Occasionally in classes I find that there's a need to take electronic notes - and what better tool is there than with my trusty N82? Paired up with a Bluetooth keyboard, it's quite a mighty mobile device to take notes in - you can type just as quick as you do on the desktop, and data can be preserved and accessed on the go.

Although Nokia offers its own SU-8W Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard for Nokia S60 and S40 devices, it's very costly and limited in availability. It's not available even at the Nokia flagship store here in Hong Kong.

After some testing with a friend at the computer mall, it turns out that you can pair a Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard with the Nokia N82, N95, or any of the S60 devices - as long as the Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard supports the HID profile. Just follow the instructions below to get started:

1. Get the Nokia Wireless Keyboard software for S60 v3.1 devices. Install it on your phone.
2. Turn Bluetooth on from the Bluetooth menu on your phone.
3. Open up the Wireless Keyboard application from Menu >> Tools >> Connectivity >> Wireless Keyboard. Click on "Find Keyboard" and then follow the instructions provided by the Keyboard instruction manual to get your Keyboard to pair with your phone.

And there you go - the Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard will be paired with your phone. If you've got any questions on setting this up or any questions on which brand of keyboard to get, feel free to email me.

For the drivers out there, ever wondered how steep you're going on the road? Yes I know, this particular feature seems pretty useless to me, but here's another use of the built-in accelerometer within the N82 - as an Inclinometer. It's a good idea, but pretty useless for drivers; I mean, who's going to glance at their phone to see the information as they drive?

The inclinometer also measures whether the phone is tilted or if it's fully horizontal - which seems to be a more useful feature as you can use it to measure surfaces, etc. But all in all, it's just a gimmick - a gimmick worth getting though. It's free and who knows if it'll come in handy in the future?

The Nokia N96's announcement prompted many in to a dilemma: should I get my phone now? Or should I wait? It's hardly an easy choice, considering that many of us want the newest and the best the mobile phone world has to offer - and right now it seems that the N96 is "the special one" that we've all been waiting for. Or is it? And how does it compare with the N82, which is "the special one so far"?

So here's a first look on the N96 vs. the N82 based on the announcements Nokia has made on the phone and the overall experience on the N82.

Form factor:


So from the above diagram, we can see that the N96 is slightly shorter, slightly fatter, slightly thicker. Similar to the N81 when you put it next to the N82.


If you're still in doubt the best way is probably to see the N81 and the N82 in person. That way you can get a feel of what the N96 size is like.

It's also a two-way slider, similar to the N95 - so it's really up to personal preference on whether you like a candybar phone or a slider. With sliding phones, there's always the potential problem that the springs are too loose or wear and tear over time, so any potential buyers should take notice.

Camera: The N82 is the current king of all camera phones - it's got a powerful xenon flash, and a 5 Megapixel autofocus Carl Zeiss Lens. The N96 will have a similar lens, but without the xenon flash. Yep, the N82 still tops the N96 here.

Storage: The N96 boasts 16GB of flash memory built right in to the phone; on the other hand the N82 only has a paltry 100MB, making it a battle between the size of a bowling ball and a pea. And the N96 allows for external microSDHC storage - so if you insert the largest memory stick currently available, 8GB, that brings the total capacity of the phone to 24GB. If you're a music lover then the N96 is the one for you.

Navigation: Being another of Nokia's flagship products, it definitely doesn't miss out on an internal GPS. Bundled along with the phone is Nokia Maps 2.0, currently in beta for the N82. I'd call this a tie.

Screen Size: 2.8" TFT screen for the N96 against the 2.4" TFT screen on the N82. The N95 8GB also sports a 2.8" screen - compare the size of that with the puny one on the N82...


The N96 is the sure winner in this case.

Mobile TV: An integrated DVB-H receiver for mobile television. Although it's already a de facto standard for Japanese phones, this is definitely a welcome addition to Nokia's portfolio. On the other hand, the N82 has to make do with a data plan and a Slingbox to get your TV streamed to your phone.

Connection: Yep, the Nokia N96 finally has USB 2.0 High Speed USB, with speeds of up to 480Mbps. The Nokia N82 only makes do with USB 1.1 speeds, thanks to older hardware.

Bands: The N96 supports Quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900), EDGE, and Dual Band UMTS (900/2100). So the Americas is out of this one - no 3G for potential users in the USA. The same goes for the N82, although it only runs on 3G/HSDPA 2100. The N96 is definitely future proofed - many European countries are considering using the 900Mhz spectrum for WCDMA/HSDPA, so it's only a matter of time before the N96 takes advantage of that.

Music Quality: The N96 contains a DSP chip for improved audio playback quality, so audiophiles should sit up and take notice. There is no DSP chip on the N82 or the N95.

Battery: Horrible. The N96 only sports a 950mAh battery, as opposed to the N82's 1050mAh battery. And couple that with a larger screen and even more features; you're be looking at something with an even shorter standby time than the N82.

So there we go. I'd love to hear your opinions on this, so please feel free to comment.

If you've been curious and delved around on the N82 and other Nokia N-series phones, you've might have realised that you can stream music from the phone to another device on your 'Home Network' - one that supports UPnP protocol, mind you; and you can also stream music from your PC to your phone via the same 'Home Network'. (Just take a look under Tools >> Connect >> Home Media).

So what is this UPnP? It stands for Universal Plug and Play, and basically it's a networking standard to allow different devices to connect to each other and implement data sharing, streaming, etc.

So first of all - streaming from your PC to your phone
Ewan Spence from AllAboutSymbian has just written up a guide on linking your PC's media library to your N-series device, so it's worth taking a look. I will be looking at the Mac side of things for Mac users to stream from their iTunes library to their N-series phone in the meantime, so stay with me!

Streaming from your phone to a UPnP compatible device
Unfortunately I currently don't have a compatible UPnP device, nor do I have the funds to purchase one. However, do expect a guide on this over the summer, when I'll get something with the money earned from my summer job.

Although the integrated search client does a good job of searching, it's mostly local (perhaps this is a region thing?) - that is, it searches your phone only. Google's released a S60 version search application to make it easier for us S60 users to go online and search; instead of opening up your browser, heading over to www.google.com and typing in your search phrase and then waiting for the results to load, you can now simply type your search phrase to the application and wait for everything else to be done for you - no need to open your browser or browse through those few pages to get to Google.


As opposed to the version for the Nokia N95, the version offered for the Nokia N82 doesn't allow for the user to access the application using a shortcut key. This is because the N82 doesn't have the "Pencil/Edit" button, which the N95 does have - and this means that you have to access it via the Application Launcher.

There's a workaround to this problem; you can set one of the Active Standby applications to be the Google Search app, but it does take one of the precious spaces on your standby screen.

The application allows you to set whether you want to view "Mobile" results or the full HTML "Desktop" result, which is definitely a welcome addition compared to manually searching by browsing to Google and having the page defaulted to "mobile optimised" view.

Can't think of how this application is a pain to the user; on the contrary, I think that if you're keen on doing some web surfing on your N82, then this is a must get. It speeds up the entire surfing process, and makes it really easy for you to do searches on Google. And with Google being the first to release a S60 native search application, you can probably expect the other major search engine (Yahoo!) following suit.

You can get the S60 Google Search client via Google Mobile.