Latest blog entry
Get social with the Nokia 5800.
The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic has changed the way we have our mobile experience. Before, it was just making phone calls and text messages. Today, it is about being connected 24/7.
These past few years, Social Networking has bitten the world. Everyone has extended his or her life offline to the world online. From simple websites that aim to connect people, now these web 2.0 worlds make more things happen. From sharing of pictures to video to comments and having online meetings, social networking is here to stay as long as people want to be connected with each other.
There is plenty of software out there for the Nokia 5800 phone. You can check some of them at the Ovi Store. Some may not be in Ovi but have individual websites that sell their software. However, not all applications are essential.
I’m going to share to two essential applications that I recommend for Social Networking.
Facebook App
Facebook has overtaken MySpace and Friendster in leaps and bounds. I have been able to connect with a lot of people from long lost relatives to high school and college friends to celebrities. Facebook has a cool application for the Nokia 5800 phone.
The standards apply. You can type in your status using the application. You can check the news feeds or statuses of your network of friends and comment. What I think would be the coolest feature is to upload a photo from your gallery or an instantly taken photo to your Facebook account. Unfortunately, you cannot create a new photo album using this application. But nevertheless, this beats the mobile version anytime.
Gravity
Twitter has revolutionized the way we communicate. With just 140 characters under your arsenal, people have typed in their location, what they are doing or what is on their mind. This is not just happening via desktop computers but via mobile phones. For the Nokia 5800, the best Twitter application would be Gravity. Gravity has a sleek interface and does more than just read tweets. It can post tweets, comment or respond to tweets and search for new friends to follow.
As a bonus, you can add your Facebook account in Gravity so you can update your status as well. And it also displays the statuses of your Facebook network of friends. How cool is that?
Of course, there are other applications out there depending on your need. If you are a MySpace user, there is an application for that. And so do Photobucket and Flickr.
With the great mobile features of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic phone, you are given so much freedom to put the application that you believe you need to gain your very own mobile social networking experience.
iSync-ing your Nokia 5800 is possible.
If you own a Macbook and a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Phone, you should not feel like you are in a dilemma. Your phone can work with your Macbook. You may not have a PC Suite running in Mac OS X. But it does not mean that you cannot make them work together.
If you still want to use Nokia’s PC Suite in your Macbook, you can either install and run Windows using Bootcamp or have Paralles run a virtual desktop of Windows in the Mac OS X environment.
However, why spend money on Windows when you can make your Nokia 5800 work with your Mac.
In the previous post, we talked about connecting your Nokia 5800 phone to your Mac via Bluetooth. Now, how about getting your contacts in sync between your phone and your computer. You thought it wasn’t possible? Oh you of little faith.
First off, you need to make sure your Macbook and Nokia 5800 are connected via Bluetooth. For more details, visit the article entitled “Nokia 5800 and your Macbook: Bluetooth” at http://nokia5800.net/nokia-5800-and-your-macbook/
Once you got that figured out, now we can start with the syncing process.
Mac OS X has an application called iSync which, obviously, syncs your Mac to any Bluetooth device. In this case, it is your Nokia 5800 phone. If you cannot find iSync in the Applications folder, type it in Spotlight. I’m sure you’ll find it.
Then, you will notice the Nokia 5800 icon at the left side of the iSync interface. Click that and it will display certain items that you can configure in your syncing.
Under contacts, you can sync your phone contacts with your Address Book. Also, you can sync your Calendar with Mac OS X’s iCal application (which by the way look so cool).
Once you are done, just click on the Sync Devices icon and you are on your way to sync both your Mac and your Nokia 5800 phone. On your Nokia 5800 phone, it will ask your permission to sync. Just say “YES” if you want to. Tada! You are synced.
I recommend that you sync your Nokia 5800 with your Mac just to be safe. We do suggest you do this just in case your phone goes haywire for some reason. When my Nokia 5800 was in trouble and had to be reformatted, it was a good thing my data was in my Macbook. I paired them, press the sync icon and my dates and contact are back in my phone.
By that way, you can add your contacts and dates using Address Book and iCal respectively and your can send them to your phone via iSync. It is an easier way to bring your appointments and contact persons quickly.
