a multi-tasked stream of consciousness or perhaps just emails to myself
Well that certainly did not take very long …
If MobileMe doesn’t float your boat for your iPhone sync needs, don’t worry. Funambol are on the case, big time. Funambol provides open source push email, contacts & calendars for everyone — on a huge range of handsets. [SMS Text News]
Looking forward to checking this out!
Technorati Tags: funmobol, sync, mobileme, apple, free, open source
Yes I know the iPhone has no keyboard, so let’s just put that to the side….
There are however plenty of other devices that can take advantage of the excellent work that’s been done on the updated mobile UI which do have keyboards … like the Nokia N810 which runs a Mozilla browser and the N95 which has the S60 Webkit browser. The more I’ve used the latest Google Reader the more it’s clear that a very wide array of devices could be using this and why not add just a bit more functionality to enhance it that much more.
I’m thinking the N810 could probably get this going through a greasemonkey script … Anyone up to the challenge?
Technorati Tags: google reader, mobile, nokia, mozilla, safari, greasemonkey, lazyweb, n810, n95
In case you’ve missed it, people can’t stop talking about either Twitter or the 3G iPhone. I fond both clutter up my feed reading daily… Perhaps here’s why:
Twitter is apparently more interesting.
Technorati Tags: google trends, iphone, twitter, 3g
Signed up, posted. Added a friend, commented. Failed to import my contacts from gmail – actually could not even load my address book … then went down. There’s no mobile version and it’s a two vertical paned UI. If you need to sign up just to reserve your name, then enjoy.
Technorati Tags: plurk
I’ve just started to use Spinvox recently but immediately see the value in how it works. If you are not familiar with the service, you forward your voicemail over in a similar manner to the way you would with GrandCentral and Spinvox handles the rest.
Once your call diverts are configured you should begin to receive both email and text notifications for new messages – with the text from the voicemail! You can see an example here with this message from my wife:
There’s a shortcut built in to the text and email which lets you jump to that message when (or if) you call in to listen. Thus far, the speech to text has been pretty solid. I have seen some oddball translations though I am honestly not that surprised as the same words (my town Katonah for example) give people I speak to a hard time as well.
The full text feature gives you fully searable voicemail in your inbox and on your device which I’ve yet to take real advantage of in my short test but fully expect to find benefit searching through Gmail. Seeing the messages saves the time of even having to call to retrieve messages in the first place.
The only real gotcha for me here is that there’s an audible signoff when someone leave you a message whic would be fine if this were a free service. Perhaps a reduced fee is under consideration for allowing the spinvox signoff is in order. I am not very comfortable offering an ad on my voicemail for business or personal calls.
The true ideal here is for Spinvox to integrate with GrandCentral or perhaps Ribbit when they launch. The text integration is killer but it’s only one of many advanced features I’d like to have with my voice services.
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spinvox
I just caught a post in my reader, which is a bit alarming and rather disappointing if true.
There has not been a checkin to the S60 port in over 8 months… As far as I can tell, the port is dead… Does anyone know the status of the port? If the port is in fact dead, I would like to suggest that we tag (with some keyword, or component) all of the remaining S60 bugs and close them.
As I think back to the Mobile World Congress briefings and hands on time I had with the upcoming Nokia handsets, I don’t actually recall seeing anything new or different in the browser. I even saw some FP2 things, but nothing around the browser than would make you think there’s anything new to expect on that froont.
