The 3D simulator Midnight Pool is now available in the N-Gage application's showroom. If you can't see it, click on the headline for instructions on how to make it appear. You can see some screenshots and the official trailer on AAN's Midnight Pool game page.
I'd noticed new icons for the elements in Google's Mobile services homepage yesterday but hadn't thought any more of it - it turns out that each element has had a new intro page written, explaining the difference between the download and web-based versions. As ever, try it at m.google.com - screenshots below.
This is going to sound like I'm on some sad, geeky maps-watch, but... I've been on a sad, geeky maps watch and have noticed that there's a new version of Nokia Maps online, v2.0.2402 - and no, I've no idea what's new. There's also a new MapLoader, v1.3.12, promising 'improved compatibility'. Just thought someone out there might like to know.
Something we've heard and talked about over and over again recently is that Nokia and others have all recognised that the future belongs to 'services and software' and that the hardware has become 'a commodity'. This is all a bit jargonistic and in this feature Steve explains these phrases in plain english from the point of view of the consumer.
In another of our regular podcast interviews, Ewan Spence talks to David Wood, EVP Symbian, on some of the finer details on the Symbian Foundation. Launched ten years to the day after the announcement of Symbian, Wood discusses a number of issues around the new strategy of the Symbian partners.
Some of you may remember an article we carried last year about what cameraphones mean for the UFO phenomenon. Well, it seems that the first Symbian-UFO encounter has now taken place in Liverpool, and involved an N95 filming seven strange lights in the sky...
In all the excitement over the Symbian takeover, we missed another announcement by Nokia yesterday, that the Nokia N78 is now officially available in the USA including 3.5G HSDPA support for American phone networks on 850 and 1900 mhz. The press release mentions the unlocked SIM-free version, but presumably locked operator versions should come along soon too.
Now the dust is starting to settle on the surprise announcement of the Symbian Foundation, many commentators are looking at the bigger picture - including ourselves, here at All AboutSymbian. Rafe has been looking at the strategic implications of the deal, and explains why it increases the chances of Symbian achieving long term success.
The first over the air firmware update for Nokia N78 (is this the first one on a S60 device ever?), v11.043, is now available. This new release 'brings more Bluetooth stability, has improved the Music Player refresh time, and includes optimized camera performance and Navi-scroll sensitivity. The update is approximately 2MB and is also available to be downloaded over Wi-Fi. Note that this may not be available for all operators or regions.' More details below. (via kflyer)
As Ewan puts it, it's another madcap show - All About Symbian Insight number 30 right here, in which we talk about Missing Sync for Symbian, the launch of the Nokia E71 and E66, plus first thoughts on the Motorola MOTO Z10. Note that this show was recorded last Thursday and so predates Tuesday's Symbian announcements - we'll bring you audio content to do with this very shortly.
You'll know him as kflyer from our forums, but Miyuru also runs his own blog and sites - and he's also a nice kid and has given me a heads up on several news stories this year. Miyuru's created a survey of some of the Symbian/smartphone questions that most of us are interested in - it only takes 2 minutes to go through, so why not give it a try? I'll make sure the results get linked to here afterwards.
For many people, the Nokia N95 remains the best camera phone in the world - here's more evidence, the latest batch of winners from the N95 user group on Flickr - as usual, some stunning work by all.
Right on schedule (for a change), Smartphones Show 61 is out, with a video version of my hands-on review of the Nokia E71, plus news of an impending change of a name for the show. It's worth pointing out that show 61 was recorded before yesterday's big news, by the way...
In the wake of today's news of the Symbian Foundation being set up, UI company UIQ have announced plans to layoff of 200 employees (reports BLT.se). Currently the majority of the 375 staff are employed in the Ronneby offices, with the balance of staff in two foreign offices in London and Budapest. These offices will probably close. Further details will be announced by UIQ this afternoon.
