TechnoBlabber

Nokia released a beta version of the N-Series PC Suite (Download link). To start off, its a whopping 350mb download! I mean c’mon Nokia, not everyone lives in places with high-speed internet access. In many developing countries (which ironically are Nokia’s main markets), downloading 350mb is like a cardinal sin in itself.

UPDATE: I feel like a heel as I post this. Windows Blinds was causing these insane problems as it conflicted with the N-Series PC Suite. Most of the irritating aspects that I’ve mentioned below DON’T EXIST and they will be stricken out . However, I still stand by the last paragraph. A filter to select applications based on your N-series device is a must.

The real fun however, begins when you start the install. You are prompted with an install screen where you MUST use your keyboard to navigate. That’s right, no mouse interaction whatsoever. No Ok, Continue, Cancel buttons. Pathetic!

The N-Series suite in itself is a collection of various common apps such as Maploader, Nokia Music Transfer, Download! and a few others. The installer will install everything into the C:/Program Files/Nokia folder. You cannot customize the install directory unless you choose to install EACH AND EVERY application separately. To make matters worse, the default install directory is shown only after you start your install. If for some reason you wish to cancel the install (you might want to), then good luck trying to do so. The ‘Cancel’ button is absent, thanks to the ‘keyboard only’ navigation and trying to exit the application by pressing the close button – ‘X’ doesn’t work. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to kill the installer. At this point, I was frustrated enough to Shift+Del everything and didn’t bother to actually proceed with the stupid install.

I think the folks over at Nokia simply put all of their apps in a glorified package and prettied it up and put it up for download. They couldn’t even design a simple filter to preselect the applications to be installed based on your N-series device. The N-Series PC Suite tries to install apps like Maploader and Download! which are not compatible with my N91. I know you can choose not to install certain apps but honestly, how many casual users will know about compatibility? No one likes bloatware. This just shows the amount of effort, or rather, the lack of it that went into the conception and design of the N-series PC Suite.

Was any effort every made to make this application usable? Did it even pass through a usability testing phase? I realize this application is a beta, but in the Web 2.0 world beta is almost always associated with a fully-functional and working application, not some pre-alpha release that should still be labeled a prototype.

Now that the above issues have been sorted out, I am giving it a try.

I am not the only one who has voiced their opinion on this matter.

• Stefan from IntoMobile reviewed the application. He actually installed it (You’ve got guts!) and wants to Kill it with fire and fly its ashes to the moon
• Ricky Cadden a.k.a Symbian-Guru thinks that Nokia sucks at desktop apps
• Steve Litchfield from AAS wants Nokia to ditch .NET and get their Suite together

I like the fact that Nokia is trying to separate out the applications so that you can only start up an application you need, unlike PC Suite, which will be convenient, but this uninspiring attempt by Nokia only makes matters worse.

Tags:   apps · n-series · nokia · ovi · s60 · symbianView Comments

Twango has been one of Nokia’s most recent acquisitions and is a likely candidate for assimilation into the Ovi brand. Since the acquisition in late July, there has been no “official” method to seamlessly move multimedia content from your N-series device to Twango, except via e-mail. However, as Phoneboy documents, Twango can be added as a blog/online service to Lifeblog or Online Share on your N-series device.

Being able to store audio, videos and photos under one roof is quite satisfying in itself. Add podcasting to the mix and you’ve got a killer combo right there. But how does it fare from a symbian user’s perspective?

Photos:

I’ve tried uploading via Lifeblog and the integration is alright for phots. If you have used Flickr with lifeblog in the past, the process is exactly the same with Twango as well. It offer some cool features such as embeddable channels, slideshows and RSS feeds, but nothing tempting enough that would make me want to switch over my photo collection from Flickr.

Audio/Video and Podcasting:

This is a Twango feature that many people aren’t even aware of and is one of the main selling points for Twango, imo. Even so, the current Twango experience is far from perfect, particularly for N-series users. Audio/Video can be uploaded from Lifeblog, which is good. There is a 100mb cap on file uploads, but I suspect the cap is much smaller for mobile uploads (a 38mb video upload from Lifeblog failed completely). Twango supports video podcasts too, but ironically, only iPod compatible videos can be used to make a video podcast. It supports videos in .m4v format (videos from my N91 don’t show up in the podcast). Audio podcasts support the standard mp3 format. Podcasts, both audio and video, can only be subscribed to via iTunes (why?) and it needs to be changed asap.

Conclusions:

I can see why Nokia would spend $100 million on Twango as it surely does have potential. It still has a long way to go before it becomes a part of the Ovi suite. The main disappointment for me was the lack of S60 integration. It shouldn’t be too hard for Nokia and Twango to iron out the minor issues, at the very least, to drive early adopters to use the site. Mobile video uploading issues have been discussed before and Twango has the potential to offer a great service to all S60 users. A suggestion: Get some of the S60 pioneers (AAS, Symbian-guru, Mark Guim, James Burland etc.) out there to try out Twango. Nokia would definitely benefit from the feedback. Honestly, as the service stands now, I don’t see any compelling reason to leave my current audio/video hosting providers to join Twango.

I would love to hear about the experiences of other users as well. Drop a comment and let me know about how your Twango experience has been.

Tags:   n-series · nokia · ovi · s60 · symbian · twangoView Comments

In case you’re wondering where I’ve been, I’m stuck inside ‘The Library’, trying to finish up the credits required for my graduation (I graduate at the end of the week).

Regular posting will resume soon!

Tags:   blabberView Comments

If you’re familiar with Wap Review, then you must also be familiar with their extensive list of mobile sites. If not, the head over to www.wapreview.com or http://www.yeswap.com, a mobile version of the entire list.

For the new iPhone web apps, don’t forget to bookmark http://www.iphoneappr.com/iphone on your S60 phone (works with S60′s web browser and Opera Mini 4.0).

Tags:   browser · mobile phones · mobile web 2.0 · mobisitesView Comments

The first live pic of the N81 is here, albeit a demo piece. It’s the much-awaited successor to the N91 and a phone I’m dying to play with. The pic does not disappoint! The phone is sleek, stylish and for some reason it reminds me of the 6120 classic. And what’s with the N-series text on the back? Let’s hope it’s only limited to the demo piece.

VIA: [Symbian-Guru]

Tags:   n-series · N81 · nokia · s60 · symbianView Comments

If you don’t already know, the S60 browser is based on WebKit, an open source browser engine – the same engine used by Safari on the iPhone. Thus, many of the ‘web apps’ designed for the iPhone work flawlessly on S60′s Web Browser.

There are numerous websites which contain catalogs of applications (free and paid) to use with your iPhone.

Some notable sites being:

1. iPhoneAppr – Has an optimized interface for use with mobile devices
2. iPhone Widget List
3. iPhone Application List

Out of the 200+ (and increasing) web apps, some are unique and definitely worth bookmarking. But what about web apps for those day-to-day functions: movie show times, weather lookups, search etc. Would you ditch your tried-and-tested bookmarks (those old boring old mobile sites) for the iPhone optimized versions?

I did.

Why? Because iPhone’s web apps enrich the browsing experience! Browsing hasn’t been this much fun in a while. The sites are stylish, lightweight (most of them are) and are far better to look at as compared to normal mobile sites.

For example:

or

Which one would you prefer? goMovies was designed for use with the iPhone and it works flawlessly on my N91. The loading time difference between both pages was about 4 secs on T-Mobile’s EDGE connection and negligible on Wi-Fi.

If you’re an Opera Mini user, fear not! These web apps work flawlessly on the Opera Mini 4.0 beta browser.

Tags:   apps · e-series · n-series · s60 · symbianView Comments