We were invited by Nokia along with a bunch of other bloggers to experience Nokia’s new NFC enabled Symbian Belle phones in picturesque Goa. The 3 new & upcoming phones which we previewed were all NFC enabled, namely the 600, 700 and 701. During the course of the event we found out all about NFC on these phones!

An year after the iPad, Apple launched the iPad 2. Faster, thinner, lighter. The original iPad created an all new tablet industry which was subsequently entered into by variousAndroid manufacturers, some with better specs but not necessarily better experience. Apple’s aim has always been to make the word ‘iPad’ synonymous with ‘tablet’. Does Apple succeed in this objective with the iPad 2? We find out. 

Specs, Look & Feel

The iPad 2 brings both a performance upgrade and a redesign. The tablet is powered by Apple’s A5 SoC with a dual core 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 processor, PoverVR SGX543MP2 graphics and 512MB RAM. The screen is the same 9.7 inch LED IPS display that we have seen on the original iPad

Needless to say, as advertised, the iPad is thinner & lighter than its predecessor. But it looks very much like the original iPad. The position of the iPad’s buttons and ports are more or less retained too. There’s a sleep/ wake button at the top right, a standard headphone jack at top left, a volume rocker and a sliding switch that is configurable to lock screen orientation or mute alert sounds at the top of the right side, a 30-pin dock connector port at the bottom, & a home button at the bottom of the front face.

Cameras and FaceTime
The cameras were sorely missed in the original iPad but the iPad 2 finally gets a camera. In fact, two of them. The front facing is for FaceTime while the rear camera is for taking snaps. The FaceTime experience is very good though we would like it to be supported over 3G too in the future. The rear camera isn’t that impressive for taking pics but you wouldn’t want to be seen taking party pics with a ~10 inch tablet anyways! And it can record 720p videos for the records!

Apps
The iPad like most Apple products is all about apps. And the app that really stands out from the crowd is Flipboard which converts various data sources such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader & Flickr to a magazine format. The animation used to display flipping of pages is superb & gives you the impression of browsing through pages. This is the app that truly justifies the very existence of an iPad. If we were ever told that we could use the iPad with just one app, that app would be Flipboard without any second thoughts!

It has never been more fun to read your Facebook newsfeed than through Flipboard

Reading your Twitter timeline is fun too!

And Google Reader news doesn’t feel boring anymore

Moving on with other apps, Twitter for iPad is very polished & has push notifications that iOS fans are now quite used to

Garageband converts the iPad into a musical instrument and allows you to produce songs in a fun way

Like in the original iPad, Apple’s suite of paid iWork apps, Keynote, Numbers, & Pages are available on iPad 2. All 3 apps come with sufficient number of templates to create documents on the move

You can watch live TV on your iPad

And who needs to buy newspapers when you can read them this big! (Note the ‘iPad Edition’ on top. Cool!)

Unfortunately Facebook for iPad is not available. So you have to make do with the iPhone app for now. However an iPad version is expected soon. One thing to note here is that if an iPhone app is not available for iPad then your only choice is to use an upscaled version of the iPhone app on iPad which doesn’t look that nice. See for yourself

Browsing, Email & IM
You don’t need a laptop to browse websites anymore when you have the iPad 2. Unless you need Flash of course. You can bid goodbye to browsing mobile versions of websites while on the move.

Email on the iPad is well taken care of by the built-in email app while Instant Messaging is taken care of by apps such as imo.im

Gaming
Apple has emphasised graphics performance on iPad 2 and also introduced a gyroscope for 3-axis positioning. It’s safe to say they are taking gaming very seriously. The abundance of games found in the App Store ensures that gaming on the iPad 2 is a pleasure. Many developers have already updated their games to take advantage of the better processing and graphics on iPad 2

Movies
Watching movies on the iPad can be fun except for the fact that the iPad has an 4:3 aspect ratio which is not ideal for most movies. Moreover, out of the box Apple only allows you to use regular MOV & MPEG movies to be watched in its movie player. To watch DivX movies, you may need to install free apps such as OPlayer HD or purchase paid apps such as AVPlayer since the ubiquitous VLC Player has been long removed from the App Store due to legal issues. We unfortunately could not test our DivX movies on the iPad 2.

Text Input
Can a tablet be a notebook replacement? In most cases, it can’t. But just in case you want to use it as one, the crucial aspect is how fast & efficient the input system is. We tried typing fast on the iPad with 2 hands as we would do on the physical keys of a laptop. Surprisingly we could type quite fast on the touchscreen qwerty & the auto-correct system in action meant that we didn’t need to correct our spellings many times. We were more than happy with the typing experience on iPad 2.

Battery Life
Despite boosts in processing power, iPad 2 retains the same ten-hour battery life as in the original iPad. In nearly a week of use, we never felt let down by the battery.
Smart accessories

Smart accessories
With the release of the iPad 2, Apple is also releasing several accessories related to the iPad 2. Most notable is the Smart Cover that magnetically sticks itself to the side of the iPad 2 and protects the front, locking and unlocking the iPad when you open and close the cover. You couldn’t put on the Smart Cover wrongly even if you wanted to! Pretty neat!

The Apple Digital AV Adapter gives the iPad 2 the ability to output HD video and mirror its own screen. This can be quite useful in giving you a better experience in watching movies & gaming.

Should you buy or upgrade?
In terms of use cases, the iPad 2 can be used for web browsing, gaming, reading eBooks & newspapers, watching movies, etc. We must mention here that reading any stuff feels great on the iPad. Be it newspapers, eBooks or just your Facebook newsfeed through Flipboard.

The list of disadvantages of any iOS device is the usual long read. Apple’s iOS has limitations that we all are forced to live with. Apple will never introduce Flash support, allow regular file management or make iTunes optional. The lack of a USB drive on any tablet can be a big disadvantage & the iPad 2 is no exception.

Though the iPad 2 is an improvement on the original iPad in numerous ways, it’s still an evolutionary product & not a revolutionary one. If you are happy with your original iPad, there is no reason to dump it just because there is a newer version available in the market. Besides the speed improvements, the only other reason for you to upgrade is its camera for FaceTime. The iPad 2 even retains the same display resolution as the original one.

Of course, if you need to buy a new tablet, then iPad 2 should definitely be on top of your list. In India, budget permitting, we would anyday suggest buying a Wi-FI plus 3G model over a pure Wi-Fi one simply because Wi-Fi hotspots are not as abundant in India as they are in other countries. Moreover, only the Wi-Fi plus 3G models have a GPS chip which can be an added advantage!

Originally posted by me for MobiGyaan

Nokia is about to launch its flagship E-series device, Nokia E7 in the Indian market shortly. The Nokia E7 is projected as the successor to the popular Communicator series. It can also be vaguely regarded as the Nokia N8 with a physical QWERTY keyboard. We were invited to the Nokia Bloggers’ Meet in Bangalore to have a hands-on experience on the E7 before it was released in the Indian market.

Initial thoughts on Nokia E7

When closed, the Nokia E7 looks a lot like the N8 from a distance. But its larger 4-inch display & the menu key which is centered on the E7 instead of to the left on the N8 are giveaways.

