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Top 10 Apps for your Nokia Phone – Symbian S60

Andy Simpson — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:23:56 +0000

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.

On to the apps then. All of these are free of charge and can be downloaded either through the Nokia Ovi Store or from Downloads.com.

1. Mobile Messenger

Mobile Messenger provides a universal instant messaging platform that works seamlessly across your desktop and mobile phone and fully integrates with your address book. As well as being able to chat using MSN/Windows Live Messenger you can also chat with AIM and Yahoo Messenger contacts. The application remembers your username and password for quick login, supports sound notification of a new message and reacts quickly. Mobile Messenger uses very small amounts of data, doesn’t drain your battery and is extremely easy to use. You can choose between sound or Vibration alert, have group chats and all your contacts appear in one clear list.

2. YouTube for Mobile

We all love killing time on YouTube, and this app makes it really easy to search for videos and play them back on your phone without having to navigate to their website first. During playback you can pause, fast forward and rewind as well as play video full screen in landscape mode. One slight word of warning here is that watching video’s uses a lot of data, so make sure you have an unlimited internet bundle on your account or are connected to a Wi-Fi network (if available on your phone).

3. Google Maps

Google Maps is an incredibly popular application on the internet, and there are times when it would come in handy when you’re out and about. The great news is that you can now get Google Maps on your phone. It’s not a scaled down version either, it’s a fully functional application that has been optimised to run on a mobile phone. You will need to pick up a GPS signal in order to use some of the features in Google Maps, so if your phone hasn’t got it built in, you’ll need to get yourself a Bluetooth GPS receiver. This will then allow Google Maps to track your location in the application for driving directions, business listings and traffic information. If you’re out walking and getting a little bit lost, Google Maps now has street view for major towns and cities that will help you figure out exactly where you are and where you need to go. Follow the link for download information and a demo video.

4. Trapster

This one is a must for drivers who don’t have safety camera alerts on their Sat Nav. It’s a GPS based app, so again you’ll need a Bluetooth GPS receiver if you don’t have GPS built into your phone. It uses your GPS location to warn you of any upcoming safety cameras, but the thing that makes this different to others, is that it’s interactive. If you find a location where there isn’t a camera, give it the thumbs down, if a new one appears, a couple of presses adds it to the database and other users will be warned too. As Trapster uses an internet connection for constant updates, it can warn you of upcoming safety cameras, Mobile speed cameras, Checkpoints, places where police are waiting with hand held speed guns and places where police frequently wait with the hand held speed guns. On a serious note though, this application isn’t an excuse to speed. It is a way to help protect your license. Speeding kills, so drive safely and don’t attempt to use your phone while driving.

5. Fring

Fring is similar to Mobile Messenger, in as much as it lets you chat to your friends, but supports a much wider range of IM apps. You can use Fring to chat to friends that use MSN/Windows Live, ICQ, Google Talk, Twitter, Yahoo and AOL. The big difference here is that you can also use Fring to call contacts on Skype and other VOIP services.

6. Joiku

Joiku is a great app that might remove the need to have a Mobile Broadband Dongle. When you launch Joiku, it creates a connection to your 3G mobile network, and then uses the WiFi antenna on your phone to create a wireless hotspot that you can then connect your laptop to in order to browse the internet. It’s not just limited to one laptop though, you can connect multiple devices all at the same time. I’ve got this installed on my N82 and frequently use it to connect my iPod Touch to the internet for emailing and internet. There are a couple of basic requirements for this app though. Your phone must have Wi-Fi Built in, and to avoid any nasty surprises with your bill you need to be on an unlimited internet tariff that includes laptop access.

7. Opera Mini

Browsing the internet on a mobile phone isn’t always the most enjoyable experience. The Opera Mini browser is much easier to use than the standard one built into most S60 devices and has a few more features too. If you use the Opera browser on your home PC you’ll be able to synchronise your bookmarks over the air, you can save pages for viewing later as well as view video’s from sites such as YouTube that are embedded into sites. You’ll also find that Opera Mini loads pages a lot faster than the standard browser too.

