N95 gets telescope add-on! and i get it too!!

I just posted the other day about a 6x lens for the n95 as part of my Snap iT! series..and I'd concluded by giving a hint about a personal review for that accessory. And Guess what?! The guys at Brando just sent me a brand new Generic Mobile Phone Telescope.

This Generic Mobile Phone Telescope with flexible adapter to mount 7x18 telescope. It can use on most of mobile phones or PDAs. With this telescope, you can zoom to focus distant objects clearly and to make a high quality photograph easily.

You'll notice that with the telescope fitted on the n95 it actually looks like something from a Hitman Game!

Unlike what I'd figured, setting up the phone was very easy. In minutes of receiving the phone I'd got it all set-up and ready to shoot! To give you all a good idea of how much Zoom we can squeeze out of this lens, I've put up a video over here. After all seeing is believing! Especially in this case!! (don't mind the clarity, it's due to the 3GP conversion)


The lens is of very good build and is excellent bang for buck - I mean at 22 bucks it really is a steal! And what's more, all products bought this season get free shipping as part of their annual offer. Zooming is really easy with the lens and focussing is just as simple - you needn't worry if the image isn't perfect, the in-built Auto-Focus of the phone will set it right.

Another thing that needs to be pointed out is that when under image mode you'll see a dark shadow touching the corners, but that is easily cropped using the phones editor. The video doesn't have this problem though as shown in this video.

The second video featured is how to set-up the lens onto the N95, a simple little job as it is.

Nokia N9: Ready, Set and Launched!

After weeks of rumors, the Nokia N9 has finally begun shipping in the UK. Today, the Finnish manufacturer announced that its Meego handsets are now available for purchase, in both 16GB and 64GB variants. Everyone else can grab a 16GB model for the not-so-small price of €480 (about $650), or the 64GB version for the similarly steep price of €560 (roughly $757). Pricing and availability, of course, will vary by region, but you can find more details about the Nokia N9 here.

Nokia N8 - list of sellers

This is a list of probable sellers of the Nokia N8 (previously known as Nokia n98). So if you're looking to buy this great looking phone then visit these sites for any pre-release offers that they might have. The nokia phone is slated for release during the third quarter of this year, between July and September 2010.
United Kingdom:
3-Mobile.co.uk
O2.co.uk
Orange.co.uk
Vodafone.co.uk

United States:
Amazon.com
T-Mobile.com
Newegg.com
CircuitCity.com

Other Countries:
T-Mobile.com
Vodafone.com
Virgin.com
Orange.com

Top Softwares to Beef up ur S60 v3 phone with!

₪ SymbianPileUp - Beef iT! ₪

Respected Netizens of Symbia, I bring to you the master,
the kinglist of all freeware applications, tested for you to use, with a new edition of our Beef iT! applications section and this time it's bigger than ever!!

CLick here to get them!

XPLOiT Your Nokia !

Here is some information that will help you find some cool information on your Nokia phone...The N95 has lots to pimp it, from the 5 megapixel do-it-all camera and VGA video capture at 30fps to the built-in GPS, stereo speakers(with custom options) and standard 3.5mm audio out. There's also the very latest Symbian OS , with dedicated multimedia functionality thrown in by the bucketload( and a mugload of updates each month).Latest update even has A-GPS( read 'bout it HeRe ). That removes all the disadvantged from this phone!

A main thing every computer owner needs is a system task manager, fortunately there's one built in for the n95 multimedia computer but you can get more options with Fexplorer or any one of the other applications available in the web. You can get them from my Beef Up Ur N95 Post. The link is at the bottom of this page.


Downgrade the camera
Now, this is going to seem like heresy, but do you actually need a 5 megapixel camera? Each image will take up well over a megabyte on your memory card.Even the built-in resoloution chooser in the camera application says that you only need the 5mp for enlarged photos. For printing large photos or viewing on a TV, 3 mp images are absolutely fine - why waste precious space if you don't have to? You can lower the camera resolution by opening the camera application and customising it's settings. Don't leave the camera on unless you are using it, obvious but its better to open /close than leave open.


