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Author: Jim O Brien/CEO
CEO and expert in transport and Mobile tech. A fan 20 years, mobile consultant, Nokia Mobile expert, Former Nokia/Microsoft VIP,Multiple forum tech supporter with worldwide top ranking,Working in the background on mobile technology, Weekly radio show, Featured on the RTE consumer show, Cavan TV and on TRT WORLD. Award winning Technology reviewer and blogger. Security and logisitcs Professional.
Nokia News Ireland owner Jim O Brien has been talking to Nokia Journeys.com owner Adrian Hughes ,who also is a VIP member on the Nokia Support Discussions website ,where we actually got to virtually chat many years ago and his support is excellent and now he brings his new blog to life which looks great and a great addition to the nokia community,fans will enjoy his work there too in which already has been fantastic.
Here we have the interview and Adrian talks some more.- Enjoy.
Q1- Tell me a bit more about you Adrian.
1. Hi Jim, thanks for having me today! My name is Adrian Hughes and i work in a hospital here in Perth, Australia doing cancer registry coding. Between work and spending time with my young family, i get into playing electric guitar, and my work with Nokia phones. Mainly helping others from around the world on Nokia Discussions, and blogging on NokiaJourneys.com
Q2- When did you start using a nokia?
2. My first experience with Nokia was in 1999, seeing and playing Snake on the Nokia 7110. I was 13 at the time and in awe at the phone and the Navi roller key it had. I went through a few Motorolas before i owned my first Nokia, the 3200 in 2004. I have it in my collection and it still has an awesome flashlight and cut-out covers :).
Q3- Your a NSD member,what made you join?
3. Initially i joined Nokia Support Discussions because i had a problem at the time with my 5610, and gladly this issue was resolved with a firmware update a month later. I was curious along with other users as to what other changes were coming in the future firmware updates so from there i stuck around. When i bought a N78, i made a comprehensive bug list thread that was updated as Nokia pushed out updates to that phone over the next year. I saw the help and discussions i could give and that it got going across users on NSD, and the rest is history!
Q4- I hear you collect phones,what have you got?
4. My entire list is on my Nokia Discussions profile, i believe i am up to about 65 singular Nokia phones in my collection now. They’re all my favourites!
Q5- You decided to start blogging- Why?
5. I have always had a love for Nokia phones and accessories, and have followed every phone launch and news about devices quite intently over the years. Along with my move to Twitter, i love getting more and more involved with the Nokia community out there, bloggers, Nokia employees and fans. Its such a great and friendly atmosphere, and everyone is so good to each other 🙂
Q6- What can we expect in the future and what would you like to see.?
6. I love seeing new Nokia devices be announced and break the barriers in innovation with what they bring to the table. You can expect regular updates to my blog, NokiaJourneys, and i will see what interesting experiences i can bring to the table. I have had awesome experiences with Nokia over the years, topping it off with a visit to Nokia House this last July. As a Nokia geek, i am only just getting started!
So thats Adrians interview and a great insight on his Nokia past,present and future,thanks for talking to us Adrian and keep up the good work.
We will have more exciting interviews coming soon of some of the best in the business so stay tuned.
NFC Commander is a Windows Phone application developed give you an easy and useful way to use the NFC capability of your Windows Phone.
The app was developed exclusively for windows phone platform and is designed to seamlessly integrate the OS using the Modern (metro) UI simplistic style with focus on typography giving the user an uncluttered straight forward experience.
There are plenty of nfc enabled applications but with NFC Commander you get the most complete experience. You can think of NFC Commander as an NFC hub if you like.
The main screen of NFC Commander let you pan through the main tabs which are : read , write , about , more.
If you want to see what’s written on a specific NFC tag, tap your phone to it and select what you want to see from the read tab. When you read a tag you can see some general information’s about it in the “tag information”, you can also see what’s really written in the tag on the “data in the tag” and if for some reason you want to see it there is option to take a look at the raw data (useful only for developers).
Now the interesting stuff, NFC Commander let you write to NFC tags actions your phone can do when you tap it to the programed tag. What’s even cooler is that most of those actions can be read/done by any nfc smartphone , windows phone or not. Obviously those who can’t be read by other smartphones are windows phone specific actions. So what can you do by taping an NFC tag?
send an SMS to someone
call someone
send an email to someone
share a location that open in Nokia maps
share a web link
share plain text
launch NFC Commander
open one of many windows phone settings
show gigs around me*
play artist mix*
share artist details*
launch Nokia Music on nokia lumia devices
Planed updates will allow you to create launch tags to any application.
Finally in the about tab you can get in-touch with me and let me know what feature would you like to see in the future, I’m open to all suggestion.
You can follow the developer also on twitter @JasonPap_dev .
YELLOW seems to be in at last,now the yellow lumia 1020 has appeared on 02 ireland’s website which is good to see.
Now i wonder if we will ever get to see the white version,i think yellow is the best colour,not because i have it in yellow but it stands out from the crowd and looks great.
