Nokia S60 Curse of Silence bug exposed

The next time you notice that your S60-running Nokia phone isn’t receiving SMS or MMS for a complete day beware, your phone could be infected with a unique bug aptly named the ‘curse of silence’ It’s designed to infect the S60 series of Nokia phones. The bug hijacks the phone through a tweaked SMS to any S60-running Nokia phone. After which the phone slips into a sms baring mode, it simply rejects all sms or MMS coming its way.


The only way this problem is resolved is through Hard Resetting the phone, so if you have not yet backed up all your contacts, this could be your first and only sign.

Nokia Chat out at Nokia beta labs.

Finally Nokia releases their twitter-esque location based chat and messaging app. I've been waiting for such an app for so long ... and i'm really glad that Nokia has finally released it !!

From the beta labs website :

Nokia Chat is more than just messaging. You can share your status and your location, giving you physical presence! Start a Nokia Chat with your friends with instant and voice messaging and finish it face-to-face. Get together with Nokia Chat – it’s where we are now.

• Meet one-to-one
• Update your status
• Share your location
• Message friends

Features

Chat helps you hook up with no hassles by sending your real-time location in an instant message. This unique feature lets your friend pinpoint your position and share her own on Nokia Maps.

Chance meetings with friends are made easy. Pick out your places on Nokia Maps and choose where you want to publish your presence. Chat automatically updates your location status when you arrive at your hangouts.

As well as sharing your location, you can edit your status with what’s going on and stay up-to-the-minute with your friends. Status symbols on Chat show when you’re available, on the phone, or away.

Chat puts quick and easy instant messaging at your fingertips. You can also record and send voice messages to friends.

Tested with:
Nokia N95 8GB, N95, N82, N81 8GB, N81, N76, E71, E66, E51, 6290, 6120 Classic, 6110 Navigator

Should work with:
Nokia E90 Communicator, 6124 classic, 6121 Classic, 5700 XpressMusic

To download this app , head over to : http://www.nokia.com/betalabs/chat

Remember , you have to install both the files in order for the app to work !!

New Nokia N95 GPS Maps ??

Apparently there's been much hullabaloo about a new version of the maps application on the nokia N95. I found an upgrade sis file of the same on some forum and installed it on my N95. But i really don't know if its been upgraded..as it seems just the same as the previous version...although the installation did complete successfully. I checked the about screen and it shows me v3.0 ...and i've seen screen shots of people claiming v1.0 is the latest. Hmmmm..maybe nokia makes a different version of the Maps application for the N95 coz its got inbuilt gps ?? Then again ..i Could be wrong ...what version does your N95 have ??
Attached a screen shot below...

How many status icons do you have ??

I was fiddling around with my phone yesterday ..and the best I could come up with was seven...Which is the max i guess..coz the Wi-fi icon disappeared when the "outbox" icon popped up. Hmmm....strange. Can anyone confirm this ?? Is seven the maximum ?? :)

Geotagging photos on the N95 using LOCR

Remember how i always used to rant that the current apps available for Geo tagging on the N95 really suck. I mean ....there's shozu of course ...but its way too unstable ...and then there's zonetag... which hasn't come out with a symbian s60 v3 version yet.

But guess what ... all your N95 enthusiasts out there ..your prayers have finally been answered !! LOCR ...is a brand new FREE app which allows you to geotag your photos taken from your camera , on your camera ..or even on your p.c . There are several different flavors . There's the P.C edition ..which you can use to geotag photos on your p.c ..and then there's the symbian o.s versions ...which support symbian os v2.0 , v2.0 FP 1 and v3.0 . So that means you can use it even with an external bluetooth gps device . Cool...!!

All you have to do is first register on the Locr website . After doing that you can download the app from the download section . Install it on your device and you are all ready to go.



