Ovi Maps update makes travel better Tweet

ESPOO, Finland - Getting around in unfamiliar areas is now easier than ever thanks to the latest update to Ovi Maps, which brings it to version 3.04. There’s oodles more content – bringing free navigation to 77 countries and 46 languages worldwide. Also new to this version is social reviews integration and it’s faster to find you and take you where you want to go.

Ovi Maps now contains an additional 2 million kilometres of road, which should certainly be enough to take you well off the beaten track: it now covers 77 countries including the Azores, Iceland, Kenya and Malta, for example. If you are planning ahead, then 281 new 3D landmarks will let you get a feel for your destination before you arrive.

It now has extra information on more than 25 million points of interest. As well as NAVTEQ and yellow pages information, Nokia has partnered with social reviews company Qype for this release. This means that locals’ and travellers’ reviews of hotels, restaurants, shops and bars are immediately available from the map – lessening the chances of you making a bad choice when you’re in an unfamiliar city.

As well as extra data, there are a number of improvements behind the scenes. On a technical level, WiFi positioning and search have been made faster and operate more reliably in low-signal areas – meaning you’re less likely to miss the junction before the map knows where you are.

Finally, new purchasers of Nokia smartphones (specifically, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, 5800 Navigation Edition, N97, N97 mini, E52, E72, 5230, 6710 Navigator, and the Nokia X6) will find it easy to get started out of the box, with the free addition of car kits to their purchase.

Ovi Maps 3.04 is available for download from http://www.nokia.com/maps. Check out the video below to see some of the features in action in an early build.

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Xperia X10 Mini: Quick Demo Tweet

Xperia X10 Mini: Quick Demo

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Friday’s Pick and Mix #1 Tweet

Introducing the first instalment of a new weekly feature slot devoted to giving more exposure to some of the great stories from other mobile blogs and websites. Some of the sites we link to are big; some of them are small: but, either way, if you missed them, we couldn’t forgive ourselves. Follow the links – then come back and tell us what you think!

* We’re enormous fans of Spotify – especially on a Friday – and you should be, too. It’s been available for a large number of Nokia phones for a while now and this week it’s become available through the Ovi Store as well, so now there’s no excuse.
* Mike Couture argues that our phones are getting cleverer but we aren’t – apparently, one in six smartphone owners can’t make full use of their devices. And the tech-support call centres can’t cope with the volume of low-level queries from confused users.
* You can’t go more than ten lines into a lot of technology blogs before you hit the words ‘Augmented Reality’ – which normally amounts to using mobile phones’ camera screens to project extra layers of information onto the world. Online marketing blog eConsultancy pulls together ten real-world examples of how big brands are getting involved.
* Appfrica reviews the best phones for global development workers – Nokia takes four of the six slots, including the overall winner.
* Some of you thought JBC had gone mad when he talked about cows with mobile phones – but that was only the tip of the iceberg. Now they’ve got Twitter accounts – see the latest tweets from a herd in Canada here.
* Going back to a comment from Fro earlier this week, asking for a modular mobile device, check out the Tenna Concept Device which promises to turn any gadget into a mobile phone. Be warned, though – the expression ‘Concept Device’ is often tech-blog code for ‘it doesn’t work and no-one wants to make it’.
* This is very meta. Nokia Conversations is published using the open-source Wordpress platform. So we’re obviously delighted that there’s a native application for editing Wordpress sites using Nokia devices in the works. We’ll soon be doing Nokia on Nokia, if you see what I mean. However, the current test client is, in one of the developer’s own words, “very, very unstable and WIP. It may not work as expected and might crash every now and then”. One to keep a close eye on rather than install immediately, for most people. In the meantime, there’s an interview on the Qt blog that explains some of the development process and the overall plan.
* Lastly, here’s Shiny Shiny on the disturbing prospect of Mayor Rage – the dark side of location-based social networks coming to a smartphone near you.

If you see something during the week that you think deserves a wider audience, then drop us a line in the comments and we’ll check it out for the next instalment.

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Google TV will be Launched in the Year 2010 Tweet

Google is headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States, officially announced the Google TV, the latest breakthrough that will bring the overall Internet experience on a television screen. "This will open up access to your TV from only a few channels to millions of channels of entertainment on TV and the web," said Salahuddin Choudhary, Product Manager for Google TV. Certainty the existence of Google TV was announced simultaneously with the activities the Google I / O in San Francisco, which is an annual event the meeting of the Google application developers.

For the success of this project, Google took the Sony and Logitech. Google TV first product package, including supporting devices, such as Blu-ray players and set top box, will be available from autumn or between July to September this year. Google TV is built on a platform based on open source, ie, Android and Chrome. Thus, features open the possibility to be developed in the future, additional applications, and other web based services.

