Symbian in Motion

This came up in a conversation with Ricky and as it turns out from checking around several forums, this little trick isn’t as well known as I thought. Did you know that there are several applications on your s60 3rd device that you can’t access? I would think that this will vary from region to region but I have yet to see a device with apps like Navigator, Landmarks, and Positioning freely available in a menu. Why? Don’t ask me. Enough people have been ranting lately so I’m not going to go there…

Using an excellent (and affordable) payware task manager called Best Taskman by Smartphoneware, you can access and launch the various preinstalled apps that Nokia didn’t want to share with you. By the way, in my opinion Best Taskman is certainly true to its name and is by far the best task manager currently available for s60 3rd.

Once you’ve installed Best Taskman you must first enable “Show hidden apps” from within the Misc -> Options menu.

Now simply scroll over to the “Installed” apps view and take a look around. You’ll find a bunch of unfamiliar apps listed there - some can be opened and some can’t.

Landmarks might be an interesting app for some. Using landmarks along with a bluetooth GPS receiver you can record your GPS position and then message it to another s60 3rd device user (or you can enter a position manually). They can then use your “landmark message” to navigate right to your position! Pretty neat when you’re trying to find your friends at a bar across town or meet someone in an unfamiliar city.

You can also save your landmarks, categorize them, and use them for a variety of things. An example is in Handy Weather by Epocware. If your city is not listed in the database you can add it using a landmark instead of having to manually import the lat/long. There would probably be a myriad of creative landmark integrations that developers would come up with if this app was more accessible.

One last thing to note is that some people may have experienced problems when trying to use apps that require an external bluetooth GPS receiver. Within s60 3rd devices there is an app called Positioning that allows you to enable/disable your GPS methods. My N80 for example, shipped with bluetooth GPS disabled and I wasn’t able to use any navigation apps with my Nokia LD-3W until I enabled it.

Perhaps once Smart settings for s60 3rd is released we’ll have an easier way to access these apps but for the time being, Best Taskman is it.

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I’ve come to realize over the past few days that there are still a lot of people who aren’t familiar with all of the different options with regards to using Skype services on s60 3rd devices. Well I’m going to do my part to remedy that. I’ve already told you about fring which is a great app that I use all the time, and it’s great for users with 3G coverage and/or access to WLANs. iSkoot on the other hand is an app that approaches Skype in a completely different way and allows you to make high quality calls to your Skype contacts (and SkypeOut calls) over your GSM voice network. Best of all, it’s freeware (for the time being). Users with an X-Series phone from 3 UK have been using iSkoot for quite some time and most of them probably didn’t even know it because of the branding.

iSkoot provides users with Skype voice calling only and does not support IM via Skype. Once you install iSkoot (you can download it here and install using your PC or receive a link via WAP) you are asked to enter your Skype username/password and then you are logged in. Future log ins are done automatically when iSkoot is opened as long as the relevant option is enabled. Your Skype contacts are displayed on the main iSkoot screen along with their status (note: the status takes a LONG time to update so if you want to call someone, best to give it a try rather than waiting to see the ‘online’ icon appear). iSkoot uses GPRS to load your contact information and updates the info via GPRS every so often.

To initiate a call to one of your contacts, simply highlight the contact and press your green Send key. iSkoot then places a call to a server in your region (you pick your country before downloading the app) via your GSM voice network. The iSkoot server quickly connects you to your Skype contact via VoIP and the call quality is very impressive although I’m sure it will vary at times if there is high iSkoot traffic in your region.

Placing a SkypeOut call is also very simple. Just press [Options] and scroll to Dial. Enter the phone number (including country code) that you would like to call and then press [Dial].

Within the Options menu you can also check your Skype credit to ensure that you have a SkypeOut balance on your account and toggle your Skype status between online/invisible/etc.

Receiving calls is also possible in theory but I have yet to successfully receive a call. In order to enable this function you must select “Set to receive calls” from the options menu and enter your mobile number.

In the end, iSkoot is a good app on its way to being great. I can already see that it’s well on its way to becoming a subscription-based service so it will be interesting to see what that will do to iSkoot’s market share with the various other Skype solutions available. I must say though that once a few minor bugs are ironed out this will likely become one of my most used apps.

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SHAPE Services S60 3rd Applications, part 1 - IM+

There is little doubt in my mind that if you’re reading this you have probably already heard of IM+ by SHAPE Services. IM+ is the application that won Handango’s “Best Application for Life” award in 2006 and beyond that it is currently the best selling s60 3rd application on the Handango site. Track record and Handango Champion award aside, I had to ask myself, “Is it really that good?” Well after getting a chance recently to play with this app along with a few other SHAPE products I got to see first hand what all the fuss was about.

There are several IM solutions out there for s60 3rd; some freeware and some payware. The simple fact however is that no other IM solution currently available is as well-made and user friendly as IM+. IM+ is also compatible with more IM systems than any other solution, offering access to MSN®, AOLâ„¢, Yahoo!®, Google® Talk, ICQ® and Jabber®. That’s right - you can be logged into six different IM accounts and actively hold multiple IM sessions on each of them at the same time! If you can manage that then you’re far more skilled than I am, but it’s nice to know that the option is there…

Setting up IM+ is extremely easy and the layout is ideal. When opening the app you are greeted by the main screen as IM+ automatically logs into your configured services (only the ones set up for auto-connect of course, others are listed on the main screen but will remain offline until you log in manually). Icons across the top of the screen are always present to indicate which services you are logged into. From there, the Services option within the menu sets forth a variety of options and allows you to manually log in and out of your accounts and set your online status for each account. You can also access individual account settings from within the Services option.

