I’m Interviewed!

Norman over at Symbian World has this great series going on in which he interviews bloggers from the S60 community in which he covers questions like why did they start blogging, views on S60 and a bit of background about themselves amongst other things. This week was my turn! In case you are interested, have a read here!

Norman, thanks for the interview, really appreciate it!

Brief: Nokia Map Loader & Maps Updated

Anuj from the Nokia N95 Community on Orkut reports that the Nokia Map Loader has been updated to version 1.3 and the maps have also got an update. While the Indian map data has only increased from 19.7 MB to 21.1 MB, China it seems has gotten a big upgrade and is now upto 190 MB. In case you spot a change, do drop a comment.

Download!

Brief: YBrowser Updated To v 0.85

Jukka Silvennoinen has updated the best file manager for S60 phones to v 0.85 and the update has brought stability under S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1! Also included are SVG images and two extra languages.

The usual add ons such as Mail Folder Plugin, Text Viewer Plugin etc are available from his website.

Download!

User N95 v20.0.015 Firmware Changelog!

Update: Leaked ‘official’ changelog is here.

Frank Mehta from over at the Symbian-Freak Forums has posted this amazingly detailed changelog as he sees it on the N95 after updating.

The major additions apart from the ones listed here are:

– Video Ringtones!

– Faster Gallery

– Much Faster Bootup Time

However, one bone of contention seems to be the camera. The speed has increased but the quality gone down?! Today being my Birthday this was the best present from Nokia but the camera part scares me! Sahil Mohanty from the N95 Community on Orkut also has similar thoughts about the camera quality taking a hit! Log below:

irRemote Available Now!

Everybody’s favourite application the irRemote is finally available now for S60 v3 infrared equipped phones.

irRemote turns your phone into a universal remote control and allows us to operate audio and video equipment using one device – Symbian operated smartphone with infrared port.

It’s simple and intuitive. Just select the device from the list and control it using your phone’s keypad. The database of supported devices is stored online and you can download new codes directly from the irRemote. You can extend the list of supported devices by uploading codes for them through an online wizard.

This application is great fun to play with, however when it comes to practical feasibility it takes a backseat as the phone has poor ir range. Still i’ve had great fun in malls, shops etc playing around with people’s TV’s, music systems etc on my old 6600. Will get this application, if nothing else, for old time’s sake!

Click Here to Download (A 10 Day Trial)!

Android – What Would Your Phone Do?

The Google Mobile Phone OS ‘Android‘ has just gone official. Android, is named after the start-up company that Google bought in 2004 for its mobile software. Google has also made it clear that it won’t be making or marketing any phones. It is more significant and ambitious than a single phone. In fact, through the joint efforts of the members of the Open Handset Alliance, Google hopes to make Android the foundation for many new phones and create an entirely new mobile experience for users, with new applications and new capabilities. The entire theme for the Platform is ‘Innovation’.

Outlining Innovation: 

Android will deliver a complete set of software for mobile devices: an operating system, middleware and key mobile applications and because Android will cost nothing, it could undercut rivals who charge handset makers to install their operating systems. It also promises to make smart phones less expensive since manufacturers won’t have to pay for software.

Google Maps Goes Symbian – Supports GPS!

 

This is huge! Our favourite Google Maps appliacation is now a native coded Symbian OS 9 client! This results in a much better overall performance, optimum RAM usage, faster loading and the greatest add on being support for internal and external GPS!

Being able to jump to an aerial view, in exquisite detail, of your current location, more or less anywhere in the world, without lifting a finger or giving the software any manual help, as Rafe and Steve put it is MAGICAL. You get lost, you open your N95 (or E90 or 6110, etc) and you’re almost instantly shown where you are and, after a couple more keypresses, given explicit directions to get home, overlaid on a traditional street map or the respected Google Maps satellite view.

Tagged! Five Blogs I Read!

I got tagged by Symbian60.mobi, which is a German blog, as part of a blogger’s game. This one is about naming 5 blogs one reads and each one has to be from a different country then the people who’re tagged, tag others! I was tagged on the 19^th but got a little stuck with the translators, anyway here goes:

Rules:

– Name 5 blogs in different countries that you read
– Tag 5 bloggers

Blogs I read:

– Jan van Iperen‘s Nokia N95 Blog (Netherlands)

– Mark Guim‘s The Nokia Blog (USA)

– Michael Hell‘s The Nokian Blog (Austria)

– Stefan Constantinescu on IntoMobile (Finland)

– Teo’s Symbian-Freak (Croatia)

I sure did want to add more, specially Symbian-Guru, however those were the five blogs that first came to my mind.

 Trackback URL is here.

Nokia N95 – 8GB Becomes Official!

Another FCC posting had led to the N95 8GB becoming official! There are a few design tweaks with the screen possibly becoming larger. The multi-media keys have become a little elevated. The microSD card slot has most likely given way to 8GB of internal flash storage. The camera’s shutter has been reworked to allow space for a 1200 mAh battery and there will no longer be a protective cover for the camera.

$10,000 For Anyone Who Can Help Identify People Behind The Mobile-Review Takedown

As you all may know popular website Mobile-Review has been down for the past few days because of a Denial of Service attack. The initial reasoning behind the entire thing was that iphone fanboys were at its root as Eldar had labelled it as “Just Another Fashion Phone”. However, days after the attack begun it has almost become clear that something much bigger is happening and as Eldar can use your help in trying to find the culprits behind the shameful act. An award of $10,000 has been offered to the person or group of people who can track the source of these attacks. Eldar in his open letter calls this attack forced censorship on the freedom on the Internet and has asked for support.