Until something like WiMAX comes along, however, ‘hotspots’ need to be created. Up until now these have had to be done via an infrastructure, something like a home network, school or coffee shop. Via Scobleizer I found a link to Joiku who have just announced JoikuSpot. This allows mobile phones running the Symbian S60 operating system (like my Nokia N95) to share its 3G data connection via wi-fi.

This is potentially immense. Mobile data hotspots! At present there’s no encryption which is a bit dangerous, but I’m very much looking forward to seeing this develop. Unfortunately, I can’t test it at the moment: I cancelled my data connection completely after Orange kept overcharging me. I’d be interested to hear what others have to say, however.

Download JoikuSpot for free here.

I found it whilst browsing blogs relating to my Nokia N95 – here, in fact. All I’ve done is ‘borrowed’ part of the the header image, rotated it and played around with the colours… :p

So it turns out that the rumours are probably true and that Google are making a mobile operating system to power mobile phones. No big surprises there – I already use their GMail and Google Maps application on my Nokia N95, whilst catching up with my RSS feed reading through the (mobile) web-based version of Google Reader. I’m pleased to see that the probable manufacturer for such a device would be HTC, maker of the SPV range of mobile phones that go under the Orange brand in the UK.

So actually, I’ve already pretty much got a ‘Google phone’. What I’m more interested in is the Linux-based mobile phones on the horizon. OpenMoko, for example, is a touchscreen phone with an open platform which has generated so much interest that they’re actually sold out before the phones go on sale.

Potentially even bigger news, however, is Ubuntu Mobile, which promises to let you install Ubuntu on your mobile phone instead of whatever’s on there by default. Much in the same way, in fact, as you can should replace Windows with Linux. We live in interesting times (but not in the spurious? Chinese sense…)

Nokia have released a service known as Assisted GPS (A-GPS) leading to quicker first satellite fixes for phones with inbuilt GPS such as the Nokia N95. It works by positioning via GPRS which means that data connection charges apply. After backing up your phone’s data to a memory card, you’ll need to head over to the Nokia Software Update site for more information.

However, despite reports of success here and here, I can’t even get to download the firmware. It just says there’s none available when I run the Nokia Software Updater. Has anyone any suggestions?

I love my iPod. I love my Macbook. I will probably purchase an iPhone. But at the moment, I’ve got a Nokia N95, an amazing bit of kit. With all of the hype surrounding the iPhone, I can’t help but think that people aren’t comparing the specs of these two phones. So here’s a brief overview:

As you can see, the N95 is a serious contender to the iPhone. Oh, and it’s got Sat Nav built-in…

But as we all know with the iPod, a device is more than the sum of its parts. The N95′s camera is amazing – check out my recent Flickr photos. But then the battery life sucks (I have to charge it every night). Whether the touch-screen of the iPhone is a hit or a miss we’ll have to wait and see. I do like being able to text one-handed without looking at the screen!

Scoble thinks the N95 rocks and points out some things it can do that the iPhone cannot. And here’s a (slightly) funny parody of the ‘I’m a Mac, I’m a PC’ adverts:

3.74 miles, 27.03 mins (I’m out of shape!)

The past few times I’ve used it I’ve had a bit of an ordeal getting the GPS signal to work with the excellent (and free) Nokia Sports Tracker application on my N95. Now, though, I think I’ve got it sussed. Here’s what I do:

1. Turn off positioning via Bluetooth and Network by going to Settings/General/Positioning/Positioning Methods (only ‘Integrated GPS’ should have a tick next to it)
2. Go outside to start my stretches/warm-up.
3. Start the Nokia ‘Maps’ application with the keypad showing (the GPS chip is located behind the keys).
4. Wait for GPS fix whilst stretching and warming-up.
5. Whilst Maps application is still running, start the Nokia Sports Tracker application.
6. Whilst both the above programs are still running, start ‘Running’ playlist on random in Music Player application.*
7. Go back into the Nokia Sports Tracker application, press ‘Start’ and begin your run.

* You may get an ‘insufficient memory’ error at this point. Just persevere!
If it’s working, you should see your location as a blue dot on a black screen and the stats should start changing. Also, if you don’t move much it should automatically pause.

Whilst I’m running I keep the keypad showing (i.e. the multimedia keys hidden) to retain a good GPS signal. When I want to change track I simply temporarily slide the screen down to show the multimedia keys, then slide it back again!

(click to enlarge)

When I get back into the house, after I’ve warmed-down and got some liquids onboard, I export the data from my run to Google Earth with the ‘Altitude Mode’ option as ‘Relative to ground’ and the ‘Altitude Data’ as ‘Speed’. This means that I get a nice picture like the one at the start of this post when I bluetooth the file to my Macbook and load it up in Google Earth.

It’s taken me the couple of weeks since I bought one to trawl through blogs, forums, wikis and websites about the Nokia N95. This post is dedicated to putting what I’ve found out so far in one place to help others who have just invested in the little marvel!

Note: I shall be adding to this post as I find out more information, so bookmark it for later.

