Monthly Archives: January 2009

Windows live for Nokia India : Out Now

I use Windows Live Mail for Official Purpose & freelance work only. Yahoo & GMail are there for chatting, orutting, flickr, youtube etc & I hardly ever chat on Windows Live because all my friends are either on Google Talk or Yahoo Messenger. The only thing I use is Windows Live Mail, however accessing it in my Phone wasn’t possible so far as hotmail doesn’t integrate in my Phone Message Application the way Yahoo or GMail Mailbox appear. POP3 Service for Hotmail was recently started but it is not available for India yet.

Today I found Windows Live for Symbian which was just released for India. I installed it immediately & the integration with Symbian OS was outstanding.

1) After installing, all my Messenger contacts appeared in my Phone’s Contact Application but in a separate tab automatically from where I can either make them a voice call using Phone network, send SMS to there number or Send E-Mail using my Windows Live Mail which was also setup in the phone’s Message application.

2) Windows Live Mail was automatically set in the Message Application. All I have to do is to click on sync to download new mails over WiFi or Vodefone Live. If I click on a Windows Live Contact in my address book then it automatically open this mailbox to write a new mail.
3) Best part, this also installed a Windows Live Messenger chat application using which I was able to chat with my buddy on Windows Live Messenger just like desktop chat & was even able to send files. Voice Chat isn’t possible yet.

Microsoft or Nokia did something good at least. I wish Yahoo & Google also release something like this. You can have a look at this other review with added screenshots as I wasn’t able to take screenshots of my mobile.

GX Tango : Black & Gray

Posted by Saurav Srivastava on January 17, 2009 4 comments

Ever since I got my Nokia N79, I am searching for a good & usable theme for it. Since its a mobile phone which while working is straight in front of your face, Icons in 2D Perspective look better then 3D perspective. So far there are 3 icon sets for Symbian S60 which I have come to admire..

1) Pizero Icons

2) Tango Icons

3) Nokia S60 5th Edition Touch Icons

I requested Pizero to fix some minor flaws in his Pure Black theme some time back to which he said he will do it soon. During my search I came across Nahid’s Blog who has made some seriously good themes based on the S60 Touch Icons for S60 3rd edition phones. However I am not a fan of blue color over black color so I requested him to make a black & gray theme too. Ian Flahorn is extracting the Touch Icons from Nokia 5800 Xpress Music but it will release soon.

Since I got my own symbiansigned certificate sometime back, I decided to look upon & make my own theme based on freely available Tango Icons using Nokia’s Carbide UI. The aim of my theme’s design is not something flashy or graphical but something simple which can be easily used everyday. While working on my phone outside I found that in direct sunlight the screen gets dark & on a black background, black or gray text is not quite readable. So I paid attention on the way at least I would prefer to use a theme & started to create the mockups of what to expect from the end result. The first variation of this theme will not have many colors, just black gradient & gray because I intend to make this theme very usable & easy on the eyes both indoor & outdoor. I just want this theme to be as perfect & simple as possible, nothing flashy.

Right now I am using Tango Icons & learning how to make a theme using Carbide.UI but if possible, I would love to useS60 Touch Icons as they are even better then tango Icons for a mobile phone’s screen. Here is what I think for the Standby Screen…how is it, please provide comments so as to make it better.

If you want a preview then just copy this PNG Image to your phone & watch it in full screen. Right now I am making it for Symbian S60 3rd Edition with FP2 only.

Keep in mind that there is a similar Tango theme for Symbian but the author is no longer updating it for new phone & new icons so I have decided to make something similar but with full icons.

Palm Pre’s wireless charger, the Touchstone

Posted by Saurav Srivastava on January 14, 2009 2 comments

Palm is back in news after killing the Palm Foleo last year with Palm Pre Mobile Phone. This phone is making lots of news & hype these days because this is the first time someone has given a full web based OS in a phone that too this sleek. Palm Pre is based on Linux, competes with Android, uses HTML, CSS & JS to make application…blah blah blah…that’s common these days in any phone due to which this hardly made me take an interest in Palm Pre, although its cute shape did.

What many people didn’t pay attention to is the latest innovation by palm, the Touchstone charger which can charge you Palm Pre without a wire over induction. Now this is something which grabbed my attention as this kind of technology can indeed make life easy.

There was another product like this on display in CES called the Powermat Wireless Charger using a similar concept. At least something good came out of CES.

