I've been wanting to try out the Nokia MD-4 speakers for awhile and I finally have the chance. The package I got from WOM World the other day not only contained the new Nokia N78 but also the MD-4 speakers!

Check out some photos below...

Let me tell you these speakers are LOUD for such little guys! The bass comes through crisp and strong, while the treble isn't too high. Sometimes speakers like this give off crackling sounds when turn up to full volume, but that's not the case here. I've been pumping some loud hardcore punk and metal music through it without problems. Right now my car stereo isn't working right so the Nokia speakers have been my backup until I get it fixed. Don't forget you can also use these things for anything that has a 3.5mm connector. Your ipod will work just fine. The box says the Nokia MD-4 speakers have high quality sound with 12 micro drivers and built in stereo amplifier. It's seems there is a volume limiter which I was kinda bummed about, but hey it's better than blowing out the speakers right?

I love how pocketable the MD-4's are and how they conveniently fold up. They are great for taking to the park or beach. If you need to quickly mute the sound they have a switch that cuts off music and turns off the speakers. When you switch it back on the music fades back in to the volume you were previously listening. That's the only switch or function on the speaker. All volume is controlled from the device your listening to. I would've really liked to see a volume wheel built onto the speakers so you don't have to unlock your music device or fiddle with finding the volume settings on your computer.

I haven't got a chance to fully test the battery life of the MD-4 speakers. Word is they last 30 hours on fully charged 4 AA batteries. I can live with that if it's indeed the case. Perhaps I'll do a battery test on these when I do the final test on the Nokia N78.

Would I purchase the Nokia MD-4 speakers? Yes probably. They are a better solution to portable speakers than others I've seen. The build quality is superb and they look really nice. For those of you that still own a N73 or have a device with a 2.5mm jack, adapters come in the box. Don't forget there is a built in FM radio antenna so you can listen to Nokia's FM Radio application as well.

Right now you can pick one up for around $60 bucks from Amazon. Not too bad considering it can be used for all music devices and not just a Nokia. When checking out the Amazon review section for the MD-4's I noticed this review...

I've gone through many portable speakers for iPods and laptops. Common problems I've seen with many other portable speakers: The battery drains when left on accidentally; Short run time; Poor sound; Not very portable; Cords that get lost; Odd controls. The Nokia MD-4 suffers none of these problems. The batteries last forever even if left on for days. The sound is amazing considering the small size. The flexible cord is brilliant and never seems to get tangled. Nice work Nokia!

Nice! Let me know if any of you have some questions. I'll be playing with the speakers for another week.

Yesterday I charged my old Nokia N73 and the new Nokia N78 till the batteries were full. I want to find out the battery life of the N78 compared to the N73. The Nokia N73 has a 1100mah size battery and the N78 has a 1200mah, just like the newer versions of the N95. So of course I'm understanding that the N78 has a slightly larger battery that is also brand spanking new compared to my used and abused N78 battery.

I decided to do a little music playback test through the stereo loudspeakers at the volume setting of 1. I put one 4 minute track on repeat and put the phones in a drawer for the day. Both were in offline mode with all the same settings.

I started the test at 10:45 in the morning. I was hoping the test would last until the next morning, but the N73 crapped out around 7:25pm that same night.

The N78 on the other hand was still kicking till about 11:05pm that night. That's about 4.5 hours longer than it's predecessor the N73 lasted. Nice improvement!

But what happened to the supposed 24 hour music playback time that Nokia has been boasting about the Nokia N78? What are the variables? I'm guessing they tested through a wired headset since it probably takes more energy when using the loudspeaker like I did, even at the lowest volume.

The next battery test I will do on the N78 will be through a wired headset to see if it can really last 24 hours. If anyone knows for sure the variables of testing the battery please let me know.

Just as I figured, the Nokia N78 has great battery life. Packing the same size battery as it's predecessor the Nokia N73, the N78's new S60 Feature Pack 2 sure makes a difference in power consumption. Before I became a N82 owner I was spoiled by amount of usage I can get on one charge with the N73. Using the N78 for a few days now has once again reminded me what it feels like to get through more than a day or two of heavy usage.

