Using the Nokia N82 for casual shots is fine, but what about for some hardcore photography? Apparently there are suppliers trying to fill in the void by supplying the 2 add-ons Nokia N82 users are craving for - a 6X optical zoom lens and a tripod mount. However, even with optical lens and a tripod, it probably remains no match for a dedicated digital camera.




A camera phone was never meant to be a complete substitute for a digital camera, but with this kit the Nokia N82 is getting closer to that aim. Still, the size of the body and the inconvenience to the user will definitely put off all except the most hardcore photography lovers.

The above is a unit on eBay Malaysia going for 83 Malaysian Ringgits (or US$26); its a real shame that the seller is only shipping within Malaysia. Any readers in Malaysia willing to give this kit a try?

For those Olympics enthusiasts, keeping track of the events happening on different days is already a challenge within itself. So here's an excellent application developed by GameDreams to keep track all the events starting from the 6th of August (Football Qualifiers) to the ending ceremony on the 24th of August.


The application shows the events occuring on a specific day, followed by the location and the round that occurs on the day. The times for the events (local time) are also listed as well.

Although the UI could be slightly improved in this case of events to allow for more customisation, I'm not really complaining much as it's a free application. A slightly larger issue would be the fact that the developers did not build in a function to allow for updating of scores and results as well as upcoming schedule changes, should any occur. And with the event's times stuck to the local Beijing time, you've also got to do a tedious conversion each time before you can figure out when it's happening at your local time.

Nonetheless, it's a pretty polished app ready for use, and it's surely a must-have for those who are hardcore Olympics fans - particularly if you've got tickets to watch it live at the stadium too.

I'm not such a big fan of Nokia's automatic keylock system. The main flaw is that the automatic keylock only activates if your phone is on the standby screen; incidentally, I suppose most of us might have our screens stuck in the Music Player or perhaps the browser. Since the Nokia N82 has no media buttons, staying in the Music Player Now Playing menu is always nice as I can switch songs readily in a few clicks, but without a keylock in the music player I usually end up nudging the buttons.

Autolock can solve this dilemma by allowing the user to set the timeout period before the automatic keylock kicks in for all applications. It's very nifty and runs in the background unobstrusively while getting the job done. This app is particularly well for those who use their N82 as their Music Player as a timeout of 15 seconds is just about enough time to choose your song and shove it back in your pocket without the problem of nudging buttons when playing music.

Are you always on the move, to the extent that you don't have time to charge your beloved Nokia phone? Or are you, being the power user that you are, always depleting the batteries of your N82 / N95? Or do you simply find the short battery life on the N82 / N95 really annoying? In all these cases, there's a quick and cheap solution to this - a mobile charger for your Nokia smart phone powered by AA batteries.


Although there are many options, this one from Energizer is rather eyecatching - it's going for a retail price of HK$168 (14 Euros, GBP 11, US$22) at large electronics retail outlets around Hong Kong (Fortress, Broadway...the likes of Dixons in the UK). What makes this better than Nokia's DC-8 is that an adapter cable at the top of the unit allows one to charge virtually all phones. Included as part of the pack include an adapter cable for Samsung and Old Nokia phones; a separate pack includes cables for Sony Ericssons, LG's, and Motorolas.



It's also great for travellers and backpackers, who don't have easy access to power plugs in the midst of their adventure. All they need to do is stock up on AA battery cells which can be easily obtained in all parts of the world. And if everyone in your party uses a different brand, all you need are different adapter cables - no need for individual chargers for everyone.

Don't expect it to charge your phone as fast as it does with a normal charger connected to a power socket - it's much slower. While I can probably get a full charge on my N82 in roughly just over an hour, it takes at least twice the time using this gadget; but at least you can still charge your phone while you're backpacking.

The unit gets slightly hot while the charging takes place; no, not scalding hot, but just nice and warm on a cold winter's day. Just ensure that you're not baking the charger under the sun and everything should be fine.

It's available on Amazon for all interested readers.

Over at Phonedaily (a local site on mobile phones in Hong Kong) the editors managed to pull a few strings to get a LG Viewty (also known as the KU990 in some markets) to do some extensive testing, particularly on the camera. With both phones supporting a maximum of 5 megapixels, there's definitely room for a review, particularly in determining which smartphone can take up the position of being the King of the Camera Phones.