Nokia Locate Sensor : Make it better

Posted by Saurav Srivastava on January 14, 2009 1 comment

How many times have you placed your bike keys or Wallet somewhere & unable to find it cos the location just slipped out of your mind, or has it ever happened to you that you lot some small but important thing somewhere & you go back looking for it but unable to find it cos it was lost somewhere on the road side. Well, Nokia just debuted a really cool concept in CES 2009.

Nokia Locate Sensor has just made its debut at CES 2009. The brainchild of the folk over at the Nokia Research Center, Locate Sensor is a prototype service designed to help ensure you never lose anything. You simply attach a physical wireless location tag (see photo gallery) to stuff such as your keys or wallet, and if you drop anything or it gets nicked from your pocket the accompanying Nokia Locate Sensor app points you in the direction of the item and even tells you how far away it is.

This concept is good, but why use a tiny device like this with a limited battery? The device requires a software in the phone so it can be made to install on any Symbian OS phone. Instead of attaching a device that small how about just using a RFID tag sticker, something which you can paste on your item & the phone can find where that RFID tag is. I don’t know if this is possible but this sticker way is much better then using a tiny device. I can paste the sticker somewhere on my bike & easily find it in a crowded parking area using my phone.

Please Nokia, make it happen & this concept deserves a patent.

Making the best use of Voice Chat

Posted by Saurav Srivastava on January 14, 2009 31 comments

Voice chat has been in the chatting industry for ages however due to bad Broadband conditions in India not many people don’t use it. However, today things have changed because 256 kbps broadband is available for as low as Rs 649 (Airtel Delhi) which is sufficient enough for voice chat.

Few days ago I used my Nokia N79 for voice chat over Internet using WiFi. It was just a test but it proved that with a Smartphone like Nokia N Series or Windows Mobile & WiFi Internet you hardly need a PC anymore. You can very well use a Mobile phone with a WiFi or unlimited Internet plan to talk to anyone on Skype or Google Talk (so far) using a simple setup at both ends. I was able to talk to a friend of mine in Bangalore over WiFi using Fring after signing into Google Talk just like any other phone call. This is actually a better experience then sitting in front of a computer & talking to a Monitor, you are no longer bound to the computer desk. To do this you need to setup your PC & Phone both….

How to setup the PC

1) You need a software which can let you voice chat. Today all the IM networks support Voice chat such as Yahoo Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk but the best one out there made for this particular task only is Skype. Talking on Yahoo & Windows Live through a phone isn’t possible yet but talking using Skype or Google talk is. I recommend installing Skype as it is available for all the Operating Systems out there, but even if you use Google talk on PC, the procedure is exactly same.

2) You need a wireless Mic connected to the PC so that you are no longer bound to the PC desk only. The best solution for this which I recommend is using a simple Nokia, Sony Ericsson or similar Bluetooth handsfree. They are widely available for as low as Rs 1,000 in the local phone market & they provide enough range for you to walk around in other parts of home, & they will also work with your mobile phone. If you want something of even higher range then you can try Microsoft Lifechat ZX-6000 headset.

3) If you need a webcam then they are available for as low as Rs 500 from Frontech. If you are using a PC then it is not a problem. If you are using a Mac then you already have iSight inbuilt & if you are using Linux then I recommend you have a look at your distribution website for compatible driver, however ideally it should already be there in the distribution. You can also go for Microsoft Lifecam VX-1000, which is what I personally recommend. If you leave the marketing words of Microsoft then VX-1000 is the cheap & best solution which provides enough quality for normal webcam chat. These webcam come with a Mic inbuilt just that you will not have the freedom to roam around, but this is cheaper as you don’t need to buy a Wireless Headset.

4) Install everything on the PC & check if they are working. After this, it isn’t that hard to configure them to use on the PC side. Just read the manual first

How to setup the phone.

1) You need a Smartphone running Windows Mobile or Symbian Series 60 with WiFi support. If you don’t have a WiFi enabled phone but do have EDGE or 3G supported Smartphone then consider opting for an unlimited data plan for your service provider.

2) The software you need to install on your phone is Fring or Nimbuzz. It is available for Windows Mobile, Symbian Series 60 & iPhone right now. Follow the instruction on Fring website to configure according to your phone.

