Although it’s still just getting the final approval by Nokia, very shortly the new Tesco Shopping App will be available from the Ovi Store.  This not just allows you to perform the whole shopping order (from selecting a delivery slot to selecting the items and handling the checkout), but, as it links into the Tesco Shopping API, also allows you to make minor adjustments to an existing order.  So imagine, you prepare a large shopping order on your desktop and select a delivery slot a few days in advance, and then, the next day, you are out and about and suddenly remember you need to add another item; instead of needing to go home, instead of starting a new order, you can use your mobile phone to add and update the existing order.  That’s a nice feature, and the sort of integration we like here at UK Gadgeteer!

For lots more screenshots and a better understanding of how the product works, head over to the Tesco R&D blog here to see it in action, and look out for it in the Ovi Store soon.

Last week Nokia released 3 key new firmwares.  Firstly, the Nokia E71 (and I suspect the Nokia E66 and Nokia E63, as they seem to share a common base and seem to get updates at the same time) was updated to v500, although at the time of writing, this was not yet available for either the generic EURO1 codes nor the operator branded versions in the UK, but hopefully it will become available over the coming weeks.

v500 contains the following updates:

• Maps v3.03 Lite which has Free Navigation support
• Music Player upgrade
• Quick Office v6.2 which has Office 2007 support
• Ovi Store upgraded to 1.6.0.18 and Download! Removed
• Ovi Suite included in Memory card
• Functionality improvements in E-mail configuration
• Qwerty keypad improvements
• Emergency call termination with RSK key corrected
• Corrected Bluetooth link drop when an outgoing call is made in a carkit
• Corrected localization issues in world clock
• Fix provided for selecting desired mailbox when multiple mailboxes are configured

Probably more important is the Nokia N97 firmware update to v22, and the Nokia N97 Mini firmware update to v12.  Given the Nokia N97 is always accused of not having enough memory and space on the internal C: drive, then having to install Ovi Maps (over 10MB) to that area is always a burden. Well, this new firmware at least includes v3.03 Ovi Maps within the firmware, removing the need to have that additional 10MB application install (although we note that v3.04 is now out with the added cell ID and Wi-Fi based positioning, so without using a third party app such as Maps Booster, there is still, ironically, a need to install Ovi Maps in addition to the version in firmware for some of us).

The other new features include:

• Ovi Maps v3.03 with free Navigation built-in
• Nokia Messaging stub built-in
• Default screen brightness raised to 75%
• Default theme now the jet black ‘Nseries 2′, giving longer battery life than the previous ‘Nseries 3′
• RAM optimisations
• Miscellaneous bug fixes, including “Default Nokia tune is played as ringing tone for incoming calls instead of the one user has defined in Profile settings. Also sometimes device has stopped alerting for incoming calls. Both issues are now fixed” which has plagued a good few users.

As with all firmwares, you will need to decide between the impact of applying a new firmware (and the need to wipe the phone and start again with all your contacts, bookmarks, application and settings) against the fixes provided by the new firmware.  As always, expect to wait longer (and potentially forever) for operator branded versions to arrive; for example a 3UK Nokia E71 is still on v300, having never released v400 (or v410) for their devices, so the chance of v500 being released is quite small (it’s not all 3UK; an Orange N97 will still be stuck on v10, as they have never released v11, v20 or v21, let alone the new v22).

Nokia E71 firmware information courtesy of Symbian World, Nokia N97 Firmware information courtesy of All About Symbian.

Although not exactly going to break the bank at £3, Maps Booster is a very useful program to provide your Symbian phone with a fast cell ID / Wi-Fi based positioning information, and unlike the latest Ovi Maps (which offers a similar solution), it’s available to all apps on the phone through the OS’ positioning features.

However, right now (in the UK at least), Maps Booster is on sale in the Ovi Store, and is only £1; well worth it in our opinion.

Whilst you are there in the Ovi Store, why not download the UK Gadgeteer app as well, which provides access to the news stories directly on your phone; just search for “UK Gadgeteer” within the store and you should find versions for both S60 3rd Edition as well as S60 5th Edition.

Android does it (directly on the phone), and iPhone can do it too, but up until now, a Nokia phone could not tell you that there were updates for your installed application available.  Well, it’s starting to happen finally; although not yet directly on the phone through the Ovi Store, but hopefully that will come in time (there’s limited support already, but it needs further work to be properly useful).  Although being able to provide firmware updates is now built into the main Ovi Suite on your PC, Nokia still have the standard Nokia Software Updater, and a new version of this has been released by the Nokia Beta Labs team, which now supports providing application updates too.

