If you have a Nokia N810 Internet Tablet, and have been fed up with the slow GPS lock times, then there is a solution.  Firstly, you need to install the new OS firmware (Diablo) onto your machine using the Nokia Internet Tablet Firmware Updater (Windows only).  Then, you need to install the A-GPS additional program. The A-GPS program, will help locate you whilst the GPS continues to try to lock.  You give the application a very rough location in the world (by clicking on a map), and it will then use an internet connection to improve that link.  However, as well as supporting a link via Bluetooth to a mobile phone (which will use the phone’s cell tower IDs to locate you), it’s also possible to locate you via WiFi.  It achieves this by feeding the initial GPS data back to a central computer at Nokia which helps process those fragments of GPS information to produce a location faster than the lock.

This update makes the Diablo update well worth applying.  Although things are perfect yet (most apps need the author to confirm compatibility and provide their applications to the new application repositories), you can still access the old “Chinook” software respositories (unlike the last major OS jump, everything is binary compatible this time).

Now the only thing remaining is for Nokia to have a word with Wayfinder and get them to update the actual maps.  The maps included with the tablet are from 2006/7, and since then Nokia have updated the Nokia Maps (for Symbian) a couple of times, so there’s no reason why they shouldn’t sort this out.  In the meantime, you may want to look at Maemo-Mapper, which uses OpenStreetMap map data, which is constantly being added to and updated, and because Maemo-Mapper uses the built in GPS support, it also benefits from the new A-GPS faster lock times.

Having just released the new N800 / N810 firmware, which supports new firmwar 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, removed 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.

GPXView started out as simply as a viewer for the geocaching.com GPX files used by geocachers. However, it’s now expanded, and offers a near paper-less experience for those who own a Nokia Internet Tablet, and even has basic GPS support for those with a Bluetooth GPS or an N810 (with built in GPS).

The author plans to integrate the program into with Maemo Mapper or into navit, but in the meantime head off to his website for more screenshots and the install link.

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.

There are rumours flying around that Nokia will announce the WiMAX version of the N810 Internet Tablet on 1st April at CTIA (the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association event). This would seem to match the logical timeframe to meet Sprint’s plan for having their WiMAX network available to the public during 2008. Although not yet directly relevant to the UK, WiMAX is likely to come in the next few years.

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.

The above picture was spotted by a keen InternetTabletTalk.com user in a Best Buy Mobile buyer’s guide in the US. This has a new black finish with an orange backlit keyboard, and is believed, by some, to be a WiMax version(Best Buy have used the same product code, so it’s not 100% clear). Zooming in on the picture seems to show an N830 label, which may well imply some hardware changes, and WiMax is the most likely. More news as and when we have it.

Story and picture courtesy of Tablet Guru.

Although technically only available in the US, the Chumby (which we featured before here) has just had a major firmware update, and is now on general sale in the US. We note that the device includes compulsory adverts, a feature which has not featured heavily in their advertising. With these ads being US-centric, we expect this will be one of the reasons limiting the device to US only sales right now (they’ve told us that once sales in the US are established, they will look to broaden into new markets). Chumby have recently updated their website too.

If you are interested in the Chumby, here’s an interesting option - Thoughtfix over at Tabletblog.com has written an article on how to get the Chumby emulator working on an Nokia N810 Internet Tablet.

A lot of people have been complaining about the slow GPS fix times (ie time taken to get an initial GPS fix) with the N810. It appears that a bug has been found in the underlying gpsd code (actually a leap year bug) where the gpsd software is getting the date wrong by 1 day. Correcting this date seems to improve the fix times. Although a bug report has been filed for this, the problem should apparently correct itself on February 29th anyway, although there’s a chance, if it’s not fixed, it will reappear on January 1st 2012!

So, if like us with our N810, you are experiencing long GPS fix times, you may want to hang tight until the end of the month to see if things improve.

Update: Unfortunately, Jussi has now confirmed that the leap year bug fix doesn’t actually improve GPS fix times, so we’re unlikely to see improvements magically at the end of the month. However, as a number of developers are looking into the problem, if it’s possible to fix we may well still see a fix some time soon.

Thanks to Jussi Kukkonen (who has also submitted a fix for the problem to Maemo).

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.

Nokia UK now has stocks of the new N810 Internet Tablet, and they are now available from the Nokia UK Store. We’re hoping to bring you a review of the N810 soon.

Andrew Flegg has written a good review of the Asus Eee PC, which he has compared to the Nokia N810 and the Psion netBook. He finishes the article with a list of reasons as to why you would choose the Asus Eee PC over the Nokia N810, and vice versa.

This page links to any major review we have written. We will try to keep this page up to date, but we will always announce any new reviews on the homepage.

Reviews

3 SkypePhone

Apple iPod Touch (hopefully coming soon)

Apple iPhone (hopefully coming soon)

LG Viewty mobile phone

Nokia N810 (coming soon)

Nokia N95 8Gb (hopefully coming soon)

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.

Thoughtfix, who runs the popular Tabletblog, also runs a UMPC blog. Yesterday he released a long review comparing the Nokia N810 with the small Asus Eee PC. Read the article to see which may be best for you.