Video: Nokia N8-00 Version 3 for nokia 5800 RM-356 and for Nokia 5530 RM-504

For Nokia 5800 and 5530 users here’s a custom firmware that brings Symbian^3/N8 styling and a few additional extras.

• Symbian^3 style dialler,
• Widget homescreen
• Lots of animation/UI transitions – e.g. portrait/landscape v smooth, moving back/forward in menu looks v. nice.
• Quite speedy (at most places, bit lag in others)
• File manager shows hidden files/folders
• Music Player showing lyrics of song playing in a scrolling karaoke style (by default, though you could get tune wiki)

Video is very blurry but you can still get the gist of what’s happening:

Freeware: Nokia Battery Monitor – with activity usage estimates! S^3 and S60V5 (+video demo on 5800)

Right, as battery meters and monitors go – they’re often quite boring, just telling you how much you have left by a visual indicator. If you’re lucky it might give an estimate in time remaining based on current usage.

 

With the Nokia Battery Monitor, it really does monitor your power usage based on what exactly you’re using on the phone.

It’s available for S60 5th Edition and Symbian^3 handsets. Screenshots above were from the Nokia N8 (Which has a tremendous battery life)

DOWNLOAD IT FREE FROM THE OVI STORE

There’s a review over at Nokia Conversations by Adam, with a very important end note:

Note that the accuracy of the app might …vary. Mobile phone batteries do not discharge at a predictable rate. For example, if your phone has been on standby all day, then it might believe that it’s got a full day’s use left. If you then receive two hour-long phone calls, it was probably mistaken. Accuracy improves over time, though: it calibrates itself to your typical usage pattern.

Here’s a video demo on the Nokia 5800

[YOUTUBE=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbrvsdVaX9c]

Nokia Conversations

Videos: Nokia N8 vs Nokia 5800 (in 6 Nokia N8 hands on videos).

MForumRu has a host of Nokia N8 videos for you to look at. The one that’s worth noting is the N8 vs 5800 video (Screen comparison)

• Obviously the difference is more clear in person, but even over the video you can see the richer, higher contrast, more vibrant AMOLED display from the N8 vs the TFT of the 5800.
• Panning of the photos in the N8 is significantly smoother.
• Zooming with pinch and zoom is of course a big plus over 5800’s tap/zoom bar
• Also wider viewing angle from the N8 with AMOLED

This next video covers homescreen, menu, SMS, but you’ll also notice another comparison with the N8:

• New icons (though 5800 is on non standard theme)
• New QWERTY Keyboard

[YOUTUBE=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WDnCpeok20]

Camera and Video

• Brief comparison of N8 and 5800 camera UI

[YOUTUBE=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8zcrR08ObM]

Music

[YOUTUBE=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE_yfbN6TpQ]

Over HDMI-OUT

Physical Overview

mforum.ru

Videos: Nokia 5800s on new firmware update V50.0.005!

You have probably heard a few days ago about the new V50 firmware for the Nokia 5800.

This brings a lot of stability and new features such as kinetic scrolling, N97 like music player , improved camera and integrated quick office.

Quite a few of you have been saying this is how the 5800 should have been from the beginning (but then everyone kinda says that with each new fw).

Below are some videos from 5800 users on the new V50 firmware. Note, they aren’t all in english and aren’t all clear in quality, but it’s still possible to appreciate the kinetic scrolling and mini album art in music player.

jordi332

bye30

RomeoWhiteChannel

mynokias60v5

DerNokiaSpezialist

apacheking123456789

liubanschii

I don’t normally report on firmware updates on handsets I don’t have at hand to check new features myself, but I thought I’d share the new firmware videos with you made by the 5800 community. 🙂

Stuff Magazine’s Nokia X6 Review: For entertainment, music and social networking.

I don’t know what on earth the reviewer speaks of when she says the 5800 was not the hit Nokia were expecting. I remember that around March/April, Nokia expected to sell 1 million 5800 but exceeded that and sold 3 million (actually already reached 1 million in January). Sales wise, the 5800 is one of Nokia’s most successful phones.

But perhaps the reviewer meant successful in terms of mind share; getting an iconic handset with an agreeable touch UI. This is where touch S60 initially had fallen short of the mark.

