This year it seems like the Nokia NSeries devices have been breeding like rabbits. We have the N81, N82, N95, N95 8GB and N73, and now the daddy of them all has emerged – the N96.
Pics have appeared on Flickr, originating from a Chinese source of a real-life, actual N96 handset – apparently not a mock-up or render, but actual pictures.
Jusding by the pictures, the N95 is a dual-slider with a button-less top screen (presumably for touch-screen controls?). It also has a navigation wheel like the N81’s with media controls. The OS is apparently the S60 3rd edition FP2 (i.e. Symbian OS 9.5).
Camera-wise it has a five-megapixel camera with the now ubiquitous (on NSeries at least) Carl Zeiss optics. Interestingly, there’s a stand on the back of the N96 for easier media viewing
There’s no official news on this device yet, but judging by the success of the N95 (and its 8GB incarnation), this could be the big handset of next year.
[Via Intomobile]
ExtGPS is a free app that lets you use your GPS-equipped phone as an external GPS device.
Why would you want to do that, you ask? Well, although there are a lot of new apps for Symbian mobiles that let you take advantage of GPS, these are quite limited in functionality compared to the heavy-duty Geographical Information Systems available for the PC and Mac.
The trouble is - PCs and Macs tend not to come with GPS as standard. If you already have GPS on your expensive new smartphone, having to buy another little black box so you can use it with your laptop is a real kick in the teeth.
Enter ExtGPS . Run it on your Nokia N95, N81, E90 or 6110 phone and your PC or Mac can use your phone’s GPS functions via a Bluetooth connection - leaving you with the cash to actually buy one of those expensive GIS systems.
The official N-Gage blog has announced that the new N-Gage service launches next week (Yay!) Unfortunately it’s only on the N81 for the time being (Boo!).
While Nokia’s keeping to its promise of a pre-Christmas launch, the restriction to N81 and N81 8GB will surely disappoint N82 and N95 8GB owners hoping for some gaming action this Crimbo.
There’ll only be a few games available at launch and won’t be the full version of the service, but it’s a start. Those who want to leave feedback (i.e. complain) about the lack of support can do so on the First Access forums, which will also be opened for business.
Looks like we’ll all have to wait until 2008 for a full service on the rest of Nokia’s Nseries handsets.
This week Nokia held its annual Nokia World Conference in Amsterdam, outlining its 2008 plans. The key themes in CEO and President Olli-Pekka Kallsvuo’s keynote address were; the ‘convergence of mobility and the internet’; and the need for environmental sustainability.
Ovi
Central to Nokia’s ‘vision’ of ‘convergence of mobility’, is the merging of individual services such as mobile applications and mobile internet services, into a kind of joined-up suite of integrated services.
The aim of Ovi is to link different services across mobile, online and PC platforms – for instance linking Nokia Maps to Nokia Photos, to enable people to take pictures of/at a location, share them with friends on their mobiles and online.
Ovi launched this year with Nokia Maps, Nokia Music Store and this month, N-Gage games service. Nokia Intellisyc Email was also launched as well as web communities (such as Widsets and MOSH), and app downloads via the new Nokia Download! service available on new NSeries devices.
A web portal to Ovi is being launched next year, while an on-device version is already available on the 8GB versions of the Nokia N81 and N95, with new NSeries devices getting Ovi in 2008.
Read on for more of the highlights of the 2007 Nokia World Conference….
Continue reading ‘Nokia World 2007 Round-up:’
Nokia have released updates the firmware (the built-in software that runs the phone) to both the N81 and N95 8GB devices.
The N81 update provides improvements to Wi-Fi performance and management, memory handling and camera stability, while the N95 8GB receives bug fixes to Nokia Maps and the integrated web browser.
The updates can be downloaded using the Nokia Software Updater - or at least it can if you have access to a PC running either Windows 2000, XP or Vista. Mac and Linux users are out of luck, as are people who just don’t own a computer.
Aren’t Nokia always telling us that our phones are computers nowadays, anyway? As both phones have wireless internet access and 8 GB of storage, surely it should be possible to download this kind of update straight to the phone without a PC acting as middle-man?
JCB, the construction company, is getting tough with a real hard nut of a phone - the Toughphone.
The handset is supposedly shock, dust, water and drop resistant, capable of working in temperatures ranging from -20ºC to 60ºC. It also comes in a hardened rubber case for extra protection.
As well as its protection, the phone also has Bluetooth, Push-To-Talk and is Tri-band, and for those working on noisy building sites it has dual speakers.
People like Nokia have in the past released rubberised handsets, and Samsung’s Solid is coming out next month. Certainly those working in outdoors or on building sites can’t very well use a Nokia N81 or iPhone while on the job.
The JCB Toughphone is manufactured in the US by Sonim and comes with a three-year guarantee.
You can buy the Toughphone in Phones 4u stores, and if you’re in the building trade you can also pick it up at Speedy Hire and Plumb Centres alongside your quarter-inch nipples.
[Via Mobile Today]
Well, they wish. In reality, Nokia’s bagged the exclusive download rights to Kylie’s eagerly-anticipated new album ‘X’. It will be exclusively available to download from Nokia Music Store from November 21 - five days ahead of its general release.
It’s the first time a Kylie album - there have been 10 over three decades (now that makes us feel old!) - has been made available digitally prior to general release
It’s not Music Store’s first exclusive though. Already Girls Aloud (’Tangled Up’), The Killers (’Sawdust’) and Andrea Bocelli (’Vivere’) have all released exclusive through the store.
Nokia Music Store customers will be able to get hold of the album for £8. If you’ve got a Nokia N81 or N95 8GB, you can sign up and will able to get hold of Kylie’s latest release here.
This month has seen the launch of two mobile music services, competing for the ears of the mobile-equipped music fan.
Nokia’s Music Store and Vodafone’s MusicStation both offer DRM-laden music downloads, on a per-track or per-album basis (Music Store) or by paying a fixed monthly fee for unlimited access to their music libraries (Both services).
The two services appear quite similar at first glance - how do they compare?
Continue reading ‘Hands on: Vodafone MusicStation versus Nokia Music Store’
The N81 has only just gone on sale with the launch of the Nokia Music Store, and now pictures and feedback on a real-life N82 are already emerging on the web.
Although the N81 was launched with Nokia’s Music Store, the N82 is being pitched as a camera phone. But not just any camera phone, oh no, that would be too boring.
According to Symbian Freak, the N82 will be the first Nokia to feature XENON flash to go with its Carl Zeiss optic and five-megapixel camera.
But that’s not all. The N82 will also have 3G/wi-fi, Bluetooth, in-built GPS and a micro-USB port. Like all new NSeries devices, it’ll also feature the NGage games platform, and the Music Store (as seen on the N81 and N95 8GB).
One notable innovation is an auto screen rotation, but unlike the iPhone (which only rotates for certain applications), the N82 will rotate any time, any place no matter what you’re doing.
You can see more photos here.
Now the sound checks are finished, Nokia’s Music Store goes live in the UK this week. Not live as in stadium-filling live, but you can now download tracks to your phone; kind of way.
From a single account, customers can access the Nokia Music Store from their PC or from certain Nokia devices. The first two such devices, the Nokia N81 (see pic) and the N95 8GB have, coincidently enough, also gone on sale from today.
The virtual store itself is a serious rival to iTunes, offering millions of tracks from major artists and independent record labels, as well as personal track recommendations and a favourite artist search feature.
Individual tracks from the store cost 80p each, and albums will cost £8 each. You can also stream unlimited tracks to your PC for a subscription of £8 a month.
If iTunes doesn’t rock you, then you can check out Nokia’s Music Store here.
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