Watching the feeds and blog sites in the last week would get a hypochondriac very worried, as multiple sites are reporting a “dangerous and new threat” from touchscreen smartphones, specifically that there are highly infectious virii being transmitted by sharing phones (stories like ”The Ultimate Bacteria Carrier” being typical). Really? You know, a bit of research and some common sense proves exactly the opposite. If you want to read more than the first paragraph, that is.
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'....
So..... Xenon flash is back in fashion (thank goodness) and we have several top end smartphones with decent cameras and decent overall specifications. Having now been using the Nokia N8 for two weeks, I wanted to pitch it at the Motorola XT720, its exact counterpart in the Android world. Which device wins out overall in terms of specifications, usability, software and results? Here's my latest best-of-Symbian versus best-of-Android 'head to head'!
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.
It's all very well having a Nokia-prepared selection of widgets (CNN, Accuweather, Mail, Social, etc.) to put on your N8 (or N97, C6) homescreen. But what if you want a web site or service that has no widget currently available in the Ovi Store? Here's my guide, for Symbian beginners, to getting all these other Internet resources on your smartphone's homescreen.
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.
“Follow the money.” It’s a slogan that’s true in pretty much any walk of life, including the mobile world. If developers are keeping this rule in mind, then the recent announcements regarding purchases and payments in the Ovi Store should have them very excited. What’s on offer is by far the best deal for developers in terms of major App Stores.
One of the challenges of the 2010 and 2011 smartphone is that being online is not just about email and web anymore. There's a complete social awareness of what your friends and family are up to, of breaking news, with complete interactivity in terms of everybody commenting on, and replying to, each other's updates. Plus these social networks have their own 'Inbox', meaning that for many people the social environment is their primary online interaction. Up until now, social on Symbian has largely meant third party apps and clunky widgets. But on top of Symbian^3 on their new devices, Nokia has implemented some fairly comprehensive social networking integration. Let me walk you through how it works, while David reports with some more background from a chat he had at Nokia World with the Social team.
At the beginning of September, the four Symbian Councils (Features and Roadmap, UI, Architecture and Release) held their latest face to face meetings. The usual range of activities were carried out, examination, review of and voting on contribution proposals, assessment of the hardening of Symbian^3 and feature complete date for Symbian^4, and much more. Also of interest was the proposal to change the naming of Symbian releases. This will see the introduction of minor release numbers.
