Nokia mobile phones are the number one used mobile phone worldwide, they sold 468 million phones last year and still own 41.2 percent of the smartphone market. Just astonishing! And who can forget Nokia’s impact on the mobile phone market? I know I had an old school chunky 5100 or something.
Trapster has been available to download on Nokia devices since the May 2009 launch of the OVI Store. I was able to use Trapster on the Nokia N95 and the Nokia 5800. Below I have gone over a few key features for each of these devices for Nokia users of Trapster.
First up: the Nokia N95
For a description of the Nokia N95 you can search Wikipedia:
The Nokia N95 (N95-1, internally known as RM-159) is a smartphone produced by Nokia as part of their Nseries line of portable devices. The N95 runs Symbian OS v9.2, with a S60 3rd Edition user interface. The phone has a two-way sliding mechanism, which can be used to access either media playback buttons or a numeric keypad.
But, there were no mentions of Trapster on the N95 there, so this is my take.
Using the Nokia is a delight! You already have the keypad memorized from dialing up your grandma as you zip down the highway while scanning the radio for a fresh new jam; so naturally reporting a speed trap on Trapster is just as efficient and user friendly. Bottom line, I liked the simpleness.
Let me point out that there is a difference when using Trapster on a “non touch” device, in this case the N95. Trapster is navigated using only the keypad. The shortcuts are as easy as 1,2,3… and don’t forget the pound and astrix. Here is the list of shortcut keys for the Nokia N95:
Next, the Nokia 5800
Wikipedia’s description of the Nokia 5800:
The Nokia 5800 is a smartphone and portable entertainment device by Nokia. Code-named the “Tube,” it is the first touchscreen-equipped S60 device by Nokia. It’s part of the XpressMusic series of phones, which emphasizes music and multimedia playback. The touchscreen features tactile feedback (though it doesn’t utilize Nokia’s upcoming Haptikos technology…
And my thoughts on the “Tube”:
There is no keypad in site and no keypad hidden under the screen. However, there is a cool Harry Potter magic wand looking thing!
This all touch model is streamlined and sexy. It’s like… if you were to trade in your Prius for a Tesla, still simple and functional, but beefed up and more appealing to the eye.
Using a touch screen Nokia is a bit different, since all the commands are done with taps and drags. Here is an example of Trapster utilizing this easy touch functionality:
When you want to report a trap you just tap the “Report Trap” button in top center of trapmap. Then select the type of trap you are reporting.
Once selected, drag the map around in order to pinpoint your trap location. When the trap is positioned correctly, tap the screen. A green check and a red “x” appears, this is to confirm or deny the placement of the trap. So if you confirm, you have just reported a trap on the trapmap, which will be seen by all trapster users, regardless of device.
Besides letting other Trapster users know about the speed trap you also boosted your karma points! Score! Just a side note (in case you’re wondering what karma points are), karma points are given when you vote and report traps. We have leader board on Trapster.com that lists the top karma point leaders.
A Little Different but Still the Same
Navigating through the application is different because of the touch screen vs keypad based models, you know this, but the settings and everything else Trapster offers is the same on all Nokia models.
A great feature is the ability to run Trapster in the background AKA being able to run multiple apps at once. This comes in handy when driving, because you can still make calls while Trapster is on to warn you of speed traps ahead.
Also, Nokia really stepped it up with the media player on these newer models, so you can jam out to the latest Tom Jones hit and still be warned of that sobriety check point ahead, isn’t life grand?
In Conclusion
So there you have it, my two cents on the non-touch screen Nokia N95 and the touchscreen Nokia 5800. If you need help or have any questions, comments, concerns just visit our forum or leave a note here on the blog.
P.S. For all of you N97 fans, we received our N97 in the mail after I posted this blog post, so I wanted to add a little blurb about Trapster on Nokia’s N97.
The N97 is Nokia’s front runner. A beautiful combination of beauty and the latest technology. A quick description of the phone:
The Nokia N97 introduces the concept of ‘social location’. With integrated A-GPS sensors and an electronic compass, the Nokia N97 mobile computer intuitively understands where it is. The Nokia N97 makes it easy to update social networks automatically with real-time information, giving approved friends the ability to update their ‘status’ and share their ‘social location’ as well as related pictures or videos.
The home screen of the Nokia N97 mobile computer features the people, content and media that matter the most. Friends, social networks and news are available by simply touching the home screen. The 16:9 widescreen display can be fully personalized with frequently updated widgets of favorite web services and social networking sites. The Nokia N97 is also perfectly suited for browsing the web, streaming Flash videos or playing games. Both the physical QWERTY and virtual touch input ensures efficiency in blogging, chatting, posting, sending texts or emailing.
Running Trapster on this device is a great combination of the N95 & 5800′s controls, because you have a choice of using the keyboard or the touchscreen. Think of this as the best of both worlds!
Creative Commons photo from Flickr: N95 by KhE 龙 , Harry Potter by Daniel F. Pigatto, In Car Nokia by tim caynes
