The Maemo Last.fm client, Vagalume (which also works on a variety of Linux OSes), has been updated to v.0.8.1.  This new version (which has been released for the existing OSes as well as the new Maemo 5 OS), offers a range of new features…

• Implemented the Last.fm Web Services API v2.0
• Support for Libre.fm and other Last.fm-compatible services
• Support for Maemo 5 (Nokia N900)
• New icon that replaces the classic Vagalume logo
• New CD case image to place the album cover artwork
• New feature to stop playback after a given time (”sleep timer”)
• New menu option to play any user’s tag radio
• New “Add bookmark” and “Bookmark this radio” menu entries
• New configuration setting to download free tracks automatically
• Add {station} keyword to the IM status template
• Use system-wide Gnome audio settings
• Mixer support to change the volume in non-Maemo targets
• Added Polish translation
• Autocompletion support for combo box entries
• Make url and email clickable on the about dialog
• vagalumectl: new commands to show and hide the player window
• Fix some timeout problems in HTTP requests

What’s nice to see is support for Libre.fm, which is a similar setup to Last.fm, but designed around Free music, and hence as no subscription to pay.  It uses a very similar API to access the music as Last.fm, so it will be interesting to see whether we start to see other clients, such as the Symbian mobbler client also supporting this site.

Since the initial v0.8 release, a minor update has already been released which fixes a minor install issue with the Nokia N900, and also falls back to the old Last.fm API should the new one not work.

For me, it’s nice to see this client not abandoning the elder Nokia Maemo devices, and I hope many other Maemo applications offer continued support for these devices (eg Nokia N800, Nokia N810), which still function perfectly well, even if they can’t run the latest OS.

If you aren’t seeing Vagalume in the Application Manager on the Nokia N900, then follow Gerry’s advice here to activate the “Maemo Extras” application repository to get access to more applications.

We’ve been talking about these two devices for a while now, but what exactly are they, and what’s the difference, and, possibly more importantly, which is the “flagship” device for the Nokia N-Series?

Well, the Nokia N900 is a Maemo based Internet Tablet (following on from the Nokia N810, N800 and 770 Internet Tablets), but it adds phone capabilities, and not just to improve data access, but to also act as a phone.  Having said that, there does appear to be an element of just bolting the phone software on top of the existing platform; the phone application is pretty much the only application that supports the portrait mode (at launch). We make the point about “at launch” because many of the apps included on the device are by third party developers, who may well provide portrait support in their apps faster than Nokia and Maemo can achieve the same for the core applications.

The device includes a 5 megapixel camera, 3.5″ 800 x 480 touchscreen display, 32GB onboard storage, plus microSD support, A-GPS with Ovi Maps, 3.5mm headphone jack, FM transmitter, TV-Out, Bluetooth, and DivX Support.

Now, the Nokia N97 Mini is another key device launched at Nokia World.  It is basically a slightly cutdown Nokia N97, although it still features many of the high technical specs of the Nokia N97;

• It has 8GB storage, as against the Nokia N97 32GB
• It has a 1200mAh battery, compared to the N97’s 1500mAh
• The screen drops from 3.5″ to 3.2″, but retains the resolution

The main other difference is the removal of the D-pad on the keyboard, which is replaced by a set of four cursors keys to the right.  Of course, it will retail at a slightly lower price too.

So, which is the flagship device; well, that’s for you to decide; the Nokia N97 Mini is a smaller, lighter, lower spec device than the Nokia N97, but that slight size reduction may make it more popular at time goes on; as for the Nokia N900, it is lacking some of the all round features of Symbian S60 (and application support), and so right now, we reckon the Nokia N97 remains the top device, but whether it can retain this crown throughout 2010 as Maemo apps improve is another question…

These are pictures of a Nokia prototype called RX-51.  Now, the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet was the RX-44 and the N800 was RX-34, so it’s fair to say that with a product code of RX-51 this is likely to be the new Internet Tablet running the new Maemo 5 OS, and it may well be labelled the N900 by Nokia when announced (expected next month at Nokia World).

Mores pictures and technical specs after the break…

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Mauku is the Twitter / Jaiku Social Networking client for the Nokia Internet Tablets, and the author has released a number of screenshots showing the new version which will be available on the new OS, Maemo 5 (codename Fremantle).  More screenshots are available here.

This new version currently supports Twitter, Qaiku, Identi.ca, and should support Facebook in a future beta (the client actually connects to a server where a lot of the links to the Social Networking sites takes place, potentially allowing support for new websites without requiring a new client).

