Posted on 30 June 2011 by Information Desk
It has come to our notice that MobilityNigeria has been nominated for the Best Science or Technology blog category at the Nigerian Blog Awards 2011.
We gather that this is the 3rd year of the awards running, and voting has begun in ernest.
It is up to you, our regulars. If you feel that MobilityNigeria deserves that award, go on to the awards voting page to cast your vote right away.
Posted on 29 June 2011 by Information Desk
Owners of older Symbian (S60v3 and S60v5) have reason to smile as Nokia is rolling out updates on all fronts to those devices.
The updates include the new Symbian Anna browser and an updated Ovi Maps. When we published news of updates to the E5 and E72 yesterday, we did not have details of the improvements. Well, now we do. The complete list of devices to be updated is as follows:
Symbian S60 3rd Edition FP2 (S60v3) devices:
Symbian S60 5th Edition (S60v5) devices:
This means that the above-listed handsets are getting the new browser ahead of Symbian^3 devices like the N8, C7 and E7.
Still, this move underscores Nokia’s track record of supporting their devices years after release into the market.
If you have got one of the above devices, go check for your update. It may not hit your handset right away, but keep checking!
Thanks to EyeBeeKay for the tip-off!
Posted on 28 June 2011 by Mister Mobility
MiniBrowser Mobile is one of those sleek Qt apps for Symbian^3 devices. It is a fast minimalistic browser. I had been using the version 2.0 on my E7 for months now.
As a matter of fact, I recently went on a Qt adventure. What do I mean by that? I decided to adopt Qt apps as my preferred options. As such, if an app on the E7 has a Qt 3rd party alternative, I download, install and use that Qt app as my default app for the specific task.
As far as I know, MiniBrowser Mobile is the only 3rd party mobile browser for Symbian that is built with Qt, so it is currently the browser that I use on my smartphone.
MBM arrived offering tabbed browsing, autofill of forms, option to load web pages in mobile mode and can automatically pick your phone’s default access point.
In addition, there’s bookmarks, history, adblock, kinetic scrolling, address bar auto-completion, zooming, and full-screen mode.
Version 3.0 brought in some significant improvements, including the following:
- Smoother scrolling
- Multi-touch
- Images on/off
- Javascript on/off
- Autohide menu when browsing i.e. auto full screen
In all, MBM offers a sleek user interface and tries to get out of your way as much as possible. It is also much faster than the built-in Nokia browser. Unfortunately, there is no text reflow when you zoom in.
If you want something different from Opera Mobile and Opera Mini, MiniBrowser Mobile is a good alternative. It is smaller in footprint and very resource-efficient.
MiniBrowser Mobile is available for download from the Ovi/Nokia Store.
Posted on 28 June 2011 by Mister Mobility
The iPad may be the world’s number one selling tablet, but using one has progressively turned into a usability nightmare for me. I will describe the iPad as the pretty girl you see in the school hall, fall in love with, marry, and then find out that she cooks terrible stuff, lacks manners and just generally gets in the way of how you do things.
So, what are my gripes against the iPad. Here are the iPad’s best kept secrets:
1. Pseudo Multitasking Woes
You know Apple’s drill here. Move away from an app and it is frozen in the background. Sounds good, except if you do a lot of web browsing, what happens when you return to a page many times is that the page is reloaded afresh.
That costs me time. And costs me internet data. Why can’t it freeze my pages there and simply present them to me the way I left them? Oh, it does that SOME of the time. Consolation.
2. Apps Shutting Down in the Background (and Foreground too)
Yes; and you thought that was a Symbian/Android problem only? How come reviews of iOS devices NEVER mention this?
You know, you have five apps running. Just five. Yahoo Messenger, Safari, Mail, TwitBird, and Twitter. Well, you are done on TwitBird and return to Messenger, only to find it restarting and reloading. There was no notice, no “out of memory” error, but the app was shut down all the same.
Another precious waste of time.
PS: My Nokia E7 runs at least 8 apps – all ACTIVE (not frozen) – in the background before beginning to shut down anything.
And I can’t tell how many times I am writing an article with the WordPress app, or on Safari, and the very app I am working on shuts down just like that.