8. Bit Defender

As phones get smarter, so do viruses. Bit Defender is an anti-virus application for S60 devices. While it’s unlikely that you’ll get a virus on your phone, when you do they’re extremely difficult to remove without you losing all your data. There are paid anti-virus solutions available, but for a free one this does a great job.

9. Google Mobile

I’m sure there have been times where we have all needed to find the answer to something quickly – Google on your mobile is the first place I normally go, but having to wait for the internet browser to load, then type in google, then you have to wait for the page to load – it’s not really very fast. Google Mobile is a stand alone search app and can search your phone as well as the web. to find the information you need, just launch the app, type in what you’re after and hit search. Simple as that. Google Mobile is an app you’ll never want to be without.

10. Nokia Point & Find

I covered this recently when Nokia first announced it, It’s only availble for Nokia handsets, but this small app lets you discover useful and relevant information and services by simply pointing your camera phone at objects. For instance, point your camera phone at a movie poster on the street to read reviews, glance at ratings, lookup show times, and even find the closest theatre and purchase tickets in the UK if your phone has a built-in GPS. This one is still a beta application, which means there are known problems with it, and it might play up now and again.

That’s it, that’s our current top ten. Let us know what you think to these apps, or if you’ve found a great application that you can’t live without, then tell us about it using the comments form below.

iPhone 3.0 Review

Andy Simpson — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 00:30:05 +0000

iPhone software 3.0 Beta 1 is now available to developers, and as we couldn’t wait to get our hands on it, we asked our guest reviewer Darryl Mitchell to have a play with the new software and let us know what’s new and if it’s any good. This is his review:

I’m going to start with the Home screen and work my way through. The new things about the home screen that are noticeable so far is there are a few new icons. Its not all that noticeable, but the phone icon, the ipod icon and the messages icon have changed, and now have a more contemporary brushed effect. You’ve also got the new spotlight feature which is really helpful if you want to search for songs, emails or contacts, it searches everything. You just swipe to the right and it brings up the spotlight search screen. Its a really good feature and is surprisingly fast, I thought it was going to lag for quite some time, but it’s quick and snappy. That is it for the new home screen.

Moving on to the phone features, there’s not much added to the this bit, however, when you get a missed call or it shows you your recent calls, it now shows you what they called you from, for example if you called them on their mobile, or work phone you can now see this in the Recent calls screen. So that’s a really easy way of showing where they called you from.

Landscape Typing:
The best bit you’ll probably find in iPhone 3.0 is that it now has landscape typing. So now when you’re in your inbox, you can view it in landscape, and you can create a new email in landscape too. The only thing I’ve found that I don’t like about this new firmware is that you still can’t delete messages in bulk, you still have to individually select them, which is really annoying. If you have a ton of emails coming through every day, you have to scroll through and it just takes forever. I just want a delete all button, which will just make it all so much quicker and easier.

Onto Safari then, not much new in here, although you have got auto-fill, so when you are on a web page with an address field, once you click in the text box, you now have this new option auto fill which will fill in all your address details for you. The only other feature I’ve noticed, is more of an enhancement than a feature is that safari seems to be a bit faster, not particularly for browsing, but for launching, rotating the screen and launching bookmarks for example. It can be a bit laggy at times, but then this is the Beta version, but I find it does seem to be a bit more nippy when rotating the screen.

