I've traced the N8's heritage in terms of camera-toting smartphone design before. What I wanted to look at here was the improvement in sensors through the main three models, the N82, N86 and N8. Allowing for raw resolution improvements, how much better (over the N82) are the N86's - and then the N8's - images - can the evolution be easily illustrated? Putting each to a number of tests, I conclude that the N8's sensor and electronics are indeed of higher quality, even after discounting the resolution improvements. Who knew?(!)
By popular request, here are my tips on shooting better videos on your smartphone. If you've been to an event, whipped out your phone and been disappointed later by blurry, jerky, muffled, badly lit footage, then these tips are for you! From light to movement to mundane practicalities, it's all covered below.
Taking a photo of that family member, friend or scene is the obvious function of your smartphone camera. But a little lateral thinking sees quite a few extra uses for this equipment - your phone camera isn't just for Christmas (and holidays), you know. See if any of these examples ring true in your experience... Can anyone remember life before we all had cameras with us 24/7? Me neither!
You know, I'd got heartily fed up of explaining to all and sundry why the 'FM transmitter' in my Nokia smartphone was so insanely great. Not because my enthusiasm for the feature was waning - far from it. But because just about everyone heard the 'FM' bit and switched their brain off - surely it had to be a radio receiver, as featured in just about every phone since 2004? "No, no, no!" I would exclaim - "it's the exact opposite!" If you, too, are still confused then you might like to read on - it seems that Nokia has finally put an end to the confusion by renaming the feature. Thankfully!
Here's how to get a Symbian smartphone that's useable and competitive, in terms of hardware and software, in 2011 for significantly under £100. Perhaps the last S60 5th Edition smartphone to receive the 'Pimping' treatment from me, the X6 still has lots to recommend it, with insanely good speakers, a capacitive touchscreen, bright display, long lived and replaceable battery and a decent 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss-lensed auto-focus camera, here with dual LED flash. You can now pick up the X6 second hand or in fire sales for less than £100, making it a real bargain. Here's how to pimp it for 2011.
Continuing our look at making money from developing applications for Symbian, the third part of our series (supported by inneractive, and following up from parts one and two) takes a look at using in-app advertising. From the decision to use advertising and the choices to make at the design process, to choosing an advertising partner to get the best potential income, the rise of in-app advertising makes this a powerful choice to monetise your hard work.
It's official. I'm a camera phone junkie. Well, actually, I'm a convergence junkie, but adding in camera and camcorder is such a huge slice of daily functionality that I just can't keep away. And, in this context, I find myself alternating between the two and a half year old Nokia N86 and the newer (around a year old) N8, the latter the undisputed camera phone king and the former still a contender with the very top units on other mobile OS. Unable to make my mind up, I thought a breakdown of the strengths and weaknesses of the touch-based device and the d-pad based phones might be useful. In what areas does the non-touch device still shine and can it match the class of 2011?
It might not tell you what to eat, where to go, or the right way to power-walk, but your smartphone is a great tool to keep track of what you're up to if you're on a bit of a health and fitness kick... as I've been since July. How's the E7 helping? Let's find out.
It's all very well me posting the odd snap onto Twitter and occasionally writing a generic 'how to' for All About Symbian. But I thought it might be instructive to take a few photos from my three current Symbian smartphones, taken in the last week, one from each, and put you inside my head, hearing my thought processes as I snapped the shot and looking at any important settings changes or physical setup that were required. At the very least, some of the same ideas might help you when you venture out into the real world, whichever camera-toting smartphone you own.
In a somewhat extreme experiment I went away for a long weekend. And only took one mobile device with me. One. No laptop, no tablet, just the Nokia E7. OK, it was going to be the E6, but my patience with that only lasted a few hours. The E7 though, famously flawed, hopefully still had enough star quality with that lovely screen and keyboard and promised to at least give me a stab at doing everything I wanted to do. And you know me, Mr Convergence. Here's my report on the lofty highs and the deep lows of owning a Nokia E7.
