use the camera on my phone sparingly, the video recorder even less so, but if I do use them I want good results. When I put the pictures online, I want the quality to show through, I don’t want grainy results.

Communication is the ultimate point of a mobile phone, and I want a decent text messaging layout, good language options, and an email client. Connectivity is also a main focus, and I want my phone to offer multiple connection options, from Bluetooth, to WiFi, with 3G and even better be HSDPA compatible.

The last critical option on my phone is memory. There must be high memory capacity, anything from 4GB upwards is ideal.

And that is it. Those are my basic requirements for my mobile device. Anything else is an added bonus.

For a lot of that the N73 gave me all I need, the N82 and N95 8GB give me everything.

Aside from features, people put stock on is how the phone looks. I don’t put too much stock on this personally, but it can’t be denied the N95 8GB is one sexy looking piece of hardware.

So, in conclusion, it ticks all the boxes. It has the features, it has the software, it has the design, and it has the looks.

The N95 8GB offers all I need for my mobile usage.

Geotagging Integrated into N82 on Next Firmware Update

2008-02-21T15:31:00.001Z

According to S60 Blogs, the next firmware update of the N82 should include Geotagging integrated into the camera settings. No firm date was offered, but the update is on course to be released during Q1.

The post also says:

Work on Location Tagging is progressing well, some other new features are also being added (that I can't talk about yet).

I wonder what those features will be?

Get Together in London

2008-02-21T08:17:00.002Z

WOMWorld is a website where you can find listed in one place chat about NSeries phones. They scour the internet and link to discussions on forums, posts on blogs and general news stories about specifically the Nokia NSeries range. I've found many an interesting post and blog via their site.

The guys from WOMWorld, friendly bunch that they are, have decided to get together in London one evening early next month, to share with like minded NSeries freaks (I mean that term in the nicest way, including myself under that description) to share a chat over a beer about the greatest mobile products in the industry.

Also, during that evening, Ryan Gallagher from Camera Toss is going to be passing through as part of his excursion on the Nokia NSeries Urbanista diaries, and he will give a demo of 'Camera Toss' (Something I could *never* see myself doing!). I hope everyone is keeping up to date with the excellent Urbanista Diaries project, you can find more detail here.

The WOMWorld event will take place on the 5th March, at the Crown Pub in London which is just a three minute walk from Holborn Tube station. A map is linked here.

The WOMworld crew will be there from 6.30ish onwards, so if you are up for a lively evening and will be in the area, pop in and meet the guys.

N78 Advertising

2008-02-20T13:30:00.001Z

From AAS, this ad for the N78. It has to be said when I first saw the N78 I was far from impressed. Now I'm starting to change my mind. It could actually be even a more popular handset than the N96.

Nokia N95 8GB - First Impressions

2008-02-14T14:05:00.003Z

So, now the N82 has been returned, I've had to look across the market to see what phone I should get next. Normally, I go back to the N73, but I'm finding that is now becoming just that bit old now, despite being one of the best NSeries phones, ever.

So, not wanting the N73 again, I've looked to see what took my fancy. There's not a lot on the market right now, really. The new NSeries, N78 and N96 are still a while off, and really anything other than a smartphone just doesn't cut it. I considered the Sony Ericsson W960, and also the Nokia E51, but ultimately decided on the N95 8GB. I've owned the N95 a couple of times in the past, but this is the first time I've owned the 8GB version.

This phone just looks good. Huge screen, easy to use navigation keys, comfortable keypad, and nice black colour.

A few initial thoughts on the phone. It is sold as coming with the Spiderman 3 film, but if you want to keep it functioning don't upgrade your firmware. I backed up before upgrading last night but despite this, the film now no longer works. I can't understand why Nokia don't carry through this functionality on a firmware upgrade, is it really that difficult? A quick scan of the Nokia discussion boards shows a lot of dissatisfied users who've lost the film after upgrading their firmware, some backed up, some did not because, as a brand new handset they didn't think there was anything too back up. Surely it isn't hard to rectify this issue?

Another point, that mini USB cable is just too short. My phone barely reaches my desk from the PC, it is that short.

Minor points really, but annoying enough to mention them. Overall I'm very happy with the phone and I'm sure it will last until the Black N82 hits the market.

Iconic Handsets

2008-02-13T16:27:00.007Z

There have been some iconic mobile phones, over the years. Handsets that have really stood out, and stood the test of time. The reasons a handset becomes part of mobile folklore will usually be either because of a classic design, or outstanding features. Take the Motorola Star Tac, for example. Feature-wise nothing special but it is a real design classic of a mobile phone. Or who could forget what popularly became known as the Motorola Wings, the Motorola V3688. This handset was tiny, and just felt great to use, despite being absolutely useless for anything other than calls. The V3688 even sucked at SMS, with poor message input and early handsets had no link to the phonebook, so unless you knew the number you didn't know who messages were from. Great keypad for such a small phone though.

Moving on from the Motorola design classics, we come to another iconic handset, the Nokia 6310i. Certainly not a popular handset because of its looks, this is one of the most sold handsets Nokia have ever produced, it sold in its millions. It was such an easy phone to use, simple in layout, it had Bluetooth and GPRS back in the day when this was important and new. I know people now who still insist on their 6310i and won't swap. There is a roaring trade on 6310i refurbs on Ebay. This is one phone that will run for a few more years. A friend told me he is taken with the simplicity, whilst at the same time of course, there is the legendary 6310i battery. That thing just goes forever!

Personally, I just the iconic status of my handsets by the amount of time I buy one. It works something like this. I buy a phone, use it, like it, buy another, but the replacement doesn't cut it, either in usability, or design, or features, so I purchase another of the model I had previously. It's like my little vice, I don't drink, smoke or gamble, I do buy lots of phones! Over time phones like the V3688 and 6310i have been iconic handsets in my phone ownership history. Also the Nokia 7650, the first camera phone in the UK, the first Symbian phone, the handset that got me hooked on S60 in general, became an iconic handset. The 6600 after it, the N73, all iconic handsets.

