Nokia N900 And AR Drone with MeeGo

 

Man I so totally want one of these AR Drones!

Check it out with the  powered Nokia N900. You’ve got not only a phone controlled quadropter, it sends live video feedback directly to the phone.

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Nokia N900 Gets Gingerbread Android v2.3

The N900 Tagline: Is there anything this phone CANNOT do?!

As you might know the N900 has already been taking host of Android for quite some time, also getting Froyo before many other supposed “Android Phones” :p.

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Nokia N9 MeeGo Concept Slider Phone With Edge to Edge Display

My Dream Nokia Number 8 comes by way of Jim who found these concept MeeGo Phone Photos on the MeeGo forum. They’re designed by a guy called “SuperHero” who is an old user of Linux, the Nokia n900 and a programmer.

It is titled Nokia N9. There are no details other than what can be observed from design.

I think they look pretty slick. There are 9 images in total, one in particular showing the slide out QWERTY which is somewhat curved in action like early Xperias from Sony Ericsson though looking much nicer.

The screen seems huge, with near edge to edge, borderless display.

He’s got an interesting concept of multitasking whilst during a call, i.e. simultaneously be on a call and carry on doing some other function (and not simply by just going around the menu and leaving the call in the background but an actual intended function)

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Nokia Plans to Revamp Symbian UI and Ship Dual-Core Phones in 2011

We don't have any hard details yet, but Computerworld reports that Nokia's planning a busy 2011, with four to five updates to the Symbian UI on tap, as well as dual-core phones. The information comes courtesy of Nokia senior manager Gunther Kottzieper, who gave a presentation at the 2010 Internation Mobile Internet Conference in Beijing earlier today -- a slide labeled "Nokia Symbian 2011 focus areas" indicated that a Q1 Symbian update will include over 50 features, including a more intuitive browser, while second- and third-quarter updates will add "a new look and feel for the user interface, a more flexible home screen, an updatable HTML5 browser and an easier software update experience." A hardware-related slide tipped upcoming 1GHz phones with more graphics memory in the second or third quarter, as well as dual-core phones and something called a "true zoom camera" in late 2011 or early 2012. (We're guessing that means an optical zoom, which would be just wild on a mobile phone.) Ignore this morning's E7 delay and all of that sounds like evidence of renewed focus at Nokia under new management -- and it also sounds like Nokia taking over Symbian development might have lit some serious fires. We're dying to look at these slides ourselves -- we'll keep digging and let you know.

Mobile Operating System Market Share Based Upon Web Usage

Since these statistics are based on mobile web usage, the numbers won’t necessarily match the exact market share based on physical handsets, but rather the handsets that people use to access the Web.

There are a couple of things to note here:

• When looking at mobile web usage, the different parts of the world are led by either iOS or Symbian. Apple’s iOS leads mobile web usage in North America, Europe and Oceania, while Nokia’s Symbian leads in Africa, Asia and South America.
• Worldwide, Symbian leads the pack. This is not surprising considering Nokia is the world’s largest maker of mobile phones. After Symbian comes iOS, Blackberry, Android, Sony Ericsson and Samsung, in that order.
• Symbian’s weakest position by far is in North America.
• Blackberry’s strongest region is North America, but it is still behind iOS there.
• Android might be growing fast, but it’s still far from dominating any part of the world.

What the Term "ClearBlack Display" Refers to, in Nokia Symbian Devices?

ESPOO, Finland – In the past, phones were largely measured and compared by a few factors: ease of use, signal strength and the quality of the calls. However, over the years, phones have become smarter and do more, and there are now other components on the phone that are starting to be used to measure their quality. Many of us would probably put the display towards the top of the list. The display’s quality, its brightness, the viewing angle, the ability to be read in all lighting conditions, are all important. So it’s no surprise that one of the big talking points for the new devices launched at Nokia World 2010 was a new technology known as ClearBlack display.

ClearBlack display isn’t a completely new type of display technology like AMOLED. It’s actually a method to reduce reflections on the screen and improve visual image quality, especially outdoors. ClearBlack ensures that the blacks you see really are just that – black – which in turn enhances the contrast of the display and makes the whole screen much easier to see. This will be especially useful for apps like Ovi Maps, which are likely to be used outside. Also, sharing pictures or other items on-screen with others will be a lot easier due to the technology that enables excellent viewing angles.

