Darla's Mobile blog about Nokia devices, S60, Nseries, Eseries and Symbian. Focusing on mobile technology, nokia phone reviews, s60 software for s60 2nd and 3rd edition devices.
To day I checked the Download! application in my N97. To my merry
amazement there was only 1 application left in Download!: The OVI store
application. I do have to say that the download application does seem a
bit overkill on the N97 with both the ovi-store working quite well and
the presence of the OTA Software Update application working excellent.
The default v12 N97 firmware has ovi-store version 1.00. The download
application has v1.05 in offer. Upgrading went like blast. Strange
though that the OVI-store update is not shown through the OTA Software
Update application. Who would ever check Download! out of anything
other than curiosity. So please every one check the Download!
application on
your N97. Most likely the last time you ever need to check it.
Now that Nokia are
rumoured to be placing Symbian to one side as Maemo and the N900 take centre
stage, it’s up to the recently released Sony Ericsson Satio to be S60's ambassador in the smart phone
game.
Liveried up as a snazzier
version of Sony Ericsson’s classic user interface, the 12 megapixel-packing
Satio relies on Symbian software to power the slick touch layout on a
3.5-inch near-HD display.
Despite customisation
that makes the Satio feel like an entirely original effort full of home screen shortcuts
to content like photos, music, messaging and Spotlight-style search, the menu
page is pure S60.
The familiar grid is
present and correct complete with near identical icons to Symbian stalwarts
like the Samsung i8910 HD and Nokia N97, but with Sony Ericsson-exclusive
features like PlayNow Arena and TrackID.
After a long wait (and a very public name change from 'Idou'), the
Satio is now available in European territories and still manages to be
ahead of the curve with features like a xenon andLED flash on that market leading camera, as well
as the usual suite of smart phone connectivity options like Wi-Fi, A-GPS and Bluetooth.
Whether the Satio will
be Symbian’s swansong as a flagship platform is unknown, the ensuing performance of
this luxurious high-end handset in a very competitive market is bound to be a
determining factor.
As long as
manufacturers are able to add their own flourishes and make a robust user
experience out of Symbian’s flexible assets, we may see the plucky operating
system pop up again in the future…but perhaps as a supporting actor rather than
in the lead role.
Sony Ericsson Satio
deals currently offer a free handset at £30 per month and above, with 400
minutes and unlimited texts on an 18 month contract.
Mobile phone comparison site Omio.com is a bit sad about how
Hallowe’en has become more about the sweets and than the scares, as
well as the lack of association that the holiday has with mobile phones.
Their competition asks you to take the scariest picture or make the most
blood-curdling video, then send in by midnight on All Hallows’ Eve
via Twitter!
Whether it be a photo of a possessed mobile or a slasher movie remake shot using your cameraphone, the more inventive your entry the better!
They note that original creations will be looked upon far more favourably, and whilst your images can
be a bit gory, they should err on the side of decency regarding
nudity…
The best entries will go up in the Rogues’ Gallery, with the eventual winner selected on All Hallows’
Eve at midnight on October31st!
Follow @omiodotcom on Twitter to submit your pics, and go to the competition page
for more details. So be quick, the competition runs until the end of
October, and are looking to reward the most macabre of entries!
Whilst Symbian S60 is an admittedly robust and versatile interface for today's latest mobile phones, it has faced pressure in the face of other technologically proficient, intuitive and more visually appealing operating systems from rival manufacturers.
Thankfully, Nokia is pooling their experience in the internet tablet market to create what many see as their first truly convergent device between mobiles and desktop computer functionality - the Nokia N900.
Running on the Linux-based Maemo 5 platform, the N900 UI shares visual elements of S60 as well as those of previous tablets like the N810, but provides an entirely fresh experience.
Eldar from Mobile-Review explores exactly what we can expect from this ground-breaking OS, as well as some of the shortcomings in his exhaustive Maemo 5 review.
With word that there will be a second, QWERTY-less Maemo device from Nokia in 2010, it's good to get an insight into what we can expect, which seems to be close to desktop multitasking and functionality.
What becomes of Symbian? Well, as the world becomes more demanding from their handsets, S60 is the perfect platform for devices to offer a complete smart phone UI as well as touch support, yet remain affordable.
