YouTube for Symbian slows down

YouTube for Symbian is a lot faster than mobile Java YouTube applications. The program doesn't come with any extra features or customisation options, it simply plays YouTube video without any extras.

But YouTube for Symbian doesn't play everything. The program won't let you log into YouTube, so you can't play any videos that require logging in. This means that YouTube for Symbian won't play any adult YouTube content.

When you install YouTube it asks you to pick your location from a list of only 5 countries, but just pick any country and the program will work. If you can't download the latest YouTube for Symbian version from the official YouTube site, you can get it from sites like Mobile Castle. Tip: you can erase your search history and other private data, but that option is hidden in the help menu.

The previous YouTube for Symbian update (version 2.0.9) introduced a new bug: many videos played at the wrong speed. This bug is fixed in the latest version, so if your movies play too fast you can slow them down to normal speed by installing the new update.

• m.youtube.com (on the fly installation)
• YouTube 2.0.11 on Mobile Castle (downloadable installer)
• MobiTubia, an alternative YouTube player

Feed reader YourChannels doesn't feed you

Mobile web browsers often have RSS feed readers built in. Mobile Java feed reader YourChannels offers an alternative, but it has a minimalist user interface and many essential functions are missing. For example, feed entries are listed with the oldest post on top, and you can't reverse the order. And if a feed only offers summaries, YourChannels will not necessarily provide a link to the full story.

If you want to experiment with YourChannels, try http://feeds2.feedburner.com/symbianism and you'll soon find out that the programmers of YourChannels still have a lot of work to do.

• YourChannels at GetJar

PowerMP3 for music, YouTube and MobiTubia for YouTube

PowerMP3

Even though the program is still in beta testing, PowerMP3 is already the best music player for Symbian.

It plays mp3, ogg, aac, and mp4 files, and m3u playlists too. It has a sleeptimer, it's got an equaliser, and an "exclude" option for small files and files of low bitrate (to keep your ringtones out of your music library). It shows album art, and it can download album covers for you.

PowerMP3 sorts your music by mp3 tag like Symbian's own player, and it plays folders the way LCG Jukebox does. PowerMP3 is the closest to WinAmp you can get on a Symbian phone.

Test version 1.05 had a bug that made some programs show error messages on exit, but that problem is fixed.

Mobifactor will probably charge money when the beta test is over, so use the free version while supplies last. If we're lucky the beta test version will keep playing forever.

Note to Mobifactor: don't end the beta test yet, because you still need to fix some things. PowerMP3 often fails to find tracks in m3u playlists if I use my Nokia's default music player to add tracks to them. And the central key is sometimes labeled "my music" when it's real function is "play."

If you try to install the latest version of PowerMP3 on top of an older version and it doesn't work, try uninstalling the older version first. If the old version refuses to go away just switch your phone off and back on. This update issue is another good reason why the free test period should continue for a long, long, long time ;)

• PowerMP3 v1.08 at Mobile Castle

If v1.08 doesn't work for you, check if you have more luck with an older version:
• PowerMP3 v1.07 at Mobile Castle
• PowerMP3 v1.06 at Mobile Castle
• PowerMP3 v1.05 at Mobile Castle
• PowerMP3 beta 2 at Mobile Castle
• PowerMP3 beta 2 at Mobifactor

• for more music players check the music label


YouTube and MobiTubia

YouTube for Symbian doesn't have all the features of YouTube in a web browser on a computer, but you can watch YouTube videos on your phone with it. YouTube for Symbian is a lot faster than mobile Java YouTube applications.

When you install YouTube it asks you to pick your location from a list of only 5 countries, but that doesn't matter. Just pick any country you like and the program will work. And if you can't download the latest YouTube for Symbian version from the official YouTube site, you can get it from sites like Mobile Castle.

Tip: you can erase your search history and other private data, but that option is hidden in the help menu.

The latest version of YouTube for Symbian works with on screen keyboards (good news for Nokia 5800XM users), but some people report that the new edition often plays movies at the wrong speed. If the latest version doesn't work for you, just put the previous version back on your phone.
Update: YouTube fixed the problem, so if your movies play to fast then update to YouTube 2.0.11.

If you don't like YouTube's official program at all, you can also watch YouTube content with MobiTubia. This program was recently updated to work with YouTube's new system, and the user interface received some cosmetic changes too.

