In my opinion, Nokia has done a smashing job bringing Symbian up to Belle. Belle is a smashing OS version and brings the UI aspect of Symbian up to date.

However, it is looking like there is life after Belle.

According to supposedly leaked documents, Symbian may be getting two more updates after Belle, as follows:

Symbian Carla

• 8.0 Browser
• Dolby soundround
• NFC
• Best Widgets

Symbian Donna

• Exclusive Dual core Equipment

Dual core CPUs on Symbian? I guess with all the fancy UI implementations, Symbian finally needs to go that route.

Anyway, whether this is true or not, Nokia’s legendary history of supporting their products long after competitors have stopped supporting their own products of the same age is commendable.

If Symbian will still be getting more update love after Belle, it is even more commendable. Like I keep saying, no OS ever went out with a bang like Symbian.

This info hasn’t been confirmed via any official channel, but it sure makes for interesting discussion; doesn’t it?

If you want the full details, do head over to MyNokiaBlog for the juicy bits.

fMobi

Features of this version include:

- Unified messaging with replying (single recipient)
- More actions to feed (e.q “x is now friend with y”)
- Haptic feedback to buttons
- More languages (Chinese traditional, Greek)
- Exit confirmation as an option
- UI tweaking

Download this fMobi update from the Nokia Store.

The Nokia N8, N9, Lumia 800

In the Beginning, the Nokia N8

Well, not exactly the beginning. But its a beginning of sorts.

Anyway, it suffices to say that I loved love my Nokia N8. You see, it runs Symbian, a very mature mobile OS with every feature possible worked into it. The latest iteration, Symbian Belle, is a winner in every way, and the N8belle (as I call it) is a champ one year after market launch. It remains undefeated in the camera arena and provides more features in one device than most devices released after it on every other platform.

But, Nokia’s new CEO has pronounced Symbian dead. I swear on the mobile gods that there will be no other Nokia flagship running Symbian after the N8. Who doesn’t want to move with the times? Supposedly, I should move on; right?

Moving on to Nokia N9

I absolutely love my Nokia N9 too. It runs MeeGo and has been so widely acclaimed in terms of its combination of sleek hardware and a superb OS that its no use repeating its strengths here.

Its camera performance does not match the N8′s, but it comes quite close. Which is good enough, really.

However – as with Symbian – Nokia’s CEO has proclaimed MeeGo and the N9 a dead end of sorts.

So, again, though I hold in my hands one of the most amazing mobile devices ever manufactured, I really should move on. Again. Right? Keep with the flow. Don’t become a dinosaur.

Moving on to the Lumia 800?

The Lumia 800 is the identical twin of the N9. Hardware is the same. Camera is same as on the N9, but this time with a shutter key (great for self-portraits). It is the internals that differ with this baby running Windows Phone 7.5.

Nokia says that Windows Phone is the way forward. As such, I should be looking that way; right?

Sure, WP is very modern, sleek and elegant – and is mostly excellent at the things it does. It has some nifty features to be sure. But it lacks some of the functionality that I have been used to, that I need, and that I wish I would not have to go without.

USB mass storage. Bluetooth file transfer. Proper multi-tasking.

Are these do-or-die features? Maybe. Maybe not. Perhaps I can live with Windows Phone 7.5 as it is. After-all, I live with iOS on my iPad inspite of Apple’s mind-numbing lock-downs.

CrossRoads

Oh, yes; crossroads. The Nokia N8belle is so, so good that even though I love the N9, I still carry the N8 along with me often. Yes; madness, but the N8 is like a first wife in a polygamous home. Nobody else ever fully replaces her.

That superb 12 megapixel camera. That sweet Belle user interface. All the functionality that I want. Then add the FM radio and FM transmitter to the list too. Oh, my NateBelle!

I fear that if I lay my hands on a Lumia 800, I might end up carrying all three around: Nokia N8. Nokia N9. Nokia Lumia 800. Plus my BlackBerry. And sometimes, plus my iPad. Get the picture?

Damn you, Nokia!
Yes; damn you for not turning Symbian around fast enough to prevent this crazy logjam.

Then damn you one more time for not unleashing MeeGo fast enough to prevent this switch to Windows Phone. Damn you some more for producing such an amazing MeeGo smartphone after you had killed off both Symbian and MeeGo.

Damn you for unleashing such a beautiful Windows Phone 7.5 smartphone as the Lumia 800 on us, but denying us some of the functionality that we have come to love (okay, some of that damnation goes to Microsoft actually).

Damn you for turning an old customer of yours like myself into a lunatic who carries multiple, similar devices around.

Damn you for putting me into this dilemma. However this plays out, I will not end up in an institution because of you.

Yes; what is it? What are you all staring at?! Haven’t you ever seen a black American tearing his hair out?

The Nokia-born and now startup-based hit app Sports Tracker will launch on Windows Phone in November.

