Nokia closing down Ovi Files service on 1 October

As much as I love Nokia devices and services, I also get extremely frustrated with them from time-to-time. A couple of years ago it seemed like they were buying up as many services as they could with the hope that a global Ovi services offering would provide you with all you need. We have seen several of these services come and go (N-Gage, Mosh, Nokia Backup, etc.) to the point where I am now very leery of jumping onto any service they launch. I hope Ovi Maps never goes away, but you never know. Today we here that Ovi Files is shutting down on 1 October 2010.

I used the free 10GB Ovi Files cloud solution a few times, but never embraced it since I needed something that was more cross platform. Thankfully, we now have SugarSync on S60 so that I can share across multiple platforms and there really is little need for Ovi Files. I know that some people loved Ovi Files though and am sure they are not happy about this news today. It was a decision that was probably made after evaluating the cost and the benefit, but Nokia needs to now do things to prop up their name and not frustrate smartphone buyers.

Improve your Nokia N900 camera experience with two beta apps

OK, since news is a bit slow as we approach Nokia World (you do know I will be there, right?) it is a good time to see what is cooking over at Nokia Beta Labs. We are at the tail end of the summer here in Washington State and I am finding that mobile phone photos are not turning out very well with all of the background light. I just read on the Nokia Beta Labs blog that there two new applications for the Nokia N900 that look to take the camera to the next level. The HDR Capture application is designed for those situations when you are taking a photo with an open window with light behind the subject. The Lowlight Assistant is designed to help in situations when there is light, but not enough to give you a good photo.

Check out the samples and more details on the Nokia Beta Labs site. You can then sign into your Nokia account and download the apps.

Swype for Symbian available now on Nokia Beta Labs

I used to be a die hard QWERTY keyboard fan and still find the keyboard on the Nokia E73 Mode to be extremely efficient and effective. However, on larger touchscreen Android devices I have come to embrace Swype and find I am very quick with it. Thus, I was extremely pleased to read over on All About Symbian that Swype is now available from the Nokia Beta Labs site for S60 5th Edition (aka Symbian^1) devices and this means we will most likely also get to use Swype on the Nokia N8. If Swype is on the N8, then any concerns I had for a hardware keyboard and funky text entry are gone.

Swype is a company based here in Seattle and just about every single person I know that has tried it out has embraced it. I plan to install it on the Nokia N97 mini and give it a shot. FYI, one of the best tips I can give for Swype is to slide your finger from the very bottom left corner (where the Swype logo key is) to the right over the Sym key and you will get a directional pad and other cool functions on the keyboard.

Swype for Symbian has been tested on the Nokia 5800, 5230, X6, N97, and N97 mini.

Have any of you tried Swype yet on your Android or S60 5th Edition device?

Nokia announces the 5250, a new Symbian^1 device

Interesting that Nokia today announced another new piece of hardware, the Nokia 5250. This is a Symbian^1 (aka S60 5th Edition) device that looks to be a rather low cost device for those who want a touchscreen device. It only supports the EDGE data network and has a 2.8 inch display so it is nothing that anyone here reading Nokia Experts will likely want. However, there are millions of people who only have EDGE connectivity so this may be the perfect device for them.

The good thing about seeing these types of continuing hardware announcements before Nokia World is that we should hopefully see some major news there. I know we will see the N8, but am hoping to see Nokia reveal their next flagship device (maybe the N9) since so many people still have a bad taste from the N97 that could have been so good.

Anyways, the Nokia 5250 has a 2.8 inch 640×360 display, 2 megapixel camera, microSD card slot, Ovi Music support, FM radio, and more and comes in at €115 in the 4th quarter.

Best of Smartphone Experts, 22 Aug 2010

Check out the Nokia E73 Mode L.A. beach party on 21 August

Do you live in the LA area or do you happen to be passing through this weekend? If so, then make sure to sign up for and attend the Nokia E73 Beach Party put on by Nokia. I’ll be heading out camping here in Washington State with my family, but thinking about you all on the beach Nokia puts on some good parties and there will be food and drinks provided, along with lots of fun. They will actually be loaning out E73 Mode evaluation units so if you are interested in checking one out make sure to swing on by.

