Working as a consultant demands I keep up to date with current affairs and my schedule. And what better way then to do it all via my Nokia handset? No more messy organizers and phonebooks when all I need, fits into my pocket.

In the past, phones were used for call and SMS just to stay contactable. Now with my phone I can even listen to my latest tracks, play some games and even navigate through the streets. So here’s a little snippet of my life, as shared by the Nokia N97.

Nightstand (Offscreen technologies)

0630 hrs – An unfamiliar tune wakes me up, removing me from the nice slumber and greeting the phone with a drowsy “Good Morning”.

0715 hrs – It’s good to be updated on the fly, but how does one do it on the packed MRT trains? It’s hard to read the papers right? With N97, I can access The Straits Times all via the phone, so no more annoying papers.

Along the way I also check my calendar and get my e-mails so that I make sure that I’m updated on what has to be accomplished!

0800 hrs – I usually have breakfast near the office, so while I munch on some stuff, I check out the Ovi store for new apps. Downloaded a new game and started playing it to force my brain into “wake up” mode for the busy day ahead.

0830 hrs – In office, logged into Ovi.com so that I can update my schedule, plan where I need to go via Ovi Maps (saving the locations to my favorites can save me some time to have to look it up all over again when I head out).

0845 hrs – Fired up the phone to start syncing up the saved locations and calendar events before I get down to some serious work.

0945 hrs – Met up with a client and added their printer’s contact into my phone so that I can follow up with some design work.

1100 hrs – Oh! A catchy tune plays in the cab while I’m on my way back, got Shazam to “listen” to the song playing on the radio. Turns out it’s the latest track by Lady Gaga and available on Nokia Music Store, so I downloaded the track into my phone.

1400 hrs – Went with my boss to see a client. Using Nokia Maps 3.0, I selected the places where I retrieved the earlier synchronized locations to make sure we do not get lost along the way.

1600 hrs – Fired up the N97’s web browser to retrieve information on grant regulations so I surf on over to our governments website for reference.

1900 hrs – Finally! Knock off from work; using the N97 I check out the local food blogs for good food recommendations. Called up a few friends and arranged dinner.

2300 hrs – It’s time to sleep, setting the phone to my favorite clock I set the alarm so that I can get up tomorrow for an exciting day with my trusty companion.

Take it from us, the life of a shopaholic isn’t easy. Not when you have a sea of apps from Nokia’s Ovi Store constantly enticing you to download even more apps to enhance your mobile lifestyle.

But how did it all happen, and what can you expect from the Nokia Ovi Store? We reveal all, in this short video presentation.

Nokia Zone #3 from Jayden on Vimeo.

A little while back we introduced you to Real Time Traffic. With the launch of Maps 3.0 (download from http://europe.nokia.com/explore-services/ovi-maps/downloads-and-services#download), Real Time Traffic Information is now finally available in our market! This is especially useful when you need to get to places really fast and you can’t afford to be held up in a jam.

Nokia Maps 3.0

With this update your phone gets a refreshed navigation system without you having to pay large upgrade costs. Some of the improvements over the older system include:

•    Quicker startup
•    Improved menus
•    Improved search
•    Text-to-speech for voice guidance
•    New car and pedestrian navigation service

The other thing that comes with this update is the availability of real time traffic information in our region and of course not forgetting synchronization to maps.ovi.com.

Licenses

While maps are free to download on Nokia Maps, users would already more or less know that in order to utilize the navigation service, a paid subscription is required. At a cost of €49.99 for a one year subscription (South-east Asia), this would give you the capability to get directions to various locations, which is especially useful for the occasional traveler.

For the extensive travelers, a more viable option is found within the Nokia’s Navigator series, such as the recently launched Nokia 6710 Navigator. The device is not only optimized for maps navigation, it also comes with a life-time navigation license bundled within, at no extra costs.

Real-time Traffic Information

What does real-time traffic info bring to the table? For one, it provides us with information on the various traffic situations along our roads. So far the phone is able to highlight the different areas with traffic congestion and prompt for alternative routes to avoid the congestion.

Currently, real-time traffic information is retrieved in two ways - manually or at timed intervals of 5, 10, 20 and 40 minutes. Considering that Singapore is such a small country, it would be better to keep the traffic information updated to the dot to prevent last minute surprises.

Based on the 6710 Navigator, the information feed is updated to the dot and did present accurate information about congestions along the chosen route. Likewise, the navigation system prompted for an alternate route in the said congestions, which did work to our advantage.

Easy Synchronization

If you’ve ever wondered why waypoints synchronization is required, the answer is simple - in the event that you do swap to a new Nokia handset, the information is safely stored on an online repository. In this case, it’s stored on Maps on Ovi. So when you new phone arrives you can just synchronize your favorite spots and home points back into your new phone.

Over-the-air synchronization also gives you the option to explore the map on your PC’s larger screen, setting up waypoints and plotting your route before you synchronize it onto your Nokia device. Frankly, browsing the map and planning the route on a phone’s smaller screen is far from ideal, but it does sufficiently well in guiding you to your destination.

Before you start to synchronize your Nokia Maps, create an Ovi account on http://ovi.com. Following which, proceed to Tools > Settings > Synchronization. You’ll be prompted for your Ovi account which is shared amongst Nokia’s other services such as Nokia Music Store and Nokia Ovi Store. Once you’ve entered your details, you can start synchronizing your maps from http://maps.ovi.com over to your phone.

So, you think you’re in the know of things and stay well-informed ahead of everyone, wherever you go? Thing is, there are some things that you might not know, and if you wish to learn how you can truly stay connected, I’ll share a little secret with you known as - Nokia Messaging.

Nokia Zone #2 from Jayden on Vimeo.

When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone he did it for the purpose of sending voice from one place to another. As technology progresses, the simple phone has become wireless and mobile. Mobile devices these days pack lots of processing power into a small form factor, making crummy old desktop computers look slow and cumbersome. With that in place, vendors continue to push the envelope of innovation and develop phone operating systems that are more complex yet intuitive for users.

With better operating systems, mobile devices allow developers to create better applications for today’s mobile devices to extend the functionality of the phone. Various phone manufacturers have already noticed the increasing popularity of applications and have developed online distribution channels to provide developers with an avenue to put their applications up for distribution and even sale.

Ovi Store

Ovi Store is Nokia’s implementation for online application distribution. A large catalogue of applications can be browsed via the PC or mobile phone and applications will be downloaded via the mobile phone.

Ovi Store is pre-installed in most of the newer Nokia handsets and allow users to browse various applications via the mobile phone screen. To access the store via the handset, launch the application from the Home Screen. Ovi Store is depicted by a shopping bag with the words OVI on it.

Launching the application brings up the main store interface with main application categories being displayed on the top display panel and you can navigate the categories easily by selecting the desired category.

Bringing up the options menu will provide the option of filtering down the category further by applying the following selection. This includes:

•    Suggested for me (*)
•    Most popular
•    Most recent
•    Show free only
•    Show paid only
•    Show all (*)

Upon selecting the desired application, you will be presented with a detailed write up on the application, which includes description and screen shots. Users can also place a rating for the application to help others make a better decision to download the application, especially if it’s a paid application.

To see get a bigger picture, you can head on to https://store.ovi.com/ where you can browse for apps on your PC. Of course having a bigger screen means having a couple of ads for some of the recommended applications. Applications on Ovi store are sectioned into 4 top level categories (Applications, Games, Audio & Video and Personalisation).

You can also do a search to find applications that you need and a list of relevant applications will be presented to you after the search. Search can also be done via your Nokia device’s Ovi Store.

Selecting an application will be very much like doing it on the phone with a detailed description and lets you send the said app to your Nokia device or sharing it with a friend via e-mail. Furthermore, you also pointed towards related applications and reviews.

Downloading that application

So you found the application you really like and already selected what you want. There are currently 2 ways to download the application. One is from Ovi Store via the mobile phone and the other is to prompt Ovi Store to send a personalized link to your handset and initiate the download.

Either way the application will still require downloads to be done via the phone. The good part about this is that application management becomes easier as you would have everything done via a single device. The disadvantage is apparent when it comes to changing a handset. With no existing backup on the PC, you can’t sync the application onto the new phone.

Some nice applications

SMS preview

You get a new message, but you’re only notified that there’s a new message. SMS preview goes one step further and shows you the content of the message on the home screen. Thus, you can now see what your friend sent you without actually having to open up the messaging application. The app is still limited to the point of viewing the message only without follow up capabilities (e.g. reply and close buttons).

Shazam

Sometimes, we hear a familiar tune, but can’t place the song title in our mind. While you might want to ask around and hope someone is able to identify the song, you can also turn to the app known as Shazam. This app records the tune and searches its extensive database to return you the title of the song. What’s better, once a match is found, you can purchase the said track from the Nokia Music Store.

And the great thing about this app? While there is an iPhone version for this app, it’s not available on the Apple Store for the Singapore market. Score one for Nokia users in this region.

Push e-mail has been the buzzword of this decade and widely popularized by business-enabled handsets from Blackberry. Over time, push functionality has come to be commonly associated with work and businesses, primarily due to its ability to “immediately” inform users of new information. In this case, e-mails. However this is starting to evolve and the use of “push” has stretched beyond the business sector and even now to the everyday consumer.

But what is “push” and why is it so popular with businesses? Think about current day snail mail delivery services. There are the local postal services which drop off you mail in the mailbox and then there are the delivery services (FedEx and DHL), which deliver the mail right to your hands.

Mail from the local postal service will require the user to go to the mailbox multiple times to check for new items and will not be informed if a mail has been sent. As such, in order to retrieve a letter, the user will just have to keep checking till the mail arrives in the mailbox. But with “push”, it acts like a courier delivery service where you are informed that you have mail and delivered to the user location.

So the advantage of push is that you are promptly informed that new mail has arrived as opposed to having poll the mailbox continuously to check for mail.

Weapon of Choice

In order to engage in push mail services, you will need a mobile handset that is capable of handling push notifications.

Most of the newer Nokia handsets are capable of handling push mail via the Nokia Messaging application installed in the handset. Nokia offers a wide variety of handsets to meet the needs of different users. These handsets include the N series for those that require anything and everything on the go, Xpressmusic for music lovers and of course not forgetting the E series for the busy executives.

On the other hand all Blackberry handsets come with push e-mail capabilities built in and to use this you just have to subscribe to the Blackberry Internet Service offered by the local telecommunications providers. However, such handsets are more business focused.

The Messaging Services

Nokia offers an equivalent of the Blackberry Internet Services called Nokia Messaging and both are capable of pushing e-mails to your mobile phones. But what are the differences between these two services?

With Nokia Messaging, users can define up to 10 e-mail accounts to be pushed to their handsets. Some of the more popular mail protocols that are supported includes the following:

•    Yahoo! Mail
•    Google Mail
•    Windows Live Hotmail
•    Ovi Mail
•    POP/IMAP email accounts
•    Google Apps
•    Yahoo! Small Business
•    Other vanity domain email accounts

The other thing about Nokia Messaging is that it belongs to an independent provider. Users can continue using the service even after changing their network provider.

Blackberry Internet Services is provided by the local telecommunication companies and lets the user aggregate various e-mail feeds to be pushed to Blackberry handset. This service is service provider specific and users will usually have to reconfigure their Blackberry Internet Service if they were to change a service provider. This service supports most mail protocols and include the following:

•    Post Office Protocol (POP)
•    Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP)
•    Windows Live™ Hotmail®
•    Microsoft® MSN®
•    AOL®
•    CompuServe®
•    Gmail®
•    Yahoo!® Mail
•    Microsoft® Outlook® Web Access enabled account

To cater to enterprise needs, Blackberry provides an enterprise solution. The Blackberry Enterprise Server allows enterprise mail solutions namely IBM Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange and Novell GroupWise.

Final Message

Personally I think Blackberry phones are great (good design and interface). But at times, my needs for my mobile device extend beyond just business. Nokia steps in with a wider choice of handsets which are Nokia Messaging capable.

With very similar protocol support, I’m more for the convenience of Nokia messaging, as it’s not provider specific and allows me the flexibility to change service providers when I want.

Finally who does not like offers? Local service providers like M1 are giving Nokia Messaging free for a year if you subscribe to their SunSurf Lite plan. Nokia is also giving away lifetime license with purchase of selected handsets (e.g. Nokia E75).

It’s always nice to have a little personalized space, a place that we are familiar with, allowing each of us to get organized and perhaps even do a little rest and relax. As much as it applies for the physical space, there is also the need to personalize the virtual space on our mobile device and Nokia has done this with their Nokia N97.

For quite a while, very few have mobile devices have allowed the home screen to be personalized. Most of the time only the built in phone applications can be added as a short cut on the main screen (e.g. Calendar, Contacts etc.), leaving out third-party apps from sharing that space.

However the Nokia N97 changes this by providing 5 “interactive” boxes on the home screen to allow your favorite content to reside within these sections. These customizable sections provide convenience to content and applications you use frequently and if you have an active Internet connection some of these contents will even update themselves to keep you truly updated on the go!

Customizing your Nokia N97

Customizing the Nokia N97 is simple. In your home screen, select “Options” and click on “Edit Content”

The boxes should look highlighted; this means that content can be added or removed. Selecting an empty box will allow you to add from the list of available widgets on the phone, alternatively you can download a new widget, which is more suited for your use.

By selecting an existing box, you can remove the content from the screen and replace it with other content.

However please note that some of these content require an active Internet connection to function and may use the active 3G / GPRS connection to retrieve content. Do check to ensure you have subscribed to the appropriate 3G broadband plans to avoid a shock when your bill arrives.

Another feature is the ability to hide the content; by selecting “Hide content” the available content will be hidden from the home screen leaving only the background, time, date and current profile selected. This mode is great to show your beautiful images via a slide show on the home screen.

Life customized

Having a personalized home screen places information feeds that I read daily readily available on a single page. This saves me the hassle of having to navigate into the applications folder to launch the various news readers and social networking tools (e.g. Facebook).

Other than news feeds and social networking, shortcuts to my favorite apps can also be placed on this screen giving me instant access to frequently used items (e.g. Nokia Maps, Web Browser, Media Player)

Not forgetting the all so useful calendar to keep track of my busy schedule can also be customized to display my daily schedule on the screen.

I also like the fact that I can put my friends on quick dial so that I can quickly contact them; with the N97 this has gone a step further. It used to be a number associated with a friend, but now you see who you are calling and a image of your friend is shown instead of having to remember a number.

The best part about all this is the fact that there are so many applications to choose from and the options for customization are increasing every day. Having so many options would mean that I can customize my home screen to suit my life, be it at work or play and make my home screen a unique experience for myself.

Getting lost in Singapore is relatively hard. But it happens. What if you aren’t familiar with a particular area, or in search of a famous landmark that you haven’t been to? The latest Nokia Maps 3.0, otherwise known as Ovi Maps, is more than just a map. Here’s a quick look at how you can fully utilize the latest Ovi Maps to get to your destination with no frills and hassle.

A trip with Nokia Maps 3.0 from Mark Yeong on Vimeo.

Have you ever felt like your day is not very complete? And wondering if you could add some flavor to your daily routine?

Now you can spice up your day with Ovi.com! Ovi.com offers a myriad range of widgets and personalization apps and enhances your user experience, and of cos, it allows you to get more things done! With so many different widgets and apps available, you’ll bond to be able to find one that will aid you in your day.

Now, no time gets wasted in this fast-paced era, and you’re connected 24/7!

Nokia Zone #1 from Jayden on Vimeo.

The Internet is such a wonderful medium - entire DVDs can be transferred electronically and information updates are made almost instantly available for download and viewing. Even now more software developers are turning to electronic transfer as a convenient way to push software upgrades and updates to their customers.

Traditionally. to do an update, one would have to make a trip to the service center to get the latest updates and of course in the process risk losing your precious contacts. However Nokia has taken to electronic transfer as a mean to allow end users to safely update their Nokia handsets with the latest firmware in the convenience of their home or office.

Nokia Software Updater

The Nokia Software Updater is a Windows based application to keep Nokia phones up to date and running smoothly. Using the updater makes upgrading the phone a simple process, to update you just need to:

1)    Download the Nokia Software Updater installer
2)    Install the software on the PC
3)    Connect your handset to the PC
4)    Backup your necessary information
5)    Click through a couple of buttons
6)    Wait and let the software download over the Internet

You can find more instructions via the following article here.

Although this is a convenient method to keep your phone updated, one must remember that this method still requires a PC to help update your handset. With the vast improvements in over-the-air data access such updates can now be done easily via Independent Application Delivery IAD

Independent Application Delivery

What is Independent Application Delivery? In short, it is the ability to update your devices firmware with just an over-the-air data connection.

Phones are now able to receive updates without the need to connect to a PC and the freedom to receive these updates all via your mobile phone over the air. This makes the task of updating so much simpler. Just key in a code, select update and let your phone do the rest, isn’t this far easier as compared to the task as described previously.

How to perform IAD with Nokia phones?

Do note that IAD is a new feature that is applicable only on some of the latest Nokia devices. On your phone key in *#0000#, this will give you details on your mobile phone.

Once you select Options, you’ll notice a Check for Updates option available. By doing so, your Nokia device will utilize the current active internet connection and tally itself with the server to check if it’s powered by the latest firmware.

Your phone will then search for updates on Nokia servers and if found will advise you on proceeding with the update.

Please do note that if you’re not connected to a wireless network the phone would most probably try to access the servers via the phone network and if you’re not equipped with a data plan the bill will be rather hefty if you decide to do an over the air update.

Nokia Zone - Nokia Messaging, Empowering your Work from videoman on Vimeo.

Finding yourself in a pickle when you need to gain easy access to all things work related? Nokia Messaging, the push email service from the Finnish company, gives you the power to stay connected to not only work-related emails, but also special mentions from your loved ones in your personal email. We give you a quick example of how Nokia Messaging will get you out of that dire situation at work.

Nokia Zone - The Ovi Journey, Shared with All from videoman on Vimeo.

Beyond devices, beyond services, Nokia’s Ovi portal gives you the power to share your journeys and upload your discoveries in a few easy steps. We bring you on a quick tour of how you can harness the power of Ovi’s file-sharing features, right here at Nokia Zone!

Let’s face it, life is never as predictable as we would like it to be and things do not go as planned from time to time. In the case of travel, we know that various factors will delay travel time and some of these include being unable to find the location or perhaps traffic build up due to accidents. Through these experiences, we start to find ways and means to counter these unpredictable occurrences, the simplest being to leave early so that we can be at the destination on time or studying a map to determine the shortest route.

Technology has however slowly provided better ways for us to improve our travel, getting us to our desired destinations on time and saving us from sitting though traffic congestions, which may last for hours.

Getting to the correct place

Sometimes having a street directory is simply not enough and to know how to get to your desired location in theory is sometimes very different when you try to actually do it. GPS systems identified these issues as they started to target the mass and generic consumer market by allowing us to plot out a navigation route and have the system provide guidance to our desired location, saving us time, effort and a whole lot of stress.

Beyond standard navigation

In the bid to attract more listeners and maintain its viewership levels, radio stations started to provide traffic information updates to drivers who tune into their favorite station for the latest traffic updates, so that certain key roads can be avoided if required.

This was a good system and drivers were able to avoid congestions, taking alternate routes saving time and spending these precious hours for more productive activities instead of getting stuck in traffic jams.

In order to make things more efficient this traffic information was then paired with GPS navigation systems to not just provide the shortest route but also the least congested route.

Real-time Traffic Info

So what is real-time traffic info? In a nutshell, real-time traffic feeds information on collisions, roadworks and traffic jams. After the feed is received the device can dynamically re-route you to avoid a traffic event and offer alternative route.

Information on traffic is provided by road traffic data providers. These companies use various methods to acquire raw data from the field, e.g. governments’ road management authorities, automotive clubs, police and fleet management companies.

Traditionally, this information is fed to the GPS system via FM radio signals, and allow the system to know and understand the traffic situation. GPS companies like Garmin have tied up with traffic information providers like NAVTEQ to let their customers with lifetime subscription to traffic info feeds over the air when a special attachment to the GPS is purchased.

Nokia Real-time Traffic Info

Nokia’s traffic info is based on information being fed via Internet service. Instead of using FM signals to send data, users connect via Nokia Maps to retrieve real time traffic information, this is especially useful as each country adopts different radio systems, however accessing data over the local phone network is rather universal through the world.

FM signals have the advantage in the fact that it doesn’t require data downloads which might incur additional data charges. Real-time traffic information services however have still yet to set foot on our shores, but be assured that Nokia will be looking into the Asia Pacific market, which of course includes Singapore.

With the introduction of Global Positioning System (GPS) into Nokia S60 devices, Nokia Maps has become the default navigation tool that resides in most of its S60 enabled devices. Even as Nokia Nokia Maps 3.0 is being prepared to bring navigation to the next level, Nokia has released the beta version of Nokia Nokia Maps 3.0 available for download here (note: only certain models are currently supported).

Some improvements over the previous version include

- Maps can now be rotated
- In 3D view mode, you can tilt the view
- 2D/3D mode works with all map modes, i.e. with Map/Satellite/Terrain
- 3D landmarks for over 200 cities (can be displayed in 2D or 3D mode) - provide easier identification of buildings and structures
- Terrain map mode
- Enhanced car navigation* – lane assistance, speed limit warnings, improved sign post design and new ‘Route overview’ mode during navigation
- Enhanced pedestrian navigation* – shortcuts (virtual connections) in urban areas, straight line guidance for off-road terrain and beeps and vibrations before next turn
- My Places has option “Point me to” for any saved place/landmark, you the direction to that place on the map

In addition to the synchronization of Favorites and Collections with Ovi Maps and vice versa (use in online mode, enable Internet connection), you can now plan routings on Ovi Maps and synchronize to your device

* Please note that navigation requires a license to operate

3D Landmarks

One of the major highlights of this update is the availability of 3D landmarks. As the name implies, what you will be presented with is a 3D representation of the landmark at your location. This will provide for better identification of the area as well as the landmark which you are currently at or intending to embark towards.