Faster photo takes
One problem of the N95 is the time of it's image camera . This is mainly because the default setting for 'Show captured image' is 'On'. Loading and decoding a megabyte plus of JPG does take a while - do yourself a favour - if you can live without display of what you've just snapped, turn this setting 'Off' and you'll be able to snap photos only three seconds apart, much quicker than the default!

Extending your Battery Life
First switch of your WLAN,you can always scan manually if needed, but it saves your battery life if you manually scan.
Next turn the connection mode from dual mode to GSm as we don't have any 3G cells in India. Searching for 3G consumes a great amount of power than you can imagine and switching it off will give a noticeable difference in battery life. To do this, go into 'Tools Settings Phone Network' and change 'Network mode' to 'GSM' this will stop the N95 hunting for 3G signals.
Watch what applications you leave running in the background - some games and Java applications are especially processor hungry, even when in the background.
When using the N95 as a navigator, with display and GPS both active, do yourself a favour and buy a Rs.420 12V charger, so that instead of draining the battery at light speed you'll be gaining extra charge.
Animated Screensavers, i don't see much point in having them running when your not there anyway, and u can save a bit of battery just selecting Date and time, To do this Tools / Settings / general / Personalisation / Themes / Power saver and select "Date and Time".
Reduce screen display times, To do this Tools / Settings / General / Personalisation / Display / Power saver time set to 1 minute (minimum)
Reduce Light time out To do this Tools / Settings / General / Personalisation / Display / light time out, Set to your preference.

The Alarm Feature

You can put up numerous alarms on the phone simultaneously, each of
which can be scheduled to ring-up on working days, week days -
practically whenever you feel like it. The previous Symbian versions
recquired certain 3rd party apps for these functions to be used -
really sad considering that we're talking about the so-called
smartphones here. The S60 3rd Edition phone also has another feature
worth noting: The alarm will wake you up even if the phone's been
switched off! What's more, it will even ask you whether it can switch
itself on now that you are awake so that it can continue to help you
around..such a helpfull dude huh? :)

Fast Disconnect

The GPRS connection can be hung up just as you disconnect regular
voice calls by pressing the Hang-Up button for 2 secs. Upon doing this
it will ask for a confirmation - it comes in handy when you're
entering areas wherein the data charges are skyhigh, or for any other
reason that you can think of.

If you guys have uncovered something else that you'd like other people
to know feel free to comment about it here.

Video Recording
Make sure you use a top-spec, high performance microSD card. At 28MB/min you're going to need it.
When filming with the n95 don't pan around too fast with the camera, as the camera may start to get dizzy eventhough the spec is rated at 30fps.

How to increase RAM
delete the application "search" from your mobile by highlighting the "search" icon and pressing the "c" key
also double check in the application manager and delete any remaining "search" related items.
if you want to you can reinstall the "search" application but this time reinstall to your memory card.
( i dunno how this particualr trick works, i think it's because it uses real-time search for the keywords,not sure though )

Increasing RAM on your browser
settings--->general--->personalization--->display--->change font size to small/normal
open ur web browser--->options--->settings--->page---font size(change to small/normal)

Stopping applications from closing
a lot of us cant seem to multitask....applications are closing automatically...what u need to do is open the app that takes up more RAM first...eg: open web browser before you open the music player - all two should work without closing.

Hidden running applications
in the background some apps continuously run....unknown to the user....best bet install handy taskman on your device (phone memory preferably) and u can close them if you want to. Don't leave applications running by accident, check by holding down key, select the unwanted app. then from the options select exit.


N95 wobbly/loose slider FiX
Here is a very easy albeit risky guide explaining you how to fix your loose slider with a screwdriver and some cello tape. The solution has been found out by Volcom883 in his blog so all i can give you is a link to his blog from where you can learn this very valuable trick. I advice you to get your tools and shut up yourself with your N95 in a room(not bad eH?)away from all disturbances.
Be careful guys.. and remember that if you attempt this yourself then you can wave goodbye to Nokia's Limited Guarantee.
Any ways here it is..

