Nokia N8 Review Week – Day 1 – Hardware

Hello and welcome everyone to the Nokia N8 Review Week here on Fone Arena! Each day of this week, one of our Team members will cover one area of Nokia’s imaging flaghsip with all the do’s and dont’s. This should make for an exciting week and we’re all looking forward to that! Today is monday, my name is Michael Hell, and i’ll tell you a bit about the Nokia N8 hardware and what you can expect of it. Enjoy reading along and if you have any questions on that matter, leave a comment! Continue reading “Nokia N8 Review Week – Day 1 – Hardware”

NTT DOCOMO to Launch Xi LTE Service in Japan with 75 Mbps download speeds

NTT DOCOMO,  has announced it’s plan to launch of Xi (read “Crossy”), Japan’s first Long Term Evolution (LTE) service on December 24, 2010 with maximum download speeds of 75 Mbps which is 10 times faster than DOCOMO’s current FOMA 3G service.  The service will be initially offered via USB dongles to computers and support for voice calls will come in April 2011 to coincide with the company’s launch of LTE phones. Xi or 4G craziness will land first in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka
Continue reading “NTT DOCOMO to Launch Xi LTE Service in Japan with 75 Mbps download speeds”

MusicBar Updated For Symbian^3, Camera Compatible Now

You might recall a few days ago I talked to you about an application called MusicBar that allowed you to set a specific button on your Symbian device to access music playback controls on your screen, no matter what application you’re using without disrupting your workflow. The main problem with MusicBar was that it had to use the Camera button on the Nokia N8 for example, hence preventing you from autofocusing while taking an image. Well Nicholas Usanov-Kornilov has updated MusicBar to 1.0.1 to fix this issue.

The new version of MusicBar brings a few improvements amongst which the support for the Symbian^3 selection UI. Now, when setting up the application, as previously explained in my first post, the Exceptions menu have been fixed and you can finally scroll down to the middle of the list and tick the Camera. By doing so, you prevent MusicBar from launching only when the Camera is active, that way you can use the Autofocus key to get your music controls in all applications, yet still use that to focus on an image while in the Camera. It’s perfect. Of course, if you want to disable MusicBar in other apps, you can also do so.

If you were previously doubting the usefulness of MusicBar, you shouldn’t even flinch with this update. It makes it a killer tool to add to your N8 or C7 or other Symbian^3 phones without the problem of messing with the camera functions.

You can download the new version from Nicholas’ website (russian page or Google translated page), but remember you have to register to download and you need to sign it before installing it.

Dell Venue Pro hitting Microsoft Store on November 8th, Dell on the 15th

Dell Venue Pro is a unique Windows Phone 7 device , and Dell officially announced it a few days ago during the launch of WP7 in USA. Dell Venue Pro comes with a front-facing QWERTY sliding keyboard, and some other good features. Overall, it’s a good phone. Continue reading “Dell Venue Pro hitting Microsoft Store on November 8th, Dell on the 15th”

HTC Legend getting Froyo in coming weeks

HTC Legend is in the market for a long time now, and it’s a successor to the very popular Android powered phone known as HTC Hero. HTC Legend is a very good handset, but there is only one flaw in it, and it’s the old Android build. Legend owners are dying to see Android 2.2 for their phone, and may be soon they will see it. Continue reading “HTC Legend getting Froyo in coming weeks”

Nokia C7: 2 hidden features revealed!

I’m trialing the brand new Nokia C7 theses days, and gotta say i really like the phone! I won’t spoil too much in detail for now, but i wanna say this: if you’re up for a classy, stylish phone with great material quality, the C7 is something you should definitely have a look at. I met with Christoph from Nokia Austria today for a relaxed tech chat and he showed me two cool features i didn’t know about the Nokia C7 yet! While the first one, is not exactly spectacular, the second one definitely comes in handy!

1. Menu Key Light turns red if you mute a call

Very handy feature for conference calls etc.

2. hidden LED Flashlight feature!!

This. is. awesome.

Nokia N8 + Full USB Keyboard = Awesome wpm !

Just when we were struggling with the Nokia N8 T9 keyboard, we spotted a spare PC USB keyboard lying in our office . We decided to connect the wired keyboard to the N8 using the USB OTG feature. It will certainly boost your wpm score( words per minute) . Michael already showed that you can control the N8 with a Keyboard and Mouse via Bluetooth. But we are kinda surprised that it works over a wired connection too. BTW a USB Mouse works as well .