Display: The 4 inch display, which is the first on a Nokia, is absolutely stunning thanks to its AMOLED screen with Clear Black Display. We couldn’t help imagine how much better it could have been with a resolution higher than the 640×360 it possesses. We will keep our fingers crossed to find out whether its 1200 mAh battery will provide sufficient juice to this enormous display for an entire day.

Form Factor & Keyboard: Nokia E7 borrows from the popular form factor of the N97 with its screen popping up & resting at a tilted angle for your viewing pleasure. The full QWERTY slider is packed into an reasonably thin form factor. The QWERTY keyboard is very comfortable with nicely spaced out keys & the space-bar is centered and big.

Camera: Unlike the N8, the E7 has just a 8MP camera but its not the MegaPixels or the lack of xenon flash which are a cause for concern. The E7 has a fixed focus camera and hence capturing macro shots of objects very close to you can turn into a futile exercise. Except for the macro shots however, the camera is very impressive for a business device.

OS:  Nokia E7 has the same Symbian^3 OS which you find on Nokia N8 and hence the user interface is pretty similar. Hopefully Nokia will release PR2.0 well in time to address the missing features in Symbian^3 such as virtual Portrait QWERTY & improved browser.

Ovi Music Unlimited: Nokia E7 is the first E-series phone which will ship in India with an yearly subscription to Ovi Music Unlimited for downloading unlimited songs to your device.  The E7 lacks a memory card slot but comes with a reasonable internal storage of 16GB with USB OTG support.

Final Words:

The biggest challenge to Nokia E7 will not be the phone itself but how Nokia will convince its prospective buyers to buy a Symbian^3 phone at an estimated price range of Rs.30,000, after having announced its tie-up with Microsoft for adopting Windows Phone for future smartphones. The fact that Symbian will cease to exist for smartphones in a couple of years will weigh heavily in the mind of users while buying the E7. The Microsoft announcement aside, Nokia E7 is a good option for those who like Symbian OS & are looking for a physical QWERTY version of the Nokia N8, albeit with a less powerful camera.

Pictures:

We would get back to you with a detailed review of Nokia E7 once we get a trial unit. In the meanwhile, you can check out the pictures we clicked of the Nokia E7 at the hands-on event below:

Cameras on mobiles have always been a debatable concept in the world of mobile phones. While some tend to ignore the specs of the camera, a majority of buyers need the best optics on a phone. Buying the perfect camera phone is not easy since you also need to evaluate other features of the phone apart from camera. Unfortunately I have never ended up using good camera phones for long due to the ever changing paradigms in the mobile world.

The Perfect Camera Phone Discovered! And Consigned to History!

My search for the perfect camera phone began ever since cameras made an appearance on mobile phones. Camera phones really evolved with Nokia N95 which was soon followed by Nokia N82, one of the all-time best camera phones with a 5MP Carl Zeiss lens & xenon flash. It also had all other features you would expect in a smartphone & was the perfect camera phone!

But just as everyone concluded that the search for the best camera phone was over, a new era of largescreen touchphones began. The iPhone attracted many buyers but Symbian lovers waited for Nokia to launch a touchscreen. So when Nokia announced Nokia 5800 XM with a 3.2 inch touchscreen, the Nokia N82 form factor suddenly became legacy for many, me included. It was no longer desirable to use a smartphone which had a ‘small’ 2.4 inch display without a touchscreen. Unfortunately, camera wasn’t the strongest point of Nokia 5800. But times had changed! Nokia N82 was history & the search for the best camera phone began once again!

It happens yet once again…!

Moving on, Nokia launched N97 & N97 Mini with decent 5 MP cameras but when they announced the N8, it took imaging on a mobile to entirely new levels with a 12 MP Carl Zeiss lens; 1/1.83″ sensor; xenon flash and the ability to shoot 720p videos. It was again complete in all other hardware aspects! But alas, the mobile paradigm has changed once again. Symbian has started losing out to Android in various aspects such as availability of apps, user interface & overall user experience. Its no longer desirable to use a Symbian phone no matter how good the hardware & the camera is.

So here I am faced with devices such as Samsung Galaxy S & HTC Desire which have it all! Except for good camera quality! So the search for the perfect camera phone begins yet again! This time with Android OS being the basic requirement. Hoping that sooner than later, some manufacturer fulfills the desire for the perfect camera phone! And hoping by that time, there are no further changes in mobile paradigms!

Its not very uncommon to see users rant about mobile handsets. But there are certain goof-ups in the mobile world which have been hard to explain. These goof-ups defy all logic and make you wonder who was it that made these decisions. So here are, in our opinion, the unbelievable strategic goof-ups by mobile manufacturers in 2010. We present the top 6, starting with number 6!

# 6 – Microsoft Kin Announced & Killed in 48 Days

Microsoft’s Kin phone was announced in April, launched in May and died in June. This marks a strange instance of a company pulling major new products so suddenly after launching them because of disappointing sales. The Kin fiasco symbolised signs of disarray for Microsoft’s mobile unit and the Kin was a laughable attempt at a “social phone”.

# 5 – Apple’s inability to manufacture a White iPhone 4

Apple delayed the launch of the white iPhone 4 to the second half of July 2010, then to later in the year & finally to Spring 2011. Apple claims the white iPhone has “proven more challenging to manufacture than expected,” and has become the laughing stock of consumers for its inability to manufacture a white phone!

# 4 – Nokia’s Strange Device Naming Conventions

Nokia has managed to invent a naming system which has made them look stupid. Model numbers such as C2-00, C2-01 and C6-00, C6-01 are insanely hard to remember or discuss. Whatever logic Nokia has presented for it falls flat when you look at examples such as C2 & C6. The C2-01 doesn’t have dual SIM support like the C2-00. Nor does the C6-01 has a physical qwerty found on the C6-00. The naming is downright stupid with no logic whatsoever.

# 3 – AntennaGate – Just Don’t Hold it that way

Apple boss Steve Jobs responded to complaints about the new iPhone 4 losing its signal by telling users “Just don’t hold it that way”. This statement angered many users & became a joke for many. Making this statement was a bigger blunder than actually making the iPhone with the antenna problems. Luckily for Apple, they continue to sell lots of iPhone 4’s despite ‘antennagate’.

# 2 – Outdated Android on Sony Ericsson Flagship Xperia X10 Series

While the majority of the Android world awaits Android 2.3 on their phones, Sony Ericsson has been busy upgrading its premium Xperia X10 devices to Android 2.1. We can’t help wondering how well the SE Xperia X10 would have done if it had got Android 2.1 at the time of launch. It arguably had the best camera on an Android device which would have drawn a large number of camera freaks hoping to jump on to the Android bandwagon. But Android 1.6 ruined the phone; and the image of the company on the software front!

# 1 – No Maemo Phone from Nokia post N900

With Symbian facing widespread criticism, Nokia had a potential winner in the form of Nokia N900 & its Maemo OS. Not only did Nokia not push the N900, it entered into an alliance with Intel to launch MeeGo OS which won’t see any mobile products till 2011. Android has picked up real momentum only in this last one year. Nokia forgot the old saying “Don’t repair it if ain’t broke”. MeeGo could have been positioned as a Maemo upgrade but by not doing this & by not releasing a N900 successor, Nokia has lost a large section of its customers to Android. Will MeeGo be too late to pull back those customers from Android?

