A sight to the future?

We first learn about MeeGo about 1 year ago, Nokia needed an OS to replace the old decaying Symbian, and that’s when it teamed up with Intel  to deliver the OS that would rule the world just as Symbian did not much ago. But then, on February 2011 Nokia anounced a new shift in their OS strategy. They were going to parter up with Microsoft and release Windows Phone on their new handsets, ditching MeeGo, before any device running it was released.

We saw leaks of the famous N950, the one device running MeeGo and sporting a qwerty keyboard. Later Nokia would announce that they would release the N950 for developers only and the N9 (non qwerty) for the rest of us non-developers, then, there wouldt be no more MeeGo handsets. They will focus on the Windows Phones. This leaves the just released N9 in the shadows, most developers are not very interested in developing apps for an OS that is going to disappear after one device, leaving it in the hands of the MeeGo-Maemo-Linux community. Perhaps one of the best handsets Nokia has released in the last 5 years, you will soon learn why.

The simplest, the most elegant.

The retail box is the smallest Nokia has done until now. You can see how Nokia is making packages smaller every year. Inside there is only the necessary space for the N9, the charger, data cable, headset and instructions leaflets. This goes perfectly with the minimalistic style the N9 has.

The whole N9′s body is made of one pice of soft polycarbonate. The 3,9″ screen is georgeous, shiny, curved and looks like a precious gem, kind of reminds me of an obsidian stone when the display is turned off. Swiping the fingers over the screen is a pleasure, haven’t touched a smoother screen on any other handset ever. There is a micro usb port on the top, along with a 3.5mm plug and the micro sim card tray. The volume, and lock/power buttons on the right side, on the bottom you will find thespeakers and a 8MPX camera on the back with dual LED flash. The whole device feels premium in the hand, and I will say it again: it’s like holding a precious, shiny gem.

To turn it on/off you should press the lock button for 3 seconds. Took me a while to figure it out, of course, I didn’t read the instructions. After the phone has booted up you are greeted with 3 main homescreens. The first one is the news feed, then the app menu, and the multitasking homscreen. In the newsfeed you can set up your twitter timeline along with your facebook feed and news by AP. You can choose what feed to show in case you dont need to read the news on the newsfeed. If you tap on a feed you will be taken to the twitter/facebook app where you can add comments or like stuff. The app menu is classic app grid where you choose what app to open, you may edit the layout by holding the tap.

The multitasking screen shows you what apps are open in a mini window that’s running live. You can close the apps by holding the tap and taping on the cross mark. These 3 homescreen sound pretty simple, but what makes this phone stand above others is what Nokia calls ‘Swipe’ After opening an app you can do 4 kinds of swipe. To do a swipe you must put your finger on the outer border of the screen and move to the oposite directin. You may do a swipe in 4 directions; if you swipe from left or right the app running will go to the multitasking menu and continue running in the background. If you swipe from the bottom you may go to the multitasking menu or if you stop the swipe halfway, a shortcut menu will appear with apps like phone, contacts, camera and broswer. If you swipe from top to bottom you will close the app, taking you to the multitasking menu.

Everything runs smooth and it’s really a joy to use. Of course,  there is a learning curve, but after the first 15 minutes you are set to go. Also, reading the instruction manual may help a lot . The integration is excelent. By entering your facebook and twitter account info, your contacts will be saved on your contact book along with your phone numbers agenda. You can then choose to combine them under one name. The message app will integrate facebook chat, and SMS conversations in one convenient place.

The facebook app I must say is a bit laggy and crashes very often, but lets you do most things you can expect. The Twitter app, on the other hand is great, a bit slow, but great in features, that it almost matches gravity for symbian. Still there is room for improvements.

The camera is good. The usual options are there, and, wow! It’s very fast taking pictures, but it doesn’t match the N8 in terms of quality, making the N8 the king of camera phones. Also, the lack of physical button doesn’t help either, so you have to use the in screen shutter to take pictures. This is the reason I’m keeping my N8 too, as my camera phone. The speakers sound ok, enough power and good quality, nothing outstanding. The reception and call quality is 100% Nokia.

