The Nokia Guide

Tip of the day: Open Podcasts with the Music Player

I love podcasts. I listen to them every single day! In a previous post here I had talked about them and how to get the most out of them.  Fact is however that some podcasts are long and I do mean long. I’m talking about 2 hours long and in some cases you can’t listen to them all the way through. In my case I listen to these long podcasts in chunks of 30minutes or less with the usual pause in between. I used to just open these podcasts with the Nokia Podcasting app, but in some cases where I would accidentally close the app or had to restart the phone I would be left wondering where I was. With the latest devices things have gotten a lot easier as the Music Player divides your tunes from your podcasts. Better yet, in the case that you need to close the Music player, it will remember where you left of. So next time, download your podcasts with the Podcasting app, but play them with the Music Player!

Update:  Devices like the N95 8GB, N81 and N82 include the updated Podcasting app version 1.10.1 in the ROM software. The podcasting team is indicating that compared to the older version 1.03 that is currently available for download “There are some minor bug fixes and work done to improve the battery life, but the main value is that the text is now localized to the country languages.” This is handy for those older devices that don’t have the updated app in the ROM. This update should go up this week, so stay tuned.

What happened to FOTA?

Remember FOTA? First introduced with the N80, FOTA or Over-The-Air firmware update, allows your Nseries to  update the firmware directly from the manufacturer’s server using a wireless data connection like Wi-Fi. This is a handy function that allows you update the firmware without ever needing a USB cable and Nokia Software Updater or those visits to the Nokia service centers. On top of that Nokia could offer smaller updates, patching issues as they arise. Newer users would also find it much easier than the NSU solution. Most important of all is the fact that the chances of getting a bricked phone (unusable phone due to failed firmware upgrade) are greatly minimized. While Nokia has made HUGE improvements, making the firmware update via the NSU/USB cable combo almost fail-proof, it’s also a fact that sometimes things still go wrong. That’s where FOTA steps in: it’s a much more convenient and safe solution.

But what happened? Sure, the N80 got a few updates via FOTA and several devices like the N73 got the feature enabled (but never used it), but how many times have you had your phone updated via FOTA lately? Wasn’t this supposed to be one of those big features of S60 3^rd Feature Pack 1? Honestly I had even forgotten that it even existed and it wasn’t until I read the N810 WIMAX edition where they mentioned “Seamless Software Update functionality”, which to me soundws like they’re talking about FOTA. If Nokia is going to introduce this on the Internet Tablets, they should remember that they have this thing called FOTA on their S60 devices and actually use it this time. Better yet, instead of larger updates, they could look at issues users are having in mobile forums and patch them a lot quicker than it would take to do a major update. Do you prefer updating via FOTA, NSU or the good old Nokia service center?

Tip (s) of the day: It’s all about multi-tasking

Wikipedia defines multi-tasking as: the apparent simultaneous performance of two or more tasks by a computer's central processing unit. In this case the “computer” could be any one of the Nseries devices, but as we all know earlier devices were plagued by insufficient and inefficient use of  RAM. They could perform many tasks, but in the end were limited by the available RAM. Luckily, the latest devices like the N95 8GB, N82 and even the N81 have been blessed with tons of RAM. So why not put it to good use?

1)The S60 browser on older devices used  to close by itself when RAM would run out once you loaded one of those RAM hungry pages or when you opened any other application like the Music Player. With the added RAM the latest Nseries phones can tackle the S60 browser in combination with various other open apps and even various browser tabs. But by default there isn’t any setting to allow you to manually open more browser windows.  So Mark from the Nokia blog has come up with a handy tip to trick the the browser into doing this. He suggests that on the newer devices with the updated Multimedia Menu, you could go to the Internet tile and open another browser tabs.  You could repeat this as many time,s adding as many tabs as you like. Pressing #5 in the S60 would bring a list of open pages.

Vaibhav Sharma from the Symbian Blog also has a neat trick to achieve similar results by using the Feed option. He suggests that by subscribing to a feed in the S60 browser and than by opening any post from that feed and selecting the “Full Article” option, this will open the post in a new window. You could then stop the page from loading and proceed to going to any site you want. Again pressing #5 would bring a list of open pages.

2) Many new Nseries users don’t that the Menu key also acts as a “Task Switcher” to switch between open apps. See that button that looks like two snakes? Pressing it toggles between the stand-by screen and applications menu. But by doing a long-press you could open a “Task bar” that shows the list of open apps. You could use Up and Down on the D-pad to browse through these apps or pressing the C-key to close the app you want

3) Once you’ve mastered multi-tasking, why close your apps? If you really want quick access to your application you could leave them running in the background and switch between them using the Menu key. This is especially handy for your email or even the slow Gallery application.

No Nseries devices with Optical zoom in 2008?

Nokia is really pushing the imaging side of their Nseries line with the N82 probably sporting the best camera in any mobile device. But in my opinion a camera phone is not complete until it has optical zoom. A pretty reliable source has stated that we won’t be seeing any Nseries devices this year with optical zoom. After getting both the N93 and N93i with 3X optical zooming, Nokia has been skipping this feature for way too long and having to wait till 2009 to get this feature is a bit of a disappointment. This type of information is still regarded as rumor until we see the actual products. And hopefully this is one of those rumor will stay just that: a rumor. So Nokia, if you are going to top the N82, the next device has got to have optical zooming.

