The Unofficial N95 User’s Manual

Here’s an html version of Nokia’s official manual for the N95–perfect if you’re accessing this on your phone and don’t want to mess with the hell that is PDF.

HTML Version of N95 Manual

(But just in case, here’s the PDF version too.)

Back when I had a Nokia 6682, I had access to an awesome freeware app that let you use Morse code to tap out your text messages. It’s never been updated to S60 3rd so I decided to make my own using Flash Lite.

Now some caveats: I don’t usually make applications of any sort, which is why this is kludged together in Flash, something I do know a little about. And because it was built with Flash, you need the Flash Lite player (free from Adobe.com) to run it. It’s a bit drab, but functional:

• tap the “1″ key or “left” on the dpad for a dit (dot)
• tap the “3″ key or “right” on the dpad for a dash (dah)
• tap the “2″ key or press “enter” on the dpad for a space

There’s also a cheat sheet if you need to look up the code for a character, a backspace, and the ability to turn vibrate and sounds on or off. Oh, and I put in a simple “shift” key so I could make capital letters (I like my text messages to be punctuated–I’m old person skool).

• “#” key or press “down” on the dpad to backspace
• “5″ key or press “up” on the dpad to capitalize the next letter
• “7″ key - toggle vibration mode
• “8″ key - toggle sound mode (currently very slow and bad sounding until I figure out how to use MIDI)

And finally, to send your message via sms, tap the “*” key.

If I can ever figure out how to do it, I’ll package this up as a proper .SIS file, but for now it’s .swf only. On the plus side, that means if you have a different phone model than the Nokia N95 and can handle Flash, you might be able to make it work on your phone. If you do, add a comment or email me to let me know!

Download it for free here on MOSH (no registration required) or use the qcode below on your phone. All feedback is welcome.

Low-rez camera phone? Here’s a larger version of the qcode.

I wanted to test the Flash Lite environment on my N95, so I dug through my old Flash files from back when I was doing web development and found an animation that I was able to convert. I added a little clock functionality to it and packaged it as a Flash screensaver/application for the N95. Just in time for Halloween! (Or, two months early.)

Download it at MOSH.

Sometimes the clock hands look like bunny ears. I will have to fix that in a future iteration. Also: there’s no special meaning behind the fact that the body is that of a priest. Or is there?

Use this qcode to visit the MOSH page on your mobile phone, or click here for a larger version if you have a low-rez camera on your phone.

Oh noes, I wuz busted! This morning I received a polite but short email that said, in very clear language, that the MOSH bosses had removed the game I’d uploaded to their server because I didn’t own the copyright on it. They also wrote that if I did it again, they’d close my account.

I was testing the waters with the game in the first place—I was curious about how Nokia would maintain plausible deniability if they allowed a file sharing free-for-all for their users. It took them four days to delete my game, so the system isn’t perfect. Then again, I dunno how long it takes YouTube to remove copyright infringing vids, so maybe this is normal?

Anyway, the MOSH party is not over—it’s still a great place to find legit software and content for your phone. Pirates will have to look elsewhere (or just check in every day to see what some newbie has uploaded before MOSH admins delete it).

(Image: StrangeInterlude)

It’s no secret that Nokia usually does a half-assed job of providing cool downloadable content for its customers. There’s usually one cool game, a few trial apps, and then the mysterious “Download!” application, which never seems to get updated. If you’re willing to search, you can find their other free games (the ones pre-loaded on other phone models) and install them on yours, but Nokia doesn’t make it easy to find them. And the various bookmarks scattered throughout the site—those ones for themes, games, sounds, etc.—never provide much content, either. So I am happy to see MOSH, their new community website for trading content types back and forth, and I highly recommend it.

What is it?
MOSH is a community website, sponsored by Nokia, where members can upload and download images, sounds, video, applications, documents, and games. The name comes from “mobilize” and “share,” although I’m sure the mosh-pit reference is intentional.

What can you find at MOSH?
Basically, the same apps and games you can find all over the web, but here’s why MOSH rocks:

• Many of the most popular phone applications are on there, so you don’t have to go all over the web to find stuff for your phone.
• There are tons of games available right now. I suspect not all (or even most) of the games are authorized to be made available for download, so this may dry up in the coming weeks or months. (One game I found last night was already gone by this morning.) YMMV, but I have found some terrific stuff in the past 24 hours.
• Photos, sounds, and videos. Most of what I saw was user-generated content, and I wasn’t too interested in it. But it’s there, if you really want it. I did see a few ringtones, so if you’re into that, you might find it worth checking out. (I tend to make my own ringtones so this doesn’t appeal to me.)
• Documents. So far, what I’ve found are public domain manuscripts: novels, books of poetry, drama, and short fiction.
• Themes. Again, I haven’t seen a lot of these yet, but there are fewer than 10,000 members at this point. The number of custom themes may increase as the community grows.

How do you participate?
Create a free account, then visit the website on your computer or your phone’s web browser. You can download .sis and java apps to your desktop or directly onto your phone for installation. Nokia also offers a special custom application for its phones, but it’s not necessary to access MOSH. In fact, it’s actually just a single screen with hotlinks that open up your web browser, so you can save yourself an extra step by simply bookmarking the site in your browser and visiting it directly.

[Update: MOSH is no longer in beta, and anyone can sign up without a pass. Go for it!] MOSH is currently in a “closed” beta phase, but s60.com sent out a sign-up password earlier this week. Just visit mosh.nokia.com and enter the following: ALLACCESS

S60 uber-site allaboutsymbian.com has spent much of the summer examining every single potential use of the TV Out capabilities of the N95 (you just plug a headphone-style jack into the headphone port and then plug the other ends into your TV’s composite input ports). Most owners probably overlook this feature because it opens up new possibilities that we’re not used to thinking about yet. This series helps remedy that. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the most glaring design flaws of the N95 is that, while it has full gaming capabilities under the hood, it has a horrible button layout that almost guarantees you will launch other applications or somehow exit or pause your game multiple times per session.

SmartGamePad (www.smartgamepad.com) ($80) is an add-on Bluetooth device that lets you press “real” buttons and avoid the dreaded in-game application launch syndrome.

The official website doesn’t list the N95 as supported as of the date of this post, but this comment thread includes a post that says it does indeed work.

Other things to consider (culled from the above comment thread): it’s still a “little buggy” at times and the response time isn’t as fast as some might like. Oh, and just personal opinon: it’s not going to win any design prizes any time soon.