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Kowloon

Hong Kong

Daniel and his phone

Daniel’s Kowloon street scene is bursting with life and colour. The N97 has dealt with the tricky blend of half-natural, half-artificial light surprisingly well, and the level of detail is impressive.

Monument to Rubbish

Berrow (England)

Keith JM G

A silent protest captured on the fly by the intrepid Keith on his morning horse-ride. Both the horse in the foreground and the monument itself in mid-shot are well detailed, especially given the low light.

RHS Wisley

Woking (England)

My Connected Life

The Royal Horticultural Society gardens at Wisley make for a great photographic location, but this incredibly vivid shot remains a stunning achievement. Absolutely pin-sharp detail.

RHS Garden

Woking (England)

My Connected Life

Another beautifully warm, detailed image, with even darker areas like the trees on the right retaining a surprising degree of sharpness. Quality that would put a fair number of dedicated cameras to shame.

Veal¯smyra

Telemark Fylna (Norway)

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The glassy surface of this natural lake in Norway proves the perfect mirror to show off the natural beauty around it. One of those ‘right place, right time’ shots, but the N97 did its job superbly.

Gumser¯dbukta

Stavern (Norway)

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Another stunning effort by 1a1cna. The quiet emptiness of the North Sea shines through thanks to the deep contrasts of the rocks, and good levels of detail in the shimmering water and high clouds.

Flower

Jeppe2

We’re not altogether sure where this one was taken, but it serves as a fantastic advert for the N97’s photographic credentials. Short depth of field allows the flower to be pin-sharp and the background to be evenly blurred. The result is technically excellent for a camera phone.

View of Dapdune Wharf with barges

Guildford (England)

My Connected Life

A third entry here for this intrepid N97 photographer. As with the other two, the combination of crisp detail, punchy colours and well-handled contrast makes this image jump to life.

V8

Berlin (Germany)

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Shots like this live and die on the level of detail captured. And from the dull shine of the old Merc itself to the fine detail of the grille and the leaves on the ground, the detail is superb, and the resulting image full of mood and character.

Light structure in Marina Barrage

Singapore

Cloudywind

A riot of colours, indoors, various lighting sources in both foreground and background… this is not an easy shot to take, and will fall flat if your camera isn’t up to the job. But as should be perfectly clear by this stage, the N97’s most certainly is.

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But Ovi Store’s shelves are plentiful and there’s always room for more. The question is, what? The Store’s remit is already broad, so it could be that introducing new categories of content isn’t what’s needed right now. What do you think?

If we look at the content that’s already stocked in Ovi Store, what do you think it needs more (or less) of? Last week’s poll showed us that those of you who get involved in apps, tend to veer towards having lots of them. And, with yesterday’s announcement about games, we’re sure to see a boost in the range of games stocked in the Store. Though some of the comments dismissed the games offering. What kind of games do you expect to find there?

So, here’s a chance to have your say. What do you think the Ovi Store needs? Different types of content, different types of apps, something else entirely. Your shout, let us know in the comments below.

We’ll be passing your feedback directly to the folks responsible for the Ovi Store. So don’t hold back!

LONDON, England

This unique collaboration is the first of its kind and brings together new music, the Comes with Music Service and Nokia Music Store. Nokia will also be producing an exclusive Rihanna application and exclusive footage from her london gig which will be made available through the Ovi Store.

Liz Schimel, Head of Global Music, Nokia, said;

“Nokia is extremely excited to collaborate with Island Def Jam and Rihanna to truly redefine the connection between artists and fans and to deliver unique experience and content across the globe. History will be made on November 16th when Rihanna performs for a global audience via Nokia’s live streamed concert to officially mark the launch of her much anticipated new album.”

Rihanna stated

“I am so excited to partner up with Nokia. They are doing some really revolutionary things with this album, enabling me to reach more fans than ever before.”

Fans will be able to sign up to watch the live stream at Nokia.com/rihanna as well as download a countdown timer and invite friends to watch the performance through Facebook and Twitter.

There’s no doubting this is a unique and compelling coming together. We can’t wait to see how it in action. Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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Yesterday saw the announcement of five new emerging market devices, including the most affordable phone Nokia has ever produced. The €20 Nokia 1280 doesn’t skimp on functionality and comes loaded with useful features for those who live in remote or rural areas, where a speaking clock and flashlight are far more useful than Bluetooth or GPS.

With a further four low-cost mobiles joining the 1280 in the new year, Nokia has drawn attention to the benefit of no-frills practicality like never before.
So we thought we’d ask you to tell us what you think is the single most important feature in these ultra-affordable phones.

Read on to find out more, see photos of folk using the service, and as always, share your comments below.