The phone is fast, have tried opening 20 apps at the same time and there is no lag.  The battery is not that outstanding, I can manage 10 hours with moderate to heavy use, so you should take your charger just in case. There is a map app and a drive app. I still don’t understand why did Nokia made them separately.

I tried the Nokia Store, but there are not many apps out there yet, as I said before, most developers dont want to invest money and time developing apps for an ecosystem that won’t exist later in 3 years. This is also one of the reasons I need to keep my N8, since there is no Whatsapp version for MeeGo and I use it a lot. Leaving the N9 in the hands of the loyal Maemo/MeeGo community

who are very commited to this OS. However, if Nokia wants to sell the phone, they also need the help of commercial apps (hello, whatsapp?).

Is it the end?

As conclusion, the N9 represents what Nokia could have been if it had followed their own path. After the deal with Microsoft, Nokia had to let go the projects they were working and commit 100% to windows phone, they cannot keep 2 top OS, or else they would cannibalize each other, or could they?  The swipe part is the most revolutionary of the N9. There is no multitasking button, there is no close button, everything is done by gestures and this is what Nokia intended to: start a new era in UI, based in gestures and leaving buttons (either hardware of software) behind.

The N9 delivers a complete package of power and style, I’m very pleased with the design and I’m happy to see that Nokia is reusing it on its new phone: the Nokia 800 Lumia. I just hope to see more Nokia’s integration in future Windows Mobile phones, maybe we will see the Swipe in a future?

For now we can only dream what the N9 could have been and enjoy one of the last real Nokia device, keeping one shiny piece of history.

dcastrog

The first thing that caught me about this app was it’s name. Now for those who don’t know I’m from Trinidad and Tobago and if you’re familiar with my people you would know that we have our own dialect and one phrase used daily from this dialect is, “yuh done” or “u done” So it makes sense now right? Honestly I heard about this app and I wasn’t excited, I thought to myself, “damn another boring task manager” and when I opened it, I was greeted by nothing exciting, however when I dug further I realised it was packed with various goodies, like a voice recorder, sketch app, etc.

This makes recording tasks very simple. You can draw, record, take a picture or type out text to attach to your “task” to make it easier to remember. The lite version is what I used to write this review and it loads reasonably fast although my devices is overclocked to 1.2Ghz. It comes packed with themes so the programme can match your current theme as best as possible however in the future, I would like to see an integration with my social networks so that important events can be broadcasted into the app and then you can be alerted via a tone and get to see what tasks you have available. Maybe also task sharing where, your boss or friend can write out a task and send it to you over Wifi in the work place,for now you’re just alerted of your tasks when you set the alarm for it.

It comes also with a neat calender and the *Help button actually is animated so no need to read a list of boring help notes. But honestly I’m not a task manager person, and even though it comes with so many nice things to make jotting down tasks simple fast, I rather just take a mental note, but it is a great looking app though and very useful for those with a busy schedule.

Download U-done Here

Hey guys, Today I have got a nice little review of the nokia e7 that I got from the boys and girls at womworld/nokia, so watch and enjoy the video below and thanks to the Womworld guys again.

What do you guys think about the nokia e7 and i’m planing on getting the nokia e6 good idea?

(not seeing the video?…..reload the page again )

As you know from Renaldo’s review the Bh-905i is a great music headset and I fully agree but I don’t think it’s too soft as he said, I i like the hight of the volume and like he said in his review the Active Noise Cancellation is amazing! there are four to five people at my house at any given time but with the ANC on the bh-905i it’s like i’m always home alone and that really helps me to stay focused on what i’m doing whether that be typing this post or trying to take a nap.

The  Bh-905i’s are also  good for watching movies and by the way i saw Drive Angry this week it’s a great movie but moving on I love the feel of the headset which is a little shocking given that i’m more of an inear-headphones kind of guy and never really liked the Dj style headphones but i’m happy to say that has changed since using the bh-905i they are super comfortable and feel like clouds on your head.

