Nokia has released a huge speed-boosting and enhancing firmware update for their N95 8GB flagship. v15.0.015 is pictured below and is available now from Nokia Software Update (depending on your region and operator branding, of course). Updates include Flash Lite 3 video support and the Web Run Time engine (Widgets). More details below [updated].
I have to admit, buying a top smartphone on contract does appeal financially. Thanks to Ewan for pointing out that 3 just added the Nokia N95 8GB to their online shop with no initial bulk outlay, £15 a month 'rental' (i.e. buy it bit by bit) and £15 voice plan. So the same £480 as you'd pay SIM-free up front, but with your calls, Skype, texts for 18 months? Unlimited data (of the browsing kind) is an extra £5 per month and the first 500 customers get a free set of speakers. Seems like a good deal to me. (via Ewan)
For all the new S60 owners after Christmas (and a lot of the existing ones), The Nokia S60 Blog has posted another three hints and tips videos on their YouTube Channel; Copy and Pasting Text; Changing the Look and Feel; and Organising Shortcuts and Applications. More on those vids after the break...
Krisse is either getting dangerously loose with AAS MegaGame awards or has indeed found a second game in a fortnight to merit the high rating. Sola Rola, despite being built on J2ME, delivers at every turn, with smooth and believable 2D animation allied with great level design. Here's the Sola Rola review, make sure to click through at the end of the review to the video walkthrough, to see what Krisse means.
Craig Loxton, the guy who guested in the latest Smartphones Show, has been busy - he's set up a Symbian Help group on Google Groups , presumably intending to run it much like the old, beloved EPOC Digest back in Psion days. It'll cover S60 and UIQ matters and is open to all.
Ewan's off round the world quite a bit, as you know. So what better way to keep him in touch with the world back home than a brand new Slingplayer Pro box, streaming his video and TV sources to his N95 wherever he roams? We packed him off to darkest RussiaXXXX err... Paris and Amsterdam in order to put Slingplayer Mobile through its paces and tell us whether it's worth buying .
The BBC's new Technology Blog has made some rather tounge in cheek predictions for 2008 . On the smartphone front, and I quote: Nokia brings out its latest smartphone, the N99. As well as featuring music, live television, a manicure set and a device for getting stones out of horse’s shoes, it offers an ice-cream cornet with a chocolate flake. “And, unlike, the new 3g iPhone,” a spokesman explains, “it is 4g, making the mobile internet work properly for the first time.”
Looking for the BBC TV comedy Red Dwarf to appear on your mobile? Look no further, you can downoad specially formatted 'mobisodes' and ring-tones from www.red-dwarf.mobi . For 3 pounds an episode, Pitch Entertainment will send you a 25 second clip from the popular TV show, with the same TV soundtrack, but with animated visuals replacing the actors. It's an interesting approach, although I can't decide if it's a genius moment to re-master for a new medium, or another way of charging the fans more money for the same well worn punchlines.
Looking for where to focus any new casual gaming projects? Then the latest survey (this one from Parks Associates) can help. Bottom line is that the majority of casual gamers are interested in Puzzles and Card Games, some 55%, with word and arcade games at 32% and 33% respectively. This compares to 'portable gamers' (eg the PSP and DS users) who almost equally look for Sports, Action, Driving and First Person Shooters for their kicks.
I make absolutely no apologies for another brief emTube news item - a day or two can be a long time in the smartphone world! emTube just hit v1.06 , with many new language variants, new hotkeys, new user/related views, a new seek bar, search result memory, plus several bug fixes, including RotateMe compatibility. Doesn't this developer sleep?
Having been using the Nokia N95 8GB exclusively for the last month, it's been mostly wonderful but occassionally frustrating. So I can utterly sympathise with Devin as he publishes his 'N95 8GB fix list', with the grindingly slow Gallery load and absence of the video editor ringing true in my ears, and also with Rita's complaints from her exhaustive N95 8GB real world trip test. Firmware is still on the early v11 build, surely it's time for an update, Nokia? I've got NSU on daily refresh...
