02 August 2012

My Nokia Blog

My Nokia Blog

Lumiappaday #260: Weaot demoed on the Nokia Lumia 900

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 03:18 PM PDT

 I came across this pretty neat app called Weaot through App Flow. Weaot is a complete databse of TV shows, organising them into seasons and then episodes with a little summary and thumbnail of each episode. On going series can be viewed on the Weaot calendar so you can keep an eye on just the shows you like. If the season has ended, you will get dates of the next new season. Also pretty neat are the included wallpapers (though landscape only)

#260) Weaot 

Price:  Free

Link: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/3463c614-968d-4612-8779-77b0d07ca7cd

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMvJ7tbbnNY

Developer Blurb:

 

Weaot is a must have app for TV fans, search for your favorite shows, add them to your watchlist and get notified when a new episode is going to be aired!

You can also browse one of the most complete TV databases and get a lot of info such as:

Summary of the series.

Summary of each episode that has been aired so far, with an image.

And a lot of high quality fanart images.

Rating:

Design: 8

Usability: 9

Performance: 8 

Price: 10

Rant: Why Windows Phone Live Account Linking is EVIL

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 02:43 PM PDT

Ok I might be slightly exaggerating right now, but it’s because I’m pissed; with yesterdays release of Outlook.com and a whole field of untapped email accounts going  live I jumped at the chance to grab a nice one for myself; after all this looks to be the future of Hotmail/Live = Future of WP. Playing it smart (or so I thought) instead of making a whole new account I popped into my live account and “upgraded to new Hotmail” which got me the new clean sleek Outlook interface (no more distracting ads and ugly colors Yay!)- first thoughts about the new email service were that it was beautiful in it’s simplicity (something Microsoft seem to have going for them now; ohh how the tables have turned). After admiring it for a bit I set off on my task; carrying on with the “keep it smart theme” I chose to “rename my account” usin @outlook as the domain,  after choosing a fitting ID that doesn’t sound like a 5th grader made it I hit “rename”.

So far so good, I have a nice new email and a clean interface, life’s good; or not… As I was skimming twitter I saw that the wildly popular Youtube App for WP “MetroTube” just got an update, Sweet! Opening the marketplace I hit “update”, only to be greeting with the following page asking me to sign in.

Usually the above image is what you get when you change your Live ID’s password (tip- change password at least every 6 months); you might be seeing the problem now, notice how the box with the live ID is grayed out, whoops- that means it can’t be changed. “No Problem” said logic, “I’ll just go to my accounts, delete the account and add it with the new username, easy”; well apparently WP isn’t a fan of logic since your main ID can’t be removed, renamed, edited, deleted, changed or any other word that implies that it doesn’t stay the same. Apparently the only way to sign in with my new account name (which keep in mind is THE SAME ACCOUNT) is to Hard reset my phone, yes, Delete all apps, photos, phone numbers, SMS, Whatsapp conversations Etc. and just keep the fun in things WP doesn’t have a backup feature meaning they’re all gone for good.

Basically right now I have two options, either never use the marketplace again, or lose all my data (including some Nokia apps that can’t be re-installed due to region restriction), so just a word of advice to you guys, don’t switch to the new outlook unless your willing to sacrifice EVERYTHING.

Edit: True there is a warning before renaming your account; which is why i’m not ranting at outlook (I am to blame) I’m complaining about the difficulty of  changing/editing an ID (outlook just happened to be in the line of fire)

Nokia Drive for WP Review by Engadget; Deemed Best in Class

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 10:14 AM PDT

Nokia Drive offline navigation review taking the Lumia 900 for an offthegrid spin

Here’s a nice change of pace; rather than reviewing the phone itself someone has finally given the awesome support apps a second glance, and I’m quite sure they’re happy they did. Engadget took the Lumia 900 on a Nation-wide trek and suffice to say the phone did not disappoint, with the wrap-up being:

I can confidently say that Nokia Drive is the best purely offline navigational tool on the market

Check out the review at the source link, it’s a very nice piece which details exactly why Nokia Drive is so awesome, just one piece of information you won’t find in the post, when you search for a place offline (eg: McDonalds) if available the app will also provide you with contact details of the location including phone number and address, pretty sweet if you want to reserve ahead,eh?

*Note: they acknowledge the fact that Nokia Drive’s features have been available on Symbain for a while now, but overall switching to a Symbian phone wasn’t worth the better navigation:

Nokia has been a player. At that time, it was the outfit’s Ovi Maps leading the pack, offering the only legitimate offline solution amongst a legion of ho-hum alternatives that required bits of data to keep you on track. But frankly, there wasn’t a Symbian device in Nokia’s stable that could show up my Nexus One in terms of overall utility, so begrudgingly, I pushed it aside

Check out the full review here:http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/01/nokia-drive-offline-navigation-review-taking-the-lumia-900-for/

 

N9Apps: Butaca: Cinema Information

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 08:32 AM PDT

Butaca is the perfect app for film lovers. It not only provides you with info on the movies you choose, but also gives you session times. It gets its info from IMDB and TMDB. We all know IMDB. If you want movie info, it is the place to go. As for TMDB,

TMDb was started in the fall of 2008 as a side project in order to help serve high resolution posters and fan art for the popular XBMC project. What started as just a simple single page linked with some zip files has morphed into one of the most active user built movie databases on the entire Internet.

themoviedb.org is a free and open movie database. It's completely user driven by people like you. TMDb is currently used by millions of people every month and with our powerful API, also used by the world's most popular media centers.

