Nokia posts

Spotify Mobile S60 client previewed on video

by Paul O'Brien Sep 16th 2009

Hot on the heels of the release of their Android and iPhone clients, online music streaming service Spotify have posted a preview video of their forthcoming S60 client on their blog.

Aimed at Premium subscribers in the handful of European countries that Spotify currently supports, the application appears to support all of the features available in the existing mobile offerings and is a nod to Spotify's mission to support the largest possible mobile userbase - we'd like to see a Windows Mobile client next please!

Spotify is yet to make clear it's intentions with regards to launching in the US, however such a move seems highly likely provided the appropriate deal can be cut with the labels.

Tags: nokia, s60, spotify, symbian

Filed under: Windows Mobile, Symbian, Office, Microsoft, Mobile

Microsoft, Nokia announce Office Mobile coming to Nokia phones

by Brad Linder Aug 12th 2009

Microsoft has been making a mobile version of Office for years. But it's only been available on devices running mobile versions of Windows (what we now call Windows Mobile or Windows Phone, and what was once called PocketPC). Today, Microsoft and Nokia announced a deal that will bring Office Mobile to Nokia smartphones.

This is the first time Office Mobile will be available on handsets that don't run Windows Mobile. The two companies have announced plans to work together on a range of mobile solutions. One of the key points is that is that Nokia's Symbian powered smartphones will be able to run mobile versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote. Users will be able to "view, edit, create, and share" Office documents from their mobile phones.

Nokia is also working on improved Exchange ActiveSync support, and expects to roll out support for other features including mobile access to intranet portals build on Microsoft SharePoint Server.

Tags: microsoft, microsoft-office, nokia, office-mobile

Filed under: Business, Apple, Browsers, Mobile

Opera retakes top mobile browser spot from iPhone

by Jay Hathaway Jun 3rd 2009

According to May numbers from analytics service StatCounter, Opera is once again the most popular mobile browser in the world, narrowly overtaking the iPhone's built-in Safari browser. Of all the webpages that were loaded in mobile browsers in May, Opera had a 24.6% share to the iPhone's 22.3%. Nokia came in 3rd with 17.9%.

Opera started the year ahead of the iPhone browser, but Apple's product passed it in February. Although they're both mobile browsers, we're comparing two very different products here.

Opera is supported on a huge number of devices from different mobile carriers worldwide, while Safari only runs on the iPhone. In effect, the competition doesn't tell us as much about which browser is the better product as it does about how popular the iPhone is compared to other devices.

Tags: apple, browser, iphone, mobile, mobile-browser, nokia, opera, safari

Filed under: Symbian, Mobile

Nokia Ovi mobile app store goes live... and crashes

by Brad Linder May 26th 2009

Nokia opened the doors to its Ovi Store today. The Ovi Store is Nokia's answer to the iPhone App Store, and it provides access to 20,000 programs that you can download and install on a number of Nokia phones running the latest Symbian operating system. Or at least it's supposed to. Because for much of the morning, the Ovi Store has been unreachable.

Here's how it's supposed to work. Users with more than 50 different Nokia devices should be able to download an Ovi Store app onto their phones and use it to browse, download, and purchase software. You should also be able to visit the Ovi Store with a web browser at store.ovi.com.

But TechCrunch reports that the web site has been going offline intermittently for hours, and some applications that were available earlier this morning are no longer available now. A number of Engadget readers have left comments saying they can't even download the Ovi Store application anymore. And even if you do manage to get the store installed on your phone, All About Symbian reports that the experience leaves a lot to be desired, thanks to confusing navigation and slow page load times.

Tags: nokia, nokia-ovi-store, ovi-store, symbian

Filed under: Mobile

Nokia's App Store will launch with 20,000 items

by Brad Linder May 9th 2009

RIM's doing it, Microsoft is doing it. Apparently launching mobile app stores is the thing to do, because now Nokia's doing it too. The cellphone maker is preparing to launch a mobile app store called the Ovi Store later this month. But there's one thing that will set Nokia's app store apart - it will launch with a catalog of 20,000 ote,s. Apple's iPhone App Store had just a few hundred programs when it launched, and Google's Android store had even fewer.

