The Big Debate- Nokia Connects

This Sunday's Big Debate on Nokia Connects is "Home button or swipe gesture?" This is really a nice title for a fierce debate and my arguments on this debate will be this post. 

Beginning with Home button, We have been using Smartphones with a home button no matter what the OS is and we use it for minimizing our tasks. This home button has now become very unpopular and there must be something else for its purpose. There comes the Swipe gesture and everyone is aware its N9 to feature this cool swipe gesture. 

The two popular smartphone in the N series are the Symbian powered N8 and the one of its kind Meego powered N9.  I have been using Symbian smartphone with the Home button for a long time and it has not inspired me much when compared to N9 which I had been using N9 since a week. Everyone needs something unique and new feature for faster and seamless multi-tasking and in the case of Home button, it is not much as expected as you need to use the Home button for minimizing or for switching between open Apps.

Meanwhile in case of Swipe gesture features N9, its rather different. The swipe gesture takes you to the next level of multi-tasking. You swipe down to close the app or swipe from the sides to minimize. Simple, isn't it?

Its much better to use the swipe gesture instead of using the native Home button. The presence of home button in the device makes it look outdated when compared with one that has a swipe gesture. You can have faster, smoother and better multi-tasking and thats why I've mentioned above that N9 is one of its kind.

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Nokia Lumia 910 with 12MP camera?

With Lumia 900 unveiled a month ago at CES, Lumia 910 has showed up on a Dutch retail site Typhone.nl. The Nokia Lumia 910 is found to have 4.3" screen with a front facing camera alike Lumia 900. It also has a 12MP Carl-Zeiss optics camera with 1.4GHz processor and runs on Windows 7.5 Mango and also has a storage of 16GB.

via WMPoweruser

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Epic Adventure with N9: Day #6

This is Day #6 with Nokia N9 and as I said in my last post under Epic Adventure that it would be more Epic today as I'm going to Zoological Park in my city with the N9 to bring some of Epic Wildlife pictures. I gotta get ready earlier than usual to go there. Had my breakfast and laces are tied up. I chased the bus and they threw me out at the Zoological Park stop. Just Kidding ;)

I turbocharged my N9 and also X6 in case if N9 battery had fed up. The officials had posted some general instructions. But I skipped them though. Then checked in from the Zoo through Foursquare. Hey..Look at this. I'm the first today at the Zoo. Its so peaceful and radiant.

Power packed with N9 and X6, I started taking pictures starting from Nilgiri Langur using N9. They were cool and were playing. This one in the second picture was staring at me since beginning.





Next was the Lion-tailed Macaque which was on the brink of extinction as of given in the information board. They got the name because of their tail which resembled really like that of a Lion. I noticed this on the Information Board that the call of male Macaque will be often mistaken as Human Voice
.




Then comes this one in the below picture which was kind of strange. He didn't play, just ran here and there and at last went to sleep. I didn't see his details in the notice board.





Here comes the National Bird of India, Peacock. They were truly beautiful and radiant.







Alright. I will skip some birds as there a dozen more. Then I found the real wildlife- Deers. There were spotted deers, Hug deers and much more. Two of them looked at me in very pathetic way.



I think these ones are too getting reading to protest against SOPA



Here is our National Animal of India, the Bengal Tiger and also White tigers. The Bengal tiger was deep inside the woods and I was unable to take clear picture of it.





Then there was the Reptiles where Crocodiles and snakes had their habitation.



The Aviary was really awesome and all the birds were enjoying themselves.This below picture is my favorite.



There are still many pictures in my Flickr set. I wanted to keep this post short but it took long. Anyway You can judge yourselves how this day would have been EPIC. Visit tomorrow again for Day #7.

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Metrogram- Instagram client for WP?

You might have known the popular photo client on iPhone called the Instagram which allows us to apply filters to pictures and also share them in social networks like Facebook, Twitter and also within the Instagram network. If you are a Windows phone user and likes to do such stuff, a developer Bill Simser has developed this unofficial Instagram client for Windows Phone and it is now available in Windows Marketplace.

In one of his tweets, Bill proved how quickly an app can be coded for Windows Phone.