Improved Messaging:
Now the messages application is really, really good. There are a lot more new features in here, however they’re not all in the Beta, MMS is not yet supported. You can now view your messages in landscape and not only that, you can type in landscape. I didn’t think I’d like typing in landscape, but it’s so much easier and I’m finding that I’m only using the landscape keyboard all the time now. I was expecting it to be extremely glitchy but it’s surprisingly fast to switch between the two views. Also, you can now delete individual messages, previously you could only delete the whole conversation. Now you can click on edit, select the messages you want to remove and press delete.

iPod & YouTube:
Going on to the iPod then, not much new in here, the only thing I can see is a search function, which is really fast and works in the same way as spotlight on the home screen. Also, when you go on now playing it’s got the new shake to shuffle shuffle feature. It’s quite hard to use, because you have to shake it quite a bit, and if you use it when you’re out running, it can sometimes go off which can be a bit annoying, it’s like the new Nano which has the shuffle, but I’m not too keen on it.

I’m going to move on to the new YouTube function, which I love. The real let down of the previous application was that you could only view videos, you couldn’t really do much else with it. You couldn’t log on, you couldn’t comment, view subscriptions, or rate videos. with this one you can see your subscriptions and all the new videos. I do still feel that there is still a lot more that can be done with this application. For example, I wish you could reply to comments and messages you can do what ever you can on your desktop, as it’s easier when you’re on the go. I’m always checking emails when I’m out and about and I think that if you add those features to this app it would be lots better.

Notes & Settings:
Notes have been improved too, you can now create a new note in landscape mode. The new copy and past feature is really good. All you have to do is double tap it, and then press select, select all or paste. You can then either select it all or use the blue markers to select the text that you want. Once you’ve chosen your text, press copy, go to where to where you want the text, double tap and press paste. Now this will work everywhere you go, so you can copy text from notes and paste into email. Its that easy. I really don’t understand why it took them this long to introduce this feature.

The settings screen on the phone have changed slightly, the fetch settings has moved to the mail settings, which I don’t like because I like to quickly change it through the main screen and you now have to go through more screens to get to it and it is a bit laggy. In the general settings there are more options for the home button. For example you can now set it to launch iPod, Camera or Search, also on the search settings, when you go to spotlight you can turn off certain search areas, for example I don’t want spotlight to search my Video’s, Podcasts or Notes. That’s about it as far as I can see on the iPhone 3.0 software at the moment, but this is only the first Beta, so hopefully more features will be added soon.

To see Darryl’s full video review on the new iPhone 3.0 software, it’s available to view now on his YouTube Channel.

Nokia Point & Find Now Available

Andy Simpson — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:13:45 +0000

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.

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Software Update

Andy Simpson — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:17:30 +0000

Nokia have just released a software update for the 5800 XpressMusic.

As well as fixing a few bugs, the software will add new features to your 5800 and is available to download now from the Nokia software update website.

Improvements in the new software version include faster data downloads from the Internet, an improved e-mail interface, and improvements to the built in search.

The update will also add the following new features:

Faster user interface
Faster download times
Front facing camera can now take still images
Burst mode allows you to take multiple pictures one after another without needing to repress the camera button
Built-in dictionary functionality with voice playback of words utilizing text-to-speech technology, with support for 38 languages
Application Update lets you check for available updates for applications and update them directly on the phone.
Applications can also be kept up-to-date by setting the checking to automatic.

For help in upgrading the software on your phone, please see our step-by-step guide on Nokia software updates.

Stereo Bluetooth coming to iPod Touch & iPhone!

Andy Simpson — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:05:48 +0000

UPDATE: Apple have confirmed that the iPhone 3.0 software update will be available to download on the 17th June and will be free for iPhone users and there will be a small charge for iPod Touch users. More Information

In case you may have missed it, yesterday, Apple announced a new version of its iPhone software (iPhone 3.0) that also runs on the iPod touch. While a lot of the new features will only be available on the iPhone, there are a few new features that will make it onto the iPod Touch.

Applications will be smarter and able to do more, Copy & Paste will be added for email, but probably the most exciting addition to the iPod Touch (and iPhone 3G) is the introduction of Stereo Bluetooth that will allow you to listen to your music using Bluetooth Headphones, Bluetooth Car Kits and Stereo Bluetooth Speakers.

