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Another cool free application from Nokia Beta Labs…. Didn’t I feature four applications from Nokia Beta Labs recently? Well, you should just subscribe to Nokia Beta Labs blog; so that I don’t need to feature applications from Nokia Beta Labs any more.

Anyway, the new application is called Nokia PC Phone. It allows you to use your PC (Web browser) to make a phone call, type text message and manage contacts. The current version supports Firefox 2.x. Support to other browsers, such as Internet Explorer 7, should come soon.

Personally, I like Messages feature a lot. It saves our time when typing text message. No need to struggle with T9 keypad.

I don’t really use the other two features, Calls and Contacts. I normally use Speed Dial application to make a phone call. For contacts, I normally edit my contact in Microsoft Outlook.

I think most of you love DRM-free music, don’t you? Personally, I love DRM-free music. It gives freedom for us to play our music in any players and operating systems.

Recently I posted a comment on Nokia Support Discussion about DRM-free music from iTunes Plus. As you may already know, Apple has started selling DRM-free songs on iTunes Plus Music Store. Unfortunately, Apple has slightly modified the tag of iTunes Plus songs. As a result, they cannot be played on S60 devices by default.

Mac users don’t have this problem because Nokia Multimedia Transfer properly modifies the tag. Unfortunately, Windows users, who are using PC Suite, cannot enjoy this feature.

Can we still play music from iTunes Plus then? There are two possible solutions.

Convert to 128 kbps AAC

The first solution, which I recommend, is convert your iTunes Plus music to 128 kbps AAC. You can do it from iTunes by selecting Advanced | Convert Selection to AAC menu.

The original iTunes Plus music is stored as 256 kbps AAC. Somehow, when you convert it to lower bit rate, the tag can be recognized by S60 devices. It is right that you will degrade the quality; but in my opinion, playing 256 kbps and 128 kbps on mobile phone is not that different.

Use “Music Fixer” to Fix the Tags

If you want to keep the quality at 256 kbps; the solution is fix the tag. Thanks to Joshua King who has provided a Python script to fix the tag, called Music Fixer. Note that you need Python runtime to run the script.
Note that this script should be run on the device (not on the PC). It should be run after you synchronize your songs from the PC.

Bonus Links

• Synchronizing Music Files and Podcasts from iTunes to S60 Phones
• Anything About Synchronization
• Some Music Applications for S60

Following up my previous posting about Nokia Internet Radio, I would like to highlight some other music applications for S60 devices.

MyStrands

MyStrands is a Web 2.0 service for music. It allows you to scrobble yourself so that you friends know the songs what you’re listening to. It’s not only that, you can get recommendations based on the music that you listen. You can also find other people that have the same “music taste” as you.

Click here to find more information about MyStrands

Nokia Podcasting
Do you want to hear your favorite podcasts on your S60 device? Nokia Podcasting is the answer. Just like the Internet Radio, be aware when using this application because it uses data connection.

There are some devices that include Nokia Podcasting already. You can download Nokia Podcasting from Nokia Download! application or from the link below.

Click here to find more information about Nokia Podcasting

iTunes Agent
This is one of my favorite music applications. It allows you to synchronize iTunes to your S60 device. It does not synchronize your DRM-protected songs. Note that you need to download iTunes Agent to your PC. No need additional software on your device.

Click here to find out more information about iTunes Agent

Bonus Links

• Synchronizing Music Files and Podcasts from iTunes to S60 Phones
• Synchronizing MP3 Files from Windows Media Player to S60 Phones
• Displaying Album Art on Nokia Nseries Music Edition