Update on availability N82 Black Edition

Last week I wrote about the Black N82’s availability and at that time things didn’t look so good as Phonesource-USA seemed to be the only online store with the Black Beauty in stock. A week later things are looking much much better as as both Plemix and X1387 on Ebay have it in stock and ready to be shipped. Among all of these Phonesource-USA still has the lowest price among the online vendors who have it in stock at $480.95 (as of April 14^th 2008), but If you’re willing to wait a few days, ShopBLT has estimated time of arrival this April the 18^th for about: $479.63.

Update:  SNtrader now also seem to have it in stock. More info here.

If you’re already part of the N82 family or just joining by getting the black version, you might check out The N82 Blog for the latest N82 tips, tricks, news and review.

Ultimate Audio accessory: Shure SE530PTH First Look

Every now and then a product comes a long that is just good at what it does. Sometimes it does one thing specifically and sometimes it’s many things at once. In other cases it does something totally new or in a new way, while in others it doesn’t do anything new but does it in such a manner that it still becomes famous. Such products become objects of desire and in some cases even reach an iconic status. We don’t have to search very far for such an example: The classic N95. It did many things at once and did them very well.  It sold in large quantities despite its relatively high price and without any doubt it will reach iconic status. But the product I’m talking about today is in many ways a complete opposite to the N95: it doesn’t do many things, in fact it only does one thing. I also doubt it will reach iconic status or sell in large numbers. But the reason why I think it deserves so much attention is because it does what it does so well, rivaling products twice its price.

Getting the most out of your Nseries’ camera

The Nseries is all about imaging. This is obviously an important feature seeing the success of imaging devices like the N73, N95, N95 8GB and most recently the N82. Seeing the quality imaging hardware and the  exceptional images that are the result of this, it shows how important imaging is to Nokia.  But a camera is only as good as the photographer. Sure, manufacturers are constantly putting in “smart” features that  try to correct and make masterpieces using our admittedly less-than-ideal shooting habits. Mastering the art of photography takes a lot of knowledge and practice, which in many cases takes years to master. There are however a few easy tricks that are easy to remember, but in the end make a huge difference.

Filler Flash

Flash is used to illuminate a scene and for this reason people tend to associate Flash with dark or low-light conditions. That is in fact one way of using flash, but have you thought about using your Nseries’ flash during the day? Most cameras including the Nseries devices have the flash set at a default to auto mode, which only activates flash in low-light condition. Setting the flash to always “On” can come in handy during the day by making your subject stand out. The key to doing this is settings the flash to “On” instead of the default “Automatic.”

Go around taking pictures of your subject in daylight with the flash set to on, you’ll be amazed at the results. The first image on the left was taken without flash and the second one on the right had flashed turned on. See how the subject pops out? (click on the image for full size)

 

Tip of the day: Best audio performance goes to….

Looking into getting a new Nseries device and music is your thing? If you plan on listening to your favorite tunes using one of those expensive and fancy earphones, than you might have a look at the N81, N81 8GB or even the tried and true N91 and N91 8GB, arguably the best performing Nseries devices when it comes to audio quality over the 3.5mm Audio jack. Test that I have done myself show that these are capable of rivaling and often even beating most stand-alone MP3 players. If your more of the type that likes to share their taste in music with the world, than you might have a look at the N95 and N95 8GB, while inferior to the already mentioned devices when it comes to the 3.5mm jack, it makes up for it through some of the loudest built-in stereo speaker I’ve heard and superior specs.

Turning your Nseries into a Super Nintendo System: Step by Step

I had previously talked about how the Nseries could be used to play your old Nintendo classics like Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong Country, right here. Now here are the steps to get things up and running and how to optimally run the games which in fact are emulated.

1) First things first. The software needed for this to work is called vSsun, a Super Nintendo Emulator for S60 devices. Yes I know it’s not free, but once you have it; there are literally thousands of games to be had. All those bulky cartridges are replaced with your Nseries device with only the phone’s internal storage being the limiting factor.

2) Search for Super Nintendo SMC ROM files, thousands of these can be found online.

3) Once the program is installed and you have your SMC ROM files, connect your Nseries to your PC or Notebook using the USB cable in “PC Suite mode.”  Launch PC Suite and open the File Manager and go to: Phone Memory>Data>Others>Vsun. Here you should see the preinstalled “Color Demo.” Copy as many .SMC ROM files as you like to this location. Alternatively any wireless connection such as Bluetooth can be used.

4) Fire up the vSun app and you will now see a list of all the detected games, select the desired game and click to launch.

5) One launched, the game might look odd or it might even take only half of the screen. Press either the left or right soft key until a menu pops up.  Go to Graph and set Size to “Full” and Output to “Bitmap”. If you want audio go to Sound and Switch to “Full” and adjust the volume as needed. Press to right softkey to exit and go to Exit. Restart the game and your good to go.

You can save or load your game by pressing the right softkey and going to “Game” and selecting one of the appropriate slots from 1-5 to where you can save or load your saved game. And lastly if the mobile gaming is just not doing it for you with the small screen, play those classics using the usual way on your TV where the Nseries device is your controller. Or how about a more 2008-ish approach with a Bluetooth keyboard?

It takes a bit to get the whole thing going, but once you do chances are you’ll agree that it’s well worth it. Ah, Mario and Donkey Kong are back!

Tip of the day: disable internal GPS.

My review of the Nokia LD-4W external GPS unit here and here indicated that there are many reasons why you should get an external GPS, despite having a device with internal GPS.  Programs like Nokia Map 2.0 apparently don’t allow you to select which GPS unit you want to use if you have an internal and external enabled on one device. It apparently just uses the internal one. If you want to use the external unit, go to: Tool, Settings, General, Positioning and go to Positioning Methods. Make sure to uncheck the Integrated GPS option and enable Bluetooth GPS, but do make sure to leave the other settings enabled.