Mobile Royale - An Asian Perspective on Mobile Industry

Nokia N95-3 just got a new firmware update. The long awaited v20.0.011 is out. This brings in Flash Video support, faster bootup, search integrated to the standby screen and much more! Add to: | Technorati |  Digg |  del.icio.us | 


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Nokia N95-3 just got a new firmware update. The long awaited v20.0.011 is out. This brings in Flash Video support, faster bootup, search integrated to the standby screen and much more! Add to: | Technorati |  Digg |  del.icio.us | 


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As I've been a bit stucked up with my schedule and fell in love with the N95, I couldn't find much time for blogging. Sorry for that and now I'm going to cover you on Web browsing capabilities of the N95. The device is capable to open any sort of website without much hassle and with the latest firmware upgrade, it gives you the ability to view Flash 9 content. The web browser comes with a toolbar and this can be opened anytime by long clicking on an empty area of a webpage. However the most important feature in the browser for me was the Mini View of webpage which you can get by pressing 8 anytime. Every webpage opened can be zoomed in and out seamlessly and the best view you can get is the 75% zoom which is switched on by pressing #. As many bloggers have already posted a lot on the browsing capabilites of this great device, I don't hope to bore you with them. So I'll be posting an article on how does the new OM4.1 compete with the S60 Web and as pictures speak better, some good screenshots.Add to: | Technorati |  Digg |  del.icio.us | 


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Nokia N95 in dark, captured from a Nokia 6233 and posted from the N95.
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You might have wondered why my reviews were delayed.
1. I've fell in love with the device, I don't want to even spare some time to review.
2. I had nearly finished my exposure article on the Chinese fake N95, but mistakenly deleted it.
So now, I'm going to tell you about the great display on this multimedia computer. The N95 has a superb QVGA resolution display. It has a diagonal length of 2.6" and displays upto 16 Million colours. It has GREAT display quality both indoors and outdoors and you can call it superb when you compared to some Sony Ericsson devices of which you can't view any picture outdoors easily as their displays do not have folios and thus shines when under the sunlight. With the rotating gallery, it is a really nice experience to view the pictures. And for web browsing, the display won't make you feel that it is a mobile. I won't mention the display's help in taking great photographs, I'll keep it for a separate article. Expect more screenshots, I'm currently having some problems in uploading them. Expect more on the N95 and don't forget that I've not yet mentioned the best features of the device. The real review starts now!Add to: | Technorati |  Digg |  del.icio.us | 


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As it has already made a lot of voice about the battery capabilities of the N95-1, I decided to test it myself. This is what took place in a practical Sunday. And SPOILER ALERT : The whole day without a recharge. The phone was switched on for all the 24 hours.


5.30a.m - Start of the day. With a small recharge of around 30 mins taking the battery to a nearly full level with the recharge day before.
6.00a.m- Checking my email, with a 3.5G browsing session.
7.30a.m- Using the Messaging function and some other applications.
9.30a.m- Using the camera and Bluetooth for nearly half an hour.
11.00a.m- "Playing" with the device for around half an hour.
12.10p.m- Playing some videos and using the camera for around 20 minutes.
1.45p.m- Using Messaging function for sending some SMSs.
3.00p.m- Some more minutes of playing, including N-Gage.
4.30p.m- Active 3.5G browsing session, some calls, battery still full.
7.00p.m- Some more 3.5G browsing and listening to music, actively using other applications.
9.30p.m- End of the day. Still surviving from a single recharge, battery still one bar left.

With this normal usage, I believe it should be well enough for any normal user. And for a 950mAh BL-5F battery, this is still impressive. And for today, after a full recharge, I've been browsing internet with 3G set on for nearly 3 hours, while losing only one battery bar. So my recommendation is that, if you use wisely, you are able to survive without a recharge for a single day even with a higher usage. And, if you want a bit more power, just switch off 3G as it's one of the most battery consuming features.

COMING UP: "A camera review in night" and, "N95 Exposure : Fake or real - The deep truth on the Chinese N95"
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Already having nice experiences with GPS in the N810 that I trialled,
I started to explore GPS on the N95 this morning. The sky was cloudy
and I was expecting to wait around 30 minutes till it picks up a
satellite signal as the N810 needed even longer durations while in the
bright sunlight. What a surprise! The N95 didn't take more than 90
SECONDS! It seemed that the N95 was so GPS hungry. Photos speak better than words, so look out for the pictures!
I also used the SportsTracker along with GPS and it worked really nice too.
Picking up satellite signals

Navigation


So, if you are looking for a good phone with GPS, my recommendation is Nokia N95 (Or N82 if you don't like sliders that much). My device was just v20.0.015 and if you upgrade to firmware v21.0.016 you'll get a whole lot more advantages. Stay tuned to MobileRoyale to find out what else the N95 can do, more reviews are to come! This entry was posted completely from a Nokia N95.

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Momofseven at Howard Forums has modified her Nokia N95-1 with an 1200mAh BL-6F (originally for N95 8GB) battery. Here's how it looks . Read here tips on modifying over here. Photos courtesy and copyright of momofseven.

This is a bit old news, but I believe that you'll be interested. So here is the link to guide by Ewan at AllAboutSymbian on getting Quake working on your Symbian device.

