An archive of my writings from 2007 till 2011. If you're interested in the recent stuff, visit my Tumblr at dvirreznik.com.
Dorkly.com has re-enacted the 1st Star Wars movie as a facebook conversation, comprised of 63 comments. Long, but definitely shorter than watching the entire movie.
See the original at Dorkly.com.
And thanks to Erez Ronen over at Holes in the Net for sharing!
Last month at Nokia World 2010 I caught a glimpse of Foursquare for Symbian, demoed by Foursquare stuff, and have been waiting patiently for it to become publicly available. Earlier October, it has been released to Ovi Store.
The Profile screen
Most Symbian users (me included) haven’t waited for the official app, using the excellent Gravity application to manage our twitter, facebook, google reader and foursquare – but Gravity had its limitations with Foursquare, such as adding/viewing tips and to-dos. After a week or so of using Foursquare for Symbian, couple of thoughts:
Richness of features
Unlike Gravity, Foursquare for Symbian has all the features of the other mobile apps (iPhone, Android and Blackberry) – a big advantage. Now, after checking-in to a place, I can view to-dos, add tips, view nearby twitter updates and much more. I can also approve/decline new requests and add new friends – actions I could do only on the web (or mobile web) until now.
Tips for Ben Gurion Airport
Register new users
A big plus for Foursquare. Although it’s the most popular LBS in the world, it still lags in total number of users compared to giants as facebook and twitter. The ability to join Foursquare from the app itself can ease hundreds of millions of Nokia owners into the location-based arena.
User interface
Something’s went wrong here, not clear why. In both the touch and keyboard versions (see Foursquare demoed on Nokia N8 at the bottom of this post), the actual screen allocated to Places, Friends, To-dos, is too small. The top and bottom include Foursquare and Phone menus, leaving just 2 lines of results to be displayed in each screen (Friends, Places, To-dos, Profile). Symbian is the 4th mobile app to be released (with Android already in V2.0), so the UX/UI was already available. Even on the N8, with its 3.6″ screen, there are too many menus and logos and too little LBS information.
Performance
Get used to this screen, speed isn't its strong suit
I tested Foursquare for Symbian on my Nokia E72, which was installed on the 8GB memory card, running from the phone’s 256MB memory (my actual free memory is under 60MB). Start-up time is awful, about 30 seconds and navigating from one screen to the next also takes too much time (compared to Gravity). An action of checking-in to a place (assuming the app is running) takes about 45-60 seconds – way to much for the mobile worker on the go.
Overall
Foursquare for Symbian was due a long time ago, but it’s finally here. The UI isn’t perfect and I would appreciate the option of changing the default ‘homepage’ (from Friends to Places). Nokia users finally have a free alternative (Gravity costs 9.95 USD) to help them make the first step into LBS.
Foursquare for Symbian
Download via Ovi Store (free)
Compatibility: Symbian S60 3rd Edition, 5th Edition and Symbian^3 (what version do I have?)
Busy 2 days here in London, attending Nokia World 2010, trying to catch all the action, at the lectures and the Experience Lounge. I will write a longer post over the weekend, to sum-up my trip to Nokia World, but in the meantime – a few highlights.
Nokia World 2010 Keynote
This morning Nokia announced 4 devices (inclduing the N8 which I got to preview last month). All devices are touch-based, sporting AMOLED screens and sleek design. The C6 and C7 are almost identical, with minor differences in design and specifications. C7 is aimed higher of course, with a 3.5″ screen, internal 8GB storage and 350MB of internal memory. Both phones have an 8MP camera with an ability to take HD videos at 720p.
Nokia E7 pictures alongside iPhone 4
The E7 is a big device, weighing 170g, 4″ AMOLED display with clear and bright colors. The E7 features similar specifications as the N8, including the HDMI output and video capabilities (although shotting at 8MP, not 12MP). From a brief hands-on I had the device is most impressive, combining the multimedia capabilities of the N8 with the business value the E-Series is known for. Despite the keyboard, the device is roughly thin, a bit more than iPhone 4.
Stay tuned on @twitter for live updates.
I’ll be attending Nokia World 2010 next week, Sep. 14-15, at London, UK, the first Israeli blogger to attend this yearly Nokia conference. I, along with several journalists, are flying to London as guests of Eurocom-Nokia (Nokia Israel), who are covering our expenses.
I’m arriving to London on Monday noon (the 13th) and will be leaving Wednesday night (the 15th). Not much time, and plenty of things to do (scroll down to my agenda), but I’d love to meet fellow Nokia World attendees, facebook/twitter/LinkedIn friends in the area, or colleagues, for a beer (or burger, depending on the time).
Nokia World will take place at ICC London ExCel, located at the center of London Docklands. The 2-day event is packed with keynote speakers, including Olli-Pekka Kallasvou, President & CEO, Nokia, Anssi Vanjokl, EVP Mobile Solutions, Nokia, Vittorio Colao, Group CEO, Vodafone, Sir Tim Berners-Lee (inventor of the world-wide-web), Paco Contreras, Group Product Manager, Microsoft, Kevin Thau, VP Mobile, Twitter, Michael Gartenberg, Altimeter Group, Adam Medros, VP, TripAdvisor, and many more.
The Experience Lounge will feature pretty much everything Nokia and its business partners are offering, including latest products, offerings, services and applications, as well as a networking platform for mobile experts.
Here’s my agenda so far – if you have any suggestions, do add them in the comments and I’ll do my best to attend. You can follow me on twitter and foursquare for the latest updates, announcements, pictures, videos and check-ins.
Monday, Sep. 13th
Tuesday, Sep. 14th
Wednesday, Sep. 15th
See you in London !!
Just returned from our 9 days honeymoon to Lago Maggiore, Italy.
It was amazing!! Beautiful landscape, magnificent view, some 400 pictures and videos weighing over 4 GB. It will take some time to sort everything out, and much like our NYC trip, there will be a ‘101 guide to Lago Maggiore’ post, soon.
In the meantime, couple of pictures, a teaser to what’s coming ahead. Enjoy!
The view from our room @ Hotel Astoria Stresa, Lake Maggiore, Italy
Our Mercedes-Benz SLK 200 - Thanks Hertz for the upgrade 🙂
Lago Maggiore, taken from Mottarone Mt.
