FinestFones

Samsung i8910 HD comes to the UK via Orange

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. X) — Wed, 13 May 2009 15:53:00 +0000

On my way to school this morning I saw an advert for the i8910 HD in the Metro. Rumours had previously claimed that the i8910 would be available on contract starting from the 15th, so it's nice to see that this awesome device is out a bit earlier than expected. Unfortunately, Orange have decided that they don't want the i8910 to succeed and have done everything they could possibly think of to ensure that their version of the Omnia HD will be entirely unenticing to 'average' consumers.

Look at the above image of the advert that I've uploaded. Does anything jump out to you there?

Exactly.

Orange have paid for a full-page advert in a widely-read free newspaper and they omit the main selling point of the device. Where's the mention of HD video recording?

Now look closer at the Omnia HD, especially its screen. Do you see that? Here, I'll zoom in for you:

So, not only have Orange decided to forget about HD recording, they've also decided to rape the i8910 HD's software. What sorts of surprises should we expect from this version of the i8910's software? Maybe the reason for them not including HD recording in the advert is that they've disabled it in the software? Seriously, why can't networks just leave the software alone?

And then...
Below the main body of the advert is the small print. I was expecting to find the usual: free on a 18-month contract, terms and conditions, etc. Instead I find that the phone still costs £78; on a 24-month (yes, TWO YEARS) contract and at £40 a month for 1200 minutes and 'unlimited' texts. You read that correctly. Orange have the audacity to still charge money for a phone that is on a 24-month contract with a tariff that's simply not worth the money. £1038 over two years you'll be paying if you're suckered into this 'deal'.

My advice? Don't bother with Orange. Their exclusivity won't last long and the sim-free version of the i8910 will be out in less than two weeks. Save yourself the torture of using a phone with branded software and don't sell your soul to a network that has the chutzpah to make you pay for a phone on a two year agreement in the UK. Let me remind you that just a few years ago a class-leading phone like the i8910 HD would have probably been available for free on a 12-month contract.

How to: Get a 17-capability developer certificate without waiting

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. X) — Sun, 10 May 2009 14:18:00 +0000

So, you've already seen my guide on getting a developer certificate from OPDA, right? You're interested, but the thought of waiting a possible 24 hours is a daunting one, isn't it? Don't worry, I can feel your pain. And I've also got a solution. Read on to find out how to get a developer certificate (yes, this one's powerful enough to sign HelloOx) in no more than 5 minutes! EDIT: Symbian Signed have blocked this method and it no longer works. If you're still in need of a certificate, refer to my older guide HERE.

First of all I'd like to say a few things. A big 'thank you' goes out to Il.Socio of Symbian-Freak for the initial guide and files. Secondly, this guide might seem like it's long but that's only because of the number of screenshots I've used and the fact that I've tried to make this as easy as possible for everyone to understand. Now that that's out of the way, enjoy the guide!

What you'll need:
-THIS file containing publisher IDs
-The Symbian Developer Certificate Request Wizard (download HERE)
-A computer with internet access

Before you do anything, install the Developer Certificate Request Wizard to your computer and extract the Publisher IDs.zip file to a folder.

1)Get a Symbian Signed account by going to www.symbiansigned.com and clickign 'register'.

Symbian won't let you register with a public domain email so if you have a personal email domain or a work one, you can use that. If you don't have a personal email account you can also (ironically) use Nokia's own @ovi.com email service or Microsoft's @live.co.uk.

2) Now that you've got a Symbian Signed account, open up the DevCertRequest application that you installed. If you don't have a shortcut on your desktop, it'll be in your Start menu under Programs>Symbian OS Tools>Developer Certificate Request>DevCertRequest.

Once you've got it opened, press the button on the right with an ellipsis (...) on it. From here, navigate to a folder that you'll remember, name your output file and then press open.

3) Once again, press the first button that has the ellipsis on it but this time navigate to where you extracted the Publisher IDs.zip file and select the Pub1 file.

Do the same for the second field but this time select the Pub1.key file and then press next (make sure there's a tick in the box next to 'No password').

