In our latest video Ian Hutton (Technology Management at the Symbian Foundation and chair of the Feature and Roadmap Council) explains how the Symbian Foundation's roadmap is put together. We learn about how its community driven nature is directed and driven through external package owners and internal technology managers. Ian also talks us through some of the big themes for the next few releases of the Symbian platform including improvements to the user, developer and device manufacturer experiences. Watched as a whole it is also a great introduction to how Symbian is seeking to shape the future of mobile.
As a commenter in yesterday's story pointed out, the fact the Nokia totally broke their Ovi Store yesterday does have a potential upside: until things get fixed up, content aimed at specific devices is now available to other devices. Potentially dangerous, but one highlight is that the official Facebook client, only ratified previously for the E71 and E72, is now offered for other S60 3rd Edition devices. Grab it while you can. Screenshots below of it running on the N86, for example.
You'll have seen my previous 'retro' article, looking at pimping the Nokia E61i, an early 2007 device that can now be picked up for pocket money but which still has a unique form factor. The same applies, but 'in spades', to the Nokia E90, released only a few months after the E61i but sporting the full Communicator form and also S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1, plus SDHC support. Like the E61i, it too had a few performance bottlenecks, so how did I get on pimping the Nokia E90 to 2010 standards and might it possibly challenge the mighty (ahem) N97?
In All About Symbian Insight 111 (AAS Podcast 175), Rafe and Steve talk about the outstanding value provided by the Nokia 5230 (highlighting T-Mobile's recent offer). We also look at Mobile Documents, with an emphasis on its file streaming technology, as well as Shazam's 1 million downloads from Ovi Store, the Nokia 6788i and MM-Ovi Store before considering some listener questions. You can listen to AAS Insight 111 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
Nokia have tweaked the Ovi Store with some changes that should prove popular to most users; clearer information about the content you are browsing, more stars when rating applications, and review devices noted. Read on for more about these changes, including screens and info on a new Ovi Store client.
David Gilson is a S60 veteran, mainly using 3rd Edition, but hadn't used a touchscreen device until recently (with the 5530). Going for broke, we arranged for a him to go all the way, to trial a Nokia N97 for a month, looking forward to the chance of getting a fresh take on this most-talked-about Nokia flagship, unencumbered by disappointments from the device's early firmwares. Not that it made much difference in terms of the N97's known hardware limitations, but it's still good to get David's take.
“Show me the money” is a common refrain when looking at a business, and mobile is no different. Google already reckon the money is in advertising on mobile, hence their move to acquire AdMob (which is currently being scrutinised by competition agencies in the US), and Apple are expected to launch their own product for the iPhone and iPad early in May (see MediaPost for one of many pieces of speculation). So why is mobile advertising so important to the mobile eco-system? Read on for my analysis.
Opera have published their monthly look at the mobile web, which even though it has a focus on the Norwegian browser company, is a nice snapshot of growth, both their own and that of the mobile web. From their 50.5 million users, the top countries for Opera Mini, their java based browser, were Russia, Indonesia, India and China.
Nokia Beta Labs today released Nokia Bots, a collection of 'mini-utilities' which monitor how you use your phone and try to improve your user experience either by making suggestions or automatically changing configurations. Or as Nokia puts it 'add-ons that make daily routines easier by learning from your behavior'. Nokia Bots, which runs as a homescreen widget, is available for the Nokia N97 and N97 mini from Beta Labs. Read on for further information and screenshots.
Following on from his tour of the USA with the Nokia 5230/Nuron, Ewan delivers his final verdict on Nokia's newest and cheapest S60 5th Edition smartphone. There's no Wi-Fi, only a mono speaker, a cheap 2mp fixed focus camera and no flash, but the 5230 still wins out overall by representing enormous value for money for smartphone newcomers.
If our own news posts and Rafe's analysis of Nokia's finances and the success (or not) of their smartphone production has left you wanting more, harder detail, then note that Nokia has today published "Nokia in 2009", which includes its "2009 Annual Accounts, the Review by the Board of Directors". It's in pdf-format on Nokia's web site. (Shareholders may also request a hard copy of the document free of charge through the site.)
The Phones Show 106 just went live, now with an audio-only version (by popular demand), featuring 'Optimising the Nokia N97', plus a User Story with a very happy Nokia E55 user. There's also my review of the HTC Legend. And don't forget Phones Show Chat each week, the audio podcast where Tim Salmon and I chat about smartphones around a pint cup of coffee...
Nokia and China Mobile recently announced MM-Ovi Store, a combination of the companies respective application stores. MM-Ovi Store will be pre-installed on Nokia's China Mobile handsets and enables access to a diverse range of mobile applications and games.
At the same time Nokia also unveiled the Nokia 6788i, an updated version of the Nokia 6788, which runs S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 on Symbian and features TD-SCDMA connectivity, a five megapixel camera, 4GB of internal memory and integrated GPS. The 6788i, which will arrive in April, will be the first phone with MM-Ovi Store pre-loaded.
AdMob, a mobile advertising provider, has released its latest set of statistics, based on ad requests to its advertising network. It shows increasing demand for advertising from mobile websites and applications and notes an increase in the proportion of ad requests coming from smartphones. AdMob's numbers need to be understood in the proper context, but they do underline the increasing importance of advertising as a monetisation model for mobile content
