AutoThemes v1.0 by SymbianGuru

...so I was wrong the other day, apparently now you can have all your themes being used and changed automatically!

Are you a theme addict who has so many themes installed you can't decide which one to use? Bored or using the same old theme but yet too lazy to change your themes manually?

Yup, what a great way to end the month, SymbianGuru and whipped up this new application after popular demand and request for something like this. Read on to find out what this little puppy can do for you.

Turn the tables on technology, let it revolve around you, not the other way around.

AutoThemes give you the power to have mobile themes changing due to your own time schedule or active mobile profile!

Personalization with Theme Changer
AutoThemes will add totally new experience to your mobile usage. Now you can express your personality or your mood with your mobile using automatic theme changer.
There is no limit to mobile personalization with themes changer. Black theme at daytime and white theme at night? Or sexy red theme in the evening?… Dull gray theme on Monday and joyful blue sea theme on Friday? And a peaceful green theme during silent profile, of course!
This all is possible now with AutoThemes, with NO ACTION from your side.

A sample rules list could look like this:
* Monday, 9:00 – gray theme (the week have begun)
* On Meeting profile – black theme (let my partner see my cool mobile)
* Monday to Friday, 13:00 – lunch theme (it is time to eat)
* Monday to Thursday, 18:00 – freestyle theme (it is time to rest!)
* Tuesday and Saturday, 19:00 – sport theme (going to gym)
* Friday, 17:00 – weekend theme
* Daily, 22:00 – sexy theme ;-)
* On Silent profile – calm green theme

AutoThemes in Use: Rules for Themes Change
AutoThemes performs automatic themes change on your Series 60 v3 Symbian smart phone. Themes change is made using your own rules, which you have to create.
AutoThemes allows creating two types of rules: time based rule and profile based ones. Nokia theme can be changed at exact time, or can be changed when certain profile is activated.
Theme changer rules are totally adjustable, with ability to activate or deactivate the rule with one key pressing, edit time or condition of theme change.
You have to select the frequency of theme changing if you choose time based condition:
Once – one time changing;
Daily or weekdays – theme will change daily or on the defined weekdays;
Monthly – theme change on the exact day of every month.
You have to choose the profile when the theme will be changed, if you create a profile based rule.
In order to avoid overlapping of rules the priority of rules has been set. All the rules are listed on your main application screen and sorted by theme name.

in short...
Key Features:
* Two types of rules for theme change: profile based and time based
* Theme change performed smoothly and silently, without mobile reboot
* Easy to use and friendly interface, easy rule creation
* Quick rule deactivation with only one key pressing
* Multilanguage support
Languages: English, German, French, Italian, Russian, Ukrainian, Chinese

 

Of course all good things come at a cost, and unless you're willing to pay $9.99 for something like this, just look away. Eventually there'll be freewares doing the same thing.

For you lads who really can't wait you can get a trial at Softpedia.

Quake 2 For The N95!

If you thought Quake1 was cool on your N95, check this out!

Yes indeed, the well known PC game Quake 2 is now playable on the N95. I have tested it out last night, and turns out I got hooked on as well. To play this game you have to update your N95-1 to firmware version v2x.x.xxxx and above. The graphics are not as impressive as the first Quake, but the "starwars-like" environment is certainly a breath of fresh air for me. It'll be interesting to see how THQ Wireless's Star Wars on the n-gage platform coming out later his year will fair against the Quake series.

How to install....

1. get hold of suitable datafile (original cd or shareware/demo)
1.1 if you have n95-1, update the firmware to atleast 2.x.x otherwise it will not have enough RAM to run.
2. install P.I.P.S and the QuakeII engine. If the phone complains something about the certificate, check your settings in application manager. It should be configured to allow installation of all sis files.
3. install datafiles (using for example the usb-mass storage mode)
3.1 create "quake2" folder in the root folder of your memory card.
3.2 inside "quake2" folder, create another folder "baseq2"
3.3 now copy the pak file(s), video folder and players directory from the original cd to "baseq2" folder. If you have only the shareware file, put it to "baseq2" folder. NOTE: with shareware .pak, the screen will stay black for about 30 secs
4. (optional) install audio tracks
4.1 create "cdaudio" folder in "quake2" folder
4.2 copy exactly 10 audio tracks (mp3) to cdaudio folder and name them 1.mp3 through 10.mp3. If you don't have all the tracks correctly named there, cdaudio wont't play
5. command line parameters can be set through "cmdline.q2" file which should be placed to "quake2" folder. The file should be saved as ASCII, and only the 1024 first characters of the first line are read.
Generally, mods that should work. However, mods that require a separate game dll do not. Same applied to multiplayer games. The engine installation package contains ported versions of vanilla ctf, xatrix and rogue, so the official mission packs and ctf do work correctly. The installation procedure for mods is similar to the base package, but instead of putting files into "baseq2" you should put the into "modname" directory under "quake2". To start lets say xatrix, put "+set game xatrix" (without quotes) to "cmdline.q2" command line file. Needless to say, you need the datafiles for the mod to be present aswell.
Also, the opengl video driver behaves slightly differently with brightness settings. As it has coloured lighting, you need to use console/autoexec.cfg to change the "brighness".
example(in the console):
intensity 1.6 (the intensity of bright colors, higher numbers means more)
gl_modulate 1.4 (lower settings makes all shadows darker)
vid_restart
If anything goes wrong, you could try to look for "q2_log.txt" in the "quake2" folder in order to see what went wrong.