3) You need to make a free Fring/Nimbuzz account first which is quite easy & can be done from the phone itself. Once done, select the service of your choice from the Fring menu, either Skype or Google Talk & sign in to Fring. It will automatically show all your contacts. You can either text chat with them or simply select to make a “Fring Call”. This way you will be making an Internet based call to anyone anywhere in the world sitting on a PC running Skype or Google talk, which is cheaper then a usual call’s rate. You can also leave Fring running the background & do your work fine & the moment someone tries to call you on your logged in network, you will get a call just like any other call in your phone.

Now comes the best part. You actually don’t need a PC at all. Using Fring/Nimbuzz & this tutorial you can talk in the following scenario over Internet

1) PC(broadband) to Fring(WiFi/EDGE/3G)

2) Fring(WiFi/EDGE/3G) to PC(broadband)

3) Fring(WiFi/EDGE/3G) to Fring(WiFi/EDGE/3G)

Right now you cannot do webcam chat using Fring, although if Fring can support Skype Video chat then it will be an experience just like a 3G Video chat as many 3G enabled Smartphone today come with a secondary camera.

Using Windows 7 beta

Posted by Saurav Srivastava on January 10, 2009 6 comments

I have not used Windows 7 much now myself, but from what I know so far, you should keep few things in mind.

I installed Windows 7 on two computer so far, one is my workstation & 2^nd is another PC running Windows XP. Windows 7 uses the same Boot Configuration editor found in Windows Vista due to which dual booting with Windows Vista wasn’t a problem. Even when I formatted the Windows 7 partition from Windows Vista after installing Windows 7, I was still able to boot into Vista. However, if you are installing it on a new blank hard disk then Windows 7 will make a 200 MB hidden partition for boot files & this partition will not be visible in Explorer. In case of dual booting with Windows XP, Windows 7 Setup copied the boot files to C:\ Drive where Windows XP was installed & I wasn’t able to boot into XP or see the drive in Explorer as now it was the hidden partition. To fix this problem simply download EasyBCD & add a new entry for Windows XP after deleting the old Windows XP entry & select the C:\ Drive. Now you can dual boot Windows 7 & Windows XP without any problem.

Windows Vista drivers will work fine in Windows 7 in most cases. In my case, I installed it on my Workstation & it automatically detected all the drivers. Even then I went to Windows Update & it installed new drivers for my Graphics Card & Realtek LAN. Keep in mind that the current ATI drivers are giving me lots of trouble & they keep crashing 50% of the time. Waiting for things to get a bit stable.

Libraries are nothing but Search Folders of Windows Vista. This feature was never used much in Windows Vista but in Windows 7 it is right there in Explorer. By default there are 4 libraries named Pictures, Videos, and Documents & Music. You can add multiple locations in each libraries after which when you open that library in Explorer, it will show you the content from all the locations at once place even it is a web based location provided you have net connectivity. I don’t keep my data on the default drive where Windows is installed. I keep them in a separate partition under categorized folders so Libraries are a boon for someone like me.

The On Screen keyboard is finally something much better than the old one found even in Vista since the time of Windows 2000. The buttons are big so that if you are using a tablet PC, typing text won’t be a problem. The buttons are big enough for even finger touch & they are beautifully crafted on a glass panel.

Finally I can say that it is time to leave Winamp. Windows Media Player 12 is the be all end all Media Player for everyone’s need. WMP12 now has two separate views, the Player View & the Library view. Combine that with the Superbar of Windows 7 which acts as a minimize to tray functionality I have been always missing in WMP & I can very well say that I won’t be using any other media player from Windows 7 onwards when WMP12 & FFDShow will fulfill all my needs. I was easily able to connect my Nokia N79 in MTP mode & transfer all my files as WMP 12 has native support for MP4 & AAC Files along with H.264 & DivX support. Since I transfer videos to my phone after converting them to MP4, I was able to manage them right there from WMP12.

Windows Media Player 12 now has instant preview of the song. If you are playing something, then its audio will stop & the audio of new file come into front. As soon as you close the preview, the old audio will play again.

WMP12 playing a Video.

The new Caculator

Windows live Writer with my new blog theme auto applied, this gives lots of space to write stuff.

UAC no longer bugs you if you are working on something. If there is a UAC prompt & you are working on something then it will sit in the Superbar & glow to show you a prompt, If you click on that then only screen will dim

Installing DirectX 9 runtime

My Workspace with switcher

Some keyboard shortcuts which come in handy

Win+Up Arrow to maximize

Win+Down Arrow to restore or minimize

Docking to the left and right is available too, with Win+Left Arrow and Win+Right Arrow

Peeking at the desktop can be done with Win+Space

Saurav's Blog