Nokia N97: Must-have applications
When looking for new applications for my smart phone (a Nokia N97), I realised that I hadn’t really dedicated a post to the Symbian s60 5th edition applications. Bearing in mind all the time I spend playing with my mobile phone, I think that it well deserves a post.
- What you won’t find in this post: all the available applications for Symbian s60 5th mobile phones.
- What you will find in this post: a personal opinion on the must-have free applications for your Symbian s60 5th mobile phone.
I’m aware that there might be other good paid applications out there, but the list below only contains free ones. If you are using what you consider a must-have app. which isn’t listed below, please let us know!
Snaptu
Although I mostly use this app. for Twitter and Facebook, it comes with a nice selection of free applications (e.g. Picassa, Flickr, Google calendar, London tube map, News readers, UK TV guide, Movies information, etc.)
Pros: Nice interface, applications run very smoothly and fast.
Cons: Menu buttons are a bit too small.
- Download Snaptu from your computer.
- Download Snaptu from your mobile.
Fring
Although I must admit that I stopped using this application after hearing about Nimbuzz (see next app.), I love Fring since it allows me to make free video-calls* via my Skype account (*make sure you have a data connection plan).
Pros: The quality of video calls is good on both, over WiFi and data connection.
Cons: For chat purposes, I prefer Nimbuzz as it allows you to add more instant messaging communities (e.g. Facebook, Google Talk, Skype, Messenger, etc.) and has a nicer interface.
- Download Fring from your computer.
- Download Fring from your mobile.
Nimbuzz
Because sometimes I’d rather chat than to make a video call, this is still my favourite multi-protocol instant messaging application. Nice looking and very user-friendly. If it offered free video calls… it would be the perfect application! (take a note of this Nimbuzz team).
Pros: Very user-friendly. Contacts display a picture and familiar icons which allow you to quickly identify the community they are chatting from (e.g. Skype, Facebook, Messenger, etc.).
Cons: Unfortunately, it doesn’t offer free video calls.
- Download Nimbuzz from your computer.
- Download Nimbuzz from your mobile.
Ovi Maps: Free voice navigation
Free sat nav for your Nokia, how cool is that. As it will use your data connection, if you lose signal, it is very likely that the sat nav will also stop responding for a few seconds. However, unless you own any other navigation system (e.g. Tom Tom, Garmin, etc.), Ovi Maps will be a great help in one of those ‘where am I‘ occasions.
Pros: User-friendly menu. It offers free walk and drive navigation.
Cons: It will drain the battery of your mobile phone so if you are planning to use it quite often, a car charger will be another must-have!.
- Download Ovi Maps from your computer.
- Download Ovi Maps from your mobile.
Sky Remote Recording
Whether it’s because you forgot to program your Sky to record that important football match or because you’ve just heard of a good comedy show which will start in a few hours… and you won’t be at home in time to record it. You might not use this application very often, but it will be there for when you need it, making your life that bit easier.
Pros: No panic no more. You can record your favourite TV programs from your mobile.
Cons: Not found any.
- Visit Sky Remote Recording for more information.
And what are you favourite applications?
Passionate about writing? Become a passionate blogger
Before the Internet, having passion for a subject and writing about it was easy. However, making it accessible to millions of people within minutes would have been just a dream, something impossible unless, of course, you had lots of money and knew the right contacts.
Nowadays, if you’ve got something to tell the world, you can do it… and within minutes. You will still need the “right” contacts if you want your message or ideas to be passed on but, hey, at least you won’t need the money to make it happen.
So what are the three steps you can follow to become the proud owner of a successful blog?:
- An idea: what do you want to talk about? If you are passionate about something, that’s probably the best subject you should base your blog on as you will be able to transmit your passion to your readers.
- A blog (of course!): You can create a blog for free and start writing about your favourite subject within minutes. Personally, I’ve used Blogger and, most recently, I’ve started to use WordPress. Depending on your reasons for blogging (earn money, sharing your ideas, etc.) you might prefer one or the other.
- Loyal readers: Although you don’t really need this step to have a blog, you will probably want an audience, people interested in what you’ve got to say. After all, that’s the point of having a blog, isn’t it?
I’ve got a couple of friends who have great ideas they could use to start their own blog. After suggesting that they could create a blog the answer I got was something like: ‘Oh, I’m not good at computers’ or ‘I’m not a techie person’.
