*Updated 3/18*
This method won't work in Android
Marshmallow or later as Marshmallow won't allow an app edit a WiFi
networks created by another app
If you rely on Wi-Fi networks a lot you'll likely add a lot of Wi-Fi networks to your phone over its lifetime. But the more Wi-Fi networks you add, the more effort Android takes to connect to a Wi-Fi network as it goes through the list of added Wi-Fi networks to see if there are any hidden networks to connect to first before presenting you a list of all Wi-Fi network SSIDs being broadcasted. In short, you want to keep you saved Wi-Fi network list short so you save battery life when connecting from network to network.
You can normally remove Wi-Fi networks by pressing and holding onto a Wi-Fi network and click on Forget in the popup. For out of range networks, they would usually appear at the bottom or you would click the "...", click "Saved Networks" and click on the network you want to remove in Android. But unless you have a Verizon Galaxy S6/S6 edge/Note 5, you may have noticed that there is no "Saved Network" option under "More" in "Wi-Fi" settings on new Galaxy devices running Android 5.1.1 Lollipop - mimicking iOS which doesn't provide visibility to all saved networks.
Sadly you'll need to rely on a 3rd party device to remove those out of range networks. I recommend Wi-Fi Manager mainly because it doesn't ask for permissions to your device identity and call information or phone ID or location like other Wi-Fi managers and it's free.
FCamera is an advanced camera application for the N900. It is based on the highly touted FCam (short for Frankencamera) photography platform develped in collaboration between Nokia, Stanford, and other partners. Is it good enough to be worth replacing the built-in camera application?
Updated 8/19/2010 with comments from FCamera 0.1.6 Originally posted on 7/23/2010
Cell phones have become the premier device for people to keep connected. And one aspect of keeping connected is to get timely updates of the news and web sites we regularly follow. If RSS reader and/or Twitter were the first things that popped in your mind then you're along the right lines. I personally stick to RSS readers too since almost every web site offers a RSS feed.
While I was going through Nokia's Download! service, I noticed an application that I've heard a lot about but never tried before, WidSets. Widsets is available on almost all Nokia phones as either a Java application for Nokia's mainstream S40 handsets and phones from other manufacturers or as a native S60 application for Nokia's S60 smartphones. It provides a consistent UI and framework for developers to develop online applications called widgets.
For this blog I am reviewing WidSets version 3.1.4 on a Nokia E71. Find out if WidSets is worth trying after the jump.
When you start WidSets it requests access to connect online. Of course you can keep it offline but you'll only be able to see what's cached on your phone the last time you were online and won't get updated content. To quickly tell if you're online or offline, the background of WidSets is black if it's offline and blue if it's online. In a way, offline and online resembles Google Gears and how, just recently, you can browse your Gmail while offline based on what you've previously viewed.
Once WidSets is connected, the workspace background turns blue. I guess it's to say it's daytime. The AccuWeather widget will display the current weather right on the widget button.Without any widgets on your screen when you first start, you'll want to browse through Widset's list of widgets. A quick glance at what's available may lead you to believe it's just another RSS reader since you have Nokia Discussions, Wall Street Journal, Howard Forums, and Wikipedia. And that isn't too far from the truth. Unfortunately most widgets don't give you much functionality and the quality between them vary greatly. So to be fair I'm going to review one of the popular widgets that is a little more than just a news reader and one that you may find useful too.
Browsing through the widgets (left) you can see the popularity of the widget and only the widget title is displayed. You can also search for a particular widget (middle). The detailed view (right) doesn't give you any added information. Click images for larger versions.
The popular Facebook social networking application makes its way onto WidSets and impresses with its features.It's a popular social networking web site that has a native application for almost all smartphones like the Blackberry and iPhone. You may have seen your friends adding the application. It's Facebook and for Nokia handsets it comes in the form of a widget. Unlike most widgets (I'm looking at you, the Howard Forums widget), you can interact with the Facebook widget by logging in. Inside you'll get all your latest notifications, browse through your friends and read their details, browse through photo galleries, update your status, and even upload photos to your own gallery. This is almost everything you can do in the real Facebook web site minus the custom applications. If you were put off by most widgets, I definitely recommend the Facebook widget if you're a Facebook addict.