A few months ago, I was invited to the launch of the Nokia N82, with a few other bloggers, and we were given a live handset to take away with us and put it through its every day paces. A fantastic opportunity to get real hands on with the latest S60 product, and really find out how it performs. I cannot recommend this handset enough. In the three months I've used this phone it hasn't failed me. Recently I purchased an 8GB memory card so storage was never an issue, the N82 has a great camera, WiFi, HSDPA, easy email to setup and use, an excellent web browser, the acceleromator, GPS, a handily placed 3.5mm audio jack on the top of the phone, a great bright clear screen, all in my favourite phone shape, the classic candybar.

The trial period with the N82 is now at an end, and the handset is going back. It is the only time I've ever trialed a handset that I really didn't want to give back, the N82 is that good.

I am going to by another N82. In my mind, the N82 has achieved the level of an iconic handset, to me personally. However, I am going to wait until I can get my hands on the black version, I've seen one in the flesh, so to speak, and it really is nice. In the meantime I will use an N95 8GB which I haven't owned since they came to market, but I've had the N95 previously and the N82 to me is a much better handset, even if just for the form factor.

Hands on with the Nokia N96

2008-02-11T21:06:00.000Z

At the Nokia Press event today, I also had the opportunity to get some hands on time with the Nokia N96. The first thing I noticed was the size, it was smaller than I expected. The design is similar to the N95, with the dual slider, but overall reflects more the N81 in design. Some people are not too impressed by this, for myself I like the look of the phone.

The screen is large, and dominates the handset when closed. Open, and you see a good keypad, well laid out and very easy to use. There will be no problems with text input on this phone.

A lot of the innovation on the N96 is inside. Firstly there is support for DVB-H which is basically support for digital television. I'm not sure how this affects us in the UK, the last time there was a Nokia phone with DVB-H support it didn't release in the UK as our digital signal is not compatible. For more technical detail, see here, here and here.

The N96 is endowed with an impressive 16GB of internal memory and there is also support for Micro SD cards, so in theory you could increase capacity to an amazing 32GB. For now you will have to make do with 24GB as 16GB cards will not likely be on the market until towards the end of 2008 (My guess, not based on any concrete info)

The N96 has a mini 'kick stand' at the back. In place it sits flush around the camera lens, opened out it allows the phone to stand for watching video. The N96 will support WMV videos and it is expected to also support DivX video during the handsets lifecycle.

Overall I was again impressed with the Nokia N96, the build quality was solid, the slide worked well, and the screen is very bright and clear. One thing I did like, thanks to the FP2 support, is using the phone theme you can finally remove the Nokia calendar from the front screen. Well, kind of. What actually happens is the theme will remove the standby icons from there normal position across the main screen, and list them down the left handside. You can choose which icons appear, so if you decide not to include the calendar, then obviously it won't appear. If you do choose the calendar, then appointments are only shown if you highlight the calendar icon, a mini screen pops up. Much better than the way all appointments are shown on the main screen right now, but not quite as good as the ESeries plugins.

Tomorrow I am flying out to Barcelona to attend the MWC, I will try and get some more info on the new phones, and some more pictures.

Hands on with the Nokia N78

2008-02-11T20:53:00.001Z

Earlier on today I attended the Nokia Press Conference in the new flagship store in Regents St in London, as Nokia presented live from Barcelona their new handsets. In all four handsets were announced, the Nokia 6210 Navigator, Nokia 6220 Classic, Nokia N78 and Nokia N96. Here, I'm interested in the two NSeries handsets.

First, the N78. The N78 is a direct replacement for the very popular Nokia N73. The N73 is probably one of my favourite ever handsets, it matched a good feature set, for its time along with a very good battery life. Overall Nokia sold over 50 million N73 handsets. But, as with all things in the mobile industry, we move forward.

I saw an N78 a few months ago, and to be honest, I was not impressed. It is always hard to judge what is clearly a prototype handset, however I didn't like the look, I didn't like the feel and neither the design. And that keypad, it was awful! So of the new handsets to be seen, the N78 was the one I wasn't really to bothered about.

Well, I'm happy to say those initial impressions have been shown to be misplaced. The N78 I saw today, whilst still a prototype, was way ahead of the model I saw just a short while ago. The keypad seems to have been changed slightly, in the numeric keys are more aligned than I remember. And, whilst it does still look uncomfortable, it actually isn't. Three months of using the N82 and you soon get used to using those slim keys. The keys on the N78 are slightly different, they are not separate but one long line. In fact, none of the keys are cut out separately, but part of one whole plastic design. You can get an idea of this from the pictures below. Just click on the image to see them in full size.

The N78 is equipped with an FM transmitter. This is the first time that a mobile phone has included an FM transmitter built in. I need to try the feature out, but it works in much the same way as those add on modules do for music players. The transmitter will scan for an available FM signal and you can transmit your music via the transmitter to your car or home stereo.

The N78 has HSDPA, and WiFi, and support for Bluetooth 2.0. There is also GPS support, and this includes support for geotagging, which will capture information when you take a picture, so when you upload the picture details are stored of when and where the picture was taken.

Overall the N78 did impress me, and I imagine that in two years or so, we will be looking back and seeing that the N78 has achieved similar sales figures to the N73.

N78 and N96 Live Pictures

2008-02-11T13:52:00.000Z

I've been down to London this morning, to attend the Nokia Press event. I got some hands on time with the N96 and N78. They also had the 6210 Navigator phone and 6220 Classic. I will be back shortly to add some detail about the handsets, but in the meantime here are some pictures (click the image to view full size)

Don't forget to click on the ticket in the post below to go to the online Nokia NSeries event.

Take Your Seats for NSeries at the Mobile World Congress

2008-02-10T16:05:00.000Z

Most recently Nokia have had a few online events when they are launching new products. Tomorrow is the first day of the Mobile World Congress and once again there will be a virtual online launch event.