Check out the video below to see the Keyboard in action . Time to take the N8 to your next presentation.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tljJSqD4cKY

Gallery: Nokia C3 Vs Nokia E71 Vs Nokia E72

Here are some comparison pictures of the Nokia C3 with Nokia’s best QWERTYs like Nokia E71 and Nokia E72. C3 is the first entry level full QWERTY phone from Nokia and it runs on S40 OS while the E71 and E72 run on Symbian

C3 comparison Continue reading “Gallery: Nokia C3 Vs Nokia E71 Vs Nokia E72”

Samsung Galaxy S Certified World’s First WiFi Direct Smartphone

Samsung is having immense success with the Galaxy S. Apart from getting great reviews, great sales etc, it now has another thing to rejoice about. The Galaxy S has been certified as the world’s first Wi-Fi Direct smartphone. Continue reading “Samsung Galaxy S Certified World’s First WiFi Direct Smartphone”

T-Mobile Ships micro-SIMs to Customers Accidentally

Some T-Mobile customers have reported to have received micro-SIM cards instead of the mini-SIMs that they ordered. This has led to more speculations that the iPhone and iPad will be launched on their network. Continue reading “T-Mobile Ships micro-SIMs to Customers Accidentally”

LG Optimus One P500 Unboxing

Here are some unboxing pictures and a video of the LG Optimus One (P500) which landed at the FoneArena HQ earlier this week. LG calls this device a transitional smartphone and it packs a 3.2 inch capacitive touchscreen , is powered by 600MHz processor along with a 1500mAh battery. It sports a 3 MP Camera on the back. Since it runs on FroYo out of the box you can use the phone as a WiFi hotspot.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnENkoak0bU

Continue reading “LG Optimus One P500 Unboxing”

Dell Offering Venue Pro Exchange Programme to Employees

After Microsoft’s move of granting 89000 Windows Phone 7 devices to it’s employees, Dell seems to be following Microsoft’s path with the Venue Pro exchange programme. Continue reading “Dell Offering Venue Pro Exchange Programme to Employees”

Windows Phone 7 Getting Copy/Paste in A Few Weeks

The question as to when Microsoft is planning to implement Copy and Paste to their Windows Phone 7 OS was asked back in October during the launch event. Back then it was stated that it would be arriving on devices in early 2011.

Continue reading “Windows Phone 7 Getting Copy/Paste in A Few Weeks”

Firefox 4 Beta 2 Now Available For Android And Maemo

Firefox 4 Beta 2 has been released and you can download it in 10 languages on your Android or Maemo device. The new version comes with a wide range of fixes and improvements.

Firefox 4 Beta 2 has been released and you can download it in 10 languages on your Android or Maemo device. The new version comes with a wide range of fixes and improvements. The install size of Firefox Beta has been reduced by 60% (from around 43 MB to 17 MB). Continue reading “Firefox 4 Beta 2 Now Available For Android And Maemo”

Nimbuzz Launches v3 For Symbian, Brings Support To Symbian^3

Ever since I got a Nokia N8 unit for trial, I tried installing Nimbuzz on it, and the experience wasn’t quite optimized for the device. I ended up testing a beta version of their v3 which brings full support for Symbian^3 and many other nifty features and improvements. Just today, this new version has been announced and is live on m.nimbuzz.com so I can talk to you about it. First of all, these are the new features highlighted by Nimbuzz for their v3 release:

  • Customizable tabs: select which tabs you want to see and in which order.
  • NimbuzzOut call rates are displayed in real time before placing the call.
  • Recent calls tab: see all your received, missed and outgoing calls.
  • 2 new chat styles: with avatars and without.
  • 3 options to view the Contact List.
  • My info tab: gives you quick access to your profile, NimbuzzOut credits, accounts,  suggested friends and friend invites.
  • Facebook Connect: removes the 400 contacts limit and connectivity issues
  • Sort contacts by status.

One of the first improvements you will notice in this new version is that the screen estate is better used in landscape mode and is suited for Symbian^3 devices.

Continue reading “Nimbuzz Launches v3 For Symbian, Brings Support To Symbian^3”