The yellow Lumia 1020 has appeared on Vodafone Irelands website, this will be a nice addition rather than having the same black colour across all networks.
We will update as we get a reply from Vodafone to see if all is in order.
UPDATE.
Vodafone have said this, do you know or heard of anyone getting a yellow 1020 from Vodafone ireland? If so let us know.
Dublin’s free quality commuter newspaper Metro Herald, has had the nokia lumia 1020 reviewed by journalist Joanne Ahern.
Joanne gives a great review and again like others highlights the lack of apps,the mainstream apps are there but its localised apps that’s the problem here in ireland such as banking apps for example.
Hopefully this will change with the recent news that nokia lumia sales continue to rise which is a promising sign and will hopefully encourage ,devs and also media groups here in ireland will give us WindowsPhone apps which generally seem to land only on ios and android.
Over to joannes review!
Just to note the 1020 is now also on emobile,meteor, and vodafone,and today 3 ireland announced the launch of the device.
Nokia has some interesting figures released today which continues to show that the Lumia and asha range is a success in the current portfolio from the finish company.
Last quarters number was 7.4 million and its proving the lumia range is a success despite what some analysts say .This trend is growing each quarter and proving all the nay sayers wrong.
Lumia is here and its here to stay.
You can read the full report here well done to nokia and may this continued growth get better.
Say hello to adrian hughes and his review on the nokia lumia 1020,adrian is also well known from the NOKIA SUPPORT DISCUSSIONS forum.
You will be seeing more from adrian soon!
When Nokia announced to the world the imaging behemoth that was the 808 PureView, I must say my heart skipped about twenty beats, yet was filled with a geeky nerd’s excitement at the same time. Nokia chose to showcase their imaging prowess and go out with a bang on the Symbian side of things, yet also completely obliterate the competition at the time. There were some that were hesitant to invest in such a phone at the time, but plenty wishing and waiting for the same tech to come to a Windows Phone 8 handset. The low-light and optical image stabilisation factor came with the 920 in late 2012, and a further refinement of that in the 925 in early 2013. Then in mid-July 2013, the 1020 was announced. Is it the imaging beast that many wished and waited for?
Read on in Part 1 of my Lumia 1020 review, in which I cover the Hardware and Camera. In Part 2, I will cover the Display, Internals and Software of this phenomenal device.
Hardware/Build/Accessories
The Lumia 1020 comes in yellow, black and white, much like the initial colour flavouring of the 920. Built of a matte polycarbonate, it has a beautiful texture to it that is smooth to the touch. I must say that while the glossy finish of the 920 was charming in its own right, the 1020’s feels even better and exudes a feeling of owning a premium product. This extends to the three hardware buttons adorning the right side of the phone, the standard volume, power/lock and camera keys for Windows Phone handsets. Being made of a ceramic material in contrast to the zirconium of the 920, they complement the matte polycarbonate and accentuate the feel of the handset in the hand. The positioning of the speaker grille this time around and the non-inclusion of screws on the bottom also feels like a refinement of the design of the 920. There is also a seamless transition from the backside of the phone to the camera hump and back down again. Everything feels well designed and thought-out. This is a phone to be seen with, and a phone to be cherished when held in the hand.
The undersides of the Lumia 920 and Lumia 1020 side by side.
The Nokia Lumia 1020 in all it’s glory.
Also included in the retail box is a handy wrist strap that you can attach to the wrist-strap pinhole at the bottom of the handset, which comes in handy for sunny days out taking photos. As the 1020 does not have wireless charging built-in, there are also wireless charging covers available (CC-3066), and the awesome camera grip (PD-95G), which doubles as an extra battery of capacity 1020mAH and a camera grip and tripod mount. These accessories make a product where its main marketing feature is the camera, even more appealing.
Camera
For your Facebook selfie photo and Skype calling needs, there is the 1.2 megapixel wide-angle front-facing camera on the front of the device. Nokia Glam Me takes care of those selfies, or with a wide gamut of apps in the Windows Store, such as DualShot, you can trust that you will have your needs covered.
Now onto the question on everyone’s lips, how is that 41 megapixel camera? In one word: breathtaking. After using the Nokia N8 and Lumia 920 over the course of the past year or so, it is absolutely mind-boggling to see the amount of detail captured in the photos from the Lumia 1020. In summary, scenes are lit up spectacularly by the Xenon flash, and outdoor photography is absolute bliss. As I am a casual photographer, this review will not go into detail about how specific parameters affect the final image output, but let me say this: even in fully automatic mode with the camera and video camera, stills and videos will blow you away. Into the next continent.
