What I have planned to give up this year is the Internet, yes you heard right, I’m planning to unplug from all Social Networks, not look at my Google Reader, turn off Google Buzz and not blog on any of my websites. Can I survive 6 weeks?

I made the decision over the weekend as I realised I spend most of my time checking what’s online rather than looking at what’s offline and right in front of me. I think this will be hard, but hopefully rewarding.

–
gerrymoth

Note: Kip Hakes will still be on hand at nokiAAddict.com for comments moderation and news updates.

Its been written in QT and requires you to install the large 11MB QT Libraries File first before installing the WordPress application. Not good news for N97 owners as its recommended you install to phone memory.

With the new application you will be able to add/edit/view Posts and Pages and also manage all your Comments as well.

The apps in BETA at the moment and has a few issues which the WordPress guys are working on.

If you wish to try the very beta app for S60 or Maemo then head over to
http://dev.nokia.wordpress.org/

This will give you a bigger battery, but means the N900 just got that little bit thicker as well. Mmm not to sure I’d buy?

UPDATE 11/02/10: Mugen-Power are supplying nokiAAddict.com with the NEW 2400mAh battery extender to test out on my N900, so if you want to know what its like then stay tuned at the end of February when they have promised to deliver to me.

Will the additional back casing make a difference?
How long will the battery last with constant use?
Is it worth the additional money?

YES I’ll be answering allthese questions and anything else you want to know before you buy

via Buy Mugen Power Nokia N900 2400mAh Extended Replacement Battery with Battery door [HLI-N900XL].

Check it out and see what I think about things

http://www.nokiausers.net/General/Nokiausers-An-Interview-with-Nokia-Enthusiast-NokiAAddict.html

The N900 finally gets the full Tunewiki experience instead of the rather dull Tunewiki Widget it shipped with, we now have the new Tunewiki SMP for Maemo (SMP = Social Media Player)

With the new Tunewiki SMP you have a music player, youtube music player, Shoutcast Radio Player, lyrics for all music and search for Tunewiki users near you.

I’ve had a quick play with everything and it seems to work very well on my N900.

Noticed no normal Nokia N97, this wont go down well with the already very unhappy N97 users, but I’ve been informed by Nokia Conversations that the N97 is coming soon along with other handsets. Speculation on twitter is its also coming to the N900 (whoop whoop!).

The Nokia Event kicked off at 09:45hrs GMT http://events.nokia.com/ovimaps/index.html

Download: FREE OVI Maps Navigation is here http://maps.nokia.com/explore-services/ovi-maps/ovi-maps-main

FREE with New OVI Maps:
- Worldwide Maps
- Drive & Walk Navigation
- Traffic Info Updates
- Weather (GPS Enabled)
- Events: Cinema Listings (GPS Enabled)
- Michelin Guides (GPS Enabled)
- Share Location with Facebook
- Favourites Online Syncing
- Speed and Safety Spot Warner

GPS Enabled means it takes your position from GPS and gives local information automatically.

http://events.nokia.com/countdown

I have my seat reserved ONLINE

The MS Word 2003 documents I’ve tried with it don’t show the full page very well and seem to miss half the information on it or put in on multiple pages. Don’t think it likes tables in word documents.

Hopefully we will get more updates to fix and improve this FREE office viewer. We want FREE Office Editor and Viewer????

Freoffice is avalable via ‘Maemo Extras-Devel’ repository.

*Added since 21/12/09:

*3G/2G Mode Selection Applet
Adblock Plus
Appwatch
*Airport (Game)
*Amazon Widget
*Angry Birds (Game) + Level Pack 1
Conboy
Conversations Inbox Desktop Widget
*Countdown Timer
*Cube (game)
*Disc (Game)
Documents to Go Viewer Edition
*DrNokSnes (Game Emulator)
eCoach
*EggTimer
Extras Decoders Support
Facebook Widget and Photo Uploader
*fAPN
Feedhandler
Flashlight
FM Radio Player
*fMMS
ForecaWeather Widget
GPE File Manager
gPodder Podcast Client
greasemonkey-webaddon
*gTranslate
*Headphone daemon
*Jamaendo Player
KMPlayer
*Labyrinth Lite (Game)
*Maemo-Geolocation
MaStory
*Matrix (Theme)
mbarcode
*MGutenberg E-Book Reader
mplayer
*OGG Support
*Panucci resuming Audiobook and Podcast Player
Password Safe
Petrovich
Pixelpipe Upload and Share
Pyrecipe
QIK
Recorder
rootsh
SIB
*Simple Brightness Applet
*Simple FMTX Desktop Widget
*Solitaire (Game)
*SuperTux (Game)
TouchSearch
Transmission
*TuneWiki Desktop Widget
*Unzip Add-on for the File Manager
Vagalume
*Variations on Rockdodger (Game)
*VGBA (Game Emulator)
Witter
WorldTV99
*XChat
Xournal
*Xploder (Game)
*YaSpot (Spotify Client in very early development)
*YouTube Video Uploader (Pixelpipe Plugin)
Removed since 21/12/09: Bullshit Bingo, Countdown Home Desktop Widget, desktop-photoapplet, digiaatscene, Fennec (Firefox), FriendStatus IM Statuses Aggregator, Hermes, load-applet, Personal Dataplan Monitor, Personal IP Address, Stopwatch, Wormux, Zoutube

The applications removed since December all work fine, I just didn’t really use them.

