Over at All About Symbian.com, a very interesting read is the Camera Gritty Nitty series wherein Steve tackled several aspects regarding camera phones. Do unprotected lens' scratches really affect the output quality of pictures taken? What are the pros and cons of Led / Dual-Led / Xenon flashes in camera phones? Is it true that a camera isn't better just because it has more megapixels? Is there really difference between branded and regular camera optics? Head over to the articles to find out...
In the last part of the series, Steve investigated which among today's camera phone beasts really is the best? With the following devices, he made several comparisons and gave points in terms of effectiveness/colouration and detail captured: (Nokia N82, Nokia N95, Nokia N93, Samsung G810, and Samsung i8510). Here are the final scores:
Hmmm.. It's sad that the N82 did not win. But it's hard to accept that even the N95 triumphed over our dear N82 which leaves it at third place! The N95 indeed is a great phone, proven and tested that both phones capture outdoor shots with a very slight difference in picture quality. But with regards to indoor and night shots, the N82's xenon flash easily leaves the N95 far behind. So I think, as far as camera is concerned, the N82 is still ahead.
Samsung did a great job with the colors of i8510's images:
..though looks artificial, it's really pleasing in the eye. I wish Nokia will grant this to us as well (as an additional setting/option) on future firmware updates. And pray to God (O_o), that they grant us that long awaited fix on the N82's too much image compression. We have large capacity cards now, and Nokia needs not to be too concerned about us having 3-5mb for every pictures we take. It's what we really wanted, there are settings available anyway, in case users want to reduce image file size.
A couple of concerns I'd like to mention about the comparisons made, wherein the N82 could have won the series, (or at least against the N95??)
the toy car as the subject for macro mode i think is not that ideal for comparison. even a very minor difference on how the phones were held, or on the distance from the subject, while taking their attempt could have affected their performance on proper focusing, also add the fact that it's hard to get an ideal focus from such a subject like that car .. Or at least another subject for macro mode could have been added to have a fairer comparison. a textured wall, or cloth? or patterned stuffs? The n82 really does great job on macro mode...why was there no 1:1 comparison on the pic where the girls were jumping? The n82 sure would have garnered more points and a bigger advantage on that aspect.. hehe;)
I believe the N82 is still the best camera phone today. What do you think? It does great quality outdoor shots, perfect even for large print-outs, and its Xenon Flash is a very huge advantage, especially in a battle against dedicated digicams.. Samsung i8510 and the N95, both having typical led illumination, won't even stand a chance on night shots, rendering them almost useless at night.
Don't get me wrong, like any other posts by Steve, i really enjoyed that article. I think it really boils down to the user as to how he wants his camera phone to be. And this 5-part series.., sure another helpful guide for those in search of that camera phone they really wanted.. ^^
As for me, the n82 is the real winner! ;-) Thoughts and comments welcome!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Has The Best Camera Phone Been Overthroned? Is The N82 Still The Best Camera Phone To Date??
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Application Review: Resco Photo Viewer 5.00 - Say Goodbye to your N82's Built-in Gallery
One of the major complaints about the Nokia N82 and any other pre-FP2 devices is the built-in gallery:
- It has no “folder-to-scan” option. All readable files are cramped in it, including the annoying support images from
installed applications. - It has no sorting nor filtering options
- Videos and images are combined in it which is absurd.
- Has the album feature but renders it useless
- It tends to be slow, especially if you store a lot of media files
Pros:
- It’s fast.
- Provides different viewing options
- Can sort images by name, date, size or format
- Allows managing of images with folder manipulation
- Specify favorite folders to be scanned for images
- Slideshow options are more customizable, and has extra transition
effects - Faster image zooming and panning
- Handy dandy keypad shortcuts
Cons:
- No indication of how many images were found.
- Cannot insert text or clip arts when editing images
- A not so friendly user interface combined with poor help content
Here it goes...
Viewing Options
Way better than the s60 gallery.. Resco PV offers several options on how it will display your files. Depending on your preference, you can choose different combinations of three viewing options. Two thumbs up here...
- All Images or by Folders (folder tree)
- List or Grid View
- Small or Large Icons.
