Latest News Headlines
Top Story: A first look at WebSDK from Sony Ericsson
Sony Ericsson’s WebSDK offers developers the opportunity to deploy web applications, that access some phone features, to both Satio and the X10. If you’re already creating web applications, does WebSDK offer new opportunities or simply more frustration from yet another set of APIs. Read on to find out.
Top Story: Nokia's masterplan for 2010 and beyond (Capital Markets Day)
At its annual Capital Markets Day, Nokia has laid out its masterplan for 2010 and beyond. Extracts from the full press release are reproduced below (there are several nuggets of interest) and Rafe and Ewan weigh in with a few comments of their own. None of them will come as a suprise to regular readers, but it is good to see Nokia laying out a framework for the next 12 months.
Top Story: To Touch or Not To Touch - the Christmas 2009 edition
Returning to a familiar theme but with a new twist, I caught myself doing something rather silly and rather telling. Reprising the pros and cons of touchscreen phones in the face of almost universal acceptance, seemingly, it does rather seem as though a tipping point has been reached. Read on for my Dec 2009 thoughts on 'Touch vs non-Touch'...
Opera update Mini and Mobile with Sync and Downloads
Opera continues to improve on the recent first beta release of Opera Mini 5 (Java) and Opera Mobile 10 (native C++) for Symbian OS. Beta two sees numerous bug fixes, and the addition of a Download manager and Opera Link - which allows you to sync your bookmarks and browser settings to other Opera installations on your desktop or second smartphones. Point your phone's browser at m.opera.com/next for the new version.
Google Maps 3.3 syncs your favourites and starred places
Google Maps for Symbian just got updated to v3.3, with direct syncing support for your 'starred' places (to the full Web version of Google Maps). In addition, on the first sync, your Nokia/Ovi Maps favourites also get uploaded. You can get v3.3 by going to m.google.com in Web on your phone. There are a couple of screenshots after the break.
Quickoffice Premier video tutorials
There's a handy new set of video tutorials for Quickoffice Premier 6.0 over on the main Quickoffice site, including 'Editing spreadsheets', 'Editing cells', 'Formatting spreadsheets' and 'Editing Word documents'. The content is a little clumsy in places because of the need to apply to both touch and d-pad-driven interfaces, but it's still well worth a look. And Quickoffice's perennial half-price offer still seems applicable - if you don't see it, try bringing up the page from a different PC or IP address.
The E75 gets a next-gen update to v201.12.01
It has been a long time coming, but the Nokia E75 has now had its first major firmware update, to v201.12.01 (from v110.x). There are new features and a mountain of bug fixes and optimisations - it's an impressive update and I've included a summarised changelog below. It's a 153MB update via NSU and isn't available yet 'over the air' in the UK, possibly because it involves so many changes. Comments welcome on availability in your country.
"Is the rest of the world enough for Nokia?" asks Om Malik?
A fun discussion with Om Malik and Nokia's Services EVP Tero Ojanpera has been posted on GigaOm. Malik rightly points out that, given his previous coverage, this wasn't going to be a chat over tea and cream cakes for the Finn. Still, it's a good sign that it did happen. My comments below.
Qt 4.6 released - Symbian and Maemo support
Qt 4.6 was released by Nokia this morning. This is the first full release version of Qt to natively support Symbian and Maemo 6. Also released today is the second technology preview for Maemo 5, which enables (partial) common development between Maemo and Symbian for the first time. Additionally a technology preview of new Qt APIs, from the Qt Mobility project, has been released; these cross-platform APIs provide common mobile related functionality such as location, contacts, messaging and bearer management.
Free Symbian Developer Bootcamp in London next month
Symbian and Orange are teaming up in the 'Symbian Developer BootCamp' in London on January 13th 2010. This is completely free and is "the ideal place to gain insight and hands-on experience with the Symbian Mobile Platform, leveraging our Runtime tools including Web, Adobe Flash Lite, Python, and QT". Intriguingly, they "will also have a limited number of Symbian devices to give away, these will be distributed on a first come, first served basis." Wonder how long those will last!