Due to its current beta stage, the Nokia Maps 3.0 software wasn’t able to display the abovementioned 3D landmarks for our test maps. However, should you wish to view the 3D landmarks for other regions such as Singapore, you can do so with the online version of Nokia Maps on Ovi.com, which, by the way, is also in the beta stage.

Map Types

Other then having the aesthetically pleasing 3D landmarks on Maps, there is a new Map mode called “Terrain”, which you’ve probably guessed by now displays the map with the terrain imagery. This view adds on to the existing Map and Satellite modes. The addition of the Terrain mode does aid travelers in predicting the steepness of the terrain ahead. This would be a well-utilized feature for trekkers who need to know the layout of the land to plan their route with minimal hassle.

The new Terrain mode can be displayed in either the 2D or 3D perspective, and if you take a closer look, you’ll notice the unevenness in the surface shown on both the maps.

Comparing this to the regular Map in 2D and 3D perspective, and you’ll notice the amount of details added with the Terrain mode to enhance the mapping experience.

The Satellite / Hybrid mode (both in 2D and 3D perspective) has been introduced in Nokia Maps 2.0, and will stay on in the updated iteration. Do note that satellite imagery does require data download, hence take due care when you’re connected to an overseas cellular network via auto roaming services.

Syncing your favorites and routes

As per all Ovi services, you will be able to perform synchronization between Nokia Maps and Maps on ovi.com. To perform synchronization of your favorites and routes on your mobile device you need 2 things.

- Ovi.com account
- Nokia Nokia Maps 3.0 – beta

Once you have an account setup, load up Nokia Maps 3.0 on your mobile phone and navigate to the settings screen.

Options > Tools > Settings > Synchronization

Here you can input your login information for ovi.com and perform a synchronization of the information (Nokia Maps favorites and routes) stored on ovi.com servers as well as those stored on your mobile phone.

Once done you should see those items reflect both on Maps on ovi.com and Maps in your mobile phone.

Getting Nokia Nokia Maps 3.0 Beta

Installation of Nokia Maps 3.0 is simple, just download the following files from here.

There are 2 files to download, namely:

- Nokia Maps Updater
- Nokia Maps Loader 3.0

The updater will install Nokia Maps 3.0 into you mobile phone. After launching Nokia Maps Updater,  connect your mobile phone via PC suite, follow the instructions and Nokia Maps 3.0 will be loaded into the phone (certain compatible models only).

Nokia Map Loader 3.0 allows you to download the maps of various countries for offline use, just select the continent or specific country to download the necessary Maps into the phone. Once downloaded, the specific maps for these countries will be available without the need to retrieve the maps via data connections on the go.

Final Thought

Nokia Maps is an enjoyment to use and comes with free maps to boot. However, with a cost pegged to navigation, Nokia Maps 3.0 would only serve in the capacity of just a map, minus the guidance that comes with the navigation license.

I did enjoy the new 3D landmarks as it gives a better picture and perspective to my location; finding buildings would be less of a hassle and of course not forgetting that it would also mean that I can easily orientate myself with the surroundings by identifying the surrounding landmarks.

Do note that Nokia Maps 3.0 is still in beta stage and comes with a few bugs and glitches such as discernible lag during map loading and zooming. Furthermore, compatibility is still an issue here, with some phone models seemingly having problems loading the software. With that said, those interested in the new capabilities from Nokia Maps 3.0 can get a head start and try out the new navigation software from Nokia. Else, I would recommend that you wait for the final release before upgrading the existing Nokia Maps 2.0 which is now pre-loaded on most GPS-enabled S60 Nokia devices.

Ovi.com is the one stop service station where you can access all your mobile phone content, even without your phone! Check out the video below, and learn how you can harness the full power of Ovi.com, from both your device and your PC.

Everything You Need - ovi.com from euniqueflair on Vimeo.

In our busy society the line between work and personal life starts to draw a blur and some would even have to juggle between two or more email and instant messaging accounts. In some companies, employees are even required to have access to emails delivered “instantly” to their mobile handsets. With the development of push email services, Blackberry users have been tied to their devices and gained access to their emails anywhere, anytime. However, not everyone likes to use a Blackberry unless the situation requires them to do so.

With the Nokia Messaging application, your Symbian S60 device will gain such capabilities. Nokia Messaging will mobilize consumer email and consumer instant messaging (IM) solutions on Nokia devices. This will give users access to email and IM accounts from Yahoo! Mail® and Yahoo! Messenger®, Windows Live Hotmail, Gmail and Google Talk, and AOL Mail as well as email solutions from your Internet Service Provider (ISP) or Company.

Currently Nokia Messaging push email is available as a free limited-beta trial; however there is no word on any charges for this service.

Acquiring the software

Downloading the software is rather easy; just access the following site using your Internet browser https://email.nokia.com/

Step 1:

Select the phone model which you are currently using from the approved list above. Do note that if you are using a device that’s not listed above, there’s still a slight chance that you might be able to use it. I know, because I’m testing it on my Nokia E65 which isn’t in the list, though I used a similar model to download the software.

Step 2:

A prompt will be given to enter an email address and this will become the default account User Name and Password. My personal advice: use something which will remain rather permanent, like your personal email address, as I guess you would still like to use this service even after changing organizations or jobs.

Step 3 (final step):

The final step will be to input your name (this will appear as the name when mails are sent from Nokia Messaging). An SMS will then be sent to the phone number specified and the required software can be downloaded to your mobile phone.

Setting up the software

After the software has been downloaded you can access the setup utility from the phone installations folder.

After establishing an online connection, you can then specify the email address which you would like to add and access on your Nokia device. Only the email address is required, the software will make the necessary configurations to allow the mobile phone to connect to the specified email service.

Entering the password will authenticate the account and add it into the list of accounts available. Currently, Nokia Messaging allows up to 10 different email accounts to be simultaneously accessed on your Nokia device.

Using Nokia Messaging

If your phone has the active standby feature your emails will be displayed on the main screen. Else, you can access the application email in the installations folder.

All basic email functions are available from the application (Reply, Forward, Attach, Compose etc.)

The difference with this email client is the availability of push capabilities, where emails are automatically pushed into your Nokia device as and when it comes in. Additional settings are available to specify when the application should perform synchronization with the email server so whenever you get a new e-mail a little chime ringtone will inform you of your new mail.

Adding Accounts

There are two ways to add more accounts to Nokia Messaging, the first would be via the mobile phone directly and the second via the Nokia Messaging site (https://email.nokia.com/account/loginUI.action). Login user name and password are the same as the one you first used to register on the website.

Method 1 (via phone):

Select add mailbox and the application will run you through the setup program to establish another account to sync. The only different is that the application will prompt if you would like this account to be automatically synced (tagged together with initial email setup on the phone).

Selecting yes will sync this additional account automatically; if not a manual sync would be required to download emails to the phone.

Method 2 (via website):

Login to the account you will be presented with your personal account page, here you will be able to:

1.    Add / Remove / Setup email accounts

2.    Change password

3.    Manage subscriptions (probably charges after the trial)

To add an account you need to provide you email address, password and the name used when sending the email.

Data Charges

Currently charges will be incurred for data transmission (When synchronizing emails over the telephone network). Thus a data plan would be advisable if you want to make use of the messaging service. Users without a data plan can also define the access point to be utilized when synchronization takes place to ensure that no additional data charges are made to the service plan.

Conclusion

I would recommend this application to the business men, sales personnel and CEOs who are looking for a Blackberry alternative. With the torrent of Symbian S60 devices, users will be spoilt for choice. My personal recommendation would be the Nokia E71 or Nokia E90. In fact, if you’re on the hunt for a new business-centric Nokia device, consider the Nokia E75 with its slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Furthermore, the new Nokia E75 also comes with Nokia Messaging pre-loaded on the device. While there is no official word on the price for this service, an affordable cost is much desired especially when data charges are not factored into the service cost. For now, just enjoy the ride. As and when the trial is over, you’ll probably receive an email from and you can choose to continue with the push mail service should you find it indispensable to your daily life.

Introducing Nokia Photos, one of the integral cogs within the Nokia Ovi Suite machine.

Nokia Photos, as one might surmise, is a photo organizing application that provides you with a seamless integration between the PC, Nokia handset and Ovi services on the Internet. In essence, Nokia Photos is a great tool which helps to organize those precious and happy moments with ease.

Other then organising photos, Nokia Photos also provide users with the ability to organize SMS, MMS and even videos from the phone. Few companies have provided such a level of integration between the computer, phone and the Internet. Fret not if you’re a Mac user. Nokia is also working on Ovi suite for the Mac OSx. Mac users would have to wait a little longer to enjoy the services which Ovi has to offer, but as they say, it’s better late than never.

Getting Nokia Photos

As mentioned, Nokia Photos is part of the Ovi Suite, so installing Ovi Suite will be the first step in getting Nokia Photos up and running.

Installation of Ovi Suite is rather simple. First, download the Ovi Suite installation from:
http://www.ovi.com/services/support/nokiaovisuite

Upon starting the installation, the installer will download the Ovi Suite applications and required software add-ons automatically.

After which, Nokia Photos can be accessed via your start menu Start > All Programs > Nokia > Ovi Photos

Synchronizing with Nokia Photos

Being a rather smart software, Nokia Photos will automatically detect the handset which is connected to the PC (you can choose from a wide range of connectivity options). You can then select the items you want to synchronize with Nokia Photos (SMS, MMS, Photos and Videos) which will all be stored into your PC into folders organized by months.

Sometimes you may wish to copy some images from your computer over to your handset, perhaps to show your friends the nice images you took during your last trip. In Nokia Photos select the files stored on the PC and drag them over into phone (in this example, the 5800 XpressMusic) displayed in the menu on the left and the selected images will be copied over to the phone.

Organizing your photos

Organizing photos can be quite a tedious process and at times frustrating if there are no suitable tools to help you out with. Nokia Photos helps to ease that pain by providing a few nifty tricks for organising photos.

1) Tags

There are 2 tags available to organize your photos. Firstly, there is the content tag which lets you describe the photo, similar to how tags are utilized on blogs. Secondly, location tags which let you organize according to where the photo was taken. Tags are useful as it makes locating photos a lot easier, so if I have 100 photos which I took over the months or during the All-American Reject concert here in Singapore, I can easily filter it out from the entire photo library by selecting the appropriate tag.

2) Map

If your handset has an integrated GPS chipset, imagine what you can do with the geo-tagging feature. For one, images that have been geo-tagged will be sorted and show up on the exact location at which it was taken. Alternatively, you can locate the position and drag images into the map location, this lets you browse the images based on location in the map.

3) Timeline

Now timeline is somewhat an interesting aspect to organize your photos. As the name implies, photos or videos are shown in a sequence based on time and date the image was taken. This function is great as it enables you to trace back the series of events that transpired, just be looking at the photos or videos taken during that timeframe. Think of it as a little story of your day to day muses and happenings. And this is not limited to photos and videos only. Remember how Nokia Photos also synchronizes your text messages? That’s right, you’ll also see your text messages over that specific timeline laid out for you to review.

Storing your photos on Ovi share

What better way to save your memories than to put your files on the Ovi servers? As mentioned, Nokia has covered all grounds when it comes to service integration, and this is apparent with Ovi Share’s unlimited capacity for your images. All you have to do is set up an Ovi account, fire up the upload function in Nokia Photos (located at the lower right section), configure Nokia Photo to login to your Ovi account and you’re ready to upload your images to Ovi Share.

After selecting the images you what to upload, select the upload function. An upload dialogue will be presented. Several options are available, from this dialogue you can choose to give a title to this set, add comments and put an option to include tags for the images.

After the photos have been uploaded, the photos can be accessed via the Ovi website. You can choose to share the photos with friends, add tags and even put them up on social networks like Digg and Technorati.

Final Thoughts

Nokia Photos is an easy to use photo organizer with a couple of nifty features such as Maps and Timeline for quick and easy referencing. More importantly, Nokia’s inclusion of its Ovi Share service that provides unlimited storage fulfills its mantra to integrate your life seamlessly with your PC, the web and the world.

And if you are somewhat of a multimedia junkie, check out the muvee function within Nokia Photos. This feature basically takes the images and videos to make it into a nice little video presentation. The version included with Nokia Photos is rather stripped down and only allows up to 3 videos and 30 images to be included in the created video. Want the full experience? You can do so, by activating the 21 days free trial, or go for the full version with a US$49.95 purchase.

Consider for a fact that there’s absolutely zero cost pegged to it (sans the muvee feature which isn’t really necessary), and it’s safe to say that Nokia Photos has the makings of a great album organizer. So if you’re looking for an all in one photo management tool, it’s time to download Nokia Photos right now.

Has it ever happened that you forget to bring an important file for that important presentation which will happen in the next half an hour? Well fret not, if you’re hooked on with the Ovi Files service, you can gain access to your files easily on your mobile phone or any other computer connected to the Internet.

The files service by Ovi allows users to access files from their computers via mobile phones anywhere, anytime.

Show Photos

Using Files, your images are automatically resized for your mobile screen. You can now browse, search and view your entire photo collection residing in your computer directly on your mobile phone.

View Files

Files also let you browse, search and view files stored on your computer. Now you can view your Microsoft Word Document, Adobe PDF and other file types via your mobile phone.  You can also view individual pages of the document and control zoom levels to easily read the document on your mobile phone.

Download Music

Easily access your music tracks on your mobile phone. You can retrieve your favorites music tracks straight from your computer and enjoy them using the music player on your phone.

Send files

Never have to wait to get your files out! You can now share your files with your friends via your mobile phone or computer. Just select the file and recipients and you’re ready to share! It’s somewhat like yousendit.com without the need to upload your file, but if you really need to put the file on the Internet, the service is readily available.

Anytime files

An important service which the files service offers is Anytime Files, essentially this service provides synchronisation of files or folders which you want available onto the Ovi servers, means you are still able to access your important files even when your computer is offline.

There is one thing to note. The Ovi Files service does not come free and it comes in two flavors, option one gives you 10GB of storage space while option 2 gives you 30GB of storage space. 10GB of storage will set you back USD$9.99 / month or $79.99 / year (33% savings) and 30GB of storage cost USD$19.90 / month or $149.99 / year (37% savings). A 60 day trial is included once you have signed up and charges will only occur after the trial.

Ovi files require that you install an application; thereafter you can execute basic commands such as Send, Download, Upload to Folder, Add to Anytime Files on your files or folders from your web browser. A similar browser window will appear on your mobile phone when connected to Ovi.

Usage

Although this service is pretty handy at times, it really does depend on your needs to remotely gain access to your files. Perhaps those holding full time jobs would find such a service useful as it provides access to the files residing in their personal computer at home (Yes, you’ll have to run the computer 24/7 unless you use Anytime files to sync specific folders).

Another way to use files would be at a company level. Various departments can use the files service to place important files onto a “server” (in this case the computer which is dedicated to the Ovi files service). Important files can be uploaded to the Ovi servers using Anytime files and if you’re doing client servicing, the files can be sent to your clients easily through Ovi (it’s like an online FTP solution, so any changes to the folder contents clients will be able to access the modified files).

Data Access

Data access speeds also plays a part as to how fast you can retrieve files from your computer, Upstream speeds (256kbps – 1Mbps) are much slower then downstream speeds (1Mbps – 10Mbps) for consumers, so accessing huge files will take much longer.

Another concern for those accessing Ovi Files using their mobile phones would be data access charges, with prices starting from about SGD$28 a month (30GB / Unlimited) a month via various service providers. I would recommend for a plan that provides at least 500MB of monthly data usage, else you might get a rude shock when you see your skyrocketed bills.

Ovi Files

Ovi files is a great service which gives users the ability to carry and access your files anywhere, on a business trip or on a holiday. Anytime files comes in as a useful solution as it not only provides a backup solution (I’ll sync my documents folder for sure); it also gives me direct access to my files online, where I can then choose to download or even share my files with my friends.

If you’re looking for a comprehensive filing solution, hook up with Ovi and test drive the Ovi Files service free for 60 days.

Living in a safe country, at times I do tend to take this safety for granted and place my personal belongings out in the open. It would be disastrous if my items got lost or stolen, I’ll lose so much which I have gained over the years almost instantaneously. Oh, and I do not mean my weight but the information in my mobile phone.

I’ve lost a mobile phone and I have to tell you that it take a lot of effort to retrieve the lost contacts as I did not have any physical copy to reference to. During that time synchronization was still rather new and I did not do any backups of my contacts. It was only during the period I was using Windows Mobile Devices where backup of contacts seem to be a natural thing with the phone’s software integration with Outlook.

Nokia has introduced the Ovi (I call it Obviously Very Important) Sync service to provide an online solution to let all of us enjoy the convenience of keeping our contacts backed up without much of a hassle. Changing or (touchwood) lost a mobile phone? You can just get another hand set, hook up with Ovi Sync and you’re back in business.

Getting in Sync

For this demonstration I’ll use contacts as the point of reference. Of course, Ovi also synchronizes your calendar events, to-do list and notes.

Step1: Registration

Start by creating an account in Ovi.com here

Congratulations! You’re now a proud owner of an Ovi account.

Step2: Specifying your devices

Select your device from the list provided (most models are supported).

Enter your details such as your mobile phone number, country and time zone.

You’ll be given a summary after all details are filled in.

Once the information is confirmed, instructions will be given for settings to be downloaded to your mobile phone (the Sync app will be used to get information up to Ovi.com)

Step3: Configuring the phone

Accept the configuration, enter the given pin and save the settings

Step4: Doing the sync

Once you’ve saved the settings, head over to your Sync program via Tools

Once you’ve done the sync your contacts will appear in your Ovi.com contacts page

Retrieving your backup

Doing a phone software upgrade, changing your handset (Nokia models) or perhaps you lost your phone (again)? No worries! This time, with an Ovi.com backup you’re more then prepared to get back your information without too much hassle.

Important!

For a start you’ll have to log into Ovi.com, and select restore device. The reason is if you do not do so, it will assume the phone is the primary restore point and send the contacts back to Ovi.com (in this situation it’s empty if you get a new phone)

Once you have select to restore the device, sync up with Ovi.com and it should get the contacts and other important information back to your mobile device.

Well now, with such a service you’ll get peace of mind that a backup of your contacts, calendar and to-do list are on an Ovi.com server.

N-gaging with The One from euniqueflair on Vimeo.

Engaging the help of The ONE, we take a look at how Eunice learns the arts of N-Gaging the enemy in a one-on-one showdown. Mastering both the aesthetic and technical aspects of fighting are just some of the tips and tricks that the ONE dishes out to make you a better fighter.

Join in the fight at http://one.n-gage.com/ and for all you know, you might be the next Master of One!

Installation and Connecting to Ovi Suite

First and foremost, the software has to be installed on your computer or notebook. The installation of Nokia Ovi Suite is really straightforward. Since most sales boxes come with Nokia Ovi Suite DVD, you can run it on the PC and install the software within a few minutes. Alternatively, you can also download Nokia Ovi Suite from http://europe.nokia.com/get-support-and-software/download-software/nokia-ovi-suite/compatibility-and-download

Once the installation is completed, the connection from your device to the computer can be made via USB or Bluetooth.

Don’t forget to accept the installation of Windows Media Player 11 in order to play copy-protected music on your phone!

Nokia Music

Speaking of music, if you are still not familiar with Nokia Music yet, do check out my previous article where I share about Nokia Music PC Client which you can use to play your music as well as shop for new tracks on Nokia Music Store via the client: http://sites.hardwarezone.com/sg/nokiazone/content/featured-articles/3-experiencing-nokia-music-on-your-pc.html

Nokia Map Loader

Taking maps and navigation experiences to the next level, Nokia Maps has a wide variety of innovative features such as Walk for pedestrian navigation, Drive for car navigation, multimedia city guides, and etc. You can even rotate the map to view 3D landmarks from all directions!

With more than 150 free country maps available for download via Ovi Suite, you can now install maps to your Nokia device easily. Plus, it comes with 15 million points of interest pre-loaded so that you can plan your route accurately whenever you are. After all, the world is in your pocket now.

Nokia Photos

Just like synchronizing our new calendar, events, contacts, video files as well as music, photos can be transfer seamlessly from your Nokia device and your PC. You can even share them on your public channel for the entire world to view or simply keep them in your private folder for back up and personal sharing.

Access & Manage

Using Nokia Ovi Suite, you can access, manage and sort all your multimedia files in the Gallery. Files can be organised in an ascending or descending manner by name and date created. There is Filter and tags for you to filter your content and you can also view the items according to the tags that you attached to them. It is a simple yet powerful tool to manage your content.

If your PC/Mac does not have Nokia Ovi Suite, the alternate method is to use Share on Ovi on Ovi.com to upload your multimedia files on the website via Simple uploading, Drag drop uploading and Mobile or email.

Simple Uploading

An easy to use upload function that is also aptly name.

Drag & Drop Uploading

Drag & Drop Uploading is the most suitable for bulk upload and photo-resizing.

Mobile or email Uploading

Need other ways to upload your content quickly? You can always upload them straight from your mobile phones to Share on Ovi, or simply upload via email. And even if you’re not using a Nokia device, there is Shozu, a friendly tool which enables you to upload your photos and videos via from the non-Nokia device too!

With Nokia Ovi Suite, you can transfer, back up, access and share your content easily where you go.

To enjoy these free services, get your free copy of Nokia Ovi Suite at http://europe.nokia.com/get-support-and-software/download-software/nokia-ovi-suite/compatibility-and-download and sign up for your Ovi account today!

Metal Gear Solid Mobile

When it comes to porting a great console game to the mobile platform, there are only a few publishers around who managed to do it as impressively as the publishers of Metal Gear Solid Mobile. Designed for the mobile phone in mind with state of the art full 3D rendered graphics, this new adventure continues to capture the essence of the MGS experience and staying true to its core gameplay of sneaking, shooting and challenging villains.

In Metal Gear Solid Mobile, the story takes place between Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2 where Snake infiltrates a new facility to stop Revolver Ocelot’s Metal Gear black market operation. Understandably, its story is not as drawn out as its console counterparts but it is definitely pocketsize fun for any MGS fans or mobile gamers to enjoy the experience.