But not everything in the Nokia Ovi Store will be an application. The company is also loading it up with media files including short videos.

The Ovi Store will let Nokia cellphone users purchase and download programs directly from their mobile devices. An app store utility will come preloaded on newer phones, while customers with older, but still recent phones will be able to download apps using a mobile web browser.

[via MobileTopSoft]

Tags: app-store, nokia, nokia-ovi-store, ovi-store

Filed under: Internet, Video, Windows Mobile, Symbian, Google

YouTube launches video player for Windows Mobile, Nokia S60

by Brad Linder Mar 20th 2009

Google has launched a new mobile video player for Windows Mobile and Symbian Series 60 phones. The application adds support for additional phones, boots faster than previous versions, and streams video optimized for 3G and WiFi connections.

You can use the application to search or browse for videos and play them on your device. When you click play, videos will launch in full screen mode.

To install the application, visit m.youtube.com on your mobile device and click the download link. There's a list of supported S60 devices, but no support list for Windows Mobile. Having tried unsuccessfully to install the YouTube player on my Dell Axim X50v, I can tell you that it does not support Windows Mobile 2003SE. But I suspect if you've ot a device with Windows Mobile 6.0 or a newer operating system you should be covered.

[via CoolSmartPhone]

Tags: nokia, symbian-series-60, windows-mobile, youtube, youtube-mobile

Filed under: Fun, Internet, Weird Wednesday

Weird Wednesday: Windows 3.11 on a phone, gaming by brain waves

by Lee Mathews Feb 25th 2009

This morning, Brad wrote about one enterprising individual's success with getting lightweight Linux window managers running on an Android handset.

That's cool and all, but a user at Polish site FrazPC has taken things to a whole new level of nerdiness. His project: getting Windows 3.11 to run on the Symbian-powered Nokia N95 (link to site via Google Translate). Sure, the graphics look better on the Android hacks, but there's something cool about seeing the OS from my family's first non-Commodore PC running on a cell phone. At last you'll be able to bask in the horror of Hot Dog Stand conveniently, no matter where you are!

Speaking of which, there's retina-burning rendition you can see at Hot Dog Stand Tribute. Sadly (or perhaps not so much), the Windows XP theme download isn't working.

In another flashback - this time to something a bit more recent, remember Vic's item about software that records your dreams? How about a piece of hardware you can buy right now that can pull off headshots using the power of your brain? If you haven't seen OCZ's Neural Impulse Actuator, it's a whole lotta crazy.

You can check out a video of its creator utilizing the device in a head-to-head combat on G4. Sure, he gets schooled, but that hardly takes away from the cool factor. I'm not certain I want my brain controlling my computer directly just yet. I'm a tad worried about possible detriment due to random, misguided thoughts.

Tags: mind-control, nokia, ocz-nia, symbian, weird-wednesday, windows-311

Filed under: OS Updates, Symbian, Open Source, Mobile Minute

Nokia buys out Symbian, announces platform to go open source

by Brad Linder Jun 24th 2008

Nokia has announced that it is buying out the 52 percent of Symbian that it didn't already own and opening up the platform. Nokia and a number of other companies including AT&T, LG, and Samsung have also announced the creation of the Symbian Foundation.

Now, open source software is great for developers because it mean that anyone can easily look at the code, tweak it, and write applications designed to run well on the platform. But ther's also a huge benefit for telecom companies. Nokia will provide access to the Symbian OS royalty-free to members of the Symbian Foundation. And anyone can join the foundation for a nominal $1500 annual fee.

Symbian currently has about 60 percent of the mobile browser market share. The move to make the platform open source should help Nokia and Symbian maintain that lead in the face of challenges from the LiMo Foundation and Google's Linux-based Android platform.

