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Google Maps and Ovi Maps to solve the same problem
Yesterday's heads up from Google about a local search update left us scratching our heads. It was a redesign of the layout, as well as adding some category support, but fundamentally it was a tweak to the existing local search that's available in any city around the world by punching in http://www.google.com/m/local into your phone's web browser. Still, it got the blogs writing about the product again... read on for my thoughts!
Analyst sees Symbian shipments reaching 180m by 2014
Juniper Research, a telecoms analyst firm, recently released a report on Mobile Open Source Operating Systems, which predicts open source platforms will remain predominant and that, by 2014, Symbian handset shipments will increase from 87 million to 180 million per year, with Android and Limo adding 40m/year extra and taking the open source total to 220 million/year. Such analyst reports are educated guesses, but it does provide an antithesis to the 'Symbian is doomed' line that was popular, in some quarters, earlier this summer and a good jumping off place for some further platform thoughts. Read on for more.
Qik integrates Facebook Comments and Twitter Sign-on
Streaming video service Qik has added in support for Twitter and Facebook into the mobile phone client. Thanks to Oauth (a process that allows one website to authenticate you to another website), you can sign in with either your existing Qik account or your Twitter login details. Qik already posts a link to your Facebook or Twitter accounts if you have this set up, but you can now read the comments from Facebook under your Qik videos, collating them all in one place.
Nokia's plans to put Qt everywhere
One of the biggest changes coming to the Symbian world over the next few years is the inclusion of Qt into new devices. Starting with the Symbian^2 platform, Qt will be in our smartphones and providing a new Developer Platform choice for programmers (and come Symbian ^4 it's going to be powering the UI as well). A recent presentation at Over the Air laid out Nokia's plans...
Ovi Maps adds Good Things (user generated PoIs)
Nokia is continuing to evolve the desktop version of its Ovi Maps service: the latest 'release' sees the ability to add 'Good Things' (user generated Points of Interest - PoIs) to the map. The functionality is aimed at allowing you to share interesting locations with the world, be it the location of your favourite coffee shop of the venue for an upcoming gig. In order to see and to add your own Good Things you will need to upgrade to the latest version of the Ovi Maps browser plug-in (via Symbian-Guru). Read on for more.
Phones Show Chat 6 - N97, Ovi Suite, Battery and Camera rants
Just a quick note that programme 6 of my Phones Show Chat audio podcast is now live, in which Tim Salmon (of this parish) and I natter about N97 hardware issues, Ovi Suite problems, how Android is licensed and then I rant about smartphone batteries. If you're interested, here's the RSS feed. And the iTunes one.
Ovi Developer Day
Rafe reports back from the recent (September 2009) Ovi Developer Day in London, with details on all the main speakers and the issues raised (and responded to). Rafe notes in particular (and welcomes) a sea change in Forum Nokia's attitude to developers. There are also a number of interesting facts and stats about the Nokia Ovi Store.
Symbian Foundation's presentation on Open Source and the User Experience
Rafe and I attended the Over the Air mobile developer conference this past weekend (expect to hear more about this on the next Insight Podcast) and a number of the presentation made are now online. Scott Weiss of the Symbian Foundation talked about "Open Source and the User Experience" which can now be found here.
Dopplr: Why is Nokia continuing to buy small companies for their portfolio?
With the news now official that Nokia has accquired Dopplr Oy, the company behind the social media atlas site Dopplr, the Finnish company has added yet another small niche service to their diverse range of companies. Dopplr (which allows users to say where they are travelling and see who lives there or is visiting at the same time, allowing for more serendipitous connections to be made) joins services such as Plum and Plazes in Nokia's store chest. Why?
AAS Insight 88 - Nokia 5730, Ovi Developer Day, Vodafone 360
In All About Symbian Insight 88 (AAS Podcast 150), Rafe and Steve talk about the release dates for some upcoming devices and preview the Nokia 5730. Rafe reports back from the Ovi Developer Day and Steve shares news of the latest Nokia 5800 firmware and upcoming firmware for the N86. There's also discussion about the Ovi Store and Vodafone 360. You can listen to AAS Insight 88 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
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