Warm autumn colours in chilly Johannesburg...

Johannesburg really is an incredible sight during the autumn months.
Deep reds, yellows and browns come out as the largest man-made forest in the world heads into the dry winter months.

I snapped these shots with my trusty Nokia N97 over the past few weeks, including a few sky / cloud shots - really awesome.

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The oddest internet connectivity problem... SOLVED (finally! :)

This one had me developing grey hairs at a furious rate...

My main line of work involves IT Support on a daily basis, so when I come across an issue which stumps me and makes NO logical sense at all, I get seriously frustrated.
Any problem or issue should reasonably have some kind of logical solution, and this one just defied me at every turn.
It went something like this:

- I connected my Nokia N97 (Cell C) to my laptop via Bluetooth a few weeks ago, and was able to use it to connect to the internet fine at the time.

- All of a sudden, in recent days, the phone would still connect, but I could not browse any websites at all, could not download email etc. Windows 7 indicated that the connection had "Internet Access", even though I could not surf the web.

- Weird bit 1: I could ping and get replies from sites e.g. www.google.co.za , but if I pasted that IP into my browser, I still could not browse (so it couldn't be a DNS problem).

- Weird bit 2: I could still use my phone to connect to the net and surf on my home desktop PC.

- Weird bit 3: The problem persisted if I connected the phone via USB instead of Bluetooth.

- Weird bit 4: I could connect to the net fine using a Samsung S7350 (Vodacom) using Bluetooth.

- Weird bit 5: I did a hard reset on my N97 in the hope that this might fix the issue. It did not.

- Weird bit 6: If I used Joikuspot to set my N97 as a wireless hotspot, I got the same problem.

- Weird bit 7: I could surf the net on the phone directly without any problems.

- Weird bit 8: If I put the SIM into a Nokia N80 and tried to connect using that phone, the problem persisted (so it couldn't be the phone at fault).

- Weird bit 9: The Windows 7 built-in network diagnostic (which is usually quite helpful), found no problems at all, yet Windows 7 insisted that I was connected to the internet.


So I was just about out of options... until I turned to the guys over at mybroadband.co.za and desperately posted about my woes over there.
Within a matter of about 20 minutes, several suggestions came through, and one of them showed promise...

Turns out that the decidedly odd issue had something to do with a network setting called "ECN Capability" – something which is normally disabled, but for some reason got enabled on my system.
Apparently it can be enabled when running TCP Optimizer – software which I sometimes use to tweak LAN and Internet settings on client PC's...
The simple answer was to disable it as follows:
Check ECN Capability status:

• Open up a Command Prompt;
• Type "netsh int tcp show global" and press Enter;

Once it had been established that ECN Capabilities were in fact enabled, the fix was simple:

• Open up a Command Prompt with Administrative Rights as follows:
• In start/search type cmd.exe, Right click and select "Run as administrator"
  
• Type "netsh int tcp set global ecncapability=disabled" and press Enter;
  
• Voila! We are surfin' again!

Huge thanks to Tun@ on mybroadband.co.za – you saved me tons and tons of frustration!

Related articles

• How to Configure the Windows 7 Bluetooth Manager (brighthub.com)
• How to Set and Change MTU in Windows 7 or Vista (mydigitallife.info)
• Securing Bluetooth in Windows (brighthub.com)
• Top 10 Nokia Phones Ever (brighthub.com)

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What's that background track they use on 5FM when Catherine is doing the traffic...?

For a while now I have wanted to know what the background music on 5FM was, when Catherine reads the traffic report in the afternoons.
I thought it must just be a catchy tune that they conjured up using Fruityloops or some other music-making software.

Then I heard it again today, but this time as a standalone song... cool beans I thought, as I fired up Shazam on my trusty N97...
15 seconds later, and the tune was officially identified as "Witchcraft" by an Australian band called Pendulum.

