(1) N900 FIREFOX BROWSER
According to its developers:
* Performance and Memory Usage
* We improved startup speed even more (compared to previous Beta versions). This was a top user request.
* Improved page load speed
* In Beta 5 we introduce the feature to move Firefox to the SD card along with all its profile data (requires Android 2.2 or higher). This reduces memory usage on your mobile device to a minimum and leaves more space for other apps.
* Scrolling and page rendering are significantly faster and much smoother, showing far less checkerboarding. Smarter page rendering and page loading algorithms led to this very visible improvement.
* JavaScript is faster – our benchmarks show additional performance improvement compared to previous Beta releases.
* Reducing memory and optimizing CPU usage are ongoing themes. We have been working on improvements in this area to make the browser more responsive and stable. Overall responsiveness has improved. With this version, we have implemented additional optimizations that speed up the browser and make it much more responsive, especially when using Firefox Sync. You will see continuous improvement in our future releases
User Interface
* Filling out forms is now easier than ever with our improved Form Assistant: tapping into form fields zooms you in swiftly and shows a list of suggested values to make navigation easy and to minimize typing. This is particularly useful when using Firefox Sync, which helps synchronize form data like user names and passwords (and also bookmarks, browsing history) across your connected devices, so you never have to type a user / password or other form fill data twice. The new controls make it very easy to fill in forms in web pages.
* It is now easier to close the sidebars without accidentally reopening them.
* We now support copy and paste for all form fields on web pages.
* We fixed miscellaneous bugs, introduced usability improvements, and optimized the user experience with this release. Firefox 4 for mobile Release Candidate is also more stable than previous versions. See “Known Issues” below for details on fixed bugs
* Japanese is now included in the default set of languages for the Firefox user interface CLICK TO DOWNLOAD
(5) 3G2G Mode Selection Applet
3G/2G Mode Selection Applet
Switch between the three network modes (3G, 2G and Dual) from the status menu.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD
A simple countdown timer.CLICK TO DOWNLOAD
New N900 software update available
A new software update is now available for your Nokia N900. The update adds Ovi Suite support to your N900 and makes it even easier to access and sync files and messages between your device and your desktop. In addition, we’ve added hundreds of tweaks and fixes that will make your N900 run faster and smoother than ever.
And there’s even more great news. Ovi Music Store is now accessible right from your N900 (where available). You can use your inbuilt browser to access music.ovi.com and download your favorite tunes straight to your device in DRM-free format.
Be sure to check out the latest games and apps from Ovi Store, like Angry Birds Level Packs 2 & 3, Kroll, Tower Boxx Deluxe 3D and Joiku WiFi Hot Spot. If you receive a not enough memory warning when you try to update the software, just uninstall a few apps and try again.
Update software
New update for the Nokia N900 dubbed PR 1.3, but you’ll see it in the device as version 20.2010.36-2. The update adds support for PC Ovi Suite to access and sync files and messages between your Nokia N900 and desktop. There are also tweaks and fixes that should make the Nokia N900 perform better. The OTA update wasn’t available for me, but Nokia Software Update via PC worked fine.
The PR 1.3 update is about 200MB. I don’t notice major changes so far, but I’ll update this post if a changelog pops up. On the backend, the Maemo team mentioned on their blog that this update aligns the Qt application and UI framework with the planned version for the MeeGo 1.1 platform (Wt 4.7). It includes Qt Mobility 1.0.2 APIs too. Make sure to read their post if you’re a developer.
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Nokia N900 Community updates – what’s new
Nokia N900 community updates repository is still alive and I think it’s going in really good way and much faster that official releases once every few months. Now I can download new update at least once a week and have real new features
N900 Custom Dashboard
Last CSSU update I have is so-called PR 1.3.3.7-6.5 and apart from ‘hidden’ bugfixes that I cannot even notice sometimes there are few really nice features introduced in comparison to stock PR1.3 by Nokia.First of all the thing that lot of people was asking for, portrait mode. It appears for new applications, step by step but much faster than before. Right now we can have settings main screen and few settings applications in portrait. Status menu also appears correctly in applications in portrait. You can see complete list of change maemo.org CSSU wiki page.
Among the changes you can see .ini file mentioned. It stores configurations for some graphical features of the UI. If you don’t want to fiddle with low-level configuration in text file you can use one of applications available in extras-devel catalogue: CSSU Features Configuration or CSSU Transitions Tuner. Have you seen video with dashboard made to be scrollable and have large windows in it? Now you can have it on your N900.
A WEB BROWSER LIKE NO OTHER
Watch high-quality videos and animations, and enjoy interactive applications with full Adobe Flash™ 9.4 support. Quickly access rich content across the web and experience the mobile internet in a completely new way.
Decide how you want your desktops to look. Add the calendar, map, and media player widgets, and choose your favourite application, contact, and website shortcuts.
Personalise your desktops as you would on your home computer. Choose a wallpaper, theme, and add shortcuts to your favourite websites, contacts, and applications. With so many options, no two Maemo desktops will be the same.
Tap the dashboard to follow everything at once. Keep track of missed calls or new emails, and switch instantly between open apps and ongoing conversations.
After opening an application or starting an IM chat, it then sits on your dashboard whenever you need it. Multi-task by switching seamlessly between your applications and chat windows in the time it takes to tap the screen.
