Latest Nokia Mobile

Software: Nokia Text Messenger

The latest product of Nokia's Beta Labs is the aptly named Text Messenger gadget. No, not text messager, messenger.

Text Messenger displays the latest text messages in your Vista sidebar, and also allows you to send messages via your PC. It requires PC Suite 6.85 installed as well as Windows Vista. So all you (and me) XP users will have to suffer - well, most likely forever. Doesn't look like this'll be a standalone app for XP any time soon.

4 comments | Posted in » Nokia Software  

Browse Nokia6500 SLIDE Softwares by Category

Browser (17)

Calculator (9)

Camera - Viewer (41)

Connectivity (38)

Dictionary (12)

Education (7)

File Manager - Text Editor (23)

Instant Messaging (14)

Islamic (6)

Money (3)

MP3 - Video Player (52)

Other (52)

Productivity (14)

Scheduler - Watch - Timer (24)

SMS - Email (32)

System - Utils (45)

1 comments | Posted in » Nokia Software  

fMSX 3.2 and Virtual GB 3.3 Released

There's two newly updated emulators for Symbian 9.1 phones: fMSX 3.2 and Virtual GameBoy 3.3.

fMSX emulates MSX/MSX2/MSX2+ cartridge files. I've never heard of MSX, nor was I even alive during the MSX boom, but apparently it's a type of computer similar to an Atari or Commodore. One interesting note: the idea was conceived by a Microsoft Japan exec.

Virtual GameBoy doesn't emulate Nintendo's horrible "Virtual Boy" console, it's an emulator for the original GameBoy and GameBoy Color. Note that unlike fMSX, this one's a trial version so you'll need to buy it if you want to be able to save game states. I should add that the original GameBoy is/was an awesome console, with one of the largest game libraries available.

Link to fMSX 3.2 Download Page
Link to Virtual GameBoy 3.3 Download Page

No Comment | Posted in » Nokia Software  

Nokia + Microsoft Live = Perfect Together?

A couple of weeks ago, Nokia and Microsoft announced a partnership to bring DRM to Series 60 devices. Now there's another agreement in the works - this time, Microsoft will release the Windows Live service suite that includes Hotmail, Messenger, Contacts, Search and Spaces on compatible Series 40 and 60 handsets. Looks like the start of a beautiful relationship.

Most of the services are pretty self explanatory, although new to the Microsoft lineup is the Spaces application, which allows you to share photo directly from the gallery. (kind of like Vox or Flickr)

What's the catch? For the most part, nothing - unless you want to use Windows Live Messenger for more than 30 days. Then you'll have to fork over an unspecified amount of currency to continue using the instant messaging service.

"Initially the service will be available as a free trial and then customers in select markets wishing to continue using the service may be asked to pay a monthly fee."

The service suite is available for several S60 phones right now, using the Download! application found on the N73, N76, N80, N93i, and N95.

Windows Live on Nokia Devices

No Comment | Posted in » Nokia Software  

Nokia Updates Maps Application (smart2go)

Looks like the name "smart2go" is on its way out. Now known as Nokia Maps, you can download the first-ever, long-awaited update to the software mapping application. And the corresponding MapLoader for Windows.

New changes include a data download counter, GPS status indicator, and a potential free three-day trial of the subscription service (allows voice navigation and city guides). You also get "NOKIA Maps" in big, bold lettering during the loading screen now as an added bonus.

On a more serious note, there's a couple of really useful improvements to Nokia Maps v2. Highways and routes are now marked on the map, and the Maps interface is cleaner, better-looking, and dare I say it - faster.

As always, maps for the 150 or so countries are free, as is the software. However, if you want to buy a license for the navigation feature, it'll cost you upwards of $124 for a one-year license and $13.77 for 30 days (US only). Prices differ based on area - UK/Ireland is a little cheaper.

Nokia Maps and MapLoader Update

No Comment | Posted in » Nokia Maps and MapLoader Update, Nokia Software  

Mobile Phone Software,Game Review: Virtua Tennis Mobile

Believe it or not, SEGA is still alive and kicking. And they're still publishing (or should I say licensing) a lot of their older games for use on, of course, mobile phones.

The Virtua Tennis franchise has been around for quite awhile, at least since the dawn of the Dreamcast. (anyone remember the Dreamcast?) For its time, it was an impressive game in terms of graphics and gameplay.

GLU mobile created and produced the mobile version, so you can blame them if you don't like it.

