Nokia Beta Labs have updated the 3.04 beta for Ovi Maps. The page for Ovi Maps is reporting that a minor update has been made to its 3.04 beta version, as of April 16th 2010. There is no information on what has been updated, and indeed the version number has not incremented. The only obvious change is the filename. More below if you're interested!
Nokia are pushing their green ambitions again, and this time are looking to the public for ideas that can help the environment and be used in the mobile world. Come up with the best mobile eco idea, and you could win an example of eco-mobile in the form of a Nokia 5630 XpressMusic device.
In a late-breaking(!) addition to his extended Camera Nitty Gritty series, Steve Litchfield looks at the EDoF cameras in some of Nokia's S60 smartphones, explains how the Extended Depth of Field technology works and compares performance to traditional focussing units. With photographic examples, he shows how choosing EDoF for the upcoming E5 was a very smart move indeed for the (skill level of) target users.
The UK virtual network Giffgaff (who we’ve written about previously) has announced the prices of the various bundles to go along with the Pay as you Go standard networks. Alongside that they’ve declared that unlimited really is unlimited… as long as it’s for personal use and you don’t tether the mobile to a deskbound computer.
VisionMobile is currently conducting a survey of mobile developers to understand the current state of mobile development and look at future trends. VisionMobile are looking for developers willing to participate in short phone interview or an online survey, with a chance to win prizes for taking part. The study is being funded by O2's Limtus and consequently the key results will be made publicly available.
With the same caveats as always, mobile advertising company Smaato have released numbers on their mobile advertising platform that show Symbian leading the click through rates of the leading mobile operating systems, and performing well above the average rate.
David Gilson looks at Nokia's new C6 and E5 smartphones in the light of the models they either replace or will be compared to. What's outstanding is, naturally enough, the prices, though David goes into significant technical detail in justifying the comparisons and conclusion.
As if any more proof was needed of Symbian OS's multitasking prowess (following the 62 apps on the i8910 HD last week), Jay spotted this YouTube video, embedded below, showing 66 full apps running at the same time on an unmodified Nokia N82. It was going to be 65, but there was still 11MB of RAM left and the videographer spotted an app that he had installed which wasn't running yet 8-) If a few more apps had been physically installed, surely we could have been up to 70 or more? And, impressively, the interface still seemed to be running smoothly. So.... any advance on 66?
With over two thirds of users choosing to be billed through their mobile phone account (where available), and 90% of users able to use their own language, it's getting harder and harder for everyone to ignore the Ovi Store. It's on an upward curve of adoption by users, developers and networks, and now welcomes China into the Top Ten list of active countries.
In an editorial double header from Steve and Ewan, we put today's C3, C6 and E5 announcements in their context. Steve explains how they fit into the rising trend of QWERTY-phillia and also set new pricing ground. Ewan argues that today's announcement makes a 'strong statement of how Nokia read the market for people communicating on the move' and how the messaging emphasis underlines the trend that 'you don't just buy the phone, you buy a solution'. Read on for the full editorials.
Last Friday, Nokia announced that it had acquired MetaCarta Inc, a privately owned firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which specialises in 'geographic intelligence solutions'. MetaCarta is best known for its geosearch and geotagging products (e.g. NewsMap, which allows publishers to automatically created a map tagged with their news stories) and has partnerships with a number of leading technology firms. MetaCarta's technology will help Nokia improve its social location services, such as local search.
Let's try and work out two end points on the line of support for hardware. If you bought a new Nokia phone yesterday, you would expect the Finnish company to support it with the latest products and updates. But you wouldn't expect Nokia to be supporting the very first S60 phone, the 7650 in 2010? Agreed? Now read on, because that thought is important.
Tim Salmon and I (in Phones Show Chat) often remark that if the perfect smartphone came along then we'd have nothing to debate and nothing to write about - but the current situation in terms of what I've tried and rejected is starting to get ridiculous. Am I too fussy in wanting something that's remotely close to perfect? Having seen, tried and rejected 101 smartphones, what the heck do I recommend to others?
As part of a new series for absolute beginners (AAS regulars, we're looking at your friends and family here, I suspect, or others coming in via Google), here's my first cut at 'Getting started with the Nokia 5230'. We'd genuinely like your feedback on improving this format of article. What else does a complete 5230/Symbian/S60 5th novice really need to know up-front? Your comments will be built into updates of this piece and into future versions for other popular 'entry' smartphones. Thanks!
Our very own Rafe is the author of a thought provoking editorial today over on Nokia Conversations, musing over the future of the (mobile) operating system and covering intelligence, location awareness and social nature. Comments welcome if you think he is, or isn't, on the right track!