"58 minutes later an a new wp7 Instagram client is born. I think that's a record for me" "Writing the Instagram client for #wp7 has been so freaking easy. 2 hours and I have a fully functional client"

Although this is just a Instagram's viewer for now, as Instagram's API requirements, Metrogram offers other functions like searching and browsing the pictures and also liking and commenting. This app was released on January 21 and has got 4 star ratings on Windows Marketplace.

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Epic Adventure with N9: Day #4 and #5

I was unable to post the Epic Adventure with N9 Day #4 as I was doing something Amazing for #NokiaChallenge and today this post will be a combined post for both Epic Adventure on Day #4 and Day #5.

Starting with Day #4, it was really an Amazing day. I got a chance to mess up with my hobby stuff and finally did something innovative and amazing.

And this was made for Nokia Connects..

I spend half of the day making this and later I went to nearby place by train. The day was amazing for my whole country because it was the Republic Day celebration in my country. I found none in the train and I was all alone in my train coach and I started playing NFS in the N9 and I got addicted to it. Then I started to record videos to check out the continuous autofocus feature and started to record video from the moving train and also captured some images.

These pictures were taken from a moving train using N9 and still none of my friends are believing it. And here is the N9 test video which was too taken from the train.

You can even hear the clear sound of breeze in the above video. All credits go to N9 camera and its powerful microphone. Next I got addicted to the Dalton game in the N9. Its so addictive. You gotta kill, kill and kill the Zombiessssss.

The Battery went to around 12% in 19hrs 29min after doing all the above stuff and I almost forgot to mention the Angry Birds too. There is no NFC mobiles here and so more levels to get unlocked.

I'm going to a National Park in my state and you can expect hundreds of wildlife pictures tomorrow. So, Come over again tomorrow to see the snaps. 

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#NokiaChallenge Amazing Hobby

Nokia Connects is giving Nokia Purity In-Ear headset each week under #NokiaChallenge. Each week, they will give an amazing theme and the best entry will win a headset. So the theme for this week is "Amazing Hobbies".

Now, its my turn to enter the #NokiaChallenge. Speaking of Hobbies, everyone does something in their spare time. So Do I. I do a lot of things in my spare time. Among them, there is four of my favorite.

1. Photography
2. Blogging
3. Collecting Electronics stuff
4. RC games

Beginning on Photography, its what I do everytime I see something Beautiful. You'll never have to miss anything. I capture everything on my Nokia X6 which I have currently. Who said a Music Smartphone cannot take some awesome pictures? Below are some of the snaps taken with X6 and also with N9.

You can view over my full photostream in Flickr. I don't want to keep you guys boring. Next is Blogging which is you are looking now ;).

The Next is my most favorite hobby. This may seem kind of weird but its my favorite. I collect electronic stuff even from a LED or capacitor to a Microprocessor or mobile phones. I just like collecting them. You may think whats the use of it, but it is the most useful thing. I even once experienced a worse situation and only then I started this hobby. I now over have hundreds of this stuff like resistors, LED, circuits, IC, RAM, Floppy drive, CD-ROM of my old PC and also many mobile phones. Below are some of the images of my collection.

I've made something innovative today with these stuff which you can find below:

And this is something I've made for Nokia Connects. The "E" in Connects is made of N93i, Nokia 6020 and Nokia 1208. 

And the last but not least is RC games. I have a RC Airplane and a RC car. I use them rarely as I'm not having enough time to spend with these after spending above stuff. Anyway, They too make my day. Its actually an aerobatic plane popularly called the YAK 54. Here's the picture of my RC stuff.

That's all about my favorite hobbies. In spite of the above, I also do some Computer graphics in my spare time. I hope Nokia connects remember this ;)

                 

Now I'm undertaking a short-film project named "2050" for awareness on Global Warming. I'll post on this soon. This is just a snap from the title of my short film. 

Although not possible, It would have been great if I had extra time to do some more stuff. That's all for this Amazing hobby post. Do let me know what you think of this in the comments section. 

