How flexible is your mobile tariff?

Having a phone like Nokia N900 might require a tariff offered by your mobile operator that is not only texting and calling but offers some kind of Internet access options. Some might be interested in long term contracts with their mobile operators and some would prefer a prepaid option. So while there is a large offer of options and promotions offered by you local mobile operator what would be the optimal mobile phone tariff for use with your Nokia N900 smartphone.

Nokia N900 PR1.3 is out!

It is official, Nokia N900 PR1.3 is out and getting available for different regions. The new update will not bring MeeGo on our devices, but introduce a few bug fixes and support for Nokia Ovi Suite, something that was missing from the beginning. Also it is supposed to bring support for dual boot for the upcoming MeeGo release. Some of you might be dissapointed cos this was not the update we were expecting for the N900, but this shows that Nokia has not forgotten about the Maemo 5 Nokia N900 users.

Enable Portrait Mode on Nokia N900

With the new PR1.2 firmware update for Nokia N900, a screen rotation option has been enabled in the Nokia N900 built in browser. By default the auto rotate and the portrait mode browsing is disabled so here is how to activate it on your device.

More on the PR1.2 firmware update for Nokia N900

Here is something more we dug up on Nokia Conversations today the press release along with some ideas on what the PR1.2 update will bring to our Nokia N900 devices. Also we managed to pull some screenshots from our freshly updated N900. Check out the press release below along with the new screenshots from the PR1.2 updated Nokia N900.

Overclocking Nokia N900

Although the Nokia N900 is an amazing phone in therms of performance, the real beauty comes from the ability to modify the "smartphone" and play almost everything, including the CPU of the N900. Since this is the first time I have heard of overclocking a mobile device, I must say I am surprised. I have overclocked my home PC many times, but actually overclocking the CPU of my Nokia N900 is something totally different. Also I was surprised from the simplicity of the whole process. Here is how to overclock your Nokia N900:

Nokia N900 update PR1.2 now available

It seems like the firmware update PR1.2 for the Nokia N900 is finally here. Currently available for Nokia N900 users in UK and the USA, i think it will soon be arriving to users all over the world. Here is the news directly from Nokia:

Today we’re beginning to roll out the newest Maemo 5 software update to N900 users worldwide. The main features of the PR1.2 release include Facebook chat support, video calls with Google Talk and Skype support. And best of all, it enables the newest games and apps from Ovi Store to run on your Nokia N900.

To install the update, just click the flashing exclamation mark on your device home screen or go to the application manager and click the “Update” button and select “Maemo 5” in the update list. If you get a not enough memory warning, just uninstall a few apps and try again.

We strongly encourage all users to install the latest software to ensure your N900 runs as smoothly as possible. Once you’ve installed the update, you’ll also be able to enjoy new Ovi Store content like 3D Rollercoaster, QuickPanorama Pro, Angry Birds Level Pack, Sygic Mobile Maps and more. Please note that because PR1.2 enables paid content, older versions of Maemo 5 will no longer support Ovi Store.

Additionally, PR1.2 will support Qt technology that enables application compatibility between Maemo5 and the upcoming MeeGo OS.

2MB/s with Transmission on Nokia N900

I was actually amazed to see my Nokia N900 downloading torrents with 2MB/s using the Transmission torrent client for Nokia N900. The screenshot taken here shows only 1.95MB/s but I was unable to capture the 2MB+ speed cos my phone was a bit slow and unresponsive during the time of the download. But apart from that downloading speeds like this just make me smile.

The download speed was achieved on while I was connected via WiFi on my home network. Trying to download the same torrent via my Dell laptop just a few minutes later showed that actually the laptop downloaded the torrent slower with just 1.54MB/s while being connected via WiFi.

Awesome Ovi Maps ad and why having maps on your phone is a must!

Just watched this amazing Ovi Maps ad on YouTube and I thought it would be good to share it with you. The video shows why having Ovi Maps on your phone is something you must have.

If you are having problems loading Ovi Maps on your Nokia N900 or you are unable to get the map loader to work on Win 7 and Vista, ckeck out our previous post on how to fix this.

MeeGo image for Nokia N900 available for download

It seems like we will be getting a full installable MeeGo for Nokia N900 very soon, maybe just this month. On the other hand the first image file for the Nokia N900 appeared in the downloads section on MeeGo.com along with image file downloads for netbooks. These image files are primarily intended for developers who want to hack and explore the new MeeGo base for the N900 and also see the process of merging Maemo and Mobilin in real coding. They are not for end users since they do not include a UI. The downloads are available here!

barrioSquare - Foursquare app for Maemo and Nokia N900

Since there is no official Foursquare app for Maemo and Nokia N900 Chili Technologies decided to make one. The name of the app is barrioSquare, barrio = (neighborhood in Spanish) + square (from foursquare) and it is available in the Extras Devel repository or via the direct download link in our downloads section. For those of you who are not familiar with Foursquare or haven't used the Foursquare app on some other platform click here to learn more. In short:

Foursquare is a cross between a friend-finder, a social city-guide and a game that rewards you for doing interesting things.  We aim to build things to not only help you keep up with the places your friends go, but that encourage you to discover new places and challenge you to explore your neighborhood in new ways.

I will not bore you with details cos it is best to check the barrioSquare app yourself and I think you will like it. Please note that the app is still in development but apart from that it is totally usable.