The Ovi Store (beta) for the Nokia N900 started selling paid apps again. So far, we notice the addition of Angry Birds level pack for $1.99 USD and QuickPanorama Pro for $2.99 USD. Let’s hope this gives an incentive for more developers come out with more apps.

Payments are handled via credit card connected to your Ovi account. First time buyers need to fill out their card information, but the purchases after that just require you to login.

Paid apps have shown up previously at the Ovi Store for the Nokia N900, but have been pulled out when users found a way to bypass the payment gateway. I assume the security hole has been patched and paid apps are here to stay.

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Updated with Nokia’s response below. I updated my Nokia N900 to Maemo 1.2 and wanted to start everything from scratch. The first thing I wanted to set up was my email. To get push email on the Nokia N900, I needed to add my Gmail accounts through the Nokia Messaging option. To my surprise, it was not listed as an option after I updated.

Twitter user @JJKLEE suggested to replace my T-Mobile USA SIM card with another card to see Nokia Messaging as an email option on the Nokia N900. I inserted my AT&T SIM and there it was back on the list. I thought I was imagining things, so I put the T-mobile SIM card back on. Nokia Messaging disappeared again!

This could mean Nokia Messaging doesn’t like T-mobile USA… the only provider that can provide 3G for the N900 in the USA! The workaround is to insert a different SIM card, set up Nokia Messaging, then put the T-mobile card back on.

Anyone else experiencing this issue on their Nokia N900 with T-mobile or any other SIM cards?

Update: Davis Fields from the Nokia Messaging team confirmed the issue and assures us they are working on it. Here’s the note he sent:

We are aware (and currently resolving) the fact that you cannot create a new Nokia Messaging account using a US T-Mobile SIM. Should have a fix by next month – realize that’s not a great answer, but, would rather tell you what’s going on than leave you in the dark.

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Nokia announced on Tuesday they plan to release Maemo 1.2 (version 10.2010.19-1) over-the-air to users this week, but instead of waiting, you can do it manually right now. The catch is that it’ll erase everything you’ve installed or stored in your device. Read on for the guide if you’re still interested.

Detailed instructions for flashing updates are available at the Maemo.org community wiki, but I’ll point out just the important things you need to get Maemo 1.2 on your Nokia N900. This requires entering text commands. I followed the instructions for Windows, but guides for other platforms are also available in the wiki.

• Download and install the latest version of Maemo Flasher
• Download the latest firmware .BIN file. It is called PR 1.2 version 10.2010.19-1.
• Download the latest Vanilla version of the eMMC content for Nokia N900. It is called eMMC content 10.2010.13-2.
• Place both files in the same folder as the installed Flasher app from step 1.
• Ensure the battery is at least half full. Unplug charger cable and switch off the device.
• Open the Command Prompt (Start then Run or Windows Logo key + R) and type cmd then press Enter.
• Change the directory to the Flasher’s path. You can do this with the cd command. cd .. takes you out of the current folder, while cd nameoffolder gets you inside of that folder.
• Hold the u key on the device keyboard and connect the USB cable at the same time
• Run the following command: flasher-3.5.exe -F RX-51_2009SE_10.2010.19-1.002_PR_COMBINED_002_ARM.bin -f
• Hint: pressing the tab button after the first few letters, autocompletes commands or file names.
• If done correctly, it should say flashed successfully after a few minutes.
• Without unplugging the phone, run the next command: flasher-3.5.exe -F RX-51_2009SE_10.2010.13-2.VANILLA_PR_EMMC_MR0_ARM.bin -f -R
• It should also say flashed successfully after a minute or two.
• That’s it! The Nokia N900 will reboot with a fresh firmware.

Details of what’s new on Maemo 1.2 and the bugs fixed are described in the Maemo wiki. New features include portrait browsing, option not to automatically add contacts when replying to emails, Ovi Maps UI update, customizable menu icons, and more. New games are also expected to show up in the Ovi store this week. We’ll keep our eyes open.

Thanks Recombu for supporting the blog and sponsoring this post. Compare mobile phone deals in the UK using their price comparison engine.

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Intel and Nokia announced their creation of the Meego platform a couple of months ago and now there’s a video from Intel showing version 1.0 on several devices including a phone. It looks like a Nokia N97 without a slide-out keyboard and with 4 touch-sensitive buttons similar to Android.

How big is that screen?

