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Posts tagged Mobile
E72 : A peek into the box and the hardware
Mar 7th
I received Nokia E72 three days ago, thanks to WOMWorld Nokia. This is my first E series device so I’m very excited about using it. The first thing that stuck me was it’s very slim and sexy and it’s gonna turn heads. The cold metal back feels great in my hand. The light sensor in the front panel is very powerful and detects slight change in light and adjusts the screen brightness and QWERTY keypad backlighting.
The volume rockers and dedicated voice command key on right works very well. Voice command key is sunk lower than the volume controls so you are not going to press it accidental. MicroSD card slot and microUSB port are on the left side. On the top we have, as usual, power button and 3.5 mm audio jack. Power jack is at bottom left.
On back there are the speakers (very loud and clear), 5 Mpix camera – There is no cover for camera lens but it’s a tiny bit recessed so it won’t scratch easily. The camera works good according to my initial tests, more on this later. (and) steel battery cover which can also act as mirror. Although it is supposed to be fingerprint resistant mine was picking up fingerprints and smudges but they can be easily cleaned with a cloth. The 1500mAh BP-4L Li-Ion battery is a great performer, N97 also has the same battery and I can safely say that E72 will last for many days with a single charge.
The screen – Landscape 2.36" 16M-color display of QVGA resolution – is crisp and clear but a little small for surfing full blown desktop websites. A higher resolution would have been better. Anyway it has excellent sunlight legibility.
Keypad – This is the first time I’m using a QWERTY keypad and I love it. I’ve been replying to emails, tweeting, and chatting with my Gtalk buddies with absolute ease. One-touch keys makes everything faster, long pressing the one-touch key brings extra functions (I discovered it by accident ;p ) The breathing light looks very good and notifies missed calls and new messages. I am not very satisfied with the Navi key, it’s a little hard to use even in High sensitivity setting. But it works well while using camera. E72 doesn’t have a dedicated camera button, touching the Navi key activates the auto-focus and locks it and a full press captures the image.
In the Box – I know I should have written about the stuff in the box first but I was so excited at receiving the E72, I just played with the handset for few hours before looking into the box.
Let’s start with the box, the box is small and eco friendly, it has the standard charger, a leather case to protect your precious device, a cleaning cloth to wipe that smudges and fingerprints off the steel back, leaflets and manuals, leather lanyard, a good quality earphones and data cable.
I did not understand why data cable was this short, it is ok if I’m going to connect E72 with my laptop but what about when I connect it with my desktop? it’s going to hang like this.
For now I’m using my N97’s data cable to connect E72 to my desktop.
This was part one of my two part review of Nokia E72. In the next part I’ll review the software side of E72 and try to reach at a conclusion.
P.S. Watch out for the N97 vs E72 camera test.
Features/Changes we want to see in N97 V30
Mar 4th
Yesterday there was a post in the Nokia Facebook page about firmware V30 for N97. At present there is no information but according to them V30 is going to rock, and it’ll be released this summer.
It’s true that V21 solved most of the problems N97 users were facing and V30 could really improve the performance and user experience.
I’ve got a list of changes and features I want to see in V30 –
- Include the latest version of Quickoffice in the firmware itself.
- Make Adobe Reader free. (I’ve already bought it, so it doesn’t matter much)
- Integrate Maps into the firmware.
- Integrate Nokia Messaging into the firmware as in E72 and improve it’s performance.
- Remove Download and Boingo. (I’m using Joikuspot and Qik, so they can stay)
- Fix the ‘back’ button problem in music player and please include some visualizations.
- Throw in some glitz, transition effects and it should not affect the performance.
- Make gallery a little faster, especially the ‘Tags’ section.
- Xvid, Divx support?
- Internet radio.
- Latest version of Ovi Store in firmware itself. (and finally, the most important)
- Please increase the C drive memory.
Did I miss anything? Can you think of something else that needs to be added to this list?
N900 Awesomeness
Feb 23rd
Look at what this guy is doing. It’s simply awesome. Everything synced over the air, no need for wires or bluetooth or anything. So how did this guy achieved it? He hacked it.
more about “N900 Awesomeness “, posted with vodpod
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Go over to his blog to read more about it.
