Camera Phones Plaza

Nokia Beta Labs is a very important website for those who are looking for information about the latest innovations of the Finnish company, being the perfect place where Nokia developers choose to announce their applications, most of them related to the Symbian operating system and Java. If you had the chance to surf their website on the phone, you definitely saw that what you were dealing with was the desktop version.

Because they wanted to make it easier for you, the Nokia Beta Labs team decided to introduce the mobile optimized website. From now on, every time you will go to the beta labs using your mobile phone, the device should be automatically identified and the mobile optimized version of the website should appear on the screen, replacing the old one, of course, aimed at desktops.

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It might not work, so what you should do is to scroll down, straight to the bottom, and click on the button that says “Show mobile version”. What you will get to see is a brand new face of the blog. “The blog has been moved under the same system, so you are logged in with your Nokia Account”.

You should not neglect the fact that the mobile website is in the beta version, for the moment, which means you’ll be blessed with so many improvements in the near future.

(Source: Nokia Beta Labs)

I really do not know how much work is involved in major companies when it comes to the release of a new product or service, especially as far as the chances it has to succeed in the market. It is very important for each company to have the best specialists and accurate prognosis, because otherwise they are condemned to fail.

When you hear about a Nokia branded product or service, the last thing to cross your mind is that it won’t surpass anticipations. But it seems that the Finnish company has its share of failures. And guess what? Ironically, Ovi Share is one of them.

The service was launched a year ago (with approximation), sometimes in February 2008, to be more precise, and it was Nokia’s attempt to bring in the spotlight an photo sharing website, to compete others that were not only more powerful, but also better known. I’m talking about Facebook and Flickr (the last one is being owned by Yahoo), two websites that did Ovi in.

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Contrary to all expectations, Ovi Share proved to be an insignificant project for Nokia, as far as the profit is concerned. In the given context, rumors say that Nokia isn’t interested anymore in developing the service. More than that, according to Reuters, they actually plan to stop investing in Ovi Share. And because trouble never comes alone, Nokia is going to reduce the investments they planned to make in the Services department (in the whole department, unfortunately).

However, if you’re one of those who are currently using the service, you should not worry! It’s true that other online photo sharing websites managed to knock Ovi down, but you’ll be able to use in the future, because the service will be maintained just the way it is right now.

(Source: unwiredview.com)

Devices are perfect (or at least closest to perfection, if not perfect) when they do not focus on one functionality only. When a device is able to do one thing, it becomes boring, even if it does what it’s supposed to in terms of high performance.

When you buy yourself a camera, you expect it to play music, in order to make you the happiest human being alive. When, on the other hand, you go for a handheld game console, it would better come with GPS functionality, otherwise there’s nothing for you to do with it. Last, but not least, when you make up your mind for a certain GPS unit, you probably ask for the device to also take pictures. Why? I don’t know, maybe because it makes you feel like you’re the one who rules the market.

In the given context, is no wonder that the new Garmin Oregon 550 and the 550t version are two touchscreen handheld GPS devices that come with an integrated 3.2 megapixel digital camera and a 3-axis compass. The camera is able to create geotagged images, being equipped with autofocus and 4x digital zoom.

“As everyone looks for ways to do more with less, Oregon 550 and Oregon 550t can be the one GPS device you turn to for all of your activities, in any climate, or any terrain, at any time of year”, said Dan Bartel, who is the Vice President of Worldwide Sales at Garmin. In addition, he said that: “Easy enough for beginners to master, Oregon will guide you in your adventures, capture the highlights and bring them home”.

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Both devices are waterproof and come with an internal memory of 850MB, but you will also have the possibility to increase the storage capacity and data transfer with the help of a microSD card slot. Weighing no more than 6.8 ounces, the Oregon GPS devices are equipped with two precharged AA NiMH batteries which are able to provide up to 16 hours of life when charging them once.

The Oregon 550 comes with WAAS-enables GPS receiver and HotFix satellite prediction, with an integrated barometric altimeter that is able to keep under control changes in pressure. As for the 550t, it comes with detailed U.S. topographic maps.

If, for example, you’re on the road, the Optional City Navigator mapping gives you access to street map that are so very detailed, to tons of preloaded points of interest and, probably the most important of them all, turn-by-turn directions that help you find your way to the destination.

As for the price, the Oregon 550 is expected to retail for $500, while the 550t version will be sold for $600, but the release date is still unknown. However, it seems that this is going to be the next best GPS device.

(Source: Dvice)

Even if everyone is talking about the financial crisis that is going to turn our lives into nightmares if we don’t pay enough attention to what we do in the next couple of months (some say years, which is even more frightening), companies are still interested in the technological progress. After all, the world must go on, no matter what.

This is why NTT DoCoMo, the largest mobile carrier from Japan, has just made an announcement, concerning new developments in mobile phone technology. These developments consist of a “highly efficient mobile spatial audio transmission technology” that is designed to help people using a mobile phone to associate a sound source with a spatial position. This is possible when the users are listening to several sound sources, when they are at a game, for example, or during a conference call.

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“The technology enables a user listening with headphones to, for example, hear each speaker’s voice as if it were coming from a unique direction, creating a virtual face-to-face communication environment”.

The efforts aren’t in vain, or at least this is what NTT DoCoMo hopes. This is why they try to push things a little bit further, planning to commercialize the results of the research under the form of applications that are envisaged to include mobile conference calls, online games and, why not, tele-education.

DoCoMo will have the chance to demonstrate the new spatial audio transmission technology on HT-01A devices, which are part of the DoCoMo PRO series, at an event that will take place on May 12 and 13 at Pacifico Yokohama, called Wireless Technology Park 2009.

(Source: unwiredview.com)

Many companies are still waiting for the first Android-based handset to be part of their range of products, in their attempt to be in line with those who have already been blessed with this privilege, while the Android software is being updated.

The Android 1.5 Cupcake is said to be coming to the Android smartphones from the United States. The rumor isn’t just a rumor anymore, it’s actually official: the Android 1.5 is ready to be released by the end of next week. The announcement was made at the T-Mobile forums, and it says that the update of the Android software is going to be sent to those who are using the T-Mobile G1 right now, randomly and OTA (which means over the air).

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It seems that by the end of this month all the phones using Android software from the United States will have the Android 1.5 platform. The British people should be happy to know that the process of sending the update has already started in their country.

The list of improvements and additions include the following features: a software keyboard, video recording capabilities, video playback and the possibility to upload videos on YouTube, stereo Bluetooth (both A2DP and AVCRP), Picasa uploads, application rotations that are based on an accelerometer and homescreen widgets.

Up until the day you will have the chance to use the Android 1.5 on your phone, you can enjoy the following video that includes the most important features of the operating system.



(Source: unwiredview.com)