Archive for June, 2009

Nokia E55 Theme Review: Nokia Neon Noise

Monday, June 29th, 2009

Nokia Neon Noise is a S60 theme created by Yan Flahorn. Neon Noise is supposed to be a lifestyle theme and looks quite nice. The theme consists of grey, black and neon green colors.

nokia neon noise by flahorn Nokia E55 Theme Review: Nokia Neon Noise The theme background/ wallpaper represents broken grey and at some points almost black asphalt with neon green graffiti like patterns on it. Those neon green patterns look really nice and refreshing. Most of them are circles with white circle parts in them which then are placed very closely together. Around those circle patterns there are some color stains which are also in neon green. Near the bottom the asphalt fades to a pitch black.

The font color is white which is very well visible both in contrast to the background and the neon green. Of course the battery and status bars are also in white. The primary indication field is slightly transparent and in neon green like you would expect it to be. A stronger shade of neon green is also used as the secondary font color which isn’t transparent.

Flahorn also overworked the music player to fit Neon Noise better. The media buttons (e.g. play, skip, stop etc.) are now in green and white.

Overall this theme is a nice alternation to the themes that I reviewed so far. It doesn’t have a really innovative concept since the circle like patterns are known to many of us already but the integration and the colors used give this theme somewhat of an individual look.

Like with every Flahorn theme you can download it over at his Deviantart page.

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Nokia E55 App Review: Handy Taskman.

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

handy taskman 1 eng Nokia E55 App Review: Handy Taskman.Handy Taskman from Epocware is very useful application for S60 phones. A taskmanager is a very essential tool for a multitasking device. With Handy Taskmen it is much easier to manage all your apps that are installed on your phone. Besides managing your apps it also shows some basic info about the phones different memories.

A really nice thing about Handy Taskman is that it replaces the standard S60 taskmanager after it is installed on your phone. This way you can start Handy Taskman just by a long press on the menu button. The first thing you will see after starting this app is the process list which shows applications that are running on your phone. Apps that are running in the background are indicated with the typical blue Nokia arrow. On the right side of Handy Taskman you will see the current time and date, the amount of free memory left on your phone. This includes the phone memory, memory card and RAM. Each kind of memory has an indication bar which shows you how much memory is in use compared to the actual amount of memory that the device has. This can also be viewed under options in Memory details.

Under Option you also have the possibility to switch off all running programs or kill some of them. You also have the possibility to search through all the apps on your phone and start them which comes really handy when you have many apps installed on your phone.

Used apps will appear later on your process list so that you can start them directly from Handy Taskman. You can also add apps that you use very often to a favorite list so that you have a faster access to them.

Overall this is one of the only capable taskmanagers for S60 cell phones besides Best Taskman. It really helps when you have a device which has a low amount of RAM. Other than that it does a much better job than the native S60 taskmanager which seems just pitiful compared to this app. In my opinion it is definitely worth a buy if you have many apps installed on your phone.

Handy Taskman costs $14,95 and has also a 14 day trial version. Visit the Epocware Website to buy this app.

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Nokia E55 Game Review: One for N-Gage

Friday, June 26th, 2009

one Nokia E55 Game Review: One for N GageOne is a fighting game for devices which supports N-Gage. Back in 2005 One was also available for the N-Gage device which was a combination of a cell phone and handheld gaming system. It was a very popular N-Gage game and was considered as one of the best games for that platform. The reason being is that One had awesome 3D graphics and was one of the few fighting games for N-Gage.

Last year Nokia published a newer version of this game for their N-Gage supporting cell phones and it seems like that the graphics got even better. The graphics seem very smooth and movements look fluid which is one of the most important factors when it comes to a fighting game.

The objective of the game is to fight yourself to the top so that you can become the One which refers to the best fighter around. To do this you have to start with the story mode in which you can create your own character and customize their clothes, hairstyles and accessories. The actual gameplay isn’t that special since it is a beat-em-up game where you have to beat up opponents after opponents. You have three possible fighting styles which you can change during the fight. The fighting styles include an offensive style, a defensive style and a normal style which is a combination of the offensive and defensive styles. There are many moves you can pull of and they are fairly easy to do. Sadly there is no background music and you will be only left with the rather bland fighting sounds.

There are over 30 opponents who you have to beat to rise in the ranks. Playing is done in of the 7 locations of One. If you want to play against someone other than the computer then you can do so via the Bluetooth function.

One is a nice game and most certainly not without flaws but it still is one of the best mobile fighting games. Like with every other N-Gage games this one also has a demo which sadly doesn’t give you a glimpse at the training mode. To get the training mode you have to buy the full version for €10 at N-Gage.