Changelog for the firmware update is here
http://wiki.maemo.org/Maemo_5/PR1.1

I wish all Nokia firmware updates followed the Maemo guys method and published exactly what the changes consist of?

The new firmware brings changes from Nokia and from Bug Reports the Maemo Community have raised.

I’ve heard people saying if you’re having problems installing the new firmware to disable Maemo Extra-devel repository and also remove some of the devel apps? Can’t confirm this as I haven’t updated myself, stuck on a 2G T-Mobile area at the moment

New FW Easter Egg: In web browser press CTRL-SHIFT-0 you’ll like it

UPDATE 15/01/10: I refreshed the Application Manager on my N900 and it had the new FW Update, so when I got home I tried to update OTA, but the update stated I had to update via NSU, so I plugged my UK N900 into my laptop and fired up NSU which told me I had the latest FW already v44?

I checked to see if there was a firmware image available to download and flash to my N900 and noticed they didn’t have a UK firmware image, that’s why NSU didn’t see it. Instead I flashed my N900 using the Global Firmware Image.

Instructions for flashing the N900 can be found HERE
Firmware Images can be downloaded HERE

My poor Nokia 5800XM doesn’t have the Nokia Internet Radio application like the E71 has, but don’t despair as Tunewiki have come to the rescue and supplied Shoutcast Radio in their new Tunewiki application for S60 5th Edition devices (5800XM, 5530XM, N97, N97 Mini).

Shoutcast Radio has thousands of worldwide internet radio channels for you to listen to (Fresh FM and XFM from the Netherlands are my favourites) for every taste, there are channels for rock, pop, indie, trance, dance, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, news, sports, etc..

Tunewiki also plays music you have on your device and displays lyrics for the songs, bit like a mini Karaoke Machine and it also plays YouTube Music videos.

The version of Tunewiki I have on the ACER Liquid Android phone also does Last.fm Radio, so hopefully Nokia users will get that in an update to the app?

Download HERE

Update includes:

• Additional Kinetic Scrolling
• Changed UI in the homescreen similar to the 5530XM
• Updated Nokia Messaging
• OVI Contacts pre-installed
• New screen alarm when locked
• Keyboard updated: when in vertical mode it’s alpha-numeric, if you turn your phone to landscape mode, it automatically changes to full qwerty
• Keyboard updated: when you press a “key” the key that appears on top is now bigger
• Software updater is now updated and has a some more options
• When phone key lock is on and you recieve a call you see a slide to unlock and slide to answer bars

Anyone found anymore changes in the new firmware, then please comment?

UPDATED 13/01/10 18:31hrs: Additional changelog items added, thanks to PT.
UPDATED 13/01/10 23:04hrs: New slide on receiving call added to changelog, thanks to Murat.

But wait, there is a way!

1) To install you need to transfer the downloaded *.deb file to your N900(for example Documents folder)
2) Open xterm and type(you need rootsh for this):

sudo gainroot
dpkg -i MyDocs/.documents/*.deb

3) Close xterm, go to More… and your application should be there.

NOTE: You may need to reboot your phone after the installation.

WARNING: ONLY EVER INSTALL DEB FILES FROM A TRUSTED SOURCE AND YOU MAY BRICK YOUR DEVICE INSTALLING USING THIS METHOD.

The OVI Store launched yesterday on the N900 and I quickly downloaded a few of the available applications and games, but the single one I can’t stop playing is Angry Birds by Rovio. Rovio also developed the N900 demonstration game Bounce Evolution.

Angry Birds is a simple game, throw some birds and destroy the green pigs, not an all action arcade game, but its just one of those games which is just so so addictive.

The FREE version of Angry Birds gives you the first 21 levels of the game and to access the additional 42 levels you need to pay £3.00.

I managed to have a quick chat on twitter with the Angry Birds developer Matthew Wilson via @roviomobile and asked two questions:

Q1. Why the difference in price between the Apple iPhone (£0.59) and Nokia N900 (£3.00) version?
A1. The N900 price is a realistic valuation of the game. Because of the huge supply of iPhone games there’s downward pressure on price.

Q2. What was the easier to develop for, the Apple iPhone or the Nokia N900?
A2. I asked our lead coder he said: Pretty hard to compare, but my personal preference would be N900.

I also noticed on the @roviomobile twitter feed they stated to @thebluenile “expect more to come”. I can’t wait as the two games available (I know one is only a demo, but its some demo) are quality.

Download Angry Birds from OVI Store and enjoy
http://store.ovi.com/publisher/RovioMobile/

http://blogs.nokia.com/dailyapp/appawards/

Have to say I agree with some of them like Vlingo, Gravity and Nimbuzz (3 featured apps on nokiAAddict.com), but Shazam? (Mobbler for me), WorldMate? (OVI Maps for me), Nokia Photo Browser? (ImageExchange for me on the E71 at least), SPB TV? (Not a great selection of TV Channels for me, much prefer BBC iPlayer in that category) and WTF is MicroPool? (Need to download now and try)

Do you agree with Nokia and OVI on the must have apps for 2009?