This will offer you the opportunity to talk online with product managers who have been involved with the latest releases, and there will also be chat rooms where you can discuss the new releases with bloggers and other NSeries fans.

To access the online site, click on the ticket at the top of this post. It all kicks off tomorrow, at around 10.20 CET.

N96 Spec Leaked

2008-02-08T12:10:00.000Z

Intomobile is always a good read, and one of my daily visits. This time they have come up with a great scoop, the confirmed spec list for the N96:

• Quadband EDGE
• Dualband HSDPA 850/2100 MHz
• DVB-H Class C
• 92 cc volume
• 125 gram weight
• 103 x 55 x 18 mm
• 16 GB internal memory AND a microSD slot;
• 950 mAh battery
• 6.1 cm (2.8 inch) 320×240 display with 16 million colors
• 3.5 mm headphone jack
• WiFi (802.11b/g)
• AGPS
• 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens that also does VGA video recording at 30 FPS, Dual LED flash that can also be used when video recording!
• S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 (Flash Lite 3 enabled web browser included)
• microUSB

I'm glad to say the spec list includes the rumoured stuff I posted about here. I think you can also take as confirmed the spec of the N78 from that list, too.

The N96 is most likely to be confirmed, with a release date, at the Mobile World Congress which starts next week

N82 Available in Black

2008-02-06T10:25:00.000Z

The Black N82 is now official, as spotted by Stefan, over at IntoMobile. We'd always imagined that a black version would be available, and now we have confirmation.

I did actually get to see a live handset just last week, but I wasn't allowed to say anything. You don't know how tempting it was, and how hard to keep quiet!

The N82 looks as good, if not actually better, in the flesh, so to speak, than it does in the pictures. Like a lot of people I've always had a preference for phones in black, I think they just look very classy. The N95 8GB looks way better than the N95 Classic, the N73 Music Edition is way better than the original N73.

I can't find any confirmed details on a release of the Black N82 in the UK, but I would imagine the release is imminent. Network take up of the original N82 has been poor, with only O2 officially taking it on. Hopefully that will change with the black version.

Turning Your Mobile Into a Live GPS Sports Tracking Tool

2008-02-06T08:12:00.000Z

I receive an interesting email yesterday evening, about a new Java app called Map My Tracks, that offers real time GPS tracking, focusing on soprts enthusiasts. The app will work with handsets that have an internal GPS unit and also to handsets that connect to an external GPS unit via Bluetooth.

Here's the press release:

Launched today, Map My Tracks is a new Java mobile application that uses GPS technology to accurately track a sportsman's position in real time, displaying useful live information including pace, time and elapsed distance. A selection of screenshots of the service in action is available at http://www.mapmytracks.com/about/screenshots.

Once back home sportsmen can replay and analyse tracks to see where performances can be improved, as well as review useful information like average speed, maximum speed and distance covered. As Map My Tracks shows the sportsman's position live on the internet, friends and relatives can watch progress from the comfort of home too.

The Map My Tracks phone application is a Java Midlet built using Sun Microsystem's Java Micro Edition (J2ME). It is intended to work on any phone which supports Java and has access to the internet. For GPS positioning the Java Bluetooth API (JSR 82) is used to support internal GPS devices, while external GPS devices are supportred by Java Location API (JSR 179).

Find out more at http://www.mapmytracks.com/

Here is a YouTube Video of Map My Tracks:

The app looks good from what I've seen in demo so far, I'm hoping to give it a try out over the next few days. There is a monthly subscription to the service, more details of which can be found on the sign up page here. There is a free option so you can give the app a try out first.

Killer N95 deal - For Today Only

2008-02-05T16:11:00.000Z

This offer comes thanks to the guys at E2Save. For today only, they are offering an N95 on a 12 month contract with 12 months half price line rental, on the O2 network. The tariff is O2 600, which offers 600 minutes and 500 text per month for what will effectively be £20 per month!

As with all cashback deals, make sure you check how to claim your money back. E2Save are one of the largest online retailers and part of the Carphone Warehouse Group of companies.

This offer is only open to UK residents over the age of 18, and is subject to a credit check, as per all UK contracts.

Click here for more

Turn Your Symbian Smartphone into a Mini Wi-Fi Hotspots

2008-02-05T09:45:00.000Z

Finland based software house, Joikusoft says that it has developed an application for Symbian Series 60 based smartphones which converts them into a Wi-Fi hotspot, using 3G cellular for the backhaul connection. When turned on, external WLAN devices can discover the open JoikuSpot and establish internet connection wirelessly using the mobile phone's 3G internet connection.

Joikusoft says that their software application also presents a new type of a business opportunity for network operators, saying that JoikuSpot encourages its users to upgrade their mobile data plans to faster and fixed monthly plans, and usage of JoikuSpot sizeably improves the user data ARPU.

Reading the instruction manual for the software though makes no mention of encrypted usage via conventional WEP/WPA or the ability to restrict users by computer MAC address. That means anyone in range can connect to the Wi-Fi hotspot and use the internet access. As the software is still in Beta, we can presume that this necessary feature would be added in the near future.

JoikuSpot is based on Joikusoft's patent pending technology, and the limited beta version for Symbian OS unveiled today is called JoikuSpot Light.

Source

Mobile World Congress 2008

2008-02-04T22:00:00.000Z

It used to be called 3GSM. Now known as the Mobile World Congress (that name sucks) it all kicks off next week, 11th February. I am lucky enough to be attending the event, but due to other commitments I will only be there for one day!

I am flying out to Barcelona on the 12th February, at 6am, and flying back later the same evening. I think a lot of the announcements will happen next Monday, for Nokia at least, so my main focus will be getting live pictures and video of the new NSeries devices. I hope the N78 will be officially announced and also the N96. Who knows if there will be anything else?

