Vasanth Dharmaraj's Blog

Nokia E71 Firmware Update

Vasanth Dharmaraj — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:52:27 +0000

Nokia has released a firmware update for Nokia E71. The new version is 300.21.012 and is available for Nokia E71-2 NAM Edition. Get it here. Here is the change log:

Mail Improved Mail For Exchange
Music Internet Radio added
Other improvements My Nokia Application and easy-dialing added, improved USB flashing and enhanced usability

Portable Eclipse and Portable Java

Vasanth Dharmaraj — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:24:53 +0000

I like portable software. I carry around a bunch of them in my flash drive. I just found out that both Java and Eclipse are available as portable versions at PortableApps.com. The Java version they have is Java 6 update 14 but Eclipse is stuck at 3.4.2.

Eclipse uses portable Java, so Java need not be installed in the PC to run it. Nice. The portable version has some trouble finding the workspace but once you correct the path it works fine.

I updated the Eclipse binaries in to the just released 3.5 and it work great too. Nice way to take Eclipse and your work with you.

gdgt Opens

Vasanth Dharmaraj — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:12:18 +0000

Features and editorial – gdgt

Well, for starters it’s the gadget site we’ve always wanted. We both love devices and spend an insane amount of time playing with them, writing about them, talking about them, and thinking about them. We’ve waited for years for somebody to make a gadget site we could go hang out at all day — when no one did it, we just decided to do it ourselves and make sure that it went beyond everything else out there.

The site looks cool but still a little rough around the edges. Still some incomplete features… Check it out at gdgt.com.

Formula 1: The fight is over

Vasanth Dharmaraj — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:32:43 +0000

Mad Max completely backed off giving the teams all that they wanted. No budget caps, Max wont look to get re-elected, same rules for 2010 as this season plus Max wont interfere with F1 till he retires in October. Wow! Great win for FOTA!

Thank god F1 is same and sane. Press report continues…

All currently competing teams have committed to the FIA Formula One World Championship.

There will be no alternative series or championship and the rules for 2010 onwards will be the 2009 regulations as well as further regulations agreed prior to 29 April 2009.

As part of this agreement, the teams will, within two years, reduce the costs of competing in the championship to the level of the early 1990s. The manufacturer teams have agreed to assist the new entries for 2010 by providing technical assistance.

The manufacturer teams have further agreed to the permanent and continuing role of the FIA as the sport’s governing body. They have also committed to the commercial arrangements for the FIA Formula One World Championship until 2012 and have agreed to renegotiate and extend this contract before the end of that period.

All teams will adhere to an upgraded version of the governance provisions of the 1998 Concorde Agreement.

The following teams have been accepted for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship.

TEAM

SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO
VODAFONE McLAREN MERCEDES
BMW SAUBER F1 TEAM
RENAULT F1 TEAM
PANASONIC TOYOTA RACING
SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO
RED BULL RACING
AT&T WILLIAMS
FORCE INDIA F1 TEAM
BRAWN GP FORMULA ONE TEAM
CAMPOS META TEAM
MANOR GRAND PRIX
TEAM US F1

In view of this new agreement and with the prospect of a stable future for Formula One, FIA President Max Mosley has confirmed his decision not to stand for re-election in October this year.

Nokia Ovi Suite 2.0: The one and only Nokia desktop application

Vasanth Dharmaraj — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:58:29 +0000

Nokia has had many desktop applications: Nokia PC Suite, Nokia Nseries PC Suite, Nokia Ovi Suite, Nokia Software Updater, Nokia Map Loader, Nokia Music, Nokia Lifeblog, Nokia Photos, Nokia Device Status, and Nokia PC Suite Enterprise Edition. Now they are finally consolidating all of these in to one application, Nokia Ovi Suite 2.0.

Just installed it looks great. Check it out.

Here are some key features:

Connect your device to your desktop with a USB cable or Bluetooth

Sign in to your Nokia Account to use Ovi services. Or create a new Nokia Account; if you don’t have it yet, now it’s the time to create one.

Home view in Nokia Ovi Suite – a quick summary of the new stuff you have in Nokia Ovi Suite or in your device.

See your messages in a conversational view and keep them safely stored in your desktop

View and edit your contacts, add contact photos, sync your contacts with Microsoft Outlook, and keep them safely stored.

Make backups of your device, and update your device’s software (yes, we integrated Nokia Software Updater features into Nokia Ovi Suite!).

