China Mobile Communications Corporation (CMCC), the world’s largest mobile network operator, and the Symbian Foundation has announced "an agreement to collaborate on a series of key initiatives to improve the mobile ecosystem in China and to stimulate the development of the market for CCMC’s locally developed 3G network standard, TD-SCDMA". There's also a new Symbian Chinese website for locals to check out. Some extracts from the press release below.
After the morning keynotes and interviews at Nokia World 2009, I decided to take a quick look round the 'experience lounge' at Nokia World. In the video below you can join me on my first tour round the show floor, where I share my first impressions and analysis. You'll get a feel of the atmosphere on the show floor and there's a quick overview of some of Nokia's new service solutions, the Nokia Booklet 3G, Nokia Internet Stick (CS-18) and some third party software.
So my white Nokia N97 was returned to me after Ewan's extensive video diaries and after Tzer2's Finnish experiments on it. It's a little battle scarred in places, but hey, phones are designed to be used(!) I'm well aware of all the N97's pros and cons, but was relishing a chance to really get to grips with some of its - ahem - quirks, a couple of months on from my initial look. Read on to see how I got on, and to learn how to set up and optimise the N97 in this 'waiting for v20 firmware' probationary period.
Trippy balls exploding, new age music, Ewan is in a 60's-inspired flash game... and he's (apparently) "hip to the groove liking it!..." Read the review to find out what the freeware title BoomShine is all about on the Nokia N97, 5800 and other S60 5th Edition phones. And if you try it for yourself, listen out for a rather nice new age soundtrack.
You can't help fail to notice the news around the net that the music service Spotify is now available on the iPhone. What you might not (yet) have picked up on is this subscription based mobile service will soon be on S60. Just to keep everyone happy and eager, the team (based in Stockholm and London) have debuted a video of the client.
The newest (err... first) addition to the Symbian Foundation's Goodies page is unfortunately not Tim Brooke-Taylor, but a Twitter powered screensaver. From an initial look at the screensaver, it pulls in any mention of Symbian on Twitter, and pops it into an on-screen comic-like bubble. For once the Symbian Foundation's wacky artwork theme is put to good use!
[updated] Nokia Beta Labs has quietly issued an update to Ovi Maps 3.3 - 'subversion' 54 for S60 5th Edition (only) is now available on the main Ovi Maps page. There's still no opportunity to install to mass memory, and v3.3 is still English-only, but at least some more of the rough edges have been knocked off. 'GPS data lost' no longer sounds every few minutes(!), but at the expense of laggy screen updates - it seems the GPS interruptions are being averaged out behind the scenes. Ultimately, the N97's communications software subsystems simply need a big update. v20 firmware can't come soon enough for me.
Last week, in the developer section, I posted an interview with Christopher David, Head of Developer and Partner Engagement on Sony Ericsson’s plans to re-engage with Symbian developers for the Satio launch. It seems to have been quite timely, as additional information is starting to break cover.
Another N-Gage game review on our sister site: OviGaming.com - Ewan plays through Tomb Raider: Underworld and pronounces it very disappointing, with on-rails gameplay throughout and with many of the puzzles and features from previous incarnations removed.
For completeness, following on from the inclusion here of the official Nokia-produced summary of day 1 of their event last week, here (embedded below) is the summary of day 2, edited in similar 'party line' fashion, but interesting nonetheless.
As reported around the web over the weekend, Nokia Messaging for S60 5th Edition has now received full HTML support. As usual, you’ll need to go to email.nokia.com in Web on your phone (a 2MB download). Version 10.1.0.13 will automatically replace your previous installation and will also keep all email accounts and emails. You may remember the issues I've had with Nokia Messaging - at the very least take the usual backups, syncs and precautions before installation.
There's a nice long video from SymbianWorld, recorded at Nokia World 09, looking in detail at the upcoming Nokia N97 v20 firmware update (kinetic scrolling in all lists, more memory and much more), the same as the launch firmware in the N97 mini. The video is embedded below in high quality mode, for your convenience.
You may remember that the Nokia N86 and photographer had a well publicised coming together recently, with the aim of shooting interesting characters and stories through the London night, armed only with a Nokia N86 8MP? Well, although the physical exhibition of these photos has now closed, the full set of 169 'Alive at night' photos are now online, with headlines, quotes and stories for each - interesting for these, and not just to see what the N86 can do. [updated: looks like the general public aren't being allowed access yet. Watch this space!]
Over on Ovi Gaming we've sighted the first video of a hardware-accelerated version of Bounce (on the N900), and reviewed a selection of games from Ovi Store for the 5800 and N95. See below for links.
One of the interesting things I observed during the first day of news from Nokia World was the increasingly wide contrast between what Nokia and the retail stores are reporting on the Nokia N97, and what the blogging comentarati think is happening with the N97. Read on for my observations.
