Monthly Archives: March 2009

GLOBAL – Nokia Photo Browser is a new breed of image browsing app, that has just made its debut on the Nokia Beta Labs site. Designed for use with S60 5th edition touchscreen handsets, such as the 5800 XpressMusic and upcoming N97, the Nokia Photo Browser app comes toting a slick interface and smart collection of browsing features including ‘Face Browsing’ and a swish ‘MagGlass’ magnifying tool.

Nokia Conversations’ very own man at the helm, Charlie Schick, has been playing with Nokia Photo Browser on the 5800 XpressMusic, and even stepped in front of the lens to give a brief video demo of the app in action for the Beta Labs team. Click through to see the touchscreen interface up close, and examples of how the new ‘Face Browsing’ and ‘MagGlass’ feature actually perform. It’s pretty polished (the app, not Charlie – he’s got a matt finish), so don’t miss it.
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GLOBAL – It is by all accounts the Twitter app to beat all Twitter apps, and at first glance Gravity appears to be just that. We wrote about it a few weeks ago when it was in closed beta (on the back of Symbian Guru’s musings) and it showed all the signs then of being something special. Well, I’ve just joined the throngs and downloaded the trial. If you use Twitter at all, I suggest you do the same. The interface is one of the nicest I’ve seen and used and it’s fast too, much faster than my previous (now defunct) Twitter phone app.

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GLOBAL – Over the weekend I bought a new book on Amazon. This is something that happens quite regularly, but what was different this time was the recommendation for the book came through Twitter. Now, typically I’ll buy books by seeing something online, hearing about it or just browsing. But now, I have my Twitter app on my phone, 1-click ordering on Amazon and whaddya know, a pretty decent Amazon mobile store. So, could I have bought that book on my phone? Thinking about it, I could have.
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GLOBAL – The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic has been a device that’s triggered a lot of great debate and opinion here on Conversations recently, so today’s news of a significant software update adds an exciting twist to the question we posed a couple of weeks ago: Is Nokia 5800 the best handset Nokia has ever launched?.

Read on to find out exactly what this new software update promises for the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, and what improvements it ushers aboard Nokia’s much talked-about touchscreen device.
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HELSINKI, Finland – I’m not shy of the fact that I spend a lot of time on my Nokia E71 each month, but likewise I’m aware that the amount of time spent chatting to people has decreased drastically over the past couple of years as I increasingly communicate via SMS, email and more recently Twitter.

Last week, whilst sat in a hotel lobby in Helsinki, where I was meeting fellow Conversations writer James, I decided to check my call log in a moment of aching boredom. On checking I was met with a very surprising number – I’d spent over 24 hours speaking on my phone in the last 30 days. An entire day chatting in a month where I’d probably only spent just over six of those days sleeping, and two days eating. I asked James to check his (he likes to talk), and he was mildly alarmed to see he’d broken the 50-hour mark.

Have you ever checked how much you talk on your phone each month? All you have to do is go into your phone menu, select the log, and call duration. It should be set to the last 30 days. Check it out and share your stats and thoughts on whether your findings were surprising or what you expected.

Click through to start sharing in the comments section.

Before Bluetooth, mobile phones were just that – phones you could carry from place to place. Then in 2001 along came the Nokia 6310, the first Nokia handset with Bluetooth (v1.1) built in. Suddenly, mobiles became more than just a corporate status symbol. With Bluetooth, users could swap data: contact and calendar info at first but then grainy cameraphone snaps, ringtones, music, high res photos and eventually videos. Bluetooth also gave users the freedom to go completely hands-free, enabling them to navigate seamlessly through their life (and, crucially, drive a car) without interrupting their conversations. The business-friendly 6310 also boasted the latest digital features, such as voice-dialling, predictive text messaging, downloadable ringtones, a GPRS-powered WAP browser and a Filofax-busting 500-entry phonebook. A voice recorder enabled executives to record brief memos, and its slim lithium-ion battery offered a standby time of over two weeks.

What we say

What they say

“We’d like to say that Nokia 6310 is a rich and interesting phone.”

Eldar Murtazin, Mobile Review

Miscellany

You probably know that Bluetooth is named after the Danish king Harald Bluetooth, with its logo forming a ‘bind rune’ for the letters H and B. But did you know:

  • Harald briefly united Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and was killed during a rebellion organised by his own son, Sweyn.
  • Harald built the longest bridge in (southern) Scandinavia. The ground-level Ravninge Bridge spanned the Vejle river valley and measured a mighty 760 metres in length.
  • Harald may have converted the Danes to Christianity. Or he may not. Some tales have Harald himself converted at sword point by either Otto the first or Otto the second Holy Roman Emperors.
  • Unlike the mutinous Sweyn, Harald was a good son, erecting the famous Jelling Stones covered with runes to commemorate his father, Gorm, and his mother, Thyra.