Nokia Ovi Blog

Monthly Archive for July, 2009

Responding to Music 1.3 questions, comments

Published
by
Mark Wheatley
on July 24, 2009
in Ovi by Nokia
. 14 Comments

Thanks for all of your comments and interest in Nokia Music. We are still fine-tuning the software and while many of the products you mentioned are version 8 or older, we are less than a year old and still working on our core capabilities. The recent update is a great example of that. Until we have our core functionality performing exactly as we want it, we won’t be developing more advanced features.

At Nokia, we strongly believe that simplicity is important. Unlike some companies, we’re not building software for early adopters – we’re trying to provide simple, effective functionality for the average Nokia user. There are millions of people who listen to music on their Nokia phones and for them, Nokia Music provides the easiest way of getting their music on and off of their devices. Independent testing has indicated that our users find Nokia Music significantly easier to use for music transfer than the applications you mention.

This approach appears to be working. To date, we have around 500,000 users of the Nokia Music Software and that’s active users, not just people who have downloaded it. That’s 500,000 individuals getting a great experience out of Nokia Music for their PC [ed- I clarified this]. While we’re proud of that achievement, we’re still working hard to improve the software and ultimately, your user experience.

Link to new Music 1.3 software

Published
by
Karyl Scott
on July 24, 2009
in Ovi by Nokia
. 3 Comments

Thanks for your interest in Nokia Music. For those who asked, the link to download the new music software is: http://musicstore.nokia.com/download.aspx?

Enjoy!

Flicks, Sticks and Tricks

Published
by
EricJohn
on July 24, 2009
in Ovi by Nokia
. 4 Comments

Greetings! I’m Eric John, from the Ovi Store team and I’ve got three apps guaranteed to up your summer fun – - one that lets you order movies right from your mobile, another for cricket fanatics in need of a fix and finally a sure-fire ice breaker for your next party. Enjoy and feel free to suggest some of your own!

Netflix Category: Entertainment Cost: free (data charges apply)
In our household, it’s no longer a contest to control the TV remote; it’s who’s at the top of the Netflix ordering queue. With this handy app, built for touch devices like the Nokia N97 or the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, you can ” jump the line” and manage your Netflix queue right from your Nokia phone. Easily search the Netflix library, add or remove a movie from your queue, change the delivery order, see rating and recommendations. Best of all, its free!
Go to http://store.ovi.com and search: Netflix
NOTE: This app is available to Ovi Store users in the U.S. for the Nokia N97 and Nokia 5800 XpressMusic phones.

Ashes Scores Category: Applications / Sports Cost: free (data charges apply)

Simply marvelous, these widgets! Cricket fans in the U.K. can now get the latest scores as they happen, directly from their Nokia N97 or Nokia 5800 XpressMusic phones. No need to open a browser. This app puts you where the action is, with near real-time updates. One click and you’re in synch with the game. At the historic test match at Lords this week, we were lucky enough to be there in person the first day as England put some runs against the Aussies. The Ashes Scores app was especially useful when queuing at the bar afterwards where having stats in hand meant the difference between free drinks and picking up  the tab. On the train home the next day, we broadcast the score to the rest of the carriage and in the taxi, we updated the driver. We also entertained our office mates with a bowl review of Freddy Flintoff’s five wickets and England’s histoiric win there - – the first in 75 years!

Go to http://store.ovi.com and search on the keyword “ashes.”
NOTE: This app is available free to users of Ovi Store in the U.K. on the Nokia N97 and Nokia 5800 XpressMusic phones.

Hand Reading Pro Category: Entertainment Cost: $4.99 USD

Ever been to a party badly in need of an ice breaker? We’ve got the perfect thing. The Hand Reading Pro app lets you analyze people’s palms and discover secrets of their souls (ha ha!). For true believers, you can learn about the meaning of palm lines, finger shapes and what that bodes for your health, career and relationships. Even if you don’t believe, who doesn’t like to pretend they know what the future holds? 

Go to store.ovi.com and search on the keyword “Hand Reading”
NOTE: This app is available for use on Nokia S60 3.2 and 3.1 devices including the Nokia N95 and the Nokia E71

Give them a try and let us know what you think.

Nokia Music version 1.3

Published
by
Mark Wheatley
on July 22, 2009
in Ovi by Nokia
. 25 Comments

We’re really exited about the future of Nokia’s desktop music software. Much of our current effort is focused on a couple of important releases we have planned for the end of this year, but we’ve managed to find time to make a number of small enhancements in key areas , such as improving the basic device connection experience of Nokia Music.

