Thanks to Darla for spotting that the long awaited N93/N93i tripod (Nokia code DT-22) is finally available if you know where to look. Expansys, for example, are offering it with only a 6 day wait and at only £15.
So... I had one last fling with the prototype Nokia E90 before it was sent away to be updated - and I'd had numerous requests to try using it to browse various web sites. Here's my account of my final hour with the big-screened E90.... online (via Wi-Fi). Make sure you read to the end for some important talking points and technical notes.
Widsets, java-hosted online widgets that bring you news or filtered web lookups, have a steadily growing following. They're also partly funded by Nokia, fully compatible with every Symbian OS smartphone in the last few years and the always excellent E-series blog has just published an eloquent Widsets write-up.
According to a recent report on Gamesindustry.biz, the mobile games publisher Glu Mobile has announced its support for Nokia's Next Gen games platform. EA and Gameloft have already officially committed to the platform, and a document seen by All About Symbian last year suggested that Sony, Square Enix, THQ and Activision would also publish games on it. A Pocket Gamer report earlier this year revealed that Disney, Sega, Sony, Universal, Square Enix, Capcom, THQ, Glu Mobile, Digital Chocolate, EA, Tecmo and Namco all attended a secret Nokia Next Gen games platform workshop in January 2007.
Rather (ahem) delayed, the Carnival of the Mobilists is now back on track, this week at Software Everywhere. Read it for the usual mix of mobile musings!
With its tiny size, slider form factor and extra telephony buttons, the Nokia E65 looks to be quite a special smartphone with a voice/business emphasis. Rafe has been living with an early production example for a week and here's his big E65 review.
It's.... AAS Podcast #14, (almost) live from 3GSM 2007, in which Rafe Blandford interviews CEO Johan Sandberg about the new MOTORIZR Z8, and about UIQ Technology's aims and mission.
UIQ Technology has released the sixth and last of their official themes for all UIQ 3 smartphones: Amazonia is 'inspired by the mighty Amazon rainforest'. Unfortunately, the link is to a Flash widget, so you'll have to click through to find it, and see the note on the UIQ page about the .utz download.
Thanks to Darla for pointing out that most N80 smartphone owners can now officially upgrade their devices to 'Internet Edition' using Nokia Software Update.
For anybody still with a S60 2nd Edition smartphone (e.g. Nokia 6630, 6680, N70, N90), note that there's a new beta of FExplorer out. v1.16 (22 Feb 2007), adding better selection of multiple files, a rewritten file editor with copy/paste/select functions and some bug fixes. Note that we're still waiting for a proper public beta for S60 3rd Edition.
Research firm IDC has issued worldwide figures for smartphone sales for 2006, reporting that 80 million shipped in all, of which Nokia accounted for around half, 38 million devices. RIM's Blackberry came in second with 7 million, with Motorola's Windows Mobile and Linux portfolio in third, at almost 5 million. (via RingNokia)
Just a heads-up that Smartphones Show programme 25 is now live and features a video preview of the Nokia E90. Includes shots of four-finger typing on the E90 keyboard and video playback. Or subscribe to the show using its RSS feed.
Mash ups (mixing two services together) has been one of the keystones of the Web 2.0 toolset and we are starting to see this trend move into mobile. In AAS Podcast 13 Ewan talks to Tom Morris about his mash up of Twitter (a SMS social networking tool) and the London Underground.