The Internet is part of my everyday life so those answers shock me a bit and not because I expect a good writer to be Internet savvy, but because they don’t know how easy the step 2 is.
Blogger and WordPress are two good choices if you are thinking of creating a blog but, as with many other things, deciding for one or another will come with the benefits of the pros and having to accept the cons. Some users might find more benefits or inconveniences that I haven’t listed so please feel welcome to share your opinion and experiences:
Blogger
Pros:
- Flexibility to personalise your blog (themes, colours)…
- Use of AdSense. Is your blog popular? Then you might want to make some money by letting other sites advertise on your blog.
Cons:
- Available themes look very basic and outdated.
WordPress
Pros:
- Available themes have been nicely designed.
- Control Panel is easy to use.
Cons:
- If you are looking at personalising your blog out of the basic functions provided through the control panel, you will probably need to upgrade your subscription. The fee isn’t high ($14.97/year; around £9.20), but you might decide that the available themes will do the job just fine.
All in all, if you are a great writer or simply want to share your knowledge but computers aren’t your thing, then remember that creating a blog is the easy step. Keeping it up-to-date is the hard part!
What’s next? Finding your audience. This will depend, of course, on how popular you want your blog to be (public or private). If you decide that anyone will be able to read your blog, then you might want to promote it using Twitter… but, hey, that’s another story. Start by enjoying the first steps.
So there you go 
. This post is dedicated to the non-techie, those who are passionate about writing or sharing knowledge but didn’t have the know-how to start blogging.
A Prevent button on Social Networking Sites
Last week, when I heard that a few social networking sites had started to include a panic button to prevent online bullying I thought ‘fantastic! someone has finally started to do something to protect vulnerable people online’ (particularly children). Then the next question came to my mind: is a panic button enough?. Absolutely not. It might add peace of mind and some sort of security (when the worst has already happened), but where’s the prevent button?.
The Internet is a great place where users can share all sort of information about themselves, from a professional level to a personal one, with family, friends, colleagues, etc. Social network sites make it very easy for users to register and start interacting with other users in a matter of minutes, where profiles are visible to everybody by default. This means that personal information such as hobbies, home address, employer, job title, email address, even personal phone and mobile numbers are there, available to everybody. And this personal data comes, of course, with all sorts of profile pictures (and I emphasize: all sorts). Your private world has become public and everybody is invited.
Whilst sharing personal 
data and pictures with family and best mates isn’t normally a big issue, when it comes to broadcasting your personal life to potential employers, friends you’ve un-friended and even criminals, the matter is very different. Being a burgler is officially an office job: sitting by a computer checking out profiles on social networks to find out when user X, who lives in place V (source: Facebook), will be on holiday with the whole family (source: Twitter) as it will be the best time to steal their new 42″ TV (source: Flickr and Twitpic).
Although that example might sound a bit extreme, the truth is that social networks don’t seem to inform users clearly enough about the impact that exposing their private life can have professionally and personally. Well, at least, they don’t inform users “loudly” enough (hey, like the message put on the packet of cigarettes: big and bold).
Have you tried to search your name in a search engine? You would be surprised to know how much data about you can be found on the Internet, specially if you haven’t adjusted the privacy settings of the social sites you are part. The message here isn’t to run and hide, but to enjoy the Internet and social sites as safely as possible. When provided in time, information means prevention (prevent button) and this information would protect vulnerable people from being an easy target. Ideally, the panic button wouldn’t be used as much.
How about bullies? Well, unfortunately we can’t avoid their existence, but we can limit the amount of information available to them. If you consider that your teenage kids are saying “too much” about themselves, it might be time to have a little chat about why they should choose carefully the information they want to share online (and who with). After all, it’s in their own interest and in ours, not just for safety, but also from a professional point of view (we don’t want future employers finding or looking for embarrassing pictures of ourselves).
Social network sites might not say it clearly enough, but I do: a visit to the privacy settings is a must.
Should social networks advise its users to protect their personal data? What do you think?
Educating children on the Internet
Although I live far away from Spain (my country of origin), I consider myself fortunate for living in an era where the Internet makes it so easy to keep in touch with friends and family. Chats, video calls, e-mails, social applications, etc. are fairly straight forward to set up and, in most cases, there is always option to free account creations. So far so good.