4) You'll be shown a page that oultines the details of the Publisher ID that you're using, press next.

5)Press the button with an ellipsis again. This is where you'll enter the IMEIs that you want your certificates for. You can find your IMEI code by typing in *#06# from the homescreen of your S60 device. Enter your IMEIs and then press 'add' - you can add up to 1000 IMEIs for your certificate.

Once you've added all your IMEIs, press OK. You'll see a bunch of certificate capabilities highlighted in blue. Press 'add' and they'll all be taken over to the right. Press next.

6)You'll be shown a screen containing the details of your certificate request highlighted in blue. Press finish and you'll be greeted with a success message.

7) Head back to the Symbian Signed website and login using the account you've just created, your username is the email address that you registered with. On Symbian Signed, click the 'My Symbian Signed' tab towards the top of the page. On the left of the page you'll see a bunch of links. Click on 'open signed' and then 'request'. Fill out the form by entering the characters you see in the CAPTCHA and then upload the .csr file that you generated by pressing the 'browse' button.

Click on 'send' and you should now be able to download your shiny new developer certificate!

When signing files, you'll have to use the Pub1.key file in conjunction with your new certificate. There's no password but if the application you're using requires one, just use 0000.

Enjoy!

Samsung's official software update guide released

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. X) — Fri, 08 May 2009 16:11:00 +0000

Last year, Samsung announced and released the i8510 (INNOV8) to consumers. Unfortunately, the device had quite a few 'holes' in its software that lead to highly frustrated users of the i8510 resorting to less-than-official methods of updating their firmware. However, with the release of the i8910 HD inching closer by the minute, Samsung have finally provided the public with an official guide on updating their phones at home.

Software updates for phones are limited depending on the country that your device was sold in and operator branding (if there is any). Samsung currently officially supports the following countries for software updates:
-Hungary
-India
-Pakistan
-Philippenes
-Portugal
-Romania
-Spain
-Turkey
-Ukraine
-Middle east Asia and Africa, including UAE
-Nigeria

I was able to get to a United Kingdom software update website by changing one of the URLs given in Samsung's guide. If there's anyone in the UK with an INNOV8 willing to test, please report back.

One thing I noticed was that unlike NSU (Nokia Software Updater), Samsung's software updater has a recovery mode available in case your software update is interrupted or fails.

Thanks to Sammy's Ben Morris for writing the guide. The PDF file can be downloaded from Samsung's Mobile Innovator website (Samsung, if you're reading this, PLEASE fix Lab.dev!) here. You'll need to be registered on Mobile Innovator to download the PDF file but if you don't want to bother, I've uploaded the guide to a seperate mirror here.

Sony Ericsson stereo Bluetooth Headset HBH-IS800 review

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. X) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:32:00 +0000

The Sony Ericsson HBH is800 Bluetooth headset was announced in July of 2008, promising an ‘extraordinary music experience’ to the user. With its small footprint in comparison to other Bluetooth stereo headsets, the is800 could change the way we look at Bluetooth headsets forever.

Box contents:
The is800 comes in a small white and purple box with a cut-out at the front so that you can see your new headset. You’ll find the following inside the box:
-Sony Ericsson HBH is800 Stereo Bluetooth Headset
-Carrying case for HBH IS800
-Documents relating to Bluetooth and a User manual
-A set of different sized earbuds for the HBH IS800

Design:
The HBH-IS800 could easily be mistaken for a normal pair of wired earphones at first glance due to their relatively small size. The headset’s actual earpieces are slightly larger than those of headsets you’d find bundled with phones and other multimedia devices. This slight increase in size is a small price to pay for the truly wireless experience offered by the HBH-IS800.

Creating a single product that can be used by millions of different people all with different tastes, styles and needs is something that Sony Ericsson have excelled at with the HBH-IS800. Included in the sales package are three differently sized ear plugs for the headset, allowing users to find the configuration that’s ‘just right’.

The wire connecting the earpieces of the HBH-IS800 is approximately 50.5cm in length and the entire headset (including the earpieces) is about 57cm. This once again ensures all users can enjoy the comfort of the HBH-IS800.

