Archive for the ‘Mobile Content’ Category
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009
Since Apple launched the App store for the iPhone, the way that we use our phones has changed. Almost all touchscreen smartphones now have a version of the App store, where you can download free and paid for applications to your phone to increase it’s functionality.
Android Market
I’ve been playing with the HTC Hero & Android Marketplace for a few days now and have been trying out some of their most popular apps. As my phone is an iPhone, there are a few comparisons to the iPhone in here but these are my favourites Android Apps so far. (more…)
Tags: android apps, android market, appmanager, beebplayer, htc hero apps, layar, locale, meebo im, movies, ringdroid, shazam, shopsavvy,
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Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
Since the launch of the iPhone App Store by Apple last year, we’ve seen an explosion in the amount of applications, games and ringtones for mobile phones. Phones are now getting smarter than ever before and many now allow us to install extra applications and add functionality to our phones. Over the next few weeks I’m going to be compiling a list of the top applications for each of the different mobile phone operating systems; Symbian S60 3rd edition, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Android, iPhone & Java.
Symbian S60 V3 Handsets From Nokia
I’m starting off with Symbian 60 3rd Edition (also known as S60 V3). If this doesn’t mean much to you, don’t worry, S60 V3 is probably the most common operating system and is found in most Nokia N-Series (N95, N96) and Nokia E-Series (E71, E66) handsets. Over the last few months there have also been a few handsets from Samsung that run S60 such as the Samsung INNOV8. The latest touch screen phones from Nokia – the N97 and the 5800 XpressMusic run on Symbian software, but as they are touchscreen, they run on S60 V5 so the applications listed here won’t work on them. I’ll be compiling a list of Symbian 60 5th edition applications shortly.
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Thursday, May 28th, 2009
Following in the footsteps of the App Store by Apple, App World by BlackBerry and the upcoming Windows Marketplace from Microsoft, Nokia have just released their new store for downloading Apps and other content to your phone.
The new OVI store is designed to make it easier to download applications directly to your phone, without having to connect to your PC first, and is available as a free download to everyone with a compatible phone – currently Nokia handsets running Symbian 60 (N-Series, 5800, E-Series etc)
To get the Ovi store on your phone, you need to download it using the ‘Download!’ service on your phone. You’ll need to refresh the content in order for it to show up, and once downloaded and installed you’ll be able to browse the store for new apps. If you don’t have the download service on your phone, you can also visit store.ovi.com.
Even though it’s still early days for the Ovi store, for my Nokia N82 there were still over 550 paid apps available and 64 free apps with prices ranging from £1.50 to over £40. Content in the store is broken down in to 4 categories, Applications, Audio & Video, Games and Ringtones, and you can filter by free/paid.
Downloading content isn’t quite as seamless as the App Store on the iPhone, but no doubt over time this will only get better.
To use the Ovi Store, you will need to have an Ovi account, but if you already use any of the other Ovi Services (Share, Contacts, Files, Maps, Calendar, Mail, N-Gage, Music) then you’ll be able to use the store with your current sign in details, although to avoid any nasty billing surprises, it’s probably worth registering your credit or debit card, rather than having them charge your phone bill.
If you want to know more about the Ovi Store, allaboutsymbian.com have a pretty detailed walkthrough on how to use it on their site.
Source: Ovi Store
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
Getting a new game or ringtone or wallpaper for your phone should be one of the easiest things in the world. Ordering and paying for it is easy enough, just enter your mobile number, reply with ok to confirm you want it and job done. All that’s left to do now is to download your funky new tune to your phone. So how do you do it? Well, once you’ve ordered your tone, you will receive a text message from us with a link to a webpage where you can download the ringtone or game.
The message you recieve will be something similar to this:
http://wap.mobilefun.co.uk/index.wml?w=1&number=447890123456&pin=1234567
Now if you’re not that technically minded, I wouldn’t blame you if you’re a little bit confused right now and not 100% sure what to do next, but don’t worry, it’s all pretty simple. The link that you’ve received in your text message needs to be accessed from your phone and not from your PC. (If you try it from your PC you’ll get an error message that tells you to use the link on your phone.)
To view web links on your mobile phone its normally just a case of pressing a couple of buttons and the phone will do all the work for you. In most cases there is no need to type in the address that you’ve been sent. As each phone is different, the process for accessing web links varies quite a bit, so I’ve listed some instructions below on how to access web links on the most popular Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, LG and HTC phones and will add more over time.
