I do enough phone camera comparisons of my own here without really needing to link to other people's, but Clinton Jeff's incredibly detailed head to head here between the Nokia N96 and N82 is worthy of mention. It seems that the newer device is hamstrung in firmware when it comes to focussing on close-up objects and that exposed camera glass seemingly doesn't help when shooting into light.
If you were planning to try out the Skyfire proxy-based browser but haven't had a chance yet, or if you live in a country not 'supported' yet(!), then you might like to watch Steve O'Hear's rather nice real-time video walkthrough. It seems as if Skyfire lives up to some of its promises but falls down a little at this stage when it comes to keeping videos smooth and in sync.
There's a particularly interesting Carnival of the Mobilists this week, no. 151 over at Golden Swamp. Look out for Helen Keegan's contribution in particular...
In this environmentally conscious mobile world, five of the leading manufacturers (Nokia, LG, Samsung, Motorola and Sony Ericsson) have announced a simple 'star rating' to show how energy efficient their AC chargers are. Four or five star chargers will help you do your bit for the environment, so watch out for the ratings on your next purchase.
Our very own Tzer2 has been blasting away in a military helmet for days, in order to bring you the AAS review of Astraware's My Little Tank. It's a competent mobile game but it's let down by poor level mechanics (having to play them over and over again after dying) and by the lack of any multiplayer action.
AikonLab has released the first version of a new accelerometer take on an old classic: Frozen Bubble Twisted. Grab the beta here and get your comments and feedback in to the project's contributors. (via p@sco)
There are now six separate competitions running simultaneously to promote the N-Gage platform, with some rather good prizes ranging from phones and games to a big pile of Star Wars and football goodies. We've collected together all the links and info you need to enter these contests and grab some loot. As these contests have been poorly advertised there is actually a very good chance of winning too... :-)
See below for the photographic proof. Honestly, you'd have thought that with all the millions of dollars poured into HSM (High School Musical) marketing, they could have afforded a little research into the sort of phone your average 10 year old girl is going to be using. How many female 'tweens' do you know who carry around Nokia's business flagship?
The Skyfire web browser, previously only available in the US and Canada, is now available in the UK, it seems. It's proxy-based (for pre-processing speed) and it runs on virtually any S60 3rd Edition phone. Comments and early reviews welcome. (via p@sco)
Vaibhav has put together a great summary of Nokia's recent 'Legends' online Q&A concerning Near Field Communication, well worth a read if you want to know what's coming up from Nokia and others. I think NFC has huge potential, even if we are a few years from mass adoption.
For Phones Show completists(!), show 69 just went live, with a much more condensed (3 minute) version of my day at Nokia's Test Centre (in case you haven't got time to watch the full 35 minutes on AAS!), plus a hands-on review of the Sony Ericsson C905 (8mp cam, Xenon flash) and a reminder about firmware updates.
EA produces its traditional annual update for one of their major titles. But have they done enough to warrant an upgrade? Ewan Spence decides to leap in and play 'spot the difference' from the 2008 version in his review over on All About N-Gage...
I couldn't resist linking to this Flash site promoting the new Nokia N96 Bruce Lee Edition. Apparently the phone comes with rare photos, a Bruce Lee doll, a special back cover and a wrist strap adorned with nunchuks. There's also a somewhat amazing YouTube video (below), of Bruce defeating some Chinese table tennis champs... (via Unwired View)
Today, Nokia and IBM announced Lotus Notes (which has 140 million licensed users) support for all S60 3rd Edition-based phones. 'Lotus Notes Traveler' can connect to corporate email accounts via Lotus Domino Server, and provides real time access to email, calendar, address book, journal and to-do list data. Availability is December 2008.
A couple of days ago, I was invited to spend the day at Nokia's Testing Labs at Farnborough, UK, being given a tour of the facilities and numerous demonstrations along the way. The aim was to spread the word about how rigorously Nokia test their handsets' hardware and on that front I was extremely impressed. AAS video podcast 37 is a fairly full 35 minutes of footage from the tour (taken on the N93 and N82, for those that are interested) and will let you see and hear what I saw. Enjoy.
