The MIcroB browser built-into the N900 is so good that there’s no point doing a regular browser review. Take my word for it that it does EVERTHING that your mobile browser can do. As such, I will be focusing on the bits that make it shine.

Copying Text; Saving Pages
The browser has a Hover Mode that allows you to activate a cursor on-screen for selecting sections of text on a web page and copy it for juse in a note or Office document, among other uses.

Web pages can be saved in their entirety, images can be saved, you can search for text on a web page, and open links in new windows.

AJAX and Javascript are no problem. This entire review was produced on my N900. I typed this using the full WordPress interface (forget about needing an app), uploaded the screenshots directly on the N900 (so full file browsing works), and published.

The Other Bits
In addition, it supports SSL, notifying you of the certifying authority when you arrive at a secure site. Pop-ups work, opening as new pages, and full Flash runs fine. The display is wide enough and the user experience smooth and intuitive, making the browsing experience worthwhile.

There is support for add-ons (think Firefox), full-screen mode, and page zooming. You can zoom by using the phone’s volume control keys, double-tapping on the display or using finger gestures.

MicroB supports text reflow (dynamic refitting of text to match the width of the display port), something which not too many mobile browsers support.

Lastly, with the new firmware, the option to enable portrait browsing is provided in the browser settings. I don’t care much for this, though I can imagine that many others want it.

Did I leave anything out?

When you think of web browsing on the N900, kindly forget about everything you thought of web browsing on a mobile phone.

While going through Tech stuffs as usual today, I came upon a very interesting news article and I felt it would be good and timely to share it with my pals in MobilityNigeria.

Apple Inc. sped ahead of Microsoft Corp as the world’s largest tech company as measured by market value on Wednesday, 26th of May 2010. Apple Inc., the maker of the iphone and ipad has overcome a major milestone. It is interesting to note that they almost went out of Business in the 1990s. They struggled for many years to get their products into the mainstream and it was only a $150 million investment from the much larger Microsoft in 1997 that kept them afloat.

According to Reuters, Microsoft Corp CEO Steve Ballmer was not disturbed a day after rival Apple Inc exceeded his firm as the world’s largest tech company by market value. He retorted that his goal was to develop a good product line and earn more profits. “My focus is on … what we should be doing to our product line, where do we go, how do we make products more innovative,” he said in response to a question on Apple racing past it in market value in New Delhi, India today, 27th May.

“It’s a long game, we have good competitors … we too are a very good competitor,” Ballmer said. “We are executing very well and that is going to lead to great products and great success.”

Analysts believe Microsoft is betting on an updated version of its Microsoft Office software it launched earlier this month along with a completely new Mobile software Operating System for smart phones called Windows Phone 7, which is scheduled to enter the market in a new range of handsets by the holiday shopping season.

“I am optimistic,” Ballmer said.

By Nasdaq ratings, Apple’s shares rose 1 percent on Wednesday, elevating its market value up to $225.1 billion and ahead of Microsoft’s $222.7 billion, as noted by Reuters data. Apple shares went up 1 percent above $247 in late afternoon trading. Microsoft shares were down 2.2 percent to $25.50.

Shares of Apple are now worth more than 10 times what they were 10 years ago, as it has profited from revolutionizing consumer electronics with its exquisite, broad appeal, easy to use devices with superb interface in products exemplified by the iphone. Other products of stellar quality include the iPod, iPhone and MacBook laptops. Not to mention the top selling ipad which sold a million units in the US alone less than a month after its release. The ipad is widely believed to repeat the same feat in Europe after its launch there on Friday, 28th of May.

Microsoft, the former biggest Tech Company is of repute to have its operating system (Windows) running on more than 90 percent of the world’s PCs. Regrettably, they have not been able to match their impeccable growth rates of the 90s.

Now the Cupertino, California-based Apple is the second-largest company on the S&P 500 index by market value, second only to Exxon Mobil Corp., the Energy Giant.

The N900 spots a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, dual LED flash and auto-focus. Here are a few camera shot samples – one outdoor, the others from indoors.

Picture taken in traffic from driver's seat. Click on the image for full-size picture

Indoors at an eatery in Lagos. Click on the image for the full-size picture.

A crop of a section of one another picture taken at the eatery to show the level of details captured in the shot. This crop is from the PIZZA INN section seen in the picture above this one

Both shots were taken in daytime and in good weather. I didn’t tinker with any settings – just default parametres, and all shot on the spur of the moment.

