Phoneomenon.com

Nokia Vine

pnksniper — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 18:25:45 +0000

Nokia Vine is an application that allows the user to post online or live broadcast their adventures. It is similar to Sport Tracker in that it continuously tracks your location via GPS. The main difference is that you have the capability to add multimedia to your journeys. For example, you can travel from point A to B. During this journey if you take photos,videos, listen to music it will add it to your “Vine”. I tried surfing the Internet as well and it did not add that to the “Vine”. If live broadcast is used, people can see your actions and journey in real time. Otherwise you can have the option to upload it later. People that look at your “Vine” will be able to enjoy your journey verbatim as though they were also present. While it seems like an interesting concept, I didn’t really understand it. I didn’t like the feeling of having a “Vine” and having that posted online. It would seem fun if you were on a trip but for everyday use I’m not so sure. Kudos to Nokia for thinking outside the box with this application but I guess its not for everyone. I will be leaving for CES this coming week and will have a “Vine” of my journey from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.

Symbian-Guru digs deep to uncover the true beliefs Nokia’s Camera Goals!

pnksniper — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:00:37 +0000

R.Cadden aka SymbianGuru attended NokiaWorld and was able to pose the question to Nokia as to why the world has not yet seen Nokia release a 8MP, 10MP shooter for 2009. The N97 was amazing announcement but the same tired 5MP Carl Zeiss? While rival companies like Samsung and SonyE are dolling out the 8MP shooters, Nokia is sticking with its 5MP Carl Zeiss, why? The answer comes in three focus points that Nokia is setting their sights on for their products. Follow link for details!

LINK

Nokia E63 Hands On

pnksniper — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 21:34:18 +0000

Ive had the Nokia E63 for almost two weeks and what can I say, its a perfect phone for someone that wants a messaging beast with S60! I decided to try something different and made a quick hands-on and comparison video. Enjoy!
*FYI: I filmed this using a Sharp SH-01A, a mobile device :).

Samsung releasing 8MP beast to U.S. Shores!

pnksniper — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:19:58 +0000

It was only a couple months ago when Samsung decided to drop a bomb on the world and release their first s60 powered 8MP camera phone. The phone got rave reviews in particular for new features such as face, smile detection and image stabilization. It was and still is a phone that far exceeds what is available on the market and easily one upping efforts by Nokia’s N-series (N95, N96, N85) line up. Although the device did have everything anyone could want from a high end megapixel shooter it did lack the highly coveted U.S. 3G band. Well, not anymore! The FCC site has a posting with the Samsung I8510 in a U.S. flavor with the 850/1900 3G bands. Whether this will be picked up by a major carrier is yet unknown but seeing Samsungs track record with major U.S. carriers it seems rather likely.

FM transmitter:Gimmick or Grand Tool?

pnksniper — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 16:38:24 +0000

The trial with the N78 left me with something that I would desire in all handsets that would come from Nokia, the FM transmitter. This feature allows users to stream audio over an FM channel. I find t this feature is great for impromptu sharing or just using it as a dedicated music device in your vehicle. I understand that the quality of FM streaming isnt the best, but its better then nothing.

Although I did get a chance to stream music over radio, I wasnt able to test navigation and other audio, if this can stream voice navigation directions to car speakers it would greatly increase the usability of Nokia Maps and many other audio based applications. In the Los Angeles area most of the FM stations are currently in use so I had a difficult time finding a station that would clearly stream audio, both car and in home. Sometimes the audio would be clear without interruptions, other times there would be hiccups. It is a possibility that Los Angeles just doesn’t have any open FM stations (took me forever to find a decent station to use), or something to do with the sensitivity of the FM transmitter. I hope to explore this more when I am able to receive a trial of the N85 (which is a newer device that has FM transmitter feature). But I have to ask myself is this a true tool or gimmick to pack more into phones?