The X6 seeks to remedy this, along with a few hardware changes, including Nokia’s first capacitive screen, 32GB (or also 16GB) memory, and a slimmer shell.

Unfortunately, as the reviewer correctly puts, the X6 is still (unbearably) underwhelming. Pausing between loading of apps, freezing in heavy web pages, nonsensical double taps to open folders – overall very laggy for what’s supposedly a premium handset (premium priced anyways).

An important thing to consider maybe the recent firmware upgrade of the X6 to V12, which does sort out some speed and stability (or lack of) issues. It’s a touch annoying  though that despite the lengthy life span and history of Symbian, each new handset (not just S60 variant) still needs firmware upgrade after firmware upgrade to become finally usable. (V21 with N97 after 7 months is almost there). This is not good for users who don’t even know what a firmware is let alone how to upgrade it. (On the positive note, “frequent” firmware upgrades means problems gradually get fixed quicker….though on the flip side again, that problem should not be there in the first place. I mean come on…same phone just different shell…it’s like there’s some amnesia and they’ve forgotten they already sorted this problem out in another phone :S)

I reckon the 5800 is still a much better option as a music phone. The only thing it really lacks is the additional 2MP. But for such a value-packed price, the 5800 is unbeatable. And then there’s always the likes of the 5230, another phone of unquestionably great value for money. [That’s what I recommend to friends looking for a good value, ‘modern’ Nokia phone. Not so much 5530 as that lacks GPS and having free Sat Nav functionality always impresses, especially when they don’t realise their phone has it]

Freeware: Egg Timer for S60 5th edition

Got something simmering in the stove or roasting in the oven? Need to leave it for a while, but need a reminder to make sure you won’t forget and let your cooking burn? No timer on the cooker or timer is only on the cooker itself?

You should get Egg timer for S60 5th Edition. It’s free at the Ovi Store.

• 59 minute analogue timer
• Metallic finish
• Use touch screen to turn the dial. Time automatically counts down.
• Remaining time displayed below
• Better than alarms, you don’t have to work out number of minutes + current time.
• Vibrates per each minute you turn the dial
• Mechanical sounding alarm
• You can leave it in the background

DOWNLOAD FOR FREE FROM THE OVI STORE

Nokia N900 with the Apple iPhone, BlackBerry Bold/Storm 2, LG BL-40, Nokia N97 Mini/N86/5800/E71, Palm Pre, Samsung i8910/Omnia II, Sony Ericsson Satio/Aino and Toshiba TG01

Here are some shots of the N900 with some current high end phones. In Alphabetical Order:

• Apple iPhone
• BlackBerry Bold/Storm 2,
• LG BL-40
• Nokia N97 Mini/N86/5800/E71,
• Palm Pre,
• Samsung i8910/Omnia II,
• Sony Ericsson Satio/Aino and
• Toshiba TG01

Initially the intention was to give a jist of the size of the N900. But since I was snapping away in phone retail stores, I didn’t get appropriate angle shots so you can see how easy it is to be deceived by comparison photos unless you see them flat, centre and horizontal with comparisons of [layered] length, width and thickness.

www.sizeasy.com/ helps if you want to compare phone sizes and you’ve got their dimension. This of course ignores curves/tapering which assist in the illusion that your device is smaller than what it actually is.

Ignoring size comparisons, the photos below are still worth a look for comparing aesthetics/design.

Check out the example below

BlackBerry Storm 2-

looking much bigger than the N900

Now N900 looks larger than the Storm 2

Another example. The Palm Pre is quite small, yes?

Palm Pre

HTC Hero.

Sony Ericsson Satio

So in the following pictures, just remember that unless you haven’t seen the N900 before, they might be slightly misleading in making it look bigger than it actually is as these are taken in the angle which make the N900 seem unnaturally bigger.

New Chocolate, LG BL-40

Nokia E71

Samsung i8910

Nokia 5800

Nokia N86

N86 is small, this angle further enhances this diminutiveness

The toshiba TG01

The TG01 is huge. It looks stupidly big. The N900 can sit on it and there’d be ample toshiba to border it.  This angle makes them look pretty similar in size. They are not.

Nokia N97 Mini

Samsung Omnia II

Sony Ericsson Aino

Palm Pre

And of course, Apple iPhone. Both looking pretty similar.

