Phone makers these days are packing so many new technologies into their wireless handsets, it’s enough to make you nostalgic for a plain ole phone. Take Nokia’s N95, which has networking technologies including 3G and Wi-Fi, a still/video camera and a GPS module. But all of these features are pointless unless they’re easy to use and are stitched together in a such way as to fit into our daily lives. The best way to do this: software.

Nokia seems to be learning this lesson. A perfect example is Nokia Sports Tracker, which allows people to access statistics and other relevant information on their workouts. For instance, those who walk, run, cycle, or ski can track metrics such as average speed, total distance, altitude, and so on. By starting the application at the beginning of your workout, the program, through the use of GPS, tracks your positions and gathers statistics as you go. Sports Tracker’s latest version also includes the ability to include videos and pictures with your workout by attaching the media from your phone.

Nokia has also released a Sports Tracker beta web site that allows you to create a free account and upload your workouts from your handset directly to the web. There you can display a map of your workout route, average speed, elevation, and a host of other statistics.

But Sports Tracker isn’t just for fitness nuts. Travelers can share data about their trips with family and friends by way of a travel map accompanied by images and videos taken along the way. As Symbian-Guru has suggested, Nokia might want to consider a name change for Nokia Sports Tracker, something like Nokia Travels. Perhaps an integration with Dopplr is something the company should consider as well.

Strands, a social recommendation startup whose core product is focused on music, today made another move aimed at expanding into other areas with an agreement to buy NetworthIQ for an undisclosed amount. With the acquisition of NetworthIQ, Corvallis, Ore.-based Strands is looking to further build its moneyStrands personal finance application by giving users quality recommendations based on their entire financial portfolio. Competing personal finance startup Mint is similar in functionality, but only gives recommendations based on individual aspects of a user’s financial situation.

Todays news comes on the heels of Strands’ acquisition of Expensr, also a personal finance application. Over the last six months, funding for the four-year-old company has risen to some $55 million from investors including Spanish Bank BBVA, Grupo Zeta, Dabaeque and Sequal, so Strands appears to be using at least some of that money to try and replicate its success with music in personal finance.

Nimbuzz, a little-known mobile VoIP company out of the Netherlands, has released a mobile client that not only allows users to conduct VoIP calls, but to engage in IM conversations and share media such as photos, music and video. Nimbuzz, which claims to have received an undisclosed amount of funding from Skype’s original investors, Mangrove Capital Partners, seeks to utilize cellular data networks and provide users with an inclusive application for mobile IM and SMS communication.

With this service, Nimbuzz enters a market already dominated by established mobile VoIP clients Fring and TruPhone. Fring, like Nimbuzz, incorporates IM capability with multiple IM networks and VoIP calls. TruPhone allows you to make VoIP calls to TruPhone users and traditional phones, without the IM features of Fring and Nimbuzz. Back in January of 2007, we covered Nimbuzz and criticized the service for offering cumbersome (although cheap) VoIP-on-mobile minutes. With the addition of the desktop clients, social widgets and IM, however, Nimbuzz is a much more features-packed option. Continue »

The iPhone’s ability to switch seamlessly between Wi-Fi networks and AT&T’s EDGE network with minimal mucking around by the user still remains unmatched. If you’re using one of Nokia’s increasing number of Wi-Fi enabled phones, the experience is the opposite: painful. Unless you permanently set a preference in each individual application, you’re annoyingly prompted to select a network whenever a program tries to access the Internet.

Nokia is still grappling with this problem. The good news is that there’s a fix: Psiloc Connect. Psiloc Connect works by creating a new Access Point on your S60 device. By pointing any application to the Psiloc AP, you can set your preferences so Psiloc will attempt to connect through Wi-Fi, then will try your cellular data connection next, whether it be 3G, EDGE or GPRS. In other words, with Psiloc, you can let the phone choose the fastest data network available. It will set you back about $16, which isn’t cheap — but I think it’s worth owning.

SlingPlayer Mobile has announced updates for their clients on Windows Mobile and Symbian S60 smartphones. The new SlingPlayer client adds support for additional handsets including the Nokia N95 8GB, Samsung i750 and Treo 500v, among others. The new clients support Sling’s newly released set-top boxes as well.

SlingPlayer Mobile is a mobile extension of the SlingPlayer service; it allows users to view content from and control their home television from their mobile phone. The upgrade to the new version is free if you already own SlingPlayer Mobile, otherwise the client can be had for a $30.

Updated: Whisher has sent this special offer to our readers. They are giving away WiFi Out credit to GigaOM readers, and you can get the details here. The deal allows you to get free WiFi at Starbucks, Hilton Hotels, International airports and other locations.

Whisher, which provides access to Wi-Fi hotspots around the world in exchange for access on users’ own home or business networks, has unveiled a client that allows access to its hotspots on Nokia Symbian (N81, N82 or E61) phones. The move is a smart extension of Whisher’s service offering; Nokia has been including Wi-Fi chipsets in many of its smartphones and has built a strong market share.

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Jeff Pulver said today that he has resigned from the board of Pulvermedia, the company he founded. Pulver is a pioneer in the VoIP world and Pulvermedia — the company behind the VON conferences and magazine — has been a rallying point in the VoIP community.

As Om reported last month, rumors have been swirling recently that Pulvermedia was being shut down. TICC Capitol Group, which invested $11 million in Pulvermedia last summer, had expressed concern over its financial state and seized control the company’s bank accounts. It was believed that Pulvermedia and senior management was trying to make moves to stabilize the company, and Pulver leaving at this stage in the game is not a good sign.

Who knows what the state of Internet telephony would be without Pulver’s accomplishments. There are no details yet as to where he’ll land next, but I’m sure he’ll have something exciting coming down the pike soon.

(full disclosure: Our columnist Daniel Berninger is a long-time business associate of Jeff Pulver’s.)