One of the mobile projects i've recently been working on has been to test the capabilities of the GPS function of Nokia handsets such as the N95. Nokia Sportstracker application which is available free from Nokia works a treat and allows you to directly upload your GPS tracked route to a google map on the Sportstracker website. So the basic idea is to install Sportstracker on your N95, it then activates the GPS and can just run in the background freeing up the phone to make calls/texts etc. Then later you can stop GPS (or 'workout' as its called) and upload the data to your nokia account. Images taken while application is running will automatically be placed in the location on the map where they were taken. Although we later discovered they are not exactly 'geo-tagged' as such but the Sportstracker application just cleverly maps the image/video's time stamp to the time stamp and location of the GPS data stored. So after testing at length in Doha, Dubai and Sharjah with great results, i decided to take it with me to Umraa (the lesser pilgrimage to Makkah) which i travelled by car from Doha to Makkah via Ta'if. Then from Makkah to Madinah, and back to Doha via Riyadh. The intention was to let the application run the whole length of the journey, a full 14 hours or so. I invested in a Nokia car charger and left the handset plugged in on the dashboard. The dashboard board because the GPS works better if it obviously has line of sight with the satellite. This however did pose some issues in the desert heat of the sun exceeding 48C. Although the car had good AC, i found the handset still heated up quite a lot. The phone also crashed a few times so i didn't get the full length of the journey mapped as a whole but rather as bits (different 'workouts'). Visit my Flickr, where i have uploaded some screenshots to see what i mean. In fact, i accidentally left the tracker running on reaching Makkah and even performing the tawaf around the Kabaah. Unintentional but produced some interesting results. The intervals for the triangulation were not that great (see above image) but it was still a fascinating way to capture one the most important experiences of your life.

AlJazeera have launched a beta release of their iPhone app. Recent AlJazeera English youtube videos can also be accessed for selected programmes.

Tap in i.aljazeera.net in Safari directly on your iPhone and enjoy. Check it out and send us your feedback/comments by clicking on the BETA link in the app.