Two-box solution or one? Symbian/iPad versus the Galaxy Note

12 years ago, I remember demonstrating to a packed room of enthusiasts to delights of pairing up my Psion palmtop with the Ericsson SH888 (titanium, indestructible), which possessed an infrared modem, meaning that I could get my palmtop online at a whopping 9.6kbps via Circuit Switched Data (this was before GPRS!) It was a working two box communications solution and it's with a certain nostalgia that I remember it as I look a modern 'two box' solution. How do the pros and cons of splitting one's electronics work out in practice?

App and game selection: a cross section through my Nokia N8

It's one of the most loved geek games of all - peeking at someone else's smartphone to see how they've got it configured. Usually prompting either "What a newb!" or "Ooo, where did you get that?" With my Nokia N8 now equipped to the maximum just ahead of the imminent Belle update (which will change things around significantly), I thought this might be an opportune time for you to peek at the applications that I, personally, have installed on the N8 that has been with me through thick and thin for the last 15 months. 

Top 30 freeware for Symbian smartphones

Kicking off 2012 in a positive way, and heavily updated from the original feature, I've compiled a latest 'top 30 freeware' for all Symbian^3 smartphones. Excluding games, which tend to be a very personal taste (though there are some great free games too, if you look around). Hopefully this article is a great reference to point new Symbian users to, with everything from small utilities to major applications. And free, free, free.... Right, on with the roll call!

How to: Get your Gmail through Nokia Email on your S60 3rd Edition smartphone

With Google withdrawing its Java-based Gmail client from general circulation and with no guarantees that it'll carry on working, many S60 3rd Edition phone owners will be looking at other ways of getting their Gmail fix. The most obvious solution is one that many of us have avoided for several years, with memories of the first few iterations of Nokia Email (née Messaging) still shrieking horrors in our minds. But, with a few caveats, Nokia Email now works surprisingly well - it's certainly worth giving it another chance. Here's a walkthrough and a few tips/pointers.

The mystery of the missing album art

For years Symbian users have suffered an irritating problem with their music collections. By that I don’t mean buying Eurovision entries in moments of madness! Rather, it’s been our missing MP3 album art. Nobody has found a definitive pattern or a universal solution - until now. After some tinkering, I found the solution was related to different versions of the MP3 ID3 tag standard. It isn’t that difficult to fix either, as I’ll explain in this guide.

Symbian with the Linux desktop in 2011

Two years ago, I wrote about living with Linux and S60. Since then the world has moved further toward platform agnostic cloud services. This has made using Symbian Anna and Belle in a cross platform environment easier than ever. In this guide we’ll take a look at how to take advantage of the cloud and USB mass storage in conjunction with the Linux desktop.

How to: Speed your way around applications in Symbian Belle

Most of us have grown up with Symbian. Specifically, in the last five years, we've grown up with S60. Meaning a 'Menu' system of application shortcuts, neatly arranged into folders (a system that iOS and Android are only just now adopting - but that's a rant for another day), plus a homescreen system offering some live info and a handful of favourite shortcuts. Symbian^3 enhanced this by adding extra homescreens, but we now have Symbian Belle coming with a possible six homescreens and no application folders - how does this affect how we use our devices to best effect?

A NFC (Near Field Communications) primer

NFC, widely touted to be one of the 'next big things' is here already in the Nokia C7, Google Nexus S and Blackberry Bold 9900, plus all the new Symbian Belle handsets have it built-in and other manufacturers and platforms are sure to follow. But what actually is Near Field Communications and how does it work? What can you do with it right now and what will it enable in the future? Here's a bookmark-able primer that should answer all your questions.

Voice recognition and control on a budget - and all the things which can go wrong!

We've all been impressed by Apple's launch of their 'Siri' voice interrogation technology in the new iPhone 4S. But it should be borne in mind that something along the same lines (though admittedly nowhere near as adaptable) has been possible for ages on Symbian, even on extreme budget hardware. Just as a reminder, and with some comments on whether this is the way forward for smartphones generally, here's a demo of the free Vlingo in action on an old S60 3rd Edition handset.

How to: Move your information in Handy Safe Pro from Symbian over to Windows Phone

One of the longest serving 'stars' in the Symbian software firmament has been Handy Safe Pro, working on every device from 2004 up to the present day. It's an encrypted database, of course, a way of keeping all your PINs, passwords, logins, reference numbers and much more, all safe from prying eyes. One key feature is that every entry can have a note and this can often run to dozens of extra lines. Which makes the tool very flexible, but how to get all of this information over to a new smartphone on another mobile platform? In this case, Windows Phone?

Contact link gathering and five other things Nokia need to fix in Social Networking

I've tried to like Nokia Social over the last 12 months, I really have. And in attempting to document how to use it effectively in the light of other, more capable, contact-social schemes like in Windows Phone Mango, I keep coming up against limitations and annoyances which should really have been addressed by now. At the risk of stating the obvious, here's Social's limited take on contact integration, my constructive comments, and five other things that should definitely be on the Nokia Social team's to-do list.

Gravity - the Facebook client you didn't know you had

We all know and love Gravity as a Twitter client par excellence - and most of us probably had an idea that it could 'do' Facebook too. But, following my look at the top standalone Facebook clients, I was curious as to how far Gravity went, in terms of covering the same functionality. Surprisingly far, as it turns out, though there are still Facebook core functions which you'll need a separate client for. Read on for my walkthrough and summary.

How to: Take better videos on your smartphone

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.

Lateral thinking: a dozen uses for your phone's camera that you might not have thought of!

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!

Pimping the Nokia X6 - taking it well into 2011

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.

Monetising your applications: Part three - Supporting your apps with adverts

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.

Anatomy of a camera-phone photo

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.

Summary of Symbian content sharing

Sharing content from a Symbian phone has never been a straightforward process. It was streamlined thanks to PixelPipe's Send and Share application, which integrated into Symbian's native Send menu. Pixelpipe can simultaneously post to a vast range of services. Unfortunately, that application is no longer available, even though the service is still available via email uploading. Therefore, here is a round up of the other options for Symbian sharing. Read on to see how the All About Symbian team push content from our phones.

A taste of Anna and 2011 Maps - on the N97

Pimping the Nokia N86 8MP

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.