Scheherazade Updated to V1.01

When version 1.0 of Scheherazade was released few weeks ago, I decided not to talk about it here because I was thinking that a free application like this would seldom receive updates. However, I think I was wrong as I just saw V1.01 of this application.

Scheherazade for S60 is a handy app which has been developed to make listening to audio books and podcasts easier. This free application is totally accessible, too, and I use it on my N82 daily. The following is the changelog.

Version 1.01:

• Resume playing after call: Scheherazade will resume playing if a call interrupts playing, there will be a rewind (by default 30 seconds, user can change this from settings menu) to let user remember the story after the distraction of a call.
• Voice tagging: user can start recording their voice by pressing and holding “5″ on phone, recording will stop by releasing the key. This feature is disabled by default and user needs to enable it from the settings menu to start using it.
• Smooth rewind/forward: pressing and holding the left/right or 4/6 keys results a smooth backward/forward.
• Full support for Unicode file names. special thanks to Lena Kragelund (Livia) for helping with tests.

V1.00:

• Drag and listen design, no conversion to weird formats or index files needed.
• Just create an “Audiobooks” folder in your memory card (or phone memory) and drag your audiobooks to it.
• You can delete parts that you’ve already listened to, in order to free up some space.
• Remembers your listening position separately for each book/podcast.
• Multi level directories for each book (supports Book/Chapter/file or more levels of directories).
• Supports single file books/podcasts, just copy the file to Audiobooks folder on your phone.
• Short rewind/forward by pressing left and right keys, default period is 20 seconds, adjustable by selecting Settings menu.
• Long rewind/forward by pressing 4and 6 keys, default period is 60 seconds, adjustable from Settings menu.
• Rewind can take listening position to previous chapter if it is at the beginning of a file, likewise forward can take it to next chapter.
• Pressing 7 and 9 keys will take the listener to previous and next chapters.
• Check http://www.platysoft.com.au for new versions.
• OK key acts as play/pause. There is a rewind on pause effect helping the listener to remember the story next time play is pressed. The auto rewind on pause is 5 seconds by default and can be changed from settings.
• File progress bar on the top of the screen indicates listening position in the current file.
• Total progress bar on the bottom of screen indicates listening position relative to the book.
• Can play any file format the phone plays, this by default includes “.wav”, “.mp3″, “.m4b”, “.m4a”, “.wma”, “.amr” and ”.acc”.
• Other formats can be added by installing the MMFs, for example ”.awb” and ”.flac”.

Please Change my Profile: How to Do It with Style

Profiles are at the heart of our everyday mobile computing. Many of us switch back and forth among a wide range of default and tailor-made profiles without ever wondering how we could manage daily tasks in case our handsets didn’t offer such a feature. At any rate, there are many things our profiles can’t achieve without the assistance of third-party applications. I was sure I would uninstall all relevant third-party applications after finishing this review, but now I’m determined to keep at least one of them on my N82 because what the Symbian operating system offers with regards to profiles is obviously insufficient. If you want to know which application is more feature-rich when it comes to wielding profiles, read the rest of this article. Two applications exist which do all sorts of profile tinkering: Handy Profiles by Epocware and Best Profiles by Smartphoneware.

 

What do they share?

Both applications have a tab sheet which displays the list of available profiles on your handset. You can opt to switch to a certain profile manually or set the application to do it for you automatically based on a pre-specified rule. Both apps are launched when the handset starts without annoying you in the task manager. In terms of extra features and rule adjustment Best Profiles can be regarded as the more advanced app, though. Other than the tab sheet which displays the list of profiles, Best Profiles has 4 more tabs.

 

Handy Profiles

Found in the Handy folder, Handy Profiles displays the profile list as it is opened. Pressing “Key 1″ on a profile displays the following options:

• Activate,
• Timed activation,
• Personalize,
• Edit rules,
• New,
• Set as default,
• Settings,\
• Help,
• About,
• Register,
• Exit.

