Randomrants

O.k, well the firmware hit version 30 for the n95-8gb over night as well, and I have just finished installing it.   But for those that are uncomfortable about doing such a radical thing as updating your firmware, I thought I would put together a series of screenshots to show what you have to do and how easy it can be.

But one small catch, if you have your phone heavily customised it may not look the same when it reboots and not all of your apps may be where you think they are.  The process is still far from perfect in my opinion but the benefits of a more stable OS on your phone more than outweigh having to spend some time moving a few things around.

Stage 1 – Make a backup….   Just in case things go wrong 🙂 (and to put your phone back to how it was…!)

To create the backup choose the backup option in Nokia PC Suite.

Stage 2 Click on the Update Phone software button in Nokia Pc Suite.  (yes Mac people you will need to find a PC to use… don’t nark on me!)

Follow the instructions:-) Also make sure you phone is on power or at least has a full battery if the power goes out whilst you are doing the upgrade all sorts of bad things could happen!

Now, if you phone can find the update this is what you will see.  Not all phones will see this update, phones that are closely tied to a phone company for their firmware may not see this update at all.

Now it will download over 100 meg of stuff 🙂

Then it will Flash the phone and start installing the software.  At this point your phone will turn off and on a few times.  Your computer will also go through a couple of found new hardware devices as well.

Now all going well your Firmware is up to date.

Now comes the fun part.  Putting your phone back together.  Not all of your apps will be installed correctly.  You will need to go to Applications, App.mgr. and look through the list to see what is not installed.  At this point you can reinstall some of your applications by choosing install.

Now the final stage is to put things back…. the easiest way to do this is to go back to Stage 1, the backup you made… rememember that…  it was Stage 1.  Go to the Back Up in Nokia PC Suite and choose restore backup.

Now go outside and enjoy the day.

Tags: n95, nokia by Me
1 Comment »

The Nokia N95 1 (or as I like to call it the Nokia n95 Silver) has had a big firmware update..

• Nokia Maps 2.0 built-in
• Full N-Gage client
• Nokia Search 4.0 with Google plug-in
• Share online 3.0
• Enablers for Comes With Music
• Download! application updated (v 3.1.50)
• Upgrade to Music Player
• Update for Flash Lite 3 (improved viewing of sites like YouTube)
• Current consumption improvements (for e.g. WLAN scanning)
• New baseline for VoIP (with significant error corrections)

(thanks to All About Symbian) for the pointer….

and they also say that the 8gb version of this update should be out in the next few days as well.  I will let you know when it pops up.

Certainly I am looking forward to the NGage only being installed once 🙂  Expect a report on the firmware as soon as it comes out for the N95-8gb version.

And I think Nokia owes me money as well…. since I got my I know of 5 of these phones being sold to my friends and co-workers.  I really should get a cut 🙂

Tags: n95, nokia by Me
No Comments »

I finally found the bit of software I was after for my n95-8b.  It was a raw NMEA183 sentences log generator.  See the Sports tracker logs are o.k.  And yes it does create a very nice KML file for google earth.

But really three is a lot of data missing….  For example..  I can see only the average speed the max and min speeds.  With a Nema Log file I can see the speed and elevation e.t.c at any point of the trip.  Of course you need other software to deal with these files, but I have that from running things like OziExplorer on the R2H.

the software is called eGPSTrack .  A Java App that hooks into the internal GPS and writes all the raw GPS data at an interval that is configurable by the user.

This is from there about page….

“eGPSTrack is a gps tracking Java application for mobile devices with J2ME and a Bluethooth , internal or serial gps receiver. It isn’t a navigator, it is a positioning tool that tells you were you are at each moment, and which route you have been travelling. It is primarily aimed at outdoor activities such as trekking, hiking and cycling

eGPSTrack can load calibrated maps (cartographic or satellite images), and show your current track, position and direction on the map, providing you a global view of your trip. Old tracks can be loaded and showed at same time as your current track. Tracks can be exported to GPX and KML files so that you can view and edit them on a computer.”

There are some issues with the software, for example it doesn’t handle the rotation of the screen very well, and occasionally wigs out a little.  But it is a very low version number and it does what I want.  So if you really want to track yourself with your phone, rush out and download this FREE application.

