Google, who now own YouTube, have released an updated version of their application for Symbian devices. The YouTube application for Symbian is great, if you haven’t tried it yet then do it NOW! Seriously, it’s a good piece of kit. It really speeds up the viewing of videos, which is especially great when showing off to your friends

But the S60 browser is fine at displaying YouTube videos… Yes, that is correct but it’s much easier to use the application and it also has a much nicer interface that’s more suited to a phone’s screen than any website will ever be.

Any ways, this new version comes with numerous improvements…

• Performance improvements.
• User account integration. (My Account)
• Search suggestions.
• New user interface tailored towards larger, touch screen based devices.

The user account integration includes favourites, subscriptions and playlists to help you out when on the move. For example, if you add a video to your favourites on your PC then boom, it’s on the app.

When you find the video you want to watch and click on it, a tasty animation transitioning from search results to video player mode is shown – adding to that already tasty user interface. The player offers all the usual functionality such as Play, Pause, Seeking and Volume.

So head over to www.youtube.com with your phone and you should find a nice little message telling you about the new version of the youtube app. Give it a go, it’s free!

Plane frenzy!

Some years and an N97 later, the answer seems to come in the form of Airport Touch by Offscreen Technology. Airport Touch is one of the simplest and most intuitive games you will find on Ovi. The basis is you’ll be given two landing strips and two planes. One plane is a jumbo jet and the other is a small private plane. The price of the game is 3 Euros as of now.  The player has to land the plane into it’s specific strip by outlining a route, for example the jumbo jet will only land on the bigger runway. As the game begins, the interval of planes arriving is very big. But, as some time passes by, planes arrive very frequently and it is the player’s responsibility to create safe routes so that there are no mid-air collisions (yikes!). When planes arrive, there is a small blinking bar from the general direction they are coming from. As the tempo picks up, the player must respond very quickly and it’s these hectic moments that will create casualties and put a huge question mark on your Air Traffic Controller title!

For the most part, this game is smooth and easy to learn. However, I have some gripes that are very apparent. Firstly, there are many times when the game becomes sluggish; it mostly happens towards the end, when there are a lot of lines being made and a lot of planes are being routed. It totally ruins the spontaneity of the game and shows the glaring absence of a gpu on the N97. Secondly, the counter on the bottom of the screen comes in betwen the players’ view of incoming planes. So, there were many instances where a plane would suddenly pop-up from under the counter and create a collision. I also think that there should have been more weather conditions than the always sunny weather. It’s these little nooks that prevent this game from being a must-have.

Keeping that in mind:

Rating: 3.5/5

Price: 3 Euros

Ciao,

Salman

Not only does it help you find tickets for gigs you think of but it can also recommend shows to see based on your music tastes. How does it do this you ask? By searching your music library! COOL! Also, you can search for gigs through a wide range of different filters such as Artist, City, Genre, Venue, Date or any mixture that takes your fancy.

Once you’ve found the gig you want to see then you need some friends to come along right? Easy, press a button and gig info can be posted on Facebook or sent to a friend through SMS or Email. We love it when we can be lazy don’t we?

So after you’ve got some friends and bought tickets (possible straight from the app) then you might want to scrub up on the tracks so you know a few lyrics for the show. Simply find the artist and links are available for their page on the Nokia Music Store (soon to be Ovi Music), this means you can easily preview and purchase songs before and after the concert.

Now, you’re just about to set off to see your favourite band but… Oh oh, does anyone know where the venue actually is? No problem! Show off with finding the gig in “My Gigs” and pressing on the Map link which will instantly open Ovi Maps so you can painlessly start your journey. Done

This application is free and available from the Beta labs… WHAT? Yep, this app is in Beta stages so there may be some performance or stability issues but you won’t know unless you try it out. So check it out, what do you have to loose?

Head over to: http://betalabs.nokia.com/apps/gig-finder NOW!

Peace.

“We do have a couple of short form video clips available on store right now and we’re investigating longer form,” he told us. “I can’t confirm anything right now. I can tell you that we are investigating it. We have done a couple of pilots in some countries with some success, and you know we have great relationships with all the major studios.”

Movies coming to your N97?

