Transfer Files to/from N9 via WIFI

Sometimes you want to transfer files to and from your phone but you don't have the data cable / charger handy and bluetooth is too slow. There is another way of transferring files to and from your computer and it also shows why you need to change the default password on your Nokia N9.

Here's a nice "how to" for transferring files between your computer and your Nokia N9 using a simple FTP program on your computer.

Nokia Suite 3.3.49 doesn't work with N9

OK some of you may be getting very excited about the new Nokia Suite 3.3.49 in Betalabs. However, just tried it out and it does not work with the Nokia N9. Back to Nokia Link again...

Enable Zoom in Video Mode

The camera on the N9 works pretty well and the zoom is pretty good however when it comes to videos, the ability to zoom in whilst recording has been strangely omitted by the developers. Good thing we have people on the internet who know how to make things happen. Firstly, you need to enable developer mode (Settings> Security> Developer Mode) if you haven't already done so. then download this file camera.conf and copy it to your phone's root directory (eg E:\ ). 

Open Terminal and enable root access by typing :

• devel-su 
• password : rootme
• Copy the downloaded file in the etc directory:
• cp /home/user/MyDocs/camera.conf /etc/camera.conf
• Restart the device.

It ‘can zoom both with the top bar like the pictures, both with the volume buttons.

To remove this tweak just delete the file by repeating the procedure from step 2 to step 5 and just type this command:

rm /etc/camera.conf

9 Things I Hate About You

Just like a friendship that has gone for a long time, you start to notice the idiosynchracies of your friend and after a while those interesting features become downright annoying. For many of you, the LAFS you had with the N9 is starting to turn to a blog post like this one where we list 9 things that immediately come to mind about the N9 that we wish were not... here they are and feel free to join in on the comments

1. Accidentally pressing the volume to zero
2. Not being able to move the cursor easily through a series of words in a sentence
3. Trying to move the slider in the music / video player
4. Flaky internet connection / Refusing to connect to a call 
5. Camera that could have been an auto-focus rather than a full focus 
6. Not enough apps
7. Dialler cannot find contacts in the address book  
8. No easy way of connecting to Ovi Suite
9. Maps / Drive has been two steps back from our Symbian days 

Forgot to add one more thing which has really driven me nuts recently - needing to enter my passwords in for all of my "accounts" every time I turn off the phone! So what things would you like to see gone in your N9?

Optimising Network Mode

I am not sure whether this is a particularly typical experience for N9  users but I have found getting a lock on reception with the phone particularly frustrating. I decided to tinker with an area which I normally ignore when optimising my phone and that is in the Settings -> Mobile Network. 

In these settings, you are able to change the Network Selection to be Automatic or Manual. When this is changed to Manual, you are given a choice of which network you want to choose. I have left this Automatic but if you want to avoid roaming, I guess you can lock it to, say, Vodafone if you are an Australian 3 customer, to avoid roaming to Telstra for data. 

The Network Mode seems to be where I have had a little breakthrough. I changed the setting from "Dual" to "3G" as "GSM" is much slower than 3G from what I understand. The impact seems to have been that I am hardly ever getting no signal when I am trying to call someone. I am not sure whether this is because of this change in settings, but time will tell. It seems that the N9 seems to struggle with deciding at times between whether to make the call 3G or GSM and when you are ringing someone, the phone sits in silence for about 10 seconds and says "could not connect - Redial??"

Let me know what your thoughts are and if this has helped you, leave a comment below. Would love to get some verification from another user. 

Can't Connect to Twitter Returns

I am not sure why but I got this twitter problem again suddenly. Last time this happened, I solved the problem by following the instructions below. 

• Activate “Developer mode” by going to: Settings > Security > Developer mode. It’s OFF by default. Turn it ON.
• After having it activated, you will find a “Terminal” app button under application menu.
• Open it and you need to execute these commands (one command per line):
• gconftool --recursive-unset /system/http_proxy
• gconftool --recursive-unset /system/proxy
• gconftool --recursive-unset /system/osso

I vaguely remember someone mentioning that there is another way of solving this twitter problem without nuking your connection settings. Please leave a comment if you have some ideas. Otherwise, for those that can't connect to twitter, this is the best solution we currently know.

How to get MSN Messenger working

If you are wanting to get some instant messengers working such as MSN and ICQ, it's not going to be easy but there is a way. Here is the easier way thanks to guest poster Michael.

