Over the last few years, I've had a burning conviction that's been growing and growing as I watch the current craze for 'Apps' blossom. Now, I've nothing against genuine applications or games, but it has to be said that a large number of so-called 'Apps' are simply scraping or managing exactly the same data as you can get right now, on any phone, for free. And, my way, there are no installations, no complications and no hassle. Apps? Pah - I've a new slogan to rival Apple's. "There's a Bookmark for that!"
Remember my review of Exclusion and the closing line of "I'm not yet convinced that collecting swirls to reveal a hidden picture adds anything to the game..." Turns out that this is only part of the bigger picture, as the Nokia Ovi Blog now reveal Exclusion is a gateway drug game into the Conspiracy for Good project. Developed by Nokia and Tim Kring, the writer of US TV series “Heroes”, it’s going to mix Alternative Reality Gaming (ARG) music, storytelling and other elements to “effect social change.”
The modern marketeer has their work cut out for them with smartphones - the traditional methods don't always work, so it's a good thing that Nokia's ecosystem is helping them find a new way to get their message out and reinforced with their customers. The Ovi Store and the App Wizard are two new elements in the quest to try and find a way to make advertising on smartphones effective... through applications. Read on for some thoughts.
Following on from previousdiscussions of the dropping of “unlimited” data in smartphone contracts, CEO of UK network O2 Ronan Dunne blogs about the changes and why he believes they are fair and transparent. In any unmetered system, there will be heavy users consuming the most resource – it’s the nature of the arithmetic – but is this a long term plan, a quick fix, or a grab for more income?
In All About Symbian Insight 123, the team discuss the news of the Nokia X5-01 and X6 8GB, which were launched at Nokia Connection in Singapore. Ewan gives us an overview of the Nimbuzz application, before Rafe explains that Symbian^3 is now functionally complete. Finally, Rafe and Steve discuss their thoughts on what they learned at the recent Nokia N8 hands-on event. You can listen to AAS Insight 123 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
Starting with a throwaway line from a US podcast, Steve Litchfield works up a head of steam over the ever-slipping battery life standard in our smartphones. How long is long enough when it comes to keeping a modern smartphone going on a single charge? Are we destined to need to carry around mobile chargers in our pocket in 2011 or is there a better way to go? Surely making it through the day is a fundamental that should never be compromised?
Fujitsu, the second biggest manufacturer of Symbian based phones, and Toshiba have signed a memorandum of understanding to merge their respective phones businesses. Toshiba will transfer its mobile phone business into a new company and Fujitsu will acquire a majority of shares in the new company (suggesting Fujitsu is the dominant partner in this deal). The companies hope to take the number one spot in the domestic Japanese market, but will also be developing handsets for the world market.
As part of Nokia's 'Open for Ideas' event, I had the opportunity to attend the Tampere Innovation Experience @ Demola day, which included a showcase more than 40 research projects that had been guided by open innovation principles. I teamed up with The Really Mobile Project's Ben Smith to shoot three videos of NRC (Nokia Research Centre) demos. The first video covers the Nokia Image Space research, with a demo of the Image Space mobile client on a Nokia N900.
Speaking at the MobeyForum conference, Nokia's Anssi Vanjoki has reaffirmed the company's commitment to NFC (Near Field Communication) technology. Starting from 2011, Nokia's global Symbian smartphone portfolio will begin to include NFC functionality. However it may, or may not, be included in all country variants. NFC is a short range (~10cm), high frequency wireless communication technology; the major uses are likely to be in Bluetooth pairing, reading RFID tags (e.g. smart posters), mobile ticketing (e.g. London's Oyster system) and mobile payment (contactless payment).
Zahir Mahmood is, I suspect, a big Phones Show fan, partly because he links to my video podcast, but also not least because he's come up with his own take on the idea of postulating a number of smartphone use cases and then delivering a winner (or, in his case, a winner, a mid-level alternative and a budget suggestion) for each. His use cases are 'Photography and media capture', 'Entertainment and games', 'Office and work' and 'Internet world'. So familiar territory for me then, but his choices are both interesting and very Symbian-relevant.
With a greater focus on video in upcoming smartphones, and editing on the device coming into the public consciousness, there’s going to be a lot of amateur footage around that could be improved. So let’s see what the BBC’s Multimedia trainer, Rama Sharma suggests, as she shares her advice on shooting video on pocket sized devices.
Nokia today issued a press release downgrading its outlook for Q2 2010 in the critical Devices and Services area. Nokia now expects both its net sales and margins to be at the lower end or slightly below earlier predicted ranges (6.7-7.2 billion and 9-12%). It says this is due to competitive environment, especially at the high end of the market, a shift in product mix to lower margin devices and the recent depreciation of the Euro. Nokia will issue full Q2 results on July 22nd.
Nokia Conversations are running a poll to find out how users backup the data on their phones. Of course, some of the options are for Nokia's own services, although it's good to see plenty of scope in the options for third party solutions. Now could be a good time to cast your vote if you've had a bad experience with the likes of Ovi Sync. More below, including some constructive criticism for the pollsters!
With the imminent arrival of both the Apple iPhone 4 and the Symbian-powered Nokia N8, I thought it high time to pitch the two head to head. In fact, while doing so, why not widen the comparison to include the other non-Nokia Symbian flagships, the Sony Ericsson Satio and Samsung i8910 HD, both of which have similar specifications, plus throw in the Android flagship (in the UK) as well - the HTC Desire? The result is hopefully a comprehensive cross-section of the top end smartphones of 2010.
Steve and I were in London yesterday to get our first full hands-on with the Nokia N8, the company's first Symbian^3 phone. We'll be bringing you a range of coverage, including our detailed first impressions and some extra analysis, but to kick things off we have a 'first-look' hands-on video. The video offers a quick look through many of the key applications, demonstrating the single tap interaction model and other Symbian^3 UX changes. It is also an opportunity to get a feel for the responsiveness and performance of the device, although it is important to note that the N8 is still running pre-production software.