The effect of the ClearBlack display technology is similar to that produced by a pair of polarising sunglasses. If you look at a body of water on a sunny day without a pair of polarising glasses, it’s really hard to see anything below the surface, but with the glasses on, the reflections are eliminated and you can see underneath the surface. In the same way, without ClearBlack display, you see the reflections on the phone’s screen, but with it you see the image on the screen. However, unlike sunglasses, ClearBlack display improves the vividness of the colors: in fact, because the contrast is higher, they’ll seem more vivid.

Another useful feature of this technology is also that the viewing angle of the device’s display is improved, so sharing pictures or other items on-screen will be a lot easier.

Here’s a picture of the Nokia C6-01 with ClearBlack display, alongside an early prototype of the same device without it:

Effectively, with ClearBlack display your device is able to provide a high quality image in any type of situation, indoors, outdoors, low-light and bright-light. ClearBlack display adjusts the brightness automatically to optimum level depending on the conditions you are in.

Another advantage is that by improving the image quality, and reducing the need to turn up the brightness, you also reduce the energy needed to power the display, and hence reduce the battery drain compared to regular technology, and so your mobile device will last longer between charges. Of the new Symbian^3 phones, the Nokia C6-01, and the Nokia E7 both have the very latest ClearBlack display technology.

Watch out the video demonstration of Nokia's ClearBlack Display over here

Nokia N8's Power Issue - Covered in Warranty

Do you own a Nokia N8 smartphone? Are you pleased with it? Or has it turned itself off and now refuses to reboot? If you answered yes to the last question, you could be in luck. Nokia has officially confirmed that a small number of N8 units have a problem with their power management system, forcing some to auto-switch off and not turn back on. Reportedly, “the fault in the power management stems from the way in which the engine component, which includes most of the technology in the phone excluding covers and batteries, in the N8 was being installed.”

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Symbian Foundation Websites Shutting Down on 17th December as Symbian Becomes Closed Source

With Symbian coming back under the full control of Nokia, the following Symbian websites are expected to shut down from 17th December 2010.

• www.symbian.org, www.symbian.org/cn, www.symbian.org/jp
• developer.symbian.org, developer.symbian.org/cn, developer.symbian.org/jp
• horizon.symbian.org
• ideas.symbian.org
• blog.symbian.org, blogcn.symbian.org, blogjp.symbian.org

Everything is still available (see symbian.org) so if you have to download platform source codes they are available now. Afterwards, Symbian says, “We are working hard to make sure that most of the content accessible through web services” though they will NOT be hosting this source.

Former Nokia and Symbian employee Julien Fourgeaud on Symbian becoming “closed source”:

“I have to say that this is a bit of a surprise.
Symbian as an open platform still makes sense and I can’t believe that there is anyone in the industry who hasn’t come forward to offer hosting the code and the documentation.
Even if the code/doc doesn’t live, it still has a chance to be used by the community and get back on its feet, maybe in a different manner?”

Symbian.org via Fourgeaud.com

Should Symbian.org and related websites stay open? Shame about ideas.symbian.org also shutting down. I hope Nokia pool those resources somewhere as it’s a good place to see ideas for Symbian.

Note, we do have  mynokiablog.com/symbian-features-wishlist where you could submit ideas/bugs too. I’m getting through updating the post (there were more than I’d anticipated) and will have to recategorize as some suggestions may form a new group.

Custom UI running on the Lenovo and Nokia N900 by Digia

 

This is a wonderful UI paradigm by Digia and quite innovative. In this underwater theme, you have these set of 3D bubbles that we’d otherwise associate with icons. And hey – the circle icon surround actually works in this concept (as opposed to the now over used squircle). These icons populate the screen with yet more contextual bubbles when touched, e.g. hit contact bubble and get more contacts. These bubbles live on a 3D panoramic seabed. Though you are swiping left to right, it seems as though you’re not simply moving horizontally but rotating about a fixed point (which is a nice change). These Bubbles can also then be moved behind (looking smaller) or towards the foreground.