If you’ve played the console version, you’ll find that the controls are rather similar on its mobile counterpart too - the D-pad is used for movement and select button for various actions.

Personally, I’m also fascinated with the unique implementation of the camouflage system from Metal Gear Solid 3 where you can actually use your phone camera to take picture of anything in the real world and use those as colour samples to change the color of your sneaking suit – pretty nifty!

Along side with Boom Blox and Resident Evil: Degeneration, Metal Gear Solid Mobile is also one of the most notable and latest games that you can play on N-Gage. Till today, it remains as my top 3 favorite mobile games of all times.

One & N-Gage Arena

Another game that I enjoy playing on the go is One. This fighting game is jam packed with a lot of character customization and tweaking options to keep myself busy. And when I’m bored playing with the AI, I could make use of its Bluetooth and N-Gage support to pit my fighter against a friend or anyone in the world for a few rounds of punching and kicking.

Every victory and loss will dictate your character’s ranking and the best way to watch your ranking soar is to beat a more experienced opponent who has a higher ranking than you. Similarly, losing a match to a weaker fighter who had barely fought before, will affect your ranking drastically.

More Games on N-Gage Arena

If fighting games aren’t your cup of tea, try Reset Generation (Puzzle), Mile High Pinball (Pinball) and Snakes Subsonic (Puzzle). These games offer single player mode as well as multiplayer mode on N-Gage Arena, and they are great for all kinds of mobile gamers or users. At least you can’t go wrong with Snakes Subsonic.

Reset Generation celebrates all things bright and colorful in videogames. It’s a videogame about video games where heroes and “saving your princess” runs the core of this storyline. You can choose from 10 legendary heroes ranging from Hedgehog to Level 50 Elf. To be honest, this fast-paced puzzle game is pretty addictive! With an average of 10 minutes play session, this one-thumb gameplay also allows you to connect to up 4 players with its one-click matchmaking for online multiplayer.

Just like your conventional Pinball games, Mile High Pinball is all about collecting points, collectibles and power-ups! But something caught my attention before I put the game aside. It has a special feature called “Beat-My-Challenge” where players can create your own pinball map and upload it to N-Gage Arena for others to beat! Not only that, you can also upload your rankings, trade balls and create your own tournaments too. Now that’s what I called a Customised Pinball match.

Always a fan of Snake? Check out Snakes Subsonics if you have been living under a rock. The good ol’ Snake game may be still fun, but I guarantee that this 3D snake will not disappoint! With 40 stunning levels and music-driven gameplay, this exciting game also offers you 20 more levels which you can download from N-Gage platform after you’ve completed the game. You can also compete online in four-player match-ups and tournaments where you push your ranking up the scoreboard with every hi-score.

Nokia Zone #1 - Comes with Music from euniqueflair on Vimeo.

Comes with Music is Nokia’s latest service which allows you to have unlimited music download on Nokia Music Store without additional charges.

For Nokia devices that are bundled with Comes with Music service, it’ll be free for you to download every single tracks on the store for the first year. After the free period, you can still keep all the music tracks even if you do not wish to subscribe for the service. Cool isn’t it?

So take that pirate hat off, and start downloading legal music!

When I was first introduced to Comes with Music, the first person that came to mind was my brother. Unlike myself, who is more of a Mac user due to work, my brother is a full-fledged PC and Nokia user since the very first day. He is a supporter of the N-series and he enjoys listening to music on his mobile device. And sometimes, he creates disastrous moments of deleting songs from our sister’s music player and his very own music collection by accident.

Coincidentally, as I was penning this article, he barged into my room to tell me how he had accidentally deleted all his favorite songs again. It made me wonder if that’s a natural ability of his. :S

“Sis! I don’t know whether I should laugh or cry. Even though my favorite songs are all deleted from my PC, I still have my favorite songs on my iPod. The problem is I can’t transfer them back to my PC! It’s so dumb right?”

Well, I’m pretty much helpless in situations like this – especially if he had already cleared his recycled bin – but all I knew was “Comes with Music” is perfect for music lovers like him.

First of all, it gives you unlimited downloads to all the songs on Nokia Music Store. So you can download all the tracks you can find, wherever you want, whenever you want. How can anything beat that? I could imagine anyone – particularly my fellow Singaporeans, who would make full use of this awesome service. We definitely have that sort of kiasuism in our blood. But there is definitely a catch here. Now, this unlimited download is (ironically) limited to a one year period. However, (here’s a better catch.) you can keep all the music tracks that you’ve downloaded during that year! This way, you won’t be deprived from the music tracks that you’ve painstakingly searched, found and downloaded over the first year.

And especially for people like my brother, who often lose their music collection, or… even people like me, who hardly delete any files by accident (I hope I didn’t just jinxed myself here!), tracks can be re-downloaded from Nokia Music Store whenever we feel like it. It doesn’t mean we have to wait till our music collection is accidentally deleted to re-download the tracks.

Say for today, I am using a new laptop and there’s no music tracks on it. What I did was to install Nokia Music PC client on it and re-download whatever tracks I had onto this laptop. Pretty revolutionary, don’t you think? I know, you’re wondering if you can download these songs onto an unlimited amount of laptops or devices. The answer is a definite no, for every time you re-download the songs onto a new device, a new licence has to be acquired and tagged onto it. And as you can guess, licences are limited to a fixed number, so don’t get too trigger happy and delete your music files too many times.

With the upcoming “Come with Music”, we need is a Nokia device and a PC to enjoy DRM WMA format music tracks. There is no need to worry over the number of downloads because it is legal and unlimited for one whole year. And there are no worries over the possible lost of favorite music collection because you can get them back during the one year period. But remember, to download tracks from Nokia Music Store, you definitely need an internet connection on your PC.

Picture this. You spent countless hours with your music. You rip songs from your CDs, purchase songs online and take pride in organizing your 1TB of music albums. They are your e-blood and sweat. And to you, music is one of the most important entertainments that you must have. Then came this fine day. Bam! Everything is gone. Your HDD crashed. All your time and efforts went down the drain and there is no way to retrieve all your music files.

Luckily, for PC and Nokia users, new services and technology today can solve this common problem.

Launched on October 1st, 2008, Nokia Music PC Client is the one-stop station where you can play, transfer, organize, rip and burn music on your PC and compatible Nokia mobile device.

And with a click of the button, you can also discover new music on Nokia Music Store where you are able to buy and download your favourite tracks, or check out what the experts such as 98.7FM’s Muttons at Midnight have to recommend! It also comes with 98.7FM’s Hit List, so you can keep up with the latest music.

Already have music CDs and find it a chore to go through PC transfer? Fret not. With the Nokia Music PC Client, you can now rip your CD directly to your mobile device! Music tracks and playlists are easily organized and transferred with the help of the drag and drop function.

Not only that, you can also connect to other compatible music devices simultaneously! That means you can also listen to music on your friends’ devices on the go. Simply connect to your friend’s mobile device, look for the music and play. This free software and service allows you to do everything easily.

For first time users, here is how you purchase music on Nokia Music Store, using Nokia Music PC Client:

1. Sign up with Nokia Music Store

Besides choosing a Username and Password, all you need to provide is your Email Address and Mobile number to sign up.

2. Purchase credits

You can choose to either buy pre-paid credits - ranging from S$16 to S$176, or Unlimited Streaming from your PC, which cost only S$16 per month. With Unlimited Streaming, you can stream any tracks available from the Nokia Music Store, and all you need, is an internet connection.

Unlike buying physical music albums that would cost you S$18 to S$25 each, it only cost S$16 to buy an album here. With S$16 credits, it also entitles you to download 8 individual music tracks. Not only is it environmental-friendly to buy online (saving on the materials used to make a physical music album) and combats piracy, it also makes everything easy and convenient at your fingertips.

3. Search and download the music you want!

All downloaded music tracks will automatically go to “My Music” where you can listen to them and create your own playlists to suit your mood. You can find your music track under Artists, Albums, Tracks, Genre and Recently added.

To create your very own playlists, simply send the selected music tracks to the Queue and “save Queue as playlist”. It is that easy!

Re-Download

Now here is the best part (or at least to me). For every previously purchased track, you can re-download them anytime too. So if ever you lost your music tracks, all you need to do is to look under Purchased Music in the My Account menu and re-download them for no extra charges.

With such easy ways to download and organize your music tracks, I’d say give Nokia Music a shot if you’re PC user. Otherwise, don’t regret it when your HDD crashes!

Being one of the oldest art forms, music has entertained centuries of people through live performances, records, cassettes, Laserdiscs (LD), Compact Discs (CD), MiniDisc (MD) and today’s digital formats. From soothing our souls to lifting our spirits, empowering us to moving us to tears, music has an innate ability to stir all kinds of emotions within us. I grew up listening to children songs on cassettes, which I also found joy in rewinding the tapes with my tiny fingers.

Since then, listening to music became a pastime for me. It is something many of us do when we’re traveling to school, work or simply chilling out. Eventually, cassettes were replaced by CDs in the 90s. CD albums usually come with a booklet of lyrics, beautiful pictures of the singers/bands and sometimes, they even have awesome freebies to entice the fans or potential buyers. Then, CD player was the coolest gadget to have. I remembered the first time I received my first CD player, I couldn’t stop listening to music on it!

During this period, Internet was also beginning to take off with the mass and mIRC, an Internet Relay Chat client was a hit amongst the local youths. Suddenly, music was easily accessible and downloadable through mIRC channels and Napster, the pioneer of online music file sharing service created by Shawn Fanning. Although piracy went rampant then, the popularity of Napster sparked the awareness that such a service and distribution channel was going to be the next popular wave. Soon, Apple took on the dominance of digital music business with its iTunes and iPod business.

While some people like to use their electronic devices single-mindedly, others prefer to travel light and easy, which made mobile phones with music playback feature a perfect device to own. Nokia 1208, Nokia 2630 and Nokia 1650 were the first few Nokia devices that support music playback. However, due to the limited memory allocated, it was impossible to store a lot of songs on these mobile phones and this was definitely a bummer to many music lovers and heavy users out there. The demand for bigger memory space increased with time. Gradually, memory expandability was introduced and Nokia devices came with bigger internal memory too. And to satisfy the ever-growing power multimedia users, the current N96 has 16GB of internal storage, which can store up to 5000 songs!

With the increasing trend of people using their mobile devices to listen to music, Nokia extended its service to online music distribution with Nokia Music Store in August 2008. Catering to all PC and Nokia devices that support the WMA format, this is possibly the most convenient way to get the latest music anytime, anywhere – as long as you’re connected to the Internet. Besides, the upcoming “Comes with Music” package will be providing a one-year unlimited music download for Nokia devices such as XpressMusic and N-series. Combining this package with Nokia Music Store’s service, this is possibly the best way to combat music piracy too. Double hooray.

If you asked me, I personally prefer purchasing songs online than buying physical CD albums. To me, CDs tend to get misplaced easily and the jewel cases can take up a lot of space. After all, I no longer carry a cassette or CD player with me anymore. Buying and downloading songs online is not only cheaper and more convenient for most of us, but it also goes with the lifestyle we lead today.

Let’s face it. We’re living in an era where mobile phones are no longer just a mere instant connectivity device for making calls and sending SMS anymore. To many of us, it is about entertainment, multimedia, enhancements to our lifestyle, or even to show off. Likewise, the mobile device business for Nokia is no longer as straightforward as how we made use of our phones in the past. Especially with technology, we all have to keep up with times, don’t we?

Starting from the success of the Symbian S60 platform that was developed primarily by Nokia, it opened the door to Java and Symbian C++ applications - turning phones into highly personalized and versatile devices with multitasking capability. Over the years, Nokia evolved from a mobile device manufacturer into a service-centric company by moving deeper into a variety of online services. These services were made to complement with its different phone series such as the Nokia XpressMusic for music lovers, Nseries for heavy multimedia users, Eseries for business oriented users and Navigator for GPS users.

To put things into perspective, we look at some of the key services by Nokia:

Ovi.com

Launched in August 2008, this is a one-stop online service station for all Nokia device users. With an Ovi account, you can back up, view, download, send, and use your files, contacts and calendar from your phone easily. And best of all, it is free!

* Nokia E71: For people who rely on you phone calendar and constantly adding new business contacts, rejoice! With Ovi Sync, you can now sync your calendar entries and contacts to your PC where you can further add, modify or delete your data easily.

Share on Ovi – “Capture and Share Your Mobile Life. Anytime. Anywhere.”

Snap pictures on your mobile phone and upload them on the go to share among your friends and family, or even publish to the world. This free to use service gives you unlimited storage space for all your media so you don’t have to worry about your large file size.

N-Gage

For those who are still lost over the N-Gage branding, N-Gage is not just the mobile gaming phone like N-Gage and N-Gage QD phone models that we used in the past. It has evolved into a software platform from which you can download games directly to any compatible devices and connect yourself with players around the world through N-Gage Arena. With N-Gage, you can get to try any mobile games for free before you decide to purchase them for a small fee.

* Nokia N81 comes with the introduction of N-Gage application and bundled games for trial goodness. What’s more, to truly enjoy the gaming experience, the Nokia N81 comes with dedicated gaming buttons that brings you closer to the gaming experience.

Nokia Music Store

Listen, buy and download music directly on your mobile phones or via PC without any hassle. Nokia Music Store provides a wide variety of songs ranging from pop to oldies to satisfy your listening pleasure and your diverse taste in music.

* Nokia XpressMusic series enables you to download the songs directly to your phone online while you’ll have to use PC for other phone series.

Nokia Maps

With Nokia Maps, this application allows you to explore free global maps and discover new places such as restaurants, pubs, and hotels nearby, which you need on the go. It can also direct you with turn-by-turn instructions to your destination from where you are, whether you’re traveling by foot or driving.

* Nokia 6210 Navigator and other models from the Navigator series will be given a bonus with its bundled Nokia Maps application: a 6-month GPS navigation license. This means you get the full experience of Nokia Maps, absolutely free of charge for 6 months!

All in all, these services are available to our current handsets, which are mostly advanced multimedia or smartphones. As for users who are still using phones of the older generations, I’m afraid you would have to upgrade if you wish to enjoy these free services and keep up with the times.

Connecting your Nokia device to your PC can be a straight and simple affair, just by plugging each device via USB connectivity. But let’s shoot for the moon, and go for the wireless options. One such method is to, you’ve guessed it, switch on your device’s Bluetooth radio and connect it to your PC (provided you do have a Bluetooth dongle on your PC). We’ll start off with establishing a secure connection between your device and the PC. Go to the Bluetooth menu, switch on Bluetooth, and Add new devices. Once that’s done, set the connection you’ve made as authorized to allow both the device and PC to get connected immediately once your device’s Bluetooth connection is on.

 Next, it’s time to connect your Nokia PC Suite with your Nokia device. Start up Nokia PC Suite, click on the Get Connected Wizard button as highlighted in red.

At this point, you’ll be prompted which connection is to be utilized. Select Bluetooth, and Nokia PC Suite will search for any devices connected to your PC via Bluetooth. Once the search is done, you’ll notice your device is included in the list, so click on that, and then click Next to get connected. With the connection established, it’s time to synchronize your contacts and calendar in both directions for the device and the PC. Click on the Synchronize icon as highlighted below.

What we need to bring your attention to, is the finer details of PC synchronization, so click on the Settings and select the Conflict Resolution tab. Select Microsoft Outlook as the default information. This is a necessary step to prevent any conflicts amongst your calendar when you update your information in both directions, and chances are you’ll be doing more amendments on your Microsoft Outlook than from your mobile device.

With all the necessary pre-requisites done, hit the Synchronize button, and you’ll have a device that’s tuned to your PC’s Microsoft Outlook database. And that’s not all. Remember Ovi.com, as we’ve explored in our earlier article? That’s right, the beauty of Ovi.com lies in its ability to store and synchronize your contacts and calendar onto a web server, giving you immediate access to your schedule in the event that you’ve lost access to both your PC and your Nokia device. But to get everything in place first, we’ll need to synchronize your device with Ovi.com. At the Ovi.com site, first time users will notice the Get Started panel, as you’ll see below.

Click on Add a Device, and you’ll be prompted to select your Nokia device, and as you can see, Ovi.com supports a wide variety of Nokia devices that’s compatible with the online server. Once you’ve chosen your device, the next step requires you to provide your cell phone number, which will be used to send a link to install Ovi.com onto your device. Once you’ve entered the provided PIN from Ovi.com, your device will be ready to synchronize with Ovi.com, and to do so, you’ll need to go to Tools > Sync and by then, you’ll notice an additional Ovi.com option within.

With Ovi.com being an online portal, you would require an active internet connection on your Nokia device to synchronize your data onto the online web server, and you can choose to use either your Wi-Fi connectivity or HSDPA connection. Charges would be minimal, as you’ll only be uploading a minute amount of data to the Ovi.com portal. Do note that with Ovi.com, synchronization goes both ways too, thus you won’t be facing a conflict resolution. Conversely, should you also be synchronizing with your PC, you won’t have to worry about conflict resolution either as all three platforms (Ovi.com, Nokia PC Suite and Nokia) will be in tuned with each other according to the timestamp when you update your data.

The old school method, as what we would call it, is to use the Nokia PC Suite and utilize its One Touch Access feature to turn your Nokia device into a modem. You have a choice of either connecting your Nokia device to the PC via a wired USB connection, or go for the wireless route and switch on your device’s Bluetooth connection, thus creating a wireless modem over the Bluetooth connection. Firstly, let’s switch on Nokia PC Suite, and select the One Touch Access function, as highlighted below.

Before we connect the dots, let’s do some tweaking on the connection settings first. Click on the Settings tab (the spanner icon) and select the appropriate connection, depending on the connection that you’ve established between the device and the PC. Next, you’ll be prompted to select the cellular network as used by your device.

Once that’s done, click on the Connect icon and in a few short moments, you’ll have your very own Nokia device as a modem.

As mentioned, the Symbian S60 platform comes with a myriad of 3rd party applications designed to enhance your user experience. And in comes JoikuSpot, which uses the cellular data connectivity found in most devices, and utilizing it as if it were a Wi-Fi hotspot. Think of your device as a router that allows other devices to connect to it and get hooked onto the Internet. And thus, let’s move on and download this free S60 application from its portal, right here.

Next, it’s time to install the application. Perchance you are using the Nokia N95 8GB like we are, or better yet, the Nokia N96 with it 16GB internal storage capacity, you might want to consider transferring the JoikuSpot S60 file into your device’s internal memory. Connect your device to the PC, choose Mass Storage, and transfer the S60 file into the internal storage, for example, in a new folder within the device called Programs.

With that done and in place, go to Settings > File Manager and select the Internal Memory Tab and click on Programs > JoikuSpot Light.sis to start installing JoikuSpot onto your device.

Select your JoikuSpot Light application from the Applications tab and you’ll be prompted to click Yes to create a Shared Internet Connection. The idea is to utilize your cellular network, such as your device’s GPRS or HSDPA data connectivity, to create a wireless access point to allow other devices to link up and get connected onto the Internet.

Using another Nokia device, switch on your WLAN scanning and you’ll notice that an access point called JoikuSpot is now available for your connection purposes. Simply choose that as your wireless access point, and you’ll have a working data connection.

There are a few downsides to this S60 application though. JoikuSpot Light supports HTTP and HTTPS protocols, but if you’re thinking of utilizing it to download your emails via the IMAP protocol, you’ll have to upgrade JoikuSpot Light to JoikuSpot Premium. More importantly, when you’ve successfully created a wireless hotspot with your device using JoikuSpot Light, the connection is essentially unsecured. Without an option to create an encrypted network, this means that anyone can tap into your HSDPA network with the JoikuSpot hotspot connection, so extra care has to be taken to keep your connection secure.

During the Nokia Remix 2008 event held on the 3rd of Oct, Nokia has officially announced its first touchscreen device to hit the mainstream market, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. For all the advent Nokia fans, you’ll probably remember this as the Nokia Tube, and being alert enough, you would have seen it in the scene where Lucius Fox deposits the device into the hands of Bruce Wayne in the Warner Brothers movie, The Dark Knight.

The 5800 XpressMusic comes with a generous 3.2-inch display, running at a 16:9 aspect ratio with its 640 x 360 resolution and up to 16 million colors support. Having a 3.2-inch screen allows one to easily swipe through the device with your fingers and thumbs, and during our short stint with the 5800 XpressMusic, we found ourselves not searching for the bundled stylus to flip through the expansive icons on the interface. It’s hardware delivery is not too shabby either, delivering a quad-band network support with HSDPA connectivity on top of its Wi-Fi and Bluetooth setup. Moreover, the device comes with GPS and is A-GPS ready. As with most multimedia devices, Nokia has wisely thrown in a 3.5mm audio jack and a TV-out port for good measure too.

Perchance you would like to give your neighbours an earful (a good one at that), we were treated to the built in surround sound stereo speakers, which sounded pretty decent to our audio receptors. For the heavy music listeners, the 5800 XpressMusic is rated at up to 35 hours of music playback, and 9 hours of talktime. And equally important for the music lovers, the 5800 XpressMusic does come with microSD expandability, supporting SDHC compatibility as high as up to 32GB (theoretically). Nonetheless, to give consumers a headstart, the 5800 XpressMusic will come bundled with an 8GB microSD to store your music tracks, which will be especially useful if you were to purchase it with the Comes with Music package.

Being the first touchscreen device under the Nokia brand, the 5800 XpressMusic will be a precursor of things to come from the Nokia engine. Whilst Nokia hasn’t officially announced its immediate plans for the S60 5th edition and its inception into its other series such as the N and E lineup, our speculation is as good as yours while we keep ourselves in tune with the Nokia frequency and check out the offerings that has yet to come in the following months. But for the present moment, be patient and await the coming of the first touchscreen device from Nokia, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, which should be looking at a Q4 2008 launch at an estimated retail pricing of 279 Euros (around US$386) before taxes and subsidies.

