Nokia's Mail on Ovi and Email service Upgraded

Mail on Ovi, the free email account from Nokia, is now 'live' and can be set up directly on Nokia phones without requiring a PC to get started. People who use Nokia Series 40 devices can create their own email address directly on their mobile phones. The Ovi email account gives a person all the features and functionalities of a typical PC-based email account. During the Beta period, consumers will be able to choose from 12 languages based on the settings of their device, including English, French, Hindi and Bengali amongst others.




"We're creating a mindset shift with mobile messaging. Mail on Ovi is the first-ever email service which allows people to create an account directly on their mobile phone, and start using it right away" said Senior Vice President Tom Furlong, who oversees Consumer Messaging initiatives within Nokia's Services & Software organization. "Rather than focusing purely on push email for the world's most advanced mobile users, we are mobilizing email across Nokia's mainstream device portfolio, while giving consumers in emerging markets their first email account, Mail on Ovi, as well as their very own internet identity. These people are the new 'mobile digital natives' who will exclusively use their mobile phones for email and internet, rather than a PC."

Mobile phone users from India, Malaysia and the Philippines have been able to use the Beta service since November, with extremely encouraging results, and the availability is now being extended to the rest of the world with the exception of a few courtiers not yet be supported during the Beta period

Nokia has launched more than 35 Nokia Series 40 device models which immediately enable the creation of the Mail on Ovi email account.

For more information and to check the compatibility of your device click here.

Reports are also out that Nokia’s Email service is no longer in its beta stage but has successfully graduated. As of now there is not yet support for HTML emails but that’s a work in progress. For now the service is available in a few countries like the United Kingdom, Singapore and Germany amongst others.





The new version will of course have support for more S60 devices; Yahoo! Mail and up to ten email addresses. Other features will include -

* Support for Google Apps hosted email and other vanity domain email
addresses
* Support for subfolders for IMAP email accounts
* Flagged messages will automatically become starred messages in Gmail
* More intuitive inbox navigation via a discoverable control bar
* Faster opening of inbox
* Sent email will be synced to your Webmail’s sent folder for all email
addresses

Intex Launches 'All Weather' Handset

Intex's, has added the IN 3030 – "all weather" music phone to their range of mobile handsets. The phone is a complete music gizmo equipped with water, sweat & dust resistant technology.

"Intex is all set to make a noticeable mark in the segment by striking a chord with two of the most important user categories in the segment. This includes music lovers on the move and the masses on the street seeking protection of their handset in a high temperature, high humidity and dusty environment." said Shailendra Jha, DGM, Intex Technologies.




Equipped with features that include a music player, FM radio, voice & and an audio recorder with an apparent rugged feel, this handset has the potential to be exactly what individuals interested in traveling and sporting activities would find extremely handy. It’s also designed to cater to the common man - farmers, fishermen, factory and construction workers, etc.- who normally use the phone with sweaty and dusty hands. IN 3030 conforms to the Japanese JIS (IPX grade 5) standard for water resistance. The electronic circuitry is protected by a special film and all the joints are effectively sealed by rubber gaskets. As a result, the phone can withstand dust, moisture and water splashes. It is also designed to perform at very low and very high temperatures with high humidity. Other features built into the handset include a mobile tracker and expandable memory up to 1GB, etc. The handset has been launched at a special introductory price of Rs. 3,500.

Konami to Release New Games for iPhone

Konami will make downloads of Metal Gear Solid Touch, DanceDanceRevolution S Lite, Silent Hill The Escape and Frogger for the iPhone and iPod touch progressively available from later this month. Metal Gear Solid Touch is an original game that brings to life the world and characters of Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns Of The Patriots (MGS4). Direct control through the touch panel allows players to control movement of characters and their alignment as well as switching to zoom mode. Each stage's location and characters are based on the story of MGS4. The initial download will contain 8 stages, with additional stages to be added later. There are many ways to enjoy the game as points earned by clearing stages unlocks images and wallpapers from the Metal Gear series.

DanceDanceRevolution S Lite is a music game where you tap the arrow icons that appear at the bottom of the screen in time with music.

Silent Hill The Escape is a first-person 3D shooting game that lets players utilize the control features only found on the iPhone and iPod touch such as moving their character by sliding a finger across the touch panel screen and changing alignment to target enemies using the built-in altimeter.




Frogger is a simple game where the player moves a frog 360 degrees to cross roads and rivers while avoiding obstacles. Konami has also launched Touch KONAMI, their website designed specifically for introducing applications aimed for the iPhone/iPod touch. This site details playing instructions, features, prices, and release dates for each game and is also scheduled to display animations and reviews later on. DanceDanceRevolution S Lite, Silent Hill the Escape and Frogger will be released prior to Metal Gear Solid Touch later this month.

MSI To Launch 3 New Wind Models

MSI has introduced a measure of success with Wind and is all set to launch a whole bunch of Wind netbooks according to this report here. The models which are about to be introduced include Wind U115, U110 and U120H. All three are 10-inch netbooks based on Intel Atom processors and sport MSI’s facial recognition software Easyface.




The U115, the flagship model based on Intel's next-generation Poulsbo chipset with Atom Z530 processor, offers 2GB DDR2 RAM, UMA Graphics, an SSD, 802.11a/b/g/n wireless, and Bluetooth. The U120H is however built on the older 1.6GHz Atom processor, has 1GB of system memory, UMA graphics, up to 160GB HDD, 2.0Mp webcam, Bluetooth, HSDPA, and 4in1 card reader. The U110 is similarly spec’d, except it sports a 250 GB HDD.

MSI seems to have beaten everyone else to the market with a new netbook product yet again. The U115 with its dual-core processor ability looks to be a highly intriguing product and we here at Tech2 can’t wait to get our hands on it.

QUAKE III Hits S60 Mobiles

From the mobile gaming section the latest reports are that the once popular multiplayer First Person Shooter, QUAKE III Arena can be played on a Series 60 (3rd edition) Symbian device. The handset should be equipped with a TI OMAP 2420 processor though.




To make things interesting Bluetooth features have been tossed into the mix. In this context, a Bluetooth keyboard or mouse. Although it hasn’t been confirmed yet, the game just may be enabled for actual multiplayer gaming by accessing a game server.

The developer of the other QUAKE ports Olli Hinkka has put this into action. Some of the handsets that should support the game include Nokia N95 8GB (only), Nokia N82 and Nokia E90.