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Check out the recommendations from some of Australia’s top app enthusiasts on some of the great apps available on Nokia’s Ovi Store.

Kiddo & KiddoPlus
App Price: Free or $2.00 AUD for Plus version
App Category: Games > Education (Kids)

Available on Nokia’s latest smartphones – Nokia C7, Nokia E7 and Nokia N8, plus many more

Kiddo – http://store.ovi.com/content/60631
KiddoPlus – http://store.ovi.com/content/46730

Here’s an app from Spice Labs for those who have young kids. Kids can learn about numbers, the alphabet or different animals and birds in a fun, engaging way. There is a free version and a Plus version that gives you more content. When you launch the app, you can choose a flash card or an activity.

There are five different flash cards featuring images of numbers, animals and birds, fruit and veg, the alphabet and modes of transport. When you tap the flash card, a voice repeats what is on the card and then advances to the next flash card.

The activities are more interactive than the flash cards. The alphabet activity, for example, shows a picture of an object and your child has to select which letter the object’s name starts with. The numbers activity is similar and a female voice counts out the numbers as each object is touched.

Easy to navigate

The menu is simple and easy to navigate through the different flash cards and activities. Also, you can choose between showing lower or uppercase letters so that your child can become familiar with both. Lastly, an awesome feature is that you can edit and record your own voice on the flash cards so if you want to teach your kids using a language or an accent other than the default English voice, you can!

The verdict

This is an excellent app for kids who are just starting to learn how to talk and count. It’s very effective and with the ability to customise the voiceover, you can’t go wrong. Highly recommended!

CameraPro
App Price: $4.00 AUD
App Category: Application > Photo & Video

Available on the Nokia N8, Nokia C7, Nokia X7

CameraPro – http://store.ovi.com/content/101266

This app was tested on the Nokia N8 and has been the talk of the twitterverse. CameraPro by software developer Harald Meyer takes the incredible 12MP camera on the Nokia N8 and supercharges it with features that are found on more advanced point-and-shoot cameras. Adding to the impressive N8 imaging capabilities, CameraPro introduces burst mode to allow you to take more than one successive shot in time lapse mode, so you can capture amazing changes in scenery such as sunsets and incoming storms.

This application will appeal to photography enthusiasts who want to do more than take a group photo with friends. Also, the continuous autofocus will automatically adjust the video focus as you are filming.

The verdict

It seems you can only use the video mode in the lowest resolution setting. However, this is a very promising app and a must-have for the diehard photographers and gadget fans out there.

Night Light Pro

App Price: Free or $2.00 AUD for Pro version

App Category: Application > Utilities

Available on Nokia’s latest smartphones – Nokia C7, Nokia E7 and Nokia N8, plus many more

Lite – http://store.ovi.com/content/79057

Pro – http://store.ovi.com/content/81432

If you are on the lookout for a simple but effective night clock app for your phone, look no further than Night Light Pro by picoBrothers. This app turns your mobile into a bedside digital night clock with big, bright numbers that can be easily seen, even when sleepy-eyed. The day of the week is also displayed below the time. As a bonus, the app doubles as a night light that turns the entire screen bright white, with the clock display in light gray when needed. This app also overrides the screen timeout setting on the phone so it’s not auto-locked or interrupted by the OS.

Differences between the Lite and Pro

With the Lite version, the clock is displayed in light blue while the Pro version allows you to choose a range of colours.  The night light can be activated by double tapping the screen on both versions, whereas the Pro has the added feature of clap activation.

The verdict

Night Light is an extremely simple app that does what it’s designed to do – very well. It’s more useful than the default clock lockscreen and the Pro version is worth it for the colour selection alone. We’re giving this app a thumbs-up.

Gravity
App Price: $12.00 AUD
App Category: Application > Social Networks

Available on Nokia’s latest smartphones – Nokia C7, Nokia E7 and Nokia N8, plus many more

Gravity – http://store.ovi.com/content/6855?clickSource=search

For serious social network addicts, Gravity is an application by mobileways.de that allows you to watch multiple social network accounts at the same time, including Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and many more.

The dashboard displays an overview of new messages, replies and last updates from all your social media accounts.

For Twitter, for example, you can select a tweet and a context menu pops up which makes replying or retweeting an easy two-step process. And for the commercial user, you can save Twitter searches to keep an eye on what people are saying about your company or product.

The application has also utilised the touchscreen on the Nokia N8 very effectively – the large screen means you catch more of the action in one look.

The verdict

If you haven’t tried out Twitter, Gravity will have you tweeting like an addict in no time.