Skyfire 1.5 review
Jan 22nd
I’ve never previously used Skyfire, I owned an N70 earlier and Skyfire didn’t used to work in it. Now I’m using the Nokia N97 but Skyfire didn’t support S60 V5 smartphones…. So I jumped at the opportunity when I came to know that Skyfire team was looking for alpha testers. I installed Skyfire on my N97 and was amazed at the speed of the browser. How can a mobile browser that can display flash, silverlight etc. be so fast. it’s awesome.
Fast forward to today – Skyfire team has released the browser in beta for everyone to test. So what has improved and what has not –
Flash Videos – In alpha state audio and video were out of sync, and the experience was terrible… But in this beta I was amazed at the flash video playback, it was very smooth and even on the edge connection the video played without a hitch. awesome.
even the player is controllable (I’m thinking about flash games) –
The website rendering is surprisingly accurate -
of course it is going through some external server which compressed the data and makes Skyfire more faster, but streaming videos?
The controls are minimal and simple -
and it still has the sharable, all customized homescreen which greets you with your mail, twitter, facebook, digg, YouTube feeds etc.
This beta version of Skyfire has got problems too –
the frustrating checker board -
sometimes Skyfire does not connect to web at all, you’ve got to restart Skyfire for that. Interacting with some flash websites is difficult and the flash games are not playable.
So, how does Skyfire line up against it’s biggest competitor – Opera Mini/ Opera Mobile?
Skyfire beta is better than Opera mini 4 ….. but Opera mini / mobile 5 brought in many desktop like features which makes surfing the web on mobile so much simpler like saving passwords, multiple tabs, more speed, less data usage, a download manager etc. which makes Opera mini / Opera mobile better than Skyfire. I really like Skyfire and I hope the final version has password manager, multiple tab etc.
You can download Skyfire from here
or type get.skyfire.com in your mobile browser.
Polarbit Games for free in Ovi Store
Jan 20th
Polarbit is a leading developer of high-end 3D games and middleware for the mobile and handheld markets worldwide. Some of Polarbit Games in Ovi store are -
I’m a racing game fan and the first Polarbit game I bought was Raging Thunder. It uses the phone accelerometer for steering the car. of course you can use the touchscreen but really turning the phone to steer the car is so much more fun. Check @Steve ’s review for Raging thunder.
Armageddon Squadron is so much more fun game that I have almost forgotten about Raging Thunder. An arcade flight simulator that gives you control of some of the best known aircraft of the WWII era. Objectives include bombing and strafing raids against facilities and convoys, protection of ground troops against enemy aircraft and action-packed dogfights against enemy aces. Prepare to unleash an arsenal of machine guns, bombs, rockets and torpedoes above lush, green countryside, open sea and battle-pocked cities.In this game you not only tilt the phone sideways, but up and down too, to increase and decrease your plane’s altitude. Sound effects are awesome (My mom thought I was playing the game on PC) Graphics are nice. You can play it for hours and hours and you still won’t be bored. It was almost like I was watching the movie Top Gun. It’s a must have game. I would’ve bought it even if it cost 5 or 7 euro.
Wave blazer – Wave blazer is a simple motorboat racing game. The graphics are good. Sounds are ok. There are lots of levels but you have to finish the race in the first three to unlock them. This game also uses accelerometer for steering the boat.There is an autopilot button to steer you out of tight spots. Not as fun as Armageddon Squadron (I’m not a boat racing fan) but still a good game.
ToonWarz - Don’t be deceived by the name, this game has got nothing to do with cartoons although the enemies might look a little toony. It is an excellent “quack” like game which you can play with your friends. In single player mode you are alone and kicking the ass of hundreds of bad guys..(sounds fun eh? it is) It also has accelerometer but I’d recommend you use touchscreen, works better in this game and don’t accidently tilt your phone, the guy in the game will run in a different direction and will get shot.
All these games are 3D and you can play multiplayer through WLAN. Polarbit is saying that there will be updates to these games. All these games were 3 euro two days ago and if my guess is right it will be back to 3 euro soon, …. so grab it while it’s free.
Some users were lamenting they should’ve waited for a few days and not bought the game for 3 euro . Guys/ Gals – your 3 euro hasn’t gone to waste, after these games become paid, only those who have purchased it can re-download it from the ovi store.
Get these games here.
or download it from your mobile’s ovi store.
Here’s a video -
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