Showing posts with label N80. Show all posts
Showing posts with label N80. Show all posts
Friday, August 31, 2007
S60 3rd Edition and Bluetooth
Recently, Nokia has released firmware updates for N73 and N76 including support for new Bluetooth profiles, including AVRCP and A2DP. Any plans for this on all S60 3rd edition phones? (especially on N80 :-) )
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Firmware updates and software versions hell
It looks like the (more powerful) second version of the Webkit browser will be only included in new products based on S60 3rd Edition FP1. It is incredible to me that devices like N80 won't be updated to FP1 and that we shall have to miss that version of such an innovative web browser.
You can see in s60.com/browser all the differences among both versions and you can see here how S60 developers refuse to include the new version in any S60 3rd Edition (non FP1) devices.
It is a pity how upgradable products are limited by the laziness of the companies. Nothing new under the sun, as we have been experiencing all this hell in DivX players and many other devices, with hardware powerful enough to carry on with new functionalities or improvements of existing ones, but with no new updates coming from the support team.
You can see in s60.com/browser all the differences among both versions and you can see here how S60 developers refuse to include the new version in any S60 3rd Edition (non FP1) devices.
It is a pity how upgradable products are limited by the laziness of the companies. Nothing new under the sun, as we have been experiencing all this hell in DivX players and many other devices, with hardware powerful enough to carry on with new functionalities or improvements of existing ones, but with no new updates coming from the support team.
Updating Nokia N80 firmware and S60 3rd edition memory handling
I have just updated the firmware version of my N80 from 4.0632.0.38 to 5.0719.0.2. It is the biggest version number change I have seen since I own this gadget, and it is the one in which less changes I have experienced (by now).
The only thing I have noticed is some more free megabytes of main memory (3 additional megabytes if I am not wrong), critical for applications like the Nokia S60 Webkit browser in order to avoid its often "Memory Full" error. It is great to have versions of desktop browsers in the mobile so we can try to experience the web as much desktop as possible, but it is true that many pages rich in multimedia (rich in images is enough) cannot be experienced in mobile phones because of their limited memory. This is why I bought Opera Mobile 8.60 and why I also install Opera Mini 3 and Opera Mini 4 beta. The WebKit browser developers should learn from Opera Mobile in what regards to image handling. I am not only talking about rescaling images so they take less memory, but about loading them in memory as I scroll through a web page. Even Opera Mobile might be improved: if there is a page filled with images and I scroll trying to see them all, a mobile phone can run out of memory... why not to keep loaded in memory only images being shown totally or partially in the display? Images previously displayed but not currently being shown might be available in a cache (if the device has additional flash memory available). Different memory handling strategies should be applied to different phone models, of course.
An additional problem comes when we want to have several applications running at the same time (music player , web browser and IM software, for example). If you launch an application starving for memory not available at that very moment, S60 3rd edition will close -with no warning at all- some older apps running (if not all). It is a matter of user experience to know when you can and when you cannot launch an applications, and which combination of apps can coexist without any of them dying.
I do not like this behaviour and would love to let users have more chances to choose what they want. Maybe a default behaviour of not letting a new app to be launched if there is not enough memory available and show a warning would be better. This way it would be me who might close some running applications and then relaunch the one I wanted.
The only thing I have noticed is some more free megabytes of main memory (3 additional megabytes if I am not wrong), critical for applications like the Nokia S60 Webkit browser in order to avoid its often "Memory Full" error. It is great to have versions of desktop browsers in the mobile so we can try to experience the web as much desktop as possible, but it is true that many pages rich in multimedia (rich in images is enough) cannot be experienced in mobile phones because of their limited memory. This is why I bought Opera Mobile 8.60 and why I also install Opera Mini 3 and Opera Mini 4 beta. The WebKit browser developers should learn from Opera Mobile in what regards to image handling. I am not only talking about rescaling images so they take less memory, but about loading them in memory as I scroll through a web page. Even Opera Mobile might be improved: if there is a page filled with images and I scroll trying to see them all, a mobile phone can run out of memory... why not to keep loaded in memory only images being shown totally or partially in the display? Images previously displayed but not currently being shown might be available in a cache (if the device has additional flash memory available). Different memory handling strategies should be applied to different phone models, of course.