With the HBH-IS800, Sony Ericsson has gone for a simple yet pleasing look. The headset features only three colours: silver, black and green.

Small grooves can be found on each earpiece, providing some extra grip for the fingers.

Although the HBH-IS800’s minimalistic colour scheme allows it to match most electronic devices and clothing, it would be great if Sony Ericsson could offer a few more colour schemes. I’m sure an all-black version would go down well with tech lovers such as me.

Charging/Battery:

The HBH-IS800 comes with a slightly modified Sony Ericsson charger. The headset is charged via a port beneath the Sony Ericsson logo on the right earpiece. The HBH-IS800 should be able to be charged by practically any Sony Ericsson charger, including chargers from SE’s phones, portable chargers and of course USB cables.

The HBH-IS800’s user guide states that prior to any use of the device, it should remain plugged into the charger for a minimum of eight hours. This only needs to be done once and I believe it helps to ensure that the user can get the highest possible usage time out of the HBH-IS800.

Sony Ericsson claims a maximum of four hours music playback time and 270 hours of standby time. In reality, I’ve been able to squeeze a bit over 3 hours of constant music playback (at maximum volume) out of them. Though the battery life of the HBH-IS800 isn’t as amazing as some other Bluetooth headsets available on the market, I was more than happy to exchange stellar battery life for massive improvements in size and practicality.

Unfortunately, the HBH-IS800 takes a few hours to bring back up to full charge from empty. I’ve found that it has taken as long as two hours before seeing the green ‘battery full’ indicator LED on the right earpiece.

Pairing:
Like with most other Bluetooth headsets, pairing the HBH-IS800 with its first compatible device is a very quick and easy process. To pair the headset, it must first be put into pairing mode by turning it off and then pressing and holding the multifunction button for about 5 seconds or until the LEDs on the device start to flash. As with all other Bluetooth accessories, the HBH-IS800’s pairing code is 0000.

After pairing, the headset automatically connects with the last used device when turned on. The HBH-IS800 is incapable of storing more than one previously paired device in its memory.

Sound:
In my opinion, the sound produced by the HBH-IS800s is excellent; music is crystal clear with very good bass, if that’s what you’re into. Due to the in-ear style of the earphones, practically all external sounds cannot be heard when music is playing. Volume cannot be adjusted on the HBH-IS800 so the loudness of your music depends on your phone, I’ve found that Sony Ericsson devices were significantly louder than Nokia ones when at maximum volume and paired with the headset.

I’m no audiophile but I can comfortably say that, for me, the sound quality from the HBH-IS800 is far superior to that of the default earphones that come with Nokia’s N series, Apple’s iPods, Sony Ericsson’s walkman devices as well as a pair of Sony MDR-EX500LPs.

Calling:
Conversations are easy to maintain on the HBH-IS800, voices were clear and loud and I had no complaints about the clarity of my voice. When asked if they suspected that I was talking on Bluetooth headset callers said “no”.

Comfort:
It’s very easy to forget that there’s anything in your ears when using the HBH-IS800, they’re really that comfortable. Using the smallest of the included rubber earbuds, I’ve had no problems using the HBH-IS800 constantly for close to 3 hours.

Bluetooth signal strength:
In a clear line of sight, the HBH-IS800 is able to play music from my phone without any skipping up to about 5 metres. The headset can still play music perfectly when your phone is in any of your pockets (even rear trouser pockets) but music might start skipping if you’re wearing a thick hood; thin hoods work fine. You might also run into trouble if:
-You’re holding your phone while it’s in your pocket
-If it’s windy.

I’m not 100% sure if the wind actually affects the reception of the headsets, but on numerous occasions my music has skipped (only for a second, it recovers quickly) after I walk past a wall and the wind starts to hit me.

Conclusion:
The Sony Ericsson HBH-IS800s could potentially mark the start of a Bluetooth revolution. Its design means that people can now finally experience wireless music without compromising on size, practicality and sound quality. Despite some of its faults, the Sony Ericsson HBH-IS800 is arguably the best Stereo Bluetooth headset available on the market today and I would not hesitate to recommend them to any of my friends or family.