It may give way to Maemo on Nokia's flagship offerings in the future, but S60 will doubtlessly remain a permanent fixture on the vast majority of handsets to be released next year.
Two of the best things in the world, ever? In the same video? Mercy.
Konttori gets Super Mario World (96 levels!) on the SNES running perfectly on the Nokia N900, then it has Wiimote waggle support which beggars belief, then...well, just see for yourself.
Will the legality of an emulator stop this mod from automatically winning the Nokia PUSH N900 hacking competition? If so, that is a crying shame.
Great question posed by Mike on Nokia Conversations, "How many phones do you carry?"
Bonus question from me, what are they, and how many people have a Nokia as their 'emergency' phone?
Me, I usually carry two.
Aside
from my main device, I have at most a couple of burners for various
day-to-day shenanigans...always good to have an emergency one for those
sticky situations.
At the moment, the 5530 XpressMusic is my
weapon of choice. Compact, decent mail, and can chuck the latest albums
on it with no trouble. Not in love with the text messaging, so keep my
main phone around for official business, but a great go-to mobile in a
clinch.
How about you guys? Be sure to vote on the Nokia Conversations poll, feel free to chuck comments wherever you see fit!
Two leaks in three days for our favourite Finnish manufacturer, and the handsets in question couldn't be more dissimilar if they tried...
First up is the Nokia 8800 Erdos, a concept handset with similar traits to their 'Arte' range of designer phones. Built with ergonomics, fine construction materials and aesthetic beauty in mind, the 8800 Erdos is a curved slider device, carved from a single piece of polished stainless steel and beautifully tapered at the ends.
The device takes design cues from traditional mobiles, but the Erdos comes into its own with features like a unique mechanism that raises the keypad to meet the display when slid open.
Speaking of the display, the entire 2.4" OLED screen is covered with scratch-resistant glass which responds to tap-sensitive commands and becomes opaque when not in use, whilst audio is equally top-notch with a noise reduction microphone and special ring tone compositions.
Not content with serving as an piece of engineering precision, the Erdos is packed to the posh gills with high end hardware. It runs Symbian S60, giving the handset access to apps and Ovi Store support, as well as packing a 5 megapixel Carl
Zeiss camera with dual-LED flash, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and 8GB of
internal memory.
No official word yet, but the handset is rumoured to be out next month, and on the wrong side of expensive...
If money is an object, then the more affordable Nokia 2220 will be right down your less leafy street.
An entry level slider device, the Nokia 2220 runs on Symbian S40 but comes with a VGA camera, FM radio and 3.5mm headphone jack, a mightily impressive feature set given the price tag.
The handset is rumoured to be equipped with 10MB of internal memory, and a battery that promises a talktime of up to 8 hours or 400 hours of standby.
With a choice of six cool colourways and a cost of £75 (€84), the dual-band Nokia 2220 will be sure to set the prepay and developing markets ablaze upon its eventual release.
It just goes to show that Nokia aren't just focussing on dethroning the current king of the smart phone game with the N900, both the luxury and budget markets well catered for in the future...
Ernest Doku is Technology Editor of mobile phone deals comparison site Omio.com. The Omio Twitterfeed is @omiodotcom.
If you're still on the fence about the might of the Nokia N97, CJ of ZOMGitsCJ.com has put the super smart handset through some paces.
It is far from light reading, but both the black and white Nokia N97 are given a thorough photoshoot, and every facet of the device is pored over in immense detail with an insightful and wordy write-up.
Camera functionality, form factor, gaming, e-mail and messaging - if you want to know anything about Nokia's flagship phone for the first half of '09, it's discussed in the self-proclaimed 'Ye Giant Nokia N97 Review'!
It's not just the iPhone and Android mobiles that can enjoy the wonder of streaming music on the move with Spotify, there is a version very much in the works for those of us wielding Symbian devices.
The Nokia E66
seems to handle a pre-release build of the Spotify application ably in this video, and
also trumps the iPhone version by being able to run in the background
as well as be released rather than languishing in App submission hell!