Really cool tune, in my humble opinion at least :)
Check it out on YouTube:

Related articles by Zemanta

• Shazam 3.0 Gets More Content, IOS 4 Support (pcworld.com)
• Shazam Unveils Major Feature Update for its Music Discovery Apps for iPhone and iPod touch on App Store (eon.businesswire.com)

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Nokia N97 gets updated to firmware 22.0.110...

In the ongoing saga that is the Nokia N97, another firmware update is available for the phone via OTA.
The latest firmware is 22.0.110 - I won't go into changelog details here but it appears to be an update centered around stability and speed improvements for the most part.

Bear in mind that the update is region-dependent, so if you can't see the update yet, just be patient - hopefully it will become available in your country soon.


Are you an N97 owner? Do you love or hate your phone?

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Why the Nokia N97 is still a strong contender against the iPhone 3GS...

I have had my ups and downs with the Nokia N97, mainly due to the instability factor in the Symbian software - the primary issue has always been the random reboots that the phone does whenever it gets the urge to do so.
Firmware updates have certainly helped out on this front, but I still cannot report 100% stability.

Even so, there are some features that the N97 packs that make it an outstanding piece of Smartphone hardware, and a very worthy contender to the ever-popular iPhone 3GS.
Don't get me wrong - the iPhone is a spectacular little machine, but it does fall short in a few areas against the N97:

1. The 5MP Carl Ziess Camera
The camera on the N97 produces seriously decent photos, and fair quality video as well.
Check any review or comparison online and the verdict is always the same - it's a fantastic camera.
When compared to the camera on the iPhone, there simply is no contest.
Apple definitely did not stretch themselves in that department!

2. The QWERTY Keyboard
When you want to punch out that looooong email in record time while you are on the road, there is simply no substitute for a QWERTY keyboard - the one on the N97 does an admirable job of handling rapid-fire style text input.
Once you are comfortable with it, it becomes second nature and you will be amazed at how fast you can get text typed out - far superior to the "tap and pray" onscreen keypad on the iPhone.

3. The FM Transmitter
This is effectively the same as an iTrip - it allows you to play music on your phone and then transmit it over your chosen FM frequency, so you can listen to your music on your car radio, or any other FM radio for that matter.
Awesome!
Nuff sed.

4. Multitasking...
This is always going to be something that iPhone supporters will hold over Apple - while the iPhone does most things very well, it can only do one of those things at a time (up until iPhone OS 4.0, that is)
Enter the N97 - you can quite comfortably have Mail, Music and Web Browsing running at the same time. Trouble is, some people don't realise that their N97 can multi-task, and they end up with 10 different apps running in the background, and one very slow N97...

5. The huge amount of storage 
Sure, the iPhone also packs 32GB onboard storage, but the N97 ups the stakes with a micro SD slot capable of packing in an additional 16GB = 48GB in total, which is a whack-load of storage space.

Where the iPhone shines...
In my personal experience, the iPhone provides an excellent all-round experience, mainly due to the very slick navigation that the OS sports.
While the N97 tends to lag at times, I have never seen an iPhone hesitate or lag in quite the same way.
The UI just seems to flow and work a whole lot better than does the Nokia's.

Then again, that is where Apple shines in general - quick, slick, intuitive interfaces are what they are all about. The 600MHz CPU in the iPhone certainly helps out as well, while the N97 is stuck with a somewhat pedestrian 434MHz brain...

So what's your flavour between the two?

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Nokia N97 gets new firmware - V 21.0.0.45

The Nokia N97 has been many things since the hyped-up release of the phone during the middle of 2009...:

1. First-off, it has been a serious multi-tasking machine. It is feature-packed to the brim, making it a serious business tool and multimedia powerhouse;

2. It can be flipping IRRITATING at times... Yes. The N97, for all of it's features (GPS, 5MP Camera, QWERTY Keyboard, FM Transmitter, Kinetic Scrolling, 32GB Internal Memory... the list goes on...) can be downright unstable at times. Reboots after every call, SMS's not arriving until the next reboot, random days of shocking battery performance, jittery kinetic scrolling... (and the list goes on :))

These are some of the things that the N97 throws at you, to make you want to test its ability to withstand a brick impact.

