N96 not released! Was it a lie?
May 14, 2008 by Meraj Chhaya
Filed under Blog News, NSeries, Nokia
Not at all… We were really confident that the release date was going to be 7th May. Turns out that we were maybe too optimistic. Truth is that we had a media launch that day, but that was it, not a shipping date or a retail date. Although in this conference with Nokia we managed to dig the true shipping date, or should I say…shipping week?
N96 live pictures and hands-on notes
At the right N96 N81 8GB, and at the left the N81 8GB N96. It’s not just the display that’s bigger, but there are few minor changes in cosmetics on the front. The keys are slightly separated, and the multimedia key is smaller. The navi-wheel is made thinner and higher so that it feels good to the finger.
N96 will ship with Transformers
Today at the launch in South Africa, Nokia stated in a press release that the Nokia N96 will ship to South Africa with the latest Transformers movie embedded in the devices’ memory.
N96 reviewed on video
May 6, 2008 by Meraj Chhaya
Filed under Hands-on, NSeries, Nokia, Review
These keep on coming and we are sure that we will see much more perspectives on the Nokia N96 as it gears up to official retail.
Enjoy the 10 minute video from Cellulare Magazine.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmC1QOZqu3c
Source: TalkAboutNSeries via Symbian-Freak
Nokia N96 reviewed in english!
March 27, 2008 by Meraj Chhaya
Filed under Applications, Hands-on, NSeries, Nokia, Review, S60, Symbian
Eldar has had his mega-review of the upcoming jewel translated, of which in a previous post I chose my favourites shots.
I will present my views on the phone by the weekend, but I leave you with an excerpt of the interesting article:
“
Interestingly, over a year ago Nokia started to enhance its product portfolio not only by varying styles, but also hardware platform underpinning their solutions. The Nokia N95 and its follow-ups built upon the TI OMAP chip, while the N96 takes advantage of STMicroelectronics’s Nomadik. So when comparing these two phones, their similarities don’t go beyond physical aspects, since other things, like functionality and hardware, are quite different.
Is the N96 a mass-market solution? No. Then, is it heavily specialized, aiming at one particular niche? No. It is rather somewhere in between. This phone will see moderate sales, although the fuss around it will easily shadow its modest numbers.”
Source: Mobile-Review
N96 live pics
Eldar from Mobile-Review managed to somehow get a Nokia N96 for a review, and he gladly posted it for us, unfortunately it’s still in Russian, but for now enjoy the pictures.
Widsets 2.0 reviewed and released…
March 18, 2008 by Meraj Chhaya
Filed under Applications, Hands-on, NSeries, Nokia, Review, S60, Symbian
Many websites report that Widsets 2.0 have been released, but is still in beta. Widsets is loved by many of a us for its looks and usability.
The Widsets 2.0 beta site recently went live which means you can now download and test the latest version of the Widsets client. New features include better integration between Widsets and the rest of the device including the ability to initiate a phone call or open a browser window. Widsets is a way to get web content on your mobile via widgetisation. Read on for more.
Widsets has been around since the summer of 2006 (but only really took off last year). It has continued to evolve at an impressive pace and the new version holds a great deal more functionality that the original version. The basic idea is presenting digestible web content optimised for consumption of a mobile device through a ‘dashboard / desktop’ and ‘widget / application’ interface. Widgets are arranged on the dashboard and each widget can be opened to view the contents. The basic Widgets are RSS feeds wrapped in an attractive package, but there are also a number of small games and utility widgets. New to this beta is the Push E-mail widget.
Read more
Apple iPhone vs Nokia N96
March 11, 2008 by Meraj Chhaya
Filed under Applications, GPS, NSeries, Nokia, S60, Symbian
We’d love to say that we’re doing this comparison because Apple have announced a date to release the iPhone in Australia, but as you probably know, Apple is playing its cards very close to its chest. Thankfully, Nokia have been a little more forthcoming, and we’re still expecting a release of the N96 in Q3 of this year.
(click in the image to see in real weight)
Source: CNet Australia
S60 v3 Feature Pack 2 - Tons of photos
March 5, 2008 by Meraj Chhaya
Filed under Applications, Hands-on, NSeries, Nokia, Review, S60, Symbian
These photos have been everyone now, but let me select the ones which I believe bring innovation.
Symbian OS9.3 with S60 v3.1 Feature Pack 2 reviewed
February 29, 2008 by Meraj Chhaya
Filed under Applications, Hands-on, Mobile World Congress, NSeries, Nokia, Review, S60, Symbian
Rafe over at All About Symbian has reviewed the Nokia N78. The important relation between the N96 and N78 is definitely the Operating System.
I decided to provide the readers with some extracts of the software bits contained in his review. A lot of this is ungrouped, and everything is really Rafe’s words:
The usual standard suite of software is present, including the PIM trio of Contacts, Calendar and Messaging. Web, Search and various office applications are all present. Feature Pack 2 brings a number of minor updates to these applications, but it is usability changes to the user interface that get most of the immediate attention.
The most obvious user interface change is the addition of a central softkey. This, for the most part, explicitly labels functionality that was already there, but should make things clearer to new users. Multi-tasking is made more obvious thanks to a redesigned task-switcher and the addition of an ‘Open applications’ item to the top of all Options menus.
Other changes that should be popular among N78 users include support for progressive downloads (start playing media during download), faster loading Java applications, full-screen picture caller ID for incoming calls, the inclusion of Flash Lite 3 (watch YouTube and other Flash videos in the browser), and inclusion of the WRT runtime (widgets).
The N73’s Gallery application was notorious for being sluggish, especially when viewing carousels of photos (thumbnail drawing rarely kept up with on screen movements). The good news is that the carousel has been re-designed from the ground up for the new Photos application and it also benefits from the faster processor of the N78. The end result is much better performance, with little or no lag time when moving around the carousel or viewing photos. A nice touch is the inclusion of an on-screen indication of where you are on a carousel, making it easy to navigate around large groupings of photos. When viewing an individual photo, you are able to add album and tag information, as well as the usual send, print, edit, slideshow and use image commands.
Share online, which allows the upload of media to online services such as Flickr, Share on Ovi, and Print online, which allows you order prints directly from your phone which are subsequently delivered by post, are all available out of the box and serve as ways of getting photos off the phone. Share online is particularly important here, as it integrates with both the Camera and Photos application, allowing for one click uploads to the web. Read more
