A few months ago I mentioned that transit directions were coming to Google Maps, but we'd have to wait. They initially rolled it out for Blackberry devices, but I just read over at the Google Mobile blog that this version is now available for S60 phones as well.

This is great news for those that love to take the bus and trains to get around. I'm hoping to be more car free now that I know I can rely on my mobile phone to navigate around the city with public transportation. Right now transit directions is available for around 50 cities but Google says they plan on rolling out more over time. Right now most of the cities are in the United States, but you will also find some in Canada, Europe, Asia, & Australia.

I've never realized it but Google also has a desktop version of Transit where you can plan out a route from your computer.

When searching for a route you will get route numbers and times for pickup along with alternative routes to choose from.

Check out a video demonstration of the new Google Maps with Transit.



More New Features and enhancements...

Google says,

You'll find a number of other features in this new version of Google Maps for mobile for WinMo and S60: star-ratings for businesses will help you get a feel for what other people think, your search results show up faster than ever, and user-generated content will now surface in your search results -- opening up a whole new world of geo content on your phone. Look for the blue result markers when you search for "ruins in london," for example.

To get this latest version of Google Maps for mobile with Transit, simply point your mobile browser to google.com/gmm.

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One of my favorite features of the Nokia E71 is the customizable active standby screen. Like I've mentioned in another article this is my first Eseries device so I'm not sure if these features were already implemented in older phones.

Right now I'm going to show you how it looks with a short video. I used a demo version of Mobiola Screen Capture which is why you'll see the watermark in the bottom right corner. The two icons that are being blocked by the watermark are the "new text message" and "new voicemail" icons. Check out the short video below to see the E71 standby screen...



As you can see it shows you the recent emails, missed calls, and text messages in a very good way...

If I just highlight the email section it will show a popup with the senders and subjects. I can then click on it and go to the email inbox.

If I highlight the missed call it shows me who it was from and when. I can then click to the right and it will give me a set of options to call, text, email, etc the contact. I don't even have to go to the call log to do this.

When I highlight the unread text message it shows me who sent it and part of the message. I can then click to the right and I get a set of options.

Very handy. I really wish my Nokia N82 would have this functionality, it just makes life so much easier. Alot less needless clicks. If I get a non-important message I can just highlight the icon and see who it's from and what it says. Then put my phone back in my pocket. No need to click to a new screen and read it like on Nseries devices. Same goes for the emails and missed calls.

I'm surprised with all the hacking of S60 phones going on nobody has made a way to do this on the Nseries devices. Or maybe somebody has? I'd really like to know.

You can also customize what is displayed on the standby screen. I can get rid of the Calendar and Wlan icons, even the Search can be removed. More email inboxes can be added and the missed calls/new messages icons can be removed if needed. You can't beat that customization.

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I know the Nokia E71 isn't supposed to have the same photo quality as Nseries devices but come on Nokia I'm sure you can at least get rid of some of the grain seen in the photos below. I don't remember the Nokia E90 photos being this bad. Did it have a Carl Zeiss lens? I can't really remember.

Check out some of the pictures below and let me know what you think.

Indoor photo in a lit room, way to grainy...


Outdoor picture of the sun setting doesn't look too bad...


This was a bright and sunny day. Why did the picture come out so dark?


Another decent sunset photo. At least it captured some good colors...


Once again it was a bright sunny day, and the picture looks too dark.


All of those photos were taken in automatic mode. Like I said I don't expect photos from a business phone to look great, but they should at least be acceptable and a few of those photos aren't.

In a few days I'll post a comparison review of E71 vs. Blackberry Pearl photos.

What do you think? Do you also see room for improvement? Maybe with a firmware update they will look better.

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Last week I made a finding over at E71Fanatics.com with a link to an article saying that Nokia won't be bringing Blackberry Connect support to the newer Eseries phones. Obviously this a stupid move be Nokia as most major companies will only allow BB Connect as their email tool. The highly anticipated Nokia E71 will surely take a hit when people find out that they won't be able to use BB Connect. I've already seen a few commenters over at the blog saying this a deal breaker for them and I don't blame them.