When I was a kid, I never heard the term ´Internet´ (actually, I don´t think I heard of it until I was in my teens) so my parents didn´t have to warn me not to talk to strangers on chats, not to upload all sort of pictures of myself on social networks and not to say too much about me on the Internet. They did warn me about talking to strangers in the street though, because certain strangers could be mean to kids. By no means they stopped me going out. Their “warning” about strangers helped me learn at a very early age that I simply had to be careful.
Nowadays children hear of the Internet all the time, more than what parents would like to. In a way, the Internet streets are like any street in the real world and for this reason parents need to educate children on how to use it safely.
It is clear that if we ban the Internet at home, kids will find a way of accessing it from somewhere else (at a friend´s house, in a cyber-cafe, etc.). What we can do is teaching them how to use it sensibly so that they can be safe.
Here are some tips to help kids give their first steps on the Internet:
- Avoid putting the computer in the kids´ room, where nobody can control when they are using the Internet and for how long. Instead, place the computer in a room in everybody´s sight (this is commonly the living room). Not long ago, my seven-year-old niece found out that ´if you type anything in that white box (Google) and press enter, you have access to lots of things´. This is one of the many reasons why the always-in-sight option is the best.
- If your kids´ have got e-mail accounts, make sure you know the login details and make them aware of this. Remember that you are not spying on them, you are protecting them. Another option is to set up a redirect to your e-mail account. This means that you would be receiving all the emails they send out or receive (this is important, particularly when they are so young).
- Talk to your kids often about the websites they are interested in and find out how suitable they really are for them. There´s normally a minimum age allowed to be able to set up an account on social networks (14 on My Space, 13 on Facebook, etc.).
For more useful tips on how to keep your kids safe, visit the BBC.co.uk.
So You´ve Got a Cool Mobile Phone…
You might not know exactly why but you´ve ended up with one of those…uhm… smart phones. And now what? Your “cool” phone is Wi-Fi enabled, has got a decent camera (3, 4, 5 megapixels?), GPS and somehow you´ve ended up with an unlimited Internet contract with your mobile phone provider. The world is in your hands. You just don´t know it yet.
Are you making the most of your smart phone? Here are some nice (and free) applications to get you started on the fast-growing Social Media world you might already have been part of. Now, let´s go mobile!
- Google Maps: Accurate maps anywhere, anytime. For those who (like me) haven´t got a great sense of orientation. Once you´ve installed Google Maps, you can enjoy Google Latitude and share with your friends and family your exact position (only if you want to! Simply adjust your privacy settings).
Visit Google Mobile and download Google Maps.
- Nimbuzz: Your family and friends have got their preferences and that´s why you´ve ended up having all your contacts spread into different instant messaging services (Facebook, Messenger, Google Talk, Skype…). Nimbuzz is a nicely designed mobile application which allows you to have all your contacts organised into your Nimbuzz account, chat, make free mobile calls, etc.
Download Nimbuzz and start benefiting from this great application.
- Twitter: Whether your smart phone is a Nokia, an iPhone, an Android, etc. you can continue tweeting on the go, no matter where you are. As you are probably aware if you own a Twitter account, you can set up a mobile phone number on your account from which you can text your tweets. However, if you also want to keep track of your friends´tweets, I would recommend you to install a compatible Twitter application which will allow you to enjoy the Twitter experience at its full.
Logpost: Twitter client for mobile phones. Visit here.
Tweets60: Twitter application for Symbian OS. Visit here.
Now you haven´t got just a cool phone, you are starting to see why your phone really is smart.
Flock: The Social Web Browser
Imagine being connected to all your favourite social sites and having the latest updates in front of you… You are imagining Flock.
Flock is a social web browser that includes media services such as Facebook, Twitter, Bebo, Digg, Flickr, Youtube, MySpace, Picassa, Blogger, WordPress, etc. It allows users to track updates from friends, upload and share pictures and videos by drag and drop publishing, and it also includes chat via Facebook.
Personally, I can´t say that I love Flock (yet) but I want to. At the moment, what makes this browser so attractive can also make it a bit too slow when loading. At the same time, I find that the Facebook instant messaging is… just ok. To make this chat great, it should let users include other instant messaging accounts (e.g. MSN, Skype, Google Talk, etc.) and not just the Facebook chat. Something similar to mobile phone applications such as Nimbuzz or Fring.
Can´t you get by without knowing what your friends are up to? Do you “tweet” more than you blink? Then you might want to try Flock.
Download Flock from here and tell us what you think!