Virtua Tennis Mobile

The mobile version starts out with some nice logos of SEGA and GLU. Nothing too impressive. The main menu consists of some boxes and text, and...nothing more.

Since this game is strictly geared for single player, it's focused on improving your tennis pro (by buying new equipment or doing the Training mode). Training mode has you hitting an infinite amount of balls by some unknown dude. It's nothing like the good old Dreamcast Virtua Tennis Serve Bowling, or that picking-up-the-cans game.

Your character has experience levels and stats like Power, Speed, Angle, etc. Kinda like an RPG.

The actual game has a couple different modes at play here. First, you get a standard Tournament Miode which has you playing against certain races of people - seriously. Your choices, when you first start out, are:

Asian.
English.
African.

We can only imagine what comes after that.

VS CPU mode is also available, but it's basically Tournament mode with one opponent. It's definitely NOT multiplayer mode over Bluetooth. This game isn't THAT complex.

So how's the gameplay? It's actually a little..weird. Players move VERY slowly, and maneuvering around the courts while hitting the ball on a phone keypad is definitely one of the tougher aspects of the game. If your phone doesn't allow you to hit simultaneous buttons, then you might have a Serious Problem on your hands.

Collision detection is virtually non-existent in this game. The ball could hit you in the nuts and you'd still be able to magically execute a cross court forehand out of nowhere. Amazing.

All in all though, it's not a bad little game. It does a good job of wasting time, and isn't TOO ridiculously difficult to play (ala Lumines Mobile). Virtua Tennis will keep you occupied for the ten minutes you're spending on line, or on the toilet, or whatever.

Tags: games, glu, java, software

No Comment | Posted in » Nokia Software  

Software Review: Mobipocket eBook Reader

Many newer Nokia phones (N80, N73, etc) come with an application called Mobireader. I more or less ignored it until yesterday, when I "spent" (aka wasted) 2 hours of my stinking time converting html files into little eBooks. I'm happy to report that I have officially mastered Kindergarten eBook Conversion.

Mobireader is a very simple application with a lot going for it - it allows you to view eBooks in a wide variety of formats, it has a lot of options, and it's free. I think the company (mobipocket) is kinda hoping that you'll splurge on tons of eBooks which translates into lots of profits for them. Good thing you don't have to.

After fiddling with the software and downloading the new versions (download links below), I succeeded in converting and transferring some eBooks to my Nokia N80. The Mobireader application is pretty decent and has the features that you can expect from an eBook reader: table of contents support, bookmarks, auto-scroll mode, text size/font/color options, select/copy/paste, fullscreen and landscape mode, even sending eBooks to another phone. Very robust.

The quality of the text is also very good. However, if you don't have a high resolution screen (for example, the N71 phone) I can't vouch for the results. On my Nokia N80, the letters are quite crisp and easy to read. I spent about 20 minutes reading an eBook last night with no problems, although I found the auto-scroll function to be worthless. (you can't change the scroll rate) It's good to put that high-res screen to good use finally.

Another high point of the whole software package is the eBook converter. Although it's a pain in the to use (and buggy as boop too), once you get it down the conversion is painless. Did that make any sense?

You can take any Word, HTML, PDF or some other text file and turn it into an eBook, with the ability to add pictures, a table of contents, and other fun stuff.

I'm definitely going to put up a tutorial one of these days.

Mobipocket Creator (eBook conversion software)
Mobireader Series 60 Symbian 9.1 (third edition)
Mobireader Series 60 Symbian <9.1

s

No Comment | Posted in » eBook Reader, Nokia Software  

How-To: YouTubing on the N95 with Nokia Video Center

Watching YouTube videos on the N95 is a snap with the Nokia Video Center application. Inside: a quick 6-step tutorial and introduction to getting video services set up on your phone.

Getting YouTube installed on your N95 via the Nokia Video Center.

The Nokia Video Center is the relatively little-known application in the Applications folder that makes all this video madness possible. To be honest, the program is really nothing more than a gloried RSS feed reader.

You aren't limited to just YouTube videos - Nokia's newly-updated list of video content partners now includes CNN, Reuters, Jamba, Sony, IBN, RooftopComedy, ROK, and Versaly Entertainment. Note that N95s from different regions may have different accessible videos. For example, CNN and IBN are only available on APAC-region N95 devices.

Please note that the Nokia Video Center is ONLY compatible with the Nokia N95.

Adding a Video Service to the Nokia Video Center in 6 Easy Steps

(1) The first thing you'll need to open up the Nokia Video Center application. By default, it's located in the Menu -> Applications folder.