An additional problem comes when we want to have several applications running at the same time (music player , web browser and IM software, for example). If you launch an application starving for memory not available at that very moment, S60 3rd edition will close -with no warning at all- some older apps running (if not all). It is a matter of user experience to know when you can and when you cannot launch an applications, and which combination of apps can coexist without any of them dying.
I do not like this behaviour and would love to let users have more chances to choose what they want. Maybe a default behaviour of not letting a new app to be launched if there is not enough memory available and show a warning would be better. This way it would be me who might close some running applications and then relaunch the one I wanted.
Friday, August 03, 2007
How to recover your mobile phone when lost
Last Wednesday, 25th of July, I lost my mobile phone. My wife, daughter and I were on our way to the Canary Islands. The heavy luggage I was carrying from the parking to the airport terminal probably hit the phone (being -poorly- attached to my belt) and it fell on the floor. I realized about 30 minutes later from the supposed moment of the loss. I started calling my number from my wife's cellular. No one answering on the other side. I walked back the path from the car to the terminal several times. I could not hear the tune that I have assigned to incoming calls (Liam, by In Extremo). It is a powerful song, so it was clear to me that someone had found it and was not answering. I kept trying on and on. Two hours later, someone answered: the person in charge of the parrking cabin told me that someone had just sent it to him. He said that he usually does not answer calls from a lost mobile phone and sends it to the Lost&Found office, but I insisted a lot :-)
I guess that I managed to scare the guy who initially found it and bored the (kind) guy in the parking cabin.
So if you want to make sure that your chances are high to recover your mobile phone if you lose it by chance, do not forget to select a song that clearly identifies your phone. A hard rock or metal tune is welcome, so the one who finds it guesses that you are true heavy metal warrior and thinks twice before "stealing" your gadget.
Thanks, In Extremo! I owe you one.
I guess that I managed to scare the guy who initially found it and bored the (kind) guy in the parking cabin.
So if you want to make sure that your chances are high to recover your mobile phone if you lose it by chance, do not forget to select a song that clearly identifies your phone. A hard rock or metal tune is welcome, so the one who finds it guesses that you are true heavy metal warrior and thinks twice before "stealing" your gadget.
Thanks, In Extremo! I owe you one.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Still far from mobile web nirvana
I love Opera Mobile on my S60. Its content adaptation and page re-flowing at client side is very good where some other mobile browsers fail. It is even better than marvelous S60 Webkit browser, as it is a great memory consumer and crashes sometimes with certain pages containing lots of JavaScript.
About memory consume by Webkit browser, it is one of the main reasons for me to want Nokia N95 (160 MBs of internal memory vs N80's 40 MBs).
Well, the fact is that the trial period of Opera Mobile expired and I decided to buy it (I think it is worth 19 €). And I decided to do it from my N80. I went to http://www.opera.com/buy via S60 browser and problems started when I had to input data into a paginated form. No problem in 1st page, as I entered my personal details. But as I had to enter the EMEI of my phone (in the 2nd page of that form), I went into troubles. My phone tells me the EMEI, Opera Mobile tells me the EMEI but... no option to copy it. It is shown on the screen but I have to remember it or write it anywhere else.
Besides, S60 deletes partially filled inputs (at least in Opera Buy page) if I change the focus to another application (to see the damn number). And in one of my attempts, S60 Browser crashed. Luckily, Opera had already sent me an email confirming that they have all my personal info (as entered in the 1st page of the purchase form) and gave me an email and password.
Once again, email and password, when read through the mail client integrated in S60 3rd edition phones, cannot be copied and pasted (so we are again with the same problem).
At last, I will finish the purchase in a desktop browser. We are still far far away from mobile web nirvana.
About memory consume by Webkit browser, it is one of the main reasons for me to want Nokia N95 (160 MBs of internal memory vs N80's 40 MBs).
Well, the fact is that the trial period of Opera Mobile expired and I decided to buy it (I think it is worth 19 €). And I decided to do it from my N80. I went to http://www.opera.com/buy via S60 browser and problems started when I had to input data into a paginated form. No problem in 1st page, as I entered my personal details. But as I had to enter the EMEI of my phone (in the 2nd page of that form), I went into troubles. My phone tells me the EMEI, Opera Mobile tells me the EMEI but... no option to copy it. It is shown on the screen but I have to remember it or write it anywhere else.
