Symbian^3 Design Preview

At the Mobile World Congress 2010, Symbian Foundation revealed the ‘Design Preview’ of their latest version Symbian^3. It’s supposed to be completed by the end of next month. Symbian OS is used on Nokia devices and some Samsung, Sony Ericsson devices. 


take a look at the video of the design preview

So what are your comments?

Windows Phone 7 Series

Yesterday at the Mobile World Congress 2010, Microsoft revealed their revolutionary OS for Mobiles. The new version has awesome features, like a built in Zune music player, good looking User Interface, superb connectivity with social networking sites etc. and a whole lot of cool features

Check out this video for a complete list of features:

Official Website: http://www.windowsphone7series.com/
So what do you think of this new version of Windows mobile? Do you think it will kill the iPhone? (I know its very late, but still)

[MUST READ] Samsung Galaxy Android GT- i7500, Tips and Info

The Samsung Galaxy GT i7500 is the slimmest Android device available. It runs Android version 1.5 and no info on updates to later Android versions are out yet. Although there are rumours that there will be an update which will install Android version 2.1 on the Galaxy, but it was said that it will only be out in Q2. Check out photos here:

 

The Samsung galaxy out of the box has a very very bad battery life.. but it can be fixed by a firmware update. So if the Samsung galaxy’s battery you own doesn’t even last a day, You need to get a firmware update on your Samsung Galaxy. To update the phone’s firmware open Samsung’s New PC Studio software on your computer connect the device and then click on Update. Now there are many users out there who are not able to ‘connect the device to pc’,  ‘device not being recognized’, and some get the error ‘Firmware updates are not supported by this device’. If you are one of these users there is an alternative way to update the firmware.

 

You can download a firmware and then update it on your device using Odin.
For firmware click any of these three links:  1. IH8 2. II5
IH8 and II5 are nothing but the firmware versions, If you have any doubts on your mind as to which firmware to upgrade to, don’t worry you can upgrade to either. II5 is supposed to be the latest.

To update download Odin and any one firmware from the above links and then follow the instructions given here on Androidforums.com.

IF YOU HAVE NO IDEA OR DO NOT UNDERSTAND ANYTHING ABOUT ODIN AND FIRMWARE UPDATES PLEASE DONT DO IT. READ EVERYTHING ON THE PAGE CLEARLY AT THE ABOVE LINK BEFORE DOING ANYTHING. ME OR ANYONE CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE IF ANY THING GOES WRONG WITH YOUR PHONE ETC.

Tips on increasing Battery life:

1. Update firmware as given above
2. DO NOT use the pouch given with the phone. The reason being that the when the phone is in the pouch, its camera button is pressed thus not allowing the phone to sleep and consuming extra battery.

After the firmware update the battery life has improved a LOT. I get about 40 hours of light to moderate usage, which is really cool.

 

Some Good apps to have on the android phone, which you can get from android market:

1. Spare parts: Gives info on battery usage and other useful stuff

2. Apndroid: With the Background sync on, and when out of wifi connectivity, the phone connects via GRPS/EDGE/3G and there is no setting etc. to stop this. So if you don’t want unnecessary connections that cost you can use this app that also has a widget with which you can switch on/off your GPRS/EDGE etc.
3. Shootme: this app allows you to take screenshots on your android phone with just a shake.

After the firmware update I’m really loving this phone, also Android OS. The only thing  that's not so good is the camera, reason being no settings can be changed. check out photo comparisons here

 

If you have any tips or tricks to share do post it in a comment please. Also do share this post with others by tweeting it or linking other people.

iPhone/iPod touch receives a software update

If you own an iPhone or an iPod touch you can now update its firmware to version 3.1.3. Just plug in your device to iTunes to update its firmware.

The new version changelog:
1. Improved accuracy of reported battery level on iPhone 3GS
2. Resolves issues where third-party apps would not launch in some instances
3. Fixes bug that may cause an app to crash when using Japanese Kana Keyboard

[UPDATE] While updating my iPod touch I encountered problem error 1602, and my iPod was stuck in restore mode and my laptop could not recognize it. I had to restore it using another computer. check out this page before you update your device: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1275
Also I suggest you only update the firmware once you have the latest iTunes version and also while updating do turn off any firewalls.

Apple iPad Unveiled

Mr. Steve Jobs CEO of Apple unveiled yesterday the 'iPad' which is the rumored device called "iSlate, iTablet" earlier.
The Apple iPad is 0.5" thick, weighs 1.5 pounds, has a 9.7" capacitive touchscreen(1024x768), latest wireless technology- Bluetooth 2.1, and 802.11n, all the iPhone stuff i.e. the Accelerometer, compass etc. more specs here

According to me this a BIG iPhone/iPod Touch. Yes it has support for all the apps in the app store for the iPhone/iPod touch, the sleep/wake button on the top like on the iPhone/iPod touch, also has the "home" button.
This device is something between a phone and a laptop. The eBook app called iBooks allows you to buy ebooks and read them on a very advanced and high resolution LED display which should be an amazing experience. Photos, Videos, Notes, internet browsing, Maps, YouTube etc. should be really amazing. Also with the support for iPhone apps, the games on this larger screen should be really good. check here for more features.
There are some drawbacks of this though. Here are some:
1. NO Multitasking.... Again I don't know how could they do this! check earlier post on this here
2. No support for SD cards etc. so no expandable memory
3. No Camera

I don't understand why would someone who already owns a laptop + iPod touch or a desktop + iPhone etc. want such a device? Like you can buy it if you have $$$ and want an awesome eBook reading experience and want to check newspapers etc but then I still the laptops can do that, as well as do MANY other stuff. So I don't understand why someone would want an iPhone which is BIG in size.
It's good to get this device, if you have a desktop and then want mobility at your homes etc.
for pricing check here
So do let me know about your thoughts of the iPad in the comments please!

Seesmic Look - The good looking twitter client

Seesmic has launched a new Twitter client, 'Seesmic Look'. As the name says it", it's a really good looking twitter client for Windows operating system.
Check this video for all the details about its really good looking interface:
Please turn on the annotations while watching the video.



The looks are really very pleasing. Memory used was a little less that Tweetdeck.
Things I liked about it:
1. Looks
2.Themes
3.User Interface

Things I didn't Like about this include:
1. Large text (some might like this)
2. No option to Retweet the classic way (where you can edit)
3. time lines do not display the twitter username/handle of the tweeter. It displays the Name instead.

You can download it from here
So what do you think of this twitter client? and what do you use for Twitter?

Nokia OVI maps to go free

Nokia has announced that the new version of OVI maps will have free Navigation, which was is currently a paid service. This is a great move by Nokia because the Navigation service is really good and not many were able to use it earlier because it was paid.

Currently there are few devices that will be supported which include the Nokia 5800 Navigation and XpressMusic Editions, Nokia E72, Nokia E55, Nokia E52, Nokia X6, Nokia 6710 Navigator, Nokia 6730 classic, Nokia 5230 and the N97 mini.

Hopefully more devices will be added to this list soon. What are your thoughts about this move by Nokia?

Tags: mobile, nokia, random