If the focus is on a profile other than General, you’ll also get a “Rename” option which is useful for changing the profile name. As you can guess, pressing “Select” on Activate makes the currently highlighted profile active, and an icon appears to the left of the activated profile. The “Timed activation” feature allows you to specify how long a specified profile should remain active. Selecting the “Personalize” option opens the familiar personalize profile window which helps you change your ringing tone, switch on/off the vibrating mode, alter the keypad tones, and so forth. Handy Profile’s “Set as default” option is unique in that it can force the handset to use a profile if no other rule applies to other profiles. For instance, if you set the General profile as your default profile, the phone always switches to it if other rules haven’t been defined to activate the Silent profile.

The “New” option is practically useless as far as profile modification inside Handy Profiles is concerned, because selecting it displays the following message:

“Third-party applications cannot create and delete profiles due to security reasons. You can do this in standard Profiles application. Do you want to start it now?”

The nice point about both Handy Profiles and Best Profiles is that they can activate different profiles based on the rules you specify; however, Handy Profiles is rather limited in terms of rule provision. Neither does it allow users to move back and forth among rules in different tabs. You should specify rules for each profile separately by selecting the “Edit rules” option. Handy Profiles allows three rule types via the “New” submenu of the Rules window:

• Time interval,
• Calendar entry,
• Location.

I’ve talked about the “Time interval” option above, but the one offered here is much more flexible in that it can accept both the start/end times and the days in which profile activation should occur. The “Calendar entry” option allows you to specify a word which is to be found in your calendar entries. You can specify the location which is to be searched for the key word – Subject, location, description, anywhere. Whenever your pre-specified key word gets attached to a calendar entry, the profile for which you’ve created that rule gets activated. The “New location” entry functions in affiliation with GSM cells. That is, the application searches for your current GSM cell and, upon your initial confirmation, activates a profile whenever that cell is reached. You can also select a previously found cell or several cells for this to happen. This is not an accurate method of profile switching, but it proves to be quite useful for many occasions. The more rules you specify, the better you can customize automatic profile switching because each rule does its own job without taking into account what other rules are supposed to do.

Handy Profiles offers a handy feature via its Settings window which customizes the behavior of the Power key when it’s either pressed or held down. This setting, missing in Best Profiles, can help you switch to Handy Profiles or the standard profile list when you press the Power key. Quite astonishingly, you can select to switch to Handy Profiles when you hold down the Power key – this prevents the long press of Power key from switching off the handset! Finally, there’s no way of actually shutting down Handy Profiles as the phone starts because the application doesn’t allow you to disable it, and this should be achieved by killing it via an application like Best TaskMan — Handy Taskman can’t simply do it.

Best Profiles

Before using Best Profiles, you should turn it on by pressing “Key 1″ to access the menu options. This means that you can easily prevent Best Profiles from taking over your profiles when the need arises – not implemented in Handy Profiles. Found in the humble Applications folder, Best Profiles displays five tab sheets:

• Profiles,
• Schedules,
• Calendar rules,
• GSM locations,
• Charger rules.

The first tab, “Profiles”, displays the list of system profiles. Pressing “Key 1″ on each profile displays the following options:

• Turn off/Turn on,
• Activate, submenu:
  • Activate,
  • Activate at,
  • Activate after,
  • Activate for,
  • Activate and lock,
  • Activate and lock for.
• Advanced settings,
• Switch to, submenu:
  • Profiles,
  • Schedule,
  • Calendar rules,
  • GSM locations,
  • Charger rules.
• About,
• Help,
• Exit.

Unlike Handy Profiles, Best Profiles provides a wide range of options at the time of activating a profile. The Activate submenu is capable of controlling how long a profile should remain active or when it should become activated. Both “Activate and lock” and “Activate and lock for” options help users activate a certain profile and at the same time stop the processing of other rules, meaning you can simply activate a profile without worrying about the interference of other profile rules, and this can be done with or without a timer. Needless to say, when a profile is active, an icon appears to its right.

The Schedules tab is a versitle tool for defining various rules by which profiles would be activated or deactivated. Again, the flexibility you see here cannot be observed in the more expensive app: Handy Profiles. If you select the “New” option from the menu, you can modify the following fields:

• Activate time — (specify a time),
• Condition — (specify a day or several days),
• Profile — (specify a profile name),
• Priority – (specify the level),
• Allow deactivate – (no or yes).