Did you say Bluetooth? On an iPod Touch?
You might be thinking I’m going a little bit crazy as the iPod Touch doesn’t have Bluetooth. Well, no I’m not crazy, the iPod Touch 2G does infact have Bluetooth built in, but Apple chose not to use it.

When the 2nd Generation iPod Touch launched last September, several people decided to take it to pieces and examine the components. Amongst them they found a Bluetooth chip, that until iPhone 3.0, has been lying dormant. This new version of the operating system will enable the chip to allow Bluetooth connections for peer-to-peer connections and the use of Stereo Bluetooth accessories.

Great news for all you music fans who are fed up of getting tangled in cables. Looks like its time to dig out my Motorola S9′s.

Apple are still to confirm whether you will be able to control your music using controls on Bluetooth Headphones, or whether it is only going to play music, either way its still an unexpected feature that will be more than welcome on the iPod Touch & iPhone 3G. The only bad news is that Stereo Bluetooth is not going to be available on the first generation iPod Touch or iPhone.

iPhone 3.0 will be a free upgrade to iPhone users and is expected to be available in June this year. iPod Touch users will have to pay a small fee for the software, which I’m guessing will be around £15.

Read our iPhone 3.0 Beta Review here.

Sat Nav for your HTC Touch Diamond

Andy Simpson — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:18:15 +0000

One of the biggest handset launches of the year so far was the HTC Touch Diamond. Its got a decent camera, touchscreen, compact design, full internet, email and built in GPS to help you get around, which is great, if, like me, you’re hopeless at finding your way around – but, it doesn’t come with any mapping software built in.

So far there hasn’t been a Sat Nav solution available for the HTC Touch Diamond as most third party Sat Nav software is installed onto a memory card. As the Touch Diamond doesn’t have a memory card slot, this made it impossible to install – until now!

CoPilot have just launched CoPilot Live 7, a fully featured Sat Nav system designed exclusively to run on the HTC Touch Diamond. Supplied on a DVD, the software is quick and easy to install and completely eliminates the need to use a memory card as installation is done through your PC.

The software features a large, clear touch based user interface, and can navigate using your phonebook contacts, address, or search for an address using a UK post code. CoPilot Live 7 aims to keep distractions to a minimum, so clear spoken instructions will guide you to your destination, while the clear 2D and 3D mapping will show you where to go and automatically zoom in when needed. Safety Camera alerts are also included at no extra cost with free periodic updates. Maps for the UK and Ireland are included as standard, and additional maps can be downloaded using CoPilot Central – a desktop application that allows you to plan and print your routes in advance, upgrade your services to include traffic updates and buy the extra maps.

Visit the Mobile Fun website for more details on CoPilot Live 7 for the HTC Touch Diamond.

UPDATE: CoPilot Live 7 with European Maps is now available. Visit the Mobile Fun website for more details on CoPilot Live 7 with European Maps for the HTC Touch Diamond.

New iPod Touch on its way?

Andy Simpson — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:45:16 +0000

According to developers who have been dissecting the latest version (2.1) of the iPhone/iPod Touch software, we’re about to get a brand new iPod Touch. The current iPod Touch has previously been referred to in the source code as “iPod1,1″, but the latest software points to a device “iPod2,1″ – and as of yet no such device exists, so leading developers believe a new iPod is not that far away.

This may not mean a lot to most people, and you would be right for thinking that this might just mean a larger capacity iPod Touch coming, but a change in source code has not meant a change in capacity in previous models!

So what are we likely to see then? An all new iPod Nano Touch? A Shuffle Touch? I don’t think we’ll have that long to wait to find out as Apple normally update their iPod line up around September. So as the kids go back to school and you start thinking about Christmas , watch our for some big announcements.

Via MacRumours

iPhone Sat-Nav Confirmed?

Andy Simpson — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:51:04 +0000

Sat Nav on iPhone

JUNE 2009 UPDATE: TomTom software has been confirmed for the iPhone – Read More.