Mozilla Firefox VS Internet Explorer
What can I say? Since its launch Internet Explorer has been part of millions of users lives, even of those who, not knowing its name, refer to it as the Internet in general. I was one of those millions of users for many years… until I found out about Mozilla Firefox: THE GREAT BROWSER.
Why did I switch browsers and I chose Firefox? To begin with when I first installed Firefox the feature that caught my attention was the possibility of using tabs. Simply great. It meant for me, a strong Internet user, the end of the untidy windows that ended up in the task bar (when clicking on a link a new window would open, which I would minimize and which would stay there, minimized and taking up space) Internet Explorer offered after Firefox the use of tabs… but if you have used these browsers you will have found out that there are slight differences between the two of them when using tabs; these differences make Firefox be, even today, a tool that makes its users´ lives easier.
Firefox offered my eyes absolute simplicity when browsing and, of course, the use of the third button of the mouse (in traditional mouses the this button is found in the middle) It also offers a password administrator that makes easier the use and daily access to pages which require registration; you only need a master password.
Although for web designing reasons I also use other browsers, Firefox is still my favourite browser. An how about the competition? A strong competition is always necessary because this favours that browsers, programs, applications, etc. kept being updated and improved for us, the users.
Other browsers you can download are Google Chrome, Safari, Opera, Camino, etc. There are many and I recommend that you download quite a few, test them and choose the one that most suits your requirements. Do not make the mistake of using a browser because of its popularity, but do it because of its good performance.
Everyday the Internet world faces more demanding users. Are you one of them?
iGoogle, and you? The newspaper of the future
What would you think if I said you could have breakfast in front of a newspaper that´s been designed exclusively for you and where you will only find news that interest you? A newspaper in which, apart from news, you could have your own search engines, videos, dictionaries, games, etc…. and which would give you access not only to new incoming emails, but also posts and news you are subscribed to will automatically be updated, at the same time their original websites do it.
It sounds like science fiction, doesn´t it? And if you are imagining a newspaper offered in some sort of futurist paper capable of projecting holograms… put your mind back to the year 2008. Today you will still have to read from your computer screen and, instead of turning pages you will have to click on tabs.
For those who haven´t heard about it yet, this I´m referring to as “newspaper” is iGoogle. It´s a platform that was launched in May 2007 and that, despite still being new for some users, it´s already had hundreds of opinions in favour … and also against it.
I must say I consider iGoogle a tool that saves me time (and lots!) when I need to check whether my blogs and favourite websites have been updated. Besides this, if I manage different blogs (as I do) where I expect to receive comments on, I don´t have to be checking them everyday, one by one. I simply leave my iGoogle page open (my “newspaper”) and if someone leaves a message on any of my blogs, I will automatically receive it.
All in all, I could describe iGoogle in one word: mytimesaver (well, maybe in three words) For me it´s simply one of those tools that make our life easier in times when the “When do you want it for? For yesterday” is unfortunately part of our everyday lives.
To form an opinion about iGoogle there´s nobody better than you to check it out. If you invest a bit of your time today in learning about it, who knows, you might save that time in the future.
Happy breakfasts…
Facebook and business, can we find a link?
Many of you will wonder whether there can be a link between Facebook and business and how the use of the first could affect the activities of a company. Facebook is a site that most of you will use to keep contact with friends, to share pictures, videos, thoughts, and even to meet new “friends”* (*the term friends is used here as it´s used by Facebook and that refers to other users)
Facebook also offers the user the opportunity to create groups. As long as we understand and follow their terms and conditions we are allowed to create a group about almost anything. Taking this into account, why don´t we create a group around our company?
When we create a new group on Facebook, open to any user and containing a link to our company´s website, we are opening a door. That´s it, a direct door to our business, products and/or services and that will be used by potential customers. Besides, if those customers have joined the group we´ve created on Facebook, they will also be showing an important interest for our company´s activities.
Sometimes we may only want to increase the traffic of a non-lucrative website, blog, etc. and in this case we can also create a group which will increase the possibility of being found* (*a user/potential customer that hasn´t found our website through Google, Yahoo!, MSN… may find our group on Facebook and, as a final result, our website)
All in all, creating a group on Facebook means increasing the possibility of being found (by users, potential customers…) If you haven´t created yet any group on Facebook you might still be in time so do it before your competitors, but if your competitors are already there, don´t worry, simply make yours more interesting 
