It has been a time since the launch of the Ovi store and lots of apps have been released for the joy of the Nokia users. Just recently the daily app blog organized an app award, the best of the best apps would receive the honor to be called a must have, a title that every app wishes to be granted with.

They put the nominees in 8 different categories: Music, Social Networking, Twitter (so important these days that it needs it own category), City Guides and Mapping, Entertainment, News and Info, Games, and finally, Utilities. And let the users vote for their favorite app, at the end they would count the votes and choose the winners. I should tell you who won.

In the Music Category, the winner of the Must Have App is:  Shazam! I really like this app, so useful for those moments when you hear a song but you cant know the song and the singer/band, and asking a friend later won’t help much. A few minutes ago I just heard a song in a tv commercial and wondering “nice song, I like it, I would like to know the name to buy it on the Music Store later”, but no, I dont have Shazam on my phone, YET!

In the Social Networking the only winner is: Nimbuzz! Today the social networks are a very important part of our daily life, so much that we usually use more than one, and that is when Nimbuzz comes along to help. With a large list of supported social networks and instant messengers, Nimbuzz connects you with the people you care, all in one place. No need to have mutiple clients on your phone, just one: Nimbuzz

The winner of the Twitter category is no surprise: Gravity, with universal acclaim it has been named THE twitter app for your phone. With neat and practical interface it makes easier than ever to tweet on the go. There is a 10 day trial on the Ovi Store, so check it out. I really liked it even when I am not a big tweeter fan.

The winner of the City Guides and Mapping is: World Mate 2009. If you are always traveling around then this is for you. It has free content wich includes, world clock, currency converter, weather forecast and so on. But the real value of this app is the paid upgrade which include realtime flight alerts for 350 airlines. You can not miss a flight with this, unless you really want to.

On the Entertainment Category the winner is: SPB TV. Well I have to admit that I have never tested this app, I just tried downloading it from the Ovi Store but looks like it is not working. Bad luck I guess. Anyways, I saw the demo on the developer site and I think it worths it. You get television off the internet, not sure which channels you can get but I bet that they should entertain you. Also it’s suscription free, you just buy the app and you’re done.

In the News and Info category the winner is Accuweather.com. I’m not really sure on this, I have tested this app since the first day I own my N97. Everything works fine, I like the UI, and the widget works perfectly. The only downside of this is that it is not that accurate. I have seen the app tell me that my city is at 30°C and then I see my local weather forecast tell me we are on 20°C. So maybe they should get the info right and I maybe will put it in my homescreen.

In the Game Category the winner is MicroPool s60. I have to say that I’m not a big player of my phone, I prefer a giant tv with killer sound and real graphics. Also I prefer to save my battery for the whole day. But when I’m bored or waiting in a room or something I usually pull my phone to play some games that keep me distracted. One of the games I really like is pool. And Micro Pool is one of he best games I have ever played on a cellphone, they even call it a ‘simulator’ and that means that you get real physics, real sounds and the best graphics you can get.

Finally the winner of the Utilities category we have: Vlingo. The idea behind this app is really good, you talk to your phone and it will do what you want. You can send messages or make notes among other things. And the best thing is that it rarely mishears your words. You talk to it and it will send your voice over internet and then execute your commands. But, sadly, even when you can choose the spanish language, the Vlingo app struggles to understand me when I talk in my native tongue.

So that’s it folks, to get more details visit the App Awards website and get the Must Have Apps of the 2009. Hope we get even better apps for this 2010. Happy New Year .

David Castro

In the final part of our series (check out Products and Services) of year end polls, we take a look at applications. The range and variety of apps available for Nokia devices is as broad as it is deep, so narrowing the list down to 10 for you to vote for was tricky in itself. Not as tricky as it was for you to vote, it would seem as not much separated the top three. Still, we have a winner, unlike in Services, so read on to find out the favourites from 2009.

