Do you own a Nvidia CUDA-enabled graphics card? The entire list of supported cards can be found here. If so, there’s a much quicker way to encode your video into a format that’s suitable for playback on your Nokia devices, especially the 5800 XpressMusic and N97 with those large screens.

Up until now, most of the power of a graphics card has been used for gaming. As it turns out, modern graphics cards (GPUs) with their parallel multi-core architecture can in some cases perform certain task faster than even the fastest CPU! Enter the guys from Elemental Technologies with their CUDA-enabled application called Badaboom.  Badaboom uses the general purpose parallel computing architecture found in modern Nvidia GPUs to encode video at an accelerated pace, in many cases beating even the CPU!

If you’re familiar with video encoding, you’d know that it can be long process, that uses most of the CPU’s power, slowing down overall performance on even the fastest CPUs. By using the GPU, the encoding process is not only done in a shorter amount of time, but also it frees the CPU for other tasks.

Encoding the video

Before performing any tests, it’s important to know that the Nokia 5800 accepts video in:

-MPEG4-SP, 30fps, VGA

-MPEG4-SP, 30 fps, nHD

-MPEG4-AVC, 30fps, QVGA

-WMV9, 30fps, QVGA

Badaboom comes with a few device presets like PSP, Zune or iPod, but  you can also customize the video output settings. Although there’s no Nokia preset, any device preset that has a QVGA output like the iPod Classic, Nano and Zune should work just fine with the 5800 XpressMusic. I also tried a customized video output at nHD and VGA resolutions without any luck. This makes sense since Badaboom uses MPEG4-AVC and with this format the 5800 is only capable of playing back at QVGA resolution. Badaboom does work as advertised: video is encoding is done shockingly quicker, with my CPU usage never going above 20%! This meant that I could perform other task without noticing any system slowdown.

Would I recommend Badaboom for 5800 and N97 owners? It depends. If you don’t have CUDA-enabled Nvidia GPUs you are of course out of luck here. Those that  just want to do the occasional video encoding should look elsewhere, like the free SUPER video encoder. But if you plan on encoding lots and lots of video and you own one of these GPUs than Badaboom is a must!

MobileCrunch has revealed surprising information about  Nokia’s upcoming Internet Tablet. Most interesting part of the device is that it supports Quad-Band GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 and WCDMA 900, 1700/2100, 2100! In typical Internet Tablet tradition, the only ways to connect to the internet was via Wi-Fi or tethering to another mobile device via Bluetooth. This bit of information would imply that  phone calls (not via Skype) and 3G/HSPA data connections would be possible. The unannounced device is also said to have similar camera specs to the N97, everything from the 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss camera with dual-LED flash, autofocus and even sliding cover.

The OMAP3430 500/600 Mhz processor and 1GB total virtual runtime memory (256MB physical RAM, 768MB virtual memory would mean that this mysterious device should not only outperform the N97 in day to day task and multi-tasking, but also in 3D games.

This  so called N900 basically looks like a N97 with lots of extras with the exception of TV-out. More info can be found here.

 Would you skip the N97 for this device?

After changing the Nokia Tune ringtone by making a bit more instrumental, Nokia now seems to have slightly changed the now familiar Nokia start up tone on the N97. This might seem like a small change, but considering that these are one of  THE most recognized sounds on the planet and something unmistakably Nokia, once you change it people will notice. Have a listen a the new tone.

Do you like it???

In an effort to save energy as part of being environmentally friendly, Nokia has added a feature to newer devices like the 5800 XpressMusic, where the device instructs the user to “unplug charger from power supply to save energy.” Our tip of the day is a simple and Green one: unplug your charger from the wall outlet when your device is fully charged. This also counts for older device where you don’t get this message.  It seems that when leaving the charger plugged in (not connected to the phone), it will still consume some energy, consequently energy is being wasted. As we all know, when it comes to the environment every bit helps!

I think that when updating the firmware of these devices, Nokia should not only add new features/fix bugs, but also add these “green” feature. Comments are welcome

Firing the built-in App. Update on the 5800 XpressMusic will come up with a mysterious Flash Lite 3.1 Update. Mysterious in the sense that this is the first time I see Flash Lite, a core part of the OS, being updated outside the regular firmware update. Usually this kind of stuff is imbedded in the new firmware. Could this be  a start to quicker and more frequent updates to Flash Lite and or other components? We’ll be reporting soon if and when we see notable changes.

Update: According to the Adobe Flash Lite site, version 3.1 brings the following changes:

Update 2: Using the 5800 XpressMusic to watch the Desktop version of Youtube via the S60 browser, reveals much smoother video and quicker transition from standard to fullscreen view. But the biggest improvement comes to the Youtube seek bar: before the update it was most of the time difficult or impossible to use the seek bar, now it works perfectly.

Device info: EURO 5800 XpressMusic with latest v.21.0.025 firmware

Read the rest of this entry »

As the release of the N97 approaches, I’ve been wondering about the audio quality of the device. When I eventually do get my hands on the final product, I’m not going to check out the digital Compass, the Widget-based front screen or even the build quality. That will have to come later on. After unboxing my unit, I’m going to get my Shure SE530PTH earphones (The proper word is actually IEM), fire up the Music Player and test out its audio quality through the 3.5mm headphone jack! Why? Allow me to explain.

