A Handful Of Google Apps Updated For N82, Including Youtube

If you’re a Google service user you should be happy know that you now have a nearly complete package of tools to make your N82 sync perfectly with your Gmail, Calendar, Contacts, and Maps. There is even a new Google App for the N82 which lets you have another set of Google shortcuts on the homescreen by using the (C) button instead of taking up pressure space. Let’s start with the Google App.

Google App For Mobile

If you already use Google applications like Gmail, Maps, Youtube, the Reader website, etc on your N82 then the official Google Mobile App is for you. What is does is creates shortcuts to all the applications you use in one place and also gives you opportunity to search Google and launch your web browser. Use the delete key from the homescreen to open the screen above for quick access to your Google shortcuts and Search.

Google Maps For N82

Google Maps for Mobile has been updated in a huge way. They have now implemented something called Layers which lets you add layers of information on top of the maps. This includes traffic alerts & incident reports, points of interest with wikipedia information, and especially cool is your own maps that you’ve added from your PC. Below is an example from Google of how My Maps works for mobile.

Layers on the Map: Latitude locations + My Map

Since my wife and I love participating in cycle touring events on our tandem bike, we thought our challenge for this year -- 1500 KM of riding in Audax UK's Super Randonneur Series -- would make for a great environment to test the Layers functionality while on the go.

The first thing we wanted to try was My Maps. This feature on Google Maps on desktop becomes even more useful with the ability to access them from my phone. We're not alone in wanting this -- it's the fifth most requested feature on the Google Mobile Product Ideas page. It was great to trace bike routes and add places to stop on the computer, add the My Maps layer in Maps for mobile with a few clicks, and see them up on my Nokia S60 handset from our bike.

Seems cool right? I’m personally loving the new version of Google Maps.

Youtube Application For The N82

Youtube for the N82 has been updated to run faster and smoother. I showed this application to you awhile back ago, so if you haven’t updated be sure to get it done. It’s a real Youtube application in the native Symbian .sis format, not a watered down web version.

Get The Latest Applications

To get all these updates visit http://m.google.com/maps  for your N82’s browser.

To learn more about this from your pc visit this link.

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Nokia Messaging Updated: Windows Live Hotmail & HTML Email Supported Added

Despite all the bumps along the road that Nokia Messaging has encountered since it was first introduced, it’s really come a long way. Nokia’s new email solution has recently been updated to included Hotmail support along with HTML email views. A handful of other features have also been updated/added…

Here are the highlights of this release:
• The 1.1 release of Nokia Messaging is localized in 22 languages and certified for 21 S60 devices
• Support for Windows Live Hotmail Addresses
• Support for HTML-formatted emails
• Support for hosted email accounts from Yahoo!, Gmail and Microsoft
• Support for up to 10 IMAP subfolders (selectable on email.nokia.com)
• Advanced Email Settings entry on email.nokia.com

Davis Fields, the product manager for Nokia Messaging says,

Advanced email settings entry also satisfies a popular request. When signing up for a Nokia Messaging account, you are now able to include the outgoing mail server as part of advanced settings. Users with a Nokia Messaging account are now able to edit their email server settings from the My Account page. You can also select up to 10 IMAP subfolders to sync to their devices.

The 1.1 release contains support for HTML-formatted emails. You will find that Nokia Messaging handles rich formatted text and lighter HTML-formatted emails very well. Within some larger messages, you may notice some irregular scrolling and selecting behavior.

Some people have had a few issues even with this newest version. For instance sometimes the set up process will send two text messages instead of one. If this happens, usually it’s the second message that works properly. You can read this Nokia Messaging troubleshooting guide over at Symbian-Addict.com if you are still having problem visit the Nokia Support Forums.

Visit http://email.nokia.com to get started.

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Gmail Application Updated - Get Version 2.0 For The N82

Do you use the Gmail application? If so - you might want to get the latest version. It brings lots of improvements including Google Apps accounts, multiple Gmail accounts, faster everything, and a cleaner layout.

Check out the official changelog...

