I don’t know why but I’m in a “Tell it as it should be” mood, so I’m going to voice my opinion once again.  And as usual it’s directed at Nokia, don’t take it personally Nokia, I really like you and want you to succeed and blow away the competition.  Now that that’s out of the way here it is.

The Nokia Ovi Store doesn’t always have the most current version of apps so when I download them I’m starting off not being up to date.  For example I downloaded Fring from the Ovi Store after a firmware update of my E71 and started to run the app.  I realized the app wasn’t up to date so I went to m.fring.com and got the newest version.  I also downloaded emoze from the Ovi Store and as soon as I got it set up it automatically checks for new versions and low and behold there was a new one.

Now I’m a bit of what you would call an extremist when it comes to cell phones but I do expect the part of the company that directly interfaces with the consumer on a day in day out basis (the Ovi App Store) should have the absolute newest builds within 24 hours after they are published on the companies own site.  It should be part of the agreement of putting your app in the app store that it is updated as the software is updated and in a timely fashion.  Otherwise just make the app store a link farm and send me to m.fring.com and m.emoze.com to download the app knowing it will be the freshest from the developers.

To be clear, I’m not laying the blame on the companies but on the Ovi Store itself.  This needs to be part of the deal to be allowed to have your app in the Ovi Store.  But the companies producing these apps could do a better job as well.

Ok, I’m done giving my constructive criticism for today.  Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

So I’ve been a big user of the Ovi Store lately.  It has come a long way in the last few months and I’m very keen on it.  But while I was in Barcelona a few months back I had a meetings about the Ovi Store and voiced my frustration that I couldn’t purchase handsets from it.  I said how silly it was and I thought they were missing out on an untapped market.  Some people don’t have computers and some (like me) don’t have shops to visit to purchase Nokia handsets.  Then it happened…

Last week I was on top of the world.  I had a great day and I was thinking it was time to get a brand new white Nokia E72.  So I actually (knowing it wouldn’t be there) opened the Ovi Store app on my E71 and searched for the E72.  Of course it didn’t appear.  It didn’t even give me a link to go and buy the phone from the Nokia website.  Seriously Nokia, there needs to be a link that appears if I search for any of your phones that will shoot me off to give me a chance to purchase the phone.

So Nokia missed the boat on me.  Sunday morning I was in a bad mood about an email and when I thought about it I was in no mood to spend the money to purchase and E72.  If it was only possible for me to buy the phone somehow via the Ovi App Store they would have made a sale.  And I know I’m only 1 person but how many people do they lose out on in a day/week/month because they can’t buy from their phones?

Now I also know some people will say, “I don’t want a $300-$400 phone on my phone bill”, fine, ask me for a credit card.  I don’t mind.  I’m used to shopping on line and I don’t find my phone to be any less secure then my computer.

I don’t think any of the mobile phone app stores sell handsets and I just don’t get it, not at all.  I can imagine someone dumping their phone in the sink accidentally (I didn’t say toilet because I wanted to be classy) and killing it.  People can’t live without their phones so I would imagine them borrowing a friends phone and buying a new one on the spot, no questions asked.  So Nokia, let’s get the show on the road, it would have been nice to have purchased the E72, but I’ll have to live with my old E71 a little longer.

Hello Nokia, are you there?  Are you listening?

Ok now that I have your attention I have something to tell you.  Come close so I can tell you in your ear.  A little closer.  IT’S TIME.  It’s time to start pushing apps like never before.  It’s time to step up your game like never before.  It’s time to start competing on the main stage again.  The masses are starting to forget who you are and your name is being trampled in the dirt.

Nokia are you listening?  Are you there?  I’ve just been given an N97 mini to play with and well it seems like you’re at the very beginning of the right track.  But you’re still floundering a bit like a fish out of water.  It seems like things are moving along but not fast enough.

Nokia are you listening?  Are you there?  I have a suggestion for you.  Come close so I can tell you in your ear.  A little closer.  HIRE DEVELOPERS TO DEVELOP APPLICATIONS.  Yes you heard me.  Hire a developer to create an app for DropBox, a developer to create an app for Evernote, an app for Fandango, an app for Kayak, and app for Layar, an app for OpenTable, an app for TripIt, Urbanspoon, GoogleVoice, ZumoDrive and all the other big apps that don’t yet have a Symbian version.

You’re lucky enough to have apps like Truphone, JoikuSpot, Gravity, Nimbuzz, Fring, and emoze.  Give these developers a ton more support.

Better yet, better yet, create  web apps and show the world that platform specific apps are silly!  Ok ok I won’t get out of hand, just work on making apps for Symbian and lots of them.  I’m sick and tired of not having apps for the device I choose to use.  Yes I still prefer Symbian over any other platform.  But this could change if things don’t get better and I’m sure many other people feel the same way I do.

