Nokia E52 – Champion of battery backup

Technorati Tags: Mobiles

Now days when we read about smartphones, it is always about screen resolution,  High end Processor Multiple Mega pixel camera or Apps.

What gets ignored most is battery life. Power plants of these superphones are yet to see any technological breakthrough. What’s use of phone if it runs out of juice in few hours ?

For me Battery life always has been very critical aspect in selection of phone. When I bought Nokia E52  I knew what I wanted. I had Nokia N97 mini,good phone but poor in terms of battery backup. It’s amazing to see that even after 7 months , I am getting almost same battery life.

Mobiles n more

It's been a while I have posted here. Happy new year 2011 to all of you.

Even though I had many ideas to write about, I am being very very lazy.

So just posting link to my Flickr account  with pictures of N8 from my cousin and all other of my phones.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

I hope to renew my blogging passion in new year.

Nokia Messaging – Free or Trial ? Confusion and Solution

Technorati Tags: Mobiles

Nokia Messaging Email (Earlier Nokia Email when it started 2 years back on Betalabs) has been working great for me for long time. I never had much issues which many others reported about email delivery, slowing down phone etc.

So all was going well till recently. I was using 2 year "old" N82 happily with Nokia Messaging Email. Also I tried same with N97 mini. Both worked seamlessly. Email delivery was good, I could check emails in HTML view by default.

Then I got Nokia E72 for trial, Thanks to guys over at @womworldnokia , I knew that E72 is flagship Eseries with Nokia Messaging Email and IM built-in. Also it had lifetime (???) Nokia Messaging subscription free. I was not really sure about this. But I knew that in some countries Nokia Messaging is launched with specific plans from Operators. This is similar to the way Blackberry Email works. So to use the service you need to have certain Data Plans. But in India , Nokia has never launched such Operator specific plans yet. Fact is that almost all newer Nokia smartphones now come with Nokia Messaging built-in. This works with almost any operator in India if you have working GPRS plan(WAP plans may not work but I have not checked it)

My N82, N97 mini were working fine with Nokia Messaging Email and my subscription plan was shown as "Nokia Messaging Trial"

Easiest way to sync your Mobile phone over Bluetooth in Ubuntu

Technorati Tags: Synchronization,Mobile,Ubuntu

I always had tough time finding easy and reliable solution to handle PIM data sync between my mobile phone and Ubuntu(Evolution to be precise).
Of all solutions which I tried, Opensync(with Multisync GUI) worked ok, but had to do some tweaking to get it working. Also It didn’t sync Notes(Memos in Evolution).Still detailed guide over at Ubuntuforums is good and many members have updated it with their comments.

Now after latest beta release of syncEvolution(1.0 Beta 3) , I can say that PIM sync of Mobile to Evolution in Ubuntu has become very easy.In fact I found it easier than doing on Windows. Also syncEvolution allows you to sync your Evolutions PIM data with various online services like Funambol, Google, Memotoo, Ovi. I had earlier posted how-to sync Evolution PIM with your online OVI.com account. So now I think by adding working feature of local phone sync over bluetooth, syncEvolution has covered many aspects of PIM  Data sync.  I think good thing is that syncEvolution being developed as part of Moblin platform. Now Intel’s Moblin and Nokia’s Maemo have joined forces to create MeeGo. So I feel there are lot of positives to look forward as syncEVolution works on Open standards and is Open software.

Well lets look as how syncEvolution actually works to sync your phone PIM Data(contacts, Calendar and Notes) with Evolution in Ubuntu.
I am using Ubuntu 10.04 Desktop edition with latest updates, along with Nokia E72. Also you will need to have Internet connection to download syncEvolution software.