• m.youtube.com (on the fly installation)
• YouTube 2.0.11 on Mobile Castle (downloadable installer)
• MobiTubia

Multi-network instant messenger Slick fixes Yahoo login

Chat program Slick connects to GoogleTalk and other Jabber networks, and to MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, and AIM. It has file transfer but not voice chat.

Slick is free while beta testing lasts. But there are so many free alternatives available that it's hard to believe that Slick will ever cost money.

The latest update fixes a Yahoo login bug.

• Slick

DEdit, Ped, MyNotes, and MDictionary for texts, notes, and words

DEdit and Ped

Text editor DEdit does more than the built-in Notes application of your phone. DEdit works with large text files, has search & replace options, and you can use bookmarks to find your way in your texts.

The latest version lets you search in bookmarks. It's so new that you won't find it on the official site yet, but Mobile Castle offers a sneak preview.

• DEdit official site
• DEdit v0.76 R10 on Mobile Castle

My mobile text editor of choice keeps changing, because programs change and I don't believe in brand loyalty. My current favourite is Ped, a no nonsense text editor with a simple but effective user interface.

• Ped


MyNotes

MyNotes offers more than Symbian's built-in Notes application. MyNotes can protect your notes with a password and organise them into folders.

The latest version of MyNotes lets you encrypt your notes. Unfortunately it's written in mobile Java so it starts up a bit slow.

• MyNotes


MDictionary

Word translator MDictionary combines a simple, efficient interface with an increasing number of language pairs. The latest edition adds english to dutch, french, italian, and finnish.

• MDictionary

WeFi fixes bugs but only works on ancient phones

UPDATE: WeFi now works on newer phones (S60 3rd ed. feature pack 2, S60 5th ed.) too.

The built-in connection manager of your Symbian phone can tell you which Wi-Fi networks are within reach of your phone, but that doesn't necessarily mean you can really connect to them. And if it doesn't detect WLAN networks, it won't tell you if there are wireless networks nearby that you can use if you take a short walk.

WeFi tries to fix that. It analyses the nearby networks to check if they're really free and open and helps you connect to the best available network.

WeFi also maintains a community-generated online list of free, open Wi-Fi access points. Using this feature requires that you already have a live internet connection, but it might be a useful method to find out about open Wi-Fi availability before you hit the road. But don't expect too much. The WeFi community is quite small, so the vast majority of open access points is absent from the WeFi database.

The latest version of WeFi fixes a few bugs and connects you more efficiently. Unfortunately WeFi only works on a very limited set of Symbian phones. You'll need an older S60 3rd ed. Nokia with Feature Pack 1. If you have Feature Pack 2 you can not use WeFi. Those with newer phones can get partial WeFi functionality with the WeFi add-on for fring.

• WeFi

UPDATE: WeFi now works on newer phones (S60 3rd ed. feature pack 2, S60 5th ed.) too.

WeFi is not only for your phone. It also works on Windows and Mac, so you can use it to connect your laptop to the best free open networks too.

If you don't like WeFi try FreeAir.

Navigation, maps, and public transport with Metro, 8Motions, and Locify

Métro

Métro tells you how to travel in the most efficient way between subway and railway stations, tram and bus stops, tourist attractions, and other places. You can make Métro calculate the fastest route or choose the trip with the minimum number of connections.

Métro knows the routes and stations of subways, trains, trams, buses, and ferry lines of about 400 cities. Public transport info is stored on your phone so you can navigate the routes and times without a live mobile internet connection. That's a great way to avoid expensive data roaming bills, and it ensures that you have public transport info at your fingertips in places without network coverage, such as deep down in subway stations or remote bus stops in the middle of nowhere.

The latest version of Métro is better at calculating routes from and to addresses from your phone's contact list, and it comes with updated public transport info for Bangkok, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Frankfurt, London, Los Angeles, Milano, Paris, and other cities.

• Métro from metro.nanika.net


8Motions

8Motions shows maps and satellite images from MSN, Google, Yahoo, and Ask.com. It can display FON Wi-Fi access points, geotagged photos, traffic info, WikiMapia entries, and notes from Flickr and Twitter on the maps. And you can upload your own notes and pictures to show to other people.

8Motions asks you to register and log in before it lets you download its program, but you can get it from Mobile Castle without logging in.

