With its Symbian OS, I’ve always recommended it with the warning that it’s a bit of a geeks phone. Downloading applications from the net, they don’t go through the same vetting that takes place with the Apple App Store. Some can be a little less stable than others and in some instances they conflict. Feature-wise it’s a solid phone if you’re prepared to perform the odd restart and fault find.

I’ve always thought it’s the utilitarian answer to the iPhone. Where Apple customers are until now unable to copy and paste, you can with an N95, but the button is somewhat hidden. Patches, fixes and apps exist for the Nokia where the system is not as locked down. What’s great about the N95 is that, where the need arises, someone’s usually solved a functionality problem in advance. The answer is hardly ever ‘we don’t support that’.

So before I get swept away in Apple and Palm hype, I thought I’d log my favourite apps. Here goes:

• Fring. One of my favourite apps for functionality. It links with Skype and you can have what looks like a normal phone call through WiFi (free if you’re calling someone on their computer). I regularly talk to people in Australia on this and after a few hitches (generally with the net speed at the other end) it now works perfectly. It also works with other social networking sites.
• Gmail. An amazingly fully featured app from Google. It keeps a local copy of your email but syncs with their server. You’ll never lose a message and it has better functionality than the iPhone app. I’m able to search, a feature iPhone users have only had through their web version up until now.
• YouTube. Another Google usability triumph. Although it doesn’t always seem to be as up-to-date as the web version and clicking on browser web links don’t open the app automatically, it does have one killer feature: it’s the only app I have that (without hacking) streams video over the 3G network. Really useful.
• Google Maps. Simply amazing. This app takes advantage of the inbuilt GPS receiver in the phone. With this I’m never lost, I can always find directions to a destination from my location to within a few metres. Coupled with Google Latitude, it’s a great tool for keeping up with people across London. I can also access Google Street View from my phone, I can’t count the number of times this has been really useful.
• WirelessIRC. Despite the name red-herring, I actually use this to access Twitter. Unlike most other Twitter apps, it runs happily in the background. Whenever I want to update myself on other’s activities I can immediately view, rather than take the time to launch an app > connect to the network > download tweets etc etc. I can easily copy and paste text to re-tweet (RT) and using Nokia’s inbuilt functionality, I can copy and paste posted URLs to my web browser. (NOTE: On the N95, the copy and paste functions are found under the key that looks like a pencil on the bottom left below the screen).
• BBC iPlayer (1.5). Although newer versions exist, they seem to have been blocked from working on the N95. Don’t despair, you can still download the app from sources across the web. BBC iPlayer is a fantastic boost to the multimedia capabilities of this phone. As long as you’re not worried about the jump between the listings app and the in-built RealPlayer to stream programmes, you’re never going to miss a programme again. Shame it only works on WiFi (unless hacked) and doesn’t support downloads.
• Opera Mini. A web browsing experience comparable with a PC. I use this mainly to access Google Reader. The Mini browser comes with the ability to create ‘bookmarklets’, something that when mixed with a little Javascript, allows me to post interesting links to Delicious. All of this functionality is a life-saver on long train rides (or even the cramped commute to work).
• Web development apps such as SIC! FTP and s60HTMLed. This combination means I can effectively edit web pages from anywhere. s60HTMLed is a great application but takes some setting up. You need to download Python for S60, the ‘appuifw2′ extension and in my case I had to Symbian Sign the web editor.
• Shozu. A multipurpose photo up-loader that allows me to tag and describe pictures that I upload to Flickr.
• Snaptweet. A service that scans my Flickr account and adds pictures with the ‘snaptweet’ tag to my Twitter stream.
• GooSync. Synchronise your inbuilt calendar with Google Calendar. Simple and effective.
• Last but not least, the other inbuilt features like the WebKit browser (yes, the iPhone isn’t the only one that comes with this); 5Mpixel camera; and accelerometer for quick transition between landscape and portrait display. (NOTE: to set the display, go to Menu > Tools > Setting > General > Personalisation > Display > Rotate screen ‘Automatic’).

My advice for N95 users is to every-so-often, backup everything and look for system updates. I think an amount of this functionality will not work, or would be more buggy with older software. Where lots of phone manufacturers forget about updates only months after release, Nokia have been consistent in their support so you may as well take advantage of this goodwill. The phone isn’t perfect and there’s lots of other software I haven’t mentioned, but I thought I should acknowledge this phone’s 15 months service to me before I upgrade.

• If it didn’t make sense the title is a reference to a quote from Harold Wilson, it seemed fitting given Opera’s move against Microsoft. Something that’s provoked a passionate reaction from the likes of Eric Meyer and Andy Clarke, both very aware of the ramifications this is already having on the politics of the web community. Update 17 December 2007: Yesterday Andy posted a follow-up to his suggestion to reform the CSS Working Group, I think due to the incisive response he received. Molly Holzschlag comments and I think she’s in a good position to do so.
• Speaking of politics, this week the BBC Internet Blog posted an article by Jonathan Drori about the difficulties attached to implementing CMS technology across the corporation. He even mentions “fiefdoms” which I think many web managers across the public sector will identify with.
• Totally unrelated and on a happier note, Phil pointed out that the Beta version of Google Maps Mobile can now locate a mobile phone “with or without GPS”. Shame it’s (strangely) not supported on my phone.
• And finally, back in October I watched a presentation over at Mac Learning about the new accessibility features in Mac Leopard. With the recently released answers to questions posted during the session, I was pleased to find my question was included. I asked whether element navigation (what’s this?) is available in browsers other than Safari 3. Unfortunately (and I suppose unsurprisingly) the answer is no. However, I guess the fact that Safari 3 now implements long overdue features such as tabs may be some consolation for this.

