Vod - aaargh - fone

BREAKING NEWS FOR ANY BRAND NEW MOBIZINE USERS ON THE VODAFONE NETWORK

If you are on the Vodafone UK network and have attempted to download the Mobizines service since June 4th 2007, you may not have the correct version.

If you tried to install and you saw a message that starts with the following text:

"Your handset may be capable of receiving this service but we have not yet tested it and cannot guarantee the quality of the service you will receive..."

First:
Check to see if your phone is on our supported handset list -
If it is supported and you still saw the above text then there is a very high chance that you may not have the right version of Mobizines.
This strongly applies to anyone using a QVGA and/or Symbian phone... (N95 users take note!)

Please email us at help@mobizines.com along with your phone model and mobile number and we will endeavour to get you fixed and up and running ASAP.

Our people are talking to Vodafone's people RIGHT NOW and we will hopefully have this problem solved as soon as possible.

More news as we get it...


EDIT:
Our friends at smstextnews have a reasonably good explanation of it all here.

Use Mobizines over WLAN For FREE !

Many of you may know that we ran a recent beta test for the N95. Over 80 of you volunteered to be part of this beta and we're very grateful to each and every one of you.

We've listened to you feedback and the most common enhancements that was requested, was the ability to use WLAN where is was available.

We been prototyping how this could work and now have a test version that automatically detects if the handset is hooked up to a WLAN router. If you are hooked up, this APN is automatically selected. Needless to say, it is super quick and overall a really great experience.

We're considering beta testing this variant, if you think we should beta this variant, please let me know at devices@mobizines.com

Kevin

We've got a new toy

And it isn't an N95...

...can you guess what it could be?

Hehe...

I know we promised a techie-orientated post (and there is one coming soon) but our dev team have been having a good play with the contents of that box today...

Maybe we'll knock up another video for you...
More on this... Soon.

Top Tip: Ever wanted Mobizines at the touch of a button?

You can configure your right (or left) soft key on your N95 (or any other Symbian handset!) to access Mobizines by using:

Tools > Settings > General > Personalisation > Standby > Shortcuts > Right Selection Key

Or alternatively, for the you can add the Mobizines icon to your desktop - aka The Active Standy - by using:

Tools > Settings > General > Personalisation > Standby > Shortcuts > Active Standby Apps

We’re offering prizes for other Top Tips and will be publishing them here in our blog.

Kevin

Our top 3 support requests: 2

N95 is coming!

We're getting flooded by requests for the N95 beta software. We've been in beta a bit longer than we'd like with this one, but the software is now ready and we're just waiting for Symbian signing. We expect this will be added to the main Mobizines install system by the end of next week.

By the way we'd really like one of these t-shirts

<------------ from ThinkGeek. Ta.

Not the N95!

There have been a few mutterings around the office of late that we're concentrating too much on the Nokia N95 on this here new(ish) fancy blog of ours...

Well!

We're happy to announce that the Mobizines service is now live on the Nokia 6300.

To quote Nokia:

"Clean, modern design with stainless steel covers, 2 megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom, music player and FM radio, multimedia messaging, and a video player and recorder..."

Well they should add 'Mobizines Reader' to that list too!

The Nokia 6300, the Nokia N95 and the Nokia E65 are all over the press (certainly in the UK anyway) at the moment and we're happy shout out that we support all of these handsets.
The current clients are all Java but we are working on Symbian variants for both the N95 and the E65.

On a personal note - a friend of mine got the 6300 a while back and I almost dumped my (then) N73 for it overnight!
It is a great little phone and probably the best choice for non-techie/non-business mobile phone users.

Anyone out there got one of these handsets?
Have you tried Mobizines?

Let us know!
Leave a comment or email us at bloggers@mobizines.com

(note - we've got a new email address)


PS - Click here to see our handset compatibility list

Taking your lovely new N95 to the beach

A couple of words of warning if you are taking your new and lovely N95 on holiday with you...

1. Avoid sand.

The slider mechanism really hates it and mine now makes a terrible grinding sound.