- Overall performance improvement: You should experience significant raw speed improvement, smoother scrolling, and no freezing.

- Multiple accounts management: If you have both a Gmail and Google Apps email account, you can easily switch between them quickly. You will no longer have to use two different mobile apps to access personal and work emails.

- Multiple mobile email drafts: You can save multiple email drafts in your mobile phone, so that you can pick and choose what you would like to send later.

- Powerful shortcut keys: If you have a QWERTY phone, you can use shortcut keys. Hit 'z' to undo, 'k' to go to a newer conversation, and 'j' to go to an older conversation. See Menu/Help in the app for more shortcuts.

- Basic offline support: Can't get a signal? Not a problem. You can compose and read your most recent emails even when there is no signal. Also, any outgoing messages will be saved in the outbox on your phone and sent automatically when you're back in coverage.

A Gmail engineer says,

Our focus for this version was to make the experience faster and more reliable. We rearchitected the entire client to push all the processing to the background, greatly improve the client-side caching scheme and optimize every bottleneck piece of code we came across.

Personally I don't use this application for my Gmail needs, I've been using Nokia Email Service instead. But I always keep this Gmail application on my phone just in case the Nokia server is down or I need to search for archived emails or dig up a contact in my Gmail account. It's really handy just to have. If you don't need real push email to your phone then this application is perfect for checking email once or twice a day.

Download: Go to m.google.com/mail on your mobile browser to download the new Gmail for mobile for your phone. If you already have Gmail installed be sure to remove the version you have before installing this new version.

Do you use this mobile Gmail application, or simply rely on another solution to retrieve your Google Mail on your Nokia N82?

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Gmail & The N82: Get Your Labels To Show As Folders In The Built-In Email Application

I've already showed you how to setup Gmail on your N82 using the built-in email application. There are various settings to play around with to keep your Gmail inbox in sync with your N82. But what about Gmail labels? If you get tons of emails on a daily basis Gmail helps you stay organized with Labels, which can also be viewed as folders or tags. You can setup filters that allow you to manage certain emails.

First, A Little About Gmail Filters
For instance all the comments that you guys and gals leave here at the blog get sent to my email as a notification. The subject line always says something like "N82 Blog Comments". So I set up a filter than automatically sets everything with that subject line to my Comments Label and it bypasses my inbox so that I don't get it cluttered. Whenever I want to see those comments I just click on the "Comments" link under my Labels column in Gmail. You can also setup filteres to STAR emails with certain keywords that might be important to you like "bank statement" or anything you want. Click here to read more about filters and labels.

How To See Gmail Labels On Your N82
Now here's the part that I enjoy on the N82. I can subscribe to my Gmail Labels on my N82 and they will be shown as folders. I get an alert whenever a new email comes to one of those Labels (or folders) just like I normally would with my normal inbox.

Check out these screenshots and instructions to see how it works...

1. Go into your Email Settings > Retrieval Settings. Scroll down to Fold Subscriptions.



2. You will be asked to connect to the mailbox to update the folders (aka Labels). Once that's updated you will see a list of all your Gmail Labels. The Inbox will already be checked. If you want to be able to see your Gmail Archive make sure to check the [Gmail] folder. Add a checkmark to any other Labels that you want shown on your Nokia N82.



3. And there you go. You will now see your Gmail Labels on your S60 handset.



If you see a red plus sign above the folder (Label) that means there are new messages. As you can see above I have new messages waiting for me in my Inbox and not the Comments label.

A Few Shortcomings
Of course there is always a negative. New emails that come to my inbox cannot be moved to a Label folder from the N82. Your just going to have to mark it as read and wait till you get to a computer. Another bummer is I can't move the Inbox above my Comments folder in that last screenshot. I think it lists the Labels in alphabetical order. It's not too bad for me to only have to scroll down once, but for others who have lots of labels shown on their N82 it can be a pain to scroll all the way down to see your Inbox.

How To Archive A Gmail Message On Your N82
If you want to archive a Gmail message on your N82 you simply have to delete it. When asked select the "delete from phone and server" option. This will take the header off your phone and in Gmail will archive the message, not delete it. Which is really handy. I hardly ever need to delete emails anyways since we enjoy so much storage.