(2) Upon loading, the Video Center will bring you to a menu with four options: Internet Videos, Add New Services, Nokia Nseries, and My Videos. A brief rundown on each:

• Internet Videos lets you import an RSS feed to your Video Center.
• Add New Services is the bread and butter of the application - this option will bring you to the Video Service Catalog and let you add specific content such as YouTube and Reuters.
• Nokia Nseries lets you watch Nseries-themed clips and advertisements, mostly as a demonstration feature.
• My Videos is the place where you'll find your downloaded clips.

Here we're interested in the Add New Services option. You'll need to add a separate service for each video content provider, but this only needs to be done once.

(3) The Video Service Catalog. Install new video services, or just learn more about them with the Info link. Right now, we're going to add the YouTube mobile video service to our main menu, so click the Install button. (4) You'll be greeted with a prompt asking you to confirm - hit the Ok button.

(5) Installation is fairly quick and painless, and should only take a couple of seconds at most. After it's done, hit the Close option (right softkey) to return to the main menu. You should see a new option now - YouTube Mobile Videos. That's the one we want, so hit the middle softkey to connect to YouTube's RSS feed.

(6) Finally! A list of current videos from YouTube with tiny thumbnails. Unfortunately, you can't control what shows up here, other than refreshing the list every couple of seconds. Select one of the videos and hit the Ok softkey, then Play at the next dialog box that pops up to watch your video.

The quality isn't the greatest, but the application and content are still works-in-progress.

Troubleshooting

Due to some kind of limitation with the software, you can't use WLAN to watch (most) videos. Particularly the YouTube and FreeBe TV ones, and probably most of the other ones too. Reuters does work, however. I don't know why it does this, but if you keep getting "File Not Found" errors when trying to play a video, this is probably the reason. For now, stick to EDGE/HSDPA. (and if you know how to fix this, I'd appreciate an email too - thanks)

And that concludes this tutorial.

No Comment | Posted in » Nokia Software  

Nokia Multimedia Transfer (Mac Only)

Up 'til a certain time ago Mac users found out the hard way that there was no easy way to get stuff from the Mac to the Nokia phone and vice versa. But now, thanks to a Mac app called Nokia Multimedia Transfer, you can easily move multimedia files (photos, music, videos, podcasts) as well as .sis applications/games to nearly any phone.

No Comment | Posted in » Nokia Software  

Nokia Music Box for the Nokia N73

Nokia's Hong Kong site has an impressive collection of free S60 software - games and apps both. While most of them are in Chinese and probably won't look right unless you've got an APAC region phone, there's a random application in there called Music Box.

Music Box lets you create songs by dropping dots (you know, representing those bumps in a real music box) onto a scrolling field. Afterwards, you can choose to save your song as a ringtone for even further enjoyment.

For some odd reason, the software is limited to Nokia N73 owners only.

Grab Music Box, a game called "HAHA Boy", and other kooky stuff below.

Free N73 software at Nokia HK

No Comment | Posted in » Nokia Software  

"Killer" Wireless Apps

DailyWireless has a short list of some of the better applications in 2007. Among the nominees:

SkyeSpy - an all-in-one "intruder detection"/remote baby monitor/car alarm monitor/spy device application that can text or call you when it detects sounds. One cool feature lets you call the phone running SkyeSpy and listen in real-time. Although this application begs the question - would anyone seriously want to leave their (s60v3) phone lying around just so they can listen in on a conversation?

QiPit - unlike its horrible name, this service actually sounds pretty useful, at least on paper: take a picture of a document with your camera, send it to keep-it/quip-it/chip-it and you'll get a digital copy in PDF format which you can then email or fax elsewhere.

SpinVox - a blogging/memo service that transcribes what you say into text. Potentially very handy, as long as it's smarter than those 800 number voice menu systems.

No Comment | Posted in » Nokia Software  

N-Gage First Access: It's Out

Got an N81? Head on over to the N-Gage First Access page, where you can download the pre-release beta of the N-Gage platform. Unfortunately you can't download it straight to your phone - the whole package weighs about 60 megabytes and includes the application and three trial games: System Rush Evolution, Space Impact Kappa, and Hooked On Creatures of the Deep.

No Comment | Posted in » Nokia Software  

Nokia Beta Labs: Location Tagger

Nokia's Beta Labs recently released Location Tagger, a small application that automatically adds GPS coordinates to your pictures.

No Comment | Posted in » Nokia Software  

Software: Pro Session Golf for Symbian 3rd Edition

No Comment | Posted in » Nokia Software