New firmware version now available

Firmware version v20.0.0.015 is now available for Nokia N95. Lots of improvements including new camera software, new version of Maps application and most importantly Demand Paging. I just installed the new firmware and I can confirm that demand paging really makes a big difference. The phone seems so much faster now.

Nokia N95 Software version 20.0.015 released - 26 November 2007

This software version includes battery, stability & performance improvements enabling you to run faster and longer - giving you up to three more hours of music (up to 30% increase, from 9h to 12h of music playback). This release also includes a new version of Nokia Maps which provides faster positioning, faster Map Loader, and free 3-day navigation. Free N-Gage demo games are included and other games are available via Download! With the Nokia Music Store now live in the United Kingdom, users can enjoy the convenience of instant over-the-air downloads, regardless of where they are.

After updating your device software to 20.0.015, and restoring your personal data, you can optimise the menu layout by installing the New_Menu_Structure.SIS file. Download and install this file to rearrange your menu layout specifically for SW 20.0.015. Reboot your device to see the menu changes.

It's been a while since my last post. First I was on holiday and then traveling for business and there just wasn't enough time to update my blog. I didn't even have much time to follow what was happening in the world of Nokia and N95. What a surprise when I visited Nokia Beta Labs yesterday. The betalabs team has been busy.
There are new versions of:

• Sports Tracker
• NSeries PC Suite 2.0
• Gizmo for S60
• Mobile Web Server
• Wellness Diary
• Device Status

And if that isn't enough, there are completely new application as well:

• Internet Tablet Video Converter
• Advertising Powered Download!
• Nokia Audiobooks
• Mosh Client

Looking forward to test many of these in the coming days.

Nokia Beta Labs

In addition to the not so succesful launh of Nseries PC Suite 2.0, Nokia beta labs has recently introduced three great applications:

• Conversation - "Conversation is a messaging application that allows you to follow your conversations, organized by individual contacts. In addition, the application provides an easy way for replying to messages, and to continue the conversations."
• Share Online - "Share Online makes it easy to post photos and video from your phone straight to your blog, photo sharing site, or other online community. You can control the file size and quality of your photos and video, add text to your posts, and browse to your page to see how it looks once you`re done."
• Device Status - "Nokia Device Status is a self-diagnosis tool that allows you to collect detailed system information both from your PC and your S60 device. Your current device configuration and phone settings are presented in a detailed summary, which you can use to determine the exact cause, if you run into problems."

Keep an eye on Nokia Beta Labs for great free applications for your phone.

Finally - Google Maps with GPS for N95

This is great news for all of us N95 users. The latest version of Google Mobile Maps now supports the internal GPS of N95. To see your location on the map, go to menu and select "Show my location".

To install point your phone's browser to www.google.com/gmm and follow the instructions.

Time out for Nseries PC Suite 2.0

The Nseries PC Suite 2.0 was released for public beta testing last week and now it has been temporarily removed from Nokia Beta Labs. It just wasn't ready for public release yet.

This was definitely the right decision and hopefully soon we'll have a better version to test. At least I'm looking forward to it.

Nokia Nseries PC-Suite 2.0 Beta

Nokia has released a new beta version of Nseries PC-Suite. It is actually a collections of Nokia Nseries and third-party PC applications, such as Nseries Update Manager, Map Loader, Software Updater, Nokia Music Manager, Nokia PC Sync, Download!, Nokia Photos. In theory it sounds great to integrate all this into one easy to use package. In practice it's not that simple.

First of all, before you download this application make sure you have a fast broadband connection - the installation package is huge, roughly 350 MB. Even though it includes the latest version of .Net framework, it's still huge. And why do I have to download the .Net framework if I already have it installed. It just doesn't make any sense.

Also if you have an older computer with not so much memory, don't even think about installing it. It's a real memory hog. I have a fast computer with 2 GB memory but I still don't want to install and use applications that use a lot of memory for practically nothing. I need the memory available for other applications that I frequently use.

I like the idea of bringing all the applications under one application launcher. However, a lot of software development and optimization is still needed before Nseries PC-Suite will be permanently installed in my computer. I already uninstalled it from my computer.

If you still want to try it visit Nokia Beta Labs.

US 3G variant of N95 announced

Symbian has officially announced the US 3G version of Nokia N95.

Some improvements over standard N95:

• US 3G/HSDPA/UMTS
• 124 MB of RAM
• 1 GB microSD included
• higher capacity battery

Sounds good! Unfortunately, just like the N95 8GB, also this version comes without camera lens protection. In my opinion this is a big minus. The lens protector in N95 works really well and has kept my N95 camera clean - no dust and no scratches after months of hard use.