Check out this quote by a Nokia representative Simon Ainslie to the website MobileToday.co.uk...

"RIM are a competitor and have done a reasonable job in a space that is traditionally ours, so it’s no great surprise that we see this as an opportunity to give consumers a proper choice on what email solution they want.

Our approach is to make email a mass-market proposition for everybody, not just for the corporate boardroom group of individuals where BlackBerry has established itself."

The website also states...

"Mobile can reveal that Nokia’s E71 and E66 phones will become the first Eseries devices that won’t house the popular BlackBerry Connect application, in a move designed to help Nokia reclaim its dominance of the business phone market."

This move is obviously a direct challenge to Blackberry and their upcoming Blackberry Bold. I know Nokia is working on a new email application that is supposed to be the perfect solution for us, you can find more info here. I've tried it out and so far I'm unimpressed. It's still in beta so you can really judge too harshly but still I have a hard time getting it to push mail to my phone. If Nokia can get this going and fast maybe they'll be able to hang onto some customers.

If not Blackberry might end up leaving Nokia in the dust in the corporate world.

What do all of you think about this move if it indeed is true?

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I've gotten a few requests to see some photo samples comparisons of the Nokia N73 and N78. I figured why not throw in the E71 samples as well. What you find might be alittle surprising.

Keep in mind they all have the same amount of megapixels (3.2) but what really matters is the lens and optics. The Nokia N78 and N73 are made to be multimedia specific and have the world famous Carl Zeiss lens. The Nokia E71 has very simple optics with no special camera lens. You'll see the difference in the photos below...

Taken in Close-up mode

N73
Nokia N73 Photo Samples - Share on Ovi
N78
Nokia N78 Photo Samples - Share on Ovi
E71
Nokia E71 Photo Sample - Share on Ovi

Auto Mode - Normal Room Lighting Conditions (with flash on)

N73
Nokia N73 Photo Samples - Share on Ovi
N78
Nokia N78 Photo Samples - Share on Ovi
E71 (where did the cat go?)
Nokia E71 Photo Sample - Share on Ovi

Auto Mode - Low Light Conditions. That light you see to the right was the only one on and it's not much to light up the room. The blinds were open letting some sunlight in but not much. It was early morning.

N73
Nokia N73 Photo Samples - Share on Ovi
N78
Nokia N78 Photo Samples - Share on Ovi
E71
Nokia E71 Photo Sample - Share on Ovi

As you can see the Nokia E71 falls behind badly, but that was expected. What really stands out to me is the N78 photo in the second set. The orange tint is just horrible and takes away all true color. The N73 did a much better job of capturing the color. I'm sure this imperfection can be easily fixed with a firmware update.

As far as the speeds of taken these pictures the Nokia N78 wins hands down. It gets a focus and snaps the picture faster than I've seen any Nseries do, faster than my belove N82. This will help ensure that you'll never miss a moment.

I haven't taken any outdoor comparison photos yet but I plan on doing so tomorrow so keep checking back. These photo's are hosted at my Share On Ovi account if you wanna see the larger images. Each row is same order as photos in this post.

If you have any questions or comments let me know. I'll do my best to answer them.

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Nokia E71-2 North American Version Available At Amazon.com

Posted by Mike Macias | Wednesday, July 23, 2008 | , | 2 comments »

Amazon is one of my favorite places to by phones because of their great return policy and no hassle.

They just started selling the Nokia E71 North American version, the E71-2 $559.95. I'm sure after a month the price will drop even more. The high speed 3g internet will work on the AT&T network. I'm currently reviewing this latest Eseries phone and let me tell you it's a great piece of work by Nokia.

LINK TO E71 ON AMAZON.COM

If you decide to buy it don't forget to pick up some extra memory. They have the SanDisk 8gb microSD card hovering between $30-$34 bucks right now.
LINK TO AMAZON.COM

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I'm going to wrap up my Nokia N78 review with this article. I may have left out a few things but you can ask many any questions you have about the Nokia N78 in the comments section of this page. Overall I'm not very impressed with Nokia's latest Nseries device. Not because I don't think it's a great phone, but I'm not so sure it fits in Nokia's high end lineup.