Browse through your friends and view their details. Browse through photo galleries. Zoom in on any photo. Update your status or even upload a photo. Click images for larger versions.
Most WidSets widgets like Wall Street Journal Online, Howard Forums, and Nokia Discussion are just a newsfeed and do not feature any interactive features like posting comments.Unfortunately, all widgets are contained within the WidSets application so as good as the Facebook widget is, it never feels great as you can't access the widget directly as a shortcut from your home screen. The weather widget is nice that it immediately updates with the current weather when you open Widset, but wouldn't it be even better if the weather widget appeared as a dedicated application and its icon automatically updated based on the weather? You're left continuously clicking back into the WidSets application and that's the weakness. First it takes a few clicks to go into the WidSets application unless you have it on your home screen. Secondly, the UI for WidSets is laid out horizontally while all the widgset icons are horizonatally wide and fairly large. With at most 3 widgets stacked in each column, you can't see all your widgets at once and scrolling doesn't wrap so you'll be scrolling a lot to get to your last and right most widget.
Some really great widgets like Facebook, it's offline capabilities, and wealth of widgets make Widsets a very useful application to add to your phone. Since widgets are designed for mobile devices, all the content are easy to navigate on small screens. Lot of medocre widgets that don't do any more than a RSS reader, a clunky UI that needs a lot of scrolling and provides little detail to the widgets available, and a framework that limits widgets to being within the WidSets application hurt the overall user experience while using Widsets. I recommend giving WidSets a try to see if there are any widgets that interest you and whether your appreciate the WidSets UI layout.
These days we don't think twice about streaming content from the Internet. With the S60 operating system, you have a diverse selection of media streaming choices such as your local TV through SlingPlayer, YouTube through MobiTubia, or Last.fm through Mobbler to meet most people's needed. But just a few years ago, none of this was common place on cell phones. Find out if Internet Radio on your S60 is worth trying after the jump.
One of Nokia's early projects to jump start mobile streaming on S60 back in 2006 was Internet Radio. It's a simple media player that supports the very popular SHOUTcast streaming audio playback in MP3 or AAC+ streams. These days most S60 phones come with Internet Radio. I must admit, I never opened it because I doubted Nokia's support for the product and the music selection available.
But since I'm writing this review I have to give a try just to see what it's all about.
Start screen
Very straightforward. You choose if you want to continue listening to what you were listening the last time of you can browse another. You can save your stations under favorites for quick access. Or if you want something fresh you can browse through the station directory.
Station Directory
Here you can browse through the directory of stations in several ways. It's not implemented as a filter system because I wanted to browse for Dance in English but I ended up going through so much French Dance stations that I gave up.
By Genre
There's a good selection of some of the popular choices. I found that Indian music was the most popular and offered the best selection of stations.
Music Player Interface
It's simple and does its thing. Pushing down on the D-pad will bring up the radio station details. No equalizer, unfortunately. I don't have a S60 phone with media keys like the N95/N96 so I'm not sure if they work in Internet Radio. If you do have a N95/N96, please let me know by leaving a comment.
Radio Station Details
Here you get all the information that the radio station is categorized. Unfortunately categorization needs some work as my radio station that's playing a Michael Bolton song seems to fall under Korean Pop.
Although there are a number of applications that are either better or have a better selection of content, it's hard not to recognize Nokia's effort in creating something that showcases practical usage of S60 functionality such as codecs. Some of these ideas are of course utilized in other projects such as MobiTubia. But I think the cost of data and availabilty of WiFi on S60 phones have helped drive streaming media to mobiles more so than Internet Radio.
Internet Radio comes with most S60 phones so it's worth a little time to browse through and see if you find anything you life. Unfortunately there are a lot of music tastes that are under served such as Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. It's also unfortunate that Nokia controls the radio station directory so you can't add your own to Internet Radio and you can't suggest one to Nokia. It's very limited but neat.
