I was going to write a short review on Nokia application called Here and Now, but today I have found interesting review of another free application for E71 and other S60 phones – World Traveler. I think presenting these two pieces of software together and giving a kind of comparison is even better idea.
Here and Now is a set of application and correlated service, which is offered by Nokia Beta Labs. First released version was available for Symbian S60 3.2 devices (I assume including E71x too) only. About two weeks ago it was also prepared for E71 and other S60 3.1 phones. Application is available on the phone from a web browser bookmarks list or directly from your folder with own installations. Instead of GPS it bases on a position given by your cellular network. It displays current weather information, forecast for following hours and more. It can quickly display you a list of cultural and entertainment events organized in your current neighborhood. If you are interested in any of those events it leads you to the browser for more details, including approximate distance. Application and service are still under development, but I already find it very useful, especially if you are “new in town”, or you travel a lot and you simply do not want to too much time spend setting up a list of “your cities”. It seamlessly adapts to your position. It helps you right here, right now.
The other weather-related tool I have installed on my E71 is World Traveler from Psiloc. This tool is much heavier, but definitely offers more features too. Except current weather info and forecast it offers currency table, world clock map and future plug-in manager. One really cool feature is an option to display current temperature and wind speed on your homescreen the same way as tasks are being displayed. If you play for few minutes with settings, including: lists of your cities, time zones and auto-update intervals this might be something you want to place on a bar of your often used shortcuts. Definitely World Traveler ‘look and feel’ is something, which makes the application more mature and attracts the user. Try, play and decide which one you want to use. I have both on my phone.