For the longest time I’ve been waiting for Google to create a Symbian application that put all their services in one place. I’m a huge user of Google services, taking advantage of Gmail, Calendar, Reader, Maps, Youtube, and Picasa – all on my Nokia E71. I’ve covered various Google services on this blog such as Gmail, Calendar, Maps, and Youtube so check out those links if you’re curious. This article is all about the new Google App for Symbian smartphones. It finally ties all these services into one package, and boy does it save me a ton of clicks and shortcuts.
The Google Mobile App is more like a quick launcher to their various services, more than it is a full on application. If you want to be able to launch Gmail, Maps, and Youtube you must already have those apps installed. Reminder: If you use those applications be sure to update them to the latest versions. They’ve all been updated in the past month or so. Pretty much all the other services are just a bookmark to their highly mobile optimized websites. My favorite part about this app is it takes advantage of the GPS to be aware of your location when searching the web. So if you type in “coffee shop” the first results will be near you. Same goes for “movie times”.
How To Use
Launch: From the homescreen, push the Delete key to bring up the launcher.
As you can see the top row is currently configured to access my favorite Google shortcuts. From left to right: Maps, Reader, News, Youtube.
Intuitive Search: When you search the web it gives you suggestions as your typing. Below I wanted to find “black eyed peas” and it found it quickly, even giving me a result for their latest hit song.
More Apps: If you push more at the end of the shortcuts list you get even more shortcuts to other services. Scroll down again and there is MORE! Push options on this screen to re-arrange your shortcuts.
Settings: There are quite a few settings to work with which is great. Props to Google for giving us options. As you can see I have the Quick Key Reminder set to NO since it looks ugly on my homescreen. You’ll see what I’m talking about when you install the app.
Settings besides the three you see above include Use My Location, Search History, Show Suggestions, and Country.
And that’s basically it! The app is very simple yet it does so much for me.
I no longer need a Google Maps or Youtube shortcut on my homescreen. I no longer need to dig through my bookmarks to get to Reader, Picasa, or News. It’s all accessible from the homescreen using the Delete key. Congrats to Google for bringing us such a solid application – and of course it’s FREE.
Download
Go to http://m.google.com to download from your E71 or this link if you’re on the computer. I’m not sure if this works on the E71x. Let us know if it does.
Don’t forget about Google’s awesome “search terms” service. It makes finding out the simple things very easy, displaying results on the Google page without having to visit a website. Say I need to know the score of the Los Angeles Lakers game last night. I search for “lakers score” and I’m presented with the screenshot below.
I need to see movie times for the new Terminator movie in my area. Type “terminator salvation showtimes” from the Google Mobile App on my E71 and it knows my location and presents me with these results
Weather report is another term I use sometimes. This saves me so much time not having to load a full website. Click here to read more about this service and what other search terms will give these results.
Have you tried this out yet? If not – start using Google and see how easy it makes everything.