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Epic Adventure with N9: Day #3

Its Day #3 with the Nokia N9 and I was meant to be posting this yesterday. But situation was worse yesterday. So, I'm posting the Epic Adventure with N9 Day: #3 today. As I had mentioned in the earlier post, this post will be going through the Epic N9 camera feature. What's so special in this N9 camera is its 8MP Carl-Zeiss optics. Carl-Zeiss is one of the notable lens maker and it has been used in Nokia featured mobiles.

I must admit that N9 is a great camera smartphone with large  lens aperture and one of my favorite is its continuous AutoFocus feature. With this you can take some really awesome pictures like a professional.

You may be wondering what I'm trying to capture in the above picture. Actually I was capturing some snaps of Sun for #AmazingBackgrounds to be posted in Twitter for Nokia Connects. It wasn't good at beginning though. I then climbed up the roof and made it. Captured the Epic Sun with the Epic N9. Moreover, Once captured You can share the images to social networks and also share using Bluetooth or NFC.

This camera also features Camera Tracking and Geo tagging. The camera records 720pHD video @30fps. Another talk on N9 is its Crystal Clear Stereo sound recording. So I'll check out the Sound recording and also the Video camera in N9 tomorrow. Don't worry guys. I'll post individual videos of each of the features soon...

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Epic Adventure with N9: Day #2

The Day #2 with the Nokia N9 was amazing. I can say that the "Amazing Everyday" suits for N9 too. This Day 2 will be unforgettable for me because its my 18th birthday and N9 made the day. I went through the full user guide in the phone and I'm now ready to begin the Game ;-)

Downloaded few apps from Nokia Store. I got notification from Facebook each minute for B'day wishes on N9 and thanks Nokia Connects specially for the wishes and making it possible to celebrate this moment with N9.

I'm loving the swipe interface and its cool. I'm having a faster and better experience now. My X6 is really envy on N9 as I'm struck to it. Installed Angry Birds magic, city scene, Camera Pro, Molome, Dalton. The Battery is pretty good. The AMOLED display is too realistic as if the icons were actually placed over the touchscreen. We can have seamless multi-tasking with a swipe. You can feel it lacks Radio, but with Nokia Internet Radio, you can listen to all stations over the globe and not just confined within a region.

The Music experience with WH-902 was crystal clear and it even beats X-series. Another highlight of N9 is its 8MP camera. Tomorrow is going to be more Epic as I'll go through the Camera features completely.

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Epic Adventure with N9: Day #1

The title of the post may seem to be weird. I got the N9 smartphone for trial from Nokia Connects for a period of two weeks. I'll be posting the Epic adventure that I had with N9 everyday till Day #14.

Day #1: How I got the N9?
           On the first day with N9, its better to say how I got the N9. It was like Mission Impossible. Let me rewind back for 5 days.


Day # -5: I was in my Hometown for a Native festival. Enjoyed it and while returning back to Chennai, I got a strange missed call from an unknown number. I surfed throughout the web to find who that was and atlast found that it was from Delhi.


Day # -3: I was having my exams and went to college. As soon as I returned, I found that I got 2 missed calls from the same strange number. I wondered who it was and called them back. The guy who picked up the phone wasn't knowing English and replied to me in Hindi which I don't know.

Day # -2: I received an email from Logistics of Nokia stating that the courier service was unable to contact me. I gave my full address with my phone number again to them.

Day # -1: Its getting hotter. At last I received the call the courier service in Delhi and they got my address and sent it to Chennai through Blue Dart and gave Tracking number.

Day # 1: I checked the status of delivery and found that it reached Chennai. Being curious, I wanted to get the device quick. I chased for the train to go to Airport Cargo and caught it :) . I reached the Airport. I am new to Chennai and I wasn't knowing where Blue Dart service will be. A huge thanks to Nokia Maps for finding the way. I reached Blue Dart and gave my tracking number to the guys there.They took the package and showed it to me.
              I just freaked out. Its the N9. Before they gave me the package, they asked for the proof of my identity. Oops.. I forgot to carry one. I even said the guys to call the number given in the consignee and I'm having the mobile. They didn't accept that and said I might have a duplicate SIM of that number. Finally, a Thanks to my buddy Shanavas because of whom I got the N9 from the Blue Dart. He called me casually at that time and I explained the whole situation. He made it and because of him, I asked the guys at the courier service whether they will accept my proof if I showed the documentation I got from Nokia Connects on the trial. They agreed and I quickly swiped the keypad and wrote an email to the guy at courier service requesting to give me the package attaching the document. They took prints of the mail and I signed them all and at last got the package.
            Again, its chasing for the train. I got in and was very much excited to open it. Meantime, my sister called and asked if got the package and I narrated the whole thing that happened at the courier service. After I ended the call, I found the people sitting near me were too listening the conversation I said. Just then, an idea sparked my mind why not write this as the Epic Adventure Day #1. That's all how the Epic adventure with N9 begun.