Here are the PAK game files:

Download Game Files

and the sound files:

Download Sound Files

You can get the other installation files from the developer's site here:

Quake Homepage

Feel free to post here if you have any problems

EDIT: You can now use Volume keys and multimedia keys for this game on the N95 using MagicKey, as explained in my other post here:

Magickey 1.0

Theme Magic v1.0 Beta 1

Loaded with themes and just want to have them all on? Well you can't, but this is certainly as close as you're gonna get.

Theme Magic! by the developers who brought you landscapePro, now allows you to change themes on your accelerometer enabled phone (N95 etc.) faster than you can say "look at my new iPhone". Yes, with Theme Magic installed, just shake your N95 like a Polaroid picture and it will change your themes. This software is still in it's first beta, but already there's an array of settings for you to customize. Sensitivity can be adjusted to suit you, as well as whether you want only mem. card installed themes to be used (and vice versa).

Here's a video demo from the developer.

I have tested it out yesterday and it works great, though I feel I'm having wrist injury from all that shaking now. It's still in a primitive stage of development so you'll have to donate if you want to get your hands on it now.

Won District Level English Debate

Woohoo!! After so many years of trying we have finally broken through and managed to snatch first place for the district level debate competition! Truly a glorious moment for our school (STPD) which has not accomplished this in 7 years. Of course we can't take all the credit, we thank all the other schools for picking the "right debaters". (you know what I mean, *wink*). Better still, our school won overall in the English carnival, and the drama team was loaded with trophies! Have a look at our gold paint coated plastics trophies.

 

SDASA put up a really good fight and in my opinion was one of the best school out there, speaking fluent english and actually "debating" with us. Good luck next year guys!

Nokia N95 Slider Gets An Upgrade

... and it's about time too.

It is not secret that Nokia has a lot of problems with the build quality lately, bad choice of materials, cheap ugly plastic with terribly bad finishing and the most importantly construction related problems that cripples their businesses and irritate users as well.

Even worse, phones from their flag ship line are not excepted from this rule, Nokia N95 is the very well known by its wobbly slider, lot of users have a problems and returning a phone to the retailers because of this issue.

Sure, from other hand it is the very first dual slider phone on the world and I guess it is one of the reasons why it is not as perfect as it should be but at the same time it is not excuse for them, cheap plastic rails are definitely a bad choice for the dual slider phone!

The wobbly slider problem was discussed in several forums and some users also attempts to fix it with a “tape fix” but it is not very suggestible as it cause a huge torsion to the weak plastic rails. Also I am afraid that it affects warranty which is pretty important issue when we are talking about phone with a price tag of a 500€ or even more, so strongly do not recommend the DIY fix.

However finally there is a solution on the horizon, Christian from the SW blog sent his N95 to the Nokia Service Point to fix the wobbly slider and discovered that they have put new redesigned rails and that his N95 finally has a rock-solid slider!!!

Just hope that all new phones comes with the fixed slider and new rails. From other hand, early adopters always get screwed and it seems that we’ll have to visit the nearest Nokia SC as soon as possible and ask them about the new better rails and replace it.

--adapted from symbian-freak.com--

Oh well, better late than never.

*Lets see, so I'll have to get my firmware updated, cover changed, slider fixed.... gosh, the having the N95 really takes up part of my life. (but that doesn't mean I dont like it!)*

N95 Rainbow Colours!

WOW, just a few months ago we thought Nokia was shoving us N95-1 users aside when they released the N95-2 (a.k.a. n95 8GB) ...and now we see firmware updates, n-gage, and even new cover colours?!?!

First Nokia launched it in March last year off with the

Sand(1) for those who wanted a fresh look  ...and plum covers(2) for those who played it safe

                  

 

 

...then came the warm graphite(3) for those who envied the N95 8GB

 

followed by the red(4) for the Ferrari Lovers...

 

and of course mocha for coffee lovers(5)!

 

 

Not so long ago Nokia announced an official one completely encased in black(6)

Nokia Italia Online Shop

 

and recently...... there seems to be a blue and white one underway??

k-tai Jp News

 

For now it seems to be targeted for the Japan market, but hey if we know one thing we can count on Nokia to get their goodies available worldwide, soon.

Xpress-On covers are gone for good, but if Nokia offers this many colour choices, our life will be filled with colour again in no time. Go Nokia!

