(In case there is any doubt, the symbol "<3" means love. It's like a smiley. Turn your head to the right 90 degrees.)

For Mac users, integrating an Nseries device has been, up until now, a challenge. Sure, we've hadiSync plugins for a while, but that's only for PIM data. Microsoft Outlook on Windows and Intellisync Mobile Suite are the centers of my PIM universe, so for me, at least, iSync support is not something I need.

Music and pictures, however, are another story entirely. My MacBook and my Nokia Nseries devices are the centers of my media universe. I consume (and generate) mass quantities of digital media on both my MacBook and my Nseries devices, but there was no practical way to connect these two worlds. Sure, some of this could be done with third party software using the phone in Data Transfer mode, but none of them were particularly automatic or easy to use. To boot, the phone had to either be in Offline mode or, in the case of the Nokia N95, apps would not be allowed to use the MicroSD card while in this mode. Sub-optimal at best.

No longer! Nokia Media Transfer for Mac OS X is here! Once you have configured the application, which is extremely easy to do, syncing is as simple as plugging in your Nseries device into your Mac. Bluetooth is also supported, but Bluetooth is much slower than a cable. Both photos and non-DRMed music/videos from iTunes will be synced.

Your Nseries device has a "folder" inside of both iTunes and iPhoto. Anything (including a playlist) that is put in this folder is synced when the device is connected. There is a mode inside of Nokia Media Transfer to ensure that your Mini/MicroSD card is not completely filled up with music, known as the "Music Fill-Up" option. nice. The music that is ultimately synced is given a playlist on the Nseries device, making it very easy to load it up and start listening!

The Device Browser is also a nice thing, giving you the ability to browse the file system on your Nseries device. Unlike using the device in Media Transfer mode, this also gives you the ability to browse the file system on the phone memory (versus just the Mini/MicroSD card). Nice.

The best part is that all of this functionality works in PC Suite mode! This means not taking the device offline when you connect and you can keep using the apps on your phone.

Now of course, this is beta software, so it may be a little rough around the edges. However, I am pleasantly surprised at how easily my Nseries devices now integrate with the Mac. I just wish I could get the same integration with the Eseries devices. In theory, they are also built on S60 3rd Edition, so it should work. I'm sure it's just a matter of getting the devices for testing. I'd be happy to beta test it. :)

Any Mac user with an Nseries device should go download a copy of Nokia Media Transfer. Post your thoughts in the comments. Also submit your feedback via Nokia Media Transfer (Tools and Settings > Send Feedback to Nokia) as I know they want to hear it, both good and bad!

In my last post, many of you got caught up in the fact that you can sync iTunes with a Nokia N95. Of course I know there are third-party tools that can do this, but that wasn't really the point. The real point was that for convergence to really take hold, the integration into the various aspects of our lives has to be seamless and it has to be that way in the box, meaning without third party add-ons. The integration that the iPod has with iTunes is simply an example of how easy that integration has to be.

Certainly one area that the Nokia N95 has a leg up on over some of the competition is in photo sharing and mobile blogging. Tools are built-in that enable this fairly easily--but only if you use Flickr and Typepad respectively. You can use the built-in Lifeblog with Vox or you can use the Vox Mobile application for tighter integration. If it weren't for Lifeblog and/or Vox Mobile, I would almost never update my Vox blog!

That being said, there could be more integration with more services in these areas, including video sharing sites, and the integration needs to be in the box. I would also take it a step further--we also need integration with new services that haven't even been thought of yet. Adhering and actively promoting open standards that are in-use by others is one way to ensure in the box integration with this new generation of services.

What are some ways Nokia could enable better in the box integration? Share your thoughts in the comments. I can't promise our ideas will make it into future products, but I have no doubt they will be read and considered.

So if you haven't heard already, S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 will support widgets native to the platform. The very first mobile platform to support widgets in this way. The widget will load just like any other app, and will have the same look & feel as normal apps.

Widgets make use of existing web technologies like simple HTML or more complex AJAX - but even still, AJAX is way more simpler than Symbian C++. So the potential S60 developers out there just went from the thousands to the millions. We've all thrown together some HTML in lives, and now we can throw together S60 widgets. I sincerely predict mobile widgets to be a massive success and take us much closer to the "mobile revolution" we keep hearing about.

