The Nokia Guide

Again….more charging option: Nokia Extra Power DC-8

A few days back I spoke about the Proporta Mobile Charger and the Nokia DC-1. All handy devices to charge your device on the go. Of the two I do prefer the cheaper Proporta which also happens to store more charging juice. Nokia has again released another option, the “Nokia Extra Power DC-8” (Weird name). This is a much more compact solution compared the previous two I mentioned before, but uses standard AA batteries. You would actually put the battery (or batteries, not sure how much it actually takes) into the device and use it to charge your phone and uses the standard 2mm charger pin. Now I’m still left with one question : How many charges can you get out of a standard AA battery? Personally, I don’t like anything that deals with AA or AAA batteries as I think it’s wasteful and inconvenient, but some argue that these are readily available and can be bought anywhere. Oh well, it’s always good to have more options as I always say. No word yet on pricing and availability. More info can be found here.

Do we really Need Coreplayer?

After all the hype and months of waiting, the much anticipated Coreplayer is finally here. But do we really need it? Do we even need a video player? Here are a few reasons against Coreplayer.
1)First of all, almost every power user I know already has Smartmovie, so do we really need another video player?
2) Phones like the N80 and older promised native MPEG4 playback, but fell short do to their inability to playback H.264 AVC (MPEG-4 Part 10), that’s why many users looked for players like Smartmovie. The situation has changed so much that current phones like the N93, N93i and N95 all can playback H.264 AVC without a problem. Add the fact that there are many free converters like SUPER that can easily convert just about any video into formats like H.264 AVC or even MPEG-4, H.263/3GPP and RealVideo 8/9/10. All of these formats are natively supported by the built-in Real Player.
3)The Real Player has gotten really good. I’ve noticed that it copes well with even 640x480 video. This is expected since the latest phones like N95 and N93 all capture VGA (640X480) video and it naturally supports this resolution. While the controls could be better, it offers all the basics like forward, rewind and pause.
4)Coreplayer is known for it’s support for many audio and video formats. But again Smartmovie has an included converter, making it able to convert and play any video you want. Obviously you need to convert the videos first, but it can atleast do. Also, as stated above, converters like Super are free and can convert just about any format out there. So why is Coreplayer so special?
5)After finally releasing Coreplayer we get to buy a BETA product? There isn’t even a way to try the app first before buying.

On the other side, players like Coreplayer and Smartmovie do offer a better experience and many more features, but I can’t argue with the fact that the built-in Real Player is free. Combined with Super it does what it needs to do: play videos! Only thing that can change my mind right now is native Windows Media Video and FLV Playback. In the mean time things aren’t looking so good for Coreplayer.

Update:Apparently a demo version will come, but Late Q1 of 08. And about the Windows Media support, the guys at Coreplayer are indicating that the first Beta 1 release will only support WMA. After Beta 1 they will add the WMV decoder. They are also noting that it’s very, very slow and that they plan on adding their own WMV decoder by version 1.3. As for the FLV support they are saying: “no player outside of Adobe Flash Player plays Flash unless Adobe has blessed/licensed it to them. While we internally DO support the Flash 'container' and the codecs within it (ON2, H.263, H.264/CoreAVC). We only have this available to our OEM customers that may have a direct license with Adobe and cannot release it in our consumer editions of CorePlayer Mobile or CorePlayer Professional.” This seems to solve a few things, but these are all “planned” things and we know how much these things take, especially if the delayed launch is any indication. It is starting to look better for them, but I will just have to wait and see. Until then Smartmovie is my choice.

Ngage Q&A

As expected Nokia introduced the new N-Gage mobile gaming service. The service allows you to try all N-Gage games for free from any compatible Nokia device and then download and buy a game on your device or PC . The N-Gage service will be available globally in November 2007. At that time, the free N-Gage application can be downloaded from http://www.n-gage.com (PC or mobile) and installed in compatible devices. Later, the N-Gage application will be embedded in a wide range of Nokia devices, including the new Nokia N81 and Nokia N95 8GB, so consumers can play straight out of the box. N-Gage titles include EA SPORTS FIFA 08, The Sims 2 Pets, Tetris, and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR being developed for the platform as well as new publishers Capcom and Vivendi, including Crash Bandicoot. Nokia Publishing also announced new titles: Snakes Subsonic and Bounce Boing Voyage. But I wondered what happened to Creatures of the Deep and the One?

