If you use the N900, you probably know gPodder, an extremely good podcasting client for the Maemo 5, so good in fact we that we picked it as 1 of our top 10 must-have apps for the N900.

The developer behind gPodder,Thomas Perl, has integrated notification support into the latest gPodder as you can see from the image above. Another welcome addition is MAFW support. What this basically means that:

“gPodder now listens to MAFW and also talks to it at times. MAFW is the backend of the Media Player application, and you profit in two ways from this integration:

• The last playback position and duration of an episode are displayed in gPodder and synchronized to gpodder.net
• Playback can be resumed even with the Media Player application”

The updated version is still in the Extras-Testing catalog, but judging by the popularity of the app, testing should in record time releasing out of the testing phase.  In the mean time, test, review and vote on the package.

There’s also a gPodder application for Windows and MAC, which has been my podcasting client of choice for Windows 7. You can download that here.

As the Nokia Sports Tracker closed its doors, the new non-Nokia Sports Tracking Technologies opened to our disappointment supporting only Symbian Nokia devices. The popular application has been a hit on Symbian, but it puzzles us why there’s no support for the flagship N900. Sports Tracker isn’t the only service to leave N900 owners in the dark, Nokia’s own OVI Maps and OVI Contacts, just to name a few, have yet to give the N900 their blessings.

All is not lost as the N900 has the eCoach application which has most of the Sports Tracker functionality, including uploading to a service called Heia Heia. However, we would love to see Sports Tracker on N900 and or that eCoach could upload to the service.

Would you like to see some N900 love from the new Sports Tracker?

Back in May we brought you the scoop on the upcoming Documents To Go Premium Edition (PE) and now it’s finally here. Technically, Documents To Go Premium Edition isn’t the first documents editor for the N900. That honor goes to FreOffice, but seeing that it’s still in extras-devel repository, it’s not something we would recommend yet. So the first, stable, ready for prime-time release indeed does go to Documents To Go PE.

Now let’s get to the more important details. Buying the full version will set you back $29.99, while the Viewer Edition still costs $9.99. But if you were smart enough to get it during the introduction period, you’ll get the update to the Premium Edition for free!

Where you the one of the lucky ones that go the first version of DTG? Will you be getting the viewer or premium edition?

That other browser for the N900 has been updated to version 1.1 and in the process gains a few neat little tricks. Firefox for Maemo now includes interesting new features such as Self-Updating Add-ons, Save pages as PDF and context sensitive menus. This build finally integrates portrait browsing, just like the built-in microB browser and zoom using the volume buttons.

Other usability improvements include Start page with for example a list of your tabs history, there’s also a Form Autocomplete and Smart tap.

This update is for both the N900 and N810. Madhava.com has more  details on the new features.

Want to get this browser? Use the built browser and visit: Firefox.com/m

Remember the N900’s built-in Sketch app? This powerful  little app has turned the N900 into a popular art making machine with countless examples to back-it-up. Sure, the app has its limitations, but the results speak  for themselves. Just take a look at the Sketches from the N900 Flickr group, Jay’s Avatar sketch, Ms Jen’s sketches and our very own N900 Sketch Gallery.

Now there’s an even more powerful tool called MyPaint, available from the Maemo.org Catalog in the N900”s App manager. The app’s larger than normal download size at 9.4MB is expected considering its various brushes and advanced functionality.

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Progress is good, but sometimes not for all people and in this case, not all apps. A good example of this are both Petrovich and USSD-widget, as the PR1.2 update makes them both obsolete.

We talked about the USS-Widget a few days ago here, as it brought USSD functionality, a feature that the N900 lacked on PR1.1 and earlier. It has now been confirmed that the PR1.2 will make dialing of USSD Codes possible.

Petrovich allows for the sending of arbitrary files over Bluetooth, E-mail, or a "Sharing service." With the PR1.2 update, File Manager is now able to share any file and/or folder.

Is safe to say that you can now uninstall both of these apps. Will the PR1.2 update make any of your useful apps obsolete? Let us know.

A Recent change at Facebook is now pushing the N900’s browser directly to the mobile page. While you could always scroll all the way down and choose “Touch Site”  and when that page loads scroll all the way down again and choose “Full Site.” These settings won’t saved and you will have to do this each time.

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Documents To Go for Maemo, is by far the best document viewer for Maemo 5, but currently only allows the viewing of documents, not editing. We’ve gotten word from Dataviz, that an editing version should follow as soon as PR 1.2 comes out. In the mean time, you can still get the editing version at $19.99.

With what can only be seen as as another blow for dedicated portable navigation devices, Nokia has released an application called Own Voice for Ovi Maps. This application lets you create your own drive guidance instructions and share them with friends and family. With free voice. Our friends at AllaboutSymbian have more in-depth guide to this new app.

Another do-it-yourself solution from Nokia is the OVI app wizard, that allows you to create your own apps in minutes. The idea is great and should not only allow people to make their own customized apps, but it should open the range of apps available. OVI app wizard can be found here.

Well, what do we have here? The popular music identifying software called Shazam casually being displayed on the N900. Although clearly not a finished product, it could be a sign of that the N900 finally might be getting Shazam.

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