N95-1 v21.0.0.16 Firmware Available For All

Yes sir, you read it correct. The v21 firmware update for the N95-1 (a.k.a. N95 classic) is now available for all product codes

A complete change log is available on my other post:

N95 v21.0.0.16 Firmware Out For Certain....

Be sure to back up all your data the format your phone before updating, just incase anything goes wrong. Good luck!

N-Gage First Access Coming To An End.

"All good things must come to an end, including N-Gage First Access, which will end on March 27.

We thank all First Access participants for their valuable feedback. Our development team is working as hard as it can in order to implement as many changes and fixes as they can in time for our rollout in the next few weeks.
There are a few key points to remember during this time:
• We are no longer supporting the pre-release version of the N-Gage application after March 27.
• You can continue to play your games and game trials using the pre-release version of the N-Gage application. However we strongly encourage you to upgrade to the full release version of the N-Gage application and games once it becomes available. Don’t miss out on the fresh start!
• The Player Name and password you created for First Access will not be valid for full rollout, unless they were the same as your existing Player Name and password on the Arena forums.
• Game licenses you purchased during First Access will carry over into the commercial launch, but you will need to install the new version of the N-Gage application and re-install the games.
• Saved games, Point Pickups, and N-Gage Points accrued will be reset, to give everyone a fresh start.
We’d like some final feedback on your overall experience with First Access. As a thank you for completing the survey, we’ll send you a complimentary Activation Code for a copy of the upcoming game, Mile High Pinball.
Once the game is released, you’ll receive the Activation Code via email and/or message board Private Message system. We will also be adding 1000 community points to your profile.
Just complete our survey to sign up!"

 

Of course, after hearing that from Nokia it can only mean two things. Either another release of N-Gage is coming on the 28th or the full version for all supported devices is already ready to be released.

All comments are welcome.

Note: When installing new version, formatting of your phone and microSD is highly recommended as some old First access files may take up RAM.

Temporarily Banned From N95users.com

Since there's been a lot of people asking me why I am banned from the forum , both in the forum itself and personal emails, I have decided to have a post on this and Voice Out! why i have been banned.

Read on to find out how i ended up in this mess...

Well, i have had issues with the content of my blog and me linking it in the N95users forum before, and one of the moderator sp00k was very kind to me. He took the time to reply all my personal messages and we managed to get all this sorted out peacefully.

As stated in one of my threads in the forum, i wanted to start this blog as part of an index and resource of important N95 news i have obtained from the N95users forum. When i first projected this idea back in December, there was no objection... so i went on with the idea.

Every now and then i link useful information form my blog back to the forum, hoping to help others. However each has his own opinion, and now another moderator named "salada2k" on the forum has interpreted my actions as "advertising my blog freely on the forum". How is that so? When i first posted the idea of doing this he doesn't object, and now he decides to ban me? Very unfair indeed.

It is only a short vacation anyway but since there's been questions about this i just want to clarify the issue. Once i get back i will further explain if you guys want me to.

Cheers!

Mirage Money (Motion Controlled Game)

There just doesn't seem to be an end to applications and games which utilise the N95's accelerometer... and it's a good thing, because now we have a recreation of the famous "Mosquito" game (which used the phone's camera), Mirage Money! ...which now uses the N95's built in accelerometer.

“Mirage Money” includes two different mode. The first one is called “Real Mirage”.

This mode is partly virtual and partly real. The user must open the camera protector to let the game implement your real environment captured with the phone camera.
This looks amazing and it’s great fun to try to achieve the game’s target in your own environment: to collect as many coins as possible in a time of two minutes.

You can collect the two different kinds of coins, golden and silver ones, by “colliding” with them with your screen.

The other mode “Virtual Mirage” lets you play in a virtual 3D environment.

The 3D graphics look pretty impressive and it’s also great fun to play in this virtual world of meadows, hills and a blue sky.

The gaming principle is exactly the same as in “Real Mirage”. However, it’s easier to play in the virtual world, because you can really “move around” there. This is of course not possible in the real world: only the coins are moving to give the gamer an impression of movement.

The speed of how fast you are moving through the world can be changed: The little bar at the right shows the current speed…

which can be increased with a press on the “Up” key as you can see in the screenshot. Of course you can also slow the speed down again with a “Down” key press.

Mirage Money is a must have if you like accelerometer applications, not only because it is the one of the first games which uses motion control meaningfully. It’s great fun to collect money into your own living room or in a wonderfully looking virtual world!

Have fun, download available from the author's profile on MOSH here:

Download Mirage Money

The developer would would appreciate some feedback, so after downloading from that page, feel free to post your feedback there.

N95 Firmware v21.0.0.16 Out! (..for certain product codes)

Here we go again, according to SymbianWorld and SymbianFreak, there seems to be another firmware coming for the N95 Classic (aka N95-1). It's already available for certain product codes, but not all yet. If you're really desperate for this it is readily available at Nokia Service Centres. The new firmware should incorporate Flash Lite 3 which means that we can now watch YouTube videos in the default browser. More over Web runtime should be coming as well. Not much thrills about watching YouTube through the web browser as for now MobiTubia, emTube as well as the official YouTube mobile application provides a very comfortable way of viewing videos.