If you get an error message that refers to a problem with the settings on the phone, you may need to get the Internet settings resent to your phone. It’s free and only takes a couple of minutes, and I’ve put a guide together on how to do this for you: Setting up MMS, WAP & GPRS.
| Standard Handsets |
Symbian S60 Handsets |
| Open the Message |
Open the Message |
| Press "Options" |
Use arrow keys to highlight the link |
| Scroll to "Use Detail" |
Press "Select" |
| Press Select/OK |
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| Scroll to "Web Address" |
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| Press Select/OK |
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| Highlight the address |
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| Press "Goto" |
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| Symbian S60 Touch Screen (5800 & N97) |
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| Open the Message |
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| Press the link in the message |
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| Press "Open Link" |
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| Standard Handsets |
Symbian UIQ |
| Open the Message |
Open the Message |
| Use arrow keys to highlight the link |
Use arrow keys to highlight the link |
| Press "Open" (left soft key) |
Press "Select" |
| Standard Handsets |
Touch Wiz |
| Open the Message |
Open the Message |
| Press "Options" |
Press the link in the message |
| Scroll to "Extract Address" |
| Press Select/OK |
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| Press "Options" |
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| Scroll to "Go To URL" |
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| Press Select/OK |
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| Symbian S60 Handsets |
Windows Mobile |
| Open the Message |
Open the Message |
| Use arrow keys to highlight the link |
Click the link in the message |
| Press "Select" |
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NB: You may experience problems when trying to download games and ringtones using Windows Mobile, as your phone might be recognised as a PC rather than a phone.
| Standard Handsets |
Touch Screen Handsets |
| Open the Message |
Open the Message |
| Press "Options" |
Press the link in the message |
| Scroll to "Extract Data" |
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| Press Select/OK |
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| Scroll to "Web Address" |
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| Press Connect |
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| Non Touch Screen Handsets |
Touch Screen Handsets |
| Open the Message |
Open the Message |
| Use arrow keys to highlight the link |
Press the link in the message |
| Press "Select" |
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NB: You may experience problems when trying to download games and ringtones using Windows Mobile, as your phone might be recognised as a PC rather than a phone.
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009
Being able to choose your own ringtone on your phone is something that should be pretty easy, but not on the iPhone. Apple say that you can buy your ringtones through iTunes, but I’ve never found any on there. So how do you get round this? How do you get your own ringtone on your iPhone?
Its actually pretty simple, and even more importantly its free and legal! All you need to create your own ringtones is iTunes on a PC or Mac and a song in either MP3 or AAC format that is DRM free. DRM files are normally songs that have been purchased online from places such as the iTunes Store, or imported to your computer using Windows Media Player.
Before you start, you need to check some settings in iTunes. In the Preferences window, click on “Import Settings” on the General Tab and make sure that "import using" is set to AAC Encoder.
If you’re on a PC, you’ll need to make sure that you can view file extensions (music files should show .mp3 or .m4a after the filename). If your PC doesn’t, you can change this by opening your "My Documents" folder, and clicking Tools-> Folder Options. On the "View" tab, you should see an option "Hide extensions for known file types," Make sure that the box next to this is not ticked, and then hit ok.
Right, now for the fun bit. Find the song you want as your ringtone and play it in iTunes. iPhone ringtones can be a maximum of 30 seconds long, so you’ll need to know the start and end points for the song clip that you want to use, so play the song, and write down how many seconds there are to the part of the song you want as your ringtone. You’ll need the end time too, but this can only be a maximum of 30 seconds.
By now, you should have the start and end points of your ringtone. Right click on the song in iTunes, and select "Get Info"
When the iTunes preferences window opens, you will see 7 tabs across the top, click on the options tab. You’ll see there is a space to enter start and stop times. Put in the times you wrote down earlier and make sure that both boxes are ticked – then hit "OK".
UPDATE: Thanks to Dean and Snatch for pointing out that you need to ensure that you use : to seperate minutes and seconds, and not a full stop!
Right click your song again, and this time select create AAC version (or similar.) You should then see a second copy of the song appear in your iTunes music library. In order to change it to a ringtone you’ll need to drag this file to your desktop. You can then delete the 30 second version from iTunes and un tick the start and stop times on the original song.