How to: Speed up your gallery/ringtone selection

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. X) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:29:00 +0000

Do you ever get annoyed when you're picking ringtones for your profiles and you have to search through possibly thousands of your favourite songs just to find that 30-second snippet that you downloaded? Or maybe you just don't want the pictures used by applications like Garmin showing up in (and slowing down) your gallery? If you answered yes to either of the questions above, then I can help you.

Download THIS unsigned sis file, install it and then restart your phone. You'll need a hacked phone to install it.

Installing the above file will mean that your music player will only search through the E:\Sounds folder when you refresh your music library and that when selecting ringtones, the phone will only look through the E:\Sounds\Simple and E:\Video folders. It also means that the Galllery will only search through E:\Images for pictures and E:\Videos for videos.

This hack provides HUGE improvements in the gallery and in adding new tracks. From my own experience, gallery loading times have been reduced by around 65% and music refreshing time is notably improved.

For the curious people out there, the .sis moves one file to C:\resource and one file to C:\Private\10202be9. Thanks go to rol@N95d for originally bringing this hack to my attention.

Things to note:
-This doesn't work on FP2/S60V5 devices. It seems there's work being done to fix this.
-Though I've been using this for about a week with no ill-effect, I am not liable for any (highly unlikely) damage to your phone.

Enjoy!

The Samsung i8910 - It feels like 2006 again

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. X) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 20:38:00 +0000

Do you remember the first of May 2006? That's the day that what we know today as the Nokia N95 was leaked as the Nokia N83. Yesterday saw the first actual images of the device but today, the 6th of February 2009, we have a new king. I can't describe just how excited I am right now. Read on for more details on this God-like phone from Samsung.

My friend Phat^Trance has scored some exclusive, high quality images of the Samsung 'Acme' (sounds too much like acne to me). These pictures confirm the following:

-HDMI output(!)
-HD Video recording (!)
-HUGE touchscreen
-Divx support
-S60 5th edition
-8MP camera

It's also rumoured that the i8910 will feature a WVGA screen but that's not confirmed yet.

If the i8510 ate the N96 for breakfast, the i8910 drinks the N97 like it's water. If history is anything to go by, it's very likely that the i8910 will be available in the shops before the N97.

This is almost certainly my next phone. I can literally feel my N95 8GB shaking right now, or is that just me shaking from the excitement?

Expect an official announcement from Samsung either on Monday or in the coming weeks, at MWC.

S60 has been hacked once again!

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. X) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:47:00 +0000

Finally. It's happened, my friends. All of you with 'unhackable' firmwares, read on.

None of this would have been possible without the great work by DeltaFox and FCA00000!

What you'll need:
-A strong certificate, like the ones that OPDA give out. If you don't already know how, check out my guide HERE on how to get one.

*Please read through the instructions atleast once before starting the procedure*

Download THIS zip file and extract it to your computer. Open the 'HelloOx' folder and sign every sis file within the folder.

1)Install 'HelloOX.1.03.Unsigned' to your phone's internal memory. If you're getting any certificate errors during the installtion it either means that you haven't signed the application or the certificate you used isn't good enough. Remember, OPDA provide the correct certificates.

2)Open HelloOx from your phone's Applications folder

Wait until it tells you that it's finished (takes about 1 minute).

If you wish, you can uninstall HelloOx once it's finished.

That's it. You're done!

If you have a Feature Pack 2 device for example a N96 or N85, you'll need to sign your unsigned applications with the certificate and key files in the archive named 'Leftup_CertKey' which is inside the HelloOx zip that you downloaded.

If you have a preFP2 device like the N95 or N73, you can now enjoy installing unsigned apps without ever having to worry again.

Enjoy!

Full black Nokia N96 now in the shops

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. X) — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 13:08:00 +0000

Do you remember Nokia's 'maps on Ovi' announcement during 2008? No? The image above is from the announcement. It features a N96 with an all-black housing -- hot. Since then, nothing more has been said by Nokia on a black N96...

The Carphone Warehouse is now offering the black N96 to customers who are willing to sign away 18 months of their mobile life to O2, despite there being no official acknowledgement of a black N96 from Nokia.