Since the launch of the iPhone 3G last week, stories are surfacing on the availability of a full Sat Nav application. Rumours were flying around prior to its launch that TomTom had a full version of its mapping software ready to launch, and according to Gizmodo, TeleNav have a version ready for release too. Nothing as yet has been confirmed on release details, but it would seem that there are a few issues that the software vendors will need to resolve first.

Software developers have stated that the iPhone SDK (software development kit), bans the use of real time navigation, presumably to avoid any potential lawsuits from people directed into a ditch by their iPhone. No doubt developers such as TomTom and TeleNav will be working closely with Apple to make sure this doesn’t happen.

Via Gizmodo

How to install your Bluetooth Dongle

Andy Simpson — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:23:46 +0000

Installing a Bluetooth Dongle to a PC Running Windows XP SP2:

Windows XP Service Pack 2 has generic Bluetooth drivers built into the operating system. While these drivers will provide you with basic Bluetooth functionality, you will only get the most out of your Dongle by installing the drivers that are supplied with it.

Installing generic Windows drivers:

Before beginning installation we would recommend that you visit the Microsoft Windows Update web site, to make sure your PC is up to date with the latest driver and security updates. Bluetooth drivers are built into Windows XP Service Pack 2 so an installation CD is not necessarily required.
To begin installation, insert the Bluetooth Dongle to a free USB port on your computer.

After a few seconds, you should see a yellow notification bubble by the clock. Windows will automatically begin to search for the necessary drivers and after a few minutes, the hardware will be installed and ready for use.

If Windows doesn’t have the necessary drivers, the add new hardware wizard will prompt you to insert the disc.

If this happens;

Place the disk into the CD drive.
Click next.
Follow the on screen prompts to install the drivers.
Restart the computer.

Your new Bluetooth Dongle is ready for use.

Installing specific drivers using supplied disc:
To install the drivers that are supplied with your new Dongle, follow these steps.

It is very important that you do not plug the Dongle into your computer until prompted to do so.

Insert the CD into your CD drive.
Disc should run automatically.
Follow the on screen prompts.
Insert the Dongle when prompted.

A series of yellow notification bubbles will appear by the clock as the drivers are installed. When installation is complete you will get a notification to say that the hardware has been successfully installed and is ready for use.

Installing Specific Drivers using downloaded drivers:
If you don’t have the software disc anymore or it has been damaged, you can download the drivers from the internet. The drivers needed vary from device to device. Download Bluetooth Dongle drivers. Once you have downloaded the file. Double click the Icon to begin the setup process. Follow the on screen prompts, and only insert the Dongle when prompted to do so. A series of yellow notification bubbles will appear by the clock as the drivers are installed. When installation is complete you will get a notification to say that the hardware has been successfully installed and is ready for use.

How to solve A2DP problems with the Jabra BT320s

Andy Simpson — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:18:55 +0000

If you are experiencing issues while trying to listen to your music on your Jabra BT320s, this troubleshooting guide should point you in the right direction.

On some handsets, users may find that although they can make and receive calls perfectly fine, they may not be able to hear music in stereo if at all. In order to resolve this there are 2 possible fixes:

Fix 1: Hard reset of BT320

Delete the pairing from your phone. If you are not sure how to do this, please consult your phones user manual.
Turn off the headset.
Plug the charger into the headset 3 times, keeping it plugged in for 4 seconds each time before unplugging it.
Pair the headset to your phone.

Fix 2: Software Update
If the Hard reset hasn’t solved your problem you may need to update the software in your headset. The cable required to update the headset is not included with the headset and is not currently available from Mobile Fun. The cable is the same as a Sony DSC-S650 Digital Camera.

Download and install the Jabra Software Update Tool.
Follow any on screen prompts.
When the update is finished, pair the headset to your phone.

It is extremely important that you do not turn off your computer or unplug the headset during the update process as this could cause irreversible damage to your headset. Mobile Fun will not accept any responsibility for any damage caused to your headset during a software upgrade.