Symbian in Motion

I’m glad that Olly decided to put his thoughts with regards to Comes With Music down on [virtual] paper. In my eyes, this is a service that could have so much potential if done properly but from what we’re seeing and reading, it’s just more of the same. We had this conversation quite some time ago and Olly had some great ideas with regards to how Nokia might create a music offering worth exploring.

Every web browser is capable of streaming music / downloading files and every S60 device is capable of doing the same. Why not put purchased music in a “digital locker” that I can access from anywhere? Not physically of course, merely designate tracks I purchase in a database and make them accessible to me. Allow me to make online playlists and recommend artists / tracks to me based not only on my purchase history but also my play history. Allow me to stream my purchases whenever I want, wherever I want. Allow me to download my purchases whenever I want, wherever I want. The technology is here now.

Instead, Nokia seems to be assembling what will become ‘just another music store’ with the addition of free downloads for a year. While “free downloads for a year” sounds attractive on the surface, I can already listen to free music from a million different places - legally even. Muxtape, Last.fm, Pandora, Songza, SkreemR, iMEEM, SeeqPod and so on and so forth. Some people might get lured in by free unlimited downloads for a year though, despite the fact that I won’t. Once they’re in however, what is going to keep them there? Nokia cannot and should not try to compete with iTunes. If that’s the game plan Nokia may as well throw in the towel right now. Nokia needs to build a new and exciting ALTERNATIVE to iTunes; a product that introduces new and exciting technology in a well-built and attractive web app accessible from any computer or handset in the world.

Nokia is trying to be an “Internet Company” but lack of innovation is going to be a huge roadblock. Share on Ovi? Why not Flickr or any one of a thousand other services? Files on Ovi? Been there, done that. Nokia’s position is perfect on one level - become an Internet Company and use the hundreds of millions of handsets you sell to hock your wares. The truth of the matter however, is that this very fact will make or break Nokia. Use your great position to pitch products that are “more of the same” and you’re doomed. Innovate, and the world is your oyster.

Did you guys catch the most recent Flixwagon update details? They’re definitely making it hard to to use Qik / Ktye right now…

• Share on Twitter and YouTube directly from phone: you can share individual videos on twitter and YouTube directly  from your device, as well as customize the message or titles. All you need to do is add your Twitter or YouTube account details on Flixwagon.com, and then you can customize posts directly from your phone.
• Detailed sharing from device: on your device you can now easily choose which specific groups (friends, family, etc.) can access your video. Make sure you set up your contacts, groups, and alerts first on flixwagon.com and you can start sharing flix with them on the fly.
• Digital zoom-in and zoom-out.
• Post messages back to chat. You can send IM messages back to the video chat room, making chats around your video 2-way. This is especially useful when you want to respond to your viewers’ comments without interrupting the video or audio in the broadcast.
• Change title: you can now change the video title directly from the phone while broadcasting.  This is great when the ‘right’ headline comes to you while you broadcast (and can help more viewers discover your broadcast while you’re still broadcasting live).
• Choose between delay or video quality: in the preferences section you can determine whether your broadcasts will be optimized for the shortest delay, or highest video quality.

Digital zoom and the ability to chat via text are awesome additions to the app. It’s still the best out there in terms of quality as well. All the big boys seem to be sticking to Qik though, despite the fact that not much seems to be going on in terms of app development. Is it just a case of the Twitter effect; popular people use it so everyone uses it? Let me know in the comments section - what live video streaming service do you guys use most often and why?

I’ve discussed the good and the bad with regards to the N95 8GB, some here on SiMo but mostly elsewhere as this handset has been discussed ad nauseum throughout the blogosphere. One thing that hasn’t been discussed very much - and I find this incredibly surprising - it the audio quality.

The N95 8GB is the King Kong of do it all handsets, at least until the N96 is released. It’s supposed to be a multimedia phenom as the hoards of marketing would dictate. A multimedia computer. But forget about the marketing, plenty of you have used this handset. Great 2.8″ display, 30 fps video recording, a host of music, video and streaming possibilities, etc. The thing that continuously amazes me however, the the incredibly sub par audio quality I have experienced with Nokia handsets.

It’s a shame really. I have so little to complain about when it comes to the N95 8GB. It seems like the only real downsides however, are huge ones. The amazingly inadequate transfer speeds brought on by USB 1.1 and the terrible OEM email support are other examples. This however, is my big one. I’m an audiophile through and through, and every time I use my handset to listen to music I die a little inside. Ok, that’s a bit of an exaggeration…

I don’t want to get too deep into this rant, but as Nokia pushes its new music store, Comes with Music, and so on; I sincerely hope that this issue is addressed. I’ve used the N95 8GB with the included ear buds, the aux-in in my car, top of the line studio monitors and everything in between. Unfortunately even the best of the best can’t salvage the audio hardware in this handset. In fact, most mid-range MP3 players I’ve used significantly trump the audio quality of the N95 8GB (and other Nokia models). I love having one device that can do it all so to speak, so I often bite the bullet and just use the N95 8GB as a music player. You know that face you make when you taste something extremely sour though? That’s the face I make each time I start up a music player on my N95 8GB.

The first thing I’m going to do once I get my hands on the N96 is load up a few MP3s and fire up the music player. I really, really hope that I am pleasantly surprised.

Thanks to Gerry Moth, a man I’m loving more with each passing minute, I am in the process of trying what looks to be the first functional Last.fm player for S60. It’s called Blastfm and it was built in Python. Sure, it’s not the optimal solution but beggers can’t be choosers! The app is in beta so be kind, but it allows you to stream various Last.fm stations and that is exactly what we’ve been looking for.

The problem - so far I’m not having any luck with it at all on my N95 8GB NAM. The app crashes with a System error (-2) as soon as I hit OK after entering my Last.fm credentials. I’m going to keep trying though because I’ve been waiting for this functionality forever…

Try it out, the download link is in the Nokia Addict post. Also, be sure to pay homage to M3 Solutions for putting this puppy together - if you can get it working! Make sure you read the Nokia Addict post before you try to install it!

UPDATE: Still not working for me guys. I’m giving up for now - let me know how it works out for you!

Nokia’s Open to Anything line of viral commercials are great. Above, the latest addition can be seen featuring “The Amazing Stan”. Very cute. Actually, I missed the ball a while back when the great folks at WOM World sent me a little packing containing the competitive eating commercial (hotdog eating competition lover) packed with a cute little surprise. I was a bit busy at teh time and completely forgot to post about it. Well, better late than never I suppose. While I didn’t find the surprise overly tasty, my dog Thunder disagreed…

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