What have we missed? Think something else should have been on this list? Let us know in the comments below & we will add them if we find any suitable ones.

We have been reviewing Nokia’s flagship imaging device, Nokia N8 for the past several weeks and strangely enough we found ourselves reviewing two different devices within the same device. Nokia N8 performs very differently while being used for non-internet activities such as camera, multimedia & navigation than it does as an internet device. This completely different behaviour on & off the internet leads us to believe that Nokia N8 has split personality!

Performance as a Standalone device for Camera, Multimedia & Navigation

Nokia N8 offers superior user experience when used for camera, multimedia or gaming, in other words when its not used as an internet device. This can be attributed to its prowess on the hardware side.

Camera: If a 12 MP camera with 1/1.83” sensor and xenon flash does not excite you then no mobile camera ever will. The camera is arguably the best ever on a mobile phone & captures great videos too! 720p videos at 25 fps to be precise! If a good camera is all that you look for while buying a mobile, then just go and buy a Nokia N8 if you haven’t done so already.

Music: Audio quality is sublime and the new CoverFlow UI is good enough to make you wish that Nokia had unleashed its designer on the rest of the UI. The only shocking omission is the lack of manual EQ. The bundled FM Transmitter, which has become almost a Nokia exclusive feature, comes handy in beaming music to your home or car music system.

Videos: Watching videos is a pleasure on the widescreen display; and built-in support for multiple codecs including DivX means most videos will play without converting formats. There is HDMI & USB OTG support which allows you to play DivX videos on your USB drive on your large LCD TV with Dolby stereo sound!

Gaming: Nokia’s move away from resistive towards capacitative touchscreens and a dedicated GPU opens up a lot of potential for N8 on the gaming front and Gameloft has already responded by launching several HD games for it.

Navigation: Ovi Maps is pre-loaded on most of Nokia’s newer smartphones & N8 is no exception. Offline maps which eliminate the need to download data and free lifetime voice navigation makes it a very impressive navigation tool.

Performance as an Internet Device

When you start using Nokia N8 as an internet device, it starts performing very differently providing a less than acceptable level of user experience. For starters, Symbian^3 still struggles to define how various apps access the internet resulting in scenarios in which the phone is connected through Wi-Fi & GPRS simultaneously for different apps.

Browser: The web browser is one of the phone’s most significant weakness. An updated browser is expected shortly but in the meantime you can install alternate browsers such as Opera from Ovi Store. While there is an option to change your default browser, this setting does not really work.

Email : You can setup an email account as a push mail account or via direct POP/IMAP access though this option is hidden during setup. Setting up a push mail account can be tricky at times & once setup you may experience email delivery to be unreliable with instances of emails not receiving for several hours or even days, only to automatically resume later. The interface is not polished and there are no visual notifications for new emails!

Instant Messaging: There is no integrated IM similar to that found on Android & Maemo platforms. An IM app is expected to be made available shortly but is likely to be coded in WRT. You can install 3rd party apps such as Nimbuzz but the user experience will not match that provided by integrated chat.

Social Networking: Nokia’s idea of social integration is a “Social Networks” button in individual contacts to do a search on Facebook & Twitter and allow you to manually add Facebook profile images to your phone contacts one by one. Socially (not to be confused with Nokia’s Social) can be used to sync contacts’ photos & birthdays, but nothing more than that. Overall the Facebook experience is way short of that on Blackberry or Android. The twitter experience in Nokia Social isn’t good either with no option to even retweet. Fortunately, the twitter experience can be enhanced with Gravity which is an excellent app but will cost you $10. Compare this with other OSes which have a plethora of free quality apps for twitter.

RSS: RSS interface offered by the built-in browser is very basic besides not supporting Google Reader. Symbian lacks good third party apps for Google Reader unlike other OSes which have plenty of free high quality apps.

Media Sharing: While camera quality is excellent, when it comes to sharing media on the internet via Flickr, Picasa, Facebook or Youtube, there are not many options. The Share Online app has been strangely discontinued (which didn’t support many services in any case) so you are limited to using Pixelpipe for your sharing needs.

Is the Nokia N8 for you?

Nokia N8 excels on the hardware front with a brilliant camera, superior build quality and excellent battery life. On the software front, Symbian^3 has numerous improvements over Symbian^1 but the user interface hasn’t changed much. The lack of eye candy is compounded by the archaic fonts used in the menus. Portrait qwerty is sorely missed even on the narrow display as Swype would have allowed a little inaccuracy in typing thanks to its ability to auto correct.

There are various ways you may use a smartphone for. If you are more likely to use it for camera & multimedia and only for some casual internet usage, then Nokia N8 is for you. Its evident that Symbian has been designed from a multimedia perspective considering Nokia uses widescreen aspect ratio for its displays which are better suited for watching videos rather than browsing the web or reading emails.

If you are looking to use Nokia N8 as an internet device & plan to depend upon your phone for staying connected with friends through email, IM or social networking then don’t expect Nokia N8 to provide a good user experience. The sole exception is the wonderful user experience for twitter thanks to Gravity.

Nokia N8 is certainly the best camera-phone at the moment but its user experience as an internet device prevents it from being labeled as the best overall smartphone. Apps such as Gravity, Socially, Opera, Nimbuzz & Pixelpipe have helped to a large extent in providing some respectability to internet services on N8 but its still behind Android & iOS as far as overall user experience is concerned.

We thank Nokia India for providing us with a Nokia N8 for extended usage for our review.

A 12MP camera with Carl Zeiss lens, large 1/1.83” sensor and xenon flash ensures that Nokia N8 has arguably the best camera on a mobile today. Now I had been using the Nokia N8 for some time, courtesy Nokia India & was clamoring for an opportunity to shoot outdoor pics with it. So when Nokia India invited me to participate in the N8 Urban Spree in Mumbai, I gleefully accepted the opportunity.

Nokia N8 Urban Spree – Spirit of Mumbai

Nokia India held the N8 Urban Spree in Bangalore, Mumbai & Delhi. For the Mumbai event, we were split into 3 teams, each comprising of a tech blogger alongwith a photographer or a film-maker. I teamed up with film maker Harini Calamur to explore Mumbai with the Nokia N8.

The pictures below capture Mumbai through the eyes of the Nokia N8. The images are resized for convenient viewing.

#N8UrbanSpree Image Gallery:

Samsung Galaxy S (SGS)  is making waves worldwide with global sales surpassing five million. Not only is SGS equipped with the coveted Super AMOLED display, but it also has a 1GHz processor, 512 MB RAM & 8/16 GB storage to boot. Surprisingly, SGS has a lot of myths surrounding it resulting in many choosing other Androids such as HTC Desire over it. We check a few myths making the rounds & tell you the real facts!

Myth #1 – “SGS has poor battery life”

Its become fashionable to claim that all Android phones have poor battery life. The fact is that SGS in spite of its large 4” Super AMOLED display has an incredible battery life thanks to its 1500 mAh battery. On an average, on a 2G network, a SGS fully charged at 7am ends up with almost 30% battery life remaining at 10pm with a couple of hours of voice calls, an hour of music playback, snapping few pictures and with Gmail, GTalk, Twitter, Facebook syncing in the background. Its true that initial firmwares on SGS did have poor battery life, but that’s all changed with newer firmwares released by Samsung.