2. Take a spare battery.

The MP3 player gives a good few hours worth of playing but I frequently found myself having to limit my phone usage to stay charged for a full day on the beach.

Still, minor gripes, it really is a fantastic phone...

What's in yours?

Got an N95?
I have. So has Richie.
Rich got his from T-Mobile.
I got mine from Vodafone.

Let's have a quick comparison, shall we?

Two sections: Box & Handset

In the box for T-Mobile:

• Handset (obviously)
  
• Mains Charger
  
• TV-Out Cable
• Hands-Free Kit
• Mini-USB Cable

So that's what Rich got.
Me and my Vodafone package?
Well I got all of the above PLUS the following:

• In-Car Charger
• 512mb MicroSD Memory Card + SD Adaptor
• CA-44 Adaptor (the thing that changes old Nokia charges to new ones - you know the one)

First round to me then... er...I mean Vodafone.

Ok - moving on - What about on the handset?

T-Mobile - Rich got LOADSA stuff!
Vodafone - I got LOADSA stuff too! Except...

I'm missing my Internet Telephony Settings - (just like the Orange variant).
Boo.
Not only that but also on Richie's download app - he gets cool stuff like:
System Rush, EA Games, Gizmo VOIP...
What do I get?

Snakes.
SNAKES!

No matter how many times I refresh - ALL I GET IS SNAKES!
Nice.

T-Mobile (Richie) wins that round then!

Conclusion? It's a draw*.
If you want loads of accessories and stuff (and you don't mind missing out on a few features) then get your N95 from VFUK.
If you want access to all of your N95 features & software (and are quite happy to purchase your own accessories) then get your N95 from T-Mobile.

Happy shopping!
Obviously we haven't checked Orange and/or 3 - so if you have this handset on either of these networks - let us know what you have and haven't got!

*On this note - Rich thinks that ultimately I'll win as I kind of have a bit of a reputation for flashing the odd phone or two... ahem.

Overclocking madness

Make Magazine (they really ought to be on our blogroll...there...done!) is reporting that someone has figured out how to overclock (and underclock, which is handier when you're trying to beat a game) a Nintendo DS Lite.

Which makes me wonder...overclocking the DS Lite requires the dexterity of a brain surgeon for flies. If someone's prepared to put that much effort into a games console how come there are no hardware hacks for mobiles?

How much effort would it be to clock an N95?

Whatley adds: A prize for the first person to correctly guess why Jim has chosen Bob Hoskins as his referral picture for this particular blog entry...

We love our N95...

...So much we made a video of it !

Not only did we film Mobizines on the N95's beautiful screen - but we utilised the TV-Out port to our best ability too...

Scroll down to the vid and have a look see what I mean...

Featuring:
(in order of appearance)

Richie's N95,
Mobizines - Java Version*,
Mobizines in vertical & horizontal screen format,
MAXIM Mobizine in vertical & horizontal screen format,
Our very own Mobizines Daily...

...and a Mobizines Blogspot exclusive:

The new 'Autoscroll' feature that will be built into our next release...



Enjoy!

*Yes yes - we know the N95 is a Symbian handset - but Richie is our Java fiend and as the vid was his idea we used 'his version' of Mobizines.
We do have a Symbian version of it mind, we just haven't released it yet but;
If you'd like to give it a go - email us (along with your phone number and operator details) at help@mobizines.com and we'll send you the necessary files to install it yourself!

Tube Map you say?

"Whassat den?!"

Well - we've been trying to collate a list of all the apps we like/admire/use daily to share with all of our lovely readers out there (all five of them).

So far Jim and I are yet to receive anything back from the group email we sent out last week along the lines of:

"Oi! Give us something for the blog!"

But to be fair to the guys upstairs - they do work hard - and the next release isn't far away.

SO!

In the interim - one of our 'blogrollers' - the lovely technokitten to be precise - reminded me of a handy little app we found a while back via the wonders of Transport for London.

Basically - on some handsets you can download a lovely interactive Tube Map via their wap site.
Unfortunately you're unable to get to this if you use an N73 or an N95 for example.
Ah-ha!
That's what TFL would have you believe!

