G:RSS is the first RSS reader App I’ve seen for Windows Phone 7. While I’m not saying that the App blew me away, its a clear indication of how good the platform is going to be. Some of the main features of G:RSS include:

• Full access to labels, feeds, and all starred or unread items
• Pre-buffering of articles as you read, just like the web version of Google Reader, to keep things moving without delay
• Marking items, feeds, or labels read and unread
• Starring your favorite items
• Instant synchronization with your Google Reader account

According to the developer, the App is fully functional – though it still doesn’t represent the final version. Users can still weigh in on with their suggestions since there is still time to polish the App until the official launch of Windows Phone 7 later this year. As for my own two cents, I do like how the G:RSS renders the full HTML feeds along with the simple navigation buttons at the bottom.

The only thing I would like to change about it would be a slightly more detailed and richer UI because the current version seems pretty dry – very usable but dry. I’d be keeping a close eye on this one and keep you guys updated.

The application is said to work on a limited number of devices only, though I was able to install it on a Nokia 5630 Xpress Music even though it wasn’t on the list of officially supported devices.

Skype for S60 allows all the basic Skype functionality you would expect including High Quality voice calls (over EDGE, 3G, or Wi-Fi), Instant Messaging, Voice Mail, SMS Messages as well as support for file transfers. You can buy Skype Credit from within the application.

Interestingly, you still can’t make Video Calls even though other Series 60 applications like Fring can now do that as well. I guess this feature would be implemented in a future version, because this is still a beta preview release.

The chat windows also need a bit more work because the layout is pretty dry at the moment.

According to the official blog, the following devices are officially supposed to run Skype, but like I said earlier, it may work on other devices too:

Symbian S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1 devices (Download)

• Nokia E71
• Nokia E63
• Nokia E66
• Nokia N82
• Nokia E51
• Nokia N95
• Nokia N95 8GB
• Nokia N81
• Nokia N81 8GB
• Nokia E90

Symbian S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 devices (Download)

• Nokia N96
• Nokia N85
• Nokia 5320
• Nokia 6210 Navigator
• Nokia 6210 Classic
• Nokia N78
• Nokia N79

Be sure to share your experience on your device specially if its not in the above list.

[Skype Share via Symbian Guru]

Apart from the slightly updated UI, you can now sync your favorite locations and starred items from your phone to your Google Account, which means they are accessible from anywhere on the PC or other mobile devices.

Your saved landmarks from other applications such as Ovi Maps are also synced with your account, but I’m not sure you can use starred items to plan a navigation route in Ovi Maps.

Interestingly, the satellite imagery is still outdated for most places so Hardees still shows as an empty lot in the above shot even though I had dinner their about 3 days ago.

The update is only for Windows Mobile and Symbian devices but Google Mobile team says that they are working to get these updates rolled out on other mobile platforms as well. I just hope they decide to update all mobile versions with navigation features like in Android.

Download Google Maps on your phone by navigating to m.google.com/maps

Anyways, to enable Push Email support, all you have to do is activate Google Sync for your device. If you already use that, then just enable Email sync from the server settings, and Mail for Exchange would start working instantly.

One more thing for iPhone users, you have to be running iPhone OS 3.0 or higher. You may also want to backup your Contacts and Calendar in case something goes wrong.

On a side note, Google says that Push Email would consume a lot more power and will certainly degrade battery life. So you should only use it on your own risk. Personally, I think its worth it. Check the links below for more detailed instructions on how to enable Push Email for your device.

Enable Push Email on iPhone

Enable Push Email on Windows Phones

Being true to the rumors, Nokia today announced its own App store, termed the Nokia Ovi Store at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Even though Nokia got into the game pretty late compared to rest of the competition, it has a pretty good chance of even beating the Apple App store. Now most fan boys would start to argue that I probably wrote this article after taking down a couple of bottles but a look into the facts may very well change your mind.

Despite the recent drop in sales, Nokia is undoubtedly the biggest cellphone maker in the industry, with a market share of over 38 percent. In comparison, Apple has only managed to capture 1% of the total market (which was its plan by the way).

If you compare by platform, Symbian devices dominate half of the market with a 57 percent share, compared to a mere 2.8 percent of Apple. Note that these figures also include Symbian devices from other manufactures like Sony Ericsson and Samsung.

A major reason for the popularity of the Apple App Store was its revenue sharing model; 30 percent of the revenues from a product sale go to Apple while the remaining 70 go to the developer. The developer could also opt to sell the application for free, and wouldn’t have to pay anything to Apple per download. Nokia seems to be following Apple’s proven formula and is also offering the 70/30 revenue sharing model.