Based on the Nokia Q&A session held during the event, here are a few tidbits that you may not know.
As for Ngage support it currently will be compatible with 7 devices : N81, N81 8GB, N95, N95 8GB, N93, N93i and N73 but they’ll be announcing more on an ongoing basis. Not only Nseries devices but other Nokia S60 devices will be added as well. N-Gage technology is currently only compatible with S60 3rd edition devices. Strangely, the N73, a device without a dedicated graphics chip is on the list, while the equally equipped N80 is not. Chances are the N80 will be added later on, but I do expect that that these two devices won’t be able to take advantage of the more advanced games like System Rush. When they launch later in the year, the N-Gage application will be available as a free download from the N-Gage.com website (on PC or mobile). Afterwards, it will be pre-installed on new compatible devices going forward. As many are asking, the N95 will be a compatible device. You can sign up for a launch notification email or sms on N-Gage.com.
There are lots of games in development right now, both first party and third party titles, the games aren't finished yet so the feature sets may still change a bit. Many titles will be multiplayer, but all titles will have connected features of some sort, such as global rankings. All games will also support N-Gage Points system, so you can earn points from achievements in any N-Gage title.

Music Store Q&A

Nokia today announced the Nokia Music Store as part of the Ovi platform. Here are a few little details surrounding the service based on the Q&A session held during the Nokia Virtual Event.
The Nokia Music Store will be available globally. During this year there will be major European markets launched and then next year also many countries globally, e.g. in Asia. Music store will be fully localized for each country. The Music store will use DRMed WMA audio files encoded at 192kbit/s. Nokia music store is the first one to provide seamless user experience between mobile and PC. User can access the store from the mobile or from PC -- and also synch files between these domains. They are also providing streaming service for PC in addition to normal song download (albums and á la carte download) . Currently, streaming service is only available for PC but they are studying the possibility to use that also directly from the mobile. Naturally the bandwidth has been major restriction in the past.
The streaming service is subscription based, paid by the monthly fee of 10€ amonth (8 pound for UK).. Then you can stream the whole catalog on from PC. Music downloads are not subscription based, users just have to login into the site in order to be able to make purchases. The current prices are set at 1€ a tune or 10€ per album.

There has been some speculation as to why Nokia did not go the DRM-free route. The Nokia reps said that they are constantly monitoring industry trends, but currently they are using DRM because “DRM is required by many content owners and Nokia wants to provide as much content as possible in Nokia music store.” The product manager also indicated that over-the-air downloading is supported by N81 and all the newly announced handsets. “Older devices starting from N91 are supporting WMDRM via PC (transfer purchased songs from PC)”. The transfer of music using the PC will be done using Windows Media Player or upcoming Nokia PC client for music management. Nokia PC client will be available during this year and it will also support albums arts with Nokia devices.

Nokia Download! For PC is finally available

The Nokia Download! For PC is finally available, well for some handsets at least. Download! For PC is similar to Download! app found on your Nokia phone. It’s a great place to find music, ring tones, games, videos, and applications for your mobile device. Currently only the 6110 Navigator and the 6120 Classic are supported. To install the application you’ll need to have Nokia PC Suite version 6.82 or newer, or Nokia Nseries PC Suite. The application does seem pretty demanding needing at least 100MB of free disk space and a minimum of 256Mb of memory, however 512MB is recommended. Download! For PC can be found here.

Size comparison: N95 8GB vs N95 vs N81 8GB

Manufacturers almost always give the product dimensions, but you are often left wondering how these devices compare when put next to each other. Sometimes not even pictures can give enough information about the size. This sometimes led to people finding the products smaller or larger then they originally thought. A great solution is provided by Sizeasy which allows you to enter a product’s dimension and see how they compare next to each other. Here’s the recently announced N95 8GB next to the N95 and N81 8GB. As you can see the N95 is identical in size to the new N95 8GB, but the latter has a much larger 2.8’’ screen though. The N81 is narrow, thinner but just a bit longer. Click on preview image to get the full size.

Live from the Nokia Virtual Event!

Overview of the Nokia Virtual event.

9:50am: Official welcome by Nokia through host Jussi Wacklin (Nokia Marketing Director for Multimedia), a look back at the developments leading to today's social media, web 2.0 and the Nseries. Nokia’s strategy is now focused in becoming an internet company.

9:55: Animation of the N81's 070829 site starts.

10:00: New window opens with Live webcast.
11:05: Wom World intro starts with Richard G introducing himself. is one of the main writers for the WOM World site. Live chat with product managers coming up later on during the day.

11:15am: During the Product announcement section both the N81 and N95 are shown in action in a promotional video.