When I think of the current Nokia Nseries lineup I see that each phone has it's own extra cool feature that the others might not. It isn't always something huge but it's something that the owners of the phone take pride in, that they have something other Nokia fans don't.

For instance,

Imaging
The Nokia N82 is a complete imaging device. Sure the photos in the day come out the same as the N95. But the N82 snaps them faster so you don't miss the moment. I've always found the N95 takes a few more seconds to get a focus. Of course the xenon flash and low light conditions is what sets the N82 apart from the rest of the Nseries lineup.

Multimedia Consumption
The Nokia N95 is the king of the Nseries simply because of the large screen. Watching movies, tv shows, browsing the internet, and showing off photos is all done best on the Nokia N95 8gb. High speed 3g versions are available all over the world, unlike the Nokia N82.

Music & Gaming
Hands down the Nokia N81 is a device made for music and gaming. It has a horribly weak camera, but for owners of this device it doesn't matter. They bought it to get the best sound and gaming experience possible in a smartphone.

One thing that can be said as a plus is build style. Many Nokia fans love the candy bar form of the Nokia N82 and N78, much like they did on the N73. I myself have fallen in love with this form factor. But this doesn't really count as a feature does it?

So where does this leave the Nokia N78? Sure it has great audio quality, better than the N82 and N95. The build style is the preferred by many. The camera decent compared to the rest of the Nseries. It has Feature Pack 2.

In my opinion it doesn't have any one feature that makes it stand out from the rest of the crowd (meaning it's peers). Don't get me wrong I still think it's a great device, but I'm not so sure it fits too well with the Nseries. I mean the overall feature list is astonishing, it really packs a punch. Someone looking for a mid-range smartphone should look no further than the Nokia N78.

This still leaves the question. Would I buy it? After being a Nokia N82 owner for so long I think the obvious answer is no. In fact I'd rather buy a Nokia E71 than the N78 because I think the E71 brings more to the table. Full qwerty and all the minor tweaks in the UI really add up. But thats a topic to cover in another article.

Once again if you have any other questions please leave them. I'll be doing one more post with some comparison pictures between the E71 and the N78 hopefully tomorrow.

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A pal over at Howard Forums brought it to our attention that today only you can buy Quickoffice Premier 5.0 for only $1. This has to be one of the best application deals I've ever seen. Pretty much the best $1 I've ever spent.

If you didn't know Quickoffice Premiere allows you to:

Quickoffice Premier 5.0 is the FIRST and ONLY mobile solution to support Microsoft Office 2007® on S60 3rd Edition devices. Enjoy all of the great features of Quickoffice Premier 4.5 + the ability to edit and create new Microsoft Office 2007 documents on your device. Unlock the full potential of your smartphone and turn your device into a powerful mobile office. Quickoffice preserves documents during editing preventing document corruption and loss of formatting.

Key Features
Complete Editing of Word®, Excel® and PowerPoint® files
Advanced Editing of text, lists, tables, style, and formatting
View documents in multiple views
Performance optimizations for handling documents
ZoomView™ lets you pick the display size that’s best for you
Support For complex formulas
Complete graphical editing
Advanced email integration with Mail for Exchange 2.0
Free spell check dictionaries available in multiple languages
Add images to Word and PowerPoint documents

Supports the following file formats; DOCX, DOC, XLSX, XLSM, XLS, PPT, PPS & TXT
Microsoft Office version support; 97, 2000, XP, 2003, & 2007
Compatible with all S60 3rd Edition Devices

So what are you waiting for? I just bought mine and everything went smoothly. You can use Paypal or a credit card and you must give them your IMEI number.

Click here for the link.

Thanks again to Paracha from Hofo.

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Have any of you seen The Dark Knight yet? I watched it a few nights ago and let me tell you it's an amazing movie. I highly recommend everyone to go see it.

While I was watching it I noticed there was a few clips of an iPhone looking handset that reminded me of the leaked Nokia Tube pictures. I really didn't think much of it until I realized maybe Nokia is up to something. You'll see it in a seen with Lucius Fox who's played by Morgan Freeman. He's in Hong Kong meeting with a business partner (actually planting the phone for survelliance reasons). I don't want to give too much away. You just gotta see it for yourself. Sorry there is still no word on the release date of the Nokia Tube, but I'd expect it to at least be officially announced by the end of the year.