Watching movies and listing to music is more or less what the  Bh-905i is made for but what about gaming? well as you may or may not know in online FPS (First-person shooter) games like call of duty mw2/black-ops you can hear footsteps of other players therefore you know where they are coming from which gives you a big advantage over other players but it’s really hard to hear those footsteps with your standard speaker setup, surround sound speakers or even with standard headphones and that being said with the bh-905i you hear everything! super clear from footsteps to gun reloads and it’s kind of  unfair because for example will be shooting someone in front of me hear a other player coming behind me spin around and kill him,which makes me look like i’m hacking and people call me a hacker all the time but it’s because i have a headset and with out the Bh-905i or a other big name gaming headset you wouldn’t be able to that.

So All in all the Bh-905i’s are great for music and movies and it’s a pretty good gaming headset as well, not forgetting it has Bluetooth so you can connect it wirelessly to your nokia mobile phone and amazing ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) so you can get away without getting way. That’s it,  later guys!

I got this bad boy like 3 weeks ago and at first I must say I didn’t like it much, the speakers were soft and it was muffed and although I produce my own music that’s not my cup of tea since it felt as if I moved too much it would fall off. I gave it to some people to test out, they also agreed that the speakers were too soft, and I admit this is a biased opinion because we are Trinidadians, and we like our music loud!

However there were pros to the headset, the Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) feature was my favorite, that did a great job, cancelling off the unwanted noises and leaving me to enjoy my movies on my Nokia n900 in peace, wow what an experience, and on top of that, I could make calls with same headset, with noise cancellation on still, so not only can I watch my movies in peace and clarity but I could talk a female friend too It also looked cool around my neck with the blue light blinking giving people the impression I was a DJ or something, again giving me access to talk to some girls.

I really love those headphones, they weren’t perfect but they were great, the battery lasted long, even when I forgot and left the ANC on for two days by accident it still had a good amount of juice.
So if you’re looking for nice looking headphones with great Active Noise Cancellation that’s not too loud I definitely recommend the Nokia BH 905i for you or as a Xmas gift for a friend.

• Video Review

A year after being released Nokia’s N900 is still considered by many one of the best devices on the market. Specifications wise it surpasses the iPhone 4 and laps RIM’s Blackberry Torch.

What makes Nokia’s N900 so special is that it is an open source device meaning the device can be customised to the teeth down to it’s processor’ss cycling speed and even the voltage settings it uses to operate. Off course to most people this is a “huh?” moment, because obviously this seems like something a technician should be doing, but the device was made to an extent for that reason. It comes equipped with a built in X Terminal and if you haven’t guessed it by now it is Linux based. This gives a sense of freedom to the user unlike other devices which cannot be significantly tweaked.

Upon start up, you will notice the usual Nokia “Connecting People” logo (The two hands) and once you place in your settings such as Time, Date, Language and Location you’re ready to go. You have 4 home screens where you can place bookmarks, shortcuts, contacts, widgets etc. These can also be modified where you can get up to 9 home screens. Off course at your own risk

The interface is new and can take some getting used to but the coolest thing you may first notice is the multitasking ability of the device. Let’s say you open up Conversations, and you want to view some pictures in Photos then simply tap the upper left of the screen to minimise Conversations and go into Photos. Another thing to note is that the minimised windows still remain active, so if you open up a game unless the game is paused it will still run in the background.

The device runs smoothly at it’s normal processing frequency, but as I said before if you do not like this speed it can be tweaked at your own risk and void of warranty off course. The highest speeds I’ve “seen” the CPU get to are around 1Ghz and a claimed 1.1Ghz. The most I’ve put it to was 1150Mhz but this speed did not suite me, I’m pretty comfortable at the stock 600Mhz Those high speeds are recommended if you’re going to run PS1 games or the MyPaint app so that you get little or no lag while using them, when done, it’s best you revert to stock to prevent over heating of your device

Now let’s get into the apps. Basically everything in the N900 is an app, from Conversations to Photos to the Phone. Yes the Phone is an app.