Screenshots:
All Images > Grid View > Small Icons
All Images > Grid View > Large Icons
All Images > List View > Small Icons
All Images > List View > Large Icons
Folder Tree > Grid View > Small Icons
Folder Tree > Grid View > Large Icons
Folder Tree > List View > Small Icons
Folder Tree > List View > Large Icons
Set Folders to Scan for Images
Yes! The most prominent feature that the built-in gallery is lacking! Folders-to-scan for images is present in Resco PV. You can limit folders to be scanned for images by setting "Standard" folders (marked with a star icon). When you are in All Images viewing option, only images from the folders you set will be displayed. A very convenient feature indeed!
Zooming and Panning
Almost all of our images are in their full 5 megapixel glory. More often than not, zooming is needed when viewing pictures. And zooming with the built-in gallery is slooow. Panning while in zoom mode? Simply irritating. You’ll need to press the dpad repeatedly just to get a one step panning adjustment..
On Resco PV, zooming and panning is a joy, I tell you! One time quick loading when you try to zoom, after that, everything is instantaneous! Smooth panning and instant zooming up to 1600% (this is overkill i think), nothing more I can ask for. See video below (sorry for the video quality, recorded using a webcam T_T):
Image Editor
There’s also an image editor, and it's better than the built-in gallery’s (or at least for me). It’s faster, and you have more control on color adjustments (rgb). Screenshots below:
Also, you'll have the option to set the jpeg compression when saving an edited image and specify the new image's file name as well. Inserting clip-arts, frames and text is missing, but for me it's not a big problem. Red-eye reduction though is not present. I find it useful sometimes, guess I’ll just open up my gallery if I want to use it (or make sure that I use Red Eye as the flash mode for night shots).
Image Information
This is my favorite, I love how Resco paid attention on presenting image information. I usually do image comparisons and keypad shortcuts for easier access makes the built-in gallery a total loser. Using Resco PV, by simply pressing 5, information about the selected image is displayed. And pressing the left soft key will lead you to the Exif details! Very neat!
Slide Show
There are 11 slide effects to choose from plus the Random transition option. There's Random Image Order also that adds a sort of excitement, when waiting which image might appear next during the show. Same as the built-in gallery, you can also set the duration of each slide and set your favorite mp3 as a background music. The good part is that, with Resco PV, you can create new sets of slide shows from selected images and save it for later viewing. Here's a video (viewing slide shows and adding new sets from selected images). Again, sorry for the quality:
Maybe it's just me, but I like the built-in gallery's slide show presentation than this. On the s60 gallery, zooming and panning during animation really gives more life to the show than that on Resco's. What do you think?
Manage Images
If you want to group your images by folders, no need to open up your favorite file manager. You can directly manage your folders directly on Resco PV. You can create, rename, delete, move folders and transfer your images from one location to another easily when in Folder Tree view. Such a great feature! (hands down)
And More Useful Settings for your Satisfaction
If the built-in gallery has little to no settings, indulge yourself with Resco PV for it presents you with several settings from sorting, image rotation, backlight, slideshow, image rotation and more. You can even set this application to be the default viewer for several image file types.
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Overall, I am completely satisfied with Resco Photo Viewer. It does all the s60 gallery can do plus more! I miss the fancy animation and stuff from the built-in gallery, but hey, who needs it more than functionality? I find the user interface quite confusing though, as well as the weak help utility. I believe Resco needs to pay attention to this.
If you are in search for an application to replace your gallery, I highly recommend Resco Photo Viewer. Although it’s not free ($14.95), what’s nice is that you can try it first for 14 days before making a purchase. Click here to download RPV.
Do you already use Resco Photo Viewer? How was your experience with it? Do you think it’s really a good replace for your N82’s built in gallery? Or do you know a different and better application?
