I couldn't resist a link-of-interest over to this story about Mojo Mobility, who have demonstrated a non-contact charging method for mobile phones at up to 4W transfer at 70% efficiency. Never mind USB charging, hopefully we won't need charging cables at all a few years from now? (via Tech-on)
The N-Gage platform's client is now available for the Nokia N78 and 6210 Navigator. The easiest way to get it is to visit n-gage.mobi/d (note there's no "www") on your phone's web browser, and select your phone from the list, which lets you download and install the app directly. Alternatively, you can download the app from the official N-Gage website and install using PC Suite. (Other phones compatible with the platform include the 5320 XpressMusic, N79, N81, N81 8GB, N82, N85, N95, N95 8GB and N96.)
In the final part, number eight, of my Camera Nitty Gritty series, I look at some of the top smartphone cameras again, but this time looking at their video capture potential, covering the Nokia N82, N93, E90, the Samsing INNOV8, the Sony Ericsson K850i and the HTC TyTN II. Obviously just a snapshot of the phone video capture world but hopefully nonetheless interesting. Your comments welcome if you can add any comparisons of your own!
Just flagging up a new video entrant into the world of mobile. Mobile Divide is a new interview-based site covering all mobile OS, but with its first spot featuring Jonathan Greene, an unashamed S60 fan. Worth adding to your RSS feeds anyway, it seems complementary to my own Phones Show.
At last month's Smartphone Show, Ewan collared Symbian's David Wood for a chat about the Symbian Foundation and his role in it. And yes, also sneaked a peek at the smartphone David uses (a Nokia E61i) and the software which he had installed, for another in the 'Desert Island Desktop' series.
I had a small lunch time adventure today: I accidentally dropped my Nokia E71 into a raging torrent (the watery kind, not the bit kind). Aside from a chance for some quick sympathy or laughter, depending on your disposition, I thought it might be a good opportunity to refresh some of the actions you can take if this happens to you. I would also be pleased to hear your stories and recommendations for follow up action!
You may or may not remember that Nokia ran a three month programme over the summer, with almost 500 volunteers installing a small monitoring application on their phones (mainly N95s). The results from this programme have now been published and there's a slideshow of results here. No real surprises, but this sort of thing is always interesting (via Nokia Conversations)
The Future of Mobile (FoM) conference is being held in London next week. Monday sees a seminar program with a great range of speakers including Matthew Millar (Adobe) on the Open Screen Project, Tom Hume (Future Platforms) on mobile platforms, and several of our favourite bloggers. The second day of the event is dedicated to a number of workshops; one of which is Symbian focused.
FlyingBird Software have been producing native Symbian OS money management software for a while, but they've now knocked out a completely free option: Money Lite, claiming to "help you in tracking your personal expenses, deposits, transfers and other transactions." You can't beat free, of course, but they also have a commercial option for those that need greater functionality.
Nokia today announced a new addition to its Eseries range. The Nokia E63 is a QWERTY-equipped S60 phone and is effectively a mid-tier version of the Nokia E71, on whose success it will be looking to build. It has a 2.0 megapixel camera, WiFi and 3G connectivity, and runs S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1. The Nokia E63, which is expected to start shipping in the next few weeks, will be available in ruby red or ultramarine blue and will cost €199 before taxes and subsidies. Read on for more.
Have you ever looked at a feature on your phone and wondered why the heck it's there? In an editorial on the topic, All About Symbian takes a look at five functions that are perhaps no longer needed on modern handsets, yet continue to be added to new models. Your comments most welcome - should any or all of these functions be unceremoniously dropped?
Here's something to read over your morning coffee. Symbian tech supremo David Wood gave the opening address at the Mobile 2.0 event in San Francisco last week, in which he pondered the role of smartphones in 2013, looked at the complexities of modern phone OS and (not unnaturally) referred to Symbian's role in how the future will pan out. It's a lengthy but good read and it's now online in full on David's blog.
In All About Symbian Podcast 100 (Insight #47) we talk about recent device shipment and market share numbers from Canalys. Ewan has a bee in his bonnet with regards to N-Gage, Steve chimes in with his dislike of poorly implemented DRM, but Rafe thinks things might not be as bad as Ewan suggests.
Opera Mini just went up to v4.2, in beta form at least, with new Skins support, faster servers, compatibility with the mobile version of YouTube and Opera Desktop note syncing. Opera also announced that Opera Mini is being used by 20 million unique monthly users worldwide. Read on for more.
In our last video interview snatched from the floor at the Smartphone Show 2008, in AAS video podcast 36, I chat to George Henne from NS Basic and Lew Shepherdson from StyleTap about their programming tools and Palm runtime for S60 phones.