If “Allow deactivate” is set to “Yes”, you can select to activate either the previous profile or another system profile. Moreover, pressing “Key 1″ in this tab reveals another option titled “View today rules). This is a convenient way of monitoring the profiles which are to be activated on a specific date along with their rules. Very exciting, isn’t it? This is also present in the next tab: Calendar rules. The Calendar rules tab is very similar to the same feature found in Handy Profiles; however, unlike Best Profiles, Handy Profiles can specify the place where searching should be executed. Again, you can opt to restore a previously used profile in this tab. The “GSM locations” tab sheet offers the features found in Handy Profiles, with the exception that Best Profiles can specify the activation condition – “on enter” or “on exit”.

The fifth and final tab sheet, “Charger rules”, allows you to switch to a profile whenever you plug or unplug the charger. It has two rules titled “Charger on” and “Charger off”, respectively, and their default state is set to “Don’t change”. Can you locate such a thing in Handy Profiles?

Where “advanced settings” enter the stage

If the focus is in the first Best Profiles tab sheet, you can modify several important settings by selecting “Advanced settings” from the menu. Let’s take a look at these seven settings without providing any description whatsoever:

• Wallpaper – don’t change,
• Sound on activate – no sound,
• Sound volume,
• Bluetooth – don’t change,
• Backlight – normal,
• Run application – no application,
• Theme – don’t change.

Imagine being able to activate a certain application, turn on Bluetooth, switch to a different theme and alter the wallpaper without any intervention at the time of activating a certain profile. Best Profiles is capable of doing all of these. What’s more, it can be set to close the app it has opened or enable Bluetooth with or without the “visible” mode.

Which one do you prefer?

I’m not sure about your choice as you might want to give both apps a try, but my favorite is “Best Profiles” with its advanced activation rules, advanced settings, schedules and multiple/easily accessible tabs. Handy Profiles can nicely take over the behavior of the Power key, but it lacks Best Profile’s wide range of features such as charger rules and application switching. Both apps offer comprehensive program help as they are installed on your handset. At the time of this writing, Best Profiles costs $11.95 and Handy Profiles costs €19.95. Again, the price tag is a tad in favor of Best Profiles, but don’t forget to try them on your own before making a purchasing decision.

Nokia 5320 XpressMusic Detailed Specs

Today we gained a full understanding of what the newly announced Nokia 5320 XpressMusic would offer – courtesy of Forum Nokia. Basically, it’s a 90-g dual mode handset supporting EGSM 850/900/1800/1900 and WCDMA/HSDPA 900/2100. It is said that the device provides up to 24 hours of music playback, but I’m actually wondering how a BL-5 3.7V 890 mAh battery is capable of doing that. Nokia 5320 XpressMusic would offer 140 MB of maximum user storage and 85 MB of free executable RAM – really generous for a mid-tier cell phone. I’m sure many people are looking forward to getting their hands on an S60 3^rd Edition FP2 device like this.

Strong Demand for Cell Phones is on the Increase

It seems that none of the crises the world faces have managed to stop the increasing demand for cell phones. According to this BBC report, 282 million handsets were shipped worldwide in the first 3 months of 2008, up 14% from a year ago. The cited source predicts that 290 million handsets will be sold in the second quarter of this year, up 12% from the same period a year earlier. Much of this growth is related to the eye-catching demand in emerging markets, particularly in Africa and Asia.

The nice point, however, is that Nokia has managed to maintain its lead while the competitors have been struggling with market share losses. The following stats support my claim.

 

Handset market share in Q1 2008

• Nokia 40.9%,
• Samsung 16.4%,
• Motorola 9.7%,
• LG Electronics 8.6%,
• Sony Ericsson 7.9%,
• Others 16.4%.

Nokia’s dominance is, I believe, owing to the fact that its fabulous handset portfolio satisfies all users all over the world. Also, Nokia’s provision of handset-related services such as GPS positioning via Nokia maps, Comes with music, the music store, Ovi services and n-Gage entertainment will contribute to this trend in the future.

Skype for Mobile is Disappointing

Not surprisingly, I just found Skype for Mobile released as a beta application. The fact that Skype is now paying attention to Symbian and UIQ platforms is a good piece of news for many users, but who wants this overly slapdash attention?

