It is no secret that the N97 has undergone many issues and embarrassments since its release. The N97 has many many flaws but I still think it is one of the best phones you can get right now. The N97 can handle anything you throw at it. This makes the phone the ultimate Jack of All trades phone.

Here is a list of some of the flaws of the phone:

• Made completely out of plastic. A metal phone always feels like it has more quality and sturdiness.
• Some of the design features actually damage the phone. Such as the camera glass protector. This is the ultimate definition of irony. The phone has a lens protector to protect the camera lens from getting scratched. Ironically by using the lens protector you would be actually damaging the lens. Nokia released a fix for this last year but I am still not able to get this fixed because I live in Malta so I would have to pay for the repairs.
• The phone needs a beefier CPU and more RAM and internal (C:) memory. Symbian is very memory efficient though it still needs RAM. The lack of internal C: memory is very annoying. It because a juggling act installing some applications which install on to C: without any option. This leaves the users often backing up, formatting and restoring to try free up some C: memory.
• The keyboard layout could be better. I have gotten use to typing using the keyboard but I still find it awkward inserting phone numbers and pressing spacebar.

There are other issues with the phone but right now that’s all I have come up with. The phone has a lot going for it.

• The LCD screen is transflective. This means that you can see the screen in direct sun light. The N97 is one of the few phones out in the market that support this. The screen will never be as clear as a iPhone and other devices but it’s a phone and you have to be able to see the screen during the day.
• The battery life is utterly epic in this device. Without advancements such as OLED screens and other details the phone is able to function for an irrational amount of time. Under very light usage I can get away with charging my phone every 6 days. The phone can easily cope with heavy usage and will last a day under conditions of checking twitter, facebook, uploading photos, phone calls, checking emails etc. There is also an option to replace the 1500mAh Nokia battery with the 3600mAh Mugen battery which will double the battery life.
• The device has an FM transmitter built in. This allows you to hear songs while you are driving without the use of wires or cradles. Some people also buy FM transmitters to connect to their device.
• Camera protective glass lens. Yes on the original phone it actually damages it. But most people can have this fixed at no added cost. This repair also improves GPS reception. Ohhh Malta Nokia representatives should really stop being so difficult on getting these things fixed.
• 32GB of mass memory on board the device. You know how much data that is. I can carry all my mp3 collection on my phone and still have plenty of space for documents, videos, photos, etc. You even have the option of installing a microSD card to add another 32GB ?!?!?!
• The QWERTY keyboard layout isn’t the best but it is still a good keyboard to use. Allowing you to type very fast. Allowing using to type messages faster than anyone can on touch screen devices.
• When you open the keyboard the screen is angled is allows for easier viewing. It doesn’t always the better text input scenario but when using on a desk this tilted display is a God send. You often see people propping up their devices with books, toast, cats, stones, etc. The most classic I have ever seen was a guy using his iMac Book to prop up his iPad while on the phone using his iPhone.
• The phone has a very capable camera. It would have been better if the phone had Xenon flash. The phone is capable of producing very stunning photos under most circumstances.
• It’s a Nokia device. This means that you will be getting many more services even after you bought the phone. From updates to the OS and applications to services such as free world wide GPS offline navigation.

Not sure how many benefits I have written down but the positives really outweigh the disadvantages.

I have owned the N97 for almost a year as of writing this. Right now I am not thinking of upgrading to another device but when the time comes I will happily consider getting another Nokia phone even though this phone had so many flaws.

Here is Microsoft’s reason for cancelling the device:

At any given time, across any of our business groups, there are new ideas being investigated, tested, and incubated. It’s in Microsoft’s DNA to continually develop and incubate new technologies to foster productivity and creativity. The “Courier” project is an example of this type of effort and its technologies will be evaluated for use in future Microsoft offerings, but we have no plans to build such a device at this time.

By unforeseeable I mean errors I have been warned about and tried to beat into submission. Yesterday I admitted defeat and changed my hosting plan. It seems that GoDaddy Windows hosting and WordPress don’t see eye to eye. I am now on a Linux hosting plan which promises to be running for quite awhile.

So prepare yourself for more content

Gamecrush works by dividing their community into two categories boys (known as Players) and girls (known as play dates). The players buy credits which can be spent on time playing with the girls, while the ladies are paid to play with the boys. Outside the games players can chat to available play dates for free and spend time browsing profiles.

Supposedly there are around 1200 play date profiles available on the site right now. I cannot confirm or deny this though since I do not own an Xbox 360 but it seems that the site is a big success because it has been overloaded with traffic as of writing this article.