Nokia E71-2 Firmware Update!

pnksniper — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:44:08 +0000

I finally decided to take advantage of the E71-2 Firmware update. The phone go’s from the natively shipped 100.07.76 to 110.07.127. The changes to the software include (courtesy of SymbianWorld):

New features in MCU SW version 110.07.127:
- Nokia Email client for Nokia Email service in user disk (visible in countries where service is available)
- Mail for Exchange 2.5.5
- New Maps 2.0 release
- New Voip release
- New Switch release
- New Download! Release
- Y-drive for WMDRM protected files

Changes/improvements made to MCU SW version 110.07.127:
- Email set-up improvements
- Maps 2.0 improvements
- Music library refresh function performance improvement
- Browser improvements
- Bluetooth improvements
- Camera improvements

This download is available via the NSU! Enjoy!

Nokia XpressMusic 5800 passes through the FCC!

pnksniper — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 07:20:17 +0000

The much awaited Nokia XpressMusic 5800 NAM edition (thats right US 3G!) has passed through the FCC. While this isn’t a indicator on when the phone will pop up for sale on US shores it does bring hope that it will be coming sometime soon. Multiple sources from Nokia have stated that the phone is due sometime in Q1′09. Hopefully this will mean JANUARY of 2009! On another note the Nokia flagship store in Chicago is currently selling the XpressMusic 5800 Euro with US Warranty for $350 USD, great price (for those who cant wait). Personally Ive been on the short end of the stick when it comes to buying a device early (N95-1 early adopter) so I will be waiting this one out patiently.

Nokia Chicago:
Address
543 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 670-2607

Hours of Operation
Mon - Sat 10:00 am - 7:00 pm
Sun 11:00 am - 6:00 pm

Nokia XpressMusic 5800 Unboxed!

pnksniper — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 01:04:14 +0000

MobileBulgaria has a great unboxing video showing what potential buyers will be able to enjoy, the box is stuffed with a lot of goodies and he goes through each item and shows them off well. Enjoy!

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic unboxing from mobilebulgaria.com on Vimeo.

Nokia Messaging! Email and Messaging Together

pnksniper — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 06:45:32 +0000

Nokia Messaging will be a service that combines email and IM services into one portal on Nokia handsets. This is a great leap forward with the gaining popularity of IM and Email services that are being used more frequently on mobile devices. Nokia has set a time which will Q01 of 2009 to start the launch of the messaging service. Many of Nokias devices ship with the messaging application but in its current form it has no use, no preset IM clients. I look forward to using this application when released.

What does the Nokia N97 have to offer?

pnksniper — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 08:40:14 +0000

Nokia World 2008 brought the announcement of Nokia’s true flagship device, the N97. While its been almost a week since the announcement Im still thinking about the device. Yes, thinking! Normally I would be hooked and already finding ways to cut back on spending to make sure that I will have the shillings to purchase this device as soon as it hits the market. But something within me isnt quite convinced that I should bite. This is a device that is going to be released sometime in mid-2009 and maybe even later for the US. While I think that the device packs all the essential features, I dont think that it packs all the right features that will be necessary to make it a contender in 2009 (hopefully Ill have to eat these words). Could it be possible that Nokia is trying to create a better product rather then something new? Im all for stable quality products, but I do hope that Nokia is researching new technologies and will brave enought to introduce these technologies to the market sometime soon. After nearly 2 years of the same hardware I think its time for a change. What do you say?
Specs:
* 3.5?, 640 x 360 resistive touch screen
* Hardware QWERTY keyboard
* Tri-band HSDPA 3G (900/1800/1900)
* 802.11 b/g WiFi
* A-GPS and Stand-alone GPS for navigation and geo-tagging
* 32GB Built-In Memory
* MicroSD expansion support for ADDITIONAL 16GB+
* 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics/VGA 30FPS video recording
* Flash Lite 3.0 support and Flash Video in web browser
* Music player up to 36 hours playback time
* New customizable home screen