Furthermore, Nokia has also been going full steam ahead with its service offerings, and a few months back, it introduced the Comes with Music package. This bundled service provides consumers with a year of unlimited music download from the Nokia Music Store at a bundled price when you purchase specific Nokia devices. Announced concurrently at its London press conference, Nokia will be rolling out its Comes with Music package in the following weeks in the United Kingdom, firstly on the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic, and followed by the Nokia N95 8GB and finally the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic in early 2009. To up the ante, Nokia has also announced the addition of the EMI Group amongst other major record labels such as Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group on its Nokia Music Store offerings. Unfortunately, we have no firm data on the estimated bundled cost for the Comes with Music package for the Asia Pacific region for now but we will be expecting the unlimited music download service hitting our shores in the very near future.

To put things into perspective, Nokia Beta Labs is actually a community driven site. Maintained by the Nokia development team, readers are able to visit Nokia Beta Labs and check out what’s cooking in the Nokia Beta Labs via its Blog section. Hosting applications that are both currently in the Beta (yes, it ain’t called Nokia Beta Labs for nothing) stages and its completed stage, or nicknamed as Graduates by the Nokia team, Nokia Beta Labs allows you to download these applications optimized for your S60 device, test it on the go, and even leave valuable feedback for the development team to take note of and improve upon.

Applications are typically segmented into three main categories under Nokia Beta Labs: Archive, Beta and Graduate. As you might have surmised, applications that fall under the Archive section are no longer developed by the team, though some archived applications are still available for download. Removed applications, more often than not, are due to product developments that hard codes the software straight into the hardware. One such example is the Location Tagger application, which acts as a separate geo-tagging application to enter GPS location in the EXIF data of your photos. The location tagging functionality, as explained by Nokia, has now been productized, and thus will not be further developed as a standalone application.

What you’ll be interested in, is the Beta and Graduate sections which houses applications that are good to go on your S60 device. Within the Beta section, you’ll notice an indicator beside each application. This would be the progress bar, which determines the level of development on the application, ranging from an early release (as represented by a red bug), to a yellow spanner which defines the application has some known issues and finally a green star that places the application as almost completed.

Let’s take a quick tour at the Beta section first, giving you a quick overview of the numerous applications available. For one, there’s the Conversation app that groups all messages from one contact into a single thread, akin to what you experience on instant messaging programs such as Windows Live Messenger. Practical applications are also available, such as the Wellness Diary and Sports Tracker that works in tandem by allowing you to keep track of health data such as weight, your exercise regime in your calendar and the number of steps taken which is reflected by the Sports Tracker.

Remote accessing your Nokia device is also possible if you were to try out the Mobile Web Server app. By having an internet connection tagged to your Nokia device with the Mobile Web Server app running, you can access your device’s contacts, calendar and also send SMS to contacts on your device via a PC web browser. There are also more niche applications designed for Internet Tablet devices such as the Nokia N810. Applications include a Nokia Internet Tablet Video Converter, which as its name suggests, converts video files to a suitable format for your Nokia Internet Tablet for you to view on the go.

We move onwards to the Graduates section, and as you guessed it, these apps are fully compatible with your Nokia devices. Familiar applications such as Share Online 3.0 and Widsets have been covered previously in our earlier articles. Other rolled out applications that have been certified ready would include features that would be a bundled application with newer devices such as Nokia Maps 2.0, or integrated into existing applications such as the Nokia Communication Center which can be found within the latest Nokia PC Suite.

To date, the plethora of applications for the S60 platform, available on Nokia Beta Labs, is only a small percentage of what you can find on the internet. S60 developers are hard at work building and coding applications that sees and fulfills the need of the consumer. Tapping upon the open source nature of the S60 platform, Forum Nokia also plays a big part in gathering innovators and showcasing their applications to a global audience, thus it’s as much a software race as it is a hardware race in the bid to gain dominance in the mobile device market. And this is only the tip of the iceberg, as we’ll be seeing greater service lineups from Nokia, especially so with the graduation of its Nokia Music PC Client in preparation of an upcoming music download service from the Nokia Music Store.

For one, the S60 platform advocates an open approach to the applications one can enjoy. S60 is not only predominantly found on Nokia devices. Other device manufacturers have also taken on the S60 platform, allowing users to experience the full potential of the S60 platform in its entirety. But at the end of the day, what the S60 platform revolves around can be summed up in one word: convergence.

To make sense of how the S60 fulfills the convergence criteria, let’s take a look at its functionalities. Take for example, the Nokia N96 that was recently launched. Equipped with the S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2, the N96 is touted as a powerhouse of a device that fulfills both your business and entertainment needs, with the ability to schedule your calendar and synchronize with Microsoft Outlook, web surfing on the S60 web browser, music and video playback and of course, gaming. All these features depend on two main factors in a mobile device: hardware and software.

This is where the S60 platform shines in the software department, being an OS that gives you the ease of synchronizing your contacts, calendar and even bookmarks from your PC onto your Nokia device with a simple click of a button. And yet not forgetting that a mobile device will double up as an entertainment unit, the S60 platform gives you the freedom to install applications that will enhance the device’s entertainment value, such as games, support for various multimedia formats and many more.

And we’ve just mentioned the word applications, or apps in short. If you’ve been using a Nokia device powered by the S60 OS, chances are you’ve at one point or another installed an app that you might have stumbled upon on the web into your Nokia device. This is the essence of the S60 platform: the flexibility to install a myriad of programs that enhances your user experience on your Nokia device.

A huge library of applications found on official sources such as S60.com or Nokia Beta Labs, or on user-generated bases such as Symbian Guru and S60 Tips. In our earlier article on location tagging, you might have noticed that we recommended the Location Tagger application which is downloadable from Nokia Beta Labs. Of course, newer devices such as the Nokia N78 do come with their own geo-tagging feature, but imagine how you can bring the functionality of older devices closer to what the current technological trend is. Even so, there are various applications out there that are just for kicks, such as the Lightsaber application that puts you in the shoes of the Jedi Knights or a Sith Lord, swinging your Nokia device (with an accelerometer, of course) as you would with a lightsaber and getting a good laugh out of it with the accompanying lightsaber sound effects.

As one might have realized, the S60 platform has become synonymous with Nokia devices. With the recent announcement of Nokia’s full acquisition of the remaining shares in the Symbian group, and in turn, handing it over to the newly formed non-profit Symbian Foundation, the core focus of the S60 platform is now positioned as an open source platform provider to be in direct contention with Google’s Open Handset Alliance. But beyond its resolve to becoming an open source platform, there are more major updates along the S60 route, one of which would be the S60 Touch UI, or also known as the S60 Taco 5.0, which will provide users with an alternative approach to mobile device interaction when it does land on our shores very soon. And we do mean really, very soon, so be sure to check back at both www.hardwarezone.com and Nokia Zone for the latest developments in the S60 arena.

With the first half of 2008 flying past us and Nokia being on track with the introduction of its online services such as Nokia Music Store, N-Gage and Share on Ovi, the Finnish giant has finally unveiled the Ovi platform to the public eyes. Adding on to its repertoire, Ovi now comes with two other services available on Ovi.com, namely Files on Ovi and Nokia Ovi Suite. The latter, if you were to make an educated guess, would bear some semblance to the Nokia PC suite that allows you to seamlessly synchronize your phone’s contacts, calendar and notes to your PC using Outlook as the main conduit. In essence, what you’ll get is an updated PC Suite that utilizes the Ovi platform and connects your

The latest introduction under the Ovi initiative though, would be the Files on Ovi service. Whilst one might wonder the difference between this new service and the current Share on Ovi service, the answer would be apparent in a few matters. For one, Files on Ovi goes one step further to allow remote access to your PC or laptop’s contents with the use of its Anytime File server. To make things simple, imagine an online server that has remote access to any files within your PC as designated by you. With that said and done, you can now access any files from your PC with the use of your Nokia device or through another PC terminal, all you need is an internet connection to get you online and hooked up to Files on Ovi.

The most glaring difference for both Share on Ovi and Files on Ovi, would come in monetary terms. Yes, Files on Ovi works on a subscription basis, with varying charges for different storage capacities and subscription timeline too. For a basic 10GB file storage system, the user will be charged at US$9.99 per month, or if you were to pay an upfront fee for a year, it will cost you up to US$79.99. Larger storage capacities are also available at up to 30GB, which will offset you by US$19.99 per month, or US$149.99 per year.

A question that arises though, will be why should one subscribe and pay for a file-hosting service when you can easily get similar amounts using Google Docs. The reason is simple: a seamless integration of PC, mobile device and the Internet that allows you to access your files anytime, anywhere, with Files on Ovi. Whether Ovi is the door that suits your purposes at the end of the day, will be a question best answered by yourself.

Of course, if there’s no hurry, there are alternative uploading methods. Truth is, it is less of an alternative and more of a tried and tested method to upload large files onto the Share on Ovi portal using your PC and a web browser. Share on Ovi creates an intuitive experience that allows you to upload via various means, which we’ll be introducing in the next few minutes. But before we continue, do note that to fully enjoy the Share on Ovi experience on your PC, we recommend using Internet Explorer as your web browser due to the requirements of certain ActiveX plugins for certain features.

Now, onto the main course. For photography buffs, chances are you’ll have a huge collection of photos from your Nokia device to upload. Instead of the tedious one-by-one uploading from the days of old, multiple uploading can be done. As depicted in the image above, choosing “Multiple files or folders” allows you to select multiple images from your Windows Explorer, drag and drop it into Share on Ovi. Note that you have to designate the targeted channel to allow Share on Ovi to determine the location of your file uploads.

To make things easier, you can also upload images to Share on Ovi via email. The concept works as such - each Share on Ovi account is provided with various email addresses tied to the specific channels of that account. A list of available email accounts tied to each specific channel is located in the “Upload” section, under the “From Mobile or Email” tab. Note that under Option 2, you’ll be given a list of email addresses, which corresponds to your respective channels within your Share on Ovi account. So all you’ll need to do is compose a new email, address it to the email address that corresponds to the correct channel, attach your images or videos and finally, hit the send button. And a little trick for some of our readers - you can even forward images sent to you by your friends and store it within your Share on Ovi account too.

With that done, you’ll have all your multimedia files consolidated within the “My media” section. The beauty of Share on Ovi, is the ease of accessibility to your uploaded images, editing its tags attached to it or even sharing it with your friends via their own Share on Ovi account or through email. As depicted above, by selecting a single or multiple images, you can assign the chosen images to other channels too, or even add individual tags to allow for easier categorization amongst each specific image.

As mentioned, you can also upload videos using Share on Ovi, and with the integrated video player, you can share your videos for others to view, ala YouTube style with the ability to add comments to your videos. However, like most other video hosting sites, there’s a limitation to the file size, and that’s up to 100MB. While it’s understandable that not many of us would be uploading a huge video that goes beyond the 100MB file size limit, we’ll give a quick walkthrough of how you can reduce your video file size and upload it in sequence onto Share on Ovi.

On the basis that you’ll be recording movies off your Nokia device with the .MP4 format, it would be advisable to utilize a video trimmer that supports the .MP4 format. Using a Quicktime Pro or Split Movie 2, you can easily trim and crop videos to certain lengths, and save it as a new file for you to upload onto Share on Ovi. With Quicktime, you can retain the original MP4 format and thus allowing other Nokia users to easily load and view the shared movie right off their Nokia devices. However, should you wish to make it friendly on the PC, using Split Movie 2 would be a better choice. More importantly, cropping videos allow you to separate the video into acceptable the file size limit of 100MB.

And it’s not only images and videos that can be uploaded onto Share on Ovi. True to its online file-hosting capabilities, Share on Ovi also allows one to upload and play audio tracks right off its site, but do take note that copyright infringement is still a big no-no, thus do take care of what you’ll be uploading to your Share on Ovi account. Furthermore, you probably won’t be able to read Word or Adobe PDF documents that’s uploaded within Share on Ovi right off the dot, but you will be prompted to utilize to either Open or Save the document onto your own PC. Share on Ovi’s concept is simple: share everything, anytime, anywhere, through either your Nokia device, or your PC, thus forming a successful tripartite relationship between your mobile phone, your personal computer and finally, the wide-spanning world wide web.

With that done and settled, we now move on to the initial setup of your Ovi account with Share Online 3.0. To locate the installed application, navigate to your Menu > Applications, and you’ll notice the Share Online icon sitting right there.

Click on it, and you’ll now see three available accounts for you to setup, namely Ovi, Flickr and Vox. We’ll be focusing on Ovi for now, so click on Ovi to start the activation process. Your device will prompt you about the existence of your Ovi account. By answering No, you’ll be forwarded to the Ovi website via your mobile device, but our advice is for you to create your account using your PC on the Ovi website.

Following which, enter your login ID and password, and with that done, you’ll be required to connect to the Internet as your Nokia device retrieves the list of services tied to your Ovi account. With a successful connection, you’ll see a notice informing you that your account has been successfully activated, and you are ready to upload and view any content within your Share on Ovi account.

As you can see from within the menu, you’ll have the required access to the necessary features as seen on the Share on Ovi website. Check your latest uploaded media, either through your PC or your Nokia device, or view photos as shared by your friends and contacts within Share on Ovi. Furthermore, you’ll be constantly updated with any ongoing comments on your latest uploads and given a direct access to the Share on Ovi website.

To make Share on Ovi easily accessible, once you’ve activated your Share on Ovi account on your Nokia device, a shortcut will be placed on the Home screen, thus giving you easy access to the Share Online application which is linked to your Share on Ovi account. And now, with all the initialization and setup done, we’ll show you how you can share your media with the click of a few buttons using Share on Ovi.

For any existing media within your gallery, you can easily upload your images to Share on Ovi once you’ve done the initial setup. As depicted above, choosing the Share icon will now link you directly to Share on Ovi, and once you’ve selected it, the media of your choice will be directly uploaded to your Share on Ovi account. Of course, any immediate photos taken will also have the option to upload onto Share on Ovi, thus you won’t have to go through numerous levels just to upload a photo that you’ve just taken.

Once you’ve uploaded your media, let’s take a trip back to your Share on Ovi account on your Nokia device. After you’ve updated your latest uploads, you’ll notice that there’s a small star icon on the top right, indicating that it was a recent upload. Additionally, should there be any comments made on your recent uploads, you’ll notice a red speech bubble attached to the image.

On your device, you can view the image details and specifics such as date and time uploaded, description, and even tags will be displayed. Furthermore, should you wish to share your uploaded media with others who don’t have access to Share on Ovi, you can do so by selecting “Send link” and you’ll send the URL to your friends via text messaging.

And that’s the basics of Share on Ovi on your Nokia device. In our concluding article, we’ll go one step further and showcase how Share on Ovi is more than just a file-hosting site that links to your Nokia device, sharing some tips and tricks on how you can fully utilize Share on Ovi’s capability as an online portal to host a variety of media.

Of course, if it’s not for your own reminiscence, chances are you’ll be showcasing your latest discoveries to your friends. Whilst file sharing applications and portals such as Flickr and Shozu have been around for the past few years, there exists a growing issue of having a centralized service that hosts, shares and distributes images from your mobile device onto a widely accepted platform. And thus, enters Nokia’s solution to this: Share on Ovi.

Perchance that you think Share on Ovi is the first file-hosting service by Nokia, it’s a concept that needs to be rectified. In truth, Share on Ovi had its roots from Nokia’s alternative platform for file-sharing, MOSH. Symbolizing MObile SHaring, MOSH started off as a portal that gives users the freedom to upload images, videos, and even S60 applications, which includes games and user experience enhancements, for your Nokia devices. The MOSH platform saw a steady increase in page hits and to date enjoys up to 74,592,978 downloads and is still an active portal even as we speak. But during July 2007, Nokia made a move to acquire the media-sharing site, Twango, which opened up new doors for Nokia to explore more avenues for experience sharing via Nokia devices. What was then created is the brand new Share on Ovi, which utilizes the Twango engine to host images with its metadata intact.

With Ovi meaning “door” in Finnish, and the implication of the word “share”, Share on Ovi’s goal is to open a door to an avenue for sharing multimedia content with ease of accessibility on both your Nokia device and your PC and focuses on sharing experiences with everyone. Content uploading can be approached upon in a myriad of ways, one of which is the tried and tested method of transferring your images onto your PC and uploading it from there. But the true purpose of Share on Ovi is to provide you with an integrated experience that also allows one to capture from your Nokia device, edit from your Nokia device, and share it to the world using your Nokia Device. For newer devices such as the Nokia 6220 Classic or the recently unveiled Nokia N96, Share on Ovi is integrated within the device and provides you with quick access to uploading. Nonetheless, previous models would also be ready for Share on Ovi, with the aid of Nokia’s Share Online, which actually links you to not only Share on Ovi, but also Flickr and Vox should you require alternative image hosting sites.

This is not restricted to just uploading and storing your files onto Share on Ovi. With the ability to share your images and videos in a private channel that’s by invitation, or publishing it out for the world to relish in your experiences, Share on Ovi is also an organizer to sort out your life report through the use of pictures and videos. More importantly, Share on Ovi’s secondary aim is to create a community amongst users of Share on Ovi, thus growing the trend to share more amongst friends, family and even new-found friends through the Share on Ovi community. To learn how you can fully harness the Share on Ovi experience on your Nokia device, tune in to our next article.

Being well-connected is a sign of a successful device, and with the Nokia N96, there’s a myriad of connection options to keep you updated on-the-go. Accessing emails and surfing the web on a high-speed connection is viable on the N96 with its Wi-Fi connectivity and HSDPA access. Furthermore, surfing the internet with the Nokia Web Browser on the expansive 2.8-inch screen should put the online content you are searching for in a much clearer perspective.

Maybe you would like to share your latest experiences with the world through the Nokia N96? Hop onto the online file-hosting platform by Nokia, Share on Ovi. Preloaded on the Nokia N96, the Share on Ovi application is a melding of product, service and showcase via one single device, giving consumers the necessary tools to shoot, upload and share their experiences with just a few clicks on the button while they’re on the move.

Furthermore, to work in tandem with Nokia’s various service options such as Nokia Maps, it’s not surprising that the Nokia N96 comes equipped with the latest Nokia Maps 2.0, aided with assisted GPS (A-GPS) for faster satellite locks. Search through your favorite locations with ease using the integrated search bar in Nokia Maps 2.0, and feel free to change up the landscape with either a satellite or hybrid view of satellite imagery (both of which would be aptly aided by the Nokia N96’s wireless connectivity options) and the original maps, downloadable for free using Nokia Map Loader.

Under the Symbian S60 platform, 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2, there’s a whole load of applications preloaded on the Nokia N96, ready to assist you in all work aspects, such as QuickOffice, Adobe Reader LE, and many more. Additional third-party applications are aplenty, and straight from Nokia’s Beta Labs, there’s a plethora of applications that will enhance your user experience with the Nokia N96. Nokia Beta Labs, as its name implies, is a testing ground for all S60 applications, optimized for Nokia devices. With health-conscious programs such as Sports Tracker, to communication enhancements such as Nokia Email Service, the S60 platform’s wide availability to install all the things you need, is perfect for the Nokia N96’s multi faceted features.

As the seconds tick by, it’s about time that we unveil the real show-stealer. That’s right, the Nokia N96 review is now available on www.hardwarezone.com, giving you the full monty on this new flagship model from Nokia’s lineup, so hop on over here and read all about it as we bring you more news on the Nokia front in the coming weeks!

To say the least, music has been of the utmost importance to Nokia’s strategy, as seen with the launch of its Nokia Music Store. With the Nokia N96, enjoying hours of your favorite tracks will definitely be within reach, and it matters not where you are if you get yourself hooked up to the Nokia Music Store via the Internet with its Wi-Fi and HSDPA network connectivity. And if you are wondering about how you can fully utilize the expansive 16GB internal storage, fear not. In the coming months, Nokia’s Comes with Music service, a bundled service that allows you a year of unlimited downloads from Nokia Music Store. This will probably get you downloading and stretching the Nokia N96’s huge memory capacity to its limit since each downloaded track will be available to you forever, giving the 16GB memory a meaningful purpose for your audio needs.

With the fully operational N-Gage platform up and running, the Nokia N96 will be working in tandem and closely connected to your gaming needs. Like its Nokia N81 sibling, the Nokia N96 will have dedicated gaming keys that delivers a gaming experience of noteworthy proportions. Not to mention, with the myriad of games available on the N-Gage platform that ranges from renowned gaming publishers such as Gameloft, Electronic Arts and Konami’s Metal Gear Solid Mobile, to Nokia’s very own brainchild, Reset Generation, it presents the opportunity for one to carry just that one device for all your entertainment needs.

Not one to disappoint, Nokia bring optimum imaging capabilities to its flagship device, bearing a 5-megapixel mark on its camera functionality as sufficient proof of that. With a strong following to provide quality imaging, the inclusion of a Carl Zeiss Tessar lens on the Nokia N96 won’t be of any surprise to many. What could of concern for some would be the use of a dual-LED flash for the Nokia N96’s photography and videography purposes. But consider this: with the absence of a power draining Xenon flash, this would definitely be in the interest of the power balancing requirements for the device, and give you a longer lasting experience with the Nokia N96 when you’re on the move.

And if it’s a full-fledged entertainment experience you’re looking for, the Nokia N96 definitely covered its bases well with its video capabilities. Supporting a multitude of formats such as MPEG4/SP and MPEG-4AVC/H.264, RealVideo and a recent addition to the family, Windows Media (WMV9), the stage is set for you to easily transfer, store and view movies at up to 30FPS on the comfortable 2.8-inch screen without worrying about any video lag during the adrenaline pumping scenes.

Lest you think its all play and no work, then there’s more for you to learn about the Nokia N96. In our final episode, we’ll showcase how the Nokia N96 goes beyond the call of duty with its array of applications to enhance your experience on this all new S60 device from Nokia, with a special surprise that awaits you in the concluding installment.

At one glance, the N96 might be reminiscent of Nokia’s recent entertainment device, the Nokia N81, with a similar navigational keypad design, but there’s more to the Nokia N96 than evidently seen. The added width at 55mm and positioning of its Call and End button, plus the usual soft-keys, gave rise to the multimedia keys at the four-corners of its five-way navigation keypad, which is subtly hidden and appears with the aid of the backlights.