The Skype mobile client has been written in Java, meaning the interface is quite cumbersome and application execusion is a tad slow. Also, from an accessibility perspective, it’s not compatible with Symbian screen readers like Nuance TALKS and Code Factory Mobile Speak – confirmed on my N82 which has TALKS installed. Obviously they have selected Java to address a wider range of handsets without being forced to adopt a costlier platform-specific approach. Equally important is the way Skype handles VoIP conversations. It uses your internet connection for text chats, but routes all calls through the PSTN (phone) network. This very limitation defeats the rationale behind developing and using Skype. It’s worth mentioning that iSkoot for Skype also makes use of such a solution for VoIP conversations, but Fring doesn’t.

To download Skype for your handset, visit http://www.skype.com/m on your cell phone. At the end of the day, it seems to me that if IM+ for Skype adds free Skype-to-Skype call capabilities, it would become the best Skype client, surpassing iSkoot for Skype, Fring, and the newly released Skype for Mobile beta. I’m a bit disappointed because the Skype client for Nokia tablet devices does make use of the available internet connection for all sorts of Skype calls, but Symbian S60 users shouldn’t keep their hopes high.

They Want to Connect us All: an Interview with SHAPE Services Marketing Manager

As I heard Helen’s voice at the other end of the line, I immediately recognized that the interview would be an exciting one. Not only did I receive a warm welcome, but unlike my preconceptions she was willing to talk about future application enhancements and observable bugs. What you read below is my interview with SHAPE Services marketing manager, Helen Khais. Before reading the interview, please note that SHAPE Services will bounteously offer two IM+ All-In-One Mobile Messenger licenses and two IM+ for Skype licenses to four individuals who take time to comment on this interview in the comments section. As indicated at the end of this post, the people who provide us with the most comprehensive feature requests will get the prizes. Alternatively, feel free to ask any questions or send your comments because you might very well get the prize in case very few people decide to swamp us with feature requests.

 

Q: Please talk about yourself and the position you have at SHAPE Services.

A: I’m Helen Khais and work as SHAPE Services marketing manager. In general, I try to organize resellers and integrate them into the infrastructure of the company. I’m not directly involved in application development, but I provide application developers with user requests and bug reports.

Q: When was SHAPE Services founded?

A: It was founded in 2002.

Q: In which countries are you currently active?

A: We are headquartered in Germany, and have an office in Odessa, Ukraine and in Ekaterinburg, Russia. As you know our users are spread all across the globe.

Q: Does the fact that you don’t have an office in North America negatively affect your sales and the provision of technical support to users?

A: The time difference is definitely a downside, but our sales stats in the U.S.A are quite strong. As a matter of fact, 60% of our products are sold in the North American market, and we’ll also be opening an office in the U.S.A soon.

Q: How would you describe SHAPE Services for us?

A: SHAPE Services is a company which offers a variety of applications for the whole range of mobile platforms. Our products can be installed on Java phones, Blackberry RIM, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC and Smartphone, and all Symbian subplatforms. Since 2002 SHAPE Services has been developing Real Time Communication software solutions for both individuals and enterprises. We want to help people connect to one another via their hand-held devices as smoothly as possible. Our mission is the mobilization of all important processes and demands, from communication and entertainment to business processes and productivity.

Q: How many software engineers are involved in the process of developing your Symbian-based applications?

A: Our Symbian development team consists of 5 to 7 full-time technical engineers and all development takes place in-house.

Q: Please talk about Symbian S60 products you offer.

A: Our flagship product is IM+ All-In-One Mobile Messenger, and as the name suggests it helps users Chat with their AIM, iChat, MSN and Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo!, ICQ, Jabber, Google Talk and MySpaceIM buddies in a convenient environment. Version 7.06 of this product was just released and costs $29.95. We also offer a product called IM+ for Skype which is aimed at satisfying the day-to-day needs of Skype users. Its 2.22 release costs $19.95. Our third product is Mobiscope which helps users monitor their apartments, offices and personal properties. It can be used in a good number of unique ways, and can also be set to record certain activities when the application detects a disturbance. It can transfer data in a highly secure way. V2.2 of Mobiscope costs $29.95. Finally, SHAPE Services offers a free application called GPSed. This location-based application is used to track and map trips and works with both internal and external GPS receivers. Routes can be shared with friends and traced on Google Maps. It’s also equipped with geotagging capabilities. More information about our products can be found on the SHAPE Services web site and all of them provide fully-functional trial licenses.

