In a report from the IFA Consumer Electronics show, Reuters quotes Y H Lee, Samsung Mobile's head of marketing, as saying that the company is concentrating on "Android and Bada for its mobile devices". Samsung see that there is some "specialised demand" for Windows Mobile, but is "not seeing visible demand for Symbian". Reuters further reports that, although the company remains ready to introduce Symbian devices, it currently has has none planned.
Having been a smartphone owner for longer than most, I suspect, as an All About Symbian reader, you'll be very used to the daily routines of charging and power management. Even with some of Nokia's S60 devices (think 6650, E71, E52, E55, E72) running happily for several days at a time on a charge, the reality is that (especially when talking about large screened touch-driven devices) most of us need to charge every night. Or suffer the consequences. Acceptable for us, this requirement is something of a deal breaker for many 'normobs', those for whom mobile technology is merely a tool and not something they're prepared to nurse maid through the week....
Orange UK have announced a new service called HD Voice, which will give superior audio call quality over its 3G network on selected phones. Available free of charge, the service will initially be available to a small set of phones; Nokia's 5230, X6 and E5, plus the Samsung Omnia Pro. Having listened to test calls, it is a vast improvement, but not quite up to the claimed "Crystal Clear" quality as claimed. Click through to read our commentary.
And so we come to what we suspect will be the most contentious piece in Ewan's quest in comparing a £100 Android smartphone (the ZTE Racer) with an £80 Symbian smartphone (the Nokia 5230). Third party applications and the final decision, rounding up conclusions from the previous comparison parts. Which will triumph? Read on for the final instalment, plus links to the other parts.
Nokia Experts reports that Ovi Files, Nokia's remote file access and cloud-based file mirroring/storage solution, will be discontinued on October 1st. The announcement is a set back to Nokia's Ovi service ambitions, but with relatively few users and low awareness, the long-term impact is likely to be small. A number of third party services, such as SugarSync and DropBox, provide a similar service for those who need to move from Ovi Files.
Nokia's marketing campaign for the upcoming Nokia N8 is starting to kick off. Released today is a (potentially) viral video showcasing a prototype hamster-powered charging accessory for the N8. The charger in question was the result of Peter Ash's GCSE coursework. Originally it was powered by Elvis the hamster, but we suspect, five years on from the original construction, that Elvis might have left the building. So it's Elvis mark 2 in the hot wheel.
If you are interested in speaking at the Symbian Exchange and Exposium (SEE) you’ve got till this Friday to get your submissions in to see2010.org. The organisers are looking for both single presentations and panel discussions, and you’ll need to submit a 300 word pitch through the site.
One of the more interesting numbers I came across this weekend was in regards to the use of Facebook. With over 500 million members, some 30% of them are accessing the site through a mobile device. Which means that 150 million people are not using the desktop web interface for the social network site. How long until the majority of users around the world are from mobile handsets?
In All About Symbian Insight 133, we start with news of the Nokia 5250, Nokia's cheapest ever smartphone, following which, Steve shares some more detail from his recent reviews of Let's Golf and Mommax's Mains Battery Charger. Rafe talks about Nokia and Intel's new joint laboratory for 3D mobile user experiences. Finally Ewan gives us his commentary on the the re-branding of Nokia Music to Ovi Music. You can listen to AAS Insight 133 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
Applications are rarely completely static. Anything with a decent amount of functionality is bound to have either flaws - which then hopefully get fixed - or planned improvements. The big question is how to best to get these new versions out to users. In this news editorial, I look at how application updates work for the three big smartphone platforms of the moment, Symbian, iPhone and Android. What can those in the Symbian world learn or implement?
There’s something appealing about Ivan Mavrovic’s case mods on his Nokia phones. Starting from a base of the Nokia 2330, these steampunk inspired phones are still in working order, and look fantastic. I wonder what he could manage with an N97 mini? Pictures after the break.
Self-proclaimed Position Art genius Stavros would have been proud, it seems that his art form is alive and well. At least according to the Ovi Blog's recent Sports Tracker competition, in which people were invited to send in their best captured 'tracks'. Here are the position art winners and, because I know you're wondering, here's Stavros's original Position Art mega-site "The World is my Canvas" - go on, browse around and watch - it's still a hoot, even two years on!
Ewan takes a look at 'a new Internet experience' on his smartphone, in this case Webwag Mobile, from the Nokia Ovi Store. A service aggregator, this experience may well be a new one, but the clunkiness of the user interface and poor use of the information entered means that it's not an experience anyone's likely to enjoy or come back to...
Yesterday Nokia and Intel announced the establishment of a joint research centre, based at the University of Oulu (Finland). The lab, which will have around two dozen researchers, will focus on mobile user experiences, with a particular emphasis on 3D experiences and technology. Likely research areas include 3D virtual worlds, 3D user interfaces and immersive gaming.
Presenting part 2 (of 2) in my Support catchup. Thanks to my kind editor at Smartphone Essentials magazine, he's let me republish a truck load of my Q&A mini-articles from 2008 and 2009's issues right here on All About Symbian. I've been adding these to our Support section and a summary of the questions in part 2 of my big update is listed below, with links. All part of keeping AAS a definitive resource!
