I saw a demo of Nokia’s S60 Touch user interface at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona yesterday. The demo itself was running on a very generic looking tablet device attached to an emulator that was running on a PC since Nokia had no intention of showing us any future, unannounced S60 Touch hardware. It is worth noting that the mouse pointer that you might notice in the video below is from the PC, and is not going to be visible on actual S60 Touch handsets.

From my perspective, having reviewed a number of modern touch based devices, the S60 Touch emulator still appears to show that there is a lot of work yet to be done at Nokia. The demo shows that basic on-screen controls can be used with a fingertip, and that basic scrolling control and item selection work as well, but the system was not particularly responsive and didn’t handle scrolling and browser panning tasks all that well in my opinion.

Nokia has told us that the S60 Touch system, when it is being used in production devices, will be compatible with both touch and non-touch handsets. This means that developers won’t have to build two versions of their applications, as is currently the case with Windows Mobile. Nokia also said that we can expect some level of backwards compatibility, but I’m a bit leery of how much that will be the case. We already saw how S60 3rd Edition required many applications to be rebuilt to be supported by the new handsets it launched on.

In any case, have a look at the demo below. It should give you a bit of an idea as to what to expect from future Nokia devices.

The Mortgage Store Online (TMSO) announces that fixed mortgage rates for Canadian home loans have risen this week for the second time in the past two months. Rates had remained stable for just over a month, from April 21st 2007 when the last increase in rates occurred, to present.

Previous lowest rates in Canada have climbed from 5.20% to 5.44% this month. These current best rates of 5.44% can be kept by borrowers for a full 5 years.

Other fixed rates that borrowers can keep for 1 year have climbed from 5.40% to 5.45%, and rates borrower’s can keep for 3 years jumped the most, from 5.20% to 5.65%.

Fixed rates for interest-only mortgages (the lowest payment mortgage option for consumers) have climbed from 5.44% to 5.49%, and can be kept for 5 years.

So how much does this rate increase affect a Canadian borrower’s mortgage payments? Janovich, president and co-founder of TMSO answers: “For a $100,000 mortgage loan that a borrower takes 35 years to pay-off, with the new lowest rate of 5.44%, borrowers will pay $529.14/month in regular mortgage payments, when they would’ve paid $513.94/month with the previous best rate of 5.20%. So basically, it’s an increase in mortgage payments of about $15/month for every $100,000 of mortgage,” says Janovich.

Payments for interest only mortgages in Canada, with the new interest only best rate of 5.49% will give borrower’s interest-only payments of $457.50/month: up $4.17/month from payments of $453.33/month with last months interest only rate of 5.44%.

Get free current rate quotes from one of The Mortgage Store Online’s licensed mortgage agents. Just fill out the rate quote form or call (866) 880-2577.

For regular Canadian home mortgage rate updates, subscribe to our RSS feed, or visit our current rates page for accurate current mortgage rate information.

If you have questions about fixed mortgage rates or our home mortgage services, contact one of The Mortgage Store Online’s brokers by using the contact form or calling (866) 880-2577 today.

Home equity line of credit, defined

06/08/2007

A “home equity loan line of credit” is a refinance mortgage you get on your home to take an amount of equity (or ‘cash’) that’s in your home, out of your home. Then, that amount of equity is converted into a line of credit for you to draw cash from as you please.

Just like with credit cards, you are only charged interest on the amount you’ve actually used from your home equity credit line, and not on the total amount. That’s the difference between a regular home equity loan, and a ‘line of credit home equity loan:’ with a regular home equity loan that is not a line of credit, you would be charged interest on the full amount of the loan right from when you first obtained that loan.

But with a ‘line of credit’ home equity loan, you’re only charged interest on the amount you actually use out of the line of credit: making it cheaper than a regular home equity loan, and far cheaper than a credit card.

For example, with a ‘regular home equity loan’ of $10,000 - you would be charged interest on that full amount right away: so at a rate of 6%, you would start paying $63/month for that home equity loan. But, with a ‘line of credit’ home equity loan that is also $10,000 - if you only used $1,000 of that amount, you would only make payments of $6/month (yes, ’six dollars’) and you wouldn’t be charged any interest on the remaining $9,000 unless you used it.

Find out more about lines of credit & home equity mortgage loans

Talk to one of The Mortgage Store Online’s brokers or agents by using the home equity contact form, or by calling them at 1-866-880-2577. They’ll give you free information on lines of credit, and home equity mortgage loans!

Learn more about home equity loan lines of credit

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Help desk software vendors specialize in providing internal service and support solutions that automate the help desk and service desk function. Typical functionality includes call management, call tracking, knowledge management, problem resolution, remote control, and self-help capabilities.

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By using your home as collateral, you can take out a loan against the equity you have built up in your house. This is called a home equity loan, not to be confused with a home equity line of credit (HELOC). A HELOC is a line of credit that is available to use as you need it, whereas a home equity loan is one lump sum that you pay back over time. Home equity loans may have lower interest rates. A fixed rate home equity loan may save you even more money.