3. Occassional Laggy Performance
Who said that this thing was fast? On the average, yes, the iPad performs well (not fast, but fine enough). But there are those times when you hit an icon to launch an app, and you see the lag. The processor simply struggles at those times to get things done.
Switching between windows on Safari very often means that I have to tap the windows icon a number of times before I get a response. Yes; its true. I’ll give a demo to anyone who does not have an iPad and wants to see for himself. A free demo.
I asked a friend who has an iPad too whether or not he had experienced this during web browsing. He confirmed the lag and said he just taps the windows icon once and WAITS for the windows view to come up. Great.
It was good to find out that I wasn’t making this up. I was beginning to think that something must be wrong with me, since NO-ONE else ever seems to mention these performance issues.
When you switch to an app in which you are typing something e.g. Messenger or WordPress, very often the very first keys you punch don’t get registered. Or they get registered in slow motion, Matrix-style. Serious.
Just to be sure that I am not making things up, I stopped this article to launch the Twitter app, and there it was – about 3-4 seconds of blank on the display before any information is loaded for viewing. That sounds like something that devices running 600MHz CPUs on a well known mobile Os are regularly chided for by reviewers.
Yet, this baby is supposed to be running a 1GHz processor. Please.
The million dollar question is, Why does no-one else mention these issues? Oh, yes; all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.
The Usual Suspects
How about the usual suspects? Those ones are public knowledge.
Transfering documents and non-media files are a royal pain. No USB mass storage mode. Limited Bluetooth functionality. Limited everything.
Usability Nightmare
Nice UI. Lots of eye-candy. Great performance in some areas. But those aside, the iPad is a usability nightmare for me. Perhaps the iPad 2 with a dual-core processor takes care of some of those issues. But who knows? No-one mentioned these issues on the iPad 1; why should they with its second advent?
Going Forward
Going forward, I have had enough of the iPad. I am increasingly getting frustrated with it. Does it mean that it is a terrible device? No; just a highly frustrating, over-hyped, over-priced one.
I am glad that I got the chance to use one though. It is my job to review devices. Now, I have to find someone to buy it off me. And I’m not sure that I would recommend it to anyone besides Apple fans who are not likely to enjoy anything else anyway.
Will I go back to carrying a netbook around? Maybe. Or maybe I find me another tablet to try out for a while.
I hear that the HP TouchPad running WebOS is amazing. If that gets to these parts, I will look in that direction too.
The BlackBerry PlayBook doesn’t seem ready for work yet, though it plays nicely. Those missing features…. tsk, tsk, tsk.
Any of the Android tablets? Perhaps the Tab 10.1 will save the day.
If I don’t find a buyer for the iPad though, I am stuck with it. I can reluctantly and grudgingly live with it, but if you ever run into me attempting to tear my hair out, you know why already.
Before you iFans go into turbo-mode, go read my earlier article on what spending a few weeks with the iPad as a netbook replacement was like. I praised your darling toy.
But I doubt if that will make any difference, so bring it on! Daddy’s got your number!
In the meantime, to everyone else I say, Don’t believe the hype. Its just that – hype.
Posted on 28 June 2011 by Information Desk
Google’s Andy Rubin, has posted a tweet stating that 500,000 Android phones and tablets are now being activated per day.
We knew that robots were going to take over Earth one day; didn’t we?
Posted on 28 June 2011 by Information Desk
It looks like its a season of QWERTY updates in Nokialand. The Nokia E72 has also seen its firmware updated to version 71.004.
If you’ve still got this old soldier, go ahead and get it updated.
Posted on 28 June 2011 by Information Desk
The Nokia E5 firmware has been updated to v71.003. E5 owners can update over-the-air or via Nokia PC Suite.
Posted on 27 June 2011 by Information Desk
The above infographic should serve as a guide for developers targeting the African continent.
Source: Afrographique
Posted on 27 June 2011 by Mister Mobility
While Nokia’s insistence on doing away with MeeGo has irked a lot of followers, there is some good news in the whole debacle. Nokia has repeatedly said that Qt, which the UI seen on the N9 was developed with, is coming to their S40 range.