First of all, download these three files straight on the device;

• LibPurple
• Telepathy-Haze
• IM-Providers-Additional

1. Open terminal, and gain root access using devel-su with rootme as password unless changed.
2. Enter cd /home/user/MyDocs/Downloads
3. Enter ; dpkg -i libpurple0_*.deb
4. dpkg -i telepathy-haze_*.deb
5. dpkg -i im-providers-additional-0.2.deb
6. Restart the device
7. If successful, you should have the various IM providers in the Accounts app.

Note: Enter lines 3 – 5 separate as they need to be done individually in that order. Also, if icons in Accounts stuff up, just restart device again. Continued icon corruption can supposedly be fixed by replacing icons in /usr/share/themes/blanco/icons/

Create the account like you normally would in the Accounts app, and, as usual, use Availability to go online.

This way of installing the IM includes the service not only in the Accounts app, but in the contact cards of those you merge.

If you need help, put it in the comments below, or send Michael a tweet

Get Google Docs Working on N9

As many of you will know, it is quite frustrating using the Nokia N9 with Google Docs. For spreadsheets, you will only be able to see one column at a time. One workaround is to change the address that you use to get to Google Docs -
https://docs.google.com/?overridemobile=false#home

Try it out

Backup/Restore Bookmarks Go Green

I tried the restore feature for the N9 the other day using the Nokia Link to bring back my phone stuff from two weeks ago. Everything seemed to work very well but the icons for all my internet bookmarks had a blank green squircle icon instead of the usual "preview" of the website.

To fix this, all you need to do is open up the bookmark and go to "ADD TO HOME SCREEN" once again. The preview of the website will appear once again and life can go on.

Sync Google Calendar with N9

This Harmattan build supports multiple Mail for Exchange and multiple CalDAV accounts. For Google Calendar:

• Go to Accounts > Add accounts > CalDAV
• Username should be your full Google Calendar username (e.g. jbloggs@gmail.com) and password.
• The URL is:
  • For your primary calendar: https://www.google.com/calendar/dav/
  • For other calendars: https://www.google.com/calendar/dav/uuid@group.calendar.google.com/
  • For some users, the primary calendar will only work with, supposing your e-mail is jbloggs@gmail.com: https://www.google.com/calendar/dav/jbloggs@gmail.com/

The uuid can be found on the calendar settings page within Google Calendar, and is a long string of characters & numbers.
The trailing slashes are crucial for Google.

• The primary calendar claimed to sync, but no events showed up. So I deleted the CalDAV entry for my primary calendar and set up Mail for Exchange:
  • Username is your full Google Calendar username and password
  • Server: m.google.com
• I synced my primary calendar using the syntax of the second URL (with my Google login email instead of uuid@google) and it worked great. YMMV.

• Note: for me the sync button only worked once you go back out after creating the entry, and then back into it again.

This information was taken from Meego.com

Hard Resetting your N9

There are times when you accumulate problems on your phone that the option to reset your phone is the best option. For me, the following problems started to appear on my N9 which made me decide to hard reset the phone today:

1. Bluetooth was no longer working, as I mentioned to many of you in my email lately. 
2. Pressing the lock button, the screen would discolour and give me a distorted image rather than dim to a standby screen. 
3. Calls were not connecting for some reason
4. Battery was draining since my installation of PR 1.1 and someone was suggesting that a hard reset should fix the problem

So in one foul swoop, I went to SETTINGS -> RESET -> HARD RESET and entered my security code to give my phone the equivalent of a FORMAT C:\

What happens after a hard reset?

1. Some applications are gone
2. Bluetooth is working again
3. No more discoloured screen problem when locking the phone
4. Phone is running faster 
5. Not sure yet whether the battery draining problem is fixed. 

Ovi store was not working properly but after I deleted my Nokia account and then signed in again, the ovi store worked. Hope this helps someone out there. 

How Applications Can Damage your phone

I recently downloaded an application from my-meego.com which turned out to be an application that caused much damage to other users' phones. In the past, I have always been able to happily ignore the warnings about installing applications which are not on the Ovi Store without any consequences but I wonder whether this latest app has caused the downfall of my bluetooth.

The application was called Air UI which was being heavily promoted on twitter by N9 users. The application claimed to use the front facing camera to detect your movements to control the music player etc. I thought this was an interesting idea and downloaded it. I've since uninstalled it after it didn't do what it claimed and went back to My-Meego.com to discover that the app has been removed. The following are comments from users who downloaded this application. It's a little worrying!