Apple iPhone

The only one that’s slightly useful for size comparisons is N900 vs Blackberry Bold. (This is my mate’s Bold, snapped these just as the lecturer was walking in – but still much better to have a flat surface to take comparison shots with)

N900 Vs Blackberry Bold

Didn’t take a width comparison but Bold is wider than the N900.

– I was actually looking for a new SIM and checking if retailers knew when/if they’d be getting the N900. On the way, I took some of these snaps.

Concept phones: Nokia X8?

The Nokia X8 – or at least how the X6 should have looked were it to dispense of the space wastages top and bottom of the screen.

Will all future touch screen devices inevitably just be slabs of rectangular displays? [e.g. HTC Touch HD2] I’m all for it – especially the seamless flat glass fronted displays.

This Nokia X8 is actually a Samsung concept phone[via Mobile-Review forum] mixed with the N97 mini’s call/end keys and Nokia logo, minus the bottom triangular chin. It’s a crude edit done it paint (I got a little distracted from reading up for a test about Jeremy Bentham and Immanuel Kant :S). It pretty much closely resembles the original X6 were you to lop off the top and bottom (though I do like that shiny red trim).

Via concept phones

The X6 (left). Nokia’s first capacitive screen device, succeeding the ever popular 5800 and taking the mantle as Nokia’s flagship music phone (if there was one).

The Nokia X6 is a  Comes With Music device and is being launched globally on the 16th November. As you’ve probably already heard, this launch is going to be pretty big considering it’s being partnered with an exlusive concert starring Rihanna, one of the hottest artists right now in all sense of the word with the most number 1 hits of this decade.

Rihanna will debut her new album, Rated R, streaming the concert live over Nokia phones and for a lucky exclusive audience at the actual launch event in London.

Here’s the original Samsung ‘Crystal’ concept (right):

Freeware: Banner Touch – Scrolling LED Dot Matrix Display for the Nokia N97/5800/5530

“Banner” is a scrolling LED Dot Matrix Display for S60 5th Edition devices like the Nokia N97, 5800, 5530, Samsung i8910 and Sony Ericsson Satio.

You can change the message to whatever you like using the on screen keyboard or if you’ve got a proper keyboard (N97/N97 Mini) you could use that instead.

It’s in classic RED led only – simple, but works well. There aren’t any obvious practical uses of it – the most I’ve used it for is to request a track at a club from the DJ – it was easy to get him to read the message from my N97 without the usual of having to walk over and show him the tiny text from the text message editor. But I guess there’ll be some other odd/creative uses for it one way or another.

Here’s a demo video of “Banner” in action.

Download it free from the Ovi Store.

Freeware: Lights – control your Nokia N97’s keyboard lights! (& other S60 5th edition)

“Lights” is a free application from the Ovi Store for S60 5th edition but it does work best if you’ve got a QWERTY keyboard (i.e. N97 or N97 mini).

The application basically controls the lights on your phone, be it the keyboard lights, the red/green call/end keys, screen light or even the charger light.

You have four options:

• Blink – Red/Green keys flash on and off, as do keyboard and charger lights. Pressing the screen manually makes the lights flash
• Breath – Red/Green keys as well as keyboard lights fade in and out.
• Dream – Random coloured circles appear on the screen quickly and disappear – like a hazy dream I guess. Sometimes the keyboard lights fade in and out, sometimes it’s just the red/green keys.
• Torch – A bright circle appears so you can use the big screen as a torch (prefer the LED option myself – though that 3.5″ screen is bright enough as a modest light source)

Note: you may notice the proximity sensor flashing. It always does that with or without this app – that’s just how it works – but you can’t see it with the naked eye (only via camera).

Here’s a quick demo of “Lights” in action on the Nokia N97.

It’s just another ‘fun’ app – I really like the breathing lights, especially with the keyboard – it’s somewhat quite soothing :).

I’m a huge (odd) fan of LED lights. I’ve found the default breathing menu light most useful on the N97 when trying to find it in the dark (and I obviously can’t find my other phone to call/find it). Though I guess that’s the only use of it, unlike say in the likes of the N900 where the LED light has useful indication notifications.

DOWNLOAD “LIGHTS” FROM THE OVI STORE