• www.8motions.com (signup/login required)
• 8Motions v0.9.71 on Mobile Castle (open for everybody)


Locify

Locify displays maps from Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and OpenStreetMaps, including aerial and satellite images. Locify can also read locally stored maps, but the process to add maps is quite complicated. The easiest way to preload maps to your phone is through GoogleMaps 2 Trekbuddy. Navigation with Locify sucks, but location based Wikipedia search, events, weather info, and pictures from Panoramio work quite well.

The latest Locify edition features bug fixes, faster loading of offline maps, and improved geocaching.

If the Locify download page says the program won't work on your phone, just try it anyway. If your phone is of a fairly recent model Locify will probably work, even if the Locify download page says it won't.

• Locify
• GoogleMaps 2 Trekbuddy (the easiest way to preload maps to your memory card)

JoikuSpot (Light) updated: turn your 3G phone into a Wi-Fi router

JoikuSpot links your 3G connection to Wi-Fi to turn your mobile phone in a wireless router. If your phone can only go online by 3G (UMTS etc.) because there's no open Wi-Fi router around, just make your own wireless hotspot with JoikuSpot and share your phone's internet connection with your laptop, PDA, or iTouch without cables or complex programs.

JoikuSpot Light is free, but only supports http and https. This means you can use JoikuSpot Light to surf the web, but not for email of the POP and IMAP type, P2P file sharing, media streaming, or FTP. If you can't live with the limitations of JoikuSpot Light there's a €15 premium version that does all the internet protocols.

• JoikuSpot Light at joiku.com (free, but limited to http and https)

I couldn't find any useful info on the Joiku site about a trial version of JoikuSpot Premium. Where to get it, how long does the trial last, can you test all features, that sort of thing. But Mobile Castle has a way to take JoikuSpot Premium for a test drive if you want to try before you buy:

• JoikuSpot Premium at Mobile Castle (unofficial trial edition, no limits, unsigned)

UCWEB: new unofficial beta test versions with bug fixes and new features

The english version of proxy based, data compressing, mobile Java web browser UCWEB 6.5 beta is out. UCWEB is a browser with a cluttered look, but it has many useful features. Tabbed browsing is what really sets UCWEB apart from the competition.

In addition to a handful of bug fixes, the new UCWEB edition sports auto refresh, an option to block downloads, auto text completion, and optional caching on your memory card (which may be useful if you're short on built-in phone memory).

• UCWEB 6.5 beta translated by Akushah (unsigned)
• UCWEB 6.5 beta translated by Naveen Rajan (unsigned)

• UCWEB (latest official non-beta version, signed)

Fring adds WeFi for Wi-Fi

Fring is an instant messenger and VoIP application that lets you chat and call on many networks. Skype and standard SIP VoIP, GoogleTalk, MSN (Windows Live), ICQ, Yahoo, AIM, Twitter, and the chat function of social networking sites like Facebook and orkut: it's all in fring.

Update: fring is no longer a multi-network messenger. They kicked 'em all out, fring now only works on it's own fring network. My advice: don't use fring.

And that's not all. Fring is also a GMail notifier, last.fm radio, Facebook tool, and Twitter app.

And now there's something extra: fring has added WeFi, a tool to find free Wi-Fi hotspots.

Makes you wonder what fring will add next. A web browser? An FTP client? A coffee maker?

• fring site with all info and download details
• straight to the fring download page (tip: you don't need to enter a real email address in the "get fring via PC" box)

Nokia PC Suite and iSync still suck

Nokia PC Suite is updated to version 7.1.26.0, but don't expect anything new except for some bug fixes under the hood. The system requirements are still totally ridiculous given the limited functions of PC Suite. For example, PC Suite is still incapable of non-destructive restoration of backups: you can't make PC Suite restore a backup without losing all your new messages, notes, and calendar entries.

iSync lets you synchronise your calendar and contacts between your Nokia and your Mac. The latest version also works with the Nokia E75. And that's all. There's still no "Mac Suite" for Nokia yet, because Nokia doesn't really care about there customers if they use Mac or Linux.

PC Suite and iSync connect your computer and phone by USB and bluetooth, but not by Wi-Fi.

• Nokia PC Suite
• iSync

• Nokia PC Suite Cleaner trashes the junk that PC Suite's own uninstaller fails to remove
• force your way into Nokia's system folders
• get maps on your phone without Nokia Map Loader or PC Suite
• connection options for Linux users

Last.fm player Mobbler: bug fix update

Last.fm player Mobbler plays last.fm radio stations on your phone, and it scrobbles tracks from Symbian's built-in music player.