This cool custom UI is demonstrated on the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t Netbook/Tablet hybrid and the Nokia N900. It’s great seeing this work on the big screen as well as the smaller mobile display. The N900 looks less responsive to touch though that might be due to to the IdeaPads feather touch capacitive and the pressure touch resistive on N900 (as often seen, resistive screens are also responsive it’s just that folk apply the same pressure as capacitive and thus such input is not registered).

What’s cooler still is that Digia claim it took one developer just one month to create this and shows the fast software development cycle and ease of use that attracted them to MeeGo.

About Digia (from Wikipedia)

Digia Plc (formerly SYSOPENDIGIA) is a Finnish software company quoted on the Helsinki Stock Exchange, and is listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki (DIG1V). Digia’s main business areas are enterprise systems and mobile applications. The company has about 1 500 employees in Finland, Sweden, Russia and China.

The company is headquartered (Digia Tower) is located in Helsinki Pitäjänmäki.

Digia Plc’s head office in Helsinki, Finland.

SysOpen founded in 1990. It grew rapidly through acquisitions in the millennium in what way. SysOpen Corporation and was founded in 1997 Digia Oy merged 4 March 2005 SYSOPENDIGIA Plc. In summer 2006, SYSOPENDIGIA Corporation acquired the integration and production control software for manufacturing Sentera Plc n. Sentera’s business was merged into SysOpen Digia in the autumn of 2006. 26. March 2007, the company name was changed to SYSOPENDIGIA Plc. The company changed its name to Digiaksi 17.3.2008.

Digia has a history with Nokia, developing Symbian and Maemo Browsers as well as Qt Based cross platform Future UIs. One of the strong things emphasised from Qt Quick is the focus now on just how the UI should look like rather than how to get it done (allowing designers to be part of the development process) creating the concepts with the help of the developer.

Video: Nokia N900 Maemo OS - Connected with Ethernet and USB DVD Drive

After seeing USB OTG on the N8, I was thinking ” why has it not yet made available for the N900? ” *bang* they made it available.. and one super dude ran movies off DVDs from a  DVD drive connected via usb.

And now, some dude has connected a modem to the N900 (via ethernet cable to usb setup) and surfed the interwebz with it.Well, they say , with android, the possibilities are endless, i say replace that friggin android with maemo/meego which offers a full linux experience.. literally a mobile computer is what you get !

Check out these amazing videos:

Nokia N900 Connected with Ethernet and Surfing Internet


Nokia N900 connected to Ethernet network using USB-to-Ethernet DLink adapter. Also USB A/F-A/F connector is used. Software: latest kernel-power(maemo45) + hostmode-gui.

Nokia N900 Connected with USB DVD Player and Playing DVD Movies with Hostmode


Playing DVDs on the N900 with a modified kernel and a custom mplayer build.
Thanks to the hostmode team, including but not limited to:
Joerg Reisenweber
Paul Fertser
and the rest of the team mentioned on:
h-e-n project page: https://garage.maemo.org/projects/h-e-n/
(Note: video is playing solely on CPU power, mplayer is not accelerated by the PowerVR, which explains the framedrops)

Video contains soundtrack and intro from House M.D., property of their respective owners.

Nokia N9 - Leaked Information

Nokia N9: Leaked info

The Nokia N9 will not only assemble 4-inch AMOLED WVGA resolution touch screen , but also built with the same N8 12 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss camera, dual LED flash assist and 720P HD video recording (there are rumors support 1080P). In addition, the aircraft also joined the HDMI interface, powered by ARM Cortex A9 dual-core processor, clocked as high as 1GHz, and have massive storage capacity of 64GB. It is reported that Nokia N9 will be officially on sale in 2011, and its first time appearance in September of this year's Nokia World Conference held.