The best part is this app recognizes the inbuilt N95 gps module , and even when you arnt getting a GPS signal , it allows you to use your last known co-ordinates to tag the photo. Of course , you can edit it manually too. The photos can be uploaded to the Locr website via GPRS or Wi-fi and you can view them through your phone's web browser. Another cool feature is the ability to find photos near you...by using your current GPS co-ordinates. The only downside i've found in this app is the lack of third party support..i.e ability to upload your photo's on sites other than the locr website.Also the Max resolution supported is 1024 x 768 (0.8 mega pixels) :(



In all..this IS the best Photo geotagging app I've used on the N95 so far. Doesn't hog memory , doesn't crash and of course has all those excellent features which i mentioned before. I would recommend all you N95 users out there to give it a try ..and don't forget to let me know how it works out for you . :)

The Widgets Are Here ..!!

I was listening to a podcast featuring some eminent bloggers from the voice of s60 yesterday , and they were all complaining about one thing ..why has nokia delayed widget integration to the symbian os 9 feature pack 2 ?? Why didn't they include it with feature pack 1 ?? Agreed ..there are sites like widsets.com where you can create and customize your own widgets ..but they dont really have that smoothness in operation and they dont really look and feel as good as the real thing.

Then I stumbled upon Webwag....

Although still in Beta , webwag offers a great application which i would say is the closest to the look and feel of actual widgets on the Pc.It works splendidly on my Nokia N95 and the features it offers are simply amazing. To get started you have to head over to http://beta.webwag.com and sign up for an account .

After doing so you will be taken to the homepage where you can customize the widgets you want to display by clicking on the small mobile icon next to the minimize icon on the widget. Just click on edit ..enter your specific account details , customize the widget ..and you are all set to go.

Once you are done with the customization you select your handset type and click on the link that says "install webwag on your mobile".Enter your mobile phone details and you will be sent a link via sms . You can also download the app from the web at http://webwag.com/m

After I received the sms , i clicked on the link to download the application. Although the webpage said there was no version for the N95 , i downloaded the generic version which works just fine.




After installing the app , once you open it you will have to go to the settings and enter your webwag username and password.



Once you click on synchronize ..the app syncs with your mobile layout on the webwag website and downloads the same to your handset.




Once you have sync's the changes should be reflected ..and you are all set to enjoy widgets on your S60.

More screenshots...

Gizmo Project On The Nokia N95

Nokia Beta Labs has finally launched the much awaited Gizmo app for the Nokia N95. I for one was looking forward to this for a long time , as I previously tried the N80i version from the Gizmo website and it dint work, and I had a hard time uninstalling it.
This new version also supports GPRS ..but that would be mainly for communicating your status and chatting and not calls. For making calls you NEED a Wi-Fi connection and unlike Fring it is not possible to use this to make calls over your GPRS/3G connection.

The best thing about this is the excellent phonebook integration ..and an option of buying gizmo call out credit right from your cellphone.You can also set your status and also search for other users through the app.This app is pretty useless if you do not have Wi-Fi connectivity , or there are no Wi-Fi hotspots around , But if you do have either of these , and since the gizmo project is offering free VOIP calls to landlines and cell phones in selected countries... This is one app really worth trying.

Click here to download the Gizmo Project app for the Nokia N95

P.S : Both the components should be installed to the Phone memory only !!

N95 GPS Route Mapping.

Well..for starters ..i didn't think much of the GPS system.Heck..I didn't even think that it'd work in India !! But the most amazing part is that it does work ....and works superbly !! I used it to track a bike ride from kothrud to koregaon park (in pune )...and mind you ...the N95 was in my pocket all the time ..and yet the device performed extremely well and didn't even drop the signal once.The Nokia Sports Tracker which I used to record GPS data throughout my trip is free ware and can be downloaded here.
It works with all Symbian 0S V9 devices , but if you are using a phone without an inbuilt GPS , you will need to use an external bluetooth GPS module to capture GPS data. If you want to see what the Nokia Sports Tracker + the N95 GPS receiver is capable of ...check out some of my GPS Route Maps below : (I would suggest that you set the maps to the satellite mode for the best effect. :D)

