The Nokia Beta Labs seem to be on an updating spree now, and who are we to argue with that? After their first wave of news by releasing Nokia Image Exchange, graduating Nokia Email and Communication Center, and archiving the Enhanced Calculator, they are back with another wave of updates and new applications, so let’s go over them, shall we?
Mobile Web Server final beta release
The server in your pocket application, Mobile Web Server, has received its final beta release. Updates include better support for S60 5th Edition, and a new widget, the Group Calendar Widget. The Facebook application has also been updated to improve the user experience. Mobile Web Server is now considered fully mature, and no beta releases are planned for the future. You can consider it as a graduated application.
Handwriting Calculator released
Nokia Beta Labs ventures on the S60 5th Edition development, with a touchscreen-exclusive application. Handwriting Calculator works on S60 5th (as well as Maemo or the Nokia Internet Tablets, and there’s a Windows application as well) and its sole purpose is to recognize handwritten mathematical equations and solve them. The awesome thing about it is that it seems to handle more complex equations than substractions and divisions. The demo video shows some squares and square roots, which is a great improvement over the built-in calculator:
Step Counter updated
Step Counter, the pedometer in my pocket replacement and one of my favorite sports applications, has received a new update. The new version brings better power management (ie less battery consumption), and a wider support for more accelerometer-equipped handsets. You can now also export your workouts in CSV format, and customize some sound notifications.
Audiobooks updated
Another updated application is Audiobooks, which uses now a single installation file for all S60 3rd devices (pre-FP, FP1 and FP2). Other improvements are a better sleep timer management and allowing a clock in the application so you can keep an eye on the time while listening to your audiobooks. On the PC end of the application, some updates include a simpler way to handle audiobooks, by allowing you to see what you have on your computer and on your handset, integration with PC Suite (hence allowing bluetooth transfers), better volume control and some other quirks. If you’re a fan of Audiobooks, we advise you to try it out.
Conversations returns, stronger than ever
The final updated application is Nokia Conversations, which I’ve never been able to try before because it was limited to a few handsets. Now, Conversations is available for all S60 3rd handsets, and I finally installed it on my E71 and it’s amazing how simpler things are with threaded SMS. Instead of having to install a 3rd party app, or having to scroll through tens of SMS and back and forth between my Inbox and Sent Messages, I now have one place to hit to read a decent “conversation” between me and my contacts. A must-have application by all means if you use SMS rarely or frequently. I can’t wait to see it implemented in S60 by default.
That’s all the updates from Nokia Beta Labs. Personally, I want to send a big Kudos to the guys working on all these applications. What they’re doing is awesome, and groundbreaking in terms of innovations, and allowing people to test services before they’re released. Here’s wishing that next year, by Christmas, all these applications would be in mass production and implemented by default in all S60 devices, and that there would be newer and more innovative apps in Beta Labs ;)