What do you think of the shots?

For Comparison
Here is a picture taken indoors with the Samsung S8003 Jet’s 5 mega-pixel, autofocus, LED flash camera:

Picture taken with the Samsung S8003 Jet's 5mpx camera - indoors, good lighting (click on image for full shot). Note that this is one of the finest indoor shots I have from the Jet. This shot is not a cropped image. Compare with the indoor shot taken with the N900's camera above

I have included this shot from the S8003 for the benefit of those who have never done analysis of mobile phone cameras and think that the N900′s camera is a poor shot among 5 MPX cameraphones. Compared to what the Jet produces, the N900′s production shines.

To do even further comparisons, can anyone who has a 5 megapixel cameraphone upload shots from their device under the forum topic, Post pictures taken with your mobile phones?

A more extensive gallery that demonstrates the power of the N900 camera can be accessed at tnkgrl mobile’s slideshow of pictures taken with the Nokia N900.

Word is just out from Cupertino, Apple Head Quarters, that Steve Jobs will deliver the keynote address of the WWDC. The WWDC is the Annual worldwide Developers Conference for Apple where they use to launch new product line and the concept of the next phase of Apple products, inclusive of their MAC OS X, iphone and ipod range of products.

This year’s conference for Apple developers begins June 7, 2010. Apple’s chief executive has said once again through e-mail that Apple fans “won’t be disappointed” and that there’s “Not a chance” that Google’s Android is surpassing the iPhone.

Of course this is expected of Steve Jobs whose wind was taken out of him earlier when a research from NPD noted that the sales of Android phones in the US has surpassed that of the iphone for the first time.

On top of all these have been iphone leaks on the internet which has revealed core features of the upcoming iphone. According to Gizmodo.com (one of the sources of the leaks), the iphone 4g or HD (the name of the next generation isn’t determined yet) has improved hardware which include a front-facing camera and higher-resolution screen which definitely will make the next gen iphone up to speed and features with the latest Android phones from HTC and Samsung for instance.

There is actually no word exactly what Jobs will use the platform to announce, but the bet is that an official announcement of the 4th-generation iPhone will be made. The event is targeted at Apple developers and was sold out in eight days. Application Frameworks; Internet & Web; Graphics & Media; Developer Tools; and Core OS will be discussed.

This seems nice and timely and it is actually difficult to keep up with the wait, even though June 7th is just next week away. There would be a lot of other goodies for sure along with the repositioning of the iphone and similar products.

Nokia has announced a new and improved Ovi Store for S40 and S60 devices.

What to look out for:

• new Ovi Store software allows you to purchase apps and be charged to your phone bill — no credit card required.
• enhanced rating and commenting features to make sure you have access to the most relevant and helpful user reviews.
• more information about products, including more detailed screen shots to help you more fully experience each app before you download.

The new billing system is probably the most interesting. This would be great for Ovi users in a country like Nigeria (I hope that this service is available here). Just make sure that you have enough airtime to cover any purchase you want to make, and voila!

I don’t have an S60 or S40 device to test with at the moment, but if anyone around here does, how about trying out a cheap app or ringtone to see if this billing system works here?

Visit the Ovi Store now

For those who are worried about the availability of applications for maemo 5, on which the Nokia N900 runs, please be advised that downloads from the Extras depositories alone has surpassed the 10,000,000 mark.

Download counter reads 10,356,360 at the time of publishing this news item.

Note that there are other sources of apps for Maemo 5, and so the total figure of downloads for the platform must be significantly higher. There are around 300 items available from Extras, and in my experience they have just about all needs covered.

In a related development, DataViz has stated that Documents to Go Premium version is on its way to the N900 and will be available sometime after the ongoing updates.

The available version of Documents to Go for Maemo 5 is a viewer only. The premium edition will bring full documents editing to the device. Unfortunately, DataViz does not accept orders from Nigeria. An alternative free editor, AbiWord, exists though and works fine for word processing tasks.

The N900 is specified as supporting Mail for Exchange/Exchange Server. However, the internet is littered with users looking for a way to get this service to work, especially with Google Sync. I kept on getting error messages, such as “Error in communication with Exchange server” and “Exchange server is not responding“. This is one area where the N900′s imperfections show.

