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.

So, you bought the N900, what’s next? With news about MeeGo devices being announced soon, the obvious question remains: Will the N900 get MeeGo? Or will I need to buy a new handset to enjoy MeeGo? Here are are reasons why we think it the N900 might get the full MeeGo treatment.

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Daniel Would, developer behind the impressive Witter app for the N900, writes an in-depth article about what he thinks could be improved in the Application distribution system used on the N900.

Maemo uses a three-tier application system, to host application according to the phase they are. These tiers are called  Repositories:

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Nokia enthusiasts didn’t have much choice when it came the OS, either you went the basic S40 route, or as any true Nokia power user would, get Symbian. But that’s about to change. With the N8 launching soon and MeeGo devices to follow shortly after, Nokia fans are in a unique position of having the choice between 3 different operating systems: Symbian, Maemo and MeeGo. Yes, Maemo will hang around for a while, but eventually will be completely replaced by MeeGo, leaving the choice between it and Symbian.

With the impending release of the N8, Nokia powers users have  the choice of either buying now or wait for the very first MeeGo device, an OS that most of us have yet to see the final product. While only a lucky few can get both devices, most of us will have to choose where our hard-earned cash will go for the next months or years, making the choice even more critical.

The N8 sports impressive specs and Symbian is a proven OS, but its dated UI might leave you wanting for something more 2010. MeeGo on the other builds on Maemo, which has a lot of eye-candy and multi-tasks like no other, but it will certainly have less apps compared to Symbian and the uncertainty behind any new OS is sometimes hard to swallow.

Are you in the MeeGo or Symbian camp? And why?

Nokia has been offering free turn-by-turn voice guided navigation for Symbian devices, but what’s missing is support for the N900. The N900 does have GPS and the OVI maps software, but only missing is the turn-by-turn navigation part.

If you absolutely must  have voice guided navigation there are options like Sygic’s recently released Mobile Maps 10. But if you want to match the global support that the full OVI Maps experience offers, it can get very expensive at 69.99 EUR (Europe, Russia, Middle East & Africa)+49.99 EUR (North, Central & South America) and 39.99 EUR (Canada).

So will Nokia add OVI Maps navigation to the N900? Nokia’s last answer on the subject according to Engadget is that: “N900 owners shouldn’t hold their breath, though, as Nokia is focusing on bringing its free navigation service to the next generation of Maemo devices. That’s not to say that the N900 won’t get it eventually, only that it’s not currently on the roadmap.”

Technically there’s no reason why the N900 would not support voice-guide navigation, in fact it could offer an even better support than the N97 or N97 mini, because:

• Maemo is build from the ground up to be a touch interface, perfect for in-car navigation
• The N900 has more memory and faster CPU allowing for smoother performance and faster calculation
• It has dedicated 3D graphics to offload graphics-intensive tasks from the CPU, while allowing for more eye-candy.
• It has a fast and accurate GPS, with quicker lock to satellites and more accurate than what we’ve seen on flagship Symbian hardware.
• Better multi-tasking and more, allowing for other simultaneous task at the same time, without affecting GPS navigation.

The main reason why Nokia has not added GPS navigation to the N900, is simply because they didn’t see this as a high priority, especially for the fact that the N900 is not a mass market device like the Symbian devices and because it’s a transitory OS, leading to MeeGo. For this reason we expect to see navigation by the end of 2010 as R&D for MeeGo will trickle down to Maemo on the N900. We expect Nokia to release an updated OVI Maps with turn-by-turn voice guided navigation shortly before or after the end of the year to coincide with the release of the flagship MeeGo devices. Perhaps a bit too late, as many N900 users will want to upgrade to the MeeGo platform.

What’s your opinion on GPS with the Nokia N900?

Ask a Google Nexus One owner why they chose it over the other Android offerings and chances are they’ll tell you it’s because of the frequent updates. Back in the day you had to take your phone to a Nokia repair center to get a firmware update, that’s if you were lucky. Most of the time the firmware you had the day you received the phone, that’s exactly the firmware it will have at the end of it’s life cycle. But with the increasing popularity of firmware-over-the-air (FOTA) updates, updating using your PC is becoming less popular. The best example of this is the Nokia N900, which got all of its updates using FOTA. So what exactly should can Nokia learn from Google?

The Nexus One not only provides the vanilla Google experience, but also gets lots and lots of updates. Big or small, as soon they’re available to the public, they are available for the Nexus One. This gives you the ability to quickly address issues and give your customers their most requested features that didn’t make it in the initial feature list. The latter is especially important for the mobile enthusiasts that wants the latest features and bugs fixed. Other Android devices with similar specs get the updates many many months later. Better yet, the Nexus One even gets all the major releases. I never heard of a Symbian device getting an update to the next major release.  

In the case of the N900 there has been a lot of improvement when compared to Symbian devices. First of all, because every single update has been done using FOTA, it’s more user friendly. There’s even an early build of MeeGo for the N900, arguably the next major release to follow Maemo. Despite Nokia’s lack of commitment to fully support MeeGo on the N900, we still see the early build for the N900 as a step in the right direction.

A lot is at stake with MeeGo and Nokia should treat it like it’s only child, giving it frequent updates. Listening to community and knowing what they want and putting these in frequently released FOTA’s is a big lesson they could learn from Google.

Do you value frequent firmware updates?

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

As you might have noticed, we haven’t been covering Symbian-based devices lately, focusing completely on the Nokia N900 and the upcoming MeeGo OS.  We started The Nokia Guide to cover the Nokia devices we’ve come to know and love, which at the beginning were Symbian-based. But as the mobile market has gotten progressively more competitive, especially from Android, we feel that Symbian-based devices have lost their edge to the point where we’re simply not covering them enthusiastically; we won’t buy them and won’t recommend them to our readers. As a result we’re going to make it official what we’ve been doing for a while now: stop covering Symbian-based devices. We feel that Symbian is becoming irrelevant and upcoming Symbian^3 and^4 don’t seem to change that. Other Symbian bloggers, such as our friends at Symbian-Guru are taking it one step further.

Luckily this doesn’t affect the Nokia N900 and upcoming MeeGo devices. I’m a happy Nokia N900 owner myself and would easily recommend it to our readers. Because Maemo serves as the basis for what will become MeeGo we have very high expectations for this platform and for this reason we will continue to cover Maemo and MeeGo exclusively.

Microsoft recently scrapped their plans for KIN and are completely focusing on Windows Phone 7. Nokia should do the same: scrap upcoming Nokia N8 and it’s QWERTY-based version and focus on MeeGo and getting developers on their side.

What do you think? Is Symbian becoming irrelevant?

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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Bad news for some, but perhaps a necessary step in Nokia plans to step up to the competition: The Nokia N8 will  be the last Symbian-power Nseries device. Future devices, starting from the N9 will be powered by MeeGo. This in theory should leave Symbian for mid- to low-end devices, most likely in the X, C and Eseries.

This move couldn’t have come at a better time, as Nseries devices were starting to feel outdated, despite some very solid hardware. The N8 itself is a good example of great hardware and outdated feeling software, despite running the latest version  Symbian^3. Even Symbian^4 which has been drastically improved under the hood, doesn’t look all that different and certainly isn’t capable of supporting a Nokia flagship with competition from Apple and various Android devices.

What do you think, is this a good or a bad move?

Via: CNET