Q: Why do you offer a different product for Skype users? In other words, why not offer an IM+ All-In-One Mobile Messenger which would also support Skype accounts? It’s rather inconvenient to purchase and install two separate applications when, in theory at least, just one app can take care of all communication needs.

A: Our products usually follow a cross-platform style; that is, they tend to offer similar features on different mobile platforms. Part of this limitation stems from the fact that not all mobile platforms support the integration of Skype into other VoIP and IM networks via one application. Also, given the special features Skype offers, we thought a dedicated application can serve users more efficiently. The smooth integration of Skype into other networks is something we’re also looking at.

Q: Why doesn’t IM+ for Skype support free Skype-to-Skype calls? Put differently, people should have SkypeOut accounts in order to call others via IM+ for Skype, and many Skype users don’t buy this type of account. Considering the fact that IM+ for Skype competitors support free Skype-to-Skype calls, don’t you want to implement it in your products?

A: The point is that some competitors offer free Skype-to-Skype calls only on handsets that support WiFi, (e.g., Pocket PC), and others work closely with Skype which allows them to have better access to the necessary technical resources. IM+ for Skype offers good quality and cost-effective calling to landlines and cell phones and is available on all mobile platforms. The support of VoIP which will make Skype-to-Skype calls free is in our feature list.

Q: Many people have been complaining for a while that IM+ All-In-One Mobile Messenger isn’t compatible with the N82 and that it makes the N82 quite sluggish to the point of being forced to close the application. Are you aware of this issue?

A: Yes. This problem seems to be related to the way contacts are loaded in the N82. We have an N82 here and are doing our best to uproot the cause, whatever it is. Stay tuned.

Q: Quite interestingly, it doesn’t affect IM+ for Skype.

A: that’s a good thing to notice. It’ll also help pinpoint the culprit more easily.

Q: What features should we expect to find in future releases of your popular Vo-IP and IM applications?

A: Application development is an ongoing process, and soon you’ll see a tight integration between our products and popular online communities such as MySpace and Facebook – something currently missing in our competitors’ offerings.

Q: Anything you want to share with my readers?

A: We’re always interested in user feedback, so if you have any suggestions for future product releases I’d be glad to take them here. You can also send us your suggestions and bug reports via the Contacts section of our web site.

ALON MP3 Dictaphone Updated to V2.85

It’s not clear what the newly released ALON MP3 Dictaphone 2.85 offers, and the ALON Software homepage still talks about the 2.80 release of this application. However, you can download the latest release via this URL. No changelogs are available yet.

Nokia N82 wins renowned TIPA “Best Mobile Imaging Device in Europe” Award 2008

NOKIA PRESS RELEASE April 23, 2008

Largest European photo and imaging press association awards Nokia Nseries handset for camera capabilities

Espoo, Finland - Nokia today announced that the Nokia N82 multimedia computer has been awarded the “Best Mobile Imaging Device in Europe 2008″ by TIPA (Technical Image Press Association) - Europe’s largest photo and imaging press association.

“The Nokia N82 is a compact multimedia computer that integrates GPS, web, video and music functions around a 5 Megapixel camera with a high-speed, f/2.8 autofocus lens,” the TIPA jurors said. “This Carl Zeiss Tessar focuses from 10cm to infinity and produces sharp prints up to and beyond A4 size. Several scene modes are also available to optimize the Nokia N82 for great images, whether shooting portraits or night shots,” TIPA continued. Other Nokia N82 features highlighted by the jurors are the Xenon flash and 20X digital zoom.

“We are very excited to hear that the Nokia N82 has been recognized for its excellent imaging features,” says Juha Kokkonen, Director for Nokia Nseries devices. “The Nokia N82 is an excellent example of how converged devices entirely change the way people contribute to and share on the internet by combining strong camera capabilities with built-in A-GPS and an array of connectivity features.”

Taking advantage of its integrated A-GPS functionality and high resolution camera, the Nokia N82 automatically geotags images with capture location metadata, making it possible to view the capture location on a map either on the Internet or on the device itself. When it comes to sharing, people can upload their pictures or videos directly from their Nokia N82 to services like Share on Ovi, Flickr or YouTube.