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Self-healing iPhone case by Nissan

To all iPhone users out there, Nissan has announced the World's first self-healing iPhone case. The chemical behind this self healing is the Polyrotaxane , which is currently used in X-Trail, 370Z and now coming to iPhone  cases. When any damage occurs to the coating, the chemical structure of polyrotaxane changes back to its original shape and thus filling the gap. 


Nissan has created only a limited number of cases as prototypes and is available for beta customers and some journalists. If this prototype case passes the test, the self-healing case will go on sale later this year.


Nissan's overseas programme director Bob Laishley said,

"The Scratch Shield iPhone case is a great example of us taking a Nissan automotive technology that has had a huge impact for our customers, and then shifting the boundaries to apply it to another everyday product"

via Wired.co.uk

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Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang resigns

Jerry Yang, Co-Founder of Yahoo resigned from its board of directors. Moreover Mr. Yang also resigned from the Boards of Yahoo Japan Corporation and Alibaba group holdings Limited. This comes just two weeks after Yahoo hired former Paypal Executive Scott Thompson as the CEO. Yang wrote a letter to Yahoo Board chairman Roy Bostock,

" My time at Yahoo!, from its founding to the present, has encompassed some of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of my life. However, the time has come for me to pursue other interests outside of Yahoo! As I leave the company I co-founded nearly 17 years ago, I am enthusiastic about the appointment of Scott Thompson as Chief Executive Officer and his ability, along with the entire Yahoo! leadership team, to guide Yahoo! into an exciting and successful future."

Roy Bostock quoted,

"Jerry Yang is a visionary and a pioneer, who has contributed enormously to Yahoo! during his many years of service.We appreciate Jerry's comments and share his enthusiasm for the company's prospects. With Scott Thompson leading an outstanding team of Yahoos to deliver innovative products and an engaging customer experience, Yahoo!'s future is bright"

via Cnet 

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Bada + Tizen =???

Samsung Electronics Co plans to merge its own 'bada' mobile phone operating software with an open-source Tizen platform as the world's biggest smartphone maker seeks alternatives to Google's Android in its devices.

The new platform will have to go further than Nokia and Palm which have both failed with developers and device makers in the last year or so as the market became increasingly consolidated by Google and Apple.

A Samsung spokesman said the company was working on merging bada and Tizen, confirming comments from senior vice president Kang Tae-jin in a Forbes magazine interview last week.

"With a strong leadership from a major vendor such as Samsung, I think the OS may have a chance, as most vendors based on Android now are looking for an alternative to Google's dependency," said IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo.

Support by many handset manufacturers resulted in a more than 50 percent market share for Android, which then faded after Google unveiled its $12.5 billion offer for phone maker Motorola Mobility last year.

Samsung, which emerged as the No 1 smartphone manufacturer on the back of booming demand for Android models in the third quarter, joined forces with Intel last year to strengthen its mobile software push.

TIZEN-BADA

In September two Linux software groups, one backed by Samsung and another by Intel, agreed to jointly develop Tizen, a new operating system for smartphones and other devices, by merging their LiMo and Meego platforms in a bid to gain wider industry and consumer support.

The open-source Tizen platform could be used for devices like smartphones, tablets, Internet-enabled TVs, netbooks and in-vehicle infotainment systems.

Tizen is still in development, with its predecessor MeeGo used in a few devices, including Nokia's N9 smartphone.

Samsung's dominant role could also help to quickly kick-start the new platform, but runs the risk of failing if it does not offer other manufacturers the opportunity to have their input.