Go to the file on your desktop and you should see its called "songname.m4a". Right click it and choose "rename," all we want to change here is the .m4a to .m4r. You can rename this song if you want, but the filename must end .m4r
That’s it! All you need to do now is double click the file to add it back to iTunes. If you click on the Ringtones link in the side panel, it should now be listed as a ringtone, rather than a music file.
All that is left is to sync your iPhone with your computer. If it doesn’t sync over straight away, make sure the "Sync ringtones" option is selected when your phone is connected.
UPDATE:A few people have had a problem with the ringtones showing in iTunes in the ringtones section, but they aren’t syncing to the phone. To fix this plug your phone in, and on the options screen, uncheck the ‘Sync Ringtones’ box, hit apply and then sync your phone. Once it’s finished, disconnect and re connect your phone. Go back to the options screen and re-check the ‘Sync Ringtones’ box and sync again. This resets the sync information in iTunes and your phone and your ringtones should now show up on your phone.
Download a printable instruction sheet (PDF: 300kb)
Give it a try and let me know how you get on – Got any great ringtones that you want to share with the world? Leave your comments below with the Song title and start/end times and share your creations!
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008
Along with the announcement of 4 new handsets at the Mobile World Congress, Nokia also announced the arrival of Nokia Maps 2.0 – an upgrade to the current version of their mapping software found in some of their N-Series and E-Series devices. Nokia Maps 2.0 promises to be more pedestrian friendly, and be clearer to see while driving. The full version is available to download now, so we thought we’d try it out and see what’s new.
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2D Map View
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3D Map View
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3D Night View
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Arrow View
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Maps
When Nokia Maps 2.0 loads, the differences are noticeable almost immediately. The search bar is now a permanent feature in standby and a data counter has been introduced to help keep an eye on your data usage, especially handy if you aren’t on a fixed rate data plan. Two icons on screen tell you which keys to press to zoom in and out of the map. The signal strength indicator has been improved to show more than just 3 bars of signal reception. Locking on to signal is much faster too – I normally manage to achieve signal lock on my Nokia N82 in 5-10 seconds and often get a signal indoors.
The map views are pretty much the same as before, with the choice of alternating between 2D/3D and day/night view. On screen navigation display has been improved considerably too – you now have the choice of Manoeuvre view, Birds Eye view and Arrow view. Arrow view is a much simpler way to navigate; it shows an arrow facing in the direction you need to travel. Interesting additions are Satellite and Hybrid views, very much along the same line as Google Maps, although you can’t zoom in as far.
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Satellite View
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Non-Major Cities
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Major Cities
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Navigation
To set your destination is extremely simple. If you know the address or postcode of where you want to go you can simply enter this into Nokia Maps. Once it has confirmed the address and shown you on screen, simply select “Drive to” or Walk to”and away you go.
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Navigate to Address or Postcode.
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The built in search has also been improved in Maps 2.0, if you don’t know the full address or postcode, you can now enter part details in and the application will look it up and give you a list of possibilities. The search includes Transport, Restaurants, Cash Points, Post Offices and many more. You can also search by category, such as Eat & Drink, and you can set filters such as Fast Food, Restaurants, Italian etc, and it will just show the locations close to your current location.
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“On Foot” directions
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Local Search
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Extra Services
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Pedestrian Navigation
One of the biggest problems with previous versions of the pedestrian mode was that you never really knew if you were walking in the right direction until you’d walked far enough to notice the difference on the screen. Maps 2.0 has managed to fix this by using the inbuilt accelerometer to create a magnetic compass – This tells the phone which direction you have turned. Walk mode also has information built in on rail transport systems for some of the worlds largest cities to make commuting even easier.
Compatibility
Nokia Maps 2.0 is compatible with S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1, including N81, N81 8GB, N82, N95, N95 8GB, E51 & E90. If you are using a Nokia N95 you will need to using the latest firmware (Version 20.0.015 or newer). You will also need to have either an in-built GPS receiver (N82, N95, E90) or a separate Bluetooth GPS receiver. You will need to buy a license for the Voice Navigation, this can be done directly through your handset using premium rate SMS or by purchasing a Nokia Maps Drive & Walk Voice Navigation License.
Download
You can download the full version of this software from Nokia Maps website.
Tags: GPS, install, installation, Maps, navigation, navigator, Nokia, phone, release, sat nav, satellite downloads, screen, software,
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