The features of the Nokia N82 include:

• 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and Xenon flash,
• Geotagging,
• Possibility to capture print quality photos and DVD-like quality video clips,
• Wireless LAN connectivity and HSDPA offering high download speeds,
• Integrated A-GPS and access to maps for more than 150 countries.

 The Nokia N82 supports microSD memory cards of up to 8GB which allow the device to hold up to 3600 high-resolution pictures, 5 hours of high quality video capture, up to 6000 songs or all of the available regions for the Nokia Maps application.

TIPA was founded in 1991 as an independent, non-profit association of European photo and imaging magazines. At present, TIPA includes 31 member magazines from twelve countries.

SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT Joins Nokia Comes With Music

NOKIA PRESS RELEASE April 22, 2008

Music bundle on Nokia devices to include SONY BMG content London, United Kingdom / Espoo, Finland - Nokia today announced that SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT has officially joined Nokia Comes With Music, a revolutionary way for people to discover and enjoy music with their Nokia device. “As one of the leading major music companies in the world, our collaboration with SONY BMG means we can offer a huge range of fantastic music from both international and local artists via Comes With Music,” said Tero Ojanperä, executive vice president and head of the Nokia Entertainment and Communities business. “It’s great to have them on board as we move forward with bringing our unlimited music bundle to the market.” Mr. Ojanpera continued: “Nokia Comes With Music is an innovation that not only helps people discover and enjoy music, but also expand the overall business and revenue for the benefit of artists, labels and other rights holders.” “This initiative represents a critical new way of gaining access to music, through which fans will be able to explore SONY BMG’s vast catalog of recordings for an entire year,” commented Thomas Hesse, President, Global Digital Business & U.S. Sales, SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT. “We think this business model will encourage users to sample a wide range of material, expand their musical tastes, and listen to more music than ever before. In the process, we think it will provide new opportunities to artists from every genre of music, and increase demand for music overall.” People who buy a Nokia Comes With Music device will have a year of access to the SONY BMG rich catalog of music. Consumers will be able to download tracks to both their mobile device and computer through the Nokia Music Store during the first twelve months that they own their Nokia device. At the end of the one year period, they can keep their downloaded tracks and, should they purchase a new compatible device or computer, they can transfer their downloaded material by substituting their new device or computer for the original devices. As a result, music fans who participate in the Comes With Music experience will be able to keep their downloads on their device and/or computer for the rest of their lives. Consumers will have a number of attractive options for continuing to get new music after the Nokia Comes With Music subscription is over: they will be able to continue to purchase additional tracks from the Nokia Music Store, or move on to a Nokia “unlimited access” subscription service to enjoy new releases and catalog tracks not downloaded during the initial year. Comes With Music is expected to launch in the second half of 2008 on a range of Nokia devices in selected markets.

About Nokia Comes With MusicNokia Comes With Music enables people to buy a Nokia device with a year of unlimited access to tracks from a range of great artists - past, present and future. Once the year is complete, customers can keep all their music without having to worry about it disappearing when their subscription is over. Universal Music Group International and SONY BMG ENTERTAINMENT are part of the launch and Nokia is in discussion with many other international labels.

Nokia 5320 XpressMusic Announced

NOKIA PRESS RELEASE April 22, 2008 Nokia 5320 XpressMusic - Dynamic design, 3G social entertainment package Featuring a dynamic design with 3G social entertainment capabilities, the Nokia 5320 XpressMusic delivers exceptional music and web 2.0 access. With the innovative new voice-controlled Say and Play feature, consumers can merely say the name of a favorite artist or song to automatically play it. Offering an array of additional features, the Nokia 5320 XpressMusic device includes dedicated XpressMusic keys, a 3.5mm audio jack, up to 24 hours of playback time, an audio chip for hi-fi sound quality, extendable memory up to 8GB, HS-USB for fast music transfer and HSDPA for fast access to data. The full featured Internet browser, access to Ovi and Nokia Search 4.1 allow users to find and share media content and information with ease. In addition, dedicated N-Gage gaming keys and landscape view deliver a true gaming experience, while HSDPA provides fast access to N-Gage, which will be available for download. The Nokia 5320 XpressMusic is expected to begin shipping in the third quarter of 2008 with an estimated retail price of 220 EUR before taxes and subsidies.