Rock N Scroll

2008-01-31T13:28:00.000Z

This is excellent, from AAS

See the Keynetik website for more

Edit: The original source for this is over at Symbian Freaks :)

Last few days

2008-01-29T16:40:00.000Z

I posted a few days ago about a promotion we have running at the NSeries Mobile NSeries shop. Here is a reminder on what is on offer:

The first title is Psiloc's IR Remote. IR Remote from Psiloc allows you to control multimedia devices such as TV, HiFi set, CD, VCR, and DVD players with your mobile phone. I suppose it's worth mentioning you actually need an IR port on your phone for it to work....

The second title is Smartmovie SmartMovie is a video player for Smartphones device, with a counterpart PC converter. With the converter, you may prepare any video clip for playback on your mobile device.

Third, we have PapyrusWith Papyrus you get a complete solution for managing your busy life. Papyrus is a complete management solution for S60 phones, offering several different smart-views and powerful tools for keeping track of a hectic schedule.

Fourth there is the excellent Profimail Profimail is a powerful e-mail client for S60 phones. It allows you to read your mail on the go and send text with attachments directly from your device. Send photos, recorded sound or simply text messages to friends from anywhere. One of my favourite applications.

And lastly, there is Handy Taskman Handy Taskman allows you to keep tabs on different applications you are running concurrently on your Symbian Smartphone.

It recognises programs that are running and checks the size of remaining memory left on the Smartphone (RAM, Phone memory and memory card). Just select the program and enter the first letter of its name to start it.

The requested program can be started from the full-screen display list of recently launched programs. With Handy Taskman one can switch back and forth between selected programs, shut them off, delete them or shut off the whole group. The program compresses the applications in the working memory of the Smartphone to do this.

Click on the software titles to be taken directly to the product page, for more information. During the cart process you will need a code to obtain your 20% discount, the code you will need is 1230065120091FD

The offer runs until 31st January

Location Tagger

2008-01-29T09:27:00.000Z

Nokia Beta labs have released a location tagger app, which I would love to write about but things are just so hectic right now. So, pop over to AllAboutSymbian to get the lowdown from Rafe.

N82 Firmware update

2008-01-25T08:09:00.000Z

The N82 has a firmware update available, latest version is now 11.0.117. A couple of other people have upgraded theirs, Rafe at AllAboutSymbian and Stefan at IntoMobile

Due to my PC being offline the last two days I only managed to update my phone last night, and it all went through fine. The N82 update was the first to offer User Data Protection, and I agree with Darla Mack UDP is a beautiful thing. UDP protects data stored in the phone memory, so you don't need to reinstall everything. It is still advisable to backup, just in case, but it is a good thing to update the firmware and find all apps working, the whole menu laid out as you have set it, etc. It used to be such a pain re-installing everything.

Nokia N78 To Be Launched In February?

2008-01-23T09:56:00.000Z

I received an email yesterday from an affiliate network, which included details of forthcoming handsets to be released in the coming months. The one that caught my eye straight away was the N78! The details suggested that the handset will be released in February 08, although as usual, release dates do change. The spec listed for the handset are:

• WiFi
• HSDPA
• 3.2 Megapixel camera
• 8GB internal memory
• Expandable Memory
• On board maps with A-GPS
• FM Transmitter

The FM transmitter is interesting, does that mean it has an FM radio, or does that mean it has one of those transmitters for sending signal to a nearby FM radio? Also, 8GB internal memory *plus* expandable memory?

The design of the phone is a standard monoblock design, similar to the N82, and is black. Keypad design wasn't clear.

The N78 is supposed to be featuring S60 FP2 but that wasn't listed in the spec, although to be fair the spec list just covers the main highlights. All very interesting, let's hope it does release in February.

Software selection with 20% discount at the NSeries shop

2008-01-22T19:00:00.000Z

We all know that in January things can be tight, money wise. Most people get paid before Christmas, and it's a long wait til payday at the end of January. Knowing this, I've managed to get a 20% discount on 5 top selling software titles for all readers of the NSeries blog, at the NSeries shop.

The first title is Psiloc's IR Remote. IR Remote from Psiloc allows you to control multimedia devices such as TV, HiFi set, CD, VCR, and DVD players with your mobile phone. I suppose it's worth mentioning you actually need an IR port on your phone for it to work....

The second title is Smartmovie SmartMovie is a video player for Smartphones device, with a counterpart PC converter. With the converter, you may prepare any video clip for playback on your mobile device.

Third, we have PapyrusWith Papyrus you get a complete solution for managing your busy life. Papyrus is a complete management solution for S60 phones, offering several different smart-views and powerful tools for keeping track of a hectic schedule.

Fourth there is the excellent Profimail Profimail is a powerful e-mail client for S60 phones. It allows you to read your mail on the go and send text with attachments directly from your device. Send photos, recorded sound or simply text messages to friends from anywhere. One of my favourite applications.

And lastly, there is Handy Taskman Handy Taskman allows you to keep tabs on different applications you are running concurrently on your Symbian Smartphone.

It recognises programs that are running and checks the size of remaining memory left on the Smartphone (RAM, Phone memory and memory card). Just select the program and enter the first letter of its name to start it.

The requested program can be started from the full-screen display list of recently launched programs. With Handy Taskman one can switch back and forth between selected programs, shut them off, delete them or shut off the whole group. The program compresses the applications in the working memory of the Smartphone to do this.

Click on the software titles to be taken directly to the product page, for more information. During the cart process you will need a code to obtain your 20% discount, the code you will need is 1230065120091FD

The offer runs until 31st January

Nokia N95 8GB, the first DLNA certified mobile

2008-01-18T12:06:00.000Z

Press Release:

Nokia today announced that the Nokia N95 8GB had the distinction of being the first ever mobile phone to receive Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) certification. The DLNA is a body advocating the interoperability of wired and wireless consumer devices. For the consumer, this accolade translates into convenient and intuitive connectivity between your DLNA Certified home electronics devices, personal computers, and your Nokia N95 8GB.