Removing Themes
We've all had a certain situation recently when we tried to get rid of some rather dumb themes from our phones after realising that they weren't as nice as they were shown to be. This trick(by zach) is to enable you to delete those themes safely and neatly from your phone. You need to connect your phone in mass storage to ur sys or get ur micro-sd connected through the adapter. The complete details can be had over here over here. Even though Zach has used it for his N80i it should work the n95s too.
And in case you removed the wrong theme, you can get some of 'em back thru this trick.

BlueTooth
Turn bluetooth off , Its really easy to turn bluetooth On and Off, just use the preset voice command, just hold down top right key and say "bluetooth" when prompted repeat to turn off, to search for devices you will need to locate the application from the Menu. It's safer to keep your bluetooth of because it reduces chances of your N95 contracting viruses from other phones that may be near-by.

Always try to use the latest and best firmware and other applications with your phone as this will surely up it's performance.
..there's more to come...

Recommendation: Also check the BeeF iT! Section HeRe and The Tricks Section HeRe.

Nokias N97 - qwerty, touch, what not ?

The Nokia N97 is the latest offering flagship model from the Finnish cell phone company, which might use this to get up after the setback which it got from the not so great N96. The N97 comes with a 3.5-inch 640×360 touchscreen display with tactile feedback, 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss glass lens, slide out QWERTY keypad, HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth, A-GPS, 32GB internal memory and support for additional memory of 16GB via microSD. This marks the continuing evolution of Nokia’s touchscreen phones and the first time an Nseries mobile phone features a QWERTY keypad. While it does lack DVB-H technology that’s found in the N96, I’m sure most users wouldn’t mind that small sacrificial lamb for the N97’s existing feature set. Besides, i don't know if anyone even used it. This is also yet another tactic that Nokia uses to balance it's numerous phones. 

Here’s a short promotional video for the N97 to get you even more excited for 2009.

It’s expected to begin shipping in the first half of 2009 with a €550 (roughlyP34,500) price tag attached to it excluding tax and subsidies. With its impressive line of features, I’m sure aspiring N96 and 5800 XpressMsuic phone owners will now think twice before making any hasty purchases from now until mid next year.

While there’s still no certainty if it will make it to the local market, I’m pretty optimistic that this one won’t suffer the same fate as the 6260 slide. Let’s just hope that when it does, its price won’t even come close to that of the XPERIA X1 so that more of us can get to enjoy this new beauty.

Did u Know?? i sure didn't..

The guys at Yeigo’s blog has rounded-up ten nice 'lil things that you didn’t know about Nokia (neither did i until i read this). The last one is sure to touch a chord for nature lovers..

1) The ringtone “Nokia tune” is actually based on a 19th century guitar work named “Gran Vals” by Spanish musician Francisco Tárrega. The Nokia Tune was originally named “Grande Valse” on Nokia phones but was changed to “Nokia Tune” around 1998 when it became so well known that people referred to it as the “Nokia Tune.”
2) The world’s first commercial GSM call was made in 1991 in Helsinki over a Nokia-supplied network, by Prime Minister of Finland Harri Holkeri, using a Nokia phone.
3) Nokia is currently the world’s largest digital camera manufacturer, as the sales of its camera-equipped mobile phones have exceeded those of any conventional camera manufacturer.
4) The “Special” tone available to users of Nokia phones when receiving SMS (text messages) is actually Morse code for “SMS”. Similarly, the “Ascending” SMS tone is Morse code for “Connecting People,” Nokia’s slogan. The “Standard” SMS tone is Morse code for “M” (Message).
5) The Nokia corporate font (typeface) is the AgfaMonotype Nokia Sans font, originally designed by Eric Spiekermann. Its mobile phone User’s Guides Nokia mostly used the Agfa Rotis Sans font.
6) In Asia, the digit 4 never appears in any Nokia handset model number, because 4 is considered unlucky in many parts of Southeast/East Asia.
7) Nokia was listed as the 20th most admirable company worldwide in Fortune’s list of 2006 (1st in network communications, 4th non-US company).
8. Unlike other modern day handsets, Nokia phones do not automatically start the call timer when the call is connected, but start it when the call is initiated. (Except for Series 60 based handsets like the Nokia 6600)
9) Nokia is sometimes called aikon (Nokia backwards) by non-Nokia mobile phone users and by mobile software developers, because “aikon” is used in various SDK software packages, including Nokia’s own Symbian S60 SDK.
10) The name of the town of Nokia originated from the river which flowed through the town. The river itself, Nokianvirta, was named after the old Finnish word originally meaning sable, later pine marten. A species of this small, black-furred predatory animal was once found in the region, but it is now extinct.
11) They also used to be a Rubber Boot manufacturer before they entered the wireless phone buisiness! Chek dis!! Courtesy Neon.

