Instead of trying to give an expert opinion on something I’m not an expert on I thought I would let the photo’s speak for themselves.
How? Simples by posting a collection of my favourite N8 pics (taken on my N8).

If the above is not enough for you, I highly recommend checking out the Nokia N8 User Group on Flickr. (http://www.flickr.com/groups/nokian8/)
Thanks to James Burland

This one is all about the Nokia Beta labs application “Nokia To Play” which can be installed from here.

The video explains everything you need to know about using the app. It’s a long clip, but well worth the watch.

I really like the idea of this app and it has had an update since this video was recorded.

Being a beta app it’s got some know issues which you can find here

The thought of lying on my couch and streaming my phone media to my TV really gets the geek inside me excited…

Before I get started here is the full spec

The screen size screen was great and the head phones were also very nice, however that is all the good I can really say about these bad boys.
As you can see they don’t look comfortable and well that’s because they aren’t I don’t think you could sit comfortable for more than 30minutes watching something with these on your face.

If you into fashion, then I can’t see you even admitting that you have tested these cause they don’t look good (not something that bothers me, but I got mocked a lot by my mates).
I found the set that I tested had very bad colour from both the N900 and TV output. Reds became brown everything was generally dark, I did use the remote control to make adjustments but it could only do so much.

On the positive side I did really like the headphones, you could attach them separately to the head gear. This device is made for more than just mobile output, so it comes with AV cables allowing you to watching from iPod, Mobile, TV, DVD and many other digital devices.

The glasses boast 3d capability which I did not test so I’m unable to comment on this.

The light protector extension that comes with these were very strange, they don’t really fit 100% unless you planned to glue them in place (I don’t think this is what you supposed to do). They still let in light and what’s worse is, while they try and block the light they actually create a reflection in the image making the watching experience far from acceptable for the money that you pay.

Although I’ve only tested one pair and one model I’m not convinced yet.
The idea is great and practicality is there, however the product isn’t. They didn’t seem to blow me away with image quality. My N900 has far better image sharpness colour and brightness.

The up side is that the technology is there and with companies venturing into the realm of 3D I can see myself wanting a pair in a few years.

Have you tried any TV Glasses, I would love to know how you found them?

After playing with the device for a week and using it as my primary phone, I formulated my own impressions. However instead of writing up my normal geeky tech review I decide to take a different approach.

So in an attempt to find out how a non-techie would view this device I gave the phone to my girlfriend for two weeks. She replaced her X6 with this X7 review device as her primary phone.
Here was what she had to say:

First impression?
Nice big screen and the view is great. Although it is was almost too thin to grip properly.

What do you think of the X7’s main selling point the Screen?
I think the screen quality was great although when typing emails or texts the keys show up too small and so it would take me a long time to create items.

What is your favourite feature?
The maps, you could link them to contacts in your address book.

What is your worst feature?
The QWERTY keyboard and the general texting system. I struggled with it to the extent that I actually ended up making more phone calls than I normally would.

What about the OS did you like or think worked better than the X6?
The email application is a lot better and there are more customisable options within it.
The software felt quicker and less buggy, however if it did run into problems, a restart would fix it.

What do you think of the new way of locking the phone (no slider anymore)?
I found this a good feature, however it is inconsistent. You lock the phone by pushing the on/off button lightly and it locks automatically. But I found that sometimes when I pressed it the option list would come up and I would have to choose “Lock screen and keys” from the list. I switch between music and radio quite often when I’m on public transport and so this was frustrating as I thought I had locked the phone when I hadn’t. I would have to reboot the phone to make sure it locked when I hit the button once.

What do you think of the new input method compared to the older versions of Nokia?
It’s the worst I have ever had to text/email with.

What is your overall impression of the phone?
The screen is a lot better and I liked not having to get a scratch resistant cover for it.. Some of the pathways had changed for example your call log which comes up when you hit the call button via “Call”. I like to use this to find numbers I haven’t saved and adding them to my contacts etc but as soon as you select a number it calls it right away without asking you first. I ended up prank calling anyone that was on my last 10 called.