Tips:

1. Change from your N95 scanning for both UMTS and GSM networks (i.e. ‘Dual mode’) to just GSM) unless you have a very good reason not to. The constant scanning for a UMTS network really affects battery life. Change this setting under Settings/Phone/Network.
2. Don’t use the red ‘disconnect’ or ‘hangup’ key to exit out of an application. In many apps, this just keeps it in the background, eating up memory and slowing down the OS on your N95.
3. You can change the shortcuts on the home screen to the apps you use most frequently by going to Settings/General/Personalisation/Standby Mode/Shortcuts.
4. You can create sub-folders within the Applications folder. This makes it easier to navigate when you have many programs installed. Go to Options/New Folder to do this.
5. Press and briefly hold the multimedia key (the one next to the camera button) to go to the gallery and do the same for the camera button, or open the camera shutter to go to photo mode.

Applications:

There’s a plethora of applications for the Symbian S60 platform. Trouble is, not all of them are compatible, or at least play nicely, with v3 of that OS. Here’s a list of some I have found to be worthwhile along with a brief description of what they do:

• amAze – free GPS software (Java-based)
• Clock screensaver – replace the tiny one that kicks in by default.
• DivX Player for Mobile – plays DivX-encoded video. If you have no joy with the link, try P2P…
• Fring – mobile VoIP – bring together your Skype, MSN, Google Talk, SIP and Twitter contacts!
• Google Mail – get a GMail application for your N95.
• MobiReader – read eBooks on the go.
• Nokia Podcasting – allows you to download podcasts directly to your N95 (via WLAN, GPRS, etc.)
• Nokia Sports Tracker – much better than Nike+ as it allows you to export your run to Google Earth, see average time, etc.
• Opera Mini – although the built-in Nokia browser is pretty good, some may prefer this.
• Screenshot – take screenshots of your N95 to post on blogs, etc.
• Yahoo! Go – search, find addresses, chat and check email with this free software.
• Y-Browser – free file manager software

Games:

Some games that work on the N95 aren’t worth playing due to the block graphics and/or small screen real estate. The following can be obtained through various means (some websites are more expensive than others) and work well. The ones marked with an asterisk (*) are my favourites!

• Ducati 3D Extreme*
• FIFA Street 2
• Medal of Honor
• MiniBlaster
• Need For Speed Carbon
• Project Gotham Racing
• Real Football 2007
• R-Type
• SCUMM
• Sim City
• Splinter Cell 4*
• S-Tris
• Tetris Mania
• vSun (emulator)
• Worms Golf (slightly blocky, but worth it!)

Sat-Nav:

• The inbuilt Nokia Maps application works reasonably well, but you have to pay to use it for actual turn-by-turn directions. It’s based on Smart2Go software, so you can use their MapLoader to download the maps onto your N95 for the areas you want.
• Wayfinder 7 works really well but downloads maps on-the-fly, thus eating up data (and therefore money if you’re not on an unlimited data tariff).
• TomTom have not released a version of their software that works with built-in GPS units as found on the Nokia N95. Therefore, an external bluetooth GPS unit must be used. This works well, but is somewhat redundant.
• Route66 is other software which which some have reported success. I have not used this so cannot comment on it.

Reviews:

• AllAboutSymbian.com have a great multi-part, in-depth review of the Nokia N95.
• CNET rather scandalously only gave the N95 7 out of 10 in their review.
• Engadget have a ‘hands-on’ review of the N95.
• Gizmodo have what they call a ‘long-ass review’ of the N95, but it’s actually shorter than all the above!
• Softpedia have a review entitled ‘between agony and ecstasy’ which is photo and screenshot-packed.

Other links:

• Wikipedia entry for the Nokia N95
• My del.icio.us links tagged with ‘n95′

Photos taken from khedara’s Nokia N95 set @ Flickr

I went for my first GPS-tracked run today. What does that mean? It means that the built in Global Positioning System on my Nokia N95 smartphone collected data as I did one of my usual circuits. I have to say I’m impressed: miles better than the data collected via the Nike+ system…

Not only does the free Nokia Sports Tracker application show where you’ve been (via a KML file exported to Google Earth), but it gives you altitude and speed data as well:

(click on images to enlarge)

Apart from the obvious error of my maximum speed being 32.mph (I’m not that fast!) it worked a treat. I think this glitch was due to me turning a sharp corner when the communication satellite communication would have been obscured by some overhanging trees. It certainly gives you something to work towards and beat – average speed, minutes per mile, distance travelled… Great stuff!

(oh, and in case you’re wondering – yes, I stopped up short due to a combination of not pacing myself properly and a very poor night’s sleep courtesy of Ben!)

On Saturday I took Ben to Meadowhall and invested – and ‘invested’ is certainly the right word – in a Nokia N95. I’ve mentioned before how I was thinking about buying an iPod Nano to go with my Nike+ trainers and I’ve always fancied having SatNav in the car. My N95 combines both functions – so, to my mind, I’ve actually saved money…

The trouble is, Orange made a huge cock-up when registering my phone, meaning that for a couple of days my mobile number was transferred to some random woman. Fortunately, that’s now sorted out and as I type this I’m on the line to a very helpful guy called Chris who’s sorting things out. Before that, I’ve been through to India, Madagascar, Ireland… Oh well, hopefully it’ll get sorted out soon and I’ll be able to post a thorough review!