[via OStatic]

Tags: nokia, open-source, symbian, symbian-os

Filed under: Internet, Windows Mobile, Office, Google, Microsoft, Mobile Minute

Google Gears goes mobile, takes web apps with it

by Brad Linder Mar 4th 2008

Google has released a version of Google Gears that runs on Windows Mobile 5.0/6 devices. What does that mean? It means that you can access web applications like Zoho Writer or Buxfer on your mobile, even when you're offline. You'll need to go online at some point to synchronize your data, but once that's done you can open and view your documents while you're on the subway or on the ocean floor (the two places we're pretty sure there's on internet access available).

This is pretty big news for Windows Mobile uses who are tired of dealing with Office Mobile. Zoho's online office suite offers most of the features you'd want from a word processor. And it's free. Right now you can't edit Zoho Writer documents in offline mode, but Zoho plans to add that functionality soon.

In somewhat related news, Microsoft and Nokia have signed a deal to use Silverlight in some of its phone and internet tablets. Right now, Silverlight is primarily a platform for displaying rich media content on the web (like Adobe Flash), Microsoft eventually plans to add offline functionality to Silverlight (like Adobe AIR or Google Gears). That means we could see offline support for online applications coming to Nokia devices one day as well.

Tags: google-gears, nokia, offline, silverlight

Filed under: Fun, Internet, Blogging, Symbian, Beta

Seesmic announces new features, much needed mobile support

by Jason Harris Jan 30th 2008

Social video site Seesmic has announced some cool new features at DEMO08, a conference that showcases new software and web projects. Even though it's still in private beta, the so-called video Twitter now allows you to instantly see video responses to posts as an uninterrupted stream.

Now Seesmic also has a mobile application for Nokia's multi-talented N95 smartphone. Rather than being a live stream application such as like Qik, mobile Seesmic posts will be pre-recorded video snippets. You will also be able to view Seesmic videos on the mobile application.

While we're happy to see Seesmic branching out, we can't help but hope they touch more mobile phones than just the N95. Perhaps they can expand to additional Nokia handsets or even better yet, to Windows Mobile.

[via CNet]

Tags: n95, nokia, seesmic, twitter

Filed under: Developer, Internet, Symbian

Nokia makes a splash by acquiring TrollTech

by Jason Harris Jan 28th 2008

The largest mobile phone maker in the world, Finland's Nokia, has made a major move by acquiring TrollTech. You may not have heard of TrollTech, but you've probably used their software. They are the make of an application development framework called Qt. This framework is used for creating GUI programs and other programs that are used in applications. TrollTech's Qt is used in notable software packages such as Skype, Google Earth, and Opera, among others.

What does this mean for the average web/computer user? Basically Nokia's acquisition means in the future we will be able to enjoy awesome applications that work on our computers, Nokia mobile phones, and on the Internet. Current platforms that are similar to Qt include AIR, Flash, and Java.

The acquisition needs to be approved by TrollTech shareholders and regulatory, but it looks very probable that the acquisition will go off without a hitch.

[via Engadget]

Tags: flash, nokia, qt, trolltech

Filed under: Utilities, Social Software, Beta

Nokia Sports Tracker gets a Facebook app

by Jason Harris Jan 10th 2008

Nokia Sports Tracker is an amazing application for Nokia N series smartphones that uses GPS to enable users to track their activities. Do you have a friend who has a Garmin ForeRunner? These are amazing GPS watches because they give you exact statistics about distance traveled, average speed, elevation gain, etc. Well Nokia Sports Tracker gives you the same information by using the GPS in your Nokia phone (such as the N95).

Nokia has taken the next step by allowing you to share this information with your friends by developing a Facebook application. Now you can share your latest workouts and routes directly in your Facebook profile. Information such as your speed, distance and time are automatically stored to your training diary.

Enjoy sharing your route, speed, and distance with your friends with this smart new Facebook Application.

