Mobile Phone Reviews

N900 users can now download the official release for Firefox in the Ovi Store.  After a lengthy Ovi Store approval process the software is now good to go for the  N900 and promises some big leaps in mobile browsing.  First and foremost this mobile browser is pegged to deliver the full Firefox experience along with the ability to sync your mobile browser with your desktop or laptop Firefox browser(s). Using the Weave Sync plugin, you can keep create a Weave account and keep all your browers in Sync.  Basically you’ll be able to pull up pages from your history on a mobile device, which you previously browsed on your desktop.  It’s go time – N900 owners time to head to the Ovi Store and get to downloading your copy of Firefox (and yes it’s free).

[via Nokia]

Today Global leaders Intel Corporation and Nokia merged Moblin and Maemo to create MeeGo, a Linux-based software platform that will support multiple hardware architectures across the broadest range of device segments, including pocketable mobile computers, netbooks, tablets, mediaphones, connected TVs and in-vehicle infotainment systems. MeeGo offers the Qt application development environment, and builds on the capabilities of the Moblin core operating system and reference user experiences. Using Qt, developers can write once to create applications for a variety of devices and platforms, and market them through Nokia’s Ovi Store and Intel AppUpSM Center. MeeGo will be hosted by the Linux Foundation and governed using the best practices of the open source development model. The first release of MeeGo is expected in the second quarter of 2010 with devices launching later in the year. Nokia and Intel expect MeeGo to be adopted widely by global device manufacturers, network operators, semiconductor companies, software vendors and developers.

[via Nokia]

Related posts:

1. Nokia makes Symbian and Maemo development easy with Qt 4.6
2. Nokia announces official Qt port to Maemo 5
3. Nokia begins shipping the Maemo 5 powered N900

Related posts:

1. Introducing the Nokia 5800 Navigation Edition
2. Nokia Releases Ovi Maps with Free Navigation
3. Nokia X6 Music Flagship phone now shipping

Nokia has today announced plans to release a new version of Ovi Maps for its smartphones that includes high-end walk and drive navigation at no extra cost, available for download at www.nokia.com/maps. This move has the potential to nearly double the size of the current mobile navigation market. The new version of Ovi Maps includes high-end car and pedestrian navigation features, such as turn-by-turn voice guidance for 74 countries, in 46 languages, and traffic information for more than 10 countries, as well as detailed maps for more than 180 countries.

Full list of devices support by Ovi Maps Free Navigation: X6, N97, N97 mini, N96, N95, N95 8GB, N85, N82, N81 8GB, N81, N79, N78, N76, E90, E75, E72, E71, E66, E63, E55, E52, E51, 6120 classic, 6110 Navigator, 5800 XpressMusic, 5800 Navigation Edition, 5730 XpressMusic, 5630 XpressMusic, 5530 XpressMusic, 5320 XpressMusic, 5230, 5220 XpressMusic, 3600 slide, 7610 Supernova, 6730 classic, 6720 classic, 6710 Navigator, 6700 classic, 6650 Fold, 6600 slide, 6600 fold, 6300i, 6290, 6220 classic.

[View with PicLens]

[via Nokia]

Related posts:

1. Introducing the Nokia 5800 Navigation Edition
2. Nokia 2710 Navigation Edition lands in Q2 2010
3. Google Maps Navigation now available for Android 1.6

This evening I received a VIP Invitation from Nokia for their “big announcement” set to take place this Thursday, January 21 at 09:35 GMT.  The good news is that everyone can witness the event live at events.nokia.com or you can follow Cellfanatic.com where we’ll be breaking the news as it hits.  Odds still favor a big OVI announcement, likely being the OVI Store 2 – but only time will tell.  Anyone else have any ideas on what “big news” Nokia will announce this Thursday?  Feel free to sound off in the comments section.

Remember to check back on January 21st for live coverage of the Nokia Event or watch it live at events.nokia.com

Related posts:

1. Nokia Ovi Event January 21 in London
2. Nokia lays out mobile forecasts for 2010
3. HTC HD2 to become official at Nov 4 Press Event

Next week might be all about Apple’s Press Event, but this Thursday Nokia will be holding their own Event in London to release some “big news” about OVI. The event will feature Nokia Executive VP Anssi Vanjoki and Nokia UK GM Mark Loughran.  What we don’t know right now is what’s the big OVI news they are waiting to announce.  With the current OVI store doing about 1 million downloads thanks to the massive install base of Nokia handsets worldwide, our best guess is that Nokia is prepping the release of OVI 2 – the second generation OVI store.  All our questions will be answered in just a couple of days, but in the meantime we’d like to ask you what features or changes you’d like to see in the next OVI store?