I suggest contacting as many good developers as you can and putting them on retainer to start developing as many hi profile apps as possible.  I’m talking about the apps that will get the big download numbers and keep people interested in Symbian.  It’s just not enough to wait and hope developers create their apps for Symbian as well as all the other platforms they’re already developing for.  It’s just not going to happen guys, Symbian has lost some of it’s luster in the public eye, this is a way to get some of that shine back.

So Nokia it’s your job to get these apps built, at way necessary.  Good luck and if you need some help, I know a few developers.

So I’ve been a big fan of FourSquare for months now.  I never minded seeing peoples updates in Twitter but it seems like MANY people do.  Anyways, I’ve nearly lost all interest in FourSquare in the last month or so for no known reason.  I’ve also been hearing more and more backlash against people posting their FourSquare updates into Twitter.

As much as I like FourSquare I think it’s popularity is taking a toll and waning on some of it’s users.  I think lots of people who consider themselfs on the bleeding edge of technology and enjoy using the newest and coolest are tiered of FourSquare.  I know I am.  FourSquare takes work and I don’t have time to put it in.  I don’t want to have to check in to places, I want it to know where I am if I’m going to continue using it.  Google Latitude for example just shows my friends where I am any time I leave it running in the background.  They don’t need to know if I’m at Toorak Coffee or Deli News, 2 eateries I frequient that are next door to each other.  It doesn’t matter exactly where I am, just that my friends can see I’m close.

Anyways, I’m kind of over the whole novelty of FourSquare and I don’t think I’m the only one.

Ovi Store is what it’s called, right?  they why is it only selling apps.  Why isn’t the Ovi Store selling Nokia handsets and accessories?  Nokia clearly has the ability to sell devices online already directly to the consumer so what’s holding them back from selling phones on the Ovi Store?  If Ovi bills the service provider for purchases on the Ovi Store then by all means bill them the few hundred dollars for the new phone.  If not just take a credit card number from the buyer and be done with it. I know I know, I’m going to be told there’s a lot involved in the back end of it but it seems like an easy sale.  Someone already has a Nokia device obviously, so why wouldn’t they buy another one?  Make it as easy as possible by allowing them to do it with their beloved device. That’s it, figure the rest out yourself Nokia but come on.

I’ve been reading Ewan MacLeod’s blogs for many years now.  I started back when MIR was SMSTextNews and was inspired by Ewan to write my own blog and endevour into the mobile industry.  I went from an observer to someone involved and participating, from hosting industry events all over the world to traveling to the biggest trade shows (MWC).

I read Ewan’s rant (now being refered to as The Cannes Doctrine) about where he’d like to see mobile services go.  I’d like to add to that and rant a little myself.  I’m sick and tired of where the mobile industry is right now.  I’m a long time Nokia fan.  Anybody that knows me knows that.  Problem is Nokia is not going anywhere fast in terms of what our phones can do for us.  They have made huge strives in what we can do with our phone but not what they will do for us.  Great, now I can take an 8mp camera phone pic, I can listen to music while I’m out and about, I can check my email and I can read Ewans rants on the go.

Well my rant is along similar lines as Ewans, I want more integration of mobiles into our regular lives.  I don’t want my phone to make calls and compose sms, but I want my phone to know when to ring and when not to.  I want it to know exactly what I’m doing and when I’m doing it.  I don’t want my phone to ever ring from 9pm to 8am in it’s regular tone unless my calendar says I’m out and about.  I want my phone to know I’m at home (utilizing GPS+wifi+calendar) and that it shouldn’t ring or ding but only beep because I’m at home and my wife and daughter may be sleeping.  I want my phone to activate it’s GPS service like Google Maps or Nokia Maps when I’m outside or moving more then 15 miles per hour.  I expect my phone to vibrate instead of ring if my  calendar says I’m in a meeting.  I want my phone to automatically log into whatever wifi I’m around and connect me to VOIP.

I want my phone to read my ToDo list and know that I need to pick up flowers for my wife for her birthday and remind me when I’m driving by the flower shop.  I’d like my phone to actually order the flowers in advance knowing I’ll be driving by the flower shop.

All along my phone should know that I don’t want to accept IM’s while I’m driving because that wouldn’t be responsible of me to read and respond while I’m behind the wheel.  I want my phone to know to check for firmware updates on a regular basis and same thing for the apps I run on my phone.

One of the biggest things I want my phone to handle for me is mobile payments.  I went grocery shopping a few months back and was Tweeting on my way out the door.  I ended up forgetting my wallet at home but not my mobile (of course).  So I was shocked when I went to check out and pay.  I had to run home and get my wallet with my credit cards in it versus just swipe my phone by the credit card reader to pay.

I want so much from my phone and I expect all of this to be here now, I’m not patient like Ewan.  I expect these apps to integrate with each other and deepely into my phone.  I’m commited to Nokia, that’s not to say I’m not tempted by an iPhone.  But I see Nokia doing so many things right that I can’t live without.  I need my emoze email, Truphone VOIP, and a few other apps that either aren’t made for the iPhone or aren’t as robust on the iPhone because of the lame ducked SDK.