It took me some time, but I finally got it working. No; it didn’t take rocket science. The solution is very simple. It is my opinion that Nokia simply needs to put out more detailed information to assist their customers in getting the best out of their devices.

Important!
To get Exchange Server to work with syncing your Google calendar and contacts, make sure that your N900′s Contacts and Calendar do not contain any items before your first synchronisation. Do not restore your calendar or contacts from a previous backup using PC Suite.

Settings to watch out for
1. Open the Settings menu on your device and start the Mail for Exchange application.

2. Proceed to set up a sync profile, paying attention to the following details:

• Username: Your full Google email address, e.g. tundewonder@gmail.com or Google domain email e.g. tunde@tundewonder.com
• Password: Your Google Account password
• Domain: leave empty
• Exchange Server: m.google.com
• Port: 443
• Secure Connection: Yes
• Sync Email: Disable***
• Sync Calendar and Tasks: Enable
• Sync Contacts: Enable

***You must disable Email sync here in the Mail for Exchange (MfE) application. If you need to setup your Gmail or Google domains email, do so in the Mail application. Its the way to go until Nokia fixes whatever is wrong with the MfE application on the N900.

You can select any options for the other settings not specified above, but you need to pay attention to those I have specified. Anything else, and its a hit-and-miss affair.

Once you are done, your first synchronisation should go through without any hitches, and depending on the sync shedule that you selected, your N900 will keep your contacts and calendar entries on your device in sync with Google Calendar and Contacts.

I have both Google Sync via Exchange Server and my Google domains mail working flawlessly on my N900. Now, you can too.

Nokia has announced that the long-awaited update for the N900 is available and already being released to UK users. The global release will be tomorrow (May 26), so you N900 users based in Nigeria should be on the lookout. Before this, the most up-to-date firmware was version 3.2010.02-8.002.

Some of the new features and improvements that come with this update (version 10.2010.19-1) include:

• Qt 4.6.2 is now preinstalled on the OS.
• Improvements to email
• Mail widget
• Changes for the video recording in the Camera Application
• Can dial USSD Codes
• Improved Ovi Maps user interface
• File Manager is now able to share any file and/or folder
• Portrait mode now available in MicroB web browser
• Status area is now reachable in portrait mode
• Re-arrangeable application menu
• Video calling can be accessed through contacts
• Modified Virtual Keyboard

A number of new games have also been released for the N900, including: Jurassic 3D Rollercoaster, Zen-bound, Angry Birds (level pack), Sygic, Kroll, Weatherbug, and GoGadget. Ovi Store is also got updated on this firmware.

From Nokia Conversations:

Email has been improved with the ability to accept or decline an event invitation right there in your inbox, and Facebook IM chat has also been bundled in. The release also brings with it video calling, allowing users face-to-face chatting anywhere.

An additional update you will be pleased to hear about is portrait browsing on the internet is a-go on the N900. Ovi Maps also gets the update treatment with changes to the UI, improving the experience of finding your way around. And finally, there’s also a change to the menu system UI with the first level now customisable.

Nokia has now also finally put an end to hopes for the N900 eventually running MeeGo, the replacement OS for Maemo that is the product of a collaboration betweeen Nokia and Intel. Sorry, folks, MeeGo will not be available for your beloved N900:

Many of you have been asking whether the new MeeGo platform will be supported on the N900 once it’s device-ready. Although Nokia N900 devices are being used for platform development and testing purposes by those involved in the MeeGo project, we don’t have plans for a full scale commercial MeeGo upgrade on the Nokia N900.

That settles the MeeGo for N900 angle; doesn’t it?

Back to the update, this sounds promising, and I am looking forward to downloading and installing the update OTA tomorrow. If you own an N900 and get it on your device, let’s know what you think of the new features.

PS: OTA upgrade should not delete any of your files, but just to be sure, please backup your phone before going ahead.

The world has gone social networking and instant messaging. Keeping in touch with family, friends, colleagues and even customers via Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo Mesnger and other like services has become an acceptable way of life.

In this part of my review series of the various features of the Nokia N900, I will be looking at how social networking and instant messaging services fare on this mobile computer.

The N900 comes with built-in support for instant messaging within the contacts application. No need for a 3rd party app. You open a contact and select the service you want to use and the conversations (messaging) interface presents your interactions in threaded view. Chats are saved automatically to the device so you can reference them later – just like your SMS.