DLNA technology enables multi-vendor home ecosystems of consumer devices by building a common connectivity platform for a variety of multimedia experiences. This vision is fully in line with the Nokia's aspiration for openness and seamless interoperability between devices and services from different brands.

DLNA has certified the Nokia N95 8GB as a Mobile Digital Media Server, an acknowledgment that taps into the genius of this multimedia computer. The extensive connectivity and cutting-edge media capabilities of the Nokia N95 8GB are ideal for enjoying content, such as music, photos or videos, wirelessly on other devices in the home environment.

"We are thrilled to receive this tribute from the DLNA. The Nokia N95 8GB is truly a masterpiece of a multimedia computer, and a prime example of the direction mobility is taking - it's personal, powerful and fits seamlessly into your life inside and outside the home," said Anssi Vanjoki, executive vice president, Markets, Nokia.

DLNA has already certified over 1800 products in the personal computer and consumer electronic categories, but this is the first time the stringent guidelines for interoperability set by the DLNA have been met by a mobile phone. Mobile devices were included in the DLNA Networked Device Interoperability Guidelines that were published in early 2006, and are now part of the recently launched DLNA certification program. The Nokia N95 8GB passed DLNA's rigorous testing process to receive the green DLNA Certified logo, a marker of its leading position in the mobile domain of the digital home.

With up to eight gigabytes of built-in memory, the Nokia N95 8GB can hold a vast selection of your favorite media content, like those ski vacation photos and your music collection. You can share these with your friends and family on a DLNA Certified home entertainment system and enjoy your photos on a full-sized TV screen or jam to those tunes on your home stereo system. All you need to do is share the content wirelessly from your Nokia N95 8GB.

Nokia is an active member of the DLNA and has been driving interoperability of mobile, PC, and consumer electronics devices at and beyond home. As mobile phones have converted into diverse multimedia computers, they serve as the primary gateway to the Internet, services and content for millions of people around the world. Nokia is mobilizing home multimedia content and enabling remote access to home content using your Nokia mobile devices.

Nokia Urbanista Diaries

2008-01-15T17:25:00.000Z

An excellent idea, this. Four intrepid bloggers sent round the world with a Nokia N82, recording their journey. Fantastic.

The whole project is a Nokia sponsored global relay race, where each contestant is placed 'somewhere in the world' and will encounter situations and challenges where they can use the N82 to document and share their experiences, as well as locate the next blogger to pass the baton/phone on to.

The four brave explorers taking part in this adventure are Devin Balentina from the Nokia Guide, Ryan Gallagher from CameraToss, Ms Jen from Black Phoebe and Jose R.A.M from MyNokiaBlog

There is a dedicated site here where you can follow their progress, plus I have installed a widget at top right of my blog where you can also keep track of the Urbanista's progress.

And finally, in conjunction with the Urbanista project, there is an opportunity to win an N82 every week for eight weeks starting from the 18th January.

An interview - with me!

2008-01-14T07:48:00.000Z

One of the great things about running a blog is getting to know other bloggers who run similar sites along similar themes. A short while ago, Norman John from Symbian World asked if I would answer a few questions about myself and my interest in S60 in general, the answers to which he has posted on his blog. Check it out, here.

Back to Business

2008-01-09T15:07:00.000Z

So, after a long Christmas and New Year break we're back to business. Coming up in a few weeks we have the 3GSM conference in Barcelona, which I am fortunate enough to be attending, and I'm hoping we'll have some NSeries handsets confirmed, like the N78 and N96 to go along with the leaked news of the new ESeries phones due.

Right now, I've got my hands full of phones. As well as the N82 which I continue to use every day, I have a Nokia N81 to play around with, thanks to the guys at Womworld, I have a Nokia E51 to look over supplied by Nokia and curiosly the other day I came across a Nokia 6600. Back in the day the 6600 was one of my favourite handsets. So I'll be looking to see how well the N81 does, looking at how a top ESeries phone compares to NSeries, and looking at how far we've progressed since the days of the 6600. Plenty to be getting on with. I've taken a few comparison photos of the N81, E51 and 6600, which you can see below.

Add Nokia Sports Tracker to Facebook

2008-01-08T16:58:00.000Z

I noticed a post on the S60 blogs here that there is now a facebook plugin for use with the Nokia Sports Tracker, so you can keep your friends on Facebook up to date with your tracks and images, in real time, too. Neat idea.

Avvenu Available Again

2008-01-04T12:33:00.000Z

I wrote back before Christmas how Nokia had purchased Avvenu, the program that lets you access your PC remotely. The downside to this was the service became suspended to all but those in the US There are alternative options for remote PC access, such as Orb but I've never liked the PC interface for Orb since they upgraded a while back, although the phone interface works well.

Good news, I received an email this morning the Avvenu service is available again. Click here for a list of countries where the service can be used. I'm expecting accessing the PC from my phone to be a lot easier in the coming months as Nokia develop the Avvenu service further.

I'm off now to upgrade the Avvenu software on my PC.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-24T15:25:00.001Z

Christmas Eve is here already, the year is almost over. I'd like to wish all readers and visitors to my blog, a wonderful Christmas time.

Merry Christmas.

Nokia N82 and Mail For Exchange

2007-12-23T15:38:00.000Z

I'm not sure how long it has been available, but the Mail4Echange client 2.2.0 is now available for download. Click here fill in the details and download.

If you are looking for a (free) email service to use, you could do worse than Mail2Web. I started using it after a great write up over at E-Series.org which you can find here

Screenshots below:

8GB Memory Card in my N82

2007-12-22T14:10:00.000Z

I saw this post over at Modaco the other day. BMC Digital is not a company I have used before, but Paul from Modaco has and the price they are offering an 8GB Micro SD card for is very competitive, just £44.41 inc vat and delivery.

You can see from the screenshot, I have the card in my N82 and working fine. If you want to purchase, the product page is here. Once in the cart, add the promotional code BMC4201 to get a 10% discount. (I've no idea how long the promotion runs for) The card is supplied with a tiny USB adaptor, very handy.

