[youtube]OpgBgWw17n8[/youtube]
Link to video

I’d love to get my hands on one of these.
VIA: SeeIntoS60

Nokia does not have RSS feeds for their press releases (and most of their events ;)) to which we can subscribe. Well, I decided to do something about it. So I made my own Nokia Press RSS feed :D.

I used an online service called as FeedYes in order to create a feed from the Nokia Press Page. Then I used Yahoo pipes to filter out the unwanted stuff leaving only the Press releases in the feed.

I’ve published this feed, so everyone can subscribe to it.

Link to feed

I’m trying to create more. Another one that I’ve created is a feed for techeblog’s cell phones category (since techeblog has a single feed, no individual feeds per category). I know a lot of fellow bloggers like Stefan from Ring Nokia refer to techeblog’s article for cell phones.
The feed can be found here.

This is my first attempt at all of this. Hope you guys like it.
If there are any mistakes or problems, leave me a comment or send me an email.

For searching directories of 3gp or sis/sisx files:

Type the following in google:

-inurl:htm -inurl:html -inurl:asp intitle:”index of” 3gp (for video files)
-inurl:htm -inurl:html -inurl:asp intitle:”index of” sis or sisx or symbian (for folders named symbian/sis/sisx)
Alternatively, you can search for specific files by:
“filetype:sis inurl:sis” or “filetype:sisx inurl:sisx” for sis and sisx files.
“filetype:3gp inurl:3gp” for 3gp files.
If you want to find some specific files, such as the adobe acrobat reader, you can add the keyword to the search term.

Nice hacks, but its kind of more fun than useful.
Let’s see if someone can tweak them even further to yield better results.
VIA: Tech-Recipes

Great news for someone like me, who relies on youtube for most of his video content. The reasons for carrying a laptop to univ keep getting fewer by the day :D.
The press release:

Co-operation with YouTube allows users to enjoy YouTube(TM) videos on the go via Nokia Nseries devices

3GSM World Congress 2007, Barcelona, Spain/Espoo, Finland - Nokia today announced a new mobile internet video experience which enables enhanced internet video consumption by bringing YouTube videos into the hands of Nokia Nseries multimedia computer owners.  YouTube videos are accessible with Nokia Web Browser with Mini Map through the new YouTube mobile site to be launched shortly.  Also, YouTube video RSS feeds can now be consumed through the new Nokia Video Center application.

“We are thrilled to be giving users easy access to entertaining YouTube videos anytime and anywhere. By partnering with an industry leader like Nokia, we’re able to bring YouTube videos to mobile phone users worldwide,” said Steve Chen, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer for YouTube.

“We are extremely excited to be able to announce YouTube as one of our first global partners in bringing internet videos easily to our Nokia Nseries owners,” said Harri Männistö, Director, Multimedia, Nokia. “The addition of the enhanced internet video experience is a logical continuation of the wide range of internet experiences available on Nokia Nseries multimedia computers covering already for example photo and video uploading and sharing, music discovery as well as search and navigation.”

Nokia Web Browser with Mini Map

The Nokia Web Browser with Mini Map enables mobile discovery of videos in websites such as the YouTube Mobile site in a similar way as with PC web browsers. With YouTube Mobile now also compatible with the AVC video format which is the most common format supported in mobile devices, the single-click playback of videos is also possible in the same intuitive way as with PC web browsers. The Nokia Web Browser with Mini Map and AVC video playback are standard features in all the latest Nokia Nseries multimedia computers.

Nokia Video Center

The new Nokia Video Center offers a comprehensive and user friendly mobile video RSS feed and video on demand consumption experience with an easy-to-use interface for discovering, viewing and storing one’s favorite content on the Nokia Nseries multimedia computer. It combines branded video RSS feed services, internet videos and sideloaded videos from the PC into one single place such as the Nokia N95 and the recently announced Nokia N93i.

“Our cooperation with YouTube paves the way for continued growth for internet based content distribution. Enabling people to have access to a wide range of videos on their connected multimedia computers offers great potential for this area,” said Torsti Tenhunen, Director, Multimedia, Nokia. “Also, Nokia Video Center offers content producers and distributors a unique way to lead consumers directly to dynamic video services which can easily be produced and tailored for various interests.“

Nokia Video Center will be available globally in the markets where Nokia Nseries devices are sold. It will first be preinstalled in the Nokia N95 device and thereafter in most of the new Nokia Nseries devices. Nokia Video Center will also be available as download version for selected compatible S60 devices.

I have highlighted the key points of the press release.

Link to press release

Symbian-freak has uploaded a video showing the Nokia Video Center in action on his proto N95:

[youtube]u5foQsiz828&eurl[/youtube]

Link to video

VIA: Ring Nokia, Symbian-Freak

Smart2Go, the free gps mapping application which Nokia was supposed to release on February 10, finally made its way to the masses today, February 13. Let me share my experience with this app:

PART - I: The Nokia Maps Application

At 9 a.m., I realized that Nokia Maps was available for download. Eager, I went to the site, but alas, the only phones compatible were: N73, N80, E61, E60 and E70. Anyways, I downloaded the N80 version of the application. At about 4.2 kB/s, the 2.6MB download took quite a while (close to 20 mins) to complete. After transferring the file to the phone, the install process took somewhere close to 10 mins. That’s a total of 30 mins just to install the application on the phone. I tested the application after I got back from office. The initial start-up took about 1-1.5 mins after which my phone promptly crashed. Upon reboot, I restarted the app again. I selected the network connection (wi-fi, obviously). The phone loaded up with the pointer over a location in Europe. I moved the pointer to the East coast of the USA (approx towards Maryland) and zoomed in to view the details. That’s when the app crashed again. I rebooted and started the app again. Once again, it crashed.

The overall stability has been really poor, imo. It could be that memory in my N91 is not sufficient, but somehow I don’t think that’s the issue (EDIT: Apparently that is the case. People using the phones listed on the smart2go website are not having problems). Checking the threads on ho-fo, I see I’m not the only one with this problem.

Part - II: The Nokia Maploader

Frustrated, I turned to ho-fo where I read that I might need to load maps. I fired up my old dell and downloaded the “Nokia Maps” application. Now, Nokia Maps needs the phone to be plugged in via usb with Mass Storage Mode selected (There ’s a memory card option as well, but its not really an option for me since I have the N91). I selected USA and decided to load the Maryland map. The file size was about 41.7MB. I selected it and started the download. The download begins and it tells me that it will take 1hr and 30 mins to download the map. Ridiculous! Am I supposed to keep my phone in offline Mode for 1.5 hrs so that it can keep downloading? There’s absolutely no logic in that! Seriously, what was Nokia thinking??

I’m quite disappointed. It might work for people who have memory card readers, but what about people with the N91 and people who only have the connectivity cable? Why limit people to have their phone plugged in when downloading maps? Why not download it to the hard disk and upload it as needed?

Perhaps I should just switch back to AmaZe or MGMaps (links on the S60 freeware page) for now. Are any of my readers facing similar problems with this app as well?