Besides, S60 deletes partially filled inputs (at least in Opera Buy page) if I change the focus to another application (to see the damn number). And in one of my attempts, S60 Browser crashed. Luckily, Opera had already sent me an email confirming that they have all my personal info (as entered in the 1st page of the purchase form) and gave me an email and password.
Once again, email and password, when read through the mail client integrated in S60 3rd edition phones, cannot be copied and pasted (so we are again with the same problem).
At last, I will finish the purchase in a desktop browser. We are still far far away from mobile web nirvana.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
More on VoIP in Nokia N80
Some months ago I talked about VoIP in Nokia N80, the mobile pet with me for the last eight months.
Yesterday, I read in the RSS feed of Nokia Beta Labs the announcement of a new beta tool: Gizmo for S60.
I was a little bit surprised, because it seemed to be the release 1.21 of that tool, and I remember I had tried a version 3.xx. Some other stuff that confused me in Beta Labs announcement of this tool was the requirement to install Nokia Internet Services Support Package before Gizmo rel. 1.21 (it wasn't needed when using the .sis file downloadable in Gizmo Project official web page).
But they talked about IM messaging and online presence detection and it itched my curiosity. So I had to scratch it :-)
Besides, I had read somewhere that voipcheap.com (the SIP-based VoIP that won my personal contest) needs 80 Kbps while Gizmo (the other contestant) only needs 20 Kbps.
After installing both .sis files, Gizmo integrated itself with the Contacts tool of S60 3rd Edition. A new tab is displayed between Contacts and Groups called... Gizmo :-) There you can go online and all your Gizmo contacts will be displayed, showing their status. You can phone them to mobile phone, to landline phone or to SIP phone, and even chat with them. Great!
The decision I took in the past in favour of vopipcheap.com was based on two features: firstly, the chance to call for free to landlines of several countries worldwide, and transparent integration with S60 3rd Edition VoIP/SIP engine.
Being online in Gizmo and accessing the Internet Phone dialog in S60 3rd Edition OS kept on telling me that I was already connected to Gizmo and then the dialog closed. I do not know if I had tried this when I chose voipcheap (I could swear I did and it did not work but my lack of memory is legendary), but this time I tried to connect using Internet Phone dialog before using the Gizmo interface in contacts and it asked me to go online in voipcheap.com. Nice, this time Gizmo did not overwrite my preference of having the other VoIP service as default.
But the big surprise, after a successful connection to voipcheap.com was Internet Phone asking me to connect to Gizmo too. This is the best configuration, so you can be connected to as many SIP-based VoIP services as you want at the same time using the same OS-integrated interface.
Then I went to Gizmo tab in Contacts and I was online and seing my Gizmo contacts' state.
It was all OK except for:
- I tried to call my wife from my N80 via WiFi to our PC and sound quality was poor. She said she could hear me perfectly but I heard a lot of noise (and we repeted the experience three times). So I still have to check that great performance of Gizmo with such a few bandwidth.
- I tried to call my landline phone and a nice voice told me that I had no call-out credits. Gizmo web site says that you can call other contacts' phones for free (see instructions in their web page). My wife is a contact and our phone is shown in her profile so... I do not understand what happens. voipcheap.com is greater about this. You have a list of countries with free calls (and some of them include mobile phones, not only landlines). I guess it has to see somehow with the fact that I am not an "active user". I will have to check what that is (I thought it was achieved by following the 3 steps in Gizmo web page, but it seems to be bot enough). I will take a deep look on this.
Yesterday, I read in the RSS feed of Nokia Beta Labs the announcement of a new beta tool: Gizmo for S60.
I was a little bit surprised, because it seemed to be the release 1.21 of that tool, and I remember I had tried a version 3.xx. Some other stuff that confused me in Beta Labs announcement of this tool was the requirement to install Nokia Internet Services Support Package before Gizmo rel. 1.21 (it wasn't needed when using the .sis file downloadable in Gizmo Project official web page).
But they talked about IM messaging and online presence detection and it itched my curiosity. So I had to scratch it :-)
Besides, I had read somewhere that voipcheap.com (the SIP-based VoIP that won my personal contest) needs 80 Kbps while Gizmo (the other contestant) only needs 20 Kbps.
After installing both .sis files, Gizmo integrated itself with the Contacts tool of S60 3rd Edition. A new tab is displayed between Contacts and Groups called... Gizmo :-) There you can go online and all your Gizmo contacts will be displayed, showing their status. You can phone them to mobile phone, to landline phone or to SIP phone, and even chat with them. Great!