Mobbler comes with a built-in sleep timer, it can display your last.fm friends, playlist, recently played tracks, recommended artists, track info, and shoutbox. There's gesture support for phones with an accelerometer, and you can play last.fm radio with scrobbling switched off.

Some phones couldn't handle Mobbler's font and equaliser. This is fixed in version 0.4.5.

• Mobbler
• last.fm

• fring can play last.fm radio too

• keep your tracks with the Last.FM Downloader for Windows UPDATE: This link is dead. And so is Symbian.

Mobiquus push email

Mobiquus is a new push email service. The email client is a mobile Java program, so it should work on all Symbian phones.

The service works, but the user interface of Mobiquus needs to be improved. Mobiquus doesn't use T9 predictive text, and input of special characters is a mess. For example, the @ symbol is hidden under the #1 key and long-pressing a number doesn't put the number on your screen.

Mobiquus will only push email from a single email account. If you want to use multiple email accounts, you'll need to create multiple Mobiquus accounts, and type in your email address and password everytime you want to switch email account.

Before you can use Mobiquus you'll need to sign up on their website. Mobiquus shares a bad habit with GMail: the small print in their terms of service says they'll finance their service with contextual advertising, i.e. ads based on the content of your emails.

• Mobiquus

Mobile RSS Reader for feeds & Redwing for email have something to fix

Mobile RSS Reader

If you don't like the feed reader of your mobile web browser, mobile Java program Mobile RSS Reader is an alternative. It stores its data on your phone, which keeps costs down for those who pay for data by the megabyte. And it can display all you feeds in one giant "river of feeds," sorted any way you like.

The latest version fixes a long list of bugs, but that doesn't mean you can retire your old feed reader. Mobile RSS Reader does a good job at reading feed headlines and summaries, but if you want to read the full story it opens your phone's default web browser, which does not display all feeds properly. My default Nokia browser choked on my own blog on Google's Feedburner.

• Mobile RSS Reader


Redwing

Redwing is a simple, bare bones email application written in mobile Java. It has two major flaws:

1) You need to enter port numbers for all servers. It won't use the default email ports on its own.

2) On my phones Redwing couldn't connect to any of the 3 email servers I tried. Wi-Fi or UMTS made no difference. Competing email programs Nokia Messaging and OnePennyMail managed to connect to all my email accouts at the first try.

• Redwing at Softpedia

Last.fm player Mobbler with sleep timer, PowerMP3 with equaliser and online album art

Mobbler

Mobbler plays last.fm radio stations on your Symbian phone, and it scrobbles tracks from Symbian's built-in music player to last.fm to help you find similar types of music.

Mobbler now comes with a built-in sleep timer. It can display your last.fm friends, playlist, recently played tracks, recommended artists, and shoutbox. You can play last.fm radio with scrobbling switched off, and there's gesture support for phones with an accelerometer.

• Mobbler
• last.fm

• fring can play last.fm radio too

• keep your tracks with the Last.FM Downloader for Windows


PowerMP3

PowerMP3 is still in beta testing, but it's already the best music player for Symbian. It plays mp3, ogg, aac, and mp4 files, it plays your m3u playlists, it has a sleeptimer, and an "exclude" option for small files and files of low bitrate (to keep your ringtones out of your music library). It displays album art, and it can download it for you too.

PowerMP3 sorts your music by mp3 tag like Symbian's own player, and it plays folders the way LCG Jukebox does. PowerMP3 is the closest to WinAmp you can get on a Symbian phone.

And now the equaliser works too.

Mobifactor will probably charge money when the beta test is over, so use it for free while you still can. If you're lucky the beta test version will keep playing forever.

• PowerMP3 v1.05 at Mobile Castle

On some phones PowerMP3 v1.05 may cause an error message whenever you close some programs (such as Total Recall and BTSwitch). To get rid of the error, replace v1.05 by the previous version until a newer version becomes available.

• PowerMP3 beta 2 from Mobifactor
• PowerMP3 beta 2 at Mobile Castle

Nokia Photo Browser now available for all current Symbian editions

Don't like the built-in image gallery or the photo carousel of your Nokia? There's Resco Photo Viewer, but you have to pay for it. Free alternatives are Panda Image Browser and To The Point, but they may be a bit too limited.

Enter Nokia Photo Browser. This image viewer displays your pictures in a grid through which you can scroll with all sorts of 3D effects and other eye candy. It has a somewhat functional face recognition feature too, but this only works on high contrast frontal shots, not on photos en profil.