After much anticipation, Nokia N95 (N95-1) has finally got an firmware update to v21.0.016. This new version comes with Flash Lite 3 support, which enables you to watch flash videos (from sites like YouTube) right on your N95 while browsing the web from it. The new firmware also supports widgets. Upgrade your N95 to the latest firmware at Nokia Software Updater.

To make a long story short, I'll write it in point form.
- I was to get an Nokia N95-1 (my nickname for it - Terabyte XL) for testing from N Series WOM World. The device was to be sent to me via TNT and was picked up on 3rd Mar 2008 from UK.
- TNT provided me with an estimated delivery date of 7th Mar in my beautiful, poor, Asian home country.
-The device first travelled to Belgium, then came back to UK again, shipped back to it's final destination and arrived with a delay of one day, on 8th Mar. Status were,
"Held in Customs" at 09:32
"Waiting for clearance instructions from receiver" at 10:40
[At 10:40, they marked as Delivered in the tracker form, but the package is still in transit]
"Returned to Origin" at 10:41
-The device travelled back to UK. As I later found out, TNT had some problems with UK Customs.
-It arrived back in my country. Hopefully released from customs and marked as
"Import Received" and "Consignment in Warehouse" on 11th Mar.
- I've been waiting impatiently. WOM World has already paid TNT for return delivery too, and advised them to charge from WOM's account if there'd be any taxes upon receiving.
- After 8 days of waiting, (yesterday) I called local TNT office and got a sigh of relief, because the customer agent responded as
"The package will be handed over to a third party for delivery this evening and will be with you by tomorrow morning". Note that my home is only a thirty minute drive from their warehouse. The agent also told that the delivery delayed because they were provided with my contact number only yesterday.
-Later during the day (yesterday) , a TNT agent called me. Saying that he had been trying to contact me since a week (remember what the other agent told) and that the package has been stopped by customs (then how come it is shown in the tracker as in warehouse) and that I need to pay them the tax duty fees and a special fee to them for dealing with customs if I want the package to be released. I told him that I've to negotiate with the sender and the agent agreed to call back in a few hours.
-Since then I've been impatiently writing to WOM and TNT and phone calling them, but nothing has changed so far. WOM advised TNT to take action soon to release it from customs and charge them for it, but TNT has NOT done it so far. I've written to TNT numerous times, but no response, when I wrote to the email address of one of their main officers, I was to get the response "Out of office". I called their hotline this morning too this is what happened,
"Welcome to TNT, how may I help you today?"
"I want to track a package sent to me"
"Please hold on"
BLA BLA BLA -Music-
"Hello! How may I help you ..."
"I want to track a package .."
"What!?! This is Singapore Airlines !!!"
-The good old N95 is still sitting at TNT's warehouse, for the 10th day. I'm totally sick of TNT's customer service now, I will never choose them or never recommed them to anyone. That is for sure. But one condition, if they are able to deliver the package, without any harm to it, to me within 24 hours (ie- before 3.30p.m tomorrow), I might consider about taking this post down. Let's see what'll happen.

A new firmware update for the N95 Classic is on it's way. The new version, v21.0.016 will feature Flash Lite 3 support, S60 Widgets and general bug fixes. This will once again make the N95 Classic one of the most powerful mobile devices on earth. Read over at Symbian Freak for the changelog.

Many bloggers think that the new BLACK coloured N95 version featured on the Amazon.de website is a new variant. But I don't think so. Actually, the above picture, extracted from the same article at Amazon.de, features a N95 8GB. Thanks to AltaVista Babel Fish online translator, I figured out these things
* It says UMTS N95 with 2GB Navi luggage
* But the attached pics are of a N95 8GB
* In technical specs, it shows that the device supports HSDPA, it is quadband and
"innovative two way postponing method" - Babel Fish translating error? It should say "two way sliding method" I think.
* The device is only available in Germany and Austria.
* I didn't notice anything about a microSD
They say that the device is out of stock, but will provide as soon as possible when you order. So my say is that, this is a either a N95 8GB or a NEW N95 with 2GB internal memory, but why would they downgrade to a 2GB without microSD when there's a 16GB + microSD device (N96) already? Let time solve this.

Last 24 hours time was one of the most action packed days for the smartphone industry in recent times. Main facts for this include the iPhone SDK and the N95 8GB NAM. First, iPhone SDK. The iPhone SDK was launched by Steve Jobs and as you will be able to read more on his comments by a simple Googling session, I don't intend to emphasize on his sayings. But I feel that what he said mig prove WRONG in the future. According to him, iPhone is the very best in mobile applications and none of the other manufacturers/platforms are up to match them. I personally don't like when people tell they are the very best and noone else, but also, personally I don't like the iPhone. Yes, it might have one of the best UIs ever, but it has nothing else that I want. No 3G, no good camera, and most importantly, till yesterday, no good applications support. iPhone applications might be successful in the future, but we can't expect that Nokia will stay silent. So, so far, the best applications platform for me is Symbian (but I'm no Symbian user so far :-D). Secondly, the North American version of Nokia N95 8GB was launched. With all the good bits, except a microSD and a lens cover, the device should still make users happy at $799. There were many nice small things. Look at a brighter Symbian future. Here's the link to Space Impact - Kappa Base review, the latest review by All About N-Gage.

The new web browser for Windows Mobile enabled mobile phones, Skyfire, is close to completion of a new Skyfire version on the N95. An engineer at Skyfire revealed that it is working great at an IntoMobile news discussion. It seems that we can expect Skyfire on S60 devices soon!