Inside Chrome already equipped browser to access websites including search service to search for video, TV channel, and other interactive content. Google TV Google plans to release a Software Development Kit (SDK) and Application Programming Interface (API). Applications for Google TV will be collected in the Android Market. Currently Android and Chrome programmers can optimize their application for TV service with new tools that have been released by Google.

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Cancellation Everybody Draw Mohammed Day Tweet

A cartoonist from Seattle, United States, named Molly Norris, who initiated the contest to draw cartoons of Prophet Muhammad, he now apologize to Muslims. This was done after holding a contest on Facebook who has provoked controversy and protests from Muslims around the world. "I apologize to Muslims and asked that the contest was canceled," he said. He said never thought held a contest like that. According to him, cartoons homemade first time the term "Everybody Draw Mohammed  Day" just kidding.

Norris is a cartoon makers who first mentioned the term "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day". However, according to him, the cartoon was intended as a satire to television stations in the U.S., Comedy Central, which show one episode of censoring the cartoon show South Park because it displays the images of the Prophet Muhammad. Cancellations were related to pressure from Revolusionmuslim.com that threaten the South Park cartoon makers. 

"I do not declare May 20 as the Day of All Persons Drawing Muhammad," he said. He also declared himself not making a page on Facebook which invites others to equally draw cartoons of Prophet Muhammad. He explained that the cartoons have been misinterpreted and manipulated others, so as even to spread hatred for Muslims. In fact, Norris stated clearly that he joined another group on Facebook who oppose the contest. However, what has become a prostitute rice porridge.  

Due to the emergence of a contest that is considered insulting Prophet Muhammad and Muslims, Facebook received criticism even blocked in Pakistan. The Indonesian government will soon send a letter to Facebook's controversial blocking those pages that are not accessible from Indonesia. Related to that, Facebook has also issued a statement that it will take action that would shut down its controversial content access from certain countries.

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Most 2010 HTC Android phones will get Froyo ...in 2010 Tweet

Like many of you, we are already wondering if and when our favorite Android phones will get the Froyo Android 2.2 upgrade. By "favorite Android phones" we naturally mean the hotness made by HTC. So, we asked and here's the deal: if your phone was released in 2010, you have a good chance of getting Froyo. Definitely on deck: The Desire, Droid Incredible, EVO 4G, MyTouch Slide, and future models. We don't have a specific ETA yet, but "second half of this year" is certainly a lot more promising than "someday, maybe."

Here's the official word:

[...] if your phone was launched this year, we will most likely offer an upgrade for it to the Froyo version. This includes popular models like the Desire and Droid Incredible as well as hotly anticipated phones like the Evo 4G, MyTouch slide and upcoming models. We will announce a full list of phones and dates once we are closer to launching the upgrades. We are working closely with Google and our other partners to ensure we have the earliest access to everything we need to provide a complete and solid Sense experience on Froyo. We expect to release all updates in the second half of this year but can't be more specific yet.

source

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Android Army Gaining Ground Tweet

Mobile ad network Millennial Media published its latest report on the mobile device space this morning and it reveals some intriguing trends in smartphone market leadership. It has a particularly interesting story to tell about Google’s (GOOG) Android OS.

According to the Millenial Media’s April MobileMix report, Android ad requests on its network rose 77 percent month-over-month, and have grown 282 percent since January. During the same period, ad impressions from Android devices also rose, and Android smartphone manufacturer HTC grabbed a large enough number to become the fifth-largest device maker on Millennial Media’s network.

The buffet of new Android devices that have arrived at market over the past few months, Droid and Nexus One among them, has clearly spiked adoption of the OS.

With a 10 percent share of ad impressions, Android is now the third largest operating system among those the company tracks, falling between RIM’s (RIMM) BlackBerry OS with a 17 percent share and Windows Mobile OS with a five percent share.

Android may not be the leading OS on Millennial Media’s network–that honor belongs to Apple (AAPL) with its 62 percent share of U.S. smartphone impressions–but it is the fastest growing.

Another mobile advertising market research study, I realize. But Millennial currently reaches 83 percent of the U.S. mobile audience. That makes it the largest mobile ad network in terms of reach, so these metrics are worth paying attention to.

A few other data points worth noting:

* iPhone OS ad requests decreased 17 percent month-over-month in April. Still, since January, they’ve risen 1.5 percent.
* BlackBerry OS ad requests grew 10 percent month over month. Since January, they’ve increased more than 36 percent.
* iPad ad requests spiked 77 percent week over week for the first full month the device was available for purchase.

source

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