Symbian announced two new OS technologies today at CTIA: Symbian SQL and an advanced Location Based Services (LBS) architecture. The first will allow the use of much larger data sets by smartphone applications and the second will simplify the development of genuine location-sensitive apps and services. The full press release is below.
Trippo popped its head above the software parapet a few days ago when it got added to Nokia's Download! service for the N95 8GB. But it's available to all and is in the AAS software shop. The big question is, can it live up to its claims? Ewan's been reviewing Trippo and both he and I were gobsmacked at how good the service is - and also at how expensive it might work out.
Download! has been significantly recorganised by Nokia for some devices, with increased use of folders and many new games (N95 8GB screenshots shown below). It's still a mile away from how comprehensive Apple's iPhone AppStore is going to be though. Can Nokia use its headstart to improve Download! across the board in time? Comments welcome. Also, do please comment if you've spotted similarly interesting Download! additions on any device.
Having had a bit of a re-jig of some of the attributes in my all-singing, all-dancing interactive smartphone-choosing Grid, I proudly present it to the masses on AAS for approval. And yes, by plugging in different profiles, I've managed to get it to pick everything from Apple iPhone to Nokia E61i. See what it now picks as your best option. Did it pick your current smartphone? Your next intended phone?
It's black, it's a candy-bar with pencil-thin keys, it's got Wi-Fi, a GPS and everything else but the kitchen sink. And yet it's not the (black) Nokia N82, we're talking Samsung and their new SGH-i550 reviewed right here. Does it match up to Nokia's N or Eseries? And, with generic S60 on board rather than an extended-for-their-own-use Nokia variant, does the i550 suffer?
A few weeks back, GooSync (online backup host and sync agent into Google) announced support for Tasks, but it couldn't cope with the way S60 3rd Edition bundled to-dos into Calendar. That changed a few minutes ago as a revised Tasks module just went live, handling full S60 to-do synchronisation into GooSync, including categories, descriptions, etc. Seems to work well, though note that it's not available for freebie GooSync users - you need to have plumped for the £20/year Premium service.
SlingPlayer, the streaming-from-your-home media solution made popular on S60, has been announced for UIQ 3 smartphones as well, with imminent availability. In a parallel statement, Sling Media also announced compatibility with the Nokia N95 8GB. The full press release is below.
No, not that sort of pleasure. We're talking geek pleasure. I respond (hopefully with a voice of reason) to the S60 3rd Edition hackers over at Symbian Freak and to the hyped headlines that have started to appear around the world. And if you've no idea what I'm talking about, just move on, you're not missing much.
This Samsung SGH-i550 image gallery is a teaser ahead of our full review (now published above). The i550 is Samsung's top of the range S60 phone. It has a candy bar form factor and features a large 2.6 inch screen, a 3.0 megapixel AF camera, WiFi and HSDPA connectivity and an integrated GPS.
To coincide with their UIQ 3.3 announcement, UIQ Technology have released five pretty new themes for UIQ smartphones: UIQ Wave, UIQ Snow, UIQ Lounge, UIQ Black Build and UIQ Chili. Very cool. Isn't it about time we had some new official S60 themes?
If you thought that Symbian Signed was too many hoops to jump through to get your game onto a UK handset, just wait till the British Board of Film Classification gets involved (BBC News and other online sources). Released later today, the Byron report will recommend that any video game will be forced to carry cinema style classification (currently only games depicting sex or gross violence are certified).
UIQ Technology just announced the availability of UIQ 3.3. The new release is built on top of Symbian OS v9.3 and adds among other things, Opera Mobile 9.5, supporting 'a full web-experience on mobile devices', Opera Widgets and UIQ Dashboard. Whether this will bring more UIQ 3 powered smartphones to the market in the near future or not remains to be seen. Full press release after the break.
EA Mobile has released an official version of Tetris for the new N-Gage platform. Is it up to scratch in these 21st century days? Head on over to All About N-Gage's Tetris review to find out.
Motorola today announced that it had commenced a process to split itself into two seperate companies: a mobile device business and a broadband and mobility solutions business (reflecting current divisions within the company). The move seems likely to avoid a direct sale of the mobile device business, but a joint venture with another company remains a distinct possibility.
Ofcom has cleared the use of certain mobile phone based services in flying aircraft, reports the BBC. This isn't the end of the story, as other regulatory bodies (such as the UK's Civil Aviation Authority) will also need to give clearance. In my view, we can expect to see picocell enabled aircraft offer a roaming service (which will allow the Airlines to generate revenue from in-flight calls), and as per existing flight regulations, the service will be switched off below 10,000 feet.