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Skype Revokes Access from Nimbuzz

Nimbuzz is a popular IM client for PC and Mobile. Nimbuzz posted in their official blog that they have removed the Skype support. Nimbuzz told that the folks at Skype asked them to remove their service. The same thing happens with Fring also. Skype is now removing its support for third party apps. Nimbuzz said

Yes, it’s true. Skype will no longer be accessible via Nimbuzz starting October 31, 2010. Why? Skype asked us to remove support for their service.
Skype’s decision to ask us to stop supporting their service seems to be part of a strategy to disconnect all open third party support.

Nimbuzz users can use NimbuzzOut instead of Skype.

C6 Firmware Ported to Nokia 523x Series - Under Beta Test Stage - PNHT

Adonix was busy lately to be able to update you all with the latest news. However, Adonix announced to all 523x users that C6 beta testing program has been launched! Betatesters will look up for major bugs, report them and contribute to find a fix. The camera bug fix hasn't yet been solved, so Adonix will keep you updated as soon as he'll have the news.

Adonix

PNHT

So cheer up guys and you can expect to have Nokia C6 Firmware soon on your Nokia 523x SmartPhones... :) Waiting would end soon...

New Features to come for Symbian^3 in 2011

- New homescreen
- New calendar
- Transition animations
- Portrait QWERTY
- Split keyboard
- New social client
- General layout improvements
- New Browser
- about 50+ new features
 

Read more »

Technical Jargons and Operating Systems of Cellular Phones

	Windows Phone Windows Phone is an operating system packed with features and is easy to use with other Mircosoft products. Windows Mobile is the 'Pocket Office' (a laptop or PC at its most basic and functional). In addition it has a huge library of software available, including GPS navigation.
	Windows Windows is an operating system packed with features and is easy to use with other Mircosoft products, such as Microsoft Office. The most widely adopted operating system it is ideal for any personal or business user..
	Android Google Android is the newest operating system for mobiles. Developed by Google, it is a more consumer oriented operating system, with an intuative and more graphic user interface. Personalisation is core to the OS. The Android platform is boosted through the vast array of applications which can be downloaded through Google Marketplace, an online, one stop shop for everything devoted to Android, from GPS software to offie applications, its all there.
	Palm A simple to use operating system, that is fresh, intuative and allows for customisation. Powerful in its capability, but only installed on a few devices.
	Symbian One of the longest established operating systems that is devloped and invested heavily in by Nokia. Lots of applications are available and the OS has recently been updated to be faster, more efficient and more intuative.
	BlackBerry The BlackBerry operating system is developed by Canadian firm RIM. The operating system offers efficient email handling and other Personal Information Management (PIM) tools and is focused towards the business or power user. Recent and future revisions continue to improve its appeal to everyday smartphone users. Now with a rapidly increasing applications database.
	BADA BADA is an evolution of the operating system that was found on basic Samsung mobiles. Developed internally by Samsung Bada has the potential to be a powerful OS and compete with the likes of Android as it shares many features. It is limited by the investment and development by Samsung Only.
	Touchscreen A touchscreen provides quick easy navigation by touching the devices screen through the use of a finger and or stylus.
	SD Secure Digital (SD) is a popular removable memory card standard. Secure digital cards offer a desingated memory capacity that can be filled with necessary files and when inserted into a devie can be read and data accessed. SD is the physically largest card in the Secre Digital card family. Full SD slots are most commonly found on classic PDA's.
	SDHC A standard sized SD card with High Capacity Memory Card Support. The new standard of memory cards otherwise known as SD 2.0. The ability to store more data and be read and written too in less time.
	MiniSD MiniSD is a smaller memory card from the secure digital card family. More often found on mobile devices, the MiniSD offer a desingated memory capacity that can be filled with necessary files and when inserted into a devie can be read and data accessed.
	MiniSDHC MiniSD with High Capacity Memory Card Support. The new standard of memory cards otherwise known as SD 2.0. The ability to store more data and be read and written too in less time. MiniSDHC is a smaller memory card from the secure digital card family. More often found on mobile devices, the MiniSD offer a desingated memory capacity that can be filled with necessary files and when inserted into a devie can be read and data accessed.
	MicroSD MicroSD is the physically smallest memory card in the secure digital family. It is the most common removable memory medium for mobile and smartphone devices. MicroSD like other secure digital cards offers a desingated memory capacity that can be filled with necessary files and when inserted into a devie can be read and data accessed
	MicroSDHC MicroSD with High Capacity Memory Card Support. The new standard of memory cards otherwise known as SD 2.0. The ability to store more data and be read and written too in less time. MicroSDHC is the physically smallest memory card in the secure digital family. It is the most common removable memory medium for mobile and smartphone devices. MicroSDHC like other secure digital cards offers a desingated memory capacity that can be filled with necessary files and when inserted into a devie can be read and data accessed. It has the largest capacity of the MicroSD family and is the most common now within smartphones.
	SDXC The next generation of the secure digital family. Offering even faster ead and write speeds and the option to store even more data.
	CF Compact Flash (CF) is standard of memory card which is larger than SD. An older memory format it is used on few devices but is still widely used.
	Bluetooth A wireless technology mainly used to connect accessories and peripherals to a host device, or basic mobile networking.
	WiFi A wireless technology used to connect to a network without any cables. It is commonly used to access the Internet or e-mails services when within range of a network access point.
	SIM Slot An integrated SIM slot for installation of a SIM card for mobile data/cellular connection purposes.
	GSM/GPRS - Phone An integrated mobile phone enables voice communication, but can also be used for mobile Internet and e-mail access, using GSM/GPRS. The device may be either Tri-Band (900, 1800 and 1900Mhz frequency) or Quad-Band (850, 900, 1800 and 1900Mhz frequency). Depending upon which countries you wish to use the device will depend on wether you require a Tri or Quad band device.
	3G/HSDPA 3G is a high speed data connection which ensures fast and efficient Internet browsing and e-mail communication. This has been recently improved in some devices which have HSPA that provides even faster data communication.
	4G The latest generation of high speed wireless data connection which ensures fast nd efficient internet browsing and email communication. An evolution of the 3G/HSPA network.
	QWERTY Keyboard A QWERTY keypad provides a keyboard layout for quick and efficient inputting of data and text.
	GPS Global Positioning System uses satellites orbiting the Earth to determine your location enabling easy navigation when used with appropriate software.
	Camera High resolution camera used for taking still or video images (device dependent)
	Front Facing Camera A front facing camera for video calls or web chats.
	DLNA Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA). A wired or wireless technology that allows digital devices to communicate to enable the sharing of content. Most commonly used for streaming of meida content from one device to another.
	Internal Storage Internal storage capacity which can be used for storing files and media.