While Windows Phone already has a nice stock camera app, Nokia has gone over and above with the Nokia Pro Cam and Nokia Smart Cam apps (now integrated into the same Nokia Cam app as of last week, and only for the Lumia 9xx and Lumia 1xxxx series), which gives settings for manual tap-to-focus in addition to the hardware shutter key, scene modes, ISO exposure and white balance control, manual adjustment of focus timer, shutter speed and and bracketing. This affords incredible flexibility for the user, who is able to adjust settings at will. For example in the photos below, I was able to shoot the same flower with the foreground and then the background in focus. It also has a slide-in feature, so you are able to see the effect of your adjustments in real-time as you are composing your photo.
Nokia Camera with settings for white balance, focus, ISO, shutter speed and exposure.
One of the most hyped features of the 1020 at launch is the ability to re-frame your photo after it has been taken. This way you can take photos from quite a distance away and then due to the PureView oversampling technology, are able to zoom-in to certain subjects in the image and save it, without any degradation of the image quality that is usually associated with digital zoom/optical zoom. If you want to zoom out again and have another part of the image highlighted, no worries, simply re-frame and you can compose to your heart’s desire. There is a plethora of additional options in the Nokia Camera application, ranging from framing grids to the behaviour of the focus assist light to the aspect ratio. Any casual and professional photographer would be more than happy with the amount of options on hand.
Video recording is equally as impressive with controls over white balance and an awesome video assist light. While I though the video assist light on the N8 was handy, the 1020 blows it out of the water. In pitch-black situations, the light is absolutely blinding and does an admirable job of capturing detail and the video subject. You never have to worry about having grainy low-light videos ever again, because the 1020 has it handled. Just don’t go filming your mates at night in a park. Bystanders will think the Blair Witch Project has been hashed out for another sequel .
Nokia Camera in video mode with video focus assist light enabled.
Last but not least, there is the Nokia Smart Cam application, now built-in to the Nokia Camera application. This captures a burst of ten images in very quick succession, allowing you to choose from Best Shot, Action Shot and Motion Focus. I won’t go into too much detail here, but it allows for choosing the best images from a situation that you have captured; motion blur where the object in the image is frozen and the background to the sides of them blurred, and also action shots, where say a person has multiple instances of themselves in the same image as they complete an action (for example, jumping to the side on a sunny day). There are also custom apps such as Nokia Panorama, Nokia Glam Me, Nokia Video Trimmer, Nokia Creative Studio, Nokia Cinemagraph and Nokia Video Upload to curb your photography fetishes. Anything that you can think of editing-wise or photo effect-wise, Nokia and the Lumia 1020 has you covered. It’s an awesome feeling.
I have attached a few sample shots I have taken with the Lumia 1020, to give you an idea of the image quality that it represents.
Join me later this week in Part 2 of my Lumia 1020 review, in which I cover the Display, Internals and Software.
Social Scene is a new and exciting way to view and share the world around you.
Social Time Lapse Photography is fun and rewarding. Simple take a shot of an interesting scene, later someone else will visit that same scene and take the same shot.
You’re now into social time lapse photography!
Features.
Browse featured,popular and nearby scene,to scenes creators and contributors.
View maps of nearby scenes and get driving instructions to them.
Watch scenes change over time with the scene player.
Rate,like and comment on scenes.
Create your own private and public scenes.
Contribute to public scenes.
Create and update your user profile.
Notes.
Network connection required for data services.
GPS signal required to create/contribute to scenes.
We have been trying out this app and seen it first hand
in action at nokia world 2013
Its very impressive and we like it.
It will take time to kick off into a fully fledged app
As photos will be the key element,it will be successful.
Jason Podwojski spoke to us.
I have been developing bespoke business applications for over 20 years, but had never developed a WP8 app before Social Scene.
Thanks to a brilliant developer eco-system, I was quickly able to download all the tools I needed to get started.
This was even my first ZAML/C# project, but there is so much support and code examples in the developer community, I soon
picked it up.
My Idea
I lost my father when I was young, but knew I was walking down the same streets and seeing the same local sights that he will
have.
The idea that using todays amazing mobile devices with excellent cameras and GPS would let me capture these local sights
for my children to see, led me to the idea of Social Time Lapse Photography.
Time Lapse Photography is nothing new, but doing it in a ‘Crowed Sourced’ way is. It means I can take a photo
of the Eiffel Tower in Paris on a sunny day, then later someone else can take the same photo when it’s snowing.
Over a long period of time when can capture changes and share this ‘story of change’ with others.
AWARDS AND EVENTS TO DATE!
Nokia Future/Capture 30/08/2013 – 01/09/2013
When I heard that Nokia were running a competition based around their new Imaging SDK, I decided to enter my idea for
Social Time Lapse Photograph, Social Scene.
After a couple of weeks I received an email saying my idea had been chosen and that I was on my way to Lund in Sweden for
the weekend long hackathon event, along with 9 other finalists from all over the world.
It was a tremendous experience, I basically coded for 27 hours solid. In the end I was awarded first runner up and received a
Nokia Lumia 1020 for my efforts!
Nokia World 22/10/2013 – 23/10/2013
Social Scene was showcased at Nokia World in Abu Dhabi where it received an excellent reception from press, bloggers and
users alike.