How would you rate it against the X6 and why?
I missed having the physical buttons on the phone such as the call and hang up button as I used these for shortcuts. In particular the hang up button allowed me to exit apps quickly. See previous comment.

Would you buy this phone?
No

Any other thoughts you want to share?
Disappointed, similar to how I felt about buying the X6.

How did find the sound?
Yes the sound and music is great I use this on daily basis

Did you use maps at all?
Yes this is my favourite feature. The only downside of maps is that the search functionality doesn’t always find what I’m looking for as you have to very specific.

Did you use the camera often
Yes the camera was awesome I used it a lot and really liked the quick link to upload to Facebook.
The night photos with the flash weren’t great but I always felt happy that if my point and shoot camera was at home this would be more than good enough to handle the job.

Rate the following in order of importance in a phone:
(1=most important, 6 = least important)
1 Texting
2 Email
3 Videos & Music
4 Web
5 Maps
6 Camera

Finally any thoughts you want to share with our readers?
To sum this review up I would say that the X7 has everything that I need but it’s not that easy or quick to use. I have used it for a few months now and still only use a fraction of its functionality because it just takes too long.

Have you used the X7 what did you think?

Recently I was invited to an unknown pub after work and low and behold it was raining. The combination of the unknown pub and the rain allowed me to stumbled across what I consider to be the easiest way to use maps.

HEADPHONES…

Why I didn’t think of this before I don’t know. I plugged the address into maps, selected Navigate -> Walk to here.
only takes three clicks to get on your way

I then put maps in the background turned the radio on, put my phone in my pocket and raised my umbrella above my head, I was off…
Calculating my location … locked and ready to go

It felt strange not knowing where I was going and simply having my phone tell me to take a right turn here, a left there all the while listening to the radio.

Before I knew it I was meandering through the streets of Sydney, taking in locations and finally hearing the all too familiar sentence. “You have reached your destination!”

What voice navigation apps do you use and do you trust their guidance?

Thanks to my lovely new employers I am now the owner of my first Eseries device, the E75.

I was pretty excited about getting an Eseries for two reasons.  The first was that I was keen to get back onto Symbian after a prolonged period of pure Maemo usage with my N900 and I was excited about testing out a phone designed for business.

HARDWARE

At first glance the E75 is very sexy. It has a very sleek design and feels very solid in the hand. It has all the usual side keys that I would be looking for on a device including a few extra keys on the dial.

• Volume keys – side
• Camera Key – side
• Calendar
• Mail

I love the Calendar and Mail short cut keys, I know it’s a small thing but it’s things like this that make me tick.

Being a big qwerty keyboard fan I was even more excited about this device. The sliding mechanism is solid and feels like it will last a very long time. It took some time to get used to the key positioning in comparison to the N900, but lets just say I’m a fast learner.

When it comes to the actual keys themselves this is were I became disappointed for the following reasons.

• qwerty keys don’t have a proper ridge or separator
• I don’t like the silver bar in the middle of the qwerty keyboard
• Number keys aren’t completely separated from each other
• Number keys are slightly slippery which I don’t like

The biggest problems I have with both input methods is that I often end up hitting the wrong keys.

Having said this, it’s a great novelty to have both input methods on one device and I really hope Nokia continue to design phones with this vision, in fact throw in some touch and we sorted.

The only other hardware issue I have had and it could be software related is my battery very often over heats. I’ve spent hours trying to find out which app is causing this and it turns out it’s a combination of 3G use and possibly the mail client. If I turn my phone on and turn on 3g mail for auto updates my battery will die in 1 hour and I will burn a hole in pocket.

If anyone else has had issues like this with the E75 please could you let me know, I’d like to know if it’s just my device or not?

SOFTWARE

I’m a fan of Symbian so you won’t get to many complaints from me. I do understand that there is a lot that could be done to make the user experience a lot more fluid, but having been a Nokia user for the better part of 10 years I’m pretty good with Symbian.

