The GSM Association has announced the winners of the Asia Mobile Awards 2009, with the Nokia N97 mini walking away with the only hardware award, that of 'Best Mobile Handset'. It has been a good month for the 'mini' - you may remember it was named no. 1 in my Phones Show Autumn 2009 'Top 5' as well. And, I suspect, there are a few more awards to come from various corners. Watch this space.
I've now used most of the major smartphone application stores now and have, at last, worked out where they're all going wrong. You see, Apple get stick for applying a little editorial censure and not allowing every app submitted to make it into the live App Store. But what we need is for Apple - and Nokia - and Google - and Microsoft - and Samsung, Sony Ericsson and the other pretenders - to get dramatically more heavy handed. Read on.
An arcade game – and and ol' fashioned up-the-screen 2D shoot-em-up at that. On a touch screen. Surely this is as big a folly as “Can you fly the Spruce Goose across the Atlantic?” So onto Skyforce Reloaded, the almost franchise-like arcade game that's on every mobile platform, and which now makes its way to S60 5th Editon. But how does it work on devices like the 5800, which have no physical keys? Find out in Ewan's review.
CellPhoneSoft, UIQ specialists until a year or so ago, have launched their new flagship title for S60. Swiss Manager Pro 3.0 is a 'task manager, system information tool and file manager in one' (I've pasted the feature list below, along with a screenshot). It also includes a 'memory cleanup function' which sounds interesting. Comments welcome if you've tried this and/or want to review it formally for AAS(!)
Our very own Rafe has been caught on camera yet again - this time with Brad Rees (MediaCells) and Micky (NokiaUsers.net), talking about their thoughts of the The Way We Live Next 3.0 event, held in Espoo, Finland on the 10-11 November. I've embedded the 6 minute video below, but here's the YouTube link as well.
Nokia has (allegedly) officially spoken up (albeit at a Maemo-only event) about its plans for Maemo to take over new Nseries models by 2012, reports Ben Smith over at TRMP. According to the Nokia representatives at the event, although further Nseries Symbian-powered smartphones will appear in the meantime, it seems that after 2012, Symbian OS will power the new Xseries and Eseries smartphones and Maemo 5 will power the eye-candy-heavy Nseries top end. Of course, IF that is to happen, there's an awful lot of work needed by the Maemo team - watch for our analysis here both on All About Symbian and All About Maemo. Updated: Nokia official statement on the report below.
As well as switching on SMS support for Twitter users in the UK (and joining Vodafone and O2 in supporting the service), Orange have added their own little twist into the mix by allowing pictures taken on your smartphone to be shared on the micro-blogging service via MMS.
They said I was mad to try attempting this review mini-series. But I've done it. Phew! In part 1 of my review of the Nokia N97 (v20) and Nokia N97 mini, I looked at the hardware, design and build quality. In part 2, I looked at the OS, The Interface, The Apps. Now, in this, the final review part, I look at the N97/N97 mini's camera and multimedia performance - and then I wrap up with my verdict of both devices.
The Marble rolling game genre isn't new to Symbian OS, but rarely has it been done better than here, in MicroMaze for S60 5th Edition, reviewed by Ewan. 80 plus levels over six different rolling surfaces and with bridges, barriers and trap doors to avoid, this is a smooth action casual game that you'll be playing for quite a while.
Cherry picking Flickr photos taken on a particular phone has been a popular pastime for a while, but Nokia's official 'Conversations' team has been so impressed by results from their N86 on the popular photo-sharing site that they've started a weekly 'best of' roundup. No idea whether the ecosystem will be able to keep up this sort of quality, but check out the first photo set and be prepared to view the N86 in a new light.
The title's not mine, it belongs to Robert Hall who, in his blog, makes the interesting observation (and one which in a way complements my own 'Three apps on my smartphone' piece from last month) that the more add-on apps considered important for a device, the more the admission that the software on the device itself can't be that complete. Us, jealous of the iPhone App Store? Possibly, but Robert does make a thought-provoking point.
If your smartphone is all about personalisation, why is it that we are left with the manufacturer's default choice of applications in the firmware? Years ago you checked the memory size and radio frequencies, now it's interrogating the firmware load-out. It's a given that no matter what Symbian OS product comes out, there are caveats in the review as to why application (a) was left out while application (b) made the cut. With the example omission of Podcasting from Nokia's recent Eseries smartphones, I've been musing...
In a longer-than-usual Insight podcast, Rafe, Ewan and Steve cover all things Symbian, including a detailed report from The Way We Live Next, coverage of news from Gartner, Google/AdMob, discussion of Samsung dropping/not dropping Symbian, plus an extended reader/listener Q&A session. Listen here to AAS Insight number 95.
We currently have the strange situation where Google show their new voice-driven 'Mobile App' when m.google.com is browsed by a S60 5th Edition phone - and then during installation we're told that this phone is 'not compatible'. However, with a slight adjustment, it's quite possible to use this handy tool on a Nokia 5800, N97 or compatible.
Nokia PC Suite has been updated to version 7.1.40.1 today (from 7.1.30.9) and it weighs in almost 300MB in total. Is it worth it? Yes, if you run Windows 7, which is now fully supported. If your current PC Suite installation doesnt prompt you for the update, you can download it over at the Nokia PC Suite web site. (via Clinton Jeff)