The first time you launch Nokia Photo Browser it spends an eternity on creating thumbnail preview images (Resco Photo Viewer is much faster), but after that your images load pretty fast. When you've scrolled to the last image of your collection, scrolling further will not take you back to the first picture. And "Image Info" does not display Exif data, but only the file name and the date the picture was shot. Nokia Photo Browser is still in beta testing, so maybe the program will get better later on. In its current state it is already much better than the old gallery and the horrible image carousel.

For every picture on your phone Nokia Photo Browser generates three preview images which take 50 kb. If you have thousands of pictures on an overflowing memory card, the previews can make you run out of storage space.

Nokia Photo Browser is now available for Symbian S60 3rd edition (feature pack 1 and 2) and S60 5th ed. (for the touchscreen Nokia 5800 XpressMusic) phones. If the installer complains that the program is not compatible with your phone, just install it anyway. There's a very good chance that it will work on your phone too.

• Nokia Photo Browser from Nokia Beta Labs

Other free image browsers:
• Panda Image Browser
• To The Point

Protect your messages with Active SMS Lock

Do you want your wife to read the messages from your girlfriend? If you got things to hide, then protect your SMS messages with a PIN code with Active SMS Lock by Alie Tan. You can protect individual messages or entire SMS folders. Of course having a bunch of locked SMSs in your message folders is highly suspicious, but that's no problem: Active SMS Lock can hide your secret messages too.

• Active SMS Lock (expired)

UPDATE: The Active SMS Lock download page is no longer available on the developers site. It's built into another program now (ThreadSMS Pro) which is not freeware.

Here are some places where you can still get the free Active SMS Lock program:
• Active SMS Lock 1.10 for Symbian 9.1 (S60 3rd ed. without feature pack) (direct download link)
• Active SMS Lock 1.10 for Symbian 9.2 (S60 3rd ed. feature pack 1) (direct download link)
• Active SMS Lock 1.10 for Symbian 9.3 (S60 #rd ed. feature pack 2) (direct download link)
• Active SMS Lock 1.10 on Softpedia
• Active SMS Lock 1.10 for Symbian 9.3 (S60 #rd ed. feature pack 2) on Mobile Castle (free signup/login required)

Take time, take notes: QuickStopwatch and SafeNote

QuickStopwatch

All mobile phones have a free stopwatch built in. It's been like that for ages. Well, almost all mobile phones. Symbian S60 phones come without a stopwatch.

But there's QuickStopwatch, a very simple mobile Java stopwatch program. No split timers, no laps, just a single clock that counts up. It can be paused, and that's the only extra.

For more options there's Stopwatch, which can run five different clocks simultaneously and includes split and lap timing.

• QuickStopwatch
• Stopwatch

Phat^Trance from Daily Mobile mailed me about a stopwatch for the touchscreen Nokia 5800 XpressMusic:
• Timer for Nokia 5800

If you need a free countdown timer, there's Buzzer:
• Buzzer


SafeNote

SafeNote stores notes in groups such as "business," "personal," and any groups you make yourself. You can search for text within a note, but you can't search all notes at once. It comes with optional password protection to keep you notes private.

SafeNote has no backup and restore option of its own, but with the latest version your notes are backed up when you back up the contents of your phone from the Symbian file manager or data manager.

• SafeNote

If you don't like SafeNote, try MyNotes:
• MyNotes

Calc4M: less bugs, more touchscreen options

Mobile java calculator Calc4M does basic and scientific calculations, has lots of conversion options, all the important physical constants are built in, and the user interface is really good.

The latest version features some slight cosmetic fixes, a bug with the # key on newer Nokia phones has been ironed out, and touchscreen users can do more tricks, such as clearing the screen with a single sweep.

• Calc4M

Get the picture with SuperScreenshot and Panda Image Browser

SuperScreenshot

SuperScreenshot is a Symbian program to make screenshots of your phone display. You can overlay your screenshots with a timestamp, a watermark, or both.

SuperScreenshot can save your shots in different formats (.jpg, .png, .bmp, .mbm), and it can make screenshots in continuous mode automatically every few seconds. You can set different shortcut keys to shoot your screen, and it works on phones without an edit (pencil) key.

The watermark feature of the latest version is improved. If the watermark image is bigger than your screen, SuperScreenshot will automatically adjust the size to make it fit.

