The Nokia Guide

The new Nokia Tune, do you like it?

Nokia tune is a selected passage from the solo guitar composition Gran Vals. Apparently: “In 1993 Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President of Nokia, brought the whole Gran Vals for Lauri Kivinen (now Head of Corporate Affairs) and together they selected the excerpt that became "Nokia tune"”.

Stefan was one of the first to break the news about the new Nokia Tune ringtone included with some of the newer devices like the E71 and N78. Do I like it? It’s OK I guess, but in some ways I prefer the previous Nokia Tune. The newer version starts abruptly and just isn’t recorded in a way to allow it to be loud enough, no matter how loud the built-in speakers are. Nokia doesn’t even include the older version in some of the newer devices like the E71. How about adding it back in newer firmware versions Nokia? Something so iconic and especially recognizable as the previous “Nokia Tune” should remain and even if it’s replaced with a newer version it should stay true to the original. In my opinion the newer version doesn’t do the Nokia Tune any justice. The ensemble in this Youtube vid seems to do a better job. What do you think? Do you like the new Nokia tune?

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?

My Problem with Geotagging

GPS used to be this exclusive feature reserved for very expensive devices, but now it can be found in many mainstream ones like the N78 and with falling prices of the N95 it’s quickly becoming the standard in almost any device from smartphones, cars or even digital cameras. Add the fact that geotagging images with apps like Shozu and Nokia Location Tagger is just a matter of getting a GPS signal and pressing the shutter release button and you’ll quickly see that Geotagging is going to be big! At first I see that it will start with images, followed by video and later on probably every content created can and will be geotagged. But there’s a problem. Well this problem exists at least with current technology: GPS needs a signal to work and without it there would not be any data to tag your pictures. And this is exactly where the problems sits. If I’m out in some field, at the beach or kayaking I would probably have a clear view of the sky and the GPS would probably work just fine. But people don’t just take pictures outside; a great deal of pictures is taken indoors where GPS doesn’t work, especially with the low-powered GPS units embedded in current mobile devices. Take for example the Punk Rock Bowling event I attended in Las Vegas. The bowling alley is located in the basement of the hotel where even the most sensitive of GPS units would not work, so no geotagged images. If geotagging is going to be big it will need to work everywhere, even in the basement.

CNET’s Buzz Out Loud comments on Nokia’s recent launches

Yes I know, CNET’s isn’t the best place when it comes to reliable reviews, but ironically they happen to have one of my favorite podcasts: Buzz Out Loud (BOL).  In episode 658 the guys comment on recent Nokia news from the Mobile World Congress 2008 (former 3GSM) like OVI, Twango and of course the N96. While CNET seemed to prefer the IPhone in earlier reviews, later on they finally came to their senses and really started giving the N95 some great review quickly making it one of their favorite devices.  For that reason they are giving the N96 a lot of attention in this episode. It’s always interesting to see other people’s reaction and comments outside of the S60 community and despite being my favorite podcast they sure made a lot of mistakes. First of all they are pronouncing the “OVI” name totally wrong. They go on dedicating a good bit of the podcast on Nokia’s latest and greatest and accurately point out that the N96 has the same camera specs as the N95, but fail to notice the dual LED flash. They are unsure if the N96 has a touch screen and wonder if the N95 had this “new” portrait-to-landscape mode. Investigating the N96 feature list they finally wonder if it has a QWERTY keyboard, but in the end are disappointed that it doesn’t. They do call the N96 hot and find it “outrageous what this phone can do, except for the interface”. In the end they call it as good as the N95, slightly better. Have a listen and let me know what you think.

If you’re interest in hearing the totally episode, head on to CNET’s Buzz out Loud page.

Nice touch: CA-101 USB cable

When I first got the N81 8GB and now the N82 I noticed that they came with the Nokia CA-101 microUSB cable that has a handy thingy that holds the cable together. I think the proper name for it might be a “clamp” but I’m not too sure. I wanted to blog about this, but I actually forgot about it, but after comparing the cable with the one that came with the N800 I remembered about this. I presume the N95 8GB also came with this, but again I’m not sure. Can N95 8GB owners confirm this? If you’re like me you have many devices with their USB cable and no matter what you do these cables always manage to become all tangled up and if you have them all together it will become this giant USB cable spaghetti. A small but thoughtful detail that helps to make things a bit neater: all they need to work on now is the USB charging.