Nokia N97 and N97 mini not forgotten. New Firmware PR3.0 and 2.0 in the works!

NokiaSaga reports that some major firmware updates are coming for both N97 and N97 mini. Remember them?

Well relatively major. N97 and N97 mini maybe receiving integrated Yahoo! powered Ovi Chat as part of the PR3 and PR2 update.

Hurray, they have not been totally forgotten! Though with the big brother, some (like the team working on it!) might have prefered it to be a distant memory. I’d also like to see some major performance updates. I don’t know how much UI could be improved given the anorexic internals – it struggles as it is with it’s dry, bland navigation.

Qt integration as mentioned?

Video: Drum Machine demo for Symbian (S60 5th) Drum beat sequencer available at Ovi Store

 

When I first looked at the video, I wasn’t actually sure it was meant to be a phone app due to the mass of detail on screen but it is. And it’s for you, S60 5th Edition users.

This is a drum machine –  essentially what you’re doing is arranging a pattern of beats/instruments to make a song i.e. pattern based music sequencer, like FL Studio, but just for drums.

It’s surprisingly VERY feature packed,

• create your pattern,
• arrange them into a song time line
• very helpful zoom buttons
• Can pan left and right (to make long songs)
• Pattern play preview
• Song play preview
• Extensive Mix  and Tools View
• Help section in

Check out the video below and if you’re interested, you can get it from the Ovi Store

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:

Beta Labs updates Soundtrckr – (Internet Radio similar to Pandora) – now compatible with S60 5th

At the start of the month, we heard about a new app in Beta Labs called SoundTrckr – an internet radio streaming app with access to over 8million fully licensed songs.

Nokia Beta Labs have released some new updates including:

• Extended compatibility to S60 5th edition devices running on Java 2.1 beta available on Nokia Beta Labs
• Enabled persistent connection with Twitter (Users do not need to log-in on twitter each time they exit and re-enter the app)
• Enabled user profile photo upload from locally stored photos
• Added exit button on settings page
• Bug fixes for stability and performance

Leaked: Nokia Nseries N00 Prototype C: 12MP, xenon and N95 form factor.

Thanks Adnan who found this on eBay (via Symbian Tweet and Smartphone Arena)- here we can see what is supposedly a Nokia Prototype found on eBay. It sports a slide out keypad like the N95 family (N85, N86, N96) and bears a Carl Zeiss 12MP camera with Xenon Flash.

There’s also a kickstand like the N86. The eBay page names this as the N87 (rumoured a while ago as the 12mp xenon snapper – which we thought turned out to be the Nokia N8). N00 is quite normal for proto.

Is this an early prototype that’s been resigned to before even hitting the shelves or possibly something coming soon? It’s like finding a secret member of the family after all these years. The design on the face doesn’t look very contemporary. No one does sticky out buttons any more. Certainly not a splattering of them. A China clone perhaps? But no clone has ever replicated xenon. A remnant of a cancelled Nseries. Certainly would have been enticed by this more so than N96/N86.

The front sports a

Video and screenshots: Trill on the Nokia N8 – Excellent Twitter App for S60 and Symbian^3 – Available for FREE at Ovi Store

Twitter user? Yes? Then here’s another great alternative to the almighty Gravity. This folks is “Trill”. It’s FREE at the Ovi Store and offers quite a lot of functionality and looks great too. (yup FREE. Load on as many handsets as you like at no charge)

• Fast start up. Loads all previous tweets.
• Very fast at fetching tweets, even on slow connection. 3G not needed (as was the case with Tweetgo.net being entirely browser based)
• Swipe left/right to navigate between timeline, replies, DMs etc
• Big finger friendly buttons when tapping tweets
• Search within app
• Tag links/search
• Cute little bird animations during search load (and initial twitter connection)
• Profile viewer
• Trending topics viewer

It’s available to download for FREE for S60 and Symbian^3 from the Ovi Store.

Click to see demo video and features/screenshots not seen in the video

Video: Air Hockey Game demoed on Nokia N8 for S^3 and 5th Ed Free at Ovi Store

Air Hockey. You versus the phone as you try and score a goal with the virtual air lifted puck. First to 5 wins and each round goes to a higher level with slightly harder opponents.

It’s really enjoyable (I love Air Hockey at arcades!) and great for those short distractions. It’s well worth a download.

The only things I’d like to see is the option for 2 player mode with multitouch support of course (though that would rule out S60 5th users).

Oh it’s meant to be played in portrait but was recorded in landscape.

You’ve got two price points with Air Hockey. An Advert-supported FREE game or £3.00 (variable by country) ad-free.

Above was the ad-supported version and you’ll note the presence of adverts (which you can skip or click to open an advert page). You’ll also need to have an internet connection. You don’t have to view the ads, just press skip.

DOWNLOAD FROM THE OVI STORE:

• AIR HOCKEY (FREE)
• AIR HOCKEY (PAID)

BTW for comparison here’s a paid version demoed on 5530 by TheBossAkib.

Note that you get cheers or awws depending on scoring or letting a goal in. It also looks a little faster here but part of that was due to my bad cam and video conversion (E.G. look at the image trail of my finger)

[YOUTUBE=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyVmvdfR9VY]

Video: Ovi Games – Sonic Jump, Tropical Towers and Zuma’s Revenge demoed on the Nokia N8

I think these games are S60 5th Edition unless they’ve been updated for Symbian^3 – either way both users will be able to download these apps from the Ovi Store.

Sonic Jump

Can’t seem to find it on Ovi Store but it was there.

 

Tropical Towers

Save the monkeys! Only you can help them in this revolutionary new puzzle game! Travel between five tropical islands, leading your tribe of monkeys to safety by building bamboo structures of all shapes and sizes. The structures react to the basic laws of physics, which means tough times for the monkeys if they break! Winner of “Best Casual Game” – 5th Annual International Mobile Gaming Awards!

Download from Ovi Store

Zuma’s Revenge

Conquer over 60 ribbeting levels by firing stone spheres to make matches and destroy the deadly stream of balls. Slide and hop for smarter shots; hit targets for exotic bonuses; detonate power-up balls; battle six imposing tiki bosses and guide your agile amphibian to victory! Will you succumb to the perilous pitfalls of two game modes, or can you tame the jungle in this PopCap ball-blasting challenge?

Download from Ovi Store

Demo by FableSon

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: Symbian^1 versus Symbian^3 – what has changed?

“Everybody says, that Symbian^3 hasn’t changed, but look for yourself!”

I’m surprised no such detailed comparison has been done. Actually planned to do it myself this weekend but caught up on coursework (which I’m half doing as I write this). But jenjaman has done an excellent job and split it into a four round match between old and new Symbian touch.

Although the comparison is with the C6-00 and not N97/N97 mini, the software is possibly nigh on identical. Screen size difference shouldn’t matter too much, neither should AMOLED vs LCD (except AMOLED looking better) though having a capacitive versus resistive indeed does.

S^3 representatives are N8 and C7.

Watching the C6-00 S^1 is quite frustrating.

Dialler, App Menu, Music Player (zomg menu in landscape of S^1 wtf 😮 the ugly sidebar), Messaging

Ovi Maps

Ovi Store

 

Web Browser

So there you go. Quite a lot has changed – but is this even enough?

TheUltimate111

Thanks to jenjaman for the heads up 😀