If you're in the UK, make sure to watch The Gadget Show tonight. As part of a big 'multimedia phone' roundup, the Nokia N82 runs away with the top prize, with the presenter commenting that the N82 had one of the best cameras she has ever seen on a phone. The video quality was also sharp with accurate colours. 8pm UK time, channel 5.
Shout me out if this is old news and I've somehow been sleeping, but I noticed that there was a new version of Nokia's (Download!) utility for uploading and sharing photos and video. Share Online is now up to v3.08(7) and, importantly, it seems that support for Microsoft's Live Spaces is back, having been removed for early variants of v3.0. The Share Online rollcall now reads: Ovi, Spaces, Flickr and Vox.
Yesterday Adobe announced the details of the Open Screen Project. This will see Adobe, in conjunction with partners, create a consistent 'rich Internet experience' across televisions, PCs, mobile devices and other consumer electronics using future evolutions of its Flash and Air platforms. Adobe will open up Flash and Air by releasing more technical information and removing license fees and format restrictions for Air and Flash.
For all the bright lights, technology and potential, has the smartphone really changed how we live in the world? Ewan, with his tongue in his cheek, says that they haven't really changed anything. Look for a followup piece next week from me in which I'll disagree, putting forward the top ten reasons why mobile phones have changed the world. Comments welcome!
Thanks to (the other) Ewan for pointing out the existence of Nimbuzz, which hasn't actually formally launched yet. It's yet another VoIP/IM client for phones, but it's distinguished so far by having a native S60 client (kudos) already, by supporting Skype chat (yay for the AAS office) and by having the slickest and smoothest Web 2.0 download, sign-up and install I think I've ever experienced. Mobile VoIP isn't truly there yet though. As with Skype Mobile, a chargable gateway is used, though full VoIP is apparently on the way, as per Fring.
There's an interesting article on Business Week about Nokia's unexpected success with their free Sports Tracker utility/service/web site, with users generating content based around uses that were far wider than Nokia originally expected. In related news, Nokia has now released their 'urbanista' (Sports Tracker) widget for general embedding in other people's sites and blogs. Here's the info page and here's a (blogged) test photo-walk I did yesterday to try it out. Make sure you have the very latest version of Sports Tracker, v1.71. There's a full AAS tutorial in the making too, watch this space.
DDH Software, developers of HanDBase, the cross-platform (including S60) database solution, have launched a competition, rewarding the best two 'Applets' (i.e. designed databases, such as Pet Health or CD tracker) with full commercial runtime licenses, 'enabling the winners to turn their entries into commercially-available standalone mobile applications'. Importantly, the 30 day trial version is fine for creating the applets. Press release below the break.
Nokia-owned file-sharing site MOSH has just announced that it's releasing 'over 800' games for free at sg.mosh.nokia.mobi - 'free' in this case meaning 'sponsored', which in turn means that each of the (Java) games have one or more adverts inserted into their startup and closedown routines. Some ad examples below. The games themselves are in some cases quite old and originate from aggregator Greystripe.
It's all very well going through the tweak - buy something new - tweak - buy again cycle, but Steve has been musing that sometimes it pays to just sit and enjoy a fully mature, tweaked smartphone without having to keep putting yourself through the bleeding edge agonies of reinstalling apps, settings, tweaks, etc. - for the umpteenth time.
Ewan's been pioneering video-from-your-mobile for a while. In this feature he looks at all the various options, working out their pros and cons. Perhaps not surprisingly, the solution that works best is the one from a phone manufacturer, but each of the other solutions will also find fans - it's still very early days in this field.
Nokia has announced that Real Time Traffic Information is coming to Nokia Maps, courtesy of ARC Transistance, the European network of automobile clubs. RTTI in Maps 2.0 (already in beta) should enable proper, dynamic routing that takes into account real world conditions. The full press release is below.
Smartphones Show 58 is up today, with a four way test of the top camera (smart)phones in the world, looking at the 5mp Nokia N95, N82 and Sony Ericsson K850i and the LG Viewty. Plus a review of the Nokia E90-competitor, the i-Mate Ultimate 9502.
