... In which I get all picky about the quality of video capture on Nokia's latest devices, the N79, N85 and (here) the N96. Is there a problem, and if so then is it down to changed premises, settings or lack of graphics acceleration hardware? For once, I'm really not sure and would love folk with more technical/photographic expertise than me to help out in the comments, as we try to get to the bottom of the issues.
Yes, so many of us have been playing with the new proxy-based, video-friendly, S60-native browser Skyfire over the last few weeks. It has now gone official though, with links, press release extracts and an official Skyfire FAQ below.
In this, the second part of Ewan Spence's chatty look at the Nokia N85, he carries on from part one's look at the hardware and styling of the device. Running S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2, the N85 sees tweaks to the interface and some of the built in applications to help the user experience. How successful have Nokia been?
Released a few minutes ago, the Nokia N96 just got its v12 update, to v12.043. See below for any changes or observations. The update's about 3MB over-the-air (a block-patch process using Red Bend's software, as usual, this seems to work really well) or about 120MB via Nokia's Software Update. Comments welcome if you're tagging along too...
No, not my list, I'd have plumped for 10 resons why each is better than the other. But over on (the horribly biased!) Tube5800.com there's an interesting list of 20 reasons why Nokia's touch-screen mid-tier newcomer is better than Cupertino's finest. Don't send any flames to me - go the Tube5800 site itself! (via WoN)
Here on All About N-Gage, Ewan's been putting the latest N-Gage game through its paces. Boom Blox starts as a great idea but quickly disappoints with limited levels, a level editor but no way to share your creations, and generally average gameplay. You can read the full review of Boom Blox here.
So Rafe's off in the USA at Mobius for the week, while Ewan's in Paris for Le Web. Meanwhile, Ewan has been recorded by 'Cruel to be kind', chatting in depth about mobile social networking, a topic on which he'll be presenting at Le Web. You can listen to or download the 38 minute interview here.
No. 153. At 'mobscure'. Your weekend generic reading? Say no more...
AAS's month of trying to destroy Nokia smartphones concludes with me taking an unscheduled fall and hurting myself rather nastily. An N82 helped break my fall, yet still works perfectly. After Rafe's attempts to drown an N95 8GB and an E71, how much more do we have to do to break one of these things? Summing up, I reckon that robustness is a factor often forgotten by other gadget blogs and reviewers.
Programme 70 of The Phones Show just went live and will hopefully be of interest. I do mini video reviews of the Samsung INNOV8 and i7110, deliver some comment on the Nokia N97 and then launch into a six minute critique of the N97, E71 and E90-competing Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 - it's very well built but, like the Samsungs, could do with some fixing up and optimisation.
Forum Nokia has released a whole new generation of Carbide C++ software development kits, for creating native Symbian OS applications. V2.0 is now out and, significantly, all editions are now totally free, helping to reduce the barriers to entry to Symbian development.
According to Forum Nokia, Python for S60 1.4.5 is now officially released and more powerful than ever. Picking the SIS files to grab is now simpler and there are several important under-the-hood improvements, not least that a Python script can now control Python code in processes that the script didn't start. Oh, dash it, just install the thing, won't you? It'll make all those useful Python mini-apps smoother than ever. Hopefully...
While we wait (not too long) to debrief an exhausted Rafe after Nokia World, Engdaget Mobile's Paul Miller has done a good job of getting his hands-on thoughts on the new Nokia N97 down in print. Some interesting points (and also in the comments), even if he doesn't approach the device as an existing S60 fan. My own take is that yes, it's incredibly early in the N97's development cycle - for something 6 months from availability, it's actually looking quite stable and fast - look where the Sony Ericsson X1 was 6 months from its release...
Nokia continue their ultra busy week. Following the N95 v31 update (below), there's now a new version of Nokia Software Update (1.4.7) and new v11 firmware for the N85. Whatever next before the day's out? Source: p@sco (again, in Italian!)
Yes, the Nokia N95 Classic has had a firmware update, to v31 (from v30), two years after the phone was first available. Impressive. Screen proof and any observations below - a whopping 140MB update. More later (if I can spot any changes!) and the usual cautions over backing up to memory card (blah) and this not applying to network-branded devices (blah) apply....