It seems like every smartphone manufacturer has or is introducing an App Store of their own. When you mention App Store most people will think the first was Apple iPhone's App Store. There's little doubt that Apple was the first to successful make consumers aware of the concept but only diehard Nokia fans know that Nokia phones have been carrying the feature for the past few years in the form of Download!
Until recently, the games and applications available for your phone were either from your carrier's online WAP site (for some reason, most of them call it "mall") or something you found on the Internet and you manually loaded. Cellphone manufacturers have traditionally been locked out from creating their own App Stores as it would compete directly with the ones hosted by the carriers.
In 2007, Apple's iPhone totally changed the entire cellphone industry. I know it's been said again and again but I have to mention it again as Apple resisted all pressures to do things the way the carriers wanted. This meant no branding, no carrier control on the phone software, and the manufacturer could sell directly to the consumer (Apple with the iTunes store). The last fact opened up the door to Apple's App Store so consumers could download applications and games without them being heavily filtered by the cell carriers. This has allowed Google, Microsoft, RIM, and Nokia to similarly push their own App Stores directly to consumers.
Being one of the oldest app stores of the bunch, does Nokia Download! really have what it takes to compete? Let's take a walk through Download! and if you have a S60 device on hand you should go take a visit. Make sure you have a SIM card in your phone as Download! uses that to determine your region and what applications you will see...
For this review and all screen shots, I am running Download! version 3.2.818 on the Nokia E71 with a AT&T SIM.
Nokia's Download! opens up to a grid view: It looks just like the regular S60 interface of your phone but just without your custom icons
Clicking on any of the folders switches you to a list view: This view takes more screen space yet doesn't give you any more information than the grid view. That little green phone with orange screen icon at the top right of Mail for Exchange shows that I have the application on my phone and clicking on it will run it on my phone instead of trying to download it. If you see a blue phone it means an update for the application is available.
Clicking Option > View Details gives you a description of the application: I have a hard time making a downloading decision based on this description. Imagine making an actual purchase for paid software based on it
You can download and install applications directly from Download! If your phone gets wiped out you'll have to re-purchase everything since you don't get the SIS install file with your purchase
Purchase history (Options > My items): This list is stored on your phone unlike Apple's App Store. Purchasing software from Download! usually involves a credit card so make sure the connection to the software vendor is secure by clicking Options > Security Details when making a purchase
You can see from the screenshots that Nokia designed Download! to work seamlessly with the S60 UI. You can even run applications you already have on your phone from Dowload! Download! is a great way for Nokia to centralize all their software and list only software designed to work for the consumer's handset.
Without comparing Download! to any other App Store you can see there are numerous improvements that Nokia make to Download! There is no list of new software so you have to search each folder to see if anything has changed. No search function so, again, you have to search each folder to find the software you want. The UI needs to be reworked so it shows more information about the applications. It's tedious to have to click "show details" for each application just to see what each does. Moreover, there's just so little information that I can't make a download or purchase decision on it alone. Lately, Nokia has been updating their software catalog so software like Nokia Sports Tracker are finally showing up on Download! after being listed on Nokia's mobile download sites for a few months. But Download! is missing a lot of great well known software such as Mobitubia (YouTube client), Screenshot, fring, and CorePlayer. Overall the Download! experience is fairly inconsistent with the view switching from grid to list for no obvious reason, purchasing something can be secure but not guaranteed, and the little icons shown at the top right of application icons are not clearly described (I'm not sure if it's even consistent because I saw a blue icon so I was downloading the update, cancelled the install, and the icon turned black. It wasn't orange to show I had it and not blue to show there's an update available).
With Nokia making Download! required for downloading some of their latest software like viNe and free software like Birdstep Smartconnect, there's no real point to recommending or not recommending as it's already on your S60 phone and sometimes there's no way around it.
11/28/2008 Updated: Version 1.2.61 is now available on Download! which fixes a bug that can crash the phone when SmartConnect can't connect to any access points in its list. So go download it now unless you like crashes.
07/21/2009 Updated: SmartConnect is now free for select E-series and N-series phones. Nokia Eseries: E50, E51, E51(no camera), E52, E55, E60, E61, E61i, E61i China variant, E62, E63, E65, E66, E70, E71, E75, E90 Nokia Nseries: N76, N78, N79, N81, N82, N85, N86 (8MP), N95, N95 (8GB), N96 You can download BirdStep SmartConnect 1.3.6 directly from BirdStep.