Nokia BH-905 – Premium Headphone

Technorati Tags: Mobile,Accessory

As mentioned in my earlier post-N97 mini review , I got Nokia BH-905 headphones for trial from good folks at WOMWorld.Well I haven’t got enough time to play around it as i would have liked.
But whatever little time I spent, I was really surprised at quality of sound and comfort these headphones offered. So here is my short review for this great accessory.
I am not sure if Nokia has any flagship for their accessories just like their phones. If they have, then it has to be BH-905, just check this microsite or this link and you will know why. I don’t know how many accessories have their own microsites. But this is simply superb. BH-905 comes with its unique oval shaped case, specially made for this special product. This case is made up of black leather and feels like designer bag. This is case contains following items :

• BH-905 Headphone
• Audio cable with 3.5mm jack
• Extension Cable
• Adapter 2.5mm jack
• Adapter 6.3mm
• In-Flight Adapter
• Charger with std. Nokia small pin.
• Leather strap which can be used to attach with leather case.

All these items are fitted very well in case, Headphones have very well designed holding place.
  

N97 mini – Review

Technorati Tags: Mobile,Technology,Review

It’s almost 2 weeks now since I got first trial device N97 mini from WOMWorld. In fact I was really surprised to also receive BH-905, cutting edge technology audio product by Nokia.
I have been sceptical about touch screens in general. Having played around with WM phones and Nokia 5800, I wasn’t really sure if touch screens are for me.I always felt having hardware keys is key for doing certain things much faster, may not be much fancier. There have been already much debate about this and you can can look at AAS article by David Gilson.
N97 or N97 mini are kind of hybrid devices which have nice angular sliding QWERTY keypad. I thought there are exactly phones for user who has been long term non touch user, like me. Here is my review :)
N97 mini box is really small(mini ?) compared to my N82, it’s nice packaging. It came with just one headset.Charger and Data cable was also missing from my package. Not a big deal as I have both already with me.Regular retail package has much better headset and Data cable, charger in.
Build and Feel : N97 mini is definitely well built phone with nice metal back and really good size. I liked the colour “Cherry Black” , welcome change from all black phones I used till now. Phone feels perfect in hand. Only complain is metal elements are finger print magnets. Slider mechanism is also very good with great snap sound. Overall very good build for NSeries phone. I liked LED light which is along side Micro-USB port. “Designed in Finland” is seen on back hinge.

Nokia Maps to OVI Maps – My story

Technorati Tags: Mobiles,Maps,Nokia

I always wanted to write about my experience about GPS in mobile since I got my Nokia N82. That was my first GPS device and now after so much time I think any of my future device must have GPS. But today I am trying to put in my experience about OVI Maps(Nokia Maps when I first got it) of all 2 years. Well there is added incentive !!! Nokia has announced contest where you can win latest, coolest phones with GPS + OVI Maps Free lifetime navigation. More details can be found here on OVI blog. These phones (N97 mini, X6, E72) come with complete navigation package i.e. Car Holder, Car charger.
Well now my story…
When I bought my Nokia N82 in April 2008, it was best mobile available along with N95 packed with all features. I still think that Nokia didn’t release any real successor to this phone and hence I am still with N82, its going well. When I bought it , Nokia maps 1.0 was built-in, It had lesser features compared to OVI maps today. But I got 3 months , Walk n Drive license free !!! Yes, just before Nokia announced Free Navigation, Other Features, Everything was paid.
 

Nokia India starts showing Mobile prices

I just noted today that Nokia India website is now showing prices of some mobiles. They were displaying this information earlier only for basic model Nokia 1203. You can also sort phones by price.
This seems very good initiative in wake of VAT increases by different States across India. There was little confusion among users, dealers about exact prices due to variable taxes. It is also reported that Nokia is working on to bring prices to same level across India. I am not sure how they are going to do this :)

Also I noted that prices seem very high, may be Maximum Retail Price, as you can see below N97 mini is listed as Rs. 26,489 but you can get same for Rs.22000-23000 in Delhi.(At least when I last checked).
Still not all products have pricing details here, but they may be in process of updating.
Do you find this move useful? Let me know via comments.

Nokia Music becomes OVI Music, DRM free(Almost) !!! in India

Technorati Tags: Mobiles,Music

Nokia India quietly(may be they are still testing, making sure things work) rebranded Nokia Music to OVI Music. Cj noted this first in early morning and posted on Twitter. Seems like they like to do things quietly or People in blogosphere always find anything before Nokia can formally announce/release. I had posted review of Nokia Music earlier in Diwali when they were offering 200 tracks free.
I decided to try and headed over to OVI Music India site and found that rebranded, revamped interface. Following is screenshot.