In addition, both phones are branded by specific lens makers - in this case, the LG Viewty has it's lens developed by famous lens makers Schneider-KREUZNACH while the Nokia N82 smarts Carl Zeiss Optics for it's camera lens (Though of course, both can't compete with the quality of lenses found in digital cameras, no matter which brand they're from).

Just in case you're wondering, the photos come from Phonedaily's review of the 2 phones; I've added my own opinions of the pictures both phones took to this review in addition to the Phonedaily review.

Nokia N82	LG Viewty KU990

The white balance for the Nokia N82 seems to set daylight pictures slightly darker (as in the first picture), taking in to account the brightness of the sky. In comparison, the KU990 leans heavily in focusing on the subject it's focused on, creating a situation where the sky is overexposed. The N82 definitely gets higher marks there for managing to preserve more data in the photo (also managing to capture a more realistic image of the subject), but on the other hand it's also slightly tedious for the user who would probably need to touch up the photos on the PC after the photo is taken.

And this is further supported by picture 3, where the N82 clearly takes a much more balanced photo as oppposed to the Viewty. The Viewty appears to overemphasise the yellow (light) colour, which overall definitely affects the balancing of photos, particularly in indoor scenarios (picture 5) and perhaps also when taking photos of others (the skin may appear to be tinted yellow, etc).

From the above sample photos, it seems that the Nokia N82 is a clear winner against the LG Viewty KU990 in terms of taking realistic photos - and so far stands unchallenged in obtaining the status of being the "King of Camera Phones" for the time being; although that should probably change in the short term when Sony Ericsson launches their brand new imaging flagship slider phone.

For more sample photos and the original PhoneDaily review, click here.

If you've been a long time user of Nokia phones, then you might know what Active Standby plugins are. Currently an exclusive feature to the Nokia E-Series S60 phones, it's basically an option within the Control Panel to allow to user to control what they want to see on the Active Standby screen.

For example, if you're using an E-Series phone, you could opt to disable showing your To-Do list, or your WLAN scanning in the Active Standby Screen if you don't find a use for those features. Any aspect of the Active Standby screen can be changed to your personal taste and preferences.

So it is a crying shame that Nokia decided not to include this feature on the N-Series smartphones. In my opinion, it should be a standard feature across all Symbian S60 smartphones - it allows for greater personalisation and general aesthetics, especially if you don't want to see a certain feature on the Active Standby home screen.

But I digress. There is a method for N-Series users to change your Active Standby screen and strip out the elements you dislike; in the screenshot below, I took out the Search feature in the home screen, along with the WLAN scanning as an example.


It's not a very complex procedure to get this done: all you need is ROMPatcher (Only for S60v3 FP1 Smartphones) and the CleanActiveStandby Patches, and follow the instructions below. Oh yes, and you need a Windows PC too (sorry to all Mac users). It's a completely safe and reversible process.

1. Unzip the 2 files
2. Transfer s60_3_1_app_trk_2_7.sisx from the ROMPatcher package to your phone via Data Transfer Mode, then run it. Don't install it using your PC Suite.
3. Connect your phone in the PC Suite mode with your computer.
   
4. Execute TRK from your applications folder. By default it will try to turn on your Bluetooth; just cancel that. Go to Options >> Settings and set the Connection to be "USB".
5. Now find the Port number that your phone is connected to. Open up Device Manager in the Control Panel (or Start Menu >> Run >> devmgmt.msc). It should be under COM & LPT or an option like that.
   
   
   
6. Now run RPInstaller.exe from the ROMPatcher package and enter the correct COM port number. Click on "Install" and let it do its job. When you see the following, then the process is done.
   
   
   
7. Check your Applications folder. There should be a new application called ROMPatcher sitting there, if no errors occurred during the installation process.
8. Close RPInstaller on your PC, the TRK application from your phone, and connect your phone in the Data Transfer mode.
9. Make the folder /Patches/ in the root menu of the memory stick. Throw the 4 files from the CleanActiveStandby Patch in there.
10. Turn off Active Standby on your N-Series smartphone.
11. Open up ROMPatcher - you should see the following screen:
    
    
    Select the patches which you wish to apply - you can apply all 4 if you want - and then minimise ROMPatcher. Don't click on "Exit" because there is a problem of it restarting your phone once you click on the button "Exit". If the patch correctly applies you should see a green tick as the icon next to it. Likewise, if there's a problem, you should see an icon with an exclamation mark.
12. Turn on Active Standby again and it should be complete. If, for any reason, you wish to get your normal screen back, just reboot your phone.