One of the biggest things I want is the Nokia E71/E72 form factor on whatever platform I use.

Every aspect of what Ewan and I are ranting about is here, it’s not years away, it’s just delayed due to the integration of the hardware and interaction with the other apps.  I would like to make a suggestion to the industry.  I’d like to see standards layed out accross each platform for software and hardware develpoers to work with to give the ability of proper marriges within apps and phones.  So that my work IM app will work with the office wifi and ringer profiles to know where I am and to integrate with my calendar so it never rings while I’m in a meeting.  I propose to the industry to come together during Mobile World Congress and work with each other to make what we already have that is overly fragmented into a transparent clean user interface.

Nokia, things haven’t changed as much as you’d like us all to think in the last few years, let’s make some changes before the end of 2010.  Pick the biggest and best apps and use them as an example.  Use the homescreen Switch app to control what we see but have it tied into the GPS and accelerometer.  It should know when we’re at home, the office, the park and every other place we go and control what we see on our homescreen reading different IP addresses around it, using GPS and cell phone tower triangulation.  I don’t want my work email, IM, and VOIP on my homescreen when I’m at home on the weekends.  That’s just one example.

So telecom industry, it’s time to take some steps and do what may be uncomfortable.  Make changes and make them quickly.

Warning, I’m about to RANT:

I’m a huge fan of Google Maps.  It’s really a great stand alone app and it keeps getting better but I’m amazed that when they added Latitude they did not include (even just a basic form of) instant messaging with your Latitude friends.

Latitude shows you were your friends are on Google Maps, but how are you supposed to contact them if they are near by and you want to grab a drink?  I don’t want to have to call or SMS them, if I’m already in a Google application I should just be able to IM them from within the app.

With Google Voice now more widely available then it was before I think we should be able to SMS from within Latitude also.  It seems most of my friends have their mobile number showing when I click on their icon, so why can’t I send an SMS to it utilizing Google Voice?

That’s the end of my rant today, more to come later about more deep integration of services into our so called smart phones.

A few months back I was flying out of Long Beach Airport (LGB) in California and decided to test the internet speed when I was there.  I like many others have been known to spend a great deal of time waiting for flights that are sometimes shorter then the time we wait in the airport.  At bigger airports there are airline club rooms that aren’t all that bad to spend some time in, but Long Beach airport isn’t one of them.  It’s as big as some of those more luxurious club rooms but being small is part of it’s advantage.  I can litteraly go from the curb to the furthest gate in under 3 minutes and that’s not even breaking a sweat.

I really like flying in and out of LGB and like most of my readers I tap into the wifi in the airport during the wait to board.  My last two times waiting to fly out of LGB were very different.  One I had reasonable internet at 2.09mbps down and 1.64mbps up.  I want to congratulate the airport on doing this right.  It’s not as fast as I’d like to see but it will sure do when checking email and using Google Docs.

On the other hand my most recent visit to the airport was very different.  I couldn’t find an access point to use to get on the net.  I tried every single AP and none worked.  I checked Boingo which usually gets me on at most airports and no luck there.  I ended up having to use my trusty Nokia phone with JoikuSpot (a program that turns your phone into a wifi hotspot utilizing your networks 3G data) running on it to get on the web.

I’m not sure what happened to Long Beach Airports wifi but I was disappointed to find I couldn’t use it.  Oh well, there’s always next time.

So I used the E75 for a while then went back to my trusty E71 and back and forth and back and forth for weeks now.  I love the format of my E71 but like the menu and speed of the E75.  Plus the E75 has US 3G and my E71 doesn’t.

I keep telling myself be patient the E72 is coming.  SO WHERE IS IT NOKIA?  We haven’t heard a peep in what feels like months about the E72.  I’m actually getting tempted to buy an iPhone to tide me over until the E72 arrives.

I was told that it should be out around CTIA in San Diego next week.  Well next week is almost here.

Import thing is I’ve been told that emoze and Truphone will both work on the E72.  I would imagine that Nimbuzz and JoikuSpot will also because they work on the E75.  So I’m set in terms of my must have apps.

Now I was told that there would not be a North American version but I was then reminded that probably meant that it wouldn’t be picked up by a provider like AT&T or T-Mobile but that Nokia would still launch it.  My only question is how long will we have to wait for the NAM version?  Nokia has a nasty habit (except for 2 handsets recently) of launching NAM versions weeks or even months after the European variant is made available.  So let’s hope they launch at the same time.

A few reasons I’m so excited about this handset is that it will have the same physical format as the E71.  It will have the upgraded firmware including Feature Pack 2 and have the juiced up processor/RAM.  Lastly because of the 5mp camera and 3.5mm headphone jack.

I’m tapping my fingers on my desk as I wait………