Friday, September 19, 2008
Speed Up Your N82 Gallery - Separation of Videos and Images Makes For A Better Experience
Hi guys, Aaron here again to share some quick tips for your n82. I know most of you may not find this post very helpful, but if you're like me who stores lots of media files on my phone, this tip is very handy. I also created a video guide for this. Again, make sure that your Gallery and Video Center is not open before starting: ----------------------------------------------------------
The N82 maybe one of the fastest phone to date, but if we have hundreds of pictures and several video files stored on it, the gallery application becomes somewhat sluggish and takes like forever to load. I had this problem before, my gallery takes more than 10-15 seconds before the 'Opening..' dialog box let me access my media files. On a fresh reboot, it would take even longer. And it wont't respond to any key presses until a second or two. This is very irritating, especially when I need to take a look on some picture of notes or documents I need for reference. Also, if my friends want to browse my phone's gallery, I don't want them to wait so long and leave them the impression that my n82 is such a slowbro. In addition, my videos were scattered all over the gallery and there's no way possible to make it filter out videos from images or vice versa.
Based on my personal experience, video files are the major factor that slows down the gallery application. Especially those full length movies that you may have on your phone. If you want to speed up that gallery of yours, you can choose to separate your videos from your images on your N82 (a neat feature that is now implemented by FP2) by hiding them from the gallery. Just set your videos' hidden attributes to true using a third party file manager application like Y-Browser or X-plore. NOTE: Do not rely on setting the parent folder in order to hide several videos. See the Update below. Also, Video Center ONLY displays videos that are located on E:\Videos, and C:\Data\Videos (subfolders are not even scanned). You'll need to move all your videos there so that video center can see them.
Basically, your videos will only be hidden from the gallery, and not from Video Center. So if you want to watch videos, Video Center is the place to go. You can now enjoy browsing pictures on a much faster gallery application. I have 381 images on my phone now and the gallery loads it for as fast as 2-3 seconds (3-5secs on fresh reboot) and presentation is very smooth. Video Center on the other hand don't seem to have any problem dealing with my videos with regards to speed and accessibility. To stay organized, you can create folders to group your videos on Video Center.
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UPDATE 3: A very good find by one of our regular visitors here, Gareth, is that, moving your videos to the 'My Videos' folder on your memory card will do it all (hiding them from showing up on the gallery, and displaying them on video center). No need to set file or folder attributes anymore! It works like charm on my n82.. If this does not work on yours, then check out Update 2 below.
UPDATE 2: (Might not work on some phones. See Update 3) Another solution is hiding the 'Videos' folder itself. This way, no need to manually hide your videos. Even if you record new videos, they will be automatically hidden from displaying on the gallery. But it will not work by just hiding the 'Videos' folder. We'll need to follow this workaround:
Well thanks to Feature Pack 2 on newer devices, I don't need to rant anymore about what s60 could have done to make the gallery application more useful and logical.
What do you think? Have you had any problems with your gallery or is it just me? Well you can't blame me, I keep hundreds of media files because friends and relatives enjoy watching them on the phone (sometimes on tv).
It'll be great for me to hear your thoughts. Or if you have questions, feel free to leave a comment.
UPDATE 1:
If your gallery displays several copies of one of your videos or several items with broken icons (see screenshots below), DO NOT delete anything. Or you will lose some if not all of your video files. If im not mistaken, this happens if you tried hiding several videos by simply setting their parent folder as a Hidden or System folder. So those several copies are actually different files (or so the gallery thinks but all of them are linked to only one file, that is the video that was duplicated).
To fix this:
If you still experience problems or have more questions, don't forget to leave comment ^^.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Review: iGo Stowaway Bluetooth Keyboard & The Nokia N82 - One Of The Best Accessories
The iGo Stowaway Bluetooth keyboard may look like an ultra geeky toy, especially to those who aren't really interested in mobile phones besides making calls. And it is in a way just a geek toy, but for travelers, bloggers, users on the go & business people this is one of the most useful accessories you can buy for the Nokia N82 - and any supported phone in fact.
I can use the iGo Bluetooth Keyboard for controlling any and every aspect of my Nokia N82. I have yet to find a function that won't work, leaving my hands completely off the N82 and 100% on the bluetooth keyboard. I won't lie to you, there is a learning curve that takes some "getting used to". But once you figure out all the shortcuts - and set your own, there is no reason why you shouldn't be more efficient while using the keyboard.
Shortcut Keys
One of the great things about the iGo keyboard is the amount of shortcut keys that can be applied. There are probably more variations than I need or care to remember. I counted 20 customizable shortcut keys - yes 20! As you can see in the screenshot, the left function key and "d" (LFn+d) will take me to the Messaging application. All of these shortcuts can be changed in the iGo Stowaway application that you must install to get this keyboard working as it should.