The much-anticipated Windows Phone version of Sports Tracker comes with the category-leading tracking features familiar from the Symbian, Android and iPhone versions. In addition to tracking the app comes with a comprehensive training diary, ability to share workouts to Facebook, Twitter and the Sports Tracker online community as well as cloud backup of tracked activities to sports-tracker.com.

“We are extremely thrilled to bring Sports Tracker to Windows Phone. We see Windows as a very exciting platform especially now with the advent of Nokia’s amazing new Lumia -series of Windows Phone devices.” says Mr. Ykä Huhtala, CTO and one of the founders of Sports Tracker.

App features

• Full tracking features as in the award-winning Symbian app and iPhone / Android: Distance, Duration, Speed, Average speed and pace, Max speed, Energy spent (kCal)
• Training Diary for workout data analysis
• Diary sync to sports-tracker.com service for further analysis
• Sharing of workouts to Facebook, Twitter and the Sports Tracker community

Sports Tracker for Windows Phone will launch in November 2011.

Sports Tracker app for Nokia N9 now available

To further celebrate “Nokia week” Sports Tracker for Nokia N9 is now available as a free download from the Nokia Store. The app comes with the familiar great tracking features and support for the new Sports Tracker Bluetooth Heart Rate Monitor enabling you to get more out of your tracked workouts.

App features

• Full tracking features as in the award-winning Symbian app and iPhone / Android: Distance, Duration, Speed, Average speed and pace, Max speed, Energy spent (kCal)
• Training Diary for workout data analysis
• Diary sync to sports-tracker.com service for further analysis
• Sharing of workouts to Facebook, Twitter and the Sports Tracker community
• Support for the Sports Tracker Bluetooth Heart Rate Monitor (available from shop.sports-tracker.com)

Download: Sports Tracker for Nokia N9

Over at Nokia Innovation, kelvin has published a A Symbian Users Wish List For Windows Phone.

Seeing that I have been contemplating the pros and cons of a move from the N9 to the Lumia 800, it sounds just right that I should publish a wish list of mine too.

Mass Storage Mode

I absolutely want to be able to plug in my phone to a PC to copy files across both devices without syncing via Zune.

Proper Multi-tasking

I don’t want background apps to freeze. I want the good old Symbian-style multi-tasking.

Bluetooth File Transfer

Please give us full Bluetooth transfer functionality. Bluetooth being available for pretty much nothing else but headset connectivity is lame. This is Sparta 2011!!

If you read Kelvin’s wish list, you’d see that we have different things on our individual lists. As far as I am concerned, Windows Phone’s weakest link is local connectivity.

Imagine that you have taken some great photos on your device and a friend asks you to send them to his device by Bluetooth. Duh!

If Microsoft would add the above-listed features to Windows Phone, they would have a product that makes long-time Symbian users really, really, really comfortable.

What do you think? What features would you like to see on Windows Phone?

The Nokia E71 is a phone that was released at a time when there existed in Nokia a dichotomy between enterprise and multimedia smartphones. The Nokia E71 belonged in the category of the E-series devices with the E tag standing for enterprise. Thankfully, today that dichotomy no longer exists. In my opinion, the distinction between those two categories was pointless.

It’s been three years since the release of the E71, and I am amazed at how much relevant it still is in today’s smartphone space. While the E71 has limitations due to lack of certain hardware and perhaps software present in today’s smartphones, you still will not feel very much left out carrying one around today.

My reason for saying this is really simple: much of what can be done with today’s smartphones can also be done with the E71. Period.

I have been carrying one around for a week now, and eish! It is delivering very well.

1. This is still a very beautiful and very well built phone
2. It is still enjoying support from the manufacturer.
3. This guy takes care of all my social networking needs.
4. I am able to edit and view office files on it, be they Word, Excel or Powerpoint. As a matter of fact, I am writing this article with the E71.
5. With Joikuspot Premium installed, I am able to use it as wi-fi hotspot.
6. This baby lets me use keyboard shortcuts when typing and editing documents.
7. It’s got very impressive battery life.
8. When it’s time to get my groove on, I launch the music player and blast away. Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the gist.
9. While I won’t get the Nokia N8 picture quality from it, the 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash manages to snap decent photos.
10. I know I won’t be able to have an erotic conversation with the delectable lady Siri on the E71, but I am still able to initiate a call by telling my phone to call someone from my contact list using the voice command feature.

There you have it! Three years running, and the E71 is still rocking. That’s impressive.

eBuddy announced as a preferred messaging partner for Nokia

Messaging giant announces 4 Nokia-related apps for XMS

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands – October 27, 2011 – eBuddy, the world’s leading independent web and mobile messaging service, announced today that it is to become a preferred messaging partner for Nokia, and will launch 4 Nokia-related platforms of its latest mobile messaging solution, eBuddy XMS, in the coming months.

eBuddy – who recently reached the 20 million downloads milestone in the Nokia Store -aims to continue its messaging success story with Nokia with the introduction of eBuddy XMS, available on Meego, S60, S40 and Windows Phone 7 devices, and providing coverage across all of Nokia’s current and future platforms.

