Mobile Addict

As you might have heard by now, the mighty Google has outed their latest web creation- Google Buzz, a social networking service allowing users to update their status right from their GMail inboxes.

What really fascinates us the seamless integration with GPS on mobile devices, taking location based services to an all new level. Contrary to our previous experiences with google mobile apps, the Internet giant has released the latest version of the Google Maps for symbian, allowing symbian users to buzz by adding the Buzz layer on the GMaps.Check out more details of the service, after the break

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Image Courtesy of AAS

We would be lying to you if we said we aren’t excited about Buzz and the very fact that it’s available on our 5800s right from day one of it’s launch is just the icing on the cake. We just love the GPS tagging of our buzzes and really are looking forward to this service which is stretching beyond the scope of a social networking service and spreading it’s wings across the realm of augmented reality apps. Well, before we go on and on singing praises of this service, take a look at the demo video of the service:

Now that you have figured out what all the service can do, let’s throw some light on getting this app on our 5800s. All you gotta do is point your browser to m.google.com and click on the link to download the latest version of Google Maps (v4.0.0).

P.S- While we were successful to get the buzz layer running on our 5800s yesterday, the layer failed to load today. We are expecting the Google folks to be releasing the fix for this soon.

Related posts:

1. Google Maps Updated to v3.2.0, Adds Layers
2. Update Roundup- Google Maps and Ovi Store Client
3. Google Maps on Nokia 5800 – Video Demo

Get your groove on people for Nokia is all set to redefine the genre of racing games with its Ovi Maps Racing. Yeah you read it right, Ovi Maps and Racing bundled together in one package as an addicting game.

With Ovi Maps Racing, Nokia is taking game customisations to an all new level by allowing gamers to create their own tracks, right in their backyards if they wish to for racing on some of the hottest wheels. As innovative as the concept is, let’s see how the game fares on our 5800s.

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Before we dwell into the intricacies of the game, do take a look at this video walkthrough (Courtesy-Mobile Games):

Now that really got us pumping especially race around your block thing but much to our dismay we found out that we were not able to get a lock-on when indoors. But the Mobile Games guys do demonstrate the awesome customisation options of the game and the video clip definitely looks like it was recorded indoors. So ours might be a one-off incident.

What we like?

1. Innovative concept for a racing game
2. Catchy audio effects

What we don’t like?

1. Graphics is a big let down
2. Absence of accelerometer based controls

Verdict

While we definitely love the innovative concept of the game, we feel the graphics is a big disappointment. The game has the looks and feels of the java based mobile games of the mid 2000s and is no where near the graphics capabilities of our 5800s. Asphalt4 by Gameloft does a much better task at graphics, while the pre-loaded GT Racer is more impressive with its accelerometer based controls and decent graphics.

But Ovi Maps Racing is an innovative concept and since it is available as a free download for a limited period of time from the Ovi store, we would recommend this to our readers, just to get a feel of the new GPS based track customisations.

Download Ovi Maps Racing for free from Ovi Store

Related posts:

1. Nokia 5800 Game: Asphalt4 Racing- Racing for the Elite
2. Moolan: An Awe-inspiring Game for Nokia 5800
3. Accelerometer Based Game for Nokia 5800: Labyrinth Lite