Jamesvini from AUSTRALIA  on 2011-12-01 03:19 CET	As soon as i saw this in on the front page I was like a kid on crack, "WHAT I HAVE TO HAVE IT!!!" But taking a closer look I have to say chaps it looks to me like it is a bit of a hoax, maybe a small hoax...a hoaxette. and as for the username "Nokia" can someone within the site please prove this is legit? Thank you all [Rate: 0/10]
Algis from LITHUANIA  on 2011-11-30 22:38 CET	No bricks, but it just doesn't work at all. And yes I rebooted my phone. [Rate: 0/10]
hood from Somewhere on Earth  on 2011-11-30 18:11 CET	How does it work? Any manual? [Rate: 0/10]
Anonymous from FRANCE  on 2011-11-30 18:09 CET	Same error message! Please, how reinstall my N9?? [Rate: 0/10]
N9User from MALAYSIA  on 2011-11-30 17:02 CET	Same boot error for me. So how do you fix the error? [No rate]
Manankanchu from HONG KONG  on 2011-11-30 15:14 CET	Several warnings on bricked devices in Ovi Store ... [Rate: 1/10]
et3rnal from AUSTRALIA  on 2011-11-30 14:30 CET	Great :D with future improvements to add more functions this will rock :D thanks nokia [Rate: 10/10]
F2thaK from AUSTRALIA  on 2011-11-30 13:21 CET	cool [Rate: 7/10]
Croco from ROMANIA  on 2011-11-30 13:04 CET	It bricked my device. After installing and restarting I've got a beautiful Error message (something regarding QT library) and the device would not boot. I had to reinstall it and all the apps i had also. So be careful if you want to try it. [Rate: 0/10]
Rajeev from FINLAND  on 2011-11-30 11:08 CET	Idea is very good. But application is not recognising all moves. It would be helpful if you provide the help page also. [Rate: 5/10]
Helix from JAPAN  on 2011-11-30 11:06 CET	After installing.. My N9 has crushed.! when reboot, it say, "DEVICE IS NOT WORKING PROPERLY.." AND ASK ME TO BRING TO NOKIA CARE CENTER.! [Rate: 0/10]
lanku_lover from INDIA  on 2011-11-30 10:44 CET	not working [Rate: 3/10]
tomtom from AUSTRALIA  on 2011-11-30 08:22 CET	Tried installing and totally screwed my phone - I have an error message "Security problem..." etc. and Device not working properly. You've been warned. [Rate: 0/10]
MyN9 from AUSTRALIA  on 2011-11-30 08:10 CET	doesnt work [Rate: 0/10]
Jylan from AUSTRALIA  on 2011-11-30 08:00 CET	Just a warning - I installed this on my Black 64GB N9, and rebooted right after. The boot process failed with the message "Device not working properly. Try updating the device software with Nokia Software Updater. If the problem persists, contact the nearest Nokia Care point." Below that in monotype was the following: "Security problem : /usr/lib/qt4/plugins/inputmethods/libairuiplugin.so" [No rate]

PR 1.1 Successfully Flashed

After some hesitation, I attempted the flashing of my Nokia N9 to get to the PR 1.1 release. I realised the first time that I flashed it, I actually flashed my phone with my existing firmware! That's what happens when you rush things. My phone version was not available in the list so after some googling, I was able to confirm that I could use another variant.

What version? To see what version your phone is, check behind your sim card tray. I had 059L698 which is "059L698: N9 RM-696 Country Variant Australia AU Black 16GB V1".  I used the "059J241: RM-696 NDT AUSTRALIA BLACK 16GB" which had the PR 1.1 available. The NAVIFIRM file I needed was "DFL61_HARMATTAN_20.2011.40-4_PR_LEGACY_005-OEM1-958_ARM.bin".

After following the other instructions in the previous post, the phone was successfully flashed to PR 1.1.

Effect of PR 1.1? Not much seems to have changed except Swype is now available as an extra keyboard on the N9. You will need to reinstall all your applications but your personal data should remain in tact. More later..

China N9 - True Self is to Unfollow

Never has a Nokia advertisement encapsulated the feeling of many Nokia users as well as the China N9 advertisement featuring Bing Bing. The theme of the ad is "Unfollow", suggesting viewers stay true to themselves and not just sell out to the masses. It's quite clear what the ad is insinuating but it truly does take some stroke of individuality to go out on a limb with the Nokia N9. But as the ad says, "Can I survive in the face of criticism, as much as I have survived on praise?" If we are just doing what others want, then who are we but a reflection of everyone else?

Here's another ad by Samsung which also unashamedly follows along the same line as the Nokia N9 ad above. In a subtle attack on Apple fans, the ad follows a group of fans lining up for the launch of a new phone, mocking their commitment to an inferior phone. Have a look.