"This is a logical step but it's strategic importance to Samsung is likely to discourage others contemplating Tizen as an Android alternative," said Geoff Blaber, analyst at British wireless research firm CCS Insight.

Google's Android accounted for 53 percent of the global smartphone market in the third quarter and Samsung's bada platform just 2.2 percent, still ahead of Microsoft's Windows Phone, which Nokia picked as its sole future platform.

Earlier on Tuesday, parent Samsung Group, South Korea's largest business group, said it was raising its 2012 investment to a record $41.4 billion as it banks on logic chips and OLED displays to repeat its success in flash chips, computer memory chips and LCD flat-screens.

via Reuters

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CCleaner 3.14.1616

CCleaner is a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool by Piriform. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner. 

A Public Version for the Mac OS X has also been released along with a Network Edition. The latest Version of CCleaner is 3.14.1616 with minor fixes and improvements. 

It comes in three editions- free, home and Business Editions. CNET has given a rating of 5/5 stars. It has been awarded for April 2009 CNET Editor's choice Award.

You can download the software from here

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N9 getting over 3500 improvements in PR 1.2 update?

When Nokia Connects posted on some of the Unique facts of Nokia N9, they mentioned that PR 1.2 update for N9 will have over 3500 new improvements and fixes.

"If you think this list is long, it’s going to be a whole lot longer sometime soon. Why? Because the next update, PR1.2, will increase the fixes, tweaks and improvements since launch, to over 3500." 

 Meanwhile, in Maemo talk posted that his N9 got PR 1.2 update and also posted some of the screen shots.
You can view the full thread here

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Nokia, Still the most trusted brand in India

Finnish Handset maker, Nokia has emerged as the most trusted brand in India again in 2012 according to a survey. The survey titled "The Brand Trust Report, India study 2012" was undertaken by Trust Research Advisory (TRC). The survey was conducted in August from over 2,700 participants across 17 cities in India.

According to TRA Chief Executive Officer N Chandramouli,

"The results are based on the level of trust every individual has in all these brands"

The other top brands according to the survey are TATA, LG, Samsung and Sony

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How to install a CFW in your phone?

Many might have wondered on seeing some people using different firmware OS rather than the usual firmware like I've posted in my blog  before. So let's on a tutorial on how to install a Custom firmware on your smartphone.

1. Download a Custom firmware from the web. There are many available over the internet. For instance lets take the Anna V7.5 CFW from Symbian Latino. Make sure you download the correct firmware for your RM-XXX

2. Download the JAF Emulator from here

3. Install the JAF Emulator. A Pop up message appears asking if you want to install the cable driver, give NO if you have Nokia Suite installed. 

4. Now Unzip the CFW downloaded and place in the directory C: \ Program Files \ Nokia \ Phoenix \ Products \   If there are no such folders in the directory, create an empty folder by yourself and then place them. Click on the below image to magnify.

5. Run the AF_PKEY_Emulator_v5.exe that comes with the JAF installation package  and click on GO . If you have your computer running Windows 7 must first right click on it and select properties Executable compatibility mode with Windows Vista or XP SP2. So the JAF will work perfectly in Windows 7. When you give an error will GO unimportant reporting that do not have the "driver for the Box" just give OK and continue.  

6. You will get the following window below. Now select the BB5 tab and then Uncheck the Normal and CRT 308 check boxes. After unchecking them, Now check on the Manual Flash and Dead USB. And finally check on Use INI. You'll get a pop-up window from which select your required model and the corresponding RM.

7. Now You'll get the CFW file you placed in the directory into the JAF emulator. In the Phone Mode drop down box, select Normal . 

8. Now Switch off your Mobile and connect to PC through USB and click on Flash. You'll get a pop-up window, Click Yes.

9. You will get a message to switch on your phone. Now Press the power button on your phone and it will automatically begin flashing.

10. Now You will get a message Done. A message will display on your mobile as Local Mode. Now replace the Phone Mode drop down box as Normal and unplug the USB Cable and switch on your mobile. You're ready to rock with your custom firmware.  

If you have any doubts, just drop a comment below and We'll go through them.

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