[via FoneArena]

Related posts:

1. Nokia Event 09:35 GMT 21/01/2010
2. How to install the Ovi Store on your Nokia S40 Edition Handset
3. At&t and Nokia bring the Ovi Store to the E71x

Nokia Developers have just released a new UI concept proposal for Symbian^4.  While Symbian^3 isn’t ready for prime time and Symbian^4 will not be functional until the end of 2010, we are already getting excited from the concept UI and the prospects of new Nokia handsets in 2011.  Symbian^4 is based on Qt framework and should simplify the S60 user experience by bringing renewed layouts, free placement of homescreen widgets, context menu support for list items, four user-facing libraries (Contacts, Applications, Music and Phots), improved task switcher and a redesigned Control Panel.

A year can feel like an eternity in the mobile industry, but if Nokia continues to push out concept UI images we can hold tight.  Android and iPhone are putting up a heavy field of competition for future Symbian handsets, let’s hope Nokia can bring its own spin on a revolutionary UI in Symbian^4.

[via Symbian Developer Forum]

Related posts:

1. Nokia’s new 60fps Symbian UI Photos
2. Opera Mobile 10 for Android, BREW, Windows Mobile and Symbian/S60
3. Symbian Handsets expected to reach 180 Million by 2014

A new piece of software has just made its way to Nokia’s Beta Labs- Gig Finder.  Gig Finder is tailored for S60 5th Edition Touchscreen handsets, including the Nokia X6, N97, N97 Mini, 5800 XpressMusic, 5530 and 5230.  The goal of the software is straightforward- located concerts and purchase tickets in your area.  Gig Finder allows you to do this with smart recommendation talent, enabling you to easily find concerts, live events, and venues based on where you are with location-based content.  At the moment the software is focused on the USA, Canada, UK and Ireland.  Beyond tracking down possible music venues, Gig Finder suggests music events by taste, cleverly profiling the music stored on your device.  You can download Gig Finder from Beta Labs here.

[via Nokia Conversations]

Related posts:

1. Nokia’s Ovi Suite 2.0 Graduates from Beta Labs
2. Small OTA update for Nokia N900 Today
3. Take the Nokia Conversations Reader Survey and win a Nokia Maps Voucher

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s small update, the N900 is seeing a major firmware update this morning- PR1.0.1 (1.2009.44-1).  The update includes support for the Swiss keymat variant with hardware and virtual keyboard layouts supporting the combination of German, Italian and English characters.  Full compatibility of certain SIM cards from network operator 3 has been included.  Mail for Exchange has also been updated, bringing full support for Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, possibly allowing Exchange integration into a much broader group of users.  Ovi Maps now has improved search performance and route calculation, along with a range of smaller usability improvements thanks to excellent user feedback.

In the smaller update released this week there were two key changes- Ovi Store Beta compatibility which we mentioned and the second was preparing the device’s application manager for over the air software updates.  If you already installed the smaller update you should receive an OTA notification within the next 24 hours alerting you that a new software update is available.  If you prefer not to update over the air you can install the update using the Nokia Software Updater on your PC.  For those of you running Windows Mobile 7, the Nokia Software Updater software is now fully compatible so I recommend downloading the updated version. Now on to the full changelog:New features

* Hutchison SIM cards are supported.
* MS Exchange 2003 support.

Maemo Update

* Bootloader (Nolo) can be updated over Maemo Update.
* Cellular software can be updated over Maemo Update.
* Icon cache removed to allow more memory space for Maemo Update.
* Application Manager: Available space check moved to apt-worker for more accurate results.

Reliability

* Improvements in SGX performance and reliability.

Use-time and power consumption

* API for status area applets to detect if they are invisible/absent.
* Fixes to Pulseaudio timer increasing power saving when starting/closing apps.
* Browser: Removed unnecessary serial logging.
* Reduction of wake-ups in Desktop, Connectivity, Conversations, RSS Feed Reader,
* Backup handles correctly directories containing pairs of symlinks.
* Less CPU load caused during video recording.
* Support disabling Virtual Keyboard in input field.
* Performance improvements in Browser.
* Lock: “swipe to unlock” will not stay on.
* CPU idle latencies and thresholds updated.
* Fixing eMMC data lines while sleeping.
* CellMO power consumption reduced.

Usability

* Volume button operation in call flipped based on audio routing (no more on screen orientation).
* Browser: Downloading & rendering of page content runs promptly.
* Helping to avoid capacity limits of rootfs when installing apps (make Docpurge aware of /opt).
* Stability and usability fixes to the Profiles applet. Selection, usage and restoring of ringtones.
* Fast call from home shortcuts.
* Fast SMS rejection of incoming call.
* Avoid false alarms in pocket.
* Silence ringing by flipping face down.
* Fix to Camera photo orientation problem: correct orientation is now written to EXIF.

Performance

* X: performance of GLES apps improved.
* Lower RAM consumption while capturing video.
* Phone-UI & Msg-UI always ready to appear.
* Application Manager UI speed improvements.
* Email faster with large mailboxes.
* Large file copy (SD->MMC) doesn’t degrade system performance.

OVI Maps

* Route calculation and search performance improved.