Nokia Life Tools has been tailored for Indonesian farmers

Whereas in India much of the focus for the agriculture service was aimed at delivering timely crop prices to help ensure farmers were able to get better value for their produce, Life Tools for Indonesia has been tailored to provide precious up-to-date info on livestock, fisheries and horticulture, as well as crops.

In terms of what this actually means, farmers will be able to access market prices (consumer price, wholesale price, mill price and farmer price), and are also able to tap into tips and advice on farming techniques (such as animal health care and alerts on new government schemes), as well as receive all-important weather forecasts.

We’re stoked to see how Life Tools has been tweaked to target the unique needs of the people in this territory – could this approach be suited to other services too? Let us know what you think.

The agriculture service will initially launch in Java and Sumatera, prior to rolling out across the rest of Indonesia.

Help with education through Nokia Life Tools

When you access the education part of Life Tools there are three strands you can pursue – learning English, preparing for school and higher education exams, and improving your general knowledge.

Learning English is broken into beginner, intermediate and advanced levels, making it easy for anyone to jump in at the stage they’re most comfortable with. In terms of an outcome, the information and lessons that are delivered through Life Tools have been designed to help students come out the other side with the ability to read, write and understand simple English pieces of text.

The test preparation part of the education tool provides students with valuable access to material in keeping with the national curriculum at junior and high school levels. As for the general knowledge stuff, much of that information is again tailored to the region, supplemented with more info related to global general knowledge.

Nokia Life Tools injects entertainment

The entertainment tool adds a lighter touch to proceedings, enabling folk pluck news, astrology, jokes, movie news and reviews via subscription or on-demand. Whereas downloads such as wallpapers, animations, themes, music and comics are solely available via on-demand.

Nokia Life Tools will launch in Indonesia in early December 2009, and will debut on the Nokia 2323 classic, Nokia 2330 classic and Nokia 2700 classic. It’ll later become available on the five new devices announced today for Indonesia, including the Nokia 1280 (Nokia’s cheapest ever phone), Nokia 1616, Nokia 1800, Nokia 2220 slide and Nokia 2690.

Let us know what you think – share your thoughts on the latest Life Tools developments directly below.

JAKARTA, Indonesia

The new Nokia 1280 is a device perched at the absolute opposite side of the playing field to the N900 in terms of high-end functionality and performance, but that certainly doesn’t mean it warrants any less attention or kudos. See, I have a serious soft spot for what this device stands for and what it means – it’s a fresh-faced pioneer in terms of showing how low the price of a handset can go without sacrificing basic quality, performance and functionality. That’s no mean feat of engineering, or ambition for that matter, don’t you think? We need handsets like the 1280, as they push our expectations and drive performance and value benchmarks in an entirely different fashion.

The 1280 has been built to meet the needs of folk in remote and rural areas. In environments such as this, phone sharing is extremely common and necessary, so the new Nokia 1280 features five separate phone books, designed specifically so five different people can comfortably use it (first seen on the Nokia 1202) – split that 20 Euros between five members of a community and it becomes a 4 Euro device of sorts. I think that’s pretty incredible when you think about it in those terms.

Highly dust resistant and scratch resistant with a robust keyboard, the 1280 has been designed with longevity in mind. The same can be said on the battery life front, with up to 22 days of standby time and 8.5 hours of talk time – invaluable in communities where gaining access to electricity can often mean traveling to the nearest town many miles away.

Other key features include a torch, again a significantly valuable tool in areas without electricity, speaking clock with alarm, hands-free calling and FM radio support. Style hasn’t been left out of the equation though, as the 1280 features changeable colour covers and loud MP3 grade ringtones.

It will launch in certain markets with Nokia Life Tools pre-loaded.

The Nokia 1280 is slated to launch in the first quarter of 2010 for 20 Euros.

Let us know your thoughts on the cheapest Nokia phone yet.

JAKARTA, Indonesia

For an extra €4 comes the Nokia 1616 (pictured above). The colour screen marks this out as an entertainment device whilst the changeable colour covers set it apart from the rest. Like the 1280, this device also sports a flashlight, FM radio and anti-dust keypad along with support for Nokia Life Tools, it’ll also be available in the first quarter of 2010.

Rounding out the budget range is the €26 Nokia 1800. Due to launch in the second quarter of 2010 the 1800 comes with a headset for listening to the radio on the move and multiple address books.

Like its baby brothers, the Nokia 1800 also sports useful features such as the flashlight and speaking clock and will keep on going for a whopping 22 days in standby mode. If that’s not enough, then the battery will also withstand 8.5 hours of talk time.

Upping the ante a little comes the Nokia 2220 slide. Alongside the slide design comes support for Ovi Mail, enabling users to create email accounts directly on the device. Similarly, the Nokia 2690 sports support for Ovi Mail and both devices brag GPRS and MMS support and 1,000 contact address books. The €45 Nokia 2220 slide also features a VGA camera and is expected to ship before the end of the year.