But why would Symbian developers let go of their existing business model and opt for only 70 percent of the total revenue? The answer is simple; they can reach a wider audience because it is a hell lot more easier for the end user to just browse a single catalog instead of visiting a hundred stores. On top of that, Nokia Ovi Store has some very intuitive features like built in Social Networking and Location Based Services, further promoting the sale of the applications.

The Ovi Store would offer services which include Ovi Music Store, N-Gage Gaming Service, Ovi App Store, Mashable Widgets and Nokia Maps. Think of it as iTunes, App Store and Google Maps combined with a couple more services. Though this doesn’t necessarily mean that it would do better than these individual services.

The real killer features of Ovi would be the built in artificial intelligence and the social networking features. The service would know what your friends and contacts are buying (or downloading) as well as feature reviews and suggestions from them. It also has a built in recommendation system that would learn your taste over time and organize and offer content accordingly, kinda like the Genius Music Recommendation system from iTunes. The selection of applications also vary depending on your current location. During the demo at the Mobile World Congress, most the content shown in the Ovi Store was targeted towards Spanish users.

The N97 would be the first handset to have the Ovi Store pre-installed when it is released this June. But Nokia’s biggest shot at market dominance lies in the fact that they would have the Ovi Store download-able and running on “tons” of Series 40 and Series 60 devices starting from may. Now how will they manage Application compatibility between these platforms is a major issue or they would just leave that out to the developers to choose the compatible devices.

The Ovi Store has all the ingredients for success built right into it along with big name launch partners already signed including Facebook, MySpace, EA, Qik and a lot more. After all these facts do you still believe that Apple’s App Store still has a chance?

Google has started out rolling a whole lot of services for the Mobile. It seems like it shares Microsoft’s vision to unify the desktop and the mobile platform to give users a streamlined experience. Besides we are slowly transitioning towards Web 3.0, which features Ubiquitous access from any device.

The latest release by Google, called Google Sync makes it easier to synchronize and back up you contacts and calender on the internet cloud. You no longer need PC connectivity to sync your phone with the latest information.

Google Sync is a two way service, meaning that the changes you make at one location automatically reflect on the other. Your contacts get merged with your Gmail AddressBook and the calender notes go with Google Calender. Here is a little video by Google Mobile team explaining how things work.

The service would be extremely useful for those who have to change their cellphones a lot. Now they don’t have to do manual PC backups, instead just connect with the Google Sync server and your done. Google officially advertises support for PC, Mac, Linux, Android, Symbian S60, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and iPhone though I managed to get it working on a Nokia Series 40 handset too.

If you don’t have handset running one of the above platforms (you seriously need to wake up and get a new one then) you may still be able to run Sync if your phone supports the SyncML protocol. Just give it a try by going to m.google.com/sync.

To get multitouch up and running, all you need to do is head over to Luke Hutch’s blog and follow the steps explained (in a great detail) there. In short, you don’t have to recompile the kernel or anything, just change the firmware.

• Backup all your data from the phone and SD card.
• Downgrade the firmware to RC29 and run the root access exploit to get root access to your device.
• Once you have access, install the new multitouch library (explained there).
• Upgrade the phone to latest firmware (RC33 at this time) and enjoy multitouch.
• Add a couple of more fun apps that make use of it.

The steps are fairly simple even for a novice or a beginner. There is no risk of bricking your device (if you follow the instructions to the pixel) either as you wont have to modify the kernel of the OS. So if you have an Android phone, then give it a shot. I’ve left a couple more videos for you to enjoy.

Almost every major cellphone platform out there now has some sort of online application storefront set up thanks to the fad started by Apple. The reason? It is a whole lot more convenient to buy (if there are any prices) an application from a universal catalog than to go to the website of each and every publisher. Why no cellphone vendor ever though of it before is beyond me, but now everyone is doing it, so why not Nokia?

The Symbian Series 60 platform is the most dominant smartphone platform in the market, with a market share of 49% according to a recent study. It is only logical for Nokia to capitalize on that as Apple already earned huge profits even with a 10% share in the market.

And now Palm, Android and RIM also have their own stores leaving behind only Microsoft and Nokia, the two top platform developers who don’t have an online store front. An article published on Unwired News, Nokia has already done internal testing for the service and would officially be announcing the service at the Mobile World Congress next week in Barcelona.

If this turns out to be true, a lot of people would have their prayers answered (including me) and finally start getting the right applications they want.