Comparison of cameras: N95 8GB, N82 & Kodak Z740

Norman John at Symbian-World has posted a comparison between his N95 8GB, N82 and Kodak Z740.

In my opinion, The N82 beats both of its competitors, despite the fact that the Kodak Z740 is ranked #1 on Flickr out of 98 other Kodak cameras.

Maybe sometime in the future, our phones will truely be able to replace standalone digital cameras? We can hope...

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'Custom Firmware' on S60 V3?

I'm not sure how many of you heard from symbian freak a while back in october '07 that S60 3rd edition had been "hacked" to allow for self-signed applications and full access to the phone, of course this is no longer possible as Nokia have updated their own update methods. Well, I was greatly intrigued by this at the time and searched for hours for more information. My search ended when I found Debanjan Basu, who claims to have known about these possibilities since April '07.

Anyways... I got into contact with him and asked him to answer a few questions, which he kindly did:

Hi there Debanjan

Q)Could you tell us a little more about yourself? (age, interests and anything you see fit)

A)I am Debanjan Basu...from India. I am 19 years old (still a teenager at heart)...tall 5ft 10 inch...like doing karate playing football etc.I am a high school student in kolkata.got my first symbian device in 2006 it was my dad's gift for me...a nokia 6630...well the world changed the moment after i got it...always been a computer addict but this made me fall for mobiles...

Q)What was your first symbian device and how old were you when you got it?

A)I got my first symbian device @18 i.e. just last year...and yes i opened it within 3 months...i mean entirely disassembled it...IT WAS A PEARL SILVER NOKIA 6630...within the next month i modded it to custom firmware music edition...(NSS was a rage then)...

Q)How did you discover how to modify and install ‘custom firmware’?

A)I was going to port quake 2 using open c for my n93 and after going through the code soon i realized that the model data had to be generated on the fly and certain files needed to be updated on the fly too...since the ram on symbian devices is small,i had to find an alternative...tried to create swap drives...then i realised that i need direct permission to read and write on the sys folder...on going through the s60 3rd edition documentation...i was shocked to the contents of swpolicy.in...immediately i contacted my insiders at nokia(april...2007)...and started working on my grand project...

Q)What are the benefits of your 'custom firmware' and are there any big downsides apart from voiding the warranty of course?

A)There are only a few downsides of the custom firmware but the goodies just overthrow them...yes the warranty is void...many minor optimization had been done...i mean lots...for example the startup screen when you see the nokia handshake has been re-sampled for faster boot keeping in mind the crc...try running any midlet you will instantly see the difference in load time...more memory allocation for j2me apps has been specified...and lots and lots of more benefits...inneumerable...

Q)How did you feel knowing that after posting the method on the internet, Nokia updated PC suite within 6 hours to deal with the threat of a teenager giving Symbian enthusiasts true freedom?

A)I do feel great that my firmware created such a storm at the nokia headquarters in finland...they have outsmarted me just for the time being...but still you can install my custom firmwares using phoenix 2007...but it is too dangerous...

Q)Do you plan on developing more solutions in the Symbian world, if so, what are they?

A)Yes of course I will develop more for the symbian world but right now I am busy with my studies...I have to get entrance into the best engineering college in india i.e. IIT...

Q)You said that the N95 uses ‘cheap’ hardware compared to the N93, why is this?

A)Yes this is a common trend I am seeing in the newer nokia phones...they are separating the asian builds from the euro ones and then again from the us ones...probably to cut the cost...the slight performance differences get through unnoticed...but under stressful conditions the hardwares fail...otherwise you don't have people lining up in front of nokia service centres in india from 8am to 8pm in the evening and this has a become a common phenomenon...

Thanks for your time Debanjan, Just one more quick question:

What would the specs on your dream/perfect S60 device be?

Well my dream symbian platform will be...667 Mhz arm at least...
2 GB ram...(it's possible arm is 32 bit)...inclusion of fpu and alu unit on board...
Symbian os 9.5(symbian releases a newer version almost after every 3 months...thats not good)...
And all the usual features you find in a high tech device of today...

I must recognise Norman John for his convenient set of questions!

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Residents of the UK rejoice!

With all this buzz over the impending release of the Nokia N95 8GB NAM version I've been feeling a little sad with the lack of news across the pond...BUT now we have a cause to sing and dance! The Vodafone exclusivity on the N95 8GB has ended, hurrah!

The Three offering was the first I found with the phone starting at £30 a month for 18 months ($60 a month for y'all folks in the U.S of A) so that seems a pretty good deal!

Now that the N95 8GB is available much more easily, I can see the N95 (8GB) outselling the iPhone by a good deal now...