It’s also not clear whether this will only provide updates to Nokia / Ovi application on your mobile phone, or all applications installed via Ovi Store, but it’s a start.  The beta is due to run until the end of August, so it’s possible we’ll see (assuming all goes well) some formal announcement on the way forward at the Nokia World event in September.

A couple of fairly major changes have recently happened with Nokia’s Sports Tracker application, which might actually benefit those who like and use the application in the long term.  A while ago, Nokia sold the application off to a new company (which does appear to be staffed by some ex-Nokia people) and they have established a new website and a new application.  Right now, you can’t use the full service in the way you could with the old Nokia based solution, but it’s coming.

As of 30 June 2010, Nokia will shut down the old Sports Tracker website.  However, you can pre-register at the new website, and there’s an option to import your journeys and records from Nokia.  Right now, you can’t view them, or do anything else with the website, but it will come.

The new team have released new versions of Sports Tracker for both S60 3rd and 5th Edition, and although these will in time have the capability to upload your details to allowed them to be viewed and shared on the website, again, this needs the website to be fully functional.

However, good news; at one point, Nokia offered one phone with a bundle of a Heart Rate Monitor (via Bluetooth).  At the time, everybody pointed out that it would be good if the heart rate monitor was also available to those who already had that phone (or any other supported phone); well, although Nokia never managed it, Sports Tracking Technologies have done so, and have this week created an online store where you can buy a heart rate monitor for €69.90 + delivery (they accept PayPal as well as credit cards), although shipments won’t start until 1st July, so even if you order today, you’ll have to wait a couple of weeks for it to arrive.

From a personal viewpoint, I note this version uses OpenStreetMap for the maps, and I think that’s a wise (if only short term) approach. The Nokia solution used maps which had to be downloaded (even though many devices had local Ovi Maps installations); although towards the end, it did at least share this download map cache with Nokia FriendView.  I think moving to OpenStreetMap is a good idea, as it reduces any costs of providing commercial mapping, although I do hope that in time Sports Tracking Technologies are able to link into the Ovi Maps SDK and use the maps where present on the device.

It’s nice to see this application being developed further and the support of a heart rate monitor will make the whole solution more attractive to many sports enthusiasts; however, if you have ever used the old Sports Tracker website don’t forget you need to register and import your old information within the next week.

Brightkite have updated their Symbian app (which is available for free in the Ovi Store here).  The new version adds the following features:

Group Text

Nokia users now join iPhone & Blackberry, Mobile web and SMS users with the ability to use Group Text. Group Text allows users to text up to 25 people at once – when one person replies, everyone gets the message.

Likes

You can now Like posts, just like you can on the web

Photo Library integration

Now you can post photos from your Photo Library – not just ones you take with your camera.

Comment and Mention streams

Now you have dedicated areas in which you can see your comments and mentions

Better battery and GPS usage

We’ve changed the way the app accesses GPS on the phone, which enhances battery Life.

Bug fixes

Assorted tweaks, enhancements and fixes.

As before, the app is only available on the newer touchscreen devices, so if you still have a non-touch phone, you’re out of luck (and I don’t yet know of a decent 3rd party clients with Brightkite support either).

According to Symbian World, a French Symbian site is claiming that the new Nokia N8 will support the ability to play DivX / XVid movies.  To me, this is either interesting, nothing new, or just plain wrong, and I really can’t decide which.  Nothing appears to have been announced by Nokia, nor by Symbian, which would seem to imply it’s wrong.  However, in the past DivX.com themselves have produced a S60 3rd Edition DivX player, so it’s not unreasonable to assume they may plan, or have developed either for themselves, or for Symbian, a DivX player.  However, anything developed by DivX would be DivX only, and not support xVid.  However, some users who have had access to pre-production Nokia N8 devices have claimed that the device will play DivX files out of the box.  Finally, a local country Nokia representative seems a strange place to announce a major first for a Nokia phone.