Check out the photos yourself...the resolution is extremely low. These are the best photos I can find around the net. If you want to see the phone better your gonna have to go watch the movie.



Source: Cellular

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I just read over at Howard Forums that the new Eseries flagship the Nokia E71 NAM 3g version is now available at the Nokia Store in Chicago. That is the E71-2 that works on the AT&T 3g network.

Best part is their not ripping people off. You can aparently get the device for $483 with a 1 year warranty.

PH: 312-670-2607, Contact: Rob or Linda.

Source: Tintin123 @ Howard Forums

This is great news for North American Nokia fans that have been dying to get their hands on a 3g Eseries phone.

I've been playing with the Nokia E71 for a few weeks now and I can honestly say it's a solid phone. Click here to read a few articles with my thoughts about it. I'll be writing more about the E71 as the week goes on.

If you'd like to read more about the Nokia E71 you can visit my sister site that my cousin and myself started up for E71 Fanatics.

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Feature Pack 2 is something that has been highly anticipated by the Symbian S60 community. It is an upgrade to the Feature Pack 1 firmware built into the recent batch of Nokia S60 phones such as the N81, N82, & N95. The Nokia N78 is the first phone released to sport the new Feature Pack 2. Needless to say this is one of the major selling points of the phone.

But is it worth it?

I really couldn't wait to try out Feature Pack 2. The new menu transitions are something we've been waiting for in Nokia smartphones for a really long time, not to mention better handling of data access points and other minor upgrades. One of the major complaints about S60 3rd Edition is the lack of eye candy compared to other devices such as the iPhone. Sure a Nokia N95 can do twice as much but sometimes people just want flash and glamor. I can honestly say after using the Nokia N78 for a few weeks that I'm not impressed by the transitions and effects. It feels like the phone is slowed down and that's not what we want from our multimedia computers. Maybe if they find a way to speed things up it will be useful but at this point I find it slightly annoying.

What else does Feature Pack 2 bring to the table?

It gives you a new look to the task manager. Instead of going down the left side of the phone, now it is shown front and center along the bottom and includes bigger icons. Most experienced S60 users won't really care because they install other applications such as Handy Taskman to do a better job of phone task management.

There is a new vertical active standby screen that cleans up the screen and makes it more pleasant on the eyes. It has seven icons from top to bottom. The top is active standby shortcuts, then search, calendar, music player, radio, FM transmitter, and Wlan Wizard. There is a lot of waste here because I don't often find myself using the radio or FM transmitter, so for now I'll be sticking with the original horizontal standby setup.

There are quite a few more things that the new feature pack brings to the table. I could do a more detailed review of Feature Pack 2 on the Nokia N78 but I'm strapped on time as going out of town for a week and need to start packing. For a very detailed look at FP2 click here to read a great article posted by Mobile-Review.com. There you'll find lots of explanations and screenshots.

Before I finish I'm going to answer my original question. Is Symbian S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 worth it?

My straight answer is no. Of course this is just my opinion but I wouldn't buy a phone based on the fact that it has Feature Pack 2. I think Nokia and Symbian could have done a better job of letting us customize the standby settings and maybe made the transitions snappier. Hopefully we see some improvements with future firmware updates to the Nokia N78.

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Like I mentioned earlier in my first hands on article about the E71, the first thing you'll notice when holding it is how thin it is. A really still can't believe that Nokia managed to get so much packed into this little device. With physical features such as GPS, Wlan, camera, full qwerty keyboard, huge battery, and a real audio jack it's quite a feat that Nokia has accomplished. Not to mention the great build quality of the device and lets not forget about the amazing processor that's under the hood. This is the fastest Nokia device I've used, even beating out my Nokia N82.
Anyways I'm gonna show you how thin this phone actually is with a few photos. If you've ever held a pack of Eclipse gum you'll really understand the feeling of having a thin phone. Keep in mind this thing is thinner than the iPhone.
Pretty shocking isn't it? Even with all these pictures you really can't understand the size until you hold it in your hand. Let me know if you have any questions or would like me to compare to any other devices.