Birdstep's SmartConnect for S60 helps you manage your access points so you can seamlessly move from high speed limited range WiFi access points to highly accessible data packet access points to keep you always connected. Now you can have all your applications connect via one access point and not think twice about choosing the access point.
And now it's free for Nokia E-series devices on Nokia's Download! service.
For a full review and rating follow the jump...
Built-in access point management is not included in S60 FP1 and lower. Nokia had tried to address this in their earlier E-series devices with Access Point Groups but the feature lacked the ability to prioritize access points and many applications didn't support it like Nokia's own Mail for Exchange. A few software vendors tried to address this issue with Psiloc Connect and Birdstep SmartConnect. Thankfully Nokia is providing SmartConnect to E-series users through a free download - and it's definitely worth the download. So in this blog entry I'll be reviewing Birdstep SmartConnect for Symbian OS Standard Edition 1.2.5.4.
By using a SmartConnect access point, it let's you workaround that annoying bug in newer versions of Fring where it won't let you select a hidden WiFi access point!
If you're like me, then you want some proof that this application is worth installing before you clog your highly optimized smartphone. Here's a little walkthrough of features in SmartConnect:
The connection groups created in SmartConnect resemble a data packet access point so you can use it in any application: For each group you can also control whether SmartConnect will stay connected to the access point it's currently using or switch to a better one when available. By default it's set to Stay connected which I recommend.
You can select any number of access points: If you're wondering, you can't select another SmartConnect access point to be in a SmartConnect access point to create an infinite loop.
You can reorganize the priority of the access points in the SmartConnect access point: If you like fast access then you'll want WiFi access points at the top
Settings: Control the number of notifications given by SmartConnect, allows SmartConnect to prompt you to add the new access point, and disable roaming so SmartConnect won't use data packet access points when you're outside your carrier's network
You can even add hotspots that support WISPr like Boingo and have SmartConnect automatically authenticate: Add the hotspot like you would a WiFi access point then highlight and select options > Connection Settings > Hotspot settings
Adding a new access point will prompt you if you want to add it to an existing SmartConnect access point: You can disable the automatic prompt in Options > Advanced > Settings > Prompt on new conn.
During my week of using SmartConnect I've only encountered one hang where I was using a SmartConnect access point and I tried to edit it. I tried reproducing the problem but it didn't hang again.
If you have no data plan or a limited data plan and frequently visit the same places with WiFi access points then SmartConnect is a no brainer. SmartConnect removes the need for setting all your applications to "Always Prompt" in the connection settings. For those of you using Mail for Exchange this is a must have so your mail seamlessly gets sync'ed no matter which WiFi point you're at. For those of you that do have unlimited 3G data plans, WiFi is still faster and SmartConnect will help you get that extra speed without any extra work.
If you're a regular on my blog then you may have noticed that some of my blog entries like my phone reviews have missing photos or screenshots. I've been finding the best free method to maintain my blog since it's just a hobby with little ads. What has worked for me in a long time has been to use BlogSpot for my blogging with images hosted on imageshack. Unfortunately Imageshack isn't very reliable so I'm considering my options and thought I'd write a short entry on it and why I chose what I did. And surprisingly it's a new service that I'm trying out right now.
So let's start with my experiences on some of the popular image hosting sites I've used after the jump.