PUNE

Paud Road to Koregaon Park

Koregaon Park to Pride Parmar Galaxy

Kalyani Nagar to Pride Parmar Galaxy

Sweet Chariot to Pride Parmar Galaxy

Part of the Pune-Goa Highway

GOA

Sarzora to Chinchinim

Sarzora to Margao

Margao to Furtados at sernabatim

Dabolim Airport to Margao

Twitter v/s Jaiku .. A Review

Oh well...categorically speaking ... this post shouldn't be here ..but what the heck.I'm impressed by the whole "social" blogging phenomenon thats sweeping the globe like wildfire ..so I decided to give these two hot contenders a try and post my opinions about them. The only reason i'm clubbing them under the mobile category is because they both have apps / ways by which you can access them via your mobile.

Twitter was one of the first in the social blogging scene and is still the favourite in some terms .Clean interface , very good API's , and of course ..a recently launched mobile version where you can access twitter from m.twitter.com from your cellphone.

Another great feature that twitter has is the ability to update your status from your phone via sms , and also from any instant messenger like gtalk . You also get your own personal page at http://www.twitter.com/yourname ..which you can share with your friends so they can know what you've been upto. If you have a GPS bluetooth device or a symbian phone like the N95 with a internal GPS , or any phone that supports Java Location API (JSR-179), then head over to www.twibble.de and install twibble. This app gets the current location coordinates and uploads it to your twitter account using GPRS , so that users using twittermaps.com can see where on the map you are right now. This is Real time location cum social blogging at its best . :D


Jaiku on the other hand has a web 2.0 look and feel to it. The whole interface is clean and tangy and really refreshing. As with twitter , jaiku also allows you to update your status and see what your friends are doing via your mobile , or sms.It goes one step further here and lets you download a sis file for symbian os smart phones and supports both symbian os 2nd and 3rd edition smart phones. Although the Jaiku app is still a beta version , it offers a lot of functionality which makes updating and viewing jaikus' from your smart phone a breeze.and believe me ... jaikuing from your cellphone is very very addictive :D !!The mobile app also lets you share your phones calendar and events as jaikus.. and you can even use bluetooth to scan for nearby jaiku'ers. How cool is that ?? Jaiku also gives you your own personal page at http://username.jaiku.com .



The most interesting feature about Jaiku that makes it (in my opinion) better than twitter is the fact that you can embed any rss , atom , swf , feed into your jaiku stream. They will show up as jaikus as and when the feeds are updated. this is really cool as i can integrate all my flickr , vox , blog , and even twitter accounts into one jaiku stream . In short ..it sort of doubles up as an RSS aggregator too letting people who visit your jaiku page know when you have updated any of the various online services or sites that you use. Another cool feature is the integration of channels in jaiku which makes it easy for you to subscribe to channels that interest you.This is somewhat similar to the IRC concept , where you can join a room and subscribe to the updates or interact on that channel.

Even though Twitter is the one site that should be given the most credit for making the whole social blogging scene come alive , it seems to have forgotten to innovate and add new features , and thats where jaiku marching ahead.Although twitters api's have been used for very innovative services such as www.twittermaps.com..which uses the co-ordinates provied by the twibble app to place you an a map , and www.twittervision.com ..which uses flickrs api and the geotags in the photos to display where those photos were clicked on a map as and when they are uploaded.But in spite of these two innovative features , what most people want today is convergence , and not another site that adds to the bookmark list , and in this respect jaiku is clearly doing a good job at it.

..And for those who want to integrate both these services ... You can try www.twitku.com , which uses jaikus api to post your twitters to your jaiku account. (although ...this can also be done from within jaiku itself). Go ahead and try out both these services and let me know what are your opinions about both of them. Any suggestions or comments are highly welcome :D