The decision I took in the past in favour of vopipcheap.com was based on two features: firstly, the chance to call for free to landlines of several countries worldwide, and transparent integration with S60 3rd Edition VoIP/SIP engine.
Being online in Gizmo and accessing the Internet Phone dialog in S60 3rd Edition OS kept on telling me that I was already connected to Gizmo and then the dialog closed. I do not know if I had tried this when I chose voipcheap (I could swear I did and it did not work but my lack of memory is legendary), but this time I tried to connect using Internet Phone dialog before using the Gizmo interface in contacts and it asked me to go online in voipcheap.com. Nice, this time Gizmo did not overwrite my preference of having the other VoIP service as default.
But the big surprise, after a successful connection to voipcheap.com was Internet Phone asking me to connect to Gizmo too. This is the best configuration, so you can be connected to as many SIP-based VoIP services as you want at the same time using the same OS-integrated interface.
Then I went to Gizmo tab in Contacts and I was online and seing my Gizmo contacts' state.
It was all OK except for:
- I tried to call my wife from my N80 via WiFi to our PC and sound quality was poor. She said she could hear me perfectly but I heard a lot of noise (and we repeted the experience three times). So I still have to check that great performance of Gizmo with such a few bandwidth.
- I tried to call my landline phone and a nice voice told me that I had no call-out credits. Gizmo web site says that you can call other contacts' phones for free (see instructions in their web page). My wife is a contact and our phone is shown in her profile so... I do not understand what happens. voipcheap.com is greater about this. You have a list of countries with free calls (and some of them include mobile phones, not only landlines). I guess it has to see somehow with the fact that I am not an "active user". I will have to check what that is (I thought it was achieved by following the 3 steps in Gizmo web page, but it seems to be bot enough). I will take a deep look on this.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
VoIP
One of the things that I like the most in N80 Internet Edition is its VoIP capabilities. I first started using the Gizmo client available in Nokia catalogs for free, but it does not make friend with the configuration of additional VoIP services. So I uninstalled it and manually configured voipcheap.com. It is really great to call Spanish landlines (and a lot of fixed phone lines in the world) for free or send SMS for 0.05 € to any place in the world.
It is much much cheaper than Skype (and it is based on SIP) so... I do love it! For some mobile phones in Spain, it is even cheaper than regular SMS calling.
Next step: I downloaded FON Wi-Fi client and... :-)
We'll keep reporting.
It is much much cheaper than Skype (and it is based on SIP) so... I do love it! For some mobile phones in Spain, it is even cheaper than regular SMS calling.
Next step: I downloaded FON Wi-Fi client and... :-)
We'll keep reporting.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Unforgivable bug
Some days ago, I closed and opened again S60 3rd edition web browser and it stopped working. I get nothing but a message saying "Web: Already in use" since then. It seems to be a problem quite often found in this browser. The only fix found seems to be a "hard reset" of the phone or a firmware upgrade. I hope Nokia works on it in future versions of the browser.
As I won't update firmware until I manage to force a version including support for Spanish language (see this post to know why), I cannot fix it with the latter option. And, dear friends at Nokia, I cannot hard reset everytime that an application gets corrupted.
I will try to seek for any file playing the role of a lock by using Y-Browser or SExplorer. Anyway, I do not feel confident to succeed, taking into account that no one else seems to get it working again but by using any of both previously commented methods.
As I won't update firmware until I manage to force a version including support for Spanish language (see this post to know why), I cannot fix it with the latter option. And, dear friends at Nokia, I cannot hard reset everytime that an application gets corrupted.
I will try to seek for any file playing the role of a lock by using Y-Browser or SExplorer. Anyway, I do not feel confident to succeed, taking into account that no one else seems to get it working again but by using any of both previously commented methods.
Friday, October 13, 2006
Tuning your phone memory
As I said in the previous post, reinstalling software to fix some secondary effects in my N80 has led me to write about configuration of memory in mobile phones.
The N80 with its firmware v4 had a cool application called Mobile Search from Nokia. The problem is that it is installed in the memory on-board the phone. This is normal as it is a pre-installed application, although I do not like all the local plug-ins (english, french, norwegian and almost all of the languages supported by the phone - excluding spanish, as mentioned in my previous post).