We should point out that the new UI and OS that comes with Fremantle (and mirrored in Mauku) are not available on the existing tablets, so your Nokia 770, N800 or N810 will not be able to run this new OS, and it looks, in essence, as if there will be no further OS updates for these devices.

Back in June, Nokia released the new Diablo OS for the Internet Tablets.  One of the key features included was the ability to update the base OS without having to reflash the unit again, and yesterday Nokia released the first update to this OS.  This, as expected, can be applied without going through the reflash and reinstallation of all your apps.  If you are already running the Diablo OS, then the Update Manager should automatically alert you to this new OS Feature Update in the next few days.  The main updates are Email and Browser stability fixes, but without the reflash, it should be an easier decision whether or not to apply it.

The UK Nokia Shop is currently selling the N800 at £145 and the N810 at £299. However, Quidco (you’ll need to register) is currently offering 30% discount on all purchases from the UK Nokia Store, bringing down the prices to £105 and £240 respectively. Equally, the N82 smartphone (normally £315) is down to £220.50, so plenty of bargains to be had. As we said before, you’ll need to head to Quidco and register.

A number of pictures of the new Nokia S60 Touch User Interface have been leaked over at Symbian Freak. One of the most interesting points is the move to a full VGA screen resolution, which bodes well for future devices.  The other interesting point is that the screens look like they are designed for both stylus and finger based input, which, like the VGA Nokia N800 and N810 Internet Tablets, have found to be very useable with fingers and we hope this finger based support continues.

Having just released the new N800 / N810 firmware, which supports new firmware updates without the need for a full reflash, Nokia have produced their first (in a long time) OTA update for a mobile phone, the N78. Although it’s only just started shipping, the firmware improves areas such as Bluetooth stability, music playback, optimized camera performance and navi-scroll sensitivity. The key point is that this update also does not need a full reflash, and hence all settings and software are kept intact. In fact, Nokia has (currently) gone as far as only releasing this update as an OTA update, removing the need to use the Nokia Software Updater at all (which is good for some, as they’ve still not fix the Vista compatibility issues). With many other Symbian phones supporting OTA updates, it will be interesting to see whether Nokia continue the trend and release all firmwares this way.

Nokia have announced two major updates today. Firstly, they have announced they are purchasing the remainder of the Symbian shares they do not already own, and will therefore take complete control of Symbian. As part of this purchase, Nokia have also announced that they will turn portions of Symbian (the OS), S60 and UIQ (controlled by Sony Ericsson and Motorola) into Open Source, via the new Symbian Foundation. This process will take a couple of years, but follows in the footsteps of the work Nokia has put into the Maemo community (for their Internet Tablets). This bodes well for the future of the platforms.

In other news, Nokia have also released a major OS (firmware) update for the N800 and N810 Internet Tablets. Apart from lots of bugfixes, and some improvements in the applications, the key new feature is that future OS updates will be able to be installed without a full reflash of the firmware back to factory condition.

Nokia has released details of it’s newest Internet Tablet, the N810 WME (WiMax Edition). Although it will only be available (for 2008 at least) in the US, it still brings some interesting features to the current range. It’s based on the N810, so still features the QWERTY keyboard and built in GPS added with the N810. On top of that, Nokia have added WiMax (which adds a little extra depth to the back of the unit to accommodate the WiMax antenna). Nokia have managed to keep the WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity options for when WiMax isn’t available (or you are at home /work, and want to utilise your own existing connections).

The most interesting features, though, come with the new version of the OS. This includes a number of bug fixes and an improved email client. However, it also features “Seamless Software Update” which Nokia claims to remove the need for periodic system updates. It’s not clear whether this is an automated version of the current Application Manager update process, or whether it’s similar to the User Data Preservation feature of some of the newer Nokia N-Series devices. The new OS should be available in the Summer for both the N800 and N810 devices.

If you own a Nokia Tablet and a recent Windows Mobile smartphone, you’ll be aware that many Windows smartphones now only support PAN (Personal Area Network) to allow external devices (such as Tablets) to use the phone for Internet access. Unfortunately, the Nokia tablets ship with only Bluetooth DUN (Dial Up Networking) support built in, meaning that although they will work fine with Nokia phones and many other phones (including the 3 SkypePhone), they don’t work with the WM phones… until now.