Use Address Book Favourites Wisely

After finding the N9 address book quite cumbersome, I accidentally rediscovered a feature that I have not been using. In each of the address book entries you can select the STAR on the bottom of the contact card. This will put the contact at the top of your address book! No more scrolling endlessly for your top 7 contacts, just add a star on each of them and save valuable seconds on your Nokia N9.

Beautifully simple yet so easily missed!

How to flash your N9 to PR 1.1 (even if it hasn't come out yet)

Since the release of PR 1.1, many people have been saying they haven't been able to get their hands on the update. There is hope though, since the update is now on Navifirm.

Unfortunately, this tool is only available for Windows, and I doubt it will come out onto Mac/Linux.

Please be aware, I suggest you do a back-up prior to flashing, and that even with a back-up, you may need to reinstall apps that were not pre-installed.

If you already have this tool, click "Clear Local Cache", as sometimes the update will be hidden.

Search for "Nokia N9" in the device list, select "20.2011.40.4", and search for your product code. (Note: If you can't find your code, or wish to flash with unbranded FW, ensure it is same country/region, colour and memory option.) If you select the 10.2011.34.1 and download the flasher, your phone will be flashed but your firmware version will be the same that you currently have (ie don't select 10.2011.34.1).

Click to enlarge

Choose the country variant that your phone is, which can be found on the back of the SIM card tray. You will need to take it out to have a look. If it is not there, you may want to google it to make sure you choose a compatible alternative country variant.

In the third screen, download the 1.1 GB .bin file. This is what contains the FW update.

Next you will need to install the Flasher tool, found here. Make sure it is version 3.12, this is the one compatible with Harmattan. (This is available for Windows, Mac and Linux)

For Windows, you simply open the .exe file and run the following command " -F <c:\whereitis\whatever>.bin -f -R "

For Mac or Linux, open Terminal and use the following " flasher -F <file path of FW file>.bin -f -R " 

Both of these commands will reboot the device after a successful flash.

Just wait and hope you did everything right.

From what I can see, here is a list of the changes (sorry about poor order, its just as I remember it):

- Changed font in messaging

- Individual notification icon for chat, text, mail and missed calls (Icon is also blue now.)

- Charging icon present on Standby Screen

- Notification icon on Standby screen no longer centred, aligned right with the time

- Music Player controls on Lock screen

- Updated Facebook App

- Messaging now shows "Delivered" next to time stamp for last sent text

- Gallery has new UI; no longer a scroll list at bottom, instead 4 icons (All photos, captured, favourites, options)

- Camera has colour filter option

- Calendar UI has changed slightly (new icons in toolbar)

- Swype pre-installed (activate in settings)

- Shadowing now above toolbar in various apps (not important, but I'm listing everything since apparently there is over 3000 improvements)

- Maps seems to start-up a bit quicker

- Swipe down to close is on by default

- Nokia Drive turns on almost instantly now

- I'm sure there is a lot more under the hood improvements but nothing I have noticed

If you need any more help flashing, send a tweet to our guest poster @MFaro-Tusino

How to Make Twitter Work on your N9

I had the problem where the facebook app and the internet all worked ok on my N9 but the Twitter app would not work. It would always say "Sorry, can't connect" or something like that. I've just come across the solution for this problem which will fix Twitter on your N9. First of all, you need to be aware that all your internet settings, wifi settings and bluetooth pairing settings will be reset. If you are happy with that, proceed with the following to fix your Twitter app.

Go into Developer mode by going to Settings -> Security -> Developer Mode -> should be blue
Go to TERMINAL app which should now be on the bottom of your list of apps.

Type in the following with ENTER after each line
1. gconftool --recursive-unset /system/http_proxy
3. gconftool --recursive-unset /system/proxy
4. gconftool --recursive-unset /system/osso
5. exit

Twitter should now work on your N9.

N9 Firmware Update PR 1.1 is here!

Across the world, the Nokia N9 firmware update is being rolled out. PR1.1 which has been greatly anticipated by N9 users will bring in a raft of new changes including:

• Swype
• Music controls (play, stop, rewind etc) on the lock screen
• Default swipe down to close applications
• Noise Cancellation 
• Upload photos on twitter
• Better NFC tag reading
• New photo modes (sepia, B&W, vivid etc) 
• Faster Mail for Exchange 
• Memory improvements
• Other Bug fixes
• Charging and calendar notification on standby screens

So get into your phones and let us know when your country is up for the update. It will be a 218mb update and will take a while to update your phone. 