Nokia alleges price-fixing in LCD markets
Nokia have filed suit in San Francisco against a number of LCD manufacturers (including Samsung and LG) claiming they colluded to fix pricing on LCD panels (reports Bloomberg). In Nokia's words “the liquid crystal displays were incorporated into Nokia mobile wireless handsets... [and] artificially inflated the price of liquid crystal displays ultimately incorporated into LCD products purchased by Nokia, causing Nokia to pay higher prices.”
Another vote for a two-box solution.... and JoikuSpot
As I observed almost a year ago, the pairing of a Symbian smartphone and an Apple iPod Touch makes a huge amount of sense in terms of their complimentary strengths. And now Mike Macias is rightly making similar observations, pointing out that the Nokia E71 armed with JoikuSpot (for sharing its data connection via Wi-Fi) makes a perfect partner for the latest 2G iPod Touch. The best of both worlds? Food for thought, at least!
iSearch Widget helps users into mobile search
iSearch is a delightful little widget for touchscreen S60 smartphones. It provides a very simple function – to take a search term from the user and direct it to one of many search engines online to help you find whatever you're looking for. Now you might think that this is the job of your bookmarks page, rather than an external application, and if you are a l33t power hacker then you'd be right. But iSearch is for everyone else, reckons Ewan.
Take the hit, steal the march - Ovi Maps Navigation should go free NOW
The times, they are, as the bard quoth, a changin' - Google Maps Navigation now provides free turn by turn voice instructions on Android-powered phones in the USA, and it's only a matter of time before the licensing restrictions and map rollouts get sorted for real time navigation in many other countries. And all for free. But this still leaves a window of opportunity for Nokia to step in and change this landscape in an even bigger way - right now. And sell a truckload of phones in the process, worldwide. Read on for my thoughts.
Pocketgamer pitches ino the piracy debate
UK Gaming site Pocket Gamer has delivered a well thought out and researched piece about piracy and online content. While primarily about gaming and the new rush for downloadable content, the landscape is remarkably similar to the software markets for smartphones. Looking at all angles, the final statement "...whatever excuses any of us have employed for justifying a pirated game are well and truly dead." is one that we'd stand by here, but it covers some new ground in the world of App Stores, current estimated levels of piracy and public opinion.
N97 mini iSync available, but not official
For anyone else waiting for an iSync plug-in for the Nokia N97 mini, to enable Mac syncing, note that Jim @ Worded Wonders has produced one, currently best described as in alpha status, see his blog post about it here. Comments welcome if you've got time to try this today. Of course, if Nokia could just put in 10 minutes effort and do an official one....
Is there an answer to the fractured app store?
There is a lottery whenever you download an application for your Symbian Samrtphone. I don't mean the lottery of whether you'll be able to re-download the app (although that can still be a concern); I don't mean the lottery of getting the right platform variation in terms of 3rd or 5th Edition or something even older (although that can be a concern as well); nor am I thinking about the “will the security certificate still be in date” when I install the app (seriously – who thought that expiring apps would be a good idea?)
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Symbian Software
TIP: Check out our feature article on recommended software for some of the best commercial software available for your phone.
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Keep all your private information secure, good looking, easy to use and manage on your smartphone.Ultimate Anesthesia Quick Reference (AnesQR™)
It provides causes & treatments for perioperative events & is a resource for commonly encountered perioperative issuesSTSCardiac™
It is designed to assist physicians and other health care providers in clinical decision-making by describing a range of generally acceptable approaches for the diagnosis.Cardiology Intensive Board Review Question Book
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It contains key clinical essentials you need to care for patients with a wide variety of medical problems in a range of healthcare settingMobiaccess Development Framework 3.1 Demo
Mobiaccess Developer Framework enables developers to easily create mobile applications for data collection without extensive knowledge on mobile development.
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