Life Tech

The official release of the new OS2008 is out for all Nokia n800 users!

After a month plus of beta testing and the leak using the n810’s firmware, they team from Nokia worked hard to make sure all will be happy before Christmas!

I have to say I like the new finger friendly interface (icons are bigger) and the under clocking has been removed so the n800 tablet feels a lot snappier now.

The new Mozilla Firefox based browser is also a welcome change with updated Flash 9 support. So Google Docs and most AJAX sites work better now.

Downloading the firmware has been reported as really slow.. here’s a bit torrent link of the n800 firmware faster access. http://www.mininova.org/tor/1051742

The file is RX-34_2008SE_2.2007.50-2_PR_COMBINED_MR0_ARM.bin about 134mb.

Here’s the official Nokia page - http://europe.nokia.com/A4678158

People have reported to successfully use the Bluetooth headset profile with Skype. And even listen to music thru the headset. Though no stereo music for now.

Rumour has it that the new OS2008 already has bluetooth stereo A2dp built-in already, just that the programmers still have yet to optimize the coding, so that it doesn’t eat up your battery so quickly.

In the meantime, one can use Kagu.

Kagu Music Player is now v1.08, sporting a new coolgreen look. It is still the only player that allows you to use your bluetooth stereo headphones like my favourite Motorola S9 with controls!

with new improvements to the scanning of songs and downloading of album covers. This software just keeps getting better!

Milhouse has done a great job simplifying the steps for getting A2dp working on the n800. I just copied his posting here for easy reference.

Thanks Milhouse! Great work!

–
Credits to MilHouse

Full instructions for downloading and installing A2DP software can be found here. The instructions listed here offer a simplified and largely automated installation methodology that should work every time.

Jump to step 5 if you have xterm and wget installed, root access and have already paired your Bluetooth headset.

Pre-requisites to be satisfied before installing A2DP

1. xterm must be installed

• Install xterm via the one-click install file on this page: http://maemo.org/downloads/product/osso-xterm-advanced

2. “Becomeroot” package must be installed or device in R&D mode

• Install the Becomeroot package by adding the following repository to application manager:

   

  Quote:

  Web Address: http://eko.one.pl/maemo Distribution: bora Components: user

• Alternatively see the maemo.org wiki for details on how to enable R&D mode.

3. wget installed for downloading web-based files from the command line

• Open xterm and execute the following commands in xterm (you must have satisfied pre-requisite #2 before continuing):

   

  Code:

  sudo gainroot
  apt-get install wget
  exit

4. Pair your Bluetooth headset with your N800

• Pairing instructions will vary from device to device. A pairing code of 0000 will typically allow the headset to pair automatically once set into pairing mode.

Once all of the above pre-requisites are satisfied continue at step 5.

Installing the A2DP software

5. Download and execute the A2DP software installation scripts

• The following commands will create a temporary working directory, download two shell scripts using wget then execute those two scripts in turn.

As user “user”

• The first script, btscan.sh, will attempt to identify the Bluetooth address for the Bluetooth headset paired with your N800.
• Execute the second script, install.sh, and pass the address of your Bluetooth headset (identified after running the first script, including colons) as a parameter. This step will download the A2DP software packages and generate configuration scripts specific to your Bluetooth headset.

   

  Code:

  mkdir ~/a2dp
  cd ~/a2dp
  wget http://www.nmacleod.com/a2dp/btscan.sh
  wget http://www.nmacleod.com/a2dp/install.sh
  chmod +x btscan.sh install.sh
  ./btscan.sh
  ./install.sh 00:11:22:33:44:55

  where 00:11:22:33:44:55 must be replaced by YOUR Bluetooth Headset address as identified by btscan.sh.

As user “root”

• Switch to the root superuser and again execute the second script install.sh. This step will install the A2DP packages and finalise the configuration. Reboot.

   

  Code:

  sudo gainroot
  ./install.sh
  reboot

• Optionally remove the temporary directory ~/a2dp with the following command as the directory and it’s contents are no longer required:

   

  Code:

  rm -fr ~/a2dp

• Enjoy A2DP audio when using the Kagu audio player.

EDIT:

18 August 2007: Updated install.sh script to support repository based installation of the latest mplayer (currently 1.0rc1-maemo.18.n800)

Over the last 2 weeks or so, much as happened… things can only get better!

Mozilla Browser on n800

There has been a new update for the MicroB (based on the Mozilla platform) browser. Basically, once you install this, Opera can be switched to use the Mozilla rendering engine instead.

