Month: February 2007

I was (finally) able to download the Smart2Go application today have spent some time playing with it on my N73. You’ll need to have at least 3MB free for the initial install and will certainly want to have space on a memory card for downloaded maps and local info. You will also want to be sure you are good on your data plan as this baby is downloading constantly while you move around.

I opened it up at home and had it quickly running in the car. From what I can tell, it looks a lot like the Maps app that I’ve seen in N95 demos which is cool that it’s being shared across devices. As you can see below there are both 2D and 3D views, but there is no way to adjust the manner in which the maps scroll, so if you are driving south you are moving down. In other in-car navigation situations, I’ve typically switched that view to be heading up regardless of compass direction which can make it easier to quickly scan where you are heading — which by the way is amazingly difficult and dangerous on a phone if you are the driver. Safety First!

2D and 3D views…

Search by Category…

In general, I like this application. There’s quite a bit here as far as geographic and local info for free. You do have to upgrade if you want turn by turn navigation (about $90/yr or just over 100 for 3) and about $10 for detailed city guides. I’m a tad skeptical of how good the information in both will be based on my usage.

The local information seems to have some pretty big holes. I was at a Chase bank today and tried searching for an ATM. the nearest one was revealed to me miles away. I then headed to a shopping center which had both a Target and an A&P Grocery store and was not able to find either… when I searched directly for A&P I was not able to find ANY grocery stores with that name (there are at least 3 within 15 minutes) and Target showed up about 25 miles away. These are not reasons to avoid this software, but be aware that the information you get may be far from complete.

If you’d like to see how things work, I’ve made a video to share. I recorded this several times actually due to some lovely technical issues with my camera and recording setup so if it’s a bit rough or uneven that’s just the way it is today.

Technorati Tags: Bluetooth, gate5, Google Maps, GPS, N-Series, N73, Navigation, Nokia, smart2go

Ari Jaaksi the lead on Nokia’s Internet Tablet project has once again written an informative post about the direction of the platform.

Short term

In a few weeks (I hope) we’ll release a new version of the OS2007 with a

• better Flash performance
• better video performance and quality
• longer usage times i.e. better power management fixes here and there

These are still in the owen so wait and see.

Mid term

Then later this year we ‘ll have an

• updated browser with better WEB 2.0 support and other goodies
• improved multimedia support with more formats supported
• improved package management to better enable sw upgrading
• interesting 3rd party software such as Skype and Real Rhapsody
• more apps & stuff downloadable from http://tableteer.nokia.com/ (can be accessed with an internet tablet, only ….)

I am very excited for the near term release and hope that the combination of better flash and video performance combined with enhanced power management will make a considerable release. From what I’ve gathered in the community, there is still quite a bit to learn in order to really take best advantage of the hardware we’ve got.
The next phase speaks to continued enhancements – I particularly like the more formats supported mention in multimedia support. Additional codecs will really help – Quicktime and WMV please. Unfortunately it looks like the release of Rhapsody and Skype are slipping if I read between the lines. Thought both were due in either February or March…
Ari also mentions looking to better embrace the community’s support making it easier for people to contribute. This is an open source project after all… I like hearing this and look forward to even broader support and community developments. One things Nokia could do better where possible is really help people know where the good stuff is… while the device is initially appealing to geeks, it’s still pretty hard unless you really explore to find the mailing lists, the feeds from active community members and of course the applications and updates – you can subscribe to projects of interest in case you’ve missed that ever so subtle detail.

Technorati Tags: Internet Tablet, Maemo, N770, N800

I know I read a while back that the US was a big target for Nokia… They’ve certainly made a nice splash with the N-Series and even with a few key retail showcase stores, but the only real device to have been noticed on a grand scale is the E62, which is the EDGE sibling of the E61 and only supports EDGE for Cingular AT&T. I’ve now had the pleasure to use the N70, N90, N91, N93, N73 and N80 as well as the E61. Not one works on the US HSDPA frequencies which means that as great as they are to use, there’s no 3G for you.

I’ve been enjoying reading the reports from 3GSM and there are some really nice things coming from the Fins, yet again — not a single device will work on the 3G capable US network. Where’s the love Nokia?

Technorati Tags: 3G, Cingular, e-Series, E61, E62, E90, HSDPA, N-Series, N70, N73, N80, N800, N90, N91, N93, N95, Nokia, AT&T

It’s hard to deny the appeal of the new Nokia E90 Communicator. It does everything. Connects to QuadBand GSM, handles 3G speeds, WiFi, GPS, dual-screen, full QWERTY keyboard etc etc…

The main hitch I see and it’s a biggie is the price — $1000!!! Whoa – that’s serious. For that kind of money S60 is competing with UMPCs and Laptops — not just Blackberry.

Regardless, it’s a gorgeous device and now that I’ve used S60 for a while I can appreciate how much I could be getting done with something like this in my possession.

Technorati Tags: Communicator, GPS, Nokia, E90

John Tokash notes that CeBit is denying bloggers journalism passes this year which is very disappointing to hear. CES had just enabled a slew of people to cover the show very effectively bringing quite a bit of news from the floor to our attention.

UPDATE 2/18 — Looks like they caved…  nice!

Technorati Tags: CeBit

FCC Fridays at Engadget Mobile is always fun and this week was no exception. They’ve caught a filing for Nokia’s MD-5W bluetooth speakers which according to the manual will be able to handle your multimedia as well as your calls. Nice!

Here are a few pics!

Technorati Tags: Bluetooth, MD-5W, Nokia, A2DP

I typically stream my music through internet radio stations, but there are certainly times when you either don’t have broadband to make that possible or actually just want to listen to a local station. With a quick trip to grab the fmradio.deb, you can then access the FM Radio within your N800.

1. First grab and install the file.
2. Next, open up your terminal and enter ‘fmradio’ and return
3. You should be looking at your N800’s new FM Rad
4. A special bonus is that once, run, you can add the FM Radio as a home screen applet for easy access.

Here’s a quick video as well…(should be live shortly if not now)

Hat tip – Maemo-Users.

Technorati Tags: FM Radio, Internet Tablet, Maemo, N-Series, N800, Nokia

This video overview of the LG Prada, iPhone-like device is very cool. The whole thing runs through a Flash interface and looks like a lot of fun.

Technorati Tags: Apple, Flash, iPhone, LG, Prada