Besides Qt, Nokia Maps with offline catching is also another addition to the S40 platform. Nokia have also made it clear that a new web browser is headed for S40 to replace the old, slow, clunky one that has run on that platform for years.
This is significant, as this means that Nokia’s plans to reach the next billion is going to witness a radical transformation of the S40 range into more powerful devices with a sleek UI and greater 3rd party app development capacity.
I remember recently coming across a rumour of a yet-to-be-announced 1GHz S40 device from Nokia. That rumour is easy to believe in the light of this development. Apparently, we shall see more touchscreen devices in that line-up as well. If Nokia adds multi-tasking, even if in a limited form, S40 effectively becomes a smartphone platform – the world’s largest.
The N9 may be the last MeeGo smartphone from Nokia, but its legacy – that sweet, fluid Qt-based interface and the applications based on same – will live on in the world’s largest mobile phone platform, Nokia S40.
That, in my opinion, will be a homerun.
Posted on 27 June 2011 by Mister Mobility
Mobitel launched their 4G broadband service in Nigeria in October 2010. The service provider claims that speeds start at 1MB and can potentially hit 100Mbps for Homes and Offices.
This is a bold claim, and if true, Nigerians now have access to true broadband internet service at very affordable prices. First consider that all Mobitel service plans have an unlimited Data Cap. Then take a look at the available devices and plans:
This is a USB dongle designed for the individual nomadic user always on the go between home, office and other locations.
Price: N4,990 – Monthly Subscription of N10,000 (1Mbps); N15,000 (2Mbps)
This is a portable mobile device that connects multiple users with WiFi enabled devices. It is perfect for office situations where workers are equipped with Wi-fi-enabled smartphones, tablets and PCs.
Price: N14,990 – Monthly Subscription of N15,000 (2Mbps); N30,000 (3Mbps)
This plan has two options. The first is a slim self-standing access device with two data ports, two voice ports and WiFi – perfect for use within the entire home or for small offices. The other has only 1 data and voice ports.
Price starting from N7,990 – Monthly Subscription of N10,000 (1Mbps) ; N15,000 (2Mbps); N30,000 (3Mbps)
There is also a solution for enterprise/corporate users.
Coverage
Coverage is currently limited to Lagos.
Groundbreaking Service
The above speeds at the prices being offered are certainly groundbreaking here in Nigeria. I will be getting my hands on one of the above devices this week and will give the Mobitel service a spin. You can expect my review, of course.
Are you using one already? What has your experience been? What are your thoughts? Do share!
In the meantime, should you want more information, visit the Mobitel Nigeria website.
Posted on 25 June 2011 by Mister Mobility
When the new Nokia CEO announced the adoption of WindowsPhone as the company’s primary smartphone platform, the impression given then was that MeeGo was not in a state anywhere close to deployment.
However, this week’s unveiling of what has turned out to be an absolutely fantastic smartphone, the N9, running on a game-changing OS and UI, MeeGo, has got me stumped. Actually, it has got the entire mobile industry stumped.
Traditional Nokia critics are drooling over the N9 and MeeGo. Die-hard Nokia fans are ecstatic about it. For once in a long time, Nokia looks outstanding. The N9 is without contradiction the most amazing thing that has come out of Nokia ever. Think about it.
Any Advantages of WindowsPhone over MeeGo?
Of course, this now begs the question, Why drop MeeGo for WindowsPhone?
Why throw away a fortune of investments in MeeGo research and development? We are talking about obscenely huge amounts of money here. Why not reap from those investments?
MeeGo and the N9 already have features and services that WindowsPhone wishes to have when it grows up. The N9 has a minimalist user interface that seems even better than WindowsPhone’s. The N9′s user interface certainly packs a greater WHAOH! factor than WindowsPhone, not to mention that it seems to work better too.
I also understand that the MeeGo team at Nokia re-wrote the whole UI to make it what it is now in just 9 months. What? Brilliant! Amazing! Those guys should take a group shot and have their faces plastered all over the Internet.
Confusing Signals
I don’t get it anymore. Nokia is sending out confusing signals to everybody. Developers don’t know what to make of this Symbian-MeeGo-WindowsPhone dance anymore. Consumers don’t. The press don’t. Network operators don’t. Retailers don’t.
