Nokia has released details of a 'realignment of its North America sales and marketing organization'. Which, as far as I can see, basically means moving all its staff to New York. I see Stefan has a similarly sceptical view on the announcement...
Nokia has announced that Nokia Software Update is now available from many Nokia local support web pages and that it's also now available in almost 40 languages. So far, over three quarters of a million people have updated their Nokia smartphone using the service. Kudos to their NSU team. Read on for the Nokia press release.
In a detailed long term review of the N800 and a provocative editorial, our own Krisse puts forward an eloquent and personal argument for 'semi-convergence'. Can two devices be better than one and is it worth the hit on size/weight? This one could run and run - watch for an editorial from me replying to many of the points made.
DDH has announced that their popular database system HanDBase is now available for UIQ 2 smartphones such as the Sony Ericsson P910i. The full press release is below, let's hope that porting the code over to modern UIQ 3 smartphones is simple and quick!
Nokia’s SNAP system always developers easy access to features that a mobile multiplayer game would need – identify, server, high score tables, and more esoteric functions (think of it as a bit like the Nokia Arena on steroids). To aid this, they’ve announced a two part testing program for ‘mobile connected games;’ a self-testing process coupled with a final external Testing House final certification. SNAP mobile will run on the N-Gage Platform, but also on regular S60 and S40 devices from Nokia, and this is an obvious move to stop poorly implemented games having a negative impression on the new market.
Nokia has issued a press release today revealing some of the first 3rd Party games due on the Next Gen N-Gage gaming platform: Asphalt 3, Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway, Brain Challenge, Midnight Pool and FIFA 2008. Also, publishers Indiagames and THQ Wireless have now officially announced their support for the platform, joining Gameloft, EA and Glu Mobile. Nokia's Gregg Sauter is due to give a speech at the Game Developers Conference later today in San Francisco, where he will presumably give more details on this and other Next Gen gaming matters.
Announcing the inaugural ForumOxford: Future Technologies Conference to be held on 13 April 2007 at Rewley House, Oxford, UK. Sponsored by Google, Alpheus, Admob, Horizon Channel and Mi-Pay, this one-day conference includes speakers from Symbian, Google and AdMob. More details below.
One of the companies that Rafe caught up with at the recent 3GSM was Abaxia - you might not recognise the name, but they play an interesting role in the S60 ecosystem. Users of the Orange Signature devices will be familiar with their work, as they are the company who programmed Orange's alternative Home. That's not all they do though, as Rafe found out in the All About Symbian Podcast #15 .
Y-Browser, possibly the best third party file manager and general utility for S60 3rd Edition smartphones, has been officially updated. Version 0.8 includes an overhauled interface, working ZIP archive support and an extra icon pack, plus the usual mail folder and text/file viewer plug-ins. Free and highly recommended.