Do you have any other tips for making our experience better using Gmail and the N82 email application? If so please share.

note: These instructions work on any S60 powered phone including the Nokia N95, N78, E71, & E66.

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A Look At Push Email Features For S60 Handsets

I posted this article yesterday at Symbian Addict, and thought I'd share it with N82 readers here. In this article, I link to another post by Steve from AllAboutSymbian.com. He used a Nokia N95 to explain things, but everything still applies for the N82. If you haven't yet setup Gmail on your phone, do a search or look back in the archives of February, I posted a small tutorial.

A while back ago Google announced that IMAP email support is now available, making it possible to keep your Symbian powered smartphone and Gmail inbox perfectly in sync. I posted the instructions to setup Gmail IMAP back when we first got the news, but Steve from AllAboutSymbian.com has taken a more in depth look at how this works.

I personally think the built-in email application is the best solution as well, but there are a few things on Nokia's side that can be improved. For instance, there should be an option to download all text in the emails, not just the headers. This will give a much better user experience, especially for those that need effeciency. The newer phones like the N82 and N95 have plenty of memory for this. Another problem that I've seen on both phones is once the email program connects to check for new mail it doesn't disconnect on its own, leaving the data connection constantly connect and draining your battery. Viewing full html in emails might be a lot to ask for, but that would be awesome to have.

One more thing I want. Shortcuts. While viewing the inbox, push 1 to retrieve new. Push 2 to retrieve all. Push 3 to mark highlighted emails as "read" or "unread". Push 5 to reply, etc etc. Instead of having to go into the options and selecting what you want. The UI of your phone should be all about simpicity and efficiency. I know this can't be that hard to implement, but I doubt Nokia would ever do this.

And the last little thing that bothers me. When my phone checks my mail, it still alerts me if I have new email even if it's marked as read on the Gmail server. When I go to the inbox it shows as read, therefore it's not new. Not a big deal but a little annoying.

Click here to check out Steve's article over at AllAboutSymbian.com.

What would you want changed or improved in the built-in email application?

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How To Set Up Gmail On Your Nokia N82

There are a few ways to check your Gmail on your Nokia N82, I mentioned one way a few weeks ago. Lately I've been using the built-in email application on the N82, and I'm loving it once again. If you set up your Gmail using this method, it will keep your real Gmail inbox in your browser and your phone's inbox in sync. If you dig deep enough into the settings you can even set up your labels as folders. I just use my normal inbox on my N82, and deal with the Gmail labels in Firefox.

Here is how to set up your Gmail for your Nokia N82:

How To Setup Gmail On Your S60 Device:

1. Enable IMAP in your Gmail account settings.
2. Select 'Messaging' > 'Options' > 'Settings' > 'E-mail' > 'Mailboxes.'
3. If you have never set up email on your phone before, select 'Yes' to define a new mailbox. If you already have other mailboxes, select 'Options' and then 'New mailbox.'
4. Select 'Start' to begin the setup wizard.
5. Select 'IMAP4' and then 'Next.'
6. Enter your Gmail username (including '@gmail.com') as the email address and select 'Next.'
   
7. Enter 'imap.gmail.com' as the incoming mail server and select 'Next.'
8. Enter 'smtp.gmail.com' as the outgoing mail server and select 'Next.'
9. Select the appropriate access point and then 'Next.'
10. Enter a descriptive name for the email account mailbox name.
11. Once your mailbox is set up, select it from the email mailbox settings screen.
12. Select 'Connection settings' > 'Incoming e-mail.'
13. Enter your Gmail username (including '@gmail.com') and password.
14. Select 'SSL/TLS' for your security (ports) and define your port as '993.'
15. Select 'Back.'
16. Select 'Outgoing e-mail.'
17. Enter your Gmail username (including '@gmail.com') and password.
18. Select 'StartTLS' for your security (ports) and define your port as '587.'
19. Select 'Back' and change any other settings according to your preferences.