You know what? When i read things like this about a company it makes me see the company in a more humane perspective. It changed my view of the company to something that we can all associate with.. well sort of...

musing about the n95s v30 firmware

I don't know if it's just me, but along with the slew of features added with the latest firmware version v30 for the the N95-1 the phone seems to have lost all affinity for stability. The new features are cool indeed, but has Nokia overdone it so much that the phone can't cope with it's enhanced capabilities? Or is it just a minor bug in the firmware that'll get squashed with firmware v30.0.018 ? let's wait and see..

Nokia N79 vs Nokia N85 vs Nokia N96 [Three 5 mpx camera phones]

About N96:

Successor of the N95, the N96 is dual-slider with both numeric keypad and one for multimedia control. It still has 5-megapixel camera, but now is with 2.8″ display, 16GB of memory plus microSD slot and DVB-H for digital TV. It is Symbian S60 Feature Pack 2 smartphone with WiFi, GPS, quad-band GSM support and dual-band UMTS.

About N85:

Nokia N85 is a two-way slider, revealing either a numeric keypad or music shortcuts, depending on the way it is opened. It is a Symbian S60 smartphone with 2.6” OLED display, 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens and N-Gage gaming platform. For music it has 3.5mm jack, stereo speakers, stereo Bluetooth, FM transmitter and radio.

About N79:

Nokia N79 is a multimedia phone with 5-megapixel camera, N-Gage gaming platform, 3.5mm jack, stereo speakers, stereo Bluetooth, FM transmitter and radio. It is a Symbian S60 smartphone with 2.4” display showing up to 16 million colors.

Lookin' for themes?:

Babi: Aurora theme

 The Babi Gallery

Facebook Theme for Symbian Phones

Main

N800 unboksing by Symbia!

Here's a video of the n800. Fresh from YouTube and my n95's camera - which has since then gone on extended leave for a vacation at the Nokia Service Center..wonder when it'll be back...

Also this!

Things that went unnoticed..

Guess there's more to a Series 60 V3 phone than meets the eye.
Only recently did I come to know about the great alarm feature
and a way to disconnect GPRS instantly on our Nokia N95, the N95 8 Gb and the n95 NAM.

The Alarm Feature

You can put up numerous alarms on the phone simultaneously, each of
which can be scheduled to ring-up on working days, week days -
practically whenever you feel like it. The previous Symbian versions
required certain 3rd party apps for these functions to be used -
really sad considering that we're talking about the so-called
smart phones here. The S60 3rd Edition phone also has another feature
worth noting: The alarm will wake you up even if the phone's been
switched off! What's more, it will even ask you whether it can switch
itself on now that you are awake so that it can continue to help you
around..such a helpful dude huh? :)

Fast Disconnect

The GPRS connection can be hung up just as you disconnect regular
voice calls by pressing the Hang-Up button for 2 secs. Upon doing this
it will ask for a confirmation - it comes in handy when you're
entering areas wherein the data charges are sky high, or for any other
reason that you can think of.

If you guys have uncovered something else that you'd like other people
to know feel free to comment about it here.
Don't forget to check out the Xploit TiPs Here!

PhoneWallet v.2.0 for S60 v3 released: your secured confidential

Symbian Guru released the new version 2.0 of Phone Wallet – the security
software which helps to protect all your data from unauthorized access.

Phone Wallet v. 2.0 has following new features:

• New data secure algorithm was implemented to make your data more
secure
• Data backup feature added (now you can easily backup all your data
without
entering your data again and again after firmware updating)
• New predefined folder Travelling was added where you can store
your hotel bookings and frequent fliers information

Phone Wallet version 2.0 is free to all existing users of the software. To
make an easy update from version 1.0 to version 2.0 a special application
was developed that saves data from version 1 and transfers them to version
2. The application can be requested directly by the developer.