But some of you are saying to yourself, "I've tried widgets. They suck!" I've said the same, I've tried out Google's and Yahoo!'s widget platorm for the PC. Neat idea but...who the hell uses their desktop!?! I either have my e-mail open or my browser at all times - why would I want to flip back to my desktop? At least Yahoo! and Googe are integrating widgets into their portals, that makes them a bit more useful. But I think the mobile is the ideal location for these things.

How often have you said, "I wish I had an app that does XYZ for my PC"? Probably quite often, but you're very likely to find an app that does XYZ (and usually that XYZ is something rather simple). Now how many times have you said, "I wish I had an app that does XYZ for my mobile?" Maybe just as often, but there's less of a chance you'll find it. In steps widgets - the number of potential developers increase by x1000, alot more niche apps are available (and probably for free), which is perfect for today's "long tail" lifestyle.

If you want to learn more about widgets, be sure to check out today's podcast with the S60 Widget Guru, Ganesh Sivaraman. And visit S60.com for even more info. And later this week I'll release another podcast where I interviewed a couple guys who've already created S60 widgets, and they'll answer all your more detailed questions.

This is very handy - Read/Write Web put together 85 essential mobile search sites you'll need since mobile "is going to be "the Next Big Thing". (although, I reckon alot of these sites are already covered in S60's Mobile Search app)

Here's my favorites from the list of 85 that I use...

CNN Mobile http://edition.cnn.com/mobile CNN news' Mobile version
Google Mobile www.google.com/mobile/ Google' Mobile version
JuiceCaster www.juicecaster.com Share photos and videos with others with your mobile phone.
Nokia Mobile Search http://mobilesearch.nokia.com Nokia's Mobile search software
ShoZu www.shozu.com/portal/index.do Send and rceive photos, videos, videos and music on the move!
Widsets www.widsets.com Traffic, News, Blogs, Restaurants, Weather, etc.
winksite www.winksite.com Make it easy to publish mobile Internet sites
Yahoo! Go http://mobile.yahoo.com/go Build you own collection of Yahoo! widgets

Hi all!

Tommi said:

Now, we are finally about to put Nokia's Barcode Reader application under N80 and N73 support pages, and to the Download! client.

And here it is, my early Christmas present for all Nokia N73 and N80 users! Just start the Download! application (called Catalogs in N80) and you'll find the Barcode reader right there.

Once you're done, scan the code on your right :)

(If you are not able to scan the code: have a Merry Christmas and an interesting New Year 2007!)

Update 19.01.2007: Because of installation problems with certain Nokia N73 versions we decided to remove the download from Download! for the time being. Barcode reader for N73 will become again available as soon as there is a N73 firmware update deployed that corrects the problems. Sorry for this, I'll let you know as soon as it's back up!

Cheers,
Jukka

After solving several puzzles, I do not find the Sudoku application on my mobile as interesting as some six months ago. This fall, no doubt my favorite add-on application has been the Omat Lähdöt –timetable service offered by Helsinki City Transport.

Helsinki City Transport, together with the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council (YTV), offers a comprehensive timetable and journey planning service on their web sites. There’s also a mobile optimized version of the web site, offering a great way to plan routes and check timetables on the move.

However, people typically commute between few places only. For me, these places are home, the office and a gym. The Omat Lähdöt –timetable service, launched in May, is a superior tool for checking the timetables for these connections. With the application installed on my mobile, I can check the timetable for any bus stop in Helsinki. But what’s more, I can store my most frequently used bus stops (home, office, gym) in the system, and even nickname them. When opening the application, it shows me the timetable of next five buses arriving at these stops. It’s possible to use the service with a PC, too, but I have found the mobile version very handy: less running behind buses, less waiting at bus stops, no printed timetables in the pocket.

There are some things I’d like to improve in the service though. When opening the application, it always asks whether it is ok ”to use network and send or receive data.” An extra click is needed to confirm this is ok. Also, I always need to select the access point for the application manually. A bit irritating, and again an extra click is needed. Finally, when exiting the application, a confirming click to exit the application is required, too. I hope there would be a way to avoid these extra clicks, especially when using the phone outdoors in an awful November weather like this morning.

When people think of the term "BitTorrent" they often think of piracy and illegal filesharing...but they shouldn't. BitTorrent is simply a protocol just like HTTP, FTP, and POP3. So obviously "banning" a protocol would be ridiculous, but this hasn't stopped some ISP's and web hosts from doing this.