Connectivity

* BT Secure Simple Pairing fixed for Windows Vista.
* BT transfer progress indicated.
* Improving WLAN connection stability.
* Improved WLAN negotiation when going out of reach of access point.

Phonecalls

* Add voicemail shortcut support.
* Showing call forwarding correctly when busy forwarding is not set.
* Call log improved.

Audio & Video

* Audio volume control works with +/- keys in full-screen playback of flash.
* Handling corrupted ring tone files better.
* HW volume keys always have same orientation.
* Media Player UI now provides feedback when tapping control buttons in video playback.
* MIC input not clipped when loud voice in VoIP call.
* Pulseaudio: Ringtone is heard from the loudspeaker if BT connected.
* Ringtone played both to headset (BT or wired) and to internal HF speakers.
* AV sync fix for recorded videos.

Camera

* ISO EXIF value for images saved when automatic sensitivity in use.
* Vignetting test of 2nd camera fixed, VGA sensor stability.

Battery and Charging

* Improved charging in case of low charging power (PC USB charging).

USB

* Fixing the USB detection and card mounting issue related to quickly attaching/detaching the cable.
* Able to format corrupted eMMC properly.
* Hang fixed in case of WLAN disconnection while copying files.

Synchronization

* Activesync supports now MS Exchange 2003.
* Activesync – fixes the forwarding of attachments showing incorrect sizes (Exchange server 2003).
* Content copier of PC Suite enabled. Whole content backup (including Notes) can now be restored from PCSuite.

3rd party applications

* Policy-settings: Fixes rotation transition in for 3rd party applications.
* Policy-settings: By default, 3rd party apps should have the same limits as our applications.

Calendar

* Public API for color picker. Home widget is now translucent.
* Set/get alarms API.
* Syncing of task alarms supported.

Image Viewer

* Thumbnailing faster.

Application Manager

* Rename Maemo Extras to maemo.org and enable by default.
* Grid view applied for the categories in download view. Added API for filtering packages.

Development Platform

* SDK content and tools updated.
* SDK GUI installer updated.
* New sharing-dialog-dev package added to enable Bluetooth and email sending.
* New wappushd-dev package documenting MMS interfaces available.

Upstream Security Issues

* Fix for CVE-2009-2417 in curl.

As we prepare to randomly select our four winners in the Sony Ericsson Bluetooth Giveaway, we are pleased to bring you today’s edition of the ‘Morning Mobile Minute’.  Starting this off this Wednesday is a highlight reel direct from Nokia which covers all the major developments for the manufacturer during CES 2010 last week.

US-based research firm Global View Partners in partnership with the GSMA released new research which shows the licensing of the 2.6 GHz band will be critical to the growth of Long Term Evolution (LTE).  The research found that the 2.6 GHz spectrum, which has been identified globally by the ITU as the ‘3G extension band’, will be vital in satisfying the demand for greater capacity for Mobile Broadband and launching next-generation networks such as LTE, which will start to be deployed commercially around the world this year.

TeliaSonera has selected Nokia Siemens Networks to provide LTE radio network in Sweden and Norway. Under the two-year agreement, Nokia Siemens Networks will provide LTE radio equipment, LTE network management systems, and LTE multi-vendor integration and care services to TeliaSonera. LTE is a wireless communications technology that specifically meets the growing demand for advanced mobile broadband services.There is good news coming from the German job market: Deutsche Telekom plans to hire up to 3,500 new people this year, roughly 1,400 of whom will be recent graduates and seasoned professionals. The remaining 2,100 jobs on offer will be reserved for young, talented employees with internal training, with a focus on graduates from Deutsche Telekom’s cooperative study programs.

The Nokia E72 and Nokia N86 both received firmware updates yesterday.  The E72 was updated to firmware v22.007 which promises ‘new features’ and ‘updated applications’, but no specifics have been announced.  The N86 was updated to firmware v21.006 which is a small 700Kb update that is suppose to increase the speed of transition between landscape and portrait mode along with several bug fixes.  To update the N86 you can use the Nokia Software Update or update directly from your phone.

Wrapping up this mornings breaking news is all about Android.  First, the Android 2.1 SDK is now available for developers.  The updated SDK offers minor improvements from Android 2.0 and includes new APIs to develop animated wallpapers, a new SignalStrength class which contains phone signal strength data and new methods to add geolocation, improved video handling and more to Android’s WebKit-based browser.  The second bit of Android news is that Google will be enforcing it’s own Early Termination Fee on the Nexus One ontop of what your carrier will charge if you cancel.  Google’s ETF is enforced if you decide to cancel your contract after the 14-day period (30 days for California) of returns and before 120 days into your contract.  Your scenario would be as follows- $200 ETF from T-mobile, $350 ETF from Google and $179 for the device itself for a grand total of $729.

As always there are plenty ways to stay ontop of the Cellfanatic news and reviews: follow us on Twitter, subscribe by Email, subscribe to RSS, watch our videos on YouTube or simply check out the Morning Mobile Minute or This Week in Cell Phone News summaries.