Nokia E55 App Review: Google Mail

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

google mail 300x136 Nokia E55 App Review: Google MailIf you are an avid Google Mail user then the free GMail client for S60 3rd Edition should be of interest to you. It is a java based application which will allow you to receive and send emails via Google Mail a lot easier. Of course you can also visit the mobile version of Google Mail on the regular S60 web browser but using that browser can sometimes be a real pain. So the standalone Gmail client is a nice app to have.

After opening this app for the first time you will be asked to log in and after that you can begin to use the actual email client. The Gmail client has the option to pre load the email content so that you don’t have to wait too long to get a look into your in-box. The mails are sorted according to date which is pretty logical since the latest mails are the most relevant to people who are on the go.

Sending emails with the Gmail client isn’t hard to do. You have the possibility to search for a specific contact with the help of a search bar at the top. Writing the mails are also very easy since you get an extra window which takes up the complete screen while typing. It looks almost like the text field where you type your text messages or notes.

The fonts look very clear and are well readable. Navigating through the mail client is smooth and the user interface is pleasant to look at. Overall it shouldn’t be too hard using Gmail effectively.

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Nokia E55 Theme Review: The Zen Series

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

zens1 Nokia E55 Theme Review: The Zen Series The Zen Series is a series of PiZero premium themes which contains three individual themes. The three themes included in this pack are Zen Fire, Zen Violet and Zen Aqua. The names derive from the main colors of the themes. Besides the colors the themes hardly differ from each other.

Let us start with the Zen Fire Theme. The color of the background image is a fierce red. On the right bottom corner the red is lighter. It looks like as if a light is emitting at that spot. Therefore the other side of the theme is in a darker red. The menu bar on the home screen is a silvery white just like the clock and the battery and status bars. This color is also used as the main font color. In the main menu the indication field is not surprisingly also in this color. The secondary font color is the same fierce red that can be found on the background image and pop up windows.

The Aqua is identical to the Fire theme. The only difference is the background color and secondary font color which is an aqua blue. The Violet theme has violet as its background and secondary font color and misses the silvery white menu bar that the Aqua and Fire themes have.

Overall these themes have a very professional look. All the themes of this series are very detailed making them look like an original Nokia theme. And that is exactly how it should be when it comes to premium themes. After all you have to pay €7,99 for these three themes. You can also buy these individually but then each one will cost €4,99. The Zen Series is available at the PiZero website.

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Nokia E55 Game Review: Marble Maze

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

marblemaze3 225x300 Nokia E55 Game Review: Marble MazeMarble maze is a labyrinth game for S60 3rd and 5th Edition devices. Like the previous game I reviewed this one also uses the accelerometer of the phone. This means that the marble is controlled by tilting your device and not by pushing any button. The objective of Marble Maze is to lead your marble from one end of the labyrinth to the other end of it or a specific destination which can be right next to your starting point like shown in the screenshot.

Leading the marble from one end to the other doesn’t really sound that hard since you have a top down view on the labyrinth but of course like every other interesting game this one also has a catch. The catch is that the labyrinth is full of holes in which the marble can fall in. If that happens you have to restart the level. Avoiding the holes is the biggest and actually only obstacle in the game. With every passing level it gradually gets harder to move past the holes and reach the end of the maze. Sometimes it can get really frustrating when you get stuck at a level but that is exactly what makes Marble Maze such a thrilling game.

All in all Marble Maze has 40 levels and you have the possibility to create your own levels. There is also the possibility to use a rubber ball or a ping pong ball instead of the steel marble. Each of them has a different feel while playing. Sadly the game doesn’t have any sound effects. The time you needed for every level is recorded so that you can try to improve it when you play the level again.

In my opinion every game which can be addictive and gets frustrating sometimes is game worth playing. Therefore this game is recommendable for everyone who likes to play simple and challenging games. The full version of this game costs $5,99. There is also a trial available here.

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Nokia E55 App Review: Here and Now

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

screenshot0036 Nokia E55 App Review: Here and NowHere and Now is another creation of the guys over at the Nokia Beta Labs. The major task of this app is to show you what local events are going on and how the local weather will be in the next few days. Here and Now was released two months ago for devices based on S60 3rd Edition FP2 but after the last update it also works on FP1 devices. When this app is out of beta status Nokia is planning to preinstall it in the forthcoming Nokia devices. The Nokia beta labs also promise that the final version will include some more services than the two mentioned. Whether the new S60 5th Edition devices will also get this app is still unknown.

Here and Now defines your location via your network operator and the content for this app is provided by 3rd party companies. The weird thing about Here and Now is that it actually isn’t a standalone application. It is just a bookmark saved in the standard S60 browser.

