Nokia E90 Communicator Blog

Many laptops come with built-in webcams nowadays. My old Sony Vaio had one and I was pretty happy with it. However, I have recently changed to a more powerful HP 8710w mobile workstation laptop. Unfortunately, this laptop does not have a built-in webcam.

I use the webcam occasionally and carrying a separate webcam is not very practical. Because of this, I decided to find a solution that would turn my mobile phone into a webcam. Luckily, there are at least two solutions that will get the job done. The first one is Mobiola Webcam and the other is WWIGO. The former is a commercial application and the later is a free application (WWIGO is at a beta stage for now, but works just fine).

Those applications install a webcam driver in Windows and as a result you can use both solutions in instant messaging software like Skype, MSN or Yahoo Messenger.

If you are up to spending $20 on this type of software, you may wish to go for Mobiola Webcam. If you'd rather use a freeware product, then WWIGO is the way to go.

AllAboutSymbian.com is reporting that a new firmware update for Nokia E90 Communicator is available. Further, according to the web site, the update is available for non-branded devices only.

Mine is non-branded E90 and when I ran the NSU, it just said that my firmware was up-to-date. I did update to 7.40.1.2 just two days ago and I thought I already had this new firmware but had not noticed it. But oops, when I ran the Flash player it's the same old 2.0.

Updates speculated by AAS are very nice and interesting. It seems that this is just a beta version of the update and not a public release. Anyway, I hope to see Nokia releasing this update soon.

Nokia is not only the worlds one of the largest mobile phone manufacturers, but it an innovative software developer, albeit a specialized. Of course, Nokia specializes in software related to mobile phones and the communication industry.

It is a common practice for large companies to maintain special labs. Microsoft has such a lab, and the Google Lab is famous for producing innovative applications and services. The software produced by such labs usually comes as a beta version. A beta version means that the software has passed internal testing and is now ready to be released outside the organization that develops the software. Applications at this stage are very close to what they will be when finally released. However, beta level software can contain some known issues, as well as other unknown bugs. Usually, it's not dangerous to use beta applications.

Unfortunately, many of those applications always stay at a beta stage until they are finally discontinued. However, recently, with the advent of the Web the time span for betas has increased considerably. A clear example is the Google Mail.

Let's get back to Nokia's Beta Labs. They already offer such innovative applications as a web server for your mobile phone, Nokia Maps 2.0, Nokia PC Phone, Nokia Audiobooks and many more. The web site is organized conveniently. You can quickly see if a particular application is compatible with your device and download the application.

So, what are you waiting for? Check out the Nokia Beta Labs at http://www.nokia.com/betalabs.