As convergence devices we expect them to do it all, with reasonable to good results, well, at least that’s the idea! Just look at the N82. After it’s release bloggers and consumers alike have been asking for a device with Xenon flash, simply because that allows the device to more closely approach the level of quality achieved by a dedicated digital camera. As a convergence device, shouldn’t it perform just as good on the audio front? Let’s go a few years back to April of 2006 when the N91 was released. You could say it’s the N82 of the music world. If you’ve had the privilege of using this device than you’d know that despite the weight, the audio quality through the 3.5mm audio jack was simply AMAZING! Music-based devices have come and gone into the horizon, including the N81 and now the 5800 XpressMusic. Although I must admit that these devices sound very good, better than any of Nokia’s other Smartphone-based devices, they just could not beat, let alone surpass the audio quality of the N91 and N91 8GB.

Many have complained about the lack of successor to the N82 with Xenon, but strangely the same can be said about Music-based devices, as Nokia hasn’t created (and for a longer period) a true follow-up to the N91. However all hope is not lost, as we sit and wait for the N97 to arrive, word is that it does have a dedicated audio processor with audio quality to match. And here is where things get interesting as it can go two ways: It can go the N96 way, which did have a 24-bit DSP, but in end ended up sounding as good as other Nseries phones (which generally is a good thing), but not N91 good. Or it can simply blow as away, somthing that the initial reports are kind of saying.

For many of us, a convergence device, is one that does it all and yes that includes music too! And so I sit here hoping that finally the N97 will make my ears happy. If it won’t, I’m hoping that Nokia gets it right, just like they did once with the N91.

Is audio quality just as important for you in a modern smartphone?

Buying a new device for me always means buying a new case or pouch. While we do know that the N97 will include a new Stylus, we don’t have any word whether it will include a case or pouch like E71 or N95, we’re keeping our fingers crossed! In the mean time Nokia has released the Carrying Case CP-323 for N97. It comes in both Black and Grey, but where’s the White version? Not exactly a case, but more like pouch similar to the one included with the E71, it does look different with the fabric look.

Is the CP-323 up for the task?

Update: The N97’s CP-323 looks identical to the N86 8MP’s CP-322. Our guess is that it’s exactly the same case with different dimensions. Hmm, are fabric cases the new “it” thing for Nokia’s cases?

Update 2: Owners of the NAM and some EURO versions of the N97 that didn’t include the pouch can now buy the same original version included with the APAC version. This black pouch, called the Nokia CP-382 can be purchased here from Mobilefun.

As for the other Nokia original case for the N97, specifically the CP-323, can now be purchased both in Black and Grey.

As a Music device the 5800 performs brilliantly and 5th edition’s iteration of the S60 UI is surprisingly easy to understand and navigate, same thing can be expected for the soon-to-be-released N97. One thing that stands out though is the scrolling bar and the lack of scrolling arrows. On the 5800 XpressMusic, the scrolling bar is this thin bar placed at the edge of the screen: perfect for the included Plectrum or Stylus, but sadly isn’t as finger friendly.

Just as the on-screen keyboard can be switched to accommodate the input method, so should their be an option to change the scrolling bar to accommodate the good ol’ fingers. A wider scroll bar would not only help making scrolling a lot easier, but also alleviate the feeling of having to touch a very thin bar placed close to the screen’s edge. Another thing missing  are scrolling arrows. Let’s take the Music Player as an example. Here, I sometimes like to use the scrolling bar to scroll through the various artist or songs, but with a library that consists of thousands of songs, a slight movement on the scrolling bar will have you flying through your list.  Sure, you could always use the search function, but that beats the purpose of being able quickly browsing through your songs and finding something that you like. The scrolling bar is handy to quickly go through songs at speed, while arrows keys make it more easy narrow down your choice.

Would a wider scrolling bar and scrolling arrows make navigating the 5800’s menu much easier?

Nokia has launched three low-end devices with a push towards internet for the masses and Nokia’s range of emerging market services such as Nokia Life Tools and Ovi Mail. Press release below. Read the rest of this entry »

As we’ve come to expect, Mobile-review review Nokia’s latest and greatest a bit ahead of the actual release and in typical Mobile-review fashion, the review is long and detailed, revealing some pretty interesting facts about the N97.

Here are a few interesting little details on the N97:

-Being microSDHC, the N97 supports 32GB cards right out of the box, no firmware updates necessary

-The N97 will include a USB-drive-shaped stylus (a bit more manly than the red plectrum, that many confuse with a hart)

-It will be available in White and Dark Brown (And not Black as I originally thought)

-The hinge is made of plastic and not metal.

-The N97 is able to charge via USB and has a light indicator next to the USB port to indicate that it’s charging.

-Just like the 5800 XpressMusic, the N97 has the faster 5Mb/s transfer speed via USB

-The N97 uses a dedicated sound processor

-The audio quality on the N97 is better than the 5800 XpressMusic and compares favorably to the N91, the benchmark when it comes to audio quality

-The N97 similar to the 5800 XpressMusic will have a Standby breathing light and Notification light

-The White colored N97 will have a keyboard with White and Blue backlit key, the brown version has Orange and Blue colors.

-Last but not least, the Nokia 5900 is confirmed and should launch by the end of year.