For the last 3 years I've been using Imageshack.us to host my images. I like it because it's fast to upload, a thumbnail is automatically generated for photos, keeps my original files intact (within a certain file size), the URL to the image is easy to access, and it's unlimited storage. A great addition to the imageshack was the multiple image upload through Flash. Image editing tools offered are 8 different sizes but they only store a thumbnail and the image. One major drawback to the service, that has led me to start looking for alternatives, is my images frequently disappear because one or more of their servers are down. URL: http://photobucket.com
I use to use this service a long time ago but the 1GB limit of storage that will automatically delete your oldest images isn't ideal for people like me who needs their images indefinitely to maintain a blog. A positive point to Photobucket are their wealth of integrated photo editing options such as cropping, red-eye, and even auto-fix. There are some more obscure ones such as bulge/pinch and even support for layers! The servers were very slow and their pages are littered with ads. The maximum image size of 1MB and 1024x768 pixels is laughable. This easily forced me off Photobucket. URL: http://www.flickr.com
My photo bar at the top right is powered by Flickr. So why don't I just use Flickr for all my photo needs? I don't like the organization tools they have with collections. It's just overly complicated so all my images end up in one big bucket. There's also limited storage if you're not a paid member. Being limited by bandwidth on the images you upload didn't work for me since I upload in bursts like after a vacation I'll have a ton of photos to upload. Only being able to see the last 200 images I uploaded meant I couldn't manage my older images either. Lucky for me, Rogers Highspeed gives me access to the paid functions in Flickr but how do I know if I'll be with Rogers forever. URL: http://www.ovi.com
So now enter Ovi, Nokia's push into the crowded services space. Ovi offers unlimited uploads, no stated bandwidth limit, image file size limit of 100MB, support multiple image upload through an Active X plug-in (unfortunate for Mac users out there), free, and fast web site. Ovi store images in 5 different sizes. There isn't a lot of editing options available compared to the other services but most people will find rotate, contrast, and brightness sufficient. I don't like how they don't offer an easy way to get the image's URL for posting. I quickly summarized some of the variety of limits and services each of the image hosts I mentioned in the table below:
Imageshack
Photobucket
Flickr
Ovi
Cost
Free / Pro
Free / Pro
Free / Pro
Free
Image Size Limit
1.53MB/3MB
1MB/5MB
10MB/20MB
100MB
Total Space Limit
Unlimited
1G/10GB
100MB upload per month and last 200 images available/unlimited
Nokia Ovi offers a compelling service compared to other image hosting sites. Ovi easily matches key features offered for a fee by other services. Although it may lack the community in Flickr or the quick upload and shortcuts in Imageshack it is still a young service. I have high hopes for Ovi and will be migrating to Ovi for my image hosting. I'll keep you updated with my experiences with Ovi image hosting on this blog entry.
This is the easiest way to get maps on a Nokia S60 and it's totally free if you turn off A-GPS and pre-load the maps.
If you don't have Nokia Maps on your phone already, you'll need to download Nokia Maps to your device. And if you want to pre-load the maps to your phone you'll been to download the Nokia Map Loader to your PC. You'll also need a USB data cable to pre-load maps. Both of them can be downloaded at: http://maps.nokia.com
Note: For S40 users, you can't added Nokia Maps to your phone. You must have it already included (pre-installed) in your phone's firmware. Some phones with Nokia Maps S40 support: Nokia 6300i, 6600 classic, 6600 slide, 3600 slide
If you intend to pre-load maps and want to avoid data charges like I do:
Turn on Nokia Maps
Go to: Options > Settings > Network
Set "Use network" to "Never"
If you select the use data as needed option then it will prompt you for data access when you move to a location you don't have a map for.
Pre-Loading the Maps through your PC:
Connect your phone to your your PC
Set your phone to Data Transfer
Launch Nokia Maps Loader
The only instructions you'll be getting: Click the button at the bottom
The Nokia Map Loader window will open:
Click on the > to expand and drill down to the map you want
Click + to download the map. So clicking + beside America will download all maps for North and South America so that includes Canada and the United States.
The right pane under "Selection" shows what you've selected for download and install to your phone.
Click download.
Note: You can delete all the maps from your phone by clicking "Delete maps from storage".
Nokia Maps loads map cumulative so you don't have to reload maps you already have on your phone, it will merely add maps to the ones you already have. But you can't see which maps you have installed on your phone via Nokia Map Loader. To remove the maps you don't want any more, for those moments you need to free up space on your memory card, you need to delete all maps on your phone and re-load the maps you need.
If you're planning a long road trip, you will need to obtain maps to every state/province you plan to drive through or Nokia Maps will not be able to provide directions. Garmin provides a base map with major roads by default so specific state/province maps are not required.
