Latitude is a new feature for Google Maps on your mobile device. It’s also an iGoogle gadget on your computer. Once you’ve opted in to Latitude, you can see the approximate location of your friends and loved ones who have decided to share their location with you. So now you can do things like see if your spouse is stuck in traffic on the way home from work, notice that a buddy is in town for the weekend, or take comfort in knowing that a loved one’s flight landed safely, despite bad weather.

And with Latitude, not only can you see your friends’ locations on a map, but you can also be in touch directly via SMS, Google Talk, Gmail, or by updating your status message; you can even upload a new profile photo on the fly. It’s a fun way to feel close to the people you care about.

Fun aside, we recognize the sensitivity of location data, so we’ve built fine-grained privacy controls right into the application. Everything about Latitude is opt-in. You not only control exactly who gets to see your location, but you also decide the location that they see. For instance, let’s say you are in Rome. Instead of having your approximate location detected and shared automatically, you can manually set your location for elsewhere — perhaps a visit to Niagara Falls . Since you may not want to share the same information with everyone, Latitude lets you change the settings on a friend-by-friend basis. So for each person, you can choose to share your best available location or your city-level location, or you can hide. Everything is under your control and, of course, you can sign out of Latitude at any time

But Wait up Google … you are not the first to do this. If i remember right , Nokia had launched a similar application (with more features) way back in november 2008.

Nokia Friend View is an exciting location and micro-blogging service that helps you stay in touch with your close friends. It lets you share where you are and how you feel from home, work, or on the go. With Friend View it is easy to meet up at only a moment’s notice.

 The nokia friend view application allowed the user to interact with friends (i.e post status messages , reply to status updates and even send location co-ordinates ) which the current version of latitude does not.But since this was a beta labs application , the number of users were quite limited (mostly nokia fanboys like me and jaiku users).

All said and done, due to its immensly huge user base  and cross platform compatibility , I have no doubts that google latitude will quickly surpass the number of users of Nokia friendview or even other location ssharing websites like brightkite and plazes.

One thing I really wanted in the symbian version of google latitude was integration with gtalk so that i could just click on a friend on the map and start chatting with him/her. I hope google implements such a feature in its next release.

You can download the applications from the following links :

Nokia Friendview : https://friendview.nokia.com

Google Latitude : http://www.google.com/latitude/intro.html

Nokia N82 firmware version 30.0.019 and 31.0.016
Nokia N95 firmware version 31.0.017
Nokia N95 8GB firmware version 31.0.015
Nokia E90 Communicator version 300.34.84
Nokia E71 firmware versions 110.07.127 and 200.21.188

The procedure :

1. Check if you can hack your phone with the HelloCarbide and ROMPatcher method. If you can, use that method instead. Only use the method below if nothing else works.

2. Get a developer certificate. Be patient, it can take a while before your certificate is ready.

3. Download this package from Mobile Castle.

4. BACK UP YOUR PHONE MEMORY! On some phones you’ll need to click “Memory” in the settings folder, on other phones you can back up your phone memory from the options menu in the file manager. You can also back up your phone memory with PC Suite.

5. Sign MapDrives (which you downloaded in step 3) with the certificate you got in step 2, and install the signed copy of MapDrives on your phone.

6. Copy MapDrives.txt to your memory card (E:\), so you’ll get E:\MapDrives.txt.

7. Install JBak TaskMan, start it, press the # key, highlight the MapDrives entry, click “options,” “program rules,” and select “autostart.”

8. Restart your phone.

9. Delete MapDrives and install MapDrive_JBakTM_EMU_Y (for N82, N95, N95-8GB, and other phones that have a drive called Y:\), and start it.

10. Install Modo, and use the Modo file manager to copy installserver.exe to C:\sys\bin.

11. Once the modified installserver.exe is copied to C:\sys\bin you don’t need MapDrives and JBak anymore, but you still need Modo to write to C:\sys.

Note: with this hack you can not write to C:\sys and other system folders with file managers like X-plore or ActiveFile. You can read C:\sys\bin with these file managers, but you can only write to C:\sys\bin with Modo.

Confirmed to work on these phones and firmware versions:

Nokia N82 firmware version 30.0.019 and 31.0.016
Nokia N95 firmware version 31.0.017
Nokia N95 8GB firmware version 31.0.015
Nokia E90 Communicator version 300.34.84
Nokia E71 firmware versions 110.07.127 and 200.21.188

For more information , head over here :
Symbian Freak (login required)
Symbian Underground

The N95 classic has got some more love from nokia (probably for the last time) . This is a minor firmware update (the previous one being v31.0.015) and people who have upgraded have reported that like the previous update , this one too renders your phone unhackable. Users report that the update fixes the following bugs found in the previous version of the firmware:

• Icon animation fixed  
• Language Bug Fixed 
• Bold Menu Fixed 

  There has been no indication yet if this fixes the dreaded “curse of silence” bug too. If you have updated and the curse of silence bug no longer affects your nokia N95 classic , do let me know.