Yesterday I put it through a rigorous test. Check out my results...

• 5 hours music playback through wired headphones
• Automatic Email Retrievel every 30 minutes, recieved about 15 emails.
  
• 20 minutes of browsing w/ wifi
• 20 minutes of browsing w/ data
• Uploaded 15 pictures w/ Shozu to Ovi Website
• Took about 6 pictures
• Downloaded 30mb podcast w/ wifi
• Sent/Received around 28 texts & mms
• Voice Calls about 30 minutes
• Played games about 15 minutes
• Installed & tested about 5 new applications & 5 more themes
• Watched 19 minutes of Youtube with the Mobitubia application

All that was in about a 9 hour span. At the end of the night I still had 5 bars left. I even reset the phone to make sure the battery meter was correct. The battery went on to last till about 11pm the next night under moderate to heavy conditions conditions.

If this test was done on my old and trusty Nokia N73 the battery might have just lasted till the next morning or early noon after a little more web browsing and music playback. I really believe that the new S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 firmware got about 3-5 extra hours out of the battery.

In a few days I'll be putting the N73 and the N78 to a head to head test just to see how much better Feature Pack 2 is at conserving battery life.

Stay tuned!

Helluva deal right here. Nokia N78 for $439.99 shipped with a warranty. This is the North American 3g version & is sold by Amazon.com



If your interested in a better camera get the Nokia N82 black with a USA warranty for $399.99 shipped. Offer lasts till July 30th or until the stock runs out. I know some of you N82 silver/titanium owners are still on the fence about getting the N82 black. This is an offer from Buy.com...

Nokia N82 Black for $399.99

And don't forget you can still get a 8gb microSD card for your N82 from Amazon.com for cheap...

SanDisk 8GB microSDHC Card $36

Enjoy your day!

We've seen the OTA update feature sitting on our S60 phones for years now. At least I've seen it there since I had the Nokia N73. But no use has been made of it because I think Nokia was just teasing us. It would be so much easier to just download the firmware update and let it run from wherever we're at than having to come home and fiddle with cables and computers.

Over at Howard Forums today "friedbrains" informed us of a post over at the official Nokia forums by an administrator saying we should except an Over The Air firmware update to be announced soon for the Nokia N78.

Here's the contents of the post...

Here's a sneak preview on what will soon be added to NSU News, courtesy of the Nokia Software Update team:

------------------
Nokia N78 "over-the-air" software version 11.043 released - 23 June 2008

This "over-the-air" software release will not be available through the Nokia Software Updater application, but is available directly through your Nokia N78. The release includes improved stability with Bluetooth (headsets and car kits) and music (playback over a long time and content refresh). This release also includes optimized Camera performance and Naviscroll sensitivity improvements.

Technology innovations mean the size of this "over-the-air" update is approximately 2 MB. To get this software through your Nokia N78, click Menu > Tools > Utilities > Device Manager. Select Options > Check for updates and follow the on-screen prompts. Remember that you can also use Wi-Fi to download the update.

Nokia provides this software free of charge. However, costs for downloading may be charged by your network operator or service provider. Please contact them for information about pricing.

As with all software releases, note that your mobile service provider, operator, or carrier may not have approved this release. Nokia produces many different variants of each product (for different countries and languages) and not all variants have the latest Nokia device firmware. It is our priority to update all variants as quickly as possible.

If you want to see more of the post click here.

I'm hoping they bring this update within two weeks before I have to send the Nokia N78 back to WOM World. I also wonder if this will only be a "Feature Pack 2" feature or if it will be available for my N82 sometime as well.