What is element navigation? It may not be clear what feature I’m talking about so read on for a brief description. In Leopard using Apple VoiceOver and Safari 3, the user can jump through the page to elements of the same type e.g. all the Headings by type (H1, H2 etc), or links (both picture and text links). I suppose this is useful, I’ve been aware that this has been implemented in other screen readers for some time. Note: Apparently VoiceOver is not a screen reader in that it does not read the screen, it responds to direct programme output. Very clever, *smiles*.

This is the first time I’ve seen an introduction to the platform and I must say I think it has acres of potential. Yes it might be later then the rest (Apple’s iPhone has been shipping since the summer, Android isn’t ready for consumers until late 2008), but the same happened with the Wii and, due to it’s unique features, it surprisingly dominates the games console industry. Apple, probably Google’s biggest ‘competitor’ (according to AppleInsider, Google chief Eric Schmidt sits on Apple’s Board of Directors), has redefined the mobile experience but their environment is not open (apps development is only available through Safari) which is why unless they release their grip they’ll never win at fighting the tide.

Conversely, if Google’s open platform can keep what looks like an iPhone inspired interface whilst also fostering innovation, it’ll soak up the demand for next generation handsets that Apple kick-started.

Update, 16 November 07: Google’s Dave Burke gave a presentation on Android at the recent Future of Mobile event held in London on 14 November. Mike Butcher blogged his talk. Although apparently he didn’t say anything new, it’s interesting to note that Android is Linux based with Java running on top. During the presentation Dave created a programme in under 8 minutes, it seems Google is trying to emphasise the ease with which programmes can be created.

So, there’s a date for your diary.

I find myself wanting to find out more about the multitude of listed features, however those that jump out for me include ‘Positional Audio Effects’, ‘Drag-and-Drop Support’, ‘Hot Spots’ and the (OS based?) enhanced web navigation.

On a similar subject, Roger made the point in a previous post that Apple’s iPhone could’ve been better had it included some kind of tactile feedback. Well, it’s recently become clear that Apple did research the idea of a physical feedback interface when it was developing it’s Multitouch technology.

All of which (if implemented) could mean a real boon for the accessibility and usability of OSX.

From a web design point of view it means the mobile Safari browser is (officially) coming to the UK before the expected pre-Christmas release date of the iPhone. So comments on tuning our sites have immediately become more useful.

It needs some kind of grouping system. Stuart Dredge is right, personally I have ‘work friends’, ‘Uni friends’, ‘school friends’, ‘relatives’ (that particular group breaks down further), ‘long-lost friends’… the list goes on. It’s not that I want to exclude anyone, the fact is, most people will probably thank me for not wasting their time!

My Facebook2 upgrade would ideally include the following:

• I want a different private space for all of these groups.
• I want to be able to choose which groups get which content, I don’t want to repeat myself, it’s got to make my life simpler, not more complex.
• I want Facebook to make this upgraded application Macintosh-simple to use (so I don’t make stupid mistakes).

From what I’ve read, these upgrades are far easier said than done, Nels Wadycki has written a post mentioning Yahoo360‘s attempts to do just that, but with buggy consequences. Also, read the BBC‘s Rory Cellan-Jones on “Are my online friends for real?” where he uses the example of Stephen Fry getting 20+ friend requests per hour, OK he’s found a way around it, but there’s got to be a better option?

Update 17 July 07: I’ve just this minute started looking at Pownce – it does ‘sets’! I’m off to have a play… :)

• The @media 2007 podcasts have been released (for the first day anyway).
• Snook.ca posted a piece about Co.mments. Anyone who knows me will understand that anything that aids keeping track of stuff must be a good thing.
• The Simpsons Movie website is totally flash based (boo), but totally fun (yay). Still under development (all locations except Mo’s Tavern are ‘coming soon’ – a phrase I dislike) but what’s there has a good quirky feel to it. On the downside I haven’t managed to register (I guess a problem with my network connection?) and downloading the mobile screensavers seems to only be an option available to people in the US. Does this fit with anyone else’s experience?
• Rebtel.com are offering free – yes *free* – international mobile-to-mobile calls (land-line handsets must have a display). It’s a new application of VoIP and a nifty way around the problem of not having a VoIP ready gadget, required by networks such as Skype. Rebtel seems more convenient than the rest, but what’s the line quality like? I haven’t tried this service yet and my only experience of VoIP was back in 2001 while at Uni (trying to save money on phone calls home), suffice to say the line drop-outs were so numerous I gave up. I have high hopes about this tho…
• Thanks Phil for pointing this out, Photosynth & Seadragon. This kind of technology opens up a world of possibility.
• Found these at the wireless festival, really fun, Music Monster.

Surface is moving more towards a human centered (less tech, more seemless integration in the human environment) method of computing due to it’s interaction style. However, I feel that both currently suffer from the same problem – invention without a clearly defined use. They’re both great ideas and I believe bringing computers-to-humans (not the other way around) is the only way to go. In fact I hope we’re on the brink of a human computer interaction revolution (with products like the iPhone), however, surely that will only come when we’re not consciously aware of the technology linking us to the digital world? Is this the age of physical computing?

Update: (6 July 2007) Thomas Baekdal found a Surface parody that makes a similar point. Good stuff.