Thanks to this post at N95users.com, below are the default shortcuts of the iGo keyboard...
Green FN + backspace = Turn off keyboard for other BT apps to use BT without interference.
All the FN commandos below are the "BLUE FN"
FN + Right Space = Right soft button
FN + Left Space = Left soft button
FN + Enter = Joystick Center button
Shift + Enter = Joystick Center button
HOLD FN + cmd = "ALT + TAB" (Switch between applications)
To select text just hold SHIFT And use arrows to move cursor (just like on a pc, this works with allt arrows except up which is the key for ?)
Shift + FN + Right arrow = Select row until end of row.
Shift + FN + Left arrow = Select row until beginning of row.
Shift + FN + Right arrow = Select next row until.
CTRL + C = Copy
CTRL + V = Paste
CTRL + X = Cut
FN + L = Calculator
FN + : = Web browser
FN + K = Officesuite (on my phone)
FN + J = Notes
FN + F = Task manager
FN + D = Messaging
FN + S = Contacts
FN + A = Calendar
FN + Z = Standby screen (Today screen)
FN + X = application menu (sometimes this doesn´t work, But if I press FN + Z and then FN + X again it works, I dont know why)
FN + C = Standby screen (Today screen)
FN + V = Settings
For swedish users the funny letters ÅÄÖ use these commands:
Alt + E = Ä
Alt + T = Å
Alt + C = Ö
And don't forget the text formatting shortcuts that I showed you the other day...
Today while writing up the review for the iGo Stowaway Bluetooth Keyboard I realized that when I push Control+B on the keyboard it changes the text to bold characters while writing a text message. Typing Control+I makes italic and Control+U makes underline of course. For the life of me I can't figure out how to do it on my N82 without the bluetooth keyboard.
Usability & Build Quality Of The iGo Keyboard
I can't say how relieved I was when I first laid my fingers on the iGo keyboard. I was at first worried that the keyboard would be too small and not comfortable. To be honest with you, the actual keys and spacing is not much different than the laptop computer I use on a daily basis. I measured the distance between the A key - the ; key, where you first lay your hands on the keyboard when you are about to type. As you can see below they are both at about 7 inches. Pretty much no difference at all.
 |
| From BT Keyboard |
The layout of the keys and the amount of Functions and alternate key shortcuts is what makes it so compact - not the actual size of the keys. For instance the Q key also acts as ! and 1 keys using a blue function key and green function key.
The tactile feedback from the keyboard is also like a real laptop keyboard, and the buttons protrude just enough so you don't make accidental keystrokes. Like I said, once you get accustomed to all the shortcuts this keyboard will be a breeze for you.
Another great surprise is the speed of the keyboard. From the time I press a key to me seeing it on the screen is almost instantaneous. I see no delay while typing or using any functions.
The build quality is great once you get the keyboard opened and closed. The actual keyboard feels solid. I wish the stand where you place the phone is a little stronger and durable, I sometimes feel as if I'm going to break it. Also while opening and closing the keyboard it feels somewhat brittle, you really need to be careful in this process. The keys are durable and strong and so far I've had no problems with keystrokes.
The iGo Bluetooth Keyboard Closed & The Case It Comes With
When the keyboard is closed up it's easy to grab and go or slip in a pocket. The measurements are around 5 1/2" inches by 4 1/2 inches, not much bigger than a standard sized photo. The thickness of the iGO keyboard measures at around 1/2 an inch.
The case that it comes with fits the iGo keyboard perfectly inside, keeping your accessory safe and secure. At first I thought the outside of the case was made of leather, but it's actually not. Regardless it feels strong enough to not get any tears unless you take a knife to it.
The inside of the case is made of a soft fabric to ensure the keyboard won't get scratched or scraped even if dropped. When the keyboard is inside it's case the thickness measures and just around 1 inch. Still not too big considering the functionality you get.