Is this all too little too late, though? Can a black version of the N96 decrease its alarming returns rate?

How to: Record close-up videos with Nokia devices

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. X) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 15:50:00 +0000

Nokia's Nseries devices are arguably the best phones for video recording available on the market today. With most devices recording at 30 frames per-second and in VGA resolution, it's easy to understand why there are so many 'vloggers' with an Nseries phone. Unfortunately, none of Nokia's devices have ever really been able to get the detail required by many when trying to record something close-up... Until now. Read on for a rather primitive solution from Georgije of Symbian-Freak!

To get macro video recording on your phone, just hit the back of it(or wherever the camera is) with moderate force!

Hitting your device in this area should work.

This only seems to work on Nokia devices with mechanical shutters. I've gotten very pleasing results with both the N73 and N95.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I'm not responsible for any damage caused to your device. Remember, these phones contain sensitive electronics which may cease to function if you're not careful!

How to enable FP2 style transitions in FP1 devices

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. X) — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 10:49:00 +0000

Menu transitions and effects are just a few of the new features included in Nokia's Feature Pack Two S60 devices. These subtle animations really do make a difference and give S60 a feeling of "newness". The N81 of all devices was blessed with a firmware update that enabled these effects, despite the N81 being a Feature Pack One device. That firmware update has now allowed users of the N95 8GB and maybe some other devices to take advantage of the theme effects, too.

Download the KastorUI.zip file HERE!

Please note that this hack is only working on phones with V20 firmware! V30s, V31s, V11s, V10s, V12s and others will NOT work.

***READ THIS BEFORE STARTING***

You'll need:
-A hacked phone with ROMPatcher and a file browser(like Y-Browser) installed.
-To make sure that all of your themes are installed on the C drive(internal memory).

1)Download the KastorUI zip file from here: extract it and then copy the Kastor UI folder to your phone's memory card.

2)Disable platform security either by using CapsOff or ROMpatcher and then use a file browser navigate to the KastorUI folder and copy the KastorUI.rmp file to the patches folder on your memory card.

3)Copy the entire effects folder(from the KastorUI folder) into C:\Resource.

4)Copy the effects.sel file(from the KastorUI folder) and then navigate to C:\Resource\skins. In here, paste the effects.sel file into each of the folders and then rename it to the name of the folder. For example, if the name of a folder was 2000d1c3, you would rename effects.sel to 2000d1c3.sel.

5)Exit your file browser and then open ROMPatcher. Enable the KastorUI patch and set it to start automatically.

6)Navigate to the themes application, highlight your current theme and press options, select theme effects and then turn them off and back on again. *DO NOT EXIT THEMES* Instead, press the Symbian Menu button to open the menu and voila, your theme effects are working!

Every time you turn off your phone, simply repeat step 6 to get your theme effects back.

I've only tested this with my N95 8GB. If this works for you on a different phone, please leave a comment saying so!

Confirmed: The N97 WAS leaked

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. X) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:10:00 +0000

Was just browsing Mobile Review and came across a link to the picture that you see above(click for a better view). That's a prototype of the N97 with a label that clearly has 'Ivalo' printed on it.

It was claimed that the N97 was the first flagship Nokia device that wasn't leaked prior to announcement, that 'the internet was in the dark on this one' and even that it was 'the scoop Engadget didn't get'. Nokia were wrong, very wrong. The N97 was leaked as Ivalo in Engadget Mobile's Nokia roadmap almost a month before it was officially announced. Engadget had to remove the roadmap from their site but it can still be found at BGR.

What this means to me is that the above roadmap has gained more credibility, despite claims from Eldar and others that a lot of the devices mentioned have since been canned. Maybe we'll see some other devices from the roadmap sometime soon.

Maybe next time, Nokia.

Cancelled mystery Nokia device appears in 'spy' shots

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. X) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 16:56:00 +0000

The image above was posted on Eldar Murtazin's LiveJournal. Eldar has access to prototypes of phones long before they're available in the shops and as seen in this case, he also has access to devices that have been cancelled and will never see the light of day.