The clean and easy method of streaming music over both 3G and Wi-Fi remains identical to the existing versions on other platforms, as does syncing on the fly, viewing album art and downloading the latest hits straight to your phone for offline listening...provided you're a premium subscriber to the service, of course.
For those willing to pay the £9.99 monthly fee, they can enjoy unfettered access to the millions of songs available on the database, all without intrusive adverts featuring the infamous Jonathon from Spotify...he ruined your playlist.
Naturally, Spotify is still only available in select regions of Europe...a bid for worldwide domination cannot be far away.
It's out! The big announcement from Nokia is out of the bag ahead of their annual conference, and the name on everyone's lips (and Twitter streams) at the moment is N900.
Read on to take a closer look at the official images, videos and Nokia N900 features, the most exciting internet tablet/mobile phone/sexy piece of gadgetry we have seen in a long time!
The features list reads familiarly to anyone well versed in the internal workings of the Nokia N97 (cool dudes that they are), but with changes large and small to make the Nokia N900 so much more than an incremental upgrade.
The New:
- Maemo 5 operating system.
Based on Linux, this is the biggest change of all. Nokia's first ever mobile to run on Maemo, the user experience and multi-tasking functionality places the N900 firmly in the upper echelon of mobiles.
- CPU.
The ARM Cortex-A8 CPU is the iron fist to Maemo's velvet glove user interface, a processing beast which allows for accelerated graphical capabilities, programs running concurrently and performance that one would come to expect from a computer rather than a mobile. Is this the end of juddery transitions and freezing that plagued certain Symbian-powered smartphones? Let's hope so. - 3.5" touchscreen display.
It is huge, and is the biggest indicator of the N900's internet tablet DNA. Primed for a landscape experience, this WVGA resistive touchscreen offers clarity and crispness at 800 x 480 pixels, as well as an on-screen virtual keyboard to supplement the three row full QWERTY affair nestled away.
Some may find a resistive touchscreen off putting, but try telling that to the millions that find it essential for depicting Asian characters and handwriting recognition.
- Mozilla Web Browser
The 'secret' weapon in the N900's armoury. For the many people unfamiliar with the sub-category of internet tablets, the slickest mobile browsing experience they would have had is likely to be Safari on the iPhone. We certainly can't knock it as the kinetic scrolling, the functionality and rendering speed are all top notch.
This, however, is on another level. The size of the screen and speed of connectivity thanks to both Wi-Fi and HSDPA 3G means the Nokia N900 deals with this capably, but the full Flash 9.4 support and smooth scrolling on that native landscape display quickly reminds that you have never seen desktop-quality internet on a mobile, until now.
- Phone functionality.
The other secret weapon, the N900 is Nokia's first tablet device to also be a mobile phone! Whilst we have had the Maemo experience in earlier Nseries devices, marrying it to calling functionality is a first. With quad-band GSM and 3G HSDPA support, the N900 is ready to go global and stay connected.
The Established:
- 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss optics camera, with dual-LED flash.
Much the same great camera found in the Nokia N97. There may be better on dedicated devices, but this is still one of the best to be found on a smartphone.
- 32GB of internal memory, microSD card support.
Hefty memory on board means plenty of space for multimedia, and if that wasn't enough then an extra 16GB of memory can be added, courtesy of a microSD card.Hey, it even has a kickstand to turn it into your own mobile multiplex.
- A-GPS with Ovi Maps.
Getting lost gets a lot more difficult, as Ovi Maps provides turn-by-turn, walking directions as well as orientation by landmarks. Scouts must have it so easy these days... - 3.5mm headphone jack, FM transmitter, TV-Out, DivX support, Bluetooth v2.1...
All becoming standard on Nokia Nseries handsets. All still brilliant features that round out a strong handset.
The other big surprise is that we could see the Nokia N900 unleashed as soon as this October, for €500 (£440)!
That N97-bothering price point could see this summer's hottest phone eclipsed pretty quickly, and with the such array of pioneering tech behind it, the N900 should have little problem selling itself across the globe. Maybe, just maybe, Nokia are back in this one.
Not already convinced? These vids might give a more concrete sense of why the Nokia N900 is a game changer!
an object, then the more affordable Nokia 2220 will be right down your less leafy street.
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