Myth #2 – “Android limits you in the number of apps you install on SGS”

Phones running Android 2.1 suffer from the lack of ability to install apps on SD card. Even with Android 2.2 not all apps can be installed to SD card. But if you have a SGS, you need not worry since SGS comes with a massive 2GB internal memory to install apps & games. Sweet!

Myth #3 – “SGS has a poor camera”

The camera on SGS may not be as good as that found on competitors such as Nokia N8. But its not a poor camera by any stretch of imagination. Yes, it does lack a flash of any kind; so do not expect good photos in very low light conditions. But outdoors as well as indoors in good lighting, the SGS camera is more an able match for most mobile cameras out there. On the video recording front too, SGS records crisp 720p videos at 30fps!

Its also important to note that SGS is one of the few Androids that have a front facing camera for 3G video calls!

Myth #4 – “SGS lags a lot”

Its true that out of the box, SGS lags a lot. This is due to Samsung’s inexplicable use of a different file system instead of the standard EXT4 file system found on linux based phones. But hey! There is a lag fix available on the internet which can be installed very easily. Just install the Voodoo lag fix on SGS & watch it zip across the menus & overall user interface giving full justice to that 1 Ghz processor with 512 MB RAM.

Myth #5 – “SGS has issues in obtaining GPS lock”

Its true that early firmwares had issues with getting a GPS lock quickly on SGS but this also has been largely resolved with newer firmware updates.

Myth #6 – “SGS running Android 2.1 cannot be used as WiFi hotspot”

The ability to use your phone as a WiFi hotspot only arrives in Android with Froyo 2.2.  But Samsung has gone one step ahead by providing this functionality on a SGS running Android 2.1 as well with its own software!

Myth #7 – “Text input on SGS isn’t comfortable due to absence of physical qwerty”

SGS does not have a physical qwerty keypad but it has easily one of the best touch based virtual qwerty keyboards. And we are referring to the portrait qwerty which can be used without switching the phone to landscape mode each time you want to input text. This is achieved thanks to its large 4” display which allows for plenty of room to space the keys even in portrait mode coupled by the in-built Swype technology pre-loaded on the phone which can automatically correct mistakes made in text input.

Myth #8 – “SGS is not pocketable due to its size”

Any mobile having a 4” display cannot be small & the SGS isn’t. But you will be surprised how pocketable SGS is thanks to its 9.9 mm thickness & 118 gms weight. That means the Galaxy S fits easily in your jeans pocket; in fact it fits better than some of the other smaller but bulkier phones out there!

Conclusion: The Facts

No phone is perfect & neither is SGS. The SGS may look like an iPhone 3GS at first glance but its large 4” display alongwith its plastic build is a giveaway. The plastic build may not be to everyone’s liking but it is a good compromise for the lightweight phone that SGS is. Super AMOLED display, excellent battery backup, abundant internal memory & new generation features such as out of the box DivX support, Bluetooth 3.0, WiFi-n should make SGS the obvious choice for Android lovers over other products such as HTC Desire or Motorola Milestone.

If you are willing to live without the camera flash & are prepared to install the lag fix, then go ahead & buy the Samsung Galaxy S. And believe us when we say this…. any minor issues you may face with SGS just fades into oblivion when you look at that gorgeous 4” Super AMOLED display!

Recently we got an opportunity to meet Adam Mirabella (Global Director of Music Services, Nokia) on the backdrop of  Nokia Music Connects 2010 held on 1-2 September at Hotel Taj Lands End in Mumbai. We discussed Nokia’s vision for Ovi Services in general and Ovi Music in particular. We bring you excerpts from our interview with Adam.

Excerpts from our Interview with Adam Mirabella – Global Director of Music Services, Nokia:

On Ovi Music

Nokia has launched various services under its ‘Ovi’ brand which includes Ovi Maps, Ovi Mail & recently Ovi Music. Ovi Music gives you access to songs that you can sample and download on your PC using Nokia Ovi Player or on a compatible mobile device. Depending on your country of residence, you can pay for your downloads instantly, buy credit for your account, or use your Ovi Music Voucher.

On Ovi Music Unlimited in India

Previously known as ‘Comes With Music’, Ovi Music Unlimited was introduced by Nokia in India in April 2010 & provides unlimited music downloads to owners of select Nokia handsets such as X6, X2, 5800, 5530, 5235 and 5130. The service gives you 12 months of free, unlimited, legal music downloads that you can keep forever.

The slight delay in launching the service in India as compared to several other countries globally is attributable to the large variety of music found in India & the resulting time required to tie-up with several music labels. Nokia has a dedicated editorial team in India with the expertise to provide quality content to its diverse audience.

On Nokia’s contribution towards clamping down on music piracy

Nokia is confident that it will contribute towards clamping down on music piracy in India as given the unlimited model, consumers can download a large variety of music across different genres totally free of cost.

On Ovi Music Unlimited being restricted to select handsets

At the moment, the service is restricted to a handful of Nokia’s handsets resulting in its flagship products such as Nokia N97 missing out. However Nokia is hopeful that it will be able to extend the service to more handsets in the future.

On Ovi Music switching to DRM

Nokia is gradually switching Ovi Music to a  DRM-free model. However, Ovi Music Unlimited would not switch to a DRM-free model.

On the possibility of extending Ovi Music to non-Nokia Symbian devices

The idea of taking Ovi Music beyond Nokia to other Symbian devices in the future was not ruled out. However there are no such plans in the near future.

On whether Ovi Music will be available on MeeGo handsets

Nokia expects to enable its MeeGo handsets with Ovi Music.

On whether Nokia has any plans to launch a music only device

At the moment there are no plans to launch any ‘iPod killer‘. Nokia reiterates that it is a mobile company first.

We thank Nokia India for giving us this opportunity to attend Nokia Music Connects 2010 & having a delightful meeting with Adam!

Are you one of those who were disappointed by Nokia N97 & decided never to buy a Nokia smartphone again? We suggest you may want to take a peek at Nokia N900 before you take the jump. The N900 is the first smartphone from Nokia running on Maemo, a much more contemporary OS than the aging Symbian^1.  We review  Maemo OS which really makes the difference & take a brief look at the N900 hardware.

Email:
Nokia Messaging does not install itself as a separate client on the N900 but integrates itself into the built-in client of the phone. We like this because it avoids the mess of having two separate Nokia email clients. Needless to say, the email client has a much better UI than the Symbian email client. It has superb support for attachments & we are really impressed while viewing a powerpoint presentation on the gorgeous screen of the N900!

Instant Messaging:
If you are a heavy user of Google Talk or Facebook Chat, then the N900 is nothing short of an IM heaven. Both these chat services are deeply integrated in the OS and work seamlessly without the need to install any additional application. Moreover, voice calling through Google Talk & Skype is brilliantly integrated. This is by far the best IM experience on a mobile. And if you need to use any other service such as Yahoo Messenger & MSN Messenger then you can always install Pidgin from the Application Manager.