Has Nokia conceded mobile browsing to Apple? Aside from bringing the minimap, there’s not much going on here. Bookmarklets are missing as is the very basic ability to manually launch a new window – which is something I’ve griped about many times. The potential is there and the newer devices have enough horsepower, but we are left wanting more …
I’d love to hear what if anything is going on here …
Technorati Tags: Webkit s60 nokia browser apple iphone
Yahoo announced OneConnect an amazingly cool service today that looks like a truly killer mobile social connector.  OneConnect will allow you to view and participate across social networks in a a way much like Jaiku does now – though it seems like it will work for most of your existing social services. It´s not ready for release quite yet and details of exactly how it works were hard to confirm, but here´s a video of what you can expect.Â
I´m very excited by this and see that Yahoo! has finally come forward with something exciting in mobile. Because the mobile is something you always have with you it´s truly the key piece in staying connected. That the OneConnect service will work with and outside the Yahoo! ecosystem is what makes it truly compelling. This application goes well beyond my notion of lifestreaming and looks like it will truly change the way in which we connect.Â
Devicescape received a nice update to 2.0 today and allows secure and simple access to paid and free hotspots automatically. I’ve added a few hidden APs from the office as well as my home network to my list to start combined with my Boingo Mobile and FON credentials so I can easily connect my N95 pretty much anywhere I want to go! The update does not yet include a new client for the Nokia Tablet, but I’m sure that’s coming soon.
For consumers, Devicescape 2.0 provides immediate access from any device to millions of hotspot locations. Access to free and open hotspots requires no sign up. It simply works right “out of the box.†Also, the service is easily extensible to password protected networks and credentials can be entered once on the fly on the device or in advance via a web site. You can even add your home network and securely share with friends. Additionally, Devicescape constantly seeks hotspots, and notifies users when they have a secure and verified Wi-Fi connection. [Devicescape]
devicescape, boingo, fon, hotspot, connection manager, travel, nokia, n95, internet tablet
If you browse to the Google Mobile Site on your blackberry today, you’ll see a Sync app at the bottom of the page. Once installed your Blackberry will be able to automatically sync all your calendars to the Google Calendar in the sky. Initially it syncs your main calendar, but it’s easy with the options setting to choose additional calendars if you like. Sync seems to happen in the background and automatically just like you already know with the rest of the blackberry PIM system syncs.
Technorati Tags: google, calendar, sync, mobile, blackberry
I’m not sure what your experience has been but Gmail IMAP is one slow ass system. On my MacBookPro, I left it running overnight to try and sync everything, but even today I am finding my system feels as though it is underwater. I see beach-balls and find navigating even my inbox to be rather torturous.
Force Quit seems to be the only way out … Guess I’ll stick to web Gmail for now. Perhaps I’ll get lucky and the 2.0 version will show it soon … yeah right.
I learned today that the N95 actually has an accelerometer and that rotateMe 2.0 will arrive next month ready to take full advantage of this making your device much easier to use as you maneuver through multimedia, maps and the web — something I do every day!
Technorati Tags:
N-Series, N95, Nokia, accelerometer, rotateme
This sounds very cool…
In an exclusive interview with Develop, Nokia’s games boss Mark Ollila has revealed that the company is hard at work on multiple cross-platform games for its revamped N-Gage platform.
Earlier this year it emerged the company was developing a new game in association with studio RedLynx which could be played on both PC and mobile and used Nokia’s SNAP technology as its connectivity backbone. That title, Project White Rock, reportedly boasts hundreds of lines of recorded dialogue suggesting it is a more traditional, possibly MMO-like, game experience for multiple players.
But Nokia also has another such title in development, Ollila explained – one which features a user-generated content element.
‘For one of the titles we are working on we are looking at the possibility of letting players create a game and sharing that experience with others,’ he explained adding that the decision to create games that work across both mobile and PC is part of Nokia’s larger plan to build community around its rebirthed N-Gage service.
I can’t imagine there will be Mac love here, but regardless Nokia is feeling very progressive to me these days and that’s a very good thing.
Technorati Tags:
Marketing, mobile, N-Series, Nokia, N-Gage, N81, UGC, Games
I am sitting on a plane en route to the Web 2.0 Summit writing this on my N800, enjoying my time to write some things wihout distraction… aside from the guy in 11B reading this over my shoulder!
