Fired up by the discussions in the Phones Show Chat podcast, one of my listeners, Andy Weekes, took the time to write in a veritable essay on his experiences (ok, mainly frustrations) with Nokia, Symbian and the current competition. Some of his points are very valid, others more arguable, but you'll hopefully enjoy his essay and my (inline) responses below. Comments welcome, some of these topics could run and run!
Noted security technologist Bruce Schneier has pointed to a Microsoft research paper on the design of software applications that ask for user authority to access certain functions. While primarily looking at web based apps, this is a relevant area for mobile design, and ties in with the security model employed by Symbian.
One of the big changes that Comes with Music has on the average user is that any musical track is just a few clicks away, and Nokia want to see how this treasure trove of music changes user habits by recruiting “20 heavyweight music lovers” who’d like to try out Comes with Music.
The HX series of firmwares for the Samsung i8910 HD continue to roll out, with v5 the best yet, with a number of important fixes and detailed improvements, including, critically, fixing the Java certificate problem and improving battery life. As ever, these firmwares are 100% unofficial, but they're easy to apply* and can dramatically transform this old but still powerful smartphone. Comments welcome if you get a chance to try it on your i8910. Changelog extracts and link below.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to run your own farm? Now you too can be up at the crack of dawn tending to livestock, thanks to Farm Frenzy for S60 5th Edition phones, reviewed here by David Gilson, here on Ovi Gaming. Requiring a healthy degree of mental multitasking and finger dexterity, Farm Frenzy is addictive and definitely one of the better games currently on the Ovi Store.
With location based services the latest “next big thing” it’s interesting watching the major and minor players slowly set out their stall to end users and developers. Today it’s the turn of Google, as they announce the public API for their Latitude service.
Nokia has released an update, version 3.04, for Ovi Maps. The new version adds formal support for WiFi as a positioning method as part of an overhaul of the positioning functionality, plus significant performance improvements for search, zooming and map panning, a number of consumer-friendly UI tweaks and the addition of Qype information to the places database. Read on for more details.
Not your average two-bit casino game, Astraware Casino is the real deal, or so reckons Ewan, in his Ovi Gaming review. With no less than ten casino favourite 'tables', plus good graphics, realistic gameplay and extras galore, this £1.50 title from the Ovi Store is a sure bet, it seems. OK, cash me out!
On Monday NTT DOCOMO announced its summer 2010 collection of mobile phones; of the 20 phones announced, 7 are running MOAP-S (based on Symbian). These include the F06-B, F-07B, and F-08B from Fujitsu and the SH-08B, SH-02B Marimekko, SH-08B and SH-09B from Sharp. The F-06B can shoot full HD (1920×1080) video on its 13.2 megapixel camera, is fully waterproof to 1.5 metres (so you can shoot video underwater), can act as a WiFi hotspot and has a WVGA touchscreen.
In part 1 of my Nokia X6 16GB review (that's the Nokia X6-00, officially), I looked at its hardware and general performance. In this second (and final) review part, I look at the X6-00's software and interface, before summing the device up. Is it just a 5800 upgrade? Or a stepping stone to newer devices like the Nokia N8? Most of all, who is the X6 aimed at and will it succeed?
Facebook have announced 0.facebook.com, a specially adapted version of the Facebook Mobile site (m.facebook.com) geared towards an even faster mobile experience, by reducing images on display, and reduced cost to the browsing mobile user. 0.facebook.com is only accessible through certain mobile phone networks (everyone else is pointed to the normal mobile site), but those networks will provide access to Facebook for free.
It’s a subtle tweak, but the addition of live streaming to the mobile web pages for the BBC’s UK National Stations is an important addition. Exec producer JamesSimcock goes into some of the thinking behind the decision on the BBC Internet Blog, but the main reason is user expectation – with more flat rate devices and wi-fi connections, bill shock is no longer the over-riding issue.
In an entirely self-centric link-of-interest, I thought these brief items might be of interest: The Phones Show 111 is now out, with a tour round my Psion collection and a commentary on how these led to the modern Symbian age, and with a feature on getting better photos from your smartphone camera; there have also been three new devices added to my smartphone-choosing Grid; and don't forget the Phones Show Chat audio podcast, about an hour each week - PSC 39 featured Andy Lee, a Blackberry expert, Tim and I were keen to talk to him about comparisons with the Nokia E72.
More stats breakdowns are now in from the smartphone world in Q1, 2010, this time courtesy of Gartner, linked below. Are we in danger of information overload?(!) In line with other reports, the smartphone market is broken down, worldwide, by operating system, with sales of Symbian-powered smartphones up a whopping 35% year on year, though market share is down 4.5%, due to the way the overall market grew even faster, by just over 48%. More numbers below.
In the first of a two part feature, Ewan looks at what's really needed for Personal Information Management in general, and Calendaring in particular, on a Symbian smartphone. He outlines the modules and functions that he'd like to see, ahead of jumping into Symbian^3's roadmap and user contributions mechanics in part 2, coming soon.
