Nokia Belle brought with it a massive change in the look of Symbian, and introduced much less constrained widgets to fill even more homescreens than before. The built-in widgets are not the limit of its flexibility though. There are many applications that can greatly add to the functionality of the Nokia Belle homescreen. In this guide, I take a look at how you can extend the widget set to make the most of your brand new Nokia Belle homescreens.
Like most of you, I upgraded my Nokia N8 to Belle as soon as it was available. And hit a number of small (and not so small) issues. I realise that this won't cover the full scope of items that others may have run across, but hopefully some of the topics below may help somebody, from working out whether you've got new email to getting a more responsive UI.
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?
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