Mobile search takes 1 MB of memory, plus 228 KB of global plugin and about 40 KB per local plug-in. Local plug-ins are in charge of the burden of searching in local context (looking for spanish companies, for instance).
Taking into account that the phone has 40 MBs on-board and comes with a 128 MBs miniSD card, we should have the option to move applications to our memory card. What I did is uninstall all the plug-ins and then the app itself. I installed it from the web page (directly via WiFi, thanks to the Safari-based browser) right to my memory card, including the spanish local plug-in. The 1 MB that phone memory gained lets me now open some complex web pages that made the phone display an Out-Of-Memory message.
Unluckily, this can be done with Mobile Search as it is downloadable free software. I wish I could move to my 1 GB miniSD stuff like QuickOffice (2 MBs) and Adobe Reader LE (2 more MBs). Can't uninstall and reinstall as they are not freely downloadable, AFAIK.
This should be a must for next S60 (3rd ed FP2?) or Symbian (9.4?) version.
The N80 with its firmware v4 had a cool application called Mobile Search from Nokia. The problem is that it is installed in the memory on-board the phone. This is normal as it is a pre-installed application, although I do not like all the local plug-ins (english, french, norwegian and almost all of the languages supported by the phone - excluding spanish, as mentioned in my previous post).
Mobile search takes 1 MB of memory, plus 228 KB of global plugin and about 40 KB per local plug-in. Local plug-ins are in charge of the burden of searching in local context (looking for spanish companies, for instance).
Taking into account that the phone has 40 MBs on-board and comes with a 128 MBs miniSD card, we should have the option to move applications to our memory card. What I did is uninstall all the plug-ins and then the app itself. I installed it from the web page (directly via WiFi, thanks to the Safari-based browser) right to my memory card, including the spanish local plug-in. The 1 MB that phone memory gained lets me now open some complex web pages that made the phone display an Out-Of-Memory message.
Unluckily, this can be done with Mobile Search as it is downloadable free software. I wish I could move to my 1 GB miniSD stuff like QuickOffice (2 MBs) and Adobe Reader LE (2 more MBs). Can't uninstall and reinstall as they are not freely downloadable, AFAIK.
This should be a must for next S60 (3rd ed FP2?) or Symbian (9.4?) version.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Updating Nokia N80's firmware
Yesterday, I went to a Nokia support centre here in Gijon. I asked for a firmware upgrade. The person in charge told me that if I had noticed any important bug they would upgrade it for free. But if I was just looking for new functionalities, then I'd have to pay 18€. Nice try. It sounded annoying to me: I have not seen any firmware in any device in which the number of bug corrections is much much higher than the number of new functionalities (if there are any).
The real thing is that my N80 was behaving OK but the list of bug corrections is large and many of them happen in scenarios that I have not experienced yet (but that I will, in a near future). Besides, my v3 firmware does not support FOTA and v4 does.
I would only have to print the list of bug corrections and justify a free update. But today is holiday in Spain so I started to search for information about people talking about the 18€ thing in this country.
What I finally found was even better: a page in Nokia's UK site for the download of a tool called Nokia Software Updater. It was only available in English version, but my phone was multilingual and came with English by default (which I quickly shifted to Spanish).
I downloaded it, plugged my N80 to the laptop and upgraded the firmware. Of course, I lost PIM information but it was obvious that this would happen and it is nothing that a new synchronisation would not fix. Also, some software installed in the mempry of the phone disappeared (obvious too) and most of the software installed in the miniSD was there. In fact, all of the Symbian applications were there and working. Only Java apps stopped working: they were shown in "My Own" folder but nothing happenned by clicking their icons. Re-installation fixed it all.
The main problem is the loss of Spanish language: English, Français, Deutsch, Túrkçe, Italiano and Nederlands. Still wondering why Spanish is not in the list, but I think I will be able to deal with it :-)
Installing and re-installing applications has made me think about some decisions that phone manufacturers take on our behalf and that I would like to get changed. In my next post :-)
The real thing is that my N80 was behaving OK but the list of bug corrections is large and many of them happen in scenarios that I have not experienced yet (but that I will, in a near future). Besides, my v3 firmware does not support FOTA and v4 does.
I would only have to print the list of bug corrections and justify a free update. But today is holiday in Spain so I started to search for information about people talking about the 18€ thing in this country.