Nokia India - Free Extended Warranty Offer

Hey, do you remember , good ol days, may be 5-6 years back? Nokia back then used to give 2 years warranty.

They used to give 1 year extended warranty over standard 1 year , making it 2 years in total !!!

Now Nokia India quietly announced free 1 year extended warranty offer to all new E-series , N-series phones.

But hurry as this offer only limited for 1 month only, 13 March - 13 April 2010
Also I am not sure which are exactly, all "new" E-series and N-series phones?

There is no mention of any specific Models. So looks like all E, N-series phones.

I just found this as I was checking out E63 product promotion on Nokia India website.

Offer is only available at Nokia Priority Dealer shops. May be Nokia Stores also.
What they are doing is basically giving existing Nokia Care Product service worth Rs.1414 free.
It seems that terms of extended warranty is exactly same as standard warranty, but I have not read fine print.

Hard to believe, but it's true. I wonder why Nokia is not shouting about it.

Check following link for details.
Nokia India - Free Extended Warranty Offer

Nokia 5233 – new kid on the block

Technorati Tags: Mobiles,Technology

Nokia India surprised many by launching 5233 which is essentially 5230 without 3G and GPS.
I came to know about this on Tuesday, 26th Jan, India’s Republic day. I had suggested one of my friend to buy 5230 which was(???) great value for money at INR. 8100. But when he visited retail shop for buying 5230, sales persons told him that 5230 has been discontinued and being replaced by 5233. I was really surprised to hear that and tried checking with online community of bloggers, techies. Fonearena also said that they are hearing similar things. Though many of my friends were saying similar few others like ZOMGitsCJ said that 5230 is still in market and will sell along with 5233. I still not sure what Nokia’s plan with 5230 and 5233. Many shops are not selling 5230 and offering 5233. so mystery continues for me !!!

My impressions of Nokia N900-Is it The Ultimate device?

Technorati Tags: N900,Mobiles,Technology

I never thought in my wildest dreams that I could get my hands on N900 so soon. But past few days things changed so fast and it happened. Thanks for Mr. Arjun
So I got to use dream device for 2 days and i really had great time. Following is my quick review/first look of the device. I keep calling it “device” as its mini computer then phone. Check out following for unboxing and other pics,screenshots of N900, its huge collection !!! so take out time to watch it all.
When I first opened box and took it in hand , I felt it bit bigger, heavier than my N82.But overall it fits well in hand and has solid feel.Build quality also seems good, not same as Eseries.First few hours I used it without SIM and only on wifi on Airport. It picked up wifi easily.I was able to update it to latest OS on Wifi itself.
Since I have not used touch phones extensively I had issues with interface but within couple of hours i was at home. i liked the way N900 handles Contacts and Conversations. Basically it ties all contacts from you phone, chat services, SIP account tougether and shows up presence information of contacts.With
conversations also it has all sms, call, chat etc. tied up together.

 

Nokia finally released 5230, 5530XM in India

Technorati Tags: mobiles,release

Nokia released its additions to touch series phones in India , finally. I was really wondering with recent delays, strange decisions with release of new phones by Nokia. As pointed out in my earlier blog post Nokia has been very selective about phones which they release. Actually this in my opinion is not good for both Nokia and users. Having freedom of choice is good.
But now they have released at least much awaited 5530XM and 5230 India. Very important thing is pricing of 5230 which will be available at Rs. 9389 . Which means market price can will be about Rs. 9000. I guess it will be cheapest phone which support GPS+3G. Also don’t forget its full fledged Symbian S60 5th edition smartphone !!! It lacks WiFi and Front Video Camera. Also it has 2 MP camera onboard. Nokia has decided to taken on Samsung, LG who were ruling low end touch screen market with their Star/Corby and Cookie. Major difference with 5230 and these models is 5230 is smartphone whose capabilities can be enhanced by various apps.