Welcome to the Store, go grab Angry Birds and Solitaire touch games, themes and a few applications.

The stores not got a great selection at the moment, but hopefully it will get some new items in it every day

The firmware update to the N900 also brings a new look Application Manager and improves the performance of the device significantly.

PS: I updated MyMenu (From Qole Repos) on my device yesterday morning and it screwed my device up, so had to reflash my devices firmware again. This was easily done using Maemo Flasher v3.5, my Xubuntu laptop and the N900 connected via the USB cable. I noticed after I’d reflashed all my data (calender, contacts, settings) was still there, but I had to reinstall all applications again.

1. Goto Last.fm to request an API Account http://last.fm/api and take note of your API Key and API Secret Key.

2. Download the LastFM.zip file from nokiAAddict downloads HERE

3. Unzip the LastFM.zip

4. Edit the LastFM.xml and replace the ADDKEYHERE and ADDSECRETKEYHERE with your API Key and API Secret Key.

5. Transfer the edited LastFM.xml file to your N900.

6. Open Vagalume and select Last.fm/Import servers file… and browse to the LastFM.xml file you just transfered.

7. In Vagalume select Last.fm/Preferences and set Service to LastFM.

NOTE: You may need to restart Vagalume?

Enjoy Last.fm on your N900 using Vagalume

Well the Booklet looks fantastic, it feels very solid, much like a Mac Book, it certainly feels more quality than my Acer Aspire 150. The keyboard is pretty damned good too, netbooks are usually disliked for tiny keyboards and tiny screens, but not on the Booklet. The Booklet gives you a regular laptop ‘feel’ in the form of a netbook.On the left hand side you have and HDMI output, 2 USB 2.0 ports and a headset port, this differs from a normal netbook which will have a port for headphones and a port for a microphone. A suitable headset is included in the box. On the right hand side you find another USB port and a cover that when opened reveals a SIM card slot and an SD Card slot.

My Booklet came with Windows 7 Home Premium  installed as well as the Ovi Suite. Also installed is ‘Nokia Social Hub’ which handles your SMS messages, Twitter, Facebook and Flickr feeds. It’s a simple piece of software but it works well. I was amazed how easy it was to get my 3UK SIM working, literally put it in, and a connection for ’3′ appeared in the ‘Network and Sharing Centre’. No need to faff with settings, it just worked. Setting it to ‘Connect Automatically’ gave a fantastic ‘on the road’ experience, I tested it on the train and in the car, was very nice to have a connection so easily. No need to plug-in a dongle, or use 3UK’s noddy software, it just works.

As reported elsewhere the Booklet is certainly lacking in ‘grunt’ – its slower than my Acer Aspire 150, they are similarly specced but the Booklet has 512MB less RAM and at times it shows. I switched off the Aero theme in Windows 7 which helped slightly. I do use AutoCAD and Photoshop on my Acer Netbook, it’s not fast, but it works especially for quick changes to drawings. Both work okay on the Booklet, it’s certainly a bit slower than the Acer, but it’s nice to have the extra screen resolution, my Acer has a 1024 x 600 display, the Booklet is 1280 x 720.

The problem is that the Booklet’s performance can’t be improved by a RAM upgrade, as there are two problems – 1. The metal casing will be a NIGHTMARE to get into and 2. There are no spare RAM slots, and the RAM pre-installed is soldered in any way. One area I was happy with the Booklet’s performance was the battery life. It ran for just over 6 hours from a full charge, this was with me using a SIM to get Internet Connectivity, emailing and tweeting, not bad at all considering I get about 2 hours out of my Acer’s standard battery. The speakers mounted on either side are okay, I’ve not used a Netbook with great speakers and these are pretty much on par with other Netbooks.

 In conclusion the Booklet is a lovely piece of kit, beautifully styled, and very robust. Sadly it’s scrimping on the RAM don’t make it such a nice experience as it COULD have been. Good first effort Nokia.

Now for your questions :-

Q - How well does the GPS work and navigation with Ovi maps works? How about 3G network-based location?

A – It’s ‘okay’, the location shows inside an Maps desktop widget, and that’s about it.. there didn’t appear to be any clever way you could ‘use’ your location. I would guess we’ll see more integration soon.

A  - I asked Nokia PR if I could put it in the bath, they said No. . Boot time on Windows 7  Home Premium is *gets out stop watch* - 1:15 - as I’ve said above SMS is handled by Nokia Social Hub.

Q – I’d like to know if it’s actually worth the additional price over any of the other current lower priced netbooks on the market. Also would really like to know if it runs Ubuntu ok and onboard 3G works etc.

Q – With built-in 3G do you have to use AT&T or is it unlocked to any SIM? also if you are using AT&T SIM are you still using AT&T communication manager to get online or Nokia PC suite????? And the final question is about actual battery life.