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In the past decade, there has been a gigantic shift in the mediums which people use to get their entertainment. Where it used to be that television and movie theatres had the market cornered on everything from movies to the news, today, all bets are off. More and more people are starting to stream movies and television shows through the internet, keep up with the news thanks to the web, and even watch television shows and communicate through mobile phones that are working on the fastest network around, the new 4G network that everyone from Verizon to T-Mobile has adopted.

There are plenty of reasons to be sufficiently wired, and many of them apply to everyone, not just to super-nerds who want to be connected to the internet every hour of day, regardless of location. For anyone who spends a lot of time commuting, whether on a train or a bus, there is a definite appeal to being able to do more than just read the newspaper or listen to music. After all, it is now possible to stream videos and television shows through everything from laptops to iPhones, making an hour-plus commute a lot more tolerable. Even if you’re just riding the subway home after a day of work, there’s a lot to be said for having a few more entertainment options.

Sometimes, being plugged in has more to do with dealing with a particularly unpleasant situation, like getting stuck in the airport indefinitely. This past holiday travel season, thousands of people found themselves stranded in airports across the country. And while many airports were offering wireless internet, the fact of the matter is that too many airports charge money for something that, when stranded for awhile, can really add up. Likewise, when thousands of people are all trying to access the same network, things can really slow to a crawl. That’s why the happiest people in airports over the holiday delay period were those with WiMax, which provides wireless internet that stretches for bigger distances and maintains a fast speed.

College students also find this new version of wireless quite convenient, as it helps make it possible to live off-campus without worrying about spending an arm and a leg to get the internet installed. If you had WiMax back at home, it can make the commute to college just as easy as all of the other belongings you plan on lugging. Business travelers have also found having wireless wherever your laptop can go a great deal more tolerable than trying to conduct important business through a cell phone with a three inch wide screen. And of course, if you’re away on business, there will be some time for you to enjoy yourself, whether saving the expense account the cost of renting a movie or simply being able to talk to your spouse back at home through Skype.

So the next time that new technology feels a little too overwhelming or only the realm of the super-smart, realize that most people aren’t using their computers to accomplish seriously important business tasks: they’re just having fun. And you can be right there with them, enjoying yourself, without having to master any serious new technology in the least.

77 million Symbian mobile phones were sold in 2007. That figure should be vastly increased over the next few months, as two phones will be taking it to new heights: the Nokia 5800 Xpress, and the mind-blowing Nokia N96.

Nokia and Symbian – long-time bedfellows

In truth, Nokia have a long history of using Symbian in their mobile phones, going all the way back, in fact, to their first camera phone, the 7650 (a huge beastie of a thing it was, too!). Some of the most powerful Nokia mobile phones ever made have run on Symbian, quite often using the patented Series 60 interface. In fact, it’s fair to say that Series 60 is the most important version of Symbian, since it’s the one that powers Nokia’s top of the range mobile phones: the prestigious, world-renowned Nseries. To this day, Nseries mobile phones have a reputation for being world-beaters, including probably the most well-known of them all, the N95.

Well, now, the Nokia N95 has evolved into a new form: the sleek, smart Nokia N96.

Nokia N96 – the ultimate Nseries phone

The Nokia N96 really is the next evolution of the N95, since you get the same high-end feature-set (but with loads more bits added on), but in a sleek new body. In fact, the body of the Nokia N96 is reminiscent of another one of the earlier Nseries mobile phones: the N81. The similarities are striking, so much so that you could put down the Nokia N96 and N81 next to each other, and not tell which one’s which. Not that that’s a bad thing, since the N81 looked nice, and so does the Nokia N96. Certainly one of the prettier mobile phones on the market, and the Nokia N96 backs all that up with raw power. A 5 megapixel camera… GPS… HSDPA… 16GB of memory… and the big feature, multimedia. You see, the Nokia N96 is the king of mobile phones when it comes to media, especially video. It even includes BBC iPlayer (can’t say that about many mobile phones!), and a little kickstand-type thing, to keep the Nokia N96 upright while you’re watching videos!

Nokia 5800 Xpress – the future of Symbian?

Meanwhile, another offshoot of Symbian has appeared on mobile phones. Well… on one mobile phone so far, the Nokia 5800 Xpress. It’s important for 1 reason: it’s made for touchscreen mobile phones, which is exactly what the Nokia 5800 is. Ok, granted, the Nokia 5800 Xpress might not be their first touchscreen phone, but it IS their best, with 3 megapixel camera, HSDPA, GPS and that all important touchscreen, with the brand new Symbian interface, not seen on any previous mobile phones. It’s fair to say Symbian is alive and well, and evolving still. With the Nokia N96 this Christmas, and the Nokia 5800 Xpress all set to wow us in the first months of next year, Symbian mobile phones are definitely on the up and up!