 

Free 200 Music Tracks from Nokia Music Store India

Technorati Tags: Music,Free,Mobiles

Few days back I noticed that Nokia Music Store, India has started festival season offer.       You can download 200 free music tracks from Nokia Music store-India. I checked this on     OVI Player application on my laptop and found that they tracks are classified into 4 categories.  Bollywood, South, Devotional, More(Non Film music, Other).

PennyTel Xmas offer – Free calls worth 10 million minutes !!!

Technorati Tags: Mobiles,VOIP,Free

Today my good friend Arjun Parsi(@arjunpar) told me about Xmas offer of voip service called PennyTel. I was surprised to know that they are offering 10 million minutes of free calls to USA, UK, Canada, Australia,India, China.
This is a strictly limited offer, from the 18th of December to the 2nd of January, or when all the free minutes have been used (whichever comes first), and is exclusive to members only.
I have earlier tried such limited period promotional offers from Skype but they never had India as country option for Skypeout calls. So I was really overjoyed to try this offer from PennyTel.
Also since I own Nokia N82, which supports SIP and Internet calls, I was able to configure it.
Here are steps.
1) Visit http://xmaspromo.pennytel.com/website_landing.html and put your email id to join.

OVI Files is now Windows 7 compatible, also Booklet 3G

OVI blog today announced that OVI Files is now compatible with Windows 7 & Booklet 3G, Nokia's entry in netbook market. This follows update to OVI Player,PC suite which were made Windows 7 compatible.

Nokia Point & Find updated and now available globally

Today, Nokia Point & Find team updated Nokia Point & Find client, It's basically software/service which uses mobile camera, sensors to provide you information about places, barcodes, movies. The announcement came on Nokia Beta Labs blog. http://bit.ly/5Ynl8L

Pre-order for Nokia N97 Mini , E72 starts in India

Today, Nokia India started to take pre-orders for Nokia N97 Mini and E72. Both devices were can be pre-ordered from Nokia India website, http://www.nokia.co.in/

Price for N97 Mini is not disclosed, but may be around INR. 29000 and E72 it's INR. 22989.

For N97 Mini  head over to http://www.getn97mini.com/?rfr=Product
First 1000 customers each will get 100 songs from Nokia Music Store.

For E72, you can visit this link  for Pre-order , http://e72.nokialms.com/E72_PreLaunch.aspx?rfr=Product
It comes with Lifetime Nokia Messaging license with IM , first device to have built-in.

Let me know if anyone of you have Pre-ordered any of these.

How to Sync Contacts,Calendar from OVI.com to your Evolution in Ubuntu.

Technorati Tags: Ubuntu,Linux,Open Source,Synchronization

If you have been using Smartphones, you may be aware concept of PIM Synchronization. It basically keeps in sync different data sets on different system/platforms. Thus you can get same contacts, calendar, notes, to-dos everywhere across devices, systems,internet.
This looks good on paper but actual implementation is far from perfect. I use Nokia N82 which I sync with Outlook on my laptop, with OVI.com, cloud service by Nokia which allows you to store your PIM data like Contacts, Calendar, Notes, To-dos.But I always wondered about missing link- Syncing your PC/Mac directly with OVI.com cloud. I searched around internet and couldn’t find any reasonable solution. At last I found software called syncEvolution which is available to Linux. This fills missing gap. syncEvolution is Open source project, done as part of Moblin – Initiative by Intel for developing Linux on Netbooks, MID(Mobile Internet Devices).
Below is current Sync scenario with Nokia devices/OVI/PC&Mac.        I have tried to cover overall current scenario in this slide.

Does Prepaid(PAYG) makes more sense now?

Technorati Tags: Telecom,Tariff Plans

Ever since Tata Docomo (Do the new) has entered already crowded India cellular space Mobile tariff war has begun. This seems to me like when Reliance entered the scene way back in 2003 with tag line “Kar lo Duniya Mutthi Mein”.

It was much needed boost to competition and further add new users to mobile revolution.