Once logged in to one or more IM services, your contacts are displayed under the IM service name along with their status. Despite the fact that you can have up to six contact lists being displayed at once, the display on the main page is very logical and easy to read. IM+ uses a file tree structure and gives you the ability to maximize/minimize each IM service, and then each contact category (ie Friends, Coworkers, Family, etc) if you have categories defined. If you look at the first image above or the image below you can see that each IM service is designated with a red marker and each contact category is designated with a green marker.

Chatting with your contacts is quick and easy. Just click on a contact to open a chat window. As you start typing (with T9 support) a new message box opens up automatically and then closes once you’ve sent your message. This allows you to see as many lines of your session as possible. You can also quickly insert emoticon graphics while typing a message by pressing Options or simply by pressing the joystick select button.

Sitting on both ends of the chat session above, I was amazed at how fast the response was from IM+. It’s just as real-time as any IM client is from PC to PC! Chat history can be stored if desired on the phone memory or your memory card (the number of sessions is configurable). IM+ also allows you to send files such as pictures and audio clips to any of your available contacts by pressing Options with your contact highlighted.

There really are too many options and features to cover everything in one short review but suffice it to say that SHAPE has covered all of their bases. Even the zoom levels of the contacts screen and the dialogue screen are individually adjustable.

SHAPE Services gives you unlimited use of IM+ for a one time purchase fee. Their main competitor on the other hand, charges the same amount for just one year of subscription to their IM service. When you consider that IM+ also offers more IM services, features, and options then their competitor, that’s quite a bargain! If you don’t want to take my word for it, a full featured seven day trial of IM+ is available on their download page.

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About a week ago I was lucky enough to stumble across an app that has truly impressed me and beyond anything else, it is changing the way that I listen to music. I am a huge music enthusiast and music makes up a large part of my life as an amatuer musician/former audio engineer. My home studio, extensive music library, internet radio, and Sirius satellite radio are all invaluable to me. Well now I have something else to add to that list of invaluable music resources - MyStrands.

MyStrands/Social Player is much more than just a freeware music player for your S60 3rd device. It is a community and a music discovery service that - among other things - analyzes the songs you listen to and makes real-time recommendations based on several factors. I don’t want to get into too much detail about the website and free services (because this is an S60 3rd apps review blog!) but you should begin your MyStrands experience by signing up for a free account on their site.

The S60 3rd app itself is listed on the download page as only being compatible with the E60. The forthcoming version (Social Player 2.4) is compatible with other S60 3rd devices and should be formally released within about one month. The following review is of the upcoming version 2.4 so some features may vary between versions 1.0 and 2.4. To avoid confusion, note that version 1.0 of this app is called ‘MyStrands’ while the upcoming version has been renamed to ‘Social Player’.

Once installed on your S60 3rd device and launched for the first time, Social Player asks for your username and password or you may create an account if you do not already have one. While there is an offline mode, to fully experience MyStrands you should also choose a data connection type. The app supports WLAN, 3G, and GPRS although certain functions are inhibited with GPRS due to bandwidth limitations. Once entered, this information is then saved for future logins.

The main screen gives you direct access to the various sections of the app: My Music, Now Playing, My Recs (recommendations), Who’s Listening (other MyStrands members who have listened to the song you are currently playing), and Community (your MyStrands friends). Once you build your music library and sync it for the first time through the options menu (both functions were performed surprisingly fast with 330 songs on my memory card) you’re ready to go. Browsing through your library can be done by Track, Artist, Album, or Playlist. Once you select the track(s) you want to listen to, choose play -> selected.

If available, the album art is displayed on the player screen. I was surprised at the fact that album art was even displayed for much of my more obscure music.

Scroll to the next section of Social Player or access it through the Options menu to view recommendations according to the track you are currently playing. The number of recommendations displayed is configurable in Settings. Recommendations are quickly loaded and displayed alongside their album art, the fun really starts. Pressing the Options key allows you to view info about each recommendation and even stream the song clip right to your device!

The next section of Social Player is Who’s Listening. Here you can see a list of other community members who have listened to the track you are currently playing. Select one of the members listed and you can add them as a friend and even view their profile and play history in the integrated browser!

The Community section allows you to view a list of your friends and access their profiles as well as their play histories. You can also manage your friends list and view your own profile and play history. For those friends with the option enabled you can also send them sms messages.

The future is very bright for MyStrands and I really can’t wait to see what new features will be available in future versions of Social Player. Among the items on my “wish list” are a more traditional library browser (ie Artist -> Albums -> Tracks a la iPod), keypad shortcuts for play/pause/etc, and album art that displays from the tag if available. Beyond Social Player there are also many more offerings and functions available on the MyStrands site including plugins for popular PC media players, PartyStrands which allows you to view details, pictures, playlists, and more for various parties around the world (way too much to explain, you have to check it out), IndieRadio, and links to listen to and/or purchase recommended songs from one of various vendors including iTunes and amazon.com.

Once you do sign up for your free account, be sure to add me to your community!

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One thing to note: Version 1.0 of this app reads the following directories to build your library - additional directories that have been added in Social Player 2.4 are marked with an ‘*’

E:
E:\Sounds
E:\Sounds\Digital
E:\Sounds\Simple
E:\MyMusic
E:\Others

C:\Data
C:\Data\Others
C:\Data\Sounds
C:\Data\Sounds\Digital
C:\Data\Sounds\Simple
C:\Data\Videos

*E:\Data
*E:\Data\Others
*E:\Data\Sounds
*E:\Data\Sounds\Digital
*E:\Data\Sounds\Simple
*E:\Data\Videos

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