The fabulous five! 5 must have apps for your Nokia N8

So now you’ve got hold of your brand new shiny Nokia N8, you’re probably wondering which of the many great apps you should download. The Ovi Store has an ever-increasing range of options to choose from, but what about the essentials? It’s virtually impossible to come up with a definitive list, but after much debate, here are 5 apps we think every proud Nokia N8 user should get their hands on.

Spotify

Spotify has had us in musical raptures for some time now. This ‘universal jukebox’ gives you access to a huge library of music, which will have you foot tapping every second of the day. Spotify streams over both Wi-Fi and 3G, giving you access to practically any song ever made, no matter where you are. Even better is its ability to store your playlists so you can listen to them while completely offline. Now that really is music to our ears.

Gravity

Okay, we admit it. We’re addicted to Twitter. If you love the idea of keeping up to date with all your buddies, too, you need Gravity. Recently voted by Ovi Users as their favourite app, Gravity is a fully-featured Twitter client with a fantastic user interface. It supports multiple Twitter accounts, integrates with Foursquare and Facebook and has a Google Reader included. This is one app that really does put the social into your life.

Nokia Panorama

Boasting isn’t our style, but what the heck, we’re going to say it anyway. The Nokia N8 is the world’s best cameraphone and Nokia Panorama transforms it into the world’s best panoramic cameraphone. This cool app tells you how to align your pics when you’re scanning the horizon and automatically takes the photos for you once they’re perfectly aligned with the previous ones. Capturing glorious landscapes has never been easier.

Opera Mobile

To get the very best out of mobile Web 2.0, you really should give Opera Mobile a go. With more than 70 million users worldwide, and 500 million page views per day, it’s easy to see why Opera Mobile is so popular. Simple-to-use, it comes with a range of cool time-saving features such as tabbed browsing, speed dial, and a password manager. And thanks to its famed server-side compression technology, you’ll be surfing at blistering speed.

Angry Birds

There are more and more fantastic games for the Nokia N8 coming out all the time. One that we love and think you will too is Angry Birds. What makes this game so outrageously addictive? Cute graphics, super easy controls, and the ‘one-more-go’ feeling. With hours of gameplay, challenging physics-based castle demolition, and lots of replay value, it’s no wonder that millions of people worldwide have flocked to this game. Who said revenge couldn’t be fun.

There you have it. Five fabulous apps that help you enjoy music, networking, surfing, photography and gaming. Can you think of any others that should be challenging for a place? If so, let us know what else makes you appy happy.

Nokia N8 Torture Test!

When you’re made of anodized aluminium as the Nokia N8 is, you would fancy yourself against the outdoor elements. However the question is, can it prepare you for the place all Nokia devices fear – The Testing Lab (insert evil cackle). We found out as we carry on with tradition, pitting our devices against the most rigorous of tests. Check out how we got on…

In addition to the drop test there are more than 200 (!!!) other endurance tests that we put new models through to make sure they live up to their billing. Here are just a few of our favourites…

• Extreme weather: We use special machines to expose them to extreme temperatures from around -40°C to +85°C, helping them to withstand conditions from the cold of the Arctic Circle to the heat of the Sahara desert.
• Humidity: We also test for use in tropical and humid parts of the world by placing devices in a special chamber for several weeks where they will experience humidity levels as high as 95%.
• Clothing: When we carry devices in our back pockets they may bend when we sit down or rub on trouser fibres. We simulate these effects with special machines that bend and twist the device, and one that uses a real pair of jeans to test friction and wear and tear.
• Pockets: Devices are often in bags or pockets with other items like keys or coins, so we place devices in a special “shaker” machine with hard particles to see how resistant they are.
• Buttons: People press the main keys on their device an average of 200-300 times every day. To ensure the keypads can respond to this level of use, we press the keys up to one million times in the lab.

If you don’t believe us, watch this video out from the guys at Nokia conversations -

Thanx To Nokia Blog