Countries that have reported PR1.1 available - UK, Austria, Finland, Sweden and India


How do I know if it's available? 
When it is available for you to download, you will receive a notification in the notification screen of your N9. You can see the video below:

Another way is to go to Settings -> Applications -> Manage Applications -> Updates and keep pressing refresh.

Nokia Suite 3.2.100.0 now available

If you are using the PC Suite, you may have noticed that an upgrade is available to upgrade to Nokia Suite 3.2.100.0. Not much seems to have changed, just a new "look and feel" and the sync gives you a more detailed report about what was changed by the sync. You can get your version upgraded by going to the Software Updates button in your Nokia Suite.

How to put music on your N9

I forgot that we live in a generation of iphones so even the simplicity of things needs to be retaught. Unlike Apple products, Nokia does not require you to use iTunes and if you have an Mp3 file of the music you like, its as simple as dragging and dropping the file into your phone. If you put your music in DATA\Music it will immediately appear in your phone's Music Player.

Transferring music from your computer to your N9 can be done by following our previous post about Nokia Ovi Suite and the N9 or the even earlier post about 7 things to know about connecting to the N9.

How to Get Ovi Suite to Work with N9

Currently if you have the latest Ovi Suite for Nokia, you will get something like this when you try to connect your N9.

There has been some talk online that if you install a particular earlier Ovi Suite version, it will happily connect with the Nokia N9. Why that is the case, considering the N9 came out AFTER Ovi Suite 3.0.0.90? No idea but that's how it is.

You can download the N9 compatible version of Ovi Suite at http://www.4shared.com/file/NEaBJnfo/Nokia_Ovi_Suite_300290.html.

After testing out this download, we can verify that linking up to the N9 using your PC is possible with this version of Ovi Suite. Once you have connected to the N9, you can upgrade to the newest Nokia Suite when prompted and the program will still recognise your N9. This upgrade will take you to version 3.1.1.90. We were able to

• Sync our contacts with the PC
• Send an SMS using the PC via the N9 
• Download photos from the N9 to PC
• Check for software updates
• Sync music 

This is also possible connecting via bluetooth as well if your computer has bluetooth and you have activated it on the N9. 

Another must have App for N9 - Sportstracker

One of my favourite apps on Symbian has just arrived on the Meego Nokia N9! Sportstracker which gives you the ability to record your progress with a fitness routine, has so many statistics and graphs that it really is a must download, plus it's free! 

Some of the information that it tracks using your phone and GPS include:

• Distance
• Duration
• Speed
• Average speed and pace
• Max speed
• Energy spent (kCal)

You can keep a training diary to analyse your progress over a few weeks/months and this can be synchronised to the web at sports-tracker.com with also the ability to share your workouts on Twitter or Facebook friends. Check it out at the Nokia Store. 

GApp Makes Gmail Google Docs Possible

We've just heard from My-Meego that GApp is now available for download! This Google application makes using your Gmail, Google Finance, Google Plus, Google Documents, Youtube, Google Transit, Google Talk etc work better on the Nokia N9.

 

Google Plus looks just like how you expect it in your browser. Google documents is very easy  to use, with the ability to click on a cell and edit it straight away. Google Talk is not really necessary as you should be already using it in the integrated messaging feature. Leave your impressions in the comments below and go here for the download!

Installing VLC Media for N9

The best multi-format video viewers has to be VLC. Michael has kindly provided this guide showing how to install VLC to your N9. Instructions on how to uninstall VLC can be found here.

It is relatively simple, but some people may find it a bit tricky as it uses Terminal commands, so I am gonna run a step by step guide on how do to it.

Step One:

Click here to download libvlc5 and vlc-player on your PC, and transfer it to your device. (It is easier to download fromyour PC as Web tries to open it straight and it will not install.)

Step Two:

If you haven’t, you will need to enable Developer Mode by going to Settings > Security > Developer Mode and hit the “switch”. For first time users, you will need to download and install a few files, as well as reboot the device. (Once you complete the install, you can hit the switch back over and next time you want to use Dev Mode, no install needs to be done.)

Step Three:

In Terminal, gain root access by typing devel-su and when prompted enter password rootme .

Once you have gained root access, type cd (directory you saved the two files in) eg. cd /home/user/MyDocs/Downloads/

Now enter the following;

dpkg -i libvlc5_*.deb vlc-player_*.deb

A lot of writing will appear and you may be prompted to enter y to confirm the install.

NB: It may display some errors, don’t worry, everything works eventually.

Step Four:

If it worked, there should be the VLC traffic cone in your apps list. Run the app, and enjoy.