Here are the changes from 20.0.015 to 21.0.016 (SB-107/12.03.08)

New features:

• Flash Lite 3 support added
• Widget (Web runtime) support added
• Default year changed to 2008

Improvements:

• General stability improvements.
• Pre-defined access point kept after switching to different type SIM card.
• Localization improvements.
• Standby time improvements.
• Improvements to BT headset interoperability.
• Improvement to Calendar data restoring.
• Switch from landscape to portrait mode & screen rotations improvements.

Browser:

• Improvement to long text writing to web page text boxes.
• Browsing from WLAN wizard improvement.

Media Player:

• Localizations improvements in Music player.
• Windows Media Player recognizes device as Nokia N95.

Gallery:

• Image rotation improvement in album view.
• Gallery & Slideshow performance improvements.

Messaging:

• Improvement to SMS reception.

Java:

• Midlet installation improvement.
• Improvement to Java application start.
• Java midlet certificate checking improvement.

Navigation:

• General improvements to Maps application.
• Localization correction to Search in Maps application.
• Improvement to Navigate To –function when started from search application.

SIM:

• Contact names with accents and more than 11 characters can be copied to SIM card.

So it looks like Nokia is really living up to their reputation and didn't let us N95-1 users down as we though early last year. First we got A-GPS, then Demand Paging, N-gage, better power management, and now Flash Light 3 and Widget support! With all these new improvements coming along, there's no doubt at all that the N95 Classic (N95-1) is the BEST Nokia Nseries for now. We do hope that Nokia continues to improve this device as much as they can, much like they've done for the N73.

Better Yourself, Have Empathy!

ince young, my sis and mom have always said I was too self centred and didn't think care enough about those around me. And so that led me to think, am i really like that? I needed to find out more, and what i could do to change myself for the better. Today my dad showed me a small column in the newspaper writing about empathy, and how to develop it. The article was done in a Q&A manner, and was rather brief to say the least. But that was sufficient to drive me and find out more, to find out what is empathy really all about, and how do i train myself to be an empathetic person.

You're probably asking yourself, what is "empathy"? Do you have it?

The best way to find out is to ask yourself if you are inner-focused or outer focused most of the time. If you are outer-focused, then you have empathy because you care about other people's experiences, feelings, needs and wants instead of yours.

- Do you give the other person in your life much thought, or do you spend most of the time thinking about yourself?

- In a conversation, what percentage of the time do you spend talking of yourself versus what is going on with the other person?

Moving on...

After doing some research i found out more than i wanted to, apparently there's this thing called EDD(empathy deficit disorder). Unlike sympathy -which reflects understanding of another person's situation, but viewed through your own lens-empathy is what you feel when you enter the internal world of another person. Without abandoning your own perspective, you experience the other's emotions, conflicts or aspirations. That kind of connection builds healthy relationships -- an essential part of mental health.

EDD develops when people focus too much on acquiring power, status and money for themselves at the expense of developing those healthy relationships. Many people nowadays have become alienated from their own hearts and equate what they have with who they are. The net result is that we don't recognize that we're all one, bound together. We only see ourselves.

Recent research shows that the capacity to feel what another person feels is hard-wired through what are called mirror neurons. Functional magnetic resonance imagery (fMRI) showed that brain regions involving both emotions and physical sensations light up in someone who observes or becomes aware of another person's pain or distress. Similarly, research shows that altruistic behaviour lights up the pleasure enters of the brain usually associated with food or sex.

Just as you can develop EDD by too much self-absorption, you can also overcome EDD by retraining your brain to take advantage of what is known as neuroplasticity. Similar research shows that as you refocus your thoughts, feelings and behaviour in the direction you desire, the brain regions associated with them are reinforced. What's more, changing your brain activity reinforces the changes you're making in your thinking. The result is a self-reinforcing loop between your conscious attitudes, your behaviour and your brain activity.

How to develop empathy?

Part of the 'empathy process' is establishing trust and rapport. Creating trust and rapport helps us to have sensible 'adult' discussion.

Establishing trust is about listening and understanding - not necessarily agreeing (which is different) - to the other person. Listening without judging.

A useful focus to aim for when listening to another person is to try to understand how the other person feels, and to discover what they want to achieve.

Listening is by far the most important of all communications skills.

It does not come naturally to most people, so we need to work hard at it; to stop ourselves 'jumping in' and giving our opinions.

Mostly, people don't listen - they just take turns to speak - we all tend to be more interested in announcing our own views and experiences than really listening and understanding others.

This is ironinic since we all like to be listened to and understood. Covey says rightly that when we are understood we feel affirmed and validated.

He coined the expression: ‘Seek first to understand, and then to be understood’, which serves as a constant reminder for the need to listen to the other person before you can expect them to listen to you.

