In his recent mobile browser comparison article, Steve recommended that Symbian^3 (N8, C7, C6-01) users consider switching to the Opera Mobile 10.1 browser, for an improved mobile browsing experience. However, hyperlinks within other applications (e.g. in an email) will still open in the default Web application. But there is a setting that allows you to change this behaviour - effectively changing the default browser on Symbian. In this article we explain where to find the settings and note some of the caveats you should be aware of before using it. This can be used on all Symbian^3 devices and most Symbian^1 devices.
It has become something of a cliche in the reviewing world that the web browser currently in S60 3rd, 5th Edition and Symbian^3 handsets isn't coping well with some of the big real world web sites that reviewers hit it with. To be fair, and I comment more on this below, some of this is a case of moving goalposts - 2009 and 2010 has seen some horrifically inefficient web sites appear - so a browser which worked well on 2008 sites is now struggling when hit by multi-megabyte monstrosities from 2010. In this feature I compare the three leading browsers for Symbian against Safari in the iPhone 4 and a cutting edge Android 2.2 browser installation - is the current Symbian browser as bad as it's made out and is Opera Mobile a better bet?
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.
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...
Last week Nokia announced a focus on Qt as its sole developer framework across both MeeGo and Symbian and that Symbian would move to a continuous improvement model, with Nokia building future applications and user interface in Qt. Developers were promised that there would be no binary compatibility break and consumers were told that many future improvements would be compatible with, and available for, existing Symbian^3 devices. In this feature article we look at some of the technical details, which explain how some of this will work.
Navteq were present at Nokia World 2010, with one of their GeoData collection cars taking centre stage. They were also showing a promotional video of their LIDAR based 3D data collection system. Also on display was the first showing of a mobile client to actually make use of Navteq's 3D street maps, running on the Maemo-powered Nokia N900. Read on for more details and a demonstration video.
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.
With the upswing of developer interest in the new Symbian^3 platform, one of the questions that might be lingering in their minds is “what could I write for Symbian?” With all the promise of millions of devices and a perceived empty application store, what titles and areas should a developer concentrate on to make a big splash in the market?
On show at Nokia World 2010 were several exciting examples of future technology. One of those was a research project brought from Nokia's Beijing research and development labs. Named "Plug and Touch", it's an application which can turn any type of visual display (TV or projector) into a Symbian-powered touch screen display. Click through to read our commentary and see the demonstration video.