The Amount Of Use I've Gotten Out Of It
Needless to say this keyboard has already my made life so much easier. I've mentioned before I have 2 day jobs and one of them involves lots of down time. This means sitting in my car waiting for further instruction for sometimes hours at a time OFF the clock. I hate bringing my laptop in my car cuz it's just a pain to load it up and pull it out. Now that i have the iGo keyboard I can just bust it out and start responding to the 20-50 emails I get everyday and if I have time start writing drafts for blog articles. If I really wanted to I could have constructed this whole entire article in nearly the same amount of time it took me on my laptop. This accessory has made me 10x more efficient in my everyday life.
A Few Things I Would Change
There aren't many flaws, but like all products there is always something can be improved upon. For instance the power management. The iGo runs on 2 AA batteries. Don't get me wrong I love that I can just swap out the batteries when needed, but I would've also loved this to be a backup to a rechargeable battery using a Nokia charger. Overall I can say I'm impressed with the battery life. I've used this thing for about six to eight hours without having to change the batteries. I'll try and do if a better battery test if any of you request it.
I would have also liked to see an option to use a usb cable instead of only bluetooth. The wire cable would not need to be more than a foot long since your using the phone right next to the keyboard. This would have saved on battery life of both devices. I do love however than I can just close up the keyboard and throw my phone in my pocket without having to fumble with wires.
Better adjustments for the phone stand is another thing I would like to see. The N82 sits perfectly in the stand in portrait mode. But if you want to use the phone in landscape on its side your going to have to play with it a little. I haven't done it yet but I'm going to make some kind of modification to the stand so that my N82 sits perfectly on it's side without slipping.
More Photos of the iGo Stowaway Bluetooth Keyboard With The Nokia N82
Here is a full gallery slideshow of all the pictures I have taken. If you guys need anymore angles let me know. Check out the photos below...
(this flash slideshow may not be viewable in all RSS readers)
If you want to see the bigger sized photos click the icon in the bottom right corner of the slideshow.
The Drivers To Use For The Nokia N82
The driver made by iGo is the best one to use. On their page they don't have one specifically for the Nokia N82, but the N73 version works just fine. Click here to get it. I haven't tried the Nokia application that I've seen floating around my phone and in the Dowload! application. I've heard that you don't get all the shortcuts that comes with the iGo application.
Where To Buy The iGo Stowaway Bluetooth Keyboard
You can pick up this great N82 accessory from Amazon.com for about $70 bucks. Not bad considering how it takes your N82 to a whole new level.
Click here
to see the deal.I know a few of you mentioned you already have this keyboard and love it. Are there anymore tips I can get for using the iGo keyboard with my N82?
Do you have anymore questions about this product? Are any of you interested in picking one up?
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Is The Nokia N82 Silver/Titanium Still "Good Lookin"?
I found some pictures over at Flickr today of the N82 silver/titanium model and realized that I've never given the phone enough justice. It can still hold it's own in the looks department even though the black version is heavily favored.
It leaves me wondering how many of you still own the N82 silver? Are you wishing you had a black one or are you content with your purchase? The black version was so highly anticipated and really stole the thunder even though they both have the same exact functionality.
By the way the Nokia N82 Silver is on sale at Amazon.com right now for $439.99. What a sweet deal for such an advanced device. Click here for the deal.
Monday, May 19, 2008
The N82 Captures A Jazz Band At The Bar
Saturday night I took the Nokia N82 black out to the Blue Dog Tavern in Long Beach, CA to see the popular jazz/blues band "Billy Watson". I didn't get as many photos as I wanted but I got some decent video from one of the songs. I am extremely happy with the audio quality I got in the video but this is one of those times I wish the N82 had a LED light for video shooting in the dark.
Check out the video below...
note: Some RSS readers may not show this video and the gallery below. View the full website to see this media.
I had a great time that night, the Blue Moon beer was delicious and the food was satisfying. The crowd was great and as you can see the music was solid. Props to Alan West and his great drumming. The guitarist kicked ass as well with some awesome solos and leads. The N82 black got many looks from people thinking it was a camera then realizing it's a phone. It put all the LG Voyagers and iPhones in the room to shame, especially when they couldn't get reception because of the thick ceiling in the bar. The N82 was one of the only phones working.