As for me …I’m sticking to my v30 hackable firmware for now.

The next time you notice that your S60-running Nokia phone isn’t receiving SMS or MMS for a complete day beware, your phone could be infected with a unique bug aptly named the ‘curse of silence’ It’s designed to infect the S60 series of Nokia phones. The bug hijacks the phone through a tweaked SMS to any S60-running Nokia phone. After which the phone slips into a sms baring mode, it simply rejects all sms or MMS coming its way.

The only way this problem is resolved is through Hard Resetting the phone, so if you have not yet backed up all your contacts, this could be your first and only sign.

Perhaps for the final time, Nokia has rolled out a new firmware for the Nokia N95 – v31.0.014. The new firmware apparently just brings bug fixes and perhaps an end to the ‘platform hack’. Since the phone doesn’t support UDP (User Data Preservation) make sure you back up the device before you update via the NSU. If you are keen on hacking, hang on to v30 as this firmware has nothing special to offer, no transitions N81 style and so on.

Via: AAS

 

The N97 packs a 3.5-inch, 640 x 360 pixel (that’s a 16:9 aspect ratio) resistive touchscreen display with tactile feedback and QWERTY keyboard into this sliding communicator with an “always open” window to favorite internet or social networking sites. Nokia calls it the “world’s most advanced mobile computer.” To back up the claim they’ve dropped in HSDPA, WiFi, and Bluetooth radios, A-GPS, a 3.5-mm headjack, 32GB of onboard memory with microSD expansion (for up to 48GB total capacity), and a battery capable of up to 1.5 days of continuous audio playback or 4.5-hours video. 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss glass and “DVD quality” video capture at 30fps, too. The specs are certainly impressive, let’s see if the S60 5th Edition OS can support it. The N97 will launch with a retail price set at around €550 ($693) excluding subsidies and taxes, phone to ship in H1 2009.

 Watch the Demo video here :

And the Hands on Video here :

 
 Here’s some more info :

The home screen of the Nokia N97 mobile computer features the people, content and media that matter the most. Friends, social networks and news are available by simply touching the home screen. The 16:9 widescreen display can be fully personalized with frequently updated widgets of favorite web services and social networking sites. The Nokia N97 is also perfectly suited for browsing the web, streaming Flash videos or playing games. Both the physical QWERTY and virtual touch input ensure efficiency in blogging, chatting, posting, sending texts or emailing.

The Nokia N97 supports up to 48 GB of storage, including 32 GB of on-board memory, expandable with a 16 GB microSD card for music, media and more. This is complemented by excellent music capabilities, full support for the Nokia Music Store and continuous playback time of up to 1.5 days. The Nokia N97 also has a 5-Megapixel camera with high-quality Carl Zeiss optics, 16:9 and DVD quality video capture, and support for services like Share on Ovi for immediate sharing over HSDPA and WLAN.
This is also the first symbian device to feature screenplay technology that allows users to run multiple applications on a single screen with varied levels of transperency , and easily switching between them.  

This seems like the ultimate dream device to ever come out of nokias design lab. I for one cant wait for this to land on Indian shores. The apple iphone / sony xperia / Htc touch diamond / Android G1 are surely gonna feel the heat !!

As usual, the new update optimizes the device’s performance and improves the overall stability. Additionally, once the upgrade is completed the N95 has more software installed and some of the existing apps are updated. Here’s what’s changed:

• Nokia Maps 2.0 built-in
• Full N-Gage client
• Nokia Search 4.0 with Google plug-in
• Share online 3.0
• Enablers for Comes With Music
• Download! application updated (v 3.1.50)
• Upgrade to Music Player
• Update for Flash Lite 3
• New baseline for VoIP (with error corrections)
• Autorotate
• Added 5th theme

To update your Nokia N95, simply start Nokia PC Suite and follow the instructions…

The Nokia N85
 

The Nokia N79
 

This looks so awesome !! And controlling the car by just the accelerometer is such a cool concept. I’ve been waiting for a game like this to hit the shelves for a long long time.. Some of the game specs include:

The most exciting HD racing experience on mobile

• Ultra realistic HD graphics
• Multi channel surround sound
• Realistic dynamics with natural accelerometer control

A truly competitive experience with “just one more go” gameplay

• Head to head multiplayer via WiFi or OTA
• Track your friends’ performance using Real Racing’s Facebook and OpenSocial applications

Relish your achievements

• Publish your best laps to YouTube with the press of a button
• Mash up and publish your results with web tools from Real Racing’s user portal

I’m sure this is game is gonna be a huuuuuuuuge hit !! Cant wait for it to be released…