I ordered my card on Thursday morning, it was despatched Thursday afternoon and arrived this morning. It would have probably arrived yesterday, if it were not for the Christmas post.

Nokia N96 - More Pictures

2007-12-20T16:47:00.000Z

This N96, it's the real deal. More photos below. I got these from Slashphone. Stefan at Intomobile has some pictures which came from Mobile Review, so I'm guessing that's the originator place for all this. There is a thread over at Jaiku, if you have an account, sign and and join the chat.

First Pictures of the N96

2007-12-20T16:13:00.000Z

This is a picture of the soon to be released N96. We think. To be honest it looks like I was expecting, so I'm pretty sure this is very much what the N96 will look like.

There's been a lot of rumour about the next NSeries releases, as I mentioned in a post a few days ago here. The expected feature set for the N96 is very good, including:

• 16GB internal memory
• WiFi
• 5.0 Megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss Lens
• HSDPA
• Digital TV Tuner Built in

It is also expected that the N96 will support a wider variety of video formats than current NSeries phones offer. All in, this looks to be a very interesting handset, I look forward to getting my hands on one.

Source

Nokia Launches N82 with Free Adventure Pack

2007-12-20T10:51:00.000Z

Following on from my post about the N82 being available to buy for UK users on contract here, Nokia have now launched the N82 on their own Nokia shop. To promote the handset Nokia are bundling a free sports pack, comprising Free Nokia Sports Tracker software and a Free Salomon backpack.

I've talked a lot about the N82 recently, but it really does deserve all the good press it gets, it simply is one of the best, if not the best, NSeries phone to date.

To purchase the N82 with Adventure Pack, for just £399 inc V.A.T. click here.

New Battery Technology for Mobile Devices

2007-12-19T15:46:00.000Z

Not strictly on topic for this blog, but something I have a real issue with. I do enjoy the whole evolution of phones and the extra features that we have added to handsets but battery life is always an issue. I've just been reading over at Cellular News about some new battery technlogy that we could be enjoying in the near future.

Basically researchers have found a way to use silicon nanowires to improve the output from Lithium-ion batteries. The example quotes laptop batteries that currently work for around 4 hours could possibly last for up to 20 hours on one charge. A significant improvement. Instead of the batteries anodes being made of carbon as currently, the silicon nanowires, which are 1/20 the thickness of a sheet of paper are used instead.

It all sounds very technical, and if developed should be very useful indeed. Due to advanced current battery technology implementing the new technology shouldn't be a major issue, which is excellent to hear. Anyone for an N95 with two week operating time? Sounds good to me!

Source

N82 on general sale in the UK

2007-12-18T12:00:00.001Z

The Nokia N82 is available to buy on contract now, with a few online stores making it available from today.

I have a few stores linked from my right hand navigation links, please click on the logos, or the links below for the following stores:
www.carphonewarehouse.com, www.mobiles.co.uk and www.e2save.com

p.s. As these sites are updating during the day, the handset may temporarily show as coming soon. If that happens, pop back later. The phone is definitely available to order

Nokia Nseries helps MTV with climate change campaign

2007-12-17T13:05:00.000Z

Nokia Nseries helps MTV with climate change campaign by capturing Cannes Young Advertising Creatives in action

A press release issued today from Nokia, about young film makers recording a 30 second commercial for MTV Switch, to help promote the campaign to educate and encourage alternative options to help climate change. Definitely a worthy cause. The commercials were filmed on Nokia NSeries N93i handsets.

Espoo, Finland - During the prestigious 2007 Cannes Lions Advertising Festival, camera crews using video-optimized Nokia N93i devices tagged along with the Young Creative Film Competitors on their 48 hour mission to shoot a 30 second commercial, also using the Nokia N93i, for MTV SWITCH, a new campaign from MTV Networks International designed to educate and encourage alternative options to help save the planet. This marks the first time such extensive access has ever been granted to a camera crew during the two year history of the Cannes Lions Advertising festival.

Recognizing the unique opportunity to capture aspiring young creatives in action and aid in the education of environmental issues, Nokia Nseries recorded the trials and tribulations of the 20 teams representing 20 countries in their race for first place. With 40 hours of content filmed on the Nokia N93i, the footage was edited into an exclusive behind the scenes documentary, "Short Film Shootout: Cannes", which will be available for broadcast on MTV's 61 TV channels across 161 countries starting on December 20, 2007.

"Nokia Nseries was thrilled to be a part of this project to arm filmmakers with this exciting new medium of mobile video through which the students could create commercials and the film crew could capture the experience for all the world to see," said Tapio Hedman, Senior Vice President, Multimedia Marketing, Nokia. "The Nokia N93i devices that were used in this project are a perfect example of how Nokia constantly pushes the frontiers of technology forward to provide innovative new media for everyone to leverage as they create and share their works."

"We are extremely thankful for the generosity and creativity that Nokia has demonstrated, as well as the talent of these young filmmakers in showing millions of young people around the world how doing small things can make a massive difference to the world's carbon emissions," said Bill Roedy, MTV Networks Vice Chairman. "MTV SWITCH is harnessing the power of these creative minds to make climate conscious behaviour an every day reality. Everyone, no matter what age or where they live, can take simple actions to reduce their carbon footprint."

With the release of the special behind the scenes documentary "Short Film Shooutout: Cannes", all Young Creative Film Competitors participants were able to contribute to this important environmental campaign. The documentary, as well as additional content, will be available for viewing online after December 20 on www.MTVswitch.org and www.nseries.com/cannes.

Nokia N78 and Nokia N96 - Weekend Rumours

2007-12-15T10:44:00.000Z

There's been a few rumours going around recently, on forums and other blogs, about the next NSeries handsets to be released. Nokia have excelled with NSeries handsets recently, with the N95 Classic, N95 8GB and the new N82 leading the charge. I always like to try and keep up to date with rumours, though some of the suggestions and photoshop pictures are pretty extreme.