I've tested out some S60 BitTorrent clients in the past with mixed results but I think finally found one that takes the cake. The freeware app SymTorrent has been developed by three authors inside the mobile laboratory of BUTE's Department of Automation and Applied Informatics in Budapest. I'm not going to go into the basics of BitTorrent filesharing, I'll assume you know how it works. The functionality off this app is rather limited compared to the clients you'll find on your desktop, but the essentials are there.

When you load up the app you're shown your active torrents which tells you how much each torrent is completed, how many other clients you're connected to, and your current download speed. If you move to the other tab, you'll find your overall upload/download speeds and total incoming connections.

Finding torrents to download is easy, finding legal torrents can be a bit more difficult. I fired up the Web Browser for S60 and found a torrent called "Photos of horses", sounds innocent enough. I clicked on the file, saved it to my memory card, then went back into SymTorrent clicked "Options" then "Add Torrent File" and navigated to my memory card to select the file. I chose my connection - use WLAN if you have it, otherwise you better have a high-speed, flat-rate connection or else it'll be slow and expensive. After a few seconds the transfer began.

The torrent then loads up in the main window, when you click on it you're offered three tabs. One gives you a progress bar and more details about the torrent, the second shows you a list of files within the torrent, and third displays the torrent's properties. I was unable to select which files within the torrent I wanted to download and which ones I didn't, this is the only request I'd have to future versions.

In the options, you can tell it where you want it to save the files. After a few minutes I check the folder and there they were, photos of horses. So all-in-all another nice piece of freeware for S60!

When installing an application onto your S60 device via a computer, it first copies the installation file from your computer to the device, extracts it and installs. However, it doesn't necessarily remove that installation file from your device, and worse yet, it often places it on the native C: memory even if you're installing the application to your memory card.

Here's how to remove those installation files and free up some important memory - First off you'll need a file browser such as the free SExplorer or Y-Browser. Or, connect your device to your computer via bluetooth/USB. If you want to do it via Windows...

1. Load up Windows Explorer
2. Look for "Nokia Phone Browser" and select your phone (you must have PC Suite installed)
3. Browse to C:\ -> \Data\ -> \Installs\
4. You may now delete all those files.

...however, there are some reasons why you may not want to remove those installation files. Maybe you want to pass the application onto a friend via the device? Maybe you want to reinstall it later without using the PC?

One important thing to removed though, do NOT remove anything E:\ Data - These are important files your applications have placed there, removing them might cause some applications to stop functioning.

UPDATE: Many thanks to everyone who e-mailed/commented. First off, this is supposedly a bug, the device is supposed to automatically remove these files. The support team is currently looking into this. Secondly, some might notice I changed the instructions above - I originally used an app that's only found on pre-release firmware versions so you probably won't find it on your phone. :-)

Antony Pranada of S60Tips.com just released an updated version of his fantastic 3rd Edition compatible freeware, Screenshot...

Screenshot for Symbian OS is a FREE program to take screenshot on your Symbian OS mobile phones (UIQ or S60). You can capture screenshot and save it to a file in JPEG, BMP or MBM format (the S60 version supports PNG format too). The screenshot can be sent directly to a PC via Bluetooth or infrared and another mobile phone. Furthermore, you can customize the shortcut key, file name and delay of capturing. This new version supports continuous mode that allows you to capture screenshot every a few seconds.

Antony Pranata of S60Tips has put together a excellent step-by-step instructions to synch your iTunes with your S60 3rd Edition device - and it's really easy, and synching is simple (unlike some older hacks). Along with iTunes and your device, all you need is the open source iTunes Agent and your device's USB cable.

He describes how to do it for Nokia's N-Series devices, but I've discovered that it needs to be done a little different on Nokia's E-Series devices. Read his instructions first, then read below if you're doing it on an E-Series device.

- When you want to setup the synching - connect the USB cable to your device and choose "IP Passthrough". That way, you'll be able to transfer a file to the device using Windows Explorer.

- Once you've set everything up - disconnect and reconnect the USB cable to your device and choose "Data Transfer" instead. iTunes Agent should inform you that your device is setup correctly and you're ready to synch with the playlist. Now you can click the "Synchronize" button on iTunes Agent. I didn't see any notification that it was done synching, as long as you don't get an error, you should be alright.

- If iTunes Agent gives you some error message during synchronization, try leaving the "Music folder" field blank in the iTunes Agent preferences. I received some strange error about "can't delete empty folder" when I choose a specific folder on my memory card. When I left that field blank, it worked fine. (not sure why, I'll have to experiment further and figure that out, because having a bunch of mp3 folders on the root of your memory card makes things messy)