What's In Store For The N78
This brings us to another question. What will this upcoming firmware update for the Nokia N78 consist of? I figure it's gonna be a bunch of bug fixes and enhancements. I've only had the N78 for a full day now & I found it to sometimes slowdown, freeze up, and some parts of the Web Browser to simply not work. Its not all the time, just sometimes. I figure it might be because this phone I'm testing is a pre-production model, but I haven't found out yet. I've also found the FM transmitter to be weak, it can't reach my cars antennae that's about 5 feet away. Huge bummer. Maybe a firmware update can fix this. We'll see hopefully in a few days.

I just got a sweet package on the porch last night. The highly anticipated Nokia N78 has landed in my hands along with the Nokia MD-4 portable speakers. Thanks to WOM World for the package. I haven't even popped open the box that the speakers are cuz I was super busy last night, but I have been playing with the N78 and loading it up with applications. This is going to be a fun review over the next two weeks since this will be my first time playing with S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2. The N78 is the first phone to sport the new Feature Pack 2.

First off I'd like to say I'm a proud N82 owner. So some of my comments will be comparing it to the Nokia N82. I've also had plenty of time with the N95 & N73 so look out for some comparisons. Upon first laying eyes on the N78 I'm satisfied. Some say it's ugly, but I think not. It's a very simple and sleek design.

Buttons & Keys
When the phone is off or locked you really can't see anything but the D-pad & Multimedia button as the numeric keys are well hidden, almost flat to the phone. The right & left softkeys, call keys, delete, & menu keys are all part of the phone & can't be seen unless the backlight is on. They aren't touch sensitive like they look in photos, but rather one big button. I actually like the buttons so far. Texting is fast & accurate even though the buttons are small. It's really hard to explain, it's just something you gotta try for yourself.

Screen
The screen is bright and sharp, something I wish I can say about the Nokia N82. For some reason the designers of the N82 thought it would be smart if the screen got dimmer in the shade. We have no option of turning this setting off. I don't think the N78 does this as it seems it's always at the same brightness whether your in the darkness or light.

Hold The Phone
Just holding the phone in my hand is quite comfortable. It's thinner than both the N82 & N73 and is very pocketable. Fans of solid bar form factors will love the feel of the N78. I'm not scared to drop it to a carpet floor like I was with the N95. There is not one moving part on this phone, not even a lens protector (which is a bummer).

Camera Quality
Ehh I really haven't given it a good test yet. So far I can say I'm really unimpressed with the night shots, maybe even more so than the N73. Like I said earlier I'm coming from a N82 with xenon flash so this might be an unfair report. I'm going to review this more during the week. See a sample dim light shot below...



If you blow it up you can see how grainy the image is.

Feature Pack 2
Ok so far I'm impressed with the glitz & glamour of the new UI, but thats about. The handling of access points is a huge plus which I'll discuss later. The review of Feature Pack 2 will be something I'm going to take a close look at.

The Bad & The Ugly
I haven't had the phone for more than 12 hours so take this with a grain of salt. As of right now there are only a few things I hate about this phone. One thing is the figerprints. Nokia really needs to get away from this glossy & shiny finish. The black N82 is bad enough. I find the N78 to be even worse. It looks horrible if I don't wipe it after each use. By use I mean everytime I make a call or send a text. It's that bad. You gotta keep a soft cloth with you to keep this baby clean. Another negative is the new vertical active standby layout. It's not really customizable which I find really shocking. The naviwheel has some drawbacks as well, I'm still on the fence about this. The lack of a lens protector is really annoying & the back cover of the phone feels kind of cheap and loose. This may be a pre-production model, I gotta find out for sure.

Here is a gallery of some N78 photos I took last night...



This is just the first part of my review. Below are some of the things that will be covered:

Battery Life
Photo Quality
Feature Pack 2
Audio Quality & Music Experience
N78 vs. N73 vs. N82

If you have any questions or would like me to cover any aspects of the Nokia N78 let me know.

Deals On Nokia N78 $450.00

S60 theme master Taieb has posted up his next creation which I've been using since yesterday. Black & Red comes with custom icons and a new look for the folders. The screenshots below look a little grainy and do no justice for the great theme.



Click here to download Black & Red by Taieb.