IntoMobile had an interesting snippet about the N78 way back in October. The supposed successor to the N73, the N78 will likely be a mono block design phone. Features could include:

• 8GB internal memory
• WiFi
• 3.2 Megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss Lens
• S60 FP2

I would like to see the N78 include HSDPA, too. I hope it happens.

The next NSeries handset recently rumoured, the N96, has received a lot of attention recently, due to some highly imaginative images doing the rounds. Features for the N96 could include:

• 16GB internal memory
• WiFi
• 5.0 Megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss Lens
• HSDPA
• Digital TV Tuner Built in

The N96, based on the speculative specs above, could prove to be a very popular handset, although I'm not sure if the digital TV tuner will be UK system compatible. One feature I would like to see included on the N96, and in fact something that would be a good addition for all NSeries phones, is support for a wider variety of video formats. That would be a useful way of using up all the memory the N96 proposes to offer, if I could use it for playing back my video film collection. A DVR option for recording from the TV would be nice, too.

However the new releases pan out, 2008 NSeries releases have a lot to live up to.

NGage games for NSeries phones next week

2007-12-14T12:59:00.000Z

I've never really got into the whole N-Gage thing. The initial N-Gage handsets were pretty awful, and the whole gaming on mobiles thing has never really appealed to me. I'd rather save my battery for something useful, like email, web browsing, calls, texts, etc.

Anyhow, it appears that the N-Gage experience is going to be available for a select few sometime next week as owners of the N81 and N81 8GB will have access to "one or more" N-Gage games as well as access to the N-Gage platform.

All good news for those who are interested.

Source

YouTube on S60

2007-12-13T13:25:00.000Z

It seems many people would love to have access to full YouTube clips on their mobile phone. There are a few workaround options available, such as using Orb, and some networks have agreements to a stripped down version of YouTube for users, such as that offered by Vodafone.

A new beta app is around, from Samir, which works with the new Flash Lite Player released a while back.

You need to install the Flash Lite player, and then install the YT Player to the folder C:/data/other or E:/other. Once done, open the flash Lite Player from your applications folder, select the YT Player and search for a video clip. Remember, this is just a beta version, so don't expect everything to run smoothly straight away. I have managed to get video files showing on the N82, so it does work, searching for files showed only one clip at a time for me, and if I watched the clip in full screen by flipping the phone onto its side, the clip ran very slowly. Some screenshots below:

One thing to watch out for, if you are going to view video clips streaming like this, from YouTube and other places, either have a proper unlimited data plan or use WiFi. The clip shown in the screenshots was about 40 seconds in length, and you can see the amount of data used from this screenshot:

The first clip I ran was around a minute and a half, and you can see here how much data that used:

An unlimited data plan or WiFi usage is a must, or you could end up with a bill like this guy!

Gypsii Client Finally Available for Download

2007-12-12T14:39:00.000Z

After being announced almost three weeks ago, the Gypsii S60 client is finally available for download from their site. Click here to download the client. A video clip of Gypsii working on an N95 is below:

Free WiFi Access with Nokia Store

2007-12-11T10:32:00.000Z

It seems Nokia have done a deal with The Cloud, to give access to over 7,500 WiFi hotspots so users of the Nokia Music store can gain quick access to download their favourite music tracks on the move.

Various locations of WiFi networks offered by The Cloud include McDonalds restaurants, coffee shops and airports. A full location list can be found at The Cloud website.

Source

Press release

Activity Monitor for N95, N82

2007-12-10T16:27:00.000Z

Nokia have an Activity Monitor available, which monitors your movements whilst running or walking, and charts the activity with real time stats on the phone. Compatibility is currently listed for the N95 and N95 8GB but I have it working fine also on my N82. It counts the number of steps you take, and works out the distance covered and energy used. I tried it out briefly, and it seemed to work well. It is all done by analysing the output from the accelerometer on the phones.

It is warned that the Activity Monitor can be a bit of a battery hog, so beware. It works best when the phone is carried on your belt in a case, or in your pocket, and is less effective if the phone is held in your hand or carried in a bag.

You can download the app from here and more info can be found here

I've taken a few screenshots of the app after briefly testing it out earlier, which you can see below:

Free App Friday

2007-12-07T09:27:00.000Z

Thanks to the guys over at Handango, for today only, you can download for free the S60 application, Papyrus. Just click the link here. Papyrus is a calendar program, and one of those apps that work better than the native S60 offering. Similar to the way Profimail is better than the built in email client.

I think it would be great if, maybe some day in the future, Nokia would purchase these apps and integrate them into the S60 setup. Imagine, built in to S60, Profimail as the default email client, Papyrus as the default calendar program, Handy Taskman as the default application switcher, etc, etc.

p.s. Just noticed AAS have picked this up, too.

Nokia acquisition of Avvenu - The Good and the Bad

2007-12-05T08:27:00.000Z

Not an in depth analysis of the purchase, just a private thought. The good is going to be the integration of Avvenu services to Nokia phones, NSeries in particular for me. The bad, since yesterdays announcement Avvenu is now only available to people in the US. So I have to find another way of accessing PC files remotely. Which kinda sucks, really.

The WOM World Nokia Quiz Night

2007-12-04T11:40:00.000Z

The Nokia world event is currently in progress. and the guys from WOMWorld are there with a selection of bloggers, bringing live updates during the next two days.

Tomorrow night, Wednesday 5th December, after the event there is going to be a Nokia themed quiz, with the bloggers being split into three teams as follows:

All About Symbian
Joint Captain: Rafe Blandford
Joint Captain: Ewan Spence
Noel Kennedy (aka kontraband)
Carlo Longino (aka Carlo)
Tarek Abu-Esber (aka TarekAbu-Esber)

Symbian-Freak
Team Captain: Teo Bartulovic (aka Apocalypso)
Martyn Britton (aka Marty3)
Bica Mihai Gabriel(aka Bytales)
Vineeth M Kumar (aka Vinumsv)
Murray Winiata (aka NZtechfreak)

Mobile Burn
Joint Captain Jay Monatano (aka Jose R.A.M)
Joint Captain Ricky (aka Symbian Guru)
Christian Haslam (aka Chaslam)
Michael Onyeyiri (aka MikeUK)
Mohannad Hammadeh (aka zalameh1)

Donna and Frank from WOMWorld will be hosting the event, assisted by Darla Mack and Stefan.