Phone Wallet secures your personal and confidential information using
strong data encryption algorithms, so the data is not available to others
and is secure, even after the disk dump of the phone. To access your data
you should enter the correct password.

You may enter any information you need to keep secure, from passwords to
the credit card numbers and you can be certain that everything is safe.
There are many preinstalled folders and data types with icons. You can
easily add or delete folders, records or fields, everything can be set
according to customers’ wishes. You can organise data as you wish. There
are no limits to numbers of records, fields and folders. You can create as
many fields or records as you wish and need.

Key Features:

• Strong data encryption for your data security
• Backup feature added (now you can easily backup your data or
restore it from file)
• AutoLock function after some time of being idle
• Application is locked when it goes to background
• Layout settings for icons and view styles
• Total flexibility for adding, deleting and editing of folders,
records and fields
• Many data are predefined for you, so the application is ready to
use right after install
• Nice application design

More info as well as pdf user manual for Phone Wallet v. 2.0 can be found
on http://www.symbianguru.com.

NFS : Pro Street on ur N95

Need for Speed: ProStreet will take the Need for Speed series in a new direction of gameplay. Instead of an arcade style of gameplay which has dominated the series, ProStreet will focus much more on realism and move closer to, but not into, racing simulation, and still with options to use driving assistants to make driving easier and more arcade-like. Unlike its predecessors, all racing in ProStreet will take place on closed tracks, thus making it the first game in the series not animating illegal racing behaviour since Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed, hence there will not be any police in the game. Performance tuning will take up a large part of gameplay in a way that even a small adjustment of the shape of a car's body will impact its performance.

That was what wikipedia had to say about the NFS : Pro Street on your PC. The mobile version on the other hand has great graphics for a phone game and includes performance tuning too but to a limited extent. But all in all it's a great game to kill time on your morning commute or while on the subway.. just make sure you show-up for whatever you were travelling for instead staying hooked up onto the phone ;) The game features both a Quick race for gettin' the feel and a full-fledged Career mode in which you start with an old fashioned Toyota Corolla(1987 model i 'zink) and then you can earn money and upgrade to even a Nissan CT-R Prototype car or the good lookin' BMW M3 E92!!

Earn money either by winning race purses or by awesome drifting - which is easy provided u get the drift (pun intended ;) )

The tracks in the game are aplenty, and with all the Slipstreaming, "good lane" and drifting techniques to be learnt it'll keep you busy for a long time..just keep to the center of the drift bar or you could end up as road kill !

One of the good things i noted about the game is that unlike it's PC version the mobile version doesn't hog the system resources of the phone, a boon for N95 users. In fact it only takes about 7MB of RAM !

Here are some pics of the game:

The car..

The race..

The drift..

Whoops!
damn...

PanoMan 3.0

PanoMan 3.0 comes in landscape mode with a preview area on the screen displaying the panoramic image captured so far as well as a small info area showing the frame resolution and the number of frames captured/available.

Due to the improvements made in heap consumption, you can capture up to 12 frames within one session, creating eye-popping up to 360° images with up to 32 Megapixel (on e.g. N95 8GB; maximum resolution on other devices might be actually lower).

Download!

The N880 Unleashed!

Shown here is the N880 smartphone in all it's glory. Retailing for a 100$ in India, this must be the cheapest smartphone you can get, Check out the specs, it's really interesting - especially the one concerning the speakers..



Specs:

• 1.3 MegaPixel Webcam
• 2.6" super TFT touch screen
• Built in Flash MP4 and hi-fi mp3 player
• Smart Hand text input
• 5 speakers
• external cars slot
• USB disk function
• 64 chord polyphonic ring tones
• Video and audio recording
• 3D games

I love the part about the 5 speakers :D Maybe this is what they mean by a speaker phone?~!

Please do try to live with the N95 video that dominates the latter half of the video.. i just couldn't control it! ;)

The TIPings and the TRICKings..

These are some information that will help you find some cool information on your Nokia Nseries & Eseries phone..