MicroB Web Browser: This is a fast and efficient tool for browsing the web via GPRS, EDGE, 2G, 3G, Wifi, etc. It is flash enabled but only up to V9.4, however there is a 3rd party application to trick the browser that you’re using the latest version and still view media. In can be rotated into portrait mode but it goes partially fullscreen and looses the “X” and “<” buttons at the top of the screen and I rarely use this orientation. There is no need for anti-virus because this is a Linux based device and with the new firmware upgrade PR 1.3 web surfing has become smoother and faster. Surfing on this device is the same as using a PC or laptop browser, there is no “mobile” only websites. Facebook is seen on the N900 just as on your PC, facebook chat at the bottom of the screen and all.

Media Player: This plays all media except pictures, and though the codecs are limited it can be extended to incorporate more media formats. I don’t have much media so if just playing songs and watching videos is your poison, then this will do the job fine. It can be used as a widget, and sound is clear with the dual speakers though not too loud and sound is even better almost magnificient with the headphones.

Calender: Very well organised and allows you to do many things such as set tasks, make notes, set colours over certain activities so with a glance at your week or month view you can tell what’s important and what can be left alone for a while. This can also become a widget where you see useful information on your desktop such as tasks and birthdays with the current date as well. One of the best I’ve used but that does not go for much since this s my first “smart phone” device.

Photos: Very straight foward, has a filtering option so you can set which folder you want photos to be viewed from. I have it set to “All Images”. Geo tagging is available and photos can be shared to Facebook, Flickr, Twitter etc. once the plugins are installed and to other devices over Bluetooth. There is a built in photo editor that can perform the basic cropping, resizing, contrast adjustments etc.

Contacts: Practically unlimited, from here once connected to the internet you can see who’s available online. You can use, Skype (built in), MSN, AIM etc. as your messenging services but only with Skype you can make video calls using the front camera.

Phone: This allows the basic phone capabilities, nothing major and can be viewed in portrait mode and landscape. The dialing pad features large numbers for ease of dialing.

Maps: Ovi maps is pretty simple to use but certainly not the best mapping system. I can’t use it to guide me around Trinidad but it works and can be improved later on.

Camera: The N900 sports a 5mega pixel camera with Carl Zeiss Lens and double LED flash. It takes great High Resolution photos for just the average snapper, but not the best. Third party apps can be downloaded from the repositories to improve photo quality. e.g. Fcam

Email: This allows you to set up multiple email accounts and get notifications on your device upon receiving a new email. I pursonally have no need for this and when I had it set up I found it battery consumptive and just signing into Hotmail or Gmail was just personally suitable.

Conversations; This is where all your conversations are stored and where they can be started. Lets say you talked to a hot chick last night but you forgot what you told her, just go here type her name and view the entire conversation. You can do the same in Contacts. You can send SMS messages from here and it should be noted that all convos are displayed in thread view and each message is not in a seperate area. It’s like IM.

Clock: Shows the current date and time, sets alarms, the usual stuff, nothing major to find here.

Calculator: Both Scientific and Basic. Accurate and user friendly.

Ovi Store: Apple has their own and so does Google so now Nokia has theirs, unfortunately games and applications are limited for the Maemo platform. Their are a couple fun games though like Angry Birds, Bounce Evolution, Zen Bound, Tower Bloxx, Brain Evolution etc. You can also find useful utilities here like Level, Anglemeter, Banner etc. Clicking the application takes you to the Ovi Store website so you can make purchases or download stuff for free directly and only to your handset.

Notes: Just a simple application for writing text.

Settings: Here is where you get to take a peak at what’s under the hood and change around some things. Again nothing major here. You can set up VoIP and IM accounts here and GPRS connections.

App Manager: Here is where you get your hands a little wet with loads of applications at your disposal but usually not made by Nokia, so download and install at your own risk. Do not enable the Extras-Testing and Extras-Devel repositories though, they are the most unsafe. You can use the App Man to uninstall stuff that you installed and also update things OTA (Over The Air via WLAN).

PDF Viewee: View PDF files, pretty straight forward, fast and user friendly,
TIP – Click the page number at the bottom of the screen, type in what page you’re looking for and get going.

File Manager: View files and folders on your internal storage (27Gigs) and you memory card (if installed). You can move things around, and share them via Bluetooth or Twitter, Youtube, Facebook etc.

RSS: Subscribe to various RSS feeds and get updates via an internet connection.

