Version 1.1 of Skyfire, the mobile browser that aims to offer a 'PC-like' browsing experience, is now available. The update delivers a number of significant improvements including zooming and scrolling optimisations, updated reconnect behaviour, better recognition of mobiles sites, and support for legacy WAP sites. Read on for our short initial preview.
Somewhere there's a bundle of ex-Symbian employees quietly muttering “I told them the way forward was a two-box solution....” What to make of the announcement of the Nokia Booklet 3G (beyond the fact that they're consciously avoiding the term 'netbook', even though every single post, tweet and message about this device is going to call it the Nokia Netbook)? Read on for my thoughts on this new mobile device...
Nokia today announced the Windows based Nokia Booklet 3G, a mini-laptop (netbook) device. Key features include a (claimed) 12 hour battery life, 3G/HSDPA and WiFi connectivity, HDMI port (for HD video out), 10" glass HD-ready display and integrated A-GPS. The Nokia Booklet weighs in at 1.2 kilograms and is 2cm thick. Market availability and pricing information will be announced at Nokia World next week.
In a thought-provoking piece, Tzer2 wonders if it would be possible to replace hard-remember text passwords with a signature, a pictogram or even just a custom gesture. Moreover, you can apparently try the last technique yourself right now if you have a S60 5th Edition phone.
Just released is The Phones Show 88 - with mini-reviews of the HTC Magic and LG KS360, plus a big feature on Touch (the in-vogue system) vs Button-driven (the old guard?) phones - is one better than the other? See also the QVGA (phone) and VGA (desktop) RSS feeds.
Symbian has made available the first draft of the overall top level specification which will make up Symbian^2 ('Symbian Two'). There are several points of interest to pick out, notably the processor support, FAT (file system) performance improvements, the 'Graphics' support, the integrated SQLite and the fact that screen size is still fixed at 5800/N97 level. Nothing earth shattering then, but still nice to see Symbian being so open about everything.
Google's Mobile site (possibly the most used in the phone world?) just got itself a bump with a new 'Images' module. Search for an image now and you get a smartphone-optimised grid of thumbnails. Click on one of these and you're shown the image on its own, together with size information on the original, letting you make an informed decision on whether to load it up wirelessly. And you don't have to load the original page that contained it, either, unless you want to. A couple of screenshots below.
In All About Symbian Insight 83 (AAS Podcast 145), Rafe and Steve discuss the enterprise focused alliance between Microsoft and Nokia and ponder its implications. Steve shares news of Gartner's Q2 smartphone shipment figures, before moving on to first thoughts on the Nokia E55. We then answer some reader questions. You can listen to AAS Insight 83 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
Gartner may have beaten Canalys to the Q2 smartphone sales figure stories, but there's still plenty of interest in Canalys' version of events. The headline numbers are similar to Gartner's, with Nokia in the lead with 44% of the market, RIM in second place with 21% and Apple in third with 14%. From a platform point of view, Symbian OS powers just over half of all smartphones sold across the world, though this market share was down 8% year on year. RIM and Apple's OS both gained share, with Windows Mobile being the big loser, with its market share almost halving year on year.
In a world where the average Joe still has trouble getting his head round all the things smartphones can do, you can never have too many tips or tutorials. Which is why I'm happy to give a shout out to a new Nokia/S60 site, NokiaTips. The launch content includes how to change the fonts on your N97 or 5800 and how to set up Google Voice, so worth a look, especially if you like 'getting your hands dirty'. There's also a Twitter and a RSS feed to follow for updates.
Over on Ovi Gaming we've been lamenting the rather poor service provided by Ovi Store's search function. However, instead of just complaining about it we've set up an alternative unofficial Ovi Store search using Google's Custom Search Engine. You can try Unofficial Ovi Store Search over on Ovi Gaming. This is still very experimental, so let us know what you think in the comments thread.
Yesterdays news of the Nokia - Microsoft alliance around enterprise software and services has been generating a lot of interest. One of the interesting side stories is that Nokia's Symbian phones already have an outstanding Office compatible software suite, in the form of Quickoffice, which ships with every current Nokia Symbian phone. Quickoffice have released their own statement today noting that its Symbian business represents only a portion of its overall business and that it will ship on 200 million Nokia Symbian phones before Microsoft's product is even released. See below for comment and their statement in full.
More interesting data from the smartphone world analysts. See below for the full table of data, but essentially Nokia's world market share is down 2.4% year on year, to 45%, despite shipping over 3 million more units, a total of 18.4 million smartphones. RIM improved slightly to 18.7% market share, while Apple is now in third place at 13.3% market share. Notable is the fact that Nokia still outsold RIM, Apple, fourth-place HTC and fifth-place Fujitsu combined, so as ever, it's business as usual at Espoo. In terms of worldwide platform/OS market share, Symbian OS was down 6% at 51%, RIM was up at at 16%, iPhone OS up at 12% and Windows Mobile was down at 9%. Android's share was under 2%, showing how far this has to go to make a serious impact.
Microsoft and Nokia have entered into an alliance that is "set to deliver a groundbreaking, enterprise-grade solution for mobile productivity". They will begin collaborating immediately on the design, development and marketing of productivity solutions, bringing Microsoft Office Mobile and Microsoft business communications software to Nokia’s Symbian OS smartphones, starting with the business-focussed Eseries. The two companies will jointly market these solutions to businesses, carriers and individuals. Read on for further details on today's announcement.
Nokia has announced that, from today, Qt Software will be known as Qt Development Frameworks and its URL changes to qt.nokia.com. The reason behind the move? Nokia want to encourage the use of Qt by mobile developers and therefore decided to strengthen Qt's associated with the Nokia brand.