Closer look at Meego 1.0

These buttons remind me of Android

We’re not sure when or if this Meego device will be announced, but it’s cool that we get a sneak peek now. The cameraman messed up with the exposure settings so the screen on the device looks washed out. Take a look at the video below.

The devices shown on the video seem to work together really well. I’m not blown away yet, but I do look forward to seeing more sneak peeks from Meego. How do you feel so far?

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I lost the Apple Remote that came with my Macbook, but it’s not a problem thanks to a Nokia N900 widget called Raemote developed by Thomas Perl. RaeMote is a desktop widget for the Nokia N900 that allows you to use the device’s infrared port as an Apple Remote. I created a quick video to show you how well it works.

Video

Noticed how responsive it was? You can also watch this video in HD on Youtube. Subscribe to the channel to preview the latest videos before they get published on the blog.

Download

Raemote is currently available for download in the application manager of the Nokia N900 under the Extras-testing repository. If you have no idea what that means, check out my guide to Maemo Extras.

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News of the Meego OS now being available for the Nokia N900 are spreading, but end users should stay clear. As explained in the announcement, it is currently targeted for developers and the MeeGo User Experiences for the OS isn’t included yet. Unsuspecting and adventurous users who try installing it on their device will just see text on black and white screen.

The image above is what you’ll see after the installation according to the Maemo forums.

I’m sure developers are excited over this announcement, but those like me who just care about using mobile devices should move along. Nothing to see here… yet. What I want on my Nokia N900 yesterday right now is the next major software update also known as PR1.2.

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HTC and T-mobile are bombarding the television shows I watch with their “ridiculously big screen” HTC HD2 ads. Wonder how the Nokia N900‘s Maemo OS look on that beautiful screen? Well, Jykazu manages to get Maemo on the HD2 and shows it on Youtube for us to see. Take a look.

I wish there was an actual Nokia N900 next to the HD2 for comparison so we can see the big difference in size of the screen. Check this comparison done by Engadget between a 3.5, 3.7, and 4.3 inches displays.

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Congratulations to Brett and Sarah for winning the Push N900 Mod in the USA competition, earning them the cash prize of $10,000! In just a few weeks time, they were able to turn the Nokia N900 into a bike dashboard that displays speedometer, odometer, route mapping, and even provided a car horn to make it a killer app for cyclists.

Click on the image below to watch the video of their presentation to the judges.

The team utilized several different features of the Nokia N900 from the GPS to the camera, to create Bike Dashboard.

“We’re extremely excited to have won this competition! To think that just a few weeks ago we were brainstorming an idea to submit and now we’re here in Las Vegas with that idea a reality is truly amazing,” said Brett Peterson, a member of BrettSarahTops. “It’s really cool that Nokia put together a competition that encouraged us to develop something we thought would be an awesome spin on their existing innovations.”

Niko, a robot that utilizes the Nokia N900 as its ‘brain,’ placed second and will receive a prize of $5,000 while Pit Crew, a mod that sets up the Nokia N900 to be the brains behind a slot car will receive $3,000 for placing third.

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While having breakfast with Iain at our hotel during SXSW (we both won that Nokia video competition), he mentioned that he was working on a Nokia N900 hack that will let him control an RC helicopter. I was hungover from the night before so my mind couldn’t understand him at the time. Nevertheless, Iaian just posted a video with his proof of concept that it will work.

Video is embedded below. Head over to the blog if you cannot see it in your RSS reader.

This video shows that he can send control signals with the Nokia N900′s infrared (IR). He also commented that he has no idea how well it’ll work in practice and what the spread/range of the N900 IR is, but he will work on getting better control when he can spare some time.

This is actually more believable than somebody else’s video of a Nokia N900 controlling a real helicopter.

Iain isn’t new to hacking the Nokia N900. His previous hack that turned the Nokia N900 into a remote trigger flash got plenty of attention too.

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Maemo released the latest SDK for developers on Monday and MohammadAG from the forums uploaded some screenshots that gives us an idea of what’s to come in the next major update for the Nokia N900. We’re not sure when the update will be available to everyone, but at least we know some of the things to look forward to.

Different virtual keyboard

Rearrangeable menu without “more”

Browser’s back button actually goes back, instead of showing history

Portrait browsing can be activated in settings instead of the Ctl-Shift-O trick

Increase/Decrease keys can be set to change volume in browser

File manager has built-in share option similar to Petrovich

It was also mentioned that the browser seems much snappier, including scrolling and rendering. He promises to post more changes as he finds them on the SDK. Make sure to follow the thread that was started on the Maemo Forums.

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