The “app” is very easy to use and looks quite nice with its “soft” colors and icons which are mainly used in the events part of Here and Now. Each upcoming event has a different color. You will get info on the place, time and type of the event. Overall Here and Now doesn’t seem like anything special. It does things that other apps have been doing for a long time now. Maybe it will get interesting when Nokia add some more services like they promised.

You can download the beta directly at the Nokia Beta Labs. Like every other beta this one is also free.

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Nokia E55 Theme Review: Deep Purple by Adelino

Saturday, June 20th, 2009

deep purple 300x300 Nokia E55 Theme Review: Deep Purple by AdelinoDeep Purple is created by Adelino who is one of the more professional S60 theme creators out there. He has created many themes for S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1 and 2 but his themes also support the original 3rd Edition (3.0).

Deep Purple has a very dark background which has a purple shade to it. The background looks like as if it shows steps. The clock on the home screen is square with round edges. It has a glossy black color. The battery and status bars are in purple. Each bar seems to have a slightly different shade of purple.

The font color used in this theme is white. There is no secondary font color since the white is visible both in the black and purple parts of the theme. This theme comes with over 550 3rd party icons. They have the same design as the clock frame from the home screen. The icons are also glossy and most of them are only in the colors of black and white unlike the indication frame in the menus which is colored in purple. This purple has also a fading effect but the fading starts almost at the bottom of the frame. Deep Purple also changes the calculator button design so that they look more like the icons in the menus.

This theme looks quite nice but for me the deep purple has a too strong contrast in combination to the almost black backgrounds. To download this theme please visit the Adelino Themes Webpage.

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Nokia Game Services: N-Gage and Ovi-Store

Friday, June 19th, 2009

untitled 1 copy 300x204 Nokia Game Services: N Gage and Ovi StoreSince the Ovi Store service has started some while ago and games started to appear on it, some of the Nokia cell phone users wondered what actually would become of N-Gage which has been Nokia’s gaming service for quite a while now. Because of the availability of N-Gage on the N-Series and recently the E-Series (e.g. E55) and Xpress Music phones this gaming service became quite popular for mobile gamers throughout the last year.

At the beginning the Ovi Store mostly had non N-Gage games. But recently trials from N-Gage games are available on the Ovi Store. On the Ovi Store itself there are no indications of N-Gage while downloading the trials. They are available under the gaming category just like the other games. When you download the trials it will open N-Gage so that you can install them. Buying the game isn’t done over the Store but with the N-Gage service.

It looks like Nokia isn’t letting go of the N-Gage service just yet. But over the upcoming months it is quite possible that the Ovi Store will completely merge with the N-Gage service. The availability of the trials through the Ovi Store seems to be an indication just for this.

If Nokia manages to combine the N-Gage service and the Ovi Store successfully the end user should benefit from it. It should be less of hassle to try out and buy the game if it is within just only one service rather than split in two services.

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Nokia E55 Game Review: Resco Bubbles

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

Resco Bubbles is a very interesting S60 puzzle game made by Resco. The game play relies heavily on the accelerometer of a phone. Therefore tilting your phone is the only way to play this game. The objective of the game is pretty simple but during the game it can get very frustrating. Let me explain why that is so.

bubbles scr 01 Nokia E55 Game Review: Resco Bubblesbubbles scr 06 Nokia E55 Game Review: Resco BubblesIn Resco Bubbles you have to roll a silver marble on the screen and destroy all the bubbles that are displayed. That doesn’t sound really hard since this would make it one of the easiest and most boring games ever. But of course this game isn’t that simple. The bubbles have to be destroyed in numeric order. Therefore the bubbles are marked with numbers starting from one. If you hit the wrong bubble you will automatically lose a life. For example if you destroy bubble one to five in numeric order and then hit a bubble with a number higher than six you will lose.

There are also levels where you have to destroy only one bubble but to get to it you have to maneuver around a whole field of skulls. Touching the skulls will make you lose a life too. Resco Bubbles has 60 levels in total. They vary in difficulty, bubbles and things like the surface on which the marble rolls. On some surfaces like ice the marble rolls much faster than on surfaces made out of wood and such.

If you lose all your life’s you can start at any level which you already have cleared once. This really helps since sometimes you lose your lives very quickly if you are playing a difficult level. The best time you needed for each particular level will be shown on the upper right. This way you can always try to best it.

Overall it is a very entertaining but also very frustrating game. If you are a fan of motion sensing and hard puzzle games you should try it out. You can get the trial at the Resco webpage. The demo version is restricted to 5 levels only. The full version costs $9,95.

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