New Mobile Phone - Nokia N95 8GB

Well after a few months deliberating over which Phone to get and which Mobile provider to try I've finally taked the plunge and gone for a Nokia N95 8GB on Three here in the UK.

My trusty old O2 XDA IIi had served me quite well for almost 2 years, but was becomming incresingly unreliable as a Phone and callers were always commenting "This must be a bad line"...

It was a tricky decision to move away from Windows Mobile, but my XDA experience told me that Microsoft did not quite have the Pocket PC / Phone integration quite right.

OK, so the XDA was Windows Mobile 2003 and Windows Mobile 6 is available now.... but I wanted a device that was more of a phone, than a pocket PC.

Though the Nokia N95 8GB has been out for a while, Vodafone had an exclusive on it until the end on 2007. So I had to wait and bide my time, wondering if it would be worth going for the original N95.... or a new XDA from O2..... or an iPhone.

In the end, the Three datapackages proved to be very good, and as I can't get any T-Mobile reception at home, I've decided to go with Three

HOWTO stream to a mobile phone. - Slim Devices : Community : Forums

Another article about Streaming Music to the Nokia N95, this time using Slim Devices Slimserver.
Is there anything that this phone can not do!
HOWTO stream to a mobile phone. - Slim Devices : Community : Forums

Pocket PC UPNP client - Rudeo Control

I have been running a UPNP client on my home PC to serve my MP3 files to my Netgear MP101 for quite a while now. I use Twonky Media server and it all works well.

Recently I've been looking for ways to try and access the MP3's from Twonky but on my Laptop or Pocket PC. It's proving difficult to find a client that works for the Laptop, but I've just discovered Rudeo Play & Control form the Pocket PC.
Rudeo Control
There seems to be several different parts to the program
- Pocket PC Rudeo Play & Control (UPNP, WMP, IR) $19.19
- Pocket PC Rudeo Control for Windows Media Player $19.95
- Rudeo MCP Control for XP Media Center $29.95

I'm only interested in the first one to access my UPNP server.

Installation
Installing on my O2 XDA IIi was easy as I already had the .Net CF 2.0 framework installed.
The rest was just a standard install.
I'm running the 14 day trial version just now

Running
To get it to work all I needed to to was fire up the XDA. Conntect to my Wireless network and start Rudeo. Click on UPnp Servers menu item and click Rescan Network. It found Twonky easily and I was away!

Thinks I like:
- Connects to Twonky
- I can browse my MP3's in the same way as on the MP 101 (Album, Artist, Genres, Folders, etc)
- It downloads the MP3's to my Memory Card, so I can play them offline later.

Things that could be better:
- I have to use the stylus as some of the icons are so small
- No album art
- Navigation of files on device is a bit basic.

Conclusion:
This is great. FAB that I can access my MP3 files from my Twonky server. It's great that they are downloaded to my memory card so I can play them offline later.
Think I'll give it a few days then buy it!

Nokia N95, N95 8 GB and N82: The evolution of the multimedia computer

I'm looking for a new mobile phone and the Nokia N95 8Gb is looking good.
However I have to wait till the new year before it becomes available on 3 here in the UK.

This is an interesting article comparing the N95, N96 8Gb and N82.
It has set me thinking... N95 8Gb or N82.... hmmmm
Nokia N95, N95 8 GB and N82: The evolution of the multimedia computer

Mobile Phone: Nokia N95 8GB versus the Apple iPhone

I've been thinking about my next mobile phone for a while now.
I'm fairly sure that I'll get a Nokia N95 8Gb, but I did get a chance to play with an iPhone the other day and is was nice.

This article over at www.allaboutsymbian.com is a good comparison between these phones.

AAS Feature: The Black Beauties Christmas Showdown - Nokia N95 8GB versus the Apple iPhone

Seems that the N95 8Gb wins easily.

Now all I need to do is wait till after Christmas for Vodafone's exclusive N95 8Gb deal to end.

Google Maps

Google have released a new version of their excellent Google Maps software for Mobile Phones.
Version 2.0 is still in beta, but it does now include a new My Location feature.
If you have a device that does not have GPS, My Location tries to work out your position from the mobile phone masts near you. My Location then makes a best guess as to where you are.
A report from Arne over at http://www.theunwired.net suggests that it's quite good, and can guess your position to within 200 meters or so, which is not bad!

Google Maps

Update: 30/11/2007
I've installed this on my O2 XDA IIi and the My Location feature does not work :-(
When I click on Help, About. At the bottom of the page is says
myl: N/A
Which means that my phone is not reporting and cell information.
More details here.