What I finally found was even better: a page in Nokia's UK site for the download of a tool called Nokia Software Updater. It was only available in English version, but my phone was multilingual and came with English by default (which I quickly shifted to Spanish).
I downloaded it, plugged my N80 to the laptop and upgraded the firmware. Of course, I lost PIM information but it was obvious that this would happen and it is nothing that a new synchronisation would not fix. Also, some software installed in the mempry of the phone disappeared (obvious too) and most of the software installed in the miniSD was there. In fact, all of the Symbian applications were there and working. Only Java apps stopped working: they were shown in "My Own" folder but nothing happenned by clicking their icons. Re-installation fixed it all.
The main problem is the loss of Spanish language: English, Français, Deutsch, Túrkçe, Italiano and Nederlands. Still wondering why Spanish is not in the list, but I think I will be able to deal with it :-)
Installing and re-installing applications has made me think about some decisions that phone manufacturers take on our behalf and that I would like to get changed. In my next post :-)
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Nokia N80
I bought a Nokia N80 two weeks ago. It was a great offer (I consider) to get one by only 379€. The rest of the offers I could find in the internet were about 120€ more expensive. By the way, I'd swear I had post that I was going to buy it the day before
I struggled with hundreds of people in MediaMarkt to get it, but the post does not appear. Maybe I saved it as a draft and drafts expire in Blogger :-?
I am quite happy with it, although I think it was a sales strategy to run out of stocks and put the new Nokia N80 Internet Edition into the market. The basic differences among this new one and my N80 are some software included (Mobile Search, Flickr client, Adobe Reader and maybe something else I cannot remember now) and firmware version (mine is a 3.0617.0.6 and N80 Internet Edition will bring a version 4.xx firmware).
The new firmware will bring FOTA (Firmware Over the Air) so users will be able to update their phones more easily. For my N80, I will have to take it to a support center so they flash it for me and then I got FOTA enabled. It is said that certain versions of these old N80 won't support (I hope that's not true or at least it is not my phone's problem). Anyway, I also read that it is FOTA push what won't work on all older N80s and I hope this is what really happens.
Well, I do not care very much about the software included in the Internet Edition: Mobile Search can be easily installed from http://mobilesearch.nokia.com, Shozu is a great alternative for the Flickr client since it supports S60 3rd Edition (Symbian OS flavor installed in this mobile phone) and PDF+ will soon be a good alternative for the official Adobe Reader (although it is beta now).
By now, I got Shozu in my phone, created a Flickr account and some pics uploaded. I will keep on reporting about my mobile world :-)
I struggled with hundreds of people in MediaMarkt to get it, but the post does not appear. Maybe I saved it as a draft and drafts expire in Blogger :-?
I am quite happy with it, although I think it was a sales strategy to run out of stocks and put the new Nokia N80 Internet Edition into the market. The basic differences among this new one and my N80 are some software included (Mobile Search, Flickr client, Adobe Reader and maybe something else I cannot remember now) and firmware version (mine is a 3.0617.0.6 and N80 Internet Edition will bring a version 4.xx firmware).
The new firmware will bring FOTA (Firmware Over the Air) so users will be able to update their phones more easily. For my N80, I will have to take it to a support center so they flash it for me and then I got FOTA enabled. It is said that certain versions of these old N80 won't support (I hope that's not true or at least it is not my phone's problem). Anyway, I also read that it is FOTA push what won't work on all older N80s and I hope this is what really happens.
Well, I do not care very much about the software included in the Internet Edition: Mobile Search can be easily installed from http://mobilesearch.nokia.com, Shozu is a great alternative for the Flickr client since it supports S60 3rd Edition (Symbian OS flavor installed in this mobile phone) and PDF+ will soon be a good alternative for the official Adobe Reader (although it is beta now).
By now, I got Shozu in my phone, created a Flickr account and some pics uploaded. I will keep on reporting about my mobile world :-)
Friday, September 08, 2006
Nokia N92 and DVB-H
As I had already commented, I was going to test a Nokia N92-1 Prototype. Nokia N92 is not out on the market at the moment of writing this entry but there are some devices out there for testing purposes.
It has S60 3rd edition platform on Symbian 9.1 running on it. The operating system is really buggy. I thought it was due to the prototype thing but a workmate has just acquired a Nokia N80 and it is the same for him: bugs in WiFi connection, also in Bluetooth when trying to use some GPS which give no problems with many other phones and PDAs, browser saying it has run out of memory and not any other software is running.