You need to be running the latest OS2008 to be able to use it, but the application integrates nicely into the OS to make it appear like the functionality was always there.

Head here for more information. [Via jkOnTheRun]

Nokia have released a minor firmware update for the N810 / N800 OS2008 version. If you are still using the 770 Internet Tablet, there’s an OS2008HE version for you, although you’ll need to read the Maemo website to fully understand the problems / issues you will face using this OS.

Head to here for more details, and a link to the download page (it’s on the right). However, this new firmware only fixes one thing – “This release fixes the power on (boot) problem only.” It’s recommended if you are not suffering from this problem to skip this update. As usual, the Nokia download servers are struggling a little, so you might want to wait a day or two as well.

Update: Having said that, it appears Nokia’s Europe Support Site says it includes stability enhancements, and recommends everyone upgrade – we still say hang tight for a day or two.

Update (2): There are about 4 other fixes included, which relate to underlying libraries, which may be more issues for developers, and not problems that a normal user will see.  As such, it’s probably still not worth upgrading, unless you really really want to.

Nokia has updated a couple more of it’s beta applications – Nokia PC Phone (which allows you to access many functions of your S40 / S60 phone from a PC browser; but only over USB), and the Internet Tablet Video Converter (to convert videos into an optimised format for your 770 / N800 / N810 Internet Tablet). The latter now supports Vista, has some minor UI updates, new input video codecs, and new output video codecs supported (for even better video output).

As well as updating the Nokia Channels app, Nokia have released an updated version of the Video Converter for their Internet Tablet range, which we previously covered here. Head over to the Nokia Beta Website for more information on the update. A key new feature is the creation of an API, allowing other developers to expand the functionality of the software. We’ll note that they are working on Vista and OS X versions of the Converter, and have not ruled out supporting a Linux desktop version in the future.

Play.com are currently selling the N800 at £129.99 with Free Delivery, and are showing the item as in stock. Couple this with a Bluetooth GPS and a Bluetooth Keyboard, and you have the equivalent of the new N810 without the price.

Whether you are running OS2008 on your new N810, had previously run the OS2008 Beta on your N800, or were simply waiting for the formal release; this week Nokia released the formal release of OS2008 for the N800, and at the same time released an updated firmware for the N810. In fact, the firmware is identical to both units, which bodes well for the future support of both units in the near future. The Nokia download site is still a little busy with everyone downloading this update, so you may want to wait another day or so before trying.

If you are interested in what comes with the new OS, Nokia has also launched an OS2008 website.

If you have a Symbian GPS enabled phone, and want to turn it into a Bluetooth GPS for another device to be able to use the GPS signal, then Symarctic’s ExtGPS maybe the solution. It allows the GPS signal to be accessed over Bluetooth by other devices. This is a Java application, not a Symbian specific one, so will potentially work with other phones too, but so far we’ve only seen reports of success using it on Nokia phones. Best of all, it’s also free!

This could allow you to carry a Nokia N800 Internet Tablet and a Nokia N95 phone, yet still be able to utilise the GPS from the N95 on the N800.

Photo courtesy of Symbian in Motion.

Canola v2, a very impressive and complete media tool for your Nokia Internet Tablet is due to go into Beta next week. The authors have put up a (Flash based) teaser website showing the capabilities of the new version. Interesting to note that the demos show the application running on both the newest Nokia tablet, the N810, as well as the earliest, the Nokia 770.

There’s a new firmware available for the N800 – the new ITOS2008 firmware, which brings a number of features from the N810 to the N800. However, right now, the ITOS2008 is still in Beta, and it’s more for developers than users. For example, the new Navigation software on the N810 is not yet available for this version, and you’ll lose Skype too. Best to wait a few more weeks for the final firmware to be released.

Brodit has launched it’s first mount for a Nokia Internet Tablet, in this case, the N800. Although the N800 Navigation Kit comes with a Nokia mount, these cannot be purchased individually.

Many people are using their N800 with the very respected Maemo Mapper freeware application, and hence need a facility for mounting their tablet in the car. The mount is available in two versions, the second also containing a built in power cable for keeping the battery of the N800 charged up.

The recently launched Nokia N810 ships with a (slightly unwieldy) Nokia mount in the box, but we suspect Brodit will launch a mount similar to this which supports it in the near future.

Brodit mounts come in two parts, a device specific part, and a car specific part, creating a very nice custom mount that rarely looks out of place. However, these parts don’t come cheap, but as users of Brodit parts for many years now, we recommend them.