Nokia N95 8GB Review

Last year, after reviewing Nokia's N95, I thought it will take the Finnish company a long time to surpass its performances. Fortunately for Nokia fans, N95 8GB, the sequel to the older N95, has been announced in a moment when the latter already conquered the mobile phones market, which didn't take too long at all. Sales of the device registered some of the highest numbers in Nokia's history and stocks of the device were replenished more often than Nokia expected. Anyway, the announcement was made just in time to arouse the interest of the mobile freaks, not too early, to enable N95 handset to sell until all the mobile market reached a certain level of saturation, but also not too late, to keep up the interest of the N series' fans. Nokia N95 8GB received a whole range of improvements compared with its predecessor, which made it a totally different device and not just an upgrade of the N95.Announced in August 2007, Nokia N95 8GB has been made available 2 months later, in October. The moment N95 8GB hit the market, Nokia N95's price lowered with at least 20%, which made the 8GB the most expensive N series handset sold for about 1,000 USD. Lately, both devices registered another serious drop in price, and N95 8GB can be bought now for only 800 USD.




DesignNokia's N95 8GB design kept the same dual slide form factor, but its screen got bigger and its color changed to pure black. In terms of weight, N95 8GB got fatter, weighing 128 grams (including battery), as compared with the N95, which weighs only 120 grams. The rest of the measures are the same in both cases (99 x 53 x 21 mm), but the 2.8'' display of the 8GB version gives the impression that the whole handset is a little bit bigger than the standard version.




The sliding mechanism has been slightly improved and won't permit the phone to slide up or down when it's kept in a tight pocket. That doesn't mean that your N95 8GB won't slide by mistake, but at least the probability has been lowered considerably. The grip that powered on the camera by opening the protective lenses has been removed, thus the possibility to start the camera by mistake when you put your phone in your pocket has been totally eliminated. The layout of the external keys has been also kept the same. The right side of the phone gets all the external buttons, such as: volume control, camera and gallery buttons. The left side of the phone only features the infrared port and the 3.5 mm audio output jack.



There are also two stereo speakers that can be used to listen to the radio or to the music player. On the bottom of the phone we can find the miniUSB port and the small charge port (AC4 adapter). The only thing left is the usual power button which is placed on top of the device. The back of the phone bears the Nokia logo and the 5 Megapixel camera with flash that features Carl Zeiss lenses.

The keypad looks pretty much the same as its older brother's ? N95. The 5-way control key is flanked only by two other keys: the menu key and the one that controls the multimedia features of the phone. Edging all three are the usual contextual keys found in any Nokia slider. All keys are visible in dark areas through the backlighting system. When you slide down the phone, you will be able to notice the music keys used for controlling the music or video player.

Unfortunately, the same problem that I have faced with the N95 model is still troubling me now: when you slide down the phone, the screen turns to landscape mode, but when you slide it back the screen won't revert to the usual portrait mode. The only possible way to revert it back is to slide up the phone and then back, which is kind of annoying. Overall, the phone looks stylish, but serious at the same time, thanks to its black color. Anyway, those that intend to buy the 'multimedia computer' do it for features mostly and not for its look.

Display and CameraThere are few handsets that feature such a good display as Nokia N95 8GB. If you previously owned the 'older' model, N95, then you will find they are both the same: TFTs supporting 16 Million colors and 240 x 320 pixels resolution. Nevertheless, there is a 0.2" difference in size between the 2 devices, in the favor of the 8GB version. Even if small in size, the difference is huge in quality, especially as the phone comes with the Spiderman 3 movie. Overall, except for the fact that it easily catches fingerprints, the screen is probably the best on the market. The images displayed look quite amazing, while the visibility maintains above average and is not affected by strong sunlight.