Like its well-received Nokia N95 predecessor, the Nokia N96 is a dual slider device, giving you the option of a numeric keypad after a bottom-top sliding motion, or another four dedicated multimedia buttons comprising of Forward, Play/Pause, Back and Stop with a top-bottom slide of the screen. Positioned as an all-purpose device for your cellular, entertainment and work requirements, the Nokia N96 comes with a generous 2.8-inch QVGA screen supporting up to 16 million colors, which brings good news to video lovers who can view videos on-the-go with the Nokia N96.

With a strong focus on its entertainment delivery, it’s not surprising that the Nokia N96 has a few other tricks up its sleeve, particularly so on its audio front. Equipped with a 3.5mm audio output, there’s also the added option to utilize its pair of speakers situated at the top and bottom right side. While this seems an odd placement for the speakers to be it, due consideration was given for such a design factor, and this is heavily influenced by Nokia’s decision to include a kickstand that melds seamlessly around the Nokia N96’s 5-megapixel camera.

Capacity isn’t an issue here as the N96 promises up to 16GB worth of internal storage space to store the huge repertoire of music and movies for your viewing pleasure. And if that’s not enough, you can rejoice in the fact that there’s also microSD expandability to fulfill the insatiable need for space.

With the Nokia N96, there’s more to offer, and this is only the tip of the iceberg with what the Nokia N96 is capable of. In our following article, we’ll be presenting the various features of this powerhouse device, showing you how the line differentiating computers and mobile phones have been struck off with the Nokia N96’s appearance.

Reset Generation, as you might have guessed, gives one a notion of refreshing and rebooting an era of gaming for a generation of gamers that grew up with familiar icons onto a brand new platform, that being the mobile gaming platform known as N-Gage. In all honesty, once you visit the Reset Generation homepage and take a look at some of the main characters within the gaming, you should probably notice a few familiar faces out of certain Nintendo and Sega games. The whole point, of course, is to N-Gage your senses with the parody of familiar video game characters out of sheer nostalgia and a nod at to the old school games, so if that did grab your attention, the job is half done.

The interesting thing about Reset Generation, is how the simple mechanics involved in the game, can become one that requires you to strategize and plan way ahead to beat the artificial intelligence (A.I.) or your fellow players if you were to engage them in a multiplayer match. Basically, the turn-based game goes according to the following rules:

Place blocks on the map, ala 3D-Tetris style, and create paths for your hero to walk across. Making a straight path of five blocks and above will create a combo and allow your hero to be powered-up should he/she attack a rival hero. Some element of luck is involved too, as empty spaces that are concurrently claimed by two or more players will be considered void and unclaimed at all.

Move your hero to wherever you wish. Movements on blocks that belong to you are basically unlimited, though if you were to move onto an unclaimed or enemy block, you can only move one block per turn. During the movement phase, you are free to pick up power-up items and use it immediately, or challenge an opposing hero to a one-on-one match.

Fire your cannons from your castle, with the aim to disrupt the paths that your enemies created thus stopping them from approaching and capturing your own princess. However, cannons are unable to destroy paths that have formed a combo. Launching a cannon on such a path would only cause the cannon ball to bounce and might even strike your own blocks at random. More importantly, with the strategic use of your cannons, you can eliminate power-up items that your opponents might grab in the upcoming turn, thus saving you the agony of having your princess being kidnapped.

Yes, we are kidnapping (or, according to the game’s terms, saving) princesses in Reset Generation. The general aim is to capture (we mean rescue) the princesses from each opponents’ castle, while trying your best to keep your own princess in your castle. Earlier on, we did mention power-up items that will aid you tremendously with their arsenal. To name a few, there’s the grenade that would decimate your opponents blocks or kill the opponents’ heroes outright, even the ones that formed a combo path. Other interesting items include the Teleport item that, as the name implies, brings you to any point of your choice on the map.

In Reset Generation, there’s also a variety of heroes for you to choose from, ranging from the Plumber that’s straight out of a titular character in a Nintendo game, to Hedgehog that shares some similiarities (not in the facial expression though) with a Sega game’s mascot. Each hero has a unique ability, such as the Monster Trainer that is able to summon various creatures to do battle with your opponents, gobble up blocks and destroy your opponents path, or even create your own paths to link up with the blocks that you dropped.

With a simple yet innovative twist on some old school favorites, both characters and gameplay alike, Reset Generation should definitely reset the mindsets of the current generation, and create a new wave of portable gaming that focuses heavily on what gaming should have been about: interesting gameplay without daunting the gamer. So go ahead, try out the full version of Reset Generation on its homepage and decide if you wish to be part of the Reset Generation.

The multiplayer gaming experience can be achieved primarily by two simple wireless methods: Bluetooth and Internet connectivity. As such, having a device that supports both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity such as the Nokia N95 8GB or Nokia N82 would definitely enhance your multiplayer gaming experience.

As with most other multiplayer games, you either host or join an existing nearby game via the Bluetooth network. Imagine if you are commuting to either work or school, and solo playing is becoming mundane. Hitting the Multiplayer mode and seeking for a nearby opponent, or even hosting a game, could just drive the boredom away. You won’t be competing with a fixed artificial intelligence (A.I.) which follows a fixed rule. You are pitting yourself against a random opponent who has the skills to match and adapt to your play style, thus posing the much needed challenge to you. And the best thing is, it’s free. All you need is, of course, a working Bluetooth connection, and hope your battery won’t quit on you while you are ahead in the game.

Playing Asphalt 4 can be fun on your own, but you should be able to spice up the excitement when you go head to head with your friends in a friendly match-up via Bluetooth connection. Going into the Multiplayer mode, you’ll be prompted to switch on your Bluetooth connectivity should it still be inactive. Be the host, and let your opponents seek you out, or be on the move and seek out others and join their game, the choice is yours.

Alternative methods such as the multiplayer arena are just as interesting, and for that, you’ll be depending on a viable internet connection to get yourself hooked up with fellow players on a global scale. To illustrate a good example, we take a look at the latest N-Gage game developed by Nokia, Reset Generation.

Online multiplayer offers numerous advantages and bragging rights to your list. It’s simple. By logging onto your N-Gage account, any arena points that you obtain during your online matches will also be saved and displayed for all to view, which is especially satisfying should you be the reigning champion on Reset Generation and acknowledged on its homepage.

With the aid of an internet connection (either paid via your 3G or 3.5G data plan or through a Wi-Fi network), Reset Generation allows you to jump into the thick of the action and match you up with fellow players who would like to drop some blocks, move to capture your princess, and bomb your blocks at the same time. Whilst you might be paying for the online experience, what you get in return is a constant stream of players who will be more than happy to face you in a one-on-one match.

In our concluding article, we’ll be presenting the innovative, interesting and definitely nostalgic gaming experience published by Nokia, so get ready to join the Reset generation, coming up next on Nokia Zone.

Introduced earlier on in our N-Gaged Beyond article, the N-Gage platform has finally reached full circle and is now a full fledged portal that supports multiple features beyond its primary gaming purpose. But before we proceed, it would be prudent to get the latest N-Gage application onto your device from here, which also showcases the current lineup of devices that supports the final version of N-Gage, or if you prefer a no frills method with a direct download to your device without going through the Nokia PC Suite, direct your device’s web browser to http://n-gage.mobi/d and the latest N-Gage platform will be downloaded straight into your device.

Once your N-Gage application is installed, you’ll see a blue colored N-Gage logo instead of the previous orange one, which was still in its beta stages. To locate your N-Gage application, go to the Main Menu > Applications and you’ll find it right there. Of course, should you wish to move it to a more accessible location, simply navigate to the N-Gage logo, click on Options, choose Move to Folder and select Root Folder, thus giving you an immediate access to your gaming needs.

The first thing you’ll notice about the new N-Gage is the amount of details and features such as your N-Gage points, reputation and friends that you have added via N-Gage. While gaming is the primary aim of the N-Gage platform, as evident with the featured game, multiplayer gameplay is also one of the core focuses of N-Gage. Go online, battle it out with a few strangers, make a few friends, and the next thing you know, you’ll have an impressive friends list, not to mention the messages that will be pouring in from your fellow friends or rivals, seeking you out for a quick match, which we’ll be exploring in the upcoming article.

And if you’ve managed to conquer a game or two, there’s always more for you to choose from. Simply go to My Games and click on Get More Games, or navigate to the Showroom tab and browse for more games, and even some extras for your current games. There’s no need to purchase a game right on the spot, you can simply download a full game in its demo version. Should you wish to play the full version, all you need to do is to purchase the game’s full license and gain full access to the locked portions of the game.

The important bit about N-Gage is its ability to create a gaming community that allows you to interact with your fellow gamers on a global scale. For a start, you’ll need to create your own unique N-Gage account here. Alternatively, if you are a first time N-Gage user, you can also get registered when you choose to put your Status as Online for the first time. Doing so brings you to the registration page on your Nokia device, and with just a few steps, and an internet connection, you’ll be all set up to duke it out with other gamers in the Arena.

Of course, in a community of gamers, you are bound to meet up with a few kindred spirits who shares the same gaming value as you do. You can also gather your own entourage, forming a formidable group to strike fear into the hearts of your opponents. This is where you might think of identifying who your friends are, and invite them to the world of N-Gage. Still, should you finally meet a man or woman who’s your match, you can also befriend them and add them to your friend list. As they say, “Keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer”.

Should you feel a wee bit reclusive for the day, you can also opt to do some solo playing and chalk up some Solo Points for yourself, which will be stored for bragging rights too. Multiplayer and Arena Points would reflect proof of your victory over your opponents as you N-Gage them in a little friendly competition, so in our next article, we’ll be showing you how you can one up your opponents in a wireless match-up, so stay tuned.

Touted as the festival of music that boasts an impressive array of international artistes, SingFest 2008 once again sees a huge level of participation from the music lovers, who braved the sweltering heat and enjoyed themselves with acts from New Found Glory and Melee during the day.

The party shifted into overdrive as night came, and it was not too long before fans grooved to the beats of powerhouse groups that included Lost Prophets and Simple Plan on the first night of SingFest 2008. Satisfaction, smiles and a whole load of sweat were spotted on the faces of those who stayed for Travis’ closing act on the first day of SingFest 2008.

The excitement in the air got charged up even further during the second and closing day of SingFest 2008 with its strong lineup. There were those who lounged in their comfy little spots and kicked back to the tunes of both Stacie Orrico and Jason Mraz on stage. Others were in the party mode and had a blast to the past with Rick Astley’s live version of the rickrolling phenomenon as seen on the Internet earlier on this year.

Without a doubt, the best was saved for the last. The crowd was treated to a spot of seductive action from The Pussycat Dolls’ electrifying music and sultry dance moves. Alicia Keys delivered a few sweet and slow numbers with her soulful voice, and singing was aplenty as both fans and artistes celebrated another year of festivities with some of the hottest names and groups in the music industry.

SingFest 2008 may have ended, but it ain’t over till the fat lady sings. Relive the moments as you walk through memory lane with the throng of people who shared their SingFest experience from their Nokia devices to Nokia’s Share on Ovi file-sharing site, or pick up your favorite tracks during SingFest 2008 at Nokia Music Store. And of course, the music experience with Nokia will only get better with its “Comes with Music” offering, an unprecedented year of limitless music download, so keep your eyes peeled for it in the near future!

To say the least, the Drive mode within Nokia Maps 2.0 is definitely a familiar sight to most. Nonetheless, changes are also apparent in this version, and the obvious area would be its aesthetic nature. Without going into too much details which was covered in our earlier article (What’s New in Nokia Maps 2.0), we’ll be dealing more on how the Drive mode functions within Nokia Maps 2.0. But for a navigation to be precise and accurate, the base requirement is for an updated map to be present. Thus, we recommend that you update your maps to the latest version via the Nokia Maps Loader, as seen in the Maps Loader article.

Utilizing the integrated Search bar on your main screen gives you quick access to your final destination. More importantly, once a successful search result is returned, you can indicate your preferred mode of navigation immediately.

Choosing “Drive to” brings you straight into the navigation mode, wherein your device will attempt to acquire a satellite lock and thus calculate your route towards your destination. With Nokia Maps 2.0, maps are provided for you at no additional cost. However, should you wish to receive the full package with the turn-by-turn voice guidance navigation, license purchasing is required. For dedicated devices such as the Nokia 6210 Navigator, licenses are bundled within the device for up to 6 months.

To activate the bundled license within Nokia Maps 2.0, click on “Options”, “Extras”, and then “Drive & Walk”. Do note that a network connection is required for your device to retrieve the abovementioned license that will be tied indefinitely to that specific device from which you are purchasing the license from. For new owners of the Nokia 6210 Navigator, you’ll only be required to access a network connection and verify the license within your device. With the aid of the voice navigation, your journey will be a lot safer without the dependency to constantly check the route on your device.

Imagine a busy day where traffic is at a standstill and a quick search of your destination address returns you with a location that’s only a few blocks down the road. The logical choice would be to use the Walk mode which determines a route that will cut across certain lanes inaccessible to vehicles under Drive mode.

More importantly, as you traverse along the calculated route, you’ll notice breadcrumbs that are displayed on the path traveled, thus giving you an idea of the locations and landmarks that you’ve went through. While it might seem gimmicky to some, the prudent usage of these breadcrumbs is important to give you a clearer indication of where you are should you feel slightly disorientated. Furthermore, with the introduction of the Nokia 6210 Navigator and its integrated compass utilizing the built-in accelerometer, the true potential of the Walk mode is evident. With the automatic orientation of your map according to your bearings as detected by the integrated compass, you will be able to associate the map to your current location easily just with one glance.

Undoubtedly, Nokia Maps 2.0 has managed to learn what consumers needed, worked on an existing platform and enhance its navigation aspect even further with the inclusion of the Walk mode on top of some minor tweaks to its original Drive mode. Some might argue that mobile phones with integrated GPS will still be inadequate to dedicated personal navigation devices. Recent introductions such as the Nokia 6210 Navigator have proven the effectiveness and practicality of having a mobile device that caters to your navigation need with minimal fuss. With that, we’ve reached the finishing point for our Nokia Maps 2.0 feature, and in our next installment, we’ll be revisiting an old friend by the name of N-Gage.

Since the inception of its N-series device, Nokia has started on the navigation path and gave consumers some directional guidance with Nokia Maps 1.0. Looking forward, Nokia Maps has evolved into its latest iteration, Nokia Maps 2.0, and has a plethora of functions and features that fully utilise its integrated GPS feature and work in tandem with the latest Nokia Maps 2.0 for a better understanding of one’s environment, one of which is geo-tagging.

As its naming convention implies, the word geo and tag would encompass location identification and tagging. Essentially, geo-tagging is a feature that tags coordinates according to your current location as detected by your GPS device, onto a captured image on the device. Coordinates are recorded as part of the Exchangeable image file format (EXIF) data on each captured image.

What are the true benefits of tagging coordinates to your images? The answer is plain and simple: easy identification of landmarks, sharing breathtaking sights with people and directing them to it at the same time. With the use of photo-hosting sites such as Flickr, uploaded images will be preloaded with the GPS coordinates stored in the EXIF data and thus allows you to view and share the location of your image with anyone who views it. A bit of tweaking on your Flickr account’s settings is required, but before we do, if you don’t have a Flickr account yet, it’s time to register for one here. Next, you’ll be required to allow any EXIF data from newly uploaded photos to be extracted, and to do so, go to http://www.flickr.com/account/?tab=privacy and search for “Defaults for new uploads”. You will notice an option “import exif location data?” which you’ll need to select Yes for any coordinates to be extracted.

By doing so, all you need to do is view the photo, take note of the right column, and you’ll see a (map) option (as depicted in the image above). Upon clicking, you’ll be presented with the location at which that photo was taken.

But what really matters is the ease of tagging these coordinates to each image. This is achieved via two methods: a device’s integrated geo-tagging function as seen on the Nokia N82 or Nokia N78, or with the aid of a third-party application that’s available at the Nokia Beta Labs. For devices such as the recently launched Nokia 6210 Navigator that are not equipped with an integrated geo-tagging function, Nokia has kindly made its Location Tagger application available for download over at its Nokia Beta Labs.

Installation, like most other S60 applications, is easily done, either with the Nokia Application Installer as depicted above or by transferring the .SIS file to your Nokia device and opening it directly to install the application. With the installation done, there are a few more steps to getting your Location Tagger working in tandem with your camera.

The very first step would be to activate your Location Tagger first, which is found in your Menu > Applications > Location Tagger. Moving on, we proceed to the device’s camera mode. With your Location Tagger application active, an additional icon will be shown on screen. This would be your GPS status icon. With no satellite lock, it will be displayed as a blinking yellow icon. Conversely, once a satellite lock is acquired, the icon turns green and is perpetually fixed, giving you a clear indication that you are now able to tag the coordinates onto the EXIF data of any images you capture at that position.

Devices such as the Nokia N82 and the recently launched Nokia N78 come with an integrated geo-tagging feature, which makes things easier if you were on the road and would like to identify certain landmarks. Unlike the Location Tagger mentioned earlier on, you’ll be activating the geo-tagging function directly instead of a separate third party application. To do so, click on Camera > Options and select Settings, following which, scroll the varied options and ensure that the “Record Location” option is on. Similarly, you’ll be required to acquire a satellite lock first before any coordinates can be imprinted onto your captured images’ EXIF data.

Undoubtedly, with the seamless integration of photo uploading onto your Flickr account via your mobile device (as highlighted in our earlier article), the inclusion of geo-tagging and giving you the option to share your images in more details, numerous avenues are available for you to harness the power of navigation on such Nokia devices. In our final installment of the Nokia Maps articles, we’ll be touching on the most prominent portion of the revamped Nokia Maps, Walk and Drive.

In our earlier article, we covered the significant changes that were introduced in Nokia Maps 2.0, but going deeper into the story, we’ll be focusing on specific areas to give you a better understanding and capacity to utilise the full functionalities of this navigation software. You might have guessed as much that what we’ll be touching on today is the newly integrated search bar that’s apparent when you are on the main Nokia Maps screen, as depicted below.

Unlike its earlier iteration which requires you to enter the main menu to access the internal search function, the newly integrated search bar allows you immediate and direct access to enter your search queries.

As depicted here, you can enter your search query with the aid of the T9 input method or with the traditional input method available by pressing the “#” button and thus allowing you to enter obscure locations with less than common naming conventions. As with most other search features, you won’t need to enter the full search query to render search results. Nonetheless, our recommendation is for you to be as precise as possible with your entry.

While your device might possess a degree of information in its search database internally, it might not be adequate and thus, utilising a network connection and allowing your Nokia device to search through the online database would be a wiser choice.

With the search done and sealed, you’ll notice that search results on Maps 2.0 are categorised according to the Drive and Walk grouping as introduced on this new iteration, and as seen once more, the Guides category will be once more an integral part of the search feature, presenting you with the various guides available for your search queries.

Within both the Drive and Walk category, you’ll notice the details that really matter, such as the distance from your current position. Of course, further details such as the exact address, contact number and coordinates are available when you click the Enter button and choose Details as depicted below.

Notice that there’s a small little locked icon just beside one of the search queries. As mentioned earlier on, Guides are also available for specific returned results, and the locked (or unlocked icon, should the licence have been purchased), indicates a guide that’s tied to the location. To access the associated Guide, click on the Enter button, and then Details, which should present a page as shown below.

Of course, if you were to access a locked guide which requires you to purchase the licence first, there’s also the option to preview the said guide to see if it’s to your liking, following which, purchasing it can be done with just a few clicks as presented in our earlier article.

While Maps 2.0 does provide you with the basic information you need, as found via its integrated search bar, it offers more than just a basic package, as each search result is wholly integrated with the Maps 2.0 experience, from the details of each location to the possibility of sending a location to others via the use of e-mail or MMS. The search function is only a small part of what one can see on Maps 2.0 and we’ll be featuring much more in our future articles, right here at Nokia Zone!

Nonetheless, we won’t be wowing you with these new-fangled Nokia hardware. Instead, we’ll be bringing you on a tour of Nokia’s software foray, one of which has seen its growth from its first iteration on earlier N-series devices and moved on, heading towards the future on the web, to Nokia Beta Labs and within their upcoming devices. But before we proceed further, you might want to update your current Nokia Maps to the updated version 2.0, so click here.

To make things more visible, we’ll be highlighting the main differences from both versions, and showcase the various improvements found in the later version.

Besides the omission of the “Nokia” brand in the loading screen, there really isn’t much to discuss. But what follows after is a sleeker interface that should make your mapping experience much easier.

As you might have noticed, with only two main navigation options on Maps 1.0, Nokia has enhanced the main interface with a new integrated search bar, and utilizes the main Ok button for your routing options.

While Maps 1.0 provided you with the option to view the selected area in either a 2D or 3D view, Maps 2.0 adds a third and fourth option, namely satellite and hybrid mode. As one might surmise, satellite view actually retrieves data imagery and loads onto your current map. Note that we’ve mentioned the word “load”, as an online connection is required to establish a data exchange and in turn, downloads the necessary satellite imagery according to your current coordinates. We mentioned about the “hybrid” mode, which is essentially a mixture of both the satellite imagery interspersed with the landmarks, points of interested and of course, the major roads that were included in the classic map view.

Though there is an integrated search field on the main menu, Maps 2.0 does allow you to utilize the search menu from within. The noticeable difference you’ll see on the old and new versions are the options that are presented to you after your search process. In all honesty, Maps 1.0 did win us over due to the fact that you are actually able to “Route from”, “Route to” or utilize the GPS function and “Navigate to” the searched location. With Maps 2.0, adding a route is still retained, but more often than not, the experience was a bit more convoluted than we liked. Do note that with Maps 2.0, the biggest addition will be the Walk function, as you can see with the separate “Drive to” and “Walk to” options. Designed to be a pedestrian friendly application, Maps 2.0 provides you with an alternative to how you travel. For example, we envisioned ourselves driving to a location, probably an open-air car park that’s close to our final destination. By utilizing the “Drive to” mode first, we can continue with the next step using the “Walk to” mode on Maps 2.0. We’ll further explore the benefits of integrating both driving and walking in a separate commentary article on Nokia Maps 2.0.