The winner: Gravity (27%)

This isn’t the first poll Gravity has won this year. Back in May we asked you to vote for your favourite S60 Twitter app, and this one took a healthy 43 per cent of the vote. A great interface, addictive usability and some genuinely useful features add up to a winning recipe.

We said: “It’s interface is extremely clear, and it’s tough not to get suckered in by its velvet-smooth transitions and ease of use”

You said: “It was a solid Twitter app to start off with but the Google Reader support, even at this alpha stage, makes it absolutely indispensable” – commented Alex Whiteside

Nokia Photo Browser (21%)

Striking a good balance between fun, useful features and uncomplicated ease of use, Nokia Photo Browser has proved a popular addition to the Symbian arsenal. On touchscreen Nokias in particular, its intuitive simplicity makes browsing through your pics a joy.

We said: “If this is the standard of app now coming out of BetaLabs then we’re in for a real treat this year and beyond”

You said: “I like it a lot, hopefully Nokia will develop this software further and make it your official photo browser” – commented Gregg003

Nokia Ovi Suite 2.0 (15%)

One of those apps that’s as much about tomorrow as it is about today, Ovi Suite sweeps all previous Nokia software aside and delivers a single PC interface that’s streamlined, user-friendly and perfectly in sync with your device.

We said: “Eventually Ovi Suite will replace all your Nokia software with one simple, elegent yet powerful piece of software that’ll handle all the tasks you’d expect it to for your device”

You said: “Let’s hope that also a linux version is in the pipeline” – commented Pier

So that’s it. 2009 in a number of little nutshells. Hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane as much as we did. Here’s looking forward to a cracking year in 2010. Wishing you a happy new year, we will see you on the other side.

(via)

Two weeks ago I had the great oportunity to travel up to Montecarlo to the Nokia Developer Summit 2009. I was competing in the Nokia N97 Widget Competition, and along with Plusmo and Yalla-Ya I worked in the Hackathon to deliver the best widget-application for the Nokia users. The result was Rocket, a Social Location App that you will see very soon!

But apart from that, I took my time to test the new Nseries, the Nokia N97. As you may know this is the most expected phone of the year. It was announced on december of 2008, and will be released next month, causing great hype amongst the mobile users. The expectations are hight, this phone is thought to change the way we use the internet.

Equipped with a 3.5 in resistive touchscreen and a full qwerty keyboard, the N97 separes itself from the rest of the Nseries. And if you are a Nseries fan, you may know that these are two characterisitics that we were waiting for so long ago. So let’s start!

What I liked*

The N97 is solid. The screen flips out and tilts on a 40 degree angle to be easily visible for the user. I loved the mechanism. It doesnt creaks, and has zero play on the sliding mechanism. It is great! The resisitive screen is beatiful and big enougn. There are many concerns around the resistive screen. People saying that it is not responsive enough like the capacitive, but I tell you, this screen is perfectly responsive and it doesn’t lag or hangs. The OS is the fastest Ive ever seen in an Nseries. But I would reserve my final word until I have all my widgets and memory loaded on. There are two colors, white and black, the white color is awesome, I’m sure I will get the white one.

The qwerty keyboard is spaced enough and the keys are well distributed. I was typing long texts as soon as I had 10 seconds trying it. So it will do good even for people with big thumbs. The materials are plastic and with a silver strip on the screen border, it feels good and not cheap.

The camera is great, the people of Carl Zeiss had been working hard I guess. This cellphone takes the most beatifull pictures I have seen on an Nseries, after the N82. Overall, the phone feels right in the hand, a bit big, but nothing too big we have not seen before

What I did not like*

Well, I was getting used to the N85 which is the slimmest Nseries around, and using the N97 makes me feel like Im back with my N95 which is kind of big. It is also a bit heavy. It is on the very edge of the pocketability, Im very sure I will be carrying it with a case hanging on the rim of the jeans’ pocket or on my belt. But I have read that Nokia considers this a mobile computer insted of a phone, so I guess having a computer so small is now a benefit.