Below are a few pictures I took. These great pictures wouldn't look better with any other cameraphone. The xenon flash shows it's true power, leaving all others in the dust. If you don't have flash enabled in your browser, click here to see these pictures hosted at Ovi.
Have you taken your N82 out for a night on the town? Are you pleased with the photo quality in poor light conditions?
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Got My Hands On The N82 Black - Initial Thoughts
Well I finally got to see a Nokia N82 black in real life. Having it in my hand looks just as good if not better than all the pictures posted. All the buttons feel a lot more solid, but maybe it's just because the phone is brand new. Thanks to WOM World for hooking me up with the phone for a few weeks so I can share it here with you guys. I have now decided that I eventually need to get one of these. I like it way better than the titanium color, even though the black is more prone to fingerprints. Right when I pulled the phone out of the box I realized that it was covered in my fingerprints almost instantly. You really need to keep one of those soft clothes nearby. The black color just looks a lot better especially for a guy. Plus I've always enjoyed having black phones better than any other color.
Anyways, here are a handful of pictures I've taken of the N82 black version. I know you've already seen plenty so I didn't got overboard. Just basic closeups and different angles.
note: the slideshow is in flash and may not be viewable from some rss readers. full the full website if you can't see anything.
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
One thing I would've asked for is a more matted surface instead of glossy and shiny. Like I said before the black is more prone to fingerprints, and I think this could've been helped by having less shine.
If you have any questions please leave them in the comments below. I'll have a more in depth review over at Symbian-Addict where I do all of my phone reviews.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Still Can't Decide Which N82 Color? Here's Photos Of All Three Side By Side
I conducted a poll a few weeks ago about which color variant of the Nokia N82 you prefer. Out of 512 voters - 52% said black, 41% said Titanium and 6% undecided. If your one of the people on the fence about which color you prefer, check out the gallery of N82 black and N82 titanium variants creme, and white. Good find by the guys over at Into Mobile.
Click here to see the rest of the gallery if you'd like.
Thanks to the folks at Wom World I'm going to be getting to use the Nokia N82 black for a few weeks so I can showcase it to all of you and finally make my decision to to purchase or to keep the titanium. If anyone wants any certain angles of the phone I can take a picture and show you here at the blog. More on that next week.
For those that have the N82 black already, are you liking it? How is the build quality?
Friday, April 18, 2008
Again, Another Handful Of Nokia N82 Black Photos
According to the poll at the right the N82 black is more popular, but not by a long shot. And it looks like there is still as small handfull of people who are on the fence. So far theres been 450 votes. Theres only a few hours left lets see if the titanium lovers can get there vote in before it closes and even the game.
Source: Intomobile.com
Stay tuned today or tomorrow for a post about playing old nintendo games on your Nokia N82 and also a question I have. What's installed on my N82 and all of yours? I'm looking to see what other cool applications are out there.
Friday, April 11, 2008
The Two N82 Colors - Side By Side
A Chinese phone website has published some side by side comparison photos of the Nokia N82 in black and titanium. It's amazing how both of the phones look great. I initially thought I would be leaning towards liking the black version better, but now I am not so sure. The titanium is really unique and like others have said I would've liked to see the N82 black in more of a matte finish rather than glossy.
I'm curious to see how many of you prefer the titanium or black.
Vote in the poll in the right column and let us know your thoughts.
Click here to see more side by side N82 black and titanium photos.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Black N82 Unboxing Pictures From A N82 Blog Reader...
Thanks to Daniel from Sweden here are some more unboxing pictures.
If you have pictures you'd like to share leave a comment below and I'll add them to the slideshow. Or you can login to your Ovi account and go to this link and click upload and add your pictures there. They will automatically appear in the slideshow above.
Black N82 Unboxing Pictures From A Retailer...
I just came across this post over at Howard Forums where the online phone retailer Plexa, which has the N82 black in stock, has posted some unboxing pictures of the N82 black beauty. I really can't wait to get my hands on this although it will probably be in a month.
Update: I also just added more pictures that a commenter linked us to at this Chinese website.
Keep checking back throughout the day and I'll try to post more pictures.
Daniel from Sweden is one of the first readers of this blog to get his hands on the N82 black and has posted some pictures. For some reason I can't get the pictures to load but you can try yourself by clicking here. Thanks Daniel!