The PC is not just the only way you can sync your Nokia 5800 XpressMusic phone. Your Macbook can, too, connect to your Nokia 5800.
Here at Nokia 5800 Blog we have been showing you some accessories that are tremendously useful for your 5800, after selling more than 1000 screen protectors and now that new phones are coming out which are the accessories that will remain compatible to all? Let’s start with this Car Holder, this one fits perfectly on the Nokia 5800, this is indeed an excellent car holder for all phones and GPS, but fits better on the 5800.
Do you remember when maps were big papers which occupied the whole car dashboard? And what about that time when we had to buy an actual GPS device and attach it to the car? Well those times are gone, thanks to our exclusive Car Holder. Yes, we are selling this car holder that will make your driving safer and will allow you to gain some time by driving at the same time you are using your phone…on a call…or with GPS!
For only 9.99€ including worldwide FREE SHIPPING you can get yourself one of these fine car holders which securely holds your phone to the car windshield. If you need to know how much it costs in YOUR CURRENCY, post a comment below. Free shipping applies to every single country without exception!
Nokia 5800 works with Macbooks
Not everyone who owns Nokia 5800 XpressMusic phone has a PC. There are some who use a Mac. Of course, it also goes that those who own an iPhone do not necessarily have a Macbook but use a PC.
Apple continues to increase its market share with its newest and slickest desktop (i.e. iMacs) and mobile computers (i.e. macbook and macbook pros) and their very stable Mac OS X operating software. And their presence is rapidly increasing in spite of the hefty price tag that comes with a unit. Nevertheless, their presence should not be denied.
Many Nokia users do have Macbooks. Unfortunately, Nokia has not release a Mac version of their proprietary software called PC Suite, which will enable your PC computer to access your phone, and do all sorts of things such as send text messages, edit your contacts and upload your music.
On a Mac, you can use PC Suite if you either boot up in Windows (Yes. You can run Windows on a Mac) or use a virtual software such as Parallels to run Windows while in a Mac OS X environment.
Even though you do not have a PC Suite running in your Mac, this does not mean you cannot do anything with your Nokia 5800. You can use your Mac with your Nokia 5800 phone.
Connecting to your phone
Though you may not be able to use the USB cable that comes with your Nokia 5800 phone, you can still use the Bluetooth device that is built-in the phone with your Macbook. To me, this is much more beneficial since you do not have to worry about cables or drivers. Bluetooth is pretty much straight forward and can easily connect to any Bluetooth enabled device. Good thing that Mac comes with Bluetooth right off the box.
You can use the built-in Bluetooth device in your Macbook to connect wirelessly to your Nokia 5800 phone. All you need to do is turn on the Bluetooth from your taskbar or from the System Preferences. Also activate your Nokia 5800 phone’s Bluetooth. Make sure you set it to “Discoverable” mode or else your Mac won’t find it.
Then, choose “Set-up Bluetooth device” from your Macbook and follow the wizard. There will be a special selection “Mobile Phone” that you can choose in the selection. Once you are able to detect the phone with your Macbook, then you can begin doing things with it.
For example, you can send files such as photos, notes and pictures to your Nokia 5800 and vice versa. Also, you can pair your Mac to your Nokia 5800 and access either the phone’s memory or the SD card. From here, you can copy files from the phone to your Mac and vice versa. This is perfect to transfer mp3 and movie files to your phone.
Mobile Codes are not anything new but still there is a large Nokia 5800 audience who may not be familiar with it. As per Nokia – “'Mobile codes' are codes in the same way as ordinary barcodes are, but their matrix structure can hold more information. The codes are also mobile in the sense that you can use the camera on your mobile device to scan and decode them.”
What you can do with a Mobile Code?
As per the definition above, a Mobile Code stores much more info than a regular bar code. Hence, you can use it to store your address and other important information. You can even use it as your business card. You can store upto 60 letter text as a mobile code and other links to websites. You can even publish it on your facebook profile, send as an MMS, print on your T-shirt.
Pre-requisites :-
There is nothing much really techie that you need. You just need a web browser to access the Mobile Codes website and the a decoder application installed on your phone which is available freely from a number of publishers. Yes, it comes free.
Visit http://www.i-nigma.mobi on your mobile handset to download the mobilecode reader.