Just a heads-up, the UI is NOT optimised for MeeGo, it looks like the desktop version, so hitting some buttons are a bit of an issue, but after you get the hang of it, it works well.

For those who do not plan on using Developer mode on a regular basis or do not know what they are doing, I suggest disabling as your device can be hacked easily while you are in this mode.

Advanced Alarm Features with the N9

There has been much said about the Nokia N9 such as the awesome form factor and snappy Meego system but sometimes its the simplest features that makes your day. I don't think I've read a N9 review which looks at just how handy the alarm feature are on the Nokia N9. Here are a few that I've deemed worthy of a closer look. You can get to the alarm on the N9 by going to the CLOCK application. 

Different Day, Different Song 

How you wake up can sometimes ruin or make your day. The Nokia N9 allows you to choose a different tune for each different alarm that you set. This seems like such a basic feature but has been lacking in Nokia phones until now. You could have "I Don't Like Mondays" playing as your alarm on Mondays and another song for Saturdays and Sundays. 

Recurring Alarms

Many people don't know that with your phone, you can set recurring alarms. For Nokia phones before the Nokia N9, you could set a recurring alarm for weekly, weekdays, weekends or daily. However, with the N9, you can now also set which day(s) you want that alarm to sound. For example, you can set a wake up for Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7am and another different wake up time for Thursdays and Fridays.

Snooze Time
This is a useful feature as we are all very different people. Some consider 5 minutes a snooze whereas others don't see the point and have a snooze of 20 minutes to get maximum benefit in the morning. Well, to each his own. You can even have different snooze times for different days.


Multiple Alarms

The N9 allows you to set multiple alarms with the different settings above. I am not sure how many but I set up eight alarms before getting bored. 

Alarm 1,2&4 ON, Alarm 3 OFF

Another unmentioned feature in the alarms is the ability to toggle on and off each different alarm. For example, you can turn off the Monday-Friday alarms when you start your three week holiday and then when you go back to work, you can turn them back on again without setting it all up again. Once again, a very simple but useful inclusion in the N9 alarm features. 

If you have any questions about the N9 alarm leave a comment below. 

Nokia World 2011 opens with the Lumia 800

The people are filing in to the Excel One London auditorium as the opening of Nokia World begins. Stephen Elop will take the stage in ten minutes. Updates soon.

See it happen here http://events.nokia.com/nokiaworld/ and watch the world's reaction and commentary from the audience via Twitter here 

The announcements included the introduction of the Asha series aimed at connecting to the internet the next billion people who have not yet experienced internet on their mobile. Mr Elop was every bit the brilliant story teller and speaker but his co-speakers were an awkward let-down. Their efforts to build up applause from the crowd left everyone reluctantly tagging along. 
As the keynote finished, and the people filed out, the talk of the twitterverse which had #NokiaWorld trending, was that of the Nokia Lumia 800. This device codenamed Sea Ray before the announcement is ultimately a Nokia N9 with a Windows Phone 7 operating system. The popularity and marketing of the N9 looks to have been a strategic step towards the release of the Lumia. 
The Lumia 800 will integrate the best of Nokia hardware with the best of what Windows brings to mobile devices. The Lumia 800 will have a 3.7 inch AMOLED clearblack display from the E7, the body and camera (except a few more megapixels) of the N9 and a new 1.4GHz Snapdragon CPU and an 8MP full-focus camera like the N9.

Lumia 800 - It's the brother from another mother

The new Mango Windows Phone 7 operating system will be under the hood an improved Web browser Internet Explorer 9 and Nokia Drive, a free turn-by-turn voice navigation application with maps for over 100 countries.  An ESPN sports hub will be a new exclusive feature for Nokia Windows Phones that enables you to follow news, stats, scores from your favorite sports teams and players. The integrated social media/SMS/MMS/foursquare/twitter feed will simplify the way people interact with social media.  
We're looking forward in particular to the Microsoft Office Mobile and Outlook applications. Also proving interesting is the augmented reality Nokia Live View application and the "close friends" Nokia Pulse social media app that will make geo-tagging more useful. 
The marketing approach for this phone will see Nokia adopting various guerilla marketing strategies helping people to realise that you can "experience amazing every day". 
We hope that the phone's operating system, apps and hardware performance will live up to the amazing or we really will have to choose between two other existing ecosystems. 

Installing Apps Not in Nokia Store

By default, the lovely people at Nokia disabled the ability to install applications outside of the Nokia Store to protect many users from installing virus laden applications or those that Nokia are unable to verify as legitimate software. 