Social Networking Integration:
Out of the box, the N900 comes with the lack lustre Facebook for Nokia application found on most other Nokia phones. The real fun starts on installing a third party application called Hermes from the Application Manager. Hermes syncs phone contacts with contacts from Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn. It also imports Facebook birthdays into the phone calendar!

Twitter however is a different story on the N900. The available options such as Witter, Mauku & Tweego are no comparison for Symbian’s popular Gravity app. We only found the browser based tweetgo.net the best of the lot but that speaks volumes of how bad the native Twitter clients are.

Browsing:
The MicroB internet browser on the N900 gives you the best “desktop like” browsing experience on a mobile. Period. Browsing on a mobile phone just cannot get better than this. If your desktop browser can load it, so can the N900 browser. The MicroB browser is so good that we found the mobile version of Firefox, which is available in the Application Manager, quite pale in comparison.

Calendar:
Syncing multiple calendars with the N900 is a breeze. We are quite pleased with how it created a separate Facebook Birthdays calendar on our phone.

Contacts:
The Contacts UI on the N900 has a much polished feel to it than the Contacts UI found on your typical Symbian^1 phone. It has fields for saving a contact’s Google Talk & Facebook identities besides many more. It can also import contacts from a CSV file stored on your phone’s storage! Brilliant!

Messaging:
The N900 supports threaded messages but there is no setting to turn it off in case you don’t like it. We didn’t like the fact that SMS messages are displayed in the same view as IM conversations. We would have preferred to view them separately.

Multi-tasking:
The multi-tasking interface on the N900 is the best ever we have seen on a mobile. The multitasking interface coupled with the zooming transition effects makes it very pleasant to run multiple apps in the background with no lag whatsoever. This is true multi-tasking that one can dream of.

Notifications:
We loved the way the N900 notifies us of an incoming mail, message or chat. The notification slides in across the top section of the display and after staying there for a while disappears into the top left corner as a blinking light. This way you can read the notification without interrupting your flow of work. And in case you miss any notifications, you can always click the blinking light to see pending notifications.

Application Manager & Apps Ecosystem:
The N900 will be the only Nokia running on Maemo OS. Developers normally wouldn’t queue up to develop apps for just one phone. But Nokia has blessed the N900 with the Qt framework via firmware update PR 1.2 which means all apps developed in the future on the Qt platform will be compatible with the N900! Nokia’s upcoming OSes such as MeeGo, Symbian^3 & Symbian^4 will all support the same Qt platform which is now included in the N900.

There also exists the Maemo Community which has developed plenty of apps for the N900. Many popular programs found on desktops such as Firefox, VLC Player, KMPlayer, Pidgin are also available for the N900.

The Ovi Store on the N900 is very small & largely irrelevant. The Application Manager is where all the apps are. Unlike the Ovi Store, the Application Manager also informs you of updates available for apps installed on your phone & you can choose to upgrade them by a single click. You can also install apps by adding various app repositories in the Application Manager.

Multiple Homescreens:
Most OSes today with the exception of Symbian^1 have multiple homescreens. With Maemo on the N900 though you can have 4 homescreens. A bit less compared to other OSes but sufficient nevertheless.

Forced Landscape Mode:
Only the phone dialer & the internet browser can work in portrait mode. Everything else only runs in landscape mode. Its very evident that the phone is designed for landscape mode as the phone unlock key is also placed in a position where it can be unlocked easily only while holding it in landscape mode.

Hardware:
The N900 is built like a tank. While that means its solid as far as build quality is concerned, it also means it is very bulky for a phone, especially by today’s standards. Its also very difficult to use the phone with one hand.

• The Display is of a very high resolution, second only to iPhone 4’s Retina display in terms of dpi.
• The Touchscreen is resistive, but while we would have preferred a capacitative one, it was definitely one of the best resistive touchscreens we have used.
• The Camera excels with its 5MP Carl Zeiss lens & has features such as touch to focus which are not found in Nokia’s flagship Symbian devices.
• The Music Player would please the audiophiles; Video Playback was excellent & we particularly liked that the device supports DivX videos through third party apps. FM Player hardware is present on the device but needs the FM Player software to be installed from the Application Manager.
• The GPS performance does not disappoint with Nokia’s wonderful Ovi Maps powering it.
• The QWERTY keypad is soft & gives you a wonderful feeling while typing. We will go as far as to say its the best hardware QWERTY keypad ever on a mobile.
• The Battery was a little disappointing; we would have preferred a little more juice from the N900’s battery.

Final Words:

The best part of Nokia N900 is that it doesn’t seem like a Nokia. Not sure whether this is a compliment to Nokia overall, but it definitely is a huge compliment for the Nokia N900. The N900 has its origins in a tablet & that shows. We were amused that we could press Ctrl+A to select all items & could take screenshots using a combination of keys such as Ctrl+Shift+P. We also got a flavour of its Linux base when we opened the X-Terminal & used commands to do various tasks.

We are surprised that Nokia decided to abandon Maemo in favour of MeeGo. Further, we are pained that Nokia decided not to provide the official MeeGo upgrade to Nokia N900. Nokia will however continue to support the N900 through future firmware updates.

To conclude, have you noticed how many times we have used the words “the best ever on a mobile”? The internet browser, the integrated instant messaging, the multi-tasking, the keypad are indeed the best ever on a mobile. We are highly impressed with the first non-Symbian smartphone from Nokia. Our only disappointments are the huge & bulky form factor, forced landscape mode & the lack of a good twitter client!

We thank Nokia WOMWorld for sending us a Nokia N900 for our review. And we leave you with some more screenshots from the N900′s Maemo OS for your viewing pleasure

Android has always been ahead of Symbian in terms of User Interface as well as availability of apps, but it still lagged behind Symbian in terms of features. But the recent releases of Android 2.1 (Eclair) & 2.2 (FroYo) have suddenly made Symbian fans sit up & take notice as Android phones no longer miss out basic features which Symbian phones have since long. Symbian users now find Android as a possible option to jump ship to because they can migrate to a better Android UI & use countless Android apps without sacrificing basic features.

So which are the features which were previously missing in Android phones which are present in Symbian since long and now have been included in Android phones via Eclair or FroYo or otherwise?

Android 2.1 Eclair

• Bluetooth File Transfers: Users can now transfer files such as music, videos & pictures to other Bluetooth enabled phones. Moreover, Android 2.2 further enables contact transfers & voice dialing over Bluetooth.

Android 2.2 FroYo

• App Storage on memory card: Earlier, users could only install apps on the phone’s internal memory restricting the number of apps or games that could be installed. This limitation has now been done away with allowing apps to be installed on memory card once the internal memory is full.
• USB Tethering: An Android phone can finally be used as a broadband modem for a computer.
• WiFi Hotspot: Symbian users have been using the Joikuspot app for long which allows a phone to be used as a WiFi router. Android now includes portable hotspot functionality to do just that out of the box!
• Flash Support: Adobe Flash is not that evil even though Apple may want everyone to believe so, and its still used on numerous websites on the internet. Android now supports Flash 10.1.
• Speed: Symbian devices are never known for their speed but that is more to do with the hardware configuration rather than a deficiency of Symbian OS.  Still, the fact that the Nexus One runs 450% faster on Android 2.2 as compared to Android 2.1 does make it sound very good.