Get photos from your device to your desktop and share the important ones in Ovi.

Download free maps before travelling and transfer them to your device.

Transfer music to your device.

Using your device as a modem, connect your desktop to the internet with just one click.

HTC Hero

Vasanth Dharmaraj — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:31:49 +0000

Check out the video demo of the new HTC’s new GUI built on top of Android. I always liked the HTC GUIs on Windows Mobile phones. I thought they would port this to Android. But they have totally created a new GUI called HTC Sense.

The GUI is great but the best part is that the phone supports multi-touch with two finger pinch and all. Cool!

Plus it has got Pre like Facebook and Twitter integration. It has got iPhone 3GS like smudge proof coating. The only odd thing is the “chin”.

It has a 3.2 inch 320×480 HVGA screen and measures 4.41 x 2.21 x 0.57 inches. It is powered by a 528 MHz processor with 288MB of RAM. It has a a 5 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPS, a digital compass, a 3G talk time of 7 hours, support for 7.2 Mbps HSPA and a microSD card slot.

Looks like it combines the best features of iPhone and Pre and then some! Coming to North America later this year. Price unknown.

Is Michael Schumacher the Stig?

Vasanth Dharmaraj — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:19:51 +0000

The Stig is the super driver in BBC’s Top Gear show. The identity was always kept a secret. But in the new season opener it the identity was revealed as Michael Schumacher. Interesting but probably just a publicity stunt…

Chrome Extension: AniWeather

Vasanth Dharmaraj — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:15:57 +0000

I came across this cool Chrome extension called AniWeather today. The extension as the name says shows the current weather in the extensions area in Chrome. At preset intervals it pops up a nice notification as shown in the screenshot above.

When you click on the notification you get a nice overlay showing five day forecasts and options to view weather of other cities. When the weather displayed in the area highlighted above is clicked it opens up the preference page. Here the default city can be changed and other cities can be added. There is also options to change from Fahrenheit to Celsius, Miles to Kilometer etc.

Being a fellow extensions developer, the most interesting aspects of the extension is the popup notification, page overlay and the way of storing preference. I have not seen such notifications and overlay in any other extension. Chrome currently provides no way to store preferences apart from cookies. Everyone is waiting for HTML 5 Local Storage. This developer ingeniously stores the information on the extension’s site without needing any login information. Cool. Check it out.

Cool Google Maps Feature: Traffic at day and time

Vasanth Dharmaraj — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:20:19 +0000

Sometimes you might have to drive to an appointment along a route you are not familiar with. You might want to know how the traffic would be like at various times of the day so that you can pick the best time to go. Google Maps has you covered. I don’t know when Google introduced this feature but it is sure very interesting.

In Google Maps just hit the “Traffic” button. There is an option to view the live traffic and another option to look at predicted traffic based on day and time.

FOTA’s breakaway series schedule?

Vasanth Dharmaraj — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:53:25 +0000

The fight in Formula 1 is still not over. FOTA is pressing ahead with its alternate series. Max has backed down a bit by calling off the legal fight against the FOTA teams. The World Motor Sport Council is set to meet tomorrow to finalize the F1 2010 entry list. Max is all set to run from re-election… In summary everything is still a mess in F1. Anyway here is the provisional FOTA series race schedule:

March 3 – Buenos Aires, Argentina – Last hosted F1 in 1998

March21 – Mexico City, Mexico – Last hosted F1 in 1992

April 11 - Jerez, Spain – Last hosted F1 in 1997

April 25 – Portimao, Portugal – Never hosted F1

May 2 – Imola, San Marino – Last hosted F1 in 2006

May23 – Monte Carlo, Monaco – Current F1 host

June 6 - Montreal, Canada – Last hosted F1 in 2008

June 13 – Indianapolis, United States – Last hosted F1 in 2007

July 1 – Silverstone, United Kingdom – Current F1 host

July 25 – Magny-Cours, France – Last hosted F1 in 2008

August 15 – Laustizring, Germany – Never hosted F1

August 29 - Helsinki, Finland – Never hosted F1

September 12 – Monza, Italy – Current F1 host

September 26 - Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – Current F1 host

October 10 - Marina Bay, Singapore – Current F1 host

October 24 - Suzuka, Japan – Last hosted F1 in 2006

November 8 – Adelaide or Surfers’ Paradise, Australia – Last hosted F1 in 1995/Never hosted F1

[eurosport]