More Beta Labs Updates
The Nokia Beta Labs have been really busy lately, updating several apps a few weeks ago, and today announcing a few more things, as well. Congrats to Tommi for keeping up with all this! Today we received an update for the Nokia Location Tagger and Nokia Text Messenger apps, as well as a new app, called Nokia Communication Center.
Nokia Location Tagger’s update today was the last we’ll see, with a promise that the functionality will begin popping up as a built-in feature in future firmwares (no devices were given). Location Tagger integrates into the camera application, and uses any available GPS receiver (built-in or Bluetooth) to geotag pictures with location information, so that when you upload them to services such as Flickr or Share on Ovi, others can see *where* you took the picture! Pretty cool, I’m excited to see this as a standard feature in S60 soon. The only handset currently on the market that has this feature built-in is the N82.
Nokia Location Tagger - download | leave feedback
Nokia Text Messenger is a Vista widget that allows you to interact with your handset’s SMS inbox - right from your desktop. A great tool for people who spend alot of time at their desk, the widget can connect via USB or Bluetooth. Very handy indeed, though sadly, it’s only compatible with computers running Windows Vista.
Nokia Text Messenger - download | leave feedback
The newly announced Nokia Communication Center is a concept from the PC Suite team, and at first glance, I’m in love with it. The goal of Nokia Communication Center is for the functionality to be integrated into PC Suite eventually, so feedback is really important. This app lets you have greater control over your Inbox and Contacts, right from your PC. The Inbox allows you to create and send both SMS and MMS, and can also show your messages in a timeline view.
More important, in my opinion, is the Contact manager feature. Finally separating itself from Outlook (and thus taking the first step to opening and supporting Linux or OSX), the Contact Manager allows you to create new contact cards, including choosing a contact’s thumbnail image, right from your PC. This is then synced with your phone’s existing address book. Currently not possible, according to the comments, is the ability to create and manage Contact groups, a feature I sincerely hope is added REALLY soon.
After playing with the app myself, it works really well. Note that you cannot use it with the Nseries PC Suite (which I find kinda funny, honestly), so you’ll need the latest version of vanilla PC Suite. The only issue that I’ve found thus far is that some contacts show up twice, even though I’ve confirmed they’re only in my phonebook once. I’ve reported this to the team, so we’ll see.
Nokia Communication Center - download | leave feedback
As I said, some really cool stuff coming out of the Nokia Beta Labs lately, so be sure you check out some of these new applications. It’s a great chance for you to help shape what new services/products from Nokia look like, as the feedback you submit through the Nokia Beta Labs goes directly to the team in charge of the application. Hard to beat that kind of direct connection, if you ask me.
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