One of the more interesting demos at MWC was Google's demonstration of off-line access to Gmail through browsers based on Webkit (thanks to Mobile Crunch for the reminder). Of course the demonstration was with the Apple iPhone, but other browsers, including the S60 browser should be able to run the system. It's still in the labs, but could prove an interesting counter-point if released to Nokia's Ovi Mail.
In the words of Howard Beale, I'm mad at all the MWC coverage and I've had enough. With Rafe still replacing fluids via the healing power of Lucozade, and Steve off to help ailing family and leaving me the keys to the CMS for the weekend, I might just let off a little humorous steam about the pointlessness of the Mobile World Congress.
More tutorials for Nokia's first S60 touch device: an introduction to the basics of using the 5800's camera, and after you've read that you'll want to move onto Steve's earlier article on how to get better photos from the 5800 (despite its rather small camera sensor!). As always, previous tutorials can be found on their index page.
It's going to be a common sight as on-device App Stores become more popular on smartphones, but SEO and potential Black Hat techniques to boost an applications likelihood of being found in a search could be just as important as development skills and making good banner ads. Pocket Gamer has an interview with Digital Chocolate (the name behind N-Gage titles such as Cafe Solitare) on the listing techniques that show them pushing the envelope.
Nokia have recieved a loan from the European Investment Bank to support Research and Development in the Finnish company. Spread over five years, the 500 million euro loan will be used by Nokia to "make Symbian-based smartphones more competitive." While not directly for the Symbian Foundation the work will benefit the Foundation and other Open Source initiatives.
The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic may not be a S60 flagship, but it's selling well wherever it launches, apparently. S60 celeb Sittiphol (the Mobitubia guy) reports here in an illustrated post on the 5800's launch and sell-out in Thailand.
Continuing our series for beginners, we've done a guide to the Nokia 5800's S60 5th Edition interface, and to complement it there's also a brief look at the 5800's various methods of text entry including on-screen keyboards, keypads and handwriting recognition. You can find a complete listing of all the articles in this series on the 5800 tutorial index page.
Well, this is very late news, but better late than never: There's been an update to the Mobipad application, which allows you to wirelessly control S60 devices through a standard Nintendo Wii controller (particularly useful if you've got your phone connected to a television through TV Out). The new Mobipad 1.2 beta lets you customise all the buttons to your own liking, which should solve the control problems that were experienced by previous Mobipad users. The catch is that you have to make a 5 euro donation to the developers to get the new version (previous donors get the new version free). The old version 1.0 is still free though.
Now that the excitement of MWC is over, we present another in our series of tutorials for people who are new to the Symbian world: How to update the firmware on the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. As always, if you spot a mistake or have a suggestion please do let us know in the comments thread. Our previous articles in the series can be found in the Nokia 5800 Tutorials Index.
Over on All About N-Gage we've been covering quite a few stories lately, here are some of them: Fishlabs have just announced five games for N-Gage including the next gen's first RPG, AAN has started its own Twitter channel, a selection of N-Gage games have been greatly reduced in price, there are several N-Gage contests where you can win holidays, phones and games, the S60 Ambassador programme is giving away N-Gage games in a new campaign, and of course Nokia's recently announced six new N-Gage-compatible phones.
In all the rush of innovation and new devices, we missed the announcement by F-Secure that they are the first anti-virus company to support S60 5th Edition. Their Mobile Security 5 product is now available via F-Secure or Nokia Download, if you feel the need for some extra strength protection.
Rafe's still pounding the floor at MWC 2009, of course, but he took time with MIR's Ben Smith yesterday to give his opinions of Nokia's latest camera flagship, the N86 8MP, in great detail. Below the break is the full six minute video interview, enjoy.
Our final daily podcast from the Mobile World Congress as we look back at the GSMA awards, the environmental impact of mobile phones, chargers, Nokia messaging, SIM cards and almost the Android G2. Enjoy!
Ovi Store has been announced, and many people just saw another smartphone applications shop. But it's actually a lot more than that, and its launch could be the most significant thing Nokia has done since entering the mobile phone business, or so reckons Tzer2 in an All About Symbian editorial.
Working on the venerable Nokia N95, N82 and E90 (and compatibles - but not the newer devices with different chipsets), Nokia Magnifier is a new free utility that automates the use of a smartphone camera in focussing 'close-up' mode to provide a virtual magnifying glass, for looking at small print, for example. Video below the break.