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Screenshot0003 - Share on Ovi


Nokia Beta Labs is at it again, this time with a chat application. Not just any run of the mill chat application though, this one incorporates your location into the mix - intertwining with Nokia Maps. It's really quite nice to hear they are trying to converge their base applications into one. A tab with all your online buddies is also shown under your Phonebook so you can instantly start chatting.

To use this application you must first have a Nokia Account which is kind of new. I've already set one up and I'm hoping every account that has to do with Nokia uses this login, including the Ovi and N-gage stuff. This would be just awesome.

Here are the quotes from Nokia on what their goals are with this new S60 appication.

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, and an alert is shown on your standby screen whenever someone sends you a message.

Check out some screenshots below...

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And a video by Nokia...



Right now it's comfirmed working on my Nokia E71. I haven't tested it out any other phones. So far I'm impressed but like all beta applications your going to find some problems. It seems that right now I can't send voice messages or show/recieve locations over gprs or 3g, only Wlan. I'm sure this will be fixed in a future version. Keep in mind this application I think is geared more towards your friends and family who also own S60 devices, rather than random "internet buddies" who you don't really know.

Google Talk and Jabber users are also supported, although no word about Yahoo, AIM, etc.

Click here to read more and download Nokia Chat for your Symbian smartphone.

Make sure you leave your feedback, especially problems, over at that blog. That's the whole point of Nokia releasing early beta applications for us to test out and voice our opinions.

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Nokia N78 Review: Audio & Build Quality

Posted by Mike Macias | Wednesday, July 09, 2008 | , | 3 comments »

Nokia N78 - Share on Ovi

Here are more of my thoughts on the Nokia N78. This time I'm covering audio and build quality. Some points are good, others are big letdowns. Sometimes I am really amazed as to why Nokia lets such simple problems slip through the testing phase and into the real world.

Nokia N78 Audio Quality

One great feature of the Nokia N78 is the audio quality, specifically geared towards music playback. Through headphones this is one of the best phones I've ever heard. I am not audiophile but I have to say it's really hard to notice any difference between the N78 music audio quality and my iPod's. The bass really comes through loud and strong so you can actually feel it through headphones and external speakers. The clarity through my $15 Sony ear buds was pretty shocking compared to what I'm used to with the Nokia N82. The N82 has decent music sound, but the N78 really takes it to the next level.

Keep in mind the above statements don't apply to the built in stereo speakers of the N78. I'm not really impressed by them mainly because at loud volumes the sound begins to lose clarity. This is a huge let down obviously considering how good the sound is through headphones. Perhaps the worse thing about the speakers is the poor handling of bass. It sounds really hollow like the speakers are ready to blow. Not to mention the bad placement of the speakers themselves. One is on the top right side of the phone and the other is on the bottom left. It's interesting to me that most of the recent Nseries devices all have different speaker placement. Is Nokia just trying to experiment or are they doing this aimlessly?

Check out what I mean below...

Nokia N78 - Share on OviNokia N78 - Share on Ovi

Call quality is great which is standard for Nokia products. The earpiece is loud and clear, and I haven't any callers complain about hearing me. A lot of this has to do with the phone reception being nearly perfect.

Nokia N78 Build Quality


Overall the build quality of the N78 is decent - borderline good. It's a very thin phone when compared to other Nseries devices. I talked about in my first article that the back cover sucked. It really does. It feels like cheap plastic and if you push down on the middle it bends and pushes against the battery. There should be zero space between the cover and the battery, however on the N78 there is definitely a gap. Then I'm taken to the front. The front faceplate is made out of a cheap plastic that is extremely prone to fingerprints. It feels cheap, but it may not be. So far there are no knicks and scratches after two weeks, which is completely opposite of my experience with the N82. The N82 is easily scratched, not huge scratches but small ones that you can see in certain light. So far the N78 isn't having this problem.