The best bit is, the whole event is going to be streamed, live, using ustream.tv

You should be able to watch via the embedded player below, but as a back up the URL for the event is http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nseries-wom-world-nokia-world-quiz

It should be a fun event, kick off time is 19:00 GMT.

Nokia acquire Avvenu

2007-12-04T08:44:00.000Z

Lots of press releases coming out this morning, from the Nokia World event, one in particular caught my eye. Nokia have acquired Avvenu. For those who haven't used Avvenu, I can't recommend it highly enough. On many occasions I have logged in to my home PC using Avvenu, to download various files to the other PC's or onto my phone, via share.avvenu.com. You can store files which can be accessed even when your main PC is switched off, and you can also access your music, via music.avvenu.com I'm eager to see what plans Nokia have for Avvenu. Press release below:

Nokia and Avvenu today announced that they have signed an agreement under which Nokia will acquire Avvenu www.avvenu.com. Avvenu provides Internet services that allow anyone to use their mobile devices to securely access, use and share personal computer files, even if their host computer is turned off. By acquiring Avvenu, Nokia plans to further enhance its portfolio of solutions for mobile operators, as well as deliver a secure file access and share service direct to mobile workers. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and has not yet been completed.

Nokia believes that anytime access to PC content is a missing ingredient to mobile productivity. Smartphone adoption is growing faster than previously estimated and surveys confirm that many people are using mobile devices to view, process, and edit content. Easy access to existing pc content will fuel mobile computing convenience and productivity.

"This acquisition is another step toward delivering on Nokia's business mobility strategy," said Mary McDowell, executive vice president and general manager, Enterprise Solutions, Nokia. "Avvenu's 'digital locker' file access and sharing technology allows users to search, access and share PC files remotely, using their mobile or other connected devices, even when their PC is turned off or not connected to the Internet. With the integration of Avvenu's technology, Nokia will further extend its business mobility solutions beyond email to add collaboration tools that enable greater everyday productivity through access to a user's own content anytime, anywhere, from any connected device."

"We share Nokia's vision of quickly and easily connecting people with their information and content regardless of where they are in the world, and whether their PC is with them or not," said Richard French, CEO, Avvenu. "The combination of our experienced team and our patented technology platform will help realize this vision, while access to Nokia's extensive technology and market resources will accelerate our time to market for new mobile Internet services."

Founded in 2004, Avvenu is a privately-owned start up headquartered in Palo Alto, California. Avvenu will be integrated into Nokia's new Services & Software unit as a part of the company re-organization that will take effect on January 1, 2008.

Nokia Internet Radio Service Available

2007-12-03T13:08:00.000Z

Lots of press releases coming from Nokia today, this one in particular caught my eye. Nokia have announced an app for S60v3 phones that will let you listen to internet radio stations on your phone. Definitely one for those with an unlimited data plan or when you are in WiFi coverage. The app can be downloaded from here. Full Press release here:

Discover and listen to radio shows broadcasted over the internet with the Nokia Internet Radio service now available. The application can be downloaded for free from http://www.nokia.com/internetradio and will also be embedded in upcoming Nokia S60 3rd edition devices.

"Most new music discovery occurs while you're listening to the radio," said Tommi Mustonen, head of the Nokia music business. "By offering the Nokia Internet Radio service on mobile devices, the radio experience becomes more accessible, giving people new ways to find music."

With hundreds of internet radio stations to choose from worldwide, the station directory of Nokia Internet Radio makes music discovery effortless - browsing can be done based on station name, genre, country or language. To find out what hits are hot around the world, hourly updates of the top ten most popular internet radio stations are also available in the station directory. Plus, there is no need to search for your top stations time and again because adding them to the list of 'Favorites' makes them easily accessible.

Moreover, the audio quality is enhanced by selecting appropriate streaming servers that match the speed of the current network connection.

The Nokia Internet Radio application is currently available for download to the following devices: Nokia N82, Nokia N91, Nokia N95 and Nokia N95 8GB. The application is planned to be available later on further devices and will be embedded in selected upcoming Nokia S60 3rd edition devices. Please visit http://www.nokia.com/internetradio for the list of the latest compatible devices.

I've installed the app on my N82 and it seems ok, although in two searches for stations it has found nothing! I'll add some stations manually later and post some screenshots.

N82 Support Pages

2007-11-30T10:26:00.000Z

Just a very quick post, the N82 support pages are now live on Nokia.com, click here to view

Adding Active Standby Plugins

2007-11-30T09:45:00.000Z

You can see from the screenshot the standard standby screen, on my N82. There are the 6 Active Standby shortcuts, and three functions listed below, Search, Calendar and WLAN.

What I would like to see Nokia incorporate into NSeries and standard S60 phones is the Active Standby plug-ins found on ESeries phones. I really don't see why it can't be included for most phones in a firmware update. The plug-ins allow you to choose which options are listed under the shortcut icons. You can remove all shortcut options under the icons, if you wish, you can add features such as message inbox details, add voicemail alert details, etc. My friend Neil from Mobile Venue has just picked up a Nokia N95 8GB and one of the first things he wanted was to remove the calendar, and search.

I've had a few comments and emails when I posted about this back in March and it is often talked about in forums.

If this is a feature you would like to see added to S60 phones across the board, click on this link and add your voice to the S60 application wishlist. Rate the idea, add a comment, and if enough people show they want this feature, maybe Nokia will implement it for us.

p.s. I saw the theme used in the screenshot here and here. It's now my default theme.