Judging by our readers' interest in S60 Twitter clients, there are a lot of Twitter fans on All About Symbian, so you may be interested to know that a study of 300,000 Twitter users by Harvard Business School has found that the main pattern of Twitter use isn't as a social network but as a way for a small number of content generators to talk to a large number of listeners. Twitter now has around 30 million users, but 90% of tweets come from just 3 million users, with most users tweeting either once or not at all. If this study is accurate, it would suggest that Twitter isn't a rival to Facebook or SMS but more like an "RSS Lite", and much more a consumer service than a communication service.
Still regarded by some (including me) as the best smartphone for heavy email/office users, the Nokia E90 has received a major-versioned update to v400 firmware. Because the phone gets wiped as part of the upgrade process (no UDP here), it's difficult to measure the improvement in overall performance, so comments from users welcomed. Some screens below...
Another Ovi Store game, this time surreal gather-em-up Java title Katamari Mobile has been reviewed by Ovi Gaming, and wins a Recommended award (the review also includes a 10 minute gameplay video of it running on the 5800 and lots of screenshots too). The mobile version of Katamari is perfect for anyone longing for a return to the simpler days of abstract arcade gameplay, and it also provides a nice slice of unhinged Japanese humour.
In browsing the Ovi Store, Ewan has come across some new (to him) applications and lots of indications that the the Store is “more than just apps” and that it will prove to be one of the most useful resources to developers and consumers alike. So what delights has he found? Read on for a 'magnificent seven' of examples from the Ovi Store.
Another new batch of games has appeared in Ovi Store, the full list is below. (Incidentally, if anyone from Nokia is reading this, could you please take a look at the Ovi Store servers and find out why some games are constantly appearing and disappearing!) Anyway, on with the new games, you can see them listed below in alphabetical order. Most of the new games seem to be from the publisher Playfon, who are apparently making their Ovi Store debut.
Just a quick tip of the hat to Ricky Cadden for unearthing the fact that, in the continued absence of Nokia's own Internet Radio application for S60 5th Edition, SomaFM have made five of their best music stations available in Nokia-optimised form. Here are Ricky's instructions on getting going on your Nokia 5800 or N97.
The quirky and charming Java-based arcade puzzle game Go! Go! Rescue Squad! is available in Ovi Store and we've been taking a look at it on the Nokia 5800. To see our review, along with a ten minute gameplay video and lots of screenshots, head on over to the Go! Go! Rescue Squad! game page on Ovi Gaming.
A sequel to the original N97 Q&A, this includes all the original answers and adds those from questions asked in the last 48 hours. If after reading these and my initial Nokia N97 review, you still have questions, then ask away in the comments to this news item. Read on... [further updated 10am Monday]
We've added a review, screens and a video to ZingMagic's WordSearch game page on Ovi Gaming. We've based the review on the installment called Alphabet WordSearch, but it applies to all the WordSearch games as they're practically the same with just different word packs to distinguish them from each other. Alphabet WordSearch and Starts With WordSearch are free while the other editions cost 2 euros each, so this is very much a low-budget impulse purchase game series.
As well as a new promotional video targeted at developers that would make Terry Gilliam proud, the Symbian Foundation announced on their blog that the Symbian OS is now running under a symmetric multiprocessor system. Simply put, more than one CPU can connect to the main memory of a computer at the same time, allowing for any processor to work on any application thread, and have the tasks passed around the processors to keep everything running efficiently.
Google's incredibly popular social network, Orkut, is now available through a java based smartphone client, which is optimised for S60 phones. Orkut has a presence with as much, if not more, impact than Facebook or MySpace in both Brazil and India and providing greater access to the network.
If you have a look at the Cooking Mama game page on Ovi Gaming, you'll see we've added a brief review of the game, several screenshots and a 7 minute video of the game in action on the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. We'll be gradually adding more and more to the game pages over time, so that they build up into a place where you can find out what Ovi Store games are really like.
Nokia's much anticpiated N97, which combines the key hardware trends of touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard, started shipping this week. In his first impressions review of the Nokia N97 Steve takes an initial look at Nokia's summer flagship and offers an initial indication of how the N97 measures up to its competition.