According to IGN the actual dating is divided up into 6 to 10 minute slots. The GameCrush site also supports a few casual games and videochat. Supported Xbox 360 games include Modern Warfare 2, Gears of War 2, Halo 3 and GTA IV. You get to see the play date biting her upper lip while you are fragging the enemy away or just stealing a car and causing trouble around Vice City.

Dates cost 400 GameCrush credits. Predictably though you can only purchase batches of 500. Play Dates keep 60% of the money from each date. 500 credits cost 8.25 US dollars. GameCrush has decided this value by determining how much it would cost to buy a drink for a girl in a bar.

The 1200 girls currently on the site were recruited through a Craigslist ad asking for girls who want to get money by playing games. Not sure if they are component gamers or not. I don’t think it is fair that the guys have to pay. Doesn’t that sound sexist?

Me thinks it’s a rip off. However the site was overloaded with traffic so I guess their business is going well…

When you purchase the disk you have to go through the ends of hell just to watch your movie. I thought viewers should be rewarded for actually purchasing an original disk.

My current phone is the Nokia N97 and it’s the second smart phone I ever owned. I purchased this phone in August of 2009. I decided to buy the phone (even though to the bad press around it) because my first smart phone was the Nokia N78 and till this day the phone surpasses my expectations.

If any of you are asking why did I upgrade from my N78 to the N97 it was because the phone went swimming for me. I had purchased a new phone without trying to switch on the N78 and till this day the phone functions correctly. The keypad sticks sometimes but it is still capable of phone calls (speaker and microphone) and even the GPS and the WIFI chip works.

I have had the N97 long enough to be through the horrible firmware. Since I owned the device I believe 3 major updates have been released for the phone. Each update considerably improved the performance and the user (ME!) satisfaction. It is still not a perfect device though. If the CPU was slightly more powerful and the device had more RAM and phone memory I would consider it to be the ultimate device. Then there is the camera shutter which starches the camera lens.

Living on Malta means if you want to be an early adopter of tech you either have to be great at hunting deals (you can also try sneak them past customs) or be ready to pay practically double of what people pay abroad. Since I purchased the phone from abroad to fix this problem I would have to pay since the warranty does not seem to function in the barren lands of Malta (if any were wondering why I don’t just take it to be repaired). I asked if the warranty covers Malta and they said all Europe is covered. Guess Malta isn’t completely considered in Europe. Next time I shall ask about Africa just in case.

I would be prepared to forgive Nokia if they gave the phone one update; multiple homescreens. This is a feature N97users have been asking for since the device came out. Symbian recently announced that Symbian^3 will be out soon and they release a video of it. My hopes aren’t high that the multiple homescreen feature will be implemented on the N97. I don’t think the hardware is up to the task of handling it (however I could be mistaken because the people at Symbian seem to perform magic with very limited resources). Also one has to ask if they would want to implement this feature on the N97 since newer devices would be coming out and the N97 is technically Symbian^1.

A small glimmer of hope is that the developers implemented some features from Symbian^2 onto Symbian^1 (kinetic scrolling). However since Symbian decided to skip Symbian^2 and go straight to 3 seems to shoot down this little glimmer.

Below is a video of the user experience of the new Symbian phones. Anyone who uses smart phones will immediately be drawn to it. At least I would like to think so. I just want the multiple homescreens.

Eat Symbian’s shorts you iPhone lovers

Amazon Shipping Details

Amazon now ship “Baby, Beauty, Clothing, DIY & Tools, Electronics, Health (excluding medicine), Home & Garden, Jewellery, Kitchen, Office Products, Shoes, Sports and Watches items” to Malta. This would surprise and excite people who shop often from this website.

After going through the site I managed to find some gifts which I wanted to purchase. I won’t mention all the presents I wanted to buy just in case they read this site. One of the items was I chose was this teddy bear. You simply pull a special wheat bag from the centre of the teddy bear and place it in the microwave. After some time (I have no clue the amount of time) the bag would be hot. You place this bag in the bear and hug it to your heart’s content.

I proceed to check out and the helpful people at Amazon not only remember my address but also all my credit card details including CVV number. I was then greeted with the following message:

Amazon Checkout Error

Their website clearly states that any “Health and Beauty” products would be shipped to Malta but their ordering process doesn’t seem to know this. I sent an email to amazon to see why they won’t ship this teddy bear to Malta. Once I get an answer from them I shall post the reason here.

If you have a story about shipping discrimination please tell us about it as a comment below.

UPDATE: Seems like the products though on Amazon’s website are not sold by Amazon but by a third party. Amazon just place the product on their website and use their engine to accept payment for the item. Its up to the third party seller to decide where they ship their products to. Don’t you just love the consistency. Looks like no one is getting any presents this month