Nokia S60 News and Reviews

Word Around the Watercooler is....

Once upon a time, a little girl said "when I grow up, I wanna be different than the other girls.  I wanna be badass, hang with the big boys and play with their toys.  I wanna be remembered for being something extraordinary"  Many years later she did just that.

First... lemme apologize for missing in action for almost a year, but the truth is... sometimes you have to step back and take a breather to realize and focus on exactly what and who you want to be.  I know that probably doesn't make sense to many of you, but without getting too personal (and teary eyed) I needed to shut alot of things down.  I do owe alot to the crew who kept my blog running... why in the hell they did it I have NO clue... but I am and always will be eternally grateful.

Someone once told me... that breaks are needed now and then, but when you get so lost in what's going on to the point that all you want to do is sleep to get through things, it kind of makes you think.  In a nutshell... most of 2008 and 2009 wasn't great for me.  I needed the time off to reflect and decide what I really wanted... not to mention to figure out if I was in fact happy with who I was.

I'm returning to blogging and doing what I love which became a major part of my life and who I am.  Lol, hopefully by next week I'll be 100% ready to go.

My apologies in not contacting people... but when you can't identify the problems within your situation... how in the hell can you share or explain what you are going through to someone else?  Trust me... I was battling myself in trying to find out what the hell was going on. lol

I'm happy to say that I'm in a much better place in my life now.  I can breathe and yes dammit I was and am happy with who I am... but as I said... that break was needed.

Thanks again to ALL of you who contributed to keeping my site going... for all the love and support you've shown... and just for everything.

Now in the words of a true Mobile Diva.... "pass me my damn Nokia and let's get this show on the road!!!"

xxx Darla xxx

 

A message from Darla Mack

Dear readers, I'm writing this with a huge smile on my face. Tonight, by total surprise, our favourite mobile diva sent me a message on MSN. First and foremost I'm happy she's alive and well.

Darla has been without phone or internet for many months and thus her absence from her blog. She's had many personal issues to battle through which I'm sure she'll share with you once she's back online.

Arrangements are being made to get Darla back online in the next few days / weeks and she plans on making a return to blogging. I can't wait, the blogosphere hasn't been the same without her.

Darla sends you all her love and thanks for your continued support and loyalty. It really means the world to her, to know that she has a blog and a fan-base to come back to. 

Paul x

Nokia Says "Game Over" To N-Gage Platform, Closing in 2010

Nokia has reportedly inserted their last credit into the N-Gage mobile games service, announcing plans to shut it down in 2010 and focus on promotion of titles through Ovi Store.

The service's demise marks the end of 6 years of Nokia trying to penetrate the lucrative gaming arena since the original N-Gage device in 2003.

Despite producing a more aesthetically pleasing hardware sequel in the form of the N-Gage QD, then resurrecting the brand as a software-only platform for specific handsets at the end of 2008, Nokia's service never managed to garner traction in a competitive mobile market.

The latest N-Gage blog post definitively states the future of the platform, and the form it will take:

"N-Gage games can be purchased until the end of September 2010. While the N-Gage.com site together with the N-Gage Arena and other community features will remain in operation throughout 2010, the Ovi Store will be the new central place for all the mobile games that Nokia and other publishers offer from this point forward."

A bittersweet message follows, spelling out the fate for the online portion of N-Gage games:

"Your games are safe - all your purchased N-Gage games will continue to work on your N-Gage compatible mobile device and they’re yours to keep. However, community features of the games will not be functional after 2010....We will no longer publish new games for the N-Gage platform."

The rest of the post takes the form of a big arrow pointing users in the direction of Ovi Store, a robust and fully featured app resource that is pre-installed in many Series 60 devices, and will be on S40 phones out of the box in future.

A widely proliferated application store works - ask Apple - but the splitting of the demographic with only some phones supporting the N-Gage platform was a notable problem, particularly when hugely popular ones like the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic were not among them.

Not appearing on Nokia touch phones which had no physical keys or d-pad only served to narrow the appeal of N-Gage to N- and E-series phone owners, as UK developments like the iPhone on Orange only serve to bring applications to a wider demographic.

The cannibalisation of games between N-Gage and the Ovi Store was already taking place with titles appearing in both, that's without mentioning the unnecessary confusion it brings to customers.

Ovi Store tailors content for compatible phones, meaning Nokia owners are able to see only the apps that their phone supports, with a range of music, games and productivity applications available from a single location.

The recent influx of N-Gage titles suddenly begins to make much more sense, as Nokia are presumably shifting the elite developers over to the Ovi Store before they become swayed by the lucrative charms of their competition...

N-Gage was arguably the best mobile gaming network, supporting online multiplayer, achievements, leaderboards, persistent stats, as well as downloadable content directly to devices.

The fact that Nokia managed to develop a leading online service whilst Microsoft did not even attempt to bring their Xbox Live service to Windows phones (despite numerous allusions to doing so) makes N-Gage's demise even more disappointing.

N-Gage may live on within the Ovi Store, but we will dearly miss the 'Taco phone' and all that she spawned.

Nokia N97 Update Offers Kinetic Scrolling, VoIP Support

A major update for the Nokia N97 has just been released, tightening up a bevy of features for the Symbian smart phone. Already available for download from the Nokia site, version 20.0.019 promises changes both large and small.

