Jun 26, 2010

Nokia Messaging – Free or Trial ? Confusion and Solution

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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"




Jun 13, 2010

Easiest way to sync your Mobile phone over Bluetooth in Ubuntu

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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.


Apr 8, 2010

Nokia BH-905 – Premium Headphone

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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.
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N97 mini – Review

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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.

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Apr 6, 2010

Nokia Maps to OVI Maps – My story

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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.
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Apr 5, 2010

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.

Mar 26, 2010

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

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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.
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Mar 21, 2010

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

Jan 29, 2010

Nokia 5233 – new kid on the block

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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 !!!

Jan 27, 2010

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

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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.
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