SuperScreenshot is unsigned, so you'll have to sign it yourself or install it on a hacked phone with certificate checking switched off. Or you can get the old version of Screenshot by Anthony Pranata. This has less features, but it is signed so you can install it straight away.

Tip: if you can't remove the OPDA watermark on your screenshots from the settings menu, go to C:\data\SuperScreenshot on your phone (or E:\data\SuperScreenshot on your memory card), remove the watermark file, and restart SuperScreenshot. Now it should shoot clean pictures without any watermarks.

• SuperScreenshot version 1.03 on Mobile Castle

If the new version only shoots blank images, try an older version:

• SuperScreenshot versions 1.01 and 1.02 on Mobile Castle

Screenshot by Anthony Pranata doesn't have timestamps and watermarks, but it's available as a signed .sis file so you can install it without hacking or signing:

• Screenshot by Anthony Pranata


Panda Image Browser

The built-in image gallery of your Nokia doesn't look very good. On old phones your images are shown as a vertical list which takes ages to open, on new Nokias the pictures are displayed in a horrible carousel format.

The best image viewer for Symbian is Resco Viewer, but it's not free. Enter Panda Image Browser, a free picture viewer that's not as good as Resco Viewer, but it's better than the built-in gallery. And it's free.

The english version of Panda Image Browser floats around on the Symbian forums. You can download it from Mobile Castle without having to log in or sign up.

• Panda Image Browser v1.11 on Mobile Castle

If you don't like Panda Image Browser, try the image viewer To The Point:

• To The Point

TTPod needs less memory and scans your music faster

The latest version of Symbian music player TTPod has been translated from chinese into english. The new version is more stable, uses less memory, and scans the songs on your phone much faster than the previous versions.

TTPod plays music in mp3, ogg, aac, mp4, m4a, wma, mid, and amr format. It has a sleep timer and an alarm clock with custom snooze time.

The user interface is built from four tabs: "now playing," folder and mp3 tag navigator, lyrics window, and equaliser. Each tab comes with its own options menu. There's a mini player for your active standby screen too, but you can't control TTPod from the active standby screen yet.

TTPod sorts your music by mp3 tags (but only artist, album, and genre) and can edit these tags as well. It can also use your folder structure. It displays album art, and it can display lyrics, but only from a separate lyrics file. It won't display any lyrics embedded in an mp3 itself.

Chances are that TTPod will shout "System Error" when you try to run it. This is easily fixed by installing a TTPod patch that will make TTPod run on phones that don't have english as a built-in language. Don't worry, TTPod will still speak english to you.

• TTPod 3.3.0 translated into english at Mobile Castle

If you don't like the user interface of the new TTPod version, try the old version which has a much brighter, less crowded look:

• TTPod 3.1.0

PowerMP3 is a great TTPod alternative. It doesn't have an equaliser, but it reads your m3u playlists:

• PowerMP3

Locify maps with extras, Google Maps with new looks

Locify

Locify is an open source mobile Java map program. Maps come from Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and OpenStreetMaps, and include aerial and satellite images.

The latest version of Locify can also read locally stored maps, but the process to add maps is quite complicated. Locify would improve a lot if downloading maps for local storage would be made easier. The easiest way to preload maps to your phone is through GoogleMaps 2 Trekbuddy.

Navigation with Locify is useless in its present state of development, but location based Wikipedia search, events, weather info, and pictures from Panoramio make Locify useful anyway.

If the Locify download page says the program won't work on your phone model, try it anyway. If you have a fairly recent phone model Locify will probably work, even if the Locify download page says no.

• Locify
• GoogleMaps 2 Trekbuddy (the easiest way to preload maps to your memory card)


Google Maps

Google Maps for Symbian comes with maps, satellite and aerial images, and street view. My house is on their street view pictures too. It can also calculate your location from your network details with pretty good precision, so Google Maps can be useful as a "poor man's GPS."

Google Maps still doesn't have voice navigation. Navigation is text only, so it's useless (and dangerous) when you drive. How many people already crashed their cars while reading Google's directions on their tiny phone screens?

The latest version of Google Maps comes with a few cosmetic user interface changes. If you press the central navigation button you'll get a menu that lets you choose directions, street view, search for nearby places, and save the current location to your list of favourites.

• Google Maps (on the fly installer, only works from your phone's built-in web browser)

Last.fm player Mobbler: gatecrash the beta test

Mobbler plays last.fm radio stations on mobile phones. It also scrobbles tracks from Symbian's built-in music player to last.fm to help you find similar types of music.