Home equity loans may be used for any purpose, tend to have fixed rates, and can be tax deductible. When considering the use of your home and your equity as a debt solution, you should carefully consider all your options including a second mortgage, a home equity line of credit or mortgage refinancing.

There are risks to consider when applying for a fixed rate home equity loan. The interest rate of a home equity loan may be fixed at a lower rate than that of a home equity line of credit. However, the risk in taking out a fixed rate home equity loan is greater because you’re taking out all of your home’s equity all at once. Also, if you sell your home, the entire amount of your fixed rate home equity loan becomes due. If you’ve thought about other options, and a home equity loan is right for you, start the process with a home equity loan quote.

To start a home equity loan quote with DebtHelp.com, please follow the link below to our secure online loan form.

There is no doubt about the fact that a home equity loan offers several key advantages. However there are also a multitude of home equity loan lenders out in the market today. What is the best way to choose the home equity loan that’s best for you?

Essential criteria

If you are a first time borrower of a home equity loan it is imperative that you have a checklist of essential questions that you need to ask each and every lender. The answers to these questions will provide a valuable reference to base your comparisons on.

• What’s the interest rate? Knowing this is crucial. The interest rate will determine the monthly payment you will need to make. You also need to know if the interest rate is of a fixed or adjustable nature. Fixed rate implies that the monthly payments will remain constant, while an adjustable rate implies that rates will fluctuate depending on market conditions.

• In adjustable rate, when will rates change? If your interest rate on the home equity loan is of the adjustable variety, you need to know three things: when the rate is going to change (that is under what conditions), how frequently will the rate change and what’s the average percentage by which the adjustable rate will change.

• What is the Annual Percentage Rate or APR? The APR on the home equity loan will determine the yearly payment you will need to make towards this.

• How much do I need to pay in points? Usually points are closely related to the interest rate on a home equity loan. The higher the payment in terms of points, the lower is the interest rate.

• What are the applicable fees? There are various types of fees included in a home equity loan such as appraisal fee, broker fee, document preparation fee, funding or lender fee, application or loan processing fee, underwriting or origination fee, etc. Knowing the applicable fees can help you know what to expect in the monthly statements of the home equity loan. Plus it will also help manage and plan your finances better.

• What’s the duration of payment? The time period within which you need to pay off your home equity loan will determine to a large extent the state of your current finances. Having a longer duration means that you can space out the installments better and thus save more.

• Is there a balloon payment? Many times a home equity loan will require you to only make payment towards the interest every month. Then at the end of the loan payment duration, the entire principal amount will need to be paid by you in full. This is also known as balloon payment and can significantly eat into your expenses when it comes. To avoid this, it’s best to ask the home equity loan lender if such a condition exists. This will allow you to be prepared for a financial crisis later on.

For complete and holistic information on this topic, consult the experts at Home Equity. There’s no better place to find out what you need to do. A simple click will get you ready answers! Do it now. Don’t wait for tomorrow. Talk to those who know best.

Making use of the equity

It will always be advisable to seek home equity loan using the equity in that home. You may not have built enough equity in the home, but it will be advantageous to do so because this is what lenders are looking for. The equity in the home is considered as a second or added investment in the property. This is beneficial to your application in that the more valuable your collateral, there more favorable the terms of the home equity loan.

Build equity in the home

Another shortcut to have your home equity loan approved is to use that loan for the building of more equity in that home or adding more value to the existing equity. It is more practicable that a loan can be granted for an improvement of the collateral rather than doing something else. With this in mind, it may be necessary to put forward a plan of action of your intended investment to the lender. Most lenders will want to see it. They may at times want to disburse the funds in relation to the progress of the work. It therefore becomes necessary to give them a detail plan of carrying out the work.

Communicate positively to the lender

It is not always good to base your mind on the home equity loan. It may at time be necessary to see into the livelihood of your property. Therefore, make sure you disclose everything that might negatively affect the property. Take note that some lenders are very smart. Any failure to make such disclosure may still be detectable by them.

While persistently searching, be patient

Be unrelenting in your search. Do a lot of research through a variety of home equity loan officers. While doing your search, be patient to get the outcome. Do not attempt to influence the outcome of the decision. This is one of the principal causes of the rejection of most home equity loan applications. I think any rapid results ought to be based on the contents of your application.

Check for hidden corners

There are certain hidden corners when making an application for home equity loan. If you are too concerned with getting the loan, you may not be able to make out these things. Check if there are current fees related to the application. Do not base your mind on the actual amount of rates. Focus on the entire price tag on that home equity loan. Also check for the loan features. Take note that the more elastic the loan, the more you make yourself liable to higher rates.

If you are still in doubts, do not hesitate to visit the link below for more information as we as the expert in this area could give you good advice.

Are you in search of additional tips on using your home equity to seek a loan? Visit Home Equity Loan or get FREE Home Equity Loan information now.