Wi-Fi Direct Can Connect Two Devices Without a Router, Could Spell The End for Bluetooth

When you try to connect two devices in a local wireless network, you usually have to choose between speed (Wi-Fi) or ease of connectivity (Bluetooth). But the Wi-Fi alliance has launched Wi-Fi Direct, which combines both advantages into one technology…

Wi-Fi offers plenty of bandwidth but you need to have a wireless network set up wherever you need to connect the devices (so a router is a must). That’s not always desirable, sometimes even impossible. Wi-Fi Direct, as the name suggests, makes a direct connection between two (or more) devices with no middleman required.

Bluetooth 3.0 tries to address this issue too – the handshake between devices happens in Bluetooth (so no router needed), then the actual transfer goes over an 802.11 connection (achieving up to 24Mbps in the process). But for it to work, it requires both devices to be BT 3.0 compatible and those are still quite rare.

Wi-Fi Direct, on the other hand, requires only one of the devices to be Direct-enabled and it should be possible for a lot of older devices to gain such capability via a firmware update. This would work wonders for adoption.

Connecting two devices would be as simple as pressing a button. All Direct communications are secured by WPA2, so the ease of connecting doesn’t mean lack of security. Wi-Fi Direct works with 802.11b/g/n and supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz – there won’t be a shortage of bandwidth.

Many Wi-Fi Direct devices will also be able to connect to several other devices at once – for example, a laptop can push a video to the TV while syncing with your mobile phone, all over Direct and with no router required.