However we are not at Apple. There is a a built-in way to enable the installation of .deb files on your Nokia N9. It's as simple as this: 

Go to Settings application - Applications - Installations - Allow Installations from non-store sources 

You can now click on .deb files on your N9 whilst browsing the internet and download them to your phone. However if you prefer, you can download applications to your computer and transfer them to your N9.

4 Apps we need on N9

There seems to be a consensus with many N9 users and that is regarding the apps available on the Nokia store. Some applications have become so much a part of our daily life that the switch to the N9 has been made that little bit more difficult. After spending two weeks with just the Nokia N9, here's what we are pining for. 

Whatsapp - I think in terms of desperation that we gauged from Twitter users about missing apps on the N9, Whatsapp is right up there. The koombayah of all phone devices helps friends message each other for free over the internet rather than through sms. This program overcomes the silo treatment that Blackberry and more recently, Iphone has tried to impose on its users. We hope that this app comes to the N9 fast because whilst we sit pretty with the most beautiful phone (period), currently we are feeling a little left out of the camp fire right about now. 

Gravity - I know Jan Ole is probably working hard on this but for those using various social media platforms, no application comes near to rivalling Gravity in terms of useability and looks. 


Google Maps - There are times that a certain location cannot be found on the Nokia Maps built into the N9 and its times like these that I open up Google Maps for a second opinion. The Google Maps built in friend finder Google Latitude is also sorely missed. 


Quickoffice - If the Nokia developers were aiming the Nokia N9 to be a slick business phone, they certainly missed the mark by not including a Word/Powerpoint/Excel editor with the phone. Many of the Symbian users have grown to appreciate Quickoffice in times when last minute changes needed to be made to a presentation or revisions to speech notes. Quickoffice or something similar to it needs to come with the PR1.1 that we are all waiting for. 


That's the list off the top of my head. What apps do you crucially miss when you switched over to the Nokia N9?

Perth Trains App for N9

For those of you that are buying a Nokia N9 in Perth, there is a free Perth app that you may be interested in. The Perth Trains App gives you the ability to see what time the next trains are leaving from any train station in Perth (and Mandurah) in any direction. A very simple but very useful app that will certainly put a smile on someone's face today. Have you discovered any good local apps?

This great little app can be downloaded from the Project Page at http://projects.developer.nokia.com/perthtrains 

10 Apps/Games You Must Download for the N9

So you have your Nokia N9 in your lap and you're looking through Nokia Store. What should you download for the Nokia N9? Here's a well thought out must have apps for any N9 user

10-Battery usage (Free): 

An app that does what it says with a great interface and good value. It shows your top consumers of energy (in both background and foreground), so you understand how keeping an application running will impact your battery and this will come in handy if you're a developer perfecting an app.

It also tells you when you last recharged your phone and how much energy you consumed from reaching a full charge to whatever charge level you are at now. It shows lots of statistics that are important like estimated usage time left or estimated idle time.

The app doesn't have any sort of power management because the N9 has a Power Saving mode that you can adjust to start when batteries reach a certain level 40% or less and it also shows estimated talk and idle time too with no 3rd part apps .

I thought WLAN was my top consumer and it turned out its among the least consumers which is great to hear

9- My Moves (FREE): 

 This app took Multi-touch and made it useful by providing Gestures that opens applications for you, the app monitors two fingers gestures and gives you 6 shortcuts and then does the same six gestures  with Three fingers giving you a total of 12 gestures, that you can use to open those apps you need right away . (Better than 4 for sure)

Next time you tap your phone awake don't swipe up, just make a gesture then unlock your phone to find that app waiting for you! It provides a more fluid experience, it also works all across the OS so don't worry...

A message to developers:

although i appreciate the effort i have some comments on the app 

• First of all it's not visual enough , create some 3d or 2d cool graphics that shows the gesture and then shows the app's icon  i choose for it (to help me remember it)
• Second of all create an option to let the app only monitor the lock screen and while you're at it  also create a cool wallpaper that has all the gestures embedded (in a subtle way like being slightly faded for example ...
• Third: Use haptic feedback, its there for a reason! Most of N9 users know how awesome those vibrating feedbacks are, and it would be nice if the 2 fingers gestures vibrated twice (lightly) and the 3  finger Gestures vibrated thrice, it would certainly be a good indicator if the gesture worked or not (I some time don't know if it worked so i repeat and two web apps launch it's annoying..