Tags: gps, n95, nokia, nseries

Filed under: Fun, OS Updates

Nokia officially releases OS2008 for their Internet Tablets

by Jason Harris Dec 19th 2007

N810

Users can now download the official installer for OS2008 for your Nokia N800 Internet tablet. What can we expect in the new release? Well for starters:

The sluggish Opera browser has been swapped out for a speedy Mozilla based browser
If you're on an N800, the processor speed has been bumped up to 400 Mhz
Built in Flash 9
FM Radio software
A Beautiful new UI
Improved RSS reader
and much, much more.

The most noticeable difference for us was the speed bump to 400 Mhz. The N800 was a tad sluggish before but is now very zippy. The new browser is a huge plus as Opera was always a problem on the N800.

We love the N800. It's a great device for staying connected when you don't feel like lugging around your laptop or just need to check your email/RSS feeds real quick.

To get the OS2008 update, you'll need to install the Nokia Internet Tablet Software Update Wizard and download the update file from maemo.org.

Note: if you are lucky if enough to have the Nokia N810, you already have OS2008 installed.

Tags: n800, n810, nokia, os2008

Filed under: Video, Windows, Freeware, VoIP

New Gizmo Project beta adds N810 support

by Ted Wallingford Dec 1st 2007

If desktop VoIP calling program Gizmo Project previously had a reputation as a Skype Killer, it's now official: Skype is dead. Gizmo has always done things Skype couldn't--like custom on-hold music, SIP compatibility, meta-IM with support for Yahoo, MSN, and Google Talk, and a slew (that means dozens) of other things. Indeed, some of us here at Download Squad haven't had Skype in our startup items for a year or more.

Gizmo Project 4.0 beta just hit the wild. New in this edition are a reworked avatar system, tabbed text chatting, a totally redesigned user interface, and video calling, a feature that we got a first look at with an earlier beta release last month.

Ordinarily, Gizmo Project's creator, SIPPhone Inc., does a good job of getting features to their Mac and Linux editions in a hurry (though 4.0 beta isn't yet available for Mac). In this case, however, the Nokia N800/N810 version is also ready to rock, which really excites us, since Nokia's Internet Tablets have built-in cameras that are ideal for video calling.

As with previous versions of the Project, you can still make outgoing (and receive incoming) telephone calls, and make yourself reachable via a sipphone.com URI. So, with the last nail in Skype's coffin being hammered in by the good folks at SIPPhone, we're asking ourselves if we'll ever need to run Skype again. After all, with services like GrandCentral supporting Gizmo Project, and with the availability of a native Gizmo Project client for mobile phones, it looks like Gizmo Project is ready to bury eBay's redheaded stepchild.

Tags: gizmo project, GizmoProject, nokia, video, voip

Filed under: OS Updates, Palm, Mobile Minute

Run PalmOS apps on a Nokia internet tablet

by Brad Linder Nov 13th 2007

Have a Nokia N770/N800/N810 Internet Tablet? Do you keep staring at it's tiny web-surfing screen wishing it could run some of the same applications you used to love on your old Palm Pilot? Now you can.

Last week we mentioned the fact that ACCESS is getting closer to releasing its Linux-based operating system for Palm devices. In order to ensure backward compatibility with older PalmOS applications, ACCESS designed a PalmOS Garnet emulation layer. And since it runs on Linux, and Nokia's tablets run on Linux, it was apparently pretty easy to port the PalmOS emulator over to the Nokia Internet Tablet platform.

The Garnet emulator doesn't replace Nokia's user interface, but runs on top of it as a launchable program. Once it's up and running you can access basic Palm apps like the calendar and contacts, and install third party software by hotsyncing with your computer over a network connection. The emulator also uses Palm's Graffiti handwriting recognition.

The folks over at TabletBlog have put together a quick video demonstration, which you can check out after the jump.

[via Engadget]

Tags: emulator, Garnet, Internet-Tablet, Nokia, Nokia-N770, Nokia-N800, Nokia-N810, PalmOS

Graveyard Shift - zombie-busting Time Waster

With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet. They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...

View more Time Wasters

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