On the other hand, N92 (and N80) both support FOTA (Firmware Over The Air). I checked this feature on the N92 but no new firmware around. When I commented this to my workmate, he said that there is no FOTA option available in the N80. Later, after some search, he told me that he should send his phone to the support service so they can flash it there. It looks like the new firmware will have FOTA enabled.
The keys feel great, the screen looks incredibly (the best one I have ever seen on a mobile phone) and the camera shoots good pics and records fairly good videos. For me, no phone is good at pics and videos no matter what the megapixels (a matter of lens quality and size). But it is the best in that too in the mobile phones I could ever experience.
What about DVB-H? Abertis Telecom is broadcasting some spanish channels from one single point of Gijon. That makes it hard to receive the signal with enough power in some parts of the city. Here sitting on the sofa, I get a signal with 40% of power.
TV looks great on the phone, except for some lags once in a while. I guessed it is due to the power of the signal and the decoding chip having problems with it. But being 15 metres close to the antenna broadcasting the signal shows that those lags happen from time to time (including short periods of signal loss).
It is a pity that they are transmitting EPG (Electronic Program Guide) just saying the name of the channel and that it is being broadcasted from 3 am to 3 am. A proper EPG would have let me experience some features of the N92 like turning on RealPlayer to watch a given program selected by the user or record it in the background as I normally use the mobile phone (while being idle, for example).
I have enjoyed the experience a lot and I guess the problems will be fixed if they decide to bring DVB-H out to the market. One point that worries me about the success of this technology is signal coverage. DVB-T is mostly useful for people travelling (for example, by train) and if I do not have it available all the way through, it is no fun at all.
About the phone and the software platform, I am a Symbian enthusiast and I have just read an offer of N80 phones by just 349€ (pretty cheap here in Spain... how much is it abroad? comments expected) so I am going for it tomorrow. Only 200 units available so I hope I do not have to use my Jiu-Jitsu or Aikido. Especially, because I have never practiced either of them ;-)
It has S60 3rd edition platform on Symbian 9.1 running on it. The operating system is really buggy. I thought it was due to the prototype thing but a workmate has just acquired a Nokia N80 and it is the same for him: bugs in WiFi connection, also in Bluetooth when trying to use some GPS which give no problems with many other phones and PDAs, browser saying it has run out of memory and not any other software is running.
On the other hand, N92 (and N80) both support FOTA (Firmware Over The Air). I checked this feature on the N92 but no new firmware around. When I commented this to my workmate, he said that there is no FOTA option available in the N80. Later, after some search, he told me that he should send his phone to the support service so they can flash it there. It looks like the new firmware will have FOTA enabled.
The keys feel great, the screen looks incredibly (the best one I have ever seen on a mobile phone) and the camera shoots good pics and records fairly good videos. For me, no phone is good at pics and videos no matter what the megapixels (a matter of lens quality and size). But it is the best in that too in the mobile phones I could ever experience.
What about DVB-H? Abertis Telecom is broadcasting some spanish channels from one single point of Gijon. That makes it hard to receive the signal with enough power in some parts of the city. Here sitting on the sofa, I get a signal with 40% of power.
TV looks great on the phone, except for some lags once in a while. I guessed it is due to the power of the signal and the decoding chip having problems with it. But being 15 metres close to the antenna broadcasting the signal shows that those lags happen from time to time (including short periods of signal loss).
It is a pity that they are transmitting EPG (Electronic Program Guide) just saying the name of the channel and that it is being broadcasted from 3 am to 3 am. A proper EPG would have let me experience some features of the N92 like turning on RealPlayer to watch a given program selected by the user or record it in the background as I normally use the mobile phone (while being idle, for example).
I have enjoyed the experience a lot and I guess the problems will be fixed if they decide to bring DVB-H out to the market. One point that worries me about the success of this technology is signal coverage. DVB-T is mostly useful for people travelling (for example, by train) and if I do not have it available all the way through, it is no fun at all.
About the phone and the software platform, I am a Symbian enthusiast and I have just read an offer of N80 phones by just 349€ (pretty cheap here in Spain... how much is it abroad? comments expected) so I am going for it tomorrow. Only 200 units available so I hope I do not have to use my Jiu-Jitsu or Aikido. Especially, because I have never practiced either of them ;-)
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