Note: if this app wasn't around  its spot would be held by Shortcuts, an app made by Sheer water to change the default 4 shortcuts you get when you swipe up and stop in the middle but seeing how this should've been integrated in the OS i went for My Moves 

8-RainbowBrush (FREE):

This app lets you quickly and easily give photos a dramatic look by converting them to black and white, while keeping your chosen details in color. This effect draws the viewer's attention to the colored areas, creating striking images. With its intuitive and responsive user interface, RainbowBrush is super easy and fun to use. You simply use your finger as a brush to remove or bring back the original color from regions of your image. Image zooming will help you to work on fine details.

7-Shopie Cam ($) / PhotoFX effects ($$$):
Both have great photo enhancement options and for once going with the expensive choice will give you a better experience. Both apps are great at what they do and are worth the money (Considering the money is $1 and $3 respectfully) 

6- Qad File Manager (FREE):

Along with being a good file manager with lots of options it has a webdav server which means you can get an IP for your device set a password in 2 seconds, log into your device contents through your desktop computer in a super fast way ( I got 1500Kbite per second downloading content from my phone )
but thats just one feature here's the list

• Filesystem browsing
• Navigation history
• File execution on external application
• Share filesystem over http (user:password)
• Show hidden files
• File statistics
• WebDav? Support
• File copy, move and delete (v1.1.5)
• Native file sharing using bluetooth, nfc, email.. etc (1.1.10)
• Advanced and Simple modes (1.1.10)
• Splash screen (1.1.10)
• If you have enabled Developer Mode, you can launch Meego Terminal to current directory (1.1.10)

5-Draw Slasher ($$) :

A great game that pays homage to Ninja Fruit. It even pays homage to Rainbow Brush too (when you play it you'll understand that joke)  

Kill zombies in the most horrific way you think of, enjoy various game play modes and great graphics and sounds. This is how the developers described  it. 

"Draw Slasher " is a survival action game in which you take control of a cute ninja fighting against Pirate Monkey Zombies. These monsters invade your peaceful island, and you are the only one, who can stop them! Slash through your enemies in style known from countless Japanese anime, and movies!"

4-istunt 2 ($$$):

This iphone and ipad game will surprise you with loads of levels, great controls (tilt controlled) 

the game runs smoothly and feels very native to me which considering its ported from IOS shows you that miniclip isn't kidding around with the N9. Here's a video of the game so  you can see whether it is worth the $3...

3-Fragger ($$$):

Remember when i said  2 seconds ago that miniclip isn't kidding around with the N9? Fragger is their jewel. It's a mix between Angry Birds and Crush the castle (watch the whole video) with a little terrorist salt (although it feels like the Fragger is the terrorist but i'm not gonna read too much into it.) Though istunt 2 is a much better game than this one, Fragger has the added bonus of not having to be fully focused to play (the major success of Angry birds is that you can get busy without losing a life or waiting for a check point)

The game has many levels that you'll never finish so that's good news  if you ever get stuck somewhere.

2-Roboto($$$):So Gravity guy is a great game that miniclip ALSO ported to the N9.

BUT because Roboto has a mixture between Gravity guy, Sonic, and the movie Wall-E i choose to feature Roboto, because the Graphics are awesome game play is great controls are decent and all in all it'll wow people around you (ignore the fact that it has Android's font name (kind of like Nokia Pure)  ) : 

and the number one app on the must have list is :

1-CuteTube ($$)

Now am sure lots of you said HUH! It's true i downloaded all there is to download in Store (except what was visually scaring or functionally useless, Cute tube not only is the perfect example of Qt genius in terms of UI and UX but it actually works better than Google's own YouTube app for Symbian 

Major features that made me choose this app as the best app yet among the must haves :

• It has portrait playback of youtube videos (There isn't in the official Symbian app)
• It has the vote up vote down (like buttons) it shows videos tags and searches for it .
• It has full access to comments while supporting commenting (There isn't in the official Symbian app)
• It handles playlists way better than the original app for Symbian
• You can play 360p videos instead of being stuck with 260p (There isn't in the official app)
• You can DOWNLOAD videos (There isn't in the official Symbian app)
• You can CHOOSE the clarity you want to download in (360p,480,720)
• You can let it play in background (There isn't in the official Symbian app)
• You can let it pause when you swipe the app 
• You can UPLOAD Videos (and in the process you can choose which should take the bandwidth the upload or the download !!!)
• The UI is stunning and adjustable too !!!
• It has a screen orientation lock setting !!!
• AND It introduces all these features in a non invasive way  making it easily the greatest all around app ever made for Nokia.

You can tweet @nabkawe if you want to ask any question about the list or if you see anything missing, leave a comment below.