Keep your Nokia 5800 in great shape. Update.
With all the applications installed in your Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Phone, it would be natural for you to get so pre-occupied. Sometimes, the developers of these applications roll out updates and bug fixes without even tell you. You would only know either your read it in a blog page just like what you are doing now or you heard it from a tech geek friend.
Your Nokia 5800 XpressMusic has a built-in updater that can check the applications that need updating. This feature is called the Applications Update.
This little known feature can easily be forgotten but it does serve its purpose well. This often forgettable feature will make life easier for you with a few simple taps on the screen.
First, you need to find it. The icon is located inside the Applications folder of your Nokia 5800 XpressMusic phone. When you choose it, the application starts refreshing the list of programs that need to be updated. Of course, to do this, your phone needs to be connected to the Internet via WI-FI or via your cellular network over-the-air Internet. Application Update will connect to the individual servers of these programs to check if they have any available updates or not. If there are, then it will all list on the display.
At the left side of the names of the application is a tick box. Check if you want to download the updates or uncheck if you just want it the way it is. When you are done with your selection, you can now start the update.
Now, depending on your applications and Internet connection, the time will vary. Nevertheless, your applications will be updated in no time. Maybe have some coffee or something.
When it is done, it might ask you to restart your phone just so that it can really implement the upgrade. Do this if only asked.
Just to be sure, you can run the Application Update again and check if there are updates left to be downloaded. We suggest you do this every week to check if some programs get a boost or bug fix from the developers.
Check out the previous updates.
If you want to know the previous updates, this little application has a log. Access it using the View Update History.
Sometimes, it is not just through the built-in Nokia Applications Update application that software updates their programs. Sometimes, when you run an individual application, it checks any updates for you. However, it should not stop you from making sure you have updated programs by checking them using the Applications Update.
We suggest that you make it part of your weekly Nokia 5800 phone diagnostics and check-up. This way, you can keep your phone in tip top shape.
Nokia took over Trolltech ASA in 2008 and renamed it to Qt Development Frameworks. We already know about Java which enables applications to run platform independent. Qt is a similar cross platform software. Nokia is set to target 80 million devices with Nokia Qt 4.6.0. This new framework for Symbian devices will provide better UI designs and applications.
To give the Nokia Symbian users a preview of what Qt is capable of, they have released a demo app for Nokia S60 5th Edition device. You can download the same here. The demo application is called Fluidlauncher. It demonstrates the kinetic scrolling and drill down features among other spectacular features.
Happy Five Months Old
Did you know that the Ovi Store has turned five months old?
The Ovi Store is Nokia’s version of Apple’s Apps Store, which contains a wide array of applications that are either free, free to try and buy. Not only does it showcase applications made for the different Nokia handsets but also has different items such as video and audio podcasts.
The Ovi store was launched in May 2009 with high anticipation and expectations from the Nokia users worldwide. Although it had some bumps and birth pains, it has slowly overcome the first few month jitters but not entirely perfect.
According to Mobileperry.com, Bill Perry, Sr. Services Marketing Manager for Forum Nokia based in California and is leading Nokia's global efforts to support developers for Ovi Store, explains the highlights of the past five months since the launch of the Ovi Store.
- The Ovi Store is now available on over 100 different Nokia devices (60+ Symbian S60 devices).
- There are about 180 countries that have active users on the Ovi Store. There are developers from 65 countries who are distributing content at the Ovi Store to around the world.
- There are eight countries today that have local content, local language support and mobile billing namely UK, Spain, France, Germany, Singapore, Australia, Italy and Russia. It is hoped that by the end of the first quarter of year 2010, there will be more than 20 countries involved with the same endeavor.
- The Top 10 Ovi Store Markets by performance in alphabetic order are namely Egypt, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Russia and the United Kingdom. In a related statistic, in almost all of the top 10 Ovi Store countries, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and Nokia N97 are the number one and number two devices for Ovi Store activity and consumer engagement.
- The ability to re-download is now available at the Ovi Store. Also, the built-in search has much improved.
- Soon, the Ovi Store will ship embedded on most new compatible Nokia devices including the Symbian S60 and Series 40 starting fourth quarter of 2009.
- On average, each registered user has downloaded at least eight items from Ovi Store. In October, the number of content items downloaded was over 70% higher than in September.