Hardware Improvements on Android Phones:

• Camera: Most Android phones released so far do not have a camera as capable as the ones found on high end Nokia phones running Symbian. The upcoming Nokia N8 has further raised the bar for camera phones. However things seem to be changing in the Android world with the likes of Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 which has a very good camera.
• FM Radio: Android 2.2 is supposed to have better support for FM Radio. Nevertheless, manufacturers such as HTC have already started equipping their phones such as HTC Desire & HTC Legend with FM Radio through their Sense UI.
• Video Calling: Android phones do not have proper support for video calling. But manufacturers seem to have found a way to support video calling & are fitting front facing cameras on upcoming devices such as Samsung Galaxy S and Dell Streak.

So how many of you Symbian users out there plan to jump ship to Android? Or will you hold back to check out Symbian^3 which will be launched very soon & then make your decision? Do let us know in the comments section below.

The first choice you need to make while buying a smartphone today is the form factor. Either you endlessly debate between opting for a touchscreen or a phone with physical QWERTY. Or you buy a smartphone like the Nokia N97 Mini which has both! Read on to find out why we feel the N97 Mini and its unique form factor is the best option to please all. And there is more to it than just the form factor itself!

Phones that do it both: Touch & QWERTY

Touchscreen phones have really simplified the task of navigating the phone menus as well as enhanced the internet browsing experience. But touchscreen critics prefer a physical QWERTY keypad to type lengthy emails & messages. Thus evolved a new form factor for phones with both touch and QWERTY such as Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 & Samsung B7610 Omnia Pro (both WinMo 6.x), Motorola Milestone (Android 2.1), Nokia N97 & Nokia N97 Mini (both Symbian S60v5) & Nokia N900 (Maemo). Both Apple & Blackberry currently have nothing to offer in this segment.

Its important to note here that there is one thing which separates the Nokia N97 & the N97 Mini from the rest. Their unique selling point is that the touchscreen hinges outwards, coming to rest at a handy viewing angle giving it more of a laptop look than other sliders like the Motorola Milestone & Nokia N900.

After the form factor… comes the choice of OS

As far as choice of OS is concerned, we personally would stay away from any WinMo 6.x device. If you are on the lookout for an Android or Maemo device in particular, then you may want to buy the Motorola Milestone or the Nokia N900 respectively. But if you are OS neutral or prefer the Symbian OS as we do then the Nokia N97 Mini is a highly recommended choice.

Between the Nokia N97 and the N97 Mini, we are happy to let go of the slightly larger screen (3.5″ vs 3.2″) & much higher storage (32GB vs 8GB) of the N97 in return for the compactness of the N97 Mini and a lower price tag!

N97 Mini : Short Review

The N97 Mini sports a homescreen customisable with plenty of widgets on a 3.2 inch bright resistive touchscreen. The 5-megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss Tessar lens does a marvelous job in capturing photos & videos, and the audio & video playback is excellent as well. Like most new high end Nokia devices, the N97 Mini now comes with Ovi Maps with lifetime free voice navigation.

Of course, no phone is perfect & the N97 Mini is no exception. While we appreciate the amount of internal memory provided, it could have done with more than 128MB RAM. We miss the virtual onscreen keyboard at times as well as a stylus for the resistive screen. And lastly, the battery life could have been a little better.

We remain slightly disappointed with Nokia’s vision for this version of the Symbian OS. The N97 Mini runs S60v5 which is Symbian^1 and is unlikely to be upgradeable to Symbian^3 & Symbian^4 which will be launched later this year.

Conclusion:

The Nokia N97 Mini may not be as ground breaking as the N95 was in its time. But it definitely provides an exceedingly good all-round package at a reasonable price.

It may not have the classy UI of the iPhone and has far less number of apps than the iPhone has. But any number of apps on the iPhone cannot replace a physical QWERTY keyboard or a 5 MP Carl Zeiss camera with flash, can it? Being a Symbian device, the N97 Mini can multi-task unlike the iPhone, and there is an ever increasing number of apps in Nokia’s Ovi Store.

And if you think that the Nokia N97 Mini cannot do push email like the Blackberry, then think again. Nokia Messaging delivers push mail to the N97 Mini without fuss and without the need to subscribe for the expensive Blackberry Internet Service.

We thank Nokia WOMWorld for sending us a trial Nokia N97 Mini for our review. We were so impressed with the phone that we ended up buying the phone as soon as we sent back our trial device, which speaks highly of what we think about the N97 Mini!

If you own a Nokia phone & your friend has exactly the same model as yours, then you would ideally expect that both of you would get important firmware updates from Nokia at the same time. Well, not really! The fact is that you must pray that Nokia has been kind towards your product code while releasing a firmware update for your phone model. Welcome to the unofficial lottery system of Nokia product codes.

What is a Product Code?

Every Nokia phone contains a product code, which contains data such as the phone model, the region it was released, language packs, keypad layout, etc. This product code is printed underneath the battery and is usually a 7 digit code which begins with a zero. Product codes are used by Nokia to control various variants of its firmware updates based on region & language.

The Product Code Lottery

Product code related firmware unavailability issues exist for almost all Nokia handsets, including the popular N97, 5800XM, E72 & N86, just to name a few.

To illustrate, Nokia 5800 (Red) is sold SIM free in India, under 2 product codes, namely 0575590 & 0559673. While product code 0559673 received firmware v40 with kinetic scrolling on 13th January 2010, product code 0575590 still has no firmware update available as on date. In fact this product code is still stuck at firmware v30 and has not even enjoyed firmware v31 which was made available to product code 0559673 on 14th September 2009. Customers buying phones with either of these product codes have paid the same price for their phone and purchased it from the same store. In fact in most cases, customers with product code 0575590 have paid much more since it was available in the market earlier than product code 0559673.

To make matters even worse, Nokia’s recent update to Ovi Maps with Free Lifetime Navigation can only be installed on Nokia 5800 with firmware v31 & above. In other words, if you have a Nokia 5800 with product code 0575590 then not only will you not have kinetic scrolling, but you will also not get the Ovi Maps update!

While the above illustration is a case of discrimination between different users in the same country, there are also cases of certain countries altogether facing delays in receiving firmware updates. Recently, agitated Nokia customers in UK launched a campaign for equality in getting timely firmware updates for all UK models.

Note that in case of network branded phones however, the responsibility of releasing firmware updates lie with the network as Nokia cannot force networks to make updates available, they can only recommend that the network approves it for release.

Firmware delays for North American (NAM) versions

Nokia’s customers in North America are also upset for receiving firmware updates much later than rest of the world. Phones in the NAM region do require a slightly different chipset because of the different frequencies that the region uses. But is it so difficult to port firmware updates over to the NAM versions in a reasonable time? Not surprising then that taking a cue from their UK counterparts, NAM customers have also recently started a similar campaign for equality!

Conclusion

Ideally, product codes are something which Nokia’s customers should not even know that they exist. They should only exist for Nokia to administer their firmware variants. In reality however, many customers are getting frustrated waiting for months for a firmware update & are discovering tools such as Nemesis Service Suite (NSS) & JAF to change their product codes & force newer update on their phones. In doing so, they take a risk of voiding their warranty, and possibly even bricking their phones. But has Nokia left them with a choice?