Below are some of the updates I feel are more important..

• Change code to only trigger vkb/fkb for hardware select key up instead of any key up (from any source, including bluetooth, random hardware keys, terminals in emulators, …) when focus ends on an text input. Also make sure not to randomly close the vkb if you press a key on a bluetooth keyboard pressing any key will trigger vkb if at keyup the focus is a text input
• Fix browser ui to allow the vkb to remain open if the toolbars are hidden vkb Keyboard will not stay open/up with toolbar hidden
• Fixed CSS3 opacity spreadsheets.google.com
• Improved support for zooming out
• Fixed Authentication dialog to stored password corrections. EmbedPasswordMgr::AddUser didn’t call WritePasswords
• Fixed bug with complicated links with no width (<a><div>…)
• Fixed Scroll and setup first focus
• Resuming paused downloads should now work
• Fixed Crashes

Here’s the complete list.

To update,

1. Goto Tools/Applications Manager
2. Click “Check for updates” Button
3. If nothing happens, goto the menu and select Tools/Refresh Application list

Kagu Media Player (The only player with Bluetooth A2dp support now)

Since I last mentioned Kagu, it has gone on to release, not just the version 1.0 but as of a couple of hours ago, version 1.05!

Now you can install it easily with this link! http://maemo.org/downloads/product/kagu/

And it keeps getting faster and better! Here are some of the new fixes for version 1.04 and 1.05.

* Many performance enhancements (including faster AVRCP commands!)
* New theme
* Playback modes (repeat/repeat one/shuffle/normal)
* SongPositionView for seeking in songs and audio books.
* No more OK button in Album/Song/NowPlaying views.
* Fix postinst script permission problems
* Support exec loops back and forth between kagu and kagu-scanner
* NowPlayingButton not visible if the playlist is empty
* Faster scrolling
* Performance enhancements

Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-604

This new Bluetooth stereo headset is a trusty friend for the music lover on the go. Offering excellent Hi-Fi audio quality, the headset is quick to charge and comfortable to wear with its over-the-ear cup headphones. Take control of your tunes with the three media keys for play/pause/stop, fast-forward and rewind, or manage your headset with dedicated controls for power and call functions.

The Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-604 is expected to be available globally and is compatible with devices supporting Bluetooth Specification V2.0. The estimated cost of the Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-604 is 120-140 euro, excluding taxes.

Expected street arrival is 3rd Quarter 2007 (knowing Nokia, usually its the final days of the 3rd Quarter!)

I cam across Samsung’s take on the bluetooth stereo headphones. It’s about time they put some resources into this, as their mobile phones have been one of the earliest to include A2DP profile for most of their phones.

Samsung’s slim and sleek series really has a great appeal and since they have the A2dp profile and other nice features from the bulkier competitors.. The only thing is most of them are still not 3G phones.

Features
Shape Memory Neckband for Comfortable Wearing Wireless Audio Streaming and phone reception Up to 8 hours talk time Up to 8 hours playing time Up to 160 hours standby time

Reviews around the net have not been positive. It ranges from the difficult to wear (the cable is suppose to hook around your ears.) to poor sound quality (though some say its ok.)

I still really like my Moto S9 headphones!

Support for the Nokia n800 to do A2dp is still via 3rd party.. and with my previous posting, it was just a experinment to see how well the N800 can support A2dp..

Now, with Kagu’s Media Player for the n800, there’s an easier way to select music and play it via the a2dp stereo headphones.

I have not tried it out yet.. but here’s the link.

https://www.guardiani.us/projects/kagu/wiki

I found a page that the author packaged and have instructions on giving you ‘alpha quality’ bluetooth A2dp support to the Nokia N800 tablet.

Here’s the link - http://www.guardiani.us/index.php/N800_custom_packages

There’s word that Nokia already is planning to give the N800 native A2dp support.. its on their roadmap… just a question of time… I can’t wait!!

Nokia has released the newest firmware update for most N73 models and upgraded it with a more stable release than before.

I can verify that the A2dp function works well with the Motorola S9 headphones. Pairing it up and even using it to answer phone calls are easy and straight forward.

The phone also feels more responsive, it’s like having a new phone!

Though, I have not been getting very good pictures with the camera under indoor conditions. I will try out more over the next few days.

To update : Just use the Nokia Software Updater.

UPDATE: You can use your original phone code now. (There’s no need for the use of another product code already) Just make sure the firmware is 4.0.2.xxxxx.

Posted in A2DP, Bluetooth, Nokia N73 | 8 Comments »