Use these codes from the main screen:

If you want your factory settings restored press: *#7780#
Want to get rid of that very annoying operator logo try: *#67705646#
To track down the address of your Bluetooth device press: *#2820#
See what the SIM clock status is: *#746085685#

Locate your phone’s unique International Mobile Equipment Identity: *#06#
Information you get from the IMEI:

XXXXXX XX XXXXXX X
TAC FAC SNR SP

TAC = Type approval code
FAC = Final assembly code
SNR = Serial number
SP = Spare

Double check the call waiting status of your phone: *#43#
Try to reset phone timers and game scores: *#73#
View private number (little suspicious of this): *#30#

To show software version: *#0000#
Information you get from the Software revision-

V 20.00.31
18-02-08
NSE-3

1ST Line = Software revision
2ND Line = The date of the software release
3RD Line = Phone type

To activate the Half Rate Codex and double capacity for voice traffic: *#4720#
In order to deactivate it: *#4720*
Activate Enhanced Full Rate Codec for maximized sound quality: *3370#
Deactivate and add approximately 5% more talk time: #3370#
Check number where “On No Reply” calls are diverting: *#61#
See manufactures code: *#7760#
Check out the Provider Lock Status: #pw+1234567890+1#
The Network Lock Status: #pw+1234567890+2#
Country Lock Status: #pw+1234567890+3#
And SIM Card Lock Status: #pw+1234567890+4#

Additionally, entering “*#92702689#” brings up a subdirectory that displays the serial number, date made, purchase date, date of last repair (if applicable), and transfer user data.

Clock Stopping:
To check weather your SIM Card supports clock stopping type-
*#746025625# (*#SIM0CLOCK#)
Revealing the Headphone and Car-Kit menus:
Please note that if you do these next tricks, the new menus can't be erased without retoring the factory default settings. To do these tricks you need to short-circuit the pins on the bottom of the phone next to where you plug in you charger.

1. To activate the "Headset" menu, you need to short-circuit pins "3" and "4". After a short time the word "Headset" will be shown in the display. Menu 3-6 is now enabled.
2. To activate the "Car" menu, you need to short-circuit pins "4" and "5". After a short time the word "Car" will be shown in the display. Menu 3-7 is now enabled.

THE REBOOT TRICK
This should work on all software versions of the 6110.
1. Go to the Calendar (Menu-8)
2. Make a note or reminder.
3. Enter some text into the edit box.
4. Hold "Clear" until the whole text is cleared, then press "Back".
5. Press "0". The main screen will now be showing but a space appears on the screen. (you can't see it)
6. Enter 4 digits (e.g. 1234).
7. Use the down arrow to move the cursor to the left side of the numbers and the space (Down arrow twice).
8. Now enter 6 digits and press the call button.

Wait for a few seconds, the screen should start to flash and reboots. It should alsowork on other menus like the "Profiles" menu.

EFR CALL QUALITY
To activate EFR (Enhanced Full Rate) Enter the code-
*3370#
This improves call quality but decreases batterylife by about 5%
To deactivate it, Enter the code-
#3370#

THE JAMES BOND TRICK
If you short-circuit theleft middle and right pins on the bottom of the phone with all connections touching each other, the Nokia software hangs! The profile "Headset" will be activated. Before you do this just activate the "Automatic Answer" in the headset profile and set the ringing volume to "Mute". Now you can use your phone for checking out what people are talking about in a room. Just place it under a table in a room and call it. The phone receives the call without ringing and you can listen to what people are saying.

NETWORK MONITOR
There is a hidden menu inside your Nokia phone. If you want to activate it, you'll have to re-program some chips inside of your phone.
Check your software version. You can only continue if you have v4.33, v4.73 or v5.24.
Take apart the phone.
De-solder the EEPROM (ATMEL AT 24C64).
Read out the data with an EEPROM programmer and save it to a file (Backup).
If you have v.33 or v4.73, change the address "03B8" from "00" to "FF".
If you have v5.24 then change the address "0378" from "00" to "FF".
Write the new data to the EEPROM and solder it back to the phone,
Power on your phone and you should have "Netmonitor" enabled.
The Network Monitor gives you the following information.