Mobbler v0.4.0 is in closed beta testing, open by invitation only. But Mobile Castle made it available for everyone, so you can try it yourself.

The new Mobbler comes with a built-in sleep timer and it can display your last.fm friends, playlist, and shoutbox.

• Mobbler v0.4.0 beta at Mobile Castle (available for everybody)
• official Mobbler site (v0.4.0 beta only available for invitees)
• last.fm

• fring can play last.fm radio too

YouTube for Symbian updated

YouTube for Symbian is a simple YouTube player. It doesn't have all the features of YouTube in a web browser on your computer, but you can watch YouTube videos on your phone with it. YouTube for Symbian is a lot faster than mobile Java YouTube applications.

The new version of YouTube for Symbian didn't come with a changelog and I couldn't find any new features, so I guess the new stuff is all under the hood.

YouTube for Symbian is not for everybody, but there are ways around that. When you install YouTube it asks you to pick your location from a list of only 5 countries, but that doesn't matter. Just pick any country you like and the program will work. And if you can't downoad the latest YouTube for Symbian version from the official YouTube site, you can get it from Mobile Castle.

Tip: you can erase your search history and other private data, but that option is hidden in the help menu.

• m.youtube.com (on the fly installer)
• YouTube 2.0.4 on Mobile Castle (downloadable installer)

• if you want more than just YouTube, try vtap

Silent camera: no hacking required with CenRep101F8809

If your phone won't let you switch off its annoying camera shutter sound, there are a couple of different methods to make your camera quiet anyway. Unfortunately they all require that you hack your phone first.

But there's a camera silencing method that works without hacking. CenRep101F8809 has been floating around on different mobile phone forums for a while, and it works on phones that have the file 101F8809.txt in the folder c:\private\10202be9 on your phone's internal memory.

The CenRep101F8809 method works on the Nokia 6110 Navigator, 6120 Classic, N73, N81, N82, N95, N95 8GB, E51, E66, and E71.

It won't work on newer phones like the N78, N79, or N85, because they use a different camera program. To switch off the camera sound on these phones you need to hack Symbian first and then use this ROMPatcher patch.

If the CenRep101F8809 method should work on your phone but doesn't, disable the warning tones in your silent profile and restart your phone. Now the camera sound should not sound in silent mode.

CenRep101F8809 needs to signed before you can install it, but it does not require a "strong" certificate. Any certificate will do, and you can even use Open Signed Online.

• CenRep101F8809
• CenRep101F8809 direct download (leonapapa.i.googlepages.com/CenRep101F8809.sis)

• check the camera sound label for other methods to silence your camera

Chat and VoIP: Nimbuzz gets tabs, Talkonaut fixes Samsung bugs

Nimbuzz

Chat and VoIP program Nimbuzz does Skype, standard SIP VoIP, GoogleTalk, Jabber, MSN (Windows Live), Yahoo, AIM, ICQ, Twitter, Gadu-Gadu, and chat of social networking sites Facebook, MySpace, orkut, and Hyves.

The user interface of Nimbuzz has changed dramatically. The menu button can take a break, because many of its functions have been taken over by tabs. There's a tab or your contacts, a tab for your chats, a tab for your calls, and a tab for messaging. The settings screen is easier to use as well.

The contacts tab sports a "favourites" option which puts your favourite contacts on top of the list. And if you didn't like the ring and message tones that came with Nimbuzz you can replace them with your own tones now. The phone calls tab shows your Skype account name and your Skype credit, and you can now see which VoIP operator is active without having to dive into the settings menu. SIP calls should face less firewall problems, and they consume less battery power too.

If you always use the same internet connection, Nimbuzz lets you set it as default connection method.

The red hangup button doesn't exit Nimbuzz anymore, but sends it to the background so you won't get disconnected from all your networks by accident. The drawback is that you'll have to enter the menu to shut down the program. If you forget this and keep Nimbuzz running you soon find yourself with an empty battery.

The new user interface is an improvement, but it takes some getting used to. Your phone may refuse to "downgrade" if you try to install an old copy on top of the new version. To force the old Nimbuzz back you need to uninstall the new copy first, which means you'll lose your old settings and you'll have to enter them again.

• Nimbuzz


Talkonaut

VoIP and instant messaging client Talkonaut connects to Jabber (including Google Talk), ICQ, MSN, AIM and Yahoo, and you can call with just about every VoIP service that uses the SIP protocol.

