S60 Nokia E75 getting IM client

Nokia Beta Labs have just published a new version of Nokia Messaging app, which now allows desktop-like instant messaging on a Nokia smartphone along with the regular email features.

Only Nokia E75 will get the application for now but Nokia promise to add support for more devices as soon as possible.

The new Nokia Messaging promises real desktop-like chat experience allowing you to keep in touch with friends and family throughout various third-party IM networks.

Also enabled are background notifications of new incoming messages which show up whilst the app is minimized.

Since the new application has just seen daylight for the first time only Yahoo! Messenger and Ovi chat are supported, however, the supported communities list should continue growing.

An interesting fact is that Nokia will probably go as far as charging for the app the owners of certain S60 devices.

Nokia E75 owners however get a lifetime subscription to the Nokia Messaging service and all E75 owners can download it right away.

java for Sony Ericsson T715

General 2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network HSDPA 2100
HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100 - T715a
Announced 2009, June
Status Coming soon. Exp. release 2009, Q3
Size Dimensions 91.5 x 48 x 14.9 mm
Weight 96 g
Display Type TFT, 256K colors
Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2.2 inches
- Smart desktop
Sound Alert types Vibration; Downloadable polyphonic, MP3, AAC ringtones, composer
Speakerphone Yes
Memory Phonebook 1000 contacts, Photo call
Call records 30 received, dialed and missed calls
Internal 90 MB
Card slot microSD (TransFlash)
Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps
HSCSD Yes
EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps
3G HSDPA
WLAN No
Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP
Infrared port No
USB Yes, v2.0
Camera Primary 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, LED flash
Features Geo-tagging (cell-ID), videocalling
Video Yes
Secondary No
Features Messaging SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email
Browser WAP 2.0/HTML (NetFront)
Radio Stereo FM radio with RDS
Games Yes + downloadable
Colors Galaxy Silver, Rouge Pink
GPS No
Java Yes, MIDP 2.0
- MP3/eAAC+/WMA player
- MPEG4/WMV/H.263 player
- Organizer
- Voice memo
- TrackID
- YouTube
- Google Maps
- T9
Battery Standard battery, Li-Po 950 mAh (BST-33)
Stand-by Up to 400 h (2G) / Up to 350 h (3G)
Talk time Up to 10 h (2G) / Up to 4 h (3G)

How to Turn your T-Mobile G1 into multi touch

Well, well, what do we have here? A T-Mobile G1 with the new HTC Sense UI. HTC Hero is currently the only HTC device featuring the impressive new UI and even though HTC will reportedly offer it to their other handsets, all T-Mobile Android phones won't be on that list at all. However, some Italians managed to run a ported version of the UI called SuperHERO on a T-Mobile G1/HTC Dream.

If you want to give it a go, you'll need to flash your T-Mobile G1 with the SuperHERO ROM (see the source at the end of the article). The software includes a part of the real Hero's firmware. Along with the sexy looking user interface you'll also have multi-touch support enabled much like on the Hero.

Samsung Omnia II upgraded to Windows Mobile 6.5

Microsoft couldn't help themselves but brag that the Samsung Omnia II running Windows Mobile 6.5 will be available through Mobilkom Austria exclusively starting late September. They will be the first Austrian mobile operator to get the new OS.

It's yet unclear if the other countries will be as lucky as Austria and get the Omnia II running WinMo 6.5 straight out of the box. The official announcement stated that the phone will be available with Windows Mobile 6.1, which could be subsequently upgraded to 6.5. At least now we know for sure that this upgrade will come no later than September.

They official press release of Mobikom also states that the Omnia II sports the "biggest OLED display on a mobile device". And it does, the Omnia II just manages to outdo its sibling - the Omnia HD, which also has a 3.7" OLED display. The different aspect ratios lead to slightly different surface area but only just.

Still, it's an impressive display as we saw in our preview. And with 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 HSUPA plus Wi-Fi make the big touchscreen with WVGA resolution a fast portal to the Internet. The camera is no wimp either - 5MP with autofocus and D1 video recording is top of the line for Windows Mobile handsets.