Carrier number
MS RX Level in DBM
Received signal quality
MS TX power level
C1 (Path loss criterion, used for cell selection and reselection). The range is -99 to 99.
RTL (Radio link timeout).
Timeslot
Indication of the transmitter status
Information on the Network parameters.
TMSI (Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity).
Cell identification (Cell ID, Number of cells being used).
MCC (Mobile country code)
MCN (Mobile network code)
LAC (Location area code)
Ciphering (On/Off)
Hopping (On/Off)
DTX (On/Off)
Discard cell barred information

CHECK SIM-LOCK
If you bought your Nokia on UK Vodafone or UK Cellnet you do not need to check this because they both transmit on GSM900, and they don't usually lock the phones. However if you bought your phone on UK Orange or UK One2one your phone may be blocked. The reason is that they both transmitt on GSM1800. To make a call on GSM1800 you need what is known as a "Dual band" phone. A dual band phone is able to transmit on both GSM900 and GSM1800, so they lock the phones so you can't use it with any other network simcard. If you find that your phone is locked you can try different software to unlock it. (we havn't found one that works yet), or you can ask your service provider who will gladly exchange the 10 digit code for about £35.
This is how to check the status of the 4 different locks. Aslo don't try entering the wrong number, because after 3 times it will block the phone for good.

There are 4 different locks on your Nokia phone.
COUNTRY-LOCK
NETWORK-LOCK
PROVIDER-LOCK
SIMCARD-LOCK
The code to read out the sim-lock status of your phone is

#PW+(MASTERCODE)+(Y)#
# = DOUBLE-CROSS
W = PRESS "*" THREE TIMES
P = PRESS "*" FOUR TIMES
+ = PRESS "*" TWO TIMES
MASTERCODE = 1234567890
Y = NUMBER 1 TO 4
The master code is a secret code. The code has 10 digits, To read out the sim-lock status you can enter every combination you want!
"Y" Shows the status of the network-lock. Here you can enter a number from "1" to "4". The "4" is for the sim-card lock.
SIM-LOCK CHECKS
#PW+1234567890+1# = GIVES PROVIDER-LOCK STATUS
#PW+1234567890+2# = GIVES NETWORK-LOCK STATUS
#PW+1234567890+3# = GIVES COUNTRY-LOCK STATUS
#PW+1234567890+4# = GIVES SIM-CARD-LOCK STATUS

Courtesy http://nokiatone.ifrance.com/nokiatone/secrets.htm

Is Nokia N82 the real successor to the Nokia N95?

Nokia Nseries is the right example of digital conversion as they stand different from the rest because of their unparalleled functionalities and capabilities. Nokia being the leading manufacturer of mobile devices has recently released its newest model Nokia N82 which is supposed to be the successor of the most popular Nokia N95 phone. The successor usually includes more improved and enhanced features as compare to the previous model. Similarly Nokia N82 has some latest innovations and also incorporates all the proven positives of rest of Nseries phones.

Nokia N82 packs a lot of technology in a candybar form factor and is labeled as a perfect camera phone for all the photographers out there, which can't be said for Nokia N95. We usually experience some moments that we want to treasure all our lives. Nokia N82 provides you with a camera which is no less than 5.0 mega pixel and includes Carl Zeiss lens with autofocus, 20x digital zoom and a Xenon Flash plus has the ability to capture 30 fps when video recording plus its own built-in camera protection and a secondary camera for video calling.

Another difference that we can see in both the phones is that Nokia N95 was a dual slider where as Nokia N82 is a simple straightforward monoblock design with an uncluttered keypad and large QVGA display. The main disadvantage of this new version is its long and thin keypad which is fiddly to use and prone to errors. The N82 integrates a 2.4" LCD QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) TFT color display with up to 16.7 million colours, against the 2.6" of the N95. This makes it almost simialar to the N73s size.

Nokia N82 is a Symbian S60 smartphone and comes with a web browser, email client, document viewer, advanced multimedia player and it also has a set of personal information management (PIM) applications. With lots of certified line of business and entertaining applications, N82 is also compatible for many business applications as was N95 that can helps users to benefit more from the device.

