Sweet Nokia Maps 2.0

A very useful post just went up on the Nokia Betalabs site. Many of you wouldn't know much about this website so I've just reposted it here. It talks about the new Maps Suite 2.0 which comes with the Belle update. I particularly like the photo blog option which will change the way we travel and show friends our journey on a large TV via the Nokia N8's awesome HDMI connectivity. 

Nokia Maps Suite puts all the information you need to find your way—maps, drive and walk directions, public transport, and weather—all in one smart package. And the latest release makes it even smarter and more personalized with new additions such as voice search, geo-tagged photo display, and the return of the new and improved Route Planner. Finding your way has never been better. Try it out now!

Find what you need with a tap.

In addition to fast, intuitive tools for finding your way, the new Maps makes accessing information and features faster than ever. Press and hold on a destination to choose how you want to get there—including public transport. And enjoy one-tap access to Places and Weather right from your Home screen.


Personalize the way you get around.Nokia Maps now also makes your maps more personal than ever. Turn on Photos to see your snapshots of the places you’ve been placed along your map. Create customized routes for sightseeing or to avoid traffic. You can even save your favorite routes to access them later.

Navigate safer behind the wheel.

With new voice search capability, you can speak your destination for safer and easier searching while driving. New and improved landscape views in Weather and Drive make seeing what you need easier. And Weather now automatically shows you the weather for where you are, and can even show you what’s ahead.

Turn your map into a photo-blog.

Now you can choose to see your photos from places you’ve been placed right on your map. Using the geo-tagging information in photos taken on your phone, Maps will automatically place them in the locations they were taken where you can relive good times or even share them with friends.

Symbian Belle v Symbian Anna - Screenshots

Some of you who are anxiously waiting for the N8 update to Belle want to see how the Symbian Anna compares with Symbian Belle. Here are a couple of screenshots. If you want to see other comparisons, leave a comment. 

The Home Screen is dominated by a large clock which makes it look a lot more Androidish. Messages and missed calls can be seen on the status bar (which now drops down to reveal one touch control of the wifi etc). See below what happens when you tap the top status bar.

You can now turn off mobile data, wifi, bluetooth or ringtones with two taps from the home screen and see various notifications. 

Maps looks pretty much the same. except that they've added an extra icon on the bottom right corner which means quicker access to various menu items. Live traffic deviation based on live traffic updates is now included in the phone, but I thought it was already in there? anyway.. 

The menu icons seem to have grown a little or at least their squircle has taken up more space (see Nokia Store icon on the left). Not sure but it seems that vibration is a little stronger with Belle? 

Just a sample screenshot of landscape mode with the Symbian Belle. It seems to adapt very well. 

Your Questions about New Firmware Symbian Belle

I updated my Nokia Suite to the latest version and plugged my Nokia N8 in to see whether there were any software updates. When I ran the Software Update checker, they happily reported that Symbian Belle is now available and the computer commenced downloading 257MB of updates!

There are some questions I can imagine many of you are asking in your head. First of all, how come you have the Symbian Belle update? I got the phone from London in 2010 at the Nokia World conference so the phone model is probably a UK one :) Should have checked for an update earlier.. so here are a few other questions you may have

Do I need to backup my phone contents? 
Nokia Suite will backup your phone contents. However files on the C:\ in your phone (not your SD CARD) will be wiped so they do pause the installation of the new firmware to give you time to copy C:\ into another location. I just copied it into the 8GB SD Card.

So what happens during the installation of firmware? 
The phone turns off after the installation and then asks you what language you want. Then they want you to sign in to your Nokia account to get Maps, Music, Mail and Store settings. It will then ask whether you want to transfer your phone contents from another phone. After this, you can set up your email account.

How long does it take to update the firmware? 
It took only 10 minutes for me.

When do I get my contents back from Nokia Suite's backup? 
It's quite funny because as I was adding in the date, time, and regional settings, I noticed my computer was busy in the background with Nokia Suite. It was (without prompting) restoring my phone's contents!

In the meantime, my phone was loading up an amazing, completely new homescreen! I immediately thought it looks a lot like my brother's HTC phone with the large flipclock taking up most of the screen real estate. You can see up to 6 beautiful home screens with icons customiz, get notifications covering sms/calls etc, live traffic deviation, one touch control of wifi/bluetooth/silence/vibration etc and so much more to explore!

What else needs updating? 
Nokia Store required a 4.3MB download for the latest 3.20.050 version.

So what does it look like? 

How to get the N8 E7 C6 Belle firmware now!

Whether you are in Australia, China, Indonesia or USA, if you cannot get the firmware yet and you don't want to wait your turn, one guy has uploaded it to a forum with the following link to the uploaded file you need to update your phone. Download it here

New Firmware for N8 - Symbian Belle

Nokia is starting to release the Symbian Belle firmware update to Nokia N8, E6, C7 etc. To find out whether you can get the update you will need to plug your mobile in and have the most recent Nokia Suite installed (3.3 available here).

You can see whether your region has the update ready by heading over to this link http://europe.nokia.com/find-products/nokia-belle-update/nokia-belle-update-availability

Nokia's first Windows Phone 7 - Lumia 800

Nokia Australia has finally confirmed the arrival of the first Nokia phone with Windows Phone 7 – the Nokia Lumia 800 to Australia. It will be available through all Optus, Telstra, Vodafone and all major retailers from March 2012. The phone will be available in black, blue (Cyan), pink (Magenta) and white. People in Australia will be taken by surprise by this new device which looks completely different to the Nokia phones of old. Gone is Symbian and the one-hit-wonder Meego and in comes the full force of Microsoft.

Since the Nokia N9 did not gain much traction in the Australian market, the new Lumia 800 which uses the same body as the N9 will certainly impress many mobile phone users. Nokia Australia’s managing director, Chris Carr, said, “Nokia Lumia will change the way people think about Nokia.  It signifies a new beginning for the company, bringing together the very best of Nokia’s handset design and services with the latest Windows Phone software."

Australians have continued to grow in their appetite for mobile phones with the average user owning more than one device. As many people have grown used to, or even bored with, the iphone and android platforms, early adopters could be looking with keen interest at the WP7 operating system that powers the Lumia 800. There is a greater integration of social media tools and an increasing number of apps flooding the new operating system.

Microsoft's partnership with Nokia on this phone will bring to the Lumia 800 Microoft's XBox Live games as well as Nokia's leading GPS navigation system. Prepare for a large marketing onslaught that will herald the Lumia 800 with the marketing pitch to make "Amazing Every Day"

More about our experiences with the Lumia 800 will be at www.MyN9.blogspot.com

Video of Fireworks using Nokia N8

We recently filmed some filmed a fireworks display in Perth using the Nokia N8. Check it out below.