3. Some of its features though, are just incredible:

• The FM Transmitter is awesome, taking your music with you wherever you can pick up an FM signal, be it in the car or anywhere you have a radio.
• The QWERTY keypad makes short work of that long-winded email you need to send when you are anything but close to your PC.
• The 32GB internal memory is a pleasure - that's a whack of music, videos, photos, or whatever else it is that you would use to fill up 32GB of free space :)
• The 5MP camera is excellent, taking great quality shots without too much effort.

4. Nokia just love updating this phone. Is that good or bad? Actually it's both. Good because new software means new features, increased stability etc. Bad because it might mean that Nokia are patching up issues that should have been resolved before the product was ever released...

On that note, the reason for this post was to announce that Nokia have released yet another firmware update for the N97 - V 21.0.0.45.

According to Nokia Software Updater, the new software offers the following improvements:

- improved call reliability

- smoother touch screen scrolling

Seriously Nokia, is that all you can offer?

How about "no more crashing", or "GPS that locks within 3 hours" or maybe even "only 1 reboot per hour".

Seriously though, despite my ramblings above, the N97 is a fantastic phone. Overall it does the job damn well, and if Nokia can overcome the niggles that I have mentioned, then the N97 still stands tall as one of the best all-rounders (in my humble opinion at least :))

I will even risk my neck here, and say that it matches the iPhone 3GS pound for pound... (run for your life... here comes the Apple brigade!!)

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Another update for the Nokia N97 already?

This morning I received an email from Nokia, informing me that there is updated software available for the Nokia N97.
Now I haven't been expecting anything, but I loaded up my Software Update app to find out more - turns out there is an update available - Version 20.0.027.

You cannot install this update "over the air", rather you will need to use Nokia Software Updater to do so.
I have no idea what is included in the update - as soon as I do, I will post updates.

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N97 Firmware 2.0 released!

It is finally here - the long-awaited new firmware for the Nokia N97 has arrived!

From the Nokia Europe website:
This software release improves touch screen usability, allowing you to scroll smoothly through content by flicking the screen. Ovi Maps 3.1 brings 3-D maps, more accurate positioning, and improved search. Nokia e-mail (Nokia Messaging), Ovi Contacts, Ovi Store, and VoIP support have been added. This release also includes improvements in memory and battery performance, and in image and video stability. To get this software through your device, select Applications > SW Updates and choose the software you want to update. Alternatively, this software release is available through the Nokia Software Updater.

Don't expect a quick update mind you... the download is 143MB!
It will be interesting to see if this update delivers as much as it promises to... let's hope so!

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N97 Firmware should be here this week...

The long-awaited Firmware update 2.0 (or 20) for the Nokia N97, is due out sometime this week, according to online sources.

The update has pre-emptively been hailed as a "re-launch" of the phone, and is rumoured to include a host of stability fixes, new pre-installed apps, improved keyboard usage, optimized memory (C:) usage... and so the list continues.
Click here to see my previous post on this topic.

It's gonna be a biggie!

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Some little known features of the Nokia N97

So you have read up on the Nokia N97, checked it out on http://www.gsmarena.com/, and you are pretty clued up on all the bells and whistles that it packs.

Until you actually use the phone, however, there are some nifty features hidden away deep under that sturdy exterior that you may never know about:

- to silence an incoming call, alert or alarm, simply flip the phone over to face down. The built-in accelerometer will detect this motion and silence the offending audio.

- if you upgrade the standard Nokia Maps application to Ovi Maps 3, you will be pleasantly surprised to see the inclusion of 3D buildings for selected towns and cities. Navigate to the centre of JHB for example, and you will see the Carlton Centre in all its 3D glory! Give it a few seconds to load, mind you!

More to follow...

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