In the end we can say that Nokia N82 is a complete stunner and tough competitor for all existing camera phones in the market. It is no doubt a successor to Nokia N95 as it provides some enhanced features such as Xenon flash and an improved memory. People all over the world are showing extreme enthusiasm and excitement for the new Nokia N82 but presently only time can tell whether Nokia N82 will grab the same popularity and fame as of Nokia N95 - especially since the N96 is on it's way!

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About the Author:
Sarah is a Software Engineer, currently exploring Youpark.com and analyzing the impact of popular devices such as Nokia NSeries and HTC devices in cellular world.

NSeries - How it all began

We have been hearing and witnessing the popularity of Nokia Nseries phones from quite a long time now. But did we ever wonder as to how it started. Well to be very exact, it was 27th April 2005, when the Finnish giant Nokia, shook the mobile industry by announcing a new brand of multimedia devices. They decided to call this sub-brand with a simple and easy-to-recall name of "Nokia Nseries". The Nseries phones are developed and marketed by Nokia's multimedia division.

The main aim behind the launch of Nokia Nseries was to completely change the people's perception of the brand from a handset manufacturer, by taking them from mobile telephony (Nokia) to multimedia computers (Nokia Nseries). Nokia Nseries is for people, who are early adopters when it comes to technology and innovation. It is an ideal choice for gadget freaks and technology stylists who are always on the look out for new devices and gadgets.

Now question arises that what does the Nseries range offer? Portraying it in simple words, they are convergence mobile devices that support digital media services such as music playback, video capture and photography along with mobile gaming and Internet services. All Nseries devices support at least one high-speed wireless technology, such as 3G, HSDPA, or Wireless Lan. These devices have some ground-breaking features such as Bluetooth, WiFi, USB, navigation facility and GPS receiver.

The first three Nseries phones that came out were N70, N90 and N91. After few months time, Nokia again came up with some new Nseries phones such as N71, N80 and N92. Pacing forward rapidly, Nokia launched four more devices such as N72, N73, N93, N75 and N95 in 2006 & 2007. Where as N95 8GB, N81, N81 8GB and N82 came in the year 2008 and rocked the world with their design and feature-rich functionalities. And finally in 2008 GSMA held in Barcelona, N96 and N78 were unveiled. They are feature packed and even compete within themselves in some cases.

By introducing these above revolutionary devices, the world's biggest manufacturer brings a mix of latest technology and design - empowering people to change their lifestyle in whatever they do. People no longer need to take laptops, digital cameras or camcorders with them. All they need is a Nokia Nseries phone. In short, they have not only changed the way people communicate but also provided them with an option to carry light and work better.

Nokia Nseries is the forerunner in setting up a new market of converged devices. After looking at the trends and development of mobile devices few years back, we will be surprised to know that there were no competitors back in 2006 that could match their offerings.

About the Author
Sarah Shaukat is an experienced writer who possesses in-depth knowledge of cellular industry and specializes in the areas of latest mobile devices, mobile content and mobile application development. Her new project "Everything about Nokia NSeries", aims at analyzing the impact of Nokia Nseries devices in the cellular world.

Spotted: Nokia's S60 V3 FP2 -the N82

Nokia N82. In Black. The convergence of GPS, photography, video and the web has changed the way you experience your world. Discover new places with integrated GPS, ... you know the rest!

Images Courtesy Plemix.

Convert Your N95 into the Music Edition !

To convert your N95 into a custom made Nokia N95 Music Edition that is cooler than the real thing; what you do is relatively simple and cheap. Buy a black case from Brando for 9$ and use it to swap your silver standard Nokia case with their Black one. And change the battery cover if you like. Now move over to Vaja and get yourself one of their plush leather Ivolution Holsters - in black(obviously). I have done the reviews for these cases in this blog.. the housings are here and the Vaja is here.

Moreover you can get yourself a 4/8GB microSD and plug it in - it's known to work with the N95 without any problems as far as i know. Now you have your phone tuned in for some serious bragging rights.

For the dudes out there with the Dark Plum color i recommend using the black case because maroon and black are a perfect match for each other. Together they make a deadly combination!

For the people out there with the Sand color I recommend using the white case because white and gold go hand in hand and it will be done perfectly here. Just don't change the battery cover..!

Now you go out for a stroll with your very own customized N95 and give all the other N95ers out there a run for their money :D . Have fun guys !!!