Lets hope that Nokia can soon get its act together in providing simultaneous firmware updates worldwide & ensure a positive customer experience for all its users. After all, iPhones & Blackberry users all over the world get their firmware updates simultaneously without any discrimination!

Have you also been a victim of the unofficial Nokia Product Code Lottery system? Do write your experiences in the comments section below.

Ever since Apple has announced the much hyped and anticipated iPad, everyone is trying to figure out what can the iPad be used as. For a change, even Apple fanboys don’t seem too impressed and Apple seems to have fallen short of expectations. Instead of making a smaller netbook, has Apple created a larger iPhone? Or possibly a larger iPod touch. We try to find out the best possible use of the Apple iPad.

iPad cannot be used as a phone because …..

….. It cannot make calls. Period

iPad cannot be used as a replacement for your laptop or netbook because …..

….. It does not have a multi-tasking OS
….. It does not have a Drag & Drop file management
….. It does not have a USB port
….. Its storage maxes out at a paltry 64 GB & has no expandable memory slot
….. It does not have a HDMI port

iPad cannot be used as an Internet Browsing device because …..

….. It does not have support for Adobe Flash which many websites use

iPad cannot be used as a replacement for Amazon’s Kindle because …..

….. Kindle is cheaper than iPad
….. Kindle has free worldwide 3G coverage; iPad needs a $30/month data plan from AT&T
….. iPad’s IPS LCD screen causes more eye strain as compared to Kindle’s E-Ink display
….. Kindle has better battery life than iPad

iPad cannot be used as a high end gaming device because …..

….. It has an IPS LCD display which has high motion blur as compared to OLED

iPad cannot be used as a portable TV or video player because …..

….. It has a display aspect ratio of 4:3 instead of 16:9
….. It has mono speakers

iPad cannot be used for video-conferencing because …..

….. It does not have a camera

iPad cannot be used as a Navigation device because …..

….. It does not have a GPS chip built in

And lastly…

iPad cannot be used as a feminine hygiene product because …..

….. It isn’t one. Don’t be confused by the name.

So what can the iPad be used as?

Well, the iPad can be used as a Digital Photo Frame. It can do that just right! But $500 for a Digital Photo Frame? Apple, can we have the next device please?

I actually began using Digsby by chance as my Google Talk program was once having issues connecting to the internet. And I have never looked back. Today, Digsby is the most important software I have on my computer to manage all my IM, email & social networking accounts and I highly recommend it to each & all. Here’s why.

Digsby: A superior Google Talk client

Digsby is a multi-protocol IM client that lets you chat with all your friends on Yahoo Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, AIM besides Google Talk. It even logs you to Facebook Chat. Probably the only service of note missing is Skype. If one of your friends has more than one IM account you can combine them into a single merged contact to eliminate duplicate buddies.

The most popular IM service today is arguable Google Talk and Digsby is a very superior client as compared to Google’s own program.

1. Google has chosen not to update its own Google Talk program for many years now. So while it remains a lightweight chat client it misses some of the advanced features found in its competitors.

2. If you have multiple Google Talk accounts such as a regular Google account & a Google Apps account, then you can use Digsby to connect to both your accounts simultaneously!

3. Digsby also has a feature whereby if you hover your mouse over your contact’s name in the contact list, it shows you the client which your friend is using to connect to Google Talk. If Digsby shows that your contact is using a client such as Fring or Nimbuzz, then you know that the user is online on a mobile device.

4. While the Gmail integrated chat client has an option to login in invisible mode, the Google Talk application does not. You can login to Google Talk in invisible mode with Digsby though we do not recommend to do so at all times.

Note though that Digsby does not support the File Transfers & Voice Chat features provided by Google Talk application, so if you are using either of this then you may have to think twice before switching to Digsby. Hopefully, these features will be added to Digsby shortly.

Digsby: A Convenient Twitter Client

Digsby may not have all the features of TweetDeck or Seesmic Desktop, but its just so convenient! Just hover your mouse over the Twitter section of Digsby and you can read all your tweets in your timeline. You can add multiple Twitter accounts, read, reply & re-tweet. Of course, advanced features such as following or un-following an user are unavailable but the convenience it provides of not having another application launched at all times is invaluable.

Digsby: A Powerful Facebook Client

You can set your Facebook status right from within Digsby. You can follow news feeds of your friends  & can even Comment on or ‘Like’ their status messages. You can also receive alerts of events such as pending friend requests, messages, group invites though you cannot authorise such requests from within Digsby. Digsby also displays enlarged photos uploaded by your friends & even lets you see a slide-show of their recently uploaded photo albums.

And as mentioned earlier, you can be always logged in to Facebook IM without actually logging in to the Facebook site.

Digsby: A Capable LinkedIn Client

You can set your LinkedIn status right from within Digsby. You can read status updates & connection updates of your contacts. And you can also see notifications for unread messages in your LinkedIn inbox. What more would you want in a LinkedIn client?

Digsby: A Prompt Email Notifier

You can manage your Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Windows Live Mail or any other POP or IMAP email accounts right from Digsby. You can receive popup notifications when new email arrives, read snapshots of your email and perform actions such as “Mark as Read” or “Report Spam” or “Delete” right from Digsby.

Conclusion

I have happily replaced our Google Talk (and all other IM clients), TweetDeck (and Seesmic), Gmail Notifier with just one program: Digsby. Its a powerful application which has become an integral part of my social life.

Don’t get me wrong. TweetDeck is a far superior Twitter & Facebook client as compared to Digsby. But when you have the combined power of Gmail, Google Talk, Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn in just one application, it makes a difference. You don’t need to keep multiple applications open at all times in exchange for losing some of the advanced functionality they may offer individually.

Alternatives to Digsby include Pidgin, Trillian & VoxOx. But we are more than happy to use Digsby inspite of the controversies it has had over the last few month.

Have you used Digsby with other services such as Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Mail or MySpace? Which single program do you prefer to manage your IM, Email & Social Networking? Or do you prefer using individual clients for all these? Do let us know in the comments below.

Nokia today unveiled in Mumbai the new addition to its N-Series range: Nokia N97 Mini. We were there to cover the event live from the Taj Lands End, Mumbai. We bring you excerpts from our exclusive conversation with Jonne Harju, Senior Design Manager at Nokia Design Studio. We also got an opportunity to speak with Jasmeet Gandhi, Nokia India’s Head of Services Marketing, with whom we discussed not only the N97 Mini but also Nokia’s plans for the Indian market in general.

On the Nokia N97 Mini:

“Nokia N97 Mini comes with ‘Lifecasting with Ovi’  and opens up a new chapter of social & location-aware internet. It also comes pre loaded with Nokia Ovi Maps 3.0. The device has India specific widgets & applications on Ovi Store.”

“Nokia N97 Mini does not come equipped with a stylus because we want users to use the phone more with their fingers.” (in reply to our query on the lack of stylus)

“A physical qwerty keyboard eliminates the necessity of having a virtual touchscreen full qwerty keyboard  (in reply to our query on why the N97 Mini continues the N97 legacy of not providing that option to the user)

One thing is for sure …… N97 Mini does feel good in the hands as compared to the older N97.