Speaking of the Nokia E73 Mode, make sure to check out our Starter Guide that collates my posts on the device and links to the full review and my extensive keyboard shortcut post. As you know, the E73 Mode is my daily driver that should stay that way until the N8 appears.

Is the Nokia N9 the next flagship product?

Nokia has been pretty clear that the upcoming Nokia N8 device is NOT its next flagship product. That said, we haven’t heard any official word about what actually is the next flagship to follow the Nokia N97. I am hoping we hear something about this at Nokia World in a few weeks and according to what was posted by Clinton Jeff on ZOMGitsCj it may just be the Nokia N9 MeeGo device. If it is, then that will be quite exciting as these leaked pictures show a device with a QWERTY keyboard that reminds me a lot of my MacBook Pro keyboard. You know if it runs MeeGo then I will be buying one to replace my N900. It is pretty clear this is an actual Nokia N9, but it still is not clear if this is some kind of prototype or if it is the real deal.

Credit: ZOMGitsCj

It looks like it builds on the N8 metal form factor with that cool N97/N97 mini slide and tilt up display. The keyboard looks awesome to me with well spaced keys, large space bar, directional arrows, dual Shift keys, and more. I WANT THIS, do you?

Where is the respect for Nokia in the US?

As I plan my trip to Nokia World next month I have continued thinking about Nokia and finally posted an article on ZDNet that I have been thinking about for a few months. I write this Nokia Experts site so of course I am a fan of Nokia and their devices or I wouldn’t spend hours writing here for free. I try to give you my honest take on things and am both positive and negative here and in my other writing. However, it seems to me that the media and smartphone enthusiasts in the US are unfairly slamming Nokia when other smartphone operating sytems get by with more. Am I being overly sensitive or do you too feel that Nokia doesn’t get the respect it deserves in the US?

SugarSync for Symbian brings cloud storage, sharing, access to S60 5th Edition

Do you have a Symbian S60 5th Edition device and longingly look at your iPhone and Android brethren thinking you could have a backup, sync, and cloud sharing service like Dropbox, Zumodrive, or SugarSync on your beloved device? Well, I have some excellent news for you then as SugarSync just announced their Symbian client that is available now for free and includes 2GB of cloud data capacity. We do have the Ovi Files client and it is decent, but services like SugarSync offer even more functionality that is cross platform and provides better access support.

With SugarSync for Symbian you can edit documents (with supported Symbian apps) and have the files synced back to the cloud. Documents, photos, music, video, and other file types can be shared, managed, and accessed with SugarSync. I have been looking at several different cloud storage and sharing solutions and now that SugarSync has a Symbian client I have decided they are the service I will be going with for all of my devices moving forward.

Simply point your S60 5th Edition web browser to www.sugarsync.com/symbian and download the free client. You can also purchase higher capacity on the servers with 30GB plans starting at just $4.99/month, but you do get 2GB for free to try out too. They also have a referral program that lets you increase your capacity between 500MB to 10GB of storage when a friend is referred by you.

You can access your SugarSync storage drive via a web browser or iPad, iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, or Windows Mobile device too.

Nokia Messaging is enhanced for the Nokia N8

I put together the Nokia Messaging reference guide to try to help you understand the different clients available for S60 and I am an avid user of Nokia Messaging for Email on the Nokia E73 Mode and N97 mini. As you know I pre-ordered my Nokia N8 and actually keep scouring the Internet trying to find any that might be available to purchase sooner and am currently quite obsessed with my desire for a Nokia N8. Thus, I was pleased to read Davis Fields’ article on how Nokia Messaging will function on the N8 and my desire for one is even stronger now.

There are several enhanced features that will be supported on the N8 that are actually now available on the C6 device, but I don’t have one of those to check it out on. Check out the video below and the full list of improved features coming to the Nokia N8.

With a functional email experience, outstanding camera, and more I think I will be quite happy with the N8 when it arrives.