The white model has a light leak under the red and green button, I’m not sure if Nokia pretends to fix it before the mass release but if they don’t they will have upset consumers. I mean, such a expensive phone should at least try to be perfect at this kind of things. The black one has the fingerprint magnet syndrom, one of the reasons I chose white instead of black.

And finally, the hinge seems a kind of fragile, and if you watch it by the sides, you can see the screen ribbon. I hope it won’t be a problem. One of the things that may worry me is the dust from my pocket or from the environment gathering around the ribbon or inside the phone. So I hope the screen closes thight inside one’s pocket.

To round it up*
The N97 pretends to be the most selling cellphone of this year. Nokia has been hyping it up since the announcement, and they have done well. Im sure it will sell very well. Since I won the widget competition Nokia will send me a free N97 as soon as it is realeased on the american market, that will be likely in July, so expect a full review of it when I get it. So, what about you? What are your concerns? Your expectations, tell us in the comment section!! I WANT TO HEAR YOU!!

David Castro

here are the top six s60v3 apps for may 2009, picked by me 

#6

at number six we have Landscape pro*

What is it*

it is an application for symbian OS 3rd edition devices, which allow you to change your phone screen from portrait to landscape mode.

#5

at number five is an app called free signer*

What is it*

do i need to tell you? the name said it all,free signer allows you to sign your unsigned apps and games.

#4

taking the number four spot is the ever so useful smart settings*

What is it*

it provides a way to customize your phone so that it looks in your own unique way. You can use these set of features for quick access of your favourite applications.

#3

at number tree we have the coolest app on the list, Vimio live tv*

What is it*

vimio live tv allows you to…, you guessed it watch live tv from you s60v3 smart phone. 

#2

the number two app is by far the most useful for s60 users on the go,this app goes by the name of T9 nav*

What is it*

in 2 words t9 is mobile search,it allows to find anything on your phone by just typing the name of  a contacts,settings,media,bookmarks,applications,calendar,keywords or messages that you would like to find.

#1

my number one pick is an app that i use all the time and it is one of the better made app on this list,

Twittix

What is it*

twittix is one of the best mobile Twitter Client for Nokia Smartphones,with it you can send, receive, update and share Tweets wherever you are.

Links*

#1 Twittix: try for 15 days now

#2 T9 nav: try now or Buy now it’s only $16.95 at Nokia’s Software market 

#3 Vimio live tv: it’s free download now or visit the blog for more info

#4 Smart settings: try now or buy now it only $12.00

#5 free signer: download now

#6 Landscape pro: download now

The palm series back for the dead. The new palm pre is one of the best looking touch screen phones i have seen since the iphone ,i have to say this is one good looking phone but the pre is more then a pretty face it has a curved slide out keyboard and on the front is a 3.1 inch 320 x 480 multitouch display with a silver center button .the pre using a new webOS  platform,for the pics i saw of the  UI looks nice and clear,with some cool features like card view,notification dashboard, and lots more i am looking forward to this phone and i am thinking about get one.All and all i think this will be some bad news for the n97 by the looks of it the pre and the n97 are head to head and it will be the nokia  n97 vs. the pre and not the iphone.

Nokia, nokia, nokia today i was think about what it would be like if the n97 was a multi touch like the iphone that would be great BUT the nokia n97 is a resistive touch and not a multi touch. Not to say the n97 will not be a great selling phone and yes i am going to get one but the  lack of a mulit touch well that turn me off a bit. So looking to the future i hope that nokia has plans for some nseries multi touch phone for 2009 to 2010.

Tell me what you are think by comment or email  .bye for now

Hi everyone i hope you all had a good christmas  but now that christmas has come and gone i have been thinking…….about nokia and which direction are there planning to go in for 2009 from the looks things nokia is planning to go down the touch screen road like everyone else with two new touch based phone some will say that nokia is runnig after apple’s iphone.But i hope that nokia will not go down the iphone road and go back to  focusing on how to improve the e and n-series with out adding  more touch  screen phones to the lineup.