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The mighty N95 8GB heading to the U.S of A?

The above image (click for full size) is a screenshot of Mobilecityonline's site. What's so special about it you ask? Well, they claim to have the Nokia N95 8GB with US 3G available on preorder.
If this isn't another internet mistake then this will mean that residents of the U.S of A will be able to make full use of this great phone, like us brits have been able to do since october :P

Even with Nokia's movements for the U.S of A, I don't think many people will even know of the existence of this device because Nokia simply don't market their phones aswell as Apple...

EDIT: Maevro of Howard Forums has posted this. He claims that he can confirm that the N95 8GB NAM is coming AND a Black and White versions of the N82!

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Nokia's Xmas present: A FREE track of your choice!

So, I just logged onto MSN to catch up on news with my buddies and I glance at my mail to find that there's an email from nokia regarding a prezzie!
Well, I was rather happy about this but now I'm torn on which track to download....any recommendations?

Anyways...Go and get your LEGAL music people! Happy Christmas to all!

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Nokmote beta 1 and beta testers forum released!

Remember a few weeks ago I posted Samir's video of Nokmote? Well, for all those people that have donated to Samir, you can now get the first Beta by signing up to his new forum using your PayPal account that you donated with.

Now I just wait for the arrival of my N95 8GB so i can utilise NokMote!
EDIT: Now it's really out...go check out the forum and get your copy of beta 1 :D

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LG Viewty is outselling the iPhone!

Well, I'm not really surprised to be honest. LG's Viewty handset has "outsold" the Apple iPhone. No official figures from apple but from what the article has stated it seems this is the truth. I guess Steve's venom isn't as potent as it is in the states over here!

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Nokia N96 leaked

Aren't the mobile-review forums amazing? Once again, they've come up with the goods (I know I've said this before). This time it's leaked images of what seems to be the N96.

Here's what I've noted from the pics (available here):

• 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss Camera
• Dual LED flash (NO Xenon?!?!?!)
• Large screen but it still looks like QVGA to me. The black makes it appear even larger.
• There's a stand on the back.
• It seems there's no front facing camera. Maybe this is a China or America only phone?
• Dual slider: top part looks empty, maybe there'll be touch-sensitive buttons.

To be honest, I'll be very dissapointed if this is the N96 as it seems to bring nothing new to the table unlike when the N95 was leaked over a year ago now. Back then, the N95 was amazing and I couldn't believe that Nokia could fit so much into a phone. This, however, doesn't really seem special.

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First spy pics of next Nokia Multimedia Computer!

Once again, the people at Mobile-Review forums have come up with the goods! This time it's in the form of the FIRST spy pics of what seems to be Nokia's next flagship phone.

You'll be glad to hear that it's not a slider so there shouldn't be too many build quality issues!

Rumoured specs are:

Here's the picture, I'm slightly worried that Nokia might ask me to take down the image so I won't embed it.

1. 6FP
2. It runs in a Safari!
3. Built in deoderizer!
4. Real Crocodile leather!
5. iPhone stomping abilitys!

Should be available some time next year but until then, stay updated here.

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Ngage scheduled for release next week!

I was just browsing the Mobile-Review forums and leonard has posted a link here that claims that the new Nokia Ngage service will be launched in the coming week!

This likely means a firmware update for my trusty N73.....Maybe I'm pushing it a bit but maybe it's possible that there'll be Demand Paging coming to the N73! We can hope atleast, huh?

However, this also adds to my thoughts that I posted on Intomobile that Nokia don't really advertise well(over here atleast) surely advertising on the TV more often isn't difficult for a giant like Nokia!

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NokMote, in action

Samir from bysamir.fr has recently posted a video of an application he has in development called NokMote which allows you to navigate through phones that have built-in accelarators simply by moving the phone around!

The video shows him playing some games with the application, and from what I can see this is gonna be another hit from Samir!

Nokmote in action
Uploaded by soueldi

It's true: "A FRUiTY Phone can't rival a smartphone" (easter egg)

I'm sure that I'll be donating to Samir because from what we've seen so far come from this man, I certainly want him to carry on! Also, of course...I wouldn't mind showing this off to friends at school!

Seriously though, If you ever read this Samir, I love your work and the fact that you make it ALL available for free is even more commendable. Please, keep it up!

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The evolution of the multimedia computer!

The Nokia N82 was announced a few weeks back and many people are hard-pressed as to whether to buy it or the N95 8GB.

Look no further! Stefan of Intomobile has posted a BEAST of a review, incorporating his thoughts of the N95-1, N95 8GB and the N82 into it!


I won't say too much about it so that you can make up your own minds, so head over to read 'The evolution of the multimedia computer' NOW!

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