From what I can see, this is a Nokia device. I haven't seen phones from other manufacturers that feature the swirly 'i' that can be found on the '0' button on many Nokia devices. I can also gather that the device doesn't run S60 as there's no standard S60 menu button. S40 maybe... or even Android?

Could this be the start of something new? The design of the device is different from other Nokia devices and even slightly resembles the vertu line of devices, maybe Nokia will be changing the way they design their S40 phones in the future? Maybe this is S40's equivalent of the N81? Time will tell, I guess.

According to this thread in the Mobile-Review forums, Eldar will be publishing a 'review' on a bunch of scrapped devices sometime soon.

How to update your Samsung i8510 INNOV8 firmware

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. X) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 12:53:00 +0000

Samsung's S60-powered i8510 has been out for a few months now and has proved to be rather popular. Unfortunately, the device has quite a few bugs that prevent it from reaching its true potential as the most highly specced S60 device to date. Even more unfortunate, though, is that Samsung don't currently offer any official methods for users to update to the latest available firmwares at home.

THIS METHOD OF UPDATE IS NOT OFFICIALLY SUPPORTED BY SAMSUNG. IF YOU WISH TO UPDATE YOUR I8510 USING SAMSUNG-APPROVED SOFTWARE, CLICK HERE.

The Samsung i8510 users website have an article that provides everything you need to upgrade your i8510's firmware at home. Please remember that this process is totally unofficial and is not recommended for anyone who isn't comfortable with manually updating their device's firmware.

There is no changelog available for this firmware revision and it's apparently intended for users in eastern European countries. It does support the English language.

Head over to Samsung i8510 users to download all 6 files and then follow the included user guide.

Good luck!

Samir's HandWave launched

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. X) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:54:00 +0000

Finally, after over 2 months of waiting, HandWave is available for download! HandWave is an application that uses the front camera of your S60 device to detect movements from the user's hands and then registering these movements as corresponding keypresses on the device. You could call it a touchless interface for S60...

I've been using HandWave for a few minutes now and I am rather impressed. It's very accurate, even in dark surroundings. There's a little box at the top left of the screen that can be used to show when a movement is registered.

Users may want to turn this off though as it will obstruct some of the information on your screen. Unfortunately, such an option does not exist in this beta.

I had no problems using HandWave to control my phone from atleast 1 meter away so this could be great for using with TV-Out. The application can be optimised for different uses by changing the values of the pixel and image 'sensibility'.

HandWave is a great application that can be useful but I know i'll very likely be using it just to show off!

HandWave is currently donationware, meaning you can only get it by donating to Samir, the author of the application. You can donate as little or as much as you wish. After donation, a download link will be sent to you instantly.

Get HandWave HERE.

Samir's AikonLab is alive!

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. X) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 13:09:00 +0000

Ask any person on Symbian-Freak who their favourite individual software developer is and you'll very likely be given one of two answers: Wook or Samir. Wook is a talented developer that likes to get the most out of his S60 device by not adhering to the limitations imposed by Symbian Signed while Samir is a Symbian celebrity who is probably best known for his accelerometer driven applications like RotateMe. As some of you may recall, Samir launched AikonLab back in September but was never to update it again until yesterday, November 7th.

Samir has now made nAlertMe available for download on his site. nAlertMe is a freeware security application that uses the inbuilt accelorometer to raise an audible alarm if your phone is moved from a stationary position. The alarm can only be deactivated after the user positions their phone in a pre-determined sequence of orientations.

Here's a video of nAlertMe in action:

nAlertMe
Uploaded by AikonLab

You can grab nAlertMe by heading over to AikonLab and then navigating to the projects page.

Now all I'm waiting for is news on HandWave... Godspeed Samir!

Get SkyFire browser regardless of your location

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. X) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:19:00 +0000

SkyFire is a very capable mobile browser that's a bit similar to Opera Mini in the sense that most of the work done on rendering a webpage is actually done remotely. This helps to reduce page load times on your phone quite significantly. SkyFire is currently in BETA stage and is meant to be open only to US residents. Read on to get SkyFire on your device without having to move to the United States of America.