Nokia Music Store Now Open in Australia

The latest Music Store portal opened by the Finnish giant mobile company is Nokia Music Store Australia, which comes as the seventh Store of this type, after the ones from the UK, Finland, Germany, Italy, Ireland and the Netherlands. As in the case of the already existing Nokia Music Stores, the Australian one will concentrate
local bands and artists, as well as on internationally known acts, offering users access to millions of songs.To celebrate the launch of the new Australian Music Store, Nokia comes with a live album from the popular group The John Butler Trio. The album was recorded last month (March 2008) and it's now exclusively available at the new Nokia Music Store. Nokia Music Store Australia an be accessed (at this address) by music lovers either from their PCs or from select Nokia phones like Nokia N82, Nokia N95 8GB and Nokia N81 8GB. Moreover, users can sync music from their computer on lots of Nokia handsets. To help users find their favorite music, Nokia teamed up with Jimmy Barnes, the legendary Australian rock singer, who will make recommendations and suggest playlists to the visitors of the portal. There are various payment options for buying tracks from Nokia Music Store, including pre-paid vouchers and credit cards. One song will cost buyers 1.70 AUD (Australian dollars), while full-length albums come for prices starting at 17.00 AUD."Not only do we have millions of tracks available for consumers," says Shaun Colligan, General Manager, Nokia Australia, "but we have something for everyone, whatever their music tastes. Australian consumers can be confident that the Nokia Music Store will have a broad range of genres including popular and non-mainstream genres and independent artists.""We want to be the most locally relevant music store and will feature artists such as The John Butler Trio, The Presets, Pete Murray, Kate Miller Heidke, Powderfinger, Silverchair, Lior, Cut Copy, Kisschasey, Kasey Chambers and many more!", also added Mr. Shaun Colligan.

Not long ago, Nokia's latest multimedia computer, the N95 started shipping in stores, and now, the Chinese have already come up
google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);
with a clone for it. This time, not only did they not bother to change the design, but they didn't even bother to change the name and thus the handset is still dubbed the Nokia-N95. Well, there's a dash between the Nokia and the N95 if that counts for anything. What's very surprising and pleasing is the fact that even though the original Nokia N95 is one of the best and most advanced mobiles available on the market today, the Chinese manufacturers still managed to pull off a worthy clone. However, the Chinese N95 is in this case not a slider, as Nokia's original is, but a candybar, looking more like the N73. While it's not clear what the phone's specs are, as in the case of this type of handset, they probably include a 2 megapixel camera (or close to that), a touchscreen with a QVGA resolution and most likely handwriting recognition. Also, from what you can tell from the photos, the handset seems to sport a second camera on the front side, which means it most likely has 3G capabilities.What's to be seen is how much time it will take Nokia now to sue them over their clone, and in this case, as opposed to the Nokir 828, it's pretty clear that the Chinese manufacturers have borrowed at least the name, if anything from Nokia's multimedia computer. While there's no information on this phone's availability, it's a sure thing that it comes with a very low price tag.

Windows 7 Build 7264 RTM-Branch - 100 Screenshot Gallery

With the second half of July approaching the feeling that Windows 7 RTM is so close it can be tasted is getting stronger and stronger. The confirmation that Microsoft will be releasing the next iteration of the Windows client to manufacturing by the end of this month came in early June 2009, but without a specific deadline delivered. While closing in on producing the gold build for Windows Vista's successor, the Redmond company is keeping the final backing stages of the Windows 7 development process under a tight lid. But this is only valid for its own cooking ovens; once development milestones are out of Redmond Windows 7 builds manage to find their way into the wild. It is of course the case of Windows 7 Build 7264 leaked earlier this week.
google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);
Quite a lot has happened between Build 7264 hitting the download pipes from torrent trackers and warez websites and the previous leaked release, Build 7260. Sure enough, there are changes in the operating system itself; nothing at a large architectural stage of course, but more in respect to the details that Microsoft was still holding back from its users. Since mid-June the software giant has confirmed the Windows 7 box design and the pricing details for the platform. At the same time, the company has kick-started the Windows 7 Free Upgrade Option Program, a marketing initiative in partnership with OEMs, designed to provide end users with free upgrade editions of Windows 7 for equivalents of Vista SKUs bought with qualifying new computers between June 26, 2009 and January 31, 2010. In addition, discounted upgrade copies of Windows 7 are still available for pre-ordering, Home Premium for $49.99 and Professional for $99.99, for customers in select markets, with Microsoft preparing to bring the special offerings to more countries. And all the while the company is keeping mum on the progress of Windows 7 toward RTM. In all fairness this is by no means a new strategy for the software giant. Official details on the evolution of Windows 7 between milestones were never shared with the public. This doesn't make Build 7264 any less valid or relevant - a relevance drawn from the proximity to RTM. In this sense, while being a release from the RTM-branch, Build 7264 is not, and will not qualify as the gold build of Windows 7. Windows 7 Build 7264 InstallationBelow you will be able to see screenshots from the installation of Windows 7 Build 7264. It has been over two weeks since I performed a deployment of Windows 7, and some details otherwise familiar faded a tad. But I installed every milestone of Windows 7 I could ever get my hands on, and the sheer speed of the process continues to deliver quite an impression. Even on a virtual machine with just 1.5 GB of RAM the deployment is fast, and will undoubtedly surprise end users in a pleasant manner. It's just a different league compared with previous releases of Windows. With the exception of a few details associated with the End User License Agreement, installing Build 7264 is the same as the Release Candidate bits. But in the EULA, Windows 7 is no longer accompanied by any moniker highlighting a development phase. The operating system is referenced as plain vanilla Windows 7, an indication of the proximity to RTM.