The big one is certain to be kinetic scrolling, bringing much needed fluency and consistency to the Nokia N97's user interface. Yes, the S60-sporting 5530 Xpressmusic saw this upgrade a good few months ago, but it is here now and the change is decidedly for the better.

The Ovi Maps 3.1 update also brings 3-D maps, more accurate positioning, and improved search functionality to an already strong service. Nokia Messaging, Ovi Store, and finally support for VoIP calls have also been added.

Tweaks under the hood include improvements in memory and battery performance, and image and video stability for the slightly underwhelming camera..

Despite cutting it fine with the imminent release of the Nokia N97 Mini and soon-to-be flagship Nokia N900, it is great to see Nokia continuing to support the Symbian platform with verve.

Hopefully this will come as good news to Jon of Tehkseven.net, who just recently voiced his concerns about the Nokia N97's lacklustre performance...

Nokia, fix my Nokia N97. A video letter.

Jon from Tehkseven.net has published a video, directed at Nokia, asking them to address the issues with the Nokia N97.

It's 4 months now since the initial launch of the N97 and there are still many issues that remain unaddressed, mainly with the firmware. 

Firmware 2.0 is due to be released... soon? but whether that actually fixes the many bugs or not is another thing.

One of the great points in the video, is requesting Nokia to pay more attention to firmware, and questioning why they are releasing a multitude of new devices, when their current "flagship" device is still not fit for the purpose in which it was bought, 4 months later.

I love Nokia, but I agree with the sentiments of the video. Nokia really need to pull their finger out and start paying extra attention to the firmware. It's a serious issue when Nokia fans lose faith and move to another brand.

Source: TehkSeven A Message to Nokia

Darla, Darla, oh Darla Mack, when are you coming back?

Dear Darla,

Ms. Jen here.  Where are you? Are you coming back?  Are you ok?

I am not really interested in writing about mobile in this space, your blog, when in fact I am quite worried about you the person.  Worried about your completely dropping off the internet, worried that you aren't responding to any inquiries through various channels, worried about your safety or health or whatever it is that caused you to decamp and depart.

If you need space and time, great, but just one of us know (like Matthew) that you are alive and breathing.  If you need help, even a little thing, there are more than a few of us who will extend a hand happily and willingly.  Please let us know.

smiles, jen ;o)

Nokia N900: Impressions From Around The Web

Pre-release models of the Nokia N900 have been landing on the desks of bloggers and analysts around the country, with first impressions and videos of the Memo-powered mobile computer beginning to filter through.

Slashgear's unboxing of the device shows off Nokia's flagship computer, with the N900's 3.5" screen and QWERTY-slider form factor given a good airing.

Ewan has a great live unboxing of the Nokia N900 of MobileDeveloper.tv, showing off the intuitive nature of the device and his positive 'unfiltered opinion'.

The accompanying post on Mobile Industry Review had Ewan blown away by the N900's prowess, with the following quote encapsulating his feelings pretty nicely:

"...let me make this early prediction: If the N900 captures sufficient attention from the mobile developer community to at least get all of the favourites (and then some) ported on to Maemo… I think this is going to be a device to be reckoned with.

It completely kicks much of the iPhone 3GS experience into touch. It makes the iPhone look like a Fisher Price ‘My First Phone’ with it’s multi-tasking brilliance."

The reason why Nokia has been reiterating that the N900 is an internet tablet rather than a phone becomes apparent, as the multitasking and user interface of the N900 begins to shine.

Further videos showing off the picture quality, and even how the N900 works with Google Wave are included, as Ewan gives a comprehensive roundup of the device.

Unwired View has taken the intensive approach, with the first part of their impressions now up after 15 hours of hardcore testing. Their feeling?

"The bottom line – I’m impressed. Very impressed. Really, really impressed."

From the initial steup sequence to organising the desktop, their run through of the N900 is equally fawning over Maemo's ability to multitask whilst looking gorgeous, as well as being quick and responsive with a resistive touch screen.

Despite being a pre-release model, the Nokia N900 is equally regarded as a mobile computer with phone features rather than a smartphone, taking particular time to comment on the impressive internet functionality.

A full Firefox browser with HTML, Flash and Javascript support, they reckon the Nokia N900 presents desktop-quality browsing on the 3.5", 800 pixel wide resolution display...with the screenshots to back it up.

It's not all sunshine and rainbows, however, with their negatives to follow.

As we wait for the official launch of the N900, it's exciting to see the positive response to Nokia's flagship device in the industry.

To focus on Maemo as the flagship platform in the face of Windows Mobile 6.5 and iPhone OS is a necessary risk, and it is good to see that it might well have paid off.

When looking at the multitasking functionality, support for S60 applications and sheer slickness of the user interface, the Nokia N900 has every chance of bringing the Finnish manufacturer shoulder to shoulder with the best.

The most exciting part? That the N900 may be a bit more of a niche device, and 'step 4 in a 5-step process' of where Nokia is going.

The promise of a mass market handset with Maemo on the way is even more encouraging for the future of Nokia, but the N900 will do just fine in the meantime.