To get SkyFire:

1)Go to the SkyFire Register page HERE.

2)Fill in your details. Make sure you give a real email address as you'll need it later on. In the phone number field enter any random series of numbers, just mash at your keyboard!

3)You'll get a confirmation email that contains a link saying 'Download to PC', click on it and you'll be taken to a page where you must create a password for your SkyFire account. After creating the password the SkyFire installation file will start downloading.

5)Copy the installation file to your phone and install as normal. When opening SkyFire for the first time you'll be asked to input the email address you registered with and the password you created in the previous step.

Enjoy!

Get cash for your old phones and a free SIM from Three

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. X) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 20:37:00 +0000

Do you have some old phones collecting dust in your house? Would you like to put one of those phones to use? Maybe you'd like to recycle your phone and get some cash at the same time?

Three are offering a free pay as you go SIM card for anyone interested. If you want a free Three SIM card, head over to Three's site, fill in your details and your SIM will be with you within the next 30 days. Please remember that Three requires you to use a 3G enabled device on their network. If you try using an older 2G device your service may be halted.

Three are also offering a phone recycling scheme. You send in your old phone and they'll send you a set amount of money for it. I just checked to see what I could get for some of the phones in my room:

N73=£44.20
N80=£26.35
6500 Slide=£51
N95 8GB=£127.50

To get the best prices for your phones, you must make sure that they are working. Here's Three's criteria for what they consider a working phone:

-Turn on and off
-Be fully functional (Normal cosmetic wear and tear is acceptable)
-Have a working screen
-Include its battery (you can keep memory card, charger, etc)
-Be healthy - not crushed or water-damaged

Visit Three's recycling page here.

S60 YouTube crisis

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. X) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 18:35:00 +0000

Do you like YouTube? I do. I like YouTube on my laptop and I also like YouTube on my phone, it's fantastic. Some of you may remember a few months ago that my favourite S60 YouTube player, emTube, stopped working out of nowhere. It's happened again, but this time on a larger scale.

EmTube doesn't work. MobiTubia doesn't work. Damnit, even CorePlayer can't play YouTube videos now!

What is going on? Does anyone know why this keeps happening to US, the innocent S60 users... What have we done to deserve this?

If you've got a way to play YouTube videos on your S60 device in great quality like emTube once did, please feel free to share.

Nokia E63 to come with built-in 3.5mm jack

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. X) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 21:21:00 +0000

Thanks to Chlettn over at Mobile-Review forums for pointing out a post on Telefon-Treff forums that reveals some information about an upcoming Eseries device that is supposedly called the E63.

The E63 is described as having:

-A 3.5mm headset jack on the top.
-Being thicker than the E71
-Having no front camera
-Bearing a mostly plastic body
-Packing a 2 MegaPixel camera

As you've probably gathered from these descriptions, the E63 is a cheaper version of the E71 - hence the E6x index.

Please remember that none of this has been officially confirmed by Nokia but Denver(a usually reliable insider on M-R forums )seems to have confirmed the above specs.

You can view the E63-1's User Agent Profile here.

Nokia presents: 'The Unhackables'

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. X) — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 19:41:00 +0000

Over the past few weeks Nokia has been releasing firmware updates left, right and center. Now, for some people this may sound like a good thing but for others it's a nightmare. With every firmware update comes the risk of losing the control you now have over your phone. Read on for a list of all current S60 phones that are unhackable.

Note: this list assumes that the device mentioned is running the latest firmware version. Phones with an asterisk(*) next to them can still be hacked if not running the latest firmware version.

-Nokia N82*
-Nokia E71*
-Nokia E66*
-Nokia E90*
-Nokia N96
-Nokia N85
-Nokia N79
-Nokia 5800 XM
-Nokia 5320 XM*
-Samsung i8510 INNOV8

Update with caution my friends.

'Comes with music' launches in UK

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. X) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:45:00 +0000

Nokia's comes with music service was officially set loose in the UK yesterday, the 16th of October. Comes with music means that you can buy a phone that (by using Nokia's music store) gives you free, legal and unlimited music downloads for the duration of your contract(18 or 12 months are available) or if you're buying a pay as you go phone like the 5310 you'll get 12 months of free music. Nice.