About two weeks ago, Tommi at the S60 Applications blog asked for feedback on the Nokia Beta Labs program. My initial thought is that it’s really a solid idea which enables the feedback loop via the blogosphere and certainly on the applications blog comments. I posted something similarly on Tommi’s site but now that some time has passed it seems that perhaps the focus could be on altering the existing status more rather than pushing out the new. Don’t get me wrong – I’m an applications junkie just like most of you, but I would like to see some renovation before building more.
When I attended the Evening with S60 event in NYC, I was told (incorrectly now) that the S60v3 FP1 browser would be released within 30 days to other S60v3 devices which was great news. I saw a massive spike in traffic after my update on this news which confirmed I was far from alone in looking for this type of update. Nokia, with the exception of Maps, seems to require a new unit to get what become device standard features (of course right after you) purchase your phone.
Of course, a long time has now passed and we’ve yet to see a release. Instead, we heard about the widgets which will be coming in FP2 probably in Q1 2008. Not to take away from widgets (I think I’ve seen the light a bit for very task specific information), the browser now seems a bit limited in one very key area thanks to some healthy competition from both the iPhone as well as Nokia’s own N800 . The iPhone has enabled a VERY rich use of tabs which make maintaining simultaneous activities online possible. The S60 browser can also do multiple tabs and actually does them quite well. There is NO WAY TO MANUALLY OPEN A NEW WINDOW.
The hack I’ve found for this is silly, and takes longer than I would like to get going, but has now become a part of my browsing process on the N95-3.
The browser is the perfect candidate for a quick beta release through the labs. Many devices do not have enough RAM to browse in this manner (yet) and it’s probably more power user than mass feature, but isn’t that who’s visting and using the beta labs anyway? We should not have to wait for a Firmware release (which we all know wipes the device fresh) or worse, a new device to get such aseemingly small adjustment. This really should be something we just have in devices like the N95-3, N95 8GB, N81, N81 8GB, E90 and as well as future devicess that have enough operating RAM to make this possible – which should cover all N and E-Series moving forward, right?
The iPhone has really turned the mobile browsing experience up on its head. Regardless of their true capabilities, all mobile devices are being compared to the iPhone. The fact that the same engine is used in S60 and the iPhone makes this even more open to scrutiny.
The N800, which does not share the webkit engine, can go toe-to-toe with the iPhone even defeating it with some complex sites, but requires a second purchase. This is great for both Nokia’s bottom line (as well as non Nokia handset users) It is admittedly far more enjoyable to browse on the larger screen, it’s not something you always want in your pocket.
There are some great mobile web applications and services which have sprung up seemingly overnight to support the million plus iPhones… How many S60 devices are there? Considerably more…
A device like the N95-3 should not be hamstrung by a missing feature like this. The game has changed a bit now and we need to look how others are doing things and what can be learned to improve what we have and what’s to come.
Love to hear your thoughts here…
Technorati Tags:
Apple, E-Series, Firmware, Internet Tablet, iPhone, Maemo, Marketing, mobile, N-Series, N800, N810, N95, Nokia, Nokia Maps, S60, Nokia Beta Labs
As we prepare for the eventual Google Mobile experience, there are a few updates that are worth noting.
First, last week Google released a terrific update to their Maps application on Friday, which now runs native on S60 devices. You can download from your phone via http://www.google.com/gmm. Speed seems much improved in loading and moving through maps over the Java version as you might expect from a native app. Google Maps also now fully supports GPS which is just awesome. It does not seem to support AGPS yet, but connects very quickly enough if you are not deep inside a building.
Compared to Nokia Maps, it’s a bit quicker for general location awareness and directions, but you can’t tap into saved locations from your device (yet) and you can’t get live turn by turn directions with spoken updates for driving – but you can see live traffic! POI are tied with Google and seem to be better than Nokia Maps… I can see myself using this a lot… I’m sure I’ll be checking in with Google Maps when I land in San Francisco tomorrow.
