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Nokia embraces Ramadan on devices

By Mike on 13 August 2008

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – We’ve all witnessed an overwhelming swell in the diversity and number of bite-size mobile apps over the past year, and today this is amplified with the launch of an entire suite of smart Ramadan apps focussed around the Holy Month.

Last year the Nokia team in Dubai launched a special edition of the N73 preloaded with a Ramadan application, which triggered a flood of positive feedback that focussed the team to now release an entire collection of free software and Ramadan-related services that will be downloadable globally as well as pre-loaded on a bunch of handsets in the Middle East including the new N78 – throughout August the N70 Music Edition, E51, 3120 Classic, 6500 Slide, 6300 and 2630 will become available with the Ramadan apps pre-loaded. Plus the apps are available to download onto eight other devices including the N95 and N82.

Personally what’s most interesting is the openness people have shown towards using mobile technology as a means of helping them practice their faith. And I guess this readiness to embrace such a set of tech tools comes from the simple fact that if you have a faith it’s something you carry with you, so what better place for this religious resource to sit than on the device that never leaves your side. In the case of these Ramadan apps, access to an easy-to-use written and spoken version of the Quran seems to me an extremely smart and invaluable reference tool. As does the Ramadaniat application, which is loaded with heaps of info on fasting and its rules, or the Emsakya app that alerts you with the daily Prayer, Suhour and Iftar times during Ramadan. There’s even an option to download Islamic landmarks across the Middle East to your phone that are accessible via Nokia Maps.

A Nokia site dedicated to Ramadan has also been launched, which can be visited at nokia.com/ramadan – it’s here that you can download all the apps and extras related to the Holy Month.

If you’re a Muslim, would you use these apps and services during Ramadan? And if you’re not, what are your thoughts on this crossover between mobile and faith – is it something you’d like to see applied to other religions? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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Obsidial Says:
August 13th, 2008 at 6:35 pm

Personally, I do not have an issue with this approach. I realize that Nokia will get a lot of “What about Judaism?” “What about Christianity?” posts to these apps, but remember that for a Muslim, religion is more integrated into their daily life than other faiths. There are times to prayer, foods to eat and not eat, and other demands that make followers of the faith unique.

I think that this is a nice first step, and rolling this out to other major religions would be the great. There are tons of apps for reading the Quaran, the Bible and the Tanakh, but it nice to see Nokia show that they are in touch with the multitude of their users.

Nokia S60 News and Reviews Says:
August 13th, 2008 at 7:37 pm

Celebrate Ramadan With Customizations from Nokia

Last year, Nokia created its special edition Nokia N73 in honor of the Holy month of Ramadan. The device came with a 2GB SD card pre-loaded with Azkars, Islamic Organizer, e-books and more. This year, items such as the wallpaper

Gomcoite Says:
August 15th, 2008 at 6:08 am

This is a great. This coupled with multi-lingual support of the regional version of the cell phones would be great. Supported Devices should be increased from a handful at present. From Low end to high end devices should be able to work and not to mention a mobi site would add wonders.

I am looking forward to seeing a site dedicated to Punjabi Or Hindu faith as well. I would love to listen to holy hymns and read verses and have a wallpaper or screen-saver as well. (we already have the later but a peoper dedicated mobi site frequently updated would be amazing). Nokia Maps sounds amazing.