I love the mail client on the E75 it’s way better than what I have used before on a Symbian device. Now my favourite software item is the mode switch. GENUIS. I can press an icon on my homescreen and BANG I’m suddenly in my personal profile.

What does this mean? It means I can switch between business and personal. Meaning I will only get calendar/email notifications based on the profile that I am currently viewing. So when it gets to say 6pm in the evening switch over to Personal and no more work mails only gmail notifications. You can have custom wallpapers for the different modes too… So simple yet so brilliant and extremely practical . (Like I said the small things make me smile)

I hope you enjoyed the very short review. Do you have an E75 and is it a love or hate relationship?

Today is a great day

@NokiaAustralia delivered my N8 TRON legacy prize pack. What am I talking about you ask?

On the 1st December 2010 while doing my daily browsing of the Nokia Australia Facebook Page, I came across the below post.

I was in a silly mood on this fine day and as you all know I love entering Nokia competitions no matter what it takes (proof is here).

This is what I said in reply to “In 25 words or less, which mobile game world you want to enter & why?“:

The Little Ninja world, because I AM A NINJA. I would finally be able to unleash my amazing ninja skills on the world POW POW

Just writing down those words made me feel crazy and silly and well put a big smile on my face which is what I was after.

To say that I was surprised to find out that I was a winner was an understatement. Here is a link to the winners announcement

What I learn’t from this is that even though you might think your ideas are silly someone else out there might love them or at the very least you will make someone smile and who knows you might even win something

Here are some pictures of what I won:

TRON Sound track by Daft Punk                                                                   TRON Keyfinder

TRON LED Cap                                                                         TRON PSP Case

The best Part, 2 Tickets to TRON in 3D

Thanks Nokia for the great Xmas prezzie

Having seen all the hype about #N8Producers online I saw some underwater cases and this where my search began.  Over Board Australia (UK here) had exactly what I needed “Waterproof iPhone Case”

As you can imagine I was pretty nervous about dumping my N8 into the water. To test my case I stuffed it full of toilet paper and put it in the water for 30mins and no leaks. I think it must have been about 6mins after this that I found myself shirtless on the white sands of Shelly Beach

Here is a little video that I created on my N8 which shows of some of the underwater quality.

(you can also watch this video in HD at youtube)

UPDATED: Here is another clip (sorry not in HD)

Viz was pretty bad so the colours are out but will try and get better quality next time.

Here are some pictures that I took on the water.

(click on the image to view full size)

Watch this space for more water images and videos.

So I thought things couldn’t get better until my genius of a friend @the_accidental who writes on “how to do something differently” (If you didn’t know he just got his PHD) told me about a little app that he wrote called Lapsed.

Lapsed is still very much in beta, I’m told it was written in one afternoon and is his first mobile app using QT, as a result it is not available for the public yet, but let me tell you when it is EVERYONE will want it.

Lapsed allows you to set your N8 up to take photos every X amount of seconds. If your phone locks and goes to sleep Lapsed keeps on going, so you can imagine the creative enlightenment this would bring out in some people. When it comes to using a mount for your N8 I use this one which is great value for money.

I won’t lie I’m not the most photographically creative person in the world but this is what I have created using Lapsed:

(These images were taken with a 10s interval over about a 3hour period [Total of 910 images]. I’ve linked the images up with a 0.03s gap and this is the result )

Lapsed from Iain W on Vimeo.

The above was create by the man himself.

Let me know what you think and how you will use Lapsed when it comes out into the wild?

I’ve watched the video a few times and call me crazy but I’m loving the hype and I’m loving the idea that it could be a time traveller.

Most peoples first thoughts are “it’s fake”, “it’s a crazy person talking to themselves” etc etc.

The question I am asking myself is which mobile company is going to claim that it’s their phone?

Is it the Nokia N2000 or the iPhone5.0 or the Android TT? It will be very interesting to see what comes of this clip and as you can see the conspiracy theorists are already out in force.

What do you all think of this? Is it fake? It is real but a misunderstanding or is it a TIME TRAVELLER?

I hope it’s the latter