Backup: Create a backup of your Application List, Calendar and Contacts, Settings and Bookmarks. Restore these at anytime an internet connection is recommened for restoring Apps. Backing up should be done before Firmware upgrades and Flashing.

X Terminal: This is where your hands will get dirty if you wish but for Noob users playing around here is strongly unrecommended. Only use this if you are sure about what you’re doing.
Follow this link for some useful commands.

So now that you have an idea what you’re dealing with, lets talk about the Pros in functionality.

Well first off the N900 is pretty simple to use once you get used to it. You tap in blurred areas to get out of windows or tap the top left icon to minimise the screen. Fast and effective, this device delivers from social networking to deep in customisation. Bottons don’t get in the way or are difficult to access, the stylus comes out easily and clicks back in for a firm fit. The resistive touchscreen is very well built and has pressure sensitivity so it’s not just one level of pressure it recognises but around 3 making it more accurate than the compactive touchscreen found on the iPhone series. The keyboard though a bit cramped for some works fine for me because I hardly do much typing except for this review which is being done on my N900. I admit it could have another row of keys but that might of made the device unstable when open and being proped up by the kick-stand to the back (great feature). For me the speakers and resolution fit perfectly together and the in-ear headphones if used while watching a movie add a great touch providing an amazing experience. 3D games run smoothly also and the device can already use Multiboot to run Android aka NitDroid and MeeGo (though MeeGo is not fully usable). You really can’t lose out with this device unless tweaking isn’t your cup of tea.

One draw back is that you can only use Adobe Flash V9.4 and it can’t be upgraded at the moment and while using it, it drains the battery significantly. Generally the battery is pretty good considering what the device is capable of but some complain that it dies too fast, while I’m satisfied with my 15 hours plus battery life. I admit I don’t use the device extensively all the time and I’ve done things to lessen power consumption (previously discussed here) so my view on battery life might not be the best one. Another draw back would be the Ovi Store, currently there aren’t many apps here but that can be ignored since there are so many private developers willing to create apps for free and a few ask for donations for their work. I would donate if I were you, because they do GREAT work! At the moment those are all my drawbacks on the Nokia N900, for me the pros out weigh them, and I know I missed some pros and some cons but some other cons are a bit technical to go into so for more information I suggest you visit http://talk.maemo.org where you’ll find all the information you need and becoming a member is vital if you are a N900 owner because if you ever run into problems, the guys there including me will be able to help. Look me up on TMO @RenaldoTT

Unboxing and first Impression

A few days a go I picked up my Game Gripper for the nokia n900 and from the time that I unboxed it to now I have not taken it off my n900 (making it useless as a phone but……I love this thing!) I must say i’m really impressed with the simple yet very smart design of the game gripper.

The Game Gripper it self has no batteries or real keys instead it covers most of the key except for W,A,D,X,B,T,U,M,L,P,right & down, it uses those keys as up, down,left,right, start,select,A,B,C,X and two extras, which makes it very light and easy to carry around in your pocket or bag , this being a good this and a bad thing at the same time, a good this because its light and easy to pull off and put on when ever you want but i bad thing because you are still using the qwerty on your phone which mean you will be hit the same keys over and over causing them to wear very fast.

The game gripper over all has a nice grip and fell to it, I also really like the xbox style buttons and there are lots of other colors available as well. It makes gaming on the n900 a lot more fun and easy, games like mario,boom and supertux work very well with the game gripper and the playing Vgba roms with it is not bad at all, its a new easy & smart way to improve gaming on your mobile device and if you have  $14.99 I highly recommend that you pick one at Game Gripper.com

Aluminium
The Nokia N8 is crafted from a single piece of anodised aluminium. The process of anodising the aluminum increases its corrosion and wear resistance. With the casings’ ultra scratch-resistant powers, you can scratch a set of keys on the back of the device and with a quick wipe the mark will magically disappear. The anodised aluminium doesn’t just banish scratches, it also means it’s possible to bring the N8 to the market in a rainbow of colours.

Buttons
Not one to scrimp on the detail, Nokia has made sure that all the bases – or more to the point, buttons – are covered. All the buttons along the side of the device are cut-outs from the same piece of aluminium, adding to the luxury feel of the device. Also, for the clumsy amongst us, the moveable buttons have been rubberised to save your digits from mishaps.