Oh yeah… and one last dig….  Try and do that on your non jailbreaked Iphone… leave a gps task writing in the background whilsts listening to music, making a log file via Sports Tracker and taking a call 🙂  Sorry had to get that in. 🙂

Tags: gps, n95, nokia by Me
2 Comments »

As most of you should be aware I am a bit of a geotagging/gps nut (acutally I am just a nut).

with 99% of my photos geotagged on Flickr and a tendency to send out geotweets (is that even a word, guess it is now)  I am always trying to show people how to set up their phones to do it….

Well Kevin Anderson has written a great blog post based around an n82, flickr and geotagging.  And with him being a much more bettera writer than I am…. I figure I will just give you the link to his post and you can read it all over there.  It works for the N95 and N78 roughly the same as well.
Howto: Geo-tagging photos for an easy map mashup

P.S

I may have finally found the raw nema writing for the n95-8gb that I have wanted for a long time, but I didn’t read the manual for the software so I have yet to get it working properly (will get back to you on this shortly)

Tags: gps, n78, n95, nokia by Me
No Comments »

As Promised here are a few photos to compare the cameras on the Nokia N78 (3.2 Autofocus Camera) and the Nokia N95-8gb (with its 5mg Autofocus Camera).

Both of these were done on default settings and because I am ambidextrous I took the photos simultaneously as well.

Note to self: Must stop doing that in public makes me look even more of a tosser than I actually am.

Oh and click on images for bigger versions as well

This photo is looking at the N78 having just taken a photo of the n95…. Notice the Finger prints on the black plastic already.

Long View – N95

Long View – N78

Plant – N78

Plant – N95-8gb

The only other thing to note is that the only two photos that was nativelly geotagged was the N95 Plant and the N78 window, the rest of the Tags I have added in Flickr.

With the N78 it geotagged the window shot, even with out the Assisted GPS turned off using the new Auto Geotagging built into the firmware.  I do think it is a bit faster at getting a fix that the N95 but it was using Location Tagger which is still the only way to do it on the N95.  Evidently it will be coming in the next firmware update.

The N95 Plant shot was tagged as I had the GPS already running using Sports Tracker for logging my driving in the car.

I will try some geotagging tests soon.

Tags: n78, n95, Photos by Me
No Comments »

30 Minute play review…

Candybar Bar verses Slider. I actually prefer the candy bar design. Sure it may be in most cases slightly bigger in your pocket, but one it is open the N95 is longer and thicker and heavier than the n78. And after 7 months my slider is not as tight at is used to be and the whole phone has a bit of a wobble, something that is not going to happen with the n78.

TV Out or FM transmitter… tough call, I have used and would use both. TV out is great in that you can make a presentation and take just your phone to a location and show clients something, or just review your holiday snaps on a big screen at the hotel. The FM transmitter means that you can listen to your music in the car straight from your phone. I’m still deciding which would be the more useful… work or pleasure.

The Camera is a big thing and so the N95-8gb camera wins hands down just on megapixel count and both phones have the same LED type flashes anyway so there is nothing in that.

The GPS is better located sitting at the top of the device as is the headphone socket (some thing that I really wish the N95 did) And it is good if not better at getting a fix as well. Also the Australian version came with a 3 month trial of the navigation.

I don’t see the problem that a lot of people seem to have that navigation costs more. I have paid for it and did so over buying TraveRoute for the R2H for the simple reason that I have my phone on me more than the R2H 9oh yeah and it is cheaper. Plus you are only paying for Navigation not the maps. You can see where you are and how to get somewhere for free anyway.

I have updated the Firmware straight away (came with 11.043 out of the box, going to 12.046),.  There was an issue with the updater saying it didn’t work, but it had 🙂 The Maps version has not been updated to Maps 2, as from a quick series of google looks there are issues with FP2 and the latest maps. (Pity)

The other great pity is there no Games or N-Gage on the phone. Games are great for one thing killing time on your phone. There is not even a version of snake for example. Power users will have no problems finding and installing free games, but Joe Average might end up paying for things that he didn’t need to.