There you have it, you can’t have Movies without Ovi! (Yes, that was awfully cheesy.) On a serious note, this seems like a fair venture that Nokia is undertaking. Nokia touchscreens sport amazingly bright and crisp TFT displays when compared to the current crop. By now many of you can attest that HD videos in the native resolution look amazing and as demonstrated by UnwiredView, the Nokia X6 (same display technology is used on this phone) stands up fairly well against the AMOLED Samsung Wave. Nokia also has at least 15 million of these touchscreen users so it might be well worth for them to dip their hands in the water. Also, with a Nokia phone or its prototype displayed in a blockbuster flick every year (think Dark Knight and Star Trek), the studios might also find ways to help Nokia out here as Mr. Fellar stated.

Personally, I think it will take Nokia time to work this out. The Ovi store isn’t fully ironed out yet and big downloads will be a test for Ovi, when small downloads -at times- hang, freeze, or fail. Besides, this coming from a communication manager  at the launch of Skype raises eyebrows!

What are your thoughts? Would you be downloading movies on your Nokia N97? Is the Ovi Store capable of handling such large downloads?

Please chime in,

Salman

Source:

ExpertPig

UnwiredView

Nokia N97 Gold Edition

The gold edition will, besides being plated with 18k gold, include fashion applications (Elle, etc), a gold edition theme, and as the picture indicates: some premium headphones. But, according to one humble blogger, a gold-colored paint job by a professional would be as blinged up! (All painting would be done out of warranty of course )  We will keep you updated once it is released and post our thoughts upon release. If I am not mistaken, this is the first time the an N-series phone is being given the Midas touch.
So, the question remains: if you haven’t bought an N97 handset, would you opt for the Gold Edition? Or is the N97/N97 Mini enough for your liking? Would the gold make you ’stand-out’ from the rest?

Peace,

Salman

Joikuspot (by http://www.joiku.com/) basically just takes the internet connection on your S60 based smartphone and broadcasts it through the phones inbuilt wifi to nearby objects with wireless networking capabilities. There are two versions of this software available, free and paid; The premium version obviously offers added functionality over the free version but if you’re strapped for cash then Joikuspot Lite does the job just fine.

Below is a run down of the features of Joikuspot Lite;

• WLAN access to internet with laptops, iPods and internet tablets
• HTTP(S) protocol support
• Multiple parallel connections
• Pre-defined first web landing page
• Supports 28 languages
• My personal favourite: FREE!

And now for the difference between Lite and Premium versions;

• All the JoikuSpot Light functionality
• Add password protection to your created wifi network (don’t let just anyone use your net!)
• Full support for all network access protocols such as POP3, SMTP, Email, Skype, YouTube, Messengers and VPNs etc
• No forced default landing page
• Name your access point! (Example; “AdensN97Hotspot”)

It is however advisable that you take out a unlimited data plan (or a generous one) with your courier if you don’t already have one. Using your 2/3G connection on your laptop for full desktop browsing/downloading can REALLY chew up that bandwidth which could leave you with a hefty bill if you don’t sort out a data plan beforehand.

Both the (free) lite version and premium versions of this software are available on the Ovi Store for your convenience. A trial of the premium version is also pre-installed on your Nokia N97 for you to try out and enjoy!

Let me know if you already use this/have just tried it out/are planning on using it in the near future Drop me a comment and let me know your thoughts.

Again, thanks and look out for more!

So, I hear you ask… “What good apps are there for the N97?”  Well, I’m here to tell you about a few that I find are a must for your Nokia.

First up, Handy Taskman by Epocware;
This great piece of software is, in my opinion, the best task manager replacement for Symbian. It’s simply awesome. Features include;

• Close all – Need to free some RAM? Simply select Close all from the options menu and all closable apps will be shut down, freeing up that crucial RAM.
• Kill app – App frozen? Stuck and eating RAM/Battery life? Simply select it in Handy Taskman and select Kill. Done.
• Integration with the OS – Hold down the Menu button to bring up Handy Taskman instead of the usual inbuilt task manager. It couldn’t be simpler.
• Device info – The main screen of this application will show you important device information such as available free RAM and free data storage space.
• Favourites – Have some apps that you run ALL THE TIME? Then add them to the favourites menu and whalah! It’s easy to access those applications when speed is of the essence.

There is a free trial of this application available over at http://www.epocware.com/ so you can give it a try before you buy but I’m sure you’ll agree that this software is easily worth the money!

