This is the second part of my post on A Year on With the N95, to read Part 1 just click the link.
This part will be covering 3rd party applications and great software available for the N95.
3rd Party Developers
One of the key factors of the longevity if the N95 is thanks to many of the 3rd party developers who create great applications for it both enhancing the experience and making it stand out from the rest.
In recent months there have been many applications developed making use of the built in accelerometer since Nokia revealed the demo of the Moving Ball, an application which reacts to the various tilts of the handset. With this, the floodgates of great applications utilising this feature started to be released one by one.
Leading the way was Samir a developer from France who brought us great applications such as;
rotateMe - an application which rotates the screen to landscape view when the handset is tilted horizontally, similar to that of the iPhone's.
Nokmote - an application which detects the movement of your handset to navigate through your menus.
ShutUp - an application which literally "shuts up" your handset when you get an alert by simply flipping it over.
There are many others which utilise the built in accelerometer, this is something I'm a big fan of and I can't wait for the many other great applications to be developed.
Although the accelerometer has been a big success since it was revealed, there have been many more practical applications, utilities and some must have applications which change the way your handset works and you'll never be able to live without again. Read on to find out which they are.
Y-Tasks and Y-Browser by Dr Jukka
These two are essential utilities for any S60 user. They help to trouble shoot, log and monitor process, problems and analyse all the goings on in your handset. There will be occasions when these applications will save you a lot of trouble from having reset your handset, reinstall all applications and backup your data because something has corrupted in your handset. Y-Browser is a file browser and Y-Tasks is a diagnostic and monitoring application. For a full review on how they work you can visit Symbian in Motion. Just click through for the Y-Browser and Y-Tasks reviews respectively.
This application is one that falls into the life saver category. Literally it can do that, stopping you from taking a wrong turn or finding out where your when lost, this does the job simply, quickly and fairly accurately. Since the native version for the N95 was developed which included support for the internal GPS and virtual GPS which pinpoints your current location using Cell towers and your mobile handset signal it is one of the best freeware applications available and a must have for all N95 users.
To install the application you need to head over to http://www.google.com/gmm on your mobile's browser, once visited it will detect your handset and download the appropriate version. For a full review and more in depth information check out Stefan from Intomobile's review here.
emTube
emTube is a great application which gives direct and full access to the entire library of Youtube. This is possible since the release of Flashlite 3 by Adobe. emTube let's you search, browse, download and stream videos from the Youtube site because it supports the flv file format which is becoming the standard for streaming videos. There is a more in depth review by myself which you can find on Symbian in Motion by clicking through to emTube Quenches your thirst for Youtube.
Tube 2 is a great Java application which works on all models with J2ME support. This is a very basic Underground map available for London, New York City and Paris currently. This is a very useful application because it is very quick and comes in useful when navigating your way through the underground maze. Searching via station, planning routes, and directions via text and animation on map makes this the ideal.
This application is not freeware and will cost $10 and can be purchased from the Visual IT website.
Palringo Vocal IM
If you are looking for a good Instant Messaging, Push-To-Talk application Palringo is one of the best around. It supports many of the popular IM platforms including Gtalk, AIM, Yahoo, MSN and ICQ. There are a few cool features which make this stand out from the rest; Push-To-Talk, Send Photos, Groups and the ability to Leave Messages for off-line contacts. Palringo lets you keeping in contact with your friends easy and simple. There is an in-depth review of it by Zach on Symbian in Motion. Click through to find out more.
Screenshot
Screenshot by Antony Pranata is a must have for all bloggers, testers, themers alike who want to take a snap of their current screen. This application is key to many of the previews you see of newly created themes, reviews of beta applications and error documenting on the internet. The application is very simple, uses up little RAM and is one of the best around. The best thing is it's absolutely FREE! It is available for all S60 devices and you can download it from Antony Pranata's website.
QIK
Qik was recently released and is available but it is still in Alpha stage. Qik streams videos from your handset to your personal page setup on Qik. What makes this so special is how fast it does it and how simple it is to use. The results are good and the video is streamed instantly to your personal page on Qik. Be aware on what you record and make sure set it to private if you don't want to stream it as it's set on public by default.
You can sign up and download the application from the QIK website.
There are dozens of more cool and great applications out there developed by 3rd parties, these are just a few of my personal favourites and ones I have used constantly and are still on my device. If you do have any suggestions on applications I should be aware of or would like me to review, please send me an e-mail (can be found at the bottom of the page).
That about wraps up my "Year with the N95" review. I'd just like to point out one more feature which has made my experience enjoyable; THEMES! Great looking themes which change the look of the handset anytime you want it, reflecting your mood, scene or just to match what you are wearing. I'll be doing a post on my favourite themers and themes of all time for the N95. So stay tuned for that soon.