By focusing on developing empathy, you can deepen your understanding and acceptance of how and why people do what they do and you can build respect for others. This doesn't mean that you are whitewashing the differences you have with other people or letting them walk over you. Rather, empathy gives you a stronger, wiser base for resolving conflicts and trumps self-centered, knee-jerk reactions to surface differences.

What I Did During CNY (Part 2)

Hello once again fellow readers, due to my busy, busy schedule this year I have not have time to blog about what i did during the Chinese New Year, but now finally it's the holidays and time allows me to enlighten you on what this wonderful festival is all about, through the eyes of a teenager!

...so it was around 2am. Everyone else was beefed out and asleep...

we were just about to do the same. So we went to the hall to get our stuff when we were shocked to see...

what resembled Di Zhu Gong (an earth spirit according to Chinese belief) behind a plant!

do spirits really lurk among us? what we saw that night truely changed our perception of things..

Of course our natural reaction was to just ignore it, get our stuff and go into the room, but after some thinking our curiosity got the better of us, and we decided to head out again to see whether we could get an actual shot of this "spirit".

we went lights out and got this calming shot of the altar

not so surprisingly, we waited and waited for more than 30 min's but no avail, just the silence of the night. We didn't feel much disappointment with the fact that we didn't "catch" any ghosts, as we just couldn't wait to catch some Zzz...

and that's only part of what i did during Chinese new year, be sure to stay tuned for more!

Nokia N96 - Specs

Nokia N96 Technical Specifications

General

Operating Frequency

• WCDMA2100/900 (HSDPA) / EGSM900, GSM850/1800/1900 MHz (EGPRS)
• Automatic switching between bands and modes
• DVB-H Class C, 470-750 MHz

Dimensions

• Volume: 92 cc
• Weight: 125 g
• Length: 103 mm
• Width: 55 mm
• Depth: 18 mm, locally up to 20 mm

Memory Functions*

• 16GB internal flash memory, plus microSD memory card slot (hot swappable) for expandability and flexibility
• Approximate dynamic memory capacity indication with 16GB storage:
  • Video: 40 hours**
  • Music: 12,000 tracks***
• 128MB RAM, 256MB system memory (operating system plus dynamic user data area)

*Changes to product details are possible without prior notice. Application offering may vary. Dynamic memory means that the available memory is shared between dynamic memory functions. When any of these functions is used, there is less available memory for other functions which are also dependent on dynamic memory.

** Video capacity is based on H.264 768-kbps video at 320-by-240 resolution, combined with 96-kbps AAC audio. Music capacity is based on 3:45 min per track and 48 kbps eAAC+ encoding.

*** Capacity based on 3:45 per song with 48 kbps eAAC+ (M4A) encoding on the Nokia Audio Manager. Capacity with 128 kbps AAC encoding is up to [12,000] songs.

Power Management*

• Battery: Nokia Battery BL-5F, 950 mAh
• Talk time: up to 150 / 220 minutes (WCDMA / GSM)
• Standby: up to 200 / 220 hours (WCDMA / GSM)
• Video playback: up to 5 hours (offline mode)
• Music playback: up to 14 hours (offline mode)
• TV playback: up to 4 hours (DVB-H)

* Operation times may vary depending on radio access technology used, operator network configuration and usage.

Display and User Interface

• 2.8" QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) LCD TFT display with up to 16 million colors
• User Interface: S60 3rd edition, feature pack 2
• Active standby screen, Multimedia menu

Data Transfer*

• WCDMA HSDPA 900/2100 MHz with simultaneous voice and packet data (PS max speed DL/UL= 3.6Mbps/384kbps, CS max speed 64kbps)
• Dual Transfer Mode (DTM) support for simultaneous voice and packet data connection in GSM/EDGE networks. Simple class A, multi slot class 11, max speed DL/UL: 177.6/118.4kbps
• EGPRS class B, multi slot class 32, max speed DL/UL= 296/177.6kbps
• GPRS class B, multi slot class 32, max speed DL/UL= 107/64.2kbps

* Actual achieved speeds may vary depending on network support.

---

Video & TV

Video center

• Video center: central hub for video experiences
• Access to last played video and easy resume
• My videos: collection of stored videos
• Access to Internet Videos, compatible with RSS feeds and video podcasts, with direct wireless updates and downloads
• Service catalog to discover new Internet Videos

Video Codecs and Formats

• MPEG-4 Part 2 (H.263/SP), up to VGA 30 fps, hardware-accelerated codec, scaled to max QVGA on device screen, or max SDTV on TV-out
• MPEG-4 Part 10 (H.264/AVC), up to VGA 30 fps, hardware-accelerated codec, scaled to max QVGA on device screen, or SDTV on TV-out
• Windows Media Video (WMV9), up to CIF/QVGA 30 fps, hardware-accelerated codec, scaled to max QVGA on device screen, or SDTV on TV-out
• RealVideo QCIF at 30 fps
• Flash video support in browser
• DRM support: OMA DRM 1, OMA DRM 2, WM DRM

Live TV

• Broadcast Television (DVB-H) capable
  • DVB-H based mobile TV with internal antenna
  • DVB-H Class C, 470-750 MHz

Browser-based video access

• Support for download, streaming and progressive download
• Support for Flash video

---

Music

Music Features*

• Digital music player - supports MP3, AAC, eAAC+, WMA, album art
• Playlist editing and sharing
• Equalizer and visualization
• Search, browse and purchase songs online in Nokia Music Store - with support for Windows Media DRM protected files

* Nokia Music Store availability varies by country.

