Email on mobile phones is becoming a pretty standard feature, but the one thing that still puts me off emailing on a traditional handset, is having to type (a sometimes lengthy) email using the mobile phone keypad. Predictive texting and phones with half/full qwerty keyboards do make this a little easier, but its still not the same as having a proper, full sized keyboard.
The good news for Nokia owners is that if you have a handset that runs on S60 (think Nokia N95, N96, 5800 etc..) you can use a full size Bluetooth keyboard with your phone. Officially this isn’t supported on all phones, but un-officially all Symbian 60 devices are supported!
Now obviously if you’re walking down the street trying to email, this is going to be of no use to you what so ever, but what if you’re out of the office and need to reply to that email or maybe you’ve plugged your phone in to the TV to watch back your photo’s and want to be able to control your phone remotely?
We’ve put together a short guide that tells you how you can set up your phone to work with almost any Bluetooth keyboard. Read More…
The Nokia Beta Labs Boys & Girls really have been busy this week! Normally we have to wait months for new software to play with, but they’ve just released a new version of their ‘Point & Find’ application. Point & Find is an application that lets you access information and services on the internet, just by pointing your camera phone at everyday objects. It then uses GPS data, along with a database of virtual tags to figure out what you’re looking at, and then sends the relevant information back to your phone.
You’re probably thinking, “sounds great but what does that actually mean?” so I’ll give you a few examples:
You’re walking down the street and you see a poster for a new movie. By pointing your camera phone at the poster, you’ll be able to view movie trailers, check showtimes, book tickets and get directions.
You’re out shopping and the latest gadget catches your eye. You scan the barcode with your phone, and are able to read more detailed product information & get the latest reviews. You also get a price comparison from leading online retailers so you can check to make sure you’re not paying too much.
This software is still a very early Beta, so that means that there will be bugs and times that it won’t quite do what its supposed to, but I’d say its still worth a try!
Point & Find is available at the moment for Nokia Symbian S60 handsets (Most NSeries) and is available to download from the Nokia Point & Find website.
Download it, Try it, and let us know how you get on with it.
The boffins over at Nokia Beta Labs have just released a clever little photo application for the Nokia 5800. Imaginatively called “Nokia Photo Browser,” the application adds a flashy looking interface to your photo gallery. To view your photo’s you can now just swipe your finger across the display and all of your images will flow nicely across your screen. Double tap to view an image, and you can now tap your photo to bring up a magnifying glass to zoom in.
The cleverst part of it though seems to be the face recognition. When you double tap on a face in a photo it zooms in to the face, and as you swipe the display, it moves to the next face in the photo. No more scrolling around to refocus on people faces! The Photo Browser is only available at the moment for the Nokia 5800 (and N97 when released) and is available now to download from the Nokia Betalabs website.
Nokia have put this video together to show it in action:
This time though, they’re not all singing all dancing multimedia phones, instead Nokia have concentrated their efforts on lower end phones with a few less features. UK release dates haven’t yet been confirmed, but details of the new handsets announced are listed below:
Nokia 5130 XpressMusic:
This is one of the most affordable Nokia music phones so far. It has a 3.5mm headphone socket so you can use any standard earphones with it and has dedicated music keys. As with most Nokia camera phones now, it comes with a 2MP camera and has an FM radio. Now that Nokia have rolled out their OVI services, they are building support for it in most of their new handsets. The 5130 has built in support for Mail on Ovi and share on Ovi. These new services will add simple email setup and the ability to upload images directly to Ovi or other Social Networking sites such as Facebook. Read more on Ovi The 5130 should be released in the first 3 months of 2009.
Nokia 7100 Supernova:
Another handset for the Supernova line up! The 7100 is the starter handset in the range and features a high resolution display along with a 1.3MP camera. As with the 5130, it has FM radio and support for Mail on Ovi and Share on Ovi. The 7100 Supernova is expected to be available before Christmas.
Nokia 2320 Classic, Nokia 2323 Classic, Nokia 2330 Classic: These 3 handsets all look the same, but vary slightly in their features. They all support Mail on Ovi and Nokia Life Tools. Read more on Life Tools The Nokia 2323 adds FM Radio, and the 2330 adds a basic camera. All three handsets are expected towards the middle of 2009.
Nokia 1202 and Nokia 1661: The final two from Nokia are very basic handsets. Featurewise they have Flashlight, loud ringtones, phonebook and extended battery life. The 1661 also has FM Radio and a colour screen. Both are due early 2009.
Mail on Ovi, which is enabled on Nokia Series 40 devices, offers the possibility to create an email account directly on the mobile phone without having to use a personal computer, giving millions of users the possibility to create their first internet identity and communicate in new ways. Mail on Ovi is easy to find, set-up and use, for immediate email access from your mobile phone. The global rollout of Mail on Ovi will be available on all currently shipping Nokia Series 40 devices by the end of 2008.
Share on Ovi makes it easy to post photos and videos from your mobile device straight to your photo sharing site, blog, or other online community. Learn how to set up Share Online with your chosen service so that you can, post photos and videos, and view your site, even when you’re on the go.
Nokia Life Tools is a range of innovative agriculture information and education services designed especially for rural and small town communities in emerging markets. Nokia Life Tools helps overcome information constraints and provides farmers and students with timely and relevant information. These services use an icon-based, graphically rich user interface that comes complete with tables and which can even display information simultaneously in two languages. Behind this rich interface, SMS is used to deliver the critical information to ensure that this service works wherever a mobile phone does, without the hassles of additional settings or the need for GPRS coverage.
Barely a week goes by without at least one new handset being leaked on the internet. Well, this week it looks like its the turn of Nokia to have their thunder stolen, with the unofficial leak of two new E-series devices. Currently dubbed the E72 and E75, these two handsets build on the current successes of the E-Series but add higher spec and better usability.
Nokia E75 spy shots
Nokia E75
Nokia’s new E75 features a unique slide out QWERTY keyboard, I say unique, but this style of keyboard has been around for many years on HTC devices and is about to make its debut with Sony Ericsson on the Xperia X1.
Nokia E72 Spy Shots
Nokia E72
This appears to be an upgrade to the recently announced and extremely popular Nokia E71. The only differences we can see so far are slight cosmetic changes to the keyboard with the introduction of a couple of extra keys and a possibly a higher megapixel camera.
Can Nokia beat its rivals? With the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 due in a matter of weeks, and the HTC Touch Pro already doing well, it will be interesting to see if Nokia can attract any more users. The E-Series platform works well, runs smoothly and is already proving to be a successful platform for business users.
Email on mobile phones is becoming a pretty standard feature, but the one thing that still puts me off emailing on a traditional handset, is having to type (a sometimes lengthy) email using the mobile phone keypad. Predictive texting and phones with half/full qwerty keyboards do make this a little easier, but its still not the same as having a proper, full sized keyboard.
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