What makes the app so great:

  • Great use of QT Components to give fluid and uniform UI
  • Choice to search by Genre, or by entering name of Movie, Actor and even TV show
  • Provides movie trailers if available
  • Ability to select Films/Actors/TV shows as “Favorites”; Places them on app’s home screen
  • Session times show cinemas near location (configured in Settings)
  • Movie info provides direct link to full cast listing (clickable cast members)
  • Share Actor Bio, Film info etc. via OS Sharing (Twitter, Facebook, Email, BT etc.)
  • FREE!

I’m a huge movie fan, and something I missed (at first) was not having a good movie information app. Butaca filled that void, and filled it extremely well. Admittedly, it isn’t new. This has been on my review to-do list for several months, but it was so good, I couldn’t let it go unnoticed. Take a look at the screenshots below.

2012-08-02_01-11-45 2012-08-02_01-11-32 2012-08-02_01-14-34 2012-08-02_01-14-00 2012-08-02_01-13-04 2012-08-02_01-12-53 2012-08-02_01-12-46 2012-08-02_01-12-03 2012-08-02_01-11-16 2012-08-02_01-10-57 2012-08-02_01-10-45

 

What are you waiting for? Get on over to the Nokia Store and download it to your N9 now!

Source: Store

 

 

DNA and Elisa Finland’s top phones for July

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 12:36 AM PDT

 

Very briefly as my train is now heading up to the country side and losing signal:

Joni shares data from DNA and Elisa Finland on their top phones for July. I guess no numbers yet for TeliaSonera?

The Finns are loving their Samsung Phones, in particular, the new SGSIII pushed to number 1. Great news that the N9 makes it to the top 15.

10 out of the top 15 phones are now Nokia for Elisa. That’s up from 8 in June. DNA is more Samsung friendly with 6/10 being Samsung, 4/10 Nokia. iPhone shares number 1 spot with SGSIII. Nokia Lumia 610 holds it own at number 3; same spot as last month. Lumia 800, 900 and 710 stay in top 10 too.

ELISA
Private customers;
1. Samsung Galaxy S III
2. Apple iPhone 4S
3. Nokia Lumia 610
4. Samsung Galaxy S II
5. Nokia Lumia 800
6. Nokia C2-01
7. Samsung Galaxy GIO
8. Nokia Lumia 900
9. Nokia Lumia 710
10. Nokia 500
11. Nokia 300
12. Nokia C5-00 5MP
13. Samsung Galaxy Note
14. Nokia 303
15. Nokia N9-00

Corporate customers.
1. Nokia C2-01
2. Apple iPhone 4S
3. Nokia Lumia 800
4. Nokia Lumia 710
5. Nokia Lumia 900
6. Nokia E7-00
7. Samsung Galaxy S III
8. Nokia C5-00 5MP
9. Samsung Xcover 271
10. Nokia Lumia 610
11. Nokia 701
12. Samsung Galaxy Xcover
13. Nokia E5-00
14. Samsung Galaxy S II
15. Nokia C6-00

DNA:

1. Samsung Galaxy S III ja iPhone 4S (jaettu 1. sija)
3. Samsung Galaxy Xcover
4. Samsung E1080 *
5. Nokia Lumia 610
6. Samsung Galaxy Y
7. Samsung Galaxy S II
8. Nokia C2-01 *
9. Nokia Lumia 800
10. Samsung S5610

I think these are the links:

http://www.elisa.fi/ir/pressi/index.cfm?t=100&t=100&o=5120&did=18231

http://www.dna.fi/DNAOy/Media/myyntitilastot/Sivut/Default.aspx

Cheers Joni for the tip!

Tips: Video Recording Concerts with your Nokia 808 PureView

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 12:27 AM PDT

 

NokConv have published a post sharing tips on recording concerts with the Nokia 808 PureView.

http://conversations.nokia.com/2012/07/31/tips-for-recording-concerts-on-your-nokia-808-pureview/

You are immediately advantages as a Nokia 808 PureView user because not many can be so compact and record such high quality audio and video.

  • Don’t cover microphones with your hands
  • Use tripod or handheld stabiliser
  • Don’t change focus if moving around – wait until you stop and then focus
  • Try and stay within 50m of the stage. This will apparently affect video due to reduced lighting (though we have seen PureView’s zoom assist here in bringing the action closer).
  • Nokia 808 PureView apparently has spotlight scene for greater contrast. Use this if someone is standing underneath a spotlight.
Additional points:
  • If you’re moshing, put your phone on a wrist strap in case it falls off your hand
  • Pan slowly. This will ensure your video is clearer
  • Use the LED/turn it off when appropriate. Close up open mics, the LED light might help otherwise, keep it off.
  • Building on the tripod tip, use this to get some unusually high view points.
  • Watch out for your battery! Video recording eats up more juice. Think about bringing a spare battery (because the batteries are interchangeable on the 808) or even better, bring a portable charger so you can have continuous recording
  • If you have other cameras, use them to (make your friends do some recording) as least get some different view points that you can mash later in a video. You can trust yourself to keep the best video and audio on your 808. If you’re lucky, your other friends also have 808s.
That’s what I can think of for now. I better post this as my train keeps going under tunnels and losing signaL
Please feel free to share your recording tips in the comments :) .

 

Oh there’s a general video below you might find helpful, published at the beginning of the month.

 
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