Directing your attention to the above image, you’ll see the GPS mode for both the first and second iteration. What you can see here, is a cleaner GPS interface, as apparent with Maps 2.0’s decision to include the directional arrow and the remaining distance under a single icon. Besides a cleaner interface, Maps 2.0 has a variety of map views to choose from other than the original 2D or 3D interface as seen on Maps 1.0.

Added viewing features include “Bird’s-Eye view”, “Manoeuvre view” and “Arrow view” as displayed from top to bottom. In essence, the first two views are just a renaming convention of both the 3D and 2D view respectively, whilst you have a very basic GPS interface that will only report the direction and remaining distance.

You’ll also see a brand new graphical interface when you choose Options during the device’s GPS mode. As seen from the above illustration, a variety of options such as 3D map view, data saving, day/night mode and many more are included within. Notably, you’ll see that there’s an added icon called Traffic Info that utilizes data connection to collect specific traffic status and information at your current location. For now, this service is not available in Singapore, but when it does land on our shores, you can expect accurate traffic info for minimal data charges.

Guides and navigational licenses were covered in our previous City Guides and Map Loader article. Once more, you can access additional guides in Maps 2.0, and unlike Maps 1.0, there’ll be more purchasing options. As seen, the basic “Guides” license will be available for purchase, and adding on to the new Walk and Drive modes, Maps 2.0 allows you to purchase two separate licenses based on either “Drive & Walk” or just simply “Walk”. Traffic info will also be up for purchasing, but as we’ve mentioned earlier, this service won’t be available in Singapore till a later date.

With that, we’ve reached the end of our introduction of what you can expect on Nokia Maps 2.0, so while we await for the arrival of the next dedicated navigation device, the Nokia 6210 Navigator, do keep yourself informed of more updates on Nokia Maps 2.0 right here at Nokia Zone!

Goodbye CDs, Hello Nokia Music Store

Music phones such as the Nokia XpressMusic series were popular with the mobile crowd that wants their music on-the-go, and even though digital entertainment is growing at an astonishing rate, the most basic entertainment staple, music, will be here to stay for a long time. Distribution methods have evolved from the standard audio CDs, onto the digital realm. In between, there was the transitional phase where tech-savvy users would go the extra mile to rip their favorite tracks from their purchased discs into an MP3, followed by a quick data transfer to their Nokia device. Imagine yourself, sitting in the room and going through tons of CDs and ripping them all into MP3s, just so you can enjoy your music wherever you are.

Fast forward to the era of the Nokia Music Store, where all you need is to visit the site at http://music.nokia.com.sg/ and purchase your favorite tracks with just a few clicks of your mouse button (and of course, some Nokia Music Store credits or your very own credit card). With the recently released Nokia N78, and the upcoming Nokia 6220 Classic and the E-series devices, the Nokia E71 and E66, consumers are able to tap onto a database of audio tracks readily off their Nokia devices, or through their PCs.

Visual Experience with mioTV on Mobile

Though there’s a strong focus on the audio aspect of mobile entertainment, the visual element is a market ready to be tapped. If you thought ripping music tracks and consolidating it onto your Nokia device is as far as it goes, think again. As covered in our earlier DVD Quality on Nokia article, it’s not hard to imagine a full-length movie on your Nokia device with a little help from:

In the local context, SingTel has recently introduced mioTV on Mobile, offering real-time video content for the consumers via a 3G data connection. Data charges will invariable be of much concern for the consumers, what with the amount of data streaming involved to deliver the video content right onto your Nokia device. But that should be of no consequences, as data charges will be negligible in favor of a monthly subscription that covers both data charges and channel payment. Content-wise, we have real-time feed from the selected channels on the mioTV selection, with a program list available at http://mio.singtel.com/miotv/mio-tv-on-mobile_programme-guide.asp.

The Future of Digital TV - Digital Video Broadcast - Handheld (DVB-H)

But the future holds infinite possibilities in the realm of mobile digital entertainment. For the ardent Nokia users, the Digital Video Broadcast - Handheld standard, or DVB-H for short, should be quite familiar, especially so if they have been following the latest news on the Nokia N96, the appointed successor to the multimedia powerhouse dubbed as the Nokia N95. As an integral part of the N96, the DVB-H standard will allow users to enjoy high-quality digital video content, but as always, content is dependant on the region you reside in.

As seen in our earlier coverage, there’ll be much to look out for on the N-series device with the introduction of the DVB-H standard, and of special note is the Nokia N96, which should be heading your way in the later part of the year. What we can say, is that there’ll definitely be something for you to be looking out for in the next few months, so stay with us over at Nokia Zone for more Nokia news and facts.

With the launch of the Nokia E66 & Nokia E71, Nokia has redefined the business category of mobile devices and maintains its position at the forefront of mobile technology. What truly sets these exciting, new devices apart from their generic counterparts is more than their stylish, sophisticated designs or their suite of innovative features to help you increase your productivity. Rather, they offer you the opportunity to draw that increasingly hazy line between your work life and your personal life. That’s not to say that their design or technology aren’t worth an ovation, but I’m sure you’ve already seen & heard that everywhere else. So let’s find out what else the new Eseries models have for us.

Amongst the bevy of powerful and nifty features you’ll find at your fingertips, you’ll probably be most impressed by their dual customisable home screen modes that enable you to switch from corporate life to the after hours and back, all at the click of a button. Represented on screen by a black & white icon similar to the Asian Ying-Yang symbol of harmony, the Nokia E66 & Nokia E71 switch from mode to mode at your command, replacing your business shortcuts with entertainment & leisure-centric ones. The Nokia E66 & Nokia E71 aren’t just mobile offices, they also allow you to enjoy your music on the move and keep your work life at bay by restricting notification when you receive office-related e-mails. However, should you wish to spend a few minutes on your work in the midst of your recreational time, you don’t have to worry about lengthy downloads or missing e-mails due to overcrowded mailboxes. The Nokia E66 & Nokia E71 actively retrieve your e-mails in the background as you party the night away, it just doesn’t interrupt you unless you want it to. Truly, empowering you to live in the perfect balance of work & play.

But let’s not forget that the Eseries is an enterprise mobile solution. So what does it offer in terms of business solutions? For one thing, the Nokia E66 & Nokia E71 make setting up new e-mail accounts as easy as 1, 2, 3. Just select the option to create a new POP3/IMAP account, enter your e-mail address, then your password and you’re done! How it works is that your e-mail address is referenced against a database that Nokia updates regularly with more than a thousand of the world’s most popular ISPs, as well as Gmail, Yahoo! Mail & Hotmail. All of your necessary configurations are then retrieved and you’ll find yourself e-mail-ready in moments. Corporate e-mails take a little more effort to set-up, but by that we mean it takes 5 steps, instead of 3, with in-built Mail for Exchange and support for corporate server mail solutions such as Lotus Notes. And if you’re sending an e-mail or SMS with the Nokia E71, you can be sure that you’ll be done before you know it with its QWERTY predictive text input that auto-completes each word as you type in English, Bahasa Melayu or Bahasa Indonesia.

While we’re on the topic of work, you’ll also be delighted to discover the myriad of ways you can view your schedule for the month, week or day with the Nokia calendar. You can even view your schedule down to the hours for details on your appointments for each day. Another exciting feature of the Nokia E66 & Nokia E71’s calendar function is that you can entertain calls and still access your Nokia calendar to make or check appointment dates as well. And it gets even better with one-touch keys that allow you instant access to your home screen, contacts list, e-mail and calendar, where inputting new data is a cinch just by holding down each shortcut button. What’s also fresh and user-friendly about the Nokia E66 & Nokia E71 is the pulsating notification light that blinks to gently alert you; like when you receive an SMS, for example. And if you weren’t spoilt for choice already, there are also two tabs displayed on your home screen for missed calls and SMSes which you can use to preview and choose a suitable response right from your home screen. In addition, where the Nokia E66 boasts of an orientation sensor that allows you to silence its ringer by just flipping the device, the Nokia E71 is optimised for one-handed operations that allow you to use the right navigation button instead of using the options button and then searching for your desired action, such as to respond via SMS or MMS, voice or video call, etc.

In the box, expect to find a 2GB microSD card, Windows Live, various games and third-party applications such as Advanced Call Manager, which allows you to send a busy tone or an SMS when calls from blacklisted numbers are received, based on your own customised settings. Both the Nokia E66 & Nokia E71 also come with Nokia’s very own suite of services like Nokia Maps, Share on Ovi & Nokia Music Store, pandering to all of your entertainment & leisure needs. And with the ability to read PDFs as well as to edit Microsoft Word, Excel & Powerpoint, all of your work document needs are covered too.

With its new Eseries introductions, Nokia has outdone itself again, setting a new benchmark for enterprise devices everywhere & connecting us with a new way to experience & balance our all too busy lives.

Connecting the World

As the fast approaching CommunicAsia 2008 hits our shores in the next few hours, we took a little detour and headed over to the Singapore Recreation club on a cool Monday evening, where Nokia hosts its annual Nokia Connection, an event filled with devices and services alike ready to satisfy the consumers’ ever growing appetite for the latest and trendiest mobile products. In the month of June, Nokia will once more be in the limelight as they unveil two brand new E series devices, the Nokia E71 and the Nokia E66.

Starting off with a big bang, we were reminded of how entertainment plays a big part in the Nokia plan as they share with us the Nokia experience.

Held at the Singapore Recreation Club on the 16^th of June, just a day before the start of CommunicAsia 2008, Nokia hosts its annual Nokia Connection event, and in an opening speech, Chris Carr, Vice President, Sales, Souteast Asia and Pacific, Nokia, announces the availability of two brand new E-series devices, the Nokia E71 and Nokia E66.

Nokia E71 - An Enterprising Move

Right after the launch of its updated N-series device, the Nokia N78, our eyes were diverted back to the Enterprise series with the unveiling of Nokia’s answer to the Nokia E61’s heir, the Nokia E71. The full QWERTY keyboard on the E71 should be a familiar sight, and there’s more to behold with its stainless steel case and slim form factor. Putting our superficial observations aside, the E71 is bundled with business-centric features that includes Microsoft Exchange and supports various other e-mail protocols, with popular ones such as Gmail, Yahoo! Mail and Hotmail thrown in for good measure. As expected, Share on Ovi will be playing a major role in the E-series devices, and the E71 is pre-loaded with the Share on Ovi client, allowing you to upload your documents at HSDPA speeds with ease. And we’ve got some good news for our readers: the Nokia E71 will be making its appearance at retail stores by July 2008!

The Nokia E71, equipped with a 3.2-megapixel camera with autofocus, utilizes the latest Symbian S60 3^rd Edition Feature Pack 2, and supports microSD expandability of up to 8GB and comes with an internal memory of 110MB. The standard connectivity options such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP support are seen here, and not to mention the E71 is also HSDPA-enabled for the mobile internet.

If you need further convincing of the petite nature of the Nokia E71, take note of how dainty it looks in the hand of this model right here. Need more evidence?

Here’s a close-up shot of the Nokia E71. As you can see, the 114mm x 57mm x 10mm dimensions, coupled with its 126g weight and its easy on the hands full QWERTY keyboard, will be the centre of attention for Nokia’s lineup.

The Chic Entrepreneur

Least we are guilty of showering too much attention on the sleek and professional looking E71, we move on to the second E-series device announced over at Nokia Connection 2008. The Nokia E66, the direct successor to Nokia’s successful Nokia E65, retains the same slider phone form factor that has been a popular choice amongst consumers since its inception just a few years back. With a more chic look to its aesthetic, the E66, with its numeric keypad, is a device that should fit your pocket nicely, and similar to the E71, is equipped with GPS, accompanied by the latest Nokia Maps 2.0, and allows one to alternate between your Work and Home profile with ease. Adding on some bells and whistles such as an accelerometer and available in either grey steel or white steel, the Nokia E66 will also be available by July 2008.

With similar features to its E71 cousin, but designed as a 121g device measuring at 10mm x 49mm x 13mm, the Nokia E66 should find itself well-liked by both the business executives or the discerning consumer who is looking out for a Symbian S60 phone that does it all.

The Nokia E66, by itself, should be an attention grabber, but we figured that it won’t hurt to have it accompanied by the lovely models over at Nokia Connection 2008.

But of course, we should really show the Nokia E66 in all its entirety, so here’s a closer look at the Nokia E66 in the stainless steel metal (we can’t possibly say in the flesh, can we?).

The Nokia Entourage

While the main focus of the day might be on the launch of the Nokia E71 and Nokia E66, we were also treated to a few upcoming devices and services that should see the day of light very soon. The much-hyped Nokia N96 makes another appearance once more at Nokia Connection 2008, and for the music lovers, there’s also the Nokia Music Xpress 5220 and 5320 coming right up in the 3^rd quarter of 2008. And while we’re at it, we picked up a whiff of two similar Symbian S40 devices, the Nokia 6600 Slide and Nokia 6600 Flip. Let our pictures do the talking as we walk you through the various other sightings that should hit our shores in the coming months!

We’ve seen the Nokia N96 over the months, and thus it surprised us not when we sighted it over at Nokia Connection 2008 once more. What’s interesting is how Nokia showcased the N96 with a Mobile TV connection, which could set a whole new mobile entertainment trend should the DVB-H standard come to fruition for various countries in the region.

And to convince its loyal followers that nothing is obsolete, the DVB-H standard is being broadcasted on its earlier N-series models, the Nokia N77 and Nokia N73. While there hasn’t been any official confirmation of the DVB-H standard being made available in various regions, we can only hope it’ll be happening soon.

As portrayed by this model here, we have the Nokia BH-212 Bluetooth headset, which has its talktime rated at 11 hours with 250 hours standby for effective wireless communication.

For drivers, there’s also the Nokia Car Kit CK-100, well suited for the business executive who needs a hands-free solution on the road.

And for the music aficionados, there’s also the XpressMusic series, and showed here is the side profile of the Nokia 5220 XpressMusic.

Last but not least, we have the Nokia 6600 Flip and Slide, respectively shown here. Interestingly, the Nokia 6600 Flip is integrated with a magnetic catch and allows you to effortlessly flip the device open with the press of a button to demagnetize its catch.

A Nokia Reward

And once again, that’s the end of another Nokia Connection coverage from www.hardwarezone.com. Nokia has been definitely keeping themselves busy with the simultaneous launch on both its services and device front, ranging from Share on Ovi, Nokia Music Store and N-Gage platform that coincides with its upcoming devices lineup that includes the Nokia N78 and now, the Nokia E71 and Nokia E66. Things are only starting to get interesting, as we’ll be seeing more Nokia devices which will be falling under the Ovi initiative over the next few months, so be sure to check back for more Nokia news. And for our ardent readers, here’s a little treat from us, so sit back and enjoy!

Especially designed for optimal browsing on your personal computer as well as your mobile phone, it also offers an intuitive user interface that allows you to delve into a treasure trove amassing millions of songs ranging from local greats to international favourites, all at the touch of a button. Adding to that, Nokia Music Store’s nifty interface is also uniquely engineered to fit both personal computers and mobile phone screens for convenient navigation and a perfect fit, unlike the common user interfaces of online music portals that are too large for use on a mobile phone that only end up frustrating the user and providing an altogether unpleasant experience.

The convenience at which you can purchase the latest songs and albums with the Nokia Music Store will definitely have you questioning if you ever need to make a trip down to a CD shop ever again. And the ease and freedom with which you can casually download the songs you love at the drop of a hat, further emphasises the Nokia Music Store’s unique feature: Mobility.

In addition, the Nokia Music Store kicks it up a notch by also remembering a perpetual list of songs that you want or are waiting for with its personalised music wish list as well as its comprehensive song download history that allows for synchronicity with your personal computer. Ensuring that you’ll never waste your time downloading duplicate songs ever again.

Enjoy liberation with the gift of convenience and mobility from Nokia Music Store, fused together with the language that exceeds all boundaries, and in the true essence of Nokia, to connect people not only to other people, but to an exciting new way of life.

Join in and be a part of Nokia’s revolution with this step-by-step Nokia Music Store tutorial.

To Log in to Nokia Music Store using your mobile phone, select the ‘Music’ folder on your phone and select ‘Music Store’. When ‘Nokia Music Selector’ is displayed, select ‘Nokia Music Store Singapore Beta’ to enter the Nokia Music Store page.

To begin your Nokia Music Store experience, select ‘Join Now’ to register a new account.

In the registration page, type in your user name, password, e-mail address, mobile phone number and agree to the terms and conditions. Select ‘Continue to sign in to Nokia Music Store.

If you’ve already registered before, just type in your user name and password to enter the Nokia Music Store!

To preview a song, select the song of your choice and select the icon marked ‘30’ to listen to a 30-second sampler of the song.

Download music from Nokia Music Store by selecting a music genre from the list provided to view the many songs/albums that are available for downloading. After selecting, you will be redirected to a page with the music genre of your choice. You can also select from the ‘Charts’ listing the top 40 singles, albums and songs downloads. Once you’ve found a song/album you’re interested in, click on the song title to find out more.

You will then be redirected to the song details page stating the price of the song and 2 options of saving it to your wish list or to download immediately, which will direct you to the purchase page. To confirm the purchase of the song, select ‘Continue’. You will then be redirected to the ‘Media Manager’ page where you can begin your downloading by selecting ‘Download Now’.

Once you’ve started the download, Nokia Music Store will first verify and retrieve the license of the song.

After the license has been retrieved, a box displaying the download details will appear. You may hide it by clicking on the ‘Hide’ button at the bottom right-hand corner of your screen. You may also download 2 or more songs concurrently too!

You can add songs/albums to your Wish List by selecting the heart icon to add the song to your wish list when the song details page is displayed.

To check if the song has been saved in your wish list, go to ‘My Account’ and select ‘Wish List’..

..and you will see the songs that you have selected.

To purchase more credits to shop at Nokia Music Store, click on the ‘My Account’ tab and select ‘Buy Credit’. To purchase the credits, select your mode of payment and key in your payment details.

To view songs/albums that already have been purchased/downloaded, go to ‘My Account’ and select ‘Purchased Music’.

With the help of this comprehensive step-by-step guide, you can now download the latest songs with ease from Nokia Music Store!

Purchasing music is pretty easy, and the proof is evident with the little download button located on every single track or album. Prices, as mentioned earlier on, varies from $2 for a single track to $16 for a full album, so you will have the essential freedom to mix and match the songs you like, or purchase the whole album as you would when you visit a CD store.

Everything starts with a purchase, and all you need are some Nokia Music Store credits, click on the Download button as depicted below, and voila, a song for both your PC and your Nokia device awaits you.

Once the purchase is confirmed, you’ll see the progress bar of the downloaded song at the bottom right hand side of the Nokia Music Store page, as shown here.

Purchased tracks will be ready for playback either via the on-site player or using Windows Media Player 11 on your system, due to the Digital Rights Management (DRM) encoding that comes with each specific track. Of course, what comes next is for you to either enjoy your selected track off your PC, or synchronize it with your Nokia device for you to enjoy anytime and anywhere. To that effect, let’s locate your freshly downloaded track by clicking on the Open Music button as depicted below.

Using Windows Media Player 11, you’ll notice that your recently purchased track is included in the media library, ready for you to transfer and synchronize to your Nokia device. Firstly, click on the track to transfer, and drag it to the right as shown below.

Following which, the Start Sync button should be highlighted and available for you to initialize your synchronizing process, as shown here.

Click on the Start Sync button, and within a few minutes, you’ll have your favorite artiste on both your PC and your Nokia Music Store ready device. What you’ve seen is essentially the basic steps to music synchronization from your PC to your Nokia device, and in essence, the same steps do apply to any other music tracks that are lying around on your system, as we’ve previously covered in our Synchronization - Windows Media Player Style article, so do check it out to learn more on how you can access your music on the go with your Nokia device.

Following up, we’ll be sharing with you the advantages of accessing the Nokia Music Store not from your PC, but from your Nokia device. So stay tuned for our next Featured Article on Nokia Zone!

The path has been paved for the upcoming months as we see a series of Nokia devices hitting our shores with the accompaniment of its various services such as Nokia Music Store and N-gage that was introduced just recently. Over at the MILK Photographie Studio on a bustling Thursday afternoon, Nokia introduced two brand new devices to spoil the consumers for choice in the month of June: the Nokia N78 and Nokia 6220 Classic, on top of its commitment to its service lineup with a strong focus on its online sharing portal, Share on Ovi, which will be a core feature on these two new devices and its future lineup.

Over at the MILK Phtographie Studio, Nokia shares their latest two devices, the Nokia 6220 Classic and the Nokia N78, and adds some icing on the cake with the introduction of its online media sharing platform, Share on Ovi.

The sharing theme makes its presence felt as we were introduced to Nokia’s Share on Ovi platform in a media session, tagging the Sharing and Experiences labels on the Nokia 6220 Classic and N78 respectively.

A Future Classic in the Making

After a temporary hiatus on its product front and whetting the appetite of the Symbian community, Nokia presents the first two of many products to come, as introduced during its Showcase Nokia event held at Sydney in the month of February. There isn’t really anything classical about the features of the 6220 Classic, due to the fact that it is the second device to integrate a Xenon flash coupled with a 5-megapixel Carl-Zeiss lens, the first of which was seen on the Nokia N82 camera phone. As a camera powerhouse, the 6220 Classic will promote high quality image sharing on Nokia’s Share on Ovi online file-sharing platform, supported by the phone’s inherent HSDPA connectivity. Wi-Fi is the missing element here, which could be the deterrent for users who seek a greater variety of connectivity options. The Nokia 6220 Classic will be retail ready in the month of June at a recommended retail price of S$728, and the usual telco contracts will give consumers the necessary push to purchase the device.

The Nokia 6220 Classic borrows the imaging prowess that made its presence felt on the Nokia N82, but unfortunately lacks the popular Wi-Fi connection option.