There, the patch should be done. Now you can sit back, relax, and enjoy a clutter-free Active Standby home screen.

I've been trying out this software called PanoMan lately, which enables the user to take panoramic photos on your mobile phone. This software, paired with the Nokia N82 which has a beast of a camera, unlocks another dimension for N82 users; even though the Nokia N82 is marketed as the "crème de la crème" camera phone, it sorely lacks what most Sony Ericsson phones include - the ability to take panoramic photos.

What's great about the Symbian S60 platform is that even if a particular feature is sorely lacking on a Nokia phone, there's always software (freeware or shareware) to make up for it. Again, taking panoramic photos is no exception - PanoMan costs roughly 10 Euros, which may seem quite a large sum for a feature that should have been included in the phone, but I would think of it as money well spent, as it does an excellent job of taking panoramic photos.

It's extremely simple to use. As soon as you start the application, choose the resolution and quality you want your photos taken in, and where it should be saved, you can start snapping away. Using it's unique algorithm in stitching photos together, all the user needs to do is start the "capture" button, then move your camera across the subject or landscape they're capturing. At the end, click on the "finish" button and save your photo - there is no need to take individual frames and ensure you stitch them together accurately, the software automatically does all that for you.

If you want to see more photos before purchasing the application (which is always a good idea), there's also a Flickr group dedicated for photos taken using PanoMan.

If the Nokia N78 was released at just about the same time as the N82 was, I'd have a hard time in choosing which Symbian smartphone to get. Here's just some pros and cons of both phones for those who are considering getting one or the other:

Pros of the Nokia N82:

• Xenon Flash, as opposed the LED flash on the N78
• 5 Megapixels vs. 3 Megapixels
• TV-Out cable support (the 3.5mm jack to the Component cable, so you can show the N82 screen on a TV)
• Accelerometer - potential for accelerometer-supported games on N-Gage? RotateMe and ShakeLock support. Coolness factor :)
  

Pros of the Nokia N78:

• Symbian S60 FP2 - which provides new features, such as nice looking transition animations, a larger range of standby screens, a more convenient interface in general.
• A larger capacity battery - 1200mAh against the N82's 1050mAh. This should translate to a longer standby time.
• Built-in FM Transmitter, so you can beam all those tunes to a empty radio station and annoy all the other cars around you on the highway.
• Up to 24 hours of Music Playback (quoted by Nokia) vs. N82's max of 12 hours or so
  

That's about all the major differences on the Nokia N78 and the Nokia N82. And here's just a few words from me if the specs don't mean a lot to you: if you're looking for a powerful, all-in-one device that is slightly future-proof as well as being able to replace your MP3 player, your camera, your PDA, then by all means go for the Nokia N82. It can perform all these duties admirably and efficiently, with some getting used to on the user's part. Otherwise, consider the N78 - it should be more than enough for the average user.

And an indication of the prices:
Suggested retail price of the Nokia N82: HK$4188 (US$536, GBP 272, 344 Euros)
Suggested retail price of the Nokia N78: HK$3988 (US$511, GBP 259, 328 Euros)

Recently a video of Google's OS Android running on the Nokia N95 has surfaced; would this mean that it's also possible to get Android running on other Symbian smartphones?

With the iPhone's release, more and more people are now aware of how a 'good' interface could be on the mobile phone. The Symbian S60 platform is extremely versatile and powerful; but if you asked any average user, they wouldn't be able to customise or change things as much as they wanted to as the options are nested deep within the different menus.

Google's Android is reminiscent of the iPhone's simple but effective interface where everything can just be accessed via a few clicks rather than being nested within menu after menu - perhaps this will see a change in Nokia's S60 platform, such as creating a overlying application like HTC's TouchFLO technology which allows everything to be accessed in a few clicks (on the WM platform)?

If Android could be allowed to run alongside the Symbian S60 platform (i.e. "dual-booting" the mobile phone) I would definitely be in favour of it; after all, the S60 platform has a huge number of applications, is extremely powerful (and relatively more complex to use), while the Android platform can make up the shortcomings of the S60 platform (such as browsing experience compared to the iPhone, and ease of use of the platform).

What's your take on the matter?

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.

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.