Radio*

• Stereo FM radio (87.5-108MHz, 76-90MHz) with support for RDS, Visual RadioT and use of FM radio in offline mode
• Nokia Internet Radio

* The FM radio depends on an antenna other than the wireless device antenna. A compatible headset or enhancement needs to be attached to the device for the FM radio to function properly.

---

Imaging

Main camera

• Up to 5 megapixel (2592 x 1944 pixels)
• Carl Zeiss Optics: Tessar™ lens
• Auto-focus, auto-exposure
• F-number/aperture: F2.8
• Focal length: 5.2 mm
• Focus range 10 cm to infinity
• Dual-LED camera flash, video light, recording indicator, auto-focus assist light

Secondary camera

• VGA (640 x 480 pixels) sensor

Video Recording

• Video capture in MPEG-4 up to VGA at 30 fps
• Digital Video Stabilization
• Video clip length: limited by storage
• Video file format: .mp4 (default), .3gp (for MMS)
• Settings for scene, video light, white balance, color tone

Photography

• Still Image resolutions: up to 5 Megapixel (2592 x 1944 pixels)
• Still Image file format: JPEG, EXIF
• Location tagging: automatic insertion of location tagging into images
• Settings for scene, flash, sequence, self-timer, color, white balance, contrast, exposure compensation, guides

---

Explore

Maps and Navigation

• Built-in GPS receiver, with support for assisted GPS (A-GPS)*
• Nokia Maps application
• Free downloadable maps of over 150 countries, millions of locations, location details and satellite imagery**
• Upgrades available for purchase: Multimedia city guides and Navigation services: Drive - voice guided car navigation, or Walk - pedestrian-optimized turn-by turn guidance

* A-GPS is a network dependant feature that requires a data plan. Additional charges may apply.

** Downloading satellite images may involve the transmission of large amounts of data through your service provider's network. Contact your service provider for information about data transmission charges.

E-mail and Messaging

• Easy-to-use email client with attachment support for images, videos, music and documents
• Support for SMTP, IMAP4, POP3, MMS, SMS. Unified SMS/MMS editor
• Compatible with Nokia Wireless Keyboard SU-8W (sold separately)

Browsing and Internet

• Nokia Web Browser with Mini Map, visual history, HTML and JavaScript support, Flash Lite 3.0 and Flash video support
• RSS reader

Connectivity

• WLAN - IEEE802.11 g/b with UPnP support
• Hi-Speed USB 2.0 with Micro USB type B interface
• 3.5mm stereo headset plug , TV-out support (PAL/NTSC)
• Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP stereo audio and Enhanced Data Rates (EDR)
• Nokia Nseries PC Suite connectivity with USB and Bluetooth wireless technology

---

Package Contents

Standard Sales Package Contents*

• Nokia N96
• Nokia Battery BL-5F
• Nokia Connectivity Cable CA-101
• Nokia Video-Out Cable CA-75U
• Nokia Stereo Headset and Remote HS-45, AD-54
• Nokia Mobile Charger DC-4 (car charger)
• Nokia Compact Travel Charger AC-5

* Sales package content may vary by region.

SAR

Eco Declaration

Declaration of Conformity

Specifications are subject to change without notice.

The availability of particular products and services may vary by region. Check with the Nokia dealer nearest to you.

Operations, services and some features may be dependent on the network as well as on the compatibility of the devices used and the content formats supported. Some services are subject to a separate charge. For more information, contact your service provider.

N96, A Worthy Upgrade?

The N96 is expected to be out in Q3 at about 550€ unsubsidised. Now what that means is that the price of the current crop of Nseries will continue to fall till then on launch the N96 will be at least 100€ more expensive than any other Nseries on the market. Does it have enough to get the consumer to spent that little more? Lets have a look:

Advantages of the N96 over the N95:

1. 16GB of memory with an microSD slot.

Well there are two ways to look at this actually. 16GB built-in memory plus an additional 16GB microSD gives you a total of 32GB of storage space on your N96!! but here's the reality, who actually needs so much storage space? Perhaps some lunatic who uses the N96 as his hard drive. Frankly speaking, I currently have an 6GB microSD on my N95 with almost 700 songs now and yet I still have more than 2GB of free space. So for most users i would say that 16GB is a bit too much, but who knows!

