Cloud Computing is, of course, the new big thing. At least if you listen to the Silicon Valley crowd. And, being an advocate of Google Mail, Google Documents and Dropbox, I seem to have moved much of my own workflow into The Cloud too. But that's mainly from the desktop, i.e. with access primarily from a big-screened, broadband-connected computer. To what extent is The Cloud relevant to smartphones, what are the pros and cons, and in what state is Symbian access to this new world of online data and services?
This is the biggest and most comprehensive - and last - in my series of "Pimping" features - for S60 3rd Edition smartphones. And as such, I've saved the best until last, as they say. The Nokia N86 featured here is one of my all time favourite phones and the ultimate incarnation of the original N95 dual slide concept. Just read the list of unique selling points below and you'll see what I mean. Can the N86 still 'cut it' in 2011? It depends what your smartphone needs are, to be sure. Certainly it's a great second hand bargain these days and hopefully this feature will show any new users some tricks and tips for setting it up.
Guest author Nick Anstee here. I'm on the crossroads of deciding whether to continue with Nokia devices or make the transition/leap to Android - I like the idea of using Google for Contacts and Calendar, etc. But before making the transition to Android I thought it prudent to take a few minutes to properly analyse and consider what I would need to replace in an Android world, at the same time it made me think just how amazingly efficient the Symbian homescreen really is. As my current device is a Nokia N97 (classic), there is only one homescreen, so it is important to extract maximum functionality out of every ounce of the screen real estate. I believe I've done this and hoped readers here might be interested in how I've set things up.
What's set the world alight after the Apple Developer's Conference keynote yesterday? That's right, all the Android users complaining that the new features in iOS are lifted from their favourite phone. To which I say "stamp your card N95 and join the club." But the traction in tech circles so far seems to be iMessages, Apple's proprietary instant messaging system that will be part of the latest firmware.
Something caught my eye with the new Symbian client for LinkedIn last month. Partly it was "ooh, a Web 2.0 site has decided to release a Symbian version, we need more of those", but given the business nature of LinkedIn I don't think this is a huge surprise. No, what got me was that the application felt horribly familiar. Yes it's nicely polished, has all the functionality that you would expect, but something about it seemed to echo in my brain. This was a new app, but it felt as old as the digital superhighway.
Maximising battery life has been important for all smartphones since time began (2002!) With the Symbian^3-powered Nokia E7 and N8, both with slightly underwhelming battery capacity and no easy way for a user to swap cells, it has become an all-consuming, critical obsession. Which is why we're doing everything we can to help you eke out the milliamp hours... In extreme cases, by implementing all of the dozen measures detailed here, you can even double the battery life of your device - I did!
I know, I know, I promised to go quiet on the subject of EDoF for a while - but I was out and about in glorious weather with the Nokia E7 and Samsung Galaxy S II (recently named the no. 1 smartphone in the world in Phones Show 140) in my pocket - and I couldn't resist a direct comparison. Both units have cameras of similar size and resolution - the E7 has EDoF and the SGS II auto-focus, but I wasn't majoring on macros shots here - more on raw performance. Full images are shown and available below - which do you think are best? How does the business-focussed E7's camera fare?
Carrying on with my look at the Windows Phone system while attending the Blog World New York conference, it's time to turn my eye to something that's becoming more important to every smartphone platform - the interaction with social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Can you keep up with your online presence on Windows Phone, and what impact does this have on the rest of your day with the latest smartphone?
Nokia Messaging (/'Email') as a server-side push system works very well when it works. But what happens when, as for me, it's completely and utterly broken? On recent devices, you can simply 'decline' the terms of service at set-up time and IMAP access to your mailbox is used instead - problem solved. On the S60 3rd Edition phones, there's no such question screen and things are less trivial. But there is a way forward. Read on...
Tomi Ahonen, like me, has been a heavy Nokia Communicator user over the years. And so our opinions on the Nokia E7 should be pretty similar. He has just published his long term critique of the device and, in typical Tomi style, there's no holding back in terms of volume of words (so get yourself a coffee before settling down to read). While we do agree on many aspects of the E7, both good and bad, there are many, many notable criticisms made by Tomi that are well, well worth a response in the device's defense.