After updating to the new firmware on my Nokia N82, I think I can say that Flash Lite 3.0 is definitely not overrated or just a hype. It's an awesome addition to the S60 v3 Feature Pack 1 platform, and it's definitely one of those features where one stops to wonder 'how did I live without it?'

First up is YouTube performance, which I think is the concern of most people. Well I'm happy to say that YouTube performance is definitely up there. When clicking on a video link, Realplayer automatically opens, and the video starts streaming - very nice feature. Playback is smooth but the quality of the videos are scaled down to fit the 320 x 240 resolution, and this means that overall the video is blurrier than its desktop counterpart. Well, to be honest, there isn't anything to moan about - it's a 2.4 inch screen, so such a high quality doesn't help much except add to the file size of the video file.



I also tested the new Flash performance on streaming some high definition Flash file, such as Diggnation. This is where the lag comes in - I get desynchronised audio and video, and huge amounts of lag every 10 - 15 seconds. It's not exactly bearable, so I really don't suggest watching high quality Flash media on the phone. Preferably, set the settings so it's low or medium most of the time to get optimal performance on the N82 or the N95.

The lag probably stems from the fact that the CPU of the phone is only an ARM 11 332 Mhz processor - and decoding the high definition streaming media file requires something faster.

Nevertheless, Flash streaming is quite impressive on the N82 and the S60 platform. It's far from perfect (I would like to see some optimisation for HD Flash media files) but it's quite usable for the average user, given that they set the streaming file on medium-low settings.

What's you experience on Flash on the S60 platform like? Feel free to share your joys and pains...

If you've played Bejeweled before, then this game should come as no stranger to you. Based on the Bejeweled concept, Diamond Twister builds on that with a plot - the player has to hunt for precious diamonds for clients. It's not exactly the best plot, but again, does anyone pay alot of attention to a plot like that?

Gameplay is very smooth, and the aim is to create combos of 3 or more of those precious stones via making a swap with another stone. This nets you "money", and you must reach a targeted amount before the set period of time is up. Sounds complicated, but trust me, it's easy to get a grasp of once you try it out. It's very intuitive; at no time did I have to look at the instructions or anything.

The game is rather repetitive in that it's basically completing missions and unlocking more missions via creating these combos. But it takes a while to get boring - and during that time I supposed you've already reached your destination (assuming you're playing while you're travelling) or have something else to complete. And it's definitely worth purchasing - for US$3 it's a steal, as you're basically buying a new addiction. Payment can be done via Paypal, Credit card, or even just through your service provider, so it's very convenient for the user.

Pros: Addictive, intuitive gameplay, fast and clean to play (no need to save halfway), Cheap
Cons: Repetitive, not the most action packed game

Verdict:
The pros outweigh the cons. It's cheap and excellent to play, so go and buy it!

Just seeing the black Nokia N82 variant already fills my eyes, and many others, with desire. It looks miles better than the silver and white versions of the N82 (in my opinion). For those of you located in countries where the N82 isn't released yet, here's some unboxing pictures for the new Black N82 (courtesy of FoneArena). Hopefully you can resist the urge of dropping to your local importers demanding they import one immediately.

Seems like the Mobile YouTube applications really took off after it debuted on the iPhone and the iPod Touch. First there was emTube - which was then taken down due to legal threats from YouTube, who subsequently released a Java client for selected phones (not including the N82, but there's a solution for that). Now joining in the race is Mobitubia, another free app which allows for the user "to play EVERY clip from the popular site YouTube". It's also the winner of the "Open C Challenge" software design competition, netting in the grand prize of 10,000 dollars for student developer Sittiphol Phanvilai. Kudos to you, my friend.

Over at the Symbian Web Blog there's a fully packed Mobitubia review, detailing all the features and every aspect of the app. Believe me, it's worth the download - and you can get it from Sittiphol's official site.

Oh, and by the way, the current release is the last release that will be free to the public (according to AllAboutSymbian), so there's no knowing when the file will be taken offline. Better get it now before it's too late!

I've decided to start a weekly game review of N-Gage games (and perhaps occasionally games not on the N-Gage platform, if they're really great) as a platform for the N-series users to share great games. Since this is the start of something new please post comments on what you think of the idea or the reviews in general!

The Game: Brain Challenge
Up for today's review is Brain Challenge, one of the newer games debuting on the N-Gage platform. If you've played Brain Age on the Nintendo DS before, then you'll know what this game is about; it's all about maths and logic games, and the aim of the game is to score the highest in the "Daily Brain Test".