Talkonaut won't use your phone's contacts list, and it won't work with Skype. But Talkonaut lets you store multiple SIP VoIP settings, which its competitors Nimbuzz and fring still have to learn.

VoIP calls on Samsung phones were buggy in older versions of Talkonaut, if they worked at all. The latest version fixes this problem.

• Talkonaut

Email: Nokia Messaging and OnePennyMail updated

Nokia Messaging

In an attempt to make things easy, push email client Nokia Email was renamed to Nokia Messaging (which required Nokia's instant messaging program to live with the name Chat on Ovi, err I mean Contacts on Ovi). But when you install Nokia Messaging, it puts an icon on your phone called (surprise!) "email." Enjoy that simple name while it lasts, because there's a pretty good chance that Nokia's marketing department will find out and rename the email program to something with "Ovi" in it.

The new Nokia Messaging can now read Hotmail all by itself, something that required a trick in older versions of Nokia's email program.

Nokia Messaging can finally display HTML email too, but don't expect it to work well. The page layout is not what the author intended, and some inline images don't display at all.

When I closed Nokia Messaging it left a bunch of processes running that kept my internet connection alive. To make sure you really go offline when you shut down the email client you'll have to enter the options menu and go offline before you shut down the email program.

Nokia asks for your phone number before it lets you download Nokia Messaging. Why can't they simply put a download link online instead of insisting on an on-the-fly install from an SMS?

The push email service is free for the time being, but it may cost money after the beta trial is over, and payment by SMS is definitely an option. Maybe that's why Nokia wants to know my phone number?

• Nokia Messaging


OnePennyMail

The poor man's push email solution OnePennyMail is a minimalist mobile Java email client that doesn't have to cost you a penny. It reads mail from POP and IMAP mail accounts, which includes GMail, GMX, Hotmail, and other popular free email services.

OnePennyMail asks you for your phone number before it lets you download and use the program, but in return you get a yourphonenumber@onep.co.uk mailbox which notifies your phone when you get new mail in the form of a missed call. If you put the OnePennyMail phone number in your contacts list and call it something like "you've got mail," OnePennyMail will work like push email without having to sign up for push email. It's almost as good as the real thing.

There were some annoying "features" in the previous version of OnePennyMail, and none of them is fixed in the current version:
- OnePennyMail won't let you organise your mail in folders.
- It won't let you choose between keeping your mail on the server or deleting it.
- OnePennyMail adds an advertisement for itself to your outgoing mails.
- Scrolling up and down an email takes two button presses per line on my Nokia phones. OnePennyMail won't scroll continuously by keeping the navigation button pressed, and there are no shortcuts for "page up" and "page down." Reading a long mail becomes very unpleasant this way.

Even if you don't want to use the creative push email substitute you'll still need to hand over your phone number, because OnePennyMail won't do anything until you enter a code that you can only get by SMS.

• OnePennyMail

Bolt web browser updated but there's still plenty left to fix

Proxy-based mobile Java web browser Bolt compresses data traffic but keeps the original page layout. Well, sort of. It shows bold and italic text as regular text, and it has problems with web forms and pulldown menus. Predictive text doesn't work either, so entering URLs or other text is harder than it should be.

The latest version of Bolt comes with improved magnification, landscape view, faster scrolling, a more efficient user interface, and a few other improvements (for a full list of changes click here).

Bolt has a pretty good and responsive user interface and its split screen mode is a nice touch, but the main reason for using bolt is to watch video. Unfortunately this is where Bolt fails miserably. Competing video capable browser Skyfire is slow and has many other issues too, but at least Skyfire shows web videos right, which is something that Bolt doesn't do yet.

You need to hand over your email address to download Bolt from the official site, but you can download it directly from Mobile Castle.

• Bolt official website (download requires signup)
• Bolt beta2 (v0.94) at Mobile Castle (download open for all)

DivX Mobile Player 0.92

DivX Mobile Player for Symbian S60 and UIQ is a very simple program. It plays DivX movies, and nothing else. It's not nearly as good as CorePlayer (which plays almost anything you feed it), but DivX Player is free.

The previous version of the program pops up an "application expired" message, so you'll need to download and install the update if you want to keep watching DivX movies on your phone. Nobody knows what's changed in the latest version. Maybe there's nothing new except for the expiration date?

• DivX Player for mobile phones