On my daily commute to school this morning, I picked up the free Metro newspaper and was surprised to see the service advertised on the entire cover. Here are some pictures of the advertisement:

Nokia's N96 can't sell

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. X) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:32:00 +0000

The N96 has been on sale around the world since September, 2 years after the announcement of the venerable N95. In the UK it has been available for free on a £30 a month tariff for a while now. Surely customers would be pleased with getting such revolutionary and market leading technology like in the N96 for such a great price, right?

Mobiletoday are reporting that the N96 isn't doing too well when it comes to sales. They cite claims from a Vodafone saleswoman that many customers are returning their N96s because they feel it's far too similar to the N95 that they've been carrying prior to upgrading.

A Carphone Warehouse spokesperson said that 'the deals are not great ... as soon as the deals get better they’ll fly'. However, the N96 is currently available on the same tariff(and price) that the successful N95 8GB was launched on in December of last year.

It's now clear that o2 made the right choice in not selling the N96... They've avoided being stuck with a warehouse full of them.

Nokia are at it again, N82's V30 unhackable

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. X) — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:33:00 +0000

Earlier this year, Nokia successfully blocked FCA00000's python S60 v3 exploit... For a few hours. FCA00000 replied with his own version of HelloCarbide - the most powerful .Sis file that has ever existed in the history of Symbian. However, the release of the Nokia N82's V30 firmware marks the beginning of a new chapter in this cat and mouse game between Nokia and FCA00000. One man challenging a company of 117,212 employees.

HelloCarbide no longer works with the N82. There are some claims from some members of Symbian-Freak that following this update method will keep the hack working. I cannot confirm if it works as I don't have a N82 but it should be worth a try, right?

How to supposedly keep the hack on your V30 N82:
1) Format your V20 N82.
2) Hack your N82 using HelloCarbide and copy installserver.exe over to C:/Sys/Bin
3) Back up your phone using Nokia PC Suite.
4) Update your firmware
5) Restore using Nokia PC Suite.

If that doesn't work then you'll be stuck with a standard, locked down N82 until FCA00000 (hopefully) finds another exploit.

Enjoy.

How to: watch BBC iPlayer on your N95

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. X) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 16:40:00 +0000

The Nokia N96 will receive its very own iPlayer app next month. We don't yet know whether or not this application is exclusively for the N96. So, while you're waiting to find out, maybe you should check out some of the latest shows from the BBC... Using your current phone.

What you'll need:
A wifi enabled mobile phone.
A good wireless connection.

1) Open up your phone's browser and go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/mobile/iplayer/index.html

2) Find the show you want to watch by navigating through the different categories. Click on the show.

3) When you're at the show's summary, click on where it says 'click to play'. RealPlayer will open and the show will start playing

The videos are encoded in 3gp at a 320x176 resolution and 192kbit/s bitrate. Although the quality isn't as good as the iPhone's version of iPlayer, it's still O.K. for a bit of mobile entertainment before you go to sleep. I hope the N96's iPlayer looks better than this though, otherwise that's one of the main selling points of the N96(atleast for me) gone.

Samir's HandWave brings touchless gesture control to S60

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. X) — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:33:00 +0000

Samir is back with yet another one of his great applications. Posted on his new website 'AikonLab'(originally scheduled for release on the 9th...) is an impressive video demonstration of his newest app, 'handwave'.

HandWave
Uploaded by AikonLab

It seems that the application makes use of your device's forward-facing camera or maybe the ambient light sensor?

some of you may remember eyesight's own video demonstration of a very similar application from a few months ago. samir's handwave is almost the same but there is a big difference between the two: eyesight's gesture control could only be used in their own applications while Samir's handwave seems to be able to be used across the whole of the phone's menus and applications. Imagine hooking up your N95/N82 to your tv and navigating through a web page from the comfort of your seat... Handwave can hopefully make this a reality.

Handwave will be available on AikonLab from tomorrow(13th September).