HDMI
Showing off your mobile content at home has never been easier. The HDMI connector allows you to connect your N8 to your TV and share all the pics from your travels. Alternatively, you can watch side-loaded true HD quality content in real time via HDMI at up to 30fps. Add to this Dolby Digital Plus Surround sound capabilities, and you’ve got the complete package. In the box, the N8 will come with HDMI adapter for you to connect with a standard HDMI cable.

Screen
With the capacitive touchscreen on offer on the N8, there’s the capability to pinch zoom in applications like Photos and Browser. Did you know that capacitive touchscreens will only respond to materials that are conductive?  Handy if you’ve got sticky fingers and need to give the screen a quick wipe with a cloth. It also responds to just a touch rather that a press on the screen. No worrying about oops-a-daisy inputs here. With a 3.5 inches screen estate, AMOLED, 16M colours and a resolution of 640 x 360 pixels, it’s perfect for watching widescreen movies too

Battery Life
Within the Nokia N8 is an integrated battery that’ll keep you in juice for days. Talk-time at its maximum is 720 mins (GSM) and 350 mins (WCDMA) and standby time comes in at 390 hours (GSM) and 400 hours (WCDMA). Not bad for a smartphone, we think.

Social Networking
We’re accustomed to keeping in touch with Ovi, on the Nokia N8 it’s even easier. Social networks can be accessed from multiple places such as the homescreen, maps and contacts. Live feeds from Facebook and Twitter are directly pushed to the homescreen for easy viewing. Also, you can comment, read and send messages, update your status and share your location, photos and more. Calendar events from social networks can also be added to the device calendar, so you’ll – hopefully – never miss an important date again.

Flash Support
YouTube fans and gamers rejoice – Flash is supported on the Nokia N8. It’s a Flash 10.1 compatible Flash runtime (ActionScript 3) and player, called Flash Lite. A point to note: the device does not support all of Flash 10 features for graphics but all video-related features are supported.

Email
Nokia N8 features a completely new email client combining several accounts into one. In addition to Ovi Mail, there is a large amount of supported email clients with POP3/IMAP. There is also support for the business email solution, Mail for Exchange.

WebTV
WebTV is another new weapon added to the Nokia N8’s arsenal. The Web TV application delivers TV programs, news and entertainment from channels like Paramount, E! Entertainment, CNN and National Geographic. Locally relevant Web TV content will also available from the Ovi Store.

Sensors
The Nokia N8 has backlighting and ambient light sensor, magnetometer (compass), orientation sensor and a proximity sensor. Both the orientation sensor and magnetometer come in very handy for finding your way around using Ovi Maps. The proximity sensor and ambient light sensor, on the other hand, are your battery’s best friend. The proximity sensor will switch off the screen every time you bring the phone to your face to answer a call and the ambient light sensor will adjusts the display’s brightness dependent on your surroundings.

(via)

I was browsing the other day through the Ovi Store and found an unusual app called Carpe Diem Daily, so I downloaded and tried it. The basic idea is having an app that can make your daily day a more interesting experience. Every day there is a new task such as “take a picture of yourself with your pet”, then after you have completed the task you can show other users your results, share via twitter and then you can also see what other usershave done. Just access their website www.carpediemdaily.com to see other users tasks. Simple, yet interesting.

So today May 8th 2010, I started my Carpe Diem Daily and found today’s task which is “Record a small status video” and a small button saying ‘record’. I found nice to have camera integration, so I could record simple and easy. After recording a small 15 secs video, you are prompted to add a small note and then publish. Then you can share it via twitter.

You can watch my task here http://www.carpediemdaily.com/Tasks/08-May-2010/dcastrog

basically I was checking my facebook and took a small video of me with my booklet.

Suggestions for the developers? Well they could add a small homescreen widget to see the new tasks every day. That could make it better.If you want to make every day a bit more interesting you can find this app on the Ovi Store, and you can visit the Carpe Diem site to see new tasks and other user submissions.

So seize the day, it’s all yours!

dcastrog