“eBuddy’s success and experience in the mobile messaging field have made this partnership a natural step for Nokia” said Reno Marioni, Business Development Director, Global Social Partnerships, Nokia. “We are excited about the introduction of eBuddy XMS to Nokia platforms and look forward to having Nokia users enjoy the reliable and rich messaging experience that eBuddy XMS provides.”

eBuddy is one of the world’s most successful and popular mobile messaging services, having seen more than 150 million unique downloads of its apps to date. Known for its globally popular instant messaging (IM) solutions, eBuddy now aims to make eBuddy XMS, a free real-time mobile messaging solution, available to wider audiences.

“We’re delighted to have eBuddy XMS soon available to all Nokia users” stated Jan-Joost “JJ” Rueb, CEO and co-founder of eBuddy. “Partnering with the biggest handset manufacturer in the world reflects the strength of the eBuddy XMS proposition, and now supporting the majority of the mobile market allows us to make XMS the new norm in mobile messaging”

I am currently having problem updating my nokia N8 to the new symbian belle. when ever i try updating it keeps telling me server not responding, and i can not asscess ovi store as well on my device. Please could anyone guide me on how to resolve this problem?

Nokia has announced the 603, a Symbian smartphone running the latest version, Belle. The 603 is a colourful, affordable, no compromise smartphone preloaded with the latest apps and featuring single-tap pairing, sharing and tag reading with NFC.

This baby was designed to appeal to first timers in the smartphone world, and is made affordable without the compromise of quality. It comes preloaded with maps, latest social networking apps, HD games etc.

What to expect

- 3.5-inch, 360 x 640 pixel ClearBlack LCD display

- A powerful 1GHZ processor to make your apps run quickly & smoothly

- 2GB internal storage + microSD card slot

- 512MB RAM / 1024 MB ROM

- 5 megapixel full-focus camera

- Wi-Fi, NFC, USB, FM radio, a 3.5 mm audio jack

- up to six customizable homescreens and dynamic live widgets

- Up to six choices of back covers

- Scratch proof resistance display, optimized for use in sunlight.

- €200 (around N45,000)

The Nokia 603 is expected to start shipping in the fourth quarter of 2011.

I was excited to get to review the Nokia 500. The 500 is a budget smartphone running Symbian Anna and ticking a 1GHz processor on the inside. At 150 Euros, you are looking at a sub-N35,000 smartphone here.

The Nokia 500 features a 3.2 inch capacitive TFT touchscreen at 640x 360 pixels resolution, a 5 megapixel full-focus camera, 2GB mass memory, Nokia Maps, among others, and lets you change the back covers.

I took the following shots with the Nokia E7 (which I found to be not so good at taking close-up shots). This is one of the things I do not like about my Nokia E7. The E7 does every other thing well except close-up shots. I love taking good pictures.

Do enjoy the unboxing photographs. I will return with the full review when ready.

I have been a champion of resource-efficiency on smartphones since forever. This has made it sound like I am a die-hard Symbian fan. Just yesterday, an acquaintance from India asked me, “You like Symbian more than Android. May I ask you why?”

I answered, “Symbian is more customisable and manages data, power and other resources better than Android“.

I have no allegiance to Symbian, and certainly no contract or interests binding me to sing its praise. But you can’t pry me away from resource efficient systems!

Now, the recently announced iPhone 4S has been reported as running on a CPU clocked 800MHz, yet beats all the array of 1.x GHz Android smartphones and tablets in the market. Look, we ALL knew that Android was a resource hog from the Get-go, but this feat by the 4S is nothing short of amazing!

Take a look at this chart:

You can also see from the chart that the exaggerated claim by Apple that the 4S has up to 7x performance gain was just that – an exaggeration AKA hype. At best, no-one will experience anything more than twice the speed bump, if at all.

Still, the recorded performance feat is amazing; isn’t it? The 4S trouncing all those Android beasts in terms of performance.

You know what this means; don’t you? I am falling in love with iOS. Whatever optimisation was done to the code, it is freaking good! Now, if only Apple would fix the data hogging too, I would proclaim iOS the king of mobile resource efficiency.

I am also hoping that this means that iOS 5 brings greater resource efficiency to existing devices when they receive the update.

Perhaps they will get that sorted out before Symbian finally stops breathing.

More juicy details

Let’s step into the world of science fiction and thrillers a bit. How would you like to have your phone’s security system use your face as the access code to your phone?

Sounds interesting? Yes; Facelock is an app for Symbian3 devices that lets you do just that. You take a scan of your face and set a password too (just in case).

Net time you want to unlock your phone from sleep state, Facelock pops up, asks to match your face with the initial scan you did, and if it matches, access is granted. If it doesn’t match, hey, you can still gain access with the password you entered.

You guys with C7s and N8s and E7s and E6s need to have some fun with this right away and post your experiences in the comments section below!

PS: For Symbian3 smartphones only! Download Facelock from Nokia Store.