Keep checking back for more news on the top applications for your N97/S60v5 based device. Also if you have any suggestions on what you think are the best apps for the Nokia N97 then drop me a comment!

If you don’t know what DRM is then I’ll fill you in Digital Rights Management basically stops people from sharing music illegally between friends and over the internet, Great I hear you say? No, It also means that we cannot even play the tracks that we own with some other software/devices. How bad is that?

BUT, like I said… Nokia are completely removing DRM from what is soon to be Ovi Music which is great! Now all the tracks you purchase from Nokia can be played through any media player on your pc/mac and can be transferred to many of your devices.

Also, a little inside tip here… There are loads of free credit codes knocking about on the net In fact, here are a few that you can try out (£4 each);

VLBV-MPBX-XDNQ-F79V
8S5P-WX57-R83H-7JXY
DHBQ-2LBM-96Q8-PD9W

Let me know if they work by leaving a comment  (I haven’t tested these but have used different ones in the past and they do work!)

All that’s left to say is… Happy listening.

A very commonly occuring crash before update.

According to an excerpt given to Anssi Vanjoki (who happens to be a top honcho at Nokia) the N97 seems to be nothing short of a disaster. Read the excerpt given by him to AllAboutSymbian:

“So we’ll start with the N97 and I’ll give you some current stuff on what we are doing there. The N97 has been a tremendous success for us when it comes to how many we have shipped and how much money we did collect, but it has been a tremendous disappointment in terms of the experience quality for the consumers and something we did not anticipate. It happens every now and then in a big company, like Nokia, even if you have the most stringent quality control mechanisms. Something slips, and you notice one thing, [it] leads to another thing, you fix that, and actually you make things worse and so forth… and this has been an unbelievable cycle of things for us that has taken far too long to repair and mitigate.”

So what exactly was the problem Mr. Vanjoki?

“Because, you know, what we did in terms of the software that was there for N97, we stretched it for too long, something which should not have been stretched. And when you stretch from every single corner, the thing does not hold together any more. And therefore even the patching of this was much more laborious that what we ever thought…that was a surprise to us. It was not expected. When you are taken by surprise you usually say er… er… er… er…er. And now, painstakingly slowly, we are in position where we can both answer and remedy the problem.“

Nokia finally admitted to its critics laments about UI and stability ever since it’s S60 were released with the Nokia 5800XM. Hearing statements like these from a senior executive is pretty heartbreaking, because it all of a sudden adds more wight to the issue. But, there are also positives to this. When does a big company like Nokia become guilt conscience? The chances of God pardoning Satan on judgement day are greater than this. More than anything, it shows Nokia is willing to listen, because customer satisfaction ultimately decides how much money you’ll earn in the future.

Personally, I think the N97 is a solid device now after the updates. As an early buyer of this phone, I did face a lot of problems in terms of stability, but that seems to have been gone with recent firmware updates. But, what Nokia realized is that only a fraction of any phone users tend to update their phone software and would rather stick to the original firmware. So, for this reason it would be best to ship it problem-free out of the box. (Maybe, that’s the reason they introduced the N97 Mini?)

What do you think about the N97? Has it been a disappointment to you? Have the recent updates ‘patched’ up your device? Do you agree with Mr. Vanjoki?

Please chime in with your two cents.
-Salman, signing out!
[Via AllAboutSymbian]

Any way, We now have a new version that comes with a few improvements over previous versions. Before I explain the new features let me remind you that this is indeed a Beta version and therefore it is prone to have some problems along the way.

The improvements;

• Faster zooming and panning of the maps.
• Improved speed and accuracy for GPS positioning. (finding, and keeping, where you are)
• Improved searching functions for cities.
• Added “zoom out to city” level of zoom.

If you don’t already know, the maps themselves don’t actually come with the app. You can download them on-the-fly whilst navigating but this can be slow and tedious if using a slow connection. The best way is to download the map data on a PC using Nokia Map Loader and the Ovi Suite – both will detect which version of Ovi Maps you are running and download the appropriate map data depending on the selected locations.

You can find the new beta version of Ovi Maps over at http://betalabs.nokia.com/ ovi-maps and the in-browser version over at http://maps.ovi.com/

Have fun and let me know what you think.

Peace out.