Now might be a good time to clear out that the 8MP-sporting Omnia II units that appeared on some hands-on videos online are only prototypes and Samsung do not currently plan an 8MP version of the handset.

The Omnia II powered by an 800MHz CPU with dedicated graphics chip, which makes it one of the speediest WinMo devices. It is also a champ at storage with up to 16GB of internal storage and support for up to 32GB microSD cards.

GPS, DivX/XviD support out of the box, not to mention the 3D games and fancy 3D interface round of the Samsung Omnia II to be a geek's dream. The 3.5 mm audio jack and microUSB, which was recently picked as Europe's standard charger plug, are also greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately, there isn't any info about pricing in the press release. Anyway, we respectfully envy the geeks of Austria and hope carriers in other countries will pick up the Samsung Omnia II soon.

official firmware update of Nokia N97

Less than a month has passed since the Nokia N97 hit the shelves and here comes its first official firmware update. Bringing a whole load of bugfixes this new firmware should have a pretty positive impact on user experience.

The new version of the N97 firmware is already available in several countries with worldwide availability coming in the following days. So if you are a proud owner of a shiny N97 you might check out if it's already available for you.

According to Nokia, the most significant fixes that the new firmware brings are in the software stability, especially email, imaging, USB detection, widget stability and display transitions. We also noticed that the Ovi client is automatically installed to encourage users to use Nokia's side project.

You can get the new firmware as a FOTA update or you can rely on the good old Nokia Software updater and download and apply it through USB connection.

Here goes the changelog of the Nokia N97 latest firmware:
New applications added

* Ovi store client now embedded in the core system image

USB detection error fix

* PC does not detect N97 or USB charging connection not detected.

Widgets

* Home screen online/offline widget crash fix
* Fix for "Alphabetical and Number input are mixed in facebook until end key is pressed.
* Widget UI improvement - New facebook widget fixes a problem of Home Screen background visible on soft-key area.
* Browser fixes to improve widgets stability.

MfE related fixes

* Partial fix for Messaging/calendar entry lost.
* Mail for exchange calendar entry synchronization error fix.

UI transition error fixes

* UI transition (Slowness and bad effects)
* Slow Touch UI response
* Picture of the device lock appears half of the screen when transitioning the UI sometimes
* Landscape: in some cases the soft buttons on touch (right hand) show the Home Screen in background (install maps.google.com)

Photos thumbnail performance and stability improvements

* Device performance deteriorates when lots of content in the device - especially photos
* Partial fix no display backlight illumination when unlocking lock-key - CAP Genius reported already
* New version of AccuWeather to improve the "Connection error" situation
* Device reset when browsing with high speed packet access (for Malaysia )
* "Browser soft key UI doesn't work after putting Chinese character with qwerty keyboard"
* Java fixes (TCK, Pre-install app disappearing, *#7370#*)
* Operator fixes (CMCC, Hutchson and Telefonica, Vodafone )

Price of Toshiba TG01 now in just 150 euro

Slowly, but surely the Toshiba TG01 is becoming available through carriers in different countries. By 9 July you could add the UK to the list of lucky countries that have access to the first Snapdragon handset following Spain, Japan and Germany.

The Toshiba TG01 is already available in Spain through Movistar, and as we reported a while back, O2 Germany snatched an exclusive deal to offer the phone in Germany. It should have launched a few days ago but O2's online store still has it as "Coming soon". The prices are up though - 150 euro with a contract and 500 euro commitment-free.

The UK will also get on the TG01 action in just a week, though there's no mention of which carrier will get it. Pricing is unknown too, but we guess we'll learn more on the 9 July.

We've covered the Toshiba TG01's overwhelming features time and again; you can read our preliminary thoughts here. We'll just mention the three most striking features, we can't resist - 1GHz CPU, 4.1" WVGA touchscreen, 9.9 mm thick.