GLOBAL – This morning the team over at Nokia Beta Labs released a new version of the Nokia Magnifier app. A sharper, smoother-running update, this latest beta release of Nokia Magnifier better exploits the auto-focus camera feature on many S60 devices such as the N96, N95, N95 8GB, N82, N73, E90, E71, E66, to enable you to easily enlarge hard-copy small print.

Harnessing the often underplayed features of a device is crucial for driving innovation – an ethos that has been wonderfully embraced by many mobile innovators over the past year. So with traditional household tools such as the magnifying glass and spirit level (click to see it working on N95) becoming available on devices, how far can this go?

Okay, so you can’t digitize a screwdriver, weighing scales or a rolling pin… or could you, with say the Morph concept in mind? Perhaps that is stretching things too far. Maybe you disagree. So, how far can or should this breed of digitized traditional tool be taken. Is there a point where what’s practical and useful steps into the realm of the ridiculous?

Read on for more and to watch videos of Nokia Magnifier and the spirit level on N95. Plus, get stuck in and leave your opinions.
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Ovi Contacts updated and polished

GLOBAL – Earlier today a new beta version of Ovi Contacts was made available on the Nokia Beta Labs site. The S60 3rd FP2 version promises to run a lot smoother and offer a much slicker experience, according to Kristian Luoma, Product Manager for Ovi Contacts.

He posted a piece on the Beta Labs blog this morning explaining what to expect from the new version, and champions the Beta Labs community in the face of horrible hiccups. Read on for highlights, plus find out how you can help improve Ovi Contacts.
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The smart way to have some fun

ESPOO, Finland – Smart phones are fundamentally, well, smart. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun with them. Audio Smileys might be designed for kids to have a bit of a laugh with their devices (it’s available on S40 and S60) but I have an inkling that this could take the place of the office whoppee cushion. Well, why not? The latest release from the Beta Labs team, Audio Smileys offers an easy way to turn your keypad into a festival of laughter – simply assign your own choice of funny sounds or tunes to each key, and you can irritate and cajole colleagues, friends or even enemies at the click of a button.

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New Beta Labs live and buzzing with chatter

GLOBAL – A couple of weeks ago we brought you our first impressions of the new Nokia Beta Labs site. Now the new-look site has been officially switched on, and already it’s awash with community debate and the co-creative juices are flowing.

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New era of Nokia Beta Labs begins

GLOBAL – This month will see Nokia Beta Labs grow into an even more engaging and collaborative R&D beast with the switch over to its redesigned, restructured and refocussed beta website.

When we spoke to Nokia Beta Labs chief Tommi Vilkamo back in August 2008, he gave us an insight into the plans for this new site, and by the looks of the beta version those plans are beginning to manifest into reality.

Read on for more details on what the new version of Beta Labs has to offer.

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Nokia Image Exchange emerges

GLOBAL – The team over at Beta Labs has just released a new beta app dubbed Nokia Image Exchange.

At first glance I cynically wondered why this app was even created, what with Share on Ovi essentially being an ‘image exchange’ service, but on downloading the software it soon becomes clear that the nuances of difference between the two services show that the team behind the app is looking to explore and refine other elements of photo sharing and image galleries.

Read on to find out more about this intriguing new beta app and watch a video of it in action.

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Nokia Friend View at Beta Labs

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Getting in touch with your inner Nokia

Copenhagen, DENMARK – I’m here in Copenhagen for the New Media Days conference (I’m on a panel today), and wanted to catch up with some of the bookmarks I’ve had lying around these past few days, and why they caught my attention.