Let's disconnect your phone from your PC and launch Nokia Maps.
Before your phone gets a GPS lock, you're greeted by a globe. If you're willing to pay for data, you can speed up the GPS lock by enabling assisted GPS (A-GPS) by going out of Nokia Maps to the phone menu, click Tools > Settings > General > Positioning and enabling Assisted GPS. I personally keep this off since I roam a lot.
When your phone has acquired a GPS lock, Nokia Maps will zoom into your location. You can return to your location at any time by hitting '0' on your keypad. The look of the map is clean. Too bad the 3D view doesn't differ much from the 2D since the viewing angle difference is so insignificant.
Moving around the map with the d-pad is smooth and there are no loading or "drawing" delays commonly seen on low end GPS devices.
Video of browsing maps in Nokia Maps 1.0:
With Options you will find the following: -- Find ---- GPS location ---- Address (type out the full address) ---- keyword search (if you know the name of a place and you're lucky it's listed as a POI, this is the fastest way to find something) ---- Nearby ---- Guides ---- Recent ---- Landmarks (special POIs) -- Use this place ---- Search nearby ---- Route from ---- Route to ---- Navigate to ---- Send -- Extra Services (purchase Guides or navigation) -- Map Options (Zooming, 2D/3D, Categories (choosing which POI types appear on the map), Change map colours (switch between brighter day to dimer night mode map colours), and Satellite Info (which is my favorite feature of Nokia Maps and I describe later)
I'm glad Nokia added the shortcuts for each of the functions in brackets such as zooming in and out. The more I see the shortcut the better I remember them.
Using route to, route from, and navigation you can have Nokia Maps calculate the "best" path from the start point to the end point. "Best" path is determined by the criteria you set in Options > Settings > Routing. Here you can avoid things like Ferry, Tunnel, and Toll road. There are many cases where "fastest" route is not the fastest as traffic is not factored and sometimes creates routes with a lot of turns.
With navigation, much of the screen real estate is spent on icons and text, you don't see much of the map:
Without paying you won't get voice turn by turn navigation but you will get navigation simulation and a limited navigation through Options > Use this place > Navigate to. I was watching the navigation simulation for a while and I got really bored so I doubt anyone without patience, like me, would use it.
Video of Navigation Simulation in Nokia Maps 1.0:
A very valuable feature of map software are its points of interest (POI). I find myself frequently pulling out my phone to look up the closest parking lot or gas station by the airport and it's nice to be able to do that within the GPS software so I can easily have it calculate a route without re-entering the information.
A few points of interest are included with the maps but accuracy is questionable. For example, there is a McDonald's and Wendy's by my place that have been there for a couple years, McDonald's shows up and Wendy's does not while a Boston Market appears on the map but no longer exists in real life. If you want more POI you can purchase guides but I think it's risky given the included POI are hit or miss. Of the points of interest included, you can hover over the icons on the maps and when the cursor locks onto the icon you can click Option > Show Detail.
It's not pretty. If you want to call the place, you need to have to go back to Option > Call. You don't see the number you're calling until you make the call.
If you have screen rotation on your phone like the N82 and N95 (new firmware only) then you can rotate the screen to get it in portrait mode. I personally prefer letter mode since you can see further ahead instead of to the sides.
One of my favorite features in Nokia Maps is the ability to monitor the GPS lock on.
Go to: Options > Map options > Satellite Info
Here you will see how many satellites your GPS has connected to. The bars will fluctuate with various lengths. The longer the bar the closer to a position lock. You need 4 satellites to get the initial GPS lock but only 3 satellites to maintain a GPS lock.
Nokia Maps come with most S60 phones and it's very convenient that maps are free and accessible through the air as well as pre-loading via PC. Nokia Maps shines in its presentation and easy to navigate map. Nokia Maps stumbles with its numerous routing options, weak POI, and limited usefulness of the 3D view. Nokia did a very good job in its first version and most users will find everything they need in Nokia Maps. Power users will likely look elsewhere for maps with better POI. I found Nokia Maps only useful for walking around and having it tell me where i am. It's good for exploring the area around me since moving around the map is fast, smooth, and I didn't buy navigation.