Out of the box, the N900 supports Skype, SIP, and Google Talk within the Contacts application. But, here is where it gets better, there is a plugin that allows you to add even more services, turning the N900 into a social networking monster. In all, you get:

1. Facebook
2. Gadu Gadu
3. Google Talk
4. ICQ
5. Jabber
6. MSN
7. Ovi
8. QQ
9. SIP
10. Salut
11. Skype
12. Yahoo

That’s twelve (12) services all integrated into your Contacts and Conversations. Just to be sure that you understand this. I am not talking about 12 separate applications. All of them are integrated into the Contacts and Conversations on the device.

Now add to these the fact that you can sort your contacts by their availability online, so those who are currently online show up at the top of your contacts list.

You can also set your own status/availability for Yahoo, Google Talk and Facebook Chat. You can create a custom status and even specify your location, if you so desire.

The feature list is extensive and the usability is tops. What Nokia have done with Contacts and Conversations on the N900 is simply awesome. I have never had it this good with instant messaging.

Of course, if you want more than just chat, there are 3rd party apps for Facebook, for example, as well as Twitter and others. These function apart from the Contacts and Conversations apps, but they work well too. Screenshot below is that of friends’ status updates on FaceBrick, a standalone facebook app:

No device is perfect – not even the N900, and I know enough to say that its not for everyone. But permit me to say that I am loving this big guy, and I can’t say that enough!

Modern smartphone users want larger, brighter and crisper displays, and more powerful processors that power fluid user interfaces and a long list of features. In addition, we want our phones to stay connected to our email servers and social networks round the clock, and via 3G broadband too.

While the wishes of users in terms of hardware and features have been granted, unfortunately battery technology has not kept up with the pace of development of displays, processors and other features.

As such, the internet is littered with complaints of “crappy” battery life by owners of such devices as the 3GS, HD2, Nexus One, Satio and the like.

But what were we expecting? All the above-listed devices and others in their camp – including my own N900 – have a minimum of 600 MHz processors and vibrant 3.2-inch displays. Add always-on 3G or Wifi connections, and you have a recipe for relatively shorter power cycles.

Modern smartphone users simply cannot eat their cake and have it. At least not until some revolutionary battery technology shows up.

In the meantime, let me say here that battery life on those devices are really not as “crappy” as most of the complainants want you to believe. Most of them are actually capable of lasting much longer even under moderate to heavy use.

For example, I read a smartphone user’s complaint about how he cannot get 6-8 hours out of one of today’s cutting-edge mobiles. Yet, with a little knowledge and sensibility, he would easilly get 20-30 hours out of it.

Many times, people who complain of terrible battery life on their devices are doing so from a point of ignorance. With a few tips, smartphone users can easilly get an extra 10-12 hours per charge from their devices.

Amazing, right? Now that I have your attention, here are a few tips for getting better battery times out of your shiny new smart toys.

Charge your battery for at least 6 to 10 hours the first time
Yup, the first time you charge your phone, keep it connected to the mains for between 6 to 10 hours at a stretch. Ignore that “Battery full” notification that you get after 2 or 3 hours. The battery is NOT full, so keep it connected. Trust me.

If you don’t do give your battery this initial extended charge, it will take longer for it to reach it’s full potential – or it never will. Once it gets used to not being fully charged that way, the rest is history…

Cycle the battery through a few times from discharge to full charge
For the first few charging cycles of your smartphone, let your battery run out completely till the phone shuts down. Switch it back on and then immediately plug in the charger till it is fully charged. Again, ignore that “Battery Full” notification. Keep it charging for an extra 30-45 minutes to get a full charge.

Thereafter, repeat this process about once a week or more to get maximum usage.

If you don’t need an application running in the background, shut it down
It is foolishness to do things just because you can. Simply because your super smartphone or mobile computer can run 60 apps simultaneously does not mean you should. The more apps you leave running in the background, the more your battery life will suffer.

My car can do 180 km/hour comfortably, but I have never ventured that far, because I understand the consequencies. Its called wisdom. If however armed robbers are after me one day and I have the highway, you bet…. Until then, I’m hovering at 100 km/hr max.

Reduce your data sync schedule
Take a second look at applications that connect automatically to the internet and determine if you really need them to connect that often.