Not bad for five months of development. Of course, there is so much room for improvement such as the very agonizing way of looking for applications that matter. Unfortunately, the Ovi Store at times becomes a place to download great applications and not-so-great ones too. I have seen worthless applications such as the EA Games application that only redirects you to their website. Who screens these programs anyway? However, business is picking up slowly with the introductions of free-to-try games that come from big time software companies such as Ubisoft’s Assasin’s Creed.
I would like to see more improvements in the Ovi Store. I want more precise categories and more free content. I don’t mind purchasing applications. But please try to screen them to make sure that we don’t just get crummy apps.
Update: Did you know that you can actually install the Ovi Store on the Satio as well? According to the Sony Ericsson Satio blog.
Our friend at MMMOOO just tell me that their star product, MyPhone has updated to v2.40 today, and we are the first site to launch this news as well.
We've introduced MyPhone several times at our blog. In the newest version, MyPhone is not only a simple launcher interface any more, but also a game platform. Two games are from MMMOOO, Memo Deduction and Memo Mosaic are embedded in MyPhone now. You can enjoy both nice functionality and entertainment with the nice app.
The new function speed dial is very easy to use. Just like add an app in MyPhone, you can go to MySettings>MyAPP & Links, replace appname with your friend's name and exename with your friends phone number. Then choose an icon and click Add, you will find the speed dial icon on your desktop. Next time, you want to call your friend, you can simply click this icon. But it's little confused I can't choose a number from my contacts when I'm trying to add a new speed dial.
We have reviewed one of the games embedded in MyPhone, Memo Deduction. You can find it here. Another game, Memo Mosaic, is the same style of Memo Deduction. But personally, I think it's hard to play. You have to change all the colors into the target one. You can learn more from the below images.
According to our friends at MMMOOO, MyPhone will become a platform in the future which contains both entertainment and functionality, not only a single launcher interface.
You can buy MyPhone v2.40 here, or trial it firstly here.
Upon checking the Nokia Ovi Store, I happen to browse upon another traditional game that has been migrated to the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic phone platform. This is Tic-Tac-Toe. In the past posts, I have reviewed a similar game created by OffScreen Technologies. This time, I will be reviewing not one but two – Tic Tac Toe Relax and Tic Tac Toe Touch.
Tic Tac Toe Touch
Tic Tac Toe Touch is developed by NYP. The premise is basic: win by forming a three connecting pattern of O or X in a three-by-three game area. Each one takes a turn in forming this pattern.
What I like about the Tic Tac Toe Touch is that it has a scoring mechanism. It counts how many times you win. The problem is that you are stuck at being the “X” all thorough out the game. If there is a tie, then the game also counts that too. Other than that, there’s not much bells and whistles in the game. Even the “Game Help” button doesn’t even work.
Then there is the Tic Tac Toe Relax from XIM. Now, the people of XIM know how to reinvent a game. They have put more visual appeal and options in this game than any others I have seen so far in the Nokia 5800 platform.
For instance, you can choose how many players can play in this game. You can play alone against the computer or play against a friend in two-player mode. Then, you get to put your own name in the game. Talk about making the game personal. Afterwards, they will ask you what sign do you want to play – O or X and if you want the other player to go first.
The game is played on the beach, which is what we sometimes do on the sand. You choose the spot and a writing animation happens. It is so cool to see it being written on the sand and not just popping out of nowhere. Once the game is done, the application will display a cute sand drawing depending on the outcome. If you win the round, you get a smiling face. If you lose, then you get a frown. A tie also gets a corresponding picture.
Tic Tac Toe on the sand.
The game does take score so you will know who is leading.
When you want to play another game, water from the sea washes the O’s and X’s away just like in the beach. Now these happen complete with beach sound effects.
Comparing all three tic-tac-toe games, I would say that “Tic Tac Toe Relax” is the winner. Not only does it have cool graphics and sound, but it takes the game to the next level. It makes an old game look interesting and fun again.
You can download “Tic Tac Toe Touch” and “Tic Tac Toe Relax” at the Ovi Store. Just log in using the Ovi Store application in your Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic phone and search for “tic tac toe”. It is better to download it straight to your phone and install it.