Multimedia, as we have seen, has always been a core focus for Nokia’s design considerations, and the N78 presents itself as another device that suits the basic and advanced productivity and entertainment needs as demanded by the discerning consumers in recent times. Covering its bases adequately with Wi-Fi, HSDPA and a strong multimedia suite, the N78 will also be a strong contender as a multi-purpose phone as the floodgates to a whole range of mobile devices opens up in the days to come. For a quick peek at how the N78 performed in our labs, head on over to our First Looks and decide if it’ll be the next item on your to-buy list, and decide fast, for the N78 shall be available at retail outlets at the end of May (which is not too long. Really, not too long) with a recommended retail price tag of S$808.

Introducing the latest Symbian S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 and the return of the Navi Wheel pad, the N78 is a good indicator of things to come for Nokia’s upcoming N-series devices.

Thoughts to Share

The stage is once again open for Nokia’s online sharing platform, Share on Ovi. As reported earlier on, Nokia’s Share on Ovi platform will be a seamless integration of the mobile device, PC and the online platform for the consumer to have a readily available avenue to share their latest discoveries or adventures on the multimedia level. Web 2.0, as we have seen, has slowly but surely gained a strong foothold in the online realm. Thus, Share on Ovi, being an integral cog in the greater machinery under the Ovi initiative, has made a right move by riding on the Web 2.0 wave and holds much potential for the mobile platform.

Having a dedicated online portal to host your multimedia files that’s easily exchangeable and usable on other web platforms, Share on Ovi will be bringing the Web 2.0 experience much closer to the consumer.

Hopefully, the sharing concept has given you something to look forward to. Else, there’s the Nokia N78 to be fixated on as it hits our shores in a few days. If all else fails, we hope the lovely lady’s smile made your day. (Disclaimer: The Nokia N78 is bundled with a 2GB microSD card, not the lovely lady as pictured here.)

Keep a close eye on both the present and the future as we track the upcoming launch of both the Nokia 6210 Navigator and the successor to the N95 powerhouse, the Nokia N96.

Complementing the brand new experience on the N78 and 6220 Classic with the Share on Ovi client, consumers can expect even more added features and services on the pipeline as we move onto the second half of 2008. And if this hasn’t gotten you hyped up, there’s always the upcoming PC Show and CommunicAsia to get you charged up for the month of June, so be sure to visit www.hardwarezone.com as we bring you the full coverage very soon.

The official launch of the Singapore Nokia Music Store had a fitting venue at the Arts House, the Playden, showcasing the vibrancy of the online music service for the consumer.

Over at the Arts House, the Playden, we got a quick preview of the offerings from the Nokia Music Store. With major international players such as Universal Music Singapore to local music label Ocean Butterflies Music and Rock Records Singapore providing an Asian flavor to the Nokia Music Store, and the recent news of Sony BMG joining Nokia in a collaborative partnership for online music content, it bodes well for consumers as we see more labels taking up the mandate of online music distribution.

In line with the selected artistic venue, a little skit was performed to narrate the Nokia Music Store story and the evolution of the online music distribution medium.

Not forgetting the varying tastes of consumers, each Nokia Music Store that’s launched in separate regions is tailor-made to fit the demands of the locality, and as we’ve seen on the Singapore portal, the Nokia Music Store caters to both the international and local music scene. With various artistes ranging from well-known icons such as Maroon 5 to our very own local artistes such as JJ Lin, the myriad of song titles will give consumers a wide variety of choices to choose from.

Beyond international selections such as U2 and various other artistes, homegrown singers such as Hady Mirza and even popular Taiwanese singers such as Angela Zhang are part of the offerings from the Singapore Nokia Music Store.

Enjoying the soundtrack selection on Nokia Music Store is just as varied, with three output options for the consumer. Whilst one can take on an unlimited streaming option from the music site for the price of S$16 per month, conventional methods such as individual tracks at S$2 or S$16 for a full album is also available. From the local perspective, the conventional options might be a tad pricey, but as with all services, there is a premium. Undoubtedly, the inclusion of unlimited streaming for the monthly S$16 fee could prove to be a popular choice amongst consumers who wish to savor a wider variety of music selection at a lower and more affordable cost. Payment methods, as we have seen, varies from store credits that can be purchased from any Nokia retail stores, to AXS machines and finally, the all-connecting credit card payments.

Beyond the pricing service, what really matters to the consumer is the availability of these soundtracks for your own usage. Allowing both your mobile device and PC to be in sync with each other when it comes to soundtrack downloading, the Nokia Music Store gives you the choice to listen to your music either on-the-go, or in the comforts of your room.

It goes without saying that Nokia has played its card right with the introduction of the Nokia Music Store in the absence of strong online music stores such as iTunes for this region. Furthermore, in the later part of 2008, we’ll be seeing the inclusion of Nokia’s very own music bundle packages that give consumers unlimited soundtrack download capability with every mobile phone purchase, so get ready for an exciting online music revolution at http://www.music.nokia.com.sg/ today!

Amongst the greatest features of the store is its streaming service. At a low flat fee of only S$16 per month, you can enjoy unlimited streaming of music on your PC.

Yes, you heard it right: UNLIMITED. The Nokia Music Store’s streaming service isn’t capped by a limited number of songs on your playlist, nor by limited durations of usage. Sounds attractive? It should be, because this is the first time that such a service has ever been available. And you’ll also be hard-pressed to find a better deal as Nokia is the only one to offer it too!

Another cool thing about the site is its powerful integration with your mobile device and PC as well as between both. Utilising Windows Media Player 11, you can bet that compatibility won’t be a problem for any of the masses of Windows users out there.

And for those of you worried about losing your music, the Nokia Music Store has a nifty feature that you’ll fall in love with: a log of music that you’ve already purchased and which you can easily re-download for FREE!

If that’s not enough, there’s also a dynamic recommendation engine that picks out songs you might like and adds them to your playlist. Just hit the ‘Mix Me’ button and you’ll have your very own personal track recommendations. All that’s left is for you to customise your playlist!

And did I mention that you can also save your playlist and port it over from one platform to another?

Another handy feature to consider would be a unique ‘Wishlist’ that allows you to note down tracks that you like, but haven’t downloaded yet. What this means is that if you’re just surfing the store on your mobile device, you can stock up your Wishlist and then download the tracks only when you get to a workstation with cheaper internet connection charges, saving you a tidy sum of money.

Ever get frustrated with online music stores that offer you pathetically short samples that hardly help in identifying if you’ve found the right song? Fortunately, with the Nokia Music Store, that’s a problem of the past. The store allows unlimited sampling of all available tracks and lets you listen to 30 seconds of uninterrupted, unedited music at high bitrate quality.

What’s more, the Nokia Music Store also permits payment via a myriad of options that will make it accessible and convenient for anyone and everyone. Accepted payment methods include credit cards, AXS machines, vouchers and even stored value PIN cards available at all Nokia stores.

The Nokia Music Store was officially launched on 29^th April 2008 with price tags of S$2 per individual track and albums starting at S$16. Visit http://music.nokia.com.sg/ to experience it for yourself!

Unlike Windows Media Player, the synchronization process between your Nokia device and iTunes requires more effort, and a third party application called iTunes Agent. iTunes Agent functions as an effective middleman that synchronizes your existing playlist on iTunes with any non-iPod MP3 player. As an open source project, iTunes Agent is downloadable at http://sourceforge.net/projects/ita.

Before you get anything done, you will need to firstly pre-configure your Nokia device. To prepare your phone, connect your Nokia device to your system, but instead of choosing Media Player mode as in our previous article, select Mass Storage.

To allow iTunes Agent to synchronize with your Nokia device, what you’ll need to do is to manually create a folder within your phone’s memory card, specifically for the iTunes Agent to recognize. In this tutorial, we created a folder called iTunes_Nokia. This folder must have a unique name in your phone directory and will be used to store all the audio files synchronized from iTunes. This is the ‘root’ folder that is accessed by iTunes Agent as you will get to see later and is an important step in the process.

Once your phone has been prepared, the next thing you need to do is to install iTunes Agent. With that said and done, we shall be looking at a more detailed process for synchronization, so get your devices ready as we give you the full breakdown.

Firstly run iTunes Agent, and you’ll notice that it will also initiate the iTunes main application with it. Following which, let’s head on over to the iTunes Agent icon on your system task bar. Right click, and choose Preferences to begin the basic configuration.

The first order of business is to click on the New button and create a new Profile/Device pertaining to your Nokia device

In the Name box, enter a name for your Nokia mobile device. This name can be anything you want.

In the Synchronize pattern box, choose the directory structure you prefer, i.e. iTunes, Artist Folder or Flat.

In the Music folder box, choose the directory you want to store your files. Leave this option blank and iTunes Agent will store all synchronized files into your device’s root directory (Remember, this is the directory we created in the step before).

In the Recognize by folder/file box, enter the unique folder name that you created (Again, this refers to the root directory) on your Nokia device.

In the Associate with playlist box, enter the playlist that you want to synchronize with your Nokia device. You can select individual playlists or by leaving it as the default - “Use device name” - you can essentially just create any playlist associated with your Nokia device on your iTunes, and it’ll be synchronized accordingly.

If you’ve setup your phone and iTunes Agent appropriately, you should notice a small popup balloon from your iTunes Agent tray icon, indicating that your device is now ready for synchronization.

And thus, it’s time to start the synchronization process. Right click on the iTunes Agent icon in the Task Bar, select Synchronize, and the rest shall be taken care of in due time.

Click on Menu, then select Search, and you’ll find yourself looking at a list of applications that Nokia Search is capable of looking through.

As mentioned, Nokia Search performs a precise search according to your input. For example, you might have installed an application, but forgotten the destination folder that you’ve placed it in. By entering the application name within the search entry field, Nokia Search dives through all available files and displays the closest matching entry, as seen here.

E.g., If you want to look for the game – Space Impact. First, type in the name Space Impact in the entry field.

Following which, the closest matches to your search criteria will be found and listed out as below. From here, you can access your selected results.

Nokia Search becomes really useful when you are searching for a specific message pertaining to a subject, especially so in sea of messages.

E.g. if you’re searching for messages from a friend, just type his/her name, and Nokia Search returns you with a list of files, including messages, which contains the searched name.

Expanding upon this high-powered search functionality, Nokia has also combined its search engine with Mobile Yellow Pages, presenting users with more search options than ever before. Integrated within Nokia Search as a Service, Mobile Yellow Pages provides you with the most updated information on any amenities that you are searching for.

To get started, install the Mobile Yellow Pages plugin into your Nokia Search application. Click on Search the Internet as highlighted below:

Next, click Options > Check for Updates. A network connection is required as your device will be checking for any available updates for your Nokia Search. After a connection is established and a check with the server is done, you’ll find Mobile Yellow Pages as an option available for downloading. Click on Mobile Yellow Pages, follow the instructions as prompted, and you’ll have an additional search service ready for use.

Enter Mobile Yellow Pages, and you’ll have the following landing page.

The concept is simple. Let’s say you are searching for a restaurant for the ideal Valentine’s Day date. If you have one in mind and wish to make the reservation, enter the restaurant name and click on Search.

Based on the search criteria, a list of restaurants that matches the entry would be displayed and shown. Pick the restaurant of your choice, and you’ll be provided with the full details of the restaurant, such as a short description, the address and contact number.

As you might have noticed, there are additional options such as Show on map, Navigate to and Save as landmark. With these extended search function, Mobile Yellow Pages is actually able to work seamlessly with your device’s Nokia Maps, allowing you to find, locate and navigate to the destination of your choice using these tools that compliment each other.

By clicking on Show on map, the exact location of the restaurant is pinpointed on your Nokia Map. To go one step further, click on Navigate to, and you’ll have the restaurant saved as your destination, and all you need to do, is choose your point of origin, be it via your current GPS location, or a place of your choice.

With Nokia Search, it’s all about search, locate and navigate.

Nokia’s N-Gage started off as a mobile gaming device, merging a dedicated handheld gaming system and a cellular phone. This convergence of entertainment and practicality was a major step taken by Nokia throughout the device development.

Over the years, Nokia took the N-Gage idea on a new direction, formulating it to become platform-centric instead of a device-centric system as it was in its infancy. During the recent Nokia: Go Play event, N-Gage found itself being introduced to the masses via Nokia’s Ovi portal, providing music, video and gaming all under one roof. And thus, the new N-Gage system was revealed.

Going full swing with the revival of the next generation N-Gage platform, support has been improved with the following devices being able to run the all new N-Gage:

Nokia N73
Nokia N81
Nokia N81 8GB
Nokia N82
Nokia N93
Nokia N93i
Nokia N95
Nokia N95 8GB

To give consumers a taste of the all new N-Gage system, these devices have been preloaded with demo versions of three introductory N-Gage games, first of which, is Asphalt 3: Street Rules.

As one would have surmised, Asphalt 3: Street Rules by Gameloft is a game that would surely capture the attention of all racing fans. In the demo version, you’ll be given access to either an Instant Play or Arcade mode, where you are able to get into the action immediately. With the full version, you even have access to character choices and options to fine-tune your ride.

Nonetheless, with either Instant Play or Arcade mode, you’ll be provided with hours of pure enjoyment. With an accompanying soundtrack that pumps sufficient adrenaline into your system, and the added excitement you get with every Nitro boost you perform, Asphalt 3: Street Rules is sure to keep you on your toes.

And next up is FIFA ‘07, a game that would surely keep soccer lovers well satisfied. Though not as aesthetically pleasing as you would get with a full-fledged game on a dedicated gaming console such as the PlayStation2 or Xbox360, FIFA ‘07 on the N-Gage delivers a visual experience that surpasses most mobile device games currently on the market. An intuitive gameplay system, with detailed sculpting of the players and fields are the strength of FIFA ‘07 on the N-Gage. The smaller keypad may be a learning curve for those not used to handheld gaming, but once you’ve gotten into it, you’ll be passing the ball like a pro.

Though preloaded only on the N81 or N81 8GB, Space Impact is also downloadable via MOSH, Nokia’s very own file sharing site, located at http://mosh.nokia.com/content/390835310FA94CEEE040050AEE0402D8.

Space Impact utilizes the N81’s unique landscape gaming mode, and gives you a wide-screen experience in this shooter genre game that smacks of nostalgia. With its dedicated gaming buttons at the top of the device, you can hold the Nokia N81 in its landscape orientation, and have a game of Space Impact as though it’s a dedicated gaming device. Of course, you can switch back to portrait mode, but where’s the fun in that? The gameplay element is simple, yet could prove to be surprisingly challenging when you reach later stages as you battle it out in five different levels of varying difficulty. Beyond the simple fly-and-shoot that you’ll be doing, customization of your ship is available, giving you more options for weapon loadout and various other upgrades for your ship.

The demonstration of what the N-Gage system could do in the near future looks set to keep consumers on their toes with its simple, yet full attention to the gaming and aesthetic details of its products. With the current incarnation of N-Gage, entertainment value and future compatibility is undeniably strong, proving that time will never pass you by slowly when you are N-Gaged on your Nokia device.

Nokia caters to the globetrotter who’s always on the move with the Guides purchasing option, found within Nokia Maps. Similar to printed guides such as Lonely Planet or The Rough Guide, the purchasable guides within Nokia Maps provide you with various recommendations and details to the sights and sounds of the city, ranging from food joints to places of interest.

Mentioned briefly in our previous How-To article for Nokia Maps, purchasing the guide of a specific locality is similar to how you would purchase the add-on voice navigation. Enter Nokia Maps, click on Options > Extra Services > Guides.

By chance, if you have not started a network connection or have disabled it, click on Options > Settings > Network. Ensure When Needed is chosen under Use network, and select the network connection of your choice under Default access point.

Note that you will have to utilize an active Internet connection to update the list of guides available, as prompted here.

After clicking Yes, a list of the most updated guides close to your country of origin will be retrieved and cataloged onto your device, with an option to browse for more Guides under Browse catalogue.

Following which, you may purchase the guide of your choice as illustrated here. An additional option is present for you to enter your license code, should you have purchased the guide earlier on.

On most navigational devices, maps are a form of commodity that requires you to make additional purchases. In contrast, you’ll get a nice treat from Nokia: Free maps, with the help of the Nokia Map Loader.

Nokia Map Loader essentially downloads the latest maps from Nokia, transfers it right onto your Nokia device. Your first step, is to download the Nokia Map Loader application for your PC here: http://europe.nokia.com/A4509291

Run the installer next, and before you start the Nokia Map Loader application, connect your mobile device onto your PC and select Data Transfer/Mass Storage as your mode of connection.

Start your Nokia Map Loader application, and you should be greeted with this screen:

Notice there are two tabs available for selection, namely Maps and Voices. Let’s take a peek at Maps first.

With Nokia Map Loader, you are provided with a variety of maps that encompasses virtually the whole world. Firstly, identify which map you wish to download, select on the specific continent. The arrow sign as seen above indicates that there are more choices available for that specific continent or country. Choose your map, click on the + sign as indicated above, and you’ll have the list of maps to be downloaded ready, as seen here.

As you might have surmised, downloaded maps require a certain amount of storage space, which is highlighted as in the illustration above. You’ll be able to monitor the amount of space required for the selected maps, and the remaining capacity on your mass storage device.

Once you’ve made your final selection, click on Download to initialize the map download and transfer onto your Nokia device.

The Voices tab provides you with an alternative language for the voice guided navigation that you might have purchased earlier on. Multiple languages are available, and the downloading step is similar to what you have done for your maps downloading.

To alternate to a different voice language, click on Menu > Maps > Settings > General and select the Voice guidance field.

As we have seen, Nokia Maps is not just about maps. It’s about navigation, direction, and most of all, precision. Though having a full fledged GPS enabled Nokia device would bring out the full prowess of this mapping application, Nokia Maps, Nokia Map Loader and City Guides are still as useful even without its GPS functionality, as a map that brings you to the places you wish to go, at no hassle.

To start off, locate the Nokia Maps application, which can be easily accessed via Menu > Maps.

Nokia Maps will automatically request for a network connection to be selected. This connection is required for the application to download the latest maps for your locality. If you already have you maps preloaded, or would not like any updates, our suggestion is to go to Settings > Networks and select Never to prevent any accidental data usage.

Within Nokia Maps, there is a myriad of functions that can be overwhelming if you aren’t prepared, so without further ado, here’s a breakdown of the most common features you’ll need to get going.

GPS

Global Positioning System, or GPS, is a term that everyone encounters at one point or another. To get your GPS started, the best case scenario is to get out in the open with little to no obstructing buildings around you, to get a satellite lock on the GPS chip in your phone. Getting a good satellite lock would net you the following image, highlighted in red.

Routing

Getting the correct route information is of the utmost importance to a traveler utilizing a mapping program, which is something Nokia Maps can deliver with ease. To start things off, let’s get the routing settings done according to your preferences. Click on Settings > Routing.

Routing has a variety of factors that allow you to determine the preferred route that you would like to embark upon.

As noted, your transport mode, route selection, choice of motorway and tunnels are some of the criteria that you may factor in during your route planning phase.

With your settings in place, it’s time to plan the route on the map.

Navigation

Basically, there are two simple methods to plan your route. Choose either the destination or point of origin by clicking on Options > Find Place. What you’ll be presented with is a myriad of search options as illustrated here:

As you would have noticed, you can pinpoint your current location as the point of origin by selecting GPS position, which automatically locates your current position via satellite locking. Other options include searching via the exact Address, a Keyword Search such as the name of a certain shopping mall, Nearby amenities such as a shopping center near your current location and Recent, which recalls recently searched addresses.

Of special note here is Guides, a paid service that allows you to download a city guide for a list of cities of your choice, which integrates seamlessly into Nokia Maps for each specific map locality.

Once you have specified your destination or point of origin, click on Options > Use Place and you’ll be given a new set of options.

If your specified location is the point of origin, you would be choosing Route from, following which, click on the To entry field to be presented with another list of locations as your destination.

Once you’ve completed your choice of destination, you’ll be given a new option to Show Route, presenting you with the optimum route chosen by Nokia Maps. A route calculation will be performed and an Itinerary will be presented, as illustrated here:

Click on Options, and be greeted by the three main functions of the Nokia Maps navigational system.

By choosing Show on map, you’ll be able to see the full route as laid out on the map. Choosing Start navigation would activate the GPS system, which zeroes in on your current location, and provides you with exact directions from your origin to destination with pinpoint accuracy. Should you wish to have a feel of how the journey will be, you can select Start simulation to see how the route will be traveled, as according to the stipulated speed limits on the planned route.

Advanced Navigation

The bundled Nokia Maps that you get is able to provide basic mapping and navigational functionalities, which gets the job done. However, when you are on the road, you may be pressed to constantly view the upcoming directions given by the GPS system, which is not too optimal if you’re the driver.

Enter Voice Guided Navigation. Users can initially start off with a 3-day trial, with purchasing options of 7 days, 1 month, 1 year and up to 3 years license at varying prices.

Once purchased, all you need to do is to enter the license code that was sent to you after the purchasing step, and you’ll have a voice navigation system that gives you real-time information as you travel along your predetermined route.

All factors considered, Nokia Maps, in association with high-end models such as the Nokia N95 8GB or Nokia N82, provides you with a smart alternative to a separate GPS device, giving you greater freedom and mobility during your daily commute.

Click on Get, and then Download. Follow the instructions as listed to download the Nokia Team Suite .SISX file onto your PC.

Next, connect your Nokia device to your PC, and select PC Suite mode.

Select Install Application to initiate the installation process from the PC onto your Nokia device.

Choose the downloaded file, which should be TeamSuite_1.0_EMEA.sisX and click on the green arrow button to Install the application onto your device.

What follows is a series of installation process on your mobile device. Follow the instructions accordingly to install your Nokia Team Suite.

Before we can unleash the power of your Nokia Team Suite, let’s located the said application first. You can find it under Menu > Applications > Team

Now, the first step you’ll need to start off with is to create a new team, probably a group of friends whom you always contact, or your colleagues whom you’ll need to host a conference call with for work matters. Without further ado, click on Options, choose Team > Create, to head to the setup screen.

You’ll notice that there are 4 basic entry fields. The team name, of course, is mandatory, so enter any specific team name that you prefer.

Next up: conference call settings. You’ll need to have your conference call number, ID and Personal Identification Number (PIN) to be entered into the settings to initiate a conference call later on. These settings are obtained separately, when you sign up for a conference calling account with a third party company.