The trial version of the N-Gage game only allows for the user to play the "Daily Brain Test" while all the other features are only available if the user purchases the full game. It's also only limited to one try so it's not one of those fun games where you can keep playing to keep yourself entertained.

So in the "Daily Brain Test", puzzles are separated in to 4 different categories: maths, logic, visual and focus. Each category starts off from the easiest level and progressively gets harder within the certain time you play in each category. The puzzles range from choosing a path from the lowest number to the highest number - the maths section - to counting the number of coloured frogs and putting them in progressive order - the visual section. At the end of the 4 sections, a score is given to the user based on response time and the number of puzzles that were completed for each section within the given time.

As fun as it may seem, the responses from the software lacks encouragement for the user, and generally if you've played it once your response time will drastically increase - and it won't be much of a challenge to your brain after that. Having played "Brain Age" on an Nintendo DS before, this was a sorely disappointing game in contrast, as it seemed like a cheap ripoff of "Brain Age" without new features. Still, it might be too much to compare a phone game to a proper console game...

There is always that satisfaction at seeing your own high score triumph others, and this feature is possible via the uploading of scores to the N-Gage Arena - where you can post your high scores and see how well you stand compared to other hardcore Brain Challenge gamers.

But to the casual gamer, this game won't keep you entertained for long. The trial version should suffice for most users.

Verdict:
Won't keep you entertained for long. Needs innovation and creativity to distinguish it from other console "Brain Challenge" games - otherwise most will just deem it as a 'bad port' to N-Gage.

Score: 3/5 from Nokia N82 Blog

Skype has just released their long awaited client for VoIP services for normal mobile phones as a beta software earlier today. It's available for a range of Nokia phones, and since it's something new I decided to take a first look at this Skype client on my Nokia N82 and see if it really lives up to our expectations.

The application is coded in Java, so don't expect really spectacular speeds from the software. Not that I'm against Java or anything, but for the time being it's just not as nifty compared to native C++ coded applications.

Okay, enough about programming jargon. Rather than using data connections (3G/EDGE/WiFi) to process calls, this is stated on the official Skype page:

How Much Does It Cost?

Call Skype contacts
The cost of a local or national call on your mobile (or use your inclusive minutes).

IM and being online
There’s a data charge from your operator. A person with 20 contacts, who’s online for 1 hour, IMs for 10 minutes and has a 20 minute call each day will use about 1MB of data per month. The more data you use, the higher your charges may be.

Receive calls from Skype contacts
If you receive a call in the UK, you pay our SkypeOut rate for a call to a UK mobile. If you're in Estonia, you pay our rate for a call to an Estonia mobile and so on.

Receive calls to your SkypeIn number
Same as above.

This basically means that Skype-Skype calls are based on your phone plan's minutes rather than being a 'free and unlimited' call, as it is on the Desktop. And suppose that a relative or friend from abroad calls you via Skype - you've got to pay for the incoming call at the SkypeOut rate too! It sounds like a deal between Skype and local operators, and I think this might be just a bit too much for consumers to accept...

Now to the interface:


Looking familiar? It's quite simple but very effective - there really isn't any need to put so much information, as space is basically real estate on screens that have a 320 x 240 resolution.

Clicking on a user gives a few options: "Chat" or "View Profile". No "Call" option. Yes, in this beta you can only receive calls from others via your service provider, and the lack of ability to call others really hampers the usefulness of this software. I honestly can't see myself using this if I'm only allowed to receive calls on it.

And that's about all the special features on the official Skype client. Eagerly awaited by the masses - but I think it's somewhat of a disappointment considering the fact that you can't make outgoing calls, it uses your phone plan minutes rather than data for receiving calls, and calls from abroad are charged at SkypeOut rates. There's still plenty of potential for improvements before the final release, so I hope more is done in the meantime.

You can get the client here!

Here's a very useful free application for all N82 owners for taking those screenshots of your phone's screen - it's called 'Screenshot' and there really isn't much to say about it except that it's extremely intuitive and easy to use.

The download link is available here; just an extra note: the software uses the "Pencil" key as the hotkey to take screenshots. Since the N82 does not have the "Pencil" key, remember to map the screen capture hotkey to some other button, such as the "C" (Delete) key.


This can be done via Screenshot >> Options >> Settings >> Shortcut and changing the shortcut of the image capture to the delete button.