However, on balance, I think it’s likely that Nokia will move towards DivX support, it’s simply a question as to whether it will be arriving with the Nokia N8, which, in the shadow of the iPhone 4 launch, will apparently have some impressive video editing facilities returning to the Symbian platform again.  This post on the Nokia Conversations website details the range of photo and video tools that will be available on the Nokia N8.  Looking back, this was previously announced, so I think this article is a reaction to the iPhone 4, as opposed to suddenly announcing new functionality that wasn’t known about before, and that’s the problem with the DivX information; it’s not like Nokia to quietly announce a new feature for a key device, especially so late after launch (and so close to delivery).

Time will tell, but it’s fair to say the Nokia N8 remains a critical device for Nokia over the coming months; it may not be an ultimate flagship device, but it’s important to show that Nokia has learnt the lessons of the Nokia N95, Nokia N96 and Nokia N97 launch firmwares…

Update: It’s look like Nokia have confirmed the Nokia N8 will not support DivX.

July 2010 Update: Well, it looks like Nokia have now confirmed that there will be DivX (but not XVid) support in the Nokia N8 after all…

This is a new homescreen widget available from Nokia Beta Labs, and this one seems to be very useful.  Along with the self learning Nokia Bots (see here), it’s actually possible Nokia are starting to provide that little extra innovation that’s going to be needed to keep users from defecting to other platforms.  This notification widget adopts a similar idea to the S60 3rd Edition E-Series notification area of the screen (where all notifications for missed calls / voicemails / texts all appear at the bottom of the homescreen).

In fact this widget takes things a little further for S60 5th Edition devices (which support homescreen widgets).  It brings together all missed calls, voicemails, texts and missed calendar alarms into one area for the user.

This is only going to be a short beta according to Nokia Beta Labs, when it will get released into the Ovi Store for general use.  One can only hope this is a pre-cursor to actually bringing S60 5th Edition to the E-Series range.

To save the need to carry an extended battery, how’s this for an idea; Nokia have released a cycling power kit for Nokia phones (actually it either provides power from the dynamo to a 2mm Nokia port, and from there you can get a 2mm to microUSB port power adaptor cable, which should allow other microUSB devices to be charged too).  Although released as part of their initiative to support developing countries, this should still be just as useful in places like the UK if you are a keen cyclist.

Nokia have stated that a 10 minute bike ride at 6mph should give 28 minutes of talk time or 37 hours of standby, so I think it’s probably something as simple as 6mph allows the dynamo to produce the same 500mA of a USB charger, and therefore it’s equivalent of a 10 minute USB charge.

It’s planned to sell for around €15, which is cheaper than some of the bicycle dynamo phone chargers I’ve seen before, which makes it well worth keeping an eye out for when it goes on sale soon.

The iPad is coming to the UK on Friday.  Earlier this week we covered the iPad SIM Only deals from Vodafone (here), and today’s we’re looking at 3UK’s similar offering:

• £7.50 per month (1 month rolling contract), 1GB of data per month, no calls
• £15 per month (1 month rolling contract), 10GB of data per month, no calls

Now, let’s just compare those to Vodafone for a second; to get 1GB of data, Vodafone will charge £10 per month, whereas as 3UK are charging £7.50 per month; it’s clear to see which one is better there.

Equally, for £15 per month, 3UK are offering 10GB of data, whereas Vodafone are only offering 3GB of data; in fact, taking this comparison a stage further; the maximum data you can buy from Vodafone is 5GB per month at £25 per month, whereas 3UK will give you 10GB of data for just £15 per month.

Something tells me this £15 per month 3UK option is going to be quite popular…

Of course, not everyone can afford the 3G version; if you select the Wi-Fi only version, then it’s well worth considering the 3UK MiFi option, which will allow you to connect a number of devices to a 3G connection at the same time, and still offers similar options:

• Purchase the device for £54.99 (includes 1GB of data), and then you can purchase 5GB of data per month for £15 per month (1 month rolling contract).
• Purchase the device for £49.99 on PAYG, and then you can purchase 3GB of data for £15 or 5GB of data for £25.

Given that the PAYG data rates are higher than the iPad rates, it’s well worth considering whether or not the savings that can be made with the cheaper data actually offset the higher upfront purchase cost of the iPad 3G, or whether the benefit of the 3UK MiFi and it’s ability to connect multiple devices is more important.

Finally, and on a completely different topic, 3UK informed me this week that the Nokia E72 is now available from 3UK on contract (in both Black and White).  As a result of this change, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is no longer available, although refurbished handsets are still currently on sale.  The Nokia E72 is a very nice QWERTY device and well worth a look, especially with the free SatNav that Nokia are offering as part of their Ovi Maps strategy.