Some screenshots:
Last night I became aware of an update to GMail Mobile… which can be downloaded at http://www.gmail.com/app. While it’s not native there are some nice improvements which seem worthy of the update. You can save drafts though only one which is helpful if you are tapping something out on your phone and get interrupted or run out of time. While you still cannot send attachments, there’s a pre-load option so messages pop open much more quickly. This uses more data so non-unlimited plan people take note… There’s a status on how much each transaction uses so you can keep tabs on things if you need.
Based on the release of the Native S60 Google Maps application, I’m hopeful that we’ll see a native GMail as well. Aside from attachment sending, I’d really like to see an auto-refresh option so my new mail is just there waiting to be read… Manual refresh works quick enough, but saving that step would be appreciated.
Technorati Tags:
A-GPS, Driving, Gmail, Google, Google Maps, GPS, mobile, N-Series, N95, Navigation, Nokia, Nokia Maps, S60, Travel
If you use a Nokia N-Series you are probably familiar with the web upload (now Share Online 3.0 beta) feature on your phone to share content to Flickr and Vox. You may have also heard of and tried Shozu or the recently updated for S60v3 Zonetag. Shozu is the only application that easily lets you upload to services beyond Flickr and Vox. Zonetag can understandably only post to Flickr. All are free to use, but have different features and limitations. Like most things, applications are personal and I’ve been testing them all to see what works best for me. My needs are pretty simple for images – I only use Flickr. My video site of choice Viddler is not supported by any of these services, so I’ll keep this post to photos which is what I capture far more often anyway.
Shozu
For a long time I was a Shozu loyalist. Because you can set Shozu to work in the background automatically, it’s very easy to lifestream your photos and videos to the site(s) of your choosing. I prefer to review before I post and Shozu supports that as well a fully manual mode where you launch it and choose what you want to post. I also like that Shozu asks whether screen shots should be uploaded… If you are on a supported device and use GPS, you can also geo-tag your images which is very cool for the map feature on flickr.
I have two issues with Shozu that seem to be echoed by other power users and for some reason have yet to be addressed in any meaningful way. If you shoot video, you’ll find the 10MB file upload limits imposed by Shozu quite stifling. My other more critical issue is that it has simply stopped working in a reliable manner for me on the N95. While it performed really well on the N93, N80 and N73, the N95 has been a source of pain. As I result I’ve been very open to change.
Nokia Share Online 3.0
The Nokia Web Upload option is something easy to use for any N-Series owner. After you get a special password via the Nokia / Flickr site you can then send up to 6 pictures at once up to your Flickr account. It’s quite simple, though more passive than Shozu in that there is no option to be prompted to upload on each shot. This is a feature I really like about both Shozu and Zonetag. As the Web Upload function has evolved into the latest beta labs creation Share Online 3.0, you can finally upload in the background! I’ve never had a problem using previous or even the latest beta versions. It’s very straight forward and simple.
Zonetag + Zurfer
Zonetag is very intriguing. It’s a product from the Yahoo! Research Berkeley and supports a large number of features for Flickr (owned by Yahoo as well) which make it a pleasure to use. Zonetag runs in the background on your device and when you snap a pic, prompts you to upload. If you say yes, you get a details screen which lets you set tags, control privacy settings and adjust the geo-tag. I love that I can control privacy so my public vs private shots are a non-issue. The geo-tagging system is also very slick. It seems to use A-GPS which works great on the N95. You can make Zonetag guess and then correct and teach it later via Flickr’s site or you can set more specific detail as you go. Unlike Shozu and Share Online, there does not seem to be a way to use Zonetag to upload if you say no on the initial prompt.
If you add a second application from Yahoo research called Zurfer, you can engage Yahoo very interactively and make and review comments on your shots or those of either contacts or the public pool. I did a walk through on Zurfer one back in June…
Nokia’s Share Online application offers a more limited view into Flickr than Zonetag but for the first time enables viewing of your photostream locally on the device for both you and your Flickr contacts. Shozu does not offer viewing of Flickr content, but it’s an easy way to see when a comment has been posted to an image of yours.