11:40am: TVC stands for TV Commercial. An ad for the Nokia N81 called the Next Episode is shown.

11:45am: Service announcement video: Nokia introduces OVI, a portal to Nokia’s internet communities and internet services like online music with the Nokia Music Store, Nokia Maps , navigation, city guides and Ngage gaming platform.

12:00pm: Q&A with the N81 product manager through Jaiku. The N81 official site is revealed:www.nseries.com/n81 Two version of the N81: N81 and N81 8GB.The N81 8GB has 8GB internal flash memory (430 €) and the N81 uses microSD card and comes wit 2GB inbox (360€). The Product manager reveals that the amount of RAM is about 90MB!

12:20pm: Exclusive Ngage video: The Video starts with the new System Rush evolution game. System rush will have 3 modes: infiltrate, shutdown and evacuate. After that Bounce Boing Voyage is shown. So cool! Looks like Bounce is now fully 3D. Bounce is followed by what seems like a new version of Pro Golf in the form of the Pro Golf Series. Lastly a new version of Snakes:Snakes Subsonic. Where is "the One" fighting game?


12:40pm:N81 Boy band content: Parody of what looks like the backstreet boys singing about the N81.

13:00: Webcast of lunch-time entertainment: Webcast of lunch-time entertainment: Nokia introduces us to the 4th screen concept. Media has moved from cinemas to TV, to Internet/PC, to handheld devices. The experience on the internet/PC had become very individual and solitary. The fourth screen, mobile entertainment is set to change this by letting us share and enjoy our media outside. Kari Tuutti introduced as the second host. Next speakers: Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo (President & CEO), Kai Oistamo VP & General Manager, Mobile Phones,Anssi Vanjoki (Executive VP & General Manager, Multimedia)


13:10:Nokia N95 8GB product manager Jaiku Q&A (during webcast):the product manager reveals that the n95 8GB's main theme was to listen to the feedback received on the N95 and try to make things better. This feedback not only comes from normal consumer research but also reviews and the feedback from blogosphere. As for the software changes he reveals that “we've updated quite a bit on SW side. New multimedia menus are the first step to new contend driven UIs, new Maps ,faster camera + other improvements here and there.” On the hardware side the N95 8GB still has an LED flash and there’ s an enlarged 2.8'' QVGA screen. Unfortunately there’s no microSD slot as no more space was left after putting in an enlarged battery and 8GB of storage. TV out is still the same with the same output resolution. Regarding to GPS it also sports the A-GPS found in the normal N95.The product will be available in volumes in Oct. the price will be approx 560€ without local taxes
14:30:Attendee reactions:Opinion from attendees like Ricky Cadden, Stefan Constantinescu and and Rafe blandford.
15:40: Music Store Q&A: See special section above
16:00: N-gage product Q&A: See special section above

The show starts soon!

Finally got my hands on the official Virtual Event schedule for tomorrow (Well it’s actually today in some parts of the world). Nokia’s own Wom World has created an entire virtual event surrounding the announcements with special sites to follow the event as it happens. The show will start at 9.50am GMT which is around 5:50am around here (GMT -4). Going to bed now as I will be up very very early…..

PC Suite applies updates by itself?

I’m not sure about this, but I remember reading somewhere that PC suite could update itself by adding patches or maybe even download an entirely new version. The Nokia Software Updater checks for updates every time it starts up, but I never did see PC suite do this until today. I installed a few apps and synced the N95 with my PC, but it didn’t prompt me to do anything. I did leave it open and didn’t bother to close it. After about 20 min inactivity it pop-up appeared telling me that an update was available and that it needed permission to download an install it. It’s still PC Suite version 6.84 but the build has been bumped to 10.4. Didn’t know that PC suite actually did this, is this new feature? First time I see this though….

An alternative to the Poporta Device charger: The Nokia DC-1

No matter how good batteries have gotten, I still can’t manage to get an entire day out of my phone. While I can always plug in my phone, finding a place to actually charge it isn’t always as easy. Up till now the only option were the car charger, a second battery and the excellent Proporta USB Mobile Device Charger. We can add another option to list as Nokia has just announced the Power Pack DC-1. The Nokia Power Pack DC-1 has reserve power for of up to three batteries recharges. The DC-1 is compatible with the Nokia 2mm charging interfaces and comes with two charge output cables so you can easily charge two devices at the same time. The DC-1 is a bit costly coming in at around 105 euros or 142 dollars, which is almost twice the price of the Proporta device. It’s always good to have options though...