After which, click on Done and you’ll be prompted to add your team members from your Contacts. Once you are done, you’ll be presented with your new Team, and the added members within the team.

You’ll still have the flexibility to choose who you’d like to call out to within the said Team. That’s the primary function of the checkboxes you’ll notice beside each team member’s name. Now, we move onto the four primary functions you can perform with the Nokia Team Suite now, which includes Call, Message, Push-to-Talk (PTT) and Call Conference Service.

Call utilizes your basic cellular network, with an additional feature to allow multiple parties within the same call. Message, as the term indicates, gives you access to send either a text, multimedia or audio message to multiple recipients in the same team. In all fairness, the above two functions are readily available even without the Nokia Team Suite.

PTT utilizes an Internet connection for an always-on connection that allows multiple parties to conduct a conference call, with a specified button as its PTT button to initiate a conversation within the conference. As the name implies, PTT works along the same line as a walkie-talkie, i.e. only one conversant at a time is allowed during the conference.

Finally, if you are to choose Call Conference Service, this would be where your initial settings kick in. Chances are you’ll be seeing yourself using this function in situations where you are calling out to a conference that’s held overseas, with a centralized conference number that everyone dials to.As can be seen, the Nokia Team Suite brings a whole new level of business sophistication to your daily work routine, and is easy to use with an intuitive interface, with minimal setup hassle. Consider one for your S60-powered mobile if you haven’t already gotten it yet.

The term Visual Radio would give you a slight hint of what it can deliver for your daily entertainment needs. As a propriety application found in Nokia devices, Visual Radio provides you with free-to-air radio broadcasts, with an added interactive visual feature to it. Song information, the latest news on the current artist and such are just part of the things that can be found on the Visual Radio channels.

And to top it off, Visual Radio is a global service that’s tied in with various radio stations in its own locality. This would essentially mean an always ready radio service on your mobile device, wherever you are, whenever you are.

The audio is delivered via regular FM channels, but being proprietary, its interactive (data) services lies on its dependency on operator specific access points, thus eliminating the a truly free music service for users through a regular Wi-Fi network. GPRS charges, as per your telco’s rates, would be minimal, if you are not a heavy user of the Visual Radio service, else you could find your figures on your next phone bill to be astonishingly high.

If you are looking at having full control of your listening choices, there is always the Nokia Music Store, up and ready for your purchasing options.

As of now, the Nokia Music Store is only available in the European market, but during the Nokia: Go Play event held in August 2007, it was stated that the Nokia Music Store will be available worldwide with the inaugural launch of Ovi, Nokia’s very own portal service that incorporates gaming, music and videos under one initiative. To have a look at what you can expect from the Nokia Music Store, go to http://music.nokia.co.uk/. A side note, Internet Explorer is the only web browser currently supported by Nokia Music Store.

To some, the Nokia Music Store would seem familiar to numerous online music services. Yet, the similarity ends here, with one prominent reason: the duality of access you have to the Nokia Music Store through your mobile device and your PC. Though some might argue that music downloads over-the-air have become popularized in recent days, the Nokia Music Store offers a wider variety of choices when it comes to soundtrack selection.

The Nokia Music Store offers a variety of options for you to obtain your daily audio fix, either via streaming, direct download, or just bookmarking for future referencing. If your style looms towards one that has no fixed genre, getting a subscription for unlimited streaming from the site with a monthly subscription would be your choice.

Alternatively, for music lovers with a fixed focus, they can choose to download songs of their choice, either on their PC or over-the-air with their Nokia mobile device. Song charges are either by the album or a single track, though based on the European pricing, a bulk purchase of a full album would definitely be a more worthwhile buy.

With current Nokia devices and services, mobile digital convergence is the key. What one should ponder upon is whether you’ll find a need to be carrying multiple devices for your varied needs, or just a single Nokia device to sate all your entertainment desires.

Having DVD quality movies on your mobile can be achieved, and we’ll make it as simple as ABC for you in our detailed guide for the transition from your DVD, into an MP4 file format for your Nokia device.

Freeware software that provides such conversion are aplenty, and our recommendation is for Video-LAN, located at http://www.videolan.org/vlc/.

Choose the installer that fits your operating system, and we’ll start on the conversion process.

Insert the DVD of your choice into your DVD drive, and click on Open Disc.

Choose the DVD radio box, check that the Stream/Save checkbox is ticked, and click on the Settings button beside it.

Next, specify the output file’s location, and the extension to be used. Note that .MP4 is one of the common acceptable formats, and ensure the checkbox for MP4 under Encapsulation Method is clicked, as highlighted here.

Moving onto your Transcoding Options, click on the Video Codec checkbox, select mp4v and a bitrate of 1024kb/s. Next, check the Audio Codec checkbox, and select mp4a and a bitrate of 128kb/s.

After which, it’s time to resize your video to the correct resolution size for your Nokia device. Notice on the top of the Settings menu, you’ll see a string of input under the Target field. Locate the specific area with “scale=1″ as illustrated here:

After which, replace that command with the following input: width=640 height=480 Your final Target field should look like this:

The second last step is to click Ok, and click Ok once more, and your DVD would be encoded to the target destination. Do note that if you wish to have a smaller file size, all you need to do is reduce the mp4v and mp4a bitrates, though you might require some trial and error to find the optimized settings for your specific device.

Following which, transfer the file to your Nokia device, under My Videos, and head on over to the Video Centre to view your latest DVDs right on your Nokia mobile device!

VoIP has taken the world by storm in recent times, and it is inevitable that Internet calls would slowly but surely makes its presence felt in mobile devices, thanks to its evolution into a multimedia platform that promises what computers can do.

One such software that promotes this mode of voice calls is Fring. A multi platform mobile communications application, Fring encompasses MSN, Skype, ICQ and GoogleTalk. Better yet, Fring works in tandem with your own cellular line with its SIP protocol, bringing all forms of communication under one platform.

Setting Fring up is not a chore, and we’ll show you the step-by-step routine required to get you going.

The first order of business is to download the Fring client for your mobile device at http://www.fring.com/download/ and is supported on both Windows Mobile and Symbian OS.

You’ll be prompted to enter details such as the mobile device brand and model number, as well as further details such as your country code and mobile phone number for the Fring website to send the installer directly to your mobile phone.

Click on Next when you receive the text message sent to you that provides the link to download the Fring client onto your mobile device.

Click on the link as sent to you on the message to initialize your Fring client download. You’ll be prompted for the Internet connection of your choice too.

Should the access point that you chose fail to connect, you’ll be prompted with an automatic search. Take note though, by choosing yes, you will not have direct control of the access point being utilized and thus could chalk up significant amount of charges on your GPRS connection.

Following the initial connection setup comes the account initialization. Note that your account ID for Fring would be your mobile phone number tagged with your country code as per international phone numbering, i.e. if your number belongs to a Singapore number, it would be 65XXXXXXXX, where X is your mobile phone number.

This number/ID is used for identification purposes on either Skype or GoogleTalk, which you will be prompted to select at the next step.

There is absolutely no requirement for you to enter any servers, proxies or protocols during the installation process, making Fring as easy to install as it is to use. With your contact list from your VoIP client and your own cellular contacts loaded, you can initialize an Internet call to any number, and at almost no cost if you are using a free Wi-Fi connection.

Vox is a collaboration between Nokia and Six Apart, which provides you with a web portal that allows you to upload your daily journals, photos, videos or audio clips onto its server via its Vox application on your mobile device.

First up, head on over to www.vox.com first, and create a new account. Next up, install the Vox Mobile application on your Nokia mobile device, which can be downloaded at http://help.vox.com/cgi-bin/blogs_us.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=570. Now, the magic of Vox Mobile is in its versatility, as it is catered not only for S60 devices, but also for Palm, Windows Mobile 5 and 6. All things aside, select the appropriate file for your mobile device’s operating system, and transfer it over to your mobile device, followed by the installation process.

Now comes the fun part. Initialize your Vox Mobile application and you’ll be prompted for your account ID and password, which has already been created if you had visited www.vox.com earlier on to register for a new account.

Once activated, notice the first two options: New and Add. By selecting New, you are given a choice to upload either a new blog post, or create a new image, video or audio clip via your mobile device’s multimedia capturing tool, which will be uploaded onto the Vox server.

Alternatively, if you’d like to upload an existing file within your mobile device, choose Add to access the corresponding file which will be uploaded accordingly.

Let’s take a closer look at the blogging capabilities of Vox. After choosing the New option and selecting Post, you are presented with the options to Add an Image, Video or Audio clip. The Body field is a text field to enter your thoughts of the day, and you can also tweak various settings such as restricting viewing access to your post.

After you’re done with your entry of the day, it’s time to publish your post. Click on Save and you’ll be pushed back to the main page, which now displays all entries that were created on your mobile device, be it a blog posting, image, video or audio file. The uploading process requires you to select Publish, which establishes a connection between your mobile device to the Vox server.

It goes without saying that an active Internet connection on your mobile is required for the uploading process, so make sure you’ve activated and established your GPRS, Wi-Fi or HSDPA connection to complete your post. And with the post being published, it’s now hosted on your Vox account, available for everyone to view your latest adventures (or misadventures).

First up, let’s look at what Flickr offers on your Nokia mobile device. In current models such as the Nokia N82, you’ll find the option to post your photos onto your site with the click of a button. With direct Wi-Fi access, and a few quick steps, it’s just a matter of choosing your favorite photo, sending it to Flickr and viola, instant image uploading, at the tip of your fingers.To achieve this, all it takes is a few simple steps to initialize a connection between your Nokia mobile device with Flickr. First up, choose a photo, click on Options and select Open Online Services. The next step requires you to input your Flickr account and password.

To start this off, head on over to www.flickr.com and sign up for an account, and if you have an existing Yahoo account, that user ID can be utilized for Flickr uploading too. Following which, it’s time to upload your photos right from your mobile device onto Flickr. You’ll be prompted to retrieve online services, which you should select Yes, as illustrated here.

This will bring you to the main Flickr page, and you’ll notice it is now logged into your personal account. So, all you’ll need to do, is choose Upload Photo, as illustrated here:

What follows is a series of steps to choose the photos that you wish to upload, either from the device’s onboard memory, or its external memory card.

With that done, it’s now a matter of waiting for the upload to be completed before you start off on the next photo to be uploaded onto Flickr. Once uploaded, you can send the Flickr links to your friends and family for sharing. In our upcoming article, we shall explore Vox, a versatile mobile blogging application for S60, Palm and Windows Mobile 5 and 6.

Connect your Nokia multimedia device via USB, and select Media Player mode when prompted.

If this is the first time that your multimedia device is connected, driver installation may be required, so if your Windows doesn’t have the necessary drivers yet, do use the bundled PC Suite CD that came with your device.

Next, start up your Windows Media Player. If the device drivers have been successfully installed as per the last step, you should see your Nokia multimedia device being recognized as a device to be synced by Windows Media Player.

Simply put, all you need to do is to drag any existing MP3s on your Windows Media Player playlists into the sync list.

Once your selection is complete, click on the Start Sync button located at the bottom right, hold onto your seats and wait for the synchronization process to be completed, which is dependent on the number of songs you’ve dragged in to synchronize.

Furthermore, you can setup automatic synchronization, which will ensure that new files added on either your system or your mobile device would be updated accordingly. For automatic synchronization, just follow these few additional steps:

As illustrated, using Windows Media Player for a full synchronization between your mobile devices can be easily achieved, and this could be done in a similar fashion for an iTunes enthusiast, as we shall present to you in a follow-up article.

Before you embark on the WidSets journey, you might be wondering what are the requirements and fees for this application. Specification-wise, you do need a mobile device capable of Internet connectivity, and most importantly, support for Java MIDP 2.0. And the real attraction here is the fees involved, which is none. Well, it is not absolutely free, as you do have to consider the data connection fees involved when you are downloading any information off the Internet.

Nonetheless, even if you have Internet connectivity and Java MIDP 2.0 support on your mobile device, it is still highly dependent on your mobile device compatibility with WidSets. A full list of devices currently compatible with WidSets can be found at www.widsets.com/info/compatibility.html.   Installation of WidSets can be quick and easy, and here’s how:

Upon installation, head on over to the Library and start installing the WidSets of your choice.   Next up, what can you expect from the WidSets library at www.widsets.com/library.html? A variety of widgets, ranging from games, news to any other categories you can think of, reside in the WidSets library. Do a simple search on either your mobile device or on www.widsets.com to find the widget of your preference.  

Applications such as Sudoku, AccuWeather, and RSS feeds from BBC News are available for your WidSets. WidSets, as one can see, fulfills its purpose as a platform that delivers real-time information to the user, or provides basic entertainment such as a game of Sudoku during your daily work transit. More importantly, it is not only about receiving when it comes to WidSets. If you find yourself fascinated by certain widgets, or developed your very own widget, it’s just as easy to share it all on the WidSets library.With upcoming models such as the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet, or even the newly introduced Nokia N95 8GB that brings your mobile experience much closer to that of a personal computer, in the years to come, you might find yourself installing more than a WidSets application on your mobile device. ]]> http://sites.hardwarezone.com/sg/nokiazone/content/featured-articles/widsets-%e2%80%93-the-mobile-widget.html/feed http://sites.hardwarezone.com/sg/nokiazone/content/featured-articles/playing-around-with-the-nokia-music-manager.html http://sites.hardwarezone.com/sg/nokiazone/content/featured-articles/playing-around-with-the-nokia-music-manager.html#comments Thu, 01 Nov 2007 07:44:36 +0000 Nokia Zone http://sites.hardwarezone.com/sg/nokiazone/content/featured-articles/playing-around-with-the-nokia-music-manager.html Nokia phone users would most probably have come across a software called the Nokia Music Manager, which allows users to rip and sync music files from a computer to their Nokia mobile phone. We are sure that users would find this application useful if they are an avid music lover. Music does allow one to wind away the time, be it in the office, waiting for the bus or even, just a relaxing day at home. And with the Nokia Music Manager installed, you will be able to transfer your favorite tunes onto your mobile phone within minutes.

You need not even fret if your audio files come in various different formats. The Nokia Music Manager does all the worrying for you as it can detect and transcode your music files into formats compatible with your trusty Nokia mobile. Of course, your phone must first be able to support music playback, such as the Nokia XpressMusic series. No doubt, if you’re a heavy multimedia users, you might feel that there is always not enough space on your phone to store everything you want. The Nokia Music Manager makes the task to manage your music and storage on your Nokia phone easy, effective and hassle-free.

This guide will show you how to get the Nokia Music Manager up and running with step-by-step instructions and illustrations for your convenience. You’ll be able to transfer, rip and sync your music files in no time.

The Nokia Music Manager is included as part of the Nokia PC Suite software which comes in the box along with all new Nokia mobiles. So take the software CD out of the packaging, insert it into your CD drive and click install when the autorun prompt appears, which would bring you all to this screen above. It is that easy! If you don’t have the CD, the latest version of the Nokia PC Suite can also be downloaded through Nokia’s website.

After successful installation of the Nokia PC Suite, launching the application and present you with this window. Make sure that your Nokia mobile phone is connected to your PC first. The Nokia Music Manager can be accessed through the Transfer Music icon as it is highlighted here. Remember, always stay up-to-date by checking back on Nokia’s website for updates and newer versions which may enhance your Nokia experience further.

Above, you will see the clean user interface of the Nokia Music Manager, which is fresh and easy to navigate, even without a user’s manual.

Before getting started, users who will be using the Nokia Music Manager to rip CDs will first have to agree with this disclaimer to allow access to the remote Gracenote service that allows the program to retrieve CD information from the Internet. Following that, users need to setup the conversion settings of the software. The following steps below show a sample setup to convert audio files into 128Kbps AAC before they are transferred. As you can see, users have the option to have a little more control or set up the Nokia Music Manager for fully automatic conversions.

The next step is to identify to location of your Nokia mobile phone. This is where the all your music will be stored on the phone. In our case, the phone is drive E: This is all the information that the Nokia Music Manager needs to setup. You can now begin ripping your CDs, converting and transferring files into your Nokia mobile phone.

In order to rip CDs, you’ll first have to insert the chosen Audio CD into your PCs optical drive. If you’re connected to the Internet, the Gracenote service should identify the CD and automatically fill in all the track information required. To select the songs you want, users only need to check their respective boxes.

Finally, click on the File menu, and select the action needed. If you only intend to rip the CD, select Copy to My Collection. On the other hand, for immediate syncing with your Nokia mobile phone, select Copy to phone. The ripping and conversion status will be shown on the bottom right hand corner of the program. When the conversion is complete, you can exit the Nokia Music Manager and Voila! You can start enjoying the music you have just transferred into you Nokia mobile anywhere, anytime.

Nokia E90 Communicator running on PC Suite, lacking an option to synchronize e-mail.

For users of the Enterprise series phones, such as the Nokia E90 Communicator or the Nokia E61, the possibility of e-mail synchronization exists with the use of Nokia’s Mail for Exchange system, as found within the Nokia Intellisync Suite. As the name suggests, the use of a Microsoft Exchange mail account is required for e-mail synchronization between the Nokia device and your PC.

Alternatives for accessing your e-mail do exist in two other forms. The first of which is via push e-mail functionality, which provides a sort of always-on mail forwarding to your Nokia device via POP3 or IMAP4 protocol. This requires one to input the incoming and outgoing mail servers within the Nokia device to initiate the proper connections. In essence, mail will be automatically ‘pushed’ to your device from the mail server, allowing you to retain a copy of the message within your mobile device, making it a preferred method for most.

However, for some users, web security is highly prioritized, hence a second method of e-mail retrieval is still possible via a web-based solution. Essentially, this is more of a web browsing experience, where one utilizes the GPRS, WLAN or even HSDPA connection found within the Nokia device to visit web-based mail services to view your e-mails. Popular web mail servers such as Yahoo! and Google have specific interfaces designed for the mobile platform’s compact screen size.

In conclusion, if you are a casual mobile user who is looking at a convenient form of e-mail access, you would find yourself a firm supporter of the web-based e-mail or possibly push e-mail. However, corporate executives who require 24/7 connectivity to their work e-mail would find the full e-mail synchronization capability provided by the Nokia Intellisync Suite a necessity in the long run.

Basically, with a mobile device such as the Nokia N95, you have the following scene modes:

The Auto setting should be suitable for basic users. However, for advanced users, it would be a matter of defining the desired settings within the User defined option.

Following which, you’ll find yourself within the Settings page

Here’s a brief look at each setting, and the role the play. Let’s start with Flash:

To compensate for a low light environment without overexposure, the onboard LED flash makes itself useful here. Notice the inclusion of a red-eye reduction flash option, which is a nice added feature for portrait shots.
Next up, White Balance:

In most cases, the Automatic setting should suffice, but white balance is something not to be slighted. A poor white balance can create undesirable shots, which can be prevented with a proper identification of your surroundings. Outdoor shots would encompass both the Sunny (bright) and Cloudy (shady) modes, whilst indoor shots are covered by either Incandescent (yellow) or Fluorescent (white) lighting.
Even with the flash enabled, we have a few more methods of compensation for low light conditions, starting with Exposure compensation:

When it comes to exposure, a right balance has to be struck to obtain a clean shot without excessive white wash due to overexposure. Nonetheless, overexposure can be prevented easily with the next setting, ISO.

Pay due caution to your ISO settings. Though a high ISO setting can brighten a darker image, the inherent risk with a higher ISO setting is the potential grainy quality you get with it.

The above mentioned methods are meant for advanced users who prefer to have greater control over their camera settings. For casual users, you may find yourself utilizing the preset scene modes listed above instead for convenience’s sake.

The latest version of the Nokia Software Updater, which is version 01.03.085.28569, is free for all to download. However, as a precautionary measure, users are encouraged to backup their personal data first before proceeding with firmware upgrade.

After the usual necessary acceptance of the license agreement and setting the location that you want to install the application to, you would reach a start screen as shown below.

This application is so user friendly that it also reminds the user to backup relevant and important data before they continue with the updating process. Then the whole application wizard would bring us to a simple 3 step guide to how to update your mobile phone with a version of the latest software.

Therefore, all the user has to do was to plug in the USB cable, the Nokia charger (when the mobile phone is not fully charged) and the application would do the rest of the updating for you. All the user has to do is sit back, relax and wait. And within minutes, the whole update process is complete.

When the software update is complete, the application would prompt you to exit and you may start using your favorite Nokia mobile phone again. It is all so easy.

Referring to the recent Nokia N95 firmware update or even, all recently released firmware updates by Nokia, all of them were generally simple to use with no problems encountered at all when we tried it in our labs and have thus, gotten excellent results.

Located on the main desktop of Nokia devices with Wi-Fi connection is a WLAN scanner. Through this, users can make a quick scan for WLAN networks or “hotspots”.

Upon clicking, a scan is automatically performed to determine the availability of WLAN networks. If the result is shown as “WLAN networks found”, it means there are wireless access points in the area that you are in.

To get the full list of WLAN networks that have been detected, you’ll have to select “Search for WLAN” after clicking on “WLAN networks found”.

Thereafter, you’ll be presented with all available WLAN networks. From here, you may proceed to select the WLAN network that you have been authorized to connect to.

A security key (password) is mandatory for all secured WLAN networks. In such instances, you’ll be prompted to enter the correct security key before connection can be granted to you.

Once a connection has been made, you’ll be able to either type in an URL or to sites you’ve bookmarked previously.

A screenshot taken of www.hardwarezone.com® using a Nokia N95 device.

A screenshot of the Nokia Web Browser installed on a S60 platform However, it is not the free stuff that truly entices people to sing praises about the S60 platform. The myriad of applications available for consumer use is the main draw, allowing one to be either entertained on the go with its Internet Radio application, or be well informed with real time news from Yahoo! Go 2.0, and sprucing up your phone’s wallpaper with the latest themes by Nokia.Here comes the question: How does one install these S60 applications and unleash its full functionality? In our previous mobile experience, we had an in depth look at the Nokia PC Suite, which also included an option to Install Applications, allowing you to install Symbian and Java applications from a PC to your Nokia phone.