S60 Open to new features

Jukka of Mobile Web Server fame sent me the details on a new Mobile TV receiver accessory, the SU-33W. It's a Bluetooth accessory that allows you to receive DVB-H mobile TV broadcasting with the N73 Multimedia Computer.

What does that mean? That means with this accessory you can now take your N73 and watch you favorite TV programs on it! If you already own an N73 and you live in a region where DVB-H is available this new accessory is definitely worth checking out.

The N73 is currently the only Multimedia Computer that has support for the SU-33W, but I hope to see more devices getting support in the future. To find out if your region has DVB-H coverage check the official DVB-H services website.

I regularly watch video podcasts on my Nokia N82 while commuting to work. In order to share what video podcasts I watch on a regular basis I compiled a list of them in no particular order, including their RSS Feeds, over on the Forum Nokia Web Talks Blog.

Are there any great video podcasts that I missed from the list? If so post them in a comment here or leave a comment on the Forum Nokia Web Talks Blog. Enjoy the videos!
http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/forum-nokia-web-talks/kevin-korpi/2008/05/15/video-podcast-roundup

I need to take a break from reading RSS feeds and watching the news and perhaps even talking to people for the next few days. (I say I need to, but I probably won't...) Anyway, I hope you've had a good chuckle or two from watching these videos for the past week, as I have. This is the final installment, about the ability to use your own music as custom ringtones, .... or maybe not... see for yourself :)

Downloadable clip in mp4 format (QVGA MPEG-4 @ 30fps, stereo AAC @ 48kHz).

- iCarol. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[ Via: Symbian-Guru, IntoMobile ]

Hey, iPhone gets to take a trip! How cool is that? Oh, the owner isn't coming along? That doesn't make sense...

I love to travel too, but I'd prefer if my gadgets scale the Great Wall with me than without me.

Downloadable clip in mp4 format (QVGA MPEG-4 @ 30fps, stereo AAC @ 48kHz).

Grand finale in less than 12 hours! And I'll bet we'll be seeing and hearing more about the iPhone, if that's possible...

- 卡露儿.

[ Via: IntoMobile, Symbian-Guru ]

Stefan lost me for a while there when he said "Calamari is good, but you have to find it." Guess I need the GPS function too! (geddit? geddit? ah never mind, I know it's lame...)

Just enjoy the video :)

Downloadable clip in mp4 format (QVGA MPEG-4 @ 30fps, stereo AAC @ 48kHz).

- Carol.

[ Via: Symbian-Guru, IntoMobile ]

The iPhone is not the first cell phone to do a lot of things (we here at S60 MM have a bone to pick about this too, but we'll save that for later!). Our S60 browser has been bringing the full web experience to you via the S60 devices for a while now. Watch what happens when iPhone finds out that it's actually late to the party:

Downloadable clip in mp4 format (QVGA MPEG-4 @ 30fps, stereo AAC @ 48kHz).

- Opera Mini.

[ Via: IntoMobile, Symbian-Guru ]

For those of you who don't understand Finnish (add me to the list, I really only know about 20 words, including counting from one to ten - which in this case is helpful), Jakso kaksi = episode two.

So yesterday we see iPhone agonizing over photo sharing. What about the photos it can capture in the first place?

Downloadable clip in mp4 format (QVGA MPEG-4 @ 30fps, stereo AAC @ 48kHz). Any comments about a vodcast feed? We could possibly have two feeds, one at this quality and another perhaps in 3gp format, QCIF H.263 @ 15fps and AMR-WB audio. I think that would cover most S60 devices?

Hope you're enjoying the "commercials" by Stefan and Ricky :) I know I am!

- Carol.

[ Via: Symbian-Guru, IntoMobile ]

It's hard to avoid reading and hearing about the iPhone these past weeks (or perhaps even past months). You think you'd be spared from all that here on the S60 blogs? Think again!

From co-workers to fellow bloggers to family and friends, everyone seems to have an opinion about the new Apple device and everyone wants to hear what others have to say. Even if the conversation goes something like this: "I'm so sick and tired of hearing about the iPhone. So, what do you think about it?"

What do I think about it? Oh, writing all my thoughts down will be a great way to warm up for my dissertation writing (if I ever get around to that). I will say this though: if nothing else, Apple did a kick ass job in their product marketing. Even I was impressed, and I'm not one who usually buy into the marketing hype.