2. DVB-H (Live television)

This technology was first introduced in the N77 if I'm not mistaken, and is currently very, very limited. Barely a few regions have it and as far as i know it's not even available in the US and UK yet.

3. Media keys, lots of them.

The N95 was great with the slide out media keys, but it also meant sliding the device all the way whenever we wanted to change a song, much too troublesome for some people. So Nokia has thrown in another set of media keys on the N96's D-pad. Some might say it's too cramped up, but hey, i say the more the merrier! (we have to wait the the device to be released before we have a confirmed opinion on how this turns out)

4. Dual LED

The N96 has a Dual LED, which is usable for video recording. Can come in really handy In our opinion.

Disadvantages over the N95:

1. Lacks a 3D Graphic Accelerator

Currently the pre-released version of n-gage games do not seem to be utilising this, but there are already other games that use this. Games such as Quake which utilises the N95's 3D graphic accelerator enable it to produce breath-taking graphics that was meant for a PC!

2. Smaller battery

When i talk about juice i'm referring to the N95-8GB. Nokia has created the N96 in a buffer and fatter casing, yet gone with a smaller battery, the one used in the N95-1? *Bad choice...* Sure, the N95-1's battery capacity was greatly increased with new firmware's improved power management, but how far can Nokia actually push the limits of power management on the N96? (again, we will have to wait and see)

3. Price

For Nokia to charge so much for a device that can do almost less than the N95 can? I don't think that's going to attract many buyers.

4. No lens cover

Nokia never learns do they? The lack of a lens cover on the N96 leaves the camera exposed and vulnerable to scratches and greasy fingerprints. For most users a stick-on lens protector is not an option because it degrades the image quality.

So, Who will get the N96?

That’s a tough question to answer specially when the device is not even out yet. Perhaps it may even be absurd to even try and characterise its prospective buyers but here’s my perspective nevertheless. The first category will be the people who have been waiting to get an Nseries flagship and have given the N95 series a skip. Second would be people owning the N95 classic but they would face a dilemma because of the battery and lack of 3D acceleration. Few N95 8GB owners would want to get the upgrade unless they are hardcore music freaks. If web browsing is important then the N96 will face the heat again as according to the product manager it will only do about 4hrs on Wifi!

The bottom line is that the battery has to deliver, otherwise it will be just another handset that came and went.

*edited from the symbianblog.com*

Judgement Day For Malaysia - Cast Your Votes

4 years have flashed by, and the time comes again where Malaysia is taken over by banners, flags, campaigns, all in the favour of wining Malaysian's hearts (and their votes). It's time to vote! this Saturday (8 March 2008) from 8am-5pm.

Where to cast your votes?

If you still have no idea where you're suppose to cast your votes and do not want to wait in line to find out, you can now do it online. Here's how:

1. Head over to the SPR web site here.

2. Click on "checking electoral poll... "

3. Key in your new IC number

4. You're done! All the necessary information will be displayed.

You can also keep yourself updated with the latest voting results on these web sites:

Undi.info - News and views that matter

NSTonline - General Election'08

Good luck, vote for Malaysia...

KEYnetik's RockNScroll (Designed for N95)

Accelerometer technology is currently one of the most amazing technology for the users of the latest Nseries phones. The amount of available new concepts and new applications seems to be never ending and here's another one from the world's leading motion input enterprise, KEYnetik.

A walk down memory lane:

The most famous developer of accelerometer using applications, Samir, has started the wave of accelerometer application with rotateMe, a wave which didn't stop till now and probably wont stop so soon.
Samir's next project was Nokmote, the first application which brought motion input to S60 devices. Nokmote was actually developed for playing games and was simply too sensitive to work satisfying for menu navigation.
Shortly after its release, a video occurred on YouTube showing an application that was easily mistaken as a Nokmote copy.

However, closer look quickly reveals that RockNScroll, developed by the worlds leading motion input enterprise, KEYnetik, is much, much more than that.
RockNScroll is a single sensor based application providing motion input to latest Nseries phones like the N82, N95, N95 8GB and also the coming N96. That means you can control your phone only with movements without pressing any key, providing access to nearly all functions of an S60 phone.
The application is not only thought for menu navigation, it offers also a gaming mode bringing new gaming experiences in a similar way like Nokmote. Of course this is just a little extract of what this powerful software can do. Read on to discover more about its other features.

Introduction:

RockNScroll gives you the possibility to navigate in the menus of your accelerometer supporting Nokia device by using different gestures. With little flicks of your wrist in the corresponding direction, you are able to move the cursor right and left, up and down.
Menu navigation consists of course not only of moving the cursor. RockNScroll supports a Push gesture which is used to confirm a selection and a Pull gesture for back or exit command. As you can see, Keynetik thought about all necessary possibilities to make menu navigation as comfortable as possible. This didn't work with Nokmote, as it was over sensitive and lacked the pull back or exit function.

While navigating, you can hold the device in nearly every angle you like; the application adjusts itself to the phones position, also an advantage in comparison to Nokmote which only worked horizontally.