Link to the official instructions.

Gmail's IMAP vs. POP
The reason why I use Gmail's IMAP service is because it keeps your mail in sync between both devices, unlike POP setup. If I read an email on my phone, it shows as "read" on both my computer and phone. Same goes for the other way around. Check it on my computer, and it shows as "read" on my phone as well. You can set it to check your mail at different intervals, mine is set to 2 hours, unless I'm expecting an important email.

If you have any questions feel free to ask. It can be tricky, you gotta follow the steps exactly and make sure you type everything right.

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How Do You Gmail On Your Nokia N82

There are a few different ways to get your Gmail inbox on your N82. I've been dying to see a .sis version of a Gmail application, similar to what Google did for us with Google Maps. The difference between a native Symbian .sis application and a java application is astonishing. The speed, response, scrolling, load time, is all so much better as a native S60 application. But I have heard nothing of Google creating a Symbian Gmail application for us. So for now we only have a few options.

Option 1 is to use Gmail's java application. This application is great for non s60 smartphones, but can't take full advantage of a Symbian platform. From the time I launch the application to the time the application loads, it takes about 23 seconds to get itself fully loaded and retrieve my mail. That's just ridiculous. Once it's loaded however, you get almost all the options you have while using Gmail in a real browser. The application runs smooth and fast, although just doesn't seem as good as a native Symbian application. I have to give it to Google though, they created a great application for basic phones.

The next option is to setup your built in email application to be used with Gmail and IMAP, just like I talked about in this old post. Setting up Gmail isn't that hard using the email wizard that comes with your N82 phone. Once it's all set up, you can tell your email application to check for new mail anywhere from always on to every 6 hours. This can really come in handy. When you have new mail, the phone alerts you like it would a text message. You can then view your subject line and have the option to read it. If you decide to read your mail, your phone will then have to re-connect to Gmail. Doing this takes anywhere from 15-60 seconds depending on how updated your mailbox is. If you haven't check your mail for awhile, this process can take up to a minute or more to match your phone's email application with your Gmail account. I started to get really annoyed with this method.

The last option is one that I just started using. You can access your Gmail account via the Web Browser. Gmail's mobile email interface used to look ugly and was too simple. I noticed recently that they've updated the interface and give you more options to work with. On the newer S60 phones like the N95 and N82 you can assign one of your bookmarks as an active standby shortcut. I decided to give this a shot and made this my left softkey. If your using an older model Nokia you can make Gmail your homepage and this will load when you first click the Web Browser application. From the time I launch this shortcut the Gmail page loads in under 10 seconds. And that's on an Edge connection, not 3g. You are then presented with a simple interface, similar to the desktop version. Each email has a check box that you can mark. Afterwards you scroll to the bottom of the page and have the "more actions" box. You can move to inbox, mark as read, mark as unread, and add or remove stars. You can also report spam, archive, and delete. Pretty much everything you can do with the desktop version. Below that you get compose mail, inbox, sent mail, all mail, spam, contacts. You can click "more" and choose labels to show as well. You can also search all your contacts, something that is lacking when using the built in email application. This method I think so far is the best to use with Gmail, as long as you have a good, fast, internet connection. Like I said, running this option on an Edge connection is fast enough for me, and still keeps your Gmail perfectly in sync across your phone and computer.

Hopefully Google keeps updating there mobile Gmail interface like they have for the iPhone. I would really like them to tie in all there applications into one nice mobile page including Google Reader, Calendar, and Picasa. I think they will keep giving us updates and new features. Just make sure if you use any of these methods you have an unlimited data plan or be prepared to get a lot of charges. The first option I gave is probably the best for data consumption, but don't quote me on that.

Of course there are other 3rd party applications you can use to get your Gmail, one of my favorites is Emoze. I just don't like the amount of RAM that it takes up, especially if you leave these applications open.

Are there any other options that I'm missing? I'll be posting some screenshots of these methods tonight when I have some extra time.

For now, if you haven't already, check out this link to see Google's Mobile Gmail page.

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