On Nokia’s delay in introducing new handsets in India (something we covered in our previous post):

“Nokia wants to customise the handsets by bundling song tracks, movies & other India specific content. Moreover, we have no information on whether phones such as E52 & E55 will be launched in the Indian market. These decisions are made at Nokia Global HQ level.”

On whether the Nokia 5800 will get the firmware update to include kinetic scrolling:

“Yes.”

However we still don’t know the time line for the roll-out of the new firmware. Some users on the internet seem to suggest that the firmware will be launched in the second half of November.

On the likely date for the launch of the Nokia N900 in India:

“No information at present.”

We got a chance to play with the Nokia N900 alongwith the N97 Mini and we liked what we saw. We can’t wait for the Nokia N900 to arrive in India!

India is the second largest market for Nokia globally & in the past, Nokia has always shipped their latest models to Europe & India simultaneously. But recent trends in the last 6 months seem to indicate that Nokia is delaying the launch of its newer models in India.

Take a look at Nokia’s major launches worldwide in the last 6 months:

• Nokia 5630: Available from June 2009
• Nokia 5730: Available from June 2009
• Nokia E52: Available from July 2009
• Nokia E55: Available from August 2009
• Nokia 5530 XM: Available from August 2009
• Nokia N900: Available from November 2009

Except for the Nokia N900, all other models are long available in markets worldwide, but they are still unavailable in India. The Maemo based Nokia N900 has recently started shipping to Europe, North America, Russia & Middle East, but it is not shipping to India anytime soon.

There are also rumours that Nokia X6 will be shipping to India only after the “Comes with Music” service is launched in the country, or a version without this service will ship at a later date.

Hopefully, Nokia E72 & Nokia N97 Mini which was launched in India today (at a price higher than N97) will be available in stores in time.

Final Words:

Apple’s iPhone 3GS is not yet available in the Indian market but that’s no surprise as Apple has never focused on the Indian market. But such treatment being meted out by Nokia is highly surprising considering Nokia is India’s Most Trusted Brand !

Planning to buy that cool looking BlackBerry Bold or Storm you just noticed in the mobile store? Then prepare to pay more each month for the privilege of accessing your emails and surfing the internet. A BlackBerry data plan is one of the extras that many buyers don’t budget for when they purchase their new BlackBerry. And we are not referring to the generic data plan offered by your operator at a reasonable price; its the costlier BlackBerry data plan which your BlackBerry is best designed to work with.

BlackBerry data plans come in different packages: there is BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) for accessing your Gmail or Yahoo mail or corporate emails running on POP or IMAP, and then there’s BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES), which includes the instantly synced e-mail, contacts, and events that corporate users crave.

The advantage of the costlier BlackBerry data plans is that on most networks, they come with unlimited data. But what if you can only afford the cheaper generic data plan? We tell you what’s possible & what isn’t if you plan to use your BlackBerry with a generic data plan.

Using BlackBerry with Generic Data Plan:

• You cannot use the resident BlackBerry internet browser; you will need to use a third party browser such as Opera Mini
• You cannot use BlackBerry Push email; you can only check your email through a third party browser such as Opera Mini or through a third party mail app such as Gmail Mobile App or through a third party push mail service such as Shangmail
• You cannot use BlackBerry Messenger service and cannot use the BlackBerry optimised apps for Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger & Windows Live Messenger; you can only use third party apps such as IM+
• You cannot use the latest version of Facebook (v1.7); you can use the older version (v1.6) and you can access the mobile version of Facebook from Opera Mini browser
• You can use any third party apps such as TwitterBerry which allow you to specify your internet connection as regular TCP/IP instead of BIS
• You cannot install apps over the air (OTA) since it requires the resident browser; you will need to use the Desktop Manager interface to install any of the third party apps mentioned above for browsing, email, messaging or social networking
• You can tether your phone to a laptop for accessing internet on the move. In fact, on some networks, if you subscribe to the costlier Blackberry data plan, it won’t include this ability. You will need to subscribe to a generic data plan separately over & above your premium data plan to do so!

BlackBerry Lite Plans:

Some operators have recently introduced cheaper BlackBerry Lite plans, such as this offered by Vodafone India, which gives you access to unlimited emails & instant messaging. So what’s the catch? You cannot access the internet for browsing nor can you use third party apps to connect to the internet!

Conclusion:

The real benefits of a BlackBerry lie in its proprietary Push Email & the BlackBerry optimised instant messengers & social networking apps with push notifications. You can arguably use a BlackBerry with a generic data plan by installing third party apps for all of this but then you could buy any other smartphone with a QWERTY keypad such as the Nokia E71, E72, E63 or the Samsung B7320 Omnia Pro!

Note: Some of the points mentioned in this article could vary based on your BlackBerry model & your mobile network. Its advisable to contact your mobile operator before making your purchasing decision.

If you use multiple computers at home & at work, then you may want to access your bookmarks saved on your home computer on your workplace computer or vice versa. Or perhaps you may reformat your computer and forget to backup your favorites. Its always convenient to store your bookmarks in the cloud. There are several tools available to sync your bookmarks such that any new bookmarks you add at work show up at home, or any you deleted from your office laptop browser also get deleted on your home computer.

Google Chrome’s Bookmark Sync:

Google recently added the Bookmark Sync feature to the latest beta of its Chrome 4.0 browser.

Interestingly, Google had discontinued its Google Browser Sync add-on for Firefox last year with the obvious intention of making it available exclusively for its own Chrome browser.

Xmarks (formerly Foxmarks):

Xmarks (formerly known as Foxmarks) can keep your bookmarks as well as your passwords synced across Firefox, Internet Explorer, and the Mac OS version of Safari.

Xmarks was originally called Foxmarks when it used to work only with Firefox. This changed later when it released an upgraded version with support for other browsers such as Internet Explorer and Safari (Mac OS). Recently it has also launched an alpha version compatible with Chrome which is currently available only to testers. So now you can keep all of your bookmarks synchronised across all of these browsers.

However, the service in its new form also continues to lose customers as the domain xmarks.com which is used to sync bookmarks, used to be initially used for an adult website & hence is blocked by many proxies & firewalls worldwide – particularly at workplaces.

Mozilla Weave:

Weave is a Mozilla Labs project which takes the concept of syncing much further for your Firefox 3.5 browser & does a lot more than synchronize only bookmarks. It also lets you synchronize your saved passwords, browsing history, and even your open tabs.

Even more impressive, Weave works with Fennec, which is the beta version of Firefox for mobile devices like cellphones and PDAs. Fennec is currently available for the Nokia N800 & N810 Internet Tablets and could make its way on the upcoming Maemo based Nokia N900 handset.

Opera Link:

Opera Link syncs your bookmarks, speed dial, notes, browser history and other useful browser data between your computers running the Opera browser as well as mobile phones running the Opera Mobile browser. In a way, Opera has been the pioneer in providing the sync functionality.

Conclusion:

Firefox, Chrome & Opera have their own tools for syncing bookmarks which can be chosen if you exclusively use the same browser on all your computers.

If you use different browsers, then Xmarks is the only cross browser tool available to sync your bookmarks. Or you may also want to try out Delicious, the social online bookmarking site.

Which tool do you use for syncing your bookmarks? Do let us know through the comments section below.