If you have the phone show us some pictures and leave your comments below!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Photo Sharing: Point Ferman Lighthouse, Sunken City, & The Korean Bell In San Pedro, CA With The N82
Today my sister, girlfriend and myself headed out to San Pedro, CA. to visit Point Ferman Park where you can find a lighthouse and something even cooler called Sunken City right below the park. San Pedro is located on California's coast. We also visited the Korean Bell of Friendship that was given to America as a gift from South Korea over 30 years ago.
As we all know "Storytelling Rediscovered" is the catch phrase that Nokia uses to promote NOkia N82. In this post I'll share the story of my day by showing off the photos I took. Ever since I got the N82 I find myself taking a lot more pictures than I ever have and then sharing them later with friends and family. Storytelling with photos has been discovered for me.
The map below has a handful of the photos I took laid out in the exact GPS location they were shot. Using Location Tagger the N82 automatically tags all my photos with the GPS location. Location Tagger is a free application still in beta that you can try out on your phone. With the next firmware update and the release of the black N82 this will be built into the phone.
navigate and zoom using the controls on the top left to see more pictures
View Larger Map
Using the new Share Online 3.o the photos are tagged and uploaded to Flickr with one touch upload where I can then grab the feed and embed the photos into the Google map that you see below. I can go in and add titles and descriptions to each photo to explain the story of the photo. The map is live so if I go back there tomorrow and take some more shots I can upload them to Flickr and tag them accordingly. The pictures will show up on the map automatically so I can share them with friends and family. I find this great for recording trips and vacations to go back a look at them later.
Technology that the Nokia N82 brings changes the way we view our media. My parents keep photo albums that they pull out of a closet to show off when people visit. Of course this will never go away. But now we have more options. I don't keep a physical photo album myself. Instead I'll pull up a map on the internet just like the one above and show off all the pictures that way. For long distant friends or relatives I can email the map to them instead of waiting years to see them and show off my stories.
I was going to write up a tutorial to show you guys exactly how to do this but remembered that Mark Guim from The Nokia Blog wrote a good article a while back ago. Click here to learn how to embed your N82 photos on a map then onto your website, myspace, email, etc.
In the slideshow are photos from the Sunken City, Point Ferman Lighthouse, and the Korean Friendship Bell. Sunken City is a chunk of a park and road that simply fell apart and into the ocean. The land is on a cliff overlooking the ocean and just gave way over 50 years ago. I don't really know much history behind it but it was an amazing experience walking around all the rumble that is still there. Of course its all been vandalized as you can see. Some of the photos of the bunker with the locked door is a place where the US military had cannons that they could shoot into the water since Japanese subs were thought to be creeping up on the West Coast. Not sure if they ever did get that close, but it's nice to know thatour forces were there to protect us during World War II. The bunker now just sits there for everyone to check out.
Making this slideshow was easy using Ovi, Nokia's new online photo sharing service which is also integrated with Share Online 3.0. There are also ways to do this with Flickr but I prefer Ovi because of the simplicity. To make the slideshow you just go to the Ovi Channel you want to share and off to the right click the link "embed this channel". You are then taken to a page that looks like this where you can grab the code provided and embed it into your website, myspace, etc. I couldn't use Ovi for the maps because they don't currently support geofeeds like Flickr does. I've contacted Ovi about this and they said they are working on it and it will be available in the future. Hopefully that means soon so I can do away with Flickr and their $25 a year once and for all.
If you have any photos of places or events that you would like to share here at the blog via a slideshow in Ovi don't hesitate to contact me so that I can make a feature article.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Share Online 3.0 - Photo Sharing Made Easy From On Your N82
If you haven't heard, Nokia has updated their phone sharing application called Share Online. The new version is Share Online 3.0, and brings some important changes.
Staying in contact with your photo friends is now easier. You can now view your friend's photos and leave comments as well as view comments that have been left on your photos. Privacy settings are now able to be controlled as well, which is a huge plus. Icons are added to your standby screen that let you know when you have new comments. Personally I think it's a waste of space and we should have the option to take it off, but we don't. Bad move by Nokia.
