Over on the Nokia Conversations blog, they’ve looked at the history of their “Snake” game. Right from the first bundled version on the Nokia 6110 handset through to Vanixon’s Snake game on the Ovi Store. It’s a nice article that I suspect gets to where the author wanted (i.e. let’s link to a game on the Store) but really does show just how much Nokia’s eye is no longer on the Snake. When you look closer, the winding path of the snake seems to follow Nokia's smartphone strategy.
The current wave of all-singing, all dancing capacitive touchscreen Symbian phones have their attractions, surely. But we shouldn't write off some of the classic S60 3rd Edition FP2 phones, some of which still have world beating characteristics and, with a little tweaking here and there, make a smartphone to be reckoned with. As evidence of this, here's the latest in my 'Pimping' series of tutorials: Pimping the Nokia E55. As you might expect, virtually all of this also applies to its sister device, the E52.
A smartphone with a dead battery isn't very smart, I think we'd all agree. Constantly overlooked by many of the world's smartphone manufacturers, battery capacity and the efficiency with which it is used is often shoved to the back of the priority pile, behind exciting bullet points like 1GHz processors and 4.3" screens. In this feature, I quote an old rant and embellish the point, before launching into a passionate plea to the guys behind Nokia Social Networking - and then, for fun, I list my top 5 battery champions of the Symbian smartphone world in the last 10 years.
I've written before about most people only needing a handful of really good applications on their smartphone, but I've also cheerfully acknowledged that it's good to have a reasonable choice as well. Having watched Nokia's Download! get neglected and then Apple's iPhone App Store grow, with Nokia's new Ovi Store also now reasonable mature, it occurs to me that the latter is now at something of an optimal size and growth rate. Which is all the more reason why Nokia need to pay attention to some of the other expectations and gripes from their Ovi Store users...
You'll remember from three months ago that I explored, in some depth, peoples' various definitions of what makes a phone a 'smartphone'. I also tested some of these with a concrete example. Musing on the apparent huge divide between the excellent and dismissive reviews of the Nokia N8, it hit me that one of the original tenets of smartphone-ness is utterly personified in the N8 and yet almost totally ignored by tech-mainstream reviewers. They are indeed working to a totally different definition of the word - and this split in meaning for this now oh-so-common word threatens to not only confuse the casual reader but also split the smartphone world apart. Can't we bring the best of each world together and give peace a chance?
Let me introduce you to guest writer Tony Butler, a long time AAS reader and, as it turns out, a first class wordsmith too. Like me, he has been fighting to balance the innate gadget lust that all of us secretly harbor with common sense - admitting that the current smartphone we own actually works pretty well. Grab a coffee and read on - I guarantee that some of his musings will strike a chord with many reading this - and may well help save you a few pennies by staving off the dreaded 'lust'....
Considering starting Qt development for Symbian? Well if you are there is an interesting series of blog posts over on Symbian.org that’s worth checking out. The final part is due to be posted today, probably by the time you read this post. In four relatively short posts, Salvatore Rinaldo takes you from installation of the Nokia Qt SDK, though the development of a web browser app to the installation of the app on a Symbian phone.
In case you missed it, there was another 'seven' in the mobile world yesterday to go alongside the shipping of the C7. Microsoft unveiled their new mobile OS and platform, Windows Phone 7. The fireworks are out in celebration as what is essentially a new platform with zero market share attempts (yet again) to take over the world.
With the Nokia N8 finally here, there are a lot of people thinking “finally, it’s been shipped!” And a lot more now wondering how long till the E7 makes its way into the stores. Is there any rhyme or reason to the gap between announcing and shipping a phone for Nokia? And how do they compare to other manufacturers? I decided to have a look around.