For example, we’ve implemented ‘connection mode switching’. Most of Nokia owners will be aware of the multiple connection modes that users are offered when they plug their device into a computer. This causes a great deal of confusion for some people. In Nokia Music 1.3, if you select the wrong mode while the application is open, we now present a button that lets you switch to the right connection mode for music without having to go to the device.

The installation process is now ‘modularised’ to make the experience quicker for users who already have key components installed. For example, if users have already installed other Nokia desktop applications such as Ovi Suite, the overall download and install package could be as small as 9MB.

We’ve improved the artwork display performance for larger music libraries. You should see should see album covers appear more quickly in this version.

Devices such as the N96 and N97 have ‘multiple memory’ configurations. This means when we display the contents of a device we are showing a combined view from two different storage devices. After a small change, we can now cache these multiple memories more effectively. This means that when returning to the computer and plugging in your N97, you get a quicker view of the device contents.

You may have noticed that sometimes album art is not shown properly in the music player on your device. This is because although artwork embedded in the track can be transferred to the device, free-standing ‘folder art’ is not. Now when you import your music into the application, we will automatically embed any folder art so that it is visible on the device after transfer.

Finally, there are a couple of improvements that have been made to the ‘progress pane’ that shows transfer status. This progress pane now shows progress for CD ripping and CD burning as well as device transfer. You can also resize the panel and clear failed transfers more easily.

For those of you who aren’t yet familiar with Nokia Music, here are the other key enhancements in a nut shell:

  • Play and organise your music seamlessly between your PC and phone
  • Enjoy full integration with the Nokia Music Store and the Comes With Music™
  • Transfer music and playlists to and from your device
  • Burn songs to CD
  • Rip your CDs straight to your device with ‘Rip n’ Go’
  • Unlock the music potential of your mobile with the only PC jukebox optimised for Nokia owners
  • Get Nokia Music Store recommendations based on your ‘now playing’ track

We hope to make some announcements soon about our future direction. In the meantime, let us know what you think about our recent update.

Set Your (Ovi) Files Free

Published
by
Tam Huynh
on July 21, 2009
in Ovi by Nokia
. 10 Comments

Hi, I’m Tam Huynh, a product manager on the Ovi Experience team. I’m here to announce a simple and fantastic change to Ovi Files: we’re making it FREE of charge! What does this mean for you?

Hey wait, I was paying to use Files!

Thank you for being a loyal customer! We’ve issued a pro-rated refund to your credit card for the remainder of your subscription. You don’t have to do anything, except continue to enjoy using Files.

Why are you making Ovi Files available for free?

On-the-go file access is a basic component of a complete mobile lifestyle offering. Providing Ovi Files for free enables Nokia to connect more people to Ovi and accelerate the creation of even more advanced Files and Ovi features.

I’ve been using Files as part of a time-limited or device-bundled trial.

Thanks for giving us a try! Since Files is now free, you can now use it for as long as you want. If your Anytime Files storage allocation was less than 10 GB, we’ve increased your storage to this level.

I’m new here. What’s this “Ovi Files”?

Ovi Files lets you remotely access your computer-based files from your mobile phone and web browser.

Nice elevator pitch, Tam. Really, how can Files make my life easier? Well here are two examples that we all can relate to:

  • Send files to your co-workers: Is your boss screaming for that PowerPoint presentation you forgot on your home computer? You know, the one you were slaving away on at 2 am? No worries and no USB memory stick required: you can use Files to remotely send it to him. Send it from Caltrain, send it from Heathrow, or even while he’s looking at you.
  • Mirror your files online: It’s not cheap or green to leave your computer turned on all the time. But how do you get to your stuff if your computer is off? Answer: Ovi Files. Our Anytime Files feature lets you create an online copy of your files that you can always access, even if your computer is off or loses its Internet connection.

Most importantly, your communication to Ovi Files is secure: we encrypt the connections between your computer(s), our servers and your browser.

Sign up at https://files.ovi.com.

Did I mention that Files is FREE and works with your Windows PC, Macintosh and mobile phone? You’ll get 10 GB of Anytime Files storage as well. And you don’t even need a Nokia phone. But we’ll like you more if you get one! :-)

So if you’re already a files users, keep on enjoying this service and if you’re not, give it a try and let us know what you think.

Ovi Files is now free of charge!

Ovi Files is now free of charge!

Remotely access content from a web browser

Remotely access content from a web browser

Send files from your mobile phone

Send files from your mobile phone