Do you really need your RSS reader to refresh every 30 minutes? Unless those feeds are work-related, you need to get a life. Again, with all the noise about PUSH email, do you really need your email to arrive on your device in real time? Again, unless work-related, modify the sync schedule. Many times, a 1 hour schedule is okay. For a lot of people, even a once-a-day schedule is fine.

How about those social networking applications – Facebook, Twitter, et al? Do you really need to know what some guy halfway across the world just had for dinner? Right now?

When you do not need broadband speeds, stick to 2G and turn off Wifi
You know that you don’t need 3G speeds all the time. Some of you have internet access at the office. What do you need always-on 3G for? Turn it off when you don’t need it, or get an application to automate the network switching.

Wifi is also one of the greatest power hogs, so keep an eye on it like a hawk. Turn it off when its not needed.

When not needed, turn off GPS
Simple: if you are not using it, do turn it off.

Reducing the backlight
The display of modern (especially touchscreen) smartphones are huge power consumers. As such, having the brightness set to the highest option means that your battery drains much faster. If you do not need your display backlight that bright, turn it down a few notches and enjoy a few more hours of power on your phone.

Check that homescreen/desktop
The more widgets you have running on your homescreen, the more power is consumed, especially with widgets that refresh often to keep up-to-date.

Also, some of those homescreen apps e.g. Sense on HTC devicee, and Timescape on Sony Ericsson devices, among others, are huge power guzzlers. Disable (or replace) them and you might be surprised at how many extra hours of battery life you get on your smartphone.

Conclusion
Have you noticed that even people who drive SUVs avoid the bad sections of the road as much as possible? And to think that SUVs were built to handle tough terrains, right?

Bottomline, condition your battery, especially with the first couple of charging sessions.Thereafter, be sensible with your mobile usage. Just because modern smartphones are all-powerful does not mean that you must run them at full power all the time.

With the release of version 2.2 (nicknamed Froyo), the Android mobile OS has made another significant step in its process of maturing. Here is a list of some features that have been added in this release:

1. Voice dialing over Bluetooth
2. Ability to share contacts with other phones
3. Applications can now request installation on the shared external storage (such as an SD card)
4. Apps can participate in data backup and restore, to ensure that users maintain their data after performing a factory reset or when switching devices
5. USB tethering now available
6. Enhanced browser performance with new web browser V8 Javascript
7. Flash 10.1 support
8. Improved exchange security and features
9. Camera onscreen buttons provide easy access to a new UI for controling zoom, flash, white balance, geo-tagging, focus and exposure
10. Certain devices can be turned into a portable Wi-Fi hotspot that can be shared with up to 8 devices
11. Faster app switching and smoother performance on memory-constrained devices

I would have loved to see Bluetooth file transfer and bluetooth tethering as well in this release, but they cannot be far off now. Still, this release is a big one. The addition of the ability to install apps on a memory card is a big one. That alone makes 2.2 worth it. But as you can see, there are lots more than just that.

Note also that the above list is not exhaustive. I have only listed what I beleive will interest the average user. You can head over to Android 2.2 Platform Highlights page over at Android Developers for the complete list.

I fell in love with Android when I got my first and only ever Android device, the G1, last year. But its immature state meant I couldn’t embrace it as I would have loved to. Now that is changing fast. While I am on it, it doesn’t help that Android has no official presence in Nigeria and so the devices are hard to come by or unnecesarilly expensive.

For example, the Motorola Milestone (aka Droid) was on my shopping list but it wasn’t anywhere in sight when I was smartphone shopping a few months back. While I am convinced that I eventually purchased the best device for my needs, having alternatives available makes shopping more fun!

Etisalat Nigeria is currently running offers for Blackberry devices.

2 Months Free for Existing Subscribers
For existing subscribers, Etisalat offers two(2) months free subscription with the following conditions:

Just pay two months Blackberry® from etisalat subscription* upfront and get two months extra free! That’s a whopping 4 months for the price of 2!

Your etisalat Blackberry service must not be suspended for you to be eligible for this offer, meaning your service must be active before you recharge.

All you have to do is recharge your account up to the required amount (N10,000 for BIS and N12,000 for BES, BES+) and text BIS to 300.

4 Months Free for New Subscribers
For new subscribers, you need to pick up a Blackberry 8520 for N45,000 to be eligible for this. I am not quite clear about the details now, but if you are interested, do give Etisalat customer care a call.