The heart beat thing is also not upsetting me… I thought it would but given that the phone looks off when it is resting it is reassuring to know that it hasn’t died 🙂

Conclusion… If you want to get into the smart phone game the N78 is a winner. Sure the case will be used by CSI at some point in time to lift your finger prints.. but the geotagged photos will prove you were not at the location anyway. It may not have the screen and grunt of the N95 8gb, but it is a worthy device never the less.

I will put together some photos over the weekend to compare the devices and also the cameras as well.

Tags: n78, n95, nokia by Me
No Comments »

Good news went passed the Chadstone Vodafone shop today and was served by the assistant manager (nice lass and should have remembered her name but didn’t :-))

Anyway quick swap and check of the paper work and a fire up off the new phone and I was done. Turns out on further inspection, it wasn’t just the camera, it was also the volume controls as well that were borked… Just a dud off the factory floor.

Anyway back to updating firmware.

One thing I have noticed that is bugging me already… and this one is really going to bug me.. The USB plug is different to my N95. WHY NOKIA WHY…. what it means is that when my wife and I go on the road, we will still need to USB plugs one for her phone and one for mine.

And one thing that is not bugging me… the battery for the n78 is the same 3.7v BL-6F as for the N95 8gb. So purchasing one spare battery will mean either phone can work (try and do that on your Iphone!)

Tags: n78, nokia by Me
No Comments »

Ok, have phoned Chadstone Vodafone to ask them to make sure that they have a phone in stock for tomorrow as it is the soonest we can get in to swap the phone.  However they can not guarantee they will have one in stock!

They have some (but will not say how many, and will not put one on hold for even 24 hours as ours is technically DOA!)

We are heading to a big fail, unless they just swap the phone out tomorrow I will not be happy.   I think part of the issue comes from the fact I know more than the sales people about the phones 🙂

The catch is they were doing very well up until this point.  We walked past the shop on Saturday saw they had the advertising and asked about the phone.  The guy went out the back, unboxed a phone and brought it out with a battery and it fired up.  All in 5 min, very slick. Thus why we brought it then and ther.  We had tried to see the phone a month earlier at Organiser World in the city.  They brought out the box and said see this is the phone…  thus they missed ou on the sale that vodafone got:-)

Will keep you updated 🙂

Tags: Annoyances, n78 by Me
2 Comments »

Well tonight I was going to write an entry on my N78 that was purchased yesterday…  but there is a small issue..

The camera button doesn’t work on it :-(..  So off to vodafone tomorrow and try and get it sorted.

Couple of quick observations.

Observations on the device. I like my N95’s screen, and the n78 is much smaller, and the keypad does some getting use to. The GPS in side by side driving tests was fine, the FM transmitter is a great feature, the head phone jack at the top is also very nice.

Seriously turning a phone on, then setting up the software, then getting the software to update, then getting that software to update, then installing newer firmware.  To complicated.  Apple and Nokia are both the same in this.  It is a phone, but the underlying structures have a long way to go before it is all seamless.

If you want an entry level device to the N-series range do consider it…(pending how long it takes to get the camera button sorted that is)

Tags: n78 by Me
No Comments »

http://email.nokia.com/

“About Nokia Email service

Nokia Email service automatically delivers email from your current email address to your Nokia device.

You do not have to change your email address.

Nokia Email service enables you to do the following on your Nokia device:

• View, respond, forward, compose and delete emails
• Manage your email inbox, outbox, drafts, and sent folders”

Thoughts so far it is a 1.6 meg download once you give Nokia all your details and first born.  However it never asked me where to install.  Granted I did say I have a N95, not the N958gb but that is only because the 8gb was not an option.

Phones list currently is, E51, E61, E65, E66, E71, E9,0 N73, N80, N81, N95 plus I am sure all the variations there is of each of these model numbers 😉

But the joy is it works.  My email is on my phone.  Yet another reason to leave the umpc behind and get a bluetooth keyboard.

it is nicely laid out and it just plain works.  Good on you Nokia.

Nokia betalabs now has comments up as well…

Tags: n95, nokia by Me
No Comments »