The new Nokia photo service called Ovi is implemented in Share Online 3.o. It's Nokia's version of Flickr, and so far I like it. Most of the screenshots and photos you see hear at the blog are hosted by Ovi. There are so many options with Ovi, you just need to go check it out for yourself. Channels (same as albums in Flickr) can have many privacy settings, tags are standard, and the storage is unlimited. That's the big thing I like compared to Flickr. To have more than three albums with Flickr or unlimited storage you need to pay $25 a year. At Ovi, the cost is $0. Another amazing feature in Ovi is the ability to upload entire folders at a time on your computer. This is a huge since I don't enjoy adding files one at a time. Just click the folder you want of X amount of photos, put your feet up and turn on the TV for a bit. No need to sit there and add each file one by one. I'll talk more about the other great features of Ovi in another post.One click upload is a huge one for me since I love putting my photos on the web. Just snap your shot, and click the upload button. It will be done in the background so you can keep snapping away. The photo will be added to Share or Ovi so your friends or family can check out the photos as your taking them.
Overall the application is very stable, but I warn you that if you don't like Share Online 3.o and want to revert back to 2.0, a full hard reset is required.
Click here to download and learn more about Share Online 3.0 for your N82. Have any of you tried it out yet?
Monday, March 3, 2008
Hiding Photos & Videos On Nokia N82
I see this question asked all the time. How do you hide your photos and videos from showing up in the S60 built in Gallery application? You may want to hide a video or photo you took of your girlfriend or imbarressing drunken times that you don't want your family to see when there checking out your awesome phone, or whatever it might be.
There are a few ways to doe this, but I use this method for a surefire solution. It is quite simple using a free software called Y-Browser to change the file attributes. Y-Browser is a program that you should have installed anyways. It's a file browser that gives you all the options you need, allowing you to maintain your phone's drives much like you do on your PC. Here are the steps to hiding photos or videos on yourNokia N82.
1. Download & Install Y-Browser. I recommend to install all the extra plug-ins that you see on that page, so that you can send any files via message, bluetooth, handle zip files, etc.
2. Once installed, locate the file you want to hide in Y-Browser. They should be stored on your memory card (E:), under the folders Images or Videos of course.
3. After you find the file your going to hide, push Options, then File, then Attributes.
4. Now you see a screen with a list of options. Change System to Yes, and Hidden to Yes. Once you do that, push save, then exit the program.
5. Now just restart your phone. Check the gallery, and they shouldn't show up anymore. Just keep in mind the file is still there, and when you load up the files on your computer to show off to friends, the file will be there. Which leads me to my next optional step...
6. Optional - Move your file into another folder, I put mine into the "Other" folder. Do this by finding the file like before, clicking Options, Edit, Cut. Then just navigate to the folder you want to move it to, and Paste it in that folder.
And thats it. Let me know if you have other solutions that are much easier, and if you have any problems let me know.
If you have another way that works for you, comment so I can try it out. I'm sure there are many different solutions, I just find this way the best.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
First Real World Pictures Of The Nokia N82 In Sexy Black
Well looky here, I just came across the first real world pictures of the Nokia N82 in sexy black. Seems as though the photos were taken with a crappy camera, or one that had the lens all scratched. I will be getting better exclusive shots of the black N82 sometime today or tomorrow, so keep checking back.
Enjoy...
Leave your comments below...
Credits to Maevro from Howard Forums
For more articles on the Nokia N82 black version, click here.
Update: Looks like I may not be gettin the better N82 black pictures till tomorrow. Seems like people are split on whether they like the this color after seeing these photos. I need to see some better shots before I make a judgment. What do you think?
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Getting Creative With Duotone Colors & The Nokia N82
Nokia Creative is one of my favorite Nokia blogs to read, mainly because they do just that. Get creative with Nokia phones. In this post, they show you how to make your 'dull looking photos' look great using duotone colors. They say that "Perhaps the easiest way to describe a duotone photo, is to say that it’s a black and white image underpinned by one other base colour."
Not many pictures come out dull on the N82, but once in awhile a good picture is lacking color and saturation. Who would've thought that pictures this good were shot with a cell phone?
Click here to learn how to use duotone colors on photos shot by the Nokia N82, and also check out some great photo samples.