We managed to find the source of the downloads and we've decided to share it with all you lovely people.
Got a phone? Gonna be in London Town anytime soon?
Then get this super duper Tube Map!
It's easy peasy... Ready?

Get your Firefox browser + WAP browser plug-in (if needed) and go to here:

http://wap.tfl.gov.uk/kcml/tubemap/downloads/

Once you get there use the following as a guide:

6230 - does 128px screens - Er.. 6230 then.
6600 - does 176px screens - That'll be your N70 etc...
S700 - does 240px screens (QVGA) screens - N73, N95, etc, etc...

Huzzah!
Tube map wonderment for all!

Why do you have to go to the above wap/website to get the map?
Well - you don't.

Go to the official wap site site on a 6230 and you're laughing.
Go there on an N73 however and you will not be shown the link to download the app.

Boo! Hiss!

New Handsets from T-Mobile

T-Mobile UK adds Nokia N95, BlackBerry 8800g to its offering...

Us lucky Brits!

The first one is the Nokia N95 "multimedia computer", whose price starts from £0 and goes up to £289.99 (one of our guys has already done this - expect a video update soon)

The other one is RIM's flagship BlackBerry 8800g, priced in a £0-159.99 range. Of course, in order to get any of these devices, you'll have to sign for an appropriate contract.
Still, it's good to see two of the top devices available on any carrier/operator.

Maybe the others will catch up soon?

We just love testing out new handsets in this office - as you can see we've got Mobizines working on the N95 and we also support some Blackberry handsets - but not all.

Guess we'll have to get the Tech Team working on the 8800g!
Just out of curiosity:

Have any of our readers tried the Blackberry version of the Mobizines client yet?
If so - we'd love your feedback - email us at help@mobizines.com or leave your comments below...

N95 has Arrived

Those of us that do not have a hangover because we were not invited to the do last night have just got excited because the N95 has now arrived at T-Mobile UK.

Richy has just ordered his and it only cost him for less than £40 for the upgrade (including P&P) as long as he agreed to extend his contract to 18 months. Worth every penny, its a great phone. Cannot wait for mine...

Neil & Robin - Building the Future

It's all go today in the technology department!

We've been refining the new 'pre-installable' version for Symbian 3rd Edition handsets that ship in about 2 weeks time.

This is a picture of Robin and Neil creating a new "catalogue" version of our N95 and N73 client...
To commence shipping in the UK from around April 10th!

The picture was taken with an N95.

Look! We've got an N95!

Well - we've got three actually...

...and Guess what?!
Mobizines looks GREAT on it!

I managed to let the techies upstairs let one out of their sight for a whole week a little while back and I can safely say you are looking at the phone of 2007.

Do not misunderstand me when I say this - I'm not talking about 'the phone' that everyone will be chatting/blogging about (they're already doing that).
What I'm saying is - by the middle of the Summer; EVERYONE YOU KNOW WILL HAVE ONE.

Y'know how right now everyone's either got an N73 or a Sony K800i?
(that's the case in this office anyway)
Well forget about your iphones buddy - the N95 is the way forward.

What can I tell you about it?
Hmmm... Well - a few mobile bloggers have their own N95 RIGHT NOW - so there's probably not much I can tell you that hasn't been covered already...
My own opinion?
It's cool.

It slides both ways, which is cool.
It has a 'proper' headphone jack, which is cool.
It has a massive screen, which is cool.
It's got an AMAZING camera, which is also cool.
Nokia Pop-port? No.
Mini USB Port? Yes.

That last point - I'm sure it will a good thing in the long run (no - scrap that - I'm certain, I've already half-inched my colleague's blackberry cable) but Nokia just keeps changing things! AARGH!

That doesn't really count though - the phone is amazing and really needs to be seen to be believed.
Vodafone have promised me my own one in 2wks. These things often get delayed so we'll see - but if you manage to see one out on the market, get one!

Then once you've got one - Get Mobizines!