April Fool's Day generally see's a large number of 'spoof' articles on sites. We at AAS have done our best to resist, but couldn't help pitching in with Mobitopia on something. But what story wins the prize? MS Mobiles. For once, they got some facts straight in a Symbian article. Namely (1) UIQ is a fully-owned subsidiary of Symbian (2) UIQ is located in Ronneby, Sweden (3) UIQ was previously an Ericsson research lab. Which means that this article is therefore about 300% more factually correct than most other articles. For those keeping track of things, UIQ are celebrating their 5th anniversay of joining Symbian, so they're probably having a very nice party this evening. Where's our invite, guys?
Now we hear that The Sim's Bustin Out (on N-Gage MMC) has been pushed back from its late April release slot into May. With only Marcel Desailly Pro Soccer left out of the three pronged April Attack, the hoped for return of the N-Gage MMC Games into the marketplace has left a bad taste in the mouths of all those waiting. It's all very well Nokia announcing great new games, but the console has been here since October 2003 and we've only had a few releases in December beyond the launch titles. Not good enough.
The Action Shots Photo Contest vote is open. You now have 10 photos with which to pick you favourite(s). *View Photos & Vote by Clicking Here* Poll closes on 4th Apr 2004! Good Luck to all who entered.
Arima,one of the newer Symbian licensees announced the Symbian Smartphone ASP805.The smartphone features Symbian OS 7.0 with the UIQ interface, 2.7” sensor screen (208x320 pixels), 64 MB of RAM, 32 MB of Flash RAM, SD/MMC slot and 1.3-megapixel camera.
Opera Software today unveiled the 'mobileIPG' (mobile Interactive Programming Guide). mobileIPG converges Opera's capabilities in the iTV and telecom markets by using Opera's support for open Web standards. A mobile phone can now trigger the recording of a TV program on a satellite or Internet-enabled Personal Video Recorder (PVR). Using the mobileIPG, both mobile phone operators and Pay TV operators can empower users to carry the entire IPG in their pocket, scheduling their TV recording while on the move via a simple one-touch interface. The application is cross-platform, with Opera running on Linux-powered set-top boxes and Symbian OS-powered mobile phones.
Our friend over at Allack have been told that Sega Rally, due out on April 9th, has been delayed idefinitly. The other release on that day, Marcel Desalliy Pro Soccer, is still due. With no N-Gage MMC releases since December, a lot of people are getting very anxious. And now Nokia only have 9 months to hit their much publicised 80-100 games by Christmas 2004. Neep!
It's finally here. The All About N-Gage MMC Games Database is now online after its period of testing. With screenshots, info, links to reviews and more, the database is sure to be your central point of reference for existing, new and rumoured N-Gage Games. The latest additions to the database are always carried on the Front Page of All About N-Gage. Comments on how we could improve this are more than welcome.
Various webmasters attending the Games Conference in San Jose have confirmed with the Nokia team what's going to be new on the N-Gage 2. The spectator sport of Side Talkin' is no more, with a speaker being placed on the face of the machine. THe oft-requested Hot Swapping of MMC's is here as well (no more MacGyvering the machine into its component parts). And the biggie? It's staying backwards compatible with N-Gage 1. Which isn't surprising given that it'll still be a Series 60 machine, but still, hats off to Nokia for finally doing something about the N-Gage. Now let's get some games released for it, chaps?
Symbian today announced that Fujitsu Limited and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation are exploring a joint collaboration to develop new FOMA mobile handsets running Symbian OS for NTT DoCoMo, Inc. Full press release in comments.
According to this infoSync World article BenQ has shown an upgrade to is P30 UIQ device the P31. It has keypad and touchscreen, tri-band GSM/GPRS, Java, 1.3 MP camera, Bluetooth and SD. The aerial is now apparently inside the device. Its not clear if the P30 is still coming out or if this new device replaces it.
According to Indie Magazine and Gaming Headlines Nokia is inviting people to a pre E3 event in London on April 14th. Although Nokia aren't saying what it is about the smart money is on N-Gage 2. Looks like Nokia are trying to get a clear publicity run.
Christopher Rydberg reviews NCAA Football, a USA Only N-Gage game. It's the FIFA Football (sorry soccer) but based around American Football (sorry, Rugby with padding). Given it's hard to find, the review is a good in-depth look at the game.
Smartner have today announced that they will provide Always-on Mail experience on Sony Ericsson mobile phones based on Symbian OS through Award-winning Smartner Duality Professional Edition. The first product to feature Smartner Duality is the P900 smartphone during second quarter of 2004. Full press release in comments.
Lenvo (formely known as Legend) have licensed Symbian OS. This follows on from their licensing of Series 60 announced at 3GSM. Lenvo is looking to bring Symbian smartphones to the Chinese market.