At this point, Zonetag offers the highest level of flickr integration — especially with the addition of Zurfer to view back upstream. The Nokia Share Online application shows a great deal of promise — though I can’t currently add tags, set location, or upload right after a shot is taken. All of these are must have in my book for any serious user. It’s unclear whether Nokia’s plan is to cover a broader base of user and let the 3rd party guys go for the power users, but I think an integrated native solution is a killer app. Shozu seems hit or miss. It work on some N95 and yet has not worked on my two devices through several firmware updates. While Shozu has the potential to do more than the others with the additional services supported, if it doesn’t work none of that matters.
Technorati Tags:
Flickr, GPS, mobile, N-Series, N95, Nokia, S60, Shozu, Viddler, YouTube, A-GPS, Vox, GEO Tag, Zonetag, Zurfer, Lifestream
This was incredibly easy to figure out, but still something worth sharing as it substantially enhances the Amazon MP3 store experience if you manage your music on iTunes and sync with an iPod / iPhone. By default, the music will be added to iTunes, but this actually leaves a second copy in the Amazon MP3 folder outside of your iTunes Music folder. With a simple switch in prefs, you are all set.
I was actually going to post on how to get things to auto-import into iTunes using a Folder Action Script, but Amazon already hooked that up by default …
Technorati Tags:
Apple, iPhone, iTunes, Music, Amazon, MP3, iPod
There’s a very nice update to Gmail’s Mobile web version today which I just noticed on the iPhone.
As you can see there’s FINALLY a check-box next to each message so you can select a bunch of messages and then act upon them at once. For some reason this was only available in the full or HTML version’s of Gmail and is not something you can even do in the java version. Seems to work the same on my Nokia N800 and N95.
Technorati Tags:
Apple, Gmail, Google, Internet Tablet, iPhone, mobile, N-Series, N800, N95, Nokia
Today marks a long awaited update to the Jaiku client for S60 devices. Photos from your contacts now appear in stream which is very cool but even more importantly, you can finally connect over WiFi!
As of today’s release however, you still need to have a SIM handy. I hope subsequent releases will enable SIM-less operation (have a few devices here I’d love to use just to Jaiku) as well as the option to set an access group so you can stack both WLAN and cellular data connections as a set, allowing the client to choose the best available option — and more importantly transitioning between things as you move between places.
While the beta is still closed, you can request access…
Technorati Tags:
Jaiku, mobile, N-Series, N95, Nokia, S60, Social Networking
Vringo has been working hard to shake up the ringtone market with video ringtones and a focus on sharing. Currently the service is free and supports Nokia, Sony Ericsson and the Motorola Q. I’ve been playing with the Nokia edition on the N95 and it’s pretty cool. While I don’t have any friends currently using the service to really get the full effect here’s how it works.
You choose a piece of video content as your Vringo (video ringtone) and share it with a friend. When you call your friend they see what you’ve shared and you see what they’ve shared back for you. You can personalize the experience for everyone of your friends. Vringo has enabled a feature in the latest software release which lets you set for a local Vringo (a feature most phones don’t offer natively) so you can get the effect without needing to connect with another user.
This week Vringo announced a deal with Meez which let’s you create a custom avatar to be shared in addition to their existing content partners. I also noticed that you can choose to import a piece of content and by simply providing a URL to what you have to share, you can upload GIF, JPG, MP4, AVI, 3GP and FLV files as well as a video right from YouTube! This is a really great addition to the Vringo system as it allows the content and experience to be truly personal. You have complete control of what and with whom you share.
For now the service is free. When things roll out of beta there may be a charge for certain content partners and pieces of content. If you buy something and share it though it will remain free for your friends to see so there’s nothing to worry about with unexpected charges. If you’ve got a supported phone, give it a shot!
Technorati Tags:
mobile, N-Series, N95, Nokia, Video, ringtone, Vringo