But let's not have all these wordy paragraphs distract from the main attraction of this post: the first of six installments of "N95 vs iPhone commercials" (parodies of the Mac vs PC ones). These are a joint production by Ricky of Symbian-Guru.com and Stefan from IntoMobile.com. What are they about? Just watch and find out:

Here's a version in mp4 format (QVGA MPEG-4 @ 30fps, stereo AAC @ 48kHz) that you can download and play back on most S60 3rd Edition handsets. Speaking of which, what do ya'll think of a video podcast feed for this blog? Seeing that Kevin and I occasionally embed videos in our posts, would it be convenient if you can download the same videos and play them back on device? If so, please let us know what Nokia S60 devices you use so we can prepare the clips in the format most suited for everyone.

- Carol.

[ Via: IntoMobile, Symbian-Guru ]

One of the things that I enjoy doing to pass the time on my train commute to work is watching Diggnation and other Revision3 Vidcasts. I usually download the Vidcasts over WiFi using the S60 Podcasting application on the Nokia N93i. Diggnation is a video podcast that discusses some of the weekly top stories from the social news website Digg.com, hence the name Diggnation. The hosts of the show Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht have great chemistry together and keep the show entertaining by debating and often making jokes about the stories they cover.

Recently Diggnation reached the 100 episode milestone! Congratulations guys and looking forward to watching many more episodes in the future. Below are 2 photos of Diggnation episode 100 playing on the Nokia N93i and N95.

(Click on the image to view a larger image.)

(Click on the image to view a larger image.)

Here's how you can download and watch Diggnation and other Revision3 Vidcasts on your N93i or N95.
Step 1. Install the S60 Podcasting application. It's available from Nokia.com/podcasting
Step 2. Open the Podcasting application and open the Podcasts folder. Press Options and choose New podcast then enter the Netcast RSS feed, in this case the Diggnation feed is http://revision3.com/diggnation/feed/quicktime-small
Note: When asked what access point you want to connect to I recommend selecting a nearby WiFi network, unless you have an unlimited cellular Data plan. The reason for this is because the Netcasts tend to be fairly large files and you wouldn't want to get a large phone bill from these downloads.
Step 3. Select Diggnation and you'll see a long list of available episodes.
Step 4. Highlight and select an episode that you want to watch. A message asking, "Content can not be played on the device. Continue?" will appear. You can press Yes since most of the Revision3 "Qucktime Small" Vidcasts are playable on your N93i/N95. As a slightly technical explanation, the reason why the Podcasting app thinks the video is not supported is because the MIME Type returned from the Revision3 server is video/x-m4v and that is not in the list of supported MIME types. However the video is actually H.264 video codec and AAC audio codec that is supported on N93i and N95.
Step 5. Wait for the episode to download. When it has completed downloading you can select the video directly from the Podcasting application to play it. The Netcasts are saved by default on your Memory Card under the directory 'Podcasts' -> 'Other'.

As an alternative if you don't want to download directly with your N93i/N95 or a WiFi network isn't nearby you could also download them on a computer then copy them to your N93i or N95 for watching at your leisure.
Remember only S60 devices that have H.264 video playback support can play these Vidcasts. The Nokia N93i and N95 have H.264 support.

Now that you know how to download the videos here are some other Revision3 Vidcasts to enjoy watching and the Netcast RSS feeds for them.
- Systm - RSS Feed: http://revision3.com/systm/feed/quicktime-small
Systm is a Vidcast that shows you and explains how technology works.
- InDigital - RSS Feed: http://revision3.com/indigital/feed/quicktime-small
InDigital is a tech gadget review show.
- Web Drifter - RSS Feed: http://revision3.com/webdrifter/feed/quicktime-small
Web Drifter features wacky web related humor. The show is hosted by Martin Sargent.

If you enjoyed this entry or found it useful then Digg it!

What videos do you like to watch on your S60 device? Do you have a favorite video site that you'd like to recommend to others?

Happy Sunday to you all!

Looks like mobile version of YouTube has gone live. As a techie I was excited to see how they have implemented it, and here's how it looks like:
- 3GP/RTSP streaming video (no downloads)
- video codec H.263, audio codec AMR-NB
- video bitrate ~34kbps

So they have clearly went with the lowest common denominator strategy and there seems to be no adaptation based on the mobile terminal. These days when mainstream S60 devices have MPEG-4/AVC, better audio and 3G/WLAN it's a bit disappointing but maybe this is just the first version of the service.