Perhaps only a handful of people on Nokia’s board do. Just perhaps. Or perhaps they are just as confused as the rest of us?
The Iron is Hot: Strike!
Nokia has lost a lot of mindshare and marketshare in the last few years (smartphone Market, that is). On a personal note, I have remained a Symbian fan, but delays in updates have gotten me weary, and I am looking elsewhere already. I will certainly get the N9 when it hits the Market, even if Nokia foolishly relegates MeeGo to experimentation satus.
Yes; it will be foolish of Nokia’s decision makers to ignore the opportunities presented by the buzz that the N9 has generated and continues to generate. It is foolhardy to ignore what the consumers say they want – and we are saying it loud and clear: “We want MeeGo and more devices like the N9″.
From North America (the continent that Nokia CEO Stephen Elop has been courting) to Europe, Asia, and Africa, it is the same thunderous applause for the N9. Leaking a Nokia WindowsPhone that uses the same hardware of the N9 the next day hasn’t muted that applause and desire for the N9.
For the first time in a long, long while, Nokia have almost everyone happy about a Nokia product.
The Logical Things To Do
Nokia needs to re-consider certain things, including the following:
1. Do WindowsPhone if you must, but not at the detriment of MeeGo and an excellent product like the N9. Other manufacturers have multiple smartphone platforms. Samsung produces Android, Bada and WindowsPhone. That’s three. Why can’t Nokia, a much bigger manufacturer, do two? Let’s all agree that Symbian is dead, but seeing that MeeGo is like Symbian or steroids, no-one is going to cry over that.
2. Commit to one MeeGo handset a year. Just one. The iPhone is not selling in droves because there are multiple form factors and variants. Make MeeGo smartphones something for us to look forward to every year. Make it exclusive. A collector’s item. Whatever, just give us one every year.
3. Ride on the current waves of popularity of the N9 and push that device and its successors like crazy in the Market. It is sheer foolishness to ignore or muzzle whatever gets your customers excited. The N9 has got both fans and critics alike excited. Even Engadget has glowing praise for the N9!
A Timely Warning
Nokia have prided themselves in standing out with regards hardware and multimedia. That is changing fast. Samsung is catching up fast in those areas. Apple is catching up there too. Both are unrelenting, tireless innovators.
Perhaps someday, Nokia smartphones wont have the best cameras anymore. What then would Nokia be pushing? What would stand them out? What? History? Maybe. Just maybe.
In the meantime, what the Nokia MeeGo team have done shows in-house innovation, differentiation, and creativity that should be praised and encouraged to high heavens. The N9 is a device that truly beats with the Nokia heart that we used to know.
I am not saying that Nokia WindowsPhones will be terrible. We will have to wait for the jury on that. But if MeeGo is making people look in your direction, and you are in the market to sell to those same people, it is madness not to capitalise on that.
Stephen Elop and Nokia’s management need to wake up to reality. The cookie may just be crumbling. In the meantime, the world watches. And waits.
Posted on 24 June 2011 by Information Desk
The momentum of Nokia’s Ovi Store continues to be strong. Every day more than 300,000 new Nokia accounts are created, and every day consumers worldwide download some 6 million mobile apps and content.
Ovi Store has grown nearly eight-fold in just one year. More than 48,000 apps are now available on the Store, with nearly 1,000 new apps added each week. Series 40 devices, which will enable apps for the next billion mobile-phone users, have grown their download volumes in excess of 35 per cent during the last two months, making up about a quarter of all Store downloads.
As of last May, more than 170 developers had each exceeded 1 million downloads on Ovi Store. Among these developers, 15 companies had 10 million to 20 million downloads; five companies had 20 million to 30 million; and one company, Offscreen Technologies, had more than 72 million downloads.
Operator billing connections are growing at a steady pace, as well, and the total number now includes 121 operators across 42 countries. Operator billing improves the consumer experience. When consumers buy Store apps and other Nokia Services, any purchase via operator billing is simply charged to the mobile phone bill issued by their Operator.
Source: Nokia Developer
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