Five Samsung Handsets in the Spotlight

Samsung is one busy bee these days, with a series of its handsets heading for the market in different countries around the world, and with new photos of others that have just seen the light of day emerging. The newest device spotted in the wild is the Samsung Glyde 2, which seems to be heading to Verizon Wireless in the US, yet there is also the Samsung Link going to Bell Canada, as well as the Samsung S3030 Eco launched in the Netherlands, the newly unveiled SCH-W760 slider, or the B2100 Marine, which has just been announced for India. The Verizon-branded Samsung Glyde 2 has surfaced in a leaked photo, yet it seems that there are not too many details available on the handset at the moment. Even so, one can easily see the phone's large and bright touchscreen display, which should be AMOLED, and we can also say that it should come with a side-sliding four-row QWERTY keyboard. In addition, the new Samsung phone will also sport the already familiar to many TouchWiz UI, and it is believed to include an on-screen QWERTY keyboard and accelerometer.
google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);
The Samsung Link is a QWERTY smartphone that should be soon added to Bell Canada's Windows Mobile lineup. According to the news, the device might be a modified CDMA version of the Samsung C6625, a device that can already be purchased in Europe. If so, the Canadian model should come to the market with a QVGA display, a 2-megapixel photo snapper, GPS receiver, or Bluetooth connectivity. The handset should come to the carrier's users on July 15, though no exact details on the price tag it should feature are known at the moment.
The Samsung S3030 Eco has just been released on T-Mobile's airwaves in the Netherlands. It is made out of bio-plastic, and the South Korean company says that it does not include BFR (brominated flame retardants) or PVC. At the same time, the handset also comes with an eco-friendly charger, and sports 100 percent recyclable materials packaging. When it comes to its capabilities, we can count FM radio, MP3 player, a photo snapper, and microSD memory card slot with support for up to 8GB of additional storage space.Another Samsung mobile phone that has been recently introduced officially on the market is the SCH-W760, which comes in a sliding form factor. The most interesting capability of the handset is its Infrared Video Telephony (IRVT) feature, offering users the possibility to make video calls even when in the dark. Other features of the device include a 2.8-inch WQVGA AMOLED screen, support for 7.2Mbps HSDPA, a 3-megapixel photo snapper, S-DMB, and support for up to 8GB of additional storage space via a microSD memory card slot. The last of the Samsung phones to make the headlines these days is the B2100 Marine, which has just been announced by Samsung India. The rugged device (also known as Xplorer) can withstand dust, shock and water (up to 30mins in 1m depth) and is compliant with IP57 and 810F military standards. The features of the handset include quad-band GSM connectivity, a 1.8-inch screen, noise cancellation technology, FM Radio with RDS, music player, Bluetooth connectivity, a 1.3-megapixel photo snapper and microSD memory card slot. The price tag of the B2100 Marine has been set at Rs. 7,030.