Nokia today made an announcement that clarifies and simplifies its developer and software platform strategy. Nokia will focus on Qt as the sole application development framework across both MeeGo and Symbian, reinforcing and accelerating Nokia's previous commitment to it. Nokia will also develop its own future UI applications using Qt.
The planned and future development of the higher layers of Symbian OS itself will also rely heavily on Qt; Nokia says this will "allow a continuous improvement of the Symbian experience" and, critically, will be compatible with the existing Symbian^3 platform and devices. This will mean that existing Symbian^3 devices will be included in future updates and will receive many of the user experience and application improvements originally planned for Symbian^4. Going forward, Nokia will simply refer to the platform as 'Symbian', without any version specifics.
Nokia has released their Q3 2010 results, reporting an operating profit of €529 million, with net sales of €10.3 billion. Nokia's device and service division's profits were €807 million, up 3% year on year. Margins in devices and services were 10.5% (down 0.9% YoY and up 0.9% QoQ). The figures beat market expectations. Converged devices sales (smartphones) were significantly up, at 26.5 million, compared with 16.4 million units in Q3 2009 (up 61% YoY) and compared with 24 million units in Q2 2010 (up 10%, QoQ). Worldwide smartphone market share was 38%, down 3% sequentially but up 2% year on year.
Is there still a place for bling in the smartphone world? Nokia’s British-based Vertu, which specialises in luxury phones, thinks so. Their latest model, the (announced but previously not viewed) Constellation Quest, has just cleared the US FCC regulations, which means we’ve got some more details and it looks like that this runs a variant of S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2, with a customised UI theme and additional applications.
The Symbian Foundation has announced that Lee Williams has stepped down, for personal reasons, from his role of Executive Director of the Symbian Foundation. He is to be replaced by Tim Holbrow with immediate effect. Holbrow is a member of the Symbian Leadership Team and was previously responsible for Operations (covering Finance, IT, Infrastructure and property services) at the Foundation.
While the previous Ovi Calendar (version 1.6) that was in the Nokia Beta Labs is now in general use, it’s time for the next version to be subject to public test. So Ovi Calendar 2.0 is now available for public testing at the Beta Labs. Adding in new facilities to invite people to meetings and events, attendance at events, manage public calendars, and a raft of user interface tweaks.
I'd been meaning to write up the Socially app for S60 and Symbian for a while, but now I don't have to because Vaibhav beat me to it. In this case he's showing how to automatically sync Facebook photos and birthdays into your Symbian Contacts application on the N8, but compatibility is surprisingly wide. With Nokia Social on the new Symbian^3 devices being somewhat limited in its Facebook integration, Socially promises to help extend the concept, plus it has a few extra tricks up its sleeve, as Vaibhav reveals.
Forum Nokia has released a package of software for Symbian^3 devices that enable developers to test Qt 4.7.0 applications on the Nokia N8 and other Symbian^3 devices. The package consists of two sets of SIS files, one to install Qt 4.7.0 and another to revert back to Qt 4.6 (the version of Qt shipped with the device) if needed.
Symbian utility specialists Cellphonesoft have come up with another possible touchscreen front-end, this time based around a single touch in the top left corner of your screen, which brings up their new 'Instant Menu', with application shortcuts and some utility functions. Some more details below.
Nokia today announced the Nokia Digital Radio Headset (DAB) accessory for its Symbian^3 handsets (N8, C7-00, E7-00 and C6-01). Using Symbian^3's USB OTG technology it allows you to listen to and control DAB radio. DAB radio offers clearer reception, higher quality audio and a larger range of stations than traditional FM radio. The DAB headset will be available from Friday 22nd October, with first availability via the Nokia UK shop, at a cost of £44.99.
Since before the launch of the Nokia N95, the handset manufacturers have been pushing the idea that “Location is the next big thing”, not just in mobile but over the whole Internet. With GPS chips being installed into hundreds of millions of handsets; with the Web 2.0 backbone of everyone sharing everything; with developers and the venture capitalists throwing money at the social web... what could go wrong?
Swype, an alternative text entry system, is now available, via Ovi Store, for Nokia's Symbian^3 devices (Nokia N8 and Nokia C7). It replaces the current landscape QWERTY keyboard. Words are entered by tracing one continuous finger path, spelling out the word, across an on-screen QWERTY keyboard. The system also includes feature such as auto-capitalisation and spacing, intelligent editing, custom dictionary and much more. Swype provides, potentially, a faster text entry method, albeit with a small initial learning curve.
Now this is the sort of marketing I'd like to see Nokia do more of. Working with a band to both enhance their life on the road and also show off what the smartphone can do. In this case the band 'Kill It Kid' and the Nokia N8 - the introductory video is embedded below. A dozen of these, all with different popular bands in different countries, all going viral among the youth, and there'd be no need to mess around with 'X factor' apps, I reckon....
It used to be that mobile phone networks were scared of being nothing more than pipes for data and calls, so they added extra features to make them portals rather than pipes. But the increasing number of smartphones coming to market mean they now have another approach to ward off this fear – the added value on top of the Operating System to make the network version of a popular handset 'better' than the stock factory model. But in the process, this creates a handset that's not what the end-user expects, creates user interface discrepancies, and frustrates their own customers as to the capabilities of the device they see talked about online, and the one in their hand. Have the networks forgetten how to balance their needs with the needs of the users?
Let's say you worked in Nokia marketing and had a great idea. Given that the company was sponsoring the X Factor, one of the largest entertainment shows in the world, each year, why not have an X Factor application? One that could be promoted before each ad break, riding the current wave of app-frenzy, showing off what the phones can do and also getting an even wider audience for the content? Fabulous. Meanwhile, back in reality....
Nokia today launched the C5-03, a lower-mid-range touschscreen smartphone in a slab form factor, with a two tone design colour scheme. Hardware includes a 3.2" resistive touchscreen display, 5 megapixel camera, tri-band 3G, WiFi, GPS and compass. It runs Symbian^1 (S60 5th Edition) and comes with the full range of Ovi services including Maps, Store and Music. The C5-03 will be available at the end of this quarter, with an expected retail price of €170 before taxes or subsidies.
