Category: apps

Nokia launches Ovi Store with operator billing on Reliance

Nokia has launched it’s Ovi Application Store on Reliance’s Network with operator billing. This is the first time Ovi Store is getting such a payment option in India.

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The Magic Pill For Connectivity Problems On Symbian: NetQin

Connectivity settings on Symbian have been Achilles heel for the platform ever since EDGE and then 3G and WiFi were introduced to mobile phones. At first, it was each app that wanted to connect and kept nagging you with a popup. Then Destinations were ushered in S60 3rd FP2, making it possible to seamlessly switch between a data connection and WiFi, but you still had to approve connectivity and pick a Destination for each app. Then, on Symbian^1 and 3, something awesome was introduced to help with that: a default “Internet” destination and connections could happen without your approval. Except, like I said in my N8 review, it ended up being an absolute nightmare.

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iPhone Game Review – Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus

I recently had the chance to try out Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus thanks to Gameloft Portugal and I thought it would be great to share my thoughts on what is one of my favourite games on iOS.The graphics are amazing. So amazing that you wonder if you are really playing this on a phone. Especially if you’re playing this on an iPhone 4, it’s particularly striking thanks to the Retina Display. Continue reading “iPhone Game Review – Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus”

Angry Birds Seasons for iPhone and iPad Hits App Store

angrybirds seasons
Rovio Angry Birds is a very famous game for iPhone, Android and Symbian smartphones. Rovio announced earlier that they are building a new Angry Birds  Seasons edition. Yesterday the angry birds edition for Android went live. Today we just checked the appstore and found that the iPhone version is live too. Continue reading “Angry Birds Seasons for iPhone and iPad Hits App Store”

Download Opera Mobile 10.1 for Symbian with improved Javascript performance , Geolocation

Opera Software has released the final build of the Opera mobile 10.1 Browser for Symbian / S60 smartphones. The app was available earlier as a Beta. The final version packs improved javascript performance and also introduces Geo-location for the first time in the mobile browser from the Norwegian company. The company said that Opera Mobile 10.1 is 9 times faster than Opera Mobile 10.0 due to the optimization of the Javascript engine. Continue reading “Download Opera Mobile 10.1 for Symbian with improved Javascript performance , Geolocation”

FindMyiPhone is now free for iPad , iPhone 4 and iPod Touch 4G users on iOS 4.2

Till today the Find My iPhone service was available only to users who subscribed to MobileMe which is a paid service from Apple. With the iOS 4.2 update rolling out today , Apple has decided to offer the Find My iPhone service for free to iPad, iPhone 4 and iPod Touch 4G users. Continue reading “FindMyiPhone is now free for iPad , iPhone 4 and iPod Touch 4G users on iOS 4.2”

Chrome to WP7 hitting Windows Market Place soon

If you are an Android phone owner, and you are also using Chrome as your default browser, then you may know about the Android app known as Chrome to Android. Now the app is also available in Windows Marketplace, and you can install the app in your WP7 phone, credit goes to David Dave Amenta who created this awesome application that every WP7 user is waiting for. Continue reading “Chrome to WP7 hitting Windows Market Place soon”

Tip: Quickly Toggle Bluetooth And Screen Rotation On Symbian^3

One of the things that boggles my mind beyond belief on Symbian^3 is that there still is no way to quickly toggle Data, Wifi, Bluetooth and the automatic screen Rotation. Sure you can click next to the battery, then on the connection symbol, then choose what method you want, then turn it on/off, but does it have to be this ridiculously tedious? Seriously, would it have been THAT difficult to build a widget with 4 icons that allows you with a single press on each of them to toggle these 4 options on/off? SPB Software includes a connection widget in their SPB Mobile Shell so it sure must be easy for Symbian to do it themselves, ‘ight?

Anyway, ranting aside, we must be thankful to independent developers who, like with MusicBar, fill the void on Symbian. Two nice toggles have lately appeared with compatibility for Symbian^3, one for Bluetooth and the other for the screen rotation, and are both incredible handy additions to the Symbian^3 homescreen shortcuts widget.

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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.

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.

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Need For Speed coming to Windows Phone 7 + Screenshots , Video

Need for Speed is one of the most popular of racing games in the world, and they entered mobile phone gaming platform a few years ago. Need for Speed or NFS is available on other platforms and Now EA Mobile is planning to launch the game for Windows Phone 7 as they already shared some screenshots on their Twitter Continue reading “Need For Speed coming to Windows Phone 7 + Screenshots , Video”

Tip: Control Your Music From Anywhere On The Nokia N8 In One Click

If you’ve ever used your Symbian Nokia touchscreen device to listen to music, like the N8 for example, you might have noticed that there is no easy way to control music playback from other applications. You could plug in the earphones to use the included remote control for that, but if you’re not carrying them around, you have to stop what you’re doing, use the task switcher, scroll to wherever the Music Player icon is, click it, pray that the last time you had it open you were on the Now Playing screen then Pause/FF/RW. Or you could stop what you’re doing, hit the Menu button to go back to the homescreen, pray that the last time you were there, it was on the homescreen that has the Music widget (or install that widget on all 3 homescreens), and then control your music.

Not. Fun.

Well, no one is the Symbian Foundation apparently thought of simplifying the process (how about integrating a Play/RW/FF bar in the Options menu that pops up when you press the Power button for example?) but luckily, we got cool developers who know exactly what the world needs. Enter Music Bar by Nikolay Usanov-Kornilov (Russian page, English translated version here), an app for S60 5th Edition that also works on the N8.


See the Music Bar controls on top of Gravity?

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Download Opera Mini 5.1 Symbian Edition

Good news for all of you using Opera Mini on your Symbian Phone. Opera has announced a beta version of Opera Mini 5.1 optimized for Symbian smartphones. Till now we were stuck with using the Java based Opera mini even on high-end Symbian phones like the recently launched Nokia N8. One alternative was Opera Mobile which is available for Symbian but many users find Opera Mini faster . Continue reading “Download Opera Mini 5.1 Symbian Edition”