Features:
1. Up/Down/Left/Right tilt gestures to emulate single press on navigation pad. Will be operable in any orientation (portrait/landscape) and any position (horizontal/vertical/in between) as shown in the video. Good for menus and some games.
2. Some noise filtering. It won't be totally immune to interference, but it will be usable while in motion (walking, driving, etc.)
3. Adjustable sensitivity levels
4. Scroll mode: Tilt (same as 1) and hold for scrolling to emulate press and hold on nav pad. Good for phone books, media player, etc.
5. Game mode: Orientation and position specific based on device tilt and angle. Meaning you will NOT have to hold the device horizontally at 0 angle in landscape orientation. (Good for gaming)
6. Screen rotation: Rotating device from portrait to landscape.

Demo Video:

Availability:

Currently it is only available for a select group of people, and I was lucky enough to get my hands on it =D. However, in respect of KEYnetik's efforts, i will only post it here when the public version becomes available.

Nokia Morph -Mobile Phone Concept Redefined-

Featured in The Museum of Modern Art “Design and The Elastic Mind” exhibition, the Morph concept device is a bridge between highly advanced technologies and their potential benefits to end-users. This device concept showcases some revolutionary leaps being explored by Nokia Research Center (NRC) in collaboration with the Cambridge Nanoscience Centre (United Kingdom) – nanoscale technologies that will potentially create a world of radically different devices that open up an entirely new spectrum of possibilities.

Morph concept technologies might create fantastic opportunities for mobile devices:

• Newly-enabled flexible and transparent materials blend more seamlessly with the way we live
• Devices become self-cleaning and self-preserving
• Transparent electronics offering an entirely new aesthetic dimension
• Built-in solar absorption might charge a device, whilst batteries become smaller, longer lasting and faster to charge
• Integrated sensors might allow us to learn more about the environment around us, empowering us to make better choices

In addition to the advances above, the integrated electronics shown in the Morph concept could cost less and include more functionality in a much smaller space, even as interfaces are simplified and usability is enhanced. All of these new capabilities will unleash new applications and services that will allow us to communicate and interact in unprecedented ways.

Flexible & Changing Design

Nanotechnology enables materials and components that are flexible, stretchable, transparent and remarkably strong. Fibril proteins are woven into a three dimensional mesh that reinforces thin elastic structures. Using the same principle behind spider silk, this elasticity enables the device to literally change shapes and configure itself to adapt to the task at hand.

A folded design would fit easily in a pocket and could lend itself ergonomically to being used as a traditional handset. An unfolded larger design could display more detailed information, and incorporate input devices such as keyboards and touch pads.

Even integrated electronics, from interconnects to sensors, could share these flexible properties. Further, utilization of biodegradable materials might make production and recycling of devices easier and ecologically friendly.

Self-Cleaning

Nanotechnology also can be leveraged to create self-cleaning surfaces on mobile devices, ultimately reducing corrosion, wear and improving longevity. Nanostructured surfaces, such as “Nanoflowers” naturally repel water, dirt, and even fingerprints utilizing effects also seen in natural systems.

Advanced Power Sources

Nanotechnology holds out the possibility that the surface of a device will become a natural source of energy via a covering of “Nanograss” structures that harvest solar power. At the same time new high energy density storage materials allow batteries to become smaller and thinner, while also quicker to recharge and able to endure more charging cycles.

Sensing The Environment

Nanosensors would empower users to examine the environment around them in completely new ways, from analyzing air pollution, to gaining insight into bio-chemical traces and processes. New capabilities might be as complex as helping us monitor evolving conditions in the quality of our surroundings, or as simple as knowing if the fruit we are about to enjoy should be washed before we eat it. Our ability to tune into our environment in these ways can help us make key decisions that guide our daily actions and ultimately can enhance our health.

Press Material

• View press release
• View and download photos
• View Morph video (.mov, 46mb)

Other resources

To learn more about the “Design and The Elastic Mind” exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art visit MoMA webpage

To learn more about the Cambridge Nanoscience Centre visit http://www.nanoscience.cam.ac.uk/

N95 & N82, Get Your Theme Icon Back

Ok the new N95 firmware was really great and all, but frankly the missing theme icon was really starting to get to our nerves. So here's a little 'hack' that was discovered which will restore the theme icon. It is really, really simple and I assure you you'll be happy with the results.

 

So here we go fellow Nokians:

1. Go to Menu-> Tools-> Utilities-> Device manager

2. When you see your firmware version and device updated date, you're on the right track. Now press right and you'll see "no server profiles defined".

3. Press "Options" and then select "New server profile".

4. Name anything you want and just put in any password, but make sure that your profile is saved when you exit.

5. Press "Options" and select "Start configurations" without an Internet connection.

6. Now go to Menu-> Applications and you'll see the Themes icon there!

 

Enjoy!

Guy With N95 Hack's Train Station

Check this out.. A guy appears to hack the Utrecht central station with his N95