The Nokia 2690 is an entertainment device and supports up to 2GB of memory through its memory card slot. it also comes with FM radio and an MP3 player and users can get more from their music thanks to the addition of a 3.5mm jack. With 14 days battery life, the €54 Nokia 2690 is expected to ship in the first quarter of 2010.

All prices quoted are before taxes and subsidies.

Last year someone gave me a sticker which became the source of lots of questions when I put it on the front of my laptop. The sticker was promoting fivedollarcomparison.org, a site set up by a Nokia design team to explore what you could buy for $5. The inspiration? They wanted to create a mobile phone people could buy for $5. As mike says in his post about the 1280 – which, like many of these devices can be shared by five different users – they’ve almost achieved it. Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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The first of Mark’s treats though is news of the imminent arrival of the hugely popular Sky Force on Ovi Store. This is from the same folks behind Creatures of the Deep and is a game that’s proved itself hugely popular since it first launched. Alongside the touch version of Dance Fabulous, Mark also reveals that Nokia itself will be releasing two to three more games before the end of the year, designed to specifically show off specific technologies. Now those we can’t wait to see! Here comes the vid…

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In some cases, it was clear that the number was significantly more than 11, too. Reader gregg003 proudly told us he has more than 40, Amit has installed upwards of 30 on his 5800 XpressMusic in just one month, while Farhan claims to have downloaded a whopping 75.
Widget2’s quota of 36 reads like an Ovi Store wishlist:

Apps: Mobbler. Local Tagging, Gizmo5, Yahoo!Go, Facebook, Sports Tracker, PhoneLocator, Opera Mini, Skyfire, MSN Messenger, DivX Player, Gmail, Google Maps, PhotoArt, Pocket Express, Strands Social Player, ColourChooser, Mail for Exchange, Files on Ovi, Presenter, WeFi, Nimbuzz, Plusmo, Point & Find, YouTube, Here and Now, Ovi Store, BBC iPlayer, Internet Radio, Vlingo, Qik, Shazam, Traveler, JoikuSpot Express, Tweets60, Pixelpipe.

The next-highest option, 7-10, received a healthy 18 per cent of the vote, while 4-6 garnered 19 per cent. That means JBC’s admission to currently having just three on his recently updated E71 puts him in the bottom 20 per cent – time to get redownloading. Right now I’m downloading everything and anything on Conversations’ own Nokia N900.

Just over one in 10 respondents (11 per cent) owned up to having just one, two or three apps currently residing on their Nokia handset, while five per cent admitted they hadn’t downloaded a single app and the same proportion couldn’t resist going for the ‘what’s an app?’ option.

Our poll question itself asked only the number of apps you had ‘downloaded and installed’, but an interesting debate cropped up over what constitutes a ‘running’ app.

Reader Simon argued that we should distinguish between apps that ended up just sitting there and ones that were in regular use.

Installed is not running. I run about 11 separate applications on my E71 at any given time. I have over 50 installed.

Another reader, cycnus, said their own proportion of ‘running’ apps was far higher.

I have many apps on my phone, but 95% I used opera, nimbuzz, worldmate, the nokia web browser. The other 5% (beside e-mail, sms, camera and pre-installed apps) is game. I download a couple of free/demo game, and so far have found no game that could really be counted as addictive enough.

But while Simon’s point that installed is not running certainly has merit, it’s worth repeating JBC’s thoughts in response:

I’d suggest though that we all have apps installed which we don’t run every day. But isn’t the same true of apps on your computer? It certainly is mine. There’re apps which you’ll try, but their usefulness is short-lived and so quickly become redundant. There are others though, which spend 99% of the time doing nothing, but spark up when the occasion requires them to.

Perhaps in the end it’s just a matter of interpretation. Either way, as Ovi Store goes from strength to strength we look forward to repeating this poll in a year’s time to getting another glimpse at just what apps you’ve been downloading, and using.

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“While the N-Gage service focused on a small number of popular titles, the Ovi Store already offers more than thousand game titles, including the few that have been selected as N-Gage titles to date.”

Beyond the range of games available, there comes a breadth of content which we’d never have seen from the N-Gage store. By virtue of the fact that the Ovi Store is available across so many devices, and across so many countries, distributing games across the different Nokia platforms is much easier than on N-Gage. We’re also ripe for the quick-hit games which might not offer the depth of an N-Gage title, but still help users to lose an hour or two here or there.

We’re busy getting a video interview with the man behind games at Nokia, Mark Ollila who is giving us some insight behind the switch. We’ll have that live for you in the next day or so, meanwhile check out what Mark had to say when he recently spoke to Stuart at MobileEnt.biz.

Let us know what you think about the move in the comments below.