Carnival 134
Stop. Press. Carnival of the Mobilists 134. Out. Now. Over at the newly revamped Mopocket.
Recent News - Page 223
Nokia N78 Review Part 2 - Multimedia
Well worth waiting for is Rafe's part 2 of his definitive Nokia N78 review. This time he looks at all the multimedia aspects of the N78, from camera to video to music to UPnP. Including a test of the unique FM transmitter, Rafe leaves no stone unturned. See also Part 1 of the review. Part 3 will feature all the other applications and Rafe's concluding thoughts on the N78.
Secret really is.... revealed [update]
Hmm.... Nokia has put a new mini-app, 'Secret' in the Download! 'What's Hot' folder for many handsets. On running it, you have to enter a four digit code from the Flash web site www.openatownrisk.com, then [update] type the same code in again on the web app, finally revealing an abstractly wierd video clip, featuring fishing midgets, motorcycling lobsters, table-tennis-playing grandads, spaghetti divers and... well, you get the idea. And the chance to win a limited edition T-Shirt (see below). Er.... Nokia? What's this all about? Is there any point to this other than keeping Flash animators in employment? (Thanks to kflyer for initial report)
The US-spec Nokia E71 now on sale across the States...
Nokia has announced that its US-spec E71 is now available at a variety of retailers across the States for a SIM-free price of $500 (about £250). See also our review of this qwerty-keyboarded phone.
Missing Sync for Symbian ships
Mac developers Mark/Space have released Missing Sync for Symbian, providing (among other things) automatic Bluetooth syncing of data between phone and Mac. Here's the TUAW write-up. More on this next week when I'll be starting a new series of features looking at S60-Mac connectivity and compatibility.
Top Applications for the Mobile Journalist
As we bid Ewan farewell as he girds his loins and heads off into the thick of the Edinburgh Fringe for another year, he explains some of his must-have phone apps and services to help get him through 25 days of mobile journalism. Good thing he's got a meaty data tariff, I say...
Ah yes, now I remember why I like going 'pay-as-you-go'
SMS Text News is always good for an interesting set of tea time rants, this time recounting a billing nightmare with Vodafone. Yet another reason for only using prepay SIMs and unlocked phones? Or an isolated occurrence? Care to comment with your own preferred payment method?
The Standby Alternative
For those who grew up with 'Series 60' and are now trying to get used to 'S60 3rd Edition', there's a timely article here from Ravindra, pointing out that the old d-pad shortcuts on the 'home'/'standby' screen are still available as an option. I can quite see his point and I'll bet that many people reading this had totally forgotten about this alternative app launcher.
Insight 33: N-Gage, Samsung, comparisons and open source
In AAS podcast 86, a.ka. AAS Insight 33, Rafe and Ewan talk about N-Gage's Brothers in Arms and Reset Generation, Samsung's 8 megapixel Innov8 device, the challenges behind device comparisons and open source in relation to Symbian.
Fring starts to add Samsung S60
It's good to see Samsung S60 handsets now getting more compatibility love - Fring has just announced that their chat and VoIP solution is now available for the i550, which I reviewed a few months ago. More Samsung S60 devices to follow, surely.
Samsung partner with GyPSii
You may remember GyPSii, a GPS-aware photo and text social utility, from a few months ago? It has now been partnered with Samsung worldwide, according to Unwired, for use in their smartphones, meaning that we should see GyPSii preloaded on several forthcoming Samsung S60 phones, including the Innov8.
Configuring Nokia Chat
A short post, but just to draw people's attention to a new guide on Nokia Beta Labs, showing how to configure a number of populat XMPP-based chat/instant-message systems to work with Nokia Chat, reported on a couple of weeks ago. Good stuff, but let me know when they've worked Skype chat in as well...
BBC Trust Looking To Resume 3G Mobile TV 'Broadcasting'
How successful is 'Mobile TV?' Will in the UK, it seems fair to label it as a 'statistical error.' The BBC are looking to resume trials of 'casting TV and radio to handsets, after their previous 12 month trial finished in April. The viewership peaked at 580 viewers in June last year, with an average usage of 13 minutes a month. They are now looking to syndicate their channels to the UK 3G networks, and are asking for the public's opinion.
Nokia blog highlights
I really must try and meet Mark Guim from 'The Nokia Blog' sometime - I've been accruing things from him that I wanted to link to for a while. Time to share, I think: he's a keen photographer, publishing N95 8GB-shot slideshows from a public garden; there's a walkthrough of Psiloc Connect; a great observation about the new version of Qik; the start of his detailed and well-illustrated review of the Nokia E71; and the discovery of the ProClip car mount kit. Good reading, all.
Conclusions from the back of beyond
Living near a big city, it's all too easy to think of my phone/smartphone experience as being typical of the norm. During the course of a week away in the country, I made several observations which show that we should never take 'our' mobile environment for granted or assume any level of capability in other mobile users. And, along the way, I managed to crash an 'iPhone' and get a couple of people to go all dizzy while explaining what I was doing with the N95 8GB...