Here’s are the first devices to get Wi-Fi Direct certification:

• Atheros XSPAN® Dual-band 802.11n PCIe Mini Card (AR928x)
• Broadcom BCM43224 Dual-Band 802.11n 2×2 MIMO PCIe Half Mini Card
• Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6200
• Ralink MIMObility 802.11n 2×2 PCIe Half Mini Card
• Realtek RTL8192CE-VA4 HM92C00 PCIe mini card

Charge Your Cell Phone With WiFi

WiFi is famous for sucking the life out of our mobile phones, it is a well known fact that the greatest cell phone battery would whimper and die after prolonged use of Wifi, however all that may change when WiFi energy takes over.

Scientists from a rising company called RCA have invented a handy gadget named Airenergy that allows a mobile phone to harvest the WiFi energy and convert it into electricity! As a result mobile phones would be charged for free, without the need to plug in the pesky chargers. The gadget was unveiled at the CES this year, and in our opinion it beats innovations like 3D TVs and tiny ebook readers, let alone motion controllers.

The device is named the ‘Airnergy Charger’, and while the technology isn’t brand new, it is the first time a commercial product has been developed using it. Tests results showed that the Airenergy was powerful enough to charge a Blackberry from 30 percent battery to full battery in 90 minutes, all the while using free energy! The Airenergy comes with a little battery and the gadget itself is small enough to be carried around in a pocket. According to the RCA, the Airenergy would be available in stores by May, and will cost around $40. That is an amazing price for a gadget that revolutionises technology and energy saving. And you don’t need to worry about charging the battery of the charger, the ‘Airenergy’ charges itself when it is anywhere near a WiFi source. If you have a home wireless network, you could just leave it anywhere in your house overnight and it would be fully charged by morning.

Nokia C7 Available in India For As Low As Rs. 21889

Nokia C7 hit the stores of Nokia priority dealers as the time of Deepavali aka Festival of Colors in getting close. The Nokia C7 is priced at Rs.21889 as a maximum retail price but it should be available for a little lower price.

Tweets from NokiaIndia Official Twitter Account Stating the C7 release:

Nokia C5-03 - General and Technical Specifications

Nokia C5-03

---

GENERAL	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
	3G Network	HSDPA 900 / 1900 / 2100
	Announced	2010, October
	Status	Coming soon. Exp. release 2010, Q4

SIZE	Dimensions	105.8 x 51 x 13.8 mm, 65 cc
	Weight	93 g

DISPLAY	Type	TFT resistive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	360 x 640 pixels, 3.2 inches
		- Proximity sensor for auto turn-off - Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate - Handwriting recognition

SOUND	Alert types	Vibration; Downloadable polyphonic, MP3 ringtones
	Speakerphone	Yes, with stereo speakers
		- 3.5 mm audio jack

MEMORY	Phonebook	Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall
	Call records	Detailed, max 30 days
	Internal	40 MB storage, 128 MB RAM
	Card slot	microSD, up to 16GB, 2GB included

DATA	GPRS	Class 32
	EDGE	Class 32
	3G	HSDPA, 10.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 2 Mbps
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, UPnP technology
	Bluetooth	Yes, v2.0 with A2DP
	Infrared port	No
	USB	Yes, v2.0 microUSB

CAMERA	Primary	5 MP, 2592х1944 pixels
	Features	Geo-tagging
	Video	Yes, VGA@15fps
	Secondary	No

FEATURES	OS	Symbian OS v9.4, Series 60 rel. 5
	CPU	ARM 11 600 MHz processor
	Messaging	SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging
	Browser	WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, RSS feeds
	Radio	Stereo FM radio
	Games	Yes + Java downloadable
	Colors	Graphite Black, Lime Green, Petrol Blue, Aluminum Grey
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS support; Nokia Maps
	Java	Yes, MIDP 2.1
		- MP4/H.263/H.264/WMV player - MP3/WAV/еAAC+/WMA player - Photo editor - Organizer - Voice command/dial - Flash Lite 3.0 - TV-out - T9

BATTERY		Standard battery, Li-Ion 1000 mAh
	Stand-by	Up to 600 h (2G) / Up to 576 h (3G)
	Talk time	Up to 11 h 30 min (2G) / Up to 4 h 30 min (3G)
	Music play	Up to 35 h