Nokia N78 - Share on Ovi

One thing that has bothered me is the where the side of the phone meets the front, all the way around. It's not really rounded off or smoothed out. Pressing the call and end, menu and C buttons really isn't comfortable. When you hold those buttons down (especially the red and green) you'll notice that the buttons go below or pretty much meets the side of the phone which, like I said before, isn't rounded off. The rest of the keys aren't bad at all. Coming from the N82 it wasn't really hard to get used to the odd N78 numeric keypad. Instead of having the typical 12 buttons, you only have 3. Each line of the numeric keypad shares one button which actually works out pretty good. The only gripe I have is it's hard to find distinction when typing without looking. The N82 is perfect for that since each button is spread out.

Overall the audio quality gets an A in audio quality and a C in build quality.

Check back soon for my thoughts on the new S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 which is the platform that powers the Nokia N78.

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I haven't even got a chance to finish up my Nokia N78 review yet, and low and behold the brand spanking new Nokia E71 arrives at my door late today. I've been anticipating this phone more than anything since the release of the N82 (my favorite Nokia device) and so far I am extremely impressed. The E71 is exactly what business people have been waiting for.

Most of you already know the Nokia E71 features a 3.2 megapixel camera, GPS, Wifi, 2.36" screen, full qwerty, Symbian S60 3rd Edition, the works. The processor is ultra fast, even faster than my N82. Navigating through menus and settings have never been so fast on a Nokia smart phone. I've taken a few pictures in low light conditions and they came out horrendous. We'll see tomorrow when the sun comes up here in Southern California if the day pictures look any better.

Like I said this is one of my first times using a full qwerty keypad and my absolute first time using a Nokia Eseries device. So far I find the keypad to be extremely easy to type on and all the buttons are laid out really well. It's going to take some getting used to forgetting about T9 and imagining a real keyboard, but I'm quickly catching on. My girlfriend owns a Blackberry Pearl and has loved it, but after typing on the E71 for a few minutes she gave up on the "mine's better" argument. I have a few other people that I will have try out the keypad to see how it compares to the iPhone and Blackberry Curve.

The one thing really stands out to me is the build quality. Holy smokes this thing is built like a rock. The back cover is stainless steel and has small grooves that help you get a grip on the phone. The rest of the E71 has a metallic chrome finish that really makes this thing look high end and expensive. All the keys are gray and have a slight rubberized plastic feel. The D-Pad is one of the best I've felt - think N82 but even better.

I've only had the E71 in my hands for a few hours so I haven't got a chance to fully dive into the phone. I have installed a few themes and Google Maps, but that's about it.

For now check out these E71 photos I took below (flash slideshow). Some are next to the Nokia E62, N78, a beer, and a pack of gum. You really do get a good idea of how thin the phone actually is which is one of the main selling points.



For more about the E71 head over to my new sister site called E71Fanatics.com which will be run mostly by my cousin (who is the E71 Fanatic) and also by myself.

If you have any questions about the new Eseries flagship device feel free to ask.

And keep checking back for the rest of my N78 review that should be completed by Thursday. I'll be covering the impressive audio quality, my thoughts on Feature Pack 2, and the build quality. Mixed in will also be more of my thoughts about the E71. Should be a busy week!

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One of the huge gripes of S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1 is the lack of oohs and ahhs in the UI's design. Many have debated on getting the N95 or waiting for the N96 just for the cool menu transitions that comes with Feature Pack 2. Aparently the Nokia N81 just got a firmware update and menu transitions are included. Check out the video to prove it...



This is awesome news because this means menu transitions will probably be coming to my Nokia N82 in the next update, or at least I'm hoping. I don't see why not. It's really interesting to me that Nokia has released this feature before the Nokia N96 comes out. Feature Pack 2 is one of the big selling points for the N78 and N96.

By the way the new firmware version for the Nokia N81 is 20.0.056. Let us know if you get yours upgraded and what you think about the new features.

Keep checking back for more updates. Thanks to Mr.X from FinestFones.com for the find.

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Review: